Qingling Punishing Heart

Chapter 20 Xuanhu Sect

The loess is vast, and the endless plain stretches under the sky.

Although the wind is hot on the face, it can't quench a child's curiosity at all.Hua Rulang leaned against the wooden window next to the carriage and looked out, only to see the dry land covered with web-shaped cracks.The bankers who had been eaten by locusts along the way were swaying in the wind like rags.

A yellow mud road that had been trodden down by iron cavalry was piled up with bones, and there were a few deep ruts.There are faint traces of people living in the surrounding area, and now it seems that there is only gloom and desolation in the eyes.

Hindsight, waving his whip, said sadly:
"This was originally a small village in the Kingdom of Shen. Three years ago, King Xuan of Zhou led his troops to invade. When he returned victorious, he used the excuse of rewarding the three armies to let the soldiers burn, kill and loot here. During those days, the place was full of smoke and corpses were everywhere. There are screams of children calling for daughters, fathers and mothers crying everywhere. To this day, a large area of ​​nearby land is deserted.”

The words were filled with endless resentment. From the words of the coachman, Su Ji could faintly feel that the hatred between Shen Guo and the Zhou family had intensified to the point of freezing.

When the scorching sun was in the sky at noon, Hua Rulang suddenly let out a scream, which woke up the dozing Su Ji.

With sleepy eyes, Su Ji saw Hua Rulang excitedly pointing out the window, and in the distance was an ancient city surrounded by forests.The rippling water of the lake surrounds the city, like a transparent emerald belt.

Even if the hindsight who was driving the car didn't look back, he could still imagine the excited expressions of the two people behind him, but he waved his whip expressionlessly and said disapprovingly:
"What you see is the mirage of Shendu Pingyang, and there are at least four days' journey to get there."

Immediately afterwards, as the hindsight said, in just a moment, the green forest, green lake, and ancient city all disappeared without a trace, leaving only a barren plain, and the only thing that could be heard was the dull rolling of horseshoes and wheels sound.

Before sunset, the carriage arrived at a small inn called "Fengqilou".

This is the only inhabited place in a radius of hundreds of miles.Without this inn, it is impossible to imagine how far this wasteland will extend.

Fengqi Tower has a big name, but its appearance is small.There wasn't even a single diner inside, only a shopkeeper who was fiddling with the abacus and a waiter who was nodding and nodding.The clothes on the two were of strange styles and colorful colors, with five-color pheasants and long-tailed apes embroidered on their shoulders. At first glance, they were the costumes of the Western Rong people.

Su Ji randomly found a table and sat down, feeling his mouth was dry, seeing no one came to greet him, he shouted to himself:
"A pot of green bamboo leaves!"

Xiao Er yawned, lazily opened one eye, and was about to reach for the wine when the shopkeeper stopped him!

"no!"

With a weird accent, the shopkeeper replied two words indifferently, and then buried his head in muttering something he didn't understand to Xiaoer, as if he was complaining about something.

Hua Rulang was wondering, when he suddenly heard the sound of hurried hooves, and stopped outside the inn.

Hearing the sound of the horse's hooves coming so urgently, Hua Rulang couldn't help but get up and take a look, and saw a white-haired young man approaching from a distance.The blue Central Plains Taoist uniform on the young man made Hua Rulang feel very friendly, and upon closer inspection, it was actually the same as the clothes of the Taoist boy in the Qingling Temple.

When the shopkeeper saw the white-haired young man enter the store, he quickly walked out of the counter and invited him to the best position.

When Xiaoer saw the white-haired young man, he put Su Jiliang here without hesitation, and trotted forward to greet him.

"A pot of green bamboo leaves!"

The same five words were shouted out from the mouth of the white-haired young man, but the result was a world of difference.In the blink of an eye, the shopkeeper placed a jar of green bamboo leaves on the young man's table, and said with a flattering smile:

"This place is dry and lacks water, and wine is more expensive than silver shells. I specially reserved this last pot of green bamboo leaves for Master Jiu. Only someone with your status, Master Jiu, deserves to drink this kind of wine."

The shopkeeper flattered him endlessly, while the white-haired young man drank without saying a word, showing no intention of greeting him at all.

Hua Rulang had a panoramic view of what happened just now, and the dissatisfaction in her heart was already written on her face.However, Su Ji was amused by it, so he simply pricked up his ears to listen carefully, thinking that the shopkeeper seemed to have ulterior motives.

"Is there any clue about my son?" The shopkeeper asked again.

The white-haired young man drank on his own, as if he didn't hear him.

The shopkeeper wanted to ask again, but suddenly felt that someone was pulling his clothes. Looking down, he saw a child blinking his big eyes looking at him, pouted his mouth, and said dissatisfiedly:
"My master wants wine, but you say no. He wants wine, but you say yes. Aren't you bullying people?"

The shopkeeper was suffocating, seeing Hua Rulang coming over to argue, he simply vented his anger on him, and said contemptuously:
"You little bastard! Can you beggars afford such good wine? If I don't kick you out, I'm showing mercy, and I don't even look at what I am!"

Hua Rulang looked down at himself, and found that he really looked like a little beggar now.

Recently, because he was afraid of the girl in white clothes chasing him, the carriage kept on driving.The expensive clothes on Hua Rulang's body were already dirty into a gray rag, and Su Ji's clothes were even more tattered, with a large gap cut by a sword on his chest.

However, what betrayed them was not the tattered clothes on their bodies, but a chipped plate protruding from Hua Rulang's arms.This unattractive treasure has now become the most favorable proof of the identity of a beggar.

