August 13, Pingyang City, late autumn.

It started to rain in the afternoon. It was light rain at first, then turned to heavy rain in the evening. There were few pedestrians on the road.

Although it was not the time to turn on the lamps, because the sky was too dark, the light of candles gradually appeared in the city. The light was mainly concentrated in the dozen or so miles of the east city, where the government offices were located and where wealthy people lived.

Most of the people living in Xicheng are civilians, and there are not many people who hold lamps. However, there is a light in the northwest of Xicheng. This light is much brighter than ordinary candles. The light is swaying and shaking.

The place where the light shines is a small temple. This temple is very dilapidated. The courtyard walls and the east and west wings have collapsed. At this time, only the main hall where the statue of the god was originally worshiped is left.

There is a statue of a god sitting on the altar in the main hall. Due to the lack of temple maintenance, the statue was seriously damaged. The paintwork fell off and the clay was exposed. It is no longer possible to tell which deity it belongs to.

Even the couplets on the left and right of the statue are only left hanging crookedly on the wall, and only the first two characters can be vaguely distinguished from the words on it.

There is a bonfire in the middle of the hall, and around the bonfire are a few beggars in ragged clothes. These beggars are not very old, the oldest is only thirteen or fourteen years old, and the youngest is only eight or nine years old.

The oldest one, with a slightly bulging chest, must be a woman, thirteen or fourteen years old, with big eyes and a layer of oil on her face. She was holding a bowl of potion and talking to her companion who was lying in front of the statue.

The beggar lying on the straw was about twelve or thirteen years old. He was a boy. He was very thin and had a handsome face. He was still seriously ill and his face was extremely pale. However, his eyes were very bright and clear. He was not like a child, but like an adult.

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At this moment, he just listened carefully, his lips moved slightly, but he didn't make any sound.

In addition to these two people, there were two other people in the temple, and a boy was cooking. The so-called cooking was just sorting the food from begging, and then pouring it into two clay pots hanging on the fire.

Although this man is also a beggar, he is not as thin as his companions. He is very white and fat.

The other is a girl, eight or nine years old, who is chopping firewood. This girl has big eyes and has never spoken. She only uses gestures to communicate with others. She must be mute.

After the girl finished giving the medicine, she helped the boy lie down to rest and asked the fat man, "Where is Zhao Qing? Have you seen Zhao Qing?"

"I haven't seen it, I haven't seen anyone all day long," the fat man shook his head, "It's raining so hard today and there are no people on the street. I'm afraid I won't be able to get anything.

Sister Yuqing, the meal is almost ready, how about I go find him?"

"It's too late, I'd better go!" The girl waved her hand.

While the two were talking, there were rapid footsteps outside the door. The footsteps came from far to near. After a while, a beggar rushed in from outside. He was about thirteen or fourteen years old, shirtless and bare-backed, with a tattered gown covering his head.

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"My ancestors, I was soaked to death." He took off the tattered gown on his head, his face was dark and thin.

"Zhao Qing, what are you hiding in your waist?" asked the fat man cooking.

"What do you think?" the skinny black boy smiled mischievously, "Hurry up and eat, I have something big to talk about later. I have to go out again after dinner!"

"Okay, everyone is here, let's eat! Zheng Xu, please share the food and give more to Yang Jin." Yu Qing waved.

The fat man distributed the food in the earthen pot to everyone. While the fat man was sharing the food, Zhao Qing walked to the statue, took out a wine flask from the bag on his waist, and secretly gave it to the lying beggar, "Ajin,

Here you go, good stuff!”

Ajin silently took the wine bottle, her lips moved slightly, as if thanking her, but she made no sound.

The fat man divided the food in the earthen jar into four portions. In the end, only some soup was left. He combined the soup from the two jars and drank the soup directly from the jar.

There were rats in the ruined temple. One rat smelled the smell of food and ran out from the darkness. It came close to the mute. The mute did not beat it, but instead pinched the food and fed it.

When Zheng Xu saw the mouse, he was a little disgusted. He beat the mouse to death with a wooden stick under his feet and threw it beside the bonfire.

"Sister Yuqing, Zhao Qing stole wine and gave it to Changle." Zheng Xu complained.

Xue Qing turned her head when she heard the sound and waved her hand to Zheng Xu, "Yang Jin has just recovered from a serious illness and can't stand the cold. He drinks to drive away the cold.

Zhao Qing, where did you get this wine?"

Zhao Qing picked up a piece of bone with chopsticks, gnawed on it, and gave half of the remaining rice to the fat man and the mute.

The two of them knew that Zhao Qing always had a way to get food, so they didn't refuse and just started eating.

"Sister Jiang, something big happened in Pingyang City today. Many people from the Jianghu came all of a sudden, carrying knives and holding swords. They seemed to be fighting for some martial arts treasure, a secret book called "The Secret of the Golden Chamber"

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I didn't do anything today, I just ran errands for a few sword-wielding martial arts men. They rewarded me with some wine and meat at noon, but I didn't want to drink the wine, so I brought it back to Ajin."

Zhao Qing didn't hide anything, he told everything.

Zheng Xu asked first: "How could there be any martial arts treasure in such a remote place as Pingyang City?

