The master said not to judge people by their appearance

Central Beijing has just experienced a great change, with heavy casualties and constant crying at night, and white flags with the word "Dian" written on them can be seen every few households.

Counterpoint to this grief, however, is an all-night party in some places.

After escaping from the dead, some people were terrified, while others wanted to let off steam, indulge in wine and sex, and enjoy the pleasures of the world while they were still alive. Therefore, the business of the Qinlou Chu Pavilion was particularly prosperous tonight.

Tianxianglou is not just a restaurant. In fact, it is more famous for its musicians who sing songs, and the refreshments and drinks are just side dishes.Tianxiang Tower was also full tonight, and if Xie Yunlan hadn't been famous enough, he might not have been able to book a seat.

The other private rooms were full of singing, dancing and laughter, but this one was quiet, there was no musician, only a table full of wine and food, and they came to eat seriously.

"Guest officer, your order is ready!" The waiter brought the last dish to the table, which was the purpose of their visit tonight, cherry wine.

Shen Fan took a sip with a spoon, and Xie Yunlan asked, "How is it?"

The cherries are boiled until they are soft and rotten, and the slightly sour red juice melts into the sweet fermented rice. The sourness and sweetness are neutralized to form a just right wonderful taste.

"Not bad." Shen Fan took another bite.

The clerk laughed and said, "Naturally! Our Tianxianglou's cherry wine and sweet-scented osmanthus wine are famous desserts in the capital!"

"And sweet-scented osmanthus wine?" Shen Fan asked.

"Yes! The sweet-scented osmanthus honey is added, which is sweeter than cherry wine. Would you like to have a taste?" the waiter suggested.

Shen Fan looked at Xie Yunlan, Xie Yunlan nodded, and the waiter said: "Guest officer wait a moment!" Then he stepped back and informed the back chef to prepare the dishes.

Shen Fan continued to eat other dishes, only the two of them came tonight, Wang Tai wanted to have dinner with him, but Xie Yunlan ruthlessly refused.

Although there were few people dining, they ordered a large table of dishes, most of which were desserts, something Xie Yunlan didn't like to eat.He didn't move his chopsticks much, he just ordered a pot of wine and had a few drinks.

Shen Fan took a bite of everything, and took another bite if he liked it, but he would not eat more, at most three bites of a dish, which was very wasteful.Xie Yunlan is not short of money, but he also doesn't like to waste food. Looking at these dishes that have hardly been touched, he packs them up and gives them to Wang Tai.

Shen Fan tasted it around, and then started to eat cherry wine, he probably liked it very much, this was the only dish he was going to finish.

He is not as bold and bold as ordinary men when he eats. He eats meat and drinks in big mouthfuls. He eats in small bites with a spoon, chews slowly, is gentle and elegant, like a kitten drinking water, quiet and almost silent. Changing his face, such ordinary trivial things as eating have become pleasing to the eye, even more beautiful than those performances of musicians.

Xie Yunlan was distracted for a while, Shen Fan finished the cherry wine and put down the bowl in satisfaction, but he didn't notice it yet.

"What are you looking at?" Shen Fan stretched out his hand and waved it in front of Xie Yunlan's eyes, with a simple and puzzled expression.

When he took the first bite of dessert, he returned to his usual appearance, and the strange coldness and shortness in the evening seemed like an illusion.

Xie Yunlan came back to his senses, he coughed in disguise, and changed the subject, "What did Yuan Shuo tell you?"

"Didn't say anything." Shen Fan thought for a while, "He asked me how long he would live."

"How long?" Xie Yunlan asked.

"Less than three months." Shen Fan said, "If he didn't do these things, he could have lived to be eighty or ninety."

"Eighty or ninety, less than three months..." Xie Yunlan was a little bit embarrassed. Yuan Shuo tried his best to not only fail to get what he wanted, but even lost what he had.

After the sigh, there was a headache. Once Yuan Shuo died, the imperial power would change, and there might be another chaos in Beijing.

That's all, anyway, Yuan Shuo is not dead yet, so let's ignore it for now.

Xie Yunlan asked again: "Was it Yuan Shuo or the demon who did all of this?"

Xie Yunlan didn't believe Yuan Shuo's tearful explanation.

"It's both." Shen Fan said, "People have evil thoughts in their hearts, and reason and human nature will form the shackles that restrain them. For most people, they will never put such evil thoughts into action in their lives, but Demons will infinitely magnify the desires in people's hearts, to the point that they cannot accommodate any conscience, kindness, or love, and eventually the demonic nature will devour human nature, and people will degenerate into demons."

