Alienated Martial Arts

As night falls, Cangyuan City gradually falls silent.

Because of the continuous rain, most people turn off the lights early and fall asleep after dinner to relieve their tired bodies after a hard day's work.

Only restaurants, tea shops and casinos are still shining brightly for those who have time and money to have fun.

Another period of time passed.

Even these places were closed, and the entire city finally became completely quiet.

Only the wind and rain roaring from the mountains made the doors and windows rattle, bringing a strong smell of dampness and cold.

One of the wine shops still had lights on, and the candles were swaying and changing shapes in the wind.

A middle-aged man with a stout body was carefully looking through the accounts. From time to time he picked up the wine bottle and took a sip. Then he picked up a few dried fruits and put them into his mouth to chew slowly. He had a leisurely and contented mood.

As the last page of accounts turned over, he drank the remaining wine in the pot in one gulp, and a tired but satisfied smile appeared on his oily face.

Although the continuous rain has brought inconvenience to many people's lives and work, the restaurant's business has also become booming.

Many herb collectors and hunters who are unable to enter the mountains come here to kill time. Even if they just order a pot of turbid wine and a plate of boiled beans, they can actually make quite a profit if they sell more.

The shopkeeper closed his account book, squinted his eyes and sat back on the oil-stained counter. He picked up the already cold tea and drank it slowly, and began to plan his business and life for the next few days.

This continuous autumn rain shows no sign of stopping.

Although it is a good thing in the short term, as it has more than doubled the profit of the wine shop, if it continues until winter, or even directly closes the mountains with heavy snow, this year will probably be extremely difficult.

Also, not long ago, he heard that the alien races in the Northern Wilderness Grassland were showing signs of moving south again.

If this is really the case, Cangyuan City is afraid that it will experience another disaster of weapons, and we don’t know what kind of miserable scene it will be in which all lives will be destroyed.

"It is still necessary to prepare gold and silver in advance, and be ready to leave immediately if the situation changes."

"Fortunately, a village was built in the south of the city last year, and there are still horses ready to take the goods. As long as you can escape from the city as soon as possible, you can escape all the way south along the trail."

"It's just a pity that this wine shop was owned by me. When I took it over from my father, I realized that this place was once one of the properties left by a certain big shot. It was passed down from generation to generation for hundreds of years before it came to my name.

The ancestor named Shi seemed to have a good relationship with Qinglinshan Daozi, who was known as the number one in the sect, so he was able to become the most powerful person in the entire Cangyuan City as the leader of a low-level gang.

It is a pity that more than a hundred years have passed, and the ancestors of the Shi family have been dead for many years. Even the first disciple of the sect, who was like an immortal, has long since disappeared, leaving only many legends to be passed down to the world..."

The shopkeeper thought silently, poured himself another pot of turbid wine, and ate the few dried fruits left.

He suddenly remembered that the warriors passing by for a rest the day before yesterday were chatting and saying that something seemed to have gone wrong in the Northern Wasteland. Even several holy places had been uprooted. The major tribes had suffered heavy losses and were almost on the verge of being exterminated. .

But in the view of the wine shop owner, these people are mostly bragging.

With the country's weakening national power on Sunday, it is no longer as strong as the soldiers and horses of Taizu Taizong, nor as domineering and powerful as Emperor Wu, let alone the suppression of the Taoist sect. It is already extremely difficult to maintain a balance with Beihuang. Why? Maybe there is still enough energy left to mobilize an army of experts for the Northern Expedition?

What's more, if there is really an army heading north, various news should have come from inside and outside Cangyuan City, so why haven't you heard any information?

Therefore, it is still necessary to prepare early, at least to have a secret place to take refuge, and to have enough food and cold clothing to support the whole family in the next drastic change that may come.

Thinking of this, he carefully put the account book into the drawer, then got up and walked to the door and shouted to the kitchen, "Xiao Yue, Xiao Yue!"

Not long after, a store clerk, about sixteen or seventeen years old, who looked thin and frail, came over and said, "Shopkeeper, what are your orders?"

The wine shop owner asked, "You are busy here tonight, have you heard any important news?"

"To tell you what, the diners and gamblers didn't have anything new to say. They were just talking about this obviously abnormal autumn rain, and the rest were all kinds of gossip and trivial matters..."

"Oh, I almost forgot one thing, that is, there is a regular customer who drank too much tonight. He must have said that he went into Cangmang Mountain this morning, and before he went very far, he saw the demon tiger Yu Feng , the dragon rose into the sky, and was so frightened that he didn't even dare to take the medicine he had gathered, and ran away crawling away. "

"The demon tiger controls the wind, and the dragon rises into the sky?"

