treacherous world

"Beast niche?" Everyone felt strange when they heard it, and asked in unison, "What is it?"

The old man sighed, stood up and beat his legs, "Oh, the old man's legs are numb after squatting for a long time, find a place to sit down and chat while eating."

Seeing that the old man was about to run away, everyone had to chase him.

Finally, they all went to Taibai's private room, ordered a table full of dishes to flatter the old man, and closed the door.Everyone sat down and waited for the old man to explain what a "beast niche" was.

The old man drank a glass of wine, looked at Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang, Zhao Pu, Ouyang Shaozheng who was picking his ears, and the shadow guards who gathered at the window to listen to the story curiously.

"You boys, are you really good at martial arts?" The old man thought for a while and asked, "The masters are also at the level of the supreme martial arts. Haven't the masters told you about the mysteries of the martial arts?"

"Mystery of martial arts?" Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang shook their heads, indicating that they had never heard of it.

"If you think about it, it's a legend hundreds of years ago. It's normal if you haven't heard of it." The old man thought for a while, then elaborated, "Beast niches are one of the top ten mysteries in the martial arts world."

"Beast shrine? Could it be a shrine dedicated to wild beasts?" Gongsun understood it literally.

"It can be said that the one enshrined is the beast god." The old man nodded, "It is also the god body of the legendary martial arts supreme."

"Beast God?" Zhao Pu had heard of many gods in a mess, but this was the first time he heard of a beast god, so he asked the old man, "What is that?"

"It's a kind of beast with evil power. It is said that those who practice martial arts, if they are lucky enough to be blessed by the beast god, they will make great progress in martial arts." The old man held his chin and said quite mysteriously.

"It's just an ordinary god worship." Ouyang felt that it was nothing special. "It's the same as literati worshiping Confucius and sages, and lovers worshiping the moon. This is also a mystery? It's as serious as a mystery."

"Listen to me, boy, what's the rush." ​​The old man interrupted Ouyang Shaozheng, "Confucian saints and Yuelao statues are all over the world. You can find them in any city, prefecture or county, but there is only one real beast god." ! "Only one? Bai Yutang felt strange, "Isn't that beast god a mud tire?" "

"Hey, you're right." The old man dipped his hand into the glass of wine and wrote four words on the table, "Unique."

"Unique?" Zhan Zhao rested his chin, "There is only one, is it really some kind of divine beast?"

"It should be regarded as a black ape." The old man said, "It is said that a long time ago, there was a black ape with extraordinary talents and high martial arts..."

"Wait." Zhao Pu interrupted the old man, "Old man, you said a monkey is a master of martial arts?"

"Yes."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang also had a half smile on their faces.

"How can a monkey be so strong in martial arts?" Gongsun looked at the old man with a cup in his hand, "Old man, you treat us like a three-year-old child. I don't even believe that I don't know kung fu."

"That's right." Zi Ying and Zhe Ying who were squatting at the window also nodded.

"You children are really not likable!" The old man became angry, "When I told my brother the other day, he didn't know how carefully he listened!"

Everyone frowned even more - didn't the old man know that the fourth son was an idiot?

"That black ape used to be aloof from the world and lived freely in the mountains. Later, it met an injured woman on the hillside." The old man became more and more enthralled. Zhan Zhao poked Bai Yutang with his elbow, "From the legend It's a love story!"

"Ahem." The old man continued helplessly when he saw that the group of listeners were very disrespectful, "After the black ape saved that woman, he fell in love with her for a long time. But that woman turned out to be a witch with bad intentions and a bloody feud." , she used the black ape to avenge her. Later, the god ape really came out to her, and it did what she said. It's a pity that the woman just used it... After the revenge, the witch fell in love with a Handsome samurai."

Everyone looked at each other in dismay and looked up at the sky. Everyone's facial expressions were—so boring.

Zhan Zhao poked Bai Yutang and asked softly, "A black ape?"