"Have you ever seen such a handsome beggar as us?" Su Ji raised his voice and asked.

"You are handsome among beggars, but you are only a beggar after all." After the shopkeeper finished speaking coyly, he turned his head and smiled at the white-haired young man and said, "I am just such a son, as long as I can make him worship under Mr. Fox, How much money do you need to manage, you must not be polite, just ask..."

When hearing the words "Master Fox", Hua Rulang suddenly looked at Su Ji.Su Ji made a silent gesture, signaling to continue listening.

The shopkeeper seemed to have a lot to say, but he swallowed all the words, and the white-haired young man raised two fingers to signal him to shut up.

At this moment, the white-haired young man's eyes were fixed on the Fortune Jade Document in Hua Rulang's arms.

"What a unique plate..." the white-haired young man smiled.

Hua Rulang was at a loss, only listening to Su Ji behind him, saying loudly:
"No matter how unique it is, it's just a beggar."

Su Ji's words expressed the heart of the shopkeeper.The shopkeeper looked bewildered, and he couldn't understand why someone would be interested in a beggar.

Su Ji waved his hand, and Hua Rulang hurried back to him, tucking the plate back into the dirty clothes.

The white-haired young man glanced at the bronze bell on Su Ji's waist again, his face sank slightly, and then he slowly turned his head to look at the shopkeeper, his eyes full of resentment.

The shopkeeper was already sweating coldly, but he was still confused.After pondering for a while, he strode to Su Ji's side, stretched his neck and shouted:

"You two beggars! If you are willing to give the begging plate to the gentleman over there, I will treat you two to this meal!"

The shopkeeper's expression when he spoke was like a living Bodhisattva who saves suffering.He pointed his nostrils at the two people below, waiting for them to offer the plates with both hands and give them sincere thanks.

However, the reality was once again beyond his expectations.

Su Ji smiled lightly, put a piece of gold shell on the table, and said to Hua Rulang:
"Wolf, go ahead!"

Jin Bei's light reflected in the shopkeeper's eyes, so that his eyeballs almost popped out, and his mouth seemed to be able to fit two fists into it.

Hua Rulang recited the dishes on the wooden board from beginning to end, and only then was he finished ordering.When the dishes were served, there was no room for one table, so we had to divide the dishes into three tables.

The shop waiter respectfully presented the recovered ingot of silver to Su Ji, but he did not know that this ingot of silver was his last property.Because he left in a hurry, Su Ji only brought a gold shell.Thinking that he might really become a beggar after eating this meal, he stared at the sumptuous dishes in front of him for a long time.

Hua Rulang blinked and asked, "Master, what's the matter? The dishes I ordered don't suit your taste?"

Su Ji smiled bitterly and said, "Wolf, does your Wang family usually eat like this?"

Hua Rulang shook his head and said: "The food at home is more expensive than this, but there is no way to pay attention to it now. Tuer only ordered one person's amount, is it too little?"

"A lot, a lot. What you ordered is enough for the master to eat for several days. It's a pity that so many dishes will probably be wasted."

"When the apprentice is at home, the servants will eat the dishes that the servants can't finish; the dogs will eat the dishes that the servants can't finish; the flowers, plants and trees in the garden will eat the things the dogs can't finish; nothing will be wasted. .”

"There must be a lot of servants in your family?"

"Not too sure, I only know that there are more than a dozen people serving by my side."

The conversation between the two made the waiter at the side so envious that his eyes almost popped out.

At this moment, the shopkeeper took out a palm-sized white jade plate from the back room, placed it lightly on the table of the white-haired young man, and said:

"Master Jiu, this is an ancient artifact passed down from my ancestors. It is priceless. My son..."

Before the shopkeeper finished speaking, he saw the white-haired young man gently covering the white jade plate with one hand. When he lifted it up, the white jade plate had turned into a pile of white powder.

The white-haired youth also put a gold shell on the table and said darkly:
"Leave this to your son to buy a coffin. He offended Mr. Fox and died."

The shopkeeper was startled for a moment, the corners of his mouth twitched a few times, and the expression on his face couldn't tell whether it was crying or laughing.

The white-haired young man started to leave after speaking, just in time to collide with the hindsight who came into the store.

Seeing the white-haired young man, Hou Pao hurriedly shrank his feet, stopped at the door, and didn't enter the store until he watched him walk a long way.

Su Ji asked the horse in hindsight: "Why did you tie the horse for so long?"

Houpao responded with a smile: "The wind and sand are too strong, and horses don't listen to people."

Su Ji said to Hua Rulang: "Wolf, go and see if he has done anything to our horse?"

Hua Rulang responded, immediately put down her chopsticks, and ran out.

Immediately, Pao rolled his eyes and said to Su Ji: "You deliberately dismissed the young master, you must have something to say."

"Do you know what the origin of that white hair is?"

"I don't know his name, but people call him Hu Jiuye. It is said that he is the brother of the head teacher of Xuanhu Sect."

"Xuanhu Sect?"

"That is the largest cultivation sect in our Shen Kingdom, and it is proficient in the art of dunjia. When you arrive in Pingyang City, you will see the Fenggu chariots and wooden cows and horses on the street. Those are all made by the Xuanhu Sect. People dream of becoming disciples."

"What does this have to do with Mr. Fox?"

"Master Fox is the head teacher of Xuanhu Sect."

Su Ji hesitated for a moment and asked, "When did I become the head teacher of Xuanhu Sect?"

"Don't get me wrong. The master fox of Xuanhu Sect is not you, but a real master."

The hindsight words were like a ladle of cold water, splashing down on Su Ji's head.

(End of this chapter)