In the teahouse next to the inn.
Thanks to the fact that the New Year is approaching, there is no farm work to do during this period, and everyone is free. This is probably the rare time of the year when one is willing to spend money, and the tea house's business is very good.
Some people were sitting and talking and laughing, some were listening seriously, and some were unable to sit down in the casino and came here to play games.
When Song You and the calico cat arrived, there was only one empty table at the end, so they sat down and ordered a pot of ordinary tea, slowly listening to a book. The swallows landed on the beams, and they did not dare to come down because of the crowd.
"The book continues from the previous chapter——
"The demons in the Saibei Army invited their immortals to the lower realm and summoned a rolling flood! Oh, it was really like a sea, flooding the entire prairie! As mentioned before, the immortal master sat down with the green cow. With the ability to turn into a dragon and spit out fire and water, it is easy to swim in the sea, but there are hundreds of thousands of troops in Yuanzhi City behind you, and the soldiers in these troops are afraid of floods!"
The Taoist couldn't help but lower his head when he heard this.
The calico cat on the bench next to him also raised his head and looked at him doubtfully.
The Taoist didn't say anything, he just took her exquisite blue and white porcelain bowl filled with half a bowl of tea and lowered it to her mouth.
The calico cat frowned and looked at him doubtfully.
But I handed it all over...
Just take a sip.
So he lowered his head and quickly stretched out his pink and tender tongue. As soon as it touched the tea, he retracted it, then squinted his eyes and frowned.
The Taoist smiled with satisfaction.
“I saw the flood coming!
"Crash! Boom! Boom!"
"At the critical moment, I saw the immortal master pull out the Qingfeng sword from behind, and with a clang, he swung it forward!
"This sword! It really turned everything upside down, and its power is boundless! The sword energy soared into the sky and cracked the earth. I am afraid that the gods in the sky and the ghost king in the earth also trembled! The flood like the sea was actually separated from the middle, and the fish fell to the ground with a snap. It's twitching! Hey, where did the fish come from?"
The Taoist couldn't help but pick up the tea bowl and take a sip.
It has been two years since I left Chang Kyoto, and the tea-ordering method popular in the capital and Yangzhou areas has not been passed down. The traditional sencha tea is still brewed here, with red dates, dried plums and some other miscellaneous things added. The drink includes red dates and dried fruits. The taste is slightly sweet and slightly sour, with a strong miscellaneous taste. The tea is not a good tea. It has a strong bitter taste and astringent taste. The taste is really not good.
But the people here seem to like it very much.
It's probably similar to the taste of life.
The calico cat next to him was even more confused. Standing on the bench, he couldn't help but stretch out a small paw to fiddle with the bamboo staff lying sideways next to the Taoist, as if he wanted to see what it had to do with the Qingfeng sword.
Then he continued to raise his head and looked at the Taoist.
The look in his eyes seemed to be a simple inquiry, but it always felt sarcastic.
The Taoist had no choice but to feed her another sip of tea.
"Then the god pointed again!
"I said something——
“The water recedes!
"brush!
"guess what?
“The overwhelming flood actually receded!
"Hey!"
When the storyteller talked about his rise, he looked at the reward money all over the ground, and his face glowed red. He was stunned and smiled:
"This thing can understand human speech!"
All the customers in the hall listened attentively and cheered quickly.
Those who used the teahouse as a gambling house, although they were focused on the work at hand, they also listened with their ears pricked up and got excited. Some of them won money, so they were naturally generous. They casually grabbed a few coins and threw them on the stage.
But it's more than that.
There were also many people crowded outside the door.
Most of them are people who can't afford to pay for a seat and tea, or who are unwilling to pay for a seat and tea. Normally, the teahouse owner would probably drive them away or ask them to come in and pay, but these days, the teahouse owners The seats were all full, and there was no shortage of people paying money. During the Chinese New Year, it was really hard to keep people away, so I let them go.
Song You drank tea and turned to look outside.
The owner of the inn was also among the crowd outside.
Standing at the front was a young man, who looked about twelve or thirteen years old, with a dark face, shabby clothes, and a tired face. His eyes were particularly bright, and he stared at the storyteller without blinking.
I don't know how many people looked as fascinated as he did.
I just don’t know whether they are fascinated by the magical power of Taoists in books, or whether they want to be at the scene to witness with their own eyes this thing that originally only existed in ancient myths and legends, but now actually happened in Yanzhou, west of this year. Fairy tales on the border.
"When those demons saw it, oh, they were so scared that their courage was broken. When there were a few rabbit demons and rat demons, they opened their mouths and spat out, and all they spat out was green water...
"What's wrong?
“The bile is out!
“When the other demons saw this, they turned around and ran away!
"That's really showing off their magical powers! Some turned into birds and flew away, some turned into fish and swam away, some turned into a gust of black wind and flew away, and some turned into their original form and ran very fast. There were all kinds of things. have!
"But the immortal master turned his head and said:
"Please catch them all for me!
"The word "please" is used, but it is called the cub next to him! Didn't you tell me, in addition to the green ox traveling around the world with him, the immortal master also brought a beautiful tiger cub with him!"
The calico cat's eyes widened even more after hearing this, and its mouth opened slightly, revealing two small tiger teeth, with a look of shock on its face.
He turned to look at the Taoist again.
The Taoist just smiled at her.
