Yuancheng, small and old, is not so much a small town as it is a slightly larger town. No one can remember when it was built. The reddish-brown city wall is full of traces of the passage of time, and there are many cracks.
Walking in the city, Ye Fan felt the oldness of time and time. The stone slabs on the street were dented by stepping on them, and monks came and went.
"My little brother, you are new to Yuancheng, do you want to buy Yuanshi, come to our Shixuan to have a look, I guarantee that there will be strange stones you like."
"Whether the leader of the trail needs the good materials shipped from the edge of the ancient mine in the early days, the real goods are genuine, you might as well come in and have a look."
There are many shops on both sides of the street, selling all kinds of origin stones, and warmly greet the monks who come and go.
Ye Fan didn't dare to underestimate these people. Although the shop is small, they all have backgrounds and are inextricably linked with the major holy places.
He walked into a stone shop and chatted with the shop owner, the price of stone materials here is outrageously expensive.
Shizhai is not big, just a room, facing the street, there is only a red sandalwood frame in the shop, on which there are only a dozen stones.
Ye Fan was speechless, the value of these stones was ten times that of the source of the same weight.
"It's too expensive!"
"These are not mortal stones, but precious materials to be sent to the holy city, tainted with the immortal energy of the beginning." The shop owner introduced.
It is so expensive, the bet is no longer the source, but the more precious things sealed in the stone. After Ye Fan comprehended the "Book of Yuan Tian", his eyesight was extraordinary, and he only chose one piece of material, and then stopped selling.
Gambling stones here is not worth the loss, and things more precious than Yuan are hard to come by, so how could he see them at will? The reason why he made a move was just to make friends with the shopkeeper.
"Brother, do you have any connections? I want to go to the ancient mine of Taichu." He wanted to go to the ancient mine of Taichu, but he ran into trouble.
The mining area outside the ancient mine in the early days was divided up by the major holy places. Other places are fine, but it is difficult for outsiders to pass through the area near the forbidden area of life.
Ye Fan is not a descendant of the Holy Land. If there is no other way, he will not be able to pass through those areas with his casual practice.
"I'm talking about little brother, that place must never be visited, and even the great holy masters can't make waves after entering it." The owner of Shizhai persuaded.
Ye Fan smiled and said: "I'm not going to die, I just want to see it from a distance. It's a pity that I can't see the great name of Taichu for a long time."
The shopkeeper said with a smile: "I fully understand. There are often young people like you who want to go and watch from afar, but in the end they can't control themselves. If they are summoned by the devil and go deep into the restricted area, many people will disappear every year."
"In this way, is there a way to go to Taichu?" Ye Fan's eyes lit up.
"Xiao Daoist, I advise you not to take risks. Curiosity really kills people." Shizhai's master kindly persuaded him.
"Please help my brother, I know the importance." Ye Fan insisted on going.
"In this case, you can go find someone called Lao Dao Ba Zi, but the price is expensive, and it's a scam." The shop owner provided Ye Fan with such information.
Afterwards, he wandered around the stone city for a long time, and found out who this old swordsman was.
This is an old local snake, of course not a thug among mortals, but a hobgoblin among monks. He has a wide network of contacts in this area, and he takes on various businesses, such as escorting origin stones, and even assassination.
Lao Daobaozi lived in Nancheng District, but it was only five low blue tile houses, which looked dilapidated.
He didn't have the demeanor of an old local snake at all, just like a dutiful old farmer, with a wrinkled face and rough calluses on his hands, squatting on the ground, smoking a dry pipe, and he couldn't tell the depth of his cultivation.
"It's really evil, people go to die by themselves every year..." The old knife handle muttered in an inaudible voice, then raised his head to look at Ye Fan, and said: "Wait a few days, gather enough people before going. "
"Old man, these are all the business you took over?" Ye Fan noticed that there were many notices posted on one wall.
