It was early summer, and the red-faced Taoist still hadn't come back. Sometimes Chen Jiu would sit alone, thinking that if the red-faced Taoist came back, he would tell him to stay in the capital city of Nanshao for a while, waiting for Xiao Ping'er to grow up. When I grow up, I can support myself and live a good life, it is not too late to leave.
Xiao Ping'er has been more active than him in studying pharmacology recently. She often holds the "Compendium of Herbs" that Chen Jiu bought at night, and reads it carefully by the street lights outside.
The little girl couldn't read, but she could read pictures. Every time she looked at a strange herb, she would ask Chen Jiu how much the herb was worth.
Chen Jiu smiled and told the little girl, and later simply marked the prices next to the pictures of various herbs.
The swarthy girl looked more and more vigorously, and nodded frequently when she saw the expensive herb, almost putting her head in the painting.
Chen Jiu was sitting on the side, laughing and reminding the little girl from time to time, telling her not to get too close, it would be bad for her eyes.
The little girl pursed her lips and muttered, "The one surnamed Chen is really long-winded."
However, her little head will still be far away, but it won't be long before it will move closer again.
The two of them also went to buy a kite. It was a very small one, and it was very cheap. The little girl insisted on it. After buying it, she liked it very much. She didn't want to let it go, so she put it in Chen Jiu's place, and told him to take care of it. Well, wait until the next windy weather, take it out and put it away.
Chen Jiu nodded frequently, saying I got it, got it.
The little girl is smiling more and more recently, and she is not good-looking, with sparse eyebrows and a dirty little face, she is not ugly at all.
One evening, the swarthy girl suddenly said to Chen Jiu, "My surname is Chen, I want to buy a pair of new shoes."
The pair on her feet are really worn out, with several big holes, and they are not comfortable to wear. They were fine before, but now that they have made a little money, they should be replaced with better ones, more decent.
The dark girl looked at Chen Jiu in the dusk and blinked her eyes.
The young man took her to a clothes shop in the dark, but when the little girl reached the door, she didn't dare to take a step inside.
The lights in the shop seemed to be scorching, making the little girl tremble all over.
Chen Jiu stretched out his hand to hold the dark girl, smiled at her, and led her in together.
The little girl stood there with her head bowed all the time, and Chen Jiu put it on the side to choose. When she saw the good-looking ones, she picked them up, first asked the little girl what she thought, and then compared them with her feet.
The two bought not only shoes, but also two sets of clothes, a skirt and a girl's floral dress, all of which were pretty.
The store owner was also sweet and talkative, and he muttered beside him, "Master Dao is buying clothes for the little girl, hey, the little girl is so handsome, she must look good in this dress."
The little girl's lowered face was flushed, and she blamed herself for being so unattractive. If she looked better, she should be happy too.
After the two left the shop hand in hand, Chen Jiu suddenly asked the little girl, "Xiao Ping'er, we all bought new clothes, shouldn't we also take a bath so that we can wear these nice clothes?"
The dark girl frowned sparsely, sighed, and said helplessly, "Okay, okay."
Chen Jiu took the little girl back to the restaurant. During this time, the little girl kept her head down, not daring to raise her head. After arriving in the guest room, the dark-skinned girl was relieved, looked left and right, and said in surprise: "My surname is Chen!" Yes, so your family is big!"
Chen Jiu smiled, prepared the hot water, hung the clothes beside her, and asked the little girl to wash and change herself.
The dark girl happily took off into the bathtub bathroom, and after washing, her hair was still a little wet, she changed into the skirt, and walked out cautiously.
The little girl's body is not so messy, but she is still dark, she looks like a black girl, which is not good.
She sat silently on the side, and suddenly asked Chen Jiu, "Your surname is Chen, can you braid your hair?"
Chen Jiu shook his head, "No."
He suddenly smiled again: "You can try."
So Chen Jiu put up braids for the little girl, which were crooked and ugly.
The dark girl lowered her head and said suddenly.
"Actually, I didn't intend to break my father's leg. It's just that when we fled, he wanted to sell me to others for food. I was too scared, so I threw stones at my father. My father fell and stood up. I couldn't get up anymore, so I walked alone for a long time and came here."