"This young tiger also has a great background. I mentioned it last time, so I won't go into details this time. I just want to say that this young tiger is also very capable. When he saw this, he let out a cry, and his body swelled up in the wind, until it reached several feet in height. With a roar, it turned into a burst of colorful wind and flew towards those demons, hey, that was really a mouthful..."
The calico cat was shocked and looked a little fascinated.
The Taoist also continued to drink tea and continued to listen.
There is narcissism, and you want to hear the boasts of others, but it is not just narcissism. What you listen to is not only the stories and the boasts and flattery from others, but also the things behind the stories.
You can hear people's yearning for fairy tales.
Especially true fairy tales.
It can also be heard that people prefer to hear that gods ride cows instead of horses, and lead tigers instead of cats. As for the abilities of gods and the terror of monsters, naturally the more exaggerated they are, the more enjoyable they are to hear.
So it was exaggerated layer by layer.
By the way, the more monsters you kill, the better.
The time is slowly getting later.
"That's how Qing Feng divided the river and the sea with one sword, and eliminated the demons while talking and laughing! After this battle, the demons in Saibei's army could no longer make big waves. General Chen also immediately led his troops out of the city to fight against Saibei!
"That's it for this afternoon. Thank you to all the new and old patrons for your support, and thank you for the money for tea. I'm very grateful! If you think your lecture is good, you can come back in the evening and talk about the immortals and masters again. The story of accompanying the army out of the city and fighting the demons again. The master killed a total of three thousand demons in Yanzhou, but only two thousand and two were left at this point. There are still eight hundred left, which are all in the following stories!"
The crowd burst into cheers and coins were thrown onto the stage.
The small towns in the north are indeed not as wealthy as those in the south, let alone Buyidu and Changjing, and prices are also lower. However, there are many people during the New Year, and people have spare money and are willing to give it up. The stories are really exciting, and the momentum is extraordinary.
The Taoist asked the shop owner to count the money.
"A pot of tea costs fifteen cents, a seat for listening to books costs eight cents, two persimmons cost five cents, a total of twenty-eight cents."
It’s not cheap, it should have a Spring Festival premium.
However, the Taoist's pockets are quite bulging at the moment. Most of them are the hard-earned money that Empress Sanhua earned on the grasslands in the spring and summer. After arriving in the army and Yuezhou, she never had any place to spend money, so she kept it until now.
So I took out the money from my pocket and counted it carefully.
The calico cat craned its neck to stare.
The Taoist counted thirty coins in total.
"Please give the extra two copper coins to the old gentleman on the stage for me to use as extra money for the old gentleman's tea to moisten his throat."
"Ouch! Thank you sir!"
"Let's go."
The Taoist said something to the calico cat, then stood up with the bamboo stick.
The calico cat looked back at the storyteller who was bending down to pick up money on the stage. Although he was full of doubts, he turned around and jumped off the bench to catch up with the Taoist.
The swallow also flew out quickly.
Fortunately, the innkeeper didn't leave either.
The Taoist met him and said to him, "I just wanted to ask the store owner for directions."
"What do you want to ask, sir?"
"Where can I buy spices in Mozhu County?"
"spices?"
"yes."
"If we talk about two or three kinds of things that are usually used for cooking, sometimes someone will come to sell them on the street in the morning. Normally, they are also available in pharmacies. If we talk about more..." The store owner thought for a moment, "Our place is small, so we don't actually have any. There are several kinds of spices for sale. If the husband wants more, most likely, hehe..."
Song You almost understood what he wanted to say.
However, at this moment, a young man next to him said, "I know where spices are sold. They are very complete."
Song You turned around and looked.
It was the twelve- or thirteen-year-old boy I saw earlier.
Before Song You could say anything, the innkeeper Ben Ben spoke first and scolded: "Where are you from, a young man! Stop doing this! You don't pick on others when you lie to them!"
Then he smiled at Song You and said:
"Sir, don't pay attention to him. What does a kid know? Most likely he wants to trick your husband into giving money for traveling. There are many people like this during the Chinese New Year. In order to defraud a few money, they will use any means!"
Song You also smiled at him.
However, the half-grown boy stared at Song You with bright eyes: "I never lie to others. I usually help people lead the way at the gate of Beicheng. If you are trustworthy, I can take you to the place first and then give you the money."
"Hey……"
The shopkeeper grinned: "I have been in this city for many years, and I don't know where to sell spices except the drug store. How did you know about it? Tell me first! If you can't tell me, I will make it difficult for you. Festival!"
"I told you, when I have free time, I help people lead the way at the gate of Beicheng. The Chinese New Year is coming soon, and a group of spice sellers came to the city to sell. They have been setting up stalls in Dongcheng during the day these past few days. It's late now. It must have been early. The stall has been closed and gone back." The half-grown boy is only as tall as Song You's chest, but he speaks in a mature manner, "But I know where they live. I only need five cents to take Mr. there."
"this……"
The store owner withdrew his gaze and looked at Song You.
As if he felt that it was not a lie, and saw that Song You wanted to go, he told Song You: "If you want to go, sir, remember, no matter what this kid says, you will get the money again. If this You must be careful if you take your husband to some remote place!"
After that, he warned the young man not to play tricks.
Song You thanked the shopkeeper, then smiled at the young man and said:
"Please lead the way!"
"Don't worry! Everything I say is true!" The young man spoke with so much maturity. "Credibility comes first, and I never harm anyone!"
"I believe in my step."
"Then come with me!"
The young man has taken the lead to move forward.
(End of chapter)
