Sword comes

As the night grew darker, tick-tock hooves resounded in the alley of flowing water outside the main entrance of Qiulu Inn. Mrs. Liu stood alone outside the door, with two gold ornaments in the shape of tiger charms hanging from her waist.

A carriage stopped outside the door, and a middle-aged man wearing a literati green shirt stepped down. He was not angry and majestic, revealing a bit of Confucian demeanor, but the man looked tired at this time, and smiled when he saw the beautiful woman Meaning, "I kept you waiting, let's go in and talk."

The woman turned around and led the way with a lukewarm expression.

The man glanced at the tiger talisman on her waist, frowned and said, "Need to be so nervous?"

The woman sneered and said: "My place is just a small inn, not comparable to your lord's official residence. The sign screen wall was just demolished two days ago, so I can only swallow my anger and say nothing. Now the culprit is still bringing a large gang Disciples and grandchildren, if you come to live here, I can only obediently pinch my nose and serve these immortal masters with a smile on my face. All this is due to the county guard’s good governance..."

The man raised his voice slightly, "Okay, Jiahui, I know you're angry, but I'm not much better now, for the ceremony of offering sacrifices to the water temple, I've been busy from early morning until now, and my throat is still burning Well, the reason why you rest here for a while instead of returning directly to the sheriff's mansion is to cleanse your ears for a while, not to listen to your complaints."

The beautiful woman's eyes were resentful, but after all, she knew the general situation and knew how to advance and retreat. She quickly cleared up her little girlish emotions and changed the subject, "You have been busy for half a year for this festival this time. You have to show off. The old Inspector was ill. Although he couldn't come in person, his confidantes did show up to show his face. In addition to those famous writers, famous monks and hermits, it was enough to save face. You Lizi, the private support from our county is enough to enshrine the two gods of rivers and waters elsewhere, right?"

The man nodded, "That's the truth."

The woman asked in a low voice: "Then our Lord Hanshijiangshuishen finally gave you favor this time? Promised to help you fight for the position of governor?"

With his hands behind his hands, the man walked into an elegant and quiet courtyard familiarly, shook his head and sighed: "That casual cultivator really appeared at the wrong time, and he moved his whole body with just one hair. He wants to avenge the people who died in vain, so he came to you!" In the Autumn Reed Inn, I found the cultivator of the Lingyun sect. In a big battle, the monk of the Lingyun sect was seriously injured, and even the screen wall of your inn was destroyed. In fact, if the matter only ends here, I can still control the situation For example, as the magistrate of a county, I can report to the imperial court, put the crime on that loose cultivator, and remove the Aura Sect monk who caused trouble before, so as to appease the Aura Sect that is deeply rooted in our Huang Ting country, but At the same time, I will secretly release that loose cultivator, at least to chase and encircle him in this county. It is just a superficial effort to delay the time and let him take the opportunity to fly away. It's not difficult."

Speaking of this, the man showed a trace of annoyance, "But it happened before the Hanshijiang Sacrifice Ceremony, and the attention of all the people is not to mention, who doesn't know that the river god became a god in the early days, thanks to a patriarch of the Lingyun sect. Helping each other to gain a firm foothold? The Lingyun faction has carefully maintained this kind of incense for more than 200 years, and has never troubled the water god with anything. On the contrary, in these 200 years, they visit the door once a year with heavy gifts, eliminating a catastrophe at the mountain gate , it has never been broken, so who do you think the Lord Water God will lean towards when dealing with this disturbance that has disturbed the county?"

The woman looked at the sheriff who was pacing around in circles and refused to sit down, handed over a cup of hot tea, and jokingly said: "My lord sheriff, can you sit down and talk, if you keep wandering around like this, my family will die Going dizzy."

After the man in the blue shirt sat down, he laughed at himself and said, "I found out about the hidden location of that casual cultivator three days ago. There might be one more life left. Jiahui, do you know what that Hanshijiang Water God said to me after he showed his golden body in the Water God Temple today?"

The woman shook her head, of course she couldn't figure out what a righteous god was thinking.

As the head of the Qiulu Inn, the woman's sect is not much inferior to the Lingyun sect, but each of the more powerful sects on the mountain has its own fixed site, the land of the three states in the north of Huang Tingguo , Lingyun Sect is the leader of dozens of practice schools, large and small.

