Cyber ​​Daming

Chapter 640: Battle on the Mountain
"So, you came here today just to ask me how I plan to eat this hot pot?"

"of course."

"Does it matter?"

"Of course it is important. You are a well-known gourmet. You should know that there is a sequence for eating hot pot. What dish should be put in first and what dish should be put in later? There are many rules and details. If the sequence is messed up, the soup will be turbid and the taste will be wrong."

"That's right, but what if we plan to cook all the food at once?"

"Then it would be like eating maocai. When did you seniors become so unrefined?"

While the two of them were fighting, Zou Sijiu, who was eating quietly, couldn't help but roll his eyes.
Don't you just want to know how the New Donglin Party plans to deal with the current situation and who to attack first and who to attack later? Why are you talking so mysteriously?
Too lazy to listen to their rambling, Zou Sijiu simply focused on the food in front of him. After clearing the bowls and plates in front of him, he reached out for the plate of tripe that Pei Xingjian had deliberately taken away before.

"You kid has never eaten before, right? Can't you save some for me?"

Pei Xingjian no longer cared about pretending to be a master. He quickly raised his hands to protect the bowl and picked up a piece of tripe and put it into the pot.

"Li Jun, you are a lone warrior who rolls up his sleeves and wields a knife. Where on earth did you learn these sour things? How dare you start arguing with me about literature?"

Li Jun laughed: "Mr. Pei, you are a great scholar in the field of etiquette and art. Isn't it more to your liking that I speak this way?"

"Who are you calling an old fox? There are some people you can't talk to completely, or else they'll bite you back when something goes wrong. But why are you playing with these things? Who would dare to bite you? Isn't that courting death?"

Pei Xingjian cursed with a smile, and glanced warily at Zou Sijiu who was eager to make a move beside him. He picked up the crispy and tender tripe and stuffed it into his mouth. He chewed it slowly, and then he breathed a sigh of relief after it went down his stomach safely.

"We are all not strangers anymore. If you have anything to say, just ask directly. I will definitely tell you what I can say."

"Okay, then I'll just say it straight. Who is Zhang Fengyue going to target first this time? Longhu Mountain? Donghuang Palace? Or Honghu?"

"neither."

Pei Xingjian shook his head and said bluntly: "This time he plans to deal with those treacherous and heartless people in the New Donglin Party first."

Li Jun and Zou Sijiu looked at each other after hearing this, and the same answer popped up in their minds: family background!

"Zhang Fengyue is really courageous for choosing to turn the blade inward at this time."

"If that old man didn't even have this much of a decision, how could I possibly abandon Chongqing Prefecture and come here to help him clean up the mess?"

Pei Xingjian paused, a look of emotion on his face: "But to be honest, I am also surprised that he would choose to do this. It seems that my old dean is not completely confused yet, and he still knows the priorities. It is really a blessing."

"So where are you going to start first?"

Pei Xingjian looked at Li Jun with a half-smile and said jokingly, "I knew that you had no good intentions in coming to my house this time. You want to take over the Xu family in Songjiang Prefecture, so you came to me to test the waters, right?"

"There is only this little bit left of Old Su's affairs. The New Year is coming soon. If I don't gather everyone together and send them down to kowtow and apologize in front of him, how can I have the face to visit his and Chizhu's graves?"

"That's the truth."

Pei Xingjian suddenly changed the subject and said, "But it's really rare. When did you become so polite that you would even think of asking the owner before beating the dog?"

Li Jun smiled but did not answer.

"If you don't tell me, do you think I don't know? It was old man Zhang who helped you with the matter of the aboriginal land, so you are willing to give him some face, right? The Xu family is really in trouble for getting involved with a murderer like you."

Pei Xingjian snorted, and his words suddenly became sour: "But you don't have to worry about this matter. Yang Bai Ze is already helping you. It shouldn't be long before that brat comes to you to claim credit."

Li Jun couldn't help but frowned slightly when he heard this: "Yang Baize..."

"Don't worry about it. With me here, how can he suffer any loss?"

