In fact, when Meng Xiuyuan was talking to Zhang Wuji, he heard the breathing not far outside the palace and knew that someone was secretly eavesdropping.
However, Meng Xiuyuan also heard that this man was breathing calmly and evenly. He did not have any high-level martial arts skills, nor did he seem to be deliberately hiding in the dark with evil intentions, so he ignored him and only waited for him to appear.
Unexpectedly, he met an unexpected person.
Seeing this situation, before Meng Xiuyuan could say anything, the civilized and polite boy Zhang Wuji hurriedly said:
"Zhang Wuji of the Wudang Sect has met the master.
My uncle and I passed by here and saw that it was getting dark, so we wanted to find a place to rest.
Thinking this was an abandoned temple, he came uninvited.
But I didn’t expect that there is actually a master in this temple, it’s really rude.”
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he laughed and quickly shook his head:
"Don't be polite, I'm not a master.
The Huangjue Temple was not popular at all. When the famine came, the capable monks in the temple contacted other temples and fled.
After a few months, I was the only one left behind because I didn’t understand the Dharma and wasn’t familiar with the scriptures. I had nowhere to go.
You said this is an abandoned temple, but it’s actually pretty much the same.”
Zhang Wuji was stunned when he heard this. He felt that the monk in front of him was cheerful and free-spirited. He was very different from the monks he had seen in the past. It was really unexpected.
Meng Xiuyuan just smiled indifferently, and then said:
"Wudang Meng Xiuyuan, I have met you."
Compared with Zhang Wuji, who was half a teenager, Zhu Yuanzhang was much more enthusiastic towards Meng Xiuyuan, and he praised again:
"I heard what the two young heroes just said.
Meng Shaoxia, what you said is absolutely right.
Although the disaster in Fengyang Prefecture originated from drought, so many people died in the end, and it was inseparable from the Tatar dog official in the court.
I just don’t know, Meng Shaoxia, if you say you can drive away the Tatars in ten years, is it true?"
Meng Xiuyuan did not shy away, smiled slightly, nodded seriously and said:
"I believe it can be done."
"Okay, young hero, be brave!"
Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang admired Meng Xiuyuan even more. He reached out to Zhang Wuji and said with a smile:
"At this time, there were some good friends of mine in Huangjue Temple. They slaughtered a cow, and everyone happened to be cooking in Huangjue Temple.
If you two young heroes don't mind, can we have some together?"
Zhang Wuji saw Zhu Yuanzhang's generous appearance and was affected by it. He also forgot a lot of his unhappiness and couldn't help but look up at Meng Xiuyuan and ask for his opinion.
When Meng Xiuyuan saw Zhang Wuji's expression, he quickly smiled, nodded, and said in response:
"Okay, then we're welcome."
…
Although the Huangjue Temple looks a little dilapidated due to the lack of monks for daily repairs, the overall area is quite large.
Zhu Yuanzhang and Meng Xiuyuan walked for a long time before they came to a hall where there was a light of fire.
Before I even got close, I smelled the aroma of roasting meat.
"Brother Zhu, why did it take so long to go to the hut? Come quickly, let's continue drinking."
Zhu Yuanzhang walked into the hall first and immediately attracted shouts and shouts from inside.
"Don't be busy, everyone, I brought two more good friends..."
While they were talking, Meng Xiuyuan and Zhang Wuji also walked into the main hall.
I saw several young men sitting on futons in the hall, forming a circle, with a large basin of cooked beef and a jar of wine in the middle.
Everyone was eating meat and drinking happily in front of the Bodhisattva statue.
Before Zhu Yuanzhang could introduce Meng Xiuyuan and the two men, a scream suddenly came from the hall. Among the people sitting around, a strong man stood up from the ground as if his buttocks had been burned by fire:
"Meng Shaoxia? Why are you here?!"
While he was talking, the man hurriedly rushed to Meng Xiuyuan, threw himself to the ground, and wanted to kowtow to Meng Xiuyuan on the spot.
"Ji Fei, we haven't seen each other for a long time."
Meng Xiuyuan had already seen the strong man's face clearly, and with a wave of his sleeves, he secretly used all his strength to help him up, preventing him from knocking him down.
