Wang Daoping kicked away the ball played by the children, drew an arc, and hit it into the wooden hole hanging on the wall.
The children cheered and danced as if they had met a master idol.
In just a moment, he was surrounded by people.
Li Yi stood outside the field with a piece of dogtail grass in his mouth. Looking at Wang Daoping surrounded by children, he smiled.
This was their first stop after arriving in Desert City. Wang Daoping said that Feng Dian had been tired from sleeping outdoors recently, so he insisted on dragging him to this Cuju venue to watch him show off his skills. So he, who had always been soft-hearted, couldn't resist, so he had to follow him.
Fortunately, with the help of that senior, they had an uneventful journey from dozens of kilometers south to Desert City, and even a fly chose to take a detour.
This was Li Yi's first time coming to Desert City, and he couldn't be overjoyed. He was not disappointed, after all, he went south from Yangcheng two years ago, and half of Western Chu was like this.
He also ran away among the refugees. Now that he thinks about it, those days are really unforgettable.
He left the Cuju field, stopped at a map shop on the street, and bought a map.
But just as he was going out, a horse flew past him and knocked him out.
When he stood up, the man had already walked away, leaving only a figure behind.
Wang Daoping played at the Cuju field for a day and finally said goodbye to the children as the sun set.
When he came back, he knocked on the door twice. He wanted to give the wine in his hand to Li Yi and share it with them, but Li Yi was sleeping deeply, so he had to give up the idea.
He put the wine bottle on the table aside and sighed. "It was a really good sleep, and it wasn't completely safe, but it was so relaxing."
He no longer wanted to wake Li Yi up, so he lay down on another bed and fell asleep.
However, at this time, at the gate of the southern city, a black carriage slowly came from the south. When the man opened the curtain, he entered the vicissitudes of the desert city.
When Wang Daoping woke up again, Li Yi had been waiting for him in the corridor outside for a long time.
He stood up and walked over and asked. "But you've been waiting for a long time?"
Li Yi nodded.
"It's so early, don't you feel sleepy?"
Li Yi said without looking at him. "I always sleep better than before. As for whether I am sleepy or not, I am some, but less."
Wang Daoping laughed it off and followed Wang Daoping forward. He suddenly remembered something again and said. "I asked many times at the Cuju field yesterday, and I heard from the children that many people have come to Desert City recently. It is said that a martial arts competition will be held in the Song Garden in the north. As for the reason, the children can't explain it clearly. However, there are rewards available. ?I was wondering, should we try it too?"
"How can those rewards be so easy to get? Thousands of people have crossed the single-plank bridge, but you are so lucky."
With that said, the two of them were already walking downstairs.
Wang Daoping followed closely and followed suit. "There are not tens of millions of people."
"I know, but it's still hard."
"What's so scary? Besides, I'm not really going to compete in martial arts, I'm just going to see it. It is said that the Song family is still a famous family. It has continued from the previous dynasty to this day, and the family is still very rich."
Li Yi shook his head with a wry smile and said. "I knew that your idea was probably for money."
Wang Daoping chuckled. "It's hard to move without money. It's not like you don't know the world of Xichu. It's always the same as the storytellers in teahouses and restaurants."
yes! Who in Xichu doesn’t know that it’s hard to move without money? Not to mention those who are starving to death or dying, even those who still have a mouthful of food to eat are all busy working for a living.
Li Yi didn't want to go to the Song Family Martial Arts Tournament. He just wanted to see other places in Desert City, but Wang Daoping couldn't stand Wang Daoping's many pleas and finally agreed.
Wang Daoping looked around. There were only a few people in the inn at the moment. Wang Daoping suddenly came closer and whispered to Li Yi. "Besides, I also heard that there is a good place in Song Garden. If nothing else, you can go and see this."
"Good place?"
Wang Daoping smiled mysteriously. "It's a secret, I'll tell you later."
Wang Daoping shouted to the side. "Waiter, please have two bowls of authentic fat intestine noodles, and add more fat intestines."
The waiter responded happily, and a few minutes later, he delivered fat sausage noodles to the two of them.
After the two of them finished eating, when Li Yi was about to go upstairs, he was pulled out by Wang Daoping.
Instead of going to Song Garden, they came to the corner of a mountain east of Desert City.
"What do you think?" Wang Daoping said, taking the lead to walk up the bluestone steps.
Li Yi didn't know why. If he hadn't known that this was the first time for Wang Daoping and him to come, he would have thought that Wang Daoping often came to these places to run wild.
He did not reply to Wang Daoping's words, but followed him step by step.
The mountain is not high. When the two people reached the top of the mountain, they stopped at a stone wall.
At this time, even Li Yi was stunned.
There are three swords stuck on the stone wall, which look to be quite old.
The ground was brightly trampled by tourists, and it seemed that many people came here because of the reputation of these three swords.
Speaking of which, Shadow gave up avoiding this city five or six years ago, maybe because he was afraid of these three swords.
Wang Daoping said. "I heard them say yesterday that the three swords in this place have a lot of history. It is said that they were inserted by the Sword Immortal of Xichu back then, and no one has been able to pull them out to this day."
