Chapter 17: Speaking Out Against Injustice

Fu Nanhua, the young city lord of Laolong City, was sitting opposite the young man surnamed Ye at this time, holding the small pot with the bottom of the baboon carefully with both hands, and was carefully looking at the bottom mark, just like admiring the graceful body of a beautiful woman, never tired of looking at it, looking at it, stroking it, and breathing it. Fu Nanhua had been tossing it over and over for half an hour, and couldn't let it go. There are always some people or things that make people fall in love at first sight and feel happy. For the discerning Fu Nanhua, this Yangxin pot is exactly that. Although there is only a fine line between picking up a leak and making a mistake, Fu Nanhua firmly believes that he is the former this time, and the leak he picked up is not small. His Laolong City is among the top among the many sects in the south of Dongbaopingzhou, so Fu Nanhua is a real fairy who has seen great wealth and honor. This is also the reason why Cai Jinjian showed weakness everywhere before.

Ye Dan yawned, huddled in the chair, changed to a more comfortable posture, and asked lazily: "Brother Fu, since the authenticity of the things has been confirmed, should we talk about the price?"

Fu Nanhua, who was rarely called a brother, suppressed the slight discomfort in his heart, reluctantly put down the mandrill pot, and smiled: "Brother Ye must know how sincere I am, otherwise I would never be open and honest, and directly reveal the true value of this pot as soon as we met, and I would not be so procrastinating, and directly show my determination to get this pot, in order to avoid both parties asking for a sky-high price and paying it back, wasting time, and hurting the brotherhood. Brother Ye, I, Fu Nanhua, have regarded you as a confidant on the road of future cultivation. At present, you can rest assured to do business with me. Whether we can rely on each other for good and bad fortune in the future, or even entrust life and death, depends on whether we take this first step today. Is it steady or not."

Ye Dan extended a finger, pointed at the sincere young man, and said with a smile: "Brother Fu, I am a very vulgar person, full of money. Of course, I will recognize my friends. But when we sit down to talk about business, if someone talks to me about brotherhood, I can't help but ask myself in my heart, will such a person be calculating and doing business in his heart when he needs to talk about brotherhood in the future?"

Fu Nanhua's face turned cold, his body leaned back, leaned on the back of the chair, and tapped the table lightly with one finger, his movements were gentle and silent.

Ye Dan seemed to be completely unaware of Fu Nanhua's change of attitude. "I call you Brother Fu and show you this pot. This is my sincerity. Since we all want to make a deal, let's be straightforward. Brother Fu, you give me a price, and I nod or shake my head. I'll give you two chances to make an offer. After the two times, it's like you'll miss it. No matter how much money you promise me, I'm sorry, brother, I won't sell it."

"The jade pendant was my gift for meeting you. It's called 'Old Dragon Rain'. It's not a powerful magic weapon of the immortals. It can only help you avoid the heat, clear your mind and avoid filth. It's especially beneficial for meditation. If you have a secret formula from the Taoist sect as an aid, you can get twice the result with half the effort."

Fu Nanhua smiled sincerely, without any arrogance or charity on his face. He placed an embroidered bag on the table, pushed it towards Ye Dan with his palm, and said solemnly: "This bag of copper coins is called offering money, which is one of the many incense money in the world. It is usually offered to the statues of the City God Temple or Wenchang Pavilion. It can be held in the mouth, hidden in the stomach, or held in the palm of the hand. All are possible, and each has its own particularity and function. But these are not the most important. The real key point is that these coins that look like gold are "gold essence" which is far more valuable than gold. The immortal once said, "Water may be mined, but the secret of gold essence cannot be discussed." This is what he meant. This bag of gold essence offering money is not enough to buy a pot, but it is a fair price after all. If you add that old dragon pendant, I, Fu Nanhua, dare to say that you, brother Ye, will definitely make a profit."

After saying these "heartfelt words", Fu Nanhua waited for a reply.

Ye Dan was silent for a moment, blinked, and asked, "Is it over?"

Fu Nanhua smiled bitterly and said, "I'm done."

The young man suddenly turned hostile and slapped the table, "Fu, get out of here! Do you think I'm a three-year-old child who's easy to fool?! Before you enter the town, you will have three bags of copper coins. Apart from one bag of money for the passage, you should give away one bag for every treasure you get, no matter how big or small. A bag of copper coins can contain as many as thirty or as few as twenty coins, but do you have twelve coins in this shriveled bag?! You dare to exchange opportunities from me without even this little bit of integrity when doing business?"

Fu Nanhua, with his fingers increasing in strength, tapped the table again and again, from slow to fast.

