The master said not to judge people by their appearance

Shen Fan didn't speak, Huang Yaowu didn't notice anything from the change in his expression, he was still adding fuel to the fire, and called again: "Master Shen Fanfan?"

Shen Fan's expression became more and more calm.

Xie Yunlan secretly thought it was bad, and hurried out to smooth things over: "He won't count as a marriage."

"Why?" Huang Yaowu was taken aback, he felt that these alchemists should be able to pinch and count.

"Because..." Xie Yunlan was about to explain, but Shen Fan had already said that sentence again.

"Because my name is Shen Fanfan." He said blankly.

Xie Yunlan supported his face, wishing he could kick Huang Yaowu's feet, he would carry whatever pot he couldn't open.

"Isn't my name Master Shenfanfan?" Huang Yaowu was still confused, completely unaware of what he said was wrong.

"Shut up!" Xie Yunlan couldn't bear it anymore.

Huang Yaowu scratched his head, and finally realized something was wrong. He didn't bring up the matter again. He took Xie Yunlan's horse and greeted everyone: "Brother Xie, let's go to my house for a drink!"

"You don't need to drink." Xie Yunlan refused, "Tell me what happened in the city recently."

"Oh yes!" Huang Yaowu slapped his head, "Thank you, bro, you came in time, I'm looking for an alchemist!"

The gate of the city is not a place to talk, a group of people came to the prefect's mansion and sat in the main hall for guests, Huang Yaowu just talked about the recent strange things in Yazhou City.

"In the beginning, it was a man in the north of the city who suddenly had nightmares. That's all. The strange thing is that he had the same dream every night!" Huang Yaowu was about to explain the details of the dream.

Xie Yunlan said, "Is it the nightmare of Yuan Rong's iron cavalry attacking the city and Yazhou City being slaughtered?"

Huang Yaowu was stunned for a moment: "How do you know?"

"I also had this dream." Xie Yunlan said, "Just last night, when I was sleeping in a ruined temple thirty miles outside the city, I was suddenly involved in this dream."

"Great!" Huang Yaowu slapped his thigh, then realized something was wrong, and quickly explained, "I didn't mean that! I mean... oh, I can't speak, thank you brother, you just need to understand what I mean!"

Xie Yunlan nodded. What Huang Yaowu really wanted to say was that if Xie Yunlan had also entered this dream, he would have a better understanding of the current situation and be more likely to be able to help.

He motioned, "Go on."

Huang Yaowu said: "If only that one person is dreaming, that's all. Brother Xie, just like you entering this dream, there are more and more people in the city having this dream, and when they meet and talk in the dream, they will talk to each other after waking up. I also remember it, which is very strange."

"Things are getting worse and worse. A rich family in the city also had this dream. They specially invited some master. The master said that they were haunted by wronged souls. Brother Xie, you know that too many people have died in this place of Yazhou. People, what's that called?" Huang Yaowu recalled what the alchemist said, "there is a lot of resentment! These unjustly dead souls have no one to help collect their corpses and bones, and they can't be relieved day and night, so that the resentment accumulates Too many, just thinking about killing innocent people in the city! That's why this nightmare keeps repeating the scene of Yazhou City being massacred eight years ago."

"The master said that if he wanted to get rid of the nightmare, he had to open the altar to resolve the grievances of the wronged souls. As a result, he opened the altar for three days and three nights, and spent thousands of taels of money, but the nightmare still came every night. What did the master say? He is not good enough, and needs a more capable master to exorcise evil spirits." Huang Yaowu rubbed his hands, and smiled flatteringly at Shen Fan, "I am just worried that I don't know where to find a capable master, and Master Shen Fanfan is coming to Yazhou I'm in the city, could it be that the master has figured out something, and came here to solve my problems?"

"No." Shen Fan said expressionlessly.

"Master Shen Fanfan, don't be humble, I've heard about your supernatural powers!" Huang Yaowu tried to build a good relationship with Shen Fan, and he flattered him, "If you can pinch and count, why would you go to the monsters?" Where is it? You must have calculated it long ago! By the way, I will ask Master Shen Fanfan to help calculate my niece's marriage afterward..."