"That's right, of course the ape is black, so what about the white ape?" Bai Yutang replied.

Zhan Zhao thought for a while, "That's true!"

The old man sighed. When he was telling the story to the fourth son that day, the fourth son puffed up his cheeks and asked him very attentively, "That witch is good or bad, you are so pitiful!"

These people actually made fun of him!

Shaking his head, the old man continued, "With no use value, the witch and her lover plotted against the god ape, took away the ape's skill, injured it seriously, and then threw it into the abyss."

Although Zhan Zhao and the others felt that the story was quite common, and there were many examples of people in the Jianghu treachery, but to be honest... that monkey was really miserable.

"The ape grabbed the witch's foot before falling into the abyss, and asked her why she lied to herself..."

"Wait!" Hearing this, everyone suddenly asked the old man in unison, "Can monkeys talk?"

Qi Siren opened his mouth, and the little fourth son popped out of his head when he heard him say this, he opened his mouth very cooperatively and asked, "What did Monkey Monkey say? It's so pitiful!"

The old man sighed and continued, "It asked the woman why she treated it so well, and the woman said, 'If you want to blame it, blame it for being too good at kung fu. Everyone in the martial arts wants its peerless kung fu! Besides, you are so ugly , not because you are good at kung fu, who would like you ugly?'”

"Oh! Although this story may sound like a lie, but that woman is pretty good?" Zhan Zhao asked Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang nodded, "Well, a little bit."

"And then?" Zhao Pu asked, "The monkey is not dead?"

"It's not dead, but it's just that I lost my temper and got mad, and my tendons are retrograde." The old man sighed.

Zhan Zhao leaned closer to Bai Yutang's ear and whispered, "Just now he said that his internal energy was sucked away, but now he said he was insane, contradictory."

Bai Yutang nodded seriously, "Yes."

"I haven't gotten to the point yet!" The old man glared at the two of them. "What I didn't expect was that it was a blessing in disguise. After the veins reversed, the hair fell out..."

"Pfft...cough cough."

Bai Yutang was drinking water, and sprayed a sip of tea on Zhan Zhao's hand, coughing and grabbing Zhan Zhao's hand to wipe it.

Seeing that he was choking, Zhan Zhao stretched out his other hand to help him beat his chest.

Everyone thought it was too funny after listening to the old man's words, and wanted to smile seriously, but after recovering and seeing the way Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang communicated, they were all dumbfounded.

"Cough." Zhao Pu put down the cup, whispered to Gongsun, "Darling, I'm choking too, rub it for me."

Gongsun glanced at him, leaned over and asked with a smile, "Then why don't you spray me tea first?"

Zhao Pu hurriedly found a cup for tea.

"Ahem." Zhan Zhao coughed, interrupting the two of them.

"What's next?" Bai Yutang asked the old man to change the subject, "The monkey became a human after losing its fur?"

"Uh... It is said that he is still very handsome." The old man held his chin, "and he has accomplished martial arts, even better than before."

"Then did he go out to take revenge?" Gongsun asked.

"Later he went out, and then he didn't trust all the women in the world, and took revenge on those who had hurt him before." The old man sighed, "Then he lived alone in the mountains, and not long after, he met a tea-picking girl who went up the mountain to pick tea. .”

"Wow, this story is so twists and turns." Ouyang poked out his ears and sighed, "It's still quite long."

Seeing everyone's expressions of "I'm so annoying, let's get to the end", the old man suddenly remembered the way the fourth son hugged the pillow, opened his eyes and listened with great interest. Sure enough, the child will not be cute when he grows up.

"Grandpa, hurry up and tell me." Zhao Pu urged, "What happened to that hair-shedding monkey?"

"He is the supreme martial artist, yet you still say he is a hairless monkey." The old man curled his lips dissatisfied, "Oh, forget it, let me finish quickly, he saved the tea picker girl, and of course the latter fell in love with him, and has been Hungering him to death... In the end, Wu Shengren finally fell in love, but he didn't expect... to be deceived again."

