Nine Transformations of the True Spirit

Three days later, Leping County.

In the afternoon of autumn, the wind is gentle and the sun is beautiful, and the sky is high and the air is crisp.

The Iron Cang Courtyard of Baibingtang is located behind Xingye Square. A straight loess road leads directly to the entrance of the Iron Cang, which can accommodate two large carts running in parallel.

This is a road built by Baibingtang with its own money. It has a solid texture and is better than the road at the county government office.

At this time, a convoy of twelve large vehicles was parked at the entrance of the iron warehouse.

More than twenty apprentices in gray unloaded twenty or thirty kilograms of iron materials from the car and moved them into the iron warehouse courtyard. After weighing them one by one, more than a dozen apprentices in the courtyard moved them into the house for storage. good.

Two accountants in long robes stood aside, holding books in their hands, checking the quantity and quality of the iron materials shipped.

Although there were a large number of people unloading and transporting iron materials, they were carried out in an orderly manner under the command of two apprentices in yellow.

They are disciples of the shopkeeper Sun Guanghe. They are in their mid-twenties and sixties. Although they are only apprentices in yellow clothes, they have a high status in the hall, second only to Manager Li and Zhang Jinkui, and are in charge of all affairs of the iron warehouse.

An hour later, when the iron materials on the car were almost finished unloading, the two apprentices in yellow stopped talking and stood aside, talking and laughing.

One of the tall apprentices said:

"Why don't you think the team is back yet? It's been seven days, so it should have been back yesterday."

Another horse-faced apprentice leaned against the wall and said lazily:

"I don't know. It's probably because the mountain road is not easy to walk. We are going deep into the Chimang Mountains. Even if someone leads the way, it is very likely that we will go the wrong way."

"That's right. Maybe we'll be back tomorrow. But now that we don't have any guards, we have to lead people to patrol the night ourselves. It's so damn unlucky!"

The high school student was cursing, suddenly his eyes narrowed, he looked into the distance, blinked, and said doubtfully:

"Why do these two beggars look familiar?"

The horse-faced apprentice turned his head and looked over when he heard this.

Two beggars, wearing tattered clothes that were about to turn into strips of cloth, with their hair as messy as weeds and their faces stained with dirt, walked over in a state of embarrassment.

The horse-faced apprentice frowned and said loudly:

"Those two beggars, get out of here! How dare you come to Xingyefang if you are blind..."

"Senior Brother Hu, it's me, Zhao Shan!"

One of the "beggars" shouted in a hoarse voice. The horse-faced apprentice looked at it intently, suppressed the second half of the sentence, and took two quick steps to rush forward:

"Ouch, Junior Brother Zhao! This is... Junior Brother Chen! Why are you two like this?"

The high school disciple also rushed forward, came to the two "beggars", and exclaimed:

"Junior Brother Zhao, Junior Brother Chen! This, this, this, what is going on?"

These two embarrassed "beggars" are Chen Yuan and Zhao Shan.

Zhao Shan said in a hoarse voice:

"There was an accident in the convoy. Heifeng Village was unethical and committed murder and robbery. Junior Brother Chen and I escaped by luck. Quick, take us to see Shopkeeper Sun!"

When the two yellow-clothed apprentices heard this, they were shocked like a bolt from the blue, and their expressions changed drastically.

Senior Brother Hu's horse face was squeezed into a ball, looking very funny, and he said anxiously:

"Master has been waiting for the convoy to come back these two days, I will take you there now!"

"Don't worry yet!"

However, the Gao University Apprentice stopped him with words, turned around and grabbed an apprentice in gray clothes, and ordered:

"Go get two glasses of water!"

Senior Brother Hu nodded repeatedly:

"I was negligent. You two junior brothers should take a drink of water first, and then go and report to the master."

Zhao Shan and Chen Yuan drank water and followed them to the front of Xingye Square.

On the way, the two asked questions. Zhao Shan and Chen Yuan briefly told the story. Both of them were shocked.

Soon, the four of them came to a large house with four entrances in Xingye Square. There were two majestic stone lions on both sides of the gate, and the huge plaque read the word "Sun Mansion" with flying dragons and phoenixes.

