The sunset is like water.
Xu Chunhua, who had been anxiously staying in the restaurant for a whole day, looked around as she walked along the stagnant long streets of Huaidu.
The locust trees came to a standstill.
But there is no such thing in the human world.
People hurriedly walked through the twilight in the gradually sparse rain in the south of the city, walking on the hanging streets everywhere, leaving their own shadows, and then cut off by the tall buildings standing coldly in the clouds and mist, and disappeared on the stone slabs.
"Tianyu's reaction is really fast. Even the Siwu Guards don't have such speed."
"What's the use? It's been a day and there's still no news at all."
"Speaking of which, Siwuwei, who has never been very good at dealing with Tian Yu, really allowed Tian Yu to hold the Huai River this time?"
"Who knows, but Heavenly Prison is really strong this time."
"..."
The people who stopped occasionally on the roadside were like spring flowers, looking at the black-robed people walking among the people and talking there.
Not quietly.
Unlike Siwuwei, Tianyu probably won't pay attention to such things.
Xu Chunhua glanced at the people discussing over there, then lowered her head, frowning slightly, thinking about the heavenly warden she saw today.
In fact, this small town girl still doesn't quite understand why the heavenly warden did such a weird thing.
They didn't look like they wanted to catch such a boy.
Could it be that the death of the Minister of War was actually related to the Heavenly Prison?
Xu Chunhua didn't know anything and could only make random guesses.
When I returned to the alley, I didn't see such a young man today. The alley was filled with clean dusk, as if nothing had happened.
Xu Chunhua stood there and stared for a long time, then sighed and walked into the yard.
She really didn't know where that boy had gone.
While standing in the yard looking at the millstone that still had some mud on it, Xu Chunhua thought seriously that maybe the young man had indeed been wronged.
Sharpening a sword can naturally calm one's mind.
When the boy came back yesterday, he really seemed to have done nothing.
There was no smell of blood on his body, and the light shining on the sword was clean.
In other words, if the young man really did such a thing, how could he come back to such an alley?
Xu Chunhua seemed to have figured out a lot of things and sat down in the yard. She suddenly became more worried about the missing young man.
Even if the boy can really carry his sword and fly through the clouds, he is still just a boy after all.
If you don’t deceive the young in the human world, how can you be in the world of cultivation?
Many things are simply stories and truths in the human world.
Xu Chunhua sat in the yard for a while, probably feeling a little uneasy. Looking at the sunset, she stood up, held her umbrella again and walked out of the yard.
There is a person named Li Qinghua who has been waiting for someone.
But this one named Xu Chunhua seems to have been looking for someone.
...
Just as Zhu Congwen thought.
After the man from Qingtian Dao left, some people came one after another and interrogated such a scholar.
Most of them were from the Heavenly Prison, and of course there were also people from the Punishment Department and Dali Temple.
Although the scholar was talking dejected words to Gu Xiaoer, he knew very well that if he could avoid getting involved, it would be better not to get involved.
If the Taoist named Mei Xiyu hadn't realized many things from the scholar's words, the scholar probably wouldn't have said so many things.
Legalism comes from Taoism, and Taoists are naturally more perceptive sometimes.
The scholar spent the whole afternoon in the noodle shop, and it was not until the last group of heavenly wardens left the place that the scholar was finally able to rest.
Gu Xiaoer and the others had been carefully pretending to clean the table and listening to the questioning.
Finally, when the people from Tianjing walked away in the night outside the window, and when they were about to come up and ask Zhu Congwen, the curtain of the noodle shop was lifted again.
A young man came in.
The young man who walked in at night still smelled of the heavier rain from the north.
How do people sometimes describe Sophora japonica as being very big?
For example, it is drizzling in the south of the city, but it is raining like a waterfall in the north.
Such scenes naturally appear from time to time.
The rainy breath on the young man's body brought a bit of chill, so he opened the curtain and walked in. He looked at the waiters who were about to move and hesitated for a while, and then said slowly: "Here comes a bowl of spicy oily noodles." .”
