The frail counselor you said, you fight against three heroes alone?

After much inquiries and searching, Shi Daming finally found the mysterious wizard in an extremely remote and sparsely populated alley.

The wizard looked haggard, with wrinkles all over his face, like ravines, as if telling the vicissitudes of life and endless stories.

Shi Daming stepped forward impatiently and said solemnly, "I am Shi Daming, a minister in the court. I have taken the trouble to come to you today because I have something very important to tell you."

The wizard listened, and just raised his eyes slightly, his eyes were as calm as water, and he slowly said: "Whether you are a minister in the court or a commoner, everyone is equal here, there is no distinction between high and low."

Shi Daming was startled for a moment, then he smiled and said more sincerely: "I know your principles and positions very well, but I came here this time with a sincere invitation. I sincerely hope that you can come out of retirement, work for me, and serve the court. As long as you are willing, you can rest assured that the money will not be less. I can assure you that you will get what you deserve for your hard work and will never be treated unfairly."

The wizard listened to Shi Daming's words quietly, his face still calm. After a long while, he sighed and said, "Money is just a thing outside of my body. There are so many people in this world who have lost their original intentions because of chasing money. How could I step into the court disputes for it?"

When Shi Daming heard this, he was secretly anxious and said hurriedly: "I hope the master will consider the people of the world and not refuse again."

When the wizard heard this, a hint of emotion finally flashed in his eyes. He slowly stood up, his tattered black robe swaying gently in the wind, as if he was pondering this thorny problem.

After a long time, he looked at Shi Daming and slowly said, "The wizard said expressionlessly, "If you want me to agree to your request, you have to work for me first. Now go and fetch water, and fill the water tank; then go and spread the rice, and spread it in every corner of the yard."

Shi Daming hurriedly moved. When he was carrying water, the bucket seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, making him stagger. When he was distributing rice, he was in a hurry and spread it very unevenly.

After finally completing it, Shi Daming looked at the wizard with a flattering smile. The wizard nodded slightly and said, "Humph, you are quite sincere. Let me get ready and go with you."

At this time, he saw that one of Smith's buttons had fallen off.

"Why are the buttons on your clothes gone?"

"Maybe I dropped it accidentally while working. It doesn't matter."

Smith and the wizard set out together and walked towards the court.

When the wizard arrived at a seemingly ordinary courtyard, he suddenly stopped.

"This is my home, I need to go back and get some things." said the wizard.

Shi Daming looked surprised, and when he looked at the courtyard carefully, he was suddenly shocked.

This turned out to be the place where he had taken shelter from the rain on a rainy day. The kind old lady and the lovely Jiaojiao lived here at the time. He did not expect that it had such a connection with the wizard. He was filled with disbelief.

When the wizard stepped into the house, he saw the body of the old woman lying on the ground. The familiar face was lifeless. He was struck by lightning and stood there in a daze, his eyes full of shock and disbelief.

Before he could recover from his shock, he caught a glimpse of Jiaojiao who had hanged herself. Her small body was hanging in the air like a flower that had withered prematurely.

His lips trembled, and after a long while he let out a heart-wrenching scream, and he was on the verge of collapse.

He rushed over frantically, trying to hug Jiaojiao, but collapsed to the ground powerlessly, muttering "What's going on, what's going on..."

His eyes suddenly fixed on the button in Jiaojiao's hand, then he looked at Shi Daming, and when he thought of the fact that he was missing the same button on his clothes, he suddenly became furious.

"You! Is it you? Are you the devil?" The wizard roared, the anger in his eyes seemed to devour Smith, "Why are you so cruel? They are just ordinary people!"

Shi Daming stepped back repeatedly and waved his hands in panic, "No, it's not me. I don't know why this happened!"

But the wizard was so angry that he pounced on Smith and the two men started to wrestle with each other.

Shi Daming's face flushed, and he shouted, "This matter has nothing to do with me, don't slander me!"

The wizard's eyes widened in anger.

"Huh, how can there be such a coincidence in the world? Where did this button come from?"

Shi Daming was secretly furious, thinking that this old wizard was now certain that it was me who did it. If I let him go back, he would definitely be disadvantageous to me when he returned to the court. I might as well take this opportunity to get rid of him once and for all.

His eyes turned cold, and he quietly clenched his fists, secretly looking for an opportunity to take action.

The murderous intent in Smith's eyes became stronger and stronger. He suddenly pounced towards the wizard, trying to knock him to the ground.

Although the wizard was old, he reacted very quickly and dodged Smith's attack by moving sideways.

"You sinister villain, it's you!" The wizard roared, and waved his hand. A strange light shot towards Shi Daming.

Shi Daming quickly rolled over to avoid the attack, and after standing up, he pulled out a dagger from his arms.

"Old man, you must die today!" As he said that, he rushed towards the wizard again, and the two of them started a desperate fight in the courtyard.

The surrounding objects were blown everywhere by their fight, and the place was in a mess.

The wizard dodged and shouted: "You evil man, you will be punished by God for doing this!"

However, Smith was so consumed by ambition and fear that he could no longer listen.

He was obsessed with not letting the wizard live.