Chen Jiu was taken aback, touched the little girl's head, and said softly, "I don't blame you."
The swarthy girl suddenly turned her head and looked at the young man. Her voice seemed to be crying, and she choked up, "Why did you sell me? Why can't it be my younger brother? It's just me?!"
The teardrops in her eyes finally broke and flowed down her cheeks, crying, "Am I not important?"
The young man stood there stunned, and finally hugged the little girl in his arms, and said softly: "It's all important, and it's the only one."
The dark girl burst into tears, and Tianmu Mingyue seemed to be sad too, hiding in the clouds and disappearing.
————
The old man who led Chen Jiu to subdue the demon quickly walked to a small mansion. Before entering, the old man covered the wounds on his body that had been beaten by the adults in the city with spells, patted the dust on his body, and walked in slowly with a smile on his face. .
Inside were two red foxes standing like humans, playing with a ball. When they saw the old man coming in, they hurriedly greeted them and said with a smile, "Grandpa."
The old man touched the heads of the two red foxes with a smile, and said: "In a few years, I will be an adult. I can't be so playful in the future. I have to practice hard and try to transform into a human form as soon as possible."
The two little red foxes nodded obediently and kept saying they understood.
Then the old man took out two storage treasures, handed them to the little red fox, and said with a smile: "After you go to the Qingqiu Mountain in Zhongsheng Shenzhou, you really need to practice hard. , if you are bullied..."
The old man's voice stopped abruptly, and after a while, he said softly: "If you are bullied, just... bear with it a little bit, going out is no worse than being at home, it's okay."
At this moment, the old man's body suddenly bowed, his eyes were sad.
The two little red foxes laughed and asked doubtfully, "Isn't grandpa going with us?"
The old man straightened his back, "Your grandpa wants to stay here to make a lot of money, and then I will buy you top-notch magic herbs. When the money is enough, grandpa will come to accompany you."
The little red fox rolled happily, laughing and playing with the old man for a while.
When the old man left, the setting sun was low. He stood in front of the mansion gate, looked at the closed mansion gate, and was silent for a long time. Finally, he bent his body and slowly disappeared from the setting sun.
————
There are fewer and fewer refugees in the city, and now there are not many of them. I heard that they all went to work in that city lord's mansion, but what puzzled everyone was that those refugees often went in more and came out less often.
Sometimes even soldiers would pull the shriveled corpses of refugees on carts, push them out of the city, and bury them casually. When people asked, the soldiers would say that they starved to death, but this shriveled appearance was really infiltrating.
In the tallest mansion of the City Lord's Mansion, the City Lord with the dragon embroidered on his robe looked at the tall monk in front of him, gritted his teeth and asked, "Is this kind of movement too loud?"
The tall monk sat upright, holding a small teacup with his big hands, and said with a smile: "I just want to make a big noise."
The Lord of Nanshao frowned deeply, "Aren't you afraid of those monks and Taoist priests coming?"
The tall monk put down his teacup and said with a smirk: "Come on, just come, I will kill as many as I come!"
He suddenly looked at Nanshao City Lord coldly, "Don't make any trouble for me, if I make a mistake in the ranks of heaven and man, I will kill you first!"
His big hand reached forward, like pinching a small teacup, pinching the small head of Nanshao City Lord, as if it could be crushed at any time.
The Lord of Nanshao's complexion was uncertain, and he finally sighed, "It's a pity that I have planned for so many years."
The tall monk smiled disdainfully, "The monk is naturally ascending, you care so much about worldly things, but you are putting the cart before the horse."
The city lord of Nanshao did not speak, but stood silently aside.
The tall monk looked at the scenery below, his eyes were blurred, the distance stretched past, it was brightly lit, how beautiful, it must be even more beautiful when the city is full of blood sacrifices.
Before the monk Gao left, he flicked the head of Nanshao City Lord with his big hand, which almost made him lose his mind. I have to crush your soul!"
The city lord of Nanshao lowered his head and remained silent, waiting for the tall monk to shrink into an inch and walk past. He walked to the window, pinched the jade window eaves tightly, and his eyes were gloomy.