However, regardless of the woman's family background, or the monks of the Lingyun sect who can walk sideways up and down the mountains in the north of Huangting Kingdom, they are extremely awed by the water god of the river that the emperor personally conferred.

After all, Huang Tingguo was not a great dynasty like the Song Clan of the Great Li Dynasty or the Gao Clan of the Great Sui Dynasty. The Huang Ting Hong Clan was one of the twelve vassal clans of the Great Sui Dynasty since the founding of the country, and there were only a handful of mountains and rivers that could be enshrined.

To put it bluntly, even if the Great Sui Dynasty released the confinement, Huang Tingguo and the Hong family were allowed to award rewards and command the gods of mountains and rivers, Huang Tingguo did not have this kind of background, because the territory was limited, and secondly, it was "separated by the town" of the fairy family on the mountain , has mastered most of the blessed lands with outstanding aura.

Therefore, Jiang Hezhengshen, who controls the water transportation of a place, is an important role that needs to be courted by the county guard and even the governor.

The man put down his teacup and gently rubbed his temples with both hands, "The water god told me to my face, 'I found out the day before the sheriff knew where the loose cultivator was hiding. Although the sheriff doesn't want to enforce the law impartially, we Since he is the God of Cold Food and River Water, he must abide by the rules of not easily interfering with the secular officialdom. In addition, the governor of the county has been diligent and meritorious in governing the local area over the years. This trouble will hinder my meditation practice, so I will not make a small report to the court.'”

The woman's face paled, "Is this God Jiang implying that he won't help you take a step up?"

The man smiled bitterly: "This is still based on the premise that I will arrest that person tonight."

The woman felt a little regretful, "I shouldn't have vented my anger on you just now."

She immediately said angrily: "The God of Cold Food River has been well-known for hundreds of years. When it comes to his own interests, isn't he just helping his relatives and not helping his relatives? The people who are injured by casual cultivators are only three generations of disciples of the Lingyun Sect. Dare to see the sex in the Chenghuang Temple, covet the beauty, first kill the couple outside the city, and later find out that a child has escaped, and even chase after the night.

Zhuangzi killed more than [-] people in his family, and he killed them all. After such a brutal act happened to be accidentally smashed by that casual cultivator, before avenging the family, he wisely chose to spread the news. Even the notices were posted at the entrance of your government office. After Sanxiu finished these, he found the Qiulu Inn and fought the murderer.His water god's eyeliner is inside and outside the county, how could he not know it? "

On the contrary, the man was not as aggrieved and resentful as the woman, and he just sighed softly: "Heaven governs the laws of the country and human relationships, and practitioners pursue the Dao of heaven and earth. What are the laws of the country and human relationships in front of Qi practitioners? Take a step back and say, yes The God of Cold Food River, the law of the country is not completely useless, but in the hands of me, a fourth-rank official, it is useless, in the hands of the old governor, it is somewhat useful, and only in the hands of His Majesty the Emperor."

The woman murmured softly: "What if your county magistrate is in the Dali Dynasty?"

The man's eyes froze, and he slapped the handle of the chair heavily, "Liu Jiahui, don't talk nonsense! No matter how powerful the Dali country is, it is also from a barbarian background. If it is really ruled by the Dali Song family in the north, it must be the way to cut off the gentleness and righteousness in the north of Aquarius Continent." day!"

The woman exclaimed angrily: "If you are really strong, why don't you simply disobey the will of the water god and protect that casual cultivator to the end? I don't believe that this water god, who claims to have hands and eyes, can really cover the sky in the north of Huang Ting Kingdom Blinding the sun, it really doesn’t work, at worst, I’ll move out of the sect’s influence, and just come and fight with this local snake of the Lingyun faction, and let’s break my wrists!”

The man pointed at the woman, and said with an angry smile: "How old is a person, and he is still so childish and ridiculous. Do you think that Emperor Dali has come here smoothly all the way? In our county, even In this way, imagine the vast territory of the Dali Dynasty, how will you weigh the pros and cons? As the king of a country, the filth and forbearance in it are absolutely beyond your imagination."

The woman was silent.

