I walked in the snow for another three days.

Zhou Jiujian and Liu Yue, after descending Qingyun Mountain, took several days and finally arrived at the first border town. The walls of this city are no more than two feet high, and most of the guards are old, weak, sick and disabled, two or three people are sick and folded their hands under the city gate, trying to curl up in the shabby cotton jacket to find more warmth, and those spears that should not leave their hands for a moment are also too cold because they are disgusted to hold, so they put them aside and ignore them.

Inside and outside the city gate, from time to time, there were pedestrians coming in and out, and there was no one who went to check and inspect these guards, and the young men and girls entered the city, but they only let them look at it twice, and nothing else.

This scene will probably only appear in these small city-states north of Daze that have taken refuge in Houchu early, been sheltered, and enjoyed a long period of peace and stability. In their eyes, every person who enters and leaves the city may also be a dish sent by the enemy, if they can't show a customs clearance document, or that person looks like a thief, not like a serious person, regardless of 3721, they will be arrested first, and then they will be thrown into the prison and locked up for ten days and half a month, but they hold a kind of "rather kill the wrong than let go" point of view.

However, in such a place of chaos and war, it is really helpless and understandable, and in the end, it is also for the sake of a country's security.

This comfortable border town, called "Shangyang City", is located in the north of Daze Xiaofanchuan territory, a small city, but it is one of the three major cities in the East Win Country, the streets and alleys in the city, from north to south, is not actually prosperous, but the young Zhou Jiujian is very familiar, especially, a small food shop in the city.

......

A rare warm day in winter passed through the gap between the clouds and fell on the white tiles of the eaves. In the alley, there are three or two children playing and playing, last night the snow covered the whole alley, in order not to hinder the access, this morning someone has swept away the snow, piled up at the end of the alley, and this is just the intention of those naughty children, happily run to the edge of the snowdrift, pick up a hand of snow, put it together, make a ball, and then take advantage of the playmate's inattention, the snowball in the hand to their face, not light or heavy, but just enough to make the snowball on the face of the little partner "bloom", a look of embarrassment, hee-hee-haha.

The little friend was thrown in the face by a snowball, so naturally he would not sit still, and quickly fought back violently. For a while, in the alley, the two sides fought fiercely, and snowballs flew one after another, like a bow and crossbow, and the scene was not intense. When the "generals" on both sides were in the middle of a fierce battle, when they reached the realm of "invincible selflessness", the "bow and crossbow" in their hands suddenly lost their accuracy and threw it too high, which was supposed to greet the face of the "enemy general", but unexpectedly flew over the low wall of the alley and smashed on a middle-aged woman with a fierce face who happened to come out of the wooden house inside.

The woman was suddenly attacked, and when she looked out, she saw those naughty children, and she ran up with a lot of anger all over her body, and saw that her eyes were round, her square face was flushed, and her hands were thrust into her bucket thick waist, and for a while she looked like a villainous yaksha, and then there was a word by word, and the imposing Hedong lion roared and shouted: "Ruan!

The child who had made the mistake stuck out his tongue and said with a look of horror: "It's over, it's over, the dominatrix is coming!"

Before he could finish speaking, he and his friends had already slipped outside!

"You guys, stop for me!" the middle-aged woman behind her chased out the door of her yard and shouted at them. But how could these children be so stupid as to really stop and go back? None of them looked back, and ran to the mouth of the alley in the blink of an eye.

At the mouth of the alley, between the day, a white smoke suddenly rose, and then there was a burst of fragrant food.

Several children who ran out of the alley suddenly stopped, and the one who took the lead was named Ruan Xiaohu, who looked quite shrewd and cute, and greeted the busy figure familiarly: "Lao Hong, it's open for business today!"

This is a small food shop, there is neither a signboard nor a façade, just a shed set up on the edge of the alley, used to shelter from the wind and rain, there are five or six small square tables below, and then some small low stools are placed compactly, and then on the side, there are some bamboo cabinet stove food baskets, on which nothing more than pots and pans and all kinds of condiments and dishes, two large pots, steaming, which is also fragrant.

The middle-aged man who was called "Lao Hong" by the child, with a simple appearance, a strong figure, and a greasy apron, was the owner of this small shop, and he also shouldered the role of the shopkeeper.

Although the shop is small and extremely simple, there are not many customers who patronize it, and the square tables and small stools placed under the shed are all full, but even so, there are still many people waiting in line here, even if there is no place, there are also people who plan to buy them and take them back to their homes.

It is because Lao Hong is very busy now.

The middle-aged boss heard the child's greeting, took a leisurely look, and said with a hearty smile: "Yo, isn't this a little tiger, what's the trouble this time?"