"No way." Gongsun originally thought that the reunion was over, but he didn't expect there to be changes, and frowned, "He is too unlucky, there are so many good girls in the world who can't be met, and they are always with evil intentions. .”

"This is even worse." The old man sighed, "Wu Shengren was deceived by the tea picking girl and died miserably. Before he died, he said that the reason why he was so miserable was because of his peerless martial arts. He would not let go of those who lied to him." people."

"I've been talking for a long time." Zhan Zhao rested his chin, "What's the relationship with that beast god beast altar?"

"The tea-picking girl accidentally became pregnant with Wu Shengren's child." The old man smiled, "She originally wanted to use this child to deceive a man she really liked, but she didn't expect that the child was born with hair all over her body, and she was a bad boy." A monster that is not human."

Everyone looked at each other, and Bai Yutang suddenly asked, "Would it be possible for him to lose his hair if his veins go backward?"

The old man looked up at the sky, this group of people didn't hear the point at all!

Zhan Zhao quickly patted Bai Yutang, "Stop thinking about hair loss, it's really weird."

"That's right." Bai Yutang nodded.

The old man was also a bit confused, "The ending of the story is that the woman was frightened in the end and committed suicide. The little beast god seemed to be the reincarnation of his father, with peerless martial arts, and it returned to the mountain alone. After that, people often saw a little beast in the mountain. A beast god, as long as those who practice martial arts worship him, they will immediately achieve great martial arts, but most of these people die insane in the end. Many years later, the beast god died and stood on the top of the mountain and petrified into a Buddha statue. Since his death, all Most of the people who passed by that mountain forest encountered accidents. Finally, a senior monk said that the beast god was too resentful, so he built a ancestral hall for it and enshrined it in a shrine. That shrine is called the beast shrine. Not long after that, one day, The beast shrine has disappeared, and its whereabouts are still unknown. There are many rumors in the rivers and lakes, saying that the beast shrine has supernatural powers, and those who get it will be invincible in the world. About a hundred years ago, martial arts were still fighting for this beast shrine. The world was in chaos. But no one mentioned it anymore... I know that there are many people secretly worshiping the beast shrine. But this beast shrine is as evil as the pen fairy and the dish fairy. It is very likely that those who worship will be enchanted by evil In the end, I didn’t even know how I died when I died. As for the real beast shrine, it’s an extremely ominous thing, and most of the people who approach it don’t end well.”

When everyone heard this bizarre story to the end, they did hear some secrets.

Zhan Zhao couldn't help asking, "Although I don't play pen fairy and dish fairy, I have heard of it anyway, but I really haven't heard of the animal niche."

Bai Yutang, Zhao Pu and others nodded.

The old man sighed, "You boys, have you ever tried a set of kung fu and couldn't learn it no matter what?"

The three of them looked at each other, how could it be possible?It is not difficult to learn Kung Fu, just take a look at it.

"Still, when did the three of you become famous?" The old man curled his mouth even more, "Fifteen or six! Fifteen and six will have peerless martial arts, you know people who can't learn a set of swordsmanship in ten years How do you feel?"

Ouyang Shaozheng folded his arms and nodded, "In other words, people who are not very good at kung fu, who have no talent and can't get ahead, but who are somewhat ambitious, have a chance to know about the beast niche?"

"You're smart enough, kid." Shen Xiang nodded at him, "Especially for those who want to pass the martial arts test to get ahead, you might as well follow this clue to find out. If there is really a secret spread of this beast worship The ethos of the niche, it’s the same as playing pen fairy and dish fairy, sooner or later something will happen.”

Zhan Zhao immediately sent people to investigate the friends around the deceased, especially those who came to the exam together, to see if anyone knew about their worship of the beast shrine, and most importantly, to find out where the beast shrine was.

