ecstasy

When returning to the inn, Ning Shiting received a second letter from King Qing Qingniao, this time it was no longer a block of ink, but a few straightforward words: "Return soon."

Gu Feiyin knew that he had come to Dongzhou, but he had not entered the city for a long time. It was obvious that he was about to get angry when he sent such a letter.

Ning Shiting sat in front of the window wrapped in a cloak, watching the falling snowflakes.

The blue bird stands in front of the window, staring at him indifferently. The snow in Dongzhou is different from that in Xizhou. The snow in Xizhou is light and fine, falling finely and finely. In Dongzhou, there is heavy snow of goose feathers, which falls on people’s shoulders, eyebrows and eyelashes, and does not melt for a long time. .

Ning Shiting suddenly didn't want to reply to Gu Feiyin's letter so much. For the first time, he felt a sense of rebellious burnout - he was tired of living cautiously day after day, and every wet and dark handwriting State it over and over again.

If he wanted to die, he thought to himself, when he was at the end of his life, he would return to the coast of the Merman Sea and sink into the waveless sea, that would be a free home.

He put down his pen lightly.

Qingniao glanced at him, seemingly puzzled by his behavior.

"I don't want to write a letter anymore, please take a message for me." Ning Shiting said, "Dongzhou is the place where I was born and raised. Before returning to my life, I still have to visit my mentor."

Blue Bird looked even more dazed.

Ning Shiting smiled, and put away the opened letter paper.

There was some noise downstairs in the inn. The innkeeper and the waiter were running around, not knowing what they were busy with.Ning Shiting took a nap for a while, but he couldn't rest well - he had always been a light sleeper, and was easily awakened by any movement.

The clamor in the back intensified, reaching directly to his floor, and even to the next door.

Ning Shiting thought about going out to have a look, but because the gauze cover was washed and placed by the fire, it would reveal his identity when he went out, and he was afraid of trouble, so he gave up.

On the other hand, when Xiao Er came to deliver the food, he was very embarrassed to apologize to him: "Young master, there is a distinguished guest next door. We are here to help with the order, and it will be noisy. The distinguished guest also said that he would make amends to the nearby guests, so he sent Some small gifts came, and I also helped to give money for tea, water and meals, and I promise to finish it soon. I am really sorry to disturb your rest."

Sure enough, he is a distinguished guest, courteous and considerate.This inn is located at the passage between Dongzhou and the outside world, and there is a mix of fish and dragons in the first place, which makes it even more commendable.

Ning Shiting opened the small box and saw that inside was a water dragon scale, which is water in nature, not very precious, but the price is very high, especially the magic weapon that every household must have in winter, it can be exempted from drying.Put the water dragon scale under the pillow at night, and the mouth and tongue will not be dry when you wake up the next morning.

The food has also been upgraded. Compared with the few small vegetarian dishes Ning Shiting asked for yesterday, now he has added a shrimp soup and many snacks: from Jiuzhen Hebei to ordinary sweet cakes, there is one kind of everything.

After dinner, Ning Shiting was completely free.

In short, the sound of jingling next to him continued, and he couldn't take a nap, so he went to the store to buy some paper and pens, and didn't do anything else, just sat in front of the window and drew a few strokes.

What he sketched was Danqing, with a few strokes he drew a little fat wolf, followed by a pair of eyes, sinister, cautious, yet innocent and childish.

No one taught him to paint Danqing, or maybe it was because no one taught him that he studied his own way.

In the evening, the noise of people coming and going moving things next door finally disappeared.Ning Shiting also saw Xiaoer laboriously carrying two large buckets of spirit animal meat mixed with blood in front of the window. Presumably, some residents must have brought spirit pets over today, and he casually drew a picture of the little wolf in the painting. Only roast pork leg.

It was not dawn the next day, Ning Shiting didn't sleep for a long time, and went out again.

Everything was quiet, and he was still walking slowly in the heavy snow on the rented fairy horse.

The shadow of the lamp gradually illuminates the way forward, and the road becomes more and more deviated until the traces of people disappear completely, leaving only the same mountains in front of us.

The snow was getting bigger and bigger, swirling around him.I don't know when, there are only layers of mountains in all directions, and the mountains are covered with snow, standing majestically.A mottled divine banner was inserted at the mouth of the canyon, and there were a few flamboyant handwriting written on it: "One step in the sky, no one steps in the sky."

The fairy horse hissed and refused to go any further—this psychic creature also realized the danger ahead.

The skeletons of countless seekers are hidden under the snow, and each skeleton is hung on jagged rocks or vines with thorns, and there is almost no place to stay in front of them.

Ning Shiting closed his eyes, quietly listening to the sound of the wind passing through the valley.

In the wind in a certain direction, with the sound of copper bells and a faint human voice, Ning Shiting quickly caught this trace of sound, then got off his horse and jumped into the snow.

The horse had human nature and screamed in panic, but Ning Shiting ignored it - most of the obstacles in the snow were illusions, and the rest were real.

