We thought that the beggars were nothing more than clowns created by this tragic era. We expected that as soon as Wang Chong died, this rabble would be scattered, so we did not take them to heart.

As for Ma Xiaoliu, the leader of the beggar gang, because of his very local name and his timid brother-in-law, we guessed that he was Wang Chong's puppet, which is not worth mentioning at all.

But, as we later learned, all of us had guessed wrong.

Ghost Festival. Midyear Festival. Night.

The ghost door is wide open, and the yin atmosphere is full. Louqin Inn closed down early. As soon as it got dark, Lou Qin instructed me and Li Xiaoqian: "Today is the Midyear Festival, and the streets are full of ghosts, so you just stay in your own house and don't go out." ”

Li Xiaoqian said disdainfully: "You are all feudal superstitions. I used to never care about July 15th, and I still went out to at night. ”

Lou Qin scolded Li Xiaoqian and said, "Don't talk nonsense, go back to the room quickly." ”

Two hours later.

The time is near. According to legend, this is the time of day when the yin energy is at its heaviest. When it comes to the day of the Midyear Festival, the ghost door of the underworld is wide open, and countless ghosts will be released to go home to visit relatives.

Li Xiaoqian sat at the head of my bed and told me about the legend of the Midyear Festival. He said, "Most of these ghosts are good ghosts. However, it is inevitable that there are some foolish ghosts, they touch the wrong door, go to the wrong kang, and find the wrong person, it is possible. ”

I couldn't help but look around, and suddenly I felt a gust of wind, and the wind chimes hanging on the window rang, and the pleasant sound of the bell made me feel very strange at the moment.

"It's not early!" Li Xiaoqian yawned and said, "I'll go back to my room and sleep." You should rest early, too. ”

I suddenly felt a strong sense of fear, as if there were countless lonely ghosts sitting around me. A gust of wind blew in from the window, and the wind chimes "jingled". I don't know if it was my dazzle or fear that caused me to hallucinate, but I seemed to see a white shadow floating in my room.

I chuckled in my heart and said, "Yes, there are ghosts." ”

"Haha, you still want to scare me, lose color!" Li Xiaoqian smiled and looked in the direction I pointed.

"Ah......h

Li Xiaoqian hugged his head and shouted, squatting on the ground and chanting: "Lao Tzu came through, I don't know that there is such a thing in the old society, disrespectful, please brother Haihan!"

The white shadow floated, and it actually hung upside down on the beam above Li Xiaoqian's head, and the white hair more than a foot long hung down, just on Li Xiaoqian's face.

Li Xiaoqian's face turned pale with fright, and he was one with the white hair. And I, I've seen it clearly, that white shadow is indeed a ghost, but an old drunkard!

I asked, "Why are you here?" ”

Bai Jingxing laughed, turned over, and fell to the ground. The moment he landed, there was a "click" under his feet.

Bai Jingxing looked down suspiciously and asked, "Where did the water come from?"

Li Xiaoqian looked at Bai Jingxing with resentment and said, "Senior, you scared the junior's faucet out!"

Bai Jingxing asked: "What is a faucet?" He searched for the source along the water, and finally his eyes fell on Li Xiaoqian's crotch, and he suddenly realized, and said: "Faucet?! Haha, very vivid!"

As we spoke, another gust of wind blew in, and as soon as the wind chimes rang, a figure burrowed into the house. I didn't see the man's face, but I saw the knife hanging from his waist.

It wasn't an ordinary knife. The handle of the knife is wrapped with gold wire, and the gauntlet is embedded with a swimming dragon. I've seen that knife twice.

Once in Chaohu Lake, once in Huaishui.

The owner of the knife slowly turned around. It was Chen Boyang.

"Where do you get the water?" asked Chen Boyang, looking at his feet.

I said, "Li Xiaoqian's faucet collapsed." ”

Li Xiaoqian said hurriedly: "You, you stop!"

"What is a faucet?" Chen Boyang asked puzzledly, he searched for the source along the water, his eyes also fell between Li Xiaoqian's legs, and he immediately smiled and said, "Haha, faucet?!

In the next incense stick, the wind chimes rang eight more times in the same window, and eight people came in one after another. Everyone came in and was respectful to Bai Jingxing and Chen Boyang, and immediately began to ask where the water came from.

I explained eight times, it was Li Xiaoqian's faucet that crashed.

Li Xiaoqian's face was swollen red, and he grabbed my neck and shouted, "Ji Danbing, stop talking!"

At this time, the middle-aged man who got in at the end looked very honest. Listening to Li Xiaoqian shouting, he asked: "How can there be an egg cake?"

I was angry, pushed Li Xiaoqian away, and kicked at the middle-aged man with flying feet.

Unexpectedly, the middle-aged man seemed to be very honest and even a little clumsy. But his reaction was extremely sharp, and as soon as my foot was raised, he turned around and caught me, took my leg in his arms, and shouted, "What are you kicking me?!"

I said angrily, "I hate it when people use my name to stubble!"

The man looked around at the crowd and asked, "What do you mean?"

