The strange story of Huai'an Inn

Fairy Jiuluan's words made Master Mengku's body tremble violently.He avoided Jiu Luan's gaze, and completely lost the dignity and demeanor that he had previously held inviolate in the hall.

Jiuluan took a step forward, gently grabbed the hand of the national teacher, and put the hairpin in his hand, "Brother Mengku, what hurts people the most is often not the malice of strangers, but those you love so much." Abandonment by someone you trust."

Fairy Jiuluan's expression was like a deep pool in an ancient well, with not a single wave in sight.On the contrary, it was Mengku Guoshi, whose eyes were already filled with tears.

But at this moment, Chong Liu frowned.The moment Fairy Jiuluan stretched out his hand, he seemed to see a piece of scarlet cloth stuck to Fairy's arm.

He rubbed his eyes, not sure if he was wrong.

Mengku clutched the hairpin, the knuckles of his fingers turned white, "Jiuluan, I'm the one who's sorry for you..."

"I don't resent you, brother Mengku. I know that there are very few men in this world who can stay after seeing me like that. I came to see you today just to ask you a few words. For decades, I have been thinking about it every day and every night, and I have become a demon. I have to ask clearly, so that I can live a free and easy life in the last few years of my life."

Mengku nodded, his voice hoarse, "You ask."

"If I hadn't been disfigured and had a way to retreat from the enemy, are you really willing to give up the glory and wealth and the honor of being a national teacher that the late emperor promised you, and return to secular life with me?"

Mengku looked at her for a long time, then sighed softly, "I don't know."

Chong Liu clicked his tongue lightly, and the shopkeeper glanced at him.

Mengku continued, "At that time, I liked you, it was true. I promised you that if you survived the first battle, I would stay and fly with you, because I thought we would die on the battlefield, so I would Some just didn't care. I didn't think we'd survive."

Jiuluan watched his expression and knew he was telling the truth.She didn't show any disappointment, just nodded.

"All these years, why have you avoided seeing me, why didn't you even have a letter?"

Master Mengku raised his head and glanced at the shopkeeper, Chong Liu, Liu Sheng, Tai Xi and others present, probably because he felt that this matter was between the two of them, and he was somewhat uncomfortable talking about it in front of so many people .

Jiuluan understood what he meant, so he turned his head and said to the shopkeeper, "I wonder if I could invite some of you to the nearby Tianshuizhai for a rest. Pindao has a few words to share with the teacher."

The shopkeeper led Chongliu out without saying a word, but Liu Sheng came out after a while.As soon as he stepped out of the door, he suddenly burst into anger and grabbed the shopkeeper by the collar, "What the hell are you doing! Are these all your arrangements?!"

Chong Liu rushed over and tried to get Liu Sheng to let go of the shopkeeper, "Hey! Master Liu! Let's talk slowly if we have something to say!"

The shopkeeper was not in a hurry, "Where did Master Liu say that?"

"What did you do to Xu Hanke? You are so afraid that the national teacher will visit him! I warn you, if there is anything wrong with him, I will definitely make your life worse than death!"

"Master Liu, Mr. Xu contracted the miasma by himself. I tried my best to help you curb its outbreak, so that Mr. Xu can live until now. How can Mr. Liu get this blamed on me?"

Liu Sheng was anxious and angry, and one hand was already on the handle of the knife at his waist.At this time, Chong Liu suddenly jumped forward, knocking Liu Sheng away from the shopkeeper's hand.He raised his hands in front of his chest, and said to the furious Adjutant Liu with a shy smile, "My lord, what our shopkeeper means is that if we have any ill intentions towards Mr. Xu, we can just let it go or pretend we don't know anything about it. Why should we bother ourselves?" Getting involved, what's the effort?"

Liu Sheng stared at him, "Get out of the way!"

Chong Liu still smiled pitifully, "Lord Liu, although Xiaomin is short-sighted, he also knows that according to the laws of our dynasty, if the government wants to search and detain civilians in the name of criminal suspicion, they must first Provide sufficient evidence of suspicion to various criminal and prison divisions, and then a search warrant or arrest warrant signed by the Secretary of the Constitution. Even if there is an arrest warrant, the suspect must resist arrest before he can use force. But now The person who signed the arrest warrant is still in the inn, my lord is going to use the knife in this Taoist clean place that is respected by the officials... Please think again, Lord Liu!"

As Chong Liu said, he bowed deeply and saluted.

What he said made Liu Sheng startled.

Who would have thought that a small running hall would be so familiar with the criminal laws of the current dynasty...

But he does have a point.Daoist Qi Yao is at the peak of his power, he is highly regarded by the officials, and he is likely to become the next national teacher.Breaking the rules here, I'm afraid it will cause trouble.

No matter how angry Liu Sheng was, he also knew that he, a small deputy, couldn't be too messy.With a cold snort, he flicked his sleeves and walked towards Tianshuizhai first.

Chong Liu breathed a sigh of relief, but when he turned his head, he saw the shopkeeper looking at him, smiling.

Chong Liu said with a bitter face, "Boss, why are you talking back to him? He is a practicing family man. If we fight, we will be the ones to lose."

"Are you afraid that I won't be able to beat him?"

Chong Liu suddenly remembered the great feat of the seemingly slender shopkeeper who knocked a big man who was two laps older than him into the air with one punch... "It's just as unlucky to beat the court ordering officer!" Chong Liu insisted.

Shopkeeper Zhu took two steps forward, then suddenly reached out and rubbed his head.That posture seemed to regard him as a raccoon cat in an inn. "After so many years, you are the first one who will bravely jump out to protect my shopkeeper's small running hall."

