After bringing He Zhizhou out of the Criminal Court, Tian Xianzi brought his disciples to the City Lord's Mansion.
Luan City is well-known for its affluence and lavishness due to its prosperous commerce. Naturally, the City Lord's Mansion is also filled with extravagance and splendor. Looking around, even in the cracks of every floorboard there are four words written on them:
I am very rich.
Although the Galan City that Ningning had visited before was once an important commercial center, it had been buried in water for so many years. In addition, the city lord's mansion was mainly elegant and restrained, and its temperament was completely different from this place.
Passing through the magnificent main gate, and then passing through the brightly lit corridor shaded by high walls, amidst the sounds of loud laughter and piano arpeggios, you will arrive at the front yard used for welcoming guests and holding banquets.
"Elder Tianxian! I am sorry for not welcoming you in person. I am sorry for not welcoming you in person!"
As soon as the servant who led the way left, a young man in gorgeous clothes came forward to greet them. He took a quick look at Ning Ning and the others, and laughed loudly, "The disciples of Xuanxu Sword Sect are all young talents. I believe that your sect will be able to surpass the others this year."
Tian Xianzi laughed loudly: "Thank you for your kind words, City Lord."
After saying that, he raised his eyes and looked at the woman in red behind the young man: "This must be the wife of the city lord, right?"
The city lord turned sideways and said in a gentle voice: "Come, Luan Niang."
The woman stood under the shadow of a high wall, and most of her figure was blocked by the young man. It was not until she slowly stepped forward in response to Tian Xianzi's questioning that Ningning finally saw the man's appearance clearly.
She was born extremely beautiful, with charming peach blossom eyes embedded with amber pupils, just like the ice water melted on the snowy mountains. Although it was beautiful, it was cold and without much warmth that belonged to a living person.
The red dress was woven from dragon gauze and cloud brocade. The dragon gauze was as thin as mist, and the brocade was as gorgeous as smoke. The two were interwoven to form a picture of thin mist and haze with clusters of flower shades, which made her figure sway and look extremely beautiful.
Ningning did her homework before coming to Luan City. The city lord's surname was Luo and his name was Yuanming. He was a talented talisman practitioner at the high level of the Nascent Soul stage.
He had a wife before, who was said to be a frail and sickly daughter of an official family. Not long after giving birth to a child, she died of a serious illness.
The current city lord's wife is named Luan Niang. Because she was sold to a brothel when she was young, she has long since abandoned her original name.
One is the famous lord of the city, and the other is a dancer of lowly status. These two people should not have any intersection, but Luo Yuanming fell in love with her at first sight at a banquet.
This romantic story was widely sung by the people in the city, and more than ten versions of their love story were written, each one more tortuous and bizarre, more ambiguous and erotic than the other.
Even the city lord's mother, who had passed away many years ago, was lucky enough to be resurrected in the storybook, and she directly threw a bunch of silver notes to the heroine, Luan Niang: "Five million spirit stones, leave my son."
It's so outrageous that even the King of Hell would be so angry that he would cry. But it can also be seen from this that no matter in ancient or modern times, at home and abroad, the people's enthusiasm for watching melons and supporting couples has always been consistent.
Luan Niang had a sullen face at first, but the moment she heard Luo Yuanming's voice, her expression relaxed a little and she revealed a faint smile.
She was born a dancer. When she walked, her figure was charming and affectionate, and her skirt swayed. The brocade shone colorfully under the eternal lamp, which was a beautiful sight.
Tian Xianzi exchanged a few brief greetings with the couple, then led everyone to the banquet.
The front yard of the City Lord's Mansion was incredibly spacious, with tables laid out in a row, filled with all kinds of cakes and dishes. Ningning has the best relationship with the senior sister, so she has been walking side by side with Zheng Weiqi. In the interweaving of light and shadow, she saw several familiar faces.
The young master Mingkong from Fanyin Temple was still surrounded by a large group of people, talking about profound principles that even he himself could not understand and which he had memorized from the Buddhist scriptures.
A group of people around pretended to understand and nodded in agreement. If anyone asked about it, they would get a lot of pitying looks as if they were saying "it can only be understood but not expressed in words".