Xie Yunlan picked up a pear from the fruit plate on the table and stuffed it into Huang Yaowu's mouth, gritted his teeth and said, "If you can't speak, then don't speak."

If Shen Fan's favorability towards people could be quantified, Huang Yaowu's flattery not only failed to increase his favorability, but actually fell all the way to the bottom line.

It's fine for him to be held hostage by Shen Fan, but every time he mentions Master Shen Fan, he will remind Shen Fan of the origin of the name, and then remember Xie Yunlan again.

Xie Yunlan didn't want to hear the phrase "Because my name is Shen Fanfan" again, he was really annoyed by Shen Fanfan!

Huang Yaowu probably also realized that he seemed to have said something wrong again, but he really didn't know which sentence was wrong, so he took a bite of the duck pear embarrassingly, and asked, "Brother Xie, what do you say about this matter? Is it to open an altar to save these wronged souls?"

"There are no wronged souls." Xie Yunlan returned to the topic, "The reason why so many people have the same nightmare is that we were all involved in the same dream realm, and it has nothing to do with the evil spirits."

He explained what Mengyu said. Huang Yaowu didn't understand it very well, but he understood Xie Yunlan's analysis: "You mean, the reason for these nightmares is that one person used his dreams to scare the rest of us." Involved?"

Xie Yunlan nodded: "It can be understood in this way."

"Then what is he doing for it?" Huang Yaowu asked puzzled, "To scare people?"

He didn't know the consequences of being repeatedly killed in his dream. After all, apart from being a little haggard because of poor sleep, those people didn't have even the slightest scar on their bodies.

"What happens in the dream can affect the reality. After the nightmare of being killed is repeated for a certain number of times, the dreamer will die in reality just like in the dream." Xie Yunlan said.

Huang Yaowu's expression changed, he didn't dare to say anything: "You can kill people in dreams?"

"Yes." Xie Yunlan said, "So we must find this dreamer as soon as possible, otherwise all dreamers will die."

Huang Yaowu's expression became serious: "Then how to find this dreamer? There are quite a few people in the city who have been involved in this dream!"

"The form of the dream is related to the dreamer's own thoughts, and we have to find clues from it." Xie Yunlan tapped the table with his fingers, and said in a deep voice, "How many people are dreaming in the city at present? What are their respective identities? What common connection?"

"This..." Huang Yaowu said hesitantly, "I can't count the exact number of people. Brother Xie, you don't know. This incident has been going on for more than a month. Many people think that there are ghosts in the city, and they drag their families to take care of them." Some of them went to other counties to join their relatives, and many of them were caught in nightmares. People run away every day, and new people are caught in dreams every day. As far as I know, there are about 3000 people. Well, if you want to ask how many people have dreams, I can't count them at all."

"There are so many?" Xie Yunlan was taken aback.

Yazhou City has just been rebuilt for more than a year. Because of the tax exemption policy of the imperial court, a group of people from the mainland migrated to open up wasteland and farmland. The frontier defenders, their families and relatives, and this dreamer actually accounted for one tenth of the entire city, or even more.

"There are just so many!" Huang Yaowu scratched his beard in annoyance, "Otherwise, if only two or three people were dreaming, how could they come to me? Hey, you guys really came by coincidence. I originally thought about asking someone to go." Sending a letter to you, please bring Master Shen Fanfan to help!"

Xie Yunlan frowned: "Then what is the connection between these people? Or are they irrelevant?"

"It should be irrelevant to each other." Huang Yaowu said, "There are old and young, men and women, there are local people in Yazhou, and some are simply merchants passing by here. I don't see any connection at all. Many officers and soldiers were also involved, and they defended against the Yuan Rong people's attack on the tower every night!"

Xie Yunlan: "Those guarding the city are all dreamers?"

"That's right!" Huang Yaowu said, "Everyone you saw in the dream, except those Yuan Rong barbarians, were all involved in this nightmare!"

Except for those Yuan Rong barbarians... This sentence suddenly woke Xie Yunlan up. He said, "All the dreamers are Xia people? Then is this dream master the remnant of Talgu, avenging him?"

As he talked, he felt wrong, the logic was wrong, he was the one who killed Talgu, and the remnants of Talgu were looking for him for revenge. Why did this cycle of dreams start from the people of Yazhou?

