At night, the lights in Song Feng Tower were brightly lit, and the hall on the second floor was almost full of guests. Each of these people was in high spirits, talking loudly, and toasting to a drink from time to time.
The head shopkeeper of Song Fenglou walked up to the second floor, looked at the many guests in the hall, and greeted the familiar guests with a smile on his face and bowed, looking quite satisfied, but when his eyes When he glanced at Ikkaku, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.
There were four people sitting at a table there, two men and two women. Unlike the other bustling scenes in the hall where the tables were lined with cups and plates and the aroma of wine overflowed, there was only a pot of spiritual tea and four teacups on the table for those four people. .
The big shopkeeper quickly recognized these four people. Although he did not know their names, he had been to Song Fenglou many times and had a great meal here every time, especially the tallest one. The strong young man really has a good appetite!
A hearty meal at Song Feng Tower requires at least ten spirit stones. This amount is not something everyone is willing to pay, at least for the Five Spirit disciples who come and go in Ruixuan Town. In Song Feng Tower, Eating in Lou is still too luxurious, so these little guys who have just reached the middle level of Qi Refining seem to be very luxurious. But what is going on today? Why is it that at this time, the tables of these people are still empty. Not even a dish?
Oh, I understand. In the past, there were five people every time they came, but now there are four. When five people came together, they ordered a table full of dishes and ate happily, but when there were only these four people, they only Being able to sit there and drink tea dryly, well, these four people must have four mouths, and the fifth person they are waiting for must be the one who is responsible for digging out the spiritual stones.
"Several of you..." The big shopkeeper came over with a smile on his face.
"Oh, shopkeeper, let's wait for someone first..." A pretty girl among the four spoke.
"Okay, those guys just wait patiently. I'll ask someone to bring a pot of tea for you guys."
Sure enough, the big shopkeeper secretly said.
Tang Ping and others naturally didn't know what the big shopkeeper was thinking, but Lu Pingchuan smelled the aroma of wine, coriander and vegetables in the hall and couldn't help but his stomach growled again.
"Hey, why hasn't Brother Qian come yet?" Lu Pingchuan muttered.
Tang Ping immediately quit and said angrily:
"Brother Lu, Mr. Qian clearly left a message when he left, telling us not to wait for him. Now it's you who refuses to order and says we have to wait for Mr. Qian. It's you who's stomach is growling. Now you're still mumbling there. I’m complaining, I’ve told you all this, we’ve been waiting for more than an hour, so what do you think we should do, either we’ll ask the waiter to eat right away, or we’ll continue to wait.”
"Hehe, I just said, wait, wait, hehe!"
Yanxuan was so amused that he burst into laughter.
Li Jian also put back the feeling of letting go, and looked at Lu Pingchuan's embarrassment with a chuckle.
"How about we go take a look at Brother Qian, it's been so long..." Yanxuan said.
"No," Tang Ping quickly stopped, "Boss Qian has wanted to meet the teahouse owner for a long time. Since he hasn't come yet, he must have met, and the conversation should be good. We don't need to bother him. Maybe Qian The boy can take advantage of him a lot this time, but if we go to urge him, it will be bad for him."
Of course Tang Ping knew what Qian Chao was doing. She knew more about this matter than Qian Chao. In order for Qian Chao to have a master, she couldn't tell the truth, so she could only stop it by saying this.
Just as he was talking, a figure moved on the stairs. Lu Pingchuan immediately became happy when he glanced at that figure:
"Hey, it's Brother Qian. No matter what I say, Brother Qian will definitely be back soon."
Tang Ping couldn't help but offend him again:
"Nonsense! When did you say that..."
But before she finished speaking, she was immediately shocked when she saw Qian Chao's face.
When Qian Chao went upstairs, although his steps were still calm, for some reason, his face looked gray and tired at this time, making him look very tired.
Then the other three people saw Qian Chao's face clearly and were quite surprised.
"What...?" Qian Chao asked curiously when he sat down.