"I'm a responsible person, I won't kill people, these are power of attorney, I'm just a middleman, those who want to pick up the job will come to me to pick up the task." The old knife was smoking a dry pipe, and said: "If you want to accept the job, I can also contact you. As for the remuneration, I will raise 20%."
Ye Fan browsed casually, his eyebrows twitched suddenly, he was actually involved in these tasks.
He picked up a golden piece of paper with his face clearly drawn on it, he could get a hundred jin for just providing clues, five hundred jin for killing him, and a thousand jin for catching him alive.
This is really a high price, and he does not hesitate to get him out.
The employer did not conceal his identity, and clearly wrote a large character... Ji.
You bastard!
Although Ye Fan was mentally prepared, there were still some disturbances and he fled to the Northern Territory. The Ji family still didn't want to let him go and issued a arrest warrant.
The people in Yaoguang know that he has come to the Northern Territory, and it is impossible for the people in the Ji family not to get the news.
"I seem to have seen such arrest warrants in other cities." Ye Fan probed.
The old swordman exhaled a puff of smoke, and said: "If you offend someone who shouldn't be offended, this child won't live long. Many people from the younger generation of the Ji family have come, and some young people from Yaoguang are with them."
Ye Fan casually checked other entrusted tasks, but saw a few more about him... Order to arrest Ye.
Not only were the signatures of several masters from the younger generation of the Ji family, but also a killing order was issued by the disciples of the Yaoguang Holy Land.
Ye Fan learned the Great Void Technique and burned to death the elder of the Ji family, and the family would not let him go without accident. Why did Yao Guang, a disciple who had never met him before, act like this? He immediately thought of Yao Xi, perhaps it was her order.
"Hunt and kill me... I want to see how you find me out." Ye Fan sneered in his heart, he practiced the "Book of Origin", which can change his aura, and the other party is hard to find.
"I would like to meet the masters of the younger generation." Ye Fan's strength has been growing recently, and he is quite moved, and wants to find some people to try the knife.
He didn't believe that everyone was like Ji Haoyue and Shengzi Yaoguang. If they were young monks in the second or third level of the secret realm of the Dao Palace, he felt that they could be killed.
"What is the strength of this Ye Fan, why do they make them so motivating?" Ye Fan asked casually.
"It is said that he was a monk in the Lunhai Secret Realm more than half a year ago. I don't think there will be much change in such a short period of time." The old knife spit out a smoke ring, stared at him with cloudy old eyes, and said, "Are you interested in taking over?" , I only raise half of the bounty for this mission, and the rest belongs to you."
"Okay, Pindao picked it up, please tell me the details."
After half a quarter of an hour, Ye Fan left Nancheng District.
"How is it? Did the Taoist leader agree with you? You won't be slaughtered by that old man, right?" When passing by the stone studio, the owner asked enthusiastically.
"Take me fifty catties and leave in two days." Ye Fan replied.
"Although the price is expensive, it is not too cruel." The owner of Shizhai recommended: "Buy a stone coat from me. It is an old stone peeled off from the treasure source, and it has the effect of warding off evil spirits."
The savage beast roared, and a group of men and horses rushed into Yuancheng. They were a group of young people, all in their twenties. They rode extraordinary horses, three feet off the ground, and rushed across the street.
Ye Fan rubbed his chin, he was still thinking about it just now, he didn't want to see the Ji family soon, he didn't want to take the initiative to cause trouble.
Two days later, Ye Fan came to the dilapidated house of the old knife handle in Nancheng District. There were already more than a dozen people waiting there, most of them were young people.
"It's been half a month, and the number of people has finally come together." The old knife held a pipe in his mouth, and said: "First of all, I am only responsible for leading the way, and I care about my own life and death. If I am really called into the old mine, it has nothing to do with me."
These people have already understood the rules, no one said anything else, just urged to go on the road.
"Why bother, what's so good about an ancient mine, many people are buried in it every year." The old knife muttered.
