Pawn Crossing the River

It was already getting late, and Zhang Yuelu had no intention of rushing in the dark. Fortunately, there was an inn in the mountain market, so the two of them came to the inn here together.

The inn is really not big, there are not so many independent courtyards, there is only a two-story main building, the lobby on the first floor is used as a restaurant, and the second floor is the guest room.

The two of them had just entered the restaurant, no, they had just entered the lobby on the first floor of the inn. Zhang Yuelu's eyes fell on the wine jar behind the counter, and he suggested logically: "For the sake of my giving you a flying knife, let's Have a drink."

Qi Xuansu said in the tone of a storyteller: "After seeing the legendary black market, Zhang Qingxiao felt that his experience in the world had been improved and he had gained a lot, so he decided to reward himself."

Zhang Yuelu chuckled and said: "We might as well put it another way. We agreed to visit the mountain market together. Qi Tianyuan deserted halfway, leaving Zhang Yuelu to fight alone. In both emotional and logical reasons, he should be punished with three drinks."

While talking, the two of them came to the counter. Zhang Yuelu said directly: "Soju, two jars, half a catty."

"Two peace coins." The shopkeeper didn't give Qi Xuansu a chance to refuse. He took out two wine jars from behind the counter and placed them in front of the two of them.

Zhang Yuelu dropped two peace coins, then walked towards an empty table not far away with a wine jar in each hand.

Qi Xuansu could only follow Zhang Yuelu.

The two sat down facing each other. Zhang Yuelu opened the mud seal with one hand and drank directly from the wine jar because it was not big.

Qi Xuansu also followed Zhang Yuelu's example, patting open the mud seal of his jar and drinking from the wine jar.

The biggest change since Qi Xuansu met Zhang Yuelu is that he has a better drinking capacity. In addition, Qi Xuansu has some martial arts powers. After drinking most of the bottle, he is not very drunk at all.

Zhang Yuelu had already finished his bottle, stood up and came to the counter, asking: "Shopkeeper, are there any guest rooms?"

The shopkeeper's eyes turned around the two of them and said, "Yes, but there is only one room left."

Zhang Yuelu hesitated for a moment, then said: "Then rent a room, it will save money."

"One upper room, one peace coin." said the shopkeeper.

Zhang Yuelu took out a peace coin and placed it on the counter.

The shopkeeper put away the peace money and handed Zhang Yuelu a key: "Go up to the second floor and it's the innermost room to the east."

Zhang Yuelu took the key and walked directly to the second floor.

Qi Xuansu glanced at the back of Zhang Yuelu walking upstairs, then at the small jar of wine in front of him, and suddenly fell into a battle between heaven and man.

Then, under the playful look of the shopkeeper, Qi Xuansu decided to finish his wine first. He didn't know whether he didn't want to waste the peace money or if he wanted to use the wine to strengthen his courage.

After finishing the jar of wine, Qi Xuansu slowly stood up and walked towards the second floor under the meaningful gaze of the shopkeeper.

When he came outside the room, Qi Xuansu started fighting again. Should he knock on the door or go for a walk outside? Anyway, a night without sleep is nothing.

In the end, the jar of wine was not for nothing, so Qi Xuansu mustered up the courage and planned to knock on the door.

Then Qi Xuansu found that the door was not bolted from the inside. He just touched it lightly and the door opened.

Qi Xuansu walked into the room, where there was only one bed. Zhang Yuelu was lying on the bed fully clothed, except for taking off her shoes, and she was covered with her own cloak.

That's all. The key is that Zhang Yuelu's eyes are still open, with a faint light shining in them. Even without a lamp, Qi Xuansu can feel that Zhang Yuelu is staring at him.

Qi Xuansu only felt that his body was stiff, neither advancing nor retreating.

After a moment of stalemate, Zhang Yuelu broke the silence: "Are you going to stand there all night?"

Qi Xuansu coughed lightly: "A man and a woman alone, living together in the same room, is really..."

Zhang Yuelu interrupted softly: "When we went to the Western Regions and spent the night together in a snow nest, we didn't have such particularities. I think your thoughts are evil."

Qi Xuansu was speechless. He could only close the door and sit on the chair beside the bed, planning to spend the night like this.

Zhang Yuelu closed his eyes, and soon there was a slight sound of breathing.

Qi Xuansu was slightly startled.

She just slept peacefully, did she trust herself so much?

So do you deserve this trust?

Qi Xuansu looked at the bright moon outside the window and couldn't help but sigh.

In the midst of all kinds of thoughts, Qi Xuansu actually fell asleep.

He had a dream.

This time it’s not a witch in a spiritual mountain, but a place with green mountains and beautiful waters.

Quiet late at night, the moon flows over the river.

He took a small boat and went down the river.

A little awe-inspiring spirit, a thousand miles of joyful wind.

He sat in the middle of the boat, with one person sitting in the bow and one person sitting in the stern, so that the boat was just balanced.

Although he couldn't see clearly the faces of the two people, he felt close to them in his heart, and there was peace and tranquility in his heart.

When Qi Xuansu woke up, it was already bright. Then he found that he was covered with Zhang Yuelu's cloak, and he could even smell a faint fragrance.

The bed was clean, and Zhang Yuelu had disappeared.

Qi Xuansu thought of last night's dream again. It was a rare good dream since he joined the Qingping Society. The feeling of peace and tranquility left a deep impression on him, and there was even a little lingering lingering in his heart that he couldn't bear to forget.

At this moment, Zhang Yuelu pushed open the door and came in, holding a basket of steamed buns in his hand.

"You're awake." Zhang Yuelu put the buns on the table, "I bought them for you."