This is different from what I said at the beginning!
Obviously it is going to swallow the capital city of Nanshao and become a flood dragon!
————
The weather was fine today and the sun was shining brightly. Chen Jiu and the dark girl lay on the grass, basking comfortably in the sun.
The little girl was wearing a beautiful dress, squinting her eyes, enjoying herself very much, humming twice, and suddenly there was no movement.
Chen Jiu turned around in wonder, looked at the little girl and asked, "What's the matter?"
The little girl seemed a little unhappy, and asked softly: "Chen, will you leave?"
Chen Jiu was taken aback for a moment, then smiled lightly and said, "Yes."
He put his hands under his head, "No one in this world will always be with anyone. Even their parents will leave one day, so they will leave in fact."
The young man smiled at the little girl again, "But I have to wait until Xiao Ping'er grows up and can choose her own life before leaving."
The little girl pursed her mouth, and said angrily: "I don't want you to accompany me, be stupid and leave alone."
Chen Jiu smiled, and looked at the distant pool with duckweed floating on it, especially crisp under the sunlight.
The refugees in the city have completely disappeared. Every day, shriveled corpses are sent out, and the city is under martial law, only entering and not allowed to exit. People in the city are panicked. There are rumors of disaster.
The people in the city are getting more and more afraid, but there are more and more cultivators. Most of them got the news and came to investigate, a little coveted.
Chen Jiu seldom went to that restaurant, most of the time he stayed with the little girl, and when he was alone, he jumped up to the tall building, sat alone on the balcony, and looked at the visitors from all over the city, frowning more and more.
The red-faced Taoist came back, and he was a little scared. This was the first time Chen Jiu felt such panic in his heart.
He was afraid that if something happened in the city, he would not live with Xiao Ping'er.
Chen Jiu wanted to send Xiao Ping'er out of the city and find a safe place to pawn. After the turmoil in the city passed and the red-faced Taoist came back, they would discuss what to do next.
Chen Jiu thought about it, and started to do it.
It's just that he didn't find the dark girl anymore.
Obviously the little girl usually played around this alley, but why she disappeared, Chen Jiu suddenly panicked.
Like a madman, he ran in the streets and alleys, and when he saw a girl who was about the same size as Xiao Ping'er, he ran over quickly, and after seeing if it was wrong, he ran to other places for several days, leaving the young Taoist in a daze up.
He drew a portrait of Xiao Ping'er with an ink pen, and took it along the street to ask people around. Those passers-by looked at the Taoist priest's crazy appearance, frowning and avoiding it.
The passers-by who were asked also shook their heads, who would care about such a little girl who has nothing to do with him, this Taoist priest is also crazy, with an unkempt appearance, which is really scary.
Many days later, when Chen Jiu was standing on the street, he saw the shriveled body of the little girl, still wearing that floral dress, on a cart being pushed.
The little girl was motionless, her body was bumped by the cart, so shriveled that she seemed about to fall off at any moment.
Her eyes were wide open, and her floral skirt was quite dirty.
The young man stood there dumbfounded, as if he had lost his soul, and both sides of his cheeks were already filled with tears.
He looked at the soldier pushing the cart, his eyes suddenly expanded with golden lights, and in an instant, he pinched the soldier's head tightly, bit the corner of his mouth, and asked angrily.
"How did Xiao Ping'er die?!"
The soldier had a splitting headache and hurriedly said: "It doesn't matter to me, I just transported her out of the city lord's mansion."
As a result, there was a golden light in the city, which directly smashed the tallest tower.
The man with the dragon embroidered on his robe was quite surprised when he saw the golden figure in front of him.
Chen Jiu stared at him, his fisting intent gushed out from his body at a high speed, condensed into substance, and it was scarlet. It was a truly majestic killing intent!
The man squinted his eyes and stood up slowly, "Another bedbug has been delivered to your door. Instead of taking advantage of others, let me eat it to benefit your body."
In an instant, the golden figure knocked him off the tower with a punch, and shot into the ground with a bang, sinking into a big pit.
The golden figure chased after him in an instant, as if to kill him!