The Wanjian Sect had arrived here early, and several of them started fighting with Liumingshan after a disagreement. A servant from the City Lord's Mansion curled up in a corner, holding a small notebook in his hand, recording the number of spirit stones that would need to be compensated.
According to onlookers, when the Liuming Mountain group was tasting the dim sum, they criticized the sweet tofu pudding and praised the salty tofu pudding. The disciples of the Wanjian Sect heard this and started arguing with each other. After an extremely fierce verbal battle, they finally drew their swords and took out their talismans and started fighting.
And then there is——
Ningning was slightly stunned when her eyes fell on an angular profile in the crowd.
He was a tall and thin young man, with a breathtaking red at the corners of his eyes. He seemed to have noticed her gaze and turned around without saying a word.
It turned out to be the young lord of Galan City, Jiang Si.
Jiang Si had been sleeping for several years, and when he woke up he looked like he was still seriously ill. However, his sickly body could not hinder the endless domineering spirit in his body. After seeing Ning Ning and Zheng Weiqi, he sneered: "Oh, woman."
Zheng Weiqi's face wrinkled subconsciously: "Tsk, idiot."
After thinking for a moment, he whispered to Ningning, "Junior sister, did you see that sucker? Let me teach you how to do business."
Seeing Zheng Weiqi staring at him without blinking, Jiang Si coughed lightly a few times with an expressionless face, and a barely perceptible smile flashed across his eyes.
The woman was indeed deeply in love with him. As soon as she saw him, she came over here without hesitation with her fellow apprentice sister.
It’s a pity that he has no feelings or love and is destined to not be able to give her a future.
"Young City Lord."
Zheng Weiqi took a few steps towards him, with a faint smile on her face: "Why are you here?"
Jiang Si responded coldly: "Jialan and Luancheng have been friends for generations. Now that the Ten Dharma Assembly is underway, I have come to celebrate in person."
After a pause, he coughed and said, "You want to attend the Dharma Assembly? Huh?"
The "hmm" at the end of the sentence is the result of what he learned from the storybook -
Jiang Si knew that he could not keep up with the changes of the times, so before saying goodbye to the people from Xuanxu Sword Sect, he specifically went to Zheng Weiqi to buy a lot of storybooks. After studying them day and night, he summarized the typical behaviors of men today.
For example, he is cold, arrogant and aloof, and likes to use the word "woman". This is exactly the same as many years ago, there is nothing much to say.
For example, the most common expressions are "raising eyebrows", "smiling evilly" and "licking back teeth", and no matter what he does, he does it "calmly".
For example, you always have to add the word "hmm" at the end of a sentence, and you must use a very "deep and mellow" voice, with a little bit of a questioning tone.
Jiang Si pondered over it for a long time and felt that it should be similar to the mooing of a buffalo. After all, they are both low monosyllables.
In addition, he also learned many new sentence patterns that he had never heard of before. But even someone as mentally strong as Jiang Si couldn't accept himself pushing a woman against the wall, saying with red eyes like a red-eye disease: "Call me Young City Lord, and I'll give you my life."
Or hug someone tightly, "as if to embed her into every inch of flesh and blood in his body."
It's very scary, just like reading a strange novel. He still wants to live a good life and doesn't want to die young.
"Have you finished reading the previous storybook?"
Zheng Weiqi smiled familiarly and said, "I have some new goods here. I wonder if the young city lord is interested?"
Jiang Si was silent for a moment.
When he read those love stories, he was so exhausted that the demons in the city were quite curious about it, and the streets were full of conversations like this:
"Young City Lord hasn't shown up for a few days. I wonder what he's been doing in the mansion?"
"I heard he was reading a book."
"Reading? Could it be reading about strategies for governing a city, or practicing peerless skills?"
“…I heard it’s “The Overbearing Master’s Favorite”, “Refusing to Marry a Rich Family: The Little Wife’s 33 Days of Escape from Love”, and “This Meng Jue Loves Me Very Much But Is Too Stuffy”.
“…”
“…”
So within a day, the whole city was talking about how the young city lord had a girlish heart and was so absorbed in reading romance novels that he forgot to eat and sleep.
