May.

The weather is getting a little hotter.

Next to the official road leading to the southwest, a small teahouse is doing well.

Most of the past merchants would stay and drink a bowl of herbal tea soaked in well water to relieve the heat and eat some food at will. This is a rare rest during the journey.

On the afternoon of this day.

It’s already past mealtime, and the business of this small teahouse is still good.

After finishing the group of guests, the waiter glanced at the official road in front of the door. There were not many people coming and going, and he was about to take a nap and take a rest.

But I didn't expect that at this moment, a young man came to the store.

It seems that he is even more dusty than others, his light gray shirt is covered with dust and even a few damaged parts.

But when I looked closely, I felt that I was handsome, tall and tall, and my every move was quite extraordinary. If it weren't for the slightly green face, I would have looked like a calm and composed knight.

"It may be said that it is the young man who is in trouble in a wealthy family. He has been in constant wars these days, and even the emperor often changes. Today's wealth and tomorrow's down are so ordinary." As the second brother of the official, he has seen many guests coming and going, and he has some winks.

He thought about it, but his face was filled with smiles and began to greet the young man.

A young man like this is not negligent. Now the situation is uncertain. After the big fall, who knows that it will not rise?

"Young master, what do you want to use?" The younger brother was enthusiastic.

The young man seemed a little shy: "If you want a bowl of tea and some dry food, just look at the food you should match it with two."

"Okay." The little brother greeted him, thought of something, quietly leaned in the young man's ear, and whispered: "Keguan'er, I'm not to mention it. A batch of plowing oxen died here, but our shopkeeper had to get one. So, in the past two days, the shopkeeper had a good beef sold, and the chef was going to have a plate. Everyone knows that the beef has strength to eat."

"No need, it's okay to have vegetarian dishes, just eat enough." As he spoke, the young man became more and more shy.

The second brother agreed, but he knew it in his heart. He couldn't help but sigh. He was in trouble. Otherwise, if this kind of young man traveled far away, he wouldn't be a luxury carriage and a beautiful food? He didn't need to go to a small shop like himself to have simple food. He asked others whether to eat this high-priced beef, so he was talking too much.

This was originally a small episode in the shop, and not many people took it seriously.

After all, there are more customers coming and going in this tea shop near the official road, so who has no one?

But when the waiter talked about the beef, the two people around him heard it, they couldn't talk about it: "Brother Zhang, did you hear it? Another batch of oxen, and even a small shop opened next to the official road got a head. That means there are quite a lot of people."

The man called Brother Zhang seemed a little upset when he heard this. He raised the teahouse and drank half a bowl in one breath. Then he said, "Is this a fresh thing? In the nearby county town, you can buy beef in almost every inn and restaurant." While speaking, Brother Zhang lowered his voice and said in a voice that only two people could hear: "A fool can know that something is wrong. Generally, the beef you can eat is the old and dead cow. But how can so many cows die in a moment? Brother Liu, if you think about this matter carefully, can you make sense?"

When the brother Liu heard this, he couldn't help but sigh, frowned, and guessed for a long time before saying: "I can't guess, and I dare not guess. Brother Zhang is doing business in the county government. If it is convenient, please make it clear."

"Oh." Brother Zhang sighed, looked around, and then said in a low voice: "Actually, it's nothing to say? These oxen are actually from Weihe Village. Do you understand?"

"Ah? Didn't the villagers just point at the plowing ox to eat? How could it be?" Brother Liu was puzzled.

"The problem is that all the people in the village are dead, leaving behind this batch of oxen?" Brother Zhang looked at Brother Liu meaningfully, picked up a piece of beef and chewed it in his mouth, and then ate a bite of the bun, and stopped talking.

Brother Liu looked shocked and it took him a long time to say: "Although there are frequent wars in this world now, the new emperor has come to power in recent years, and no wars have occurred? Could it be..."

"It's not that you want to do that! You didn't say that the war is going to start again. I just whispered to remind you, may you forget the tragedy in Xiaolong Town not far away?" Brother Liu said mysteriously.

At this moment, a sudden "bang" sound interrupted the conversation between the two. Before they could discuss anything, they couldn't help but turn their heads at the same time.