Besides, it was fine yesterday and there was no news at all. Why do so many people know about it today and come here together?"

He seemed to want to ask a lot of questions. Without waiting for Zhao Qing to answer, he asked again: "And what is the secret book of the martial arts treasure "The Secret of the Golden Chamber"? Have they found it?"

"I couldn't find it! I don't know what "Secrets of the Golden Chamber" is, but I just heard it mentioned in their chat, and it seemed to be very precious.

There are many martial arts people in the city today, and they all seem to be here for this thing.

It's just strange, it seems that the news about this martial arts treasure "The Secret of the Golden Chamber" spread all of a sudden from the city, and the people in the martial arts community heard the news nearby and came here.

But when I listened to the people who hired me, talking privately, they seemed to have known about the "Secrets of the Golden Chamber" for a long time, and some of them seemed to have come to Pingyang City specifically for this matter."

"Don't talk about things that have little to do with us!

Zhao Qing, you said you were going out soon. Why are you going out so late?

Besides, there are so many Jianghu people coming to the city, how dangerous it is!" Jiang Yuqing asked Zhao Qing worriedly.

"It's okay, it's not dangerous. They are all here for that martial arts treasure, and they won't embarrass us beggars.

Not only that, they are also very generous!

You don't know, but the people I served today were very generous.

Among them, there is Mr. He from the Hanshan Sword Sect of the Northern Wei Dynasty. He sees my cleverness and likes my service. He is the one who rewarded me with the wine and meat at noon today, and also gave me three coins!"

He excitedly took out a dime of silver from the sole of his shoe and handed it to Jiang Xueqing.

"Okay then, pay attention to safety when you go out." Jiang Xueqing took the silver and warned.

"You, you go out so late, do you want to secretly meet Mr. He?"

Yang Jin, who had been silent all this time, asked slowly while leaning on the altar table.

His tone was a little weird, as if he hadn't spoken for a long time.

Unexpectedly, Yang Jin, who had always been timid and taciturn, would guess the purpose of his going out tonight. Zhao Qing was a little surprised and didn't say anything for a moment.

But his expression already showed that Yang Jin had guessed correctly.

Jiang Yuqing was a little confused and asked Zhao Qing: "It's so late, why are you looking for Mr. He?

If you have something to do, you can't go to him tomorrow. Since they want to find some martial arts treasure but haven't found it, they shouldn't leave Pingyang City for a while.

You can go tomorrow, it’s too late today, it’s still raining heavily outside, it’s not safe!”

"No! I must go tonight! No matter how heavy the rain is, I must go!"

"Why?"

"Because...because Mr. He may have promised him to take him out of Pingyang City!"

The person who spoke was Yang Jin. Although he still spoke very slowly and in a strange tone, the people in the temple did not care about his speaking problem, but were shocked by the content of his words.

"What? That Mr. He wants to take you away? Could he be lying to you?!"

Jiang Yuqing looked at Zhao Qing worriedly, "Zhao Qing, our Pingyang City is in Dong Qi. You said that Mr. He is from the Northern Wei Dynasty. The two are separated by thousands of miles and thousands of miles. If you really go with him,

, what should I do if something happens?

Don't be fooled by him!

Come, I’ll give you the money. Don’t go out tonight, and you’ll return the money to him tomorrow!”

Zhao Qing shook his head and said: "No! Mr. He said that he thought I was very smart and liked me very much. He would recommend me to join the Hanshan Sword Sect.

He asked me to come over tonight just because he wanted one of his elders to see with his own eyes what my martial arts qualifications are. If that senior agrees, Mr. He will take me with him when he leaves Pingyang City!"

"That Mr. He wants to lure you into the Hanshan Sword Sect to learn martial arts?"

Jiang Yuqing took the money and prepared to return it to Zhao Qing, asking Zhao Qing not to be greedy for petty advantages and to return it to Mr. He who gave him the money. He was a little surprised when he heard what Zhao Qing said.

She originally thought that Zhao Qing might have been bribed by a small favor and deceived, but she didn't expect that Zhao Qing was going to join the Hanshan Sword Sect.

"Yes, when Mr. He and the others were chatting in the afternoon, they said that Hanshan Sword Sect might recruit disciples recently.

I thought this was an opportunity to make a comeback, so I begged him privately to accept me.

He took a test of my bones and said that my qualifications were not bad, but I was a bit too old, so he couldn't say for sure whether I would succeed or not. He would have to let his elders say it.

His senior from his sect is out on business today and may not come back until tonight, so he asked me to go find him tonight." Zhao Qing did not hide anything.

Everyone in the temple was silent for a moment, digesting the news that Zhao Qing just said.

"If it's really what you said, go ahead!

You are the smartest among us. Since you believe Mr. He, I think Mr. He is not lying to you.

You are right, this is an opportunity to turn around. If you become a disciple of Hanshan Sword Sect and become prosperous in the future, you can come back and help us."

Jiang Yuqing gave Zhao Qing a broken umbrella with almost only the paratrooper ribs left.

Zhao Qing lowered his head and took the umbrella, not daring to look at the crowd. He turned around and walked a few steps, then suddenly came back and said to everyone: "Why don't we all go and give it a try? Mr. He is a very nice person.
To be continued...