Later, the story became more and more outrageous, and it changed directly from "mostly stories about the elders of Xuanxu Sword Sect" to "Who the young city lord loves the most, Tianxianzi or Zhenxiao Sword Master, or does he want both of them?"
It’s just because these two people have the most scripts among everyone else.
It is very cause and effect, well-reasoned and well-founded, there is no way to refute it and you have to accept it.
Jiang Si wanted to refuse, but Zheng Weiqi continued, "Young City Lord, I have two books on hand, both with you as the male protagonist. They are in short supply, so if you want to buy them, you'd better hurry up."
What she said was true. Ever since the incident in Galan City became known to the world, the young city lord Jiang Si was portrayed as a handsome and shrewd young man. His popularity soared as a result. Countless fan fiction books emerged overnight and sold very well.
Jiang Si was stunned when he heard this. After a mental struggle, he said with a slightly gloomy look, "How much?"
Zheng Weiqi pointed a number with her fingers: "One thousand spirit stones."
Jiang Si sneered again.
Although he is an old antique, his brain is still rusty. A book sells for a thousand spirit stones, so this woman might as well go and rob it: "It's too expensive, I can only give you five hundred at most."
Zheng Weiqi shook her head: "One thousand."
Jiang Si was firm: "Five hundred."
Zheng Weiqi: "One thousand."
Jiang Si: “Five hundred.”
"five hundred."
"one thousand."
Jiang Si: ...
He was intent on contradicting the other party, but he never expected that she would lead him into a dead end and take advantage of his mental inertia to kill him unawares.
Zheng Weiqi tried hard to hold back her laughter and handed him a book called "The City Lord is Too Difficult: The Cute Baby is Three and a Half Years Old".
The title was so shocking that Jiang Si felt a chill down his spine and almost sued the author directly to the Criminal Court.
When he took it with trembling hands, he heard Zheng Weiqi say, "I have another one here, also worth 1,000 spirit stones, do you want it?"
Jiang Si suppressed the pain of being cheated by an unscrupulous merchant and replied expressionlessly, "Five hundred."
Zheng Weiqi used the same tone as before: "One thousand."
The young city lord of Galan City restrained his expression and a sneer appeared at the corner of his lips.
The same trick would not work twice. This woman actually wanted to use the same routine, which was really a disrespect to his brain.
Jiang Si answered quickly: "Five hundred."
"one thousand."
"five hundred."
There was another round of bidding with almost no pause. When Zheng Weiqi read out the next number, Jiang Si concentrated and held his breath, his pupils suddenly shrinking.
——Right now!
The number she just said was not one thousand!
According to previous routines, he had long guessed that Zheng Weiqi would modify the price during a certain quotation.
At that time, I must not follow my habitual thinking and deliberately do the opposite of this woman, but should follow her words and read out the same number without hesitation.
That is——
Jiang Si was full of energy and spoke word by word: "One thousand five hundred!"
Silence is Cambridge tonight.
In the lively feast, there was suddenly a sad person.
His own voice echoed in his ears. Jiang Si raised his head with a confused look on his face and met Zheng Weiqi's face that was smiling from ear to ear.
Did she just... say fifteen hundred?
Not five hundred?
Haha, it turns out he wasn't just repeating the same old trick, but had dug another trap for him to fall into.
——So why don’t you play by the rules! Is it fun to bully him, an antique man who knows nothing? ah? Is it interesting?
This vicious woman!
Even if she got his money, she couldn't get his heart!
"As expected of the young city lord, his actions are magnanimous."
Zheng Weiqi shook her head, took out another booklet from the storage bag and handed it to him; Jiang Si took it in a trance, like a sculpture.
I looked down and saw "My Genius Husband".
Killing people and breaking their hearts, every word was mocking his stupidity and fragility. Zheng Weiqi definitely did it on purpose.
Jiang Si felt that he couldn't breathe smoothly and almost vomited blood: "Woman...you are challenging my limits."
Zheng Weiqi smiled politely and accepted the IQ tax he handed over: "It's okay, isn't this a failure? There is a long way to go, we can continue."
Jiang Si tried hard to breathe in and out to avoid being pissed off by her.
Zheng Weiqi took the money, then happily said goodbye to this sucker, and walked to the other side of the banquet with her arm around her junior sister.
