The next morning, Zhang Fan woke up from his sleep and found that he was sleeping on the bed, sore and soft, so he asked aloud: "Cuilian, how long have I been asleep?"

"Husband, are you awake, why don't you sleep for a while?" Cuilian's concerned voice came from outside the door, and then she moved gently into the bedroom.

Zhang Fan saw his wife come to the room and said, "Cuilian, thank you for your hard work." I fell asleep before I knew it, what time is it?"

Cuilian blushed and said softly, "Husband, you've been sleeping for a day. ”

When Zhang Fan heard this, he said in surprise: "Really, Cuilian, I was a little anxious yesterday, which made you worried." ”

Cuilian Qiao blushed, she saw that her husband didn't blame herself, her heart was extremely sweet, and she said with concern: "Husband, you are weak, get up and eat something." ”

Zhang Fan felt the empty stomach, smiled, didn't speak, got up, and followed Cuilian out.

At noon, outside the courtyard gate, Zhang Fan was saying goodbye to his wife.

Cuilian looked at her husband, who had already brought the package and got on the dark horse, she had already tears in her eyes, and whispered: "Husband, these few days are the monthly leave of the concubine, and the concubine may be pregnant with your flesh and blood, you must pay attention to safety when you go out this time, go early and return early." If you come back late, the child will not recognize you as a father. ”

Zhang Fan looked at the people in front of him, his heart was very sad, and he said in a deep voice: "Lian'er, don't worry, I will definitely go home for the New Year." ”

Cuilian burst into tears and smiled, and said, "Then the husband should go quickly, but please don't forget the concubine." ”

"Lian'er, I just forgot my surname, and I don't dare to forget you. You can go home in peace, I'll be back in a few days. After Zhang Fan finished speaking, he rode the black wind to the outside of the village, although he wanted to take another look at his wife's delicate face, but he couldn't help but look at it, and resolutely rode the black wind forward and galloped forward.

Outside the courtyard gate, Cuilian silently watched the back of her husband's departure, her eyes were hazy with tears.

Zhang Fan rode the black wind all the way, and did not return to Liangshanbo, but went out of the mountain.

The boundary of Liangshan Mountain, the mountains are high and the forests are dense, even if the sun is high, the jungle is still shady. Zhang Fan rode all the way in the mountains and forests, a huge tree trunk swept backwards, a birdsong gradually blurred, a few hours later finally saw a looming archway in front of him, on the book "ten miles of slope". He was overjoyed when he saw this, and shouted: "Ride!" and then one man and one horse rushed forward like a wisp of black wind.

Shilipo, on the street of the town, a few people are in a hurry, most of the rows of restaurants and shops on the side of the road are closed, and the yellow leaves flying in the distance are scattered on everyone at will, spreading a thick layer, like a yellow-green carpet, from time to time there is a dog barking from afar, slowly echoing in the empty street, enduring.

Zhang Fan saw that there was a restaurant called "Shilixiang" open in front of him, so he came to the door of the restaurant, got off the horse, but did not see Xiao'er come to greet him, so he bolted Heifeng to the dilapidated wooden door next to him, and then strode into the restaurant.

The shopkeeper of Shilixiang was sitting on a chair in the hall looking at the empty room in a daze, and suddenly saw a handsome young man in white robe with a strange black sword walking in, so he immediately got up and said hello: "This hero, what to eat?"

Originally, Zhang Fan looked at the lobby where the dozens of tables were placed, but there were no guests, and he was full of doubts in his heart, and when he heard the middle-aged boss asking, he said: "Shopkeeper, what's wrong with you here, why did I go all the way, the shop was closed, and there were few pedestrians on the street?"

When the shopkeeper heard this, his emaciated face showed helplessness and regret, and he said slowly: "Hero, you are from outside, and you don't know the situation of our Shilipo. A few months ago, a plague broke out in Shuoyue City, tens of thousands of people died in just a few days, the doctors were helpless, and for a time everyone was terrified, and they fled to the countryside for refuge, who knew that those who fled to the countryside also brought the demons to the countryside, and countless villages and towns and adults and children died innumerable. Our Shilipo was originally located near the main road connecting the Qi country to the northwest and the outside of the territory, and all year round, there was an endless stream of businessmen and people, and it was very lively. Over the years, people from other places and wealthy businessmen have settled in Shilipo, forming a prosperous town that stretches for several miles, so people call it Shilipo. It's a pity that there is a plague in Shuoyue City in the northwest this time, Shilipo is a place where pedestrians come and go frequently, and the disaster is severe, everyone dies, flees, hides, and does not dare to stay outside for a while. ”

When Zhang Fan heard this, he said, "Shopkeeper, why don't you flee here and take refuge elsewhere like them?"

