The spring breeze was brisk, and the gate of the county town had not yet been closed. An old guard guarding the door against thieves stood tremblingly at the door. While looking at the dirt road outside the county town, he kept cursing "the cold spring".
Suddenly, the old pawn saw a figure appearing in the distance. It was a gray guy riding a donkey. The man was sitting on the donkey and staggering towards him.
When he saw just one person coming, the old pawn crouched and immediately lowered his eyelids, not interested in taking another look.
The man riding a donkey was none other than Xu Dao.
He was wearing a gray monk's robe that he had put on when he came down the mountain. He had been running along the inhabited land for two or three days and passed many villages.
Because using the magic horsemanship would consume mana, when passing by the last village, Xu Dao specially bought the donkey he was sitting on for riding.
Over the past two or three days, he was walking relatively slowly. Fortunately, he also found that there were no pursuers behind him.
Xu Dao secretly guessed that this should be something that the Taoist priests in White Bone Temple were digesting in seclusion and had no time to pay attention to him.
This made him feel greatly relieved.
As he had guessed, apart from the Taoist disciples in the late stage of Qi refining who would be given soul lamps and paid special attention to, the other disciples of White Bone Temple were relatively free to come and go and be left alone.
However, according to Xu Dao's understanding, once a disciple in the monastery "disappears" for more than half a year without any reason, the monastery will directly identify him as a "traitor" and issue a mission to kill him, sending his disciples to investigate and hunt him down.
Because of the various magical aids, the completion rate of such pursuit missions is quite high.
Fortunately, the White Bone Temple is currently short of manpower. Even if Xu Dao has put his name to the Taoist priests in the temple, unless the Taoist priests come to find him in person and wait until the dormitory is up and running again and free up manpower to investigate Xu Dao, at least it will be possible.
It must be a year later.
And Xu Dao thought that although he was remembered by the Taoist priests, according to the attitude of the Taoist priests towards the disciples of the White Bone Temple, he was not qualified to be chased and killed by the Taoist priests themselves.
After all, for the Taoist priests of White Bone Temple, the status of Qi Refining Taoist disciples is almost the same as eating. Taoist disciples in the later stages may still be worthy of their personal service, but those of other realms are less worthy.
However, if Xu Dao stayed in the White Bone Temple for a few more days and let the Taoist priests in the temple realize that he could enter the late stage of Qi refining in a short period of time, the situation would definitely change.
This was also an important reason why he immediately decided to abandon the White Bones Temple and leave after he was exposed to the truth.
Riding a donkey wobblingly, Xu Dao thought in his mind and saw the county gate appearing in his eyes.
He immediately put his thoughts aside and urged the donkey to rush to the door.
"May I ask where in the city there are the most people and the easiest place to get information?" Xu Dao, riding on a donkey, leaned over and asked the old soldier at the door.
When the old soldier heard this, he just pricked up his ears and pointed to a two-story shop in the county town without raising his head.
Xu Dao replied: "Thank you very much."
He threw two coins from his sleeves and threw them directly into the arms of the old soldier. Then he kicked the donkey and walked towards the county town.
The old guard at the gate noticed the copper plate in his arms and reached out to grab it. He suddenly realized that the early spring was not so cold after all.
On the other side, Xu Dao rushed towards the direction pointed by the old soldier. When he got closer, he found that there was a tea shop in front of him.
As soon as he arrived at the door, before he could greet him, a waiter immediately opened the bamboo curtain in the store and peeked out.
After saying goodbye to the donkey, the other party immediately came over and shouted: "Please come in, sir! There is a stable behind."
Handing the donkey to the other party, Xu Dao rushed directly into the tea shop with the cold wind.
Walking into the house, a hot breath hit my face, and at the same time, there was a noisy sound in my ears.
There were people banging teacups, smoking pipes, peeling peanut shells, moving tables and chairs, and there were the sounds of teahouse guests sipping tea and chatting.
A burst of fireworks rushed into Xu Dao's ears and eyes, making his heart really warm.
On a table in the middle of the teahouse, there was a storyteller holding a piece of wood, smashing it, and talking:
"Three hundred years ago, the leader of the country carried a dragon stick and knocked down 3,000 mountains, slaying the demons and clearing the Wu Kingdom."
"Now there is another national master who has studied the mysteries and enlightened the Tao. His magical power is incomparable. He wants to clear the mountains and rivers and reshape the gods of the mountains and rivers..."
Xu Dao raised his brows when he heard the storyteller's words. He found a table by himself and sat down directly, sounding confused.
There were not too many people in the teahouse, and a few pairs of eyes glanced over, but Xu Dao didn't pay much attention.
Not long after waiting, the waiter from earlier hurriedly walked up to Xu Dao, neatly made him a cup of hot tea, and said: "The best thing about the guest is to stay in the hotel. There is a room upstairs."
Xu Dao replied: "Take a tip. Pick up two of the store's signature dishes, and then don't leave. I have something to ask."
"Okay!" The waiter nodded in response, first turned around and shouted several times into the store, then took out a rag, wiped the table and said to Xu Dao: "Sir, if you have anything to ask, just ask! Our store is well-informed
, the discipline will satisfy you.”
Hearing this, Xu Dao couldn't help but nodded.
After descending from Baigu Mountain, he walked southeast along the inhabited area, passing many village shops along the way, wondering if he could catch a convoy heading towards Shezhao.
But it was a pity that he didn't meet anyone, so he could only go to the nearby county to inquire about the news.
Xu Dao said: "A certain family has something to do and has to rush to Shezhao. Is there an escort in the city or a convoy? Tell us what you know."
"Yo!" When the waiter heard this, he paused in wiping the table. He looked up and returned: "Yo! That place is a bit far away. It is a remote mountainous area. There are many jackals, tigers and leopards on the road. There are all kinds of strange things in the mountains. I heard that
There are monsters blocking the way!"
"When I was young, I often heard from people in the store that people from the mountains often come out there to buy women and go back to the mountains to have babies, but few people go there. Our place is much more lively here, why are you going there?
"
As the waiter spoke, he changed the topic and said: ""