The continuous drizzle added a bit of coldness to the whole city, and there were even fewer pedestrians and vendors on the streets.
On the streets of Chenghuang Temple in the early morning, there was an old woman selling fried chestnuts with sugar. She held a big oil umbrella on her head and stared at the pilgrims coming and going from Chenghuang Temple through the pattering rain curtain.
The open chestnuts are stir-fried with black iron sand in a large iron pot. Even the drizzle cannot stop the aroma of chestnuts from wafting out.
A young man walked out of the Chenghuang Temple, followed by a pretty girl, who looked very pleasant.
He held an umbrella in one hand, because the umbrella fell slightly towards the girl beside him, and half of his shoulders were soaked by the rain, but he didn't even notice it.
"Want to eat?"
Xu Ping turned to look at Gu Nianhua beside him.
Gu Nianhua nodded silently.
"Auntie, how do you sell sugar-roasted chestnuts?" Xu Ping asked softly as he walked to the stall and smelled the fragrance of chestnuts.
And in his sleeve, a little fox stuck its head out and looked at the chestnuts in the pot with saliva.
The aunt had gray hair, a kind face, and said with a smile: "How about ten coppers, little girl, do you want some?"
She looked at Gu Nianhua. It was obvious that this lady had heard Xu Ping's question just now.
Gu Nianhua said softly: "Brother Xu, it's very cheap."
The aunt changed her face slightly, then smiled kindly and said, "This pot will be ready soon. You two will wait a moment."
While she was talking, she took out a piece of oil paper from a cart nearby, spread it in front of her, used an iron mesh to dry out the iron sand, and poured the hot and fragrant chestnuts into the oil paper bag.
By the way, he handed out two of them and said, "Try them while they're hot."
With quick eyes and quick hands, the little fox jumped out of Xu Ping's sleeve, snatched it up, and stood on the cart, holding the chestnuts in both hands. It looked more like a squirrel than a fox.
The aunt was startled and said: "The pets raised by Mr. and Miss are really unique."
Xu Ping smiled: "I'm just greedy..."
As he said that, he looked at the little fox and said, "How can you eat other people's food outside? What if it's poisonous?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the aunt's face changed drastically, and her tone became awkward. She pretended to be calm and said: "This gentleman is really good at joking. How can the aunt's roasted chestnuts with sugar be poisonous?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the little fox who was eating chestnuts suddenly threw away the chestnuts, fell down on his back, and began to struggle on the cart.
The aunt's face changed greatly, and she reached under the trolley. Just as she was about to pull something out, the little fox suddenly jumped up and laughed: "Hahaha, I'm just teasing you."
The aunt lowered her head to cover up the coldness in her eyes, and handed the chestnuts in the paper bag in her hand to Xu Ping, "You two, the sugar-roasted chestnuts you want are ten coppers."
Smelling the aroma in the air, Xu Ping suddenly sneered and said: "The chestnuts are very fragrant, so they must be non-toxic, but the paper bag containing the chestnuts is hard to say."
"Go to hell!"
The lady buying chestnuts threw the chestnuts violently. The fragrant roasted chestnuts suddenly exploded in the air like a goddess scattering flowers, and the yellow and white smoke obscured the view.
Countless pieces of yellow chestnut meat soaked in venom shot towards the surrounding ground in the air, but when they approached Xu Ping, they were all knocked back.
When the smoke dissipated, the lady holding the thorn in her hand was already limp on the ground, her face turned purple, and her body was covered with chestnuts.
Gu Nianhua asked: "Brother Xu, why did you kill him? Why didn't you catch him and question him?"
Xu Ping shook his head and looked around: "Nothing to ask. It's those Japanese ninjas. It seems they have set their sights on the Chenghuang Temple."
Gu Nianhua said in surprise: "But these days, the elders and heads of various sects will gather here."
Xu Ping looked at Gu Nianhua and said with a smile: "So...I'm just wondering if these ninjas dare to come."
In the drizzle, the two of them left the Chenghuang Temple holding an umbrella, and just after they left, the body of the chestnut buying lady was soon discovered by others.
However, the person who found the aunt's body did not say anything. He just glanced at the Chenghuang Temple secretly, quickly stuffed her body under the chestnut frying cart, and pushed the cart away.
…
Inside the pavilion.
"The number of practitioners in the city is increasing day by day, especially in the past two days. The increase is visible to the naked eye, and the friction between us and these practitioners has become more frequent." Yamamoto reported to the people in front of him.
There are three Tennins in the pavilion.
