Horse hooves splashed dust and gravel on the gray-yellow mountain road. A strong yellow gelding galloped past on the mountain road, and the strong wind brought down the grass on both sides of the road.
The masked knight in black attire was covered in sweat, thin black veins bulged on his forehead, and his vest was soaked with sweat.
"Here!" Suddenly a low voice shouted.
A black stone struck from the side out of thin air with great force, hitting the knight's left shoulder.
A loud bang knocked him off his horse.
Herod!
After the yellow gelding neighed, the faster one fled in terror. Only the knight in black who fell off his horse was left behind, barely getting up from the ground.
Bang!
A big foot wearing riding boots stepped hard on the man's shoulder, pushing him back again and lying on the ground.
"Young pawn of Wuyou Mansion, oh, it's the black-clad guards who have summoned you!" A bald monk dressed in filthy and slovenly clothes jumped out from the grass on the side of the road.
He skillfully lifted the hand of the knight in black, and scratched his forearm with his sharp nails, which immediately cut through the clothes and skin, and pulled out a small piece of yellow leather paper with blood.
"Who are you people!!?" The knight in black was thrown off the galloping horse, and his body hit several rocks. He was already seriously injured. At this time, he also started to vomit blood in his mouth, and he was about to die.
, but he was still unwilling to give in and asked sternly with his eyes wide open.
"We've dealt with you so many times, haven't you figured it out yet?" The monk was fat and big-eared, and his cassock was covered in black and gray patches of oil. He immediately laughed after hearing this. He no longer paid attention to the knight in black.
, and looked at the piece of leather paper turned out in his hand.
"Let Lord Buddha see what the information is, 'The Zhen family fled the chaos in the North and the Yang family settled in'"
"You are the remnants of Yunzhou!" The knight in black suddenly remembered something and opened his eyes wide.
puff!
His chest collapsed when the fat monk stepped on him, and he immediately ran out of breath.
"Master!" Several more people came out from the mountain wall not far away. When they saw someone on the ground here, they quickly ran over.
The person at the front has delicate features, fair and delicate skin, and looks like a noble son who is used to pampering. The linen clothes he is wearing look out of place with him.
"Master Li is here. Well, I happened to catch a pawn from the Wuyou Mansion. I thought I could get some valuable information, but I didn't expect it to be some big event that has nothing to do with us." The fat monk said boringly.
Throw the paper to the visitor.
This Young Master Li was none other than Li Shunxi, who had just left Yanshan City and had wandered in the area between the Central Plains and the Northland for a long time. Following behind him were the Liu sisters, who were described as extremely ugly in appearance.
The terrain between the Northland and the Central Plains is extremely complex, with mountains, forests, grasslands, and forests. Li Shunxi is also lucky. He has been on the verge of despair several times and encountered ghosts and strange things. He either escaped by luck with his own skills, or happened to meet the Liu sisters who were also lonely.
.
The three of them got together because of their common enemy King Wuyou. When they stayed in a dilapidated temple for the night, they met the fat-headed, big-eared monk who called himself Master Qingshui.
"Master Qingshui moved too fast. If we can keep this man alive, maybe we can learn from his mouth what King Wuyou will do next." Li Shunxi said with a bitter smile.
"We have been fighting against the Wuyou Mansion for a long time. Everyone who needs to know knows that you and the young lady of the Liu family just follow the monk honestly. We will find out when we get there. King Wuyou has gone against the grain and done too many things that are harmful to nature and wants to punish him.
He has a lot of like-minded people." Master Qingshui, the fat monk, said with a smile.
"It's just that our strength is weak. Even if we join you, master, what effect will it have?" Li Shunxi was helpless.
"That's not necessarily true. The young ladies of the Liu family trust you very much. There are some things that you don't know yet, but you will gradually understand them in the future." Master Qingshui looked at the Liu sisters behind Li Shunxi with deep meaning.
The younger of the two sisters lowered her head in embarrassment, while the older sister snorted coldly and glared at her with seeming dissatisfaction.
If this girl hadn't been so fascinated by Li Shunxi, how could they have separated half of the most precious thing in the family and melted it into Li Shunxi's body. By the time she found out, it was already too late.
"Okay, let's go. The experts from Wuyou Mansion should catch up soon. We must get to our destination." The fat monk urged.
"That's fine. If I can really take revenge one day, I will never forget the grace of Master showing me the way today." Li Shunxi bowed respectfully to Master Qingshui.
"Let's go, let's go, don't waste time!!" Master Qingshui did not accept his salute, avoided him, waved his sleeves and walked away.
Li Shunxi smiled bitterly and looked back at the Liu sisters.
"You two girls, let's go together?"
"Yes." Liu Caiyun quickly responded shyly.
Liu Qin crossed Li Shunxi with his fiery hands and strode towards Fat Monk.
*********************
In the ninth year of Tang Zong's reign in the Great Song Dynasty, the Zhenhong Rebellion in the North was put down. The family was empty and ghosts gradually began to breed and flourish.
Without the suppression of the divine soldiers, the Northland was unable to ensure the normal safety of the trade routes, and it soon began to decline. A large amount of fur specialties accumulated and could not be shipped out, and the amount of grain purchased dropped significantly. The entire Northland gradually began to fall into a food crisis.
The price of living goods has increased significantly, making people's lives miserable.