A crowd of people left in a hurry.
Zhu Congwen also stood up, but Nan Dao sat down directly at the table in front of him.
The scholar glanced at the young man silently, but did not move any more, and just sat there obediently.
Nan Dao didn't say anything or do anything, as if he just found a table and sat down.
The young man was not sitting at the opposite table. If this was a card game, then the young man would probably be sitting next to the scholar.
Zhu Congwen looked at the rainwater dripping on his body from the edge of the umbrella. He hesitated for a while, stood up again, and said, "Let me help you wipe the umbrella with a clean cloth."
Nan Dao looked up at the edge of his umbrella, thought for a moment, and said, "Thank you very much."
Zhu Congwen went to the kitchen, found a clean dry cloth, and helped Nan Dao wipe the rain off the umbrella. Then he sat there again and folded the cloth on his knees. Perhaps because of some exercise, the scholar's mood relaxed a little, so he looked at the young man sitting there who didn't know what he was going to do, and said slowly: "Ask whatever you want to ask."
Scholars naturally know that some things cannot be avoided.
But what surprised him was that when the young man opened his mouth, it was not about those Siwu guards the afternoon before yesterday, but something very similar to Mei Xiyu's words.
"Have we met somewhere?"
The young man looked at the scholar and said.
Zhu Congwen was stunned for a moment, and then said softly: "Xuanshuyuan, I am a student who took the Dafeng Spring Examination in the year 103 of Dafeng Li."
The windy spring exam in 1003 was naturally not in March.
But in May.
Probably many years later, the gentlemen in the Wenhua Academy will bring up such a thing as a question.
Of course, the premise is that Xuanxuyuan is not destroyed by the rebellion of the Prime Minister.
Nan Dao was stunned for a moment when he heard the words of the scholar in front of him.
At this point, he probably remembered a lot of things, and his look on the scholar's face softened a bit.
The young man under the umbrella seemed to be sighing softly, and then asked.
"Did Hang Yue pass the exam?"
Zhu Congwen looked at the young man with some surprise, probably also surprised that the young man knew such a girl from the School of Mathematics and Physics.
There is naturally a close relationship between the various colleges of Wenhua Academy. Not to mention the end-of-year assessments and the fact that each college takes turns issuing papers, the students in the college have learned so much that there will naturally be various intersections.
Zhu Congwen naturally knew that girl, but the scholar probably didn't pay much attention to whether she passed the exam or not.
Maybe not.
So the scholar shook his head and said somewhat self-deprecatingly: "Whether or not you pass the exam actually makes no difference."
Nan Dao looked at this student who took the college entrance examination last year but was still working as a waiter here, and he probably understood something.
The young man did not continue to ask.
The noodles from the kitchen are here.
Unlike the current freshly cooked noodle shop in Donghai, Huaidu has a huge flow of people, so the soup base and seasonings in the noodle shop are prepared in advance, and the noodles only need to be boiled.
Naturally, no cook is needed for such a thing.
The young man must have been frightened today, so he felt a very strong sense of hunger in his stomach. He said nothing and ate the bright red noodles with his head down. The green onion and spicy seeds on the edge of the bowl were mixed together, which seemed like someone Wild flowers and green grass growing in a meadow.
Zhu Congwen looked at the young man who was eating deliciously, then looked at the rich and tempting spicy oil soup, and swallowed his saliva.
Looking back at Gu Xiaoer who was watching in the kitchen, he stretched out his hand and gestured to get a bowl for himself.
Sword cultivators are hungry, and it is impossible for scholars not to be hungry.
Zhu Congwen sat here all afternoon and was naturally very hungry.
So in the noodle shop at night, the two of them sat by the window with warm light, eating noodles without saying anything.
There was a sparse drizzle outside the window, washing the shiny stone slabs of the long street.
Meeting old friends in a foreign country is naturally a rare thing.