When the middle-aged shopkeeper heard this, he looked embarrassed and said, "Hero, I want to go too." I was originally a buddy of Shilixiang, but before the old shopkeeper left, I asked me and a few guys to take good care of Shilixiang, but unfortunately the other two had died of illness, but I was lucky to survive. I saw that the store pù was in and out every day, and the old shopkeeper didn't leave me too much money, so I had no choice but to open the door to welcome customers. ”

"I see!" Zhang Fan sighed when he heard this, "Shopkeeper, has the plague stopped this time?" I just saw pedestrians on the street. ”

When the shopkeeper heard this, he smiled bitterly: "Hero, the plague is terrible, how can it stop." The people you see are people who have cultivated themselves. Ordinary people don't even have time to hide, how dare they stay on the streets. ”

Zhang Fan nodded when he heard this, and thought to himself: "Most of the pedestrians I met just now are practicing their muscles and cultivating their muscles, and they are indeed capable of resisting the plague. Although there are many merchants in these ten miles, the martial arts are not strong, and even tens of thousands of towns are not as good. As soon as those businessmen who hired high-level bodyguards fled, the cultivation of the remaining people was even lower. ”

Seeing that Zhang Fan had come back from his contemplation, the shopkeeper hurriedly asked: "Hero, you must be hungry all the way, what do you want to eat, the small one will be made for you." The shop has good wines, but the dishes are a little scarce. We can't buy most of the vegetables here because of the plague, and we only have some turnips except potatoes and beef, you see?"

Zhang Fan said with a smile: "Shopkeeper, since there are only these in the store, you can bring them to me." ”

"All right!" said the shopkeeper, who was overjoyed, and trotted to the kitchen.

Zhang Fan looked at the funny appearance of the guy who was the shopkeeper, a few smiles appeared on his handsome face, and then he came to a table and sat down and waited silently.

Not long after, the shopkeeper came into the hall with a large tray. He quickly put a jar of wine, six large bowls of vegetables, a small bowl of spices and a large bowl of rice on the table, and then said: "Use it slowly, if you want, just ask." With that, he went into the kitchen.

Zhang Fan smelled the aroma of wine coming from the jar, looked at the food in front of him, and found that the shopkeeper actually made six dishes of three kinds of dishes, each bowl was a lot, and thought: "This shopkeeper is really smart, I asked him to bring up all the dishes, and he made six big bowls, as if he was afraid that I would not be able to eat, but in fact, he wanted to charge more money for meals." But it's a good wine. Then he looked at the cooked beef slices, shredded radish, diced potatoes, beef stew with turnips, stir-fried beef with potatoes, and radish and potato soup, and thought that the workmanship was not bad, so he began to eat and drink.

At this time, a black-clothed warrior quietly walked in the door, and saw a white-robed young man in the hall was gobbling up food with his head down, and his stomach suddenly gurgled, so he hurriedly said: "Shopkeeper, shopkeeper, serve the food quickly!"

"It's coming!" a voice came from the kitchen, and then the shopkeeper who had just left came out of the kitchen and ran towards the warrior. He saw that the person who came was dressed in black, with fair skin, tied his hair in a bun, but his face showed a little tiredness, thinking that he was a warrior who had traveled for a long time, so he asked out loud: "Shaoxia, if you want to eat something, just order." ”

When the black-clothed warrior heard this, he smiled and said, "Shopkeeper, you can come to your store with the most expensive and best." ”

When the shopkeeper heard this, his face showed some embarrassment, and he said: "Shaoxia, the small shop hasn't bought too many ingredients recently, and now I can only provide you with a few dishes such as potato stew, pickled shredded radish and fried potato chips, you see?"

"The shopkeeper, just come up. The man in black smiled when he heard this, "I've never been a picky eater. As he spoke, his stomach rumbled again, and his fair face turned red at once.

Seeing this, the shopkeeper hurried into the kitchen to prepare.

When the man in black saw himself talking to the shopkeeper, the young man in white robe didn't even look at him, his face was a little ugly, his white palm rubbed slightly, and he came to the table where Zhang Fan was a little twisted, and said clearly: "This big brother, can I share the table with you?"

"Sit down. When Zhang Fan heard this, he said a word and continued to eat.

