Near noon, Li Boxen arrived in Houcheng. When he left the city before, he had seen the wooden notice by the north gate and found his wanted portrait on it. It's just that the notice was clearly posted when they were released, but now it has been half covered by the new reward, and the portrait and writing are blurred.
He was a little lucky and a little regretful, thinking that I, the "great hero", would soon be forgotten.
After leading the horse through the city gate, he went to the middle street in the south of the city. He only had a hundred or so money on him at the moment, but he had a lot to buy, so he had to get some money first. As for how to do it, he had to rely on a piece of wood - he went to that area again on the road, and after spending a lot of energy, he used the magic knife to cut off a piece from the almost petrified tree.
This thing has been tempered by spiritual power and is no longer an extraordinary thing. If you can find someone who knows what it is, the problem will be solved.
Middle Street is the most prosperous place in Houcheng, with many shops and pedestrians on the street. It seems that it is really a peaceful and prosperous era. He walked slowly along and finally found a weapons shop.
The shop has a very respectable appearance and occupies three large rooms. The wooden plaque on the eaves is painted with gold paint and has the three characters "Qiejin Pavilion" written on it. He tied his horse to the stone post next to the door, untied the piece of wood, and walked in holding it.
He is now well-dressed and there are not many people in the shop. As soon as the waiter in a green shirt and a small hat saw him, he immediately greeted him enthusiastically, led him to sit down in the hall, served him refreshments, and said: "Looking at the guests, have you ever come to our house?"
It was the first time that Li Bochen was served like this, and he felt very comfortable. But in order to do things on this trip, I had to find trouble first, so I had to say sorry in my heart, and said: "I haven't been here before. So I came to see it - what good things do you have at home? Let's take a look."
He spoke with a wooden face and a bad tone. The waiter was stunned for a moment, but he still smiled and said, "What kind do you want to see?"
Li Boxen said: "It doesn't matter which category you are in. I see your family is quite famous. It's called Qiejin Pavilion. You can cut gold and jade into anything you want, right? So, do you see this piece of wood in my hand?"
He put the piece of wood on the table and said, "If you can cut my wood, I'll pack the things in the shop."
The waiter was stunned and couldn't help but turn around and glance at the shopkeeper behind the counter. The shopkeeper had heard clearly what the two people said. He frowned slightly and looked Li Bochen up and down, then looked at the piece of ebony on the table, and winked at the waiter.
Li Bochen saw this in his eyes and thought to himself, am I acting too grand? Are they going to call someone to beat me out?
The clerk caught the look, turned around and walked to the back of the cabinet, fiddling with something. Then he turned around and walked to Li Bochen. He held a small red cloth bag in his hand and said with a smile: "If you come from afar, you can rest first. These are the wishes of the shop, please accept them."
After saying that, he put the cloth bag next to the ebony tree. Li Bochen stretched out his hand and lifted up a corner of the small cloth bag and looked at it. He saw that it contained five dollars of money. He was stunned for a moment and thought to himself, did they think of themselves as rogues on the street?
He didn't know if there was such a rule in Houcheng, but it was too easy to get the five hundred dollars. In fact, these five hundred dollars plus his one hundred dollars are enough for today's purchase. But he’s not really a scoundrel, so how can he accept this kind of money?
This store was indeed very arrogant, which made him feel embarrassed. Li Bochen sighed in his heart and thought to himself, I really don't want to be a bad person anymore.
Then he stood up, cupped his fists and saluted, and said, "I'm really sorry, that's not why I came here."
Then he pointed to the ebony on the table: "Actually, I want to sell this thing."
The waiter originally had a smile on his face, but after hearing what he said, his smile faded, he took two steps back and said, "Shopkeeper, this customer said he is here to sell wood."
The shopkeeper was originally staring at Li Boxen, but now he sneered and said loudly: "Mr. Fang, thank you for your kindness."
After saying this, he stopped looking at Li Boxen and just lowered his head to write in the account book and forget it.
Li Bochen was shocked and secretly thought that they might have misunderstood even more this time - they thought they were greedy and wanted more money, right? What I did before was really self-defeating!
At this time, the curtain leading to the back hall was lifted, and a man with a sword came out and said in a cold voice: "Which friend comes here to have fun?"
It turns out that we should treat people with courtesy first and then fight with soldiers. Li Bochen sighed and was about to explain, but when he saw the man walking out, he was stunned.
When the man saw Li Boxen, he was also stunned. The two stood staring for a while, then the man hesitated and said: "...General Li?"
Li Boxen also said: "Brother Fang!?"