Brother Hu went in first to report, and then Zhao Shan and Chen Yuan walked into the house and came to the main hall.

A wealthy old man over fifty years old was sitting on the Taishi chair. He was Sun Guanghe, the shopkeeper of Baibing Hall in Leping County.

When he saw the ragged appearance of the two men, his expression changed and he asked:

"What happened? Tell me quickly!"

Zhao Shan said with a cry:

"Shopkeeper Sun, Heifeng Village is too courageous, killing people and robbing goods. Only Junior Brother Chen and I escaped, the others...all stayed in the mountains!"

Snapped!

Shopkeeper Sun squeezed it with his left hand, and the armrest of the Grand Master's chair shattered into pieces.

Senior Brother Hu, who was standing aside, had a look of regret on his face.

This is the sandalwood chair he bought for Shopkeeper Sun for dozens of taels of silver. It is an antique from two hundred years ago.

Shopkeeper Sun usually cherishes him very much, but today he suffered such a misfortune, which is really a pity.

Shopkeeper Sun, however, had no time to pay attention to these trivial matters and shouted:

"Tell me! What exactly is going on!"

Zhao Shan trembled all over and hurriedly told the whole story:

"When the convoy entered the valley, the people from Heifeng Village had already arrived. Junior brother Chen and I followed the convoy, waiting to unload the goods. Then for some reason, there was chaos in front, and the master rushed over, shouting that Xie Quan had broken through. Because of the inner strength, Heifeng Village kills people and robs goods, let us escape quickly,"

"What? Inner strength? Impossible!"

Sun Guanghe exclaimed, and then with a "pop" sound, he crushed the armrest on the other side of the Grand Master's chair. Senior Brother Hu's long face twitched again.

Zhao Shan stopped, Sun Guanghe took a deep breath and waved his hand:

"go on!"

Zhao Shan then said:

"Junior Brother Chen and I followed Master and fled out of the valley. Wu Dong led his men to catch up and hacked Senior Brother Zheng to death. Jiang Feng was behind and shot Brother Wang to death. Master also received an arrow from Jiang Feng. But he also wounded Wu Dong in the arm with a sleeve arrow and escaped with us. However, Wu Dong and three Bone Refining Bandits were in hot pursuit. Master asked us to escape and left behind. Then he fled into the mountains and forests..."

boom!

A delicate white porcelain tea bowl was thrown to the ground and shattered into pieces.

Shopkeeper Sun said angrily:

"You two are so brave to abandon your troops and run for your lives!"

Zhao Shan looked regretful and whispered:

"It is hard to disobey a teacher's orders..."

"How dare you quibble!"

Shopkeeper Sun had an evil fire that had nowhere to vent. Hearing this, he became extremely angry and scolded Zhao Shan angrily.

Chen Yuan took a step forward and said loudly:

"Master said that if we don't escape, we will die. If we escape, we can bring news to the shopkeeper. We don't want to escape, but we dare not disobey Master's orders!"

He had a look of grievance on his face, and his eyes were filled with tears that were about to fall down.

Zhao Shan burst into tears:

"I...I'm sorry, Master, but it's hard to disobey Master's orders!"

Shopkeeper Sun's expression softened slightly and he sighed:

"Go on, what next?"

He had long heard about Chen Yuan's reputation for being honest, and Zhao Shan was also known for his honesty. After hearing what the two said, he was already convinced.

Zhao Shan wiped the tears from his face and said:

"Then we both ran away with our lives and got lost in the process. Fortunately, we met a hunter who showed us the direction. We walked out, but we lost all our money and things in the mountains. We could only go to the roadside. I went to the warehouse and asked for a few thick flour pancakes to fill my stomach. I didn’t dare to delay, so I hurried back all the way and reported the news to the shopkeeper..."

Zhao Shan's voice slowly lowered, and Shopkeeper Sun finally regained his composure at this time. Although his expression was still irritable, he was no longer furious.

He asked a few more details, Zhao Shan answered them all fluently, and Chen Yuan also added a few words from time to time.

