When Fu Nanhua walked out of the house, he found that the pretty maid was sitting on a small bench in the yard, holding a handful of corn in her hand, feeding the chickens. The old hen brought a group of yellow-haired chicks and lowered their heads to peck at the food.
After seeing her, Fu Nanhua smiled slightly. The girl didn't know whether she was shy or naturally indifferent. She pulled the corners of her mouth and regarded it as a return gift.
After Fu Nanhua opened the gate of the courtyard, he found that Cai Jinjian was waiting in the alley. He was not in a good mood. He turned around and closed the door. Through the gradually narrowing crack of the door, he saw a face looking up. Fu Nanhua suddenly found that this maid, who should have been a poor girl with a smell of mud, actually had a pair of quite good eyes, which set her off like a touch of tender green blooming in early spring. However, Fu Nanhua did not think much about it. The young master of Old Dragon City was really tired of seeing such a beautiful woman.
Walking side by side with Cai Jinjian, Fu Nanhua asked, "What's wrong? Is it not going well? Opportunities are always difficult to come by, and they may not always be settled. Don't be discouraged."
Cai Jinjian was born with a gentle and charming temperament. After practicing, she cleansed her marrow and strengthened her bones. In terms of her body, she was of course purer than ordinary women. The woman down the mountain, no matter how stunning she was at first glance, was just a smelly skin after all.
At this time, the fairy of Yunxia Mountain looked unhappy, which showed how bad her mood was. Otherwise, it would not be so obvious on her face. She must have been holding back her anger while waiting in the alley before, and she really couldn't help but vent, "An expert got there first. He is one of the local snakes in Shujian Lake, Jiejiang Zhenjun Liu Zhimao. There was no room for negotiation. He brought up my Yunxia Mountain's head master to suppress me, a junior. From beginning to end, I only said a few words to him, and he drove him out of Gu Can's yard."
Fu Nanhua seemed to be thinking about something, and reminded: "Let's talk after we leave Niping Lane."
Cai Jinjian asked in confusion: "Isn't magic forbidden here?"
Fu Nanhua said with a smile: "Who can come here to look for opportunities without some hidden skills? Young people like you and me may be fine. According to the rules of the town, the higher the cultivation, the greater the suppression. Below the saint, the closer the realm is to the saint, the weaker it is like a child, right? But have you ever thought that if there is a Taoist master who wants to use his magical powers at the cost of his cultivation, is he really not as good as us, the younger generation?"
Cai Jinjian retorted: "With a saint here, how dare he, Jie Jiang Zhenjun, attack me openly?"
Fu Nanhua persuaded: "We come here to find good fortune, not to make enemies. Even if there is no worry about life, it is not good to have bad relations with the predecessors."
Cai Jinjian was not a person who would get stuck in a rut. He nodded and said, "Brother Fu is right. It is a mature and prudent view."
She had a bitter face and looked pitiful. "But I really can't accept it. I have already given you ten pieces of Yungen Stone. If it is all in vain, how can I explain to the ancestors when I go back?"
After walking out of Niping Alley, Fu Nanhua and Cai Jinjian were almost simultaneously refreshed. This was not as simple as the sudden brightness of the light. The two looked at each other and then quickly looked away.
Fu Nanhua, who was originally very excited, also calmed down a lot. He carefully considered this trip to the alley. The alliance with Cai Jinjian should not have revealed any flaws. The transaction with the young Ye Dan should not have any loopholes. It was originally a fair transaction in accordance with the rules. How could the saint who sat and watched the wind and water here have the leisure to intervene? So where did this pressure come from? Could it be the Jiejiang Master whose name I had never heard of? Compared to Fu Nanhua's far-reaching thoughts, Cai Jinjian's thoughts were simpler. She thought that Fu Nanhua was right. Jiejiang Master did use some magical power to monitor her. She was scared for a while. Fortunately, she only said some complaints and never said anything harsh or angry.
The two people walked on the street with their own thoughts. The farther they were from Niping Lane, the lighter the depression in their hearts. Fu Nanhua felt that it was the weight of fate, while Cai Jinjian felt that it was the burden of the family.
Looking up at the memorial archway in the distance, Fu Nanhua asked curiously: "Jiejiang Zhenjun of Shujian Lake? How come I have no impression of him? Even though my old Dragon City is located in the southernmost part of a continent, the position of Zhenjun is so glorious that even if I am ignorant, I should know something about it."