This sudden turn of events surprised everyone present and made them confused for a while.
As a result, everyone in the hall naturally couldn't sit still anymore. They quickly got up one by one, walked to Ji Fei and asked:
"What's going on, Brother Ji, do you know these two little brothers?"
The look he showed while speaking made it clear that among all the people, Ji Fei's status was not low.
Ji Fei just nodded towards them when he heard the sound, and without any time to explain, he quickly looked at Meng Xiuyuan and said solemnly:
"Meng Shaoxia, when we parted ways in Kunlun, I thought we would never meet again.
But I didn't expect that I would be lucky enough to meet you again today in this ruined temple.
Ji Fei still dares not forget your great kindness to this day."
Meng Xiuyuan shook his head when he heard this, smiled and didn't say much, just patted him on the shoulder.
Everyone around them was not stupid. Seeing this situation, they immediately guessed some of the truth.
They hurriedly invited Meng Xiuyuan and Zhang Wuji to sit down, and brought a lot of beef and placed it in front of them as a treat.
Ji Fei naturally sat next to Meng Xiuyuan and began to help introduce him one by one.
There were originally eight people in this palace. Except for Zhu Yuanzhang and Ji Fei and Meng Xiuyuan, who were already acquainted, the rest were all good men.
There was an imposing man named Xu Mingda; a handsome man named Tang Minghe; a dashing man named Deng Mingyu; a dark-faced and tall man named Hua Mingyun; and two fair-skinned brothers, the elder brother Wu Liang and the younger brother Wu Zhen.
Upon hearing this, Meng Xiuyuan nodded to them one by one.
Everyone was polite but curious, pretending not to care, but privately they kept looking at Meng Xiuyuan, wanting to see what was so surprising about this handsome young man that could make Ji Fei admire him so much.
It was Zhu Yuanzhang who spoke first when he saw this and asked Ji Fei:
"Brother Ji, you only talked about us, but you haven't introduced Mr. Meng yet.
I just met the two of them, and I just thought they were honest and knowledgeable, so I wanted to get acquainted with you.
But I didn’t expect that he was actually an acquaintance of yours, Brother Ji.”
When Ji Fei heard this, he first glanced at Meng Xiuyuan's face. Seeing that he was not displeased, he turned around and said to the brothers:
"More than just an acquaintance, Shaoxia Meng saved my life on the Kunlun Mountains.
Moreover, I joined our Mingjiao under the guidance of Meng Shaoxia, so I should be called a great benefactor..."
While talking, Ji Fei wanted to tell the name of Meng Xiuyuan's Wudang Zixiao Divine Sword, so as to show Meng Xiuyuan's majesty.
However, except for him, most of the people present had just joined the Ming Cult and were not considered to be people in the world. Naturally, they had never heard of Meng Xiuyuan's reputation.
Therefore, as a low-level person in the world, he was at a loss for words and didn't know how to emphasize Meng Xiuyuan's power to everyone.
On the contrary, Meng Xiuyuan took the initiative to speak and said calmly:
"It's just a matter of convenience, there is no such thing as a benefactor but not a benefactor. I am Meng Xiuyuan of the Wudang Sect, and I have met all of you."
Hearing this, Ji Fei also understood that Meng Xiuyuan did not want to show off as a peerless master, so he had to swallow his words and briefly introduced Meng Xiuyuan in a few words, saying that he was a young and promising knight in the world.
In this way, the atmosphere at the dinner was very harmonious. Everyone just thought that Meng Xiuyuan was the young warrior who happened to save Ji Fei, so they had no sense of distance from him. It didn't take long for them to exchange cups and cups and call each other brother.
After a while, Ji Fei gradually integrated into the atmosphere and returned to the familiar rough guy on Kunlun Mountain. He took the initiative to pull Meng Xiuyuan and began to tell him about his experiences in the past two years.
It turned out that after he said goodbye to Meng Xiuyuan, he had already decided to live a stable life in the future. He even walked to the foot of Wudang Mountain with the letter written by Meng Xiuyuan.
But at the end, Ji Fei changed his mind again.
