An alchemy furnace fell from the sky

"Master Xu..."

"Uncle Jiang, just call me Xu Fu." Xu Fu said a little embarrassedly. Since he was a child, no one has ever called him son. At first glance, it sounds really awkward.

"Then I'll be a boss and call you Xiao Xu." Uncle Jiang smiled with his beard curled up, which was very interesting. While introducing some of the customs and customs of Changle Town, he led Xu Fu to a place where the lights were still on. Lamp shop.

Pushing the door open, you will see a large hall filled with tables and chairs. There are countless lamps lit around, illuminating the entire hall as if it were daytime. Even though it was well into the night, there were still two tables of people drinking here.

"This is the largest restaurant in Changle Town." Uncle Jiang stood at the door and introduced.

"Hey, Mr. Jiang, you're here!" A waiter who looked about the same age as Xu Fu saw Mr. Jiang and hurriedly greeted him.

"Stick to the old rules, add some special dishes to this little brother." Uncle Jiang arranged with familiarity, and found an empty table nearby and sat down.

Before I had even had a few sips of tea, the food and wine were brought out one after another, four plates of cold ones and six plates of hot ones.

Xu Fu swallowed hard. He had never seen such a huge battle. I heard that Huang Youcai's meal was only six dishes. He could actually eat a large banquet with ten dishes in his lifetime. He was a little excited for a while. Forgot to use chopsticks.

When Uncle Jiang saw Xu Fu's appearance, he smiled slightly, picked up a piece of honey-glazed meat and put it into the bowl in front of Xu Fu. Only then did Xu Fu come back to his senses.

"Then I'm welcome." Xu Fu picked up his chopsticks and started eating. Although I ate a hare before, it didn't have much meat, so it wasn't useful at all. Ever since I took the Qixin Dan, I don’t know why, but I’ve eaten so much that it’s scary.

Uncle Jiang took a few bites casually and then stopped using his chopsticks. Although he was worried that the young master at home would not eat much dinner at night, at this age, even if he skipped one or two meals, he still had no appetite.

Looking at Xu Fu again, he put the vegetables into a bowl and ate in small bites at first. Seeing Uncle Jiang put down his chopsticks, Xu Fu stopped pretending to be reserved and wolfed down the food, which made Uncle Jiang envious.

I have to say that the skill of the chef at this restaurant is much better than that of Lao Wang. Not only is the presentation of the dishes very exquisite, but the taste is also unparalleled.

After finishing the entire table of food in a hurry, Xu Fu looked at the empty plate with some unfinished content. When he saw Uncle Jiang staring at him, he smiled a little sheepishly.

"It's good to be young! Are you full?" Uncle Jiang smiled and asked again.

"It would be better if we had some steamed buns and rice." Xu Fu touched his belly and said a little embarrassedly.

……

Xu Fu and Jiang Bo were the last two to leave the restaurant. It wasn't that Xu Fu couldn't eat anymore, but... the restaurant ran out of food. The restaurant prepares a lot of meals every day, and usually there is some leftover for the cooks and waiters to make midnight snacks. Xu Fu's meal made the shopkeeper smile, the waiter frowned, and Uncle Jiang was dumbfounded.

"Sure enough, he is a strange person!" Uncle Jiang sighed in his heart. He has seen a lot of ups and downs at his age, but this is the first time he has met such a capable young man.

Although he was not very full, he ate happily. However, when Xu Fu walked out of the restaurant, he suddenly became worried. How much work would he have to do to feed himself with such a large meal?

After the restaurant closed, the inn was the only one with some lights on in Changle Town.

"Uncle Jiang?" The two were walking on the street, and Xu Fu suddenly asked, "What is the most profitable thing to do in our town?"

"Earn money?" Uncle Jiang was stunned. He didn't expect Xu Fu to ask such a question. Then he quickly figured it out and said with a smile: "If you want to make money quickly, of course you have to catch horse thieves."