Along the mountain city, the Golden Light Tower.
On the top of the nine-story Golden Light Tower, Lu Sheng was dressed in white, with big sleeves fluttering, standing on the observation deck and looking into the distance.
From this height, the huge Yanshan City can be seen in full view, like a large simulated sand table. Large areas of red roofs occupy most of the field of view. Only a few buildings stand out, most of which are tall towers, stone tablet decorations, etc.
"If this famine continues unchecked, I'm afraid it will get worse and worse," Lu Sheng frowned and said in a deep voice.
Behind him, in the small hall on the top of the tower, Hong Mingzi was slowly picking up the dishes on the table with chopsticks, chewing them carefully.
"There are already refugees, and there are more and more incidents of property snatching. However, this should be something that the government is worried about. We just need to do our job well."
Lu Sheng nodded and turned around: "The Shangyang family obviously doesn't care much about Beidi. During the period when Miss Shangyang Jiuli was stationed here, from the retreat of Hongfang more than two months ago to now, she and I have not even met once.
I have never seen them, they are all practicing hard in seclusion."
He continued: "This has advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that you should not worry about seizing power. The disadvantage is that if something happens, unless it is particularly important and urgent, the experts from the aristocratic families stationed there will be no different."
"Isn't this better?" Hong Mingzi said casually, "I, the Red Whale Gang, can completely monopolize the Northland."
"The trade routes have shrunk, and monopoly profits are not as good as before, so what's the use?" Lu Sheng shook his head. "Senior brother, you are not in your position. Instead, you have given up everything."
"It's not that we have given up, but we are really beyond our capabilities now. Without the suppression of local families like the Zhen family, the Shangyang family can at most ensure the normal operation of our Red Whale Gang, but they will not take action against the increasing number of ghosts and strange things. We
After all, we are ordinary people and there is nothing we can do." Hong Mingzi picked up the wine glass and took a sip.
"Yes, the Shangyang family is just a Central Plains family after all." Lu Sheng nodded. After Hongfang retreated, the owner still didn't return. His biggest opponent in the North was the umbrella girl.
After a trip from Shangyang Jiuli to Hongfang a month ago, he also contacted Zhuo Wenyu again to collect Yin Qi items, but he seemed to have disappeared. Apparently, he was either discovered by Hongfang, or he was different from him.
Once, his status and exposure were too high, and Zhuo Wenyu gave up.
The small tripod remained in Lu Sheng's hands. He studied it for a while and found nothing, so he left it in the secret box and ignored it.
But in this way, the source of Yin Qi is cut off.
"By the way, senior brother, do you have any clues about what I want you to help find?" Lu Sheng suddenly asked.
"I've been collecting antiques and found a few more, but they're all similar to the ones you've seen before. I'm afraid you still can't find one you like." Hong Mingzi shook his head.
Lu Sheng claimed to the outside world that he liked collecting antiques. He had held an appreciation party before, but still found nothing.
"Indeed" he also felt that casting a net like this to search randomly was too inefficient.
"Report!" Suddenly, at the entrance and exit of the stairs, people pretending to be a gang rushed up and knelt down on one knee.
"Reporting to the gang leader, Xiao Hongye, member Xiao, is having a banquet and has sent an invitation."
"Xiao Hongye?" Lu Sheng was the only one who was stunned.
The butler of Wuyou Mansion suddenly showed up to have a banquet, and he didn't know what he wanted to do.
"Bring the invitation." He said calmly.
The crowd immediately came forward respectfully and handed the invitation to Lu Sheng.
After taking the post, Lu Sheng opened it gently and saw some relevant content written on it. It meant inviting him to discuss important matters.
He closed the post and pondered for a moment.
"I'm going to meet this person tonight. The Wuyou Mansion, this force between the ghosts and mortals of the aristocratic family, seems quite mysterious. Before this, we had just talked about small gatherings where we had something to discuss. This is the first time for this banquet.
I want to see what Butler Xiao Hongye has in mind."
He is now in charge of the Red Whale Gang and has considerable authority. From time to time, he will contact Taoist Baifeng and Xiao Hongye for discussions. Some difficult problems are solved by the three of them together. This is the so-called small meeting.
"Junior brother, it's good if you have an idea." Hong Mingzi nodded.
Lu Sheng nodded.
The two of them rested on the top of the tower for a while, and Lu Sheng took care of some related tasks. When it was almost noon, they took a car and rushed home.
The sun is scorching in the sky and the weather has completely entered the hot season.
The Lu family also established a foothold in Yanshan City. After Lu Quan'an followed Lu Sheng's advice, he hoarded a lot of food. At this time, it became the first pot of gold to rebuild the family business. With this large sum of money, he opened another business
Many stores have directly started the medicinal materials business.
There happened to be a lot of medicinal materials hoarded in the Northland, but very few could be shipped out. The prices plummeted, so they were purchased by the Lu family in large quantities. The Red Whale Gang needed medicinal materials and there was a huge shortage, so Lu Sheng secretly allocated some business to Lu.
The family is developing well.
Lu Sheng rode the carriage and traveled in the city for a while, then quickly returned to Lu Mansion.
Immediately a boy came forward to greet him.
"The eldest son is back!"
"Where's the head of the family?" Lu Sheng got out of the car and asked casually.