"Hey, stop talking. Brother Lu said that he must wait for you. Hey, Qian boy, what's wrong with your face? Why do you look like you've had a fight with someone? What happened?" Tang Ping asked hurriedly. asked.
"Facial? Am I ugly?"
"Of course, your face is a little gray. Those who didn't know better thought you were terminally ill. Didn't you go to see the tea boss? Why did you end up like this?"
"Of course I'm going to Yi Ming Pavilion. Hey, I'm very good and I didn't do anything with anyone. It's just... ugh... I'm exhausted. Now that I'm here, I feel even more hungry. Hurry, let me go, man. Serve the food, I'm starving, please serve more..."
Tang Ping felt extremely strange now. Didn't this Qian boy go to see his mysterious master?
Why are you so hungry now?
Only Lu Pingchuan was overjoyed. He stood up, waved his hand, and said angrily: "Man..."
Before the big shopkeeper went downstairs, he saw Qian Chao coming upstairs. Sure enough, as soon as the man he thought was the enemy came, the people at the table immediately became energetic and greeted the waiters, so they hurriedly called a waiter beside him and said: "Go, go, go. Well, listen to that big man and introduce him to some of our signature dishes today..."
…
Yanxuan held Qian Chao's wrist for a moment and said:
"It's okay. Brother Qian is just mentally exhausted and tired. It doesn't matter."
He said it was no problem, but Yanxuan still took out a few pills that nourished the essence and strengthened the body and asked Qian Chao to take them.
However, when the hot dishes were served, several people were shocked again. Qian Chao, who was always so polite and polite, wolfed down food like this, regardless of his image. He was not inferior to Lu Pingchuan on weekdays. Lu Pingchuan was stunned and couldn't help but said:
"Did the tea shop owner ask Brother Qian to do any heavy work? Why did Brother Qian starve to such an extent!"
I don't know if it was Yanxuan's elixir that took effect, or if it was because of the hot and delicious meal. Anyway, Qian Chao's gray and tired face gradually dissipated, and after drinking a few drinks, his face became pale. It turned red, but when he was devouring it, he didn't notice that none of the four companions moved their chopsticks, but all eight eyes looked at him.
"Uh..." Qian Chao finally realized that he was being stared at strangely by his four companions. Then he struggled to swallow the food in his mouth and said, "What's wrong with you? Why are you all looking at me?"
Tang Ping sighed and said:
"Don't you have anything to say? Mr. Qian, today you went to meet the owner of the tea shop, but you came back with a very ugly face. Then you ate. When did you, Mr. Qian, eat like a starving ghost? Is it the same? He also spilled all the soup on his robe, tell me, what is going on?"
When Qian Chao heard this, he quickly lowered his head and looked at the front of his robe. Sure enough, it was stained with some soup water. He quickly wiped it and said:
"Oh, hehe, I did go to meet the owner of Yiming Pavilion..."
"Have you seen it?" Tang Ping asked.
"seen."
Upon hearing that he had met the owner of the tea shop, Tang Ping felt relieved and immediately continued to ask:
"Then...what did you say?"
"I didn't say anything, just... played three games of chess."
"Only three games of chess played?"
"Yes."
"Boy Qian," Tang Ping quit, "you have been looking for the teahouse owner since noon. It has been more than four hours now and we have been waiting for you hungry. You actually didn't talk to him about anything and only went downstairs." Three games of chess?”
For more than four hours, we only played three games of chess and talked about nothing. That was the master that Patriarch Mo on Yuhu Mountain secretly arranged for Qian Chao!
He must also be a powerful person, a worldly expert who studies heaven and man!
This boy Qian actually only played chess with others when he got there. When did this boy Qian become so unreliable?
"Well...listen to me, I went and met Mr. Zhuang. He was indeed an enigmatic old man, but his temper was also extremely weird. How could he tell me all his knowledge as soon as we met? As for Xiangzhi, fortunately, Mr. Zhuang is a chess fanatic and loves chess skills, so I can only play chess with him."
"Don't tell me that the unlucky look on your face just now was caused by playing chess with him..."