It was Fang Cheng. Li Bochen really didn't expect to see him here - after beheading Ye Chengchou in Zhangshan Mountain a few months ago, he gave him Beichen's lineage of spiritual enlightenment and Qi-nurturing cultivation methods. I thought he would take his mother south to avoid trouble, but I didn't expect that he would also come to Houcheng.
Seeing his current posture, it seems that he has become a market leader in this Qijin Pavilion... When he was in Zhangcheng, he was Sui Ziang's follower and had no skills. Could it be that his cultivation has improved by leaps and bounds now?
The waiter and the shopkeeper were shocked when they saw the two of them. After a while, the shopkeeper said, "Mr. Fang, do you recognize this person?"
A smile appeared on Fang Bao's face, and he strode towards Li Bochen and said: "Of course I recognize him! This is the General Li who I told you when I was chatting with you before, the one who taught me martial arts - he used to be in Sui Jingzhu He serves as a military counselor in the General’s Mansion!”
As he spoke, he gave Li Bochen a wink. Li Bochen couldn't help but smile in his heart - when he was in Zhangcheng, he knew that although Fang Yu was not a bad person in nature, he liked to take the wrong approach. At worst, he just likes to do evil things.
He said that he taught him martial arts, and also said that he was the marching counselor of General Zhuguo's Mansion in the Sui Dynasty. He must have been putting gold on his own face before. But meeting old friends in a foreign country is really a blessing. Li Bochen smiled and said, "Ashamed."
The shopkeeper was stunned for a moment, put down his pen and walked out from behind the cabinet, saying: "Oh, it turns out it's General Li. I've admired him for a long time, I've admired him for a long time, I'm disrespectful, I'm disrespectful!"
Fang Chu glanced at the wood on the table and said, "General Li, why are you here in Houcheng?"
Li Bochen smiled: "It's a long story. I want to sell this wood today."
He bowed to the shopkeeper again and said, "I was really sorry for that earlier."
When the shopkeeper heard what he said, his expression froze and he glanced at Fang Cheng, but still said: "Easy to say, easy to say, Mr. Fang, it's really rare to meet an old friend in a foreign country. Why don't you accompany General Li to the back hall to talk. This general If you have any difficulties, Mr. Fang can tell me again - I'm sorry."
Li Bochen knew that the shopkeeper had another misunderstanding. When he heard that he still wanted to sell wood, he felt that he was still trying to extort money without even giving Fang Bao face. I was already a little embarrassed before, but now when I looked at Fang Yu, I didn't even want to embarrass him or myself. Then he sighed and said, "Brother Fang, let me lend you my sword."
Fang Cheng didn't know what he was going to do, but after a slight hesitation, he took out the sword and handed it to him.
Li Bochen took the knife, turned around and slashed at the piece of ebony wood. There was only a clang sound, and the steel knife suddenly broke into two pieces.
The shopkeeper originally turned around to leave, but when he saw this scene, he immediately let out a low cry. The clerk also rubbed his eyes, and after a while he said, "Oh my god, what is this? Is it really wood?"
Li Boxen picked up the ebony, handed it to the shopkeeper, and said, "It's wood, ebony."
The shopkeeper was stunned for a moment before stretching out his hands to take it. He should have thought that this thing might be extremely heavy, but as soon as he took it into his hands, he let out a light sigh. Because this piece of wood is actually lighter than ordinary wood.
He looked at it carefully and then said: "General, I would like to ask, what is the specialness of this ebony? Can you tell me where it comes from?"
Li Boxen said: "It was also a coincidence. I dug it out of the ground by chance. As for what it is about, I don't know much about it. I just think it is a good material for making knives."
The shopkeeper nodded and said: "The master in the cell has to take a look. General Li, if you can trust the trumpet, please go sit in the back hall first. If you are really interested in selling it, I will ask the master to take a look and report back."
Li Bochen breathed a sigh of relief and said hurriedly: "Okay."
Fang Chu looked at the shopkeeper and then at the waiter. He didn't know what he was thinking before he said, "General Li, come with me. Let's talk first."
Li Bochen followed him into the back hall. The back hall is also quite large, with four rows of tables and chairs. As soon as he entered the door, Fang Cheng opened the door curtain and said, "A Ming, come here."
The guy from earlier walked in and said, "Mr. Fang, what are your orders?"
Fang Chu said: "General Li likes peace and quiet. Just guard here at the door and don't allow others to disturb you."
The waiter said: "But Mr. Fang, I still have to take care of the front."
Fang Bao blinked at him and said, "He's a wooden head. General Li is here, and I'll be rewarded by you soon."
