The sky is like a wash, the sun is shining on the earth, and in the middle of summer, the air is filled with oppressive heat and boredom that makes people breathless.

Cangyue City, located in the belly of Zhongzhou, was once a battleground for soldiers in all dynasties, and it was also a treasure land of feng shui in Zhongzhou, a transportation hub and an economic fortress in the world.

The houses here are dense, the roads are intricately intertwined, the crowds are surging, and the traffic is busy, all of which show the prosperity and prosperity of the city, and this ancient city has become more and more thick and civilized after a long time of baptism.

In the corner of the city, you can see the green hills outside the city, a clear and turquoise river leads from the deep mountains outside the city, flows through the city to the west, crosses the moss-covered stone bridge, the front is quite wide, is a narrow street along the riverbank.

Not far away, there is a restaurant, and there are four big characters written on the plaque in the center of the building, which is called "Haiyun Inn".

The roads here are relatively concentrated, and there are many shops and restaurants in this excellent location, which provide convenient needs and accommodation for business travelers, literati and knights every day. And Haiyun Inn is naturally one of the well-known "Cangyue Fourth Floors" in this city, and it is naturally like a city, and guests are like clouds.

Haiyun Inn has a total of three floors, and its second to third floors are all high-ranking officials and nobles or people with status.

On this day, the whole restaurant looked full, and the staircase and corridor were bustling with guests.

In front of the wine cabinet, a slightly chubby shopkeeper in a satin robe was working the abacus, his bloated and short fingers looked very dexterous, his round head shook his head, and his mouth hummed a little song from time to time, which looked very funny.

The shopkeeper shuttled through the flow of people, shouting loudly to serve tea and wine to the guests. It's almost a combination of hands and feet, and it's very busy.

In the center of the first floor, there is a high platform, on which is placed a small desk, and a few old ancient books are placed, which should be a place to tell stories.

I saw on the platform, a thin old man with kind eyebrows and kind eyes talking about the book endlessly...... His already gray hair fluttered in the wind, and wrinkles were on his shiny forehead, showing the wisdom and vicissitudes of time.

The raised platform is more eye-catching, which can be viewed by diners on the second floor. The crowd clapped their hands incessantly as they listened. It can be seen that the old man's storytelling skills are profound, and I am afraid that he has been telling stories here for decades!

The storyteller said: "It is said that there is a "Weipo Village" near the south of the city 200 miles away, the village is surrounded by mountains and rivers, and the villagers rest at sunrise and sunset, and live a life like a paradise. But the good times didn't last long, a few months ago, the village was slaughtered overnight, and the scene can be described as tragic!"

All the guests in the restaurant put down their cups or chopsticks in their hands and listened to the old man with serious expressions.

The storyteller continued, "It is said that the moon was dark and the wind was high that night, and the villagers turned off the lights early and went to sleep, and the whole village was like a dead silence this night, because of the proximity to the deep mountains and valleys, people could not help but feel frightened, and there seemed to be a faint but invisible strange creeping attack!"

The old storyteller looked frightened, his sunken eyes were wide open, and his voice was hoarse but unambiguous, and his voice had a fascinating feeling.

"Smack!"

The old man picked up the waking wood in his hand and struck it on the table to reshoot it, which scared the guests out of the audience.

He added, "The wind didn't pick up much this night, and the branches cracked and clicked, and then I heard the howling wind, like some terrible monster crying wolf. The small river not far from the village, I don't know when the surface of the river has turned into black water, as if dyed with ink, constantly bubbling or gushing, and in a few places it is even a whirlpool. The entire lake was steaming black, and the black gas continued to float over the village. ”

The old man was a little excited, and described the scene with an excited expression, and the thoughts of the guests present had already been introduced into the terrifying event by the old man, and they looked at the storyteller stupidly.

The old man continued: "I saw that the black cloud pressed down heavily into the village, and the black cloud was churning endlessly, but there were several bright lights flashing inside, which looked like lightning. ”

"Sure enough, in the black clouds, there was a hideous and terrifying monster, and the white bones and claws were about to crawl out of the clouds, and they were hunched over, all of them with strange eyes like copper bells, and they scanned everything below, like a god of death to devour the whole village. ”

They let out a terrible howl that woke the sleeping villagers, and for a moment, screams, cries, dogs barking and rooster cries were chaotic. Those terrifying monsters jumped from the air at a very fast speed, scratching and biting people when they saw them, devouring them alive, and spit out fireballs from their mouths from time to time, and soon the whole village was plunged into a sea of fire. It was a terrible scene!"

Everyone present looked at each other, some looked frightened, some seemed to be watching the excitement, and suddenly heard the crowd shouting, "Sir, what happened then?"

