The scorching sun hanging high in the sky has gradually lost its irritability and become more feminine.
Today, even this bit of femininity is nowhere to be seen.
Dark clouds covered the sky, the wind and water were heavy, and it was obvious that rain was coming.
"Brother Jiang, there are no broken temple inns around.
"I did see an inn, but it looked quite old."
The black figure flashed, and Li Tianyu came to Jiang Ran.
Along the way, Li Tianyu has gradually adapted to today's life.
And Jiang Ran also realized the usefulness of this person.
He has extremely strong eyesight and extraordinary light skills. If he hadn't met Tang Huayi, a little witch from the Demon Cult that day in Wusheng Town, it would not have been easy to capture this person.
Even if you get close, you can easily escape by taking advantage of the situation.
Jiang Ran nodded slightly and said softly:
"Based on the route we inquired about earlier, this should be Qiuci Station.
"But I heard that this inn has been abandoned a long time ago, and the new inn is still twenty miles away.
"It seems that I have a roof over my head tonight, so I won't have to rush in the rain."
The inn itself is not open to the public.
Although Jiang Ran and others are all good martial artists, they are still commoners.
Even if Jiang Ran has a knife-catching order, he is not considered a member of the public family.
The inn will not be open to him either.
However, serious inns are not open, so there is no need to worry about abandoned and unmanaged inns.
What surprised Jiang Ran was that this abandoned inn was not demolished so that travelers who came here could have a place to rest. It was a great merit.
About ten days have passed since I came here from Wusheng Town.
This period of time has been extremely peaceful, with no twists and turns.
Blood Knife Hall has disappeared.
No more news from Benleitang.
Even the Wusheng Tower really seems to be silent.
I don’t know where the slow poison is now. Is it here or not?
In addition, there is actually another force that Jiang Ran is more concerned about.
That’s when I went to the palace that day.
On that day Shi Pingzhang was able to know the location of Jiaowei, and Tianshangque was the initiator.
Later, the news about Jiao Wei was also leaked, and this organization definitely contributed a lot.
But along the way, all kinds of clowns appeared.
Unfortunately, there is no news from Heaven.
This actually made Jiang Ran a little unsure of what their purpose was.
With all this thinking in my mind, I didn't delay my journey.
Everyone followed the direction Li Tianyu said and soon arrived at the inn.
Just as Jiang Ran said, this place is indeed Qiuci Station.
But now the plaques have fallen to the side of the gate, and they look dusty, showing that they have been abandoned for a long time.
But when Jiang Ran reached out and pushed the door open, he was slightly stunned.
He lowered his head and looked at his palm, then at the knocker and lock on the door, he thought for a moment and said softly:
"There may be other people passing by staying here, so please be careful."
Everyone nodded immediately.
Jiang Ran opened the door at this time, and with a creaking sound, the quiet and desolate garden of Qiuciyi appeared in front of Jiang Ran and others.
The garden was full of weeds, which had obviously not been taken care of for a long time.
However, you can still see traces of ruts passing and stopping in the garden.
Look at the traces, that is, the situation in the past two days.
In addition to a few horses, Jiang Ran and the others were accompanied by a carriage.
Man Shengming was poisoned, so it was somewhat inappropriate for him to ride around on horseback.
Then he let him rest in the carriage.
Now open the gate and drive the carriages and horses inside.
Luo Qingyi helped Man Shengming get out of the car and saw Jiang Ran suddenly looking towards the entrance of the Inn.
The creaking sound also reached everyone's ears at this time.
Then the door made a heartbreaking sound and slowly opened a gap.
An eye appeared in the crack of the door, silently spying on everyone's every move.
Now, when the sky is dark and the earth is dark, in a garden full of weeds and no one has set foot, the door of a dilapidated building opens, revealing a prying eye.
The combination of these scenes is truly terrifying.
Tang Huayi reacted the fastest. Without even thinking, she ran behind Jiang Ran like a rabbit.
Behind him, he poked his head around.
Looking back again, I found that Ruan Yuqing had also arrived at the same place.
