Envy

The day of Yong Ye is somewhat human.There are passers-by in twos and threes on the street, describing it as unlucky.Every door and window is covered with yellow symbols.There are also mahogany swords and mirrors to ward off evil spirits.The woman moved the bamboo chair with the baby and sat at the door basking in the sun, but her face was sad.After a long night, people prefer to stay in the sun.

The streets are full of dust and dead leaves, the banners of the taverns are also crumbling, and the scarlet banners are faded.Meng Tou and the others walked around three streets, only to see an inn open.The boss rolled up his trouser legs, smoking dry cigarettes at the door.They went in and ordered several bowls of beef noodles.

There is only one shopkeeper in the whole inn, so naturally he cooks.

Boys at this age are growing and eating more.And the City Lord's Mansion accommodates so many people, there is no spare energy to prepare too much food.They ate a few tofu steamed buns in the morning, and they were hungry again before noon.

Xue Ye couldn't sit still, kept looking towards the kitchen, and yelled "I'm starving to death" several times.When the first bowl of noodles came, the others pushed it in front of him tacitly.Meng Tou winked at Li Xingfeng, and the two of them followed the shopkeeper to the kitchen to serve him hot noodles.

When the noodles are complete, everyone tastes them, and the noodles are passable, but the beef is no longer fresh and cannot be eaten at all.Even so, they ate so much that there was not even noodle soup left.Jiang Yi also ordered another bowl of Yangchun noodles for Xue Ye who finished eating first.

The shopkeeper bit the pipe and took a puff of smoke: "Are you young Taoist priests from outside?"

Jiang Yi persuaded Xue Ye to be careful about getting hot, and replied without raising his head, "Exactly."

"Oh. Then you should be careful when you go in and out. Especially in the west part of the city, there are a few ghosts appearing at night. A few days ago, someone ran into it and was terrified."

The smell of smoke is a bit unpleasant.The shopkeeper sat on the bench with his legs crossed.Leaning on the square table beside him: "Yongye is defeated, and the poor can't escape to other places. The day after tomorrow, my family will move to Pingyang. This place should have been a dead city long ago, but City Lord Xia is unwilling to give up and insists on inviting some Taoist priests, you’d better seek your own blessings.”

The five of them were assigned to inspect the north of Eternal Night City, and they only had the impression of poverty and depression.They learned a lot from the innkeeper.He also said that no ghosts have appeared in the north of the city recently. The reason may be that the west of the city is next to Dongtan River, while the north of the city is a little farther away.

Xue Ye said: "The name Dongtan River is strange. It has both 'tan' and 'river'. Besides, isn't this river in the west of the city? Why is it called 'Dongtan'?"

"This name was given by City Lord Xia. There was a drought a few years ago, and the whole city relied on this river. The word 'Tanhe' was used to hope for an inexhaustible source of water. City Lord Xia said that the word 'west' has a bad meaning, and 'east' 'The word has the brilliance of the sun, so it is auspicious to take this word."

Meng Tou said: "I guess the city lord must believe in Fengshui and divination."

"The little Taoist leader is right. The city lord is the most particular about these aspects. At that time, he also invited the master to look at Fengshui when choosing the location of the mansion. It's really mysterious. The Dongtan River is in the southwest, and the city lord's mansion is in the northeast. The spirit is impatient. When the chaos was at its worst, the City Lord's Mansion was not disturbed."

Huo Zhi listened carefully all the time, and asked, "Then have you seen Yin Ling?"

The shopkeeper recalled what happened at that time, and his face changed slightly: "I saw it from afar. At that time, when the news of the ghost appeared, everyone fled to the gate of the city, and then bumped into one, and everyone retreated. But still Well, Yin Ling did not go north."

……

At noon, everyone went back to the City Lord's Mansion for dinner, and reported all the news they got to Master Nishizawa.The brother who went to the west of the city said that there was no one there.And the brothers who went to the east and south of the city also said the same.Therefore, there are dozens of families in the huge Eternal Night City only in the north of the city.

A brother said that when he entered the city, he asked the old man who guarded the city where he was.The old man was deaf, he raised his voice and asked several times before he realized that his home was on Jingyang Slope, not in the city.

Now that I think about it, the old man who opened the door for them probably only guessed that they were going to enter the city, and didn't understand what Uncle Nishizawa said.He was hard of hearing, and he probably didn't know about the ghosts encountered in the city, so he guarded the gate so calmly.

Uncle Nishizawa did not arrange anyone to go to Dongtan River in the morning, but selected dozens of people to go there to observe the situation at noon.Meng Tou and the others were not included, but were assigned to another group to inspect the west of the city at night.

So they went to sleep after eating to prepare their strength.Meng Tou was afraid of being pressed down by Xue Ye's legs again, so he didn't sleep next to him, but slept on the innermost side, with Huo Zhi next to him.This time I fell into a drowsy sleep, and slept until the sun was setting.

Meng Tou woke up, and when he sat up, he saw most of Xue Ye was pressing on Jiang Yi.He was so lucky, he felt that sleeping next to Huo Zhi was really the right choice.Xue Ye was awake, and didn't try to break Xue Ye away. He let him be overwhelmed by Mount Tai. When he saw Meng Tou, he stretched out a finger and pressed it to his lips, signaling Meng Tou to be quiet.

Meng Tou wanted to laugh when he saw this scene.But Jiang Yi's eyes were focused on Xue Ye's sleeping face, and he put his arm around his waist.He felt an indescribable strangeness.It's not a day or two that Jiang Yi and Xue Ye have a good relationship.What's so weird about it.

