Chapter 621
"I prepared this place 20 years ago." Fu Shaoping kicked open the rotten window panel, and the sunlight illuminated the old sword marks carved on the beam. "It was the escape route I left when I was hunting down the Mohist traitors."
Lin Xiaoqi was about to ask something when he suddenly heard a crisp bell ringing outside the door.
"A new neighbor?" The little girl with a red hairband on her head, carrying a bamboo basket, poked her head out curiously, "My mother asked me to bring some wild jujubes."
Nangong Wan coughed as he took the bamboo basket, but the silver needle in his sleeve was already against the back of the girl's neck - just a gentle push would make the child forget everything she had seen and heard.
"Thank you, sister." Lin Xiaoqi suddenly took a half step forward, just in time to block the path of the silver needle. He picked up a date from the basket and took a bite, the sweet juice flowing down his changed mediocre face, "very sweet."
Fu Shaoping laughed loudly, took out a copper coin and stuffed it into the girl's pocket: "Tell your mother that Chen's wine shop will open in a few days, and invite her to taste the new wine."
After the girl jumped away, Nangong Wan put away the silver needle: "Being soft-hearted will kill everyone."
"You can be hard-hearted." Fu Shaoping suddenly pointed at Lin Xiaoqi's waist and said, "That thing should be thrown away."
The young man lowered his head and found that the green light on the herb-picking sickle was flowing spontaneously - even if it was hiding its identity, the green wood true energy still recognized its master.
That night, when Lin Xiaoqi was digging a hole in the corner of the woodshed to bury the sickle, the bone ring suddenly became hot. The sickle blade under the soil was pulsating, as if some kind of dormant life. He thought of the word "Lin" on the altar at the bottom of the river, and vaguely heard someone whispering in the water vapor: ".The seventh. "
Just as I was about to listen carefully, I suddenly heard the sound of breaking dishes in the front hall.
When he rushed into the house, he saw blood oozing from the corner of Nangong Wan's mouth, and tortoise shells used for divination were scattered on the ground. Fu Shaoping's face was livid: "The Mo family will track us with blood sacrifices, and they will find this place in three days at most."
Lin Xiaoqi silently spread out his palms, and the Qingmu Qi flowed into strange patterns under his disguised face: "If... I mean if, use the Lin family bloodline to reverse the curse."
Nangong Wan and Fu Shaoping looked at each other.
The oil lamp suddenly burst into sparks.
When the morning light spread over the green tile eaves, the apricot yellow flag of Chenji Liquor Shop had been fluttering in the wind for three years.
Lin Xiaoqi—now he should be called Chen Mu—was standing on tiptoe to sprinkle the last handful of osmanthus flowers into the wine jar. The steaming wine mist was wrapped in sweet fragrance, and his face, which still looked childish after the disguise, was reddened. Several regular customers at the counter knocked on their bowls and urged: "Shopkeeper Chen, when can the newly brewed 'Forget Worry Fragrance' be opened?"
"What's the hurry?" Fu Shaoping came in from the backyard with an untidy bearded face, and the wine gourd on his waist was replaced with a rough pottery jar with a chip on it. "Good wine is like boiling medicine. A difference in the heat -" His voice stopped abruptly, and he suddenly picked up an abacus and threw it out the door.
The wooden beads hit the feet of a man wearing a bamboo hat with a crackling sound.
"Sir," Nangong Wan's voice floated down from the second floor. She was now Mrs. Chen, who had been ill for many years, but at this moment she was leaning against the railing with a cold silver needle, "Go to Liu's in the front street to buy wine. We only sell medicinal wine here."
The man in the bamboo hat froze in his place, with a half-ink line faintly visible from his sleeves. Just when the situation was tense, the little girl with a red hairband, A-Man, jumped into the doorstep and said, "Uncle Chen! The county magistrate wants 20 jars of 'Spring Breeze Drunk' to hold a flower viewing banquet!"
The guests in the room burst into laughter. The man in the bamboo hat took two steps back amid the children's clear laughter, and finally turned around and disappeared into the crowd.
