"There's nothing else to do. Please forgive me for disturbing the acting headmaster so late!"
Zhao Rang said with his hands raised, ready to leave.
The acting headmaster said politely:
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. I often have disciples coming in and out late at night."
Zhao Rang asked curiously:
"How many hours does the Acting Headmaster have to rest in a day?"
The acting headmaster said without hesitation:
"There is no definite number. When you are tired, you just close your eyes and adjust your breathing for a while. Although I don't have the profound cultivation skills of my senior brother, I do know a little bit about how to nourish qi, which is enough for me to rest."
Zhao Rang didn't know if he had touched on aspects that the Acting Headmaster didn't want to mention.
As the disciple of the headmaster, the current acting headmaster is really not very good at cultivation.
"If Mr. Zhao is willing, I can teach you to try it."
Zhao Rang didn't react for a moment and asked:
"Teach me what?"
The Acting Headmaster said:
"My method of nourishing Qi."
Zhao Rang politely declined, on the grounds that he slept well.
I thought to myself, what method in the world could be better than wine? A glass of wine before going to bed will ensure that you sleep as long as the night lasts.
However, Zhao Rang saw a flash of disappointment in the eyes of the former headmaster.
"Since Mr. Zhao is familiar with my senior brother, I thought it would be better to ask him directly. My method is still too vulgar."
Zhao Rang wanted to explain, but he didn't know how to speak. For a moment, I was put in a dilemma. I had already said goodbye and wanted to leave, but it was hard to leave now...
"It's already late at night. Mr. Zhao has been working hard all night in the mountains. He must be hungry, right? Why don't we have some midnight snacks together before we go!"
Suddenly I remembered the chirping of birds outside the window.
Zhao Rang didn't know that there would be birds waking up in the middle of the night in the mountains.
He had already rejected the offer of acting as head coach once, and this time he was embarrassed to refuse again, so he could only nod and agree.
But to be honest, he was indeed a little hungry.
Even with martial arts cultivation, the mountain road is not that easy to walk, especially when you come through the mountains and forests, not on the main road.
Hearing Zhao Rang's agreement, the Acting Headmaster was very happy and immediately opened the door and came to the courtyard.
There are three large water tanks placed under the eaves, all covered with sparsely woven straw curtains.
Zhao Rang didn't pay attention when he entered the yard, just thinking it was a place where debris was stored.
At this moment, I saw Headmaster Dai lift the straw curtain on the water tank, and something was flapping inside.
"There are fish in these three tanks."
The acting headmaster explained.
"I love fish!"
Zhao Rang nodded as he listened.
He thought that the most midnight snack would be a bowl of noodles, but he didn't expect that the acting headmaster would actually catch a live fish from the tank and eat it!
The height of the water tank was almost up to his throat. If he wanted to see clearly what was in the tank, he had to sit on a small stool.
But the acting headmaster didn't even look at it. He rolled up his sleeves and casually dug into the vat, and he caught a fat river ball in his hand.
Zhao Rang's pupils shrank.
This alone proved that the acting headmaster's cultivation was not as bad as rumored.
The river has no scales, and is in a water tank as deep as one person.
It's really not easy to grasp it right at once, let alone hold it firmly despite its fierce struggle.
This requires not only extremely fast speed, but also extremely strong finger strength and hand strength. The three cooperate and one is indispensable.
"Mr. Zhao, let me cook you a special dish from Shu in the south."
"Southern Shuzhong?"
He had only heard of this place and was not familiar with it.
"It's the former Shu land."
After the acting headmaster finished explaining, he realized that he had said it in vain... With Zhao Rang's age, it was even more impossible for him to know the previous name.
"I probably know that place. Do the people there like spicy food?"
The acting headmaster smiled and nodded.
Not only does he like to eat fish, he can also eat spicy food.
Sometimes he even felt that he should have been from that place in his previous life.
"Shu Zhong Taoist Sect takes the sword as its length and believes that cultivating swords is the same as cultivating Taoism. They start by forging swords, hammering a piece of fine steel into shape, and after dozens of steps, they can finally become a sword. "
"And they use this sword to kill fish?"
Zhao Rang's words made both of them laugh!
"Hahaha, Mr. Zhao is very humorous! With such a long sword, it's probably not that easy to disembowel a fish."
As he spoke, the Acting Headmaster had already taken out a sharp short knife from his waist and disemboweled the river mass in his hand at an extremely fast speed.
"But although they don't use swords to kill fish, the fish I want to make does have something to do with swords."
Just like the disciples who found it difficult to break through in cultivation in Lily Mountain, they all became mountain guards. There will be a few stupid people in any mountain gate, and they are not suitable for taking this road at all.
There is one person in the Sichuan Taoist Gate who is like this. Unfortunately, the rules there are that the gate does not support idlers. Once it becomes difficult to improve, you can only pack up and leave.
One of the disciples, after coming out of the mountain gate, opened a small restaurant at the foot of the mountain and continued to make a living.