In the end, he still couldn't resist the passion in his heart, so he chose to strive for fame and wealth, followed Meng Xiuyuan's guidance, and finally joined the Ming Cult.
At that time, various branches of Mingjiao were short of people, and the disciples they usually recruited were farmers and refugees who could not survive.
Ji Fei, who has practiced martial arts and been a member of the Haisha Clan for many years, is considered a rare "talent" among them.
The leader of the branch altar inspected him and after guiding him for several months, he sent him to the slightly remote Fengyang County and gave him a position similar to that of a squad leader.
He gradually got to know Zhu Yuanzhang, Xu Da and others after arriving in Fengyang County. Except for Zhu Yuanzhang, who was still a monk, the rest had recently joined the Ming Cult.
And because Ji Fei joined the church relatively early, had some status in the church, and was relatively old, he was regarded as the respected elder brother among this group of people, and he got along very well.
When Meng Xiuyuan heard this, although he didn't say anything, he was really happy for him in his heart.
While talking, Ji Fei saw Zhang Wuji next to Meng Xiuyuan. Seeing that he had not spoken a word, his face was pale, and his eyes were staring at the beef in the basin in front of him. He couldn't help but feel a little strange, and asked:
"Meng Shaoxia, what's wrong with your nephew? Is he sick?"
Meng Xiuyuan's face darkened slightly when he heard this, and without covering up, he told what happened to him and Zhang Wuji along the way.
When everyone present saw that Meng Xiuyuan, who had been slightly silent, took the initiative to speak, they stopped talking and listened carefully.
After a moment, everyone's expressions immediately changed. Even though they lived in Fengyang County and had heard of such cannibalism, the fact that Zhang Wuji was murdered after being so enthusiastic about saving people still made them all confused.
Resentful in my heart.
Originally, everyone only regarded Zhang Wuji as a half-year-old child, and did not pay much attention to him compared to Meng Xiuyuan. But hearing that he was so kind-hearted and righteous, they all couldn't help but like him, and each one of them offered words of comfort.
This chatter was indeed more effective than Meng Xiuyuan's speech. It didn't take long for Zhang Wuji to be infected by this atmosphere. Although it was not completely relieved, it was much better.
"Brothers, there is a famine and everyone has no food to eat. Where did you get the beef?"
After all, Zhang Wuji was still young. Once he opened his conversational box, he directly asked the most doubtful question in his mind, regardless of whether it was appropriate or not.
When everyone heard this, they looked at each other and smiled, and Tang He said without any concealment:
"Of course it was stolen. It was stolen from Zhang Yuan's wife's house in this county."
"Ah?" Zhang Wuji was shocked when he heard this. He didn't expect that the other party would talk about stealing so confidently.
When Ji Fei on the side saw this, he was afraid that Meng Xiuyuan would misunderstand, so he quickly explained:
"That member Zhang was rich and unkind, colluded with the Tatars, and often oppressed the people of our county."
Tang He nodded and agreed:
"Yes, he relied on the Mongolian Tatars to support him, and he did a lot of immoral things on weekdays. Speaking of this famine alone, he took the opportunity to kill fifty, if not a hundred, of the people he stole from farmland at a low price.
There are countless of them, so what does it matter if we steal their cows?"
Zhang Wuji understood the words and nodded, finally understanding the reason.
Everyone chatted more and more happily, and drank and ate meat to their heart's content. It was such a happy time.
Only the child Zhang Wuji had been walking all day and was frightened, so he was a little depressed. When everyone saw him like this, they lit a fire for him in the corner of the hall, brought him hay, and let him sleep first.
…
After a long time like this, everyone drank to their heart's content and everyone relaxed.
At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang mentioned what Meng Xiuyuan had just said to Zhang Wuji and repeated it. After listening to it, everyone couldn't help but nod their heads, and everyone was filled with emotion.
Deng Yu first sighed: "We Han people have suffered so much humiliation from birth, and now we can't even eat, how should we live?"
Hua Yun frowned, and then said: "People like Fengyang are not the only ones who are starving to death in the world. Since they can't survive, why not fight with the Tatars?"
