Chapter 165

The days passed one by one.

After the depressing continuous drizzle, the weather became colder day by day.

In the midst of this cold air, the end of the year was approaching, and finally the first snow came.

The dusk was vast, the mountain village was lonely, and the cold wind was raging, howling in all directions.

The heavy snow fell one after another.

Tian Ding was furious, overturning the silver sea and scattering the pearl foil. The six-petaled strange flowers flew and filled the hills and valleys in the mountains. The white tiger was crazy, the white unicorn was rampant, and broke the pearl rope. The jade dragon fought fiercely, and the scales fell all over the sky.

"What a heavy snow!"

The heavy snow was poured into the room through the window by the cold wind.

It hit the window frame and turned into a piece of snow and sand.

The master and his disciples roasted the fire and looked at the dusk snow outside with interest.

Ren Tingting's face was red from the cold, but she still excitedly leaned on the window and stretched out her hands to catch the snow, regardless of the cold wind blowing along her collar and straight into her belly.

The snowflakes hit her face, and a layer of frost hung on her long eyelashes.

A layer of snow fell on the ground near the window, but because of the warmth in the room, it soon became wet again.

Seeing that his disciples were happy, Uncle Jiu did not urge them to close the window and let them enjoy the snow.

"Auspicious snow means a good harvest, Master, next year will definitely be a good harvest year."

Wencai said auspicious words happily.

Uncle Jiu grinned and wanted to be happy, but he couldn't be happy after all.

He still sighed a little disappointed.

"Hey... Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Does it make people happy? Or does it make people sad?"

Qiu Sheng smiled and said, "Master always looks bitter and resentful. He is obviously just a middle-aged man, and he is a true cultivator. He should be young, but he looks older than people in their 50s or 60s. It's because he is too sad all day long."

Qiu Sheng doesn't understand Uncle Jiu's heart, but Lin Yu does.

"Poor him, he is wearing thin clothes, worried about the cheap coal, and wishing for cold weather..."

Lin Yu sighed for no reason.

Uncle Jiu nodded with relief.

Ren Tingting was stunned for a moment. After thinking about it for a while, she felt more and more uncomfortable, and she couldn't be happy for a while.

Yes.

It is said that auspicious snow indicates a good harvest.

Now there is a heavy snow, and next year should be a good harvest year.

Are the people happy or unhappy?

If they are unhappy, I'm afraid it may not be the case. If there is no snow, people will be worried to death. I'm afraid that drought and locust plague will come together next year.

At that time, I don't know how many people will starve to death.

If I were happy, how many people would freeze to death in this snowstorm with such a heavy snow and such cold weather...

Nowadays, there are countless people who are naked all year round, and how many people have no roof over their heads.

Next year may bring a good harvest, which is certainly a joy.

But whether this winter can be survived is still a question.

It is really a dilemma.

It is really difficult for Uncle Jiu to cultivate a carefree heart.

A heart falls into the mundane world, and is always bound.

Sometimes you will fall into troubles that you shouldn't have.

What's the point of thinking about this kind of thing?

It's better to relax and enjoy the north wind blowing on your chest, the vast sky and the earth, and the heavy snow.

Feel the changes of nature and the great power of heaven and earth.

But Uncle Jiu couldn't help thinking about it, and he couldn't help it.

The heavy snow covered dozens of nearby hills.

From time to time, the accumulated snow broke the dead branches on the mountain and fell to the ground with a snap.

The yellow dog tied to the wooden door of the common people's house also barked wildly in the howling north wind.

The barking of the dog did not let the north wind take the lead.

In the snow, there was also a frustrated and confused person, hurrying along the road with one foot deep and one foot shallow.

Although the mountain pass was better than the road, it was difficult to get on the saddle and then unsaddle the horse.

Ten feet of yellow dust and a thousand feet of snow, it is obvious that they are not like the south of the Yangtze River.

Although this is the scenery of the north, it is quite appropriate to use it here.

The yellow dust is not on the ground, not in the sky, but in the heart.

Taoist Qianhe wore a bamboo hat, not even a straw raincoat, only a thin robe, holding a magic sword, and walked in the mountains with one foot deep and one foot shallow.

Because the snow covered the road, the bumps on the ground could not be seen clearly.

The snow reflected the sky and the earth in white.

It also reflected Qianhe's serious face in white.

