The Renyi Inn has made me very worried, and I can't sleep at night...

The two men in the rubble kept clutching their heads and twisting their bodies to relieve the pain, barely having the strength to answer Pei Xuanzhi's question.

Pei Xuanzhi lifted his cloak, drew a silver-tipped dagger from his sleeve, and with a gleaming sound, pulled it from its sheath, saying coolly:

"You won't talk? This place is deserted and borders the wilderness, making it the perfect spot to kill and bury. How many days do you think it will take before anyone finds your bodies?"

As he spoke, he stepped on the leg of the white-faced man with three whiskers, and then raised his short knife to stab at his throat.

"Spare me, spare me, young master..."

The pale-faced man hunched over, protecting his neck, the wound on his head throbbing with pain. Forced by this ruthless little demon, he could only stammer in response:

"My brother and I... originally learned some self-defense skills from a rogue cultivator. A few years ago, we injured someone while traveling. Back home... our mother, brother, and sister-in-law were always worried, fearing that people would come after us demanding an explanation. As soon as they saw... people from the immortal sect arriving on swords, they urged us to run away quickly..."

He clutched his head wound, tears streaming down his face, and said, "Young master... you've ruined my face! How am I ever going to get married now... Mother, it hurts so much..."

Pei Xuanzhi straightened up, adjusted his cloak, coughed a few times against the wind, and his gaze swept over the two men's faces, which were stained purple and red. After a moment, he smiled slightly with a gloomy expression and said softly, "Lying."

In an instant, two yellow talismans were stuck to the back of their heads, lifting the two people up from the ground. Due to this sudden drag, the two people's injured and twisted bones were stretched violently, and two shrill screams pierced the sky in an instant.

Driven mad by the pain, the dark-faced man could only vent his fear and agony, cursing wildly: "You beastly brat, how dare you touch your grandfather with your meager abilities! I will make sure your whole family dies without a burial place!"

Pei Xuanzhi's eyes were filled with the twilight, his gaze as calmly sinking into the darkness as the light of the sky gradually dimmed, revealing little about his true nature.

If you really press hard, you can always find something out, and the problem should have been solved permanently...

He turned around and looked at Yan Huanyue, who was still standing on the carriage shaft, and said in a calm tone, "If you can't get anything out of her, tie her to the bottom of the carriage. There must be something wrong ahead."

Yan Huanyue jumped off the car, landed lightly, and dragged the two people under the car and tied them to the car bed.

The carriage continued forward, and Pei Xuanzhi sat silently against the carriage wall, his hands wrapped around his knees.

Yan Huanyue began to speak, "You..."

He suddenly slid down, covered by his cloak, and lay down to the side with his back to her.

Yan Huanyue smiled silently, sat cross-legged, and said casually, "I'm afraid we won't arrive until 9 PM. You should rest first."

Pei Xuanzhi looked at the talismans drawn on the carriage wall before him, then gently closed his eyes to calm his mind. After a long while, he opened his eyes again and whispered:

"Running away at the first sign of trouble probably means they don't have any real power base. How about we follow their trail back to where they came from?"

Yan Huanyue placed her hand, which had been forming a hand seal, on her knees. Upon hearing this, she said, "Alright, Elder Feng left a communication talisman. I'll tell him first."

.

Thin, gossamer-like clouds obscured the bright moonlight, and a melodious sound of copper bells drifted on the evening breeze from afar.

Peng Youcai, the innkeeper, was standing on tiptoe on a ladder, trying to blow out the candlelight in the lantern under the eaves.

He was a middle-aged man with an honest and simple appearance. Hearing the noise, he stopped breathing and listened quietly for a while. Seeing that there was nothing unusual, he blew out the candle and climbed down the ladder with some difficulty.

His wife, Chen Liuhua, held the ladder and, seeing him come down, helped him carry the ladder into the shop.

As she closed the door, Chen Liuhua said, "Honey, Mother's leg ailment has flared up again. Could you boil some hot water and soak her feet in it?"

Peng Youcai replied, "Okay."

At a small, old wooden table by the window inside the shop, sat a lean young man in a short-sleeved shirt, eating a bowl of noodles with soup still on it.

At a small table behind the man, an elderly woman in her sixties was watching a five- or six-year-old girl slowly eat noodles with a loving expression.

The girl's face still had chapped skin, but her complexion was rosy, her eyes were bright, and she had a robust and chubby appearance.

While eating, its two little black pigtails tied with red rope wiggled back and forth, making it look just like a vigorous little wolf cub.

She ate diligently, but because she was still young, she inevitably dropped one or two broken noodles.

