Tian Xiaoding and Ouyang Qing both broke through a small level of cultivation as they moved forward. Xiao Ding has reached the twenty-seventh level of Qi training, and Ouyang Qing has reached the eighth level of foundation building.
Ah Li couldn't help but feel envious when she saw that both of them had advanced. Xiao Ding could only comfort her with good words.
The three of them were moving forward when suddenly Ah Li pointed to a mountain col ahead for Xiao Ding to see.
Xiao Ding and Ouyang Qing looked in the direction Ah Li pointed. I saw a courtyard built in a mountain col ahead. There were not many rooms in the courtyard, only the main house and the east and west wings, a total of three buildings.
How could there be people living in this barren place?
Although he was suspicious, it was getting late, so Xiao Ding felt that he still planned to go and find out. If there were no problems, he wouldn't mind spending the night at that family's house.
It is better to live in a house than to sleep in a tent in the ice and snow.
Soon, the three of them took the Feiyun Shuttle and arrived outside the courtyard.
After putting away the flying cloud shuttle, Xiao Ding took the lead to walk outside the courtyard door, knocked on the courtyard door with his hand, and shouted loudly: "Is there anyone inside?"
Not long after, the "crunching" sound of footsteps on the snow came from the courtyard.
"Who is knocking at the door?" the people in the yard asked loudly.
Xiao Ding quickly replied: "I'm passing by here and want to stay overnight. Is that possible?"
The door of the courtyard opened, and an old lady came out. She looked at Xiao Ding and the three of them. When she saw Ouyang Qing's rabbit head, she was stunned for a moment, and then asked: "Are you from the demon clan? "
Xiao Ding was also looking at the old lady inside the door at this time. He knew that if this was Xuewangzhou, then most of the people living here were from the demon clan or from the ghost clan.
However, after Xiao Ding used the Sky Eye Technique to see the old lady, he discovered that she was actually a human being, not a demon or ghost, and she did not have any cultivation.
This time Xiao Ding felt relieved and answered with cupped hands: "We are human beings, not demons. This is my wife. She became what she is today because she accidentally ate poison. Please don't be afraid, auntie." "
The old lady nodded, and then asked: "Are you planning to stay at my house? Please come in quickly."
The three of them followed the old lady into the courtyard, and saw that the open space in the courtyard was filled with beautiful snow lotus flowers. Despite the ice and snow, those snow lotuses stood proudly, blooming in the cold weather, and the fragrance of the flowers lingered around the entire courtyard.
The old lady said: "I have more than a dozen snow chickens in my backyard. These snow lotuses I planted are food for my snow chickens. There is ice and snow everywhere here, and there is no other food to feed the snow chickens." "
Xiao Ding couldn't help but ask: "If we raise more than a dozen snow chickens, will it be enough to plant these snow lotuses?"
The old lady smiled and replied: "Of course it's not enough. However, my eldest son goes to Snow Lotus Valley every day to collect snow lotus seeds. Snow lotus seeds can not only be used to feed snow chickens, but can also be used as our daily food."
"Snow Lotus Valley?" Xiao Dingdi said.
"Yes, Snow Lotus Valley is about ten miles away from here. That valley is full of snow lotus flowers. We can't pick them all every day," the old lady explained.
While the few people were talking, they had already arrived in the main room of the main room.
The furnishings in the main room are very simple. There is an offering table under the north wall facing the door. There is a tablet on the offering table. The words "Zhang Fude's Position" are written on the tablet. There is an incense burner and some simple offerings in front of the tablet, and there are burning incense, fire folds and other objects next to it.
There are wooden chairs and coffee tables placed against the walls on the left and right sides of the main room.
The old lady enthusiastically gave up her seat to Xiao Ding and the others, while introducing her naggingly: "The memorial tablet on the altar table is the tablet of my husband Zhang Fude. He passed away last year. Now it's just me and my husband." The two sons live together.”
Xiao Ding learned through his spiritual exploration that there was no one else in the several houses in the courtyard except the old lady in front of him. So he asked casually: "Auntie, have your sons gone to Snow Lotus Valley to collect snow lotus seeds?"
While wiping the coffee table next to Xiao Ding, the old lady replied: "My eldest son went to Snow Lotus Valley to collect snow lotus seeds, and my second son went to Wangchen River to fish. Our daily food is I need my two sons to get them back."
"Fishing? How can we fish in this frozen world?" Ah Li asked curiously.
