bone cutter

Before the Taoist got up, he ordered another bowl of Yangchun noodles at the noodle stall on Miaohong Street, but this time, it was not for himself, but for a child, who had been following him step by step since he stepped out of the Zhang family. boy.

Dirty and small, and somehow survived.

When the Taoist handed the noodles to the child, the owner of the noodle stall saw this, put down the dough he was kneading and said with a smile: "This child wandered to our town two years ago. It is pitiful for everyone to see that he has no father or mother. Let him eat hundreds of meals."

The Taoist nodded slightly.

The child seemed to be extremely hungry, buried his head and swallowed the noodles, was anxious to eat, accidentally choked his throat, and almost coughed up tears, his black and white eyes furtively glanced at the Taoist, for fear that he would scold him.

The Taoist said softly, "Don't be afraid, I won't compete with you for noodles."

The owner of the noodle stall began to roll out the white dough, and said: "My lord, the story of the Zhang family has spread all over the town, and it is also strange. Thanks to you, otherwise the Zhang family will be in trouble!"

The Taoist smiled, "It's a matter of my duty."

The noodle stall owner asked, "The real person is leaving?"

"Ah."

The noodle stall owner said with a smile: "If the real person is not in a hurry, he can go to Changyang City to watch the puppet show."

The Taoist groaned to himself, muttering: "Puppet show..."

At this time, the owner of the noodle stall began to slice the noodles carefully, and his knife skills honed for many years were already as good as fire. He said: "I just use a few threads to pull the puppet, and it can dance and act like a real person. It's very interesting. I have A distant cousin lives in Changyang City, and he told me about it. This play is only performed once a year, and I heard that a rich nobleman spent a lot of money to pick it up, and he just wants to see this play."

The Taoist priest was puzzled: "What is being said in the play?"

When a customer left, the owner of the noodle stall went over to collect the chopsticks and bowls, and said, "I don't know, but my cousin seems to have mentioned something like 'giving God' or something, and I don't know what kind of gift it is, you can help me." Go and have a look, if you have a chance to pass by our town, tell me about it."

The Taoist nodded: "Okay."

As soon as the voice fell, a short laugh suddenly sounded from above.

Next door to the noodle stall was a teahouse, and the laughter came from the second floor of the teahouse.

The Taoist priest raised his eyes, and a black shadow came into his eyes, but it was a man in black who jumped down from the second floor and walked towards him slowly with two long legs.

Suddenly a person fell from the sky, the owner of the noodle stall was taken aback suddenly, patted his chest and murmured, "Flying is popular these days if there is no way to travel."

The man in black walked up to the Taoist priest, squeezed the child away effortlessly, sat lazily across the table, propped his chin with his hands, raised the corners of his mouth, tilted his head and said, "Thank you, I heard that you are going to Changyang City , the journey is far away, why not go together?”

The child hid behind the Taoist priest pitifully, his eyes panicked, and Xie Qi was like a scourge.

Xie Qi said: "What do you look at, is this young master handsome?"

The Taoist seemed to have never heard of it. After comforting the child, he left money on the table, turned around and left.

Seeing the Taoist priest walking very fast, Xie Qi hurriedly followed, "Master Taoist, why are you walking so fast, why don't you take this child with you? He is still following you! You great benevolent people, don't you want to adopt something?"

The Taoist stopped abruptly, turned around, and the child was following him, his round eyes seemed to be expecting something.

The Taoist hesitated for a while, then took out a small amount of silver from his pocket, lifted his robe and squatted down, handed it to the child, and said seriously: "You can eat hundreds of meals if you stay here, but it may not be better to suffer with me than here." few."

Xie Qi heard it interesting, and said with a smile: "Did you hear that, he told you to go quickly."

The Taoist was silent.

Seeing his resolute expression, the child rolled his eyes, and suddenly grabbed the silver tael in his hand, turned and ran, halfway through the run, he did not forget to turn his head and make a face at Xie Qi.

Xie Qi watched the child run away, squinting his eyes, "This kid is smart, he won't starve to death, but you." He shifted his gaze to the Taoist priest's clear blue robe, and walked back and forth, "You won't put your whole body Have you given him all your belongings?"

The Taoist gave him a sideways glance, flicked his whisk, and walked away.

Xie Qi held up his hands, strode his legs, and walked in front of the Taoist priest, "Fortunately, you met me. I am rich, and I will ensure that you will go to Changyang without any worries. By the way, Taoist leader, you What's your name, it's convenient to call it later." Turning his head, he saw the Taoist figure was already a hundred meters away in the opposite direction.

Xie Qile was delighted, and Yaoyao shouted: "Daoist Daoist, wait for me!"

