The City of the Shadows.

This is a secular town, densely populated, densely populated, densely packed with rivers, intertwined with boats, extremely prosperous.

On the streets, there is a weaving of people, there are characters of three religions and nine streams, scholars, traders, samurai, artists, storytellers, and tricksters, you can see them everywhere.

When Chen Xi had just arrived in Yinhuang City, he felt a thick worldly aura rushing towards him, full of red dust, prosperous like a dream, and very different from the cultivation world.

"Qingfeng buns, Qingfeng buns that have just come out of the cage...... The ancestor used to work in the imperial dining room of the palace, and the grandfather had eaten steamed buns by the ancestor himself, and he was full of praise. ”

"Ladies and gentlemen, this feather fan is sewn by the first talented woman of Shuyulou, the words inscribed on the fan surface, from the hands of the Guozijian Yuan Lang Zhuang Wuyu, the lupine is fragrant, and the ink treasure is still full of rhyme, only sold for eighty gold, don't miss it when you pass by. "It's a vendor selling lupins, shouting.

"I saw the meditative immortal, embroidered a mouth, and spewed out a fairy sword, just like a white rainbow through the sun, the cold light was sassy, covering the sky and the sun, and it scared the old demon of the flower and willow, and he seemed to want to escape...... "In the teahouse, the storyteller is foaming at the mouth and telling the story.

"Ah, it turned out to be Brother Qingxian, do you want to go to Beijing to take the exam? I heard that the chief examiner of the Hanlin Academy is Lord Xiao Jinyu, this person has a strong temperament, an iron face and a selfless face, and his writing is strong, and he is most disgusted with flashy and unrealistic splendid articles. ”

"What Brother Feng Bao said is very true, my generation has been studying the sage book for ten years, in order to be the title of the gold list, famous all over the world, and after I pass the exam, I must go to the Falling Cloud Building, which is known as the first green building in the world, to have a meal of flower wine, and find the first prostitute to have a good time. ”

"Haha, when the title of the gold list is inscribed, the cave room spends candle nights, and the three proudest things in life are not exactly what my generation admires and yearns for? ”

On the street, two scholars wearing Confucian clothes and green shirts talked while walking, like a talent who entered Beijing to take the exam, full of longing and yearning for the future.

Looking at the scene in front of him and listening to the various voices on the street, Chen Xi's mood unconsciously became calm.

He strolls through the streets of the world, experiencing the joys, sorrows, and sorrows of ordinary people, watching them busy for a day's livelihood, and his heart is thoughtful.

This is the world, the red dust and turbid waves, all living beings shuttle in it, birth, old age, sickness and death, each with a destiny, although small and ordinary as ants, but endless, composed of this red dust, promote historical changes.

"Monks struggle under the way of heaven, working hard to obtain eternal life, ordinary people rise and fall in humanity, working for their own livelihoods, it is ridiculous that monk, despising mortals, thinking that they are high, and treating all beings as grasshoppers, but under the way of heaven, who is not a small grasshopper?"

"If you can stand on the Heavenly Dao in this life, will you be able to transcend all things?"

Chen Xi stopped in the endless secular red dust, looking at the sky, his thoughts were misty, and for the first time he had a strong urge to break the shackles and stand on the way of heaven.

He wanted to know what kind of scene he could see when he stepped on the Heavenly Dao under his feet.

"Big brother, do you want to buy a pair of straw sandals? ”

Next to the street where Chen Xi stopped, there was a middle-aged woman selling straw sandals, and next to her stood a little girl, short and thin, with dark skin and a dirty face, only a pair of big eyes that were dark and clear, bright as stars.

The little girl saw Chen Xi stop in front of his straw sandal stall for a long time, and thought that he had fallen in love with the straw sandals woven by his mother, so she hesitated again and again, but still mustered up the courage to ask softly.

"Big girl, don't talk too much!"

The middle-aged woman's face changed, and she reprimanded, Chen Xi's demeanor was not comparable to ordinary people at first glance, she was worried that her daughter would say this, but it would cause Chen Xi's unhappiness, and it would be troublesome.

"Mother, but we don't have enough money for medicine, what can we do about my brother's illness. The little girl lowered her head, her little hands twisted uneasily, and said weakly.

Chen Xi had woken up from his contemplation, and saw that the mother and daughter were sewn with patches, very shabby, obviously living a very poor life, very pitiful.

And in the stall in front of the mother and daughter, there are pairs of straw sandals, full of them, and you can see at a glance that they have not sold a pair.

At this time, it was already dusk, and if nothing else, it was impossible for their mother and daughter to have any income on this day.

"I want all these straw sandals. ”

Chen Xi moved his palm and handed a piece of silver to the middle-aged woman, "Take it and go home to see the child quickly." "This piece of silver is enough for a poor family to live in peace for many years.

"Ah, thank you Childe, thank you Child......" The middle-aged woman had a big silver ingot in her hand, and she couldn't help but be stunned, and then quickly thanked her, so excited that she was a little incoherent.

And Chen Xi has already left.

"Mother, have we met the immortals?"

