Since the last time Luo Yin escaped from the hands of the demons, he has been heading north.

On this day, the weather was unbearably hot, and he was walking on a low hill. The trees on this hill are a little sparse, and there is not much grass and trees, which does not bring much coolness to travelers under the scorching sun.

He looked up at the scorching sun in the sky, feeling the heat of this summer day and the scorching eyes of the sun. At this time, he was already soaked in sweat, and he could pinch out the water with a casual pinch.

The summer of this Chu country is really unbearable, although there is a breeze blowing from time to time, but it also carries bursts of heat, except for making people feel more hot and unbearable, there is no use in relieving the heat.

He endured the scorching heat and walked for a while, and saw a relatively tall tree in front of him, with dense branches and leaves, forming a small circle of shade under the tree. He was overjoyed, and quickly walked to the bottom of the tree, threw away the bookbasket and bag on his back, and sat down in the shade of the tree, enjoying the rare shade of this summer day.

He wiped the sweat from his head with his tattered sleeves, took out the water bag in the bookbasket and took a sip, and leaned against the tree with his eyes closed.

"This ghost weather is too hot, the whole thing can roast people, but fortunately there is a tree to rest on, otherwise heat stroke will be troublesome. Hey, I've been walking for three whole days, and I still haven't seen a single figure, let alone a market town or even a city, so if you go on like this, how can you inquire about the specific location of Qingyang Mountain!"

He felt helpless at this time, although he already knew that Qingyang Mountain was about five hundred miles to the north, but he didn't know exactly which one it was. If you can't find someone to ask for directions, you have to look for it mountain by mountain. But now it's July 16, and there is only half a month left before the agreed date, so it is very likely that you will miss the time if you blindly look for it.

I finally got to Lingshan County, but I didn't expect that finding the specific location of Qingyang Mountain has become the biggest problem, and I blame this damn war!

After resting under the tree for half an hour, and regaining some strength, he left the shade of the tree and began to march towards the top of the hill again.

After another half an hour, he finally reached the top of the mountain. At this time, he was surprised to see a lush forest at the bottom of the mountain, and there was a small wooden house on the edge of the woods. The houses in the mountains were ordinary, and he didn't know how many he encountered along the way, but unfortunately they were all uninhabited, and he couldn't even see a ghost.

However, this cottage was a little different, because there was a puff of cooking smoke wafting from his roof at this time.

It was a lonely wooden house standing on the edge of the woods, if it weren't for the smoke, Luo Yin would only have regarded it as an empty house abandoned by the countless fleeing people he met along the way.

"Finally I saw the crowd. He cheered, this road was empty and empty, and he felt a sense of loneliness in his heart from time to time, and now that he finally saw someone, how could he not be excited or excited.

He hurried down the hill and soon came to the hut. I saw that the door of the wooden house was closed, and I couldn't see the inside at all.

"Is anyone here?" he shouted.

In the small window of the wooden house, half of his face was revealed, staring at Luo Yin vigilantly, but he didn't say a word.

"Xiaosheng is a passing scholar, and if you want to go to Qingyang Mountain, do you know how to go?"

When that person heard Luo Yin's words, he still didn't mean to open the door, but he still said vigilantly: "Qingyang Mountain, I haven't heard of it, you go and ask others, going north through this forest is the county seat, and someone there may know." ”

When Luo Yin heard this, he was overjoyed in his heart, although he couldn't find out the location of Qingyang Mountain, but it was also an unexpected joy to learn where the county seat was, and there must be someone there who knew about Qingyang Mountain.

He thanked the man in the room, and quickened his pace towards the northern woods. The man stared at Luo Yin vigilantly, and he didn't relax a little until he walked into the woods.

After years of war in this Lingshan County, the people fled to death, and the only remaining people also lived in trembling, for fear that they would fly into trouble and die under the sword soldiers at some point. Therefore, the remnants of the people are vigilant, do not dare to trust outsiders at all, and will flee quickly at the slightest disturbance.

Luo Yin followed the direction of the man's guidance through the woods, looking for the location of Lingshan Juncheng. When he came out of the woods a day later, he saw a towering city in the distance, towering over the northern wilderness.

Beneath the walls of the city is a wide moat, about two feet wide and sparkling, with only one drawbridge leading to the city. The traces of sword fire around the city wall show that the city has just been tested by a war.

Because of the war, the city was full of rumors and soldiers, and the gate was locked, except for a ear gate under the city wall for people to walk into.

Luo Yin walked on the empty road leading to the city gate, and there was not a single pedestrian around except him.

When he came to the ear door, he saw several sergeants looking at him with wary expressions. One of the sergeants raised his spear horizontally and shouted, "What for?"

Luo Yin hurriedly said: "I am a scholar who has traveled to study, and I want to travel to the north from the south. ”

The sergeant glanced at Luo Yin and said suspiciously: "Scholar, he looks like a down-and-out beggar, which looks like a scholar, but more like a meticulous work!"