Xie Yunlan concluded: "The demon opened that lock."

Shen Fan nodded: "In the final analysis, this idea must be there first, so that the inner demon can take advantage of it."

Xie Yunlan was silent for a moment. From this point of view, Yuan Shuo was not completely innocent in this matter.

But... Xie Yunlan doesn't think he is a bad person, but he is not a perfect and good person, and occasionally he has dark thoughts that cannot be seen in his heart.

Human nature is inherently complicated, good and evil go hand in hand, according to what Shen Fan said, who in the world is invulnerable to demons?

He asked: "Is there nothing that mortals can do in the face of inner demons? Can they only be controlled by it?"

"No." Shen Fan looked at him, "You have soul fire."

Soul fire?Xie Yunlan thought of something, and was about to ask again, when he suddenly heard footsteps outside the door, so he stopped first.

"Guest officer, your sweet-scented osmanthus rice wine!" The man came in with a tray.

The sweet-scented osmanthus fermented rice is different from the pink color of the cherry fermented glutinous rice, because it has a light golden color when mixed with honey, and the crushed sweet-scented osmanthus is sprinkled on the fermented glutinous rice, which is as beautiful as scattered stars.

Shen Fan tasted it and felt that the sweet-scented osmanthus wine was comparable to the cherry wine, so after eating the cherry wine, he began to eliminate the sweet-scented osmanthus wine.

After Xie Yunlan waited for the buddy to retreat, he spoke again: "What is the difference between your second soul fire and ordinary people's?"

"There is no difference." Shen Fan said while eating the wine, "Soul fire is soul fire, their essence is the same, the only difference is strength."

"Strength?" Xie Yunlan remembered that Shen Fan had said before that the strength of the soul fire is closely related to the life and death of a person, and that the only thing that can rekindle the weak fire in the world is the way of heaven and the god of life and death. .

But last night, for a moment, Xie Yunlan felt a kind of power burst out from his soul, instantly clearing away the monsters around him.

"Did my soul fire become stronger last night? Isn't the strength of the soul fire only related to life and death? Why did it suddenly become stronger?" Xie Yunlan asked.

"People's beliefs are related to life and death. When faced with the same thing, the brave and resolute and the timid and retreating may have completely different endings." Shen Fan finished the last sip of the wine, put down his spoon and said, "The more For a determined person, the stronger the soul fire, the less likely it is for monsters to invade."

"Then..." Xie Yunlan's heart moved, "Does it mean that as long as you are firm enough, even ordinary people can defeat monsters?"

"In theory." Shen Fan propped his chin and looked at Xie Yunlan, wondering if it was because of the sweltering heat in the room, his cheeks were a little red.

"Actually?" Xie Yunlan asked.

"I can't." Shen Fan's figure was also shaking a little, but he answered without hesitation.

Xie Yunlan: "Why?"

"Because mortals are just mortals..." Shen Fan lowered his voice as he spoke, until finally, his forehead rested on the edge of the table, and he fell asleep on his stomach.

Xie Yunlan: "..."

He sat motionless for a moment, then went to shake Shen Fan.

Shen Fan waved his hand away in dissatisfaction, and muttered with blurred eyes: "I'm sleepy."

Xie Yunlan: "..."

It's not sleepy, it's drunk.

Xie Yunlan was so shocked that he picked up Shen Fan's tea bowl and took a look to confirm that it was indeed tea and not wine.They ordered wine, but only Xie Yunlan drank a few glasses from the beginning to the end, and Shen Fan only ate two bowls of wine.

But it was these two bowls of fermented rice that made Shen Fan drunk.

Xie Yunlan: "..."

He no longer knew what expression to show.

After a moment of silence, he shook Shen Fan again: "Go back to sleep when you're sleepy, and get up first."

"Don't..." Shen Fan pushed him away again, the blush on his face spread to the corners of his eyes, showing a seductive blush, because of drunkenness, he dragged the end of his speech unconsciously, sounding like a spoiled child.

Xie Yunlan froze again, maybe he was also a little drunk, he felt a little blushing for no reason.

He took a deep breath, and woke up Shen Fan for the third time: "Go back and sleep again, it's uncomfortable to sleep here."

This point moved Shen Fan, it was really uncomfortable, and his pillow was not there, and his arms were empty.Thinking of this, he stood up with Xie Yunlan's support.

Xie Yunlan called the buddy, after packing the dishes, he went downstairs to lead the horse, then came up again, and helped Shen Fan to sit on the horse.

"Sit still, don't fall." Xie Yunlan reminded.

