I Honor

The Edge of the Vast Sea

“Liquid Sand Collection”, the last market town west of the “Death Sea of ​​Death”, after leaving the market, you can see a vast expanse of gravel, desolate and gloomy, and a few clumps of tenacious and distorted green not only cannot bring the pulse of life, but set off the vastness and silence of the Gobi.

“Western Region” is the collective name for the vast area in the west of the Great Jin Dynasty and the Northern Zhou Dynasty. It is not actually a holistic concept. After leaving the “Yumen Pass”, there are hundreds of thousands of countries, and there are deserts and Gobi everywhere. In the Great Gobi, there are several places such as the “Death Sea”, “God Burial Desert”, and “West Pole Desert”, and there are many oases and dark rivers in their hinterlands, forming a wonderful exotic style.

A former location master who traveled to the Western Regions once said that the “Western Regions” can be said to be oases and countries wrapped in deserts and Gobi, or it can be said that there are countless countries mixed with deserts and Gobi. The only exception is the Daxue Mountain in the north. It starts from “Endless Abyss” and ends at “Yumen Pass”, stretches for thousands of miles, and runs through the entire Western Region.

And in the depths of Daxue Mountain, it is rumored that there are nine tombs of immortals in ancient mythology, which suppressed the “Endless Sea of ​​Abyss”. Among the six sword-holding sects, the “Snow Mountain School” is said to have grown from the tomb guards who have been passed down from generation to generation.

The strong wind mixed with gravel was like ice, blowing towards the “quick sand collection”, covering this market town in sand and dust, making it hard to see and smell.

“Is this a sandstorm?” Meng Qi, who had never experienced it before, tightened his thick monk robe. He was not afraid of the cold, but felt that after being covered with dust and gravel, he would lose his chic and elegant temperament, like an old man shepherding sheep. .

Since leaving Shaolin at the height of autumn, Xuan Bei has been on his way unhurriedly, leaving ample time for the monks who went to other sects to explain the matter. Therefore, in the third month of Yangchun, the three masters and apprentices arrived at the “quick sand” Set”, and March in the Western Regions is still as cold as severe winter.

Zhenhui opened a pair of big eyes, looking curiously at the dust surrounding him, at the decadent and dark trees around him, at the camels dangling their bells, and exclaimed softly from time to time.

There are few pedestrians in Jishang. The people who live here have already returned to their homes to avoid the wind and gravel. Only merchants, rangers, travelers, etc. are still walking to the only inn in Jishang against the wind and sand.

“Brother, you look different from us.” Zhenhui finally couldn’t help asking.

Quite a few passers-by have high noses, deep eyes, and different-colored pupils, which are rarer than the common people in the Central Plains. What’s more, they have double horns on their heads, wide-open eyebrows, and look like monsters.

Meng Qi was dazzled by the sight, but he didn’t know how to answer Zhenhui.

“Amitabha, it is different for one side to raise another side’s people. However, some people in the Western Regions are called descendants of gods and demons, so they inevitably have special shapes.” Xuan Bei said softly.

The former refers to normal people from the Western Regions, while the latter refers to “foreigners” who have two horns on their heads and open eyes.

“Descendants of gods and demons, do they have any special abilities?” Meng Qi asked with great interest. Could it be that the redemption table of “Lord of the Six Paths of Reincarnation” also hides bloodline options such as “descendants of gods and demons”

The wind and sand came together, but Xuan Bei’s side was spotless. He smiled and said, “Of course there are.”

While talking, the three masters and apprentices had already arrived at the inn. This is a three-storey house with an old appearance and full of traces of wind and sand blowing. It was written “the first house in the vast sea”.

Stepping into the inn, Meng Qi saw the counter first. It was right by the door, and it was filled with papers, brushes, account books and other things in a mess.

The shopkeeper is a woman in a black dress. She is twenty-seven or eight years old. She is dressed as a woman. She has willow eyebrows and phoenix eyes. She has a delicate face, like a blooming flower, full of femininity, attracting customers who come and go. sizing up.

With her chin propped on her right hand, she was lazily looking at the account book, her face, which was whitened by the black dress, had a cold expression, as if everyone in the inn owed her a hundred taels of silver.

“Amitabha, the shopkeeper, who lives in the store and eats.” As a relatively reliable disciple, Meng Qi went up and said, in fact, he really wanted to address the proprietress directly, but it was a pity that the master was watching from behind.

The woman in the black skirt didn’t even raise her head, and said indifferently, “Five taels of silver a night, plus meals.”Damn, you rob, Meng Qi really wants to teach her what “the customer is God”, but it’s a pity that the master is watching from behind.

Thinking that there was only this inn here, not even a ruined temple, and it belonged to a “monopoly industry”, Meng Qi looked back at his master and saw him nodding slightly, so he took out silver taels from the package and put them on the counter: “Fifteen Two silver coins, three rooms.”

“There are only two rooms.” The woman in the black skirt still ignored her.

Meng Qi felt that there was no problem. Master had one room, and he and Zhenhui could squeeze through. Anyway, there were a lot of wind, food and camping along the way, and now two rooms are not bad: “Okay, this is ten taels of silver, two taels of silver. room.”

He stretched out his hand to get back five taels of silver.