Li Jian interrupted and said:
"Well, Miss Tang, maybe chess can really be like this. Although I have never seen chess being so tiring, when I was a child, I saw my grandfather formulating a marching strategy. He would sit in front of the map for a whole day. Not eating or drinking, it’s really exhausting in the end.”
Tang Ping nodded and asked again:
"Then what kind of chess are you playing? How come you are so tired from playing?"
"Haha," Qian Chao laughed, "There are three games in total. The first two games are just the usual routine, one win and one loss. Mr. Nazhuang and I are tied. Only the third game is the most critical and the most tiring. It rained for more than two hours in total. Alas, I was in danger of not being able to come back. I had to stay there as his helper for a month. Fortunately, I finally defeated him in the end..."
Seeing Qian Chao smiling happily, and hearing that he almost stayed there as a helper, Tang Ping couldn't help but say:
"That's it……"
"Listen to me, the way to play the third game is completely different, and we won the lottery. If I lose, I will work as a helper in his tea shop for a month. If he loses, he will give me a book of chess. Well, there is also a bag of tea. But... hehe... I have both of those things on me!"
When she heard this, Tang Ping's heart moved, and she couldn't help but guess that the owner of the Yiming Pavilion might have seen through the idea of Mo Zu on Yuhu Mountain, but he pretended not to know, but today Qian Chao is definitely a The test is: if I don’t meet the person you sent here in a roundabout way, I won’t give you face as an old friend, but the meeting must follow my rules. If Mr. Qian fails to pass this test, he can only stay there and give it to you. People do odd jobs for a month, and then they never have any chance again. When the owner of the Yiming Pavilion met Mo Zu from Yuhu Mountain, he would definitely laugh that Mo Zu could only find some handymen to go to his place. If Mr. Qian passes this test, it will also be a surprise to the owner of Yiming Hall. After all, good disciples are rare, and who doesn’t want to have a heir to his studies!
So... what kind of test should it be?
What a smart person Mr. Qian is, and what kind of game of chess could make Mr. Qian's face look like that from exhaustion?
Fortunately, Mr. Qian finally passed that test.
"Why did you beat him so hard and then just give him a broken chess book?" Tang Ping said this deliberately. At this time, she also guessed that there must be a secret in the chess book.
"Broken chess records? Ha!" Qian Chao almost choked with a sip of wine. "Do you know how reluctant Mr. Zhuang was when he gave me the chess records at the end? He looked like an old money man, but the bag of tea was a good gift. Very happy.”
"What chess record? Take it out and have a look." Tang Ping said again.
"Well, after all, it is an extremely important thing. There are many people here, so I won't take it out yet. I will show it to everyone after I have eaten and returned to the room."
Hearing this, Tang Ping finally felt a stone fall in her heart. She knew that Qian Chao had entered Baoshan this time and did not return empty-handed, so he must have gained a lot.
…
The reason why Qian Chao is so tired and hungry is all related to Mr. Zhuang's third game of chess, which consumes too much mental and mental energy. However, even if he is tired, his appetite is still there. After eating so much, I talked with Tang Ping and others for a while. When I started to use my chopsticks to continue enjoying the food, I felt full in my belly and couldn't eat any more, so I could only watch helplessly. Watch the four people enjoying the delicious food there.
Tang Ping understood it at a glance and couldn't help laughing:
"Can't you eat anymore? You deserve it! You were like a starving ghost just now. You were full before the food was even served, ha!"
Qian Chao could only shake his head and sigh at this, and then while sipping tea, he listened to several of his companions telling him about the new things they encountered while wandering around during the day.
While they were talking and laughing, Li Jian suddenly frowned. Even when he was enjoying the food, his senses were not consciously released, so he could grasp the situation in the hall on the second floor of Songfeng Tower without looking at it. Probably, in Li Jian's opinion, Ruixuan Town is really strange today. Not only are there more people than usual, but there are also more corresponding things happening? Just now, when he listened to Lu Pingchuan talking about beating the two boys today while eating, he suddenly felt a cold murderous intention flashing away!