The owner of the wine shop spat out a peanut shell with a disdainful expression on his face, "I believe him more than I believe that the Northern Wilderness army will come to the city tonight and will capture and kill us all like two-legged sheep."

He sipped the remaining wine and remained silent for a long time before continuing, "Stop talking to me these drunken nonsense. Come to the wine shop at dawn tomorrow morning and go with me to the village in the south of the city. Let’s see how our cattle and horses are doing lately.”

"Don't worry, shopkeeper, I'll be here early tomorrow morning."

At this moment, there was a sudden muffled bang.

The door of the wine shop was pushed open violently.

The cold wind and rain roared in from outside, instantly soaking a large area of ​​the floor.

A man stumbled in, his feet slipped and he fell to the ground.

But he was completely unaware of this and just shouted with a look of horror on his face, "Master, something happened, something big happened!"

The wine shop owner was startled, and the wine he just drank turned into cold sweat, soaking his inner clothes instantly.

His throat surged and he asked in a trembling voice, "What happened? Is it the Northern Wilderness army that came over?"

"No, it's not Beihuang, it's Cangmang Mountain!"

"There is an army of monsters coming out of Cangmang Mountain and slaughtering all the villages outside the city. The entire Cangyuan City may fall in a matter of seconds!"

The wine shop owner suddenly thought of the demon tiger flying in the wind and the dragon flying into the sky, and his face turned pale.

He took a deep breath, drank all the wine in the pot, and after calming down, he said in a deep voice: "Turn off the lights, and then tell me clearly, what is it that is coming out of the Cangmang Mountain? Killed all the towns and villages outside the city!"

The man panted heavily and said tremblingly: "Those people in the inner city have already started to escape from the south gate. When I just came over, I saw a dragon with two wings on its back, flying in the clouds and mist, circling back and forth in the northwest."

This news was like a big cold hand, gripping the wine shop owner's heart and squeezing it inward with all its strength, making the whole person's mind go blank.

Endless fear has completely enveloped him.

Can't even think straight.

Outside the restaurant, heavy rain fell.

In the wine shop, no one said a word.

The hall that was noisy and lively not long ago seemed to have turned into an ice coffin.

It was cold, dead, dark and dull, without any vitality.

Only the sound of the wind blowing outside and the sound of falling rain hitting the windows and exterior walls brought an even more palpitating feeling of fear.

The shopkeeper trembled and instinctively wanted to pour a little more soju into his mouth. As soon as his finger touched the jug, he suddenly stopped without warning.

The next moment, he turned around with difficulty and looked towards the window that had just been blown open.

Amidst the sound of wind and rain, he seemed to hear soft footsteps.

There were snores of unknown meaning in the middle.

It's like a coquettish cat, rubbing against people's feet.

The shopkeeper Gudong swallowed a mouthful of saliva and reached out to hold a sharp knife on the counter.

Click!

At this moment, a bolt of lightning pierced the sky.

It instantly illuminates the rainy night like daylight.

In an instant, the rain outside the window suddenly froze, like an extremely terrifying scene, frozen in the deepest part of the wine shop owner's consciousness.

It was not a cat, but a formidable giant tiger.

It was still chewing half of the corpse in its mouth.

Blood trickled down, and as the rain fell to the ground, it dyed large areas of bluestone dark red.

Maybe he noticed the prying eyes, and the tiger, which was all white without any trace of color, turned its head and looked back.

The two eyes were like deep pools of abyss, emitting a heart-stopping cold light.

The electric light disappeared, and the wine shop became dim again.

Only the crunching sound of chewing mixed with the wind and rain reached my ears.

"Master, wake up. I'm afraid we can't stay in this city now. We have to leave immediately. Even if we may lose our lives, we must leave as soon as possible. The further away the better!"

"Where are you going? Didn't you see that demon tiger?"

The wine shop owner was in a daze and could hardly think normally, so he just asked instinctively.

"Demon tiger?"

"What kind of demon tiger?"

The man who came to report the news had a confused look on his face, and subconsciously followed the gaze of the wine shop owner and looked outside.

"There's nothing outside the window. Master, were you dazzled just now?"

He pretended to be relaxed and said, holding up the bench as a self-defense weapon with one hand, and prepared to go to the wall to close the window that was blown open by the wind.

One step, two steps, three steps.

Suddenly there was a soft click.

A long tongue, like a javelin, suddenly penetrated the man's chest.

Immediately afterwards, his body was violently pulled out of the window, and in an instant he disappeared into the dark rain outside.

