Laughing at Chang'an

Chang'an City, eastern suburbs, Baiweidu.

The Wei River runs from Niaoshu in the west to Tongguan in the east. This large river runs through the entire Middle-earth from west to east. It used to be the lifeblood of the prosperity of Middle-earth.Thousands of years ago, the mercenary king Li Sanduo built Chang'an City next to the Wei River, and it was precisely because of the importance of this Wei River.Up to now, although the importance of this river has been greatly weakened, in the wet season, cheap river transportation is still the first choice for many merchants to transport goods.

Because Chang'an City is the self-governing territory of the mercenary guild, the guild is also responsible for maintaining the river channels in the territory.These tasks are distributed in the form of tasks, and the rewards are naturally not high, but the contribution value is considerable.The contribution value of the guild is not only used to upgrade the level, but more importantly, you can enjoy a series of benefits: such as the exchange of contribution points in the guild warehouse, special services for performing tasks, and so on.For many low-level mercenaries with little money, it is difficult to receive good missions with high rewards. It is better to do some chores with high contribution value, and use the contribution value to exchange the required equipment in the guild warehouse.

The task of repairing the river is also very popular.

After a busy morning, wearing waterproof work clothes issued by the guild, mercenaries covered in mud and smell were sitting by the river in threes and fives, eating cheap boxed lunches of more than ten yuan each on the trolley next to them.The supervisor sent by the guild was also sitting under the shade of a tree beside him, holding a cheap lunch box like the others. Serving as a supervisor is also a task, but the requirements for accepting it are relatively high, and must be creditworthy and high-ranking. Only mercenaries who have reached a certain standard will do.Tasks like this are usually given to old guys who have retired from the battlefield, but the man sitting under the shade of a tree eating lunch is far from the age of being called an old guy.

He quickly finished the lunch box, picked up the kettle beside him and drank a few swigs, with a refreshed look on his face.Supervisor is not an idle job. It is purely a dream to expect the group of young people to do hard work spontaneously and conscientiously, and his reward depends on the degree of completion of the task, so it is a job that offends people and is not easy to do.

Thinking that it was almost time for lunch break, the man under the tree stood up and was about to call the mercenaries to start working when he heard a plop and someone fell into the river.

It's a... boy.

The water in this section of the river is not deep, and even a little bit of water will not drown. The young man who fell into the river seemed to want to cross the river, and he struggled to reach the middle of the river.The mercenaries sat on the shore and watched, no one moved, they just watched the young man struggling and sinking.

On those still young faces, there was only numbness and indifference.Their once bloody passion has been drained by the cruel reality of this city, and when they struggled desperately like this boy, no one reached out to them.

A figure jumped into the river, splashed a huge splash in the middle of the river, and jumped back to the bank with the boy in his arms.

It's the overseer.

The boy clutched his throat and vomited on the ground in pain. The supervisor looked down at him without saying a word. After a while, he called out to let the mercenaries start working.

"...Thanks, ahem, thank you."

The boy got up with a painful expression, thanked him, then staggered forward, staggering towards the city.Before taking two steps, the whole person fell to the ground again, clutching his waist and curling up into a ball, hitting his head on the ground in pain.A faint smell of blood wafted from his body, and a scarlet liquid overflowed from the covered place, dripping onto the grass drop by drop.

There was a sound of brakes on the road not far away, and a long knife wrapped in a chain was embedded in the corner of the front of the car, which was the regimental emblem of the Geng Army.Two mercenaries in the uniform of the Geng Army got out of the car and came to the boy. One of them squatted down and raised his face for a closer look.

"Yes."

The mercenary who spoke picked up the boy, while his companion glanced at the supervisor standing beside him and nodded slightly.

The supervisor didn't respond, he just looked at the boy who was picked up, and the latter was also looking at him with pleading eyes.

He silently looked away.

"Please……"

Seeing that he was about to be taken away, the young man suddenly yelled hoarsely. He only had time to say a few words before the mercenary who was carrying him slashed the back of his neck with a heavy palm and knocked him out.

The supervisor took a step forward.

The two Geng Army mercenaries looked at each other, and one of them said to the supervisor, "Master Yang, do you know this kid?"

"I don't know." The supervisor shook his head and said, "Don't call him Lord Yang, I can't afford it, just call him Yang Xingxing."

"You are too far-fetched. No one in Chang'an City knows that you and our Lord Shen are brothers who have died together... Please pretend you didn't see this matter today, so we can go back and deal with business."

Yang Xingxing didn't answer, and nodded after a while.

Going to the river to save people was easy, but to offend the Geng Army for a young man whom he had never met before was purely mentally ill.Besides, the Geng Army would not arrest this young man for no reason, intervene rashly, and endless troubles would follow.He has exhausted all his energy supporting a cluster of sparks, and he really has no energy left to meddle in other people's affairs.

The two mercenaries left with the boy in their arms. Yang Huxing looked away. The midday sun hit his body, but it couldn't make people feel warm.

...something faintly reflected light on the grass.

