In the evening, the hot wind blew, the reeds swayed, and in the clear river water, the fish rushed out of the water, made a bubble, and swam among the water plants with a flick of its tail.
The flowing water reflected a stone bridge. On the bridge, a scholar carrying a bookshelf on his back wiped the sweat from his forehead, found a place to sit down and rest for a while, took out some dry food and blew off the dust on it, and looked through the map in his hand.
"Ningxia Town should be ahead."
The somewhat dazed scholar muttered to himself for a while, ate half a piece of dry food, got up and continued walking towards the town not far ahead.
"stop!"
A sudden loud shout startled the scholar, and he stood still quickly. There were several footsteps coming towards him from behind, and they passed by him in a blink of an eye. Three men with bare chests and weapons in hand were pointing at a one-armed knight wearing a turban not far away.
"Where are you going to run to!" "Stop talking nonsense, kill him and take the things away—"
Several people rushed towards each other, and the scholar was so scared that his face turned pale. He lifted the hem of his robe tremblingly and raised the sleeve to cover his face with one hand. He didn't dare to watch the fierce scene of killing. He put on his faded green cloth shoes, trotted, and quickly went towards the town.
"Just get into town, that's all."
After whispering a few words, the sound of blacksmithing came into his ears before he even entered the town. The scholar, holding on to the rope of the bookshelf, glanced around timidly. Green forest heroes hurried past with swords and spears on their backs, or gathered in groups of three or five, looking at the passers-by, showing their weapons and grinning.
Ningxia Town has become more prosperous in recent years. Merchants traveling from the south to the north often stop here and hire a group of guards to go to the cities further north. Although the Sui Dynasty has been prosperous and the world has been peaceful in the past three years, there are always bandits hiding in the mountains, who often come down the mountains to rob people, making the town, which was originally a gathering place for bandits, become a mixed bag, and there are usually many bandits mixed in.
But strangely enough, the nearest mountain to the north of Ningxia Town is sparsely populated. Even the most famous bandits on the nearby hills dare not go there easily, as they are very taboo about it.
There is a dilapidated temple in the mountains. When the word Ruolan is mentioned, the people living in the town usually turn hostile and leave. This has become the most curious place for outsiders.
There was an inn in the town with a blue banner with "The Immortal is Coming" written on it. A scholar carrying a bookshelf walked in timidly with small steps. He saw that the room was full of drinkers carrying weapons, laughing and cursing loudly. He swallowed his saliva and stepped over the threshold. He did not go in and whispered to a waiter carrying a tray.
"Excuse me, young man."
"Hey, are you here to eat or stay?" The waiter put down the tray, pulled the rag on his shoulder, and invited him in with a loud voice: "There is a guest..."
Before he could shout, the scholar waved his hands and said, "No, no, I'm here to collect the debt. Excuse me, is your shopkeeper here?"
The clerk immediately shut up, glanced at him, tilted his head and shouted inside: "Boss! Someone is here to collect the debt!!"
The scholar stretched his neck to look inside, and saw the fat shopkeeper with a fat head, big ears and a cockscomb hat was doing the accounts with a pen at the counter. When he heard the waiter's shout, he raised his eyes, met the scholar's gaze, and immediately bent down and went under the counter.
"Shopkeeper, my last name is Ning, I am here to..."
Bang!
A thick-backed bone-chopping knife chopped on the counter, and the fat shopkeeper raised his chin: "Collect the bill?"
cluck~
The scholar swallowed and looked around. The drinkers in the hall put down their cups, reached out to put down the weapons on the corner of the table, narrowed their eyes, and looked at him unfriendly.
"Excuse me, excuse me!"
The scholar bowed, quickly left the inn, turned around and ran. The bookshelf behind him creaked and shook, and books fell to the ground. He stopped, looked around the inn again, and seeing that no one was chasing him out, he picked up his books and ran away.