Suddenly, a puppy's head squeezed out of her arms and onto the table, staring wide-eyed and tilting its head to lick the noodles that had fallen onto the table.

When the old woman saw this, she went to hug the dog. The little girl, unwilling to leave her playmate, threw down her chopsticks, snatched the puppy, and pouted, about to cry.

Just then, someone knocked on the door and asked, "Shopkeeper, do you have any rooms available?"

The old woman didn't want her granddaughter to cry and cause trouble for the shop owner, so she had no choice but to pick up the bowl and chopsticks herself and feed her granddaughter.

The little girl thought the woman's voice outside the door was pleasant, so she chewed her noodles and curiously looked back at the inn's entrance.

Peng Youcai walked to the door, peeked through the crack, and said, "The shop is small and full. There are no rooms available. Please go somewhere else."

But then a woman said with a hint of apology, "Please do us a favor. My husband has caught a cold and has been hungry for half a day. He is feeling really unwell. Please let him eat something, and then we will leave."

Another coughing fit followed, and after it subsided, a man's voice, gentle as a clear stream, slowly said, "Madam, let's go. Let's not make things difficult for them."

The woman said with concern and heartache, "But you're so sick and have traveled such a long way, you need to rest..."

The man by the window finished his noodles, emptied the bowl of soup, stood up, let out a big burp, wiped his mouth, and headed towards the door.

"Shopkeeper, just give them my room. I'll sleep in the woodshed or under the stove, it's fine with me."

Without waiting for Peng Youcai's reaction, he opened the door. When he saw the two people outside, a strange light flashed in his eyes. The burp he was about to burp was suddenly forced back down his throat, leaving him in a dilemma.

The little girl behind her, who was eating noodles while holding a puppy, also brightened up, "Grandma, the older brothers and sisters are so pretty..."

When their eyes met suddenly, the little girl shyly buried her head in her grandmother's arms.

When Chen Liuhua came out of the kitchen, she saw two people, a man and a woman, standing by the door. Although they were dressed simply, they were extremely good-looking.

Especially that sickly-looking boy, with a golden longevity lock around his neck, had an unusually handsome appearance.

The man who opened the door wiped his mouth hard with his sleeve, looking inexplicably nervous. "I... I'm called... I'm Zhao Chai'er, from Zhongzhou. Please come in."

Yan Huanyue, supporting Pei Xuanzhi, said, "Thank you."

Seeing that the woman's husband was indeed ill, Peng Youcai immediately and warmly led them to the table, bringing hot water to make tea while explaining:

"Our shop is in a remote location, and most of the guests are travelers from out of town. We are a bit cautious with the lights off. Actually, we have another room available. We will prepare it for you two in a moment. Please forgive us."

Pei Xuanzhi took the hot tea to warm his hands, looked around, and glanced at everyone in the shop. He then said to Peng Boyou with great gratitude, "We've troubled you. Please give us two bowls of noodles as well."

Peng Youcai turned to Chen Liuhua, who was standing by the kitchen door, and said, "Wife, two bowls of noodle soup. My husband is sick, so I'll bring him a sweet soup with poached eggs."

Chen Liuhua replied, "Okay."

He then turned around and went into the kitchen.

Yan Huanyue quickly got up and put the money on the cabinet near the kitchen. "It's already a great help that you opened the door for us to stay. How can we trouble you to give us this money?"

He returned to the table, touched Pei Xuanzhi's forehead, and said gently, "The fever has gone down a bit. Keep yourself warm tonight, and you might be better by tomorrow."

Pei Xuanzhi nodded and said, "Yes."

The old woman holding the little girl asked, "Little girl, did you bring any medicine? I have some herbs in my bundle to treat colds."

Yan Huanyue said, "Thank you. We had medicine in the carriage, which we just brewed and drank. What's your name, and where are we going?"

The old woman smiled and said, "My surname is Zhang, just call me Granny Zhang. We are from the area around the old Tengzhou. My daughter married and moved to the south, and I haven't seen her for many years. I'm about to pass away, and this is my last chance to see my daughter before I die."

Yan Huanyue said, "It's not a long journey. Why don't you write a letter and have the young man visit you?"

Grandma Zhang said, "My daughter has always been well-raised. I only married her off to the south because I wanted her to have a good life. The journey is difficult, and I couldn't bear to make her suffer or cause her any trouble. This old woman has missed my daughter for half her life, and only now, on my deathbed, am I finally going to see her."

Yan Huanyue looked at the wrinkles on Granny Zhang's face, which were full of expectation, and remained silent for a moment before finally asking, "How is the edge of the old Tengzhou now?"