Ruan Xiaohu frowned two slightly thin eyebrows, his expression was extremely cute, and he said angrily: "Lao Hong, you are really unrighteous when you say this, we are brothers who worship the son, and now that I am in trouble, shouldn't you stand up and carry it for me!"

Lao Hong couldn't laugh or cry, I really don't know where this kid learned these things at a young age, and why are his brothers all this mess...... The learned old gentleman Hou in the Chengnan Private School, who has a decent and rigorous style on weekdays, naturally won't teach these things, and I don't know what this little guy has seen, so he had to smile and perfunctory: "Oh, this can't be done, you see my thin arms and legs, how useless, if I come forward, I'm afraid it will only affect you, no, it seems that I can only present you with a bowl of tofu to talk about my heart!"

Lao Hong's shop has been open for ten years, and in the past ten years, he has done nothing else but to make a signboard, called: Messy stewed tofu boiled.

In the past ten years, the name of the small shop, no one knows, no one knows, inside and outside the sun, full of fragrance.

After listening to Lao Hong's words, the other friends had their eyes widened, and they were all over the place, but they saw that Ruan Xiaohu was still frowning, his eyes rolled, he thought about it, and then waved his hand in an old way, and said: "Forget it, Lao Hong, although your tofu is delicious, but I am still tired of eating, it is better for you to boil that bowl of tofu and convert it into copper coins for me, I will go to the street to see if there are sugar gourds or hawthorns for sale, I will buy some to relieve the greasy, and come back and patronize your business here." ”

When Lao Hong heard this, he laughed angrily, okay, the little guy is a big ghost, and he actually thinks about the white wolf with empty gloves, not to mention any sugar gourd, this winter, where did the hawthorn fruit come from, and hurriedly waved his hand to send the child: "Go and go, don't learn well at a young age, be careful to let your mother or your old gentleman know, smoke your board, okay, while playing." ”

Ruan Xiaohu grimaced at Lao Hong with an angry face, and then ran away with his friends to play in the distance.

Lao Hong looked at a few small figures, shook his head, and said with a smile: "It's really worrying." ”

Immediately, it began to be busy cooking again. It is not easy to make a "messy stewed tofu boil", not only depends on the sauce and condiments and exclusive secret recipes, but also depends on the heat, looks at the technique, etc., many details must be taken care of one by one, and there can be no mistakes. In the past ten years, there have been a lot of other stores in Shangyang City, such as "Stewed Tofu", "Tofu Boiled in a Pot", "Exclusive Tofu Boiled", etc., just like a new star rising, and like a meteor disappearing in a blink of an eye, ups and downs, dazzling, but only Lao Hong and his small shop have been firmly rooted in the alleys and alleys of the city, and gradually rooted in the hearts of the people.

Among the many customers in the small shop, most of them are old customers who have been here for many years, but there are two people, at a glance, it makes people feel different, not only the faces, but the temperament of the two, but also with the ordinary people around, there are some subtle differences, it seems, it seems that there is a little more dusty taste in it.

Behave as usual, but everywhere as usual.

A pair of teenagers and girls, just sitting there, attracted the eyes of the people around them, but just looking at the temperament of the behavior, they really couldn't see anything for a while, but the appearance was the focus of their attention.

Zhou Jiujian's appearance is mediocre, naturally he is not very handsome, at most he can only be summed up by the word "upright", so the eyes around him, most of the people who pay attention, must only be the girl who is sitting opposite and has outstanding beauty.

Liu Yue rarely talks to people, because her temperament has always been cold, which makes her beautiful face seem to be covered with a layer of frost all year round, although Yanli is expressionless, but looking at it like this, it still adds a few different cold charms to her.

Now the girl is getting older, a year older than the teenager, her figure is also developing with age, and now the figure is also quite exquisite, the two small hills on the chest have also been quite popular, the upper and lower two key parts are going hand in hand, it seems particularly concave and convex, a pair of slender legs, when standing more than her body is tall, compared with the teenager's box, it seems to be half a head higher than the teenager.

Such a posture and appearance, but also with the slightest wisps of cold temperament, has already made many livestock salivate, if on the road accidentally met some people who do not know the height of the sky, only care about the flowers and ask the willow brothers, let them take a look, I am afraid that they will ignore it, and use all means to get such a beauty to bed.

However, after all, it is just an infatuation, under the girl's moving figure, there is still her identity that cannot be ignored: a swordsman!

Just such an identity completely cut off the thoughts of many ordinary people with little ability.

