The old man had no idea who the woman in front of him was, and he couldn't even see her clearly, but he gradually remembered. This feeling of not being able to see clearly seemed to be something he should have known a long time ago, a method used by some practitioners.
Min Xian's heart was filled with excitement and complexity. Lian Ping'er saw all kinds of complex expressions changing in his eyes. Finally, the excitement gradually faded, his eyes slowly became cloudy, and his expression and posture became humble.
"Who is this lady? I am old and my memory is not good..."
Seeing the change in the old man's expression and these words, Lian Ping'er was stunned again. Of course, she could understand some of the meaning behind them.
This made Lian Pinger frown, and he looked at the old man in front of him, looking at the clothes that were not very thick for winter, and then looking at the cracked and dirty nails on the old man's hands...
After thinking for a moment, Lian Ping'er relaxed his brows and said.
“How much business do you make writing here for a day?”
The old man looked down at the table. He actually didn't have much red paper prepared.
"The New Year is coming soon. Business will be better in the next two days. If we make more money in a day, we can earn a hundred or so coins."
"Okay, I'll give you a gold bar. You belong to me today. Come with me, Senior Min!"
Lian Ping'er emphasized the last three words, and a small gold ingot appeared in his palm. Although it was not very big, it weighed at least two or three taels.
But the old man was silent for a moment and then spoke slowly.
"It would be more expensive to write for a day in a big family, but it would cost less than a gold bar. My lady, I only need eighty coins. Eighty coins will do!"
"You! All right, eighty cents is eighty cents, follow me!"
A look of joy appeared on Min Xian's face. He nodded repeatedly in agreement and started to tidy up the stall.
"Let me clean up, miss, just wait a moment."
The weather was very cold and Min Xian was not dressed warmly enough. In addition, his hands were cracked in the winter and he was old and weak, so he was not very efficient in packing up. Lian Ping'er frowned as he watched, but did not say much, nor did she fail to help. She waited for a while before the old man finished packing.
"Okay, where are we going, miss?"
"Just follow me."
"Why."
Lian Ping'er turned around and left, and Min Xian hurriedly picked up the shoulder pole and carried two wooden boxes to follow. He was not walking fast, but Lian Ping'er in front of him obviously had no intention of waiting for him, so he could only speed up his pace and try his best to catch up.
After walking for nearly fifteen minutes, Min Xian was already so tired that sweat appeared on his forehead and he was panting. The only good thing was that he was no longer cold.
At this moment, Lian Ping'er finally stopped, and the place where she stopped was exactly the restaurant she saw when she landed in Dayun Prefecture last night.
While Min Xian was still looking up at the magnificent restaurant and its sign, the female voice in front of him was already urging him.
"go in."
Min Xian turned his head and saw that the woman had already walked into the lobby. After a little hesitation, Min Xian hurriedly went in with his load on his shoulder. Seeing a waiter coming up to greet him, Min Xian hurriedly said.
"I'm with the lady in front!"
The waiter smiled.
"I know, old man, please don't carry this burden upstairs. Just put it next to the counter."
The shopkeeper over there also looked up and said something.
"Don't worry, we'll watch over you."
"Yes, yes, thank you very much!"
Min Xian bowed to the waiter and the shopkeeper, then squatted down with the help of the waiter to put down the carrying pole, and then slowly went upstairs.
When they got upstairs, the door of the private room closest to the stairs was open. Opposite the door, Lian Ping'er was sitting there having taken off her fur cloak. A waiter was coming out from inside. Min Xian nodded to the waiter and went into the private room.
It wasn't that cold in the inn, and there was a charcoal stove in the private room. Even though the door was not closed yet, Min Xian felt very warm as soon as he entered.
Without seeing Lian Ping'er make any movement, the door behind Min Xian slowly closed by itself. Seeing that the old man was still standing in front of the table, she smiled.
"Senior Min, please sit down. You don't need me to stand up and help you sit down, do you?"
"Thank you, Miss!"
Min Xian sat down a little nervously, and asked carefully before the stool was even warm.
"Miss, what do you want to write?"
Lian Ping'er looked at the old man indifferently, and suddenly slammed the table hard.
"boom-"
The sound frightened the old man so much that he trembled.
"Min Xian, are you really stupid or are you just pretending? Where is your cultivation? Where is your spirit?"
"I haven't asked this lady's name yet."
Min Xian looked at Lian Ping'er calmly, and the latter sneered and answered bluntly.
