Xiang Shu followed the ship's boss up the wooden ladder, and glanced sideways at the young man in rich clothes with a handsome face on the bow. There was an old servant and several guards waiting beside him. He must have been the distinguished guest mentioned by the ship's boss.
Xiang Shen didn't look much and followed the captain into the cabin. After passing through several ornately decorated upper rooms, he came to a wooden door with rough workmanship.
"Little brother, this room is for your sole use."
The captain laughed and opened the door, "Although there is only a straw bed in the room, it is not very clean. If there were not many distinguished guests chartering the boat, the sailors would all be assigned to a separate room. I just have great kindness. It’s impossible to share it with you.”
Xiang Shen quickly handed over his hand and said, "I'm so lucky to be on board the ship. I'm really flattered to be treated so warmly."
The boss of the ship laughed loudly when he heard this, "You scholars are just nice to talk to. Now, you can do what you want. I have other things to do, so I won't accompany you."
After Xiang Shen watched the ship boss leave, he bent down and got into the room, closed the wooden door and lay down straight away, letting out a long sigh of relief.
The wooden board had almost no soundproofing. Not long after Xiang Shen lay down, he heard the clear sound of conversation coming from the next door, and he immediately sat upright.
"Have you heard? Something big happened in the Lu Kingdom!"
"Of course I've heard about it. Even the traders in Dushui City are saying, how could I, a boat guy, not know about it?"
"When Lu Jingui was the true successor of the Blazing Flame Sect, how prosperous the Lu country was? I didn't expect that it would be destroyed in the blink of an eye."
"What kind of person is Lu Jin? How can the State of Lu be able to deal with people who have enemies with him?"
"Didn't the Blazing Sect send people to support it?"
"It's just a show, you still take it seriously..."
"..."
When Xiang Shu heard this, he frowned slightly, and a deep thought flashed across his eyes.
She went down the mountain to the city last night and heard people talking about the Blazing Flame Sect's rush to help Lu Guo. She guessed that Xiang Hongyu was probably among the rescue team, so it had only been two months since she had seen anyone.
After coming down the mountain, she also thought about ending her relationship with the Blazing Flame Sect, wandering around the world, and never going back.
But that's not realistic.
After being delayed in the mountains for a month, Elder Yuan should have discovered that he had been deceived again, and now he is probably looking for her all over the world.
The Blazing Flame Sect has a vast territory and has set up contact points everywhere. If the old guy is really determined to find her, there is no way out. With his own pace, he might be found if he can't leave this territory.
The only way is to seek refuge with Xiang Hongyu.
There are definitely a lot of Blazing Sect disciples rushing to aid Lu State. Xiang Hongyu, an inner sect disciple, cannot take the lead. Most of them will be led by true disciples in the pill formation stage. Naturally, they will not be afraid of a mere inner sect standing elder.
It's just that the true disciple of the sect has such a respected status, it's hard to say whether he will help her or not.
Xiang Shen sighed silently.
We can only take one step at a time.
Bang bang bang!
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door rudely, and an arrogant voice came through the door panel, "Everyone inside, get out of here and check your identity!"
Xiang Shen suddenly raised his head, his eyes piercing.
She gently wiped the blood ring, and a bone knife suddenly appeared in her hand.
He pinned the bone knife behind his back, took a deep breath, pretended to be scared, raised the bolt, and slowly opened the door.
People outside saw Xiang Shen's clothes and almost thought he was one of their own. They couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then impatiently cursed: "What are you waiting for? Come out quickly!"
Xiang Shu was slightly startled when he saw the beggar speaking outside the door. Then when he saw the large group of menacing beggars on the outer deck, his heart relaxed. He quietly put the bone knife behind his back into the blood ring and followed him out obediently.
"Listen to me! We are working for the Du Shui City Secretary. A person can buy peace for ten cents. Who dares to throw it into the river without paying the money?"
Hearing these words as soon as he arrived on the deck, Xiang Shu's footsteps froze, and the relaxed mood he had just felt disappeared completely.
Let alone ten cents, she didn't even have one cent.
But if you do it, it will be too eye-catching. Once there is a noise, Elder Yuan will find this place the next day.
Ten cents was not a small amount of money, but no one wanted to be thrown off the ship, so they could only pay the money obediently. Even the young distinguished guest in bright clothes was no exception, and paid the full amount of silver.
So, the beggar who collected the money quickly came to the last person, Xiang Shen.
The beggar spread his hands and stared: "What are you looking at? Take the money!"
Xiang Shen sighed: "I have no money."
The beggar suddenly sneered, "You can still ride on a big boat if you don't have money. You are the boss of the boat and run a charity? Give me the money quickly!"
Xiang Shu: "..."
"Oh! I didn't realize it, but he still has a tough temper."
The beggar's face was filled with anger. He looked up and down at Xiang Shu curiously, and couldn't help but sneered: "With your bean sprouts body, you dare to go against the people of our Dushuicheng Division? You are really impatient, come on, Throw him into the water!”
"Wait!"
Without waiting for Xiang Shen to react, the young man in colorful clothes took the initiative to stand up and said, "Everyone is so generous, I will pay for his money."
After saying that, the young man in rich clothes glanced at the old servant. Although the old servant looked reluctant, due to the master's order, he could only take out ten coins and throw it to the beggar.