For the girl's appearance, compared to the many different colors of the people around him, the young man didn't react much, maybe because he had been with the girl for several days, and he was already very familiar with Liu Yue's appearance, or the young man was still quite late in maturing in terms of men and women, even if Hu Qingluan showed him naked favor before, Zhou Jiujian still dodged and didn't have a positive answer, and now, for the girl in front of him, he was more aware of it than Hu Qingluan at that time.

Even, in Zhou Jiujian's eyes at this moment, the Qingyan girl was not as tempting as the big bowl of fragrant stewed tofu in front of her.

You know, since the young man has been on Qingyun Mountain for ten years, he has already opened the valley, as long as there is aura in heaven and earth, then for the mundane food in the world, it is basically edible or not, if it is discussed, there may still be some impurities and turbidity, which is not conducive to cultivation, and it can only be satisfied with its own appetite.

The young man can't manage so much at the moment, and he has been in the mountains for several months, but he is really suffocated, looking at the bowl in front of him, which is full of weight, and it is also fragrant and tempting, so that he misses the tofu boiled incomparably, he can't help it anymore, regardless of the appearance of eating, and feasts happily.

Liu Yue also ate it, but compared to Zhou Jiujian's big bowl with a deliberately added amount, her bowl of tofu was much less. And the girl eats very slowly, especially reserved, chewing slowly one bite at a time, every move, but showing elegant temperament. Because this tofu is boiled with some spicy, the girl doesn't seem to be used to eating, and it didn't take long to see some sweat stains on her smooth forehead, Liu Yue brushed her forehead hair from time to time, but did not stop the dishes and chopsticks, although it is a little spicy, but under this small flaw, it is extremely delicious!

Unexpectedly, the thing called "Messy Stewed Tofu Boiled" that Jiujian brought her to eat was so delicious!

The girl couldn't help but glance up at the young man, Zhou Jiujian was eating to her heart's content, but suddenly felt what seemed to be a gaze from the opposite side, and when she looked up, she happened to meet Liu Yue's gaze. Seeing the light in her eyes and pondering for a while, Zhou Jiujian grinned and said, "How is it, it's delicious!"

Liu Yue nodded implicitly.

Zhou Jiujian smiled and said, "Let me tell you, when I first came to this Shangyang City and tasted the taste of this tofu boiling, I was hungry to death, and I ate nine bowls in one go!"

A sentence suddenly came from the young man's ear: "It's wrong, it's eight bowls!"

"What eight bowls, nine bowls!" said the young man without thinking, and was suddenly stunned.

Who?

The two turned their eyes together, but it was the boss Lao Hong, who saw him smiling, holding a plate of sliced and cut sauce beef in his hand, and placing it in front of the table for the two.

Lao Hong was not polite, after putting down the sauce beef, just taking advantage of the fact that there were few people now, he found a small stool from the side, sat down, glanced at Liu Yue, and then looked at Zhou Jiujian, and quipped: "What, how long has it been, and it has been changed again?"

"Huh?" The young man really didn't understand what Lao Hong meant, "Uncle Xuanyuan, what are you talking about?"

Lao Hong was so angry, I don't know if the young man is pretending to be stupid, so he had to point at Liu Yue and signaled: "Last time, you kid, didn't you cook the tofu that this girl ate in my shop?"

The young man suddenly realized that the last time he came with Hu Qingluan.

He looked at Lao Hong, then at Liu Yue, and found that the eyes of both of them were looking at him, he was stunned, and suddenly thought, by the way, the two of them don't know each other.

"Well, this is Liu Yue, my new friend. ”

By the way, the young man told Liu Yueting, the boss he had known for a long time.

"Well, Jiujian, what about the Hu girl before?" asked Lao Hong.

"Home. Zhou Jiujian replied.

"Go home, did you kid do something to annoy the little girl and make them angry?"

Zhou Jiujian thought about it carefully, it didn't seem that he had done anything that he shouldn't have done, which made Hu Qingluan unhappy, right?

The boy shook his head and said, "No." ”

Lao Hong looked at him suspiciously.

"Xuanyuan Hong?" Liu Yue suddenly said in a voice.

"Huh?" Lao Hong turned his head to look at the girl, and smiled very honestly and innocently, "What's wrong?"

Liu Yue looked at him and said softly: "This surname is rare." ”

Lao Hong looked curious: "Really?"

The girl nodded, but said no more.

The previous childish boy Ruan Xiaohu called the boss "Lao Hong", while Zhou Jiujian called him "Uncle Xuanyuan", and his full name was "Xuanyuan Hong".

Compound surname: Xuanyuan.

This surname is indeed rare, however, in Daze thousands of years ago, the Xuanyuan clan was known to everyone, just because the Xuanyuan clan at that time was a royal family, and it was also the only royal family of Daze.