The shopkeeper and the waiter looked at each other, each seeing surprise, fear, and unbelievable helplessness in each other's eyes.

The next moment, the two of them fled like crazy into the box at the back of the hall, huddled in the cold and damp corner, completely ignoring their clothes that were soaked in rain and blood, not daring to even move.

Time passed little by little.

The sounds outside became increasingly dense.

Like a death curse, it continued to spread into the ears of the two people accompanied by wind and rain.

It was like a terrifying shadow that was getting closer and closer, bringing an unbearable chill and a growing sleepiness that was wrapping them up little by little.

In the private room completely shrouded in darkness and silence, in order to stay awake, the wine shop owner would bite his lower lip every once in a while, chew and swallow a small piece of meat slowly, using the severe pain and the strong smell of blood to... Keep yourself awake so you don't fall asleep.

For him, physical injury and pain can actually relieve this feeling of extreme fear.

If he hadn't still been thinking about Zhuangzi in the south of the city and the cattle and horses for which he had high hopes, he might have broken his tight heartstrings long ago and turned into a cold and stiff corpse.

He didn't know why, he was just too tired.

If possible, he really wanted to close his eyes and fall asleep.

However, because he didn't want to die yet, he was determined not to lose consciousness.

Otherwise, he would be like Xiao Yue, who accidentally closed his eyes and then lost all life.

But as time went by, the shopkeeper of the wine shop also felt a little desperate. He felt that it was difficult for him to continue to hold on. Perhaps he could die like Xiao Yue in the end, and he would have a complete body.

It was a pity for the farm in the south of the city and the carefully fed cattle and horses...

Pah!

Suddenly, a light sound came into his ears.

Then he seemed to feel a long-lost warmth coming from all parts of his body. The whole person was a little lazy, and the feeling of cold and sleepiness just now was gone.

Squeak!

Another light sound.

It turned out that the door of the box was pushed open.

The locked buckle and the bench behind the door did not play any role. The door was easily pushed open by a hand.

The shopkeeper of the wine shop exerted force and bit off a large piece of meat from his lower lip.

Only then did he suddenly wake up under the dual effects of severe pain and bloody smell, and looked out of the door in fear.

Have those monsters that were wreaking havoc in the city finally found their way here?

Is he going to die soon! ?

A series of thoughts came to his mind, and the shopkeeper recalled the tragic death of the butler who was pierced through the chest by a tongue. The string that had been stretched in his heart suddenly broke, and he pulled out the short knife hidden at his waist without thinking, and stabbed it fiercely at his throat.

Crack!

His wrist holding the knife was caught.

Then he saw a young man in white clothes and robes, as gentle as jade, squatting in front of him, and asked with a slightly puzzled tone, "Am I so scary? Why do you want to commit suicide without saying a word when you see me?"

"You, you are..." The shopkeeper of the wine shop panted heavily and trembled.

"My surname is Wei, and my given name is Tao."

He casually put the dagger aside and continued in a calm voice, "I am also a person from the outer city of Cangyuan. I was just passing by this time. I felt something and wanted to go home to take a look. It can be regarded as a wish before the final decisive battle."

Wei Tao calmed his emotions, turned his head to look at the dark fog surging outside the door, and suddenly raised his hand lightly, grabbed a long tongue that shot out from the fog, pulled it in front of him and observed it carefully.

He didn't see any movement, and a shrill howl sounded from the darkness outside the door, and then the scarlet long tongue turned into ashes and dissipated, leaving no trace of existence.

"Clouds follow dragons, winds follow tigers, and Teng Snakes emerge from the mist."

"It seems that the changes are getting faster and faster, but I didn't expect that the first one to come out was the Teng Snake itself, who should have appeared in Wuji Palace."

"I just don't know what the difference and distinction will be between the Teng Snake that was reborn because of the master and the original Holy Spirit Teng Snake."

Wei Tao clapped his hands and brushed away the non-existent dust, "Do you know when the fog covering Cangyuan City began to appear?"

The owner of the wine shop took a deep breath and stared at the gentle face in front of him, and his mood calmed down involuntarily.

But in the next moment, it seemed as if a ray of light flashed, instantly dispelling the darkness and illuminating his heart.

Surname Wei, single name Tao?

So, his name is Wei Tao! ?

Legend has it that he inherited the mantle of Emperor Wu, and integrated the entire sect's unique skills until he stepped into the realm of immortality! ?

Wei Daozi had already passed away from the secular world, and he could even come down from the immortal world and even appear directly beside him! ?

The owner of the wine shop was very excited, his eyes rolled back, and he suddenly felt extremely sleepy, and fell asleep without saying a word.