The old lady laughed and said: "You must not be from Xuewangzhou, right? Everyone in Xuewangzhou will know that when you go fishing in the river, you must first dig a hole in the ice. In this way, The fish on the bottom will gather in the ice holes to breathe. Then we can catch them easily."
"I see." Ah Li has lived in Yueshuo Continent in the southernmost part of Tiankun planet since she was a child. Naturally, she doesn't know how to catch fish under the ice.
Xiao Ding heard the old lady mention Xuewangzhou and couldn't help but ask again: "Auntie, did you say this is Xuewangzhou?"
The old lady put away her smile, raised her eyes and looked at Xiao Ding doubtfully, and asked: "Don't you know this is Xuewangzhou?"
Xiao Ding had no choice but to explain: "We went to other planets by mistake, and then arrived here in a mess, so now we don't know where it is." After saying that, he laughed awkwardly. Two sounds.
If the old lady realized something, she said: "So that's it! This is indeed Xuewangzhou. However, as you are new here, I have to remind you that in Xuewangzhou, humans only account for a minority, and most of the people here are People from the demon clan can occasionally see people from the ghost clan. They are not friendly to humans, so you should be more careful when you are on your way."
Xiao Ding quickly clasped his fists and thanked: "Thank you, auntie, for reminding me. We will be careful."
After cleaning the coffee table, the old lady said to Xiao Ding: "You guys sit down and rest for a while. I'll make you a pot of tea." After saying that, she turned around and walked out of the main room.
Xiao Ding looked at the figure of the old lady walking out and thought in his heart, ??????????????????This old lady has no cultivation, but she dares to do it when there is no one else at home. , accepts the three of herself, isn't she afraid of meeting bad people? Moreover, when she saw Ouyang Qing's rabbit head, she was only slightly stunned, but not too surprised. Could she really be an ordinary human?
It didn't take long for the old lady to come in with a pot of brewed tea, hand each of Xiao Ding and the three of them a coarse porcelain teacup, and help fill the tea. He still said humbly: "We are in a remote and remote area. We don't have very good tea. We only have this kind of white pine needle tea. I don't know if the three distinguished guests are used to drinking it."
Xiao Ding used his spiritual consciousness to explore the pottery pot held by the old lady, and found that what was soaked in it was actually the white pine needles of the Aoxuehan Pine.
These pine needles can actually be used to make tea? Xiao Ding has never drunk pine needle tea before, so he will be a little curious.
However, he pretended to be nonchalant on the surface and said polite words: "Thank you, auntie! I smell a strange aroma in this tea, and I must be able to get used to it."
"It's good if you can get used to it. It's not in vain that I spent a long time cooking it, hahaha." The old lady spoke with a smile, which made people feel very friendly.
However, what Xiao Ding and the others didn't notice was that the moment the old lady finished pouring the tea and picked up the clay pot, a sinister cold light suddenly flashed in her eyes. The cold light flashed by, and then there was still a cheerful smile on her face.
Xiao Ding picked up the tea cup, put it in front of his nose and took a sniff. At the same time, he also checked the tea with his consciousness, but found nothing unusual. So he opened his mouth and took a sip. It felt like there was a pine needle scent entering the throat at the entrance of this pine needle tea. After swallowing, there was a slight sweetness on the bottom of the tongue. Xiao Ding, who didn't know much about tea ceremony, just thought that this tea was okay and not unpleasant to drink.
Ouyang Qing and Ah Li, who were sitting across from each other, also picked up their cups to taste the unique pine needle tea in Xuewangzhou.
Seeing that the three of them had drank pine needle tea, the old lady looked at the sky outside the door, suddenly patted her forehead and said: "Hey, you, it's so late, I actually forgot to light a stick of incense for my husband. Alas. , When people get old, they always forget things..."
Mumbling in her mouth, the old lady came to the altar table, picked up the incense on the table, took out three sticks, lit them with fire sticks, held the incense in both hands, bowed to the tablet, and then inserted the incense in her hand into the incense burner.
Xiao Ding had seen a lot of things like burning incense to commemorate the deceased. From ancient times to the present, human beings have always had this kind of activity. Therefore, when Xiao Ding saw the old lady's behavior at this moment, he did not become suspicious.
After burning the incense, the old lady lit the oil lamp on the table, then turned to Xiao Ding and the others and said, "It's already getting late. The three distinguished guests must not have had dinner yet? I'll prepare dinner for you right now." .”