The formation here was originally set up by Bu Cangqiong to hide from the world. After accepting him as a mermaid apprentice who doesn't know a little bit of magic and doesn't have any spiritual knowledge, Bu Cangqiong hung a string of long-singing copper bells at the entrance of the mountain. , so that he can find the trace of the teacher in the wind.

But he was walking in the snow all the way, but he vaguely noticed something was wrong—there were too many people on the formation in front of the mountain.

In the past, Bu Cangqiong's sect had many seekers, unless someone forced his way, Bu Cangqiong generally would not kill the formation, and would only send a boy to invite them back.

As Ning Shiting came all the way, he encountered more than sixty or seventy bones under the snow.

It's almost impossible for this to happen.Even if you step up to retreat and practice in the sky, you will not completely let the formation here threaten people's lives.

A cloud of suspicion flitted across Ning Shiting's heart.

It was almost dawn, and Ning Shiting was slowly walking up the mountain road.

Everything in front of him is familiar to him: the inscription on the mountain gate, the small pavilions and stone tablets beside the mountain road, and a small village on the only way up.Most of the people in this village are abandoned babies picked up one by one by Bu Cangqiong. They have only lived here and have never been outside the world for half a step.

It's just that everything seemed to be covered with old dust and moss, Ning Shiting reached out and touched the stone tablet lightly, peeling off a thick layer of dust.

His pace slowed.

The glimmer of light not far away gave him a glimmer of hope, Ning Shiting paused for a moment, then quickened his pace and walked in that direction.

What came into view was a woman wearing an exercise uniform, her long black hair was tied in a knot behind her head, and there was only a simple silver hairpin hanging in her hair.

The only special thing is the woven bamboo basket she hangs beside her, which is engraved with the shape of silver flames--that is the special pattern for disciples of Bu Cangqiong's lineage of Xiang Dao, and it is also a magic weapon of this lineage.

She is Ning Shiting's senior sister.

Ning Shiting called out: "Senior Sister Fen Liu."

The woman seemed to have just realized that there was someone here.

No one has been to this place for a long time. Hearing the sound, Fen Liu turned around in his first reaction, and the dark fragrance in his sleeves had already arrived with the wind.

Xiangfeng came head-on with dark poison.

Ning Shiting stood still and took off his mask with a smile.

Fen Liu asked suspiciously, "Who are you?"

She had reached for the dagger behind her with both hands.

Ning Shiting said: "This fragrance is called Desolate Ecstasy. Senior sister forgot, I was the one who made this fragrance."

There was a smile in his eyes.

Fen Liu is the elder sister who has followed Bu Cangqiong for the longest time in the Xiangdao of their generation, and she is also the only one in the village established by Bu Cangqiong who has studied under Bu Cangqiong's sect.

When Ning Shiting came here to learn incense, he was still young, and Fenliu doted on him the most. Every time Ning Shiting was taken to a cliff to practice listening to the wind alone, she was the only one who would come against the wind and secretly warm the stove and warm him. Water Dragon Scale.

Fen Liu looked at him with strange eyes.

Seeing that she didn't recognize her, Ning Shiting said, "I'm Ning Shiting, Master bestowed the word Burning Heart, do you remember, Senior Sister?"

……

The wooden door closed with an old rattling sound.The school, which was once full of laughter and laughter, seemed even more deserted at this time.

Fen Liu served him a cup of tea: "I remember you."

Ning Shiting knelt down facing her, and then heard Fen Liu say: "I... haven't met you, but I have an impression of you."

She took out a few letters from her sleeve and handed them to Ning Shiting: "Is it you who have been writing letters to me in the past two years? Master didn't mention it to me and accepted an apprentice from Cong Fen Congxin , but in your letter, you are very familiar with many matters of the master's school. I believe in you, so I handed over Master's "Nine Layers of Spirits" to you. Because of this, I have been thinking about when I will visit you. It's a pity that because there are many trivial matters on the mountain, and I haven't been born for nearly 20 years, it has been delayed."

She looked calm, but what she said made Ning Shiting puzzled.

Ning Shiting frowned slightly: "Senior Sister means...don't remember me at all?"

Fen Liu looked at him for a while, and seemed to understand where he seemed to have missed a turn: "It seems that I don't remember much. If possible, please tell me about your experience in the teacher's school. Now it's just me."

Only her—what does that mean?

Ning Shiting's suspicions were getting heavier and heavier, but he still spoke calmly.

Tell how he was sent here by King Qing, how he was brought up step by step by Bu Cangqiong from a little shark who knows nothing...

Ning Shiting was not a talkative person, but he was interrupted by Fenliu before he finished speaking.

"Young master said...you entered the master's school at the age of eight, and now you are 22, so it is 14 years ago." Fen Liu's eyes also showed doubts, "Everything the young master said is indeed from the master. The style is true, all the details, and even the cultivation methods, are also the inheritance of the master's incense, I completely trust everything that the young master said. But there is only one thing, young master."

Fen Liu stood up: "You can't be Master's apprentice. Master passed away 15 years ago. After that, the mountain gate gradually withered, and I was the only one left."