Catalog of Destruction

Shi Xuan has been asking around in Chuzhou City these days. In addition to knowing that there is a famous monk temple on Tongxuan Mountain, he only knows that there are many wild beasts in the mountains. He often hears that people get lost in the mountains and are eaten by wild beasts. Specifically, The information about the wild animals is quite varied. Some say they are wolves, some say they are wild dogs, some say they are tigers, and some even say they are monsters with two heads and a forest of fangs in their mouths.

At this time, Shi Xuan heard the scholar mention Tongxuan Mountain, and with the idea of ​​"one is stronger than the other", he stood by and observed the scholar, and listened to the scholar's soliloquy.

Ding Mingde thought about it for a moment, and since he had already started to drool over the cold steamed buns, he said to the steamed buns: "We will have something to eat when we arrive at Tongxuan Mountain tomorrow. Let's eat half of it now. Well, leave half for the road tomorrow. Tomorrow There will be chicken, duck and fish. Tomorrow there will be chicken, duck and fish. Ding Mingde, you have to hold on!"

Picked up the steamed bun, carefully divided it into two halves, picked up one piece, closed his eyes, slowly put it into his mouth, and murmured to himself: "This is chicken, this is chicken." After taking a bite, it felt so cold that it was hard Incomparably, he quickly changed his words and said: "This is pork ribs, this is pork ribs..."

Although the cold steamed buns were hard and unpalatable, Ding Mingde still finished them in two or three times. He looked at the remaining half of the steamed buns eagerly and was embarrassed for a while. He gritted his teeth and stared at the waiter when he saw that the waiter had come back. He closed it, quickly wrapped it in oil paper, and then shook his head and said: "When heaven is about to entrust this man with a great responsibility, he must first strain his mind, work his muscles and bones, starve his body, starve his body, starve his body... …We arrived at Tongpu later and took a rest immediately.”

The waiter came over with the guide and said, "Sir, your guide, please follow me to Tongpu."

After some calculations, Shi Xuan stepped forward and interjected: "Brother, judging from your clothes, it seems that you are also a scholar studying abroad. Do you know your surname?" Shi Xuan came to get some information, and he was afraid that this person would look a bit pedantic. Some scholars did not like Taoist priests, so they pretended to be scholars traveling abroad to greet them. As for Taoist robes, because the emperor respected Taoism, many scholars and scholars liked to wear Taoist robes.

Ding Mingde saw that Shi Xuan was wearing a Taoist robe, but he was very handsome and looked like someone who had read books. He felt good in his heart. Although he remembered what his cousin said not to talk to strangers, he still replied cautiously: "My surname is Ding." "My name is Mingde, I haven't been to school, I don't have a cousin, I don't know your surname, but am I a scholar on a study tour?" I plan to say goodbye and go to Tongpu after casual greetings. My cousin said well, be careful when you go out. I suffered a lot.

"My surname is Shi. My last name is Xuan and Zi'ang. I am a native of Yecheng. After being selected as a scholar, I came to study in this place in the south where literary style flourished. I just saw you, Brother Ding, are elegant and extraordinary. You look like you have read a lot of poems and books. He is a talented person, so he couldn't help but come over to talk." Shi Xuan randomly picked up a famous northern city and found an ancient cousin for himself. Anyway, he was not afraid of the scholar looking it up. After today, I'm afraid it won't be the same in the future. There will be a chance to meet again.

Hearing that Shi Xuan was already a scholar at such a young age, Ding Mingde clearly showed a mixture of admiration and inferiority complex. Then Shi Xuan's compliments made him secretly happy and said: "I don't dare to be, I don't dare to be. I have been studying for more than ten years, although I always think highly of myself." High, but the last time I went to the Tongsheng Examination, I was still a little behind. Unlike Brother Shi, you were selected as a scholar at such a young age. You are the real talent. "

After a few words of greeting, Shi Xuan invited Ding Mingde to have dinner with him. When Ding Mingde heard the word "dinner", he could only hear the growling sound in his stomach, and the words of refusal came to his lips several times. They were all eaten up by the hungry stomach, and the idea of ​​saying goodbye and returning to Tongpu after a few small talk was completely forgotten. As for the cousin's advice not to associate with strangers, he completely forgot about it.

Seeing that Ding Mingde had no intention of refusing, Shi Xuan asked the waiter to take the two of them to a free table in a secluded corner, and ordered a few large fish and meat dishes. He was about to chat with Ding Mingde to get information, but suddenly he felt that someone was using underhanded tactics. Staring at himself with a fierce gaze, even martial arts masters would not be able to sense the simple gaze. However, the monk Shi Xuan's senses are far more sensitive than ordinary people imagine, so he immediately noticed that this gaze was coming to Ding Mingde. Then a man wearing a hat came into the store.

When Shi Xuan noticed someone looking here, although he was wary, he remained calm on the surface and casually chatted with Ding Mingde about academic matters. Shi Xuan was in an era of knowledge explosion in his previous life, and he still had a certain understanding of ancient knowledge. In this society similar to ancient China, it is not a problem to say a few words. Of course, in-depth discussions will definitely reveal the truth, so Shi Xuan Guide the conversation skillfully, talk less and ask more questions, and let Ding Mingde do the talking. Although Shi Xuan didn't have deep knowledge of ancient literature, he could tell that Ding Mingde was very good at reading books. No wonder he hadn't passed the examination to become a scholar.