............................................................

When the national teacher and Fairy Jiuluan came out together, both of them were surprisingly calm.As if something had been untied, they looked at each other for a long time in front of the door.The national teacher said something, Fairy Jiuluan thought for a while, then handed him the floating dust in his hand.

It was already evening when the national teacher followed Liu Sheng to the inn.There are still many officers and soldiers guarding around the inn, and there are no guests in the lobby.This incident happened yesterday, and most of the guests settled and left early the next morning.

But when they rushed to the vegetable cellar, they were stunned.

But he saw a Tsing Yi alchemist gnawing a pear with relish, sitting on the stone table with his legs crossed and looking at them.The door of the vegetable cellar was open, and several helpers covered their mouths and noses with cloth towels tied on their faces, and were busy going in and out to clean the cellar.

Liu Sheng was stunned, "Where is Mr. Xu?!"

At this moment, Mr. Xu, the county magistrate, ran over wiping his sweat, "Mr. Liu! You have come back. Mr. Xu has woken up! Now you have been sent back to the house, and you just drank a big bowl of rice soup!"

Liu Sheng suddenly changed color, and immediately rushed to the north building with big strides.Chong Liu also glanced at the shopkeeper unexpectedly.

When the national teacher and everyone else rushed to the north building, Song Mingzi jumped off the stone table and walked towards the shopkeeper.

"I've done what you told me. As you guessed, they have become more irritable and aggressive recently. I told you everything you asked me to say, and it was not very happy. In the end it didn't method, I had to threaten a few words..."

The shopkeeper hummed lightly, and said, "I went to Zilu Mountain to see it today, and there is more filth there than I imagined. The last time this happened was..." He was halfway through, but he didn't finish.

Chong Liu stood aside, listening to them as if he was listening to a scripture.

Song Mingzi said, "And... this morning... the City God didn't make a tour."

The shopkeeper's face changed slightly.

Chenghuang didn't go on tour?

Thinking about it carefully, it seems that I did not hear the sound of broken and messy hooves shaking the ground this morning.

The shopkeeper sighed, "This has just stopped for a few years, and it will change again. Let's go, let's go and see the situation of Xiansi first."

A large crowd of people blocked the door of Xu Hanke and Liu Sheng's room, but Xu Hanke, who was dying before, was sitting on the bed holding the quilt, his face was still a little pale, but he was obviously a different person from yesterday .Sitting on the bed, the national teacher looked at his face carefully, and put his finger on his wrist to feel his pulse.He frowned slightly, and glanced at shopkeeper Zhu who had just left the crowd and arrived at the door.

"It is true that there is filth entering the body, but the pulse is strong, and it seems that there is no serious problem." The national teacher said slowly.

Only then did Liu Sheng heave a sigh of relief, his entire shoulders collapsed.

"But..." the national teacher continued, making everyone's hearts hang, "Although the miasma you mentioned has a dormant state, you can't take it lightly. Although the miasma looks like miasma, it is actually a living thing. , it is difficult to eradicate. Once infected, one must be careful not to let it wake up and have a sudden attack. Avoid going to hot and humid places, where blood is rare, and the daily diet should be mainly vegetarian. In case it wakes up, It will be more dangerous."

"National teacher, this beetle miasma...is it only bad?" Xu Hanke suddenly asked in a weak and light voice.

The national teacher was dumbfounded, he didn't expect the other party to ask this question.He pondered for a while and said, "Well, there are advantages. With this thing in your body, you are invulnerable to all poisons, and you can't get close to evil insects and evil spirits on weekdays, and some people will have stronger perceptions. Ability. But...it must be when it is dormant, once it wakes up, the attack will be much more serious than this time, and I am afraid it will be difficult to rescue it."

Xu Hanke nodded, then nodded and said, "There is Lao Guoshi."

"It's not me who saved you, but this shopkeeper Zhu." The national teacher said, looking at the door.

The shopkeeper bowed and said, "I will do my best, as long as the Secretary of the Xian is free."

Only Liu Sheng looked at him coldly and didn't speak.

Xu Hanke smiled with that pale and weak face, "I wish the shopkeeper the grace of saving my life, Han Ke will never forget it. It's just... I have something to talk to the shopkeeper alone..."

The national teacher stood up, "Since that's the case, he has just recovered, so everyone should stop blocking and go away. Master Xu, you have worked hard for two days, so go back first."

The national teacher gave the order, and everyone dared not obey, and the birds and beasts dispersed in an instant.

Chong Liu didn't know whether he should go or not, but the shopkeeper held down his shoulders.

Seeing the shopkeeper's actions, Xu Hanke didn't ask Chongliu to leave.After the door was closed, there were only four people left in the room.

Although Xu Hanke was weak, his eyes were shining brightly.He immediately said, "Shopkeeper Zhu, don't worry, I'm not here to arrest you."

There was silence in the room for a while.

The shopkeeper raised his eyebrows, "What crime did Zhu commit?"

"I said, I'm not here to catch you this time, so what's the crime?" Xu Hanke lifted the quilt, stood up with Liu Sheng's support, and straightened his back, "Although, I have indeed grasped enough Evidence for the issuance of the arrest warrant."

Chong Liu was shocked, but when he turned his head, he saw that the shopkeeper was still calm.

"Although I don't know what evidence your lord has, but...if you have something to say, please speak up."

Xu Hanke's pale lips curled up slightly, "As long as you give me the list of all the craftsmen under your command, I will leave Tianliang City, just thinking that what happened these few days is just a dream."