As night fell, the three of them sat around the well in the backyard.
Nangong Wan's fingertip was picking up a thin piece of ice crystal - it was the Mohist tracking talisman that fell from the sleeve of the man in the bamboo hat during the day. Fu Shaoping poured a spoonful of wine on the talisman, and when the flames rose, four bloody words "Lin's remnants" appeared.
"It's the thirty-seventh one." Lin Xiaoqi suddenly spoke, his fingertips drawing a star map on the surface of the well water, "Five fewer than last month."
Fu Shaoping suddenly threw the pottery jar into the well.
"Tomorrow is Ah-Man's coming-of-age ceremony," he wiped his face and turned back into the drunk winemaker, "remember to dig out the jar of daughter's red wine in the back cellar."
Nangong Wan chuckled. Her face was pale now, but she still had the charm of her past when she smiled. The silver needle wove a stream of light in the air, and the tracking talisman was refined into a silver butterfly, which gently landed on Lin Xiaoqi's shoulder: "Wear it and play with it."
The late autumn night breeze swept over the herbs drying in the sun. Lin Xiaoqi spread his palms in the shadow of the basil and angelica. The bone ring glowed white in the moonlight, and the corner where the herb-picking sickle was buried was pulsating. He knew that the calm was like thin ice, but at this moment——
Fu Shaoping's out-of-tune singing came from the front yard, mixed with Nangong Wan's deliberately wrong pipa music. Ah Man laughed and scolded the two people for being out of tune, and the wind chimes under the eaves tinkled in response.
The young man condensed the Qingmu Qi into a small firework, which bloomed above the medicine drying rack.
The morning dew had not yet dried, and Lin Xiaoqi squatted in the backyard of the wine shop, burying the last jar of "Forget Worry Incense" in the soil. The soil was all over his fingers, with a damp and cool feeling. Fu Shaoping leaned against the door frame, with the wine gourd hanging diagonally at his waist, but his eyes looked over the courtyard wall and looked at the rolling mountains in the distance.
"Almost." He suddenly spoke in a low voice.
Nangong Wan leaned out of the second-floor window, and a silver light flashed from her fingertips. Twelve copper coins flew back into her sleeves from the beams. The moment the concealment formation was removed, the entire wine shop seemed to have shed a layer of hazy gauze, and even the air became clear.
"This is the first time we've withdrawn in three years." Lin Xiaoqi patted the dirt off his hands and stood up. "Master, are you really leaving?"
Fu Shaoping grinned, and the disguise mask on his face wrinkled slightly: "Why, you can't bear to leave that girl Aman?"
Lin Xiaoqi's ears were hot, but before she could refute, Nangong Wan had already walked down the stairs slowly. She held a green aphid coin in her fingertips and flicked it lightly. The coin drew an arc in the air and landed in Lin Xiaoqi's palm.
"Qingfei, lead the way. Let's go to the 'Liuyunfang' in the east."
Three days later, an inconspicuous green-covered carriage drove out of the town.
Lin Xiaoqi sat on the shaft of the cart and looked back. The town gradually became blurred in the morning mist, and only the old locust tree in front of Aman's house was still swaying gently in the field of vision.
"Don't look anymore." Fu Shaoping's voice came from inside the car, "There's still a long way to go."
The carriage drove eastward along the mountain road, the wheels rolling over gravel, making a crackling sound. Nangong Wan closed his eyes and rested, but his fingertips were always holding a silver needle, the tip of the needle trembling slightly, as if sensing something.
At noon, the carriage stopped by a stream to rest. Lin Xiaoqi scooped up a handful of water to wash his face, and suddenly found that the reflection in the water was his original face - the Qingfei mask had become ineffective at some point.
"Master! My disguise——"
Fu Shaoping took a sip of wine and said with a smile, "Once you leave Qingxuan Mountain, the Qingxie mask will naturally disappear." He touched his restored face, and the stubble pricked his hand. "It's been three years, and I still feel comfortable with this face."