He frowned, his eyes were filled with sorrow and confusion, and he looked up at the road ahead. Although the flying snow could not stop him from getting the eyes of the master, it still made him confused about where the road ahead was...

The slippery mountain road could not stop his steps.

It was not until nightfall that he bypassed Renjia Town and came to the outside of the charity cemetery on the edge of the town amid the barking of dogs.

He reached out and knocked on the door.

"Bang bang!"

"Who is it? I'm coming."

Qiu Sheng answered from inside.

He quickly got up from the bed and casually pulled a cotton jacket over himself.

He was still mumbling in his mouth.

"Where did you get the foolish courage to knock on the door of the charity cemetery in the middle of the night in such heavy snow, so cold, and so dark. It's really..."

The door creaked.

A middle-aged Taoist wearing a thin Taoist robe, with a serious face and frowning brows, stood in the wind and snow.

Qiu Sheng did not recognize him.

But when I saw the seriousness and sadness on his face, I felt very familiar with him instantly.

He was exactly like Master.

"Master, what's the matter with you coming here so late at night? Do you want to stay overnight? Come in and have a cup of hot tea."

Qiu Sheng's tone also became polite.

Master Qianhe bowed and forced a stiff smile.

"Uh... you don't recognize me. I'm Lin Jiu's junior apprentice, Qianhe of Maoshan."

Qiu Sheng suddenly realized.

"Oh, it turns out to be Uncle Qianhe. I'm Qiu Sheng, the third apprentice of Master. Please come in."

"No wonder it's so cold and Uncle is wearing so little. It's true that he's just like Master, not a truly powerful Taoist."

Qianhe smiled modestly.

"My ability is far inferior to that of Master."

"Master, Brother, Sister, there are guests coming. Uncle Qianhe is here."

Qiu Sheng shouted inside.

The noise in the room immediately became louder.

After a noisy sound, the two people just walked to the door of the room.

Uncle Jiu and the others had already greeted them at the door.

When Uncle Jiu saw Junior Apprentice Qianhe, whom he hadn't seen for a long time, he also swept away the gloom on his face caused by the bad weather today.

"Junior brother, I haven't heard from you for a long time. I finally see you again. Come in quickly and have two cups of hot tea first."

"Uncle Qianhe, you are finally back safely."

Lin Yu greeted his uncle.

Seeing a group of enthusiastic relatives, some of the coldness in Qianhe's heart temporarily dissipated.

A gentle smile also hung on his serious face.

"It's been a long time since we last met. I'm sorry to have worried you."

Just as he was about to step inside, he seemed to remember something again.

He said to Lin Yu with a little shame and lowered his head.

"I...I didn't get the job done. I failed everyone's expectations and disappointed you."

This surprised Uncle Jiu and Lin Yu.

The two people's faces changed.

Knowing that Qianhe must have experienced a lot during this trip.

And it seemed that he was hit hard.

Quickly let Taoist Qianhe sit down.

Everyone gathered around the stove and poured a cup of tea for Taoist Qianhe.

Then he asked, "What do you mean, uncle? Didn't it work? It was clearly done."

Wencai Ren Tingting and the others also knew the purpose of Taoist Qianhe's trip to the north.

They all agreed.

"Yes, yes, I heard Mr. Ren talking about the news in the newspaper two or three months ago."

"The conspiracy of those Japanese pirates has been made public in the newspapers, how can uncle say it didn't work?"

Faced with everyone's words, Qianhe's face was covered with a layer of gray, and he became more and more ashamed.

"I... I trusted the wrong person and did the wrong thing... Although the conspiracy of the Japanese pirates has been made public, that... But that is not my credit..."

Although Lin Yu didn't know what happened, he hurried to comfort Taoist Qianhe.

"Only we know the Japanese pirates' conspiracy. Now that it has been made public, it must have been spread by Master Uncle. Master Uncle has contributed a lot."

"What happened? Master Uncle, don't be so picky. Tell us in detail."

Master Qianhe drank another cup of tea and calmed down.

He then slowly told the story with a long sigh.

"At that time, I had just arrived in Xuzhou, and Chang Ruiyuan was meeting with Ma Zhangrui. On the way, I helped some patriotic students, and ended up offending them."

"Fortunately, I revealed my identity in advance, so they didn't pursue it too much, and they treated me with a lot of courtesy, but they never met me formally, as if they had forgotten me..."

