Shi Hao said: "I am indeed not from Yuelian Tower. I only know there is an Xielian Sect."
Xu Xiaoyan suddenly turned around and looked back at him, and asked in surprise: "Evil Lotus Sect? You actually know about the Evil Lotus Sect?"
Shi Hao asked: "What's wrong?"
Xu Xiaoyan said: "Since you know about the Evil Lotus Sect, don't you know that two hundred years ago, the Evil Lotus Sect split into three parts: the Black Lotus Realm, the Moon Lotus Tower, and the Mirror Flower and Water Moon Pavilion. Even their Night Charm Demonic Scripture was divided into three parts?"
Shi Hao thought that this should have happened after the Fire Charm Girl was trapped in Yuanshi Cave Heaven. Since the Fire Charm Girl didn't know about it, he naturally couldn't know it either.
He asked, "Miss, are you from Yuelian Tower?"
Xu Xiaoyan shook her head and said with a smile, "I am not, I just have some connection with Yuelian Tower, and I learned this evil shadow disguise technique from someone related to Yuelian Tower."
She has a pretty face, and her smile is like a blooming peach blossom, extremely pleasing to the eyes.
She turned her head back and continued to comb her hair: "You must have used the Black Lotus Mirror's skills last night, so the person from the Ghost Extreme Sect would have thought you were a person in the Black Lotus Realm."
"But you said you are not in the Black Lotus Realm, and you know the Evil Shadow Disguise Technique, which is recorded in the Night Charm Codex obtained by Yuelian Tower."
"You know the martial arts of two of the three evil lotus sects. I am becoming more and more curious about you. But I can't tell you my life story, so it's hard for me to exchange it with you. Although if you are willing to tell me, I won't refuse..."
Shi Hao said: "I'm sorry, I can't tell you either."
Xu Xiaoyan said quietly, "I thought that if I said this, you would be more or less soft-hearted, and maybe reveal something. You are really whetting my appetite and making me curious!"
Shi Hao said: "In fact, the young lady is also quite curious. Since the young lady has a connection with Yuelian Tower, I may have provoked an internal fight in the Demon Sect last night, and Yuelian Tower might be involved. Does the young lady not mind?"
Xu Xiaoyan smiled and said, "I've already said that I'm not from the Demon Sect. It's just that someone I know is related to the Demon Sect, and she hopes that I can stay as far away from the Demon Sect as possible, and it would be best if I don't have anything to do with it for the rest of my life. Although it's too late... Are you really not from the Demon Sect?"
Shi Hao said: "I'm really not! Although I did practice some of the magic sect's martial arts!"
As they were talking, someone from upstream shouted, "You female thief, don't run away!"
Shi Hao looked back and saw more than ten speedboats rushing down the river. Soon they rushed to their surroundings. There were more than ten strong men on the boats, holding knives and brandishing sticks, with arrogant attitudes. They shouted at Xu Xiaoyan's back: "Female thief..."
Xu Xiaoyan turned around and asked, "What's the matter?"
The big men only saw the girl sitting on the raft combing her hair. When she looked back suddenly, she was so delicate and beautiful.
They looked at each other, and someone whispered, "It doesn't seem to be this girl... this girl." The girl was beautiful, which made his attitude much better.
Someone else asked, "Look at their raft. Is it the one that the female thief stole?"
They looked at the bamboo rafts, and after a while, someone muttered, "The bamboo rafts all look the same, how can you tell?"
One of them waved his knife at Shi Hao and said, "Have you seen an ugly girl with a crooked mouth passing by the river?"
Shi Hao pointed forward and said, "Indeed, I saw one rushing forward. She was very skilled, and the bamboo raft slid very fast. She disappeared in a flash."
The man shouted, "Brothers, chase them. Damn it, we must avenge those brothers who were beaten."
These speed boats abandoned them and moved forward.
Shi Hao continued to row the raft forward, and the girl continued to comb her hair.
Shi Hao asked: "Did you beat up their people?"
The girl said: "More than ten, right
Shi Hao said: "Why beat them
The girl said, "Grab the raft!"
Shi Hao was speechless: "You beat more than ten of them just to grab this bamboo raft
The girl laughed and said, "Who told them to say I'm ugly?"
Chapter 48 Sparks
The river began to turn, and the girl turned her back to him and slowly put her hair up into a bun, but it was a fallen horse bun.
The original double-bunch lily bun became a single-bunch fallen horse bun, and the parting on both shoulders also became a single ponytail hanging on the right shoulder.
She continued to sit there, hanging her single ponytail in front of her chest, combing it carefully with a comb, and then slowly tied it into a small braid.
Shi Hao felt that just paddling the raft while watching her comb her hair was an indescribable enjoyment.
The bamboo raft went around the outside of a towering mountain. In front, the people who had just gone there were returning in disappointment, swimming against the current.