Pei Xingjian said calmly, "Although old man Zhang is cunning and dishonest, he is honest and never stingy. With his support, it will be easy for Xiao Bai Ze to deal with the Xu family. The biggest difficulty is to spend more time thinking about how to do things beautifully so that others will have nothing to say."

"Okay, I won't ask about the Xu family's affairs. Let's eat."

Li Jun finally picked up the chopsticks in front of him, but found that the table was empty.

Zou Sijiu, who was sitting next to him, took a sip of wine with a satisfied look to clear the fat in his stomach.

Li Jun was too embarrassed to look at Pei Xingjian's resentful eyes, so he smiled awkwardly and changed the subject: "Mr. Pei, I remember Yang Bai Ze mentioned to me that you used to dislike Zhang Fengyue's character. Why did you choose to help him this time?"

Pei Xingjian muttered "be patient when entertaining guests" and placed his chopsticks horizontally on the bowl.

"It's not that I don't like him, but I don't like those animals of the New Donglin Party who feed on the people. Now he is determined to rectify the chaos of the aristocratic families, which has fulfilled my long-cherished wish, so I naturally have to help."

Li Jun said sternly, "This is a dangerous job, you have to be careful, Mr. Pei."

Although he is not a Confucian, Li Jun can still see the hidden risks and crises therein.

If we regard Confucianism as a towering tree with luxuriant branches and leaves, then its tangled roots are the various family affiliations.

These families, which are linked by blood inheritance, may not be very strong individually, but what makes them complicated are the intertwined human relationships behind them.

The uncle of this family may be the nephew of that family. If you pull out the radish, there will be mud. If you eliminate one, it is likely to anger a large group of people.

The so-called New Donglin Party is actually the representative of the collective interests of the aristocratic families. Although Zhang Fengyue is the party leader, it is probably not that easy to promote this internal purge and complete self-rescue.

What's more, this big tree has more than just branches and leaves, there are also some pests hiding in the shadows.

Li Jun thought of the man he met in Nanchang Prefecture who called himself "Spring and Autumn Society" and gently turned the wine cup with two fingers.

"It's certainly dangerous, but you can't be afraid of ropes for ten years after being bitten by a snake once, right?"

Pei Xingjian raised his cup and drank it all, sneering: "But these gentlemen who are used to a good life, few have the courage to fight to the death. Most of them are wavering fence-sitters who will be honest when they see blood. In fact, speaking of this, I have to thank you."

Li Jun was slightly surprised and asked, "What do you mean?"

"If you hadn't dealt with the Liaodong Lu Clan and the Nanjing Liu Clan, sounded the alarm for them in advance, and made some people see the power of this matter clearly, and had made their attitudes clear in both open and covert ways, otherwise this matter would probably have been even more troublesome."

Pei Xingjian smiled and said, "Old man Zhang tacitly agreed that Siyuan would stay in the aboriginal land to help you. It was also a way of thanking you. But he is old and very proud, so he can't put down his pride and tell you directly."

“It turns out there are so many tricks here.”

After eating and drinking his fill, Zou Sijiu lazily said, "Hey, old man, are all of you Confucian scholars so cunning? Aren't you tired?"

"Did you ever hear a word?"

Pei Xingjian stood still, and glanced at Zou Sijiu with his pair of clear black and white eyes.

"What?" Zou Sijiu looked curious.

"Hunger makes the mind wiser, and food makes the heart bloated."

Pei Xingjian said coldly: "In the future, if you can move your chopsticks less when you are a guest, you should be more considerate."

"."

The corners of Zou Sijiu's mouth twitched constantly. He was about to open his mouth to fight back, but he saw that Pei Xingjian had already looked away and was looking at Li Jun.

"Have you really decided to wade into this muddy water? It's not too late for you to take back your words now. I can assume that you are just here to have a meal today and I won't think of anything else."

Li Jun laughed in silence: "Mr. Pei, do you think I came all the way here to joke with you?"

"I understand what you mean, but have you ever thought about why the East Palace dared to use Zhang Xiji's name to play tricks on the Buddhist Order, making him bear the blame for so many years in vain, but now the two families can still live in peace and even join forces to fight against the Confucian Order?"

