Zhiming spent a peaceful night at the Chijin Inn. The next morning, he decided to walk around the city first to see if Xuchang had any special beauty, so he locked the door and came to the street.

The streets were full of lively scenes, with numerous shops and a steady stream of people; various vendors vied with each other to shout and solicit customers, but they did not interfere with each other, each relying on their strength; from time to time, officers and men patrolled past to maintain order. He felt that the business atmosphere here was quite good, and the law and order were good.

Zhiming looked east and west, and suddenly saw a two-story small building diagonally opposite, with a plaque hanging outside, with three big red characters on the book "Cuixiang Building", and several young girls with heavy makeup and flowers stood at the door, holding colorful silk silks to wave to passers-by, and throwing away their winks from time to time. Some people who were slightly dressed in noble clothes passed by, and under the temptation of a few words, they still couldn't hold it after all, and were pulled in by hooking shoulders and backs. Zhiming immediately realized that this was Fengyue place, his gaze moved up slightly, and he saw a woman standing alone on the balcony on the second floor, judging from the appearance, it should also be a woman in the Qinglou, but her eyes were slightly melancholy, and she was unwilling to scratch her head to attract customers, and she seemed to be a person who had something to do and was out of place. Zhiming only felt that she was a little familiar, although she was wearing makeup, she could still distinguish it, but she couldn't remember where she had seen it.

Zhiming thought as he turned around and walked into a small alley, where he happened to bump into a young man around the corner.

"I'm sorry!" the young man hurriedly dodged away and ran.

Zhiming subconsciously touched his chest and found that the money bag in the inner pocket was missing, so he immediately turned around to chase it.

When the young man saw that he was catching up, he ran even more desperately. Zhiming chased after him until he reached another alley. There was a dead end ahead, and the young man had to stop.

Zhiming rushed over. The young man turned around and swept a punch, Zhiming easily caught it, twisted the opponent's hand back, and then kicked it in the back of his knee, and the young man suddenly fell to his knees.

"Spare me, hero!" the young man begged for mercy as he was beaten.

"Give me back the money bag!" Zhi Ming said angrily, "I thought the security in the capital was good just now, but if you mess with me like this, I will change my mind again." ”

"Give... Here you go—" The lad handed him the money bag.

Zhiming put away the money bag and said, "You are not so brave that you dare to steal Uncle Ben's money! Do you know who I am?"

"I don't know, please advise the hero. The young man was genuinely terrified.

"I am the saint..."Zhiming knew that he was speechless, and hurriedly changed his words, "I am a famous knight from Jingzhou - Lei Zhiming is also!"

"Oh, long looking, long looking. The young man didn't know who he was, so he had to say perfunctorily, "The villain has eyes and doesn't know Mount Tai, please let me go!"

Zhiming let go of his hand and said, "Your brain is spinning quite fast." Next time, it's best to plan your escape route in advance. ”

The young man stood up, stretched his sprained arm, and stayed where he was.

Zhiming saw that he was quite young, so he asked, "It looks like you are still young, why do you want to come out and steal?"

"Alas, hero, I have no choice!" the young man looked sad, "My mother suffered from a serious illness a few years ago, and the family had no money to treat it, so I had to come out and steal it." ”

Zhiming saw that he looked very kind, although he was a thief, it didn't seem like a lie, so he asked about his family affairs. The young man did not hide it, and talked about it one by one. Here's how he said it:

My real name is Li Xiaoyuan, my usual name is A Xian, and I lived in Xuzhou with my parents when I was a child. Originally, life was fine, but suddenly one day, a large number of officers and soldiers poured into the city, wantonly slaughtered the people, and made the whole of Xuzhou a mess. My father died in the war, and my mother and I fled and followed the fleeing crowd to Xuchang. When I arrived in Xuchang, I heard that the massacre was planned by the current prime minister Cao Cao, who, in order to avenge his father's beheading by the governor of Xuzhou, raised a "righteous teacher" and threatened to kill the people of Xuzhou. After hearing the news, we were worried that we would be caught by Xuchang's soldiers in Yanzhou, so we hid outside the city. Later, we met a kind man and were able to set foot in the western village on the outskirts of the city. Later, my mother fell ill and couldn't afford to get sick. In order to raise money for her treatment, I looked for work everywhere, but the time was not good, and I couldn't do a few jobs for long. Finally, one day, by chance, I met a thief, and I took him as my teacher, learned the art of theft, and began my career as a thief.