Luo Yin was directly startled, and kept explaining: "Xiaosheng came all the way from the south, and he suffered all the hardships along the way, so he became this down-and-out appearance, which is really not a meticulous work." General, please see, this is Xiaosheng's guide. ”

As he spoke, he put his hand into his arms, and then took out his things and put them in front of the sergeant guarding the door, only to see a small handful of copper coins on the palm of his hand, about a dozen or so.

When they saw the copper coin, the sergeants glanced at each other. The sergeant who checked Luo Yin stretched out his hand to take the copper coins, nodded and smiled: "Well, it is indeed a road guide issued by the government, it seems that you are really a scholar who is studying and is not a fine work, go in, don't make trouble in the city, otherwise the military law will be ruthless." ”

As soon as Luo Yin saw that his path guide was really effective, he smiled, and at the same time thanked the sergeant repeatedly.

Entering a city and giving a dozen copper coins is already a lot. Although it's not that I can't afford to give more, it's just that in these years of war and chaos, the disclosure of money may lead to death.

And the sergeants stopped examining him, and let him go straight into the city. The sergeant who collected the money watched Luo Yin walk away, swept the copper coin in his hand, and said to his companions: "Brothers, after the change of guard, let's go sell a pot of wine and have a few drinks." The other sergeants smiled and said yes.

After wandering around the city for a while, Luo Yin planned to find an inn to rest here. After searching for a while, I found an inn that said Fulai Inn. The road was dusty, and he was also very tired, so he didn't turn around much and walked in.

When I came to the counter, I saw a guy sitting in the back dozing off. Luo Yin gently knocked on the counter and woke him up from his sleep.

This little guy was woken up by a dozing boy, and glanced at Luo Yin with displeasure on his face, and then his face became even more ugly, and he waved his hand with disgust and said: "Go, go, stinky beggar, go while begging, our family has nothing to give to you." ”

Luo Yin smiled bitterly, didn't talk nonsense with him, took it out of his arms, and took out a piece of broken silver about five or six cents and put it on the counter.

When the little guy saw the white silver on the counter, his face changed instantly, and the disgust on his face dissipated and turned into a warm smile, "The guest officer has worked hard from afar, is he going to stay in the hotel?"

Luo Yin said: "Come to a single room, stay overnight, and then prepare a few good drinks and food for me to send to the room." ”

"Okay, the room has been chosen for you, please come with me. ”

As the little servant arrived in the backyard, he felt quite satisfied after looking at the room, and then sent the little maid to hurry up to prepare the wine and food.

After a while, the little guy knocked on the door and brought Luo Yin four dishes, one soup and a pot of water and wine.

Luo Yin smelled the aroma of the food, and the gluttonous insects in his stomach moved, and after the little guy left, he couldn't wait to start sweeping.

Since entering the war zone, he has not had a full meal or a single restful night's sleep. Now that I have finally found the county seat, if I don't have a good meal and a good night's sleep, how can I relieve the fatigue and hardships along the way.

After eating the meal and drinking the wine, he burped and patted his stomach and rested comfortably on the bed. After an hour, I had rested enough, and I remembered that I had to go to the city to buy clothes for my apprenticeship today before it was dark. So he took the book basket on his back, and left the inn, and went into the city to look for a clothing shop.

Although this Lingshan county town has been repeatedly attacked by wars recently, and most of the people and merchants in the city have fled to other places, some of them are still open. After turning around, I finally found one, and went into the shop to choose a cyan robe for myself.

After buying the clothes, he asked the shopkeeper of the clothes shop, "Shopkeeper, I want to ask you something, I wonder if you know where Qingyang Mountain is?"

The shopkeeper made a single business in this chaotic situation, and he was in a good mood, and when he heard the guest's questions, he naturally knew everything, "Qingyang Mountain? It's a pity that the situation has been unstable in the past few years, and the rebels have often attacked, so we don't dare to go out of the city easily. ”

When Luo Yin heard this, he was overjoyed, and he didn't expect that the first person to inquire would know the location of Qingyang Mountain, so he hurriedly asked: "Then I don't know where this Qingyang Mountain should go, and how far away is it?"

The shopkeeper thought for a while and said, "Starting from the north gate of the city, go all the way to the northeast, and there will be about a few dozen miles to go." This Qingyang Mountain is connected to the north gate of the county town by an official road, and you just need to walk along the official road all the way to get there. ”

Finally inquired about the specific location, and a smile appeared on the corner of Luo Yin's mouth. Dozens of miles can be walked in two days at most, which is already close at hand.

Then he then asked: "I just heard the shopkeeper say that I have been to Qingyang Mountain many times, I wonder if you know a Taoist temple called Qingyang Temple in the mountain?"