Pei Xingjian spoke very quickly: "Instead of going to these charlatans to vent his anger the moment Zhang Xiji took back the seat of Baiyujing Celestial Immortal and returned to the rank of the second in the Dao sequence?"

Li Jun narrowed his eyes, with a hint of coldness in them: "Master Pei, are you saying that Youshu Er is also hiding in the East Palace?"

"If not, is there any other possibility?"

Pei Xingjian said sternly: "Anyone who dares to jump out at this time is not an easy person to deal with! Today, I will tell you the truth. In this situation, I can't tell whether Ruxu will win or lose in the end. Do you understand?" "Of course I understand."

Li Jun asked back: "But isn't it a good thing that someone is helping out at this time?"

"This is a little selfish desire of this old man that cannot be made public."

Pei Xingjian said calmly: "If you choose to stay out of it, if Ruxu really loses in the end, at least you can help me take care of Yang Baize and don't let him lose his life."

Without waiting for Li Jun to answer, the old man continued, "If this happened in the distant past, five years ago, no, two years ago, I would have tried every possible means to win you over, and I might even have used some despicable and despicable means to force you to submit."

Li Jun was not angry when he heard this, but asked calmly: "Why did it change now?"

Pei Xingjian was silent for a long time, then poured himself another drink.

Perhaps he was still not satisfied, so the old man simply stopped using the wine cup and grabbed the bottle to take a gulp.

"Maybe he's really old, and he really doesn't want to see the old send off the young. In fact, it's not just me, isn't Zhang Fengyue the same? He sealed Zhang Siyuan's memory and threw him out of the Zhang family, and he lived as a rootless duckweed for twenty years, just because he didn't want Zhang Siyuan to live like him. If he took a wrong step, he would not have a good ending."

Pei Xingjian exhaled a strong breath of alcohol from his lungs, looked at the dark night, and a hint of self-mockery appeared on his face.

"In fact, whether it's the third or the second order, God has given us no more than a hundred years. Some people say there is a conspiracy behind this, deliberately blocking the path to godhood. But in my opinion, this may be God's mercy. It prevents us from becoming monsters chasing after immortality, and at least allows us to retain some humanity."

"Yang Baize didn't die in Mianzhou County. It was his blessing to meet you, Mr. Pei, and take him in."

Li Jun said in a deep voice: "But whether it is Longhu Mountain, Donghuang Palace, or those Honghu, I have a lot of blood debts to settle with them. So even if you Ruxu were not there, I would not be able to stay out of it."

"I understand. Just pretend that I never said those words."

Pei Xingjian nodded with a smile on his face. He opened a new bottle of wine, leaned forward, and filled Li Jun's glass with his own hands.

"But you still have to watch out for Yang Bai Ze. He learned his banditry from you. You will be held responsible if anything happens. Even though I can't beat you now, don't forget which of the six Confucian arts I am proficient in. When it comes to throwing tantrums and cursing, even Zhang Fengyue has to stay away from me."

"Everyone is here. It seems that I have arrived at the right time."

Suddenly, an inappropriate laugh was heard.

A bright star quietly emerged in the night sky, and a beam of light as if it were real fell, just covering the Taoist who stepped into the courtyard.

"Liang Gongming from the Heavenly Master's Mansion of Mount Longhu greets you all."

The Taoist bowed, but the three people at the table seemed to ignore him. They raised their glasses and drank among themselves, and no one paid any attention to him.

"I just heard your heartfelt words, Master Pei. They really touched me."

Liang Gongming's round face seemed covered with a layer of silver gauze in the starlight, making it difficult to see the expression on his face clearly.

However, he still had a smile on his face as he spoke, as if he didn't care at all about everyone's disregard.

"But since you are so afraid of losing and of losing your legacy, why not just give up now? Don't worry, I will definitely recommend you two to Master Zhang for great wealth. What do you think, Master Pei?"

"Liang Gongming, are you the headmaster of Qingcheng Mountain who ran away with his tail between his legs?"

Li Jun sat sideways on the bench and looked back at the uninvited guest.

"I guess you are Li Jun, the new Lord of Tianque? I have often heard Taoist Chongcheng mention you recently."

