As the most important town in the south of the Tang Dynasty, Sangji City may not be prosperous, but it is definitely lively. But now the whole city is enveloped in a heavy atmosphere, which is so depressing that it makes people feel breathless.
After Li Mingyue entered the city, there were few common people. Most of them were military personnel. There were also some knights and knights. They probably wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to join the battlefield and make contributions.
Recruitment notices were posted everywhere in the streets and alleys. Li Mingyue glanced at it casually, and then continued to look for a place selling books. The situation must be tense. After searching several streets, he couldn't find it. Instead, he was targeted by several Jianghu people.
Follow all the way.
Li Mingyue actually didn't notice it, but it was the reminder from the woman in the bell, so Li Mingyue simply pretended not to know and continued to search in the city to see what these people wanted to do.
After walking almost half of the city in this way, he still couldn't find a place to buy books. Instead, Li Mingyue found a private school, and it didn't close down.
Standing on the street, she could hear the sound of children reading loudly from the private school, so Li Mingyue simply walked into the private school.
After entering the private school, there were not many people. The yard was full of fallen leaves and it looked like no one had cleaned it for several days. At the end of the verandah on the right front, there was a pavilion that could accommodate fifty people, with bamboo mats hanging on all sides.
, most of them are half-rolled, so they can't block the view.
Li Mingyue did not walk directly over, but sat down in the verandah and watched from a distance.
A middle-aged Confucian scholar, holding a ruler in his hand, was walking among the seats of the students, shaking his head to the sound of the students reading.
He seemed to have seen Li Mingyue in the verandah. He stopped and looked at it for a while, then continued to walk around in a circle and returned to the podium. It happened that the schoolchildren had finished reading a classic, so he said loudly:
"Okay, that's it for today. When you go back, remember to review what you learned today. I will check it tomorrow."
As soon as they heard this, the schoolchildren dispersed in a noisy manner. Only one little boy did not leave. After everyone else left, he stood up and saluted the gentleman, and said in a childish voice: "Sir, I
I'm afraid I won't be able to come tomorrow. My father said that the south is not peaceful recently and he plans to go north to escape for a while."
The middle-aged Confucian scholar nodded and sighed: "That's good. After you settle down, don't be playful. Learning is like sailing against the current. If you don't advance, you will retreat. You are talented and smart. As long as you work hard, it will not be difficult to gain fame in the future."
The child nodded and said: "The teacher's teachings should be kept in mind by the students and they dare not forget them. The students are just worried about the teacher. Once the Five Countries come over, how will he deal with himself? It is better to go north with the students. This is what my father meant."
The middle-aged Confucian scholar packed his things and said with a smile: "Thank you, Mr. Zhang, for your kindness. I won't go. There are so many students here, and there must be someone to teach."
The little boy lowered his head and finally said with a hint of regret: "Take care, sir!"
The middle-aged Confucian scholar nodded, waved his hand and said, "Go back quickly."
The little boy stopped staying and left the private school. When passing by Li Mingyue, he glanced at Li Mingyue curiously.
After the young man left, a middle-aged Confucian scholar came over, saluted Li Mingyue, and asked, "Is there something wrong, Your Excellency?"
Li Mingyue hurriedly replied: "No, I just heard the sound of books when passing by, so I came in to take a look and asked where I could buy Confucian classics."
After hearing this, the middle-aged Confucian scholar looked at Li Mingyue again and said at the same time: "I'm afraid it's gone now. It seems that you are from outside the country. Why are you interested in Confucian classics?"
Li Mingyue did not hide anything and said with a smile: "I am a monk on Qingyuan Mountain. Not long ago, I heard an old gentleman say that studying can nourish your Qi. I happened to encounter some problems in my practice and always felt that my Qi was not smooth, so I thought
Try this."
The middle-aged Confucian scholar nodded, took out a yellowed book from his arms, handed it to Li Mingyue and said, "I still have some here. If you need it, you can take a look first."
Li Mingyue took the book and quickly thanked him: "Thank you, sir! I will return it after reading it, or you can see how much this book is worth..."
The middle-aged Confucian scholar interrupted: "If it is contained in the book, it is priceless. If it is useless, it is just waste paper and cannot be traded."
Li Mingyue said quickly: "I am being rude."
The middle-aged Confucian scholar smiled and said: "As for returning it, it's useless for me to keep this book. And no one knows what the current situation will be like tomorrow. Let's wait until you finish reading it."
Li Mingyue thought for a while and then said: "I heard from my husband before that I would stay here?"
The middle-aged Confucian scholar nodded.
Li Mingyue said: "Then I wonder if I can come over tomorrow to listen?"
He added with some embarrassment: "To be honest, I don't know much about literacy, so I would like to ask my husband for advice in his spare time. Of course, I can pay for the tuition."
The middle-aged Confucian scholar hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said: "The sage said that there is no distinction between teachings, so it's okay. It just so happens that a student has just left, and there is an extra position."