"I stole money just to make ends meet and help my mother with her illness. I never steal from the poor, and neither does my Master, and I am also poor, and I know what it is like to be poor. Ah Xian looked righteous when he said this.

"Then how do you know I'm not poor?" Zhiming was puzzled.

"Look at your dress, you're definitely not poor. "Ah Xian deliberately flattered.

"Well, that's right, you know the goods. Zhiming took the opportunity to pretend to be rich.

"This is all the evil result of the troubled times!" Ah Xian sighed, "If it weren't for the long-term political corruption that caused the people to live poorly, I would have fallen to this point? Who doesn't want to live a dignified life? It's all fate!"

Hearing this, Zhiming looked up to the sky and sighed, hating that although he was the embodiment of the holy sword that ruled heaven and earth, he could not help these poor people. He really hoped that heaven would send a rain of money, so that all the silver would flow into the threshold of the poor people, so that they would no longer suffer and be oppressed by the rich.

Ah Xian said: "My master belongs to the thieves who rob the rich and help the poor. ”

"Who is your master?" Zhiming asked with interest.

Hearing someone ask about his teacher, Ah Xian was suddenly full of energy, raised his voice and said: "My master is known as the first thief in the Central Plains, and his name is Yang Ji! He once sneaked into the mansion of Wei Hong, the richest businessman in the capital, late at night, and stole a crystal ball that was priceless!"

"Do you mean Wei Hong, the owner of the Chijin Inn?"

"Yes, you are from Jingzhou, how do you know him?"

"I stayed there, and I heard from the innkeeper about him. What's a crystal ball?"

"I don't know, anyway, it's a round transparent glass ball, the size of a human head, I heard that it comes from the ancient Persian Empire, not a Han land. ”

"The Persian Empire?" Zhiming seemed to have heard his master mention this western country, "Didn't it perish hundreds of years ago, how could there be treasures left?

"This... I don't know. "Ah Xian doesn't understand history.

"Since it's a foreign valuable, why doesn't Wei Hong send more people to take care of it?"

"Who said that no one was taking care of it? Wei Zhuang was so heavily guarded that even flies couldn't fly in! Fortunately, Master had a magical skill, and doing this kind of thing was a piece of cake for him. Ah Xian added fuel and vinegar to tell the story of the master's theft of the ball.

Although he felt that he was suspected of exaggerating the facts, Zhiming still began to admire Yang Ji.

"I heard that he used to learn martial arts from a Taoist named Zuo Ci, and that person's Taoism was particularly profound. After practicing a good skill, he left the school to become a thief. ”

"If you have a martial art, why steal it? You should use your own martial arts to hoe the strong and help the weak. ”

"Life is forced. My master became a thief to rob the rich and help the poor, he never stole the poor, he only stole the rich. Each time he succeeded, he would give most of his money to the local poor, keeping only a little for himself. Once, our family received his favor, and I met him at that time. He was a big philanthropist. ”

"It seems that your master does have a sense of justice, but theft is illegal, isn't he afraid of being caught?"

"Hey, he's so powerful, no one can catch him all over the world, and even if he is caught, he has a way to escape from prison. Ah Xian said with a fluttering eyebrow.

"In any case, it is better to be upright, not necessarily to rob the rich and help the poor, not all the rich people's money is unknown, and there are not a few who get rich through hard work. Although we were born in troubled times, we have to rely on our own efforts to make money, not by stealing and cheating, let alone helping those corrupt officials and profiteers to engage in illegal activities in order to obtain petty profits. ”

Hearing this, Ah Xian silently lowered his head and fell into deep thought.

"By the way, can you take me to meet your master?" Zhiming suddenly wanted to catch a glimpse of this legendary figure.

"He is wanted by the government and has fled to Soochow. At that time, he said that he would take me, but I couldn't leave my mother alone, so I didn't go with him. Ah Xian was both regretful and helpless.

"That's it... Is Ling Tang's illness serious?"

"It's very serious, I asked the doctor to see it before, and it was said that it was a bone marrow problem, and it was not cured, and I could only spend the rest of my life in bed. Ah Xian's eyes were wet, "Alas, it would be nice if my father was here." ”

"Since the doctor can't cure it, what can you do if you have money?"