The two sides passed each other, and those people opened their eyes wide, looking at the girl sitting on a small bamboo stool combing her hair and tying a whip, and they couldn't take their eyes away.
The bamboo raft turned the bend in the river and continued downstream. There was a fork in the road ahead. One path led to a stone town in the distance, passing through the stone town, and the other path went around to the other side of the mountain.
Shi Hao asked, "Miss Xiaoyan, is there anywhere you want to go?"
Xu Xiaoyan said: "Not this time!"
Shi Hao smiled and said, "Then let's go to that town and sit down?"
Xu Xiaoyan said, "You can make the decision, sir!" She added a hairpin to her bun, stood up, and turned to Shi Hao: "Does this look good?"
When Shi Hao looked at her, he saw that she was graceful and elegant, like a lotus standing quietly on the water.
The bun is simple but elegant. The hairpin with the flower pattern is made of wood, which is not a top-quality material, but it goes very well with the bun.
The braid that was around her shoulders fell down from her right breast and she played with it gently in her hands.
Shi Hao smiled and said, "Not bad."
Xu Xiaoyan shook her braids, and her hair swayed gently in the wind.
She smiled softly and said, "That's good!" Her voice was as pleasant as Huang Peng's.
Shi Hao paddled the raft to Shizhen and stopped at the pier. They went ashore and did not go to a restaurant, but just found an ordinary small restaurant, ordered some side dishes and two bowls of noodle soup.
After finishing their meal, the two of them left the restaurant. Xu Xiaoyan said, "We just met by chance, and now it's time to say goodbye."
Shi Hao said, "Don't! I think Miss Xiaoyan seems to be quite free, and I happen to be free too, so how about we go for a walk in the martial arts world together?"
Xu Xiaoyan tilted her face and said, "Why should I travel the world with you?"
Shi Hao smiled and said, "Because you, Miss Xiaoyan, know my name and my origins. And I don't trust you enough, so I want to give you more opportunities for me to trust you."
Xu Xiaoyan asked: "If you don't trust me, will you kill me to silence me?"
Shi Hao said: "No!"
Xu Xiaoyan asked: "Then will you let me go?"
Shi Hao said: "Neither can I!"
Xu Xiaoyan asked doubtfully: "Then what are you going to do?"
Shi Hao smiled casually: "I will keep pestering Miss Xiaoyan until you and I trust each other."
Xu Xiaoyan said: "You'd better kill me to silence me!"
Shi Hao came to the dock with a smile, stood on the stone bank, looked at the river, and fell silent again.
Xu Xiaoyan floated over: "What's wrong?"
Shi Hao was speechless: "Our raft was stolen!"
A secluded village deep in the mountains.
On the surface, it was just a village where bandits gathered. A bandit village like this could not be completely cleared out even in a peaceful and prosperous era, let alone in this era.
The Barbarian Court did not have much motivation to wipe out such a stronghold. Even if they defeated a group, another group would always emerge like mushrooms after rain. Moreover, if there were no thieves in the world, how would those merchants and common people know the importance of the government
However, this village is different from other villages. At this moment, its gate is closed and the village is quiet.
The "bandits" in the village stayed in their respective positions in an orderly manner, which was quite different from those bandits who robbed some money, ate big chunks of meat and drank big bowls of wine, and did not know whether they would live or die tomorrow.
In one of the halls, there was a stone structure that was larger than a millstone. Two people stood beside it. They were Zhao Leitong, the head of the Kanshui Hall of the Dark Thunder Society, and Fu Shiyuan, the head of the Lihuo Hall.
In front of them there was another old man, who was wearing brown cloth and had an iron sword on his waist that could be bought for a few taels of silver.
There was a young man next to the old man, also wearing cloth clothes, standing quietly behind the old man, like the old man's reflection.
"Master!" Zhao Leitong said, "This is the God-conferring Stone. Because the incident happened suddenly, we didn't have time to wait for the Master to arrive, so we took action first. Please punish us, Master."
The old man shook his head and said, "You have done very well. Although I am the chief leader, you all followed an old man like me for the sake of fighting against the barbarians. The matter of the Sealing God Stone is of great importance. It is a good thing that you can make your own decisions at such a critical moment."
He coughed for a while. Fu Shiyuan said: "Chief, your injury..."
The old man said, "It's not a problem for now!"
Zhao Leitong said: "Unfortunately, we only got one of the three Sealing God Stones. I heard from Wu Liang that the one chasing them at that time was 'Three Absolute Ghost Slayer' Li Ximing. This person has the strength of the fifth rank. Even if I am against him, I will have little chance of winning."
"The situation was urgent at the time, and that brother Hao Xinghua decisively asked them to jump out of the carriage with one of the Sealed God Stones. He drove the carriage himself and took the other two Sealed God Stones to lure Li Ximing away. Now his life or death is uncertain. Alas, I hope he can escape."