The man took a sip of tea, leaned back on the chair, looked exhausted, tugged at his neckband, and said to himself: "I am a disciple of Confucianism, so I will cultivate myself and keep my family in order, so I will try my best to abide by the rules, but I am still an official of Huang Tingguo. There are millions of people in the territory under my jurisdiction, and I need to help them live a peaceful life with enough food and clothing, so I will not act as an official with benevolence, justice and morality in everything. Because I need to bow my head and bow down and ask for magic weapons from the immortal forces to resist all kinds of evil spirits. Drought and flood natural disasters require visits to give gifts, praying to those gods of mountains, rivers and rivers whose eyes are higher than the top, to keep as much luck as possible in their own county. Whether it is the poor people at the foot of the mountain, or the wealthy gentry, they suffer a loss and are punished. Immortal masters insulted me, I can only sew and mend, tear down the east wall and mend the west wall, try to appease."

The man closed his eyes, "If it wasn't for being such a dog, I would have resigned or lost my official hat a long time ago. In this way, when the casual cultivator posted the first notice, he would be caught by someone who took the initiative to talk to the water god." The airy county guard took it down with his troops and monks. If it wasn’t like this, there would be no tombstone after the casual cultivator died tonight. Of course, everyone is dead. Is there a tombstone after death? Is there anyone toasting? , does anyone remember the kind deeds he did during his lifetime, what difference does it make?"

The magistrate stood up and went to the window, and said in a low voice, "Two years ago in Huang Tingguo Jialu, that is, ten years ago, Hezhou and the other three prefectures trembled continuously at midnight, and Hezhou was the most serious. All fell, and more than [-] people died. In the next month, half a decade or a few days, until the New Year's Eve, all the big rivers in the north of the Hanshi River were flooded, and the waves were turbulent. Nearly a hundred people drowned in our county alone. Jialu four In the eighth year of Jialu, the water network in Hengzhou in the southwest was criss-crossed, and countless boats were moored. On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, a fire broke out, spreading to more than a thousand boats and more than ten thousand human remains. to ashes."

The man's face was sad, and his lips moved slightly, "Are these natural disasters really natural disasters? The common people don't know the truth, I know."

The man turned his head and looked at the woman, "I even know that before he was arrested and died, that casual cultivator would definitely call me a lackey of the Lingyun Sect and the Hanshi River God, and hate me more than they hate them."

The woman hesitated to speak.

The man's face gradually became calm, "I can already confirm that after the death of this casual cultivator, there will soon be rumors and rumors deliberately spread by those wealthy families in the county, saying that I have worked so hard to please the Lingyun sect. Ku found the monk's hiding place and besieged and killed him."

The woman sighed, "Probably so."

The man smiled and said, "I didn't say this for you, but for myself..."

In the old well of the Qiulu Inn, although white mist continuously rises and spreads around, the water level is actually extremely low, and the inner wall is covered with dark green moss. A tall man wearing armor and holding a short halberd stepped forward with one step. There was a long beard growing on each cheek of the man, other than that, he was no different from ordinary people.

The man looked around, but he didn't pay attention to the young man who was sitting quietly and breathing in the gazebo. He rose from the ground and landed in the courtyard where the Lord Sheriff stayed, and said in a loud voice: "Mr. Wei, that casual cultivator His head had already been chopped off by my own hands, and there were many outsiders who were watching the theater at that time. I hate that guy who didn't know what to do. He yelled at Wei Junshou during his lifetime. It was very ugly. Er Jing, I was so angry that I dared to pour dirty water on my lord. I wanted to give him a happy death, but I really wanted to fight for Wei Junshou, so I poked a few holes in him before chopping off his head. It's over, after I go back, I will report the situation to my lord, don't worry, I will never let that guy's bastard words before his death ruin the friendship between you and my lord."

This direct subordinate of the God of Cold Food River Water left after speaking, without any delay.

The woman stood blankly at the gate of the courtyard.

According to the casual cultivator's behavior style and strong temperament, according to the man in the house, it is normal to scold him a lackey before he dies, but it is very uncomfortable to chatter endlessly in front of the Lingyun faction and many forces in this county. It made sense, because the man had had private contact with him before, and both sides knew what they were thinking.If it is strange for a man, as a sheriff, to betray and betray a monk, then it is also abnormal for a casual cultivator to make unnecessary last words.

"What I thought before was that I still underestimated him."

Standing at the window, the governor of the county, who has practiced Gongmen for many years, understands the way faster than women. He said softly: "There is chivalry at the foot of the mountain."