The restaurant is located next to a small river. The water is formed by mountain springs and is cold and refreshing. The tea made from such water and the live fish in the water are the best!
Therefore, the signature of this restaurant is tea and fish!
This disciple used the techniques he learned while practicing swordplay in the mountains to kill fish very efficiently.
The fish didn't even react, its tail was still hopping, but it had been cleaned and thrown into the pot.
"Which restaurant has the acting headmaster been to eat fish?"
Zhao Rang asked.
The acting headmaster replied:
"Yes. At that time, I was invited by Taoist Priest Hagoromo to visit the Dao Zang in the Shu Tunnel. Taoist Priest Hagoromo knew that I loved fish, so he went to that restaurant to have a meal before going up the mountain. It happened to be The owner of the restaurant is her former apprentice."
"So you just let your boss teach you?"
The acting headmaster shook his head and said:
"No, I made it myself based on the taste. I'm embarrassed to ask about other people's special skills. Although I can make it, it's at least six or seven thousand miles away from Shu. I won't sell it, just It must still make sense if you eat it yourself.”
Zhao Rang was surprised...
I have long heard that there are some geniuses who, when practicing martial arts, can execute a sword technique without missing a beat after only seeing it once. After listening to a piece of music once, you can play it with good notes. Now I see that the acting headmaster can restore the dishes that he has eaten once, with six or seven thousand miles between them.
"But making this fish dish is indispensable. We don't have this here. When we run out, we have to buy it over there!"
The acting headmaster took out a jar from under the stove.
When it was opened, it was black and red inside.
"What's this?"
"Chili tempeh, a specialty of Sichuan. You must not miss it when making this fish, otherwise it won't taste the same no matter how you cook it!"
The fish meat is tender, and Jiang Tuan is the best among them, so it cooks very quickly.
There was only one guest, Zhao Rang, and only one dish.
As for the drink, it is no longer water, but tea.
"I only drink tea when I eat this fish."
“Does this fish go well with tea?”
Zhao Rang asked.
If he said, "I only drink when I eat this fish," it would be easier for Zhao Rang to understand.
In his opinion, light tea and strong fish made with chili and black bean sauce cannot go together.
"Because this dish is very spicy... so after a few bites, you have to rinse your mouth with tea."
Zhao Rang smiled.
It turned out that this tea was not for drinking, but for gargling the mouth.
But this also aroused his curiosity and wanted to try how spicy this dish is!
Walking on the mountain road again, Zhao Rang began to complain about why the mountain wind stopped.
His lips were swollen, and even though he rinsed his mouth with nearly half a pound of tea, it still couldn't make his mouth feel better.
Not only his mouth, but also his head, ears, and back were all in an indescribable discomfort!
If there was a cool mountain breeze at this moment, it would definitely make him feel much better.
As he walked, this desire became stronger and stronger. Zhao Rang even silently recited "Lu Zu bless you!"
Baihe Mountain is the dojo where he ascended, so there must be some special care for it, right?
As a result, not long after Zhao Rang finished reciting the words, the wind really started to blow! ?
The mountain wind came out of the forest and rushed into his arms.
But Zhao Rang didn't covet the coolness, but immediately ducked out of the way!
This "wind" blew into the flowers and grass behind him. Those flowers, grass and low shrubs were wilted and rotten to the naked eye. Even the main trunk of the shrub, which is as thick as a thumb, has become shorter and shorter inch by inch, gradually turning into juice.
"It's so poisonous..."
Zhao Rang has never seen such poison!
In storytellers' books, when it comes to secrets about the world, poison is always mentioned, but they have never made up such powerful ones!
If Zhao Rang hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it!
Fortunately, when the gust of wind blew over just now, Zhao Rang noticed something strange, otherwise his end would not be any better than the flowers and plants behind him.
The wind just now was too heavy!
The wind can't be that heavy!
Especially at night, the wind in the mountains and forests is very light and agile. It will not almost fall to the ground like the "wind" just now.
It wasn't until the "wind" hit the flowers and grass that Zhao Rang saw clearly that there were countless fine particles inside. These particles were smaller than grains of rice. When they touched other flowers, they were like sparks falling on pieces of cloth.
This is specially refined arsenopyrite.
Zhao Rang put his left hand behind his back and stared at the direction of the "wind" in the forest.
There were already three scratches on the back of his left hand.
Although he dodged quickly just now, he was still scratched by three arsenic sand.
Before the poison becomes more violent, Zhao Rang must not let the other party find out that he has been poisoned by the poisonous sand.
Now the wound doesn't hurt at all, only a numb feeling, the poisonous sand has not penetrated deeply into the body, and now it is late at night, so I can still deal with it while the night is dark.
But the gust of wind was like a real gust of wind.
After the blowing, the mountains returned to silence.
This situation made Zhao Rang even more nervous and even a little scared.
Only the most skilled killers would immediately retreat after a failed attack. Like a poisonous snake lurking in the grass, it always springs out unexpectedly when a person is most relaxed and least prepared, and bites the throat of its prey.
