Sword of Coming

As the night grew darker, the melodious sound of hooves could be heard in the flowing alley outside the main entrance of Qiulu Inn. Mrs. Liu stood alone outside the door, with two gold ornaments in the shape of tiger symbols hanging around her waist.

A carriage stopped outside the door, and a middle-aged man in a scholar's green shirt stepped out. He was not angry and had a certain air of Confucian general, but the man looked tired at this time. He smiled when he saw the beautiful woman. He said, "I've kept you waiting for a long time. Let's go in and talk."

The woman turned around and led the way with a lukewarm expression.

The man glanced at the tiger charm on her waist and frowned: "Do you need to be so nervous?"

The woman sneered and said: "My place is just a small inn, not comparable to the magistrate's mansion. The signboard screen wall was demolished just two days ago, so I can only swallow my anger and say nothing. Now the culprit is still with a large group of people." Disciples, disciples, and grandsons, come and live here, and I can only hold my nose and serve these immortal masters with a smile. All of this must be attributed to the good governance of the county governor..."

The man's voice slightly increased, "Okay, Jiahui, I know you're angry, but I'm not much better now. I've been busy from early morning to now for this ceremony to worship the Water Temple, and my throat is burning. Well, the reason why you rest here for a while instead of returning directly to the magistrate's mansion is because you want to have a moment of peace and quiet, and I'm not here to listen to your complaints and nagging."

The beautiful woman's eyes were full of resentment, but after all, she knew the general situation and knew how to advance or retreat. She quickly put away her little girlish emotions and changed the subject, "You have been busy for this festival for half a year, and you have to make it grand. The old governor was ill, so although he could not come in person, his close confidants showed up to show their respect. In addition, those literary giants, famous monks and hermits who were well-known in both the government and the public were enough to support their face, not to mention their appearance, not to mention their appearance. If you are generous, our county’s private support is enough to worship the two river gods elsewhere, right?”

The man nodded, "That's the truth."

The woman asked in a low voice: "Then our Lord Hanshi Jiangshui God has finally favored you this time? Will he agree to lend a helping hand to help you fight for the position of governor?"

The man clasped his hands behind his back and walked into an elegant and quiet courtyard in a familiar way. He shook his head and sighed: "That casual cultivator really showed up at the wrong time, and his whole body was affected by a single move. He wanted to avenge the people who died in vain, so he came to you." At Qiulu Inn, we found the cultivator of the Lingyun Sect. In a big battle, the Lingyun sect monk was seriously injured, and even the screen wall of your inn was completely destroyed. In fact, if the matter only ended here, I could still control the situation. , for example, as the chief official of a county, I can report to the court, put the blame on the casual cultivator, and remove the Lingyun sect monk who caused the trouble, in order to appease the Lingyun sect that is deeply rooted in our Huangting Kingdom, but At the same time, I will secretly release the rogue cultivator. At least the pursuit and siege in this county is just a superficial effort to tighten the outside and loosen the inside. This will delay time and allow him to take the opportunity to fly away. Since he is a rogue cultivator, he must be at home all over the world. It’s not difficult.”

Speaking of this, the man showed a trace of annoyance, "But it happened before the Hanshijiang Sacrifice Ceremony was held. Not to mention the huge attention, who didn't know that in the early days of the River God becoming a god, he relied on the ancestor of the Lingyun Sect. Help each other to gain a firm foothold? The Lingyun Sect has carefully maintained this incense relationship for more than two hundred years. It has never troubled the Water God in any way. Instead, in these two hundred years, he visited the water god once a year with heavy gifts. Except for the catastrophe at the mountain gate, it has never been broken, so who do you think Lord Water God will favor regarding this turmoil that has shocked the county?"

The woman looked at the county magistrate who kept pacing in circles and refused to sit down. She handed him a cup of hot tea and joked: "My magistrate, can you sit down and talk? If you keep wandering around like this, I will be in trouble." I'm going to feel dizzy."

After the man in green shirt sat down, he laughed at himself and said: "I found out about the hidden location of the casual cultivator three days ago. I thought I could postpone it for a day. No matter what, I will postpone it until after the sacrifice ceremony. Maybe even one life can be saved. Jiahui, do you know what the Hanshi River Water God said to me after he appeared in the golden body in the Water Temple today?"

The woman shook her head. Of course she couldn't guess the thoughts of a righteous god.

As the owner of the Qiulu Inn, the sect that the woman belongs to is actually not much inferior to the Lingyun Sect, but each of the more powerful mountain sects has its own fixed territory. The three states in the northern part of Huangting Kingdom , Lingyun Sect is the leader of more than a dozen practice sects, large and small.