Ningning was amused by her ferocious actions and couldn't stop laughing. While the two of them were talking, they didn't notice the several hidden gazes in the crowd.
"I saw her, the girl from Xuanxu Sword Sect."
A charming young lady was sitting on the rockery, smiling faintly at the young man in red leaning against the side of the mountain: "Rong Ci, we were fooled by her last time, this time we can finally have a fair fight... Let's make a deal, whoever catches it first gets it, and the other person is not allowed to snatch it."
Rong Ci retracted his gaze and said with a lazy smile: "Of course."
"Oh my..." The girl smiled softly as her eyes fell on the black-clothed boy holding a sword in the corner of the banquet. Her voice was as sweet as honey: "Isn't that Miss Ningning's junior brother? We were just looking at her talking and he glared at us fiercely."
As she spoke, she twisted her hair around her white index finger, her eyes flashing with a cold light like a predator hunting: "He looks good, maybe he's an interesting person...right?"
On the other side, the Wanjian Sect.
Xu Ye looked at his senior sister fearfully: "Senior sister, you have been grinning for a whole half an hour, which is longer than the total time you have smiled in the first half of the year - do you have a cramp in your mouth?"
"You don't understand."
Su Qinghan held the long sword at his waist to stop the sword from buzzing due to excitement: "The Ten Dharma Conference is a place for people to make friends through martial arts. The elite disciples from all the major sects have gathered here. Don't you want to spar with them?"
Xu Ye was timid, so he answered with a stiff upper lip: "Maybe... I think so?"
Glancing at the purple-robed girl in the crowd, Su Qinghan's expression slightly restrained: "Junior Sister Ningning's performance in Xiaochong Mountain was quite impressive. In this trial, there will definitely be many people who will challenge her."
Thinking of Ningning's troubles with Neon Island and Haoran Sect, Xu Ye nodded subconsciously: "Indeed. Ningning must be in danger this time - Senior Sister, do you want to help her?"
"Help her?"
Su Qinghan chuckled, with a determined look in his eyes: "I will be the first to defeat her."
=====
The scenery of Luancheng is just right, and the combination of fine wine and delicious food makes one linger. If it weren't for a voice that suddenly rang in her ears, Ningning would be willing to call tonight "an incomparable night."
However, once that voice appeared, the "incomparable night" instantly suffered a setback and turned into "the source of many troubles."
"My dear friends, I am Luo Yuanming, the Lord of Luan City. After some discussion among the elders, it has been decided to open the Trial Secret Realm tonight, which is the first round of the Ten Dharma Conference."
Ningning listened carefully and looked up at Zheng Weiqi's eyes. It was obvious that the latter had also received the same secret message.
"Before the first round of competition, everyone will receive a special token. After entering the secret realm at Jiuyou Mountain, you can challenge others at will and snatch their tokens."
The voice continued, "Traps, strategies, and collective cooperation are not prohibited. If the number of tokens in a person's hand reaches zero, they will be forced to leave the secret realm immediately; if the number of tokens in a person's hand is counted down at the end of the trial, they will also be eliminated."
"The trial will last for three days, and there are many adventures waiting for you to discover in the secret realm. So--"
"The flying boat will arrive at the City Lord's Mansion soon and will carry you to Jiuyou Mountain. Please be prepared."
As soon as these words were spoken, the whole room was in an uproar.
Not only did the ceremony have a new rule of competing for tokens, but it was also announced for the first time during a banquet, which was like a heavy blow to the head. Many people had not yet made adequate preparations, and after hearing this they became extremely anxious and didn't know what to do.
And just as Luo Yuanming said, within half an incense stick of time after he finished speaking, several flying boats arrived as promised and cut through the thick clouds like cotton wool over the City Lord's Mansion.
It was like a surprise exam. It turns out that all teachers in the world are equally cunning.
"The number of tokens cannot be the reverse..."
Zheng Weiqi smiled helplessly and said, "Isn't this clearly encouraging everyone to kill each other? Those elders are getting more and more disgusting every year."
She is a swordsman in the Nascent Soul stage. The trial secret realm is vast. In order to ensure fairness, she will naturally not be placed in the same venue with Ningning, who is in the Golden Core stage.