Ye Dan's heart trembled, and he had difficulty breathing for no apparent reason. His face flushed, and his eyes were bloodshot. The young man quickly stretched out his hand and pressed his heart. His heartbeat was as violent as a drum, thump ... Fu Nanhua almost couldn't help but beat the wolf cub to death, but at the last moment, the temptation of ascending to heaven and achieving immortality outweighed his personal likes and dislikes, so he stopped moving his fingers and let the boy go.

Ye Dan gasped, his eyes were burning, and he smiled hoarsely.

Fu Nanhua was puzzled by this. There seemed to be no hatred in the boy's eyes. Fu Nanhua did not think this was a scary thing. On the road of cultivation, there were many strange things and many freaks. He just asked in confusion: "What are you laughing at?"

Ye Dan's breathing became more and more stable. He leaned back on the chair, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said with sparkling eyes: "I am extremely happy when I think that in the near future, I will also have the ability like you and kill people with a flick of the finger."

Fu Nanhua smiled and said that he was indeed a fellow who made him appreciate each other.

This kind of person is the easiest to deal with, as long as you are in a better position than him, or it may be the most difficult to deal with, once he climbs over your head.

However, the young city lord of Laolong City did not think that after successfully intercepting the opportunity here, he would be inferior to a boy who had never been taken away from the town before the age of nine.

Ye Dan glanced at the small pot and half a bag of copper coins on the table, raised his head, and said, "Fu Nanhua, I have two conditions. As long as you agree, I will sell you a mandrill pot and another old item that is not inferior to it."

Fu Nanhua suppressed his joy and said in a calm tone, "Tell me about it."

Ye Dan did not beat around the bush, and said something shocking, "First, I want you to give me three bags of gold coins, not two!"

Fu Nanhua said without hesitation, "Okay!"

Ye Dan stared at the other person's eyes.

Fu Nanhua smiled and said, "Believe it or not. At the same time, before I go out today, you must take out the thing worth two bags of gold essence and let me personally examine it."

Ye Dan also nodded and said, "Of course!"

Fu Nanhua asked, "Then what is the second condition?"

Ye Dan said slowly, "Kill someone for me."

Fu Nanhua shook his head and said, "Since you even know how many copper coins are in a bag, you should also know that we 'outsiders' cannot kill people here at will, otherwise we will be expelled from the town immediately, and may even have part of our bones cut off. The saints will then use the methods of the immortals to strip away the related opportunities, which is terrible and will cause the family to lose all opportunities here."

Ye Dan's mouth curled up, "Don't rush to refuse, you can wait and see, how about it?"

Fu Nanhua smiled and asked, "I'm curious, who do you want to kill?"

Ye Dan said half-truthfully, "I'm thinking about it too."

Fu Nanhua picked up the small pot again, feeling the delicate texture of the pot body, and said casually: "Then I will wait and see."

Across the table, the young man subconsciously rubbed his neck, his face was extremely bad.

————

Before, Shi Hui sent Cai Jinjian to the gate of Gu's courtyard. At that time, Ye Dan's maid went shopping by herself. After Cai Jinjian pushed the door open, he was struck by lightning and stood there without daring to move. Looking at the old man sitting on the bench, he asked in a trembling voice: "Senior, are you the Jiejiang Zhenjun who is practicing in Shujian Lake?"

The old man asked: "How do you recognize me?"

Cai Jinjian said respectfully: "I am Cai Jinjian from Yunxia Mountain. Ten years ago, I followed my father to Shujian Lake to watch the wonder of the old turtle carrying the monument out of the water. I was fortunate to see the senior's style from afar. The memory is still fresh and unforgettable."

The old man nodded and said: "I know."

Cai Jinjian was in a slightly heavy mood, "Master, I want to..."

The "storyteller" known as "Master Jiejiang" glanced at her and said calmly: "For the sake of Patriarch Songxia, I will not mind your uninvited visit, and I will not do it again. Remember to close the door when you leave the yard."

Cai Jinjian was silent for a moment, then nodded and said: "Junior will take my leave first."

She really left like this, and did not forget to close the door obediently, with gentle movements and no leaks.

In the yard, the woman looked at the gate and asked worriedly: "Master, she doesn't seem to give up, is there any trouble?"

The old man with the title of "Master" sneered: "After entering the town, exhaling and farting may cause trouble, so don't you want to have the opportunity for this?"

The woman was speechless.

The old man smiled, "Let me ask you, Gu, if you can choose, would you rather let Gu Can go to Yunxia Mountain to practice, or follow me to Shujian Lake?"

"Don't rush to answer."

The old man waved his hand, asking the woman not to rush to express her opinion, and slowly said: "Yunxia Mountain is the second-rate mountain gate of my Dongbaopingzhou, but if you think that Yunxia Mountain is not worth mentioning, you are wrong. The Yungen Stone produced in Yunxia Mountain is a real treasure of heaven and earth. Not to mention Dongbaopingzhou, it is the only one in the whole world. Therefore, Yunxia Mountain has a transcendent status, and everyone is willing to respect it. Especially the Taoist Danding Sect's sect Taoist temples, which have been incense-burning for thousands of years and have a deep relationship with Yunxia Mountain. And I am just one of the cultivators of Shujian Lake, occupying only an island in the middle of the lake, with a handful of disciples and less than a hundred servants."