He then added: "But you'd better change your clothes when you come tomorrow. If you are like this now, other students may not be able to listen to the lecture."
Li Mingyue lowered her head and glanced at her own outfit before agreeing.
After Li Mingyue said goodbye to this private school teacher, she left Sangji City directly and returned to Qingyuan Mountain.
The few Jianghu people also followed Li Mingyue all the way away. After entering the mountain road, they quickened their pace to catch up and directly surrounded Li Mingyue.
There were not many of them, there were only five of them in total, and all of them looked ferocious, with no trace of the chivalry of a knight-errant. They were clearly bandits who were robbing families and homes.
Li Mingyue frowned and said: "Brothers, are you trying to steal money? I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you. I really don't have much money. I only have this book, which I just borrowed. I think I won't despise it either."
A man with a scar under his ear said coldly: "Take out that jade pendant and I will spare your life."
Li Mingyue lowered her head and glanced at the jade pendant around her waist, and finally understood why she was being targeted by these people. It was this jade pendant that caused her feelings.
It really makes sense not to reveal your wealth. After all, this jade pendant was made by the royal family. Anyone with a discerning eye can tell it is valuable at a glance. It is no wonder that these people are interested in seeing the wealth.
Li Mingyue shook her head and said: "This thing is useful to me. It's not an exaggeration to say that my life is at stake. I really can't give it to you. In this way, I still have some money on me. I originally wanted to buy books, but I can't use it now, so I can just use it."
Invite some older brothers to drink."
After saying that, he took out all the money and handed it out.
As a result, these people hesitated a little. They really had no choice but to engage in this kind of robbery and targeted Li Mingyue. Firstly, it was because the jade pendant was indeed valuable. Secondly, Li Mingyue was young.
There was no one around.
But the expression that Li Mingyue showed now was completely beyond their expectations. A person of Li Mingyue's age should be frightened when encountering such a robbery on the road, but the little Taoist priest in front of him was not. On the contrary, he was abnormal.
of calmness.
In addition, the Taoist robe Li Mingyue was wearing made them even more unsure. After so many years of wandering in the world, they had heard many strange people and strange things, especially those old immortals who were successful in Taoism and liked to pretend to be young.
They are obviously old monsters who have lived for hundreds of years, but they appear to be children. Many people have fallen into trouble because of this.
Li Mingyue saw that the other party didn't take any, thinking that they were too few, and said helplessly: "There are really only so many."
The scarred man signaled with his eyes, and someone stepped forward to take the money.
When Li Mingyue saw that the other party had withdrawn the money, she asked, "Can I leave now?"
Everyone looked at each other. To be honest, they had never done this kind of robbery. It was completely different from what they imagined. It was really too easy.
The man with the scar hesitated for a moment, his heart sank, and he said coldly: "Keep the jade pendant."
Li Mingyue frowned, isn't this greedy?
He shook his head again and said in a more serious tone: "I said, this thing is very important to me. I have already given you the money, so why bother killing them all without leaving a way for others to survive?"
A man said in a deep voice: "What nonsense are you talking to him about? Since he is so ignorant, just kill him."
As he spoke, he took action directly and hit Li Mingyue's head with one punch. After all, he was a practicing practitioner who had been wandering around the world. This punch was quite powerful and had a strong punch. If an ordinary person were to receive such a punch,
Death is certain.
Li Mingyue is now a monk in the subtle realm. He may only be considered a beginner in the world of practice, but he is more than enough to deal with these ordinary warriors. With a slight mistake in his steps, he easily dodged the punch. At the same time, he raised his palm and grabbed the opponent's wrist.
, dragging and pushing, and using the strength to hit, the opponent was easily thrown out.
Seeing Li Mingyue's wonderful technique, everyone's faces became more and more serious. It seemed that this little Taoist priest was indeed not the soft persimmon they thought. They were in a dilemma for a while.
But at this moment, Li Mingyue's expression suddenly changed, and with a thought, a dagger suddenly appeared in his hand, and he threw it directly towards the rear.
"call out!"
"Boohoo!"
First there was a sound of breaking wind, and then a series of sounds of breaking wind. In the dense forests on both sides of the mountain road, arrows pierced the void and shot toward Li Mingyue.
Although the dagger blocked the first arrow, the remaining arrows fell down like raindrops without any hindrance.
Li Mingyue moved quickly, and arrows passed by him. Although his body was not injured, the clothes on his body were not spared, and they soon became dilapidated.
Li Mingyue dodged this wave of arrows, but the martial arts warriors were not so lucky. Although they all tried to block at this moment, they were quickly stabbed into hedgehogs and fell into a pool of blood.
It was obvious that these arrows were aimed at Li Mingyue. These martial artists were just greedy and suffered unreasonable disasters.
If they had left after taking the money, they might not have been buried here, but it was a pity that it was too late, and they all paid with their lives for their greed.
After this wave of arrows, there was a sound in the woods on both sides of the road, and then countless people poured out, all holding long knives and wearing armor, emitting a soul-stirring cold light in the sun.