Chapter 184: Orphaned

Out of the Xu family's mansion again, Shen Shi walked all the way to Nanbaofang in the south of Liuyun City, and when he passed the door of the Immortal Society shop on the lively long street, he glanced inside, a little hesitant, but finally shook his head and walked over, all the way to the Nantianmen Square at the end of the long street.

As in the past, Nantianmen, a place where scattered cultivators gather to set up stalls, is still crowded and noisy, and countless monks are arguing and debating here for a little profit or those various spiritual materials that are not known to be true or false, every time Shen Shi sees this scene, he often feels that from another angle, the so-called monks who are far above ordinary mortals are actually ordinary people, and they also have the seven emotions and six desires of ordinary people.

He walked through the crowd, looking aimless, looking no different from most of the monks walking around, and it wasn't long before he reached the middle of the bazaar, stopping at a familiar stall. Eight years ago, when he was still a teenager, he found an ordinary black jar in a stall here, and discovered the pure heart chapter of the demon clan's secret Yin Yang Mantra, which gave him a unique path of cultivation today.

Shen Shi turned his gaze and was suddenly stunned, but he saw that the person sitting on the stall at this moment was not the old man he had seen, but another middle-aged man who looked a little wrinkled. At the same time, the man saw Shen Shi stop in front of his stall, and immediately greeted enthusiastically: "This son, have you taken a fancy to my spiritual materials here, which one is it, you can choose it, my things are definitely good." ”

Shen Shi frowned, squatted down in front of his stall, and glanced directly at the piece of silk cloth in front of him, knowing that six or seven of the top ten items were fakes or inferior goods, and the remaining few genuine items were also common goods. He shook his head, naturally not having the slightest interest in these spiritual materials, but looked at the stall owner and said:

"Boss, let me ask, it turns out that this stall is not the old waiter, why is the other person gone?"

The man was stunned, obviously he didn't expect Shen Shi to ask about this, with a little suspicious, he glanced at Shen Shi, and said, "What are you looking for Lao Hou for?"

"You know him?"

The man nodded and said, "Well, it's kind of acquaintance." ”

Shen Shi was overjoyed in his heart, and hurriedly said, "Then do you know where he is now?"

The man hesitated for a moment, laughed, but shook his head, and said, "He seems to have not been here for a long time, and I don't remember it very well." ”

Shen Shi looked at him, the man said helplessly, but his eyes were a little dodgy and flickering, and after a while, Shen Shi sighed, took out a shining spirit crystal from the Ruyi bag on his waist, and threw it over.

The man reached out and directly grabbed the spirit crystal, and immediately smiled, and after taking a closer look at it in front of him, he smiled at Shen Shi and said:

"Xie Gongzi reward!"

※※※

When Shen Shi left Nantianmen, he already knew something about Lao Hou from that man's mouth, in fact, this man really didn't know Lao Hou's recent situation very well, because Lao Hou suddenly stopped coming to Nantianmen to set up stalls and sell spiritual materials a long time ago. But fortunately, in the past, this person has been setting up a stall in another stall near Lao Hou, so he is also a little familiar with Lao Hou, and he actually knows Lao Hou's usual address, basically that one spirit crystal bought this thing.

According to the address given by the man, Shen Shi walked all the way to the east of Liuyun City, that is, near the old mansion of the Hou family in the past. In fact, after Hou Sheng entered the Lingxiao Sect and became a personal disciple of Ning Yuan Realm, the father was more expensive than the son, and the status of Lao Hou in the Hou family was also improved, which was somewhat similar to Zhong Qingzhu in this regard, but the Hou family was not as defeated as the Zhong family, and there were many talented and handsome people in the door, so Lao Hou was not as beautiful as Zhong Qingzhu's mother.

It's just that the Hou family suddenly fell, and was divided up by other families who have passed down the inheritance from generation to generation, and Lao Hou was also forced to move out, and it was almost at that time that Lao Hou's life began to undergo unknown changes, although he was not implicated because of his estrangement from the Hou family, but he never went to Nantianmen to set up a stall, and few people saw him again.

Shen Shi walked along the street, stopped at the mouth of a small alley a hundred and ten zhang away from the once glorious mansion, and gently recalled and calculated in his heart, and found that Lao Hou's abnormal state should be shortly after the abnormal change in the Gaoling Mountains that day, that is, when he found that his only son Hou Sheng might never come back.

Shen Shi sighed in his heart and walked into this alley. This alley is on the edge of the long street, but compared to the dirty and filthy alley where Ling Chunni's godmother lived before, it is obviously much more lively here, and many families live here. Most of the houses in the alley are gray and narrow, and most of the people who live here have a little numb and tired on their faces, and only a few young bare-bottomed children are still playing and chasing each other in this dim alley, exuding innocence and joy that are somewhat out of place with this place.

Shen Shi walked past the children, walked to the end of the alley, and knocked lightly on the broken wooden door in the innermost part.