Everyone left Taibaiju and returned to Kaifeng after listening to the rumors of the rivers and lakes.

On the way, Zhan Zhao asked Bai Yutang in a low voice, "Do you find something weird?"

Bai Yutang thought for a while, then asked in a low voice, "You said that god has four blades?"

"Why did he appear for no reason, and we found out that almost every clue has been found under his reminder. Now the clues are locked on the Pen Fairy and the Beast Niche!" Zhan Zhao frowned when he said this , "I always think he's a bit too amazing."

Bai Yutang agrees that what Zhan Zhao is worried about is also what he doubts...including Gongsun and Zhao Pu, in fact, everyone has some doubts about this god Qi Four Blades.I don't think he is a bad person, but he behaves strangely, and he should be hiding something.

"Why don't you ask him directly?" Bai Yutang said, "It saves you from guessing."

After thinking about it, Zhan Zhao thought it was feasible. The two of them wanted to find the old man when they entered Kaifeng, but before they entered the courtyard, they saw Pang Yu rushing over, "Hello!"

"What's wrong?" Zhan Zhao saw Pang Yu approaching him like a ghost, "Didn't you accompany Bao Yan to study?"

"I went to drink tea and found out something in the teahouse!" Pang Yu waved his fingers, "You must be interested!"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged glances - Pang Yu always likes to go to places where three religions and nine streams are mixed, maybe he can really find out something, so he followed him to the garden beside him, "What did you find out?"

"Someone is selling ghost pens!" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were also surprised when Pang Yu's words came out, "Where are you selling them?"

"Ghost Mountain Number One Scholar Temple!"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang heard a cloud of mist, and Zhan Zhao laughed, "Oh, young master, you grew up in Kaifeng, where is there such a ghost mountain champion temple in Kaifeng?"

"That's right." Bai Yutang also nodded, "Not just Kaifeng, I've traveled to many places in the north and south of the Yangtze River, and I've never heard of Ghost Mountain."

"I haven't heard of it either, so I asked specifically!" Pang Yu looked around and whispered, "Ghost Mountain is in the valley of the West Mountain. I don't know when a champion temple was built there! There is a crazy scholar inside." , if you find someone who is destined, sell the number one scholar pen to him!"

"Is there such a thing?" Zhan Zhao frowned.

"The point is!" Pang Yu said, rubbing his neck, "It is said that the crazy scholar looks exactly like the ghost champion Cen Lei! I wanted to verify it, but the old man said that I had a bloody disaster, so I dare not Why don't we go together?" Then, Pang Yu took out a blueprint from his pocket, "I heard those people talk about the terrain, so I probably drew a blueprint."

"Those people?" Zhan Zhao frowned, "Many people have heard of it?"

"A lot of people have been there!" Pang Yu looked at the sky, "I found that those literati and martial arts students are crazy about wanting to be the number one scholar! All of them have a vicious meaning. It is said that they all got Fushui in the number one scholar temple. question."

"Xishan Col... is not far from Tianlong Mountain Villa in the west of the city!" Zhan Zhao reminded Bai Yutang, "To build a temple, there will inevitably be a lot of construction work. If stone and timber are transported from outside the mountain, we have no reason, whether it is inside or outside the city. have no idea!"

"So you suspect that someone from Tianlong Villa directly obtained materials from the villa and built this Zhuangyuan Temple there?" Bai Yutang nodded slightly, "It's possible."

"It shouldn't be too late, let's go right away." Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were about to take Pang Yu to leave.

But as soon as he walked to the gate, he saw that the front hall was very lively.

"What's the matter?" Zhan Zhao asked a few yamen servants who were in a hurry.

"Master Zhan, just now there was a fight between two scholars at the Huitong Inn, one stabbed the other, and now there is a lawsuit in Kaifeng, the injured one is still alive, he is Prime Minister Wang's favorite student, Prime Minister Bao went to Mr Gongsun for treatment Woolen cloth."