At the end, shopkeeper Sun sighed, stood up and came to the two of them. Regardless of the dirt on Zhao Shan's body, he brushed his shoulders and said warmly:

"Steward Li has been following me for many years. I am also very saddened by his misfortune. If he is still alive, I will do my best to save him. If he is unfortunate...I will definitely avenge him, Steward Zhang, and the escort team."

With that said, he came to Chen Yuan again, looked up and down, and said:

"You two have always been loyal and diligent. I have heard about it a long time ago. Go back and rest for a few days. After this incident, the hall is short of manpower. After this matter is over, I will still be of great use to you... By the way, don't Tell the story about the team.”

As soon as these words came out, Zhao Shan and Chen Yuan both looked grateful and shed tears.

Shopkeeper Sun comforted them with gentle words for a while before letting Senior Brother Hu take the two of them away.

Senior Brother Hu sent the two of them to the door and sighed:

"This world is getting more and more chaotic..."

Zhao Shan looked gloomy:

"Senior Brother Hu, Junior Brother and I are going to Master's house, so let's just say goodbye."

Afterwards, the two said goodbye to Senior Brother Hu and walked to Li's Mansion.

Zhao Shan looked around and saw no one on the road, so he whispered:

"Junior Brother Chen, thanks to your thoughtfulness and thinking of these words in advance, no flaws were exposed."

Chen Yuan looked forward and said calmly:

"It's just to be prepared. Shopkeeper Sun is very careful, so he won't believe everything. But since you and I have a reputation for being honest and honest, he shouldn't have much suspicion."

Zhao Shan smiled bitterly and said:

"Honest duty? Haha..."

Silently all the way, the two of them arrived at Li's Mansion, looking like embarrassed beggars, which shocked the disciples and hurried into the manor to report.

After a while, the doorman came out and led the two people into the mansion and to the main hall.

Sitting in the hall was a plump and beautiful woman in her forties. She was Li Zhang's wife, known as Mrs. Zhang.

Seeing the embarrassed appearance of the two of them, Mrs. Zhang's expression changed drastically and she said in a trembling voice:

"Why are you like this? Where is your master? Where is he?"

Zhao Shan hesitated for a moment and whispered:

"The convoy encountered an accident, and we escaped, but the master...he didn't come back."

Mrs. Zhang exclaimed:

"What did you say? My husband is very skilled in martial arts, how could something happen?"

Zhao Shan told the story exactly. Mrs. Zhang's beautiful eyes were filled with mist, and she shed two lines of tears and said:

"Did your husband ask you to come back with a message?"

Zhao Shan said sadly:

"Master said..."

"Where is my dad? I want my dad! Dad, where are you? Dad!"

At this moment, there was a burst of crying outside the main hall, and then Li Ying'er rushed in, followed by the door of Li Mansion.

Mrs. Zhang hurriedly wiped her tears twice and scolded:

"Who told you to alarm the lady?"

Menzi hesitated and said:

"The young lady has told me that if I see the master or the master's disciples returning home, I will inform the young lady..."

"Speak quickly! Where is my father? Where is my father?"

Before Menzi finished speaking, Li Ying'er rushed in front of Zhao Shan and grabbed his collar regardless of the dirt on his body.

Zhao Shan took a step back and turned to look at Chen Yuan.

Chen Yuan turned a blind eye and just stood aside with a look of grief on his face, showing no intention of helping him out.

Zhao Shan could only bite the bullet and said:

"Junior sister, the master broke up the queen for us, but it must have fallen into the hands of bandits..."

"nonsense!"

Li Yinger said sharply:

"My father is very skilled in martial arts. It's impossible for anything to happen to him. It's impossible!"

Zhao Shan had no choice but to tell the story exactly.

Mrs. Zhang was already heartbroken. After hearing the bad news again, she couldn't help but burst into tears and burst into tears.

After hearing this, Li Ying'er became even more angry. She grabbed Zhao Shan's collar with her left hand, slapped his chest hard with her right hand, and shouted at the top of her lungs:

"Why didn't you stay with the queen? How could my father die for you two mud-legged people? You must be greedy for life and fear death, so you left my father behind and ran away. You can give my father's life back!"