The woman in the black dress squinted at Meng Qi: “It’s counted by the head.”

The corner of Meng Qi’s mouth twitched, and he really wanted to teach her how to behave, but it was a pity that the master was watching from behind.

After obtaining master’s consent, Meng Qi nodded and said, “Fifteen taels of silver, two rooms.”

The woman in the black skirt slowly moved the silver over without raising her eyelids and said, “The two unlocked rooms on the west side of the second floor, go by yourself.”

Don’t think that you are a beautiful woman, so I won’t dare to hit you. It’s a pity that Master looked at Meng Qi from behind and thought so resentfully many times. This is a subconscious thought developed along the way.

In the lobby of the inn, there were more than 20 tables, all of which were full of people. Some were punching and drinking, some were talking loudly, and some were whispering. It was very lively.

Some of these guests are in tight bunts, and they look like Lianjiazi at first glance, some have dusty faces, but the details are rich and noble, and some are dressed in Confucian robes, and even though they are in the hustle and bustle, they still have a bit of scholarly temperament. Some of them covered their heads with long robes and dressed themselves as “shakers”. The common people of the Jin Dynasty called those who walked through the deserts and Gobi in the Western Regions all year round to beg for life as “shakers”, and there were many horse bandits and robbers among them.

When Xuan Bei led the two apprentices through the hall, many guests glanced secretly, and after seeing nothing special, they looked away again and continued their efforts to make noise:

“Five, five, five”

“Haha, three six drink three bowls”

“Damn, why did you lose again?”

In such a noisy environment, a young-looking man took a sip of his wine, frowned and took the bowl down, stood up and shouted: “Boss, your wine is not strong enough, is it mixed with water?”

Immediately, all the sounds in the lobby stopped abruptly. Those who punched wine, threw dice, talked, drank alcohol, and ate vegetables all kept their original movements for a short time as if time had frozen.

The woman in black dress who might be the shopkeeper or the proprietress raised her head, her willow eyebrows stood erect, and her almond eyes stared wide:

“I like to drink, but I don’t want to go away”

Pfft, Meng Qi almost spit, this proprietress really has personality

The young man who complained that the spirits were watered down did not expect such an answer at all, and stood there stupidly for a while.

“Haha.” The stiff crowd roared with laughter, as if they had long expected that the young man would be treated like this.

“Haha, I’m dying of laughter, someone dares to yell at Jiu Niang.”

“Don’t talk to me, my tears are about to burst out of laughter, where is the green-headed boy?”

“Where is Jiu Niang mixed with water in the wine, it’s obviously in the water, don’t cover my mouth.”

“If you don’t cover your mouth, you want to be kicked out, or drink a pot of Jiuniang’s footwashing water”

It is probably the first time for the young man to walk in the rivers and lakes. Faced with this situation, except for his face flushing, he is neither angry nor patient.

Fortunately, there is an old Jianghu who often walks here as his companion, who got up and whispered something in his ear, persuading him to sit down again.

The young man lowered his head and gritted his teeth, but he didn’t dare to attack, which surprised Meng Qi.

After walking up the stairs, Xuan Bei, who was walking in front of her, suddenly spoke, with a rare smile in her tone: “Qu Jiuniang, whose life experience is unknown, opened the first inn in Hanhai ten years ago. She was outstanding and caused a lot of trouble, but everyone who dared to take her idea, took it seriously, some outside the corpse collection, and some hung naked on the wine streamers in the inn, and none of them were spared. After that, the troubles decreased, and everyone knew about it Not an easy character to mess with, I suspect she is a master of location.”

“How old is she?” Meng Qi was taken aback, and at the same time secretly slandered, “Master, when it comes to the outside of the corpse collection, you didn’t show compassion, your heart is still alive.”

Xuan Bei stepped on the last step of the stairs: “It’s about thirty-five or six. As a teacher, I don’t use my eyes to see through it, so I don’t know much about it.”

Uh, it’s well maintained, but this kind of location expert might still look like this for another ten years. Meng Qi nodded slightly.

Once outside the guest room, Xuan Bei turned to Meng Qi and Zhen Hui and said, “As a teacher, you have to do evening classes, so don’t relax.”

“Yes, Master.” After the two replied respectfully, they opened the door and entered their room.

There was only one bed, one table and two chairs in the room, which was old but not messy. Meng Qi and Zhenhui didn’t say much. They sat on the chair and the bed, and began to meditate.

Meng Qi didn’t practice any other kung fu, but focused on guarding the ancestral orifice, and his true energy moved upwards, slowly stimulating this entrance.

In the past half a year, Meng Qi has finished condensing the remaining three acupoints of the eye orifice. He only waits for a few days to recuperate his body and mind, and find a chance to take “Tian Cong Pill” to make a breakthrough.He has already started the “chasing the wind and catching shadows”, and he has finished the first few paragraphs of the Yijin forging chapter. Even if the realm does not break through, the power of martial arts such as Golden Bell Mask and Arhat Boxing has increased by 30% out of thin air. After the bone chapter, Meng Qi found it much easier to condense the acupoints, and he even seemed to be able to grasp a little of the illusory, faintly visible eye acupoints.

Therefore, Meng Qicai did not rush to take the “Tian Cong Pill” to make a breakthrough after condensing the acupoints, but patiently continued to practice the