Cai Jinjian lowered his voice and sneered: "What Zhenjun? He is just a Zhenren who is relatively high in the side sect. He is the most hypocritical and has no qualification to be called Zhenjun. It is just the flattery of those who do good things. Think about how smart Emperor Yuanwu is. Naturally, he would not confer the title of Zhenjun on this person. One carrot, one pit. The title of Zhenjun, if given to one, may mean that it will not be taken back for two hundred years. In addition, Emperor Yuanwu's ancestors spent lavishly. When it came to him, there were only two Zhenjun places left, and he would not give it to a side sect cultivator who was seeking fame and reputation casually."
Fu Nanhua suddenly realized, "I see."
Every True Lord who sits in the dynasty can gather, suppress and increase the national fortune for the monarch.
The position of Taoist True Lord is almost a member of the Taoist sect. At the top of the temple of the secular dynasty, the military strategist's Shangzhuguo and the Confucianist's Daxueshi are also included.
Cai Jinjian asked casually, "How about that Ye Dan?"
Fu Nanhua also answered casually, "That young man is ambitious, born smart, and has a strong backing, but the pattern..."
Cai Jinjian laughed, "Not big?"
Fu Nanhua laughed and said, "It can't be said that it's not big, it's just not big enough."
The two walked to the archway, Fu Nanhua was in high spirits and murmured, "When the time comes, the heaven and the earth will work together."
Cai Jinjian looked up at the four words "Don't seek outside", his heart was empty, and he felt lost, as if the enlightenment he had gained in Niping Lane before was returned to this town.
This made her extremely irritated.
————
Ye Dan's house was a wealthy family in Niping Lane. In addition to the lobby with a plaque, there were also side rooms on the left and right.
The plaque in the lobby read "Huaiyuan Hall" and was unsigned. Ye Dan always felt that judging from the handwriting alone, it was not the work of a great master.
The master and servant were staying in Ye Dan's main house. The young man was rummaging through the boxes. The maid stood at the door and asked softly, "Young Master, did you not reach an agreement on the deal?"
Ye Dan put down a string of bells and sat back on the only chair in the house, holding his head with both hands and crossing his legs. "That old Dragon City's Fu Nanhua is not a complete fool. He didn't treat me as a fool who didn't know the world at the beginning, but he was not very smart. He wanted to make friends with me, which was really fun. Later, he was tricked by me and his fox tail was exposed. He thought that he could use both kindness and force to scare me, the young master, by being mysterious and using some thunderous means. Compared with the unpredictable Mr. Liu, he is a million miles away."
The maid Shi Hui said, "A million miles away, young master, your statement is too exaggerated."
Ye Dan made a face and said, "Then there are ten Niping Lanes away!"
The young man threw a bag to his maid, "Look, this is the copper coins mentioned in the secret letter. The man surnamed Wang next door also got a bag before. I guessed at the time that it might not be a good thing for him to have such a great fortune. Sure enough, didn't this annoy the two couples? I think Wang will suffer in the future. By the way, Shi Hui, let me tell you, the guy who came to our house claimed to be the young master of Laolong City. From his tone and his behavior, he is at least not an embroidered pillow. And this jade pendant, which is said to be "Laolong Buyu", must be valuable!"
Ye Dan patted the lovely green jade pendant, which he had hung on his waist. In his heart, the young man felt that he was one step closer to being a scholar like Mr. Liu.
Shi Hui opened the exquisite embroidered bag and asked softly, "Sir, can you earn more 'copper coins'?"
Ye Dan smiled and asked, "Do you like it?"
Shi Hui pinched a golden copper coin with two fingers, shook it, and smiled happily: "It's so golden and looks so festive."
Ye Dan laughed dumbly, "Is this okay? All right, since you like it, I'll get a few more bags back. These coins are outside, and they are the lucky money on the beam, the spring money on the peach charms, and the offering money in the belly or hands of the Buddha statue. However, the common people have their own rules, and the immortals have their own opinions. "
She smiled and narrowed her eyes, like two crescents, and asked, "Wang Gu'an's bag?"
Ye Dan frowned, "Him?"
The maid noticed the strange mood of her master, carefully put away the copper coins, tied the bag tightly, and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong? "
Ye Dan curled his lips, covered his neck with both hands, twisted it, and said calmly: "It's okay, I just remembered some rubbish. Don't worry about the surname Wang, so as not to get into trouble. But Zhao Yao, the nerd, will probably get copper coins, so he is easy to deceive. Young master, I will make sure to get you a bag of it."