The woman, Gu, smiled sweetly. Although she was middle-aged, she still had charm. "The difference between me and the woman from Yunxia Mountain is the difference between her and you, the immortal. How could I let Gu Can leave the paradise and follow that woman to dig for food in the fields?"

The old man laughed heartily, and suddenly remembered something. He said in a deep voice: "What is the life experience of that boy? Gu, please tell me in detail, just in case."

The woman was stunned for a moment, stroked her hair, and then said softly: "The poor child is called Wang Gu'an. His parents grew up in the town. His mother and I have a good relationship. She looks ordinary, but she has a really good temper. I don't think I have ever seen her quarrel with anyone. Her husband's appearance is not presentable, and he is really not worthy of her, but his porcelain firing skills are good. If he hadn't died early, he might have become the head of the big dragon kiln in twenty years. As for how he died, there is a saying It was that rainy night. He was afraid that the kiln fire would go out, so he hurried on his way and slipped into the stream. Some said he went to cut wood and make charcoal, and he wanted to get a small advantage, so he broke into the mountain that was banned by the court, and was carried into the deep forest by wild beasts. In short, his body was not found. The man was a sullen person who could not be beaten with a few sticks, but he was good to his children. Every time he went back to town, he would bring some small gifts, such as small drums, sugar Buddhas, and old broken porcelain. Generally speaking, the family of three was relatively stable before the man died. "

"After Wang Gu'an's father died, his mother probably had a heart disease, and her spirit soon couldn't hold up. Her body, which was not strong to begin with, collapsed quickly. In less than a year, she fell ill and became skinny. We old neighbors were panicked when we saw her. We couldn't recognize the beautiful woman who was so beautiful back then. At that time, it was Wang Gu'an who took care of her. The child, who was so young, did everything, including buying medicine, boiling medicine, cooking and frying. The child was too short at the time, and had to stand on a stool to cook. In addition, in order to save money to buy medicine for her mother, some easily found medicinal materials were searched all over the mountains and fields. If there were too many, they would be sold to the pharmacy."

"I guess he ate the wrong herbs once. When he was carrying the basket back to Niping Lane, the child suddenly fell to the ground, foaming at the mouth and rolling on the ground. We were so scared that we thought the family of three was gone. My mother-in-law was still alive at the time, and she said that it would be better if the whole family was gone, so that no one would be left to suffer. If they were all gone, the whole family could be reunited in the underworld. Later, the child somehow recovered and survived the disease, but the child's mother still couldn't survive that winter. Oh, by the way, Master, Wang Gu'an's child was born on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. The older generation of neighbors in our alley said that this is the most unlucky day of the year. It is easy to attract dirty things and will also implicate the family.

So after the child's parents passed away, there was no copper coin in the house. Even the small items given by his father were almost all exchanged for food with his peers in other places in the town..."

When the woman said this, the old man finally spoke, "May 5th? Interesting, let me calculate it."

Five fingers pinching, the sleeves have the secrets.

Seeing the woman in a daze, the old man smiled and said, "Just keep talking."

The woman said, "For the sake of our friendship as neighbors for so many years, those of us who live in Niping Lane, although we don't dare to take Wang Gu'an home, we can still help him from time to time and send him a few bowls of food. This little thing can still be done. People are all made of flesh and blood. To be honest, if it weren't for the child's birthday, it would really be scary, otherwise no one would not feel sorry for this sensible child from the bottom of their hearts. Of course, to be honest, there are also some unkind people in the neighborhood. Some guys who can't stand others doing well like to deliberately abuse the child, causing him to become an apprentice kiln worker in the end. You know, before his mother died, she asked the child to promise her that even if he became a beggar in the future, he would never work in the dragon kiln. It must be a special thing for such a filial and obedient child to break his oath."

The old man asked, "Do you know the names and birth dates of the boy's parents?"

The woman only said she knew her name, but no one knew her birth date. The old man said it was okay, and after a moment, he sneered, "What a petty trick, a cunning trick!"

The woman was confused.

The old man explained, "The man died a violent death, most likely because he accidentally knew the secret of the town. Unfortunately, his luck was not as good as yours, and his ancestral blessing was not as much as yours. In the end, the man secretly broke the natal porcelain bottle for the safety of his son. In this way, a certain sect outside the town naturally lost. This was a huge investment. How could a small kiln worker afford it? He had to pay with his life. If one life was not enough, he would add his wife's. It's funny to say that the kiln worker's death was probably too easy for some people, and they were too lazy to spend extra energy, so the cover-up method they used to conceal the truth was so crude and too unimportant."