"Scholars still use knives in fights?" Bai Yutang felt fresh when he heard it.

"Is Prime Minister Wang's student the scholar surnamed Chen who came with him before?" Zhan Zhao still had some impression of that person.

"Yes!" The yamen servant nodded.

"No way!" Pang Yu also opened his eyes wide, "That Chen Shudai has no strength to fight with others? He might not even be able to beat the little four!"

"It's not that he beat others. Mr. Chen was originally very hot this year. They had a lot of scholars reciting poems and composing together. It would have been nice, but one of the scholars went crazy and stabbed him. The doctor said just now that he will definitely not be able to participate in this year's autumn examination." It's gone... we'll have to wait another year." The yamen servant shook his head and went inside to find Gongsun, sighing, "It's pitiful, we have to wait another year for the sword of the ten-year cold window."

Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang, Pang Yu was clever, and asked the two of them to wait for him to inquire, and he came back not long after, and said, "It is said that the scholar was quite favored at first, but during the competition just now, Mr. Chen lost the limelight." Overwhelmed, so envy breeds hatred!"

"Where's the scholar?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"I was arrested on the spot, and now I'm in prison." Pang Yu wrinkled his nose, "Bao Xiang said, let's say at least 50 years, and his future will be ruined. This scholar was quite talented in the first place."

"Dead again? Those who came to take the exam are all sick!"

At this time, Gongsun's yelling and cursing came from the side courtyard.

Zhan Zhao went over to take a look, and saw two corpses brought in with a white cloth covering their heads.

"What's going on?" Zhan Zhao walked over and asked.

"The candidates are fighting again." Gongsun curled his lips, "If you fail the test and you will not die, why are you so crazy!"

"Are these Wensheng or Wusheng?" Zhan Zhao squatted down to check the neck of the deceased, and when he saw a red string, he pulled it out... The amulet with the word "beast" on his neck fell out.

"It's strange, these people look like Wen Sheng." Gongsun squatted aside and showed Zhan Zhao the dead man's hands... quite white, without calluses, it is not a martial arts practitioner.

"Cat." Bai Yutang walked to the back of the corpse, suddenly seemed to have discovered something, called Zhan Zhao, and then pointed to the sole of the corpse's shoe.

Both Gongsun and Zhan Zhao went over to have a look, and saw some black soil on the soles of the dead man's shoes, and a few crushed flower petals in the soil.Look at the shape, it is red and white petals of Bana.

Gongsun picked out the petals with a bamboo stick and looked at them, "It's still very fresh, it should have been stepped on this morning or not long ago."

Zhan Zhao called a few panicked scholars who were brought along with him, and asked them to lift their feet.

Several scholars looked at each other, and raised their feet to show Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang quickly found a scholar whose feet were covered with the same black soil and flower petals, and asked them, "Have you ever been to Xishan?"

The scholar looked dazed, but he still nodded, "I've been there, and we went to the Zhuangyuan Temple to pray for blessings."

Zhan Zhao asked, "How do you know about the Zhuangyuan Temple? What exactly did you do there?"

"I heard people say that most of the scholars who come to take the exam know that they are going to pay homage." A few scholars are also confused. "We are like others. We go in to meditate and meditate, and we feel very good when we come out!"

"Calm down?"

At this time, Bao Zheng came out from the inside, "What kind of meditation method?"

"Because we are very nervous for the autumn exam, and this time there are really masters gathered, and I heard that many scholars died, so everyone is very disturbed." A scholar told Zhan Zhao and the others, "I heard that after worshiping the Zhuangyuan Temple, It will make people calm and confident, and they will perform well when the time comes..."

"What about this one?" Bai Yutang pointed to the amulet and asked him, "Where did this come from?"

The scholar was also stunned, and looked at it puzzled, "This... I haven't seen it before."

"Are you sure you didn't get it in the Zhuangyuan Temple?" Zhan Zhao asked several other people.