Smith rushed towards the wizard desperately, the dagger in his hand flashing coldly.

The wizard was old and frail, and gradually lost the battle, and was finally strangled by Smith.

The wizard's face turned red, his eyes were full of anger and unwillingness, but his life gradually faded away, and he died with his eyes open.

After killing the wizard, Smith stood there gasping for breath.

At this moment, a hearty laugh came from the air like a ghost, and the laughter echoed in this small courtyard filled with the breath of death.

Smith felt his heart suddenly shrink and he jumped up in fright.

His eyes were full of panic, and his gaze searched around frantically, finally stopping at the door.

I saw a man appear at the door at some point. He was tall and straight, holding an exquisite fan in his hand, waving it gently from time to time.

The man gave a meaningful smile, but that smile made Shi Daming feel like he was falling into an ice cellar.

"Hmph, don't panic. You look so cowardly, which really doesn't suit the demeanor of a minister." The man's voice was somewhat teasing. "I saw clearly how you killed this old man."

Smith tried hard to steady his shaking body, pretending to be calm and asked coldly: "Who are you? What do you want to do?"

He quietly clenched his hands behind his back, ready to respond to attacks at any time.

The man seemed to have heard a very funny question. He was stunned at first, and then burst into even louder laughter, which made Shi Daming's ears buzz.

After a while, the man stopped laughing, pointed at Smith with his fan, and said with a smile: "It doesn't matter who I am. What's important is that I have an irreconcilable hatred with this old wizard. I have always hoped that he would die. Now that he died in your hands, I can't wait to be happy. Don't worry, I won't do anything to you. On the contrary, maybe we can become allies."

As he spoke, he walked slowly towards Smith, and every step seemed to be stepping on Smith's tense nerves.

Smith stared at the approaching man with vigilance and said in a low voice: "Ally? Humph, why should I trust you? Don't come any closer!"

The man seemed not to hear it and continued walking slowly, with a deeper smile on his face.

"You don't believe me? That's fine. If the news that you killed the wizard gets out, what do you think will happen to you? People who admire him will not let you, a murderer, go free, not to mention that they are a wizard of great reputation."

The man stopped a few steps away from Shi Daming, his eyes revealing a cunning look that seemed to show he knew everything.

Shi Daming's heart trembled, he knew very well that what the man said was true.

"So what do you want?" Smith asked through gritted teeth.

"It's simple. We cooperate. Once the wizard dies, some things will be left unattended. Let's work together to get them. By then, we will have wealth, power and status. Everything you want."

There was a greedy gleam in the man's eyes, as if he had seen a bright future.

Shi Daming was a little shaken. He was an ambitious man, but he still had some concerns: "Aren't you afraid that I will kill you now to silence you?"

The man waved his fan and said nonchalantly, "You can try, but my people are nearby. If anything happens to me, your secret will spread all over the streets immediately."

Shi Daming clenched his fists and fell into deep thought. The man in front of him was like a poisonous snake, dangerous yet deadly tempting.

The man raised his head slightly, with a look of mixed emotions, and said slowly: "To be honest, I am the wizard's junior brother, my name is Alexander. I should have been the one to find him and kill him, but I didn't expect you to get here first."

Shi Daming frowned, with doubt in his eyes. "Are you telling the truth? Do you have any proof?"

Alexander chuckled and took out a jade pendant from his arms. The texture of the jade pendant was warm and smooth, and the patterns engraved on it were somewhat similar to some mysterious symbols in the wizard's home. "This jade pendant is a token of his fellow disciple. He has one and I have one. Do you believe it now?"

Shi Daming looked at the jade pendant, still half believing and half doubting, but his expression eased a little, "Even if you are his junior apprentice, how can you guarantee that I can get away with it after the cooperation is completed?"

Alexander patted his chest and promised: "I will keep my mouth shut about what happened today. My senior brother is old-fashioned and pedantic. I have long hoped that he would disappear."

After saying that, he looked at Smith impatiently, "Why are you so long-winded? If you don't want to cooperate, then I'll leave, just pretend I've never been here." As he said that, he pretended to leave.

"Wait!" Smith shouted hurriedly, "I am willing to cooperate with you."

Alexander gave a smug smile.

Shi Daming continued, "I have to tell you that I am an official appointed by the imperial court. If you lie to me, the consequences will be very serious."

Alexander was stunned at first, with a hint of surprise in his eyes, but he quickly returned to his calm.

"Humph, so what if I'm an official appointed by the imperial court? Don't scare me with this. I am a man of my words."

Shi Daming then said, "Now the king hates the Prime Minister Xi Yu of the Central Plains so much that he wants to bring him down, and even hopes to curse him. Can you do it?"

After hearing this, Alexander nodded and said, "However, this powerful curse will consume a lot of my mana, so you will have to pay a lot of money."

Smith smiled confidently: "Currency is not a problem for me, as long as the work can be done."

Alexander frowned slightly: "But there is still a key. To cast the curse, we must know the birth date of the person involved. Do you know the birth date of the Prime Minister Xi Yu of the Central Plains?"

Shi Daming looked embarrassed: "I don't know, but I can check it out."

