As a result, most of the dates that Zao Niang had picked were eaten by Xiezhi. When Ji Yuan wanted to take some more, he found that the basin was empty. He looked at Xiezhi and saw that the other party already had a handful of dates in his hand.
"what you do?"
Faced with Xiezhi's behavior that was almost like stealing dates, Ji Yuan did not know whether to laugh or cry, but the latter was still smiling.
"Hey, Ji Yuan, all the dates on this tree are yours, just pick them."
"Can't I pick more after I finish eating them? Besides, these dates belong to Miss Zao, so they can't be mine, right?"
"It's all the same, it's all the same. I'll take these dates to my apprentice. I know you'll have to go to the underworld in Ning'an County soon. I'll go to Niu Kui Mountain to see my apprentice first and test his cultivation."
Ji Yuan understood, and stretched out his hand above his head. Many more dates fell down and landed directly into the hands of Xiezhi.
"That's nice. I'll go first then."
Ji Yuan didn't say much and watched Xiezhi leave Ju'an Pavilion. He hoped to see the other party truly care about Hu Yun.
Not long after, a small paper crane that looked like a mini crane flew back. As soon as it returned to the yard, it landed on the table. It made a "chirp" sound, then picked up a half-red date and pecked at it with its beak.
"Oh, I see."
Ji Yuan stretched out a finger and scratched the neck of the little paper crane. The latter looked very enjoyable, but found that the master did not continue to scratch. Looking up, he found that Ji Yuan was staring at the well in the yard that had been sealed with stone slabs all year round, in a daze.
There were also noisy sounds of little characters attacking each other in the courtyard of the small pavilion. It sounded very close, yet seemed very far away from Ji Yuan. Unconsciously, the sky gradually darkened, and the Ju'an Pavilion also became quiet.
The "Sword Book" was hung on the jujube tree again. Qingteng Sword and the small characters were all surrounding the "Sword Book". There seemed to be a silent discussion between the gods. To some extent, when the "Sword Intent Post" and Qingteng Sword set up the sword formation, the formation diagram was not from the "Sword Intent Post" but from the "Sword Book" or more precisely, Ji Yuan's swordsmanship, but it was mainly based on the immortal sword, with more than a hundred variations, which were constantly superimposed on each other, deriving endless changes.
"Okay, it's about time."
Ji Yuan muttered this, stood up and left Ju'an Pavilion, taking only the little paper crane with him.
At dusk, the streets of Ning'an County were filled with villagers rushing to go home. The city was also filled with smoke from cooking fires, and the aroma of various dishes wafted around Ji Yuan's nose, as if the aroma was more intense because the city was small.
The door of the temple building was still open, but Ji Yuan had no plans to go there. He walked directly to the City God Temple, whose roof tiles looked golden in the afterglow of the setting sun.
The temple keeper and two helpers were cleaning up the place inside and out. Although the New Year had long passed and there were no other festivals during this period of time, there was still a constant stream of pilgrims coming to the temple to burn incense to the City God, making everyone feel that they were short of manpower and unable to cope.
"If you want to burn incense, please go in quickly, light the incense and worship, then come out. We will be closing soon."
Seeing Ji Yuan coming, a helper holding a broom in the yard outside the main hall said this. Ji Yuan nodded slightly and went into the hall.
The helper outside cleaned the entire yard outside the temple, but found that the person who had just entered had not come out yet. He couldn't help but frowned. He looked like a senior official, so he wouldn't steal the incense money from the merit box, right
Thinking of this, the helper was startled and quickly trotted into the City God Hall with a broom in hand. However, he looked left and right but could not find the figure of the person who had just come. After being puzzled for a while, he suddenly shuddered.
"Oh my god! I hope I didn't run into a ghost from the underworld!"
The helper quickly worshipped the statue of the City God, muttered to himself for a while, and then hurried out to find the temple priest.
But the helper was still a little panicked, because he had probably heard that although the City God was powerful, seeing evil things in the City God Temple was not a good sign. So he thought that if the temple keeper said it was not good, he should go to the school tomorrow to find a teacher to write some words. He heard that some scholars with high knowledge and high aspirations could write words that could ward off evil spirits.
On the other side, Ji Yuan had already entered the underworld of Ning'an County. He did not walk into the underworld from the Ghost Gate, but was directly welcomed into the underworld hall from the City God Temple. Ghosts and gods rarely do this, but in front of Ji Yuan, the old City God did not care.
Therefore, when Ji Yuan stepped into the main hall of the City God Temple, it was like he was stepping into the City God Temple from the outside in the underworld. The City God and various ghosts and gods who had been waiting for a long time all stood up and saluted.
After Ji Yuan solemnly returned the gift, he spoke out his intention without even waiting to sit down, which was equivalent to directly dropping a bombshell piece of news.
The story of Huangquan is not false, all the underworld will be connected in the future, and all the ghosts and spirits in the underworld can take the Huangquan Road. Ji Yuan came to the underworld of Ning'an County to ask Song Lao, the city god, and the ghosts and spirits of various departments whether they are willing to work together with the main hall of the underworld. Perhaps in the future, the underworld under Ning'an County will become a palace in the underworld.
After saying this, Ji Yuan took his leave and the City God and other ghosts and gods sent him to the door of the hall, but his mind was still lingering on the shock just now.
"Lord City God, Mr. Ji is going to give us a chance..."
The old city god also felt a little emotional.
