The autumn leaves are gradually sparse, and in the cold wind, even pedestrians can't help but walk a few steps faster. Those idle people who are looking for wine shops and teahouses have to rely on the heater to talk lively.
The market in the small town was as usual. No matter how turbulent Taiyue City was, it could not affect the tranquility here.
Ye Ling walked through the school, and the sound of reading could be heard again. He couldn't help but stop and look around, and saw a neatly dressed middle-aged man sitting at the head, with red eyebrows and phoenix eyes, very elegant.
Holding the scroll in his hand, he was explaining the meaning of the text to the class full of students. Ye Ling stood outside the window and listened for a long time. He was about to leave, but the middle-aged man had already stood up and walked out. He smiled at Ye Ling and said, "May I ask if you are Taoist Master Ye?"
Ye Ling returned the greeting and asked, "Now, how does this gentleman know my name?"
The middle-aged man smiled and said: "I heard it from the teacher. When I was young, I also studied in this school. My master taught me a lot. I mentioned you in the letter to me."
Ye Ling nodded when he heard this: "May I ask your name, sir?"
The middle-aged man said: "I am Qi Shengxian. This name was given to me by the Master. He asked me to catch up with the Saints and pass on the holy way. Unfortunately, I have accomplished nothing so far. After getting the Master's letter, I returned to the school and became a teacher. "
Ye Ling said: "Since Mr. Qi is Master's student, he must be able to inherit Master's legacy and teach good students."
Mr. Qi smiled and said: "I hope so!"
"Sir, we all know it by heart!" The students in the room shouted to memorize it.
Ye Ling cupped his hands and said, "Mr. Qi has a heavy workload, so I won't interrupt him any more. I'll take my leave."
Mr. Qi returned the gift and watched Ye Ling leave.
Ye Ling walked to the door of Xu's country. Before he could knock on the door, a figure rushed out, grabbed Ye Ling's collar, and asked, "Where is Qin Xiao? Where is he?"
Ye Ling took a closer look and saw that it was Qu Zhiruo.
"Zhiruo!" Behind him, Qu Zhiyun came out and gently pulled his sister: "Don't be rude!"
Qu Zhiruo then loosened Ye Ling's collar, but still stared at him: "Tell me, where is Qin Xiao?"
Ye Ling lowered his head and remained silent.
"Tell me quickly, where is he?" With tears streaming down his face, Qu Zhiruo seemed to already know the truth, but was still unwilling to face it.
After a long time, Ye Ling raised his head slightly, turned around and said, "Come with me."
Qu Zhiruo and Qu Zhiyun followed Ye Ling, and the three of them left the town and walked to a hill in the distance.
There, Hua Xinfeng sat under a big tree, next to a newly repaired tomb. On the stone tablet in front of the tomb, the words "Tomb of the Unparalleled Hero Qin Xiao" are engraved.
When Qu Zhiruo came to the tombstone, her face lost all expression. She took a few steps forward as if lost, and fell down in front of the tombstone. After an unknown amount of time, she yelled: "Asshole!"
Immediately afterwards, she turned around and got up, punching Ye Ling in the face. This punch did not contain any force, but it still knocked Ye Ling to the ground.
"Why? Why didn't you save him? Why aren't you dead yet?"
Qu Zhiruo punched Ye Ling one after another, but Ye Ling seemed to be relieved and did not fight back.
Hua Xinfeng watched from the side and couldn't stop him, so he could only look at Qu Zhiyun. Qu Zhiyun hurriedly stepped forward, pulled the angry Qu Zhiruo away, and said, "Don't be like this, no one wants Qin Xiao to die. Aren't enough people dying? Do you want Ye Ling to die too?"
With tears welling up in his eyes, Qu Zhiruo threw himself at Qin Xiao's grave again and cried loudly, feeling uncontrollably sad.
Ye Ling was lying on the ground, looking up at the sky, and his whole heart seemed to have fallen into a deep depression.
Hua Xinfeng and Qu Zhiyun stood quietly beside them. The autumn wind passed by between heaven and earth, but it couldn't make any waves.
The sun gradually tilted, and the sunset was like blood, spreading towards the hills, reflecting on everyone's depressed face. Qu Zhiyun braced himself and said: "People cannot be resurrected after death, let's go back first. Little Xunuo can't see us, so it's time to cry and look for her again."
Qu Zhiruo had already stopped crying and sat blankly in front of the tomb, saying, "You go back, I want to stay a little longer."
"Little sister..."
Qu Zhiyun still wanted to persuade her, but was stopped by Hua Xinfeng. At this time, she could only wait for her to think about it, and others could not persuade her.
Hua Xinfeng stepped forward to help Ye Ling, and went back down the mountain with Qu Zhiyun to Xu Guozhong.
Little Xunuo has grown up a lot, and she seems to be quite friendly when she sees Ye Ling smiling happily. Ye Ling stepped forward to hug him, and couldn't help but think of his dead parents, and for a moment he couldn't be happy at all.
Xu Guo also saw that the three people were not in high spirits, so he only prepared meals and did not mention drinking. It stands to reason that if Qin Xiao were here, he would definitely get drunk.
As the night got darker, Qu Zhiyun stood in the yard and looked in the direction of the hills, feeling a little worried about Qu Zhiruo.
At this time, Yun Shu came over, put a piece of clothing on Qu Zhiyun, and said: "Don't worry, although that child looks strong on the surface, she is a woman after all, and she must be weak. It's just that she hides it well. She wants to be exposed. She asked you to come back just because she didn’t want you to see this."
