Spirit rhinoceros

Chapter 5

Changliu City, thousands of years have passed since the first piece of green inkstone was laid on the ground of Changliu Mountain as a roadbed. I don’t know how many foreigners have become locals.Every tiny corner of the slate has been ground round and smooth, and the light can be seen in the rain and fog that comes and goes without a trace.

Stepping on the green ink stone slab, as a foreigner, Lingxi walked in the busy street, looking at the dazzling array of shops on both sides, he was a little dazed for a while.The sea of ​​people is vast, where should she find it?
Turning around, she saw a few portraits stuck on the wall. She took a look, and it turned out that it was a arrest notice issued by the city lord, and there was a word stating the reward at the bottom.

This method is very good. Isn't arresting people also looking for people after all?Lingxi was overjoyed, so he chose a painting gallery at random, and entered immediately.The store is not only covered with paintings on the walls, but also has several screens, and each screen is also a painting, or splashed ink landscapes, or ladies visiting the garden, or flowers, birds and insects.There are dozens of unrolled paper fans on the table, which are also paintings.Lingxi took a handful casually, slapped it, looked left and right, and said, "Is anyone there?"

"Here, girl, don't fan, you'll feel dizzy..." A soft voice came from the fan in her hand.

Lingxi looked at the sound, and on the fan was a picture of peach blossoms facing the water. In the picture, there was a person on the water pavilion, with a wide robe and long sleeves, holding his forehead in a dizzy state.She had no choice but to put the fan back on the table, and the person in the painting came out of the water pavilion, unexpectedly had time to break off a peach blossom before jumping out of the fan.

"In the second half, Yuan-jun." He handed the peach blossom to Lingxi.

Lingxi holds the peach blossom inexplicably, wondering what kind of custom this is.

Mr. Banyuan praised: "What is a peach blossom on a human face, I will know today..."

Before he finished speaking, Lingxi's nose was itchy from the pollen, and he couldn't help sneezing, the petals fell to the ground, leaving only a bare peach branch in his hand.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it." Lingxi returned the peach branch to him in embarrassment.

"It's all right, but miss, do you want to buy paintings?" Jun Banyuan inserted the peach branch into the earthen pottery vase and asked Lingxi with a smile.

Lingxi asked, "Are you all these paintings?"

He nodded and said with a modest smile: "They are all games, which made the girl laugh. Does the girl like it?"

"I don't want any of these paintings. I want you to draw another one for me."

"What does the girl want to draw?"

"A black bear with a ring of red hair around its neck." Lingxi recalled the appearance of the bear in Xishan, and guessed that his second uncle should look similar to him. "It's very big, furry, round head, small ears..."

Jun Banyuan then asked: "What kind of demeanor do you want?"

"Expression?"

"For example, when painting a tiger, you can draw a fierce tiger descending the mountain, a sick tiger returning to the mountain, and a young tiger playing..."

Lingxi thought for a while and said, "This bear is doing fortune-telling, and a Taoist priest will be drawn next to it."

"This is novel, fortune-telling?!"

"Correct."

An hour later, Mr. Banyuan put down his pen and looked at the painting with satisfaction.The lines in this painting are slender and strong, which outlines Xiong's strong physique, and his expression is even more lifelike. The anxiety and expectation during divination are empathetic.Although the Taoist priest on the opposite side has only one back, his hair is not in a mess, his clothes are sparse and neat, and his expression is vivid.

"Very good." Lingxi was very satisfied, "Write below the words 'If someone knows, you can get a reward of a hundred gold.', draw more like this."

Hearing this, Mr. Banyuan was stunned for a while before asking: "Young lady wants this painting because she is looking for someone." His tone was quite hurt.

Lingxi nodded and asked, "Is Changliu City University? Is posting a hundred or so sheets enough?"

"Hundreds of sheets?!" Jun Banyuan suddenly felt his blood surge up, and he was swallowed back abruptly.

"I'm in a hurry to find this bear. Naturally, the more the better."

"But girl, although I'm not talented, I'm well-known here..." Mr. Ban Yuan reckoned that she didn't know much about the world, and was thinking about how to word her refusal. When he looked down and saw a bear on the painting, his eyes widened. Liang, "The girl is looking for this bear?!"

"Ah."

"I've seen him! There's red hair around his neck, he's called Red Flame Bear. I've seen him in Xiangting. He had a fierce fight with a leopard. Good guy, he got all the hair on the ground."

"Xiangting?"

"It's the first time you come here for a long stay. You haven't even heard of Xiangting."

Lingxi nodded honestly: "It's indeed the first time, please give me advice."

"Xiang Ting is the Colosseum opened by Young Master Xuan, and it is also the largest Colosseum in Changliu City. It opens on every seventh day, and the inside is full of real things, very bloody."

Lingxi still didn't understand: "Beast fighting? Just go in and watch the fight? What's the fun in that?"

"Of course it's interesting. In addition to jackals, tigers, leopards, and bears, Xiangting also collected many strange beasts from all over the world, such as Shuhu, Chilang, flying squirrel, and roe owl. Many strange beasts that you have never seen before, each with their own abilities I went to Xiangting just to observe Zhang Lang's behavior. It's a coincidence that today is the seventh day of the lunar new year."

Really not understanding the likes and dislikes of the people here, Lingxi put away the painting: "Then I'll go and have a look."

"Girl, wait a minute!" Jun Banyuan stopped her with a smile, "Isn't the painting fee paid yet? Besides, the girl said just now that anyone who knows the inside story can get a reward of a hundred gold. I just told you bluntly below that the reward is no……"

"Oh."