Shen Fan let out a "hmm", in a daze, he didn't know if he understood or just responded indiscriminately.

Xie Yunlan controlled the speed of the horse, keeping the horse at a walking speed, so as not to run too fast and knock Shen Fan off, but he was still worried, so he lured Shen Fan to talk and prevented him from falling asleep.

"Haven't you ever had a drink before?"

"No." Immediately sitting was not very comfortable, Shen Fan adjusted his posture, and he put his head on Xie Yunlan's shoulder.

Xie Yunlan tried his best to maintain his composure, not paying attention to the warm breath that was blowing out like feathers on the side of his neck.

He didn't know Shen Fan's exact age. From his appearance, he estimated that he was in his 20s, which was about the same as him. It was unbelievable that a man of this age had never drunk alcohol.

Xie Yunlan thought of something, and asked, "Are you really the envoy of the Dragon God?"

Although the title of Dragon God Messenger comes from Xie Yunlan's random fabrications, he should have been very clear about whether it was true or not, but everyone in Beijing believed it, even Yuan Shuo who was possessed by a demon, Shen Fan again Last night, the phantom of the flame of the dragon holding the candle was summoned, which made Xie Yunlan start to suspect that he could not be a blind cat who ran into a dead mouse, and the nonsense happened to be true, right?

"Isn't it, don't you know?" Shen Fan said quietly.

Xie Yunlan coughed dryly, thinking in his heart that he shouldn't have asked, Shen Fan hadn't remembered to take revenge on the matter of naming Shen Fanhu, so he shouldn't have reminded him.

Fortunately, Shen Fan is very confused now, before Qiu can remember it, he has already forgotten it under the paralysis of drunkenness.

Xie Yunlan quickly changed the topic: "Are you leaving tomorrow? Find the next demon?"

Hearing the word "heart demon", Shen Fan became a little more sober. He looked at Xie Yunlan's side face and said "hmm".

Xie Yunlan: "Is this urgent?"

"It's not in a hurry." Shen Fan said.

"Then why don't you stay for a few more days? After I finish handling the Beijing-China affairs..." Xie Yunlan turned her head as she spoke, and met Shen Fan's gaze. His black eyes were as beautiful as obsidian, and there was a kind of fascination. With the magical power, Xie Yunlan forgot to speak for a moment.

"So what?" Shen Fan asked.

Xie Yunlan came back to her senses: "I can accompany you to find the remaining demons."

He has carefully considered that it is useless for him to stay in the court because the world is stable now, he is just taking an idle job like before, and after Yuan Shuo dies in three months, even if he does not want to get involved in the struggle for imperial power, he may still be affected.

That being the case, why not follow Shen Fan to find the heart demon, not only to stay away from this place of right and wrong, but also to prevent the monster from harming the people.

Shen Fan stared at him for a while and said, "It will be very dangerous."

"I know." Xie Yunlan said indifferently.

Of course he knew that it would be very dangerous, and this kind of danger was not only for him, but also for Shen Fan. Although his soul fire is a monster nemesis, it also has many weaknesses, and it will even be countered by the devil's energy. Fan, may not be the current ending.

It would be better to have someone to help, Xie Yunlan was not at ease to let Shen Fan face the remaining demons by himself.

"Aren't you afraid of death?" Shen Fan asked again.

"Scared." Xie Yunlan admitted frankly, he is not a saint who disregards life and death, so he is naturally afraid of death.

Fearing death but daring to take risks with one's own body, and even going to death calmly, Shen Fan can't understand this kind of contradictory behavior of human beings, just like he didn't understand why Xie Yunlan burst out such a burning soul fire last night, obviously he just The most insignificant mortal.

"Okay." Shen Fan agreed.

"Tomorrow I will deliver the paperwork, and I will finish the matter in about four or five days, and then...don't touch your hands." Xie Yunlan couldn't bear it anymore.

Shen Fan's hand had already moved from his waist to his chest all the way, it was unscrupulous.

"No messing around." Shen Fan corrected, "I'm just looking at your soul fire."

"Then don't look blindly!" Xie Yunlan scolded.

His tone was stern, but his ears were slightly reddened.

Shen Fan didn't notice, and obediently let out an "oh".

He didn't put his hands around anymore, he hugged Xie Yunlan's waist obediently, and the two rode together, slowly walking through the quiet and empty streets at night.

They didn't talk any more, Shen Fan put his head on Xie Yunlan's shoulder, drunk again, he closed his eyes slightly.Half asleep and half awake, Shen Fan suddenly called softly: "Xie Yunlan."

"Ok?"

"You're so weird."