After a while, he said: "How do you know it is number 360?"
Shen Lian smiled and said, "Old man, do you know how many people have died?"
The old man knew that Shen Lian asked this for a reason, because if someone drowned in the river, he might not be able to be found. At most, he could only estimate a rough number, which would never be accurate. He only knew the specific number because he was the local chief, and in the past year, everyone who drowned in this section of the river would be washed up on the river beach the next day, right near this stone monument.
He had no choice but to tell the reason, and then persuaded Shen Lian earnestly. Even though Shen Lian seemed a little weird, crossing the river was undoubtedly seeking death.
Although Juexin is a monk, his patience is not that good. He said impatiently: "We ourselves are not afraid, why are you worried? It's true that the emperor is not in a hurry and the eunuch is."
The old man said angrily: "You are really ignorant. If you want to cross the river, just go."
Shen Lian said: "Jue Xin, don't be rude to the elderly."
Now that Shen Lian opened his mouth, Juexin stopped arguing with the old man.
Shen Lian said to the old man again: "He grew up in the mountains and has no manners, which makes you laugh. It's getting late now. How about we, master and servant, go to the old man's place to stay overnight."
The old man saw that Shen Lian was polite and polite, and his previous unhappiness was relieved by seven or eight points. The country people are simple and not good at refusing, so he said: "The two of you will come with me."
Shen Lian nodded and smiled: "Then I'll trouble my father-in-law."
Juexin really didn't understand what the master was thinking. He was obviously a true immortal, but he was still polite to an ordinary person. Moreover, even if there were sneaks in the river, he couldn't do anything to them.
But now that Shen Lian has decided, he can't refute it.
Along the way, I followed my father-in-law to a village. At this time, pedestrians on the road greeted me one after another when they saw my father-in-law. There are no secrets in the countryside, and soon everyone in the village knew that two strangers had arrived.
However, Shen Lian behaved politely and everyone regarded him as a traveling student. The status of scholars is still very high, so there are not many villagers who are not interested in asking questions.
Arriving at a courtyard with bluestone walls, the father-in-law said, "My dear, come out and open the door."
Along the way, Juexin saw that most of the others had thatched houses, but the courtyard of my father-in-law was made of bluestones. He said, "Your house is really well built. It seems that you are still a landlord. The people who greeted you just now are all Are you a tenant of your family?"
The old man said: "If it weren't for Mr. Shen's sake, I wouldn't want you to come."
Juexin smiled and said, "If I don't want to sleep in your house, I won't sleep. I can use it as a quilt and I can still sleep comfortably."
The old man can now see that this person is heartless, but he is still straightforward, so he is too lazy to argue with him. Then the door opened, and there stood a pretty little woman inside, looking a little shy at the stranger arriving.
The father-in-law said: "My dear, this is Mr. Shen, and next to him is his servant Jue Xin. Mr. Shen will stay with us tonight. You can make some side dishes to entertain us."
The pretty woman wished Shen Lian and Jue Xin a long blessing, and then said: "Dad, there is a tide of flint and steel. I will go to Blacksmith Zhang to buy a pair of flint and steel first."
The old man nodded and said, "Then go quickly."
The pretty woman hummed and went out.
The old man led Shen Lian into the yard, pointed to a granary next to him and said, "Mr. Shen, I am actually the head of the local village. The reason why this house is so well-maintained is not that I am rich, but that I collect harvests for the court every year." We have to find a place to store all our food, so we need to build a wall outside to prevent blind little bastards from stealing the food.”
Juexin touched his head and said, "So that's what happened. Mr. He, I misunderstood you."
He Laozhang said: "For Mr. Shen's sake, I won't argue with you."
Juexin chuckled.
The three of them went to the lobby, and a half-year-old boy came out, holding a book, but the book was upside down. Juexin's eyesight is so powerful, he saw it all at once.
Mr. He had a bad look in his eyes and patted the young man on the head, "Er Gouzi, you must be tired after studying today. You should have a good rest."
Juexin couldn't help but smile. When the boy saw Juexin looking at his book, he knew he had made a mistake. He quickly took the book and said with his hands behind his back: "Grandpa, I'm not working hard."
He Laozhang showed a kind face and said: "This is Mr. Shen, a very learned man. Please stop reading. If you have any questions that you don't understand, just like Mr. Shen asking for advice. This is called asking for advice when seeing a wise man." "
The young man named Er Gouzi hurriedly said hello to Shen Lian, then said hello to Juexin, and winked to signal him not to expose him.
He Laozhang said: "Boy Juexin, have you seen that my grandson is much more polite than you?"
Juexin grinned and said, "That's right, that's right. I grew up in the mountains and I don't know the etiquette. You old man, don't argue with me."
Mr. He snorted lightly, then asked Er Gouzi to make a pot of tea and chat with Shen Lian in the hall.
After a while, the young woman came back and hurriedly went to the kitchen. Not long after, she came to the front hall and said, "Dad, I still haven't made a fire with this flint."
Shen Lian said: "Juexin, go and help light the fire."
Juexin responded and asked the woman to take him into the kitchen. The woman was about to give him the flint and steel when she saw Jue Xin rub his hands on the firewood and immediately lit a fire. Unconsciously, he opened his mouth and said, "Brother, your hands are really strong. How did you develop them?" "
Juexin said: "People in the mountains don't have much flint. They can only make fire by themselves. This is how they practice."
Seeing that Jue Xin was thick-faced, straightforward in speech, and quick in work, the woman liked him a little and said: "Brother, let me make a bowl of glutinous rice water for you and Mr. Shen to drink first."
Juexin was not polite and said, "Thank you very much." She followed him out of the kitchen.
Mr. He is the head of the local village. He has two sons and a daughter. Both sons are in the city. Er Gouzi belongs to the eldest son's family and will temporarily live with his grandfather in the countryside for a while. As for the daughter, she was originally married, but her husband was old. She went there before, but she didn't give birth to a child, so her father-in-law asked her to go back to her parents' house temporarily.
After dinner, conversation, and washing, Mr. He arranged for Shen Lian and Juexin to live in the wing.
In the middle of the night, there was movement outside, and with a bang, the door of He's courtyard was knocked open. Seven big men rushed in holding torches and woke up Mr. He's family at the same time.
Within a few moments, the family was caught in the hall.
Seeing Shen Lian sleeping soundly, Juexin was about to ask if he should take action, but after thinking about it, the glutinous rice water cooked by the He family lady tonight was still delicious, and Old He was not a bad person, so he didn't ask Shen Lian for instructions. .
He opened the door and went out, and saw a robber touching the young lady of the He family. Juexin shouted loudly, punched the man, and immediately smashed the man's head into a rotten watermelon.
Then he did the same thing, and all seven robbers were shot in the head.
Before the young and old of the He family could thank him, Juexin heard Shen Lian's voice, saying, "Let's go."
He smiled at Mr. He, stamped his foot on the ground, and immediately flew into the sky.
Juexin also understood the mystery behind Shen Lian's stay tonight. It turned out that out of kindness, Mr. He formed a bond with Shen Lian, thus averting today's disaster.