The woman's face was gloomy.

The old man saw through the woman's mind and asked with a smile: "Why, do you regret it out of guilt?"

The woman smiled bitterly, "I do feel guilty. After all, she is the child I watched grow up, so I definitely do, but I definitely don't regret it!"

The old man nodded and said, "I see."

The woman said to herself, "If it were Wang Gu'an's mother, in my current position, I believe she would do the same."

The old man shook his head and said, "That may not be the case."

The woman said loudly for no reason, "She would definitely do it!"

The old man was not angry at her rudeness, but just sighed, "Poor parents in the world."

————

The boy in straw sandals sat on the threshold, "Miss Ning, can I ask you something?"

The girl in black leaned against the wall, sitting cross-legged, with a green sheathed narrow knife across her knees, "Of course. But if it involves confidentiality and privacy, I won't answer."

Wang Gu'an asked, "How long do you usually stay here before leaving?"

The girl frowned, "Not necessarily. Some people are lucky and may be able to go back and forth on the same day, while some people are unlucky and will spend their whole lives here. If you must make an inference, that's fine, but it may not be accurate. You can decide for yourself. For example, our group of eight people, two of them are wealthy, stupid people with a lot of money. They don't look like they can come and go in a hurry. They should stay in the town for a few days. The young man wearing a high crown and a jade pendant will probably have a relatively smooth journey. There is a big fool who is focused on dealing with the well. Whether he can succeed depends on whether God will give him this bowl of rice to eat."

Wang Gu'an asked: "Where is the other person?"

"Who?"

"It's the tall, young woman."

"Do you like her?"

Wang Gu'an at the door smiled and didn't take it seriously at all.

The black-clothed girl probably felt that she had told a bad joke, and her expression became heavy. "I actually heard you talking with Taoist Lu. You have a grudge with her, so you want to... take revenge?"

She sighed, "I advise you that people like you who live halfway up the mountain are actually no different from people at the foot of the mountain in the eyes of those people on the top of the mountain. It's not just that they are arrogant, but they are indeed qualified to look down on you. After arriving in this 'Land of the End of the Dharma', not to mention the woman from Yunxia Mountain, even the kid in the big red robe can make you vomit a bowl of blood if he punches you in the chest. On the other hand, if you punch him hard, I dare not say it's just tickling him, but at most it will make him feel a little stuffy, and it will definitely not hurt his internal organs. As for the reason, it's hard to explain clearly, mainly because I'm not good at talking about this."

Wang Gu'an turned his back to the house and looked at the door, saying, "I want to know why she wants to kill me. We just met for the first time."

The girl thought for a long time before she said, "She may not be the kind of person who kills innocent people. How should I put it? On the road of cultivation, you have to cross mountains and rivers. There are wide and narrow roads, Yangguan Road, and single-plank bridges. If you walk fast, you may accidentally step on ants. If you are hungry, you may catch a few fish from the river. If you have made some progress in Taoism, you may accidentally kill birds, snakes, and mice. I didn't say it very well. Do you understand what I mean?"

Wang Gu'an hummed and said, "I understand it roughly."

Then the boy was a little depressed and looked at the gate of the courtyard again.

In fact, he didn't understand at all. He didn't understand why those people could be so indifferent to other people's lives.

After a long time, Wang Gu'an turned around and smiled, "If you don't mind, you can live here. If you need anything, just tell me."

"What about you?"

"I know someone. I'll stay with him these two days. Don't worry. His name is Ji Chenru. He's my... friend. A good friend!"

The girl looked at the thin figure on the threshold and smiled, "Thank you!"

The boy grinned, scratched his head, and said nothing polite. He hesitated for a moment, and finally mustered up the courage to turn around and say, "Miss Ning, if one day I can't come back, you can give my bag of golden copper coins to Ji Chenru, and ask him to help me take care of this house in the future. You don't have to clean it, just repair it occasionally, add some new tiles, and prevent it from leaking. Also, don't let the wall collapse, and don't let the gate be too broken. It would be best if you can put up door gods and spring couplets on New Year's Eve! If you think this is too troublesome, it doesn't matter if you don't do it."

The girl saw that when Wang Gu'an talked about door gods and spring couplets, the boy's eyes flashed with a strange brilliance.

Obviously, this orphan from Niping Lane has been thinking about it for many years, hoping that there will be door gods on the door of his house and the word "Spring" on the lintel during the New Year.

He has been thinking about it for as many years as his parents died.

So when the boy, who had no worries and no knots in his heart, gently exhaled a breath of turbid air, patted his knees, and slowly stood up,

The flying sword in its sheath placed on the table inside the room suddenly hissed.