"Recently, there has been an archmage named 'Daoren' outside the city, and I heard that he can cure the disease, and has saved the lives of many dying patients in and out of the city. I'd like to ask him to give it a try. ”

Zhiming was puzzled, he believed that people's birth, old age, sickness and death are inevitable, once the disease is diseased, it can only be solved by medical means, and it is impossible for the mage to cure the disease, so he said: "I don't believe that the mage can cure the disease, and hearsay should not be believed." ”

"It's not hearsay, but there are people in our village who have been cured by him; Hero, help me, lend me a sum of money first, and I will pay you back later. Ah Xian said pitifully.

Zhiming had already had the idea of helping him, and he also wanted to take the opportunity to find out who that Daoren Master was, so he said, "No problem, it's in my nature to help others." ”

"Okay, but I want to fill my stomach first. Lei Daxia, you wouldn't mind treating me to a meal like a poor thief, would you?"

“... You kid, you're so thick-skinned! You stole my money and didn't say anything, and you borrowed money from me, and asked me to invite you to dinner, are we two very familiar?" Zhiming was not angry, and said half-jokingly.

Ah Xian scratched his head with a hippie smile. Zhiming said helplessly: "Let's go, who makes me like to be a good person." ”

They walked towards a restaurant. It's really not a fight, they don't know each other, they have become friends.

At the restaurant, Ah Xian began to gobble up. Zhiming was stunned, he forgot that the poor ghost and the hungry ghost were actually twin brothers, although he was unwilling, but it was inconvenient to express himself, who called himself so generous?

After dinner, they went out of the city and came to the foot of Wuhu Mountain. After passing through a jungle, Ah Xian pointed to a small village in front of him and said, "It should be there." ”

From just now, Zhiming vaguely felt that there was an evil aura here. Is it a coincidence that this mysterious mage actually lives at the foot of the mountain where the headquarters of the White Tigers are located? Moreover, judging from the newness of the façade, this village should have been built less than half a year ago, and it looks like it was built exclusively for Master Daoren.

Ah Xian knocked. Soon, a young man in a yellow robe opened the door.

"Is Gen Wenren here?" asked Ah Xian.

"You are—" The man looked them up and down.

"We're here to ask the mage to heal us, so please let me know. ”

When he heard that he was here to seek medical treatment, the man didn't think much about it, so he invited the two of them in, closed the door and said, "I am Shiqing, the eldest apprentice of Master Daoren, and my master is in the house, please come with me." ”

Shiqing led them into the back room. There was no one here, only a large altar lit with incense sticks and some paper money stacked on top of it, and the yellow cover of the altar was printed with some mysterious patterns.

Shiqing came to the inner room and knocked on the door and said, "Master, there are two guests who want to see you. ”

"Who?" said a dragging response from the inner room.

"I'm here to seek medical treatment. Shiqing said.

After a while, Master Daoren walked out slowly. He is also dressed in a yellow robe, holding a ponytail duster, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and a mantle, more like a wizard.

"What are you looking for me?" asked Venerable Daoren in a condescending tone.

"Hello master, my name is Ah Xian, and I am from the West Village on the outskirts of the city. My mother suffered from bone disease and had not gotten out of bed for several years, so she invited several doctors to see her and took a lot of medicine, but it didn't work. I heard that the master has strong mana and can cure all kinds of diseases, so I came here for help. If I can cure my mother's illness, I will thank you with a lot of money. Ah Xian said respectfully.

As soon as he heard the word "heavy gold", Venerable Daoren's eyes lit up, but he immediately put on an expression of treating money as dung, and said: "It is the duty of the poor to cure the sick and save people. ”

"Really, the master agreed, thank you so much!" Ah Xian knelt down and kowtowed excitedly.

"You don't have to be polite, please get up, you can't afford it. Master Daoren saw Zhiming and asked, "Who is this..."

Ah Xian got up and introduced: "This is Lei Daxia, my new friend, who paid for my mother's treatment." ”

"Yes, I can't imagine that there are such kind people in the world today!" said Master Daoren with a smile.

Zhiming smiled perfunctorily. In fact, from the very beginning, he felt that the mage in front of him was a little weird, and intuitively, he decided that he was not a real Daoist person.

"Bone disease is indeed a major problem in today's medical field, not to mention that it has been delayed for several years, and I can't guarantee that it will be cured, but I will do my best. Master Daoren instructed Shiqing again, "Call Yuanqing to come, prepare all the things, and immediately follow me to the West Village to save people!"

Ah Xian said happily: "The master really cares about the people's welfare, I should have come to you a long time ago." ”

After Shiqing and Yuanqing prepared all the necessary items, everyone set off.