Lord of the Desert

Chapter 260 Compassion
In the world, there is no escape from the old and the new.

In the third list this time, Liangzhou Tianjiao dropped two old people.

However, the sudden emergence of Su Peifeng filled the gap and kept the number of Xijing's top players at six.

In Qiaotou Square, there was a surge of sound.

It disperses in the atmosphere, like a living creature with an invisible head.

On the second floor of Whale Rider, the windows along the street are crowded with drinkers leaving the table.

Only at Hong Fan's table, no one stood up, like an isolated island in a vast ocean.

The list is indeed over.

Vanity Fair is not over yet.

A gong was struck on the Xianzun Bridge.

The family member of the Shen family announced that there will be a three-day feast in front of the mansion to celebrate his young master's entry into the top half of the list of arrogance.

For a while, everyone shouted the name "Shuo Feng".

The sound waves also spread to the east.

Not long after, Cao Hanhai, who was wearing a veiled hat and hiding in the crowd between the buildings, was "accidentally" discovered.

Seeming helpless, he jumped up and flew away.

Then Ding Lang chased west again.

The figure of Thunderbolt is no longer visible.

Zhan Yuanzi rested his chin in one hand and the wine glass in the other, listening carefully to the quarrel next door.

One group is young people, not yet crowned, wearing military uniforms; the other group is middle-aged and well-built.

The topic was originally about whether Xiao Doudi could become the top of the Tianjiao list.

I can't argue with myself why.

Then it turned to discussing whether Qu Luoyi, who was born in Hezhou, could be considered Liangzhou's arrogance.

Several people quickly blushed.

Zhan Yuanzi was amused.

"People are interesting things."

He whispered, suddenly turning up the volume to interject.

"I am waiting for the head of Guizhou in brown clothes, and I have nothing to do with the three lists."

"Could it be possible to share the glory out of thin air just by wishfully identifying with one of them?"

"My friends, you recognize Qu Luoyi, but Qu Luoyi doesn't recognize you."

Zhan Yuanzi raised his glass.

"Why hurt your peace?"

Two groups of people looked over.

"My brother said that very well."

Hong Fan also turned around and said.

"It can't be said that Xiao Doudi is not a person worth making friends with. Instead of arguing about him, why don't you drink like him?"

He looked at the group of middle-aged people first.

Several people immediately stopped the quarrel, said they were laughing, and raised their glasses to drink.

Hong Fan smiled and looked at the boys again.

"Aren't you just jealous of Little Doudi!"

Toutou is just one sentence.

The smile froze.

Hong Fan made himself feel bored and had a drink.

It was rare for Wu Ruyi to see Hong Fan deflated, and she covered her mouth and smiled.

"Young people still have poor eyesight, so they can't tell that I am a master."

Hong Fan shook his head and said.

"Where do you get so much eyesight?"

Zhan Yuanzi shook his head and nodded.

"Isn't it because those old brothers came early and saw the scene where the red-faced god took the initiative to talk to you..."

Hong Fan was dumbfounded.

Lu Yunshi smiled when he saw this, and leaned forward to take empty cups.

"Youth who practice martial arts yearn for Tianjiao, and it has always been like this."

"Ten years ago, every time I listened to more than [-] names on the list, I thought I was the one to continue."

He fills up the wine and pushes it back to everyone.

"How hard life is, why not dream for a few more years?"

Yan Yulin chuckled.

"After 24 years, when you look at the list, everyone is like you and me as wooden people. Isn't it boring?"

He clinked glasses with Lu Yunshi.

"It's not all 'us' today."

Yuan Xuesong waved his hands.

"At this table, there are still three people under the age of 24."

He looked at Wu Ruyi, Bai Jiaci, and Hong Fan.

"Why aren't you excited?"

Yuan Xuesong asked Wu Ruyi

"I'm not talented enough."

Wu Ruyi replied without thinking.

"My mother has always said so, and I think so too."

"But those who go fast may not necessarily go the furthest."

She added another sentence.

"Sister Ruyi has always been down-to-earth, but she is better than me back then."