"Hahaha-"
This scene caused all the people in the inn to burst into laughter, slapping the table and saying, "This nerd is trying to learn how to collect debts!"
"Yeah, if you're afraid of death, don't come!" "Hehe, just rob him."
"He's just a poor scholar. Rob him? Even if he takes off his clothes, he won't get much money."
"Hey, don't underestimate a scholar. If the shopkeeper hears this, he will definitely kick you out."
Someone among them spoke these words, causing the surroundings to suddenly quiet down. The outlaws drinking at a table slapped their scabbards, snorted, and turned their heads to look at the person who had just spoken.
"Why, saying scholar will cause trouble?"
The man at the next table shook out his clothes, revealing the tattoo on his shoulder. He leaned slightly and narrowed his eyes.
"Then try it out. Do you know why this inn is called 'Xianrenlai'?"
The account-keeper over there raised his head, put down his pen, walked out with a smile, and raised his hands towards the two tables: "Eat, eat. Harmony brings wealth when you are away from home. If you want to know how this inn got its name, just ask me. There is no need to get angry, everyone."
The man who opened his shirt to reveal his tattoo snorted, sat back up, and continued to drink and eat. The outlaw at the other table also put away his knife and turned to look at the shopkeeper.
"Just now that guy said not to look down on scholars, the shopkeeper would throw me out? What's going on? I'm here to escort a team from another place. This is my first time in Ningxia Town. I hope the shopkeeper can help me solve this problem."
As he said this, he held the knife and clasped his fists, apologizing for almost using the knife just now.
The fat shopkeeper was a businessman. He returned the greeting with a smile and sat down at the table of the outlaws in a generous and casual manner. He knew that these bloodthirsty people would be most susceptible to this kind of tricks.
"Brother, you may not know that three years ago, a deity dressed as a scholar came to our town. He was really handsome and suave, and there was an air of immortality in his every move. It was obvious that he had the power to move mountains and seas. Even when he was leading an old, hairless donkey, he was still very agile and dignified... and followed by a beautiful girl with her hands tied. Then he came to stay at my inn."
When talking about this matter, the fat shopkeeper would repeat himself every time, leaving people stunned.
Fortunately, the outlaw reacted quickly, came to his senses, and frowned at the point of confusion.
"The shopkeeper can tell that he possesses magical powers?"
"Hey, of course..." The fat shopkeeper slapped the table and changed the subject: "...I can't tell."
He stood up and walked out of the bench, waved his chubby big hand, and said:
"Sir, you don't know. The immortal showed his divine power in the past. It was in the Lanruo Temple in the mountains. There was a monster there. The immortal led an old donkey into the temple. Soon, the whole night turned into day. There were lightning and thunder. It was very scary. There were a few men in this town who wanted to rob the immortal. They ran back and told the whole story. They saw it with their own eyes."
"Where is that person?"
"Human? Of course he followed the gods and went to play in the human world."
"Maybe they are just playing tricks to deceive you."
Hearing this, the fat shopkeeper couldn't stand it anymore. He turned back from his way to the counter, speaking in a much louder tone than before, and banging his fingertips on the Green Forest guest table.
"Those guys used to drink here all the time, how could they not know the truth?"
"Then why did you chase that scholar away just now?"
"He's a debt collector, not a god. They're two different things."
The fat shopkeeper waved his hand, turned around and walked to the door to look out. "It's getting dark, why did this coward run up the mountain?"
In the distance, a figure carrying a bookshelf seemed to have asked someone for directions, and left the town in a panic, running towards the mountain road to the north. Just as the shopkeeper was wondering, a voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
"Boss, do you have any vacancies?" "Yes, there are four of us here to stay the night, not to collect the money."
The fat shopkeeper turned his eyes away and saw four scholars of different heights standing under the eaves outside the door, carrying bookshelves on their backs, smiling with their teeth showing, and bowing to him.
"What luck today! I just drove one away and four more were sent here!"