Exactly the opposite of today, a thousand years ago, the vast continent north of Daze, the countries were at war, and it was even more chaotic than the place where Daze is fighting today. When the way of the sword did not come out, hundreds of schools of thought on the mountain contended, and the three schools of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism were competing in Dongzhou, and the situation was even more treacherous and unclear than now, just like in a pond of turbid fish ponds, there were fish, shrimp, turtles and turtles, devouring each other, entangled.

The Xuanyuan clan created a miracle Qinglong Dynasty in Daze, unifying the territory of tens of thousands of miles in Daze, and has been standing for more than 500 years.

From the heyday to the decline and division five hundred years later, leading to the emergence of chaos in Daze today, disputes among small countries in Daze, and the decline of the Qinglong Dynasty and the Xuanyuan clan, the Later Chu Xiang clan, the Han Liu clan, and the Gao clan of the Great Qi were only three powerful gate valves.

The Xuanyuan clan thousands of years ago was particularly brilliant, even five hundred years ago, even if it was a dragon and a sick tiger, it was still powerful, and no one dared to offend. However, since the split of the Qinglong Dynasty five hundred years ago, the Xuanyuan clan seems to have disappeared in Daze extremely strangely, for five hundred years, no one knows, and the girl is also because of a certain ancient book that has been read, only to know, is to suddenly hear the surname of Lao Hong, only a little confused.

However, presumably, Lao Hong, the owner of a small food shop, has been operating diligently and diligently for ten years, so it is impossible for him to have anything to do with the Xuanyuan family that has long disappeared Daze, right?

The remnants of the declining dynasty, in order to prevent accidents, but also to continue the bloodline inheritance of future generations, often leave a back road when they are at their peak, and they must have begun to carefully layout early after many plans, and all aspects are thoughtful, and even worry-free in the future, it is impossible to only care about eating, drinking, and enjoying themselves, and being comfortable, right? If that is the case, it is really stupid, and the Qinglong Dynasty is unlikely to last for five hundred years.

Think about it, if the children of the Xuanyuan clan of the Qinglong Dynasty are down, even if the branches and leaves of the side line are not related to the bloodline, they will not be such a small shop owner, working hard all day long, and declining.

......

The girl quickly sorted out these thoughts, so she didn't plan to speak again.

Lao Hong had been waiting for Liu Yue's words, but he didn't expect her to just nod, so he ignored him, lifted the chopsticks again, and continued to chew slowly.

Lao Hong was stunned, and was suddenly put aside by the girl, saying no, not saying no, not saying no, his face was full of embarrassment, so he had to turn his head and look at Zhou Jiujian again, and said bluntly: "Boy, this time, where are you going?"

Zhou Jiujian was still chewing a piece of tofu in his mouth, and replied inarticulately: "Nan...... South. ”

"Go south?" When Lao Hong heard this, his expression suddenly changed slightly.

The young man saw Lao Hong's different color and couldn't help asking, "What's wrong?"

I saw Lao Honglian talking with a gesture, and said urgently: "I can't go, I can't go, now the Baizhu Mountain not far from the south gate is haunted! A few days ago, a group of merchants passed by there, and they were in trouble, and more than a dozen people, even with four or five carriages and horses, all lost their traces. This thing can alarm the government, I thought it was a wind and snow lost, the day before yesterday also sent people into the mountains to look for people, unexpectedly, even those who went to look for people also fell into a place where there is no return, this time, the city can be blown up, and the people are panicked. ”

When Zhou Jiujian heard this, he was a little surprised: "Is there anything else going on?" Uncle Xuanyuan, are you sure it's not a troublemaker, in this snowy weather, the path cutting cockroaches have come and gone without a trace?"

Liu Yue also put down her chopsticks at this time and listened carefully.

Lao Hong shook his head, and said with great conviction: "It must be haunted! Yesterday, there was also a Taoist chief with high magic power in the city, who did a great ritual in the palace, saying that 'there are hanged evil ghosts in Baizhu Mountain, and there are water ghosts drowning in the river to step on the river on a snowy day, and the two ghosts are doing evil and causing trouble in the countryside', so I advise you two to wait in the city for a few days, and wait until the Taoist chief has expelled the two evil spirits, and then go south." ”

Zhou Jiujian and Liu Yue looked at each other, the land of Sword Continent, sword cultivation is everywhere, Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism are not prosperous, where did the Taoist and others with high mana come from?

There is a problem, there is a problem.

Between the mountains and rivers, it is inevitable to encounter demons and ghosts, and sword cultivators, if they are encountered, those who are not right-hearted, just go out with a sword.

And what is there to worry about?