A hundred miles away from Yizhang Border Pass, there is a low city called Xiaosan Pass. Compared with Yizhang Border Pass, it is naturally as flat as a mountain. Even compared with ordinary cities, it is not enough. The city wall is short and low, covered with green vines and green vines, and there are hundreds of pieces of lichen and moss in the gaps. From a distance, it looks like green mountains, and it doesn't look like an old city that has been standing for a long time.
The name Xiaosanguan is unknown, but it has been recorded in the history of Daqi. It is said that when the Great Qi Sage was inspecting the whole territory, he traveled here in an imperial chariot. It happened that the surrounding Sangu River was in flood season, and he saw the waves and flowing water rolling like the sky falling from the sky. It rushed forward dozens of feet eastward from the city. It seems that just a small city blocks the tide of the vast river. It is so majestic and majestic that it opens a golden mouth and calls this place Sanguan. And because the city was already low, a small character was added in front of it to name this place.
Many people in the literature were confused about this matter. At that time, Da Qi's national power was so powerful that it took up one-third of the world's Western Territory to look down on the heroes. Moreover, with the majestic appearance of the Qi Emperor, it should not be used at all. Such small words, even if the name is changed to Da Sanguan, are still majestic. Why are they prefixed with small words?
It wasn't until an old gentleman from the imperial family came forward to say something that the matter was clarified.
Small Sanguan can also control rivers, why can't Daqi dominate the world?
But time has passed, the Sangu River at the last branch of the Liao River has dried up for many years, and Daqi, which had been eyeing the world for a long time, fell apart. Only this short and thick city has always stood here, except for the moss on the wall. In addition to becoming more and more prosperous, it has not changed for many years.
The people in the city are not considered rich, but most of them have a few fertile fields outside the city, so they don't have to worry about making a living. They also benefit from the fact that the Sangu River invaded day and night in the past, feeding the surrounding flat fields extremely well, and the rice ears are full year after year. Tight, this makes the city although small, but also a symbol of wealth.
It was the Qingming Festival that was approaching, and no one paid any attention to the fact that a passer-by dressed in black came into the city today. He just entered the city and found an inn not far from the city gate tower. He informed the waiter and left. With a few taels of silver, he went straight to the second floor, closed the door and rested.
The waiter in the inn was naturally happy to have business coming to his door. He put the few taels of silver in his palm and looked at it again and again. He thought to himself, what does it mean to be rich? If it were him, he would not dare to throw out even a copper coin so easily. Then he went out happily, spent two or three copper coins to buy a small half pot of rice wine, and poured it for himself.
Although the railings and flying tiles at the base of the imperial city are covered with gold paint and wealth, the bridges are mostly populated by weak willow-scented women, and there may be a few pleasure boats in the water, but the small town is moistened with rice wine, the buildings are quiet, and the east wind blows through the rice carrying the smell of vines and grass. , it can’t be said that there is much difference.
As for the man who was wearing a black shirt and covered his face with a black veil at the edge of his bamboo hat, after entering the house, he just stared at Chang Yun outside the building in trance.
The sound of horse hooves crossing the street outside the building.
Before the waiter could finish drinking the rice wine in his palm, he was startled by the sound of horse hooves. He sat at the threshold of the inn and looked out, only to see the strong man with armor on the horse reining in the reins and stopping just short of the waiter. In front of him, he couldn't help but put the reins on the former's hand and said in a low voice, "Please take good care of this horse. If a few manes fall off, I will whip you a few times."
There have always been few people paying attention to Xiaosanguan, and because it is not considered rich, even Yizhang's group of moderately established thieves are too lazy to come to rob homes and houses. Therefore, the waiter has never seen even such reckless men. I have never seen such a posture before, so I could only lower my head and say "please come in", and the young man went to find high-quality fodder to serve the good horses. After that, he even put the drinks aside and started working quickly.
The man saw the waiter walking up the road, then sneered twice, took off the two sabers from his waist, stretched out his arms, and swung upstairs. He rushed to the waiter who was tumbling over the grass and shouted: "I'll go upstairs and rest for a while." , there is good wine and meat, just say hello."
Then he went upstairs on his own.
The area where the inn's fodder is stored happens to be across the street. The seven small teahouses were opened by a lunatic who had fallen into disgrace. Rumor has it that this lunatic was not a lunatic in the first place. Two generations back, he was a great official working in the imperial capital Huixi, but for some reason he was demoted and ended up living here, almost ruining his family's fortune. This is how the originally wealthy queen has turned into a lunatic who now relies on small teahouses to keep herself fed.