As a sword cultivator, Li Jian's sword heart is the easiest to sense the dangers around him, and during the great tide in Hanquan Valley, when he faced the black-clothed female sword cultivator named Zi Ru for the second time, his sword heart was clear. And a wonderful change occurred unintentionally, allowing him to step from the state of "the sword's heart has no self" to the state of "the sword's heart has me". As an auxiliary method for sword cultivation, the wonderful state of mind of sword heart clarity is most susceptible to being displayed by murderous intent or dangerous stimulation from the outside world. This is also one of the reasons why sword cultivation is a headache in the practice world. It is really difficult to deal with a skilled swordsman. It is difficult to get close to a swordsman with murderous intentions, and he will be noticed early on.
And just now, Li Jian was inadvertently stimulated by the sudden appearance of murderous intent, and suddenly became alert, and the clear "I" state of the sword's heart was displayed uncontrollably in an instant. out.
If Li Jian had any murderous intention towards someone due to ordinary personal grudges and hatred, Li Jian would not be like this. In the hall on the second floor of Songfeng Tower, the person who suddenly had murderous intention had been well hidden before. , Li Jian didn't notice it at all, and she didn't know what stimulated the man and made him suddenly murderous. At that moment, Li Jian almost thought that the man was about to take action.
It was at that moment that it was deeply imprinted on Li Jian's heart, allowing him to calmly focus on a white man sitting in an inconspicuous corner of the hall, just like looking at a painting with meticulous brushwork. The man in the robe was about to raise the glass to his lips. Li Jian noticed that his two points of cold eyes were well hidden. Following his gaze, Li Jian saw a table of people sitting in the middle of the hall. Among them, a young man in a bright purple robe was also raising a glass to invite friends to the house. Although he seemed to have no knowledge of the man in white robe, Li Jian could clearly feel that the young man in purple robe was also there. When the man in white robe looked over, his heart was alert and his whole body was on guard. Probably because of this, the man in white robe finally gave up, drank the wine in the cup in one gulp, and then hid his murderous intention.
interesting!
"I see, I asked why there are so many people in Ruixuan Town today." Qian Chao said. Just now Tang Ping explained to him why the town was so lively today.
"It's not just that there are a lot of people, Mr. Qian. People from those aristocratic families are full of conflicts and intrigues. Look, there will be more and more messy things in the sect in the future." Tang Ping said.
"Not just in the future," Li Jian smiled, "Well, I will talk about it next, but please don't look around when I say it, otherwise they will find out."
"Oh, what did Brother Li find?" Tang Ping asked curiously. Everyone knew that Li Jian had amazing sensing power, so he must have noticed something just now.
"Well, don't look over specifically. If you are discovered, you might alert them. In the corner to my right, there is a man in white robe, sitting alone. Just now, he looked at the person in the middle of the hall. At that table, the young man in purple robe had a strong desire to kill and was about to take action. Well, the guy in purple robe was also wary of him, so the guy in white robe finally gave up."
Hearing what Li Jian said, Qian Chao and the other four couldn't help but pretended to tilt their heads inadvertently or bent down to pick something up. They all quietly glanced at the two people Li Jian was talking about. Among them, Lu Pingchuan almost turned his back to that side, but he couldn't help but look away, so he asked the waiter to bring another jar of wine, and he finally got a clear look at the man in white robe.
Yanxuan found this very exciting and nervous, but she couldn't see anything, so she asked in a low voice:
"I can't tell, Brother Li, are you sure?"
"It's unmistakable," Li Jian said, "Actually, it's not just the man in white robe who has murderous intentions for each other in this hall, well..."
Li Jian took a look and realized that the table he was sitting on was relatively far away, so he was not afraid of being overheard, so he continued:
"Hey, there is a chubby guy at the table to the left of me, the one with the red nose. For some reason, he always resents the man in green robe at the table behind him. Well, that guy's hair is a bit dry. The one..."
A few people looked carefully and saw a fat man who looked a little unhappy in front of a table full of delicious food. His nose was indeed a little red. Behind the fat man, there was indeed a young man with withered hair. From time to time, He even glanced coldly at the fat man's back.