Tokugawa Nogami has hardly gone out since he suffered a loss last time, and the tall female samurai listened the most carefully.
"How do the ninjas who come into contact with those practitioners give feedback? What is their strength like?" the female warrior asked.
Her name is Muto Hide.
Although the status of Japanese women is not high, she has a special status here, so before the three Tiannins could speak, they had already asked themselves.
Yamamoto was not displeased at all and replied directly: "We still have some advantages in contacting the practitioners, but it is possible that we have not come into contact with their real masters."
As he said that, Yamamoto looked at Kato Takeshi with a vague look.
The latter obviously also noticed his eyes, and his face looked a little ugly.
And Master Jingu took over, "Miss Muto, it can be said that so many cultivators have entered Qi City now, it can be said that we expected it, and there is nothing to worry about. The only question now is, what kind of support from the empire?"
Will the time come?"
Although they have a large number of ninjas here, eight or nine thousand, if they are thrown into a big city like Qicheng, it will be a drop in the bucket, not to mention that this is someone else's home field.
Muto Hide said thoughtfully: "The empire is not yet fully prepared and cannot give much help. After all, we still have to consider the official side. We cannot do too much or be too obvious."
"That's it..."
The mysterious master of the shrine pondered for a moment and said: "I propose that we temporarily concentrate our efforts to carry out point-to-point assassinations on these cultivators in Qi City, and take advantage of the fact that they are not gathered together to strike first."
"The Beauty of the Sun and the Moon"
"Report~"
A ninja shouted outside the pavilion, "Looking at the secret sentry of the City Emperor Temple, he has been killed. The murderer is not yet known."
Everyone was stunned. Only Takeshi Kato waved his hand and said to everyone: "I agree with the view of the Shrine just now. This Castle Emperor Temple is a hiding place for them. The people who killed my disciples are hiding in the Castle Emperor Temple."
Inside the temple.”
No one has any objections. At this time, if anyone still wants to stop Takeshi Kato from avenging his disciples, then wouldn't they just shoot him at the gunpoint?
When everyone was silent, Ishida Ghost suddenly said: "I would like to remind you not to look down upon these practitioners."
Everyone was puzzled and turned to look at him.
And Ishida Ghost looked at everyone, his eyes fixed on the female warrior, and said: "Have you forgotten our plan..."
Mutoxiu spoke subconsciously: "Use the northeastern boundary as a guide to attract the practitioners from this land one after another, confront them, win over some, suppress some, and destroy some, to pave the way for the big plan in advance."
Ishida Kidao: "So at this time, it is time for the group we have roped in to express our sincerity. There is a word in this place called a petition."
The mysterious master of the palace also suddenly said: "The god-making plan has entered a critical period. As long as it survives this period, it will be very successful, and now these people just have nothing to do."
The person in charge at the camp site happened to be his disciple Naoto Teng Shu, so he was very aware of the situation.
"Will they be obedient?" Takeshi Kato was skeptical.
Ishida Ghost chuckled and said: "Of course they will be obedient. After all, if they want to fulfill that impossible wish, they can only choose to cooperate with us unconditionally."
"And to command them to work for us, all we need is a piece of pie." Master Xuan of the Shrine also smiled.
When Tokugawa Nogami heard that he wanted them to fight in a nest, he immediately became interested.
"Master, Lord Jingu, Lord Kato, why don't you just leave this matter to me?"
He still remembered the embarrassing appearance of being besieged by Uncle Jiu and others. Now that he had the opportunity to regain this place, of course he should not miss it.
Ishida Ghost was the first to say: "You can't do it alone, it's best..."
He looked at Muto Hide and said softly: "If Miss Muto can come together, I believe in Miss Muto's stability."
Faced with Tennin's words, Muto Hideji would not refuse and said loudly: "I shall accept the order."
Tokugawa Nogami, who was beside him, was not displeased. After all, it was his master's suggestion. He just looked at Muto Hide next to him and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
Judging from the experience that night, it is no longer time for them to do whatever they want in the outside world.
Who will die next!
…
Uncle Jiu is in the Chenghuang Temple, receiving elders from various sects.
Except for a few sect leaders who came forward, other sects basically sent their elders, just like Dinghu Zhenren from Maoshan and Zhang Huairen from Longhu Mountain.
Master Dinghu, Zhang Huairen and a group of elders were drinking tea behind the Chenghuang Temple, reminiscing about old times, and discussing their respective discoveries.
Uncle Jiu was setting up in the front hall and receiving guests from various sects at the same time.
