So, fourteen-year-old Ji Ning, carrying a hatchet on his back, went down the mountain alone.
…
Two and a half hours later.
At the foot of the mountain, Baiyu Town.
The crowd was bustling. On the wide street, a boy with a young face and a thin body was walking.
"The environment in the town has not changed at all."
Ji Ning wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked around with emotion.
The last time he went down the mountain was two years ago. At that time, he was still the most beloved disciple of his master. It happened to be the new year, so the master took him to the town and found a tailor shop to use good fabrics for him. I made new clothes and bought candied haws, which made him very happy.
But now, two years have passed by in a hurry, and the relationship between him and his master is far from what it used to be.
That piece of clothing that I once loved so much can no longer be worn anymore.
"It's getting late, we have to hurry up."
Ji Ning stared at the tailor shop in the distance in silence for a long time. Finally, he slowly shook his head and walked into an alley with a sigh.
Things have changed and people have changed. The most important thing for him right now is to send the letter from his senior brother to the gambling house and then return to the Taoist temple before dark. Otherwise, he will easily encounter monsters in the mountains while traveling at night.
That's right, demon.
As the boundary between Daxia and the Sui Dynasty, Xiushan is more than 20,000 miles long from east to west and stretches across the center of the Chinese continent. There are endless monsters and evil spirits hidden in it, and the deepest part is regarded as a forbidden area for the human race.
Even those who have transcended the Dao realm and become powerful deities do not dare to go deep into it rashly.
As for the Taoist temple, it was only on the outermost edge of Xiushan. There weren't many monsters, so it was theoretically safe, but Ji Ningke didn't want to take the risk.
Thinking like this, Ji Ning walked into an alley. There was a flagpole standing alone at the end. The wooden plaque had decayed and read four big words:
"Longmen Casino."
Ji Ning's eyes fell on the plaque, thoughtfully.
For some reason, the closer he got to this gambling house, the more he could smell the pungent smell of lees. There were also jars of white wine on the walls of the nearby courtyard, and there were no lids. It seemed that someone was there. , deliberately covering up a certain smell with liquor.
For example, blood.
Ji Ning smacked his lips and tasted the air carefully.
The taste is very astringent, like rust. It is definitely made of blood, and it is also quite rich.
But how could a gambling house have such a strong smell of blood?
Ji Ning walked to the door of the gambling house with doubts.
"Stop, what are you doing!"
A muscular man in a mandarin jacket and mud trousers called to Ji Ning with a ferocious face. He was the guardian of Longmen Gambling House, that is, the gatekeeper.
Ji Ning came back to his senses, hesitated for a moment, and finally said:
"I am a disciple from a nearby Taoist temple, and I am here to deliver a message to Jiang Chuan."
"Oh, you are worthy of meeting Mr. Jiang!" The man rolled his eyes with disdain on his face.
Jiang Chuan is a prominent figure in their Baiyu Town. His businesses include not only gambling houses, but also many lucrative businesses such as tobacco, soil and gunpowder. Even the magistrate of Qingquan County has to queue up to see him, let alone a young boy. !
"I really want to see him." Seeing that the man didn't believe it, Ji Ning immediately took out the letter that his senior brother had given him.
"My senior brother owes Mr. Jiang money and asked me to deliver it to pay him back."
The man was startled when he heard this. He stuck his head out and looked at the thin letter in the boy's hand suspiciously.
Then, there was a hint of contempt on the man's face. He kept poking the letter with his index finger and said with a smile: "Baby, do you know what kind of person Mr. Jiang is?"
"How can someone who can talk to Mr. Jiang and borrow money only borrow this money? Do you think I'm stupid?"
"My senior brother lost money in gambling."
"Then you shouldn't look for Mr. Jiang."
The man turned sideways, pointed at the gambling house behind him, showed his yellow teeth, and said proudly:
"This is the gambling house. Of course your senior brother must pay back the money he owes here."
"Let's do this. Give me this letter, and I'll go in and pay the money back for you, saving you a trip."
The man said, licked his lips, and reached out to grab the envelope.
Ji Ning frowned, immediately took a step to the side, and said cautiously:
"I have to deliver this letter myself, and it can only be sent to Jiang Chuan."
"You kid, you're so stupid, aren't you!" The man didn't succeed, and his face immediately turned gloomy. He immediately rolled up his sleeves and said with a hint of threat:
"Have you thought about it? You really don't need my help?"
Ji Ning looked calm, quietly holding the hatchet beside him with his right hand, staring at the man and saying:
"Need not."
"Okay!" The man was so angry that he immediately walked down the steps and wanted to teach this ignorant man a lesson.
Although Ji Ning was young, he always remained calm and stared at the big man, obviously ready to take action.
However, just when the two were about to fight.
