"Boss, are there four vacancies?"
The voice came again, and the fat shopkeeper came back to his senses. He looked at the four people and waved his hands repeatedly: "No more, no more. Not to mention four rooms, there is not even one left. There have been too many caravans coming to Ningxia Town in the past two days, and the three inns in the town have been full for a long time."
The sounds of carriages and horses neighing passed by, the remaining red leaves in the west were scattered over the bustling town, and four scholars carrying bookshelves under the eaves looked at each other.
Then they asked the shop owner where they could rest. The fat shopkeeper didn't want to send them away. The passers-by who had been watching the show at the door for a while pointed at the foot of the mountain to the north of the town entrance as if jokingly.
"There is a temple in the mountains. You four can go there to rest."
"You are the only one who is meddling in other people's business! You don't think it's a big deal." The fat shopkeeper raised his hand to hit the man, but the man dodged and ran away with a smile.
"Four of you, don't believe that man. There is nothing in the mountains..."
He turned around, but there were no four people under the eaves. Looking into the distance, he saw four scholars carrying bookshelves on their backs almost running out of the town.
The fat shopkeeper was so anxious that he took two steps forward and shouted at them.
"Hey, you guys are back, do you want a room in the woodshed? I'll give you a discount!"
The sound was drowned out by the noise. Soon, night fell and a mist rose between the mountains. Occasionally, the howls of wolves could be heard from the distant mountains. Four lanterns pierced through the mist and swayed in the hands of four scholars, illuminating the mountain path beneath their feet.
"The four of us have the merit of opening the city. Now we have finally found a wise master. It would be wrong to take the official road directly to Chang'an. Why do you insist on taking the mountain road? There is not even a place to stay."
"You should ask Ma Liu about this."
"Why are you asking me? Didn't you agree at the time? Besides, it's much closer to go north to Chang'an this way."
"There's a ghost nearby!"
"Don't say such unlucky things in the middle of the night. Don't forget the vixen in the mountain temple and the incident at Brother Chongwen's house."
Zhao Tang, the shortest one walking at the back, shrank his neck and spoke quickly in a low voice.
"Be careful with your words. Every time we walk at night, something bad happens."
The three people in front stopped and turned to look at him. Zhao Tang almost bumped into them. He took a half step back and looked at the three people: "Why are you looking at me?"
The three of them spoke almost at the same time and pouted at him.
"Shut up!"
"oh."
Behind them, a small, chubby-faced scholar responded weakly and followed his three brothers through a woods. Suddenly, they heard a wolf howl nearby. They swallowed, and were so scared that they huddled together and moved slowly.
"What should we do now? We, the Four Beauties of Jiangnan, have finally made it through, but are we going to be eaten by wolves?"
"Hey, there's a fire over there."
"We're saved, hurry over!"
The rustling sound of footsteps spread, and four people ran over. The shaking lanterns instantly passed over the stone tablet with the three characters "Lanruo Temple" written on it. Seeing the fire inside the temple gate, they pushed and rushed in.
Inside, the firelight flickered. A scholar in tattered robes sat by the fire, baking a piece of cake. He was startled to see the four people coming in.
The two sides looked at each other for a while, and then the scholar got up from the ground.
"The four of you are..."
Over there, the four people who were stunned at the temple gate breathed a sigh of relief. Based on their experience, if someone could speak like this, it must be a human.
They all bowed in return, "Just like you, brother, I want to stay for the night."
Since they were all human, there was nothing to be afraid of. They warmed themselves by the fire, sat together and laughed, talking about knowledge in books. It was a rare opportunity for the lone scholar to meet four well-read people, so he forgot about the uneasiness he had experienced in the small town at the foot of the mountain.
"My surname is Ning, and my name is Caichen."
Here, four scholars raised their hands and said in unison: "Wang Feng, Ma Liu, Zhang Ti, Zhao Tang."
Scholar Ning was stunned for a moment. The names of these four people together mean "romantic and dashing", and then he started laughing. They were really four strange scholars.
But it’s also good. It’s an elegant thing to be able to get together and discuss classics and books.
Rustle…
The night wind blew through the woods outside the temple, and the sound of footsteps walking over fallen leaves was heard. The five people stopped talking and turned their heads nervously, only to see a man in a cloak, holding a long-handled knife in one hand and wearing a bamboo hat coming in.
The firelight flickered, illuminating half of the other person's face, revealing a chin covered with stubble. The man's voice was hoarse and short.
"Rest."
After saying this, he opened his cloak, walked to the other side of the temple pillar with the knife in hand, sat down and lowered his hat, as if he had fallen asleep.
"I think I've seen that person before."
Ning Caichen moved his butt and got closer to the four people next to him. He lowered his voice and said, "When I entered the town this afternoon, I saw someone chasing him on the road. It seemed that they wanted to steal something from him. He only had one arm under his cloak."
Among the four, Zhao Tang pulled at the clothes of his three elder brothers.
"That person looks familiar, I seem to have seen him somewhere."
"Don't talk too much, just take care of ourselves."
As they were talking, a gust of wind blew in from the door, bringing with it a few fallen leaves. The five men's vision blurred, and a figure suddenly appeared at the door carrying a box on his back. He had a big beard, thick eyebrows and tiger eyes. At first sight, the five scholars could not help but tremble in fear and quickly moved to the corner.