Chen Xi disappeared all of a sudden, so that the little girl couldn't help but rub her eyes, thinking it was an illusion.

But when she looked for the past, she could no longer see Chen Xi's figure, only the silver ingot was still in her mother's hand, which made the little girl think that she had met the legendary fairy, and her big dark eyes were full of excitement.

......

Outside the Yin God's City, the ghost is desolate.

It's a gloomy place that everyone in the city talks about, and there are evil spirits that haunt it at night, and they are terrible enough to snatch people's hearts and eat people's lungs.

It is said that those evil ghosts were killed here when some rebellious ministers and thieves rebelled in the previous dynasty, and the violent corpses were all over the field, the blood flowed like a river, and the resentment did not disperse, and finally turned into evil ghosts.

For hundreds of years, almost no one dared to approach this haunted place, inaccessible and forbidden.

However, tonight, a tall and elegant figure came to a temple that had long been dilapidated on the barren ridge.

This temple, the four walls are collapsed, everywhere is dissatisfied with dust and cobwebs, and the statues of the gods in the temple are also blurred, broken, and have long collapsed, and it is impossible to see which gods are offered.

Thundered!

When night fell, black clouds covered the sky, and I couldn't see my fingers, and suddenly there was a muffled thunder, and the silver snake danced wildly, and the heavy rain poured down.

Thunder, lightning, torrential rain...... render this wilderness and ruined temple more and more eerie and terrifying.

Disheveled!

A wisp of fire suddenly rose, lit the dry wood gathered on the ground, and burned brightly, giving this gloomy ruined temple a little more warmth.

"One hundred and seven assessment tasks, now they have finally been completed, do the math, it has been more than a month since I left the sect, and there are less than seven days left before the peak exam......

The firelight flickered, reflecting on Chen Xi's handsome and resolute face, and his eyes swept over the black bead the size of a pigeon's egg in his hand, and then turned his hand and put it away.

This is the Ghost Soul Bead, which he obtained after killing an evil ghost in the Ghost Barren Ridge just now, it is not very precious, but it is a necessary material for refining a heaven-level spirit pill.

"Huh?"

At this moment, Chen Xi raised his eyebrows, as if he had discovered something, "This place is full of evil ghosts, ghosts and spirits, and the yin and resentment are extremely strong, and it is the middle of the night when the rain is pouring down and the thunder is tearing apart, how can anyone still come to ...... at this time"

"Hey, it's them. ”

Chen Xi's divine sense spread, and in an instant, he saw that at the foot of the barren mountain, a mother and daughter were braving the torrential rain and wind, walking towards the barren mountain, staggering, and their clothes were soaked, extremely embarrassed.

They are the pair of poor mothers and daughters who sell straw sandals for a living that Chen Xi saw in Yinhuang City.

"Strange, don't they know the sinister nature of this place......

Chen Xi frowned, feeling a little strange, ordinary people like them, coming here, it is almost like a sheep, after all, those evil ghosts do not distinguish between good and evil when they kill people.

"Mother, there's a fire here, let's go first to take shelter from the rain, and when the rain stops, let's go home overnight, okay?"

"It's okay, big girl, slow down and be careful of falling. ”

It didn't take long for the pair of mothers to come to the barren mountain, hurriedly walked towards the broken temple, pushed the door in, and when they saw Chen Xi next to the fire, both of them were stunned, as if they never expected to meet Chen Xi here.

"Let's sit down and have a fire. Chen Xi got up and looked at the mother and daughter who were drenched in soup and said.

"Thank you Childe, thank you Child......" The middle-aged woman thanked Chen Xi gratefully while helping the eldest girl wipe the rain on her body, repeating the same sentence, although there was some chatter, but it could be seen that she was a simple and kind woman.

Soon, Chen Xi learned that the mother and daughter lived in a village on the other side of the barren mountains, and there was originally another road leading directly to their village, but in order to hurry up and treat their son, they couldn't care about anything else, so they could only copy this shortcut and rush back overnight.

"Big brother, why are you here? This is a ghostly barren mountain, there are many evil ghosts, aren't you afraid?" the eldest girl raised her little head and asked Chen Xi.

"Since there are evil ghosts, why aren't you afraid?" Chen Xi asked with a smile.

"I'm afraid, but my mother and I have to go home to decoct medicine for my brother, he is very sick, my mother and I are so worried that we can only go home overnight. The big girl said with a grin.

Chen Xi looked at the smile squeezed out of the little girl's dark little face, and suddenly froze, with a trace of speechless emotion and shock in his heart.

This is just a five or six-year-old child, and in order to treat his younger brother, he can forget even his fear, and even put his own life at risk......

What kind of relationship can make her so brave and fearless?

"Big brother, this is a crane I helped you weave, you can see if you like it or not. The eldest girl suddenly said excitedly, she carefully opened the close-fitting pocket, fumbled for a long time, but only took out a handful of wet grass wool.

"The crane was squashed...... Big brother, I'm sorry. The big girl looked at the grass in her palm, a layer of tears welled up in her big eyes, and she whispered.

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PS: I've been in an extremely bad state lately, and I'm trying to adjust......