But regardless of the sect the woman came from, or the Lingyun sect monks who could walk sideways up and down the mountains in the north of Huangting Kingdom, they were in great awe when facing the water god of the river who was personally consecrated by the emperor.

After all, the Huangting Kingdom was not a large dynasty like the Great Li Song Clan and the Great Sui Gao Clan. The Huang Tinghong Clan had been one of the twelve vassals of the Great Sui Dynasty since the founding of the country, and could confer only a handful of gods on mountains and rivers.

To put it bluntly, even if the Sui Dynasty relaxed its confinement and allowed the Hong family of Huang Tingguo to lavishly award rewards and edicts to the gods of mountains and rivers, Huangtingguo would not have such a background. On the one hand, the territory was limited, and on the other hand, it was divided by the mountain fairy families who were "separated by vassal towns." , mastering most of the blessed landscapes with outstanding aura.

Therefore, the god of rivers who controls the water transportation of a place is an important role for the county governor and even the governor, who needs to try his best to win over.

The man put down the tea cup and rubbed his temples with both hands. "The Water God told me face to face, 'I had already found out the day before the Sheriff knew where the casual cultivator was hiding. Although the Sheriff is unwilling to enforce the law impartially, I Since you are the God of Cold Food and Rivers, you must abide by the rules of not interfering easily with secular officialdom. In addition, the county magistrate has been diligent and meritorious in governing the local area in recent years. If the next county magistrate is a faint official and causes many troubles, others will need to clean up the mess. The trouble will hinder my meditation practice, so I will not report it to the court.'"

The woman's face turned slightly pale, "Isn't this Jiang Shen's implication going to help you take a step forward?"

The man smiled bitterly and said: "This is still based on the premise that I will arrest that person tonight."

The woman regretted a little, "I shouldn't have vented my anger on you just now."

She then said angrily: "The Hanshi River God has been well-known for hundreds of years, but when it comes to his own interests, he still helps his relatives but not others? The person injured by the casual cultivator was just a third-generation disciple of the Lingyun Sect. He dared to see a woman in the City God's Temple, and he coveted the beauty. He first killed the couple outside the city. Later, when he learned that a child had escaped, he even pursued them all night. Zhuangzi had a house full of more than thirty people, and he killed them all. , after such a cruel act was accidentally discovered by the casual cultivator, before avenging that family, he very wisely chose to spread the news wantonly. Even a notice was posted at the door of your government office. After the casual cultivator has done this , then he found the Qiulu Inn and had a big fight with the murderer. He is the water god's spy inside and outside the county, how could he not know anything about it? "

The man, on the other hand, was not as aggrieved and angry as the woman. He just sighed softly: "The laws of heaven, the laws of the country, and the relationships between people. People who practice are pursuing the great road of heaven and earth. What are the laws of the country and the relationships between people? What do they mean in front of the qi practitioners? To say the least, it's right. This Hanshi River God, the laws of the country are not completely useless, but in the hands of a fourth-rank official like me, they are useless. In the hands of the old governor, they are of some use, but only in the hands of His Majesty the Emperor, are they of some use."

The woman murmured in a low voice: "What if your official status as a county governor is in the Great Li Dynasty?"

The man's eyes were sharp, and he slapped the handle of the chair hard, "Liu Jiahui, don't talk nonsense! No matter how powerful the Great Li country is, it is still a barbarian. If the Song family of the Great Li really dominates the north, it will definitely cut off the civilized lineage of our northern Aquarius Continent. day!"

The woman shouted angrily: "If you are really strong-willed, why don't you simply disobey the Water God's wishes and protect that casual cultivator to the end? I don't believe that this Water God, who claims to have hands and eyes that can reach the sky, can really cover the sky in the north of Huangting Kingdom. Blocking out the sun really doesn’t work. At worst, I’ll move out of my sect’s influence and just come and slug it out with this local snake of the Lingyun Sect!”

The man pointed at the woman and said with an angry smile: "How old are you? You are still so childish and ridiculous. Do you think that Emperor Da Li can have the momentum he has today because he has come all the way smoothly? We are in the same county. In this way, just imagine how the Great Li Dynasty would weigh the pros and cons of such a vast territory? As the king of a country, the filth and forbearance involved are absolutely beyond the imagination of you and me."

The woman was silent.