Nangong Wan walked to the stream, looked at his own cold and pure face in the water, and sighed softly: "Liuyunfang is not like a small town, there are all kinds of people there, you should restrain yourself."
Seven days later, the carriage drove into a valley shrouded in clouds and mist.
In the distance, a huge market was built against the mountain, with pavilions and towers scattered in an orderly manner, and wind chimes hanging on the eaves looming in the clouds. At the entrance of the market, a jade tablet was engraved with the words "Liuyun", with a sword-like stroke and majestic momentum.
"We're here." Fu Shaoping jumped off the carriage and stretched. "Let's find a place to stay first, and then look for a shop tomorrow." Nangong Wan suddenly held his arm and looked sharply into the depths of the market: "Someone is watching us."
Lin Xiaoqi followed her gaze and saw a black shadow flash by in the attic in the distance.
Fu Shaoping narrowed his eyes and spun the wine gourd on his fingertips: "It seems that this Liuyunfang is more interesting than I imagined."
The early morning in Liuyunfang is always covered with a layer of gauze-like mist.
Lin Xiaoqi followed Fu Shaoping and Nangong Wan, walking along the main street paved with bluestone slabs. Glass wind chimes were hung on the eaves of shops on both sides, and the sound of ding-dong ...
"The East Market sells magic tools, the West Market sells elixirs, and the North Market specializes in spiritual materials." The silver needle on Nangong Wan's fingertip shone slightly, drawing a thin line in the air, "The shop we are looking for is in the South Market."
South City was not as prosperous as the other places, but it had a different kind of atmosphere. Teahouses and wine shops were hanging banners, various kinds of spiritual herbs were drying in front of the medicine shops, and groups of three or two wandering cultivators were squatting on the roadside to set up stalls, with a coarse cloth in front of them, and a few old things covered in mud were randomly placed on it.
Fu Shaoping stopped in front of a closed shop. The shop was not big, with a faded wooden sign hanging on the lintel, with the words "Zuixianju" vaguely visible.
"This is it." He raised his hand and knocked on the door, his knuckles making a dull sound on the old wooden board.
The door creaked open a crack, revealing a wrinkled face. The old man squinted and looked at the three people: "It's been closed for three years. We don't sell alcohol."
Fu Shaoping took out a jade tablet from his bosom. On the tablet were cloud patterns and the word "Chen". "I asked someone to reserve this shop for me three years ago. I'm here to take it back now."
The old man's eyes changed, and he hurriedly opened the door: "It turned out to be Manager Chen! I will go and get the land deed now."
There was a thin layer of dust inside the shop, but the layout was surprisingly to Fu Shaoping's liking. The front hall was square, suitable for placing a few wine tables; the back room was spacious, enough to accommodate winemaking utensils; and there were three small rooms on the second floor, just right for living.
Nangong Wan's fingertips flashed silver, and twelve copper coins flew to various corners of the wall, setting up a simple protective formation. Lin Xiaoqi opened the back window and found a small courtyard outside the window. An old plum tree leaned against the corner of the wall, and the stone table under the tree was covered with petals.
"This place is nice." Fu Shaoping opened a jar of dusty old wine, and the aroma of the wine instantly filled the entire front hall. "It will be opened tomorrow and will be called 'Zuixianju'."
Nangong Wan shook her head: "Too ostentatious." She traced the table with her fingertips, and the water vapor condensed into the three words "Qinglu Ju", "Selling medicinal wine and spiritual tea."
Lin Xiaoqi suddenly found a secret compartment under the counter. When he opened it, he found a dusty seven-stringed zither. The small words "Nangong" were engraved on the end of the zither. His heart skipped a beat and he quickly closed the secret compartment.
"How is the rent calculated?" Fu Shaoping was talking to the old man.
The old man rubbed his hands and said, "According to the agreement made that year, thirty spirit stones per month, or..." He lowered his voice, "Help the owner brew ten jars of 'Yunxia Brew'."
Fu Shaoping laughed: "No problem!"
That night, the three of them simply packed up their accommodation.