Some people didn't like to listen, and said: "I said old man, can you say something festive, as if cursing us to die."
"Well, may we have a smooth journey!" The old knife said no more. He has never left others to do this task, and has always been responsible for it himself.
When he walked out of Yuancheng, Ye Fan saw those young people from the Ji family again, they were in a hurry, riding wild beasts and galloping away.
Even though those strange beasts did not touch the ground, the strong wind still stirred up a lot of dust and sand, making those who wanted to enter the ancient mine in the early days glaring.
"What's there to be crazy about, do you really think this city is your palace?"
"Shh, keep your voice down, do you know who those people are? They are from the Ji family, and they will cause a catastrophe."
In the team that rushed out, several people turned their heads and stared a few times, and one of them showed a sneer and said: "The misfortune comes from your mouth, keep your mouth shut." They didn't stop, and flew away.
"It's really...too arrogant, how amazing is the Huanggu family?!" Some people were annoyed, but they only dared to mutter in a low voice after those people left.
As expected of the old knife handle who has been walking on this road for decades, he actually avoided the blockade of the Holy Land and walked in along the secret road.
The people stopped and walked, and ten days later they walked through a large area of no man's land and the boundless Gobi, and the old knife took everyone to the outskirts of the ancient mine in the early days.
It was less than a thousand miles away from the so-called edge of the beginning, and they came outside the legendary restricted area of life.
"You can only advance another 800 miles, or you will be in danger. You must control yourselves, don't be impulsive, let alone talk nonsense." The old swordsman warned solemnly.
Here, there is nothing, the earth is as red as blood, it has been like this since ancient times, and silence is the eternal theme.
Sand and gravel are everywhere, and the occasional stone mountains are as red as blood and as quiet as tombstones.
"This place is so desolate, you can't even see ghosts." Someone sighed.
"Don't talk nonsense!" The old knife scolded angrily.
"As for this, there is nothing, so what are you afraid of if you just say a few words?" A young man was very dissatisfied, thinking that he was being too cautious.
The old knife kept muttering, he didn't know what he was talking about, and at the same time he bowed and bowed to the front, then he turned around and glared at him angrily, and shouted: "If you want to die, leave by yourself, don't follow us, since I Lead the team and listen to me in everything.”
"You old knife is too much, we paid you, how can you have this attitude?" The young man was not convinced, and asked in a cold voice.
"I can return the source to you, and then you can leave by yourself." The old knife responded indifferently.
"Forget it, let's calm down, anyway, we are almost at the place, so let's not say a few words." Someone beside me persuaded.
The old swordsman said coldly: "I am doing it for your own good. Talking nonsense in this area will kill people."
"Is it so serious?" The people next to him couldn't believe it.
The old swordsman snorted coldly, and said: "Three years ago, because one of the team had no taboos, it caused a catastrophe. In the end, only me and the other two survived among the twenty or so people."
"It's so scary, what happened, everyone else... died?" Several people were timid and asked cautiously.
"No one knew what happened. At that time, everyone was blind and couldn't perceive anything. They only heard screams. When they regained their spiritual sense, there were only twenty pools of blood on the ground." The old sword said calmly. Come.
The vast land is empty and red for thousands of miles. There is no end in sight, and there are occasional dust rolls.
Everyone looked at each other in blank disbelief.
But the young man just now obviously didn't believe it, and said with a sneer, "Everyone is a monk, so why are you still afraid of ghosts? I believe that as long as you don't enter the restricted area of life, nothing bad will happen outside."
"Snapped!"
The old knife handle threw a bag of Yuan on the ground, and said: "You go, return your Yuan, you can't walk with us anymore."
"Forget it, everyone, stop talking nonsense and move on." Someone persuaded.
"Okay, is it okay if I don't talk anymore?" Seeing that the old man's face was so serious, the young man felt a little terrified.
"Remember, no one is allowed to talk nonsense!" The old swordsman solemnly urged with a gloomy face.