When he didn't know where the road was going, Cheng Yitian stood on the side of the road and waited. After waiting for a short time, I saw a car coming from a distance. If it was big and luxurious, Cheng Yitian would go to the place where the car came. Walking and walking, until the sun was noon, and then running to the west, and finally saw a gray city.

When I came to the city wall, I looked up and saw that there were two big words engraved on the city gate: Qichang. Cheng Yitian entered the city, but saw that the streets of Qichangfu were wide, intersecting and vertically and horizontally, with many shops on the streets, and people and cars on the streets. It seems to be more lively than the lake city near Yishan. In the shop, there are food and use, and there is no shortage of high-end silk and satin villages, and opposite the silk village, there is also a fragrant powder shop that sells gouache and rouge cream.

Cheng Yitian was next to a steamed bun shop, looking at the steamed buns that had just come out of the cage in the evening. This steamed bun is so big, and the snow-white dough is very delicious at first glance. There was a person next to him, and he bought one for three pennies and ate it on the spot. The steamed buns that were picked up revealed were filled with emerald green shepherd's cabbage mixed with minced meat. The aroma burrowed into his nose like a bee.

Cheng Yitian swallowed involuntarily.

In order not to sleep on the street, he really went to the grain store to find a job. The owner of the grain store was short of coolies and had to transport the grain from the dock to the car and from the car to the car. Short-term work is expensive, Cheng Yitian has to do it temporarily, and the boss asks him to do long-term work. The salary is 500 yuan a month. Cheng Yitian wants to advance 100 Wen. First buy two clothes in the pawnshop, wash them, put them on, and then after finishing the work, go to the shaving shop at the end of the alley to shave your face. The hair was trimmed and the coarse cloth straps were tied up.

The people here call him "Xiao Cheng".

"Xiao Cheng, it feels good to shave. ”

"It doesn't look like a coolie, but like a boy. ”

The boss's surname is Zhu, and Boss Zhu held his hands up, smacked his lips, shook his head and shook his head: "It's better to join my family." You don't have to work as a coolie, and after that, if you have a stable family with children, the grain store will be yours. "Boss Zhu's daughter is called Zhu Baimei, the name is so good, but in fact, she is short, fat, and black, as if she was dug out of the mud of the river pond. Of course Cheng Yitian refused, he worked harder to mix up the stubble mentioned by Boss Zhu.

One month!

He worked in the grain shop in Qichang Mansion for a month and got the remaining 400 wen. Passing by the Hongyun Restaurant on the next street, where a bookstore was opening, Cheng Yitian stepped in on a whim. It took twenty wen, and after the show, I drank tea and ate while listening.

This storyteller is very good at telling stories, and the books he talks about are all anecdotes, such as there is a country on the sea, and the people in it have many faces, and when they are weak, they bring one and when they are angry, they change another, and if they ask for help, they need to be flattered, and if they need to be flattered, they will change another, or there is another country, and the people in it have only silk ribbons under their feet, and when people go, the ribbons will follow. When the ribbon was opened, it turned out that these people all had their own breath, and if people were good, they would be pure, and if they were not good, they would be filthy...... It is said that the restaurant is full of guests, and the guests cheer every day, and they still can't stop.

On this day, after Cheng Yitian got a new month's salary, he spent 20 wen as usual and went out to listen to books. After listening to the book for a while, he realized that the overseas countries had come to an end. Now, the eloquent storyteller is telling tales about the continent.

Through the mouth of Mr. Storyteller, Cheng Yitian learned -

The so-called Penglai Island was originally an archipelago country. This country is not big compared to the Xi Dynasty, which is a strip of water, but it is not small compared to Dongyang, Nanlian, and Liuda countries, which are not far away.

The fertile soil and pleasant climate throughout the year make this continent rich in products and population. When there are many people, they like to fight. In the early days, large and small tribes fought against each other, and there were countless battles of all sizes. After hundreds of years, fifty states were finally formed.

The largest one is called Qizhou, and the name of the first city lord is unknown, but among the recent city lords, everyone is the most familiar one, called Bai Guhong.

Speaking of Bai Guhong's deeds in Penglai Zhou, the most shocking thing is that he occupied seven states in a row. The eight states are under unified management, and all of them are counted as Bai Guhong's land. Not only that, Qizhou has also changed its name since then, called Tiandu!