"Horse thief?" Xu Fu remembered that Zheng Quan had suspected that he was a horse thief.

"There is a Horseshoe Mountain forty miles southeast from here. There is a group of thieves living on the mountain. They come down from the mountain every now and then to plunder. The big families in the town teamed up with the landowners of the nearby villages to pay and posted a reward. If the horse thief could be caught, the reward would be The gold is quite rich." Uncle Jiang said.

"Are there many horse thieves very powerful?" Xu Fu asked. Although he wanted to make money, he did not want to risk his life.

"Of course they are powerful. Every time these people go down the mountain, they ride fast horses and carry sharp knives. They kill people without blinking an eye. People from all over the country are frightened. They have been complaining for several years. There is no other way but to donate more." I hope someone can get rid of these thieves." Uncle Jiang said as he led Xu Fu towards the inn not far away. Just as he was about to settle Xu Fu down, he suddenly heard the sound of eager horse hooves.

The only light in the entire town quickly went out.

"Why are you here so late at night?" Uncle Jiang's expression changed drastically.

"What's wrong?" Xu Fu asked hurriedly.

"The horse thieves are coming!" Uncle Jiang's voice was a little panicked. He pulled Xu Fu forward quickly and looked around for a hiding place under the moonlight.

The sound of horse hooves came from far away, and within a dozen breaths, a black shadow chased behind the two of them.

"Ge Laozi, you have to carry money for gambling and robbery! You two, do you want money or your life?"

A rough voice came from behind the two of them.

"Your Majesty, calm down, we really don't have any money!" Uncle Jiang pulled Xu Fu behind him, turned around and saluted the man on the horse, and replied in a trembling voice. He was used to bringing some money with him on weekdays, but he spent it all in one meal, leaving no scraps left and giving it directly to the waiter.

"My dear, if I can't come up with the money, I'll send you two to see the King of Hell!" the horse thief shouted angrily.

Xu Fu raised his head and saw a strong man sitting crookedly on a tall horse, holding a thick-backed machete in his hand. A thick and long scar on his face looked particularly ferocious in the moonlight.

"Uncle Jiang, is this horse thief valuable?" Xu Fu asked Uncle Jiang quietly.

"Ah?" Uncle Jiang was thinking hard about how to hold back this horse thief. When he heard Xu Fu's question, he didn't understand what Xu Fu meant.

"What's valuable? Hand over all the valuable things." The scar-faced horse thief seemed impatient. His eyes lit up when he vaguely heard the word "money". He pointed his long knife at Xu Fu and shouted angrily.

"Brother, there is something really valuable." Xu Fu said with a naive smile.

"What? Take it out quickly."

"This." Xu Fu reached out and handed it to the horse thief as if he was holding something in his hand.

The horse thief did not doubt that he was there and reached out to pick him up.

Xu Fu took advantage of the strong man's hand, grabbed his wrist, pulled him off the horse with a little force, and threw him to the ground. The strong man fell head first on the solid road, simply Fainted.

In the blink of an eye, the arrogant scar-faced horse thief was lying on the ground like a puddle of mud. This surprised Uncle Jiang, who had seen big scenes, and he took several deep breaths before he recovered.

"It's amazing! It's such a good trick. It turns out that a hero comes from a young age." Jiang Bo praised.

Uncle Jiang immediately went to find someone to tie up the horse thief, and arranged for Xu Fu to rest in a rather exquisite courtyard.

Xu Fu lay on the warm and soft bed and couldn't help rolling around a few times. It was so comfortable. This was the first time in his life that he slept on such a comfortable bed.

What makes Xu Fu the happiest is that he caught a horse thief tonight. He was a little nervous when he took action before. He didn't expect the horse thief with a notorious reputation to be so weak. This is a great thing for Xu Fu. From now on, if he catches one every three to five, he will probably No need to worry about eating.