"Rest."
The man also spoke the same repetitive words, glanced at the figure in a bamboo hat sitting under the temple pillar, stepped forward, jumped onto the beam and lay on his side, then hung the wooden box with the rope on the beam.
"Two people with murderous intent have come. I'm afraid this place is not a place to stay for long. Let's leave quickly."
"There are wolves outside."
"Then wait a little longer. When two tigers fight, one of them will be injured. We will deal with it calmly."
The four of them, including Ning Caichen, huddled in a corner, guarding the fire to keep warm. They did not dare to sleep, and stared vigilantly at the two figures on the roof and under the temple pillars.
Wow!
The howling of wolves in the distant mountains was long and desolate. The cold moonlight shone on the woods outside the temple, making a slight rustling sound. White mist gradually rose from a deep well behind the temple.
Hehehe…
As the leaves swayed, a woman's silver bell-like laughter suddenly rang out in the night sky, and was blown over the fallen leaves on the ground towards the temple gate and into the inside.
The four scholars shuddered in unison, looking at each other, with an indescribable sense of déjà vu.
"Four brothers, what's wrong?"
"Something bad is going to happen. If you believe in us, just follow us." Zhang Ti pulled Ning Caichen up and leaned against the wall with his three brothers. Before they could take the bookshelf, a faint fragrance wafted in from the temple gate, and two graceful figures, one in white and one in red, stepped over the threshold.
"Hey, sister, look, there are so many people today."
The woman who came in with a long skirt and gauze hanging down to the ground had fair skin and vaguely visible round long legs. Her black hair was tied up high with a jade hairpin, which swayed gently as she walked.
Another barefoot woman in red gauze stood on tiptoe next to the woman in white, her seductive glance drifted towards the scholar in the corner, the smile on her face froze for a moment.
"Sister, those four people look so familiar."
"Um?"
As the white figure hummed in doubt, the four scholars' hair stood on end and they stared at the two women at the door in amazement.
"Aren't these... those two fox demons from back then?!"
"So they are the four gentlemen who escaped from my sisters back then..." The white lady also recognized the four people over there, swaying her slender waist, and her scarlet fingertips brushed across her red lips: "I didn't expect that the four gentlemen missed my sister and me and came back to look for us."
The moonlight shone into the temple gate. Ning Caichen looked around at the four scholars and only heard the word "fox demon". He had no idea what was going on.
The four men swallowed their saliva, their pale faces covered with sweat. Seeing that the man in the bamboo hat didn't move, they had to rely on themselves. It should be possible. Wang Feng took a deep breath, clenched his fists and walked out.
"Don't talk nonsense. The four of us are well-educated. How could we care about the two demons? You have transformed into human form through cultivation, but you have no sense of shame. You have committed shameless acts and taken people's lives. How can you justify your hard training?"
He spoke more and more excitedly. He stood in front of the crowd, waving his arms with outstretched arms, and his words became sonorous and powerful.
"If you steal the spirit of heaven and earth and gain the Tao without thinking of doing good, you will surely be hated by both humans and gods, and punished by heaven and earth. People like us who read books cultivate a noble spirit and wish to eat the flesh of those who died in vain!"
"The Emperor of the Great Sui Dynasty has established a strong sense of civil and military virtues, has swept across the world, and established a mission for the people. The Crown Prince of the Great Sui Dynasty is a wise and enlightened person. When he inherits the throne in the future, he will bring peace to the world and establish great virtues for the world. You monsters are causing chaos and harming the people. The danger of destruction is just around the corner, and your souls will be scattered—"
The words fell as powerful as iron. Wang Feng put down his arms, looked at the smiling and unmoved Erhu opposite him, and smacked his lips.
"Well... I'm done."
He turned his head to look at Ning Caichen and his three brothers behind him.
"I tried my best for you, brother."
"Now it's my sister's turn."
At the temple entrance, two graceful figures gently stepped out from under the veil and walked over silently, calling out in a soft yet teasing voice:
"My dear, just enjoy yourself..."
The next moment, the wind whistled, and then there was the sound of metal clashing. Sparks flew up from under the feet of the two foxes, one red and one white. A thin knife was inserted there, swaying gently.
The white fox looked at the temple pillars in the direction where the blade was flying.
"You want to be a hero even if you don't pretend to be dead."
Over there, a figure leaning against a chair stood up with a knife in one hand and the tip of the knife against the ground. Under his fluttering cloak, his left arm was empty, and hanging around his waist were a few green-faced, fang-toothed heads and a red tail.
The red fox only took a glance, his pupils dilated instantly, he reached out and pulled the elder sister in front of him, his voice stuttering.
"That's my fox tail... He... He was the swordsman that night!"
Wild beasts have an acquired fear of those who have killed them before. The second fox knew that something was wrong, so he created a demonic wind and rushed out of the temple.
"Grandma, someone here wants to destroy Lanruo Temple!"
The knife light slashed along the ground and broke the threshold. The wood chips flew everywhere and went straight in the direction where the second fox flew.
boom!
The mud and rocks on the ground broke open, and a black shadow rushed out from the bottom to the top, colliding with the knife light.