After a brief thought, he advised her with some concern: "I heard that Junior Sister has performed well in Xiaochong Mountain. She might get into trouble because of this. Remember to act cautiously and try to meet up with other people in the sect."
Ningning nodded obediently.
The flying boat was suspended in the air with great momentum, and there were several long stairs winding down.
The elders were probably watching the show secretly somewhere, as they were nowhere to be seen from beginning to end. The disciples, on the other hand, boarded the ship one by one with varying degrees of joy and sorrow, making a lot of noise.
Among all the people from Xuanxu Sword Sect, He Zhizhou, who took the opportunity to eat and drink to his heart's content, was the last one to board the ship. He had eaten too much and couldn't sit still, so he could only stand at the door of the flying boat, holding his waist and sticking his head out to look down.
As the flying boat slowly rose into the air, the people and objects on the ground became smaller and more blurred.
The outlines of the houses have been submerged in the night, and myriad lights are clustered together, swaying in the wind, like dots of colored ink smudged on pure black paper. People's faces also became unclear, half of them were swallowed by the darkness and the other half were hidden in the firelight.
When looking around, He Zhizhou saw the elders of Xuanxu Sword Sect in the top attic at a glance. As if their eyes met his, they all raised their arms and waved.
He Zhizhou was touched.
The little cabbage is turning yellow in the field, and his mother died when he was two or three years old. His master, Li Wangsheng, was away from home all year round and would only occasionally send back a bunch of sword manuals and precious spiritual plants. If it weren't for the support and care from his uncles and aunts, who knows how miserable he would have become.
This time when he was captured and taken to the Criminal Court, Tian Xianzi rushed there immediately and took him out of that hellhole. He will never forget this kindness, and he will never let his uncle down.
"My dear uncles and aunts—"
He Zhizhou shouted at the top of his voice: "Everyone, rest assured, I will definitely pass this trial!"
Tian Xianzi opened his mouth, probably saying something to him. Unfortunately, the two were too far apart. He Zhizhou could only see the other person's mouth wide open but couldn't hear a single sound. It was like watching a silent movie.
But after thinking about it, what else can the teacher say before the competition? It was nothing more than some words to cheer him up.
He Zhizhou became even more passionate when he thought of this, and shouted loudly: "Uncle Tianxian! Don't worry, I won't let you lose——"
The word "望" was blocked back into his throat before he could even utter it.
To be precise, it was squeezed back into the throat.
——When He Zhizhou was peeking out and feeling moved by himself, the door of the flying boat closed silently.
It turns out that the uncles and aunts were not waving goodbye.
Instead, she desperately signaled to him, "Quickly pull your head back! Otherwise, you will be caught in the door soon!"
He Zhizhou had a blank expression on his face. He stood blankly in the flying boat, with only his head squeezed out of the door, unable to move.
The evening breeze blew his unruly black hair, and in his hazy vision, he happened to meet the surprised gazes of a family of three in the high-rise building.
Flying boat, night sky, fire, and a head hanging at the door.
A piercing scream cut through the night sky.
He Zhizhou: ...
Listen to his explanation! He is a handsome swordsman with good character and a romantic temperament. He is definitely not a human head stuck in the crack of the door! ! !
However, before he could give the family a friendly smile, he noticed someone grabbing his hair from behind.
Then there was a pat on the back.
Ning Ning's voice reached her ears very clearly: "Senior Sister, what are you doing? Don't bully Senior Brother He."
Zheng Weiqi said righteously: "It was you who touched him, and you wanted to put the blame on me!"
Most of the people on this flying boat were disciples of the Xuanxu Sword Sect, and they burst into laughter when they saw this scene. Many of He Zhizhou's fellow disciples who were on good terms with him followed suit, touching and scratching each other.
Poor him, his head was locked outside, and he could only hear a buzzing sound behind him. He had no idea who was doing this, and he could only struggle desperately with a distorted face: "Stop it! You bastards!"
Ningning stood in the flying boat, and all she could see was half of his body, which was hunched over like a 90-year-old man. The scene was so funny that she couldn't help laughing. Suddenly, she heard He Zhizhou shout, "Oh no!"