"Knock knock. A low knock on the door echoed, and there were a few numb glances around him, but no one had the intention of interfering, for some reason, Shen Shi felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, and there was no reaction in the door, he frowned slightly, thinking to himself Could it be that the man in front of him gave him false news? Or is Lao Hou no longer living here?

He knocked for a while, but there was still no sound in the door, Shen Shi couldn't help but be a little anxious, and with a little more force, the wooden door squeaked, but it opened directly inside, and it was not locked.

With the opening of the door, an abnormal stench wafted out of the door, although it was not particularly strong and choking, but there was still a very uncomfortable feeling, Shen Shi paused, did not immediately walk inside, but stood at the door and took a look, only to see a dark and narrow room, as if there was a figure lying on the ground.

His heart moved, hesitated for a moment and then stepped in, walked to the man's side and turned his body, when the haggard and skinny face appeared in front of him, Shen Shi really didn't recognize that this person who was almost no different from a dead man was actually Lao Hou.

The man wasn't really dead, there was still a lingering breath between his mouth and nose, and his breathing was weak, but it looked like he would die in the dark room before long as no one cared about him.

And this person who looked like a skeleton and was too old, judging from the only little contour of his face, Shen Shi finally barely recognized that this was Lao Hou.

Looking at that face, Shen Shi didn't speak for a long time, although when he came here, he would have thought that the loss of his only son Hou Sheng would cause some blows to Lao Hou, but after he lost his orphans, he would fall to such a point of death, it was still out of Shen Shi's expectations.

Perhaps, a son, or a young man, after all, can't understand the feeling of the old man losing the love of his life.

Shen Shi squatted down beside Lao Hou, screamed softly, and said, "Lao Hou, do you remember me?"

In the old man's cloudy and hollow eyes, his eyes were motionless, as if he had heard nothing.

Shen Shi was silent for a moment, and then said, "My name is Shen Shi, and I am Hou Sheng's fellow disciple brother, do you remember?"

Lao Hou's eyes suddenly lit up, as if he was a little touched after hearing the word Hou Sheng, and then slowly turned his head and glanced at Shen Shi with some difficulty.

His eyes were dull and weak, and a hint of indifference and disappointment flashed quickly after seeing Shen Shi's face, as if he was about to return to the numb appearance he had before.

But at this time, suddenly, there was one more thing in front of Lao Hou's eyes, it was a puppy made of old cloth, very shabby, and even a little out of shape, one of the hind legs of the cloth dog and the tail on the buttocks had fallen off.

This worn-out cloth dog doll was in Shen Shi's hand, and I don't know where he got it from and where he took it from, so he put it in front of Lao Hou's eyes, and after seeing this cloth dog, Lao Hou's body shook suddenly, and an incredible brilliance suddenly appeared in his eyes, it was the strength that came out of nowhere, he raised his head suddenly, and a few vague words came out of his mouth, but maybe he hadn't spoken for too long, or he had no strength, Shen Shi didn't hear what he was saying.

However, there was no surprise on Shen Shi's face, but he sighed lightly and said in a low voice:

"Come with me. ”

Lao Hou slowly turned his head and looked at this unfamiliar young man, but soon used up the remaining strength of his body and nodded desperately.

※※※

Liuyun City, Xujia West Garden.

"Have you ever seen the ten views of Tianhong City, are they really that beautiful and magical?"

Ling Chunni lay on the table in Zhong Qingzhu's room, tilted his head slightly sideways and looked at Zhong Qingzhu who was sitting on the bed not far away, and asked with a little curiosity.

Zhong Qingzhu shook his head and said, "No, probably in the past, I will also see five or six wonders." Although the Ten Scenic Spots of Tianhong are famous, some of them are not seen all year round. ”

Ling Chunni pursed his lips, there seemed to be a bit of yearning in his eyes, and said softly: "When Shi told me about this, he said that he had only seen three wonders when he was in Tianhong City, namely the sunset on the Dragon Bridge, the moon on the Great Wall, and the city that never sleeps, and the others were not seen because of the tight time. ”

Zhong Qingzhu said lightly: "These three places are indeed the most common, as far as I know, there are about five common scenes among the ten scenes, and the other three scenes appear with the seasons, and they can only be seen at a certain time of the year, and the last two scenes have actually disappeared at all and can no longer be seen." ”

Ling Chunni was stunned and said, "What?"

Zhong Qingzhu smiled and said: "The autumn sun of the imperial palace, the Hongjun giant pillar, these two scenery were also among the ten views of Tianhong, but after the demon war ten thousand years ago, the imperial palace of the Heavenly Demon King Court became a ruin, and the Hongjun giant pillar in front of the Demon Emperor Palace was destroyed, and the one who took it was no longer the grand occasion of the past." ”

Ling Chunni nodded, she didn't speak for a while, but her eyes flickered, as if she was thinking about something, and after a while, she raised her head slightly, and suddenly called out, "Qingzhu." ”

Zhong Qingzhu replied and said, "What?"

"Do you know how to go to Tianhong City?"