The noodle stall owner picked up a bag of white noodles and said to himself, "Tsk, why are young people nowadays so loud that even the deaf can hear it."

Changyang City is not that far away. It only needs to cross six mountains, walk through eight towns and thirteen villages, and then cross the Yangtze River.

Half a month later, at the beginning of Tianjiao, two figures, one blue and one black, appeared on the streets of Changyang City.

Lanterns hang high on both sides of the street, and there is an endless stream of pedestrians.

The two people's looks were outstanding, causing passers-by to stop and linger to watch. Several women quietly climbed up to the red clouds, half covered their faces with handkerchiefs, and looked at them secretly.

A delicate woman whispered: "I have never seen such a handsome young man when I grow up." The voice was like a silver bell, and she spoke very softly, but many people still heard it, and several women stood close together and covered their mouths Smiling delicately, she peeped at the two of them.

Everyone only felt that the blue-robed Taoist priest was very elegant, like jade like the moon, and his spirit was indifferent.The man in black beside him was both handsome and frivolous. He folded his arms and looked up at Changyang City.

A middle-aged man stepped forward and asked, "What a handsome son, are you from another place? Are you married? There is a little girl in the next family who has not yet married. I wonder if you have time for a meal?"

Xie Qi stopped, and lazily said: "I have a fiancee, don't eat, go away." Hearing this, the girls onlookers were greatly disappointed, and their complexions dimmed instantly.Seeing the man's eyes glance at the Taoist priest again, with a look of hesitation, Xie Qi quickly dodged in front of the Taoist priest, blocked the middle-aged man for him, and said first: "He is just a cultivator, and he doesn't like women. Do you understand?"

The middle-aged man sighed repeatedly when he heard the words, feeling regretful: "It's a pity that the little girl missed a good opportunity."

The Taoist pushed Xie Qi aside and asked, "Excuse me, when will the puppet show in your place start?"

The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly realized, "You said that puppet show, it will start the night after tomorrow. It's strange to say that we don't have puppet shows here. Seven years ago, I don't know which rich man set up the stage. Anyway, as soon as we arrive At that time, there will be a team to perform. Not to mention, it’s really pretty, like a real person.”

The Taoist priest nodded slightly, "Thank you."

The middle-aged man said with a silly smile: "Before the show starts, someone will distribute a list for you outsiders to read. Hey, someone seems to be sending it over there. Just wait a moment, I'll get one for you."

After a while, he came back with a piece of paper in his hand, and handed it to the Taoist priest, "There are puppet show performances on it, take a look." The Taoist priest took it and looked at it carefully, the more he looked down, the more he frowned .

Xie Qi was puzzled, and asked: "Master Dao, why did you come to see the puppet show? Is it really just curiosity? Why does my intuition seem to be different?"

There was a wave in the Taoist's eyes, but in the next moment, the wave disappeared like water ripples, without a trace, as if he didn't bother to say a word to him, and went ahead.

Xie Qi didn't miss this fluctuation, and stood still for a moment, watching the blue figure gradually drifting away from the crowd, and murmured: "Half a month has passed without telling the name, it's mysterious."

He shook his head, chased after him, and walked side by side with the Taoist priest.

There are many stalls on the street, selling rouge and gouache, jewelry, snacks, and even fortune tellers. After walking a few steps, his eyes suddenly lit up, as if he found something good, and he decisively hooked the Taoist priest Shoulder, "Go, take you to eat delicious food.

The Taoist frowned, and couldn't help saying, "Stand back!"

They entered a restaurant built along the river, the restaurant was very spacious and luxurious, with high lights, the interior of the building was as bright as day.

Then I sat down by the window and looked out, thousands of exquisite lotus lanterns floating on the river, flowing slowly with the water.

The stars in the sky and the lanterns on the ground complement each other and fall here.

Xie Qi rested his forehead with one hand, and tapped his index finger on the table in a bored manner. After a while, he quietly observed the little Taoist priest: "Do you have something on your mind?" In fact, from the moment he stepped into Changyang City, he noticed that the Taoist priest's expression was more A trace of dignity.

After the meal, the Taoist suddenly took out something, put it on the table, pushed it in front of Xie Qi, and said solemnly: "This piece of jade is for you, thank you for pouring it all the way, after this meal, let it go." , get up and leave.

Xie Qi picked up the jade, played with it in his hand, and praised: "Good jade." It is a piece of white jade, shaped like flowing clouds, embossed with a guqin, exquisitely carved, bright and lovely.

Then he smiled and said, "How about telling me your name when we meet again?"

The Taoist priest's back paused, and after a while, he spit out two words: "Zhuang Yin."