Liang Gongming was interrupted by Li Jun before he could finish his words.

"Who are the Liang Renxian and Liang Jianfeng who entered the Japanese area before?"

The starlight cast by the stars in the sky suddenly became brighter, and Liang Gongming's face with a fake smile gradually became clear.

"Master Li Que, what does this mean?"

"The meaning is very simple. Liang Jianfeng was killed by Chi Zhu. Liang Renxian was killed by me."

Li Jun looked at him with disdain and pointed a finger at the ground beneath his feet.

"If you had dared to come here in your true form today, you would have gone down to reunite with the father and son."

"If we can really be reunited in the underworld, I would be very grateful."

Liang Gongming's ability to swallow his anger obviously exceeded Li Jun's expectations. He smiled calmly and said, "But I wonder if you, Lord Li Que, have ever heard of the saying that deep love does not last long, and excessive rigidity is easy to break?"

"Liang Gongming, we have been neighbors for a while. I know you are thick-skinned, but I didn't expect that you have made great progress in cultivating your Qi now that you have reached Mount Longhu. You are even good at being a dog now. Zhang Xiji's training method is really powerful."

Pei Xingjian smiled and poured the wine bottle on the table onto the ground.

"This bottle of wine is my toast to your disciples who died in vain for the sake of Qingcheng Mountain, so that they won't always poke at you, the headmaster who 'sold the mountain for fame'. But they can't blame you. If they hadn't died a few more people, they wouldn't have been able to help you get such a good position on Longhu Mountain, right?"

Liang Gongming stared at Pei Xingjian with his eyes fixed, and the expression on his face gradually faded, replaced by indifference and coldness.

"See? To deal with this kind of person who is hard to kill but likes to put on airs in front of you, you have to poke him hard in the heart, open his wounds and spit on him."

Pei Xingjian winked at Li Jun and said, "Although your method of killing people's descendants is a bit crude, it is still commendable."

"Then if I play the role of Zhang Xiji in his dream, giving him hope of rebellion, and then jump out at the last moment to humiliate him, would that be a good effect?"

Zou Sijiu was studious and asked seriously.

Unexpectedly, Pei Xingjian rolled his eyes at him fiercely and said unhappily: "If you have already dragged him into the dream, why don't you kill him right away? Why are you still playing these tricks?"

"Old man, Master Zou, I find that you are targeting me."

Zou Sijiu was furious. "Isn't it just that I took a few more bites from your chopsticks? Is it necessary to keep harping on it?"

"You all sang in unison, and your cooperation was very tacit."

Liang Gongming, who was left aside, said in a cold voice: "Pei Xingjian, sooner or later, I will settle the matter with you about you leading the Faxu to kill my Qingcheng Mountain."

Pei Xingjian smiled slightly: "I am still not satisfied that I failed to kill you."

The Taoist ignored his words and turned his eyes to Zou Sijiu.

Zou Sijiu put his hands on his temples, and had already figured out what kind of domineering and arrogant attitude he should use to answer in order to fully demonstrate his rebellious temperament.

But before Zou Sijiu could show himself, the gaze stayed on him for a brief moment and then moved away.

"Li Jun, I came here today on the orders of Master Zhang Tianshi, just to ask you a question."

Liang Gongming said word by word: "Do you want to fight or make peace?"

"Go back and tell Zhang Xiji not to be afraid. I won't kill him. Because he has already been booked with Longhu Mountain."

Li Jun stood up and looked up at the star in the sky.

The starlight is bright and dazzling, like an eye with a biting chill.

"Chen Qisheng, the Taoist priest of the old sect of Wudang Mountain, will come to him personally to retrieve the four words 'Taoism Ancestor Temple'."

"How shameless! This Heavenly Master is waiting for you on Mount Longhu!"

Liang Gongming's figure suddenly collapsed, and was replaced by a huge sound like thunder, rolling over the entire Chengdu Prefecture.

Li Jun raised his hand and waved it, and the ferocious aura that soared into the sky broke through the huge pressure that was pressing down on him.

"Okay, see you on the mountain."

(End of this chapter)