The two people grabbed a piece of Jiang Ran's sleeve, one on the left and the other on the right. Jiang Ran couldn't help but sigh:
"You who know are afraid, but those who don't know think you are planning to sell me for glory and hand me over."
"...Stop, stop talking nonsense, is it a human or a ghost?"
Tang Huayi's voice trembled with fear.
Luo Qingyi, however, had a dumbfounded temper. Seeing this, he immediately shouted angrily:
"Who's pretending to be a ghost and won't come out to me?"
As he finished speaking, he put his feet down, his body shape changed several times, and in the blink of an eye he was in front of the post gate.
With your fingers spread wide, you can reach out and grab it.
The owner of the eyes inside the door seemed to be startled, and hurriedly tried to close the door.
But where is the time?
Hearing a bang, the door was suddenly opened on both sides by Luo Qingyi.
Then he used his five fingers to explore, grabbed the person's collar, and pulled him out with a flick of his hand, raising one arm high above his head:
"Who are you? Why are you here? Why are you spying on us?"
Everyone looked up and were stunned.
They saw the man Luo Qingyi was holding in his hand. He must be over sixty years old, with a stooped figure and a big bulge on his back.
He looked timid and had only one eye.
At this moment, Luo Qingyi was thrown into a mess in the wind, and his eyes were full of fear.
Jingtan layman saw this and said softly:
"Brother Luo, please don't be impulsive first."
Luo Qingyi also saw this person clearly at this time, glanced at Jiang Ran, saw him nodding slightly, and then slowly put the rickety old man down.
When the old man arrived, he breathed a long sigh of relief.
I almost shed tears:
"You...who are you?"
Luo Qingyi's face darkened:
"Is it your turn to ask us?"
He behaved evilly and looked evil. The old man was startled again, trembled and said:
"I, I'm here to see the post.
"You...who are you?
"Is it...an official who stayed overnight?
"Or...are you still a strong man who wants to come to Guanyi to rob?
"I, let me tell you... this place is not far from Qiuci County.
"If you dare to cause trouble here, the officials of Qiuci County are not easy to mess with."
When he said this, his eyes were full of evasion, as if he was very afraid.
Jiang Ran frowned slightly:
"Old man, don't be afraid. We are not strong men, we are just passing by."
"That's...an official?"
When the old man heard this, he straightened up immediately and couldn't help but said angrily:
"What's going on with you officials? Can you discipline your subordinates... If this hurts someone, what should you do?
"How can I, an old man, be able to withstand this kind of torture at my old age?"
Jiang Ran grinned:
"We are not officials either."
"..."
The old man's waist suddenly bent at a speed visible to the naked eye:
"Then...then who are you?"
"Passers-by."
Jiang Ran said softly: "Seeing the sky getting darker, I happened to pass by this place, so I planned to stay here for the night."
"No way, no way."
The old man shook his head repeatedly:
"This place is a post office, and all the people who come and go are of official status, and it also has key secrets for the imperial court to pass down letters.
"How can we stay here with so many people waiting? What should we do if the secret is leaked?
"You... you leave quickly and find another place."
Tang Huayi glanced at the old man and whispered to Jiang Ran:
"Either he is faking it, or he is really confused."
Jiang Ran pondered slightly, then said softly:
“Don’t I know that this place has been abandoned for many years?
"The new Qiuci Station is still twenty miles away."
"Qiuciyi... twenty miles away?"
The old man was stunned when he heard this and stayed where he was.
His eyes were full of confusion.
After a while, the confusion temporarily recovered, and when I looked at Jiang Ran and others, it was like seeing them for the first time.
Clearly startled:
"You...who are you?
"What are you doing here at Qiuciyi?
"Is it an official who stayed overnight?
"Are you still a strongman who wants to come to Guanyi to plunder you?
"I, let me tell you... this place is not far from Qiuci County.
"If you dare to cause trouble here, the officials of Qiuci County are not easy to mess with."
"..."
As soon as he said these words, everyone present looked at each other.
Jiang Ran had a strange expression:
"Is this considered a memory rollback?"