"Even though I sent someone to pass on the message many times, saying that there was a huge conspiracy that was harmful to the country and needed to be told to Chang Ruiyuan, he never met me, but just told his subordinates that he was very busy..."

"Later I found out that he was really busy at the time, busy fighting for power and profit with others, busy fighting with others to divide the fruits of the Northern Expedition."

"But before I met him, I sent someone to pass on the message, and there was also a problem."

"Somehow the news leaked out, and someone knew that I was here, and it was estimated that there were spies of the Japanese pirates secretly."

"Maybe the Japanese pirates noticed the clues, and soon I began to encounter assassinations."

Qianhe said lightly, and the flames in the stove jumped in his pupils.

Everyone could feel the atmosphere was full of twists and turns and murderous intent from the faint words.

"Thanks to my caution and Xiao Yu's many protective talismans, I killed 17 Japanese pirates in succession during the assassination, which temporarily stopped them."

"It seems that because of this, my ability has been further demonstrated. Chang Ruiyuan also seemed to realize that there was something to be done, so he finally arranged for us to meet."

Taoist Qianhe reached out and picked up the fire tongs.

He fiddled with the charcoal in the stove in front of him.

It seemed to reflect the flame in his heart that was burning fiercely.

His whole face became a little red under the baking of the flames.

How much hope he had when he went there and how much surprise he had when he met, and how much disappointment and heartache he had later.

"As soon as we met, I wanted to tell him everything. But he was just playing Tai Chi and didn't talk to me about business at all."

"Instead, he kept trying to get close to me, constantly asking about my abilities and my background, asking about the details of our Maoshan, and asking about the attitudes of everyone in our Maoshan."

"I'm not a fool, so I just laughed it off and thought he would be angry, but I didn't expect that he was quite generous at the time. Not only was he not angry, but he treated me very well."

"I thought I had really met a respectful person, so I finally forced myself to speak and told him everything."

"He was also surprised when I told me about the Japanese pirates' conspiracy, and he also showed a lot of anger at that time."

"At that time, he expressed to me with righteous indignation that he must make this conspiracy public and try his best to stop them. He must not let the Japanese pirates' conspiracy succeed!"

"I was overjoyed by this statement, and I quickly asked him when he would be able to inform the whole country directly."

"But he said that this matter was of great importance and required careful deployment and long-term planning to catch the Japanese pirates off guard. I believed him when I saw what he said and thought he was a patriot."

"Lived there for a while and helped him with some things."

"I just waited and waited, but could not wait for the day when his tight arrangements were completed. I asked again and again, but I was prevaricated by him again and again."

"I feel restless and anxious every day, fearing that Japanese pirates will secretly ruin our feng shui every night."

"I don't understand what he is busy with every day? I see that he still has time to visit Liang Garden, climb Mount Mang, and see the hometown of King Liang during the Han Dynasty!"

"I saw that he was prevaricating in every possible way, so I became suspicious of him. I went out to investigate carefully, but I discovered a shocking scene!"

Taoist priest Qianhe inserted the poker into the stove.

A piece of hot coal was smashed to pieces by him, sparks flew everywhere, and anger rose!

There seemed to be blood and tears in his eyes.

"They...their bastards who are fighting for power! Villains! They are actually killing their colleagues who went with them in the Northern Expedition!"

"I rescued a few people, clashed with his guards, and rushed to his mansion to question him."

"At that time, he did seem a little crazy and a little old. He was obviously facing great pressure. I thought he had some unavoidable reasons!"

"When I asked him why he killed his own people, he said that it was an evil deed done by Wang Chuanhai's people and had nothing to do with him."

"I asked him when he would reveal the Japanese pirates' conspiracy to the world? But he said that Wang Chuanhai was colluding with outsiders and was betraying the country for glory. He no longer had the power to compete with him and had to seek help from outside."

"Only by defeating Wang Chuanhai again will he have enough power to stop the Japanese pirates' conspiracy! Otherwise, according to Wang Chuanhai's traitorous virtues, he will definitely pour dirty water on him and help those Japanese pirates speak up."

"Once the water is muddy, it will give the Japanese pirates an opportunity to take advantage of it. So if you don't do something, you have to do something. If you do, you have to do it! You must catch the Japanese pirates off guard!"

"I asked him what to do? He said that the founding fathers had left a very powerful force overseas, which could be used as foreign aid. With them, they could stabilize the country and bring order to chaos..."

"What happened next? Did you succeed?"

Qiu Sheng asked curiously.