That place where the boy lay down just now, it should have been dropped from the other party's body.Yang Huxing walked over and knelt down to pick up the objects that had fallen on the grass.This is a jade pendant with exquisite workmanship, engraved with the pattern of dragon and phoenix showing auspiciousness... Two characters were carved on the auspicious cloud with a knife: star, bell.

Yang Xingxing stared at the two words in a daze, and gently stroked them with his fingers in disbelief.

He suddenly got up.

The two mercenaries of the Geng Army had already returned to the car and took the boy into the car. The man sitting in the driver's seat was about to start the car when the door next to him was suddenly torn off from the outside.

"I have a question to ask that boy." Yang Xingxing leaned in with a calm expression, "Please be accommodating."

The mercenary who was pressed by his shoulder felt as if there was a mountain on his shoulder, and he couldn't help but secretly startled. There were many rumors about Yang Martian from the outside world. Strength, but few people know it.

Yang Huxing didn't wait for anyone's answer, and went to open the rear door, carried the boy out of the car, put him on the side of the road, and woke him up.

Holding the jade pendant in front of the young man, he asked, "Is this yours?"

The young man was still not sober, after a long while, he showed a strange look, and asked Yang Hingxing, "Are you Yang Hingxing?"

Yang Xingxing nodded.

"My mother gave me this jade pendant and asked me to find you." The young man stared at Yang Xingxing without blinking, with an extremely complicated expression on his pale face, "She said you are my real father."

Yang Xingxing didn't speak for a long time, until the young man propped himself up and wanted to sit up, he asked, "Where's your mother?"

The boy looked cold.

"Dead." He turned his head to look at the car parked on the side, and the two mercenaries beside the car, his tone was not very excited, but cold to the bone, "My whole family was killed by them."

Although his voice was not loud, with the ears of the two mercenaries, he could hear him clearly. Their expressions changed slightly, and they looked at Yang Xingxing who was squatting in front of the boy vigilantly.

Yang Xingxing lowered his head and silently held the jade pendant in his palm.

"Man, I took it away."

He picked up the boy, turned around and looked at the two mercenaries of the Geng Army.

"Please say sorry to Geng Shuai, if you have any questions, feel free to come to me."

………………

At the same time, Li Shen was eating noodles.

Vegetarian noodles in red soup, the ingredients are nothing but two green vegetables.However, the price of this simple bowl of plain noodles is shockingly expensive. At least when Wang Zhen opened the menu, he was dumbfounded for a long time.

"Grandpa? What's wrong with you?"

Li Shen was holding his chopsticks, frowning all the way, and he kept the posture of putting the noodles in his mouth, and stopped there.After a long while, he put down his chopsticks and held the space between his eyebrows.

……This feeling.

No stranger.

Before her mother died, before the decisive battle with Yun Xiangkong... before something extremely bad happened, it enveloped her whole body like a dark cloud, inexplicable, without reason, but extremely accurate—maliciousness from fate.

He was silent for a long time.

If anything bad was looming, it was undoubtedly that he was dying.If he wanted to inform him of his death in advance, it wouldn't be an accident.For this matter, he never took any chances.

——But it was still a little uncomfortable to be told so clearly.

Under the worried eyes of the adjutant, Li Shen finally moved. He picked up the cold noodles and ate them in silence.Even the hundred-year-old shop's signature red soup vegetarian noodles tasted bad after being cold. Li Shen finished a bowl of noodles in silence, raised his head to look at the adjutant, and then looked at Wang Zhen beside him.

"What are your plans for this afternoon?" he asked.

"There are 26 more." The adjutant carefully looked at his face and hesitated, "Are you feeling unwell? Why don't we go back today."

Li Shen shook his head.

"Time is running out." He said lightly, "Let's solve it as soon as possible."

It was said that it was as soon as possible, but in fact it did not go well. Nearly half of 26's family went to the empty building, apparently because they heard the news and hid in advance.Li Shen also lazily confirmed it with his own eyes, and asked the adjutant to inform Lin Guo to do it.Those who remained were not just waiting to die, they could be said to have used all kinds of tricks, those who played tricks, those who sold miserably, and those who asked for backers... Wang Zhen, who was accompanying him, was greatly eye-opened.

After tossing until dark, on the way back, Li Shen dozed off leaning on the back of the chair, his eyes closed and he almost didn't want to open them again.The adjutant drove the car and quietly asked Wang Zhen to cover him with a coat. Wang Zhen nodded, took off his own coat, turned around and stretched his arms across the chair, and gently covered Li Shen with the coat.

Letting go, he stared blankly at the tired face, unable to express his feelings.

No matter how strong you are, you will be tired and exhausted after all...

A harsh buzzing sound suddenly sounded in the carriage, startling Wang Zhen who was in a daze. The sound came from Li Shen's pocket. With his eyes closed, he took out his cell phone, pressed the call button, and held it to his ear.

"Hey."

On the other end of the phone, Geng Yan's calm voice sounded.

"If I need you, come to my office."