Uncle Jiu shook his head and sighed. He looked at his two apprentices and blamed himself, "Master has not considered you. You still have a long way to go in the future. You should not be tied up in the yizhuang."
Uncle Jiu originally thought about letting Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai take over the mantle of Yizhuang and continue to serve Renjia Town.
When Wencai and Qiu Sheng heard this, they were delighted and smiled. The latter asked, "Master, think about it, next time Uncle Four Eyes and Uncle Qianhe come to our place, they will see the newly built Taoist temple.
, How envious that would be.”
Uncle Jiu thought about it and thought it was good. He was getting older, so he couldn't say, but it was indeed time to take care of his old age.
After thinking about it, he saw Xu Ping still standing in the yard and said hurriedly: "Xiao Xu, come, Xiao Hua has specially prepared a large table of dishes for you."
Xu Ping looked at Gu Nianhua who was behind Uncle Jiu, who smiled shyly: "If you don't come over to eat, the food will be cold."
"Hahaha……"
"Eat, eat!"
The five of us sat down and chatted while eating.
"Hey, Shopkeeper Xu, what are you doing for fun when you go out this time?" Wencai looked curious. He has never been out of Renjia Town.
"What do you call Shopkeeper Xu? Now I have to call you Boss Xu." Qiu Sheng joked.
Xu Ping smiled: "Qiu Sheng, there's no need to be so outspoken. As for fun things, there are plenty..."
"Say it quickly."
Gu Nianhua, who was sitting on the left, had a blushing face and a curious look on her face, urging her.
Xu Ping glanced at her and was startled when he saw the extremely pure emotion in her clear eyes.
Looking at the charming and naive girl in front of him, Xu Ping drank a glass of wine and said loudly: "This matter starts with me going to Hong Kong Island..."
Xu Ping was meticulous about everything, and while drinking and eating, he told several people about his experiences in Hong Kong Island.
He just unconsciously put aside the matter about Zhou Lianqing.
He looks like a scumbag.
What Uncle Jiu talked about was mainly about how Gu Nianhua showed great power on Maoshan Mountain.
Wencai and Qiu Sheng were stunned when they heard this.
"Little junior sister, how come you are so powerful after traveling far away?" Qiu Sheng couldn't believe it and looked up and down at the girl in front of him.
Wencai looked at Uncle Jiu and said, "Master, are you hiding something and not teaching me and Qiu Sheng?"
"Yes! I kept not only one hand, but four or five..." Uncle Jiu cursed and shouted: "You two are incompetent on your own, but you still have the nerve to accuse me of hiding something."
"I ask you to practice on weekdays, either to be lazy or to play, and I don't take it seriously at all. If you, Xiaohua, were even half as worried, I wouldn't..."
Uncle Jiu kept talking and talked endlessly. Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai looked at each other, shrugged and began to immerse themselves in the meal.
"Hehe..." Gu Nianhua smiled slyly and turned to look at Xu Ping, "Brother Xu, when you come back this time, you won't go out again, right?"
Xu Ping thought for a moment and slowly shook his head, "After staying for a while, I still have to go out."
Not to mention that there was concern over Hong Kong Island now, and he had to go and have a look every now and then. It was the invitation from Lord Zhong Kui. After thinking about it carefully, he finally had to go.
But there was no need to tell Uncle Jiu about this, so he kept it deep in his heart. At the same time, he pretended not to see Gu Nianhua's disappointed look.
After eating, Xu Ping and Uncle Jiu each sat on the couch, looking up at the crescent moon in the sky, tasting the fragrant tea in their cups.
Very comfortable.
Xu Ping asked General Qin for this tea. General Qin drank a little of it in pain and asked Xu Ping to find him some time to reminisce about old times, and then he was willing to give it to him.
Probably this aloof city god rarely found a good friend.
"That General Qin is worthy of being the city god of the provincial capital, and he actually hid such good things." Uncle Jiu squinted his eyes slightly, feeling the fragrance between his lips and teeth.
Xu Ping smiled lightly: "It's a pity that he only gave me this... huh?"
Before he finished speaking, he saw Uncle Jiu looking over with a suspicious look on his face and a faint smile on his lips.
"Hahaha……"
Xu Ping laughed three times and said, "I can't hide anything from Uncle Jiu..."
As he said this, he took out a small bag of tea and placed it on the tea table next to him. He thought about it and then said: "Uncle Jiu, you can't drink this tea randomly, let alone give it to others. Drink it once every three days, every day."
If you take three pieces of tea, your white hair will turn black."
This small bag of tea was originally prepared by him for Uncle Jiu.