Lin Xiaoqi lay on the bed in the small room, listening to the noise of the distant market gradually subside. The moonlight shone through the window lattice, casting mottled shadows on the ground. He stroked the bone ring on his ring finger, and suddenly felt the ring surface slightly hot.
Outside the window, a plum petal fell on the windowsill, with night dew condensed on the petal, looking like a tear in the moonlight.
The morning dew still hung on the plaque of "Qingluju". Lin Xiaoqi had already polished the newly made green bamboo medicine cabinet until it was shiny. Fu Shaoping leaned against the door, playing with a green jade slip in his hand - it was the "Liuyun Baicaolu" taken from the steward of the market last night.
"Purple Spiritual Ginseng, Evening Primrose, Cold Star Vine." He tapped his fingertips on the jade slip. Every time he read a name, a shadow of a spiritual herb appeared in the air. "These are common goods that can be bought at street stalls in Taipei."
Nangong Wan walked down slowly from the second floor, the silver hairpin in her hair swaying slightly with her steps. In her hand, she held a small purple clay stove, with green smoke curling out of it, condensing into the shape of a crane with its wings spread.
"Real elixirs are not displayed in plain sight." She flicked her fingertips, and the crane flapped its wings and flew out of the window, "Let's go to the Dark Alley and have a look."
The dark alley of Liuyunfang is hidden in the most inconspicuous corner of Taipei City. The bluestone road becomes narrow and winding here, and the shops on both sides have no signs, only lanterns of different colors hanging on the lintels.
Lin Xiaoqi followed his master and his wife into a shop with indigo lanterns. The shop was dimly lit, and the wooden shelves on the four walls were filled with sealed jade boxes, each with a talisman attached to it.
"New customer?" The gray-robed old man behind the counter didn't even raise his head, and was carving a wooden sign with a carving knife in his hand. "What do you want?"
Fu Shaoping placed three spirit stones on the table: "I heard that your store received a 'Nine-Leaf Magic Heart Lotus' the day before yesterday."
The old man paused with his carving knife. Nangong Wan handed over a small celadon bottle at the right time, and a faint medicinal fragrance wafted out of the bottle mouth. The old man's nose twitched slightly, and he finally looked up: "The top grade 'Qingling Pill' of Xuan level?"
"Change the message." Nangong Wan took back the medicine bottle, "We only want the petals intact."
The old man narrowed his eyes and looked at the three people, and suddenly lifted the green cloth curtain behind the counter. Behind the curtain was a small courtyard, and on the stone platform in the courtyard were three colorful spiritual plants -
The one on the left is all blue, with sword-like leaves; the flower on the right has seven petals, each with a different color; the most eye-catching is the lotus in the middle, with nine silver-white petals stacked on top of each other, and a lavender flame dancing in the center of the flower.
Lin Xiaoqi's bone ring suddenly felt hot. He tried to calm himself down, but saw Fu Shaoping had already walked to the stone platform, and the wine gourd had been replaced by a white jade box.
"I want all three." Fu Shaoping tapped the jade box with his fingertips. "The price is negotiable."
The old man suddenly pressed the lotus jade basin and said, "Someone has ordered this one."
Nangong Wan's silver hairpin flashed with a cold light: "Double."
At dusk, the three returned to Qinglu Residence.
On the stone table in the backyard, three spiritual plants glowed faintly in the specially made jade. Fu Shaoping was grinding the seven-color flower, and the petals made a clear bell sound when they were crushed. Nangong Wan used a silver needle to pick up the purple fire in the lotus heart and carefully introduced it into the alchemy furnace.
Lin Xiaoqi was in charge of handling the sword-shaped blue grass. When he touched the blade of grass with his bone ring, it suddenly stood upright like a sword, and a message came directly into his mind -
"The Seven Tribulations Mysterious Heart Grass grows in the Sword Tomb of the East China Sea and grows a leaf every hundred years."
He looked up suddenly and found that his master and mistress had stopped what they were doing.
Fu Shaoping wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "It seems that our Xiaoqi has a talent for identifying medicines."
(End of this chapter)