Although Nan Dao and Zhu Congwen are not old friends.
It's just that the two people eating noodles there do have some such meaning.
The boy finished his noodles quickly, but the scholar's noodles came late, so he only ate half of his noodles.
Zhu Congwen raised his head, looked at Nan Dao who put down his chopsticks, and said seriously: "Try the soup, it's also delicious."
Nan Dao raised his eyebrows and glanced at the scholar, then picked up the noodle bowl again - it's a pity that the young man probably couldn't experience the feeling of holding a noodle bowl and drinking with gusto.
The young man who had to hold an umbrella with one hand looked like a knight-errant, holding a bowl and drinking heavily.
Spicy oil noodle soup may also feel similar to liquor.
Or better.
When I drank it, my whole body became clear, so on a certain winter day, a certain Taoist named Liu Chunfeng drank that bowl of spicy soup with great satisfaction in the snowy yard.
Nan Dao drank the bowl of noodle soup with one hand as if drinking.
This made Gu Xiaoer and others secretly watching in the back kitchen stunned.
There is a lot of spicy oil in it. Whether it is spicy or not, but whether it is choking or not is a big question.
Zhu Congwen was eating noodles and looking at the boy expectantly.
"How about it?"
Nan Dao put down the bowl and said seriously: "There is a small town under the sword cliff of the East China Sea. There is a noodle shop in the town. If you have a chance, you can go and eat a bowl of noodles there."
The young man did not answer the scholar's question, but in a sense, he had already answered it.
Just as Zhu Congwen thought.
The boy did not drink noodle soup because he had tasted better noodles before.
Zhu Congwen once thought it was his mother's noodles.
After all, this scholar sometimes thinks of the bowl of clear soup pork noodles he had when he was very young.
There was obviously no seasoning, just shredded pork cooked with oil, salt and some noodles. I don’t know why it tasted so delicious that night.
Probably because those were the years when he didn't know the taste of the world.
Zhu Congwen thought wildly, then came to his senses and nodded slowly to the young man's suggestion.
The young man didn't say anything else, he just sat there quietly, waiting for the scholar to finish eating the noodles.
Gu Xiaoer from the kitchen was probably a little unconvinced and tasted the soup base from the kitchen with a spoon.
Naturally, he didn't believe that in a sword cultivation place like the East China Sea, there would be people who could cook noodles that were more delicious than those in Sophora Capital on earth.
Zhu Congwen finished the bowl of steaming noodles and sighed with satisfaction. He opened his heart directly before the boy started to ask questions.
"Your Excellency..."
Zhu Congwen glanced at the young man. The latter's expression was calm, and there was nothing special about it under the light of the noodle shop.
So the scholar continued: "The Lord Attendant wants to promote one thousand and three students to join the officialdom."
This seems to have nothing to do with this boy.
But Nan Dao didn't say anything, he just sat there and listened quietly.
Zhu Congwen picked up the piece of cloth on the side. He didn't think it was dirty. He picked it up and wiped the corners of his mouth, and continued: "Although I don't know why he did this, it just illustrates some problems. It's the Ministry of Personnel." They have been suppressing us students, not the Lord Attendant."
The scholar did not mention anything about the boy at the table and a certain Minister of the Ministry of War who died in an alley. He just calmly talked about many things that came to his mind from what he had experienced with such a servant.
"Perhaps among this group of students, there are some chess pieces hidden by certain forces."
The scholar was silent for a while as he spoke.
"So I was very lucky and unfortunate to be brought out by the Lord Attendant to attract the attention of the Six Bu Masters."
A scholar who works as a waiter in a noodle shop naturally knows very little, but it does not prevent such a scholar from speculating on certain motives under high pressure.
Zhu Congwen looked at the young man silently.
"You may also be the one who stepped into such a story at the right time."
There was a sense of sympathy in the scholar's eyes.
The scholar naturally knows why those people came this afternoon.