The old storyteller looked at everyone's anxious appearance, smiled knowingly, and said without hurry: "At this time, there is an unknown object like a meteor in the distance that quickly crosses the mountains, leaving a red line behind that has not yet dissipated, and there is a faint flash of stars at the tail. ”

"It turned out that the meteor-like object was actually a red flying sword, and the body of the sword was red throughout. On the sword stood a middle-aged man, illuminated by the light of the sword. I saw him wearing a jade crown on his head, wearing a silver robe with gold trim, and he was as noble as a fairy. ”

He said that when he returned to Weipo Village, there was a sea of fire, and it was about to burn out. Those ferocious monsters were stunned for a moment when they saw a middle-aged swordsman floating around, and immediately smelled the breath of a living person and rushed towards the middle-aged swordsman. ”

But when I saw the middle-aged swordsman offering a long sword on his back, the sword light was great. The middle-aged swordsman's left hand was like pinching a flower finger, and there were words in his mouth, and his right hand used the sword to pull a sword flower and slashed at several monsters that rushed in, and the condensed sword qi spread out in an arc, with a wide range, and there was a lightning-like strong light attached to the sword qi, directly hitting the monster's vital point, only to hear the sizzling sound after hitting the 'crackle' explosion, the monster was immediately shattered. ”

At this time, all the monsters attacked it, and the middle-aged swordsman rushed into the group of monsters with a quick move, and jumped into the air with a backhand is a sword swing, and the sword shadow is chaotic. Before he could see clearly, the head of a monster fell. Those monsters were already fangs and claws in anger, but the middle-aged swordsman was agile and powerful. Under the light and shadow of a few sword moves, the monsters fell to the ground one after another, turning into a cloud of black gas and disappearing. ”

The middle-aged swordsman put away his long sword, looked at the scene in front of him, but a sad look flashed on his face, and then he silently recited the sword trick, summoned a red flying sword, and walked away with the sword......"

After speaking, everyone applauded, and at this time, a chivalrous man in the field stood up and said to the old man: "Is the gentleman telling the story in the book, or is it true?"

The old storyteller smiled and said yes.

"I know that it is the master of that side, and I, Zhang Tieshan, want to meet this chivalrous man. The big man named Zhang Tieshan shouted.

"Haha!"

The old man shook his head helplessly and smiled: "This guest officer seems to be also a chivalrous person, that master rarely walks around in the world, it is said that he is a disciple of the great sect of cultivation on the 'Yunhua Mountain', if you want to see him, you might as well go up the mountain to meet him!"

"Oops......"

A boy of twelve or thirteen years old was hit by a "pop" and grinned. He turned his head to see that it was a strong man with a big belly and stubble on his face, staring at him viciously, and the man looked like a middle-aged butcher.

The young man lying outside the window of the inn touched the painful brain seeds with his hand, glanced at him with a smile, and turned his head with a smile and said, "Uncle, you will become stupid if you knock on my head every day, do you know no!"

The middle-aged butcher crossed his hands and hugged his chest and said angrily: "Come and help me marinate pork, the cured meat in the inn is almost gone, otherwise the shopkeeper will go crazy, stinky boy, every day you know hiding outside the window and eavesdropping on the news, what have you learned?"

The young man didn't argue with him, he shook his head seriously and thought: "There are a lot of things to learn, no! Just now the old gentleman told a wonderful story about killing demons and subduing demons, and I want to be a hero when I grow up, hoe the strong and help the weak, and defeat the evil spirit!" After finishing speaking, the young man left the window and patted the dust on his body, with a smug look on his face.

"Hey, hey, the little kid daydreams every day, not everyone can be a hero, you still obediently inherit my stunts, kill every pig, so that I haven't raised you for a few years. The middle-aged butcher said with a somewhat ridiculous expression.

“......”

The young man was speechless, muttering in his heart that this beautiful dream in his heart had just sprouted, and he was poured a basin of cold water by a butcher, so he cursed a few words in a vague whisper.

"What are you still muttering, why don't you go soon!" said the middle-aged butcher a little angrily.

The clever young man was still stupidly waiting for him to scold, and he had already disappeared in the eyes of the middle-aged butcher.

At night, the soft moonlight sprinkled in the courtyard, and in the humble thatched hut, a few pillars of light sparsely sprinkled above the leaky roof. The light hit the young man's immature cheeks during the day, and suddenly his dark skin appeared much whiter.

He lay quietly on the bed, his head in his hands, and looked at the roof with big bright eyes thinking thoughtfully.

Outside the house, the sound of sharpening knives sounded at some point, and the young man did not feel sleepy, so he rolled out of bed and pushed the door and walked out.

There was a bent back on the edge of the firewood room opposite, and I saw that the man picked up the sharp pig-killing knife in his hand and kept sharpening the knife back and forth, under the reflection of the moonlight, the knife would flash brightly from time to time. This man is not in the daytime, but who is the middle-aged butcher?