Qi Xuansu stood up and put Zhang Yuelu's cloak on the bed, washed his hands, sat down at the table, and then asked: "What about you?"

"I have the 'big grain technique'." Zhang Yue Luxu patted his lower abdomen.

Qi Xuansu asked in a joking tone: "Why are you so nice to me?"

In fact, Qi Xuansu had a vague hope in his heart that Zhang Yuelu treated him so special not because he wanted something from him, but because of who he was.

Zhang Yuelu did not answer directly, just said: "Eat yours."

Qi Xuansu was not polite and began to enjoy his breakfast.

Zhang Yuelu sat opposite Qi Xuansu, watching Qi Xuansu eating the buns with his hands on his chin, and asked: "How does it taste?"

"Not bad." Qi Xuansu felt a little uncomfortable when Zhang Yuelu looked at him, and his expression became gentle.

Zhang Yuelu said: "I remember when I went to the Western Regions, you could eat cold dry food with cold water, so the 'not bad' in your mouth probably means it's not very tasty."

Qi Xuansu didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Just because I'm not particular about what I eat doesn't mean I can't tell the difference between good and bad. My taste is still very normal. How about you try one too?"

"No." Zhang Yuelu refused, "If you want to have good looks, fasting is the basic condition."

"I thought you didn't care about this." Qi Xuansu continued to eat steamed buns.

Zhang Yuelu said: "Why don't I care? In a few decades, others will be mature and mature, and I will have to become an old woman with gray hair? I think you are very cruel."

Neither of them came from an aristocratic family, so they naturally had no rules about eating and sleeping. They just chatted and laughed after breakfast, left the inn, left the mountain market, and continued on their way.

The next section of the journey was uneventful for the two of them. The ancient road was long and there were only a few pedestrians except for caravans and caravans.

Qi Xuansu has not reached the stage where he can practice walking, sitting or lying down, so he just talks to Zhang Yuelu when he is on the way.

Zhang Yuelu was a genius, but he was not a peerless genius like Xuansheng and Donghuang. Human energy is limited. When Zhang Yuelu puts most of her energy into her own cultivation and various Taoist errands, it is difficult for her to take care of other aspects. Therefore, Zhang Yuelu is not proficient in various classics of the three religions and cannot He quotes scriptures casually and has no talent. He also doesn’t know much about music, chess, calligraphy and painting.

It happened that the same was true for Qi Xuansu. Qi Xuansu had spent most of his time hanging out in the world since he left the Wanxiang Taoist Palace, and had no connection with the romantic world. In the eyes of many people, he was just a pure rough man, even if he didn't look like a rough man.

So when the two of them are together, they still have many common topics.

For example, neither of them knows how to play Go, but can only play the relatively simple Xuansheng card; there are no anecdotes or allusions to a dish or a pot of wine, and they can only roughly comment on whether it tastes delicious or not; they don't like profound classics, but they do. I like to read some simple story books.

For another example, both of them like firearms, but know nothing about musical instruments; both of them are cash-strapped, have little spare money, and are somewhat poor, so naturally they cannot learn anything romantic.

Talented people and beauties played the qin, read the Golden Scripture, listened to Kunqu opera, played chess, drank tea, and recited poems and poems. It was like spring and snow, and they were considered the upper class.

They played with swords, read playbooks, listened to new plays, played cards and drank, joked and joked, which was another way of life that was not considered obscene.

Qi Xuansu originally regretted agreeing to Zhang Yuelu to accompany her home, but now she has no regrets at all and can only enjoy it.

On this day, the two of them walked until dark and did not see half of the village. I saw layers of dark clouds approaching in the eastern sky, and the sky became dark in an instant. The climate in Shuzhou is warm. Even if it is winter, there is no ice or snow, just like the late autumn in Jiangbei. Looking at this situation, it looks like a cold rain is about to fall.

Qi Xuansu pointed to a high ground not far from the ancient road: "Qingxiao, there is a temple in the woods over there. Let's spend the night there."

Zhang Yuelu's eyesight was better than Qi Xuansu's, and he had already seen that it was a ruined temple that had been abandoned for a long time, and said: "You said that you would rather sleep in a cemetery than live in a ruined temple. Why has it changed this time?"

Qi Xuansu said with a smile: "The first reason why I say this is because the ancient temple has been abandoned for a long time, and it is extremely easy for evil spirits to occupy the magpie nest. If you rush in, you may be cultivated into a demon. Coveting flesh and blood, or being possessed by ghosts

Absorb yang energy. The second reason is that bandits who block roads and rob often stay in ruined temples. If they break in rashly, they will be killed by the bandits. But for an expert like you who is in the stage of returning to his true nature, why should he be afraid of ghosts and robbers? "

"Then let's go to the ancient temple and spend the night." Zhang Yuelu went first.

The two came to the ancient temple and walked into the main hall. They saw a statue of the Great Sun Tathagata enshrined in the hall. However, the golden body was in ruins, the incense table had fallen over, and there were dust and cobwebs between the beams and pillars.

At this moment, the cold night rain began to fall, the sound was not loud, a bit like spring rain, rustling like eating mulberry leaves.

Water was leaking everywhere in the ruined temple. Zhang Yuelu found a dry place and used his true energy to sweep away the dust and cobwebs. He took out a piece of furoshiki from the sumeru object and put it on the ground, and asked Qi Xuansu to sit down.

The two sat back to back, listening to the sound of rain outside the temple, and no one spoke for a while.

Zhang Yuelu hugged his knees with his hands, not knowing what he was thinking.

Qi Xuansu felt strange in his heart, and even his breathing became lighter.