When the beggar got the money, he immediately beamed with joy. He patted Xiang Shen several times and hummed, "Boy, you're lucky, let's go!"
When all the beggars got off the boat, Xiang Shu saw the boat boss running onto the boat sweating profusely, "Little brother, are you okay?"
Xiang Shu shook his head and wanted to go to the young man in fine clothes to say thank you, but the old servant took the lead and stood in the way with a cold face.
"It's only ten cents. Needless to say thank you. Your honor will scare my master. That means my master is kind-hearted and can't stand it. If it were anyone else... I'm warning you, you'll accept it as soon as you see it. , if you push it further, I will still throw you from the boat!"
After giving a warning, the old servant tossed his sleeves and left without looking back.
Xiang Shu had no choice but to stop where he was and watch the handsomely dressed young man go upstairs and enter the only Tianzi room on the ship.
The boss of the ship saw clearly and said, "This young master is really kind-hearted. I can't afford to offend those evil beggars who cling to the city and charge protection fees on the pretext of checking their identity. I have been detained by them all the time." I can't get out of the boat. If he hadn't helped me, you would have had to take a dip in the water today."
Xiang Shuan's face was full of gratitude: "You and that noble man are both great philanthropists, and I really have nothing to repay."
"Okay, you poor scholar."
The boss of the ship waved his hand: "The ship is about to leave. Go back to your room quickly and don't cause trouble here."
Xiang Shu nodded repeatedly and left as instructed.
When the old servant upstairs saw this, he turned around and walked to the young man who was sitting with his eyes closed and meditating. His tone was full of reproach, "Your Highness, I am not blaming you, but you should not have let that little beggar board the boat. At this juncture, How can you steal the show?”
The young man suddenly opened his eyes and glared at the old servant. The old servant immediately realized something and immediately changed his words: "Master..."
"Why don't I know what you said?"
The young man shook his head, "Leaving aside the matter of the little beggar, how eye-catching would it be if those gangsters and bullies were allowed to cause trouble? Why don't we pay ten cents to put an end to the trouble, and we can leave quietly."
When the old servant heard this, he suddenly realized, "So that's it. The old servant is confused, but that little beggar..."
"Don't worry about him."
The young man's expression was unusually calm. "If they are really those people, why bother pretending? They are coming straight to kill us. We can't stop them at all."
The old servant nodded worriedly, "Having said that, please don't make any more provocations! The waterway is just one step further away from the border of Lu State. If we are discovered, then... there will be no hope anymore."
The young man's face darkened, "I know, you go down."
"Then I won't disturb your rest, old slave."
The old servant bowed his head and bowed, then exited the room.
After his ears became quiet, the young man sighed softly, his mind was full of thoughts. As he thought about it, he thought of Xiang Shen again for some reason.
He was never nosy, let alone kind.
But when he was on the deck, he was surprised that the beggar was in ragged clothes and disfigured, but he still had a pair of deep and firm eyes, and somehow he relaxed.
While thinking wildly, the merchant ship finally slowly left the dock and embarked on its journey.
…
In the inferior room, Xiang Shu sat cross-legged, took out the last half of the gourd of spring water, and took a small sip.
While healing in the mountains, she accidentally discovered that the spring water had the effect of a magical elixir, which could speed up the absorption of spiritual energy.
Spiritual pills are said to be erysipelas and cannot be taken in excess; spring water does not have this restriction and is easier to absorb, making it a better cultivation resource than spiritual pills.
Xiang Shu simply named it Lingquan, but it was a pity that she was frequently in danger in the mountains and was seriously injured several times. Lingquan was almost always used for healing.
Without thinking any more, Xiang Shu brushed away his distracting thoughts and quickly fell into concentration and entered a state of cultivation.
The spiritual spring enters the body and transforms into true essence, and the cultivation level increases almost at a speed visible to the naked eye.
I don't know how long it took, but I heard a soft "pop" sound, the fragile meridian barrier was broken, and the true energy of the Dantian suddenly grew stronger.
Xiang Shen suddenly opened his eyes, his eyes were shining brightly, and he exhaled a mouthful of turbid white air.
Five levels of Qi training, breakthrough.
The light in his eyes faded, and Xiang Shu's expression remained as usual.
The Qi training period is still in the stage of accumulating true energy. As long as there is enough spiritual energy support to break through, it is nothing.
She shook the gourd and heard the sound of a shallow layer of water inside. She couldn't help but sigh to herself and put it away for emergencies without using it again.
It was night now and the house was pitch dark.
Xiang Shu stood up and lit an oil lamp, then took out the stone plate and looked at it carefully under the dim and flickering light.
After she took away the stone plate, the stone chamber quickly collapsed, and the spring and the path to the natural cave disappeared. There must be something connected. Even this stone plate is the key to condensing the spiritual spring.
During this period, she took out this object to study whenever she had free time, but so far, she has gained nothing.
"ah!"
While he was studying, a very short scream suddenly came from outside. The scream was not loud, but it seemed particularly harsh in the quiet night.
Xiang Shen's face slightly condensed, and with a flash of light in his hand, the stone plate disappeared immediately, replaced by the bone knife from before.
She quietly got out of bed, walked to the blind spot when she opened the door, leaned against the wooden board and listened quietly, but she didn't hear any similar sound again.
The entire merchant ship was deathly silent.