Xu Fu slept peacefully, but he didn't know that someone was restless at this moment.

The lone thief was caught. Because it happened in the middle of the night, most people in the town didn't know about it, but that didn't include the two richest and most powerful families in the town - the Ji family and the Zheng family.

Although it was already late at night, the heads of the two families and several respected elders in the town were sitting in the same hall, which was brightly lit.

"Mr. Ji, I heard that the man who caused the trouble was brought back by Mr. Ji. He was also accompanied by Mr. Jiang, the manager of your house, when he got into trouble. Does the Ji family have to give an explanation?" A thin, middle-aged man with a gloomy face and short stature was asked. The man said in a deep voice.

"Getting into trouble? What trouble did you get into?" Ji Jian looked calm, took a sip of the hot tea in the cup, and asked Zheng Xing, the head of the Zheng family, who came to the house to ask for guilt in the middle of the night.

"What trouble did you get into? Do you know why the horse thieves haven't come to Changle Town in the past month?" Zheng Xing was already holding his breath. When he heard this, he became even more angry and his voice became a little louder. Although the two families usually fight secretly Quite a bit, but his face was still peaceful, and he had never been as red-faced as he was tonight.

"Brother Zheng, please speak frankly." Ji Jian said calmly. He was obviously very good at nourishing qi.

"This month, I have taken many risks to negotiate with the leader of the horse thief Zhu Gang. Yesterday, we reached an agreement. As long as each household pays two taels of silver per month, the horse thief will never set foot in Changle Town again. I spent a lot of money The good thing that took so much thought was ruined by your good son!" Zheng Xing stood up at the end and pointed at Ji Jian, feeling extremely excited.

"Fart!" Ji Jian's voice was like a bell, and he slapped the tea table beside him, causing the teacup on the table to make a crisp sound. Everyone in the hall was shocked when the head of the Ji family, who had always been gentle and elegant, uttered dirty words. Zheng Xing even took half a step back unconsciously.

Although the Zheng family has developed rapidly in recent years and there are faint signs of competing with the Zheng family, after all, the Ji family has been operating in Changle Town for several generations and has a profound background. Seeing Ji Jian getting angry at this time, no one in the hall dared to come out. Voice.

"Things that benefit the people? Your Zheng family has a big business, so of course you don't care about these two taels of silver every month. Do you know how much money an ordinary family can earn after working hard for a year? When the harvest is good, it is only more than 20 taels! You let The people of the whole town used a year's harvest to feed those murderous horse thieves, and they still boasted that it was something that benefited the people? Ridiculous!" Ji Jian's words were so correct that a faint smile appeared on Zheng Xing's forehead. Sweating, shining brightly under the light of the lamp beads.

"I am also thinking about the wealth and life of the whole town. Since Master Ji is arrogant and unwilling to bow to the horse thief, then I, Mr. Zheng, have to ask Master Ji. Now that I have caught the horse thief, I have completely offended Zhu San. Dao, there will be a large number of horse thieves coming to Changle Town in the next two days, what will we do then?"

"The water will come to cover us, and the soldiers will come to stop us." Ji Jian said coldly.

"The horse thieves are skilled with swords and horses, and they are strong. What are you going to do to stop them? Are you going to risk Changle Town's young man's life to stop them?" Zheng Xing asked sharply.

"Otherwise, what can we do?" Ji Jian thought for a moment and sighed.

"We must not confront the horse thief head-on. In my opinion, we should first release the horse thief and entertain him, and then prepare more money and food to appease the wrath of Zhu Sandao. In addition, we should tie up the person who caught the horse thief and hand him over to Zhu. Three swords to deal with it. In this way, there may be a turning point." After Zheng Xing finished speaking, he stared at Ji Jian, waiting for his reaction.

Ji Jian thought for a long time and sighed: "My Ji family has been running here for several generations. If it is lost at my hands, I will really be sorry for my ancestors."