With that said, she walked out of the main room again.
The scent of the incense burner was very strong, and Xiao Ding smelled that there seemed to be some kind of herbal smell in the scent.
However, in this world of ice and snow, it would be nice to have incense to burn, but Xiao Ding couldn't figure out what kind of material this incense is made of.
At this moment, the crunching sound of someone stepping on the snow suddenly came from outside the courtyard door. From far to near, Xiaoding heard a knock on the door after arriving at the courtyard door. At the same time, he also heard someone shouting: "Mom, I I’m back, come and open the door for me!”
"Is Dagui back?" The old lady ran out from the kitchen and opened the courtyard door for her returning son.
As the courtyard door opened, Xiao Ding and the others saw a man walking into the courtyard. This man is relatively tall and burly, and should be about the same size and shape as Xiao Ding. He carried a basket made of wooden branches on his back. There was a basket of fish in the basket, which had been frozen with a thin layer of ice.
"Mom, is my brother back?" The man called Dagui asked the old lady quickly when he saw her.
The old lady closed the courtyard door and said, "Your brother should be back soon. I'm cooking and there are guests at home. You go and entertain them."
"Oh." Dagui responded, looking up at the main room. Because the door of the main room was always open, he could see Xiao Ding and the others at a glance.
After nodding politely to Xiao Ding and the others, he followed the old lady to the kitchen with the basket on his back.
After putting the basket in the kitchen, Dagui came to the main room, raised his fists at Xiao Ding and the other three, and said, "My lord, Zhang Dagui, you are so polite here!"
Xiao Ding also quickly stood up and returned the courtesy, saying: "Xiao Ding, I am in the lower field. I am passing by your place. Please forgive me for disturbing you!"
Zhang Dagui said politely: "Don't disturb me, I won't disturb you. It's an honor for our Zhang family that our friend Tian can come to our house as a guest. We'll have a drink together later, hahaha!"
Xiao Ding couldn't help but feel a little confused when he saw that the young man in front of him spoke well and was cheerful and generous. He didn't look like someone who had never seen the world at all in the wilderness and ravines.
At this time, footsteps and knocking on the door were heard again outside the courtyard door. Zhang Dagui apologized to Xiao Ding and the others and said, "Please wait a moment, my brother is back. I'll open the door."
The old lady who was cooking in the kitchen heard the knock on the door and came to the courtyard. She watched Zhang Dagui open the courtyard door and welcomed in a man who was as tall and burly as Zhang Dagui. Even the two of them looked very similar. It's obvious at first glance that they are brothers.
The man who came in later also carried a basket on his back, but it was filled with snowdrops.
Zhang Dagui saw the man who had returned and said quickly: "Brother, are you back?"
When the old lady saw the man who came in later, she said the same thing: "Dafu, are you back?"
The man who came back later replied: "Mom, brother, go back to the house quickly, don't stand in the yard."
Zhang Dagui said with a smile: "Brother, put down the snow lotus quickly. Someone is coming to deliver meat to us today."
When the man named Dafu heard this, he couldn't help but glance towards the main room.
The old lady also said with a smile on her face: "Today, three fishes came to the door by themselves, Dafu and Dagui. You two go and catch them first. When we catch the little witch, then we will be together Dispose of them."
The conversation between these three people in the courtyard did not prevent Xiao Ding and the other three people in the room.
When Xiao Ding heard what they were saying, he was shocked. He thought, do these three people with no cultivation actually want to capture him?
Before he could figure it out, Zhang Dafu in the courtyard had already put the basket aside and said, "Okay, mother, just give these three fish to our brothers, and you can just watch the show."
With that said, he was already striding towards the main room.
As for Zhang Dagui, his face seemed to have changed at this moment, and he followed Zhang Dafu towards the main room with a frosty face. He also said to the old lady: "Mom, don't worry, these three fish won't be able to escape today."
But the old lady said in a whisper: "The three of them can only be regarded as extra money, an unexpected fortune. I don't know when the little witch will come here."
Zhang Dafu said, "Mom, don't worry, what is supposed to come will eventually come."
While they were talking, the two brothers had already arrived at the door of the hall, looked at Xiao Ding and the others coldly, and said, "Are they monsters?
Xiao Ding had already seen the evil intentions of this family at this time, and quickly secretly used his spiritual power to prepare to defend against the enemy.
However, what he didn't expect was that after he secretly ran the technique several times, he found that the spiritual power in his body, which started at some point, was gone...