They are mainly the leaders of various sects. After all, this place is just for discussing plans and there cannot be too many people. Moreover, this place has been targeted by the Ninja people.
"Daozhang Zhang, the last time we said goodbye to each other in the southern city of Guangdong Province, you didn't get scolded by the Heavenly Master when you went back, right?" Master Dinghu was joking, while Wen Cai poured tea for the two of them.
Daoist Zhang glared at him and said, "Brother Dinghu is so unhappy, are you still thinking about this?"
Last time, he was blind to Mount Tai, mistakenly thinking that Master Dinghu was the leader of the White Lotus Sect, and almost killed a good person by mistake. Now that he was mentioned by the other party, he naturally felt ashamed.
He changed the topic and asked: "Hey, why haven't you seen Mr. Xu? I heard your apprentice said, isn't he right here?"
Master Dinghu said: "I heard from my incompetent disciple that he went out early in the morning and should not come back until evening."
After hearing what he said, Daochang Zhang quickly said: "Hey, since you think your apprentice is useless, why not let him switch to Longhu Mountain..."
"Go! Go! Go……"
Master Dinghu put down the tea cup in his hand and shouted: "If you dare to say one more word, I will scold you."
Putting aside his cultivation and character, just being able to get acquainted with Xu Ping and forge a deep friendship is something that many sects would not envy.
What's more, both Longhu Mountain and Maoshan are related in the underworld, and they know what Xu Ping did in the underworld.
Otherwise, do you really think that ordinary people can live in the Chenghuang Temple at will and use Yin gods as bodyguards?
Daochang Zhang knew that Master Dinghu would be like this, so he laughed loudly and said, "Just say a few words about Master Dinghu, you are still in a hurry."
At the same time, Hu Qing'er and two old women also arrived outside the Chenghuang Temple.
One of the old women said: "Miss, according to our findings, Tai Nai is very likely to be in Qicheng, but why did she suddenly run to Qicheng? I think finding Tai Nai is our first priority."
Hu Qing'er learned from other cultivators that the cultivators in Qicheng would discuss things in the Chenghuang Temple, and it was led by Uncle Jiu, so he wanted to come over and have a look immediately, which aroused the dissatisfaction of other people in Wanghaitang.
Hu Qing'er glanced at her and chuckled: "Why, do you think there is no Tai Nai in my mind? Now that so many practitioners are in the Chenghuang Temple, is there any better place to inquire about information than here?
?”
The two old women were speechless. Hu Qing'er then entered the Chenghuang Temple and saw Uncle Jiu who was busy in the front hall.
"Uncle Nine."
Hu Qing'er smiled and her voice was clear.
Uncle Jiu looked back and saw that it was her. He was also smiling. At the same time, he asked curiously: "Aren't you looking for Mrs. Hu Santai in Liaobei City? Why are you here in Qicheng?"
Hu Qing'er said: "I thought Tai Nai should be here too, so I wanted to come and inquire. I happened to hear that Uncle Jiu was here, so I came here first. I wonder if you have heard any news about Tai Nai."
Uncle Jiu muttered: "I've never seen this before, but I can help you ask."
While they were talking, they saw two people coming together. One was the elder of Xingyi Sect, and the other was Master Yongjue of Lingyin Temple.
After Hu Qing'er described Hu Santai, Master Yongjue said: "Amitabha, this poor monk seems to have seen the person you mentioned, but..."
As he spoke, he looked at Uncle Jiu, as if he was hesitating whether he should say anything or not.
Seeing him like this, several people looked curious.
"Master Yongjue, if you have something to say, you might as well say it directly. Although Qing'er is young, he can handle it clearly."
Hearing what Hu Qing'er said, Master Yongjue no longer hesitated and said directly: "I seem to have seen the person you mentioned before. He was the one who followed the Japanese Renmin people and attacked us when we entered the city."
When Hu Qing'er and the two old women behind her heard this, their expressions changed instantly. The girl even shouted loudly: "Impossible, absolutely impossible. I will never collude with these ninjas."
"yes!"
"When Tai Nai was at Wanghaitang, she killed countless ninjas. How could those beasts be with her?"
Master Yongjue seemed to know that the people in front of him would have such a big reaction, saying: "The poor monk just told several donors what the poor monk saw. Maybe what the poor monk saw is the same as the person you are looking for."
, maybe it’s not the same one.”
Uncle Jiu also consoled him: "Maybe I really made a mistake with the wrong person. I think you might as well stay and listen to more people's opinions later."
Hu Qing'er was so confused and confused at this moment that she could only nod her head.