Several people shook their heads, indicating that they had never seen it before!

Bao Zheng ordered several scholars to be brought in for detailed interrogation, and he told Zhan Zhao in a low voice, "There is something wrong with the Zhuangyuan Temple, you go and investigate and see what's going on!"

Zhan Zhao nodded, winked at Bai Yutang and Pang Yu beside him, and left together.

As soon as he went out, Bao Yan hurriedly chased after him, "I'll go too."

"What are you doing? The streets are full of crazy scholars now!" Pang Yu frowned.

"Which of the three of you looks like a scholar?" Bao Yan frowned, "I am more like me, I can always help when the time comes, and... I don't care."

"What doesn't matter?" Zhan Zhao was puzzled.

"I mean, I didn't care if I could pass the exam this time, I just wanted to have a taste of the exam." Bao Yan muttered in a low voice, "I really don't understand why those people go crazy for the exam. "

"Oh, I've said it all, you people won't understand."

While speaking, Shen Xiangqi Four Blades did not know when he came behind them.

Zhan Zhao winked at Bai Yutang—what an effort!

Bai Yutang understood, and gave him a wink - this old man is unfathomable, he must find a chance to ask!

"What don't you understand?" Bao Yan was puzzled.

"How long will it take you to memorize a thousand-word essay?" the old man asked.

Bao Yan thought for a while, "I usually remember it after reading it once."

"Who is your father?"

"Old man, are you stupid?" Pang Yu interjected, "Little Mantou's father is Baoxiang."

"Then who is your father?" Qi Siren asked Pang Yu again.

"His father is Grand Master Pang." Bao Yan didn't quite understand what the old man wanted to express.

"So, the four of you are either born well or have extraordinary talents. Each of you looks like a dog and is a talented person. The proud of heaven will not understand the bitterness of ordinary people." The old man walked forward as he said.

The four of them left looked at each other in blank dismay, and finally chased after them with some displeasure.

"Old man, you're wrong to say that." Bao Yan argued, "I also studied hard, but instead of relying on my father to take advantage of it, I also suffered a lot!"

"That's right!" Pang Yu also nodded, "I've been a prodigal son for a while, how many times have you been bloody without seeing me?"

Zhan Zhao also agreed, "It's been very hard since I was a child, so you don't need to tell others about the hardships when practicing martial arts?"

The old man smiled and nodded, "Well, I didn't say you guys took advantage, nor did I say you didn't care."

"Then what do you mean?" Pang Yu was puzzled.

"What I mean is, you understand and I understand, but others may not understand too!" The old man laughed dryly, "Sometimes there is a difference between understanding and not understanding, and a wrong step is a wrong step! Sigh... just like this autumn test, one stroke high school As long as the chickens and dogs are promoted, all previous efforts will be wasted once they fail the rankings, sometimes life is just one step." The old man finished talking.

Pang Yu was dissatisfied, "Master, are you drinking too much and talking nonsense?"

But Bao Yan shook his head, "Well... there is some truth to what you said, people are sometimes just a mistake, but those who take advantage of this difference to kill are the culprits."

"Let's go to Zhuangyuan Temple first." Zhan Zhao grabbed Bai Yutang and waved to everyone behind him, "Otherwise it will be dark."

Everyone rushed to the west together, but along the way, they heard a strange rumor-it was said that there was a wild beast hurting people in the west mountain, and it looked like a black ape.

"Black ape?" Pang Yu opened his eyes wide and looked at Bao Yan.

"That's right, the ape is of course black, and the white ape is fine." Pang Yu muttered.

Bao Yan blinked sillyly.

The old man suppressed a smile and turned his head to glance at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang behind him.

But I saw two people discussing.

"Cat, think of a way to beat its veins back, and see if it will lose its hair." Bai Yutang said to Zhan Zhao seriously.

Zhan Zhao stared at him for a while, then replied, "Okay!"