Seeing that the white-robed young man didn't look up at him, the man in black slowly moved to sit down opposite Zhang Fan, looked at the food on the table, pursed his lips, and said, "This eldest brother, junior brother Huang Xiaoqi." ”

"Oh. Zhang Fan replied casually, did not look up, and continued to eat.

"Big brother, you see that there are not many people inside and outside the street, it's really depressed. Do you know why?" the man in black said again when he saw that Zhang Fan still didn't look at him.

"I don't know. Zhang Fan was hungry, how could he have time to listen to his gossip, this time he also replied casually without looking up.

"Shaoxia, your meal is here. Where are you going to put it?" came the shopkeeper's voice.

The man in black was overjoyed when he heard this, immediately turned his head, and said in a clear voice: "The shopkeeper, just put it here, I will be at the same table with this eldest brother, and it will be more lively." ”

The shopkeeper replied, "Okay!" Then he quickly put three dishes, a bowl of rice and a small bowl of spices in front of the table of the man in black, and said: "Objective and slow use!" and then entered the kitchen.

The man in black looked at the three small dishes in front of him that were only one-third of the handsome young man in the white robe, the beef and potato pieces were cut bigger, and he pouted, and Xiao Sheng muttered: "This stinky shopkeeper actually looks down on me and serves me so little food? He saw that the white robe on the other side was still ignorant, and there was a hint of disappointment on his fair face, so he quickly picked up his chopsticks and ate it. All of a sudden, in the spacious lobby restaurant, only the soft sound of chopsticks hitting the dishes and the crisp sound of Zhang Fan and the two of them chewing food could be heard.

After a while, the food in front of the two of them was swept away. The man in black looked at the smooth saucer, pursed his lips, and saw that the man in white was drinking soup, so he turned around, took out a white embroidered brocade handkerchief, wiped his lips gently, and then put it into the black clothes and turned around.

At this time, Zhang Fan finished the meal, drank the soup almost completely, stood up, and said loudly: "Shopkeeper, settle the bill." ”

"Here we are!" the shopkeeper heard and immediately ran out of the kitchen.

As soon as the man in black turned around, he saw that the handsome young man had already stood up, so he immediately stood up and said with a smile: "Big brother, it's been a while since we said goodbye in a hurry last time, I didn't expect the little brother to meet you here, which really surprised the little brother." ”

Zhang Fan looked at the young man in black, smiled, didn't say anything, and saw the shopkeeper come to him, so he took out a silver ingot from his arms and handed it to the shopkeeper, saying, "Shopkeeper, this is the food money for the two of us." ”

The middle-aged shopkeeper was stunned when he heard this, then put it away and said, "Hero, please wait a moment, I'll go find you silver." After he finished speaking, he immediately ran to the back hall.

Zhang Fan looked at the young man opposite, and saw that he was seventeen or eighteen years old, dressed in a wide brocade black dress, with his hair tied in a bun, his face was white, and there were two small ear piercings on his ears, his lips were cherry red, he had no beard, he looked a little dusty and tired, and his eyes were a little dull, and he thought: "This person is really an unusual person, obviously a woman, but he wants to dress up as a man, dressed gorgeously but has no money for food." I'd better not provoke her, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble to myself. ”

The man in black saw the handsome young man in front of him looking at him for a while, and then looked at the other side, feeling a little lost and a little unwilling, and said loudly: "Big brother, you are also going out on a long journey? Big brother, do you know why there are so few people around here?"

Zhang Fan said lightly: "I just came, I don't know the situation here, you ask others to take a look." ”

"Oh. Huang Xiaoqi, the man in black, replied unwillingly, and then said, "Big brother, where are you going this time?"

Zhang Fan didn't want to talk to her, so he said lightly: "East." ”

"East?" The man in black showed a hint of helplessness on his face, and then said, "Big brother, I'm also going to the east, and we happen to be on the same road." ”

At this time, the shopkeeper hurriedly came out of the back hall, he came to Zhang Fan's side with a small wine jar, took out a few taels of silver from his arms, handed it to Zhang Fan, and said apologetically: "Hero, the silver you gave is too big, the small shop has a meager income recently, and I really can't find enough change, do you think I can use ten years of ten miles of incense to make up for the difference in silver taels?"

Zhang Fan smiled: "No problem. When the shopkeeper heard this, he said gratefully: "Thank you for your understanding, and the little one is grateful." Zhang Fan smiled and said, "Shopkeeper, farewell." Then he took the jar and a few taels of silver, and turned and walked out the door. Seeing this, the man in black hurried to follow.