Huang Yaowu also said: "I didn't hear that there are still remnants of Targu. Some of his cronies were killed by us, and some were killed by the new Shanyu Dabala of the Yuan Rong."

This Yuanrong new Shanyu Dabalagan Xie Yunlan knows that he is Talgu's half-brother, and I heard that he is also very good at martial arts. He once killed a wolf with his bare hands. The martial arts and warlike Yuanrong people can also be called a hero, but he has an excellent brother, which is not enough for his brother Talgu, who is a rare talent in a thousand years. Naturally defeated in the imperial power seizure, he was then sent to the deserted Monan to be an idle prince. There was very little news that reached Da Xia over the years.

Until a year ago when the Yuanrong imperial city was breached and Targu was killed, the Yuanrong people were like dogs in mourning. All the ministers and people were fleeing to the south, and the Yuanrong court became a mess, with no one in charge.

It was only when he reached Balakan that he gathered the fleeing courtiers and rebuilt the Yuanrong Royal Court in Monan, and he himself became the new Chanyu, so the chaotic situation in Yuanrong was slightly eased.

Xie Yunlan was a little apprehensive about this new Shanyu. Dabalaga was definitely not a mediocre person who could form a new royal court in such a short period of time.

He also gave Yuan Shuo an account, analyzing the threat of Dabalagan and whether the Xia army should continue to march south and completely break up the royal court of Yuan Rong.

Unexpectedly, however, the first major thing that Dabarragan did after succeeding to the throne was to behead several trusted generals who were still alive in Targu, and then gave the heads to Emperor Daxia to show their intention to seek peace. sincerity.

Years of wars have cost people money and money, and if they go south, it will be very difficult for the Xia army to transport supplies. Once the food and grass are cut off, the Xia army who has gone deep into the desert will be isolated and helpless. After comprehensive consideration, Yuan Shuo agreed to Dabarragan After the signing of a series of treaties, the battle between Yuanrong and Daxia temporarily ceased.

But it was only for the time being, and no one knew whether the new Chanyu Dabalaga had no intention of being an enemy of Daxia as he said, or whether he was keeping a low profile.

But on the surface alone, the Yuanrong people were seeking peace wholeheartedly, and all the remnants of Targu who fought in the main battle were killed by Dabarakan.

Thinking about it this way, it is unlikely that the dream master is the remnant of Targu?Xie Yunlan did not come to a conclusion, he knew too little about the principle of dreams, he asked Shen Fan: "What do you think the dreamer wants to do? Why does he repeatedly kill people in the dream? What good does it do him? Can it grow because of it?"

"There is no benefit, the power of dreams cannot be increased by killing people, but," Shen Fan changed the subject, "magic can."

Xie Yunlan immediately thought of the matter of Cangzhou City, and he said: "If this dream master is the person we are looking for who is possessed by a demon, he probably kills people in his dream to increase his own strength."

"Yes." Shen Fan nodded, "People's fear and despair, resentment and pain, and all negative emotions can increase the power of demons. Even if they are not really killed in the dream, the dreamer will experience this kind of pain again and again. The despair of death."

"Then the fact that Yazhou City was slaughtered in this dream may have nothing to do with the dream owner's own emotions, but just to increase his strength? Yazhou City was slaughtered eight years ago. The people of Yazhou feared the most. He was using This kind of fear?" Xie Yunlan asked.

"It's possible." Shen Fan said.

Xie Yunlan frowned: "Then how do we find each other?"

He guessed that the dream master had a great hatred for Yazhou City, so he wanted to kill the people in the city over and over again. Now it seems that there may be no hatred, but just using the dream of massacring the city to strengthen his body, just like It's the same as the bridegroom of the river god that Luo Yong'an engaged in before.

"I can only find clues from the dream," Shen Fan said, "The dream owner must also be in this dream."

Xie Yunlan: "In the city of Yazhou in the dream?"

Shen Fan nodded: "The Yuan Rong iron cavalry on the glacier is just a phantom of the dream master's power, his real body must be in the city."

"Then go to the dream to find clues tonight." Xie Yunlan made up his mind.