They all had dinner after waking up, gathered outside the lobby, and after listening to Uncle Nishizawa's instructions, they headed to the west of the city with nearly one hundred senior brothers.

The road is becoming more and more deserted.When several senior brothers walked to the remaining distance, their faces were pale and their legs were weak.Fortunately, with so many people together, it was finally a psychological comfort.

The west of the city is uninhabited, and thick dust can be raised when you walk in.Weeds grew between the stone slabs.Abandoned carriages lay beside the mottled walls.The low walls fell into disrepair.

A group of 20 people spread out and entered various places in the west of the city.

Xue Ye felt cold all over, walking between Jiang Yi and Meng Tou.After Jiang Yi noticed it, he held his wrist and walked forward.

To the five of them, the other fifteen senior brothers are just nodding acquaintances.One of the seniors, from the time the group came here, was spitting and eloquent about the past that he followed the master to eliminate the spirit.The other senior brothers listened enthusiastically and were so envious that they almost applauded him.

"Brother is so powerful, if you meet a wild spirit later, you have to help the brothers."

"That's natural. As your senior brother, of course I want to protect you."

Unlike Meng Tou, these people have never seen Yinling a few times, let alone exorcising the spirit.They only practice in a stable environment, and they can enter the Infernal Prison with their uncle and brother after they are 17 years old.

Meng Touchu was also surprised when he heard about this. It turned out that other people could only enter the Infernal Prison under several layers of protection.But he didn't say how he got in and out of the Infernal Prison, just because his identity is sensitive, it seems a bit superior to say this.The identity of Daoist Xuchang's only disciple is a thorn in the end, hurting many jealous people.

The group of them walked smoothly, and they didn't bump into anything after walking for half an hour.The agreement is to gather in front of the low wall you saw when you came.They came to the end, saw a wall, and turned back.

Everyone walked for a while, and suddenly heard someone shouting in panic.The voice came from directly ahead.The senior brothers were frightened all of a sudden, and their steps stopped.The senior brother who showed off his "record" before was trembling with fright and hid among a group of people.

Meng Tou and the others drew out their long swords one after another, and immediately ran forward.He rushed to the corner of the street and met another group of people.

The leader was a girl, leading a group of people around.They didn't take a closer look, and all their attention was focused on the front - the senior brothers worked together to form a circle of enchantment, surrounded by a dozen wild spirits.Those Yin spirits were covered in faint blue, and they laughed fiercely.

They hurriedly worked out the formula, instilled true energy into the long sword, and were about to make a move, a sharp palm wind blew by, and a Yin spirit over there turned into ashes.That group of people were obviously not from the Mu Mi sect, but they rushed forward and wiped out all the wild spirits without much effort.Their brothers were saved.

The girl had a sword in her arm, and said in a cold voice, "Are you Mu Su's?"

Meng Tou cupped his fists: "Yes. Dare to ask the girl..."

"Master came from Shen Gui." She walked around them with her hands behind her back, and turned to look at them, "It's really like what my father said, there are more mediocre people in Mu Mi."

Li Xingfeng said: "Miss, what you said is wrong, even if the noble sect doesn't take action, Mu Mi can still save the brothers from danger."

"People in our sect are not afraid of a few wild spirits at least." She smiled contemptuously, and turned her gaze behind them, "The senior brothers of your Mu Mi are still hiding behind."

Hearing this, the senior brothers who were cowering behind couldn't help but walk towards Meng Tou and the others.

The person next to her spoke with a bit of reproach: "Miao'er..." The voice was very young.

She said bluntly: "Why, I'm just telling the truth."

These days the moon is full and the light is sufficient.Even so, the place was a bit dark.A few people from the Shen Gui sect around them lit up lanterns.This corner suddenly brightened.Mu Mi came here to get rid of the spirits, and the Yin spirits will hide in the dark and refuse to come out when they see light, so they simply don't bring lanterns.

The girl was dressed in an elegant blue imperial dress, with two curved willow-leaf eyebrows, bright eyes and white teeth, with sparkling water in her eyes.It was originally a plain face, but the red lips added a bit of brilliance.He is slim and tall as they are.But the person next to her who spoke just now looked familiar.

The man said, "You... are Meng Tou?"

Meng Tou took two steps closer and found that the man was his acquaintance, Zhao Ce, the eldest son of the Zhao family in Lizhou.The relationship between them is not deep.He left home early, and Mu Mi's disciples could only return home during the Chinese New Year.They also only saw a few faces.He was quite surprised that Zhao Ce entered Shen Guimen.

It was inappropriate to reminisce about the situation, Meng Tou patted him on the shoulder and said "Long time no see".

Li Xingfeng turned to the girl and said, "This must be Miao Miao, the third miss of the Yan family."

"Yes. Since Mu Mi is here, it is inconvenient for Shen Gui to intervene and leave." Yan Miao has always disliked politeness, and with a wave of her hand, she walked neatly into the crowd, and the person carrying the lantern immediately followed behind her.

Zhao Ce said: "Miao'er is straightforward, please forgive me." After saying that, he turned and blended into the crowd.

Dozens of people lined up in unison and left to the east.

Li Xingfeng said with a smile: "Seeing is worth seeing once a hundred times. This young lady from the Yan family is really arrogant and beautiful."

It is not without reason that the third miss of the Yan family named Fulian.The fairy looks out of the dust, proud as frost and snow.Everyone walked away, but Xue Ye still couldn't forget: "She is like a fairy."