The young man, a little tired, walked slowly over and sat down on the small stone bench beside him.

"Stinky boy, what's the matter, can't you sleep?" The middle-aged butcher didn't look at him, stopped what he was doing for a while, and then picked up the small wine bottle on the stone table and took a few mouthfuls of urns.

The young man looked a little impatient and muttered, "Uncle, if you don't sleep at night and get up to sharpen your knife, you will make a noise to me, of course you can't sleep!"

"Oh!"

The middle-aged butcher hesitated for a moment, and then said with some dissatisfaction: "You think I want to work, the guy at the inn said that he will kill a few more pigs tomorrow morning, no! ”

At this time, the middle-aged butcher did not look as fierce and vicious as during the day, but was a little more peaceful, although the light was dim, and he could see that the butcher's eyes showed an inexplicable look of love.

The boy raised his head, looked at him with bright eyes, and saw that the middle-aged butcher had sat down, so he got up and walked behind him, and beat him on the back.

The young man said in a concerned tone, "Uncle, is your back more comfortable?"

The middle-aged butcher was very satisfied, and smiled: "Well, my problem can't get better in this life, your kid is getting more and more skilled, and now he is much more comfortable." ”

"Of course, I learned from Wang A-Niang in the inn these days!" replied the young man proudly.

The middle-aged butcher picked up his favorite wine again, took a few more sips, and smacked his lips with his mouth after drinking, as if he was very dissatisfied with the taste, and shook his head.

He sighed: "Although this wine is good, it can't compare to the "Hongchen Smile" that has been buried in our inn for a hundred years, if you can take a sip, how good it would be......"

The middle-aged butcher turned his back to the young man, only to hear the young man beating his back behind him laughing: "Uncle, when I grow up and make money, I must buy the best wine for you to drink, don't say 'Hongchen Xiao', even the most expensive wine in the world will be brought to you, it can be regarded as repaying your life-saving grace!"

The middle-aged butcher was dissatisfied after hearing this, and scolded angrily: "Stinky boy, I'm waiting for you to send me to the end of my old age, don't think about sending me away with a pot of wine, I won't agree!"

"Uncle is serious, then I'll fine a glass of wine to make amends, how!" After speaking, the young man stopped his movements, snatched the small wine bottle in the hands of the middle-aged butcher, and took a sip like an adult.

After the young man took a sip, the middle-aged butcher looked at his mixed face, his face became red after a while, and he seemed to be quite sober, and his appearance amused the middle-aged butcher at once.

The middle-aged butcher gave a thumbs up and praised: "Stinky boy, this time he didn't fall, it's good!"

Don't look at this young man's young age, he really doesn't dare to compliment his ability to drink, last year he was stubborn and had to have a drink with the middle-aged butcher, but he didn't expect a glass of wine to go down, so spicy that he grinned with his teeth, his face was red, and he fell asleep in the arms of the middle-aged butcher when he staggered.

The silent courtyard, the cold lonely moon hanging high, the dead of night, but there is a warm scene in the corner of the courtyard, so that this night is no longer dead and silent.

Speaking of the young man and the middle-aged butcher, although the life is noisy, the relationship between the two is like that of father and son.

The boy's parents died when he was a child, and a few years ago the middle-aged butcher picked him up in a snowy wilderness, so that he had a home from then on.

Haiyun Inn is as prosperous as ever, these days even to the point of not being able to vacate the house, many travelers have money and can't live in a good house, so they have to beg to stay in other homes. Although other restaurants are okay, it is indeed a lot worse than Haiyun Tower, which has one of the reputations of "Cangyue Fourth Floor" in the city.

It stands to reason that the wages of the guys in the inn should have risen, and after they are busy, some people will inevitably complain. Because of the long hours of work, the guys who do chores in the backyard are listless and lazy.

One day, a few men in the stable complained while feeding the horses grass, talking about how black-hearted the shopkeeper was, and deducting wages, not understanding their hard work, and so on......

A small figure had been hiding by the stable for some time, and overheard the conversation between the men, and this person was none other than the boy who had been drinking that night.

The young man thought in his heart that his uncle was also working so hard every day, and it was estimated that the salary was not much. Although he helps take care of some small affairs, he doesn't seem to be able to help much, and he hasn't been paid yet, at most he is a poor boy who eats and drinks.

He knew that his uncle had a good sip of wine on weekdays, but he could buy good wine for his meager salary, and wine was his uncle's life.

At night, the cool breeze is blowing, and the coolness of the night is even more loved, and the workers in the inn can sleep peacefully after a busy day.