"There is a table of people behind Miss Tang. One of the women in a crimson dress seems to hate the woman in a green dress sitting next to the table. Well, this hatred is really deep!" Li Jian added said.
Following Li Jian's words, several people looked carefully, and sure enough, they saw a slim and beautiful woman sitting among a group of people at a table behind Tang Ping, wearing a gorgeous and decent crimson dress. The skirt and rings were all made of expensive accessories, making her look extraordinarily noble. However, the woman's eyes were always a little gloomy. She glanced at the equally beautiful woman in a green skirt at the next table. The two women's eyes went back and forth with each other. They were touching each other without giving in at all, and it was obvious that they had deep grudges.
It was inconvenient for Tang Ping to turn around, so she asked Yanxuan next to her:
"Did you see clearly?"
"Yes, they are two beautiful women." Yanxuan replied.
"Then it must have been caused by jealousy." Tang Ping said firmly, making Yanxuan laugh.
Li Jian said again:
"Actually, this is true even for people sitting at the same table. Well, the table on the far left in the middle is full of people. Two middle-aged people are sitting opposite each other. Those two middle-aged people, although they are laughing They were urging each other to drink, but in their hearts they wanted to kill each other with a sword right now. The young people sitting next to them also had fake smiles on their faces, but their hearts were full of hostility to each other. They were almost two aristocratic families. We met two people, and it was hard to break up, so we sat together."
After Li Jian finished speaking, several people took a cautious peek.
"It's true," Tang Ping saw clearly this time, "Everyone at the table is eager to kill each other, but they are all pretending. This wine is so boring."
While several people were discussing, they heard the sound of hurried footsteps on the stairs. A strong and tall young man led a few people and rushed up with a strong smell of alcohol. There were a few people behind them. Followed by the nervous-looking shopkeeper Song Fenglou, he probably realized that these people had bad intentions and hurriedly caught up with them.
The tall and sturdy young man was half a head shorter than Lu Pingchuan. His face looked very unruly. It was obvious at a glance that he had drunk a lot of wine. His face was red, his figure was unstable, and there were traces of blood in the whites of his eyes. The big round eyes covered with bloodshot eyes glanced around the second floor. During this period, the head shopkeeper of Song Feng Tower asked with an apologetic smile:
"This guest, the second floor is already full, why not..."
"Go away!"
The young man said something impatiently, and then stared straight at a table of people in the hall on the second floor without moving. Then he strode over with a somewhat shaky step and stared fiercely at the table sitting there. One of the people shouted:
"Gu Zhan! I heard about you in Zhaixing Tower and still didn't believe it. I didn't expect it was you. You thief, have you ever thought about meeting me here?"
"Brother Gan, so what if I encounter you? This place is not..."
"Hmph, if I meet you, I will take you back, this sinister villain, and take out your heart and liver to pay homage to those who were harmed by you!"
"Don't be stupid, Brother Gan, do you dare to take action here? Brother Gan, let's just let go of the past. In the future, we are both disciples of the Five Spirits. We are fellow villagers. Maybe we can take care of each other in the future..."
"Bah! Who is from the same hometown as you? You are a crazy villain. If you hadn't cheated your death, you could live to this day and still want to enter the Five Spirits Sect and have your big dream. Now that I have met you, there will be no The principle of letting go is..."
The young man named Gu Zhan was surrounded by a table full of people. When they saw that the other party was about to use violence, they all stood up with evil faces. Some people had fireballs looming in their palms, and some even showed their spiritual swords. The moment seemed to be on the verge of breaking out, attracting everyone in the hall to look at him sideways, and the timid people to avoid it one after another.
"Stop!" It was the big shopkeeper who shouted. Seeing that these people were about to take action here, he couldn't help but said in a hurry, "Stop it..."