"My name is Lian Ping'er, and I came to find you on someone's behalf. If you are willing, I can take you away today. If you still hesitate, you won't have another chance with me after today. To tell you the truth, something happened before I came here, and I don't want to stay in Dazhen for long."
Min Xian nodded, thought for a moment and answered.
"Is the person you entrusted to me your mentor?"
"What do you think?"
Min Xian cupped his hands.
"Min, please tell me about your experience. I'm sure Miss Lian will be interested. Although my memory is really not good, that moment is really unforgettable."
Lian Ping'er's expression gradually relaxed. She sat up straight and waited for Min Xian to speak. The latter smiled and began to narrate.
"At first, in order to delay Mr. Ji for a while..."
Min Xian paused when he said this, and Lian Ping'er laughed sarcastically.
"Innocent!"
"Hehe, maybe, but Brother did escape."
"That's why I say you are naive. If your senior brother hadn't arrived in time and blocked Ji Yuan despite being seriously injured, do you think your senior brother would have been able to escape?"
Min Xian was slightly stunned, shook his head and did not respond, but continued to narrate.
"That day, after I woke up, I was taken to the top of a mountain by Mr. Ji..."
Min Xian told the story in detail, telling how Ji Yuan brought Min Xian into his own artistic conception, how he painted and took away the alchemy furnace and his physical vitality, and then brought him to Dayunfu City, leaving him alone in the city with his cultivation completely lost...
Even at this moment, Min Xian's voice was still trembling slightly when he spoke of this. Lian Ping'er on the opposite side could imagine the despair that Min Xian had felt at that time, and she seemed to be able to empathize with that scene, and a sense of fear rose in her heart.
"Just like that, the former immortal master is gone, and only an old man named Min Xian is left, who has lived a life like a dream for hundreds of years and now lives alone in the city... Alas!"
"The past is indeed like a dream, and like a dream it will gradually fade away. I am just an old man, how can I remember things that happened hundreds of years ago..."
"Then you should be happy that I'm here."
When Lian Ping'er said this, Min Xian also laughed and shook his head.
"After being a mortal for a while, some of my previous thoughts have gradually faded away. Now Min Xian just wants to live the rest of his life well and then sleep peacefully."
"But if you come with me, you can heal your injuries and recover your cultivation, and become an immortal standing in the clouds again. It's better than the muddled life you're living now, right?"
Min Xian looked down at his hands and shook his head.
"It's useless. I can no longer cultivate in this life. I know this clearly. Mr. Ji has taken away my spiritual roots. I can't even sense spiritual energy. No matter what I cultivate, it will not produce any results. No matter what elixir I take, it will just flow out of my body. Moreover, although Min Xian is already a dead man, he can't just muddle along..."
Lian Ping'er frowned slightly again, and a pill appeared in her hand. As soon as the pill appeared, a faint fragrance filled the air. The next moment, she flicked her fingers, and the pill hit Min Xian's forehead, turning into a white mist and merging into his seven orifices.
Min Xian's body was shrouded in a hazy white light, but after a few breaths, pieces of white mist seeped out from his body surface, just like heat dissipating in the cold air, and it just disappeared.
Lian Ping'er didn't believe it, so he stretched out his hand and a stream of magic power mixed with spiritual energy flowed into Min Xian's Tanzhong acupoint again, circling around his body.
"it's useless."
Lian Ping'er withdrew her hand and made no other attempts, just stared at Min Xian seriously.
"I just want to ask you one question, will you follow me?"
Min Xian stood up and bowed solemnly to Lian Ping'er.
"Please tell my teacher, although the teacher's kindness is deep, Min Xian has done enough for his teacher in his life. Please also tell my senior brothers and sisters that Min Xian will never forget the friendship with them!"
"Humph, I won't tell them that. I will just say that you didn't come, so that they will think you are a traitor who was scared unconscious by Ji Yuan."
Min Xian was stunned for a moment, then sat down without saying anything more.
“Knock, knock, knock…” “Sir, serve the food.”
The waiter's voice sounded outside the door. Lian Ping'er said "Come in", and the door was opened from the outside. There was not much business in the restaurant early in the morning, so the kitchen was idle. Two waiters came up with trays. When they entered the door, the whole chicken, cured duck, pork and stew on the trays exuded bursts of tempting aroma, which made Min Xian swallow his saliva.
Soon, all the food was served. Two waiters were very skilled and each carried two trays, with a total of seven dishes and one soup, filling the entire square table for eight people.
"Sir, please enjoy your meal. We won't disturb you. If you need anything, just let us know."