After pondering for a moment, he spoke softly:
"Don't worry, old man, we are official servants going to Changqing Mansion to take up posts.
"Look, this is my token."
He casually took out a token and waved it in front of the old man.
Before he could see clearly, he had already taken it back.
The old man was stunned, then nodded:
"I see. Then come in with me."
Ruan Yuqing smacked his lips:
"So simple?"
"It's definitely not that simple for a serious person...Isn't this old man confused?"
Jiang Ran said: "I just tried to fool him, but I didn't expect that I really fooled him."
"You'd better be careful. This old man is weird. I'm afraid you might think you're fooling him, but he's actually fooling you."
Tang Huayi obviously had a deep understanding of this.
After all, she is a witch from the Demon Cult, and she has extraordinary research on this subject.
Jiang Ran glanced at her and felt that these words were very kind and worth remembering.
After setting up the carriages and horses, he called on everyone to follow the old man to the post office.
By this time, it was completely dark outside.
The rickety old man didn't know where he got an oil lamp from, took out a fire stick and lit it. The faint light pushed away the darkness, but made his own figure look even more terrifying.
Putting the oil lamp on the table in the lobby of the hotel, it barely gave off some light.
The old man then spoke:
"This hotel has three floors, with six rooms on the first floor.
"You can allocate and use it yourself.
"I think you're all hungry by now, so I'll prepare something to eat and drink for you."
"I don't dare to trouble my husband."
Jiang Ran softly called him:
"May I ask where the kitchen is? We have food with us. We can just borrow the kitchen."
"OK."
The rickety old man glanced at everyone, and finally fell on Ruan Yuqing:
"Then girl, come with me."
Ruan Yuqing:
"..."
Luo Qingyi stood up with a roar:
"Lead the way."
"ah?"
The rickety old man was stunned:
"You cook?"
"No?"
"Not really..."
The rickety old man turned back and shook his head as he walked:
"Hey, the girl today..."
He led the way, while Luo Qingyi was walking behind, looking nothing like a cook.
In fact, he was not originally...
But among their group, he is the only one who can cook and eat.
Over time, he became not only a cook, but also a chef, and his skills became better and better, attracting everyone's praise.
Luo Qingyi gradually lost herself amidst these compliments.
I forgot that he was also a heroic figure originally.
He also once sneaked into Feiyun Village, fought against thieves and turned the tide.
Jiang Ran asked Li Tianyu to come with him so that they could take care of each other.
After these three people left, Jiang Ran assigned rooms to everyone.
There's not much to say about this.
But everyone was a little hesitant about this inn and the old man.
Jingtan layman said:
"Since this place has been abandoned for so long, why has this person never left?
"The inn is relocating. If he is an old man in the inn, he should leave with it. There is no reason to stay here..."
"When I just pushed open the door of the inn, I found that there was no dust on the door knocker and the door was not locked.
"I thought someone had entered the inn to stay overnight before us. Unexpectedly, there was someone in this inn."
Jiang Ran pondered and said:
"Besides, this old man is confused and doesn't know if it's true or false. Just be careful and be careful of scams."
Everyone nodded.
At this moment, Jiang Ran suddenly looked outside the door again:
"somebody is coming."
Not long after he finished speaking, everyone heard a few footsteps slowly coming nearby, and heard someone shout softly:
"anyone there?
"I see that the lights in the room are still on. People on the road are suddenly caught in the rain at night and want to take this opportunity to escape. Is it convenient?"
The visitor obviously knew that the inn was abandoned, so it was a first-come, first-served basis.
The words are kind enough.
But when Jiang Ran and Tang Huayi heard this person's voice, they couldn't help but look at each other.
Jiang Ran waved his hand.
The gate of the hotel suddenly opened.
Several people outside the door suddenly appeared in front of everyone.
The leader is a scholar in white robe.
Smiling on the front, watching curiously.
When he saw Jiang Ran and Tang Huayi, his expression froze slightly.
Beside him were four young men and women.
Some are dressed as lay people, and another is dressed as a Taoist priest.
Ruan Yuqing glanced at the human robe, and suddenly his expression changed slightly:
"A person from the Taoist sect."