The man took a sip of tea, leaned back on the chair, showing his fatigue, pulled at his collar, and said to himself: "I am a disciple of Confucianism, so I cultivate myself and manage my family, so I will try my best to abide by the rules, but I am still an official of Huang Tingguo. There are millions of people in the territory under my jurisdiction, and I need to help them live a peaceful life with enough food, clothing, and warmth. Therefore, I will not be an official and a person based on benevolence, righteousness, and morality. Because I need to bow my head and ask for magic weapons from the immortal forces to resist all kinds of evil. To prevent natural disasters such as drought and flood, you need to visit the door and give gifts, and pray to the gods of mountains, rivers and rivers with their eyes above the top to keep as much luck as possible in their own county. Whether it is the common people at the foot of the mountain or the wealthy gentry, they will suffer a loss and be The immortal masters bullied them, so I can only mend them, tear down the east wall and mend the west wall, and try my best to appease them."

The man closed his eyes and said, "If it weren't for such a cowardly attitude, I would have resigned or lost my official title a long time ago. In this way, when the casual cultivator posted the first notice, he would be taken the initiative to follow the Water God. The airy governor took the soldiers and the monks together. If not, there would not even be a tombstone after the casual cultivator died tonight. Of course, everyone is dead. Is there a tombstone after death? Is there anyone toasting? , does it make any difference whether anyone remembers the good deeds he did during his lifetime?"

The county guard stood up and came to the window with a low voice. They all fell, and more than 60,000 people died. In the following month, half a month or several days, until the end of the year, all the major rivers in the northern part of the Hanshi River were so rough that nearly a hundred people drowned in our county alone. Jialu Four In 1999, there was another mountain-moving phenomenon in Maozhou in the south. In the eighth year of Jialu, in Hengzhou in the southwest, the water network was crisscrossed and countless boats were moored. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, a fire suddenly broke out. The fire spread over a thousand boats and boats, and the bodies and remains of more than ten thousand people were all destroyed. For ashes.”

The man's face was sad and his lips moved slightly, "Are these natural disasters really natural disasters? People don't know the truth, I know it."

The man turned his head and looked at the woman, "I even know that before he was arrested and killed, that casual cultivator would definitely call me a lackey of the Lingyun Sect and the Hanshi River God. He hated me more than he hated them."

The woman wanted to speak but stopped.

The man's face gradually became calmer, "I can already confirm that after the death of this casual cultivator, there will soon be rumors deliberately spread by those wealthy people in the county, saying that I worked hard to please the Lingyun Sect. Ku found the monk's hiding place, surrounded him and killed him."

The woman sighed, "That's probably it."

The man smiled and said: "I am not saying this for you, but for myself..."

In the old well of Qiulu Inn, although white mist kept rising and then dispersed in all directions, the water level was actually extremely low, and the inner wall was covered with green moss. Suddenly, the water level suddenly rose rapidly, until the water level was even with the well mouth, and then there was a A tall man wearing armor and holding a short halberd stepped out in one step. There was a long beard on each cheek of the man. Other than that, he was no different from ordinary people.

The man looked around. As for the young man who was sitting quietly in the pavilion, he didn't pay attention at all. He stood up from the ground and instantly landed in the courtyard where the governor was staying. He said loudly: "Chief Wei, that casual cultivator I had already chopped off his head with my own hands. There were many outsiders watching the show at that time. I hate that guy for not knowing what he was doing. He cursed at Governor Wei before he died. It was very unpleasant. Governor Wei, you told that guy about all your shady secrets. Er Jing, you dared to throw dirty water on my master. I was really angry. I wanted to give him a happy death, but in order to avenge you, Commander Wei, I poked a few holes in his head before cutting off his head. This matter It’s over, I’ll explain the situation to you when I get back, don’t worry, I won’t let that guy’s bastard words before he died ruin the friendship between you and my family.”

This direct subordinate of the Hanshi River Water God left immediately after speaking without any hesitation.

The woman stood blankly at the door of the courtyard.

According to the casual cultivator's behavior and character, and according to the man in the room, it was normal for him to scold him as a "stooge" before his death, but to be nagging and exposing his shortcomings in front of the Lingyun Sect and many forces in the county was very unpleasant. It made sense, because the man had had personal contact with him before, and both parties had a clear understanding of their thoughts. If it was strange for a man as a county guard to betray a monk, then it was also unusual for a casual monk to have such unnecessary last words.

"What I thought before was that I still underestimated him."

The Lord Sheriff who was standing at the window had practiced martial arts for many years and understood the secrets faster than the woman. He said softly: "There is a chivalrous spirit at the foot of the mountain."