Seeing the maid was a little strange, Ye Dan did not continue to explain. Seeing that her master was not interested in talking, the girl did not ask the question.
Shi Hui walked out of the house and came to the courtyard. She saw the four-legged lizard, which was born to be an eyesore, lying on the ground half dead, basking in the sun, and often rolling around, looking very happy.
The angry girl walked over quickly and stepped on the head of the four-legged lizard with one foot, twisting her toes fiercely.
The poor little guy cried in pain.
She raised her foot, and the four-legged lizard scurried away, running all over the yard and hitting the wall.
This earthy yellow four-legged lizard at home.
The golden carp that greedily entered the fish basket by mistake.
The black loach kept in the water tank by Gu Can.
Gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, three out of five.
Looking at the lizard with horns on its head, the girl grinned with disdain, "Stupid thing!"
————
In the yard of the child Gu Can's house, the old man and the woman were still sitting opposite each other. The former stretched out her palm and looked at the spreading lines on the palm, feeling uneasy.
The old man put away his hand, looked up and asked: "Gu, are there many women like you who marry foreign men in the town?"
The woman shook her head and said: "There shouldn't be many. Anyway, I'm the only one in Niping Lane and Xinghua Lane."
The old man hesitated for a moment, but still revealed some secrets to her, "Six and twelve years old for girls, nine and eighteen years old for boys, are two big thresholds. The former needs to be crossed by oneself, and the latter can still be pushed by external forces. After that, there is another thing, which can be more certain. The richer the family, the more advantages. Opening the door, entering the hall, and entering the room are three things. The first two steps can only depend on chance and fate, especially the first step. Whether it succeeds or not depends on whether God will give you food."
The woman's eyes were full of smiles, "Being able to be favored by the immortal at first sight, my Gu Can is someone who can take the first step by himself, right?"
The old man smiled and said, "As long as a child grows up in a small town, it means that his aptitude is not outstanding. Although your Gu Can is not nine years old, he is no exception."
The woman's face suddenly became extremely ugly.
The old man raised his foot, stamped the ground, and smiled, "Don't worry. The quality of one's bones is of course important, but it is not the first priority. If God is pleased, even a dog or a weed on the roadside can slowly become a great road and eventually soar into the sky. The town has made an exception and allowed so many outsiders to enter this time, and it was also a last resort. A piece of farmland, no matter how good the soil and water are, will decline and decay after thousands of years of reclamation, cultivation and harvest, and many times of fishing at all costs. There will always be a day when it is completely barren. The feng shui foundation of this place has finally ushered in the last big year. Whenever a person is about to die, his spirit will become particularly majestic. Your Gu Can has benefited from this. The opportunity is far beyond imagination, and it is far better than those gifted children in the small town before."
The woman's lips trembled, trying her best to suppress her surprise, her eyes were watery, and she also exuded a bit of seductive charm.
The old man glanced at her and smiled, "Of course, don't be greedy. There are definitely more people with this great opportunity than your son. To put it bluntly, in such a huge Dongbaopingzhou, even if there is someone who is qualified to monopolize this luck, he must not have been born yet."
The woman held her hands to her chest and murmured, "Enough, enough."
The old man thought of the younger woman from Yunxia Mountain and sneered, "Busy and exhausted, only knowing how to ask for some external things, really picking up sesame seeds and losing watermelons, so stupid."
Then the old man smiled, "That's right, the old guys in Yunxia Mountain have never had a broad vision, otherwise they wouldn't have let me get this opportunity first. With an almost inexhaustible treasure mountain, it should have been a source of wealth and prosperity, but it has fallen to the point where it needs to rely on a disciple to support the scene."
Inside the house, the child who had been punching and kicking the door for a long time stood on a stool, leaned on the window, and begged with a bitter face: "Mom, please let me out, I promise you will be obedient!"
The woman glanced at the old immortal, who nodded.
She then went to open the door, took the child's hand and walked to the yard together, with a stern face, she said softly: "Xiao Can, don't make trouble, do you know?! Mom has never beaten you, if you dare not be obedient, Mom will really beat you again."
The child said "oh", drooped his head, and looked sick.