"It looks like it's true."
"Otherwise, you try?"
Li Yi didn't waste any time, stepped forward and held the hilt of the sword. But despite all his strength, he still couldn't shake the three swords.
Wang Daoping looked at him panting and smiled. "Hahahaha, it is said that Mr. Jia, who could travel the world with two swords, came here. He made a big blush and said that he couldn't pull it out. He was helpless, let alone a young man like you."
Li Yi rolled his eyes. "Then you let me pull it out! You are not pure of heart."
Wang Daoping smiled and said. "I want to see you make a fool of yourself, so of course I said so. But that's not the point. Come and take a look."
He said, turning around and looking down the mountain.
Li Yi walked to him and stood next to him, and then he saw clearly.
It turns out that from the top of the mountain, you can see a panoramic view of the entire desert city. It is no wonder that this mountain has not been eradicated in the city.
"It's really good-looking." Li Yi said.
"When you have the opportunity, come and take a look. As the saying goes, you must see the most beautiful scenery and the most beautiful girls when traveling in the world."
Li Yi rolled his eyes, thinking that his last sentence was pure nonsense. After all, this guy said before that he had never met anyone he liked.
Wang Daoping suddenly reached out and pulled out the dagger from Li Yi's waist and said. "Look at me."
He walked back to the three swords and carved words on the blank stone wall. "When the world is peaceful and we travel together hand in hand, we will definitely take these three swords."
Later, he added his own name and Li Yi's with a smile.
Li Yi looked at the two names at the back and thought of Zhang Chuxin, who founded the new gang.
They had also behaved like this when they were thieves in Cunkou Town.
Li Yi smiled and joked. "When you write it like this, it sounds like selling yourself and burying your whole family!"
Wang Daoping rolled his eyes. "You have a bit of a venomous mouth, but did you learn that?"
"I don't know, maybe it changed slowly during the journey! To be honest, I don't like it either."
"I think it's okay. It's not a big deal."
The two people talked and went down the mountain together.
At night, the two people hurried out again.
Li Yi looked at the brightly lit streets. The night market was so lively that it looked a bit like Quling City in the south.
He couldn't help feeling that he felt like he was back in the south, sitting on the wall of the study room and watching the people on the street.
Seeing Li Yi's strange expression, Wang Daoping asked. "Hey! But what did you remember?"
Li Yi came back to his senses and waved his hand. "Oh! Not really."
"I don't think so. Hey! Is it the girl you like? Tell me about it? Maybe, I can accompany you to grab the bride."
Li Yi shook his head, too lazy to pay attention to Wang Daoping's idiot-like thinking.
Soon, the two people arrived in front of the Song family mansion.
The words on the plaque are really casual and unrestrained. "Song Garden."
But I don’t know if it has anything to do with gardens.
There were two people standing in front of the Song family mansion, dressed in blue and black robes, as if they had been training disciples in Langya Pavilion.
The two men were carrying sabers and were very serious, as if someone owed them a lot of money.
Their only purpose of standing here, it's not hard to guess, is to prevent those shameless people from trying to break in without an invitation.
Li Yi and Wang Daoping went all the way north. In Desert City, which they just arrived the day before yesterday, there was no invitation from the Song family, and there was no registration for the martial arts assessment. Where can I get in?
Wang Daoping grabbed Li Yi and hurriedly walked to the other side. "I have a solution."
Li Yi rolled his eyes, and then let Wang Daoping pull him to a remote corner of the Song family.
Li Yi did not refute, and followed Wang Daoping to climb in from the outside of the wall.
Li Yi was not afraid of being caught. On the contrary, he was a little afraid of delaying his trip to the Taiping ruins.
But Wang Daoping had accompanied him all the way here and experienced life and death together, so he felt that it would be okay even if he accompanied him and was beaten.
The two of them walked along the path in the Song family yard, and occasionally encountered some servants passing by. The two of them pretended to be calm, as if they really walked in through the gate.
Soon after, they arrived at the venue of the Northern Martial Arts Tournament.
The two people found the most inconspicuous place to stand. Except for some people who looked more prominent, most of the others had no seats to sit on.
Wang Daoping stood next to Li Yi. Not sure if he was curious, he suddenly arched Li Yi's shoulder and asked. "You were right before. It's like thousands of troops crossing a single-plank bridge. I can hardly see the head of the Song family clearly."
Indeed, from where they were standing, it was indeed a dream to see Song Junhui clearly sitting in front of him.
Li Yi didn't understand why the Song family wanted to hold this competition, and why they also left huge sums of money and precious items to recruit from the young people around them. Is it just to make money to help poor monks?
But although he was confused, he didn't ask Wang Daoping. Wang Daoping thought that just like him, his eyes darkened.
"Why are you looking so clearly? It's not that we want to go over and talk to each other to get close. Besides, what are our statuses, how can we be qualified to talk to others? If we don't get kicked out by then, it will be the most important thing for our ancestors to worship the Bodhisattva."
Wang Daoping chuckled. "It seems like there's still some time before it starts. Let's go, let's take you to that place first!"