After chatting for a while, the waiter served the dishes one after another. Seeing Ding Mingde's eyes almost flying into the food, Shi Xuan smiled and invited him to enjoy.

Ding Mingde still estimated the image at first, only took a little at a time, and swallowed slowly. However, after eating a delicacy he had not enjoyed for a long time, he began to eat too much, and the corners of his mouth were full of grease.

Shi Xuan took this opportunity and asked as if he mentioned it casually: "I wonder why Brother Ding came to Chuzhou City?"

Ding Mingde reacted for a while before realizing that Shi Xuan was asking himself. While chewing the chicken leg, he answered vaguely: "Brother Zi'ang, you don't know, I was born in a small rural place on the border of Chuzhou and Mingzhou. My family has been poor since I was a child, and both my parents passed away a few years ago. There are only a few acres of thin farmland left at home, and it is already difficult to support the expenses of my education." After swallowing a few mouthfuls of meat, he continued, "In addition, I have never entered school, and I can't. Free of corvee, life was very poor, and I often had to ask for help from my relatives. Some time ago, after my cousin came back from Chuzhou City, he came to me overnight and said that a big landowner from a village on Tongxuan Mountain wanted to give money to his daughters. I asked a teacher to teach some basic knowledge. Since I was teaching women in the mountains, no well-established scholars were willing to go. My cousin happened to know the chief steward of this family, so he recommended me. I am not the kind of person with shallow knowledge, so I will definitely succeed.”

Having said this, Ding Mingde put down his chopsticks and said with joy: "The sage said, 'There is no difference in teaching,' and it only teaches women the basic principles of life. I still agree with this. And after becoming a teacher, except for every afternoon Apart from lectures, I can make my own arrangements for the rest of the time. Haha, if I have food every day and free time to study, I will be very confident about the childbirth exam in one and a half years.”

Shi Xuan nodded in agreement and said: "With a talent like Brother Ding, if he could stop working all day long and study with peace of mind, his achievements would be limitless. I don't know which village Brother Ding is going to. I happen to be going to Tongxuan tomorrow. It’s a good time to accompany Brother Ding on a trip to the mountains.”

"I heard from my cousin that it's called 'Shuanghu Village'. The place is very remote and hard to find. But tomorrow the housekeeper will wait for me at Yuhua Pavilion not far from the mountain and take me there. If Brother Ziang has We were visiting Yaxing, so we happened to go to this village together. It is said that it is a place with a very paradise style." After such a short period of interaction, Ding Mingde already regarded Shi Xuan as a close friend and called him by his cousin.

After so many days of inquiring, Shi Xuan had indeed never heard of Shuanghu Village, and he wanted to find traces of the Taoist sect, so he couldn't let go of such a remote place in famous mountains and rivers, so he happily said: "It's just what I want. Brother Ding is really a close friend of mine, and he knows that I love visiting famous mountains, especially places with a paradise like this. I just don’t know why your cousin doesn’t go with Brother Ding?”

"My cousin is a businessman and travels around all year round. We didn't come with him this time, but he said he would be finished soon and would come to Tongxuan Mountain to meet me." Ding Mingde looked very grateful to his cousin.

Shi Xuan said with a smile: "I just heard that this is Brother Ding's first time going out. I didn't expect that this is the first time I go out alone with a sword. It's very similar to scholars like us who travel thousands of miles with swords to study."

"No, no, this sword is just a decoration. It is actually made of wood. It is used to scare young people on the road." Speaking of this, Ding Mingde was very proud of his method. "But along the way, I have come to understand the difficulties of going out. Fortunately, all the difficulties have turned into good fortunes."

Shi Xuan asked Ding Mingde in detail about the various dangers or difficulties he encountered along the way. According to Ding Mingde, this time it was really auspicious people who had their own destiny. For example, after encountering a black shop and being knocked unconscious, the shopkeeper and the waiter There was actually internal strife, and everyone died together; for example, someone came up to talk and planned to steal his money, but he was inexplicably exposed and was caught quickly; for example, when he encountered water bandits on the river, the other party hit a rock and sank. After all this, Ding Mingde walked to Chuzhou City without any danger.

Although Ding Mingde thinks that his lucky star is shining brightly, Shi Xuan doesn't think so. Once is a coincidence, two or three times is a problem. But now there is only one side of Ding Mingde's words, and Shi Xuan can't guess what the problem is, so he can only improve it secretly. Be careful, don't be careless tomorrow with Ding Mingde and his party at Tongxuan Mountain.

Shi Xuan made a few more insinuations and found that Ding Mingde basically shook his head when asked about the news about Shuanghu Village, and he didn't know as much about Tongxuan Mountain as Shi Xuan did. Then he stopped talking and said to Ding Mingde: "Ding Brother, we hit it off right away, why don’t you stay in my yard tonight, there are two vacant rooms there.”

Ding Mingde had already regarded Shi Xuan as a good friend, and he smiled and said: "It is better to obey orders than to be respectful. I will have a candlelight talk with Brother Ziang tonight. It will be very pleasant."