At the end of the alley, a soft and hoarse voice suddenly came:
"stop."
"Jiang...Master Jiang!"
When the man heard the sound, he immediately stopped, turned around respectfully, and bowed to the entrance of the alley.
When Ji Ning saw this, he quietly released his grip on the hatchet, and frowned as he looked towards the alleyway, where he saw a tall woman walking over there, wearing a green cheongsam, with heavy rouge on her face.
Still holding a cigarette bag in his hand, he walked over with a half-smile.
"Xiao Qi, this little brother comes to see me, why do you want to stop him?"
When the man heard this, his face suddenly turned pale, and he knelt down tremblingly and explained: "Master Jiang, I think this kid is talking nonsense, and I'm afraid of disturbing your purity, so I want to stop him. He definitely has no intention of taking money for himself." !”
"Oh?" A smile appeared at the corner of the woman's mouth, she stretched out her left index finger, leaned over and raised the man's head, looked around carefully, and then sighed.
"It's really hard for you to live in this world with your appearance."
"It's not difficult, it's not difficult!"
The man looked frightened and kowtowed on the ground with all his strength.
"It is precisely because of the existence of ugly people like me in the world that your beauty, Mr. Jiang, becomes more prominent!"
"You mean, without you, I wouldn't be beautiful?" Jiang Chuan said with a smile, pointing the long nails of her right hand at the man's neck.
With tears streaming down his face, the man raised his head and said sincerely: "No matter how small or small you are in this world, it will not affect your beauty in the slightest, Mr. Jiang." "
"In my whole life, I just want to be with Mr. Jiang and admire your appearance silently for another hundred years! No, a thousand years!"
Looking at the man with a sincere face and tears streaming down his face, Ji Ning felt sick.
Although the Mr. Jiang next to him is not ugly, his old yellow teeth, crappy lotus boots, and black hair on his arms are really eye-catching, not to mention that this man has an Adam's apple.
This is a man, no, a pervert!
Ji Ning quietly took a step to the side.
Jiang Chuan was very satisfied with the man's answer. He raised his hand with a smile, looked at the boy and said:
"Who are you delivering the letter for, Li Hu?"
"It's Senior Brother Li Hu."
Ji Ning lowered his head, not daring to look at the enchanting man in front of him, and handed over the paper with both hands.
"Senior brother said that if you want me to hand over the letter to you, I must hand it over to you."
Jiang Chuan did not speak, but looked the boy up and down carefully, then smiled slightly, stretched out a hand, touched Ji Ning's cheek, and said in a numb voice: "Such a cute young man is really rare. "
"vomit."
Ji Ning's face turned pale, and he resisted vomiting and avoided it: "Please accept the letter quickly, I have other things to do."
"This letter is covered in sweat, how do you want me to get it?"
Jiang Chuan did not get angry, but looked at Ji Ning with a smile and said:
"Come in with me with the letter and help me open it later and put it on the table."
With that said, he turned around and walked up the steps.
Ji Ning felt uneasy and said nervously: "I think it's better to let this eldest brother go with you. I really have other things to do, so I won't..."
"Didn't you say that you would hand it over to me personally?"
"If he loses the letter during this journey, your senior brother will still have to pay compensation."
Hearing this, Ji Ning gritted his teeth as he looked at Jiang Chuan's retreating figure in the casino, and had no choice but to follow him in.
The two walked in tandem, always five steps apart, through many gambling houses.
Finally, they came to a secluded mansion.
Ji Ning looked alert.
Because he discovered that the wall around the courtyard of this mansion was three times as high as other gambling houses, covering the willow trees outside, as if he was afraid that someone would break in or escape.
In addition, there were many iron dog cages placed in the corners around the yard. Under the shadow, it was difficult to see what was inside, but Ji Ning was sure that it was definitely not a dog inside because there was no barking.
"Liquor, iron cage, high wall..." Ji Ning looked uneasy. All these seemed to tell him that this place was definitely more than just a gambling house.
If a gentleman does not stand behind a dangerous wall, perhaps he should turn around and leave now.
However, at this time, Jiang Chuan opened the door of the dark house.
"Put the letter on the table and you can go."
Ji Ning's face turned slightly pale, and after his eyes wandered for a while, he thought of his senior brother's instructions to him, and finally walked through the door bravely.
However, the moment he entered the door.
With a bang, a guard standing at the door closed the door directly!
"What are you going to do!"
Ji Ning held the hatchet warily and questioned Jiang Chuan.
At this moment, in this dark room, there was only a little bit of red candlelight, swaying slightly, stretching the faint green figure.
Jiang Chuan smiled strangely, twisted his waist, took out a whip from nowhere, hung it on his tender white thigh, raised his finger at Ji Ning from a distance, and said with a smile:
"Young man, come to play with me?"