But I found that it was just the chopsticks of the young man next door who fell to the ground.

Looking at the two of them, the young man blushed a little. He quickly picked up chopsticks from the ground, nodded apologetically at the two of them, and continued to bury his head and eat his simple meals, like some delicacies.

It turned out that the young man was eating too fast and the chopsticks fell to the ground.

The Zhang and Liu turned around at the same time, not caring too much about this little thing, so they began to discuss it again.

Speaking of the tragedy in Xiaolong Town more than ten years ago, what everyone knows about here... Although the official pressure was to say that it was a massacre of the city by bandits, the people have always been speculating.

Zhang and Liu were originally just discussing in a low voice, but how famous was the tragedy in Xiaolong Town? The two inevitably became louder and louder, attracting all the diners around them.

Brother Zhang didn't care about hiding the matter in Hewan Village, so he simply told his guesses, thinking that he had encountered the same thing as Xiaolong Town, and the county government did not dare to make a statement. So many plowing oxen could only be sold quietly through folk channels, for fear that some things would not be explained and caused some panic.

Everyone was discussing it in full swing, and an old man who seemed quite knowledgeable couldn't help but sigh: "If the world is prosperous, there are very few things that monsters cause chaos. If there is constant war in the world, some monsters will take advantage of the war to make trouble. After all, such things are rarely recorded in official history, and even if they are recorded, they must be said to be a natural disaster. But it is pitiful to the people in the disaster. Who is there to come out to uphold justice for them?"

"Administrative justice? There must be people. The world is so big, there will be many talented people and strangers. Just say my aunt..." Someone started discussing again.

Not paying any attention at all, a young man had quietly checked out and left here in this small tea shop.

Only the young man had settled the bill for the boy and muttered in his heart, "Why is he so extraordinary, but he is as hungry as if he has been hungry for many days?"

When I looked down, I saw that the cups, plates, bowls and cups in front of the boy were all clean and there was no food left, just like I had washed it.

There is no doubt that this "hungry" boy is Nie Yan shortly after going down the mountain.

On that day, he went down the mountain to find a sword on Wuming Mountain.

After getting the sword, it took a full half month and hard work to get out of the remote place.

When I arrived in this world, I was embarrassed to find that I had no money to care about. Fortunately, I spent half a month hunting and filling my stomach, and intentionally or unintentionally left some animal furs. After changing some money, I found that I was so big that I was confused and didn’t know where to go for a moment.

I made up my mind to go to Xiaolong Town where my parents died first.

But I didn't expect to hear this conversation in this tea shop. It seemed that the monster had never stopped causing trouble. There was a Hewan village nearby that encountered another evil move.

I just don’t know if the monster that was causing trouble is the same monster as the monster in Xiaolong Town?

If so... Nie Yan walked on the official road alone with the iron sword wrapped in cloth on his back, with a lot of thoughts in his heart.

The closer you get to your hometown, the clearer those yellowing memories will become.

When talking about monsters, I naturally remembered the black snake, with blood-red eyes, the figure of my father throwing into the snake's belly, and the screams of the people in Xiaolong Town that night.

I will also think of the warm candlelight at home, the silhouette of my mother sewing clothes for herself under the candlelight, and the smile of my father when she teased me.

I couldn't help feeling desolate and decided to go to Hewan Village to see if the same monster was in trouble.

It was the morning after another day.

A figure appeared in a remote place.

It seems that this place has been deserted for a long time, with broken walls, overgrown weeds and desolate vines... At first glance, I can no longer see what kind of place this place used to be.

I am afraid that in decades, the traces left here will be completely annihilated. After a hundred years, no one will remember that this place was once - Xiaolong Town.

Even Nie Yan's body was a little tired after rushing all night.

But when he set foot on the place of birth again, Nie Yan couldn't help but feel sad when he looked at this desolate and desolate look.

The memories of ordinary people when they were young are naturally blurred, but they remember everything so clearly. When they walk here, they suddenly realize that the people at that time are right in front of them.

The old streets could no longer see what they used to be, and were covered with weeds.

Nie Yan followed this road and kept walking forward... because at the east corner of the street, he was his former home.
Chapter completed!