Grandma Zhang laughed indifferently, "The more trouble they cause north of the natural barrier, the more prosperous we old Tengzhou people become. Even if we don't move away, life and death have long faded away. It's just a matter of kicking our legs, nothing to worry about."

Zhao Chai'er clicked her tongue in amazement, "My mother-in-law is quite open-minded."

He pulled up a stool and sat down at Pei Xuanzhi's table, looking them over by the flickering candlelight, and asked with a smile, "You two must be tired from your journey, where are you headed?"

Yan Huanyue gently nudged Pei Xuanzhi's arm and said, "I went to the north to visit my husband's father, who is also my father-in-law, but he fell ill on the way. He just kept falling asleep, and I was so worried about him that I couldn't sleep at night."

Pei Xuanzhi looked at her in surprise, and then inexplicably broke into a bright smile.

He was already handsome, and his smile was even more irresistible. Yan Huanyue was stunned for a moment, then secretly pinched him.

Pei Xuanzhi coughed, covering his lips with his fist, and said with a forced smile, "You slept quite well last night."

Yan Huanyue pretended to pinch him, but he dodged while holding the hot tea and begged for mercy, "I was wrong, I was wrong. I'm sick, please forgive me this time. I'll take care of you when I'm better."

Zhao Chai'er sniffed and said sourly, "Brother, you're lucky to have a wife. Why bother arguing? You even dare to contradict your wife in front of outsiders."

Pei Xuanzhi looked at him through the thin mist rising from the cup, and asked with an ambiguous smile, "Brother Zhao, where do you intend to go after arriving from Zhongzhou?"

Zhao Chai'er stammered, "With guidance from an expert, um... I just wander around. I have money and free time, so I should take advantage of my youth."

Pei Xuanzhi said, "So it's just a leisurely pursuit, traveling and enjoying the scenery. How enviable!"

Just then, Chen Liuhua brought over two bowls of noodles. As soon as she put the bowls down, she heard the sound of a cane hitting the ground upstairs. She quickly called Peng Youcai to go to the kitchen to get some hot water.

Yan Huanyue stirred the noodles and said, "It smells so good... but there's a different smell."

Zhao Chai'er, who had come specifically to chat, pointed at Pei Xuanzhi and said, "You didn't even smell the cool fragrance of snow on him? What kind of fragrance did he use?"

Yan Huanyue said, "No, it smells like burning incense."

As she followed the scent toward the steps leading to the second floor, she saw a deeply lined face suddenly emerge from the shadows at the corner of the stairs, staring at her with a sinister aura.

Yan Huanyue feigned fear, clutching her chest and exclaiming, "Who!"

The little girl who was playing with the puppy in Grandma Zhang's arms also burst into tears.

Everyone followed her gaze, and the person at the corner seemed to pause for a moment before swaying and descending two flights of stairs while holding onto the railing.

The dim candlelight illuminated an old woman with a full head of silver hair and a kind face.

Peng Youcai came out of the kitchen carrying a basin of hot water and explained, "That's my mother. She fell while delivering food to some poor people in the neighboring village before the New Year. Recently, she's been having leg pain, and I'm afraid it's hurting a lot, so she came out to ask me to bring her hot water to soak her feet."

Yan Huanyue glanced at the old woman who turned and walked unsteadily upstairs. "No wonder the shopkeeper and his wife are so kind. It turns out your mother is also so admirable."

Zhao Chai'er said, "That's right, I originally planned to stay in a neighboring town, but I ran out of money..."

"Of course, my bag of gold, silver and banknotes was just stolen by thieves. I heard that the owner of Renyi Inn and his family are very righteous. They donate money to repair roads, donate grain to provide relief, and treat travelers from other places well when they arrive and see them off when they leave. That's why I rushed over."

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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2024-04-17 23:01:43 and 2024-04-18 23:58:22!

Thank you to the little angels who threw landmines: I am called Baboerben (2 landmines); A peach blossom fan (1 landmine);

Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Bubble Powder Master (66 bottles); Manaka (60 bottles); Wan, Balabala (20 bottles); Erwuzai (15 bottles); Xiaoqi, Dream Awakening Time, lala, Spring Breeze, Did I Write Code Today?, Ehe (10 bottles); Yuming (7 bottles); Pangpangbupan (6 bottles); Gusu (5 bottles); nna, Tool Preset, If You Don't Update, It's a Cucumber, 42293163, Shannainai~, Baiyaxiao, Changningning, kurosakiiji, and Little Girl Who Loves Using Dragon Chart (1 bottle);

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!