The guy seemed a little reluctant, but he had no choice but to stand.
Li Bochen didn't know what Fang Chu meant by doing this, but Fang Chu came over again, led him to sit down at the other end of the back hall, and then said: "General Li, did you really rescue the person?"
Li Bochen was stunned for a moment before he realized that he was asking about the Tao family. He said: "Rescued. Haven't you heard about me?"
Fang Bao sighed: "I heard it. You killed both Sui Yilian and Sui Ziang. To be honest, I never thought you could survive... You are really amazing."
Li Bochen smiled bitterly: "What about you? How is your mother?"
Only then did a smile appear on Fang Bao's face: "Thanks to you, I spent more than 100,000 yuan and finally met. After leaving Zhangcheng, I thought about it and felt that it was not safe to go south, so I went north. It’s pretty good here now.”
Then he said: "I am now in the Qi-nurturing state."
Li Bochen remembered that he had only given him 50,000 yuan before. He said that he spent more than 100,000, and it was time to sell Sui Buxiu's jade pendant as well. Even if the jade pendant is not sold for 500,000 yuan, it should be worth 100,000 yuan. Fang Yu must have used the remaining money to buy some natural materials and treasures, which is why the progress has been so rapid, right?
But the state obtained in this way is not stable, and it is very likely to go crazy. Even if there is no luck, it will be extremely difficult to make progress in the future. He thought for a while and decided to persuade him.
But before he could speak, Fang Yu lowered his voice and said, "General Li, tell me the truth. Did you kill Zhu Yi?"
Li Bochen was shocked - how did he know this! ?
Seeing his expression, Fang Cheng gritted his teeth and said, "Do you know who owns this shop? It's Zhu Hou's property!"
"Zhu Hou!?" Li Bochen knew that his face turned extremely ugly at this time, and he almost stood up immediately - wouldn't this mean he was falling into a trap?
Fang Cheng immediately raised his hand and pressed him down, saying: "Don't move."
He winked at the door again.
Li Bochen took a breath, was silent for a moment, and said, "What do you want, Brother Fang?"
To be honest, he didn't have much confidence in Fang Bao. This person may be a filial son, but a filial son may not necessarily be a good person to others. When he was in Zhangcheng, he had no choice but to help himself. But now he has lived a peaceful life in Houcheng and worked as a town clerk in Zhu Hou's shop...
At this time, Fang Chu said again: "Two of Zhu Yi's guards escaped and reported to Zhu Hou, and Zhu Hou also knew your name. He has many properties in Houcheng and also in other states. I heard He said that a kill order had been issued a few days ago to track you down, and he also described your appearance."
He stared at Li Bochen and then said: "But others shouldn't recognize you. I just recognized you, and I thought you looked similar and sounded the same. General Li, is your surname still Li now?"
He was still thinking about himself. Li Bochen felt a little guilty and said, "My surname is Chen now."
Fang Bao clicked his tongue: "Oh, I just saw you for the first time. I was so excited that I accidentally spilled the beans and couldn't change my words. This is troublesome! If your ebony is really a treasure, shopkeeper Sun here I must go and offer the treasure to Zhu Hou. Zhu Hou will ask when the time comes, and he will say again that if someone is overly concerned, he is afraid that something bad will happen!"
Li Boxen's heart also sank. He originally settled here to save the Chang family. But now it seems that the Chang family has been mixed up with Zhu Hou, and there is no need to save them themselves. Then what he has to do is to check Ye Lu's accomplice and find the cave ruins mentioned by Qin Le.
If I can gain something from that ruins, I might be able to break through to the Qi-nourishing realm and summon a demon king clone in that realm.
But if his identity is really exposed, he may have to avoid it. Lin Qiao was very happy when she just bought a house yesterday. If I told her that I was leaving again, I really don’t know how upset she would be!
He couldn't help but sigh and said: "I can leave, but... I'm afraid that I'll injure you, Brother Fang."
But Fang Bao's eyes were bright at this moment and he said: "General Li, since you killed Zhu Yi, why did you come to Zhu Hou? Are you... going to kill him too?!"
Kill Zhu Hou? Li Bochen was stunned. He originally thought that Zhu Hou was just a gangster who dominated the mountain and was weak in strength. Then if he was still threatening the Chang family, he would kill them easily, which would be regarded as eliminating harm for the people. But these days, I discovered that Zhu Hou actually managed Mengjiatun in a decent and powerful manner. Well, he wouldn't have done that unless it was absolutely necessary.
In the past, a person with no worries could naturally take the initiative, but before that, he had promised Lin Qiao not to venture into dangerous places, so he had much more to consider.