This kind of tea is extremely nourishing for practitioners, so Xu Ping added some ingredients, namely the essence and blood of the dead dragon.
Green tea dyed red with essence and blood can bring vitality to people. He had tried it in advance and had no side effects before giving it to Uncle Jiu.
Hearing that it had such an effect, Uncle Jiu took it solemnly, "Then I'll thank you in advance."
Xu Ping waved his hand: "Are we still talking about this?"
Uncle Jiu nodded with a smile, looked sideways slightly, looked at the lighted room next to him, and whispered: "Xiao Xu, what are you... going to do?"
Xu Ping observed his gaze, remained silent for a moment, then stood up and said, "Let's talk about it later. There are some things I don't know how to say."
Uncle Jiu nodded thoughtfully and asked, "Xiao Xu, are you going back?"
"Um……"
Xu Ping responded, waved his hand, and left Yizhuang.
…
Walking on the wilderness mountain road, Xu Ping originally planned to stay in Yizhuang for a while, but just now, he suddenly felt a slight throbbing.
In this wilderness, there seemed to be something calling him.
Following the feeling in his heart, Xu Ping crossed a pile of weeds and found a flower blooming in the wind beside a small river with rugged rocks.
The flowers swaying in the night wind are all scarlet red, and the whiskers are like devil's claws, surrounding the flowers in the middle.
The slender petals swayed gently, exuding a refreshing sweetness under the moonlight.
Suddenly smelling this smell, Xu Ping felt a little dizzy with his current state of mind. He calmed down and looked carefully.
"Higanbana!"
"Don't these flowers bloom in the underworld?"
Xu Ping was very curious, and when he was thinking about why he was attracted here, he saw a beautiful shadow floating among the petals.
A woman wearing a blood-red robe has long flowing hair, fair skin, a beautiful face, and slightly open red lips, as if she is hiding endless spring.
"Are you Xu Ping?"
The woman looked at the young man in front of her and asked. Her voice was charming, with a hint of hoarseness, and it sounded particularly attractive.
This bitch doesn't look like a good person... Xu Ping nodded and frowned slightly: "Who are you and where do you come from?"
When a beautiful woman suddenly appeared among the flowers on the other side, Xu Ping would not think that this was an ordinary affair, or that it might be a fairy dance.
When I looked at this woman using the aura technique, I found nothing except a scarlet Hibiscus flower.
Seeing Xu Ping nodding in recognition, the woman continued to smile charmingly, her red apricot-like eyes narrowed slightly and turned into a crescent shape, with a look of extreme interest on her face.
"So you are Xu Ping. You look just like that, ordinary. I don't know why my brother values you so much and wants me to go there myself." The woman pursed her red lips and said dissatisfied.
Xu Ping murmured to himself: "Your brother?"
"My name is Zhong Li, and my brother's name is Zhong Kui. He asked me to come find you..." After the woman introduced herself, she looked at Xu Ping in front of her and continued: "Because the gate to the underworld has been closed, he has no way to send the message.
Come here, that’s why you asked me to make a trip.”
Xu Ping's first thought was doubt, "You said that Lord Zhenjun couldn't deliver the message, so why can you leave Yincao?"
The woman who called herself Zhong Li rolled her eyes at him, "Because my true body is the flower of the other side, and I can freely travel between the yin and yang realms."
Xu Ping was dubious.
He had decided to go to the underworld. On the eve of leaving the provincial capital, he also told General Qin. Could it be that General Qin also couldn't send the message?
Do you want Lord True Lord to send another message?
"I still don't believe you a little." Xu Ping didn't hide it and said it openly.
The woman was not trusted. She looked anxious and shouted directly: "Believe it or not, I have already conveyed the message to you. I'm leaving."
As she spoke, her body was between illusion and reality. Gradually, the beautiful shadow dissipated and turned into a blood-red flower of the other side again, about to disappear.
Xu Ping said hurriedly: "I believe it."
What happened in the underworld was so unbelievable that even Lord Zhenjun had no choice but to seek help from him. Xu Ping also wanted to be on the safe side.
But now it seems that this woman's attitude is not that urgent, so she should not be lying.
The woman's voice floated out again: "Follow me, enter my love heart, and I will take you down."
Entering your... Xu Ping was stunned for a moment, then heard the woman urging, "Hurry up, if it's past the hour, you'll have to wait until tomorrow."
"oh oh……"
Xu Ping, like an innocent boy, responded dully, pinched a feeling, his body lightened up, and began to slowly fade away.
At this moment, the Bigan flower at his feet had an inexplicable sucking power, sucking him in instantly.
