The darkness dissipated, the morning light was faint, and the fog in the mountains and forests slowly grew, and there was a feeling that it was getting more and more intense.

Geng Huyuan slowly got up, walked slowly around the extinguished fire, waved his arms from time to time, and kicked his legs, so as to move his muscles and bones and let the blood flow quickly.

There was still a person sitting next to the remnants of the carbon pile, it was Meng Ran, who was sleeping soundly, he was exhausted after practicing the sword technique for a while last night, and after the conversation was over, he fell asleep against the warm flame.

After a while, the birds began to come out of the nest to hunt, and when the clear sunlight shone on the branches of the woods, Geng Huyuan shook Meng Ran, who was unconscious, "Young Master, wake up, it's time to go." ”

"Hmm..."Meng Ran replied blankly, slowly straightened up, and looked like he hadn't woken up, "Uncle Geng, what time is it?"

"It's just past the time I think it's Yin. ”

"Oh......" Meng Ran shook his body, slowly stood up, and stretched a big lazy waist.

When he was more sober, Geng Huyuan handed him the water bag and said, "Young Master, drink some water, and then get ready to go." ”

"Good. ”

Meng Ran first rinsed his mouth, and then drank some in small sips, at this time, he had been completely awakened by the cold water.

"Well, this water is so cold, and the whole person is refreshed as soon as it enters the stomach. ”

Geng Huyuan smiled, "Are you completely sober now?"

Meng Ran shrugged his shoulders and pretended to be innocent.

After that, the two men first led their respective mounts to eat some grass, and then continued their shuttle through the woods.

After walking along the mountain for a while, the two came across a mountain spring, and in the circle of stone blocks there was a pool of clear water, and the excess water was bubbling out of the low-lying place, forming a small stream.

The trees here are not luxuriant, so in addition to the gurgling water, there is a beautiful scenery of fragrant grass.

Geng Huyuan stopped, turned back to Meng Ran behind him and said, "Young Master, let's wash up here, eat something, feed the horses again, and then continue on our way." ”

"Good. ”

In the following time, Meng Ran first learned the movements of Geng Huyuan, took off the luggage on the horse, and then tied the mount to a tree on the side.

The two of them washed their faces in the cool spring water, combed their messy hair roughly, and then began to nibble on the dry food they had brought with them.

When they were six or seven minutes full, the two of them stopped, and after packing up their things, they began to serve their mounts.

Meng Ran did the same, and greeted the horses with the movements of Geng Huyuan.

Lead the horses to the waterhole, let them start drinking, and when they are full, gently stroke their necks to soothe them, and then gently wash their mouths and noses with a handful of water.

After doing this, the two of them rested for a while, and then continued on their way.

At this time, the two of them were in a mountain col, and if they wanted to continue to move forward, they had to go up slowly along the ridge, which was much more difficult to walk than the downhill just now.

Geng Huyuan was silent, just bowed his head and hurried away.

Meng Ran was a little bored in the back, and asked casually, "Uncle Geng, why did we do that just now?"

"Huh?" replied, "Is it to clean the horse's mouth and nose?"

"That's right. ”

"Gently caressing them will make them docile, and washing their mouth and nose is also for their health, when they travel a long distance, they need to be cleaned regularly, otherwise it is easy to breed germs and not good for walking. This not only increases the relationship with the mount, but also solves the hidden dangers well. ”

Meng Ran expressed his amazement, "It turns out that there are so many doorways here, which is really eye-opening." ”

Geng Huyuan smiled lightly, "Young Master, knowledge does not necessarily just appear in books, but also in practice. ”

Meng Ran nodded thoughtfully.

The two of them walked forward for about a stick of incense, the terrain gradually steepened, and after another tea time, the front suddenly opened up, and at this time they thought that they were close to the top of the mountain.

When the breeze blows, the lush trees ripple like water waves, and the layers of green waves rise and fall.

Standing on the gentle grass on the top of the mountain and looking around, the two of them saw that there were endless mountains in the north, south and west, only the eastern boundary was relatively gentle, and the faint outline of small towns could be seen on the larger plains, and the two looked at each other, their eyes were full of joy.

Although I only spent one night in this mountain forest, I felt like I was in a different world, and now I was overjoyed to see the signs of human traffic.

The two of them rested for a while, and then walked towards the distant town again with full energy.

The terrain gradually flattened, and the entire mountain was left behind by the two of them, and as the woods gradually thinned out, and when the soft soil began to appear under their feet, Dean Geng Huchang breathed a long sigh of relief, and said quite happily: "Young master, we will go down the mountain, and we can walk a little further ahead to get out of this forest, and then we can ride a horse." ”

Meng Ran hummed softly in the back, and then asked, "Uncle Geng, is the town in front of you a new town?"

"That's right, that's all the town in this direction, and there's basically nothing wrong with it. ”

"That..."Meng Ran hesitated a little, and after a while, he slowly asked, "Uncle Geng, shall we enter the new town?"