Jiang Ran's expression moved slightly, but he chuckled:
"It's true that we don't meet again in life, Brother Tao, it's been a long time."
"Hahaha."
The scholar at the head suddenly became happy:
"It's true that several months have passed since we left Benma County here.
"I didn't expect to see Brother Jiang here. Brother Jiang's style remains the same and is worthy of celebration.
"Come, come, come... As the saying goes, when a long drought brings nectar, when you meet an old friend in a foreign land, when you have a night of flowers and candles in the wedding room, when you get your name on the gold medal list.
"These are the four great joys in life.
"It's really worth realizing that I can meet Brother Jiang again here this time!"
While talking, he led a few people in.
He heard a woman behind him say "huh" softly:
"Ruan Yuqing?"
Hearing this person speak, Ruan Yuqing just turned his eyes to her, looked at her a little, but felt a little unfamiliar, and couldn't help but ask:
"Who is your Excellency?"
As soon as these words came out, the girl's face darkened:
"You don't remember me?"
"...Excuse my stupidity."
Ruan Yuqing hugged her fists in embarrassment.
"Two years ago, I went to the Shuiyue Sword Sect to learn the swordsmanship of your sect.
"I once had a chance encounter with you, and we exchanged three moves with you.
"I received the guidance from Sister Ruan... but I didn't expect that Sister Ruan, a noble person who often forgets things, completely forgot about my defeated general."
When the girl said this, although she suppressed the anger on her face, she was still a little angry.
"Two years ago?"
Ruan Yuqing thought about it carefully and then asked with some uncertainty:
"Tingyulou...wielding the flower sword, Gu Shengyan, Junior Sister Gu?"
Hearing what Ruan Yuqing said, Gu Shengyan turned from anger to joy:
"Sister Ruan still remember me?"
"How could you not remember?"
Ruan Yuqing smiled when he heard this: "I have been through a lot recently and met too many people, so my mind is a little unclear... Junior Sister Gu must not blame me. I still remember that the three sword skills of Junior Sister Gu that day were
'Hearing the sound of rain at night', 'Rain hitting banana trees', 'A bunch of thousand sounds'.
"I have actually practiced this swordsmanship of [Xiao Feng Ting Yu] to the level of proficiency.
"If I hadn't taken advantage of being a few years older and having the Soft Water Sword by my side, I would have been defeated long ago."
Gu Shengyan's face became even more happy when he heard this, but he shook his head:
"Sister Ruan can talk and make people happy. If I really have that ability, how can I be defeated in three moves?
"Actually, my sister is very good at swordsmanship... Hey, I have improved my martial arts over the past two years, but I don't know when I will have time to ask my sister for advice on two more moves."
Listen to the warmth they speak.
Jiang Ran couldn't help but focus on them.
The nameless man took the opportunity to introduce the people around him to Jiang Ran.
That little Taoist priest was indeed a member of the Taoist sect.
His Taoist name is Qingyuan, he stands tall, is humble and polite, and does not carry the burden of being the first sect of the Golden Chan. On the contrary, the gentle breeze and drizzle, and the breeze on his sleeves make him feel very comfortable.
Except for Gu Shengyan from Tingyu Tower, the rest of the men and women were all from Qifeng Villa.
Their identities are all extraordinary.
The man is Feng Wu, the son of the owner of Qifeng Villa.
The woman is his senior sister, Ning Jiuyuan, the eldest disciple of Qifeng Villa.
Jiang Ran naturally reported his identity.
When they heard the names of Jingtan layman and others, these young people were naturally eager to greet them.
And some of them have heard of the famous name.
I know that this person cherishes his words like gold and has great martial arts skills. He is not an ordinary person.
It was only when I finally heard Jiang Ran’s name.
Only then did the expressions of several people change.
Feng Wu looked at Jiang Ran:
"It turns out...you are Jiang Ran, the Jingshen Dao.
"On the eighth day of October, we are going to hold a tea-tasting and piano-tasting party on Sunset Ping... Do you know that if you are not careful about this, you will be suicidal?"