Another night, horses galloped past the shallow marsh with swaying reed flowers. Two figures, one black and one white, walked through the continuous night rain and finally arrived at the main city before dawn.
The main city is the collective name for the three central areas of Yuan Palace. The terrain of Xuecheng, Muqun and Jinpen is like three-leaf moss. In the southeast corner of Yuan Palace, it is the rumored location of Emperor Mo Yuan's mausoleum. The guards at the city gate were loose. Perhaps they had been affected by the great changes in Zhiyang these days. Everyone entering and leaving the city gate looked a little confused.
Xiao Yuma was in front, with his hair tied up in a black robe, and he looked inaccessible. Xu Zhuchen leaned back slightly, wearing a long off-white cloak that covered his whole body, only exposing the lower half of his sharp lower jaw. In recent years, the national treasury has been in deficit, and the number of people going to Yuangong to pan for gold has increased instead of decreasing, but the scale and structure have become much smaller and cruder. Among gold diggers, monogamous couples are the most common. The combination of Xu Zhuchen and Xiao Mei is probably regarded as this type.
As soon as you enter the city gate, you can clearly feel the difference between the main city and its surroundings. Xu and Xiao came all the way. In the suburban counties of Yuandi, some had relatively well-established villages and towns, while the more remote ones were just patches of barren swamps and meadows. Occasionally there are some decadent old houses mixed in with the wetlands, and it is rare to see people living in them.
Xu Zhuchen once heard a saying - the more people have never lived in the countryside, the easier it is for them to become poetic and imagine farmers' attachment to rural land. The black horse under her crotch galloped through the path between the puddles and passed through the yellowing wheat fields. Those vague and ungraspable melancholy did not leave her mind.
Now that the two of them dismounted and set foot on the solid yellow mud road in Snow City, they felt somewhat emotional in their hearts.
A layer of fish belly white appeared on the horizon, and a thin line of pale sunlight rose from the highest point of the city wall, gradually diluting the dark blue sky into azure. Xiao Mei had already lifted up his hat, and Xu Zhuchen was still wearing a hood, not wanting to reveal his true face.
Tables, chairs and benches have been set up at the early-morning food stalls on the street. The aroma of white porridge rises from the wooden barrels. The newly released steamed buns are dripping with oil and water. The pickles pickled in clay pots are fished out to the cutting board. As the sound of the knife "ta-da-da" turned into pieces, it was golden and green, and it looked mouth-watering. The scholars and students who were rushing to morning classes carried backpacks on their backs and yawned while saying hello to the familiar breakfast shop owner, grabbing breakfast and rushing to study in their hometown. The two people holding the horse passed by several girls who were going to school together. Listening to a burst of chatter and laughter, Xu Zhuchen was affected by their emotions and couldn't help but approach Xiao Mei: "Ah Mei, we are also going to the countryside today. Want to learn?"
Xiao Mei's eyes were not focused, but the corners of his mouth were raised. She seemed to be lost in some memory, and after a while she replied: "Then it depends on whether the Lu's shop is far away."
After the waves of people rushing to get in early had almost left, Xu Zhuchen and Xiao Mei found a breakfast shop and sat down. She ordered some of the store's signature dishes and hurriedly scooped up two large bowls of white porridge. She shouted, "It's so hot, so hot." She quickly placed the porridge on the table.
Seeing her reckless look, Xiao Mei couldn't help laughing. She put her hands in the wind for a while, then squeezed Xu Zhuchen's hands accurately.
"My body is hot, why are you and I fighting to serve porridge? Ice meets fire, and I was cremated soon?"
Xu Zhuchen's hand was held by Xiao Mei and placed on his knee. A refreshing coolness spread across his red and swollen fingertips. Xiao Mei's fingers were cool by the wind, but they were not purple. Under his skin, Xu Zhuchen felt a soft warmth.
"Ice turns into water, and water is just right to overcome fire. Then won't it be easy to get cold when the time comes?" After she finished speaking, she couldn't help but laugh again. Of the two of them, one insists on using the extremely cold body to serve the scalding porridge, and the other insists on using the extremely hot body to cool the other down. They are really stupid.
When the porridge on the table had cooled down a bit, the newly baked fried dough sticks were also brought to the table. Xu Zhuchen nodded and thanked the shopkeeper, picked up a fried dough stick, tore the golden and shiny fried dough stick into pieces, and put them into the porridge. Xiao Mei used his inner strength to roughly explore, and saw a few triangular cakes, a small plate of leaf cake, and a few sweet cookies placed under the fried dough sticks. He felt that Xu Zhuchen was cute and interesting. Her eyesight was not very sharp, so she followed Xu Zhuchen's example of tearing open the dough sticks and eating them piece by piece.