The old man said, "Let our brothers pay more attention. It doesn't matter whether the two Sealing God Stones are there or not. For a chivalrous man like this, we still hope that he can be safe and sound."
“Xia Tie Xiong Ying” Fu Shiyuan said: “This brother Hao is brave and knowledgeable. I heard that he was the first one to get the information related to the Sealing God Stone. Such a person should be able to make a timely decision to give up the two Sealing God Stones and escape with his car. There is no need to worry too much about him.”
The old man nodded: "That's good!"
He looked at the Conferred God Stone, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Although we have obtained the Conferred God Stone, the other two are likely to have fallen into the hands of the Demon Sect. In addition, the Barbarian Court and Chongxian Sect both have control over them, so we must also speed up our research. But right now, this is not the most important thing."
He looked up at Fu Shiyuan: "How are your preparations going?"
Fu Shiyuan said: "Food, fodder, equipment and other aspects are still insufficient."
The old man sighed, "There is no time left, let's start a rebellion!"
Zhao Leitong and Fu Shiyuan looked at each other. Zhao Leitong said, "Master, isn't it too early to start a rebellion now?"
The old man said, "The robbery of the stone has exposed me. I will definitely face strong suppression from the Barbarian Court. Fortunately for you, you are not well-known in the martial arts world. Shiyuan was originally a famous hero in the martial arts world. There must be someone in the Barbarian Army who can recognize him in the battle at Minwu Ridge."
"Considering all aspects, we don't have any more time to prepare. Shiyuan, with your reputation in the martial arts world, and the fact that the world has suffered from the Barbarian Court for a long time, this uprising will inevitably trigger a tsunami of resistance against the Barbarian Court. However, a centipede will not die until it is stiff. The first one to start a rebellion will face the full force of the Barbarian Court and will almost certainly die..."
Fu Shiyuan said in a deep voice: "Chief, there is no need to say more. I, Fu, am a man of integrity. Even if I cannot witness the rebirth of China with my own eyes, I hope to be the first in the world to let future generations know that I, Fu Shiyuan, am the first person to raise the banner of the anti-barbarian cause."
—
The mountain wind swept in, the sky was restless, dark clouds piled up, and thunder suddenly appeared -
Shi Hao and Xu Xiaoyan traveled in Bashan for a few days, and then entered the belly.
The so-called "belly" refers to a large area centered on the capital. After the establishment of the Barbarian Court, the large tracts of land it occupied were divided into the "belly" and eight provinces.
After entering the belly, Shi Hao realized that the situation here was much more serious than that in Western Shu Province.
There were fleeing refugees everywhere, and the imperial army was conscripting laborers from house to house to do forced labor. In some villages, the fields were deserted and the homes were empty. What's worse, there were corpses everywhere on the way to conscripting young men.
It can be said that the local people in Western Shu were already living a miserable life, with countless exorbitant taxes and levies.
The people in the country, however, could no longer survive.
They entered Baihe City, where a large number of troops were mobilized.
Shi Hao and Xu Xiaoyan discovered that many people were discussing something in secret.
A depressing atmosphere enveloped the entire city, but inexplicably, it concealed a certain strange excitement.
The coming and going of soldiers and horses were like shadows covering the sky, bringing people a heavy sense of despair.
But there is an undercurrent that creates a surging tide beneath this dead silent frozen river.
"What happened?" Shi Hao whispered, "Something is not right."
Xu Xiaoyan pulled him and said, "Let's go to the teahouse and sit down!"
They went to the teahouse. There were quite a few people in the teahouse. When they saw someone come in, they somehow became silent.
They found an empty seat and ordered tea. After a while, the dead silent teahouse began to "boil" quietly with whispers.
Finally, Shi Hao and Xu Xiaoyan began to understand what was happening... Rebellion!
"The Iron Eagle" Fu Shiyuan led a group of heroes to capture Fuhu Pass, rescued tens of thousands of hard laborers, and openly rebelled.
In just a few days, heroes from all directions rushed to help, and the fleeing refugees flocked to Fuhu Pass. Unknowingly, tens of thousands of people gathered and rose up in uprising. For a time, the whole world was shocked.
The Barbarian Court is urgently mobilizing troops to suppress the rebellion.
Everyone was discussing this matter in a whisper, their voices very low, for fear of being heard by the patrolling soldiers and the constables from the Six Gates.
—When soldiers passed by or constables from the Six Gates appeared, they would quiet down.
However, in a place where the Barbarian Court troops and the Six Gates could not notice, the news of the rebellion spread like the wind to all directions, and no one could stop it.
Silence, whispers, private conversations, excitement... Some people even shed tears, then resolutely wiped away their tears and rushed to Fuhu Pass.
Shi Hao and Xu Xiaoyan left the teahouse and walked on the road where the atmosphere suddenly changed.
Xu Xiaoyan whispered, "It's impossible for Hero Fu to succeed... The barbarian army is still too strong."