Bai Guhong, the king of Tiandu, is domineering, and Penglai Island is famous everywhere. However, compared to his later successor city lord Bai Yingchu, occupying Qizhou is really not a matter.

"We and Silvergate Island, across the strait, used to be in charge of each other, and we all know this situation, right?" the storyteller asked above. Many of the people below replied, "Yes." ”

"Yu Wenjie, the owner of the island, and Wu Boqu, the master of Yinmen, used to be good friends. But one day, Tiandu sent people to negotiate with the lord of Yuwen Island, promising to increase the number of troops by 10,000 to help Bauhinia Island deter Yinmen Island and grab 300 miles of sea resources. Bauhinia fishermen can fish on Silvermen Beach, and if Silvermen fishermen go 50 miles outside of their own beach, it is considered an offense. Not only will they be caught, but all the fish and other seafood they catch will be confiscated to them. ”

"The lord of Wu Island is not convinced, but the Tiandu soldiers are notoriously strong. The White Shark Fleet under Bai Yingchu wants to have the title of 'Sea Overlord', and it has no advantage in land and naval battles. He could only accept peace talks with Bauhinia, and send envoys from Bauhinia to Yinmen before resuming harmonious coexistence. ”

"But how can this be just a result? The great conspiracy has just begun. Fang Bo, the commander of the White Shark fleet, asked the island owner Yu Wenjie to provide 10,000 sailors with updated weapons every year. Tiandu has been fighting in the south and north over the years, and the original eight states have long become eighteen states centered on Heijiao Mountain. The unstoppable power of the sea is definitely a guarantee. Bai Yingchu, the king of Tiandu, intervened in the affairs of Yu Wenjie and Wu Boqu, and he had already taken a fancy to the Bauhinia mine. ”

"Pity this Yu Wenjie has figured this out, it's too late. The 10,000 heavenly soldiers accepted by yourself are even more difficult to drive away. ”

The audience asked, "What can be done to change this?"

The storyteller said: "Bai Yingchu, the king of Tiandu, is a hero, and the hero also loves one thing. ”

The crowd asked, "What?"

Mr. Storyteller slapped the table and said two words: "Beauty!"

Yu Wenjie, the owner of Bauhinia Island, in order to achieve the purpose in his heart, presented two groups of beauties before and after. There was only one person in the first batch. Near the seaside is Tsinghua Bay, where wild lilies of various colors grow. White is crystal clear, yellow is brilliant and bright, red is delicate...... However, no matter which one it is, it is not as good as the girl named Leng Xiang'er. She was dressed in white and appeared in a fairyland-like place where the lilies bloomed.

"Don't say it's a person, even the wind will stop for her!" As soon as Mr. Storyteller said this, Cheng Yitian's heart moved fiercely.

Leng Xiang'er?

Is it the white arrow maid who was tortured by Xiao Jinghong, the master of the Lotus Palace?

Mr. Storyteller said: "Bai Yingchu, the king of Tiandu, quickly became intoxicated by her, * good, and included in the Minghua Palace in Tiandu." ”

That's right.

It's no wonder that the little whirlwind Xie Gang of Jianzhuang risked his life, and in the end he didn't get the heart. It turned out that Leng Xiang'er really had a very close relationship with Bai Yingchu. So even if she died, she would rather die only in Bai Yingchu's arms.

However, whether it was Xiang'er or the Eagle King Bai Yingchu, they never dreamed that the private matter between them would be taken out, made up into a story by the storyteller, and spread in the community.

Hearing the scene of others imagining the king and the beauty getting along, Cheng Yitian was in awe of the cold and arrogant man, and at the same time, he was embarrassed, and unconsciously gave birth to some pity.

However, even so, he is aware of his current situation. Bai Yingchu just left some romantic affairs to talk about, but he lost his martial arts, and he left his hometown, except for selling coolies, he can't think of any way to fight for a turnaround.

Some spirits, it's better to be more sympathetic to yourself, right?