Li Yi nodded. Although he felt guilty about being a thief, he was also very curious about the place that Wang Daoping had been thinking about.
The two of them walked to a less crowded area. When they turned the corner, Wang Daoping opened the map.
As a result, Wang Daoping did not take him to the Buddhist Scripture Pavilion, which the Song family strictly guarded, but followed the map all the way to the back hill of Song's garden.
Li Yi sat on a protruding stone on the top of the mountain, a little speechless.
Before. He thought that Wang Daoping might be taking him to steal something, such as martial arts secrets and skills.
But unexpectedly, the two of them did not break into the Widow's Village at night as he thought, oh no, the Sutra Pavilion. Instead, we came to this hot spring pool, which is only a few meters wide.
When Wang Daoping saw that Li Yi was motionless, he stretched out his hand and poured water on him. "We have been traveling for half a month and you haven't washed yourself yet. You can come down and try it. This water is comfortable."
"I thought we were going to be snitches and break into the Sutra Pavilion at night or something! I didn't expect that."
Wang Daoping rolled his eyes. "After all, I came out of the fog, and I still have to have basic ethics."
"That's really rare."
Li Yi smiled, feeling that Wang Daoping was just a pirate ship, and he had slowly become a gangster with him.
The two of them took a comfortable bath and were stopped again at the foot of the mountain while quietly going down the mountain.
"Thieves! Are they talking about you two?"
The person who said this was a girl who looked about the same age as them.
The girl is dressed in red and has a beautiful bun. But her long hair still reaches her waist.
The girl also held a long red sword decorated with butterfly patterns in her hand, and there were many people following her.
Wang Daoping's eyes lit up and he arched Li Yi with his shoulders. "It's really not in vain, this girl is so beautiful."
Li Yi rolled his eyes at Wang Daoping, stepped forward and saluted the girl. "The two of us are not thieves as the girl said, but we came here before we even started."
"Sneaky, I really think this girl is easy to deceive. Otherwise, I don't like to talk about big things. If you two can survive ten moves on my sword, you can leave on your own. But if not, I I also want to hand you over to the master of the family."
Wang Daoping stuck his head out from behind Li Yi and said. "Is this girl serious?"
The girl didn't waste any time, she pulled out the sword in her hand and stabbed it.
When Wang Daoping saw the girl approaching fiercely, he immediately grabbed Li Yi by the collar and backed away.
After pulling Li Yi away, he shot towards him.
After a loud noise, both people were knocked back.
However, the girl who said she would take ten moves stopped after just one move and said. "The world-class marksmanship of the Spear Immortal Song Yi!"
When Wang Daoping saw that the girl had stopped, he also took advantage of the situation and inserted the gun into the ground. said. "How do you know, girl?"
He was a little curious. His marksmanship was not good at all. At most, he was just waving an empty show. How did this girl know that this was a worldly marksmanship?
The girl smiled coldly and said. "You two said just now that you are here to participate in a martial arts competition, and I believe it. But I also hope that this marksmanship will not be insulted."
After the girl finished speaking, she turned around and left.
Li Yi came up from behind and said. "It looks like she has a bad temper. If you have any encounter with her in the future, it will be terrible!"
With that said, he walked in front.
Wang Daoping followed him and said. "How do you think she knew this was a worldly marksmanship?"
"Who knows! I don't know her, so how can I know what she is thinking."
Wang Daoping jogged to catch up, patted Li Yi on the shoulder and said. "Li Wenqing, what do you think of this girl?"
Li Yi was too lazy to care about Wang Daoping's nonsense and laughed it off.
Soon after, they returned to the previous venue, found a remote place on the periphery, and sat on the railing.
Song Junhui, who was in front of the venue, was impassioned and exaggerated, saying tempting words such as joining the army to serve the country.
Wang Daoping and Li Yi were too lazy to listen to this. Instead, they sat on the railing and played finger guessing.
After Song Junhui finished speaking, there was another burst of gongs and drums, and finally, the martial arts competition that had been rumored by the outside world began.
Next, people from Desert City or those who came for the Taiping ruins came to compete.
Wang Daoping watched it with great interest and began to comment next to Li Yi. He said that so-and-so had good cultivation, and so-and-so had less talent, but he could knock out so-and-so with one punch.
Li Yi was too lazy to pay attention to him, lowered his head and wanted to doze off.
But when he got up to go out for a walk, his eyes caught a glimpse of the girl they had met at the foot of the back hill.
The girl had changed into a black dress that was not obvious at night, and her hair was tied into a towering ponytail.
Li Yi picked up a wooden stick, poked Wang Daoping's shoulder with the wooden stick, motioned Wang Daoping to look over with his head, and said at the same time. "Brother Wang, the girl you like is here, why don't you take a look?"
Wang Daoping looked in the direction indicated by Li Yi, and his face turned red instantly, but he didn't know whether he was angry or ashamed.
Wang Daoping glared at Li Yi before bowing to him. The girl also bowed back not far away as a greeting.
But the girl was not as excited as he was when she saw the god, and turned around to look at the ring.