In the backyard of the inn, in the old thatched house, the boy lay on the bed and tossed and turned but couldn't sleep, what was the reason, I was afraid to see the middle-aged butcher who was sleeping very deeply and snoring loudly next to him, plus the boy also had his own little care, and he was even more sleepless.

Thinking that his uncle has been coveting the "Hongchen smile" in the inn for a long time. He knew that in the inn, the only thing that people could do was to keep their duties and work hard, and they dared to have other ideas.

So, he had a plan, and he decided tonight that he was going to do something big that he had never done before.

Speaking of this "Hongchen Smile", this wine is well-known in Cangyue City, and it is also a treasured wine of Haiyun Inn and a signature wine. Therefore, it has attracted people in the rivers and lakes one after another, and even the literati and ink writers have sought after each other.

In the backyard of the inn, the houses are scattered, and from the rows of houses to the north and behind are several small houses that are basically closed. It's a secluded place, and very few people linger here, so it's obviously the inn's storeroom.

Under the clear light of the moonlight, the night was deep at this moment, and I only saw a young man tiptoeing, probing his brain and trying to move forward......

The boy was agile and cautious, holding a rope and a hook in his hands. When he came to a corner of the wall, he shook his head and watched the silence, he picked up the hook with one hand, and one end of the hook was tied by a rope, and when he threw out the hook several times and finally hooked it on the wall, he rolled up his sleeves and began to climb up the wall......

As it was the first time, the boy seemed a little anxious and worried, and it seemed that it took a lot of effort to climb the wall almost one person high.

At this time, the young man showed a smug smile on his face, he checked whether the rope was stable and proper, just as he grasped the rope and was about to hang down, not far away faintly heard the rapid sound of footsteps, he immediately broke out in a cold sweat on his forehead, thinking that he had been discovered, so frightened that he fell heavily into the grass under the wall, and the pain was so painful that he touched his buttocks, bared his teeth, and almost screamed.

The young man secretly said angrily in his heart: Fortunately, it is not very high, otherwise this little life wine was not stolen, but it was in vain, it turned out that he came to steal wine.

He slowly got up, squinted in pain, looked around, found a place with a few small trees to hide, and looked around quietly.

The young man didn't know where the wine was, but when he saw the rooms in front of him, they were tightly closed, thinking that the wine "Hongchen Xiao" should be here. When he saw that there was no one around, he was ready to emerge from the bushes.

Suddenly, the hurried footsteps he had heard began to sound again, and as he drew closer and closer to him, someone walked briskly into the courtyard. He almost stepped out, but fortunately he hurriedly squatted down, looking at his frightened face, it must have been the first time he had done such a thing, which made him feel weak and afraid.

Fortunately, he was not discovered, and the boy hid in the bushes in horror and watched the movement ahead.

I saw that there were as many as four or five people coming, and a slightly chubby man in a luxurious robe, seeing that he looked serious and extremely nervous, hurried to the other side of the house, and there must be something unsightly to be so sneaky.

The young man looked at it, who else could this be their shopkeeper?

The four people behind him were naturally the guards of the courtyard, they looked strong and powerful, but they all had gray linen bags more than one person long on their shoulders, and they couldn't see what was in them, and they followed the shopkeeper and quickly entered one of the doors of the rooms.

At this time, the young man felt that his back was covered by a big hand, and his body trembled, and he turned his head to look at it in a panic!

"Uncle...... Why are you, you're going to scare me to death!" the young man said softly with a long sigh of relief.

It turned out that the middle-aged butcher had followed the young man at some point, and he said softly, "Shh...... Be quiet, or we'll both have to roll up and leave if we are discovered!"

The young man shook his head a little depressed helplessly, but he just glanced at the middle-aged butcher and didn't say anything more.

The two of them stayed quietly in the bushes for a long time, and both looked at the other side of the house at the same time, and strangely enough, there was no light in the house, and after these people went in, they seemed to disappear, and there was no movement at all.

"Stinky boy, I found out that the shopkeeper is sneaky in the past few days, he must have done something bad, but I didn't expect us to bump into him tonight. The middle-aged butcher whispered to the young man.

The young man touched his head with his hand, his face was a little curious, and he said suspiciously: "Uncle, why don't we go in and have a look!"

"Fool, this is not something we can control, maybe our little life will be lost, let's leave quickly!" the middle-aged butcher was about to pull up the young man and want to leave......

But the middle-aged butcher didn't seem to listen to what the young man said, the young man always opposed him on weekdays, and seeing his serious appearance, he naturally wouldn't listen to him at this time.

I don't know if it was some kind of thought or curiosity, so the young man rushed out of the bushes and went straight to the house where the people had just entered......

Seeing that it was irretrievable, the middle-aged butcher shook his head and spread his hands to show that he had no choice but to follow him.