He saved money and still went to the bookstore to cheer. So, after Leng Xiang'er, Yu Wenjie sent a second batch of beauties, and he didn't have anything to do with the king of Tiandu, and he knew that he was not far from ten. The owner of Yinmen Island presented a plot of a beautiful woman named "Long Xiangting", and the storyteller said it vividly, taking everyone with him, as if he had seen it with his own eyes. Ordinary people, where have you ever seen those beautiful women who can stop even if the wind can stop, or the flowers will also feel shy? Under the yearning for the king of Tiandu, follow the storyteller silently and obscenately. Even if the same plot is repeated several times, no one has raised the opinion that they are tired of hearing it and want to change to other plots.

If he hadn't dealt with Bai Yingchu in person, Cheng Yitian, who was resting in a narrow room, would definitely not be able to think of what the Eagle King, who was in the distant Tiandu at the moment, actually looked like. What Yan Yiqian, Yu Hongxuan, what Long Xiangting, Cheng Yitian believes that they are all women who look at Leng Xiang'er and sound legendary, but in fact they are all real women. Leng Xiang'er, he has seen it, it is really soft. The other women naturally have their own charms, and these legends in the market only have the suspicion of not being interpreted, and there is no exaggeration. But what about these?

The gentleman who told the story, he must have never seen the power of the Black Wind Sword Formation, and he had never befriended the Eagle King himself. Doing one of them, this storyteller would not have the courage to fearlessly spread the story of the Eagle King Bai Yingchu and those women.

Thinking like this, there is Hongyun Restaurant, and Cheng Yitian goes less and less. Only once in a while, what he heard was actually a plot like "Bai Yingchu and the girl he met for the first time", Cheng Yitian felt nauseous, pushed away the half-eaten refreshments, got up and left.

As soon as I walked to the door, I saw a group of fierce people rushing into the restaurant. Cheng Yitian stepped out of the door in two steps, turned around, and saw a middle-aged man in a purple robe waving his hand, and the men who came with him were fierce and very strong, picking up axes, hammers and sticks, "seven miles click" and "sparse uproar", knocking and smashing.

The owner of Hongyun Building was so frightened that he shrank in the counter and didn't dare to move. The storyteller stayed on the stage for a long time before he remembered to run away. However, the purple-robed man jumped on the storytelling platform and grabbed him. Mr. Storyteller's hat fell off, and the black beard on his mouth magically fell off and was half-pulled. Cheng Yitian, who hadn't left yet, took a look at it, and saw that the storyteller showed a childish face, and his dark eyes were full of fear and panic.

The purple-robed man picked him up and threw him off the stage. One of the big men who had already smashed the end of the story caught the storyteller. A group of people came and went. The boss of the Hongyun Building climbed out of the counter, considered himself unlucky, and asked the guys to come out together and clean up the mess.

Let's say that the purple-robed man led people to the east gate of Qichang Mansion. The groom was waiting there with his horse, and the purple-robed man got on his horse, and then snorted coldly, and then said to a stranger who stopped in front of his horse, "Don't you know Master Ben? ”

Cheng Yitian sneered: "No matter who you are, it's bright in broad daylight, you don't count taking people to smash things in the restaurant, and you also arrest the storyteller, which shouldn't be." ”

The "storyteller" who had completely lost his beard and his childishness was fully exposed, lying on his entourage horse, shouted loudly: "Yes, yes, this hero, I am a storyteller, I can't go with these people, and if I go with them, I won't see the sun rising tomorrow." The last sentence was scattered by the slap from the attendant's hand, and it only turned into a "woo woo" whimper.

Cheng Yitian clenched his fists, took a long breath, opened his eyes, and said to the purple-robed man, "Release people!"

"Why?" the purple-robed man didn't buy it at all.

"I said that I have seen your master, your master, you will never be allowed to bully the township like this, is this reason enough?"

"You-" The purple-robed man's face tightened, and the purple swelled and turned snow-white, "Don't you recognize me?"

"Bauhinia Island is now under the jurisdiction of Tiandu, unless it is a person from Tiandu, otherwise, how can they have the courage to smash and loot on the island?"

The storyteller was not willing to be lonely, and shouted again: "This big brother, you are not wrong at all. The man who smashed the restaurant and led someone to arrest me was the hairpin who was assigned here by the Tiandu Eagle King...... "As soon as he said this, his throat was choked by his entourage. Mr. Storyteller screamed "ah", and quickly lost his words, only the dying struggle of "hehehe".