"En?" Geng Huyuan asked rhetorically, "Of course you entered, why do you ask like that?"

Meng Ran was a little worried: "What happened yesterday must have been known by the government, they will definitely have a document sent down, let's go directly to the town, I'm afraid something is wrong, right?"

Geng Huyuan smiled faintly, "It's okay, those people are all from Deqing County, and now that we have reached the boundary of the new town, we will be safe." ”

"Why is that?" Meng Ran was puzzled.

"It's just an open and secret fight. Geng Huyuan said casually.

Meng Ran looked puzzled and said, "Ah? Who and whom? Do you mean the people from the county government and the new town of Deqing County?"

Geng Huyuan bowed slightly, "You are right. ”

Meng Ran said with a look of disbelief: "But how is this possible? How dare a small town argue with the county seat." ”

"What if there is the support of Qingfeng Guan behind the new town?" Geng Huyuan said indifferently.

"Then it's even more impossible, the Taoist Sect helped the Liang clan win the world, and now in this land of Shenzhou, there are countless people who believe in the Tao, and the number of Taoist temples is also increasing day by day, how can such a thing happen?" Meng Ran retorted excitedly.

Geng Huyuan said indifferently: "It's just fighting with each other." ”

"Fighting each other?" Because of the excitement, Meng Ran's voice was a little sharp.

Geng Huyuan said: "Yes, is there anything wrong with this?"

"But there's no contradiction between them. Meng Ran said.

"How can there be no contradiction between them? The greater the influence of the Dao Sect, the greater the rift between the imperial court and the Dao Sect, this is an irreconcilable contradiction. Geng Huyuan said leisurely.

Meng Ran frowned and said: "But the Taoist Sect is beyond the world, and the imperial court rules all the people, and there is no conflict of interest." ”

Geng Huyuan asked, "Then do you know that one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers?"

Meng Ran pursed his lips, "I naturally know, but the Dao Sect is full of cultivators, those cultivators only think about ascending to the immortal realm and immortality, how can they seize the power of the imperial court, and what is there to fight between the two sides?"

Geng Huyuan smiled, "You're still too young." Since ancient times, how many people have been able to ascend to the immortal realm? But there are only a few, and the rest are all mediocre, unable to escape life, old age, sickness and death.

With only a hundred years of life, how could they be willing to give up their worldly power and their own interests? Although they would not take over the world of the Liang clan, how could they easily give up their current transcendent status and luxurious life?"

"Then there is nothing to fight about, the imperial court does its own thing, implements benevolent government, and treats the people well, while the Taoist sect manages the Taoist temples in various places, so it is not related to each other, isn't it?" Meng Ran said.

Geng Huyuan smiled dumbly, "Young Master, what you said is too easy. If there is a family next door to our Meng Mansion, although you know that he will not occupy our property, but all the people of our family gradually turn to them, will you be comfortable? Will you not have a sense of crisis?"

Meng Ran nodded, "What Uncle Geng said makes sense, but the major national affairs, how can the contradictions of small families be covered up in one word." ”

Geng Huyuan laughed for a while, and then asked rhetorically: "Hahaha, is this a trivial matter? If you are from the Liang family, are you willing to give away the hot authority in your hands?"

Meng Ran thought about it seriously, and then shook his head, "I don't think about it, but I will only hold it tighter." ”

"That's it, so in this way, the rift between the imperial court and the Taoist sect will only get bigger and bigger, until one day, the contradiction between the two is too big to be repaired, and when it can no longer be controlled, I am afraid that the whole world will fall into an unprecedented war, and I am afraid that it will be turbulent and miserable in Shenzhou." Geng Huyuan said with some compassion, his words full of concern.

Regarding Geng Huyuan's conclusion, Meng Ran disagreed, and retorted: "No, the strength of the Taoist Sect has always been far beyond the world, how dare the imperial court be presumptuous?"

Geng Huyuan did not answer directly, but asked rhetorically, "The power of the imperial court is weak?"

Meng Ran nodded to himself, "The Dao Sect is all cultivators who fly around, and the imperial court only has those eagle dogs of the Imperial City Division, and there is a difference between the two. How could the imperial court easily start a war and cause the people to be in the midst of fire and water?"

Geng Huyuan stopped, turned to Meng Ran and said, "In the end, we are still not in that position, many things cannot be decided by a single word of truth or a thought. ”

Meng Ran nodded, agreeing with this sentence.

Geng Huyuan froze in place, without the slightest intention of continuing to hurry, Meng Ran looked at him with some doubts, not understanding what Geng Huyuan wanted to do.

After a long while, Geng Huyuan said in a deep voice, "It's just a chance." ”

"What chance?"

"Heaven must not be divulged. ”

Meng Ran rolled his eyes violently.

Geng Huyuan just couldn't see it, turned around and laughed, and said in his mouth: "You slowly understand it yourself, we ordinary people still don't talk too much about national affairs." ”

"Okay. Meng Ran was a little stupid, he had just been hung up his appetite, but it stopped so abruptly, and he was very disappointed in his heart.