But after all, he was doing business in Ruixuan Town. After shouting this, he put a smile on his face, leaned over and whispered between the two groups:
"This guest, hehe, I think you have something to say between you and this person. Hehe, this restaurant has a small profit, all because of the support of everyone. If you make a move here today, I will This restaurant cannot afford to lose money. Besides, if you really take action, there are many senior brothers from the Wuling Sect in the Chengming Building in the town. They have explicitly banned monks from fighting in the town. I think you still..."
"Go away!" The stout young man surnamed Gan shouted violently, obviously impatient with the big shopkeeper coming to He Xini. "Who asked you to stir up the trouble? Believe it or not, I will be angry and demolish your building." !”
This big shopkeeper also has a temper, but he has smoothed it out for the sake of doing business. Moreover, he is also a monk himself. Now that the other party refuses to listen to his good words and insists on taking action, it seems that the only way is to forcefully separate the two groups. Well, we can't let them start fighting here and demolish our Song Feng Tower.
Just when the big shopkeeper's complexion began to harden and he was beginning to mobilize his spiritual energy, someone spoke at the top of the stairs.
"Who wants to demolish my restaurant, Ninth Brother, don't stop me, let them demolish it, I want to see who has the courage!"
Three people walked up to the stairs. The first one was Song Zhen, followed by a man and a woman, Bao Xian and Ruan Tian.
"Who are you!" The stout young man named Gan shouted angrily. He had drank a lot of wine and met his enemies, but he had been blocked. The anger was naturally not small.
Song Zhen walked over and said to the big shopkeeper:
"Brother Ninth, leave this to me."
Then he looked at the two groups in the confrontation and said with some disdain:
"I am Song Zhen, a disciple of Wuling. I am from the Song family in Longzhou. This Song Feng Tower is the property of my Song family. Don't you guys want to take action? Then don't wait. Let me see how you are doing. means!"
Then he said to everyone in the hall:
"Everyone, if you don't want to be stained with blood, how about you give in and watch the fun together?"
Song family.
The Song family in Longzhou.
Song Zhen's announcement of her family immediately calmed the two groups in the confrontation.
That's the Song family!
A well-known family in the world of spiritual practice. Not only are there many experts and powerful people in the family, they are also famous for being the richest in the world.
The two groups in the confrontation were led by Gu Zhan and a sturdy young man named Na Gan. Although their families were not small, they were inconspicuous compared to the Song family. If they really offended the Song family here, If the Song family wanted to deal with these two aristocratic families, they would not need to send people to take action at all. They would only send people to carry heavy gifts to the local aristocratic families to do some operations. Maybe these two aristocratic families would be wiped out one night.
There was a look of remorse on Gu Zhan's face. The sturdy young man surnamed Gan had also sobered up and secretly blamed himself for acting recklessly.
"Why don't you take action?" Song Zhen looked at the two groups and sneered.
"Uh...Brother Song, please forgive me for being reckless. I act randomly after drinking too much. I hope Brother Song won't blame me."
"Brother Song, I know I was wrong."
"No fight? Well, the night breeze outside the building is cool. Let's go out to clean up and enjoy the night view." Song Zhen gave the eviction order.
"Yes, yes..." those people said hurriedly.
When Gu Zhan passed by, Song Zhen didn't forget to say:
"Don't forget to pay."
"yes……"
After driving away these troublemakers, Song Zhen clasped her fists and saluted everyone in the hall, and then said:
"Everyone, I'm sorry. It's because I, Song Fenglou, didn't entertain me well and made you see a joke. Brother Ninth, I'll give you two bottles of our fine wine on each table as an apology."
"good."
A big chaos was resolved by Song Zhen. When he turned around, Song Zhen also saw Qian Chao and others sitting in the corner of the hall. After all, they had fought against the enemy together. Song Zhen smiled and nodded to them, and then left. .
"Alas, it's such a pity that the excitement has disappeared." Lu Pingchuan said as if he was afraid that the world would not be in chaos.
"Wow, is the Song family so famous?" Yanxuan asked.
"Yes, the Song family is very famous," Tang Ping replied, "Have you seen this? These are what the world of cultivation is like. We will build our foundation in the future by dealing with people like this!"