Cheng Yitian rushed forward, desperately trying to bypass the purple-robed man's horse, but he couldn't get around, he was angry and anxious, frowning and shouting: "If this person is dead, I will see Bai Yingchu again when I go to heaven and earth." When the time comes, speaking of your evil deeds will surely bring you a more cruel retribution than the means inflicted on others today. ”

The purple-robed man was shocked, raised his hand, and motioned to the back: "Put Xue Zao down first." ”

"Plop", Mr. Storyteller was thrown to the ground.

Cheng Yitian hurriedly ran over and helped him up.

The purple-robed man's face was pale, and he was panting rapidly, and after a while, he returned to normal, turned around and said to Cheng Yitian: "You have a kind." Then he turned his eyes to the storyteller: "Xue Zao, Your Highness has given you the grace to be partial here, providing you with food, drink, clothing and shelter, not that you are allowed to have so much free time to tell stories related to His Highness in the bookstore, so that those of us who are courtiers have a dull face and are unhappy in our hearts. ”

"Phew!" The storyteller spat at the ground, crossed his waist and said, "I just want to say, what's the matter? You should not be able to see all the things that your master has done, it doesn't mean that all the people in Penglai Continent can stand it in their ears!"

The purple-robed man's eyebrows were raised, and the middle two eyebrows were almost tied into a knot.

Xue Zao was still making noise: "The war in the heavenly capital, even the evil lady is imprisoned, no one in the whole continent knows about this? As for what kind of discord between the first city lord and your master, and how your master successfully killed the first city lord, why can't you come and listen to it together. ”

"Dang!" A loud sound made the purple-robed man unable to hold back any longer and pulled out his knife. Seeing this, the entourage "Dangdangdang......" A series of voices sounded, and they all showed their blades. The purple-robed man sneered: "Xue Zao, you don't want to give you a way out, today in the coming year, I will make you a death day." With a flash of white light, the knife slashed horizontally in the opposite direction.

Xue Zao was taken aback and pounced. But the knives of the retinue then arrived. But seeing the brilliant light of the sword, Xue Zao was so frightened that he hugged his head and screamed loudly. He crawled and rolled all over the ground, and at last he cowered under a tree, his clothes in tatters, and his whole body curled up in a ball, shivering.

Cheng Yitian has a martial arts, and only then did he find an opportunity to run to the side. After inspecting Xue Zao, he didn't find any injuries on his body, and looked back at the purple-robed man. The purple-robed man returned the knife into the sheath, and said: "You actually call my master by his name, if it is not the first offense, you will be taken headed." He also said to Xue Zao: "There must be a bottom line for nonsense, and if there is a similar situation, it will not be spared." ”

Cheng Yitian helped Xue Zao up. Xue Zao's pale face slightly recovered some blood, and Cheng Yitian asked, "How do you feel?" Xue Zao let out a long sigh, suddenly exerted his strength, and pushed him aside: "Didn't you say that you know Bai Yingchu?

Turning his head and seeing the purple-robed man walking away with his entourage, Cheng Yitian couldn't help but be angry and funny, and said to Xue Zao: "Just now, I have always been helping you. After a pause, he asked, "What is a hairpin?"

Xue Zao had a dark face, turned around and walked back without saying a word. Back at Hongyun Restaurant, he said to Cheng Yitian: "You ask me who the hairpin is, let me tell you, what can you do with him? If you don't have the ability, I have a fate with you, and it should end here." ”

Cheng Yitian said: "I really know Bai Yingchu. ”

Xue Zao smiled "haha": "In the entire Penglai Continent, how many people don't know the Black Winged Eagle King Bai Yingchu? Even if they know him, it's not a big deal." But the question is, does he know you?" The contempt in his eyes made Cheng Yitian obviously nod, but he couldn't stop in the end.

"Black Winged Eagle King Bai Yingchu - he, isn't he very powerful?" asked Cheng Yitian.

"What do you say?" Xue Zao sneered and turned his face: "Penglai Zhou stomped his feet, and he was the only one who trembled everywhere." ”

Cheng Yitian wanted to keep up with him even more: "Do you have a way to take me to Tiandu?"

"Go to Tiandu?" Xue Zao looked at him with a glance: "Why?"