"Thank you for your help."
Lian Ping'er didn't say anything, but Min Xian thanked the two waiters. The latter nodded, closed the door and walked out. Only Lian Ping'er, who was silent, and Min Xian, who was staring at the table full of food in a daze, were left in the private room.
"What? Can you get full by looking at it? Eat it. I can't eat it anyway."
"Well, thank you for the hospitality, Miss!"
Min Xian reluctantly said a polite word, then could no longer resist the temptation, so he picked up the chopsticks, picked up the bowl and started eating, not afraid of choking, he picked up the food in big mouthfuls and swallowed it, and he was even more direct when it came to roast chicken and the like.
Looking at Min Xian's appearance at this moment, Lian Ping'er became even more angry.
"I don't know what kind of magic potion Ji Yuan has given you!"
Min Xian, who was eating with his head down, paused for a moment, chewed the food in his mouth and swallowed it, then looked up at Lian Ping'er.
"I can only say that we have different ideas and cannot work together now."
"Humph, you've lost your immortal heart, and you still say such things?"
Lian Ping'er didn't want to waste time with Min Xian anymore, so she stood up and walked behind Min Xian, knocked on the door of the private room, and walked out without any reluctance.
Min Xian did not look back, nor did he ask for the eighty cents. He just waited for a long time after Lian Ping'er left before whispering something.
“But I found a human heart.”
Lian Ping'er, who had already reached the door of the restaurant, paused. She squinted her eyes and looked back at the stairs leading to the second floor of the restaurant before entering the restaurant.
In the private room at the staircase on the second floor, Min Xian seemed to have thought of something. He quickly stood up and ran to the door and shouted towards the stairs.
"Little brother, little brother~~~Did the lady pay the bill?"
"Sir, please enjoy your meal. The lady has paid the bill~~~"
The voice coming from the stairs made Min Xian feel relieved, and then he spoke to the people downstairs.
"Brother Xiaoer, can you lend me a lunch box? I want to pack up~~"
A waiter came up from downstairs, looked at the table in the private room, and then looked at Min Xian.
"Old man, are you packing it up now? We haven't even eaten the food yet, it's still steaming!"
"Yes, right, right now, while it's hot!"
"Okay, I'll pack it for you, but you can't take the soup with you. Please wait a moment while I go get the food."
"Thank you very much, thank you very much!"
Min Xian thanked him repeatedly and after the waiter went downstairs, he hurried back to the private room to eat, focusing on the big bowl of mushroom and meat soup.
Not long after, Min Xian came downstairs with oil stains on his hands and mouth. The waiter helped him carry some oil paper bags behind him. It seemed that the restaurant did not want to lend food boxes, but Min Xian was still very happy.
Going downstairs, Min Xian opened the two wooden box drawers he had chosen.
"Just put it in there, thank you, little brother!"
"it's okay no problem."
The waiter put six or seven packages of oil paper into two small wooden boxes in the front and back, and the shopkeeper at the counter over there also called out to Min Xian.
"Old man, there is change for the money that the lady left just now. She said it's for you. Come here and get it."
"Uh, how much is it?"
"If converted into copper coins, it's about a hundred coins."
"Okay, that's great!"
A look of joy appeared on Min Xian's face. He had thought that there would be no money, but he was happy to take this amount.
The shopkeeper took out a small string of money and placed a few copper coins on the counter. Min Xian thanked him repeatedly, took the money, picked up the shoulder pole, and then happily left the restaurant.
This time, perhaps it was because he was full, perhaps because his body was warm, perhaps because he was happy, or perhaps because he didn't want the food to get cold. Even though the load was heavier, Min Xian's steps were much lighter than before.
This time, Min Xian did not go to the street to set up a stall. He seemed to be in a hurry all the way, walking through the streets and alleys in Dayun City for a long time. When his forehead was slightly sweaty, he entered a remote part of the city. After walking for a while, he arrived at a small courtyard surrounded by a fence.
"Aguo, Aguo, look what Grandpa Min brought back for you, Aguo~~~"
The door of the house in the yard was suddenly opened, and a child about seven or eight years old rushed out.
“Grandpa Min!”
"Hurry and have a look, there are good things here!"
"smell good!"
"Hey, hey, hey, come in quickly, there are so many delicious foods, and they're still hot!"
…
The laughter of the elderly and the cheers of children could be heard from inside the house. Lian Ping'er outside frowned frequently. It seemed that Min Xian was really not leaving. After taking another look at the yard, she turned into mist and left.