Alexander pondered for a moment and said, "Well, I'll trust you this time. I hope you can act quickly and not delay the opportunity. This cooperation can only succeed and not fail."

Shi Daming nodded repeatedly, and the two reached a cooperation intention.

On the other side, Xi Yu hurried back to the Prime Minister's Mansion. As soon as he entered the courtyard, his eyes fell on Song Shuwen and he asked hurriedly, "Isn't Dongfanghong here yet?"

Song Shuwen shook his head slightly.

"not yet."

Time passed minute by minute, and just when Xi Yu was getting a little anxious, Dongfang Hong's figure finally appeared.

He looked at Xiyu and nodded solemnly.

Xi Yu said: "In that case, let's go. This operation is of great importance, we must be careful."

After saying that, several people looked at each other, their eyes full of determination.

Halfway through the journey, Xi Yu seemed to be suddenly enlightened. He stopped, frowned, and said with a worried look on his face: "Would it be too rash for us to just leave like this? I just thought of a question. Should we put on some makeup? It would be troublesome if someone recognized us."

After hearing this, Dongfanghong slapped his head suddenly.

"Yeah, how could I have forgotten this question? There are so many people and eyes on this road."

Song Shuwen also scratched his head.

I haven’t thought about this issue.”

Seeing this, Xi Yu couldn't help but laugh.

"We three grown men are rough at work and always fail to pay attention to details. You guys wait here for me. I'd better go back and put on some makeup. It's safer this way."

After saying that, he turned and ran back the way he came.

Dongfanghong and Song Shuwen were waiting there, looking at Xiyu's receding back, and they smiled bitterly at each other.

"I hope he won't delay too long." Dongfanghong said.

Not long after, Xi Yu ran back panting.

I saw that he had some camouflage lines on his face and his skin had become darker, making him look like a traveling merchant who was always on the road.

"How is it? I shouldn't be recognized easily this way." Xi Yu brushed off the dust on his body.

"Well, that's good. Then let's continue on our journey." Dongfanghong nodded, and the three of them set out on their journey again, but this time they were more cautious and always paid attention to the movements around them.

Xi Yu lowered his voice and asked Song Shuwen: "Do you think we can really tell whether the meat is human flesh by looking at the meat buns? There can't be any mistakes on this matter."

Song Shuwen said proudly, "If it is human flesh, I can definitely identify it. However, this identification method is extremely complicated and not something that an ordinary doctor can master. I have studied it for many years to be able to do it with confidence."

Dongfanghong was listening, frowning slightly.

"I hope your judgment is correct. This time it all depends on you. If something goes wrong, we will all be in dire straits."

Xi Yu also nodded.

Dongfanghong brought Xiyu and Song Shuwen to the bun shop.

The morning sun shines on the street, and the steamed bun shop is bustling with people. The line to buy steamed buns stretches for a long way.

Dongfanghong said: "Whether you eat at home or here, you have to queue up."

As they arrived, they heard a quarrel.

"How dare you cut in line!" A big man pointed at a scholar-looking man in front of him and shouted angrily.

The scholar blushed and anxiously defended himself: "I didn't cut in line. I just went to the side to see if there was anything else to eat. This is my seat."

The big man insisted: "Humph, who can prove it? I have been waiting in line here the whole time, but I haven't seen you here."

The scholar stamped his feet in anger: "Everyone is lining up, am I that kind of person?"

People around started talking, some were trying to stop the fight, and some were cheering.

While everyone was watching the excitement, Dongfanghong and the other two stood aside quietly observing the situation in the bun shop.

"We have to find a way to go in and take a look. It's not easy to move with so many people blocking the way here." Xi Yu whispered to Dongfanghong and Song Shuwen.

At this time, the quarrel became more intense. The big man grabbed the scholar by the collar. The scholar struggled hard and the people around him began to separate them.

The big man's eyes widened with anger: "If he doesn't give me an explanation today, this matter will not end!"

The scholar also shouted: "I didn't cut in line in the first place, you are so arrogant!"

After a while, a gray-haired old man came over tremblingly with a cane and advised: "Young man, harmony is the most precious thing. Don't ruin the harmony over such a small matter."

Just then, the shopkeeper also came out of the bun shop.

He was a very fat man with a bald head that shone greasy in the sunlight.

With a big smile on his face, he said in a loud voice: "Dear guests, we are all here to buy buns. What's the problem if we come a little earlier or later? Stop arguing and calm down."

The big man let go of the scholar's collar and snorted, "If it weren't for the shopkeeper's words, I would never let you go today."

The scholar also straightened his clothes and said indignantly: "It was not my fault in the first place."

However, the two men's emotions finally calmed down a little, and the people around them gradually dispersed, and the team returned to its previous order, except that occasionally a few people were still whispering about what had just happened.

Dongfanghong and the other two took the opportunity to look at the shopkeeper.

Three people were standing in line at the back of the queue, and everyone around them was waiting quietly.

But not long after, Song Shuwen suddenly frowned, with surprise in his eyes, and he hurriedly pulled Xi Yu's arm.

Xi Yu looked back in confusion, and it turned out to be Song Meijiao and Xi Shi. (End of this chapter)