"Brother Ji understands righteousness well and is able to bend and stretch. He is truly a blessing to Changle Town!" Zheng Xing also took a breath after hearing this and smiled slightly.

"If I really let the horse thieves step on my head and still have to smile at me, and let the Ji family become the hawks and dogs of the horse thieves, then even my ancestors would not be able to rest in peace." Ji Jian said slowly, with a tone of voice. The determination is extremely strong.

"What do you want? Do you want to strike a stone with an egg?" Zheng Xinggang felt a little relaxed again. If the Ji family really fights with the horse thieves, it may not be so easy for the Zheng family to be alone. If the horse thieves are provoked, maybe they will Zheng Xing was naturally reluctant to do so if it affected Chi Yu.

"Whether it's an egg hitting a stone, or whether it's blood flowing like a river, the men of the Ji family are strong and strong, and they will never beg for mercy from thieves."

"You Ji Jian said so righteously, of course it was not your Ji family who died!"

"If there is a large-scale attack by horse thieves, our Ji family will definitely bear the brunt!" After Ji Jian finished speaking, he ignored Zheng Xing and turned around to leave the hall.

When everyone in the hall saw that the rightful owner was gone, they all turned their attention to Zheng Xing.

"When the horse thieves come to kill me, I hope Mr. Ji still has such courage!" Zheng Xing shouted loudly, and after finishing speaking, he flicked his sleeves and turned around to leave.

At this time, the moon was setting in the west, and a few chickens and dogs could be heard faintly, mixed with some babies crying, making this seemingly ordinary night seem particularly quiet.

Ji Jian did not return to his bedroom to rest, but went alone to the family's ancestral hall and the highest point in Changle Town - the Star-Zhaing Tower.

The memorial tablets of the Ji family's ancestors are enshrined here, and the incense continues all day long. This building is over a hundred years old and existed before Ji Jian was born. It is said that his grandfather spent a lot of money to hire a skilled craftsman and dozens of young people to build it over several months. The ancestors of the Ji family can be closer to the sky, and their descendants will be blessed by gods.

Ji Jian walked up the smooth escalator. He had been to this Immortal Tower countless times, but he never felt as complicated as this time.

Slowly stepping onto the last floor, in addition to the familiar layout, there is also a familiar person here. It is none other than the eldest son Ji Changhe!

Seeing his son here, Ji Jian finally had a smile on his face. Chang He had been raised by his side since he was a child, and Ji Jian watched him grow up little by little. Not only was he very angry, he was also good at both civil and military affairs, and he was quite famous in the town. With such prestige, it should not be a problem to take charge of the Ji family in the future.

"Dad." Ji Changhe heard footsteps and saw his father coming upstairs, and he hurriedly bowed and saluted.

"What are you doing here?" Ji Jian said, walking to the incense burner, lighting a stick of incense and respectfully bowing to the ancestor's tablet.

"Think about the enemy." Ji Changhe said: "I heard what dad and the head of the Zheng family just said."

"Oh? Then do you think dad's decision was right or wrong?"

"Of course it's right. The head of the Zheng family has such a whim. How can the appetite of a horse thief be so easily filled? Using money to serve a thief is like putting out a fire with salary. The fire will never be extinguished if the salary is not used up." Ji Changhe said calmly.

"You can see this at your age. That old guy is very shrewd, and you can naturally see that he is so devoted to peace, so he naturally has his own little thoughts." Ji Jian sighed, walked to the side, and opened two doors. Through the wooden windows, most of Changle Town can be seen, and the cool night breeze blows on the face, refreshing the tired spirit.

"Dad, be careful of catching a cold." Ji Changhe quickly took off his cloak and put it on his father.

"I'm not that delicate yet." Ji Jian smiled, but did not refuse his son's kindness, and then asked: "What are your thoughts on dealing with horse thieves?"

"All his efforts were accomplished in one battle!" Ji Changhe said in a deep voice with a firm expression.