Li Xiaoqian smiled and said, "His name is Ji Danbing." King Wu of Zhou's Ji, the day of fortune and fortune, and the C of A, B, C, and D. ”

The whole room started laughing.

One person laughed too hard and sat on Li Xiaoqian's urine. Seeing this, the laughter that was about to subside rose again.

There was a "squeak" and the door was pushed open. Lou Qin leaned into half of her body, saw a room full of people, was startled, and asked, "What's the matter?" She saw Bai Jingxing, and asked, "Senior, why are you here?"

Bai Jingxing said apologetically, "I'm bothering you again, little girl." A few of us originally agreed to meet tonight in the pavilion on the north side of the West Lake. But I forgot that today is the Midyear Festival, and there is no one outside, which is really a little scary, and there is nowhere to go, so I have to borrow your inn for a while. ”

The memory of this old drunkard is really worrying. But at this time, his performance can no longer set off a trace of waves in my heart. Perhaps, as Master Eight Spears said, it is not surprising that a person has experienced more.

I asked, "Is the leader of the Martial Arts Alliance also afraid of ghosts?!"

Bai Jingxing glanced at me and shouted in a low voice: "How can you say that you are afraid of ghosts! It's just that you don't want to see unclean things in the wilderness." The other nine nodded yes.

Lou Qin smiled and said, "Heroes, this room is small, let's go downstairs and talk." The crowd nodded their heads and applauded.

Lou Qin was just about to turn around, as if he saw the bright light flashing underground, and asked, "Where did the water come from?"

I was just about to explain. Li Xiaoqian covered my mouth and nose and said, "I accidentally spilled the tea." Lou Qin smiled and turned to leave.

I suddenly felt very unhappy inside. Because I longed for Lou Qin to see Li Xiaoqian's wet pants and Li Xiaoqian's extremely embarrassing appearance.

Everyone smiled and left.

In the hall of the Louqin Inn, the lights are lit. The faint light of the fire flickered, dispelling the gloomy atmosphere of this Midyear Festival.

Lou Qin placed a few snacks in the hall and poured tea full. At this time, a tall and fat man slapped the table and stood up, his gray eyebrows trembled, obviously burning with great anger in his heart, he said sharply: "This dog emperor is too difficult to serve, right?!" We have strict self-discipline from top to bottom, and the two brothels operated under the sect have also been closed, and all disciples are not allowed to go down the mountain without permission. Now that the survival of my Nanhua faction is very difficult, this dog emperor is still not satisfied?!"

This person is Situ Qingchen, the head of the South China faction. He has a nickname and is very famous in the rivers and lakes. It is said that when he was a teenager, he was well-proportioned and heroic, with a tiger head tattooed in the chest, sharp eyes, and fierce fangs. At that time, he often took off his shirt before competing with others, revealing tiger tattoos to deter his opponents. Helplessly, he became fat in middle age, and gradually became fat, and since he became the head, he rarely competed with others, and people gradually forgot the tiger in his chest. Twenty years ago, at the Laojun Mountain Martial Arts Conference, he went to fight against Yue Xiaoqun, the head of the Huashan faction, holding a silver gun, standing proudly, tearing his shirt, but causing a burst of laughter from the audience.

Yue Xiaoqun, the head of the Huashan faction, is not only a swordsman with superb swordsmanship, but also a very talented poet. In the midst of everyone's laughter, he looked sad, looked up to the sky and sighed: "The years are ruthless and urge people to grow old, but the tiger becomes a fat cat." ”

Since then, the fat cat has become Situ Qingchen's nickname. Whether he accepted it or not, the nickname soon became the consensus of the charlatans.

Chen Boyang coughed lightly and said, "Don't be impatient, Master Mao, let's think about it in the long run." ”

There is a person who took the case, and he is a very young and weak scholar, who is almost the same age as Li Xiaoqian. He shook off the folding fan in his hand with a "poof" and fanned angrily: "The cat senior said it well. Our Crescent Mountain Villa is located on the main road of the mountains, and bandits are rampant all around. My Crescent Moon Villa relies on the prestige of my ancestors to ensure the safe passage of all dart bureaus, so as to earn some face money. Since the Chaohu Martial Arts Conference, I was afraid that the court would be guilty of colluding with bandits, and ordered the whole village not to receive darts, and all of them went to the back mountains to farm. However, my Crescent Moon Villa, a group of heroes, has no place for all their skills, only a place to grow vegetables. ”

This person is the owner of the Crescent Moon Villa, Murong Shun. His father was Murong Ying, who was stolen by Wang Chong and boiled soup to drink.

Chen Boyang coughed again and said, "Don't be upset, nephew, let's discuss it again." ”

At this time, the honest man who was going to eat "egg cake" also stood up suddenly, he slapped the table, suddenly froze, looked left and right a few times, and said: "I don't know what to say, in short, my Dragon and Tiger Gang is not easy to mix!"

Could this person be the leader of the Dragon and Tiger Gang, Liu Yishou, the disciple of the two Fengyun?

(Special thanks to: Situ Qingchen, author of "The Message", for his selfless cameo.) I can't thank you enough. ）