While the waiter was hurriedly picking up the messy forage, the lunatic pulled it out from nowhere and flicked his finger at the back of the waiter's head. When the waiter turned around in pain, the lunatic stretched out his other hand and rushed at the waiter. The waiter flicked his finger on his forehead again and chuckled, "Silly waiter, you've been hit again."
The waiter was already upset. He had frightened the big man to death before, and after being teased by the lunatic, he suddenly got angry and punched his forehead again and again. He cursed angrily: "You lunatic has no eyesight. You obviously see that I am very busy, but I still want to take advantage of this time to have fun. If it were anyone else, I would have been kicked aside by you to eat ashes."
The madman looked very innocent, but it seemed that his face had not been cleansed for a long time. Seeing that the waiter seemed to be really angry, he put aside the idea of playing with him and asked in confusion, "I don't know where this big man comes from. Ordinarily If you come here with a sword in your hand, the soldiers guarding the city should not let you go. Besides, there are many inns in the city, why did you choose the shabbiest one of yours to stay?"
There is nothing like a lunatic in his words.
"Who knows, but since he came with two knives, we can't drive him out, right?" The waiter was helpless, and the materials on hand were sparse, and he smiled bitterly, "Having someone stab him through is not better than doing business in a down-to-earth manner. , not to mention that the uncle is very talented, so he might be able to give him more money. When he saves enough money, he can expand the inn and repair the plaque."
"Perhaps you have something to do with the boy in black clothes just now? Do you really want to start fighting after a disagreement? Do you really want to expect that man to make you rich? This street is not big enough for these two people, you have to add more Be careful."
The lunatic suddenly laughed, probably going crazy again. He danced and shouted, "Expand it, just don't squeeze out of my restaurant. If you fall into the eyes of money, even nine oxen can't pull it away. It's so funny."
"Calling it funny." The waiter wiped his face carelessly, picked up a piece of dead grass in his mouth, looked up at the gloomy sky, lowered his head again, and struggled to remove the grass.
The man stepped onto the second floor with unfocused eyes, but he happened to be in the room of the man in black robe.
The door was not bolted.
The man did not stop for a long time, but walked into the room on his own, held the two knives at his waist, and sat cross-legged in front of the table as if no one was around.
"This small Sanguan has not been visited by ferocious envoys for many years, but today is the first time." On the other side of the table, a man in black shirt sat firmly.
The man disagreed, "When did I say I was a ferocious envoy?"
The rain started to rain, and there was a sudden storm.
"It's not common for people to use two swords in the world." The man in black shirt seemed to feel a little bit happy, but his words were unhurried and happened to cover up the sound of the rain. "Especially in the past few decades, the number of people who are good at using two swords has become more and more common." Scarcity is like a bird without eaves in the wind and rain. It is completely rare. It is not difficult to practice the sword, but it is not difficult to make the sword round and smooth with both hands, except for the ferocious messenger who has been fighting since childhood. Besides, I really can’t think of anyone else who has such ability.”
"One thing among ten thousand and one thing out of ten thousand are two different things." The man rubbed the handle of his knife, "I'm afraid I am a bit absolute when I say this."
"I've been in the cage for a long time, now I might as well calm down and listen to the sound of rain." The man in black shirt knocked on the edge of the table, very pleased with himself, but his words had nothing to do with the words of a man.
I could only hear the raindrops falling on the long street, and the bells ringing softly downstairs.
The man grinned and the sword flashed.
But the figure of the man in black remained motionless, and the sword was like cutting through the night, but it was not broken.
"The horse hangs a luan bell. The sound of the bell is like a bow string and lightning flashes. The ringing of the bell makes the beast move. I am always right." The man in black shirt smiled and said, "If you were not a beast, by the time you stepped in front of the door, you would have already become a beast." One arm and one foot.”
The man returned the knife to its sheath and glared at each other.
"I'm not as advanced as you, but before you take action, please tell me the whereabouts of the Commander-in-Chief of the Emissary."
"It's just death, why be afraid of it."
The man in black clothes stood up, made a pot of tea, held the cup in both hands, looked out the window at the raindrops, and spoke for a long time.
"Among the Five Ultimate Skills, the one with the longest endurance of spears and halberds killed an old and ferocious envoy in Nanli a few years ago."
"Bailiya died in my hands, and all the objects in the mountain gate will naturally belong to me."
The man was horrified, and then he spoke louder and closed his eyes.
But the man in black didn't take any action. After drinking a cup of tea, he asked, "What? I don't have any extra tea for guests. Just retreat quickly. Don't bother me to enjoy the rain."
The long sleeves swayed, and the strong wind passed through the hall.
When the leader of the ferocious messenger opened his eyes again, there was no rain around him. When he looked around again, he saw that the border was already in front of him.
The Poison Venerable in the South of the Five Absolutes can push away people in the three realms hundreds of miles away with one palm.