Nan Dao sat there quietly, and then said calmly: "I'm not."
This sentence made the scholar a little stunned.
Nan Dao didn't explain anything.
Because there are some things that even he can fully explain.
For example, as Mei Xiyu said, the Minister of the Ministry of War died in the hands of a certain swordsman with Mo Jian Ya's sword intention style.
And by coincidence, I had met such a sword cultivator twice in the East China Sea.
So by various chances and coincidences, we came all the way north.
Nan Dao pushed the bowl in front of him a little, turned to look at Zhu Congwen, and said, "Actually, I'm just a little curious as to why you were taken away by Siwuwei's people on that exact day. Behind the scenes. I don’t really care about the story.”
Naturally, the young man could see Zhu Congwen's sympathetic look.
But the young man knew very well that he and the rest of the world could not suffer from the same illness.
The world has no sympathy for his illness.
Therefore, just like in the past, young people are indifferent to the general trend of the world.
He only cares about those with whom he interacts.
For example, Zhang Xiaoyu, such as Lingnan Jianxiu.
Maybe there is also a woman in a white dress on the cliff.
That's why when facing such a human emperor at the foot of the cliff, he let go of the umbrella in his hand without hesitation.
It's just that a woman like that probably doesn't need her care for a long time.
So he gave up the throne of love and became a captain with a heart of stone.
The story in the noodle shop may have many developments.
For example, a young man and a scholar fell in love with each other and became rare friends.
It's just that Nandao doesn't want some stories to develop like this.
Not only in practice, but in the end, life is also a lonely state.
If you are rich, you will help the world; if you are poor, you will be alone.
Nan Dao is as poor as the sword cultivator in white who said spring was so good but he had no money.
It's just that the youth's poverty is not the poverty of money, but the thinness of life and the poverty of soul.
So, what does it matter to the young man about what kind of things he wants to do when he is still in the bottle?
Even if he really goes deep into it and saves the world from fire and water, no one will be grateful to a young man whose umbrella is filled with wind and snow that can overturn the world.
When worries are lifted, people will think of more things like waking up from a dream.
The young man didn't want to end up in that situation. He devoted himself to saving everything, but in the end he was insulted and turned away with full of grievances.
Such a story may be outrageous and touching.
only.
Why should the young man use his story to exchange for the indignation of the world thousands of years later?
The joys and sorrows of the world are neither connected nor coexisting.
Zhu Congwen looked at the young man sitting there extremely calmly.
Perhaps there was indeed a lot of resentment in the young man's words and thoughts because Lingnan died like this.
He seems to understand a lot.
Lingnan has been Huai'an's largest southern barrier since the time of Emperor Huai. However, it is a sword sect that has died for the world for more than a thousand years.
Huaidu really watched them die.
Even Zhu Congwen sighed for a long time when he heard about the destruction of Lingnan.
Of course, there is no need to mention such a young man.
No one will love the world anymore under such a story.
Zhu Congwen looked at the young man in silence for a long time, so he did not continue to speak. He just said softly: "Maybe you just happened to pass by here that day."
Nan Dao sat there for a long time and said slowly: "Maybe it is, but I think some things should be changed."
Zhu Congwen frowned and said, "What?"
Nan Dao looked out the window at the long street with bright lights in the night rain, and said slowly: "You happened to appear where I was passing by."
This sentence may be no different from what Zhu Congwen said.
There seems to be a huge difference.
Zhu Congwen sat there in a daze.
He naturally knew what the young man's words meant.
He is the one who is implicated, not Nan Dao.
Outside the door, someone from Heavenly Hell passed by with his sword in hand, and Zhu Congwen subconsciously wanted the young man to hide.
However, the young man sat there calmly and did not move. The people in the Heavenly Prison outside the window did not seem to have seen such a strange young man holding an umbrella and carrying a sword in the noodle shop, and walked over calmly.
The boy said nothing more, paid the money, stood up, and left the noodle shop.
