Everyone in Nanlizhong knows that after a hundred years of retreat, the border gate close to Qiling and Yizhang has always been guarded by eight guards in turns. Although it is not said to be a majestic army, it can also be said to be a city tower. The continuous iron armor is quite powerful. But now that the world is at peace, the defense is naturally looser than before. Most of the guards from the lower eight families are entrusted to guard the border, while the upper eight families are idle.
Although the territory of Nanli is very vast, there is no emperor. There are 16 families in total, consisting of eight families, leading the people of Nanli. This has been known for thousands of years. It is only in the past hundred years that the definition of these 16 families has been established. Surname. The eight surnames such as Ma, Feng, Chen and others are collectively called the upper eight families. The eight surnames such as Wang Fang, Yihua and others are collectively called the lower eight families. The heads of each family discuss government affairs together. Over the years, the people can be considered to be living and working in peace and contentment. There have been no natural or man-made disasters or problems with the implementation of national policies. In addition, Nanli is extremely beautiful, with springs, lakes, marshes, and misty rain over the mountains. Therefore, Nanli has often been favored by literati over the years. Although the land is prone to moisture due to tides, it still has flaws.
As time went by, the literary style of Nanli gradually flourished. Walking among the mountains and rivers, outside the villages and towns, I accidentally caught a glimpse of a young man with his trousers rolled up and wandering around planting rice and stealing flowers. , just because he was tired of the secular world, he devoted himself to the mountains and rivers of Nanli and no longer set foot in officialdom.
"There are a lot of apricot rains in South Li, day and night, always making people lose their souls."
This was said by an old calligrapher who had a long-standing reputation in Qiling. It is said that high-ranking officials and dignitaries are very fond of people who are good at calligraphy. It is not even said that this old calligrapher once wrote the inscription on the West Shiwan Mountain. His writing is magnificent and powerful. This has attracted countless good people to imitate it. Just a rubbing of the inscription can be sold in the market for hundreds of taels of silver. But such a famous calligrapher who had no worries about food and clothing, and who was famous for his illustrious calligraphy, left for Nanli in his twilight years when he was at his most proficient in writing. He left behind such a farewell sentence and passed away, leaving his tomb scattered in the countryside.
Therefore, in addition to the saying about Nanli's troubled scribes, there is also the saying that all the down-and-out people in the world go to Nanli.
Two or three miles away from the border, a carriage was driving quickly. The driver rounded the whip in his palm and cut almost every inch of it on the horse's tail. The horse was in pain and raised its four hooves, heading straight towards Nanli like an arrow. Border.
"Where is the boundary here?" A hoarse voice came from the car tent to ask. The person in the tent seemed to have run out of gas. Although he had exerted eight or nine percent of his strength, his voice was very low.
"Don't worry, sir. It only takes a stick of incense for us to set foot on the territory of Nanli. Right now, there are eight guards stationed below. If we want to enter the city, we will have to go much faster than usual." The coachman did not look back. Just please whip the horse and drive forward quickly. Even these words made the car tent bumpy and intermittently, and it was difficult to hear clearly.
The man in the car tent was dressed as a sorcerer, his clothes were torn, his face was blue and yellow, dozens and hundreds of beads of sweat rolled down from his forehead and temples. Every time the car tent was bumped, more sweat would appear. Coming from the nearest city at the Qiling border gate, in just two days' journey, the alchemist's body had already been soaked several times, and the red stains on his knees were like fallen plum blossoms, spilling onto the car tent.
The alchemist looked at the vast and undulating wilderness outside the chariot tent, and cursed in a low voice, "Unlucky, I have traveled all over the four countries, even Zhongzhou, but I didn't expect to meet the big Buddha in a small temple. This sword will kill me." , There will be endless troubles." Then the alchemist took out a bead as white as jade from the cloth bag on his shoulder, gritted his teeth and put it on his knee, his eyes throbbing in pain.
"Damn fat man."
It's strange to say that the bead swam along the side of the patella for a while, and it actually wiped away all the blood around it. The bead, which was originally as transparent as jade, also had several light red lines all over its body, and then fell away. The alchemist's fingertips returned to the cloth bag on their own.
The young alchemist closed his eyes, pursed the corners of his pale lips, and fell asleep.
Since that day when the sword was shining brightly in his house, he had gone from being a disciple of a well-known sect in the world to where he is now. Not to mention that his realm had regressed by several percent, even having his feet touching the ground was just a luxury. Teng Lin's unique movement technique was only supported by two tattered bamboo sticks. In addition, not long after the incident, word spread throughout Qiling that no one was left alive, from the family members to the remaining military armor. Someone once saw a large number of military armor being mobilized from the capital of Qiling. He came out in great force and headed straight to the house.
Even if the alchemist's sect is famous in the world, but according to his master's temper, he may die in the wilderness because of his lack of ability. If he wants his master to protect his shortcomings, he would rather trust the emperor and ride in the same boat with a drunkard. . Therefore, in the past few months, although the young man has been in danger several times, he has never taken any serious action. After all, his knees have been ruined. If he does not use his physical skills to escape, he will be able to defeat the soldiers with his cultivation that has dropped to the last bit. The timing is bad and bad.
In more than a hundred days, he was reduced from a disciple of the Immortal family to a bereaved dog. If he said that he had no hatred in his heart, it would be an lie. When the alchemist woke up in pain from his sleep, he really wanted to bite off two pieces from the broad and fat swordsman. A piece of flesh and blood, a pair of strong teeth shattered, but he could only endure the pain. As for the silver coins earned from the young master, how dare he use them blatantly? He could only divide them into several pieces of silver coins and use them for food to avoid official interrogation.
Fortunately, there was a poor old man in the market during the time of distress. He took two pots of strong wine and some broken silver, and moved the alchemist with his legs missing to his shabby hut and hid it. After narrowly avoiding the search by the officials and soldiers, he traveled hundreds of miles and approached the Qiling border, looking for a carriage tent hired from a ghost market, and then he was able to escape.
In the confusion, the car tent has stopped.
"My lord, we have arrived at Jinliu City. Why don't we rest for a while before heading south." The coachman reined in the reins and said to the back of the carriage tent. Hearing that there was no movement in the carriage, he smiled again, "My lord. , you pay the money, and naturally you have to put in some effort, but since you are a human being, it is hard to run all the way, so you should rest for a while."
There was still silence in the car tent.
"Why are the same dying people talking nonsense? It is the boundary between Qiling and Nanli. There is not a single person at all, and the defenders have not been seen all year round. Since the brothers caught a fat fish and took a package of money, the body Abandoning the wilderness is, needless to say.”
The car tent was originally parked in the wilderness, but at this moment, several figures walked out of the car tent for no reason. The leader showed no taboo at all. He smiled evilly and gently stretched the knife in his palm towards the car tent.
The hardwood on the five-hand-wide carriage wall was actually penetrated by this man's knife, and blood spattered.
But then someone in the car tent yawned, "I said this broken car was leaking air, so that's what happened."
In this bitter winter snow season, cicadas are chirping.