The strange Higan flower swaying in the moonlight gradually became transparent and then disappeared.
…
"Where is this?"
"So dark and so trendy!"
Xu Ping was in darkness and couldn't see his fingers...
"wrong!"
"Where's my hand?"
In surprise, Xu Ping didn't even feel the presence of his own hand.
Like an ownerless ghost, drifting in the wind, not knowing what is ahead.
"Sister Zhong Li?"
Xu Ping tried to shout, but no one answered.
"Beauty?"
"Don't make any noise!"
Only then did someone respond, and Xu Ping hurriedly asked: "What is going on? Where are we now?"
"We are traveling between the realms of Yin and Yang. Please stop talking to me. If I don't control it well, if I'm not careful, we may fall down, and maybe directly fall into the realm of beasts..."
"So you can't talk to me anymore, and don't make any noise, because you will affect me, and I have to concentrate..."
"Can you stop talking?"
Xu Ping couldn't help but feel frightened when he heard her chattering there. He said he couldn't speak, but he kept on talking there.
If you become Zhu Bajie II, who can you talk to for explanation?
"whee……"
In the dark void, there was a sweet laugh, and then it fell silent.
Living in such darkness, he completely lost the concept of time. He didn't know how long it had been before Xu Ping felt a "boom" in his mind.
Something seemed to explode in his head, and his whole body felt light and fluttering, like feathers fluttering and swaying.
When he guessed something under his feet, he felt a down-to-earth feeling, and he suddenly opened his eyes.
In front of me is a scene that I will never forget.
Under the dark sky, towering city walls stand, and the city gates are open, like the ferocious mouth of an ancient beast, a silent abyss, vowing to swallow up all life.
Above the city gate are written three large ancient seal characters.
【More than half a step.】
"Can you move your feet?"
Xu Ping was still awestruck by the majestic city wall in front of him when he suddenly heard the displeased voice of a woman coming from beneath him.
He hurriedly moved away and found that under his feet, he was stepping on a Bianhua flower. The tender stem was like a willow branch, with an astonishing arc.
Bianhua changed into a woman in red again and shouted at Xu Ping: "What happened to you just now? I brought you here, why did you trample me under your feet?"
Who told you to stay under me... Xu Ping suppressed his smile and apologized, "Sorry, I didn't pay attention."
With that said, he changed the topic and looked up at the city in front of him, "Isn't that Zhong Li, half a step away, the legendary place where Yin and Yang meet? Shouldn't we go directly to the underworld?"
Could it be that Fengdu has failed and is out of the jurisdiction of the underworld?
"No!"
Zhong Li shook his head and said solemnly: "The situation in Fengdu is not bad, we can barely maintain it, but after half a step here, it has turned into a mess. My brother is here to maintain the situation."
Xu Ping nodded thoughtfully and said, "Then take me to see Lord Zhenjun."
I could be considered a netizen before, but now I'm finally meeting him face to face. Thinking about it, Xu Ping still feels a little inexplicably excited.
Zhong Li nodded: "I'll take you in through the waterway so as not to alert others and attract attention."
Okay, I can do it on land or water... Xu Ping nodded and followed her.
He found that the world here was in a gray state all year round, just like heavy haze, making it difficult for people to discern the direction.
The sky and the earth are one color, without the sun, moon or stars.
Following Zhong Li, he took a detour and arrived ten miles outside the city wall. A little further away, he was shrouded in thick fog. Xu Ping took a look and listened to her reminder: "You have to be careful here, don't walk into the thick fog."
Within the range.”
"What's in the thick fog?" Xu Ping asked because he didn't understand.
"have no idea!"
"have no idea?"
Zhong Li nodded and said: "No one knows what is outside the thick fog. Of all the people who entered the thick fog, no one can come back."
"This is also the first thing you need to know to survive more than half a step!"
Xu Ping nodded and kept it in mind.
In front of him was a large river more than ten meters wide. Zhong Li introduced: "This is called the Netherworld River. Let's enter more than half a step from here."
The Netherworld River looked extremely deep, turbid and dull, like a pool of mud. Xu Ping used his Qi-gazing technique to look at it and found that there were countless auras of death in the river. Just looking at it made people feel dizzy.
.
Can this go down?
Xu Ping had doubts in his heart.
"You are a stranger. If you want to go down to the river, you need this." Zhong Li took out a petal of the other shore flower from the lapel of his chest.
The petals are enchanting and dazzling, as if they were coagulated with blood.
"If you hold this in your mouth, you can avoid the death aura of the Netherworld River."