Tang He also echoed: "Yes, we have beef to eat today, but we may not be able to steal it tomorrow. If we want to have enough to eat every day, we have to fight to the death."
The more they talked, the angrier they became, blushing and panting, and everyone began to curse the Yuan court.
Only Zhu Yuanzhang remained calm. When all the brothers were tired of scolding him, he suddenly stood up and said:
“If we sit here and scold them, can we scold those Tatars to death?
If you are a man with integrity, you should kill the Tatars!"
As soon as he said this, everyone present immediately agreed, and an inexplicable atmosphere infected everyone.
Even Ji Fei was a little more heroic than two years ago, and he also echoed:
"Yes, anyway, the altar master told me that I can act on my own when the time comes.
We just had enough to eat and had enough strength.
That Yuan Yuan’s family is hosting a banquet for Tatar officers and soldiers today, let’s go and kill them all now!”
When several people heard this, they all agreed. They immediately put down their bowls and chopsticks, picked up their long knives and started to go out.
"Meng Shaoxia, I'm leaving. I hope I can have the honor to treat you to a meal of meat again in the future."
That Ji Fei looked at Meng Xiuyuan, his dark face was slightly flushed, and he didn't know whether it was because of drinking or because of the surge of blood.
When Meng Xiuyuan heard this, he frowned slightly. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly heard the flower cloud not far away shouting "Ah!" and at the same time he fell and flew several meters away.
When he fell to the ground again, he could no longer get up.
"Brother Hua, what's wrong with you?!" When everyone saw this, they hurriedly gathered around.
Hua Yun was seriously injured at this time. He covered his chest in pain and spoke vaguely. It took a long time for everyone to understand what he meant.
It turned out that he particularly liked the benevolent and simple Zhang Wuji, so before setting off to kill the Tatars, he specifically wanted to say goodbye.
Unexpectedly, just after patting Zhang Wuji's body, the child became frightened in his sleep and punched him in a daze.
Then, that was it.
"This young hero is not very old, but he is really powerful..."
Everyone saw that Hua Yun was so seriously injured, and all of them had mixed feelings on their faces. Who would have thought that at this time when the blood was spurting out, such a big mistake would happen. He was injured before he set out to kill the Tatars.
On the hands of a small child.
Everyone around Hua Yun was worried, but they couldn't help. Although they had some martial arts skills, they had never learned the best internal martial arts, so they didn't understand that a grown man was beaten by a child.
How could one punch hurt him so badly?
Fortunately, Meng Xiuyuan immediately walked over and reached out to help Hua Yun, who was lying on the ground:
"Please forgive me, my nephew must have been too stimulated during the day and too nervous now. He only acted like this in a nightmare..."
While speaking, Meng Xiuyuan held Hua Yun's palm, and the pure Yang Qi slowly entered his body. In an instant, the residual Nine Yang Qi in the meridians of Hua Yun's body was swept away.
"I...I'm fine?" Hua Yun felt that the pain that was so painful instantly disappeared, as if it had never appeared before. He stood up immediately after being gently pulled by Meng Xiuyuan.
The reality is that Zhang Wuji was an unconscious reaction in a nightmare, and the beating was not severe. Hua Yun only felt so uncomfortable because he had never practiced internal skills and was invaded by the naturally occurring Nine Yang Qi. As long as he used more powerful force,
If you are really angry, slowly remove it and everything will be fine.
The difference between Meng Xiuyuan and others is that his peerless internal strength has greatly shortened the process of straightening out the meridians.
Everyone present did not understand the principle. Seeing this situation, everyone's eyes widened.
How powerful a child Zhang Wuji could be was already beyond their imagination, but Meng Xiuyuan's skill in saving people was even more incredible.
They never thought that the person who was sitting next to them just now, drinking and eating meat, could be such a magical person.
At this time, Tang He couldn't help but secretly leaned into Ji Fei's ear and asked in a low voice
"Brother Ji, you didn't tell the truth just now...
What kind of master is this Meng Shaoxia?"
When Ji Fei heard this, he swallowed slightly, hesitated for a moment, and finally replied:
"In short, he is just a little taller than the most powerful expert you can think of."