She still had some conscience, so she asked, "What's wrong?"
He Zhizhou seemed to find it difficult to speak, and his voice became much softer, requiring careful listening to hear clearly: "...I seem to be surrounded by a lot of people below. A lot of people."
His third junior fellow apprentice who had been studying under Li Wangsheng laughed heartlessly: "What's so good about this? It's just a head hanging on a flying boat—"
etc.
This is a human head hanging on a flying boat! ! !
Imagine that on a day when fireworks are bright and the whole city is celebrating, you and your wife are eating hot pot and singing songs. As soon as you look up, you see a strange human head hanging in the air outside the window.
This is too horrible! ! !
"Brother He, hold on!"
The scene was in chaos. For the sake of the physical and mental health of the people of Luancheng, no one dared to continue to torment him. The young disciples all said seriously, "You must keep smiling, and your expression must not be too gloomy, otherwise it will scare the children!"
Ning Ning agreed: "That's right. You should use your smile to tell everyone that you are not a head hanging on the door, but your head just happened to be caught in the door."
Therefore, on the night of the Ten Dharma Assembly Banquet, fireworks suddenly ignited when the flying boat took off, and many people in Luancheng leaned against the windows to look out, wanting to admire the beauty of the immortal gate.
The flying boat floated in the sky, the lights and shadows blended together, and the child, who knew nothing about the world, opened his eyes wide and asked curiously, "Mom, what is the big boat flying in the sky?"
"That is the flying boat of the Ten Dharma Assembly. On the flying boat are all the most outstanding disciples from various major sects. If you want to board the boat, you must practice hard. One day--"
The woman leaned against a tall building. Before she could finish her words, she gasped and her back began to tremble uncontrollably.
——At the door of one of the flying boats, there was a hideous and pale human head hanging!
A firework exploded.
The head had a dazed look and an absent-minded expression. It accidentally met the eyes of the family of three and actually grinned stiffly, giving an awkward but polite dry laugh.
That's scary enough.
Unexpectedly, the smile was fleeting. In the blink of an eye, the head's expression suddenly changed.
It was seen crying, laughing, and shaking, with an open mouth saying something. Only its hideous face was particularly clear in the firelight and was deeply engraved in everyone's memory.
As the flying boat slowly moved forward, more and more people saw it.
The unknown head twitched with a grin, his eyes rolling around and his cheeks wrinkled as if in extreme pain, and he cursed silently, perhaps to denounce the injustice he had suffered in his life.
The children in the high-rise building burst into tears in unison, their cries one after another, endless.
Suddenly, someone suddenly realized something and shouted, "I remember now! Isn't that the disciple of Xuanxu Sect who was imprisoned in the Criminal Court for causing chaos in the streets today?!"
One stone can cause a thousand ripples.
Someone trembled and continued, "I heard that he was taken away by the elders of the sect. Could it be that the Xuanxu Sword Sect punished him by...! He is indeed a cultivator. He is still alive even after this!"
"Why is the Xuanxu Sword Sect like that?"
A woman trembled and screamed, "He just made a small mistake, why did they chop off his head and hang it on the flying boat for public display! How can this master be so heartless? He really can't rest in peace even after his death!"
The head fluttered in the wind in the air, gradually moving away in the twilight, and no one took it down until the flying boat left.
And its expression gradually softened, and finally it closed its eyes and turned into a smiling face full of Buddha nature. So peaceful, as if he had been liberated before dying.
After struggling for so long on the verge of death, the disciple finally slowly closed his eyes.
The people in the city stayed awake all night. The news that the Xuanxu Sword Sect had killed a disciple and hung him on a flying boat spread from one person to another. Many people spontaneously offered wreaths and paper money for the poor man and burned them on the bank of the Cangjiang River.
The scene was so shocking and the impact was so great that history records that "we still don't know the name of the head we saw that day."
The elders of Xuanxu Sword Sect would never have thought that after that night, the way parents in Luan City scared their children changed completely, from "Cry again? If you cry again, Aunt Tiger will come and take you away" to -
"Cry again? If you cry again, I will send you to the Xuanxu Sect!"
You know what, the effect is obviously much better.
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