Yuan Xuesong nodded.

"Where's Brother Bai?"

"I was dreaming, but now I'm awake."

He replied calmly, stroking the tightly stitched sachet at his waist.

"In the past, I only looked at the road, but suddenly I came back to my senses, and I didn't know where I wanted to go."

Everyone is thoughtful.

Then, the eyes of the eight paths extended to the last person.

"I……"

Just as Hong Fan was about to speak, he saw everyone sighing in unison and drinking in silence.

At this moment, the cheers outside the building rose to a new height.

Everyone turned their heads and looked down, seeing the crowd in the square waving and shouting, heading towards the upstairs of the Whale Rider.

Layers upon layers of sound waves came over, drowning out all the conversations on the second floor.

Hong Fanjing listened to distinguish.

The cheers were mixed at first, and gradually unified in the end.

But it was calling the name of the red-faced god.

Obviously Su Peifeng from upstairs showed up.

"It's so noisy, what are you talking about?"

Master Lu Yun smiled wryly.

At such a close distance, Hong Fan could hardly hear him clearly, and could only tell by the shape of his mouth.

"Come to join in the fun today, it's really boring."

Lu Yunshi said and got up.

"Scatter, scatter!"

Everyone went downstairs to settle the bill, and bid farewell to each other.

Hong Fan and the group of five who returned to Dongcheng squeezed into the human wall on the street, and headed upstream to Xianzun Bridge.

After walking tens of meters, he felt something in his heart, that someone was spying on him.

Hong Fan continued to move forward calmly.

After three steps, he suddenly turned his head, crossed the vast crowd, and looked straight at the height of the whale rider.

On the fourth floor, Box A No. [-], window sill.

The three stood side by side.

On the left is a beautiful and plump woman, gently holding the arms of the people around her.

It is Ao Zhixian.

On the right is a well-proportioned and handsome young man, restrained and peaceful, who is five points similar to Ao Zhixian in appearance.

Probably her elder brother Ao Zhiji.

The two were in the middle, and Su Peifeng, who was tall and strong and was on the list for the first time, stood on the railing, amidst the cheers of the crowd.

His eyes were empty, his smile was warm, and his expression management was rarely relaxed.

Hong Fan looked from a distance, and suddenly remembered Su Peifeng's sigh when talking about the casualties in the bloody battle in Jinhai before the announcement of the rankings.

Where is compassion then?

It was clearly suppressed envy.

······
More than a month later.

November 23, the winter solstice.

At three o'clock in the morning (seven forty-five in the morning), the sun didn't rise lazily.

In the Martial Arts Academy, old snow had accumulated on the side of the road for several days.

The white was stained with soot, and the black was particularly dazzling.

The weather is freezing.

Fortunately, the stove was lit in Xiezhi Hall.

"This material was sent by the Anti-smuggling Department of the Shipping Administration."

Sitting behind the wide table, Jian Siyuan said, pushing a booklet.

"The Shunyao River goes out of the city, thirty miles to the south, there is a bend in the river called 'Niuyinbo', and a small pier is hidden."

He added a piece of fine white charcoal to the stove under the table, flicked off the ashes from his fingertips, and put his hands back into the sleeves of his cotton-padded jacket.

"This place is too close to Xijing, there are no water bandits, it's nothing more than smuggling and tax evasion."

On the opposite side of the table, Wu Hongling and Hong Fan sat next to each other in the middle.

The remaining three pulled up chairs and sat in the back row.

Hong Fan opened the booklet and looked through it.

"Xijing is a city because of the river, and half of the people rely on the Yaohe River for food."

Jian Siyuan shrank, looked enviously at the five people in unlined clothes across the table, and continued.

"Small mung bean-sized piers like this are everywhere—for fishing, ferrying, and transporting groceries..."

"Checking taxes in these wormholes and rat holes may not even be able to pay back with manpower."

He explained to Hong Fan.

It seems that the youngest person in the hall is Si Ye.

Wu Hongling sat quietly, she didn't seem to feel that there was anything wrong.

(End of this chapter)