"We just happened to discover the deceased, but you said we had great merits, and even told us the matter directly in front of the Netherworld Emperor. Perhaps Ning'an County is blessed with good fortune!"
"Ju'an Pavilion is here, and the literary saint also came from Ning'an County. How can this place not be prosperous?"
“That makes sense!”
"I'm afraid the affairs of the underworld will be even busier in the future. When you mentioned the matter of rebirth, although your words implied that it was still uncertain, it also shocked the underworld of Ning'an County. If it is difficult to grasp, doesn't it mean that they are ready or even have begun to grasp it?"
The ghosts and gods in the underworld were chatting with emotion, and even they felt a little excited in their hearts.
…
Ji Yuan didn't spend much time in the underworld, but he still had some things to say. From dusk until he came back, more than an hour had passed and it was naturally dark.
However, before Ji Yuan reached Ju'an Pavilion and saw the open gate, he already sensed a slightly familiar atmosphere. Sure enough, when he returned to Ju'an Pavilion, he saw Zao Niang with a smile on her face, Bai Ruo who was uneasy and even distracted, and two women who were only slightly less nervous than Bai Ruo standing beside the stone table.
"Mrs. Bai, the sir is back! Sir, you are back!"
Zao Niang stood up with a smile, took two steps forward and saluted Ji Yuan very quietly. Ji Yuan nodded slightly and looked not far behind Zao Niang.
Bai Ruo, who was wearing a white dress, was so nervous that she was trembling all over. When she saw the gaze looking over, she was suddenly awakened and quickly stood up from the stone table.
"Come on, follow me to meet the sir!"
Bai Ruo said nervously, trying his best to control his emotions, took two steps forward softly, and bowed respectfully to Ji Yuan with the two young girls who kept stealing glances at Ji Yuan.
"Bai Ruo, hello, sir!" "Hong'er, hello, Mr. Ji!" "Qiao'er, hello, Mr. Ji!"
Ji Yuan stood and accepted the gift, then spoke calmly.
"No need to be polite, just sit down."
"yes… "
But it was obvious that Ji Yuan was the only one sitting in front of the stone table. Bai Ruo, who was so nervous that his mouth was dry and his mouth was sweating, did not dare to sit down.
Zao Niang had originally sat down with Ji Yuan, but when she saw Bai Ruo and the two girls standing, she didn't dare to sit. After hesitating for a moment, she stood up quietly.
Ji Yuan found it very interesting and looked at the four women in the field with a smile.
"Is Ji so terrible?"
"No, no, sir... I..."
Bai Ruo, who has experienced the world and has become indifferent to many things, now acts like a student facing a teacher's test in front of Ji Yuan. She wants to confirm with Ji Yuan the thing that Zao Niang said that surprised her so much, but she doesn't dare to speak directly for fear of displeasing Ji Yuan.
Or maybe Zao Niang on the side couldn't stand it anymore. She thought she was quite shy, but she didn't expect Madam Bai to be even more exaggerated.
"Sir, didn't you say before that you recognized Madam Bai as your registered disciple? Is that true?"
Boom boom boom boom…
Ji Yuan seemed to be able to hear Bai Ruo's extremely nervous heartbeat, and the latter lowered his head and did not dare to look at him.
"Sir, when did my words become irrelevant?"
When Ji Yuan said this, Bai Ruo suddenly looked up, stared at him with wide eyes, his lips opened and closed with trembling, and then he suddenly knelt on the ground.
"Thank you Master for accepting me. Thank you Master for your mercy. Bai Ruo will never forget filial piety throughout his life!"
"Why are you crying..."
Ji Yuan stood up and helped Bai Ruo up, feeling somewhat helpless but also genuinely touched. Bai Ruo was one of the few people who wanted to worship Ji Yuan as her master but she was not someone who admired power, nor was she someone who would consider her own cultivation first. He could truly feel her sincerity, although he never felt that he would be old enough to need others to help him with filial piety.
"Even if you are just a nominal disciple, it is not easy to be my disciple. When the wind, rain, thunder and lightning come, I may not be able to protect you."
There were tears in the corners of Bai Ruo's eyes, and she was not afraid of what Ji Yuan meant.
"To repay my master's kindness, disciple Bai Ruo will never back down despite all the difficulties and obstacles. Heaven can bear witness to my determination!"
"Okay, Ji got it. Can you sit down now?"
Ji Yuan winked at Zao Niang, who came over, took Bai Ruo's arm, and brought her to the table to sit down.
However, what Ji Yuan didn't know at the moment was that far away in Hengzhou, there was a person who had some connection with him, and he was in great confusion because of the book "Huangquan".
"Is it possible for a dead person to be resurrected? Yes, it is possible... This book has a preface written by you. You must have read it and must agree with what it says. I, I want to find the author of the book. Yes, I also want to find you. I want to find you!"
In Jiufeng Mountain, a man with long hair sat on the edge of a cliff, looking at the "Huangquan" in his hand with excitement.
"Aze..."
A voice sounded behind the man. He turned around and saw a beautiful woman standing behind him holding a plate.
"Sister Jin..."
"Aze, you looked so scary just now!"
"I'm sorry… "
Jin Xiu shook her head and showed the tray in front of Aze.
"Eat quickly, the food won't taste good if it gets cold."
"Um… "
Seeing Aze stand up, Jinxiu also carried the plate and walked with him to a small house on the edge of the cliff, but there was still some worry in her eyes.