The Lu's shop was in Ziyun Lane. Xiao Mei had rarely been out of Zhiyang City before, but following Li Fenglong, he had a pretty good understanding of the structures of several surrounding cities. What's more, the vicinity of Ziyun Lane is also considered the antique street of Yuangong. You can find out the location with a little inquiry. She simply relaxed and concentrated on eating.
This was the first hot meal the two of them had eaten along the way. No one was restrained and ate it with open arms. Xu Zhuchen had already taken off his hood, and was breathing heavily while eating. His snow-white face was flushed, and his lips were turned bright red from the spicy pickles sprinkled with spicy oil. Xiao Mei ate quickly, and the plate of leaf cake quickly reached the bottom. She chewed the food quickly, but stopped from time to time to look around. The two of them ate the breakfast on the table, and ordered a cage of cabbage buns, a basket of meat buns with soy sauce, and two plates of vinegar. They took advantage of the heat to enjoy the delicious food. After eating and drinking, they paid the bill and left.
It was still a bit cold in the early autumn morning, but the market didn't seem deserted at all with people coming and going. Xiao Mei led the white horse in front, and Xu Zhuchen followed half a step behind her. The two went round and round, and finally arrived at Ziyun Lane before noon.
If they were not aware of the liveliness of "Ziyun Lane" before coming here, when they arrived at the entrance of the alley, they were shocked by the lively scene anyway.
I saw an alley, crowded with people, shoulder to shoulder, everyone could only see half of their body, stepped shoes, messed up hair accessories were scattered all over the floor, and the loud noise made Xiao Mei couldn't help but frown several times. In the crowded crowd, the quarrels were like a thick cloud, covering everyone's head, making even the best-tempered person feel sullen.
Seeing this scene, Xu Zhuchen first found a teahouse outside and tied up his horse - the tied horse actually cost her two coins, which was simply shocking. She took Xiao Mei's hand and started to use Qinggong to approach Lu's shop from the roof. She exerted force on her feet and her inner strength swayed. She flew upwards, but she quickly hit something and fell straight down.
Prohibition?
Xiao Mei had no internal strength and did not notice anything unusual, but Xu Zhuchen was a little surprised. The stuffy air at the top of this alley didn't seem to be entirely due to the noise of people, but there was something covering it above, preventing her from exerting her internal power.
The ban is the legendary "blood curse" of the ancient dynasty. It is an extremely secret power. Xu Zhuchen did not dare to make any mistakes for a while, so he leaned into Xiao Mei's ear and whispered: "There seems to be some ban." After that, she Resigned to his fate, he grabbed Xiao Mei's hand and squeezed into the crowd.
Walking into the alley, I experienced firsthand what it means to be "blocked by water". The person in front of them only had half a head and a few shoulders left. Even though they were both tall, standing in the crowd, they still felt a breathless depression. Affected by the restriction, internal force cannot be used here, and there is no need to worry about any real traumatic conflicts. The two of them confirmed the location of Lu's shop and then slowly moved forward with the crowd.
If they were a little anxious when they first entered the alley, when they walked to the center, the edges were smoothed, and the two of them felt calmer for some reason. Lu's shop was at the end of the alley, and the two of them walked around for a while. There were fewer people around them, so it wasn't that crowded. Xiao Mei felt relieved and took out the tips bag given by Li Fenglong from his arms.
The road just now was crowded with people, and the restrictions were extremely strong. Her senses were limited, and she almost had to stick to Xu Zhuchen to get here. The deeper she went, the blurrier her vision became. Now, although it was no longer so noisy, she had completely lost her vision.
No. Not just vision. Xiao Mei pressed his nails on the skin and used some strength before feeling the faint pain. She couldn't help but take a deep breath, but she didn't hear any sound.
She is just an ordinary person with no inner strength. It stands to reason that such people are the majority in the alley, but she seems to be the only one who has lost her five senses.
Complete Li Fenglong's commission quickly and leave here with Zhuchen. Xiao Mei suppressed the uneasiness in his heart and took out the kit with trembling hands. Before he could hold it firmly, he suddenly felt a cold pain on his fingers.
Xiao Mei was stunned for a moment, then reacted instantly, and the contents of the kit fell out.
Li Fenglong said that this thing must never see the light of day. Xiao Mei took a deep breath, and while he regained his sense of touch, he stuffed everything he could touch back into the bag and tied it tightly with both hands.
Nothing is leaking out, just hang in there and you'll be out of here soon.
Xiao Mei raised her hand to grab Xu Zhuchen, and she touched it. It was a gentle and warm hand. Xiao Mei couldn't help but laugh. Under the leadership of Xu Zhuchen, she crossed the threshold and walked into Lu's shop.
Suddenly a soft laughter sounded in her ears.
"She's lying to you.