Qu Zhiyun shed tears after hearing this: "My little sister values friendship the most. What will she do next?"
Yun Shu sighed, hugged Qu Zhiyun and said: "Life, separation and death are inevitable for everyone. People always have to look forward!"
…………
On the hill, Qu Zhiruo was sitting in front of Qin Xiao's grave. He didn't know when he started talking about the past. The experiences of the two of them reappeared in front of his eyes...
…………
After leaving the small town that day, Qin Xiao carried Qu Zhiruo all the way south to find his father Qu Yi in Liangzhou.
The whole night, Qin Xiao did not stop, and he was panting from exhaustion: "I am really exhausted, my hero, you are such a spoiled young lady, you usually eat delicacies from mountains and seas, right? It's as heavy as a pig."
Unexpectedly, Qu Zhiruo didn't answer him, and what he responded to was a faint snore.
"It's really disgusting. I'm here to act like a cow and a horse for you, but you sleep peacefully. When you recover from your injury, I will definitely let you carry me!"
As he said this, Qin Xiao deliberately slowed down his pace and became careful when walking, as if he was afraid that the bumps on the road would wake up Qu Zhiruo.
Finally at dawn, Qu Zhiruo woke up leisurely and saw that he was still on Qin Xiao's back. He smiled and said: "Not bad, keep up the good work!"
Unexpectedly, Qin Xiao quickly put her down, sat down on the ground, and shouted: "I can't walk anymore, I can't walk anymore. You old man slept peacefully, but I didn't sleep all night."
Qu Zhiruo covered his mouth and smiled, and said: "Okay, okay, I have to adjust my breathing anyway, so just rest and I will call you after I adjust my breathing!"
Before he finished speaking, he heard Qin Xiao lying aside, leaning against the big tree, snoring like thunder. Qu Zhiruo looked at the several wounds on Qin Xiao's feet and couldn't help but feel something in his heart. He started to exercise his skills again, trying to break through the ban.
I don't know how much time passed, but Qin Xiao was sleeping soundly when he was woken up by Qu Zhiruo's slap and screamed.
"What are you doing?" Qin Xiao said angrily: "I slept just fine, what did you ask me to do?"
Qu Zhiruo said: "It's time for us to leave. I have no cultivation in this barren mountain. If we encounter any monsters or birds of prey, the two of us won't be enough to feed them!"
Qin Xiao thought about it for a while and realized that this was also the case. He stood up and asked, "Have you lost your cultivation?"
"It's been sealed," Qu Zhiruo rolled his eyes at him and said, "This restriction is too strong and I can't break it myself. It seems I can only go to Liangzhou to find my father."
"Liangzhou is too far!" Qin Xiao took off the straw sandals hanging around his neck and put them on. He had been running all night yesterday and there were wounds all over his feet. He would grin and scream in pain whenever he moved.
When Qu Zhiruo saw this, she felt a little sorry, but she had no other choice but to say: "Let's leave quickly. Let's go to the front first to see if there is any town."
As they talked, the two of them got on the road again. After walking for dozens of miles, they finally saw a small town. The town was not big, but it was prosperous enough.
Fortunately, Qu Zhiruo still had the storage Taoist ring, so he and Qin Xiao had dinner in the town, found a doctor for him, and bought him shoes. But Qin Xiao still couldn't bear to throw away his straw sandals. He said: "How can we like the new and dislike the old? These shoes accompany me all over the world, and I count on them!"
Qu Zhiruo didn't argue with him. After leaving the shoe shop, the two of them found an inn to stay, planning to rest for a night before setting out on the road.
Little did they know that when the two of them were wandering on the street, they were already being targeted. At a tea stall at the corner of the street, a fat young man in brocade clothes saw the two of them entering the inn, and he called to his entourage: "Keep an eye on me, that little bitch is good-looking, let me arrest her tonight." Come!"
Followers Li San and Liu Wu nodded and said with a smile: "Master, don't worry. We have done this many times. I hope you will be satisfied."
This young man's name is Zhang Quan, he is a bully in the town, and he also has the ability to practice physical training. He usually bullies men and women, and does all kinds of evil. It's just that because of his family's power in the town, no one can mess with him.
Seeing them conspiring loudly in the shop, the tea owner shook his head helplessly, hoping that if the young couple could not go to town tonight, they might still be able to escape.
It was late at night, and Qu Zhiruo had already fallen asleep in the room. She was really tired after walking with Qin Xiao for a whole day, so she fell asleep deeply.
But they didn't know that outside the window, the two people stood furtively on the edge, stretched out their hands to pierce the window paper, inserted a bamboo pole, and blew out a faint smoke.
This smoke is like a drug. If you inhale it, you will not know what is going on, and you will be at the mercy of others.
After a while, the two of them quietly entered the door. It was Li San and Liu Wu. Seeing that Qu Zhiruo was on the bed, they took out the ropes they brought and tied her up. Unexpectedly, Qu Zhiruo woke up at this time!
It turned out that Qu Zhiruo was a monk, and although he was affected by the drug, it was not serious. In addition, the two of them were confident, so Qu Zhiruo woke them up.
"Who are you? Help! Someone come!"
"Don't shout!"
Liuwu took the handkerchief and stuffed it into Qu Zhiruo's mouth, then the two of them picked her up and ran out.
The shouting had already alerted Qin Xiao who was next door. Qin Xiao hurried out and happened to see the door open, but Qu Zhiruo was nowhere to be seen. He felt bad, so he hurried downstairs, left the inn and came to the street, but the street was silent at the moment, and there was no trace of a person anywhere.
"You actually bullied me, the hero. I definitely want you to look good!"