Lingxi thought it was right, he was naturally an insider, so he took out a handful of gold shells from his sleeve, each of them was as small as a thumb.As soon as these golden shells landed on the table, they became the size of a fist, piled up high, and the gold shone brightly, which was extremely dazzling.

"Is this enough?" she asked.

Being stung by the gold, he couldn't keep his eyes open, Ban Yuanjun said: "If... it's all real gold, then it's enough." He took a celadon-glazed water bowl, Lingxi only said it was a brush, but he didn't expect it But he took a gold ingot and put it in the water bowl.Seeing that the gold ingot sank to the bottom of the bowl motionless, without any abnormality, his face became even more joyful.In this way, I tried several gold ingots one after another, but nothing changed.

Lingxi wondered: "What is the use of this water bowl? Why do you put gold ingots in it?"

Lord Banyuan put away all the gold ingots, and replied with a smile: "Miss, I don't know, there are dragons and snakes mixed in Changliu City, and some monsters have practiced deception, turning leaves, stones and other objects into money to cheat. It is really abominable. In order to prevent For this deception, the city lord specially burned a batch of Guizhen bowls and distributed them to merchants of all sizes. If fake gold ingots are put into the water bowls, they will return to their original appearance."

"I see." Lingxi sighed, "Are you worried that I'm also here to cheat?"

"Don't dare." Jun Banyuan hurriedly laughed, "It's just that the girl took out so many gold ingots at once, which really shocked me. But the girl is alone?"

Lingxi nodded: "So what if there is only one person?"

"The girl carries a lot of money and is alone, so she should be more cautious. You know, a gentleman is innocent, but he is guilty of carrying a jade."

"Thank you for reminding me, goodbye!"

Lingxi thanked him in his mouth, but he didn't care about it on his face, and he was about to leave.

"Wait... the girl is going to Xiangting now?" Jun Banyuan asked hastily.

Consonance nodded.

"The elephant court opens after the lights are on, so it's too early to go down. Moreover, there are many rules in the elephant court. All strangers must be accompanied by regular customers before they can enter to watch."

Lingxi was slightly taken aback: "It's so troublesome."

Mr. Banyuan smiled and said: "Changliu City is so big, if the girl enters my art gallery, it can be regarded as a predestined relationship between you and me. How about this, since the girl came from afar, I will do my best as a landlord and invite you to taste the local delicacies. Then I will accompany you to Xiangting, how about it?"

"You lead me in, and I will pay the fee." Lingxi said.

"The girl has a straightforward temperament. I treat her as a friend, as long as you trust me, don't talk about remuneration."

Mr. Banyuan raised his head, waved his sleeves, and six little white mice slid down from the beam and lined up on the table with low eyebrows.
"You take good care of the gallery and don't slack off," he ordered.

The little white mouse squeaked twice.

Lingxi thought it was very amusing, leaned over to look at the little white mouse, and said curiously: "It's interesting to raise a mouse to visit the house."

"It's also a coincidence, I happened to collect them, and it's rare that they are obedient, so I keep them for use." Mr. Banyuan raised his hand to let it out, and said politely, "Girl, please."

Staying in the climate for a long time is different from other places.Every time at sunset, layers of ink clouds will roll in from the north, and light rain will fall, which will not stop until Mao the next day.Clouds and rains come and go without a trace, every day, without interruption.

At this time, the twilight is getting darker, and the rain and fog are coming as expected. On the street, children wearing floral cloth scarves are hiding under the eaves with a plate of dried fruit on their hands to sell.It was meal time, and the restaurants in Changliu City also ushered in the busiest time of the day.

Under the bamboo tarpaulin umbrella, Mo Long strolled. He changed into a green shirt, and the ends of his hair were loosely tied with silk, it seemed that he had just washed off the dust all over his body.He picked up a little boy casually and asked for some freshly fried osmanthus chestnuts before he turned into Du's restaurant with lotus lanterns hanging on it.

There are several halls and courtyards in this restaurant, each named after flowers and plants, covered by verandahs, with bead curtains hanging at the door, and bananas and bamboos planted under the corridors, and the rain beats on the banana leaves, adding to the elegance.

In the Jianqiu hall, Xia Houfeng was already there, including Dong Lichang who had come out of the tortoise shell, and Mo Ji who was worried.

Xia Houfeng complained while knocking his paws: "Brother Long, why don't you come? I'm hungry."

"He is much more particular about bathing than you. From head to toe, every hair has to be smoothed out without any knots." Dong Lichang sipped his tea slowly, and gave Xia Houfeng a sideways look, "It's not like you, let's get into the water." It’s like being tortured, I can’t wait to rub it with mud.”

Xia Houfeng said straightforwardly: "When I was on the mountain, my parents taught me this way. I only soaked in the spring water once before the Chinese New Year, and I just need to shake my hair at ordinary times. There are so many things! ——Did you see it when Brother Long was taking a bath? ? Is he round or flat?"

"Why do you ask this? What does round hair and flat hair have to do with you?" Chief Dong Li refused to answer.

Xia Houfeng was puzzled and said: "I also want to know, what exactly is Brother Long? Why can't we let us know?"

Dongli glanced at him: "You shouldn't inquire, don't inquire!"

"I guess it's flat hair!" Xia Houfeng tutted, "Brother Long's eyes are so sharp."

Mo Ji, who didn't know when she came back to her senses, said lightly: "I think it's round hair, in terms of skill..."

Before I finished speaking, I heard a slow voice from outside the hall: "Round hair and flat hair? Why do I have to be hairy?"

Mo Long stepped into the hall and looked at them with raised eyebrows.

(End of this chapter)