Gu Can brought a small stool and sat down by himself, forming a three-legged tripod with his mother and the old man. The child held up his cheeks with both hands, "Mom, what did you just say to the storyteller? I can't hear clearly in the house. Can you tell me again?"
The old man exclaimed, and after a little thought, he shook his wrist, and the big white bowl reappeared in his palm. He lowered his head and looked at it intently, his eyes dim and unclear. He saw ripples on the water surface of the white bowl, and occasionally splashes of water. A black line swam quickly around the white bowl, hitting the bowl wall from time to time. The old man said to himself: "Forget it, forget it, just go with you."
In order to accept this apprentice, the old man had spent a lot of effort in Niping Lane before, and he was willing to sacrifice decades of cultivation and practice before he succeeded in three moves.
The first time was to let the woman step on dog shit.
The last time was to use a secret technique to make her believe that she was enlightened. If it were outside the town, of course, this would be impossible. Even a Taoist master who deserves the name would not dare to do so. But in the town, Cai Jinjian is no different from an ordinary person. The old man paid a huge price and had an opportunity to take advantage of it.
The second time was the most ingenious, and even the old man himself thought it was a stroke of genius, which was to make the woman mistakenly think that it was a kind reminder from the boy in straw sandals, but it was actually a cunning revenge. The old man slowed down the boy's voice at that time, and the woman happened to catch this detail.
It can be said that he was deliberate.
On the road of cultivation, people of the same path, good fate and bad fate, are just a thin line.
At this time, the woman Gu in the courtyard was worried that the old immortal would say something bad.
The old man pulled the corner of his mouth, and in the corner of his eyes, a child stood up on tiptoe, and then ran towards the gate of the courtyard.
The woman screamed.
The old man stood up slowly with a white bowl in his hand, "Disciple, I will show you how big the world is, so that you don't lose sight of the importance of this and ruin our great cause!"
The woman's eyes went dark and she fainted on the ground.
The old man waved his sleeves suddenly.
The next moment, the child who was about to touch the bolt of the courtyard gate stumbled and fell to the ground, but when he realized something was wrong, he looked around blankly, and finally raised his head and looked at the storyteller standing next to him, "Where is this?"
The old man put his hands behind his back and said calmly: "In the bowl."
The child became more and more confused, and suddenly heard the old man shouting, "Get up!"
The child stood up instinctively and did not move.
Gu Can found that he seemed to be standing on the edge of a cliff, and in the distance in front of him, the sea of clouds was rolling.
Then, the child widened his eyes in horror, and saw a huge trunk breaking through the clouds and mist in the whiteness and moving slowly.
But it was too big to reveal its true appearance.
The child was so scared that he wanted to take a step back, but the old man quickly pressed his head with his palm and said sternly: "If you retreat now, you will not be able to take a single step on the road of cultivation in the future! Stand firm!"
Gu Can was so scared that tears suddenly flowed out of his eyes. This naughty child who had always been lawless did not even dare to cry.
The child could not control his body at all, his legs trembled, and his lips trembled.
The sea of clouds in the distance was boiling.
The misty white clouds seemed to be gradually fading.
So more black appeared in the sky, very long and huge, just like... the little loach raised in his own water tank, after it grew up rapidly?
This idea popped up in the child's mind for no reason.
At that moment, Gu Can was distracted and took a step forward involuntarily, stretching out his slender arms towards the sky.
A head as huge as a mountain slowly swam from the sea of clouds.
The child's eyes were bright, not afraid at all, and he even waved and shouted, "Come on, come on! You've grown up so big. No wonder I always feel that there will be fewer fish, shrimps and crabs thrown into the water tank the next day."
Shujianhu Jiejiang Zhenjun, who was standing behind Gu Can, was filled with mixed feelings, with both deep loss and jealousy, and spontaneous relief.
Although he certainly did not have such a great fortune, it was a blessing to have such a disciple, and it was definitely worth the trip!
The old man saw the head approaching with his own eyes and murmured, "A wonder of the world."
————
Wang Gu'an suddenly told the girl in black that he wanted to go into the house, and finally squatted in the corner with his back to her, hiding something in his palm.
After he went out, he said he was going to buy her a pottery jar for decocting medicine, which was missing at home.
After the boy in straw sandals left quickly, the girl glanced at an old jar standing in the dark corner.
And in fact, the girl's hearing was very good.
The object in his hand was a piece of broken porcelain, extremely sharp.