The skin of the man's body was suddenly torn open, revealing his real body. It was a huge red carp, which instantly summoned the waters in the city and directly trapped the golden figure, and then slapped it with the power of the golden core, directly causing the golden figure to explode. Only blood mist remained.
The huge red carp opened its mouth and sucked it, and it was about to suck the blood mist into its own mouth, benefiting its body.
The blood mist condensed and changed, and became a golden figure again, killing it fiercely.
The red carp's face was frightened, this golden figure was not of a high level, why did it have such great supernatural powers? !
It shattered the golden light figure again, but it condensed again quickly, the faster it died, the faster it condensed, the golden light was so strong that it was already scorching people's eyes.
Chen Jiu seemed to be insane, even if the red carp deliberately didn't kill him, but only seriously injured him, he would still grit his teeth and smash his own head!
His eyes are full of madness and hatred, even if he is tortured a little bit, even if he dies a million times, he will beat this red carp to death one by one, and eat its flesh and blood alive!
The sky suddenly went dark.
A tall monk sat upright in the void, first held the huge red carp with one hand, then frowned and looked at the golden figure under it, and suddenly smiled: "Another lunatic."
The golden light figure rushed madly, and was caught in the air by the tall monk. The tall monk settled the cause and effect a little bit, and then sneered: "Yes, the more you hate, the better. After I eat your soul later, you can go to accompany me The little girl who will never be forgotten in my heart."
Chen Jiu couldn't move at all, staring at the tall monk, his pupils almost popped out, and the golden light was already gushing out with blood!
The tall monk was surprised, and then smiled disdainfully: "You monks, why do you care about mortals so much? I will sacrifice all the mortals in this city later. After I become a celestial being, who dare to say Am I not? Even if the Taoist school asks you, I won't go and kill some monsters, the work will be worth it."
He suddenly grinned again, "Not to mention a mere little girl, I ate it, no one would dare to say that I am not!"
Chen Jiu's complexion was extremely distorted, and the golden light on his body almost collapsed his body.
The city below was full of noise, everyone was terrified, and those monks in the city were even more frightening, their faces were ashen, regretting that they should not come here, looking for some magic weapon, and now their lives are in danger!
The tall monk swallowed the huge red carp first, then made a silence gesture to the people below, and said with a smile: "Come on, come and do your part for me to become a celestial being, this is your honor."
The sky was dark, the city was boiling, and those buried majestic grievances suddenly rose up, trying to swallow the whole city.
Everyone screamed, ran and fled.
A sword light that spanned tens of thousands of miles suddenly slashed, split the sky, and in the final horrified expression of the tall monk, split it in half from head to toe.
The Taoist carrying the sword arrived in no time, and he also had many injuries on his body, but there was more blood on the sword.
Chen Jiu fell to the ground, and the golden light on his body suddenly disappeared. He stumbled and ran to the little girl's body, hugged the shriveled and thin body tightly, and sobbed softly.
The red-faced Taoist put away his sword, landed beside the young man, and sighed.
Chen Jiu suddenly put down the little girl's body gently, kowtowed to the red-faced Taoist, and begged the red-faced Taoist to save the little girl.
The red-faced Taoist sighed and said: "The little girl has only one soul left, and the rest are all scattered. Let alone saving her life, it will be difficult to reincarnate."
Chen Jiu was stunned on the spot, unable to sit on his knees.
The red-faced Taoist reached out and grabbed the little girl's body, took out an emerald green bead from the air, and handed it to Chen Jiu, "This is the remaining soul, and it's useless, it's just a thought of the little girl, you put it away Bar."
The young man stretched out his hand to take it in a daze, and stared blankly, the emerald green beads glowed like duckweed in that pond.
Suddenly, there was a heavy rain in the city, and the sky was very dark.
In the summer of this year, the young man buried the little girl's body by the edge of the pool, very close to the duckweed, and they were all rootless.
The red-faced Taoist asked Chen Jiu if he wanted to go with him along the east of the river to join his Taoist disciples on the mountain.
The young man nodded, and the two of them went to the ferry on a sunny day with their bags on their backs.
The young man looked at an emerald green bead hanging from his wrist, and said softly, "Xiao Ping'er, let's go up the mountain."
There is nothing good in the world.