"Find the Black Winged Eagle King Bai Yingchu. ”

"Ha!" Xue Zao finished this sound, turned his head and left. Cheng Yitian chased after him and explained: "I'm not from Penglai, I'm from the Xi Dynasty far away. I need to take a boat back, but I have learned that no ship can reach more than 500 nautical miles away from the island. The Blackwing Eagle King has a fleet, and I must find him and let him send me away. ”

Xue Zao looked at him like a madman, and after a while said, "You go back to sleep now." ”

"Huh?" Cheng Yitian didn't understand.

"When you're asleep, you can see whoever you want. But awake, what you can see, that's what I do. Do you know how much it costs to go to Tiandu from here?" Five taels of boat money, five taels of customs document handling fees. Bauhinia and the main island are separated by water, and it is not difficult to get in and out. However, if you want to go to Tiandu, you must get a stamped official document from the Tiandu Bauhinia Envoy Post when you enter and exit. Otherwise, as soon as you enter the borders of the eighteen states under the jurisdiction of Tiandu, you will be arrested as an invader. The lighter ones were expelled. If it's serious, fry and fry, and listen to the person who catches you. He sneered, and continued: "Do you still want to see the Black Wing Eagle King? Do you have such a big face, or are you so lucky?"

In the following days, hairpins in purple robes came to Hongyun Restaurant. The boss didn't dare to offend in the slightest, and personally ate and drank well to serve. Xue Zao didn't tell the anecdote of the king of Tiandu, but talked about some demons and ghosts. For example, a scholar walks late at night, enters a large household, and after receiving warm hospitality, he goes there every night. Unexpectedly, he was pierced by a Taoist priest, and when he went there during the day, all he saw was a desolate grave. Next to the grave of the woman he used to associate with, a new grave was already several inches high. At the beginning, everyone listened with great interest, but after a long time, they found that the content of the story was very similar and the mode was similar, so someone suggested that the bookstore should be replaced by a storyteller.

Xue Zao is unemployed!

On this day, Cheng Yitian carried a bag for the Zhu family's grain shop, and after carrying a car, he saw someone waving at him on the other side of the street. Cheng Yitian talked to the boss, ran over to see that it was Xue Zao.

After nearly a month, I didn't go to Hongyun Restaurant, and Xue Zao's changes were surprising. Although he pretended to be old with a beard, his face was white and tender, his eyes were dark and swarthy, and he was a very energetic boy.

Cheng Yitian patted the rice gray on his body and grinned: "What, I haven't eaten for a few days?" Immediately, at Xue Zao's begging, Cheng Yitian paid ten cents and bought a bowl of noodles for him at a roadside stall for him to eat.

Xue Zao devoured it, and after eating a bowl of wind and clouds, poor Baba asked for another bowl. Cheng Yitian was kind-hearted and gave another ten cents. After eating the two bowls of noodles, Xue Zao burped, and then returned to his former radiant appearance.

After chatting, Cheng Yitian learned that this guy who was telling stories in the bookstore was only sixteen years old this year. And sixteen-year-old Xue Zao, relying on storytelling, has been in this place for two years. In two years, he had a lotus tongue and earned himself plenty of food and clothing. It's just that now, this good situation is gone.

"Is it true that diners are tired of your story?" asked Cheng Yitian.

Xue Zao spat hard at the ground: "I've listened to my father's stories for so many years, and I've never felt tired of it. It's not that Liu Mengqi is annoyed that I arranged his master, and he can't rectify it, so he makes a secret move. Eight and a half of the ten people who listened to the books in the bookstore were hired by him, which was equivalent to booking the bookstore in Hongyunlou. He said my story was not well told, and of course others did the same. ”

"Dignified hairpin, really bullying a small person like you?"

Xue Zao turned his head abruptly and looked at him suspiciously: "You already know what the 'hairpin flower scholar' is?"

Cheng Yitian smiled bitterly: "I have been working as a coolie for half a year, what is the situation in Qichang Mansion, more or less, I still have an understanding." ”

Hairpin flower scholar, another name for Bai Yingchu, the king of Tiandu, embroidered water lotus on the shoulders of scribes, and embroidered white plums on the shoulders of warriors, as if wearing flowers on the body, is called "hairpin flower scholar". The hairpin is divided into inside and outside, and the inner attendant stays by Bai Yingchu's side, and the outer attendant is dispatched, and is generally appointed as the post of the envoy post in the city-state that is friendly with the heavenly capital.

Liu Mengqi, a purple-robed hairpin, is one of the foreign attendants.