The black-sailed boat passed through the wind and rain and came to the seaside of Macheng County.

Shangguan Lingye was wearing the phoenix skirt of the imperial concubine, and the golden light shining in the market was too eye-catching. At this time, he could not use magic to change his clothes. He could only row the boat to a remote place outside the port, and the three of them got off the boat and landed on the shore.

Lu Chen looked like a sword-loving man. After being guided by Zuo Lingquan, he didn't even say much. He walked in front of him and kept gestured with his fingers, imitating Zuo Lingquan's move just now.

Zuo Lingquan did not disturb this, and supported Shangguan Lingye and observed the surrounding environment.

Macheng County is an ordinary secular city, with no trace of cultivation seen. There are trenches everywhere outside the city gate to resist horses, and there are still people patrolling, but they are not wearing armor, and they don’t look like a regular army.

There are some people on the dock, but not many of them are all ragged, carrying swords and clean clothes, and are almost invisible to those who are clean.

Zuo Lingquan followed Lu Chen and came from the small path to the near main street of the county town. The scene he entered the scene could only be described as devastated and miserable. There were no complete houses on the street, and there were traces of fire everywhere, with sparsely populated like a ghost town.

In such a dilapidated state, there are naturally no shops on the street that open doors to do business. As for inns, there are vacant houses all over the county town, so things like inns are needed.

Lu Chen was used to this, so he led the two to a relatively complete house, kicked the door open and said:

"You can live here first. This family left the city and fled last year. There should be a bed inside. I live in front of me. Just say hello if you need anything."

Speaking of this, Lu Chen quickly returned to a yard not far away. After a while, he came to the front with two dried fish and a bowl of rice:

"Brother Zuo, don't think there is too little food. The county town has shortage of food. I have saved this. If I don't have to lose the pot, I will not go out to sea to catch fish in the rain. You can eat first and find a way when the rain stops."

When Zuo Lingquan saw the appearance of the county town, he understood the situation of the people here. He could not refine spiritual energy, and he had to eat to fill in the consumption. He did not refuse at the moment and raised his hand to take it. Although Linglong Pavilion could not be opened, Zuo Lingquan had always had the habit of bringing silver for spare use. He touched an inch of silver from his waist and handed it to Lu Chen as a thank you.

Lu Chen's life was really not easy, so he refused a few times, but he still took it:

"Brother Zuo is really polite. If you need anything, please say hello. Lu, who can help, has no choice but to do so."

After Zuo Lingquan watched Lu Chen leave, he took two dried fish and rice into the yard.

The courtyard was very messy, with some objects scattered. It must have been searched several times, with doors and windows open, and all the valuable items inside were gone, leaving only old and dilapidated furniture.

Shangguan Lingye was very weak and was already a little sleepy when he walked here. He said softly:

"This place looks too remote, so it may not be easy to go back to the Nine Sects. Let's take a break first."

She turned around and walked into the main house from under the eaves. Looking at the messy old room, she had no place to settle down and leaned over to start tidying up.

Zuo Lingquan was not injured. After putting the things into the kitchen, he came to the front and layed the wooden bed with only thatch left, removed the tent and spread it on it as a bed sheet, and then took off the outer robe and spread it on the bed sheet.

Although it is still messy and moist, it looks at least clean and does not make people unable to lie down.

Shangguan Lingye was born as a monk, and he did not tolerate harsh environments, but he could lie in a clean place, which was better than the dirty thatched piles of past. Seeing this, she smiled: "I'm sorry", she fell down and lay on her outer robe, took out the small dumpling buried in her chest, placed it in front of her neck, and then patted her next to her;

"You can rest too."

I don’t know if this is a joke or a real invitation to Zuo Lingquan to rest in the same bed.

Zuo Lingquan saw the grandmother of the concubine with a jade body and wanted to lie down together, but now is not the time. He helped close the window and shook his head and said:

"I'm almost out of my strength. Get something to eat first, otherwise I will become weaker the more I rest. I'll go cook, and the queen will have a good rest."

Shangguan Lingye didn't even want to move his fingers, and closed his beautiful eyes and said:

"Thanks for your hard work."

…—

The rapid rainstorm swept across the county town with nine out of ten rooms and the only place where crowds gathered was the "military camp" built under the city wall.

There were only about 300 people in the military camp. Rebels rose up in the troubled times, and there were only one small ones entrenched in Macheng County. The leader Jiang Heng came from outside the northern border. Rather than saying that he was rebelling with a big banner, he was raising a group to survive in this troubled times where people could do so.

It was noon, and under heavy rain, the barracks with wooden houses were filled with mud. The "Rebels" wrapped in red turbans were still a bit of military discipline, and they strengthened the city defense in the rain.

In a shop with a tea shop sign hanging, several men sat around the table, two men wore swords and one man swiped the gun, and there was also a young man dressed in a scholar, whispering:

"As the saying goes, 'The world will be divided for a long time, and it will be unified for a long time'..."

"Su Daizi, if you pick up a robe worn by a scholar, you really think you are a scholar? How many words do you know? Don't talk about these literary things. Now you can't even eat enough. If you don't find a way to get food, you will have to part in one month at most..."

"A month later? Ninghe's Qingjia Army issued an ultimatum. If they didn't join, they would lead people to slaughter Macheng County. There were 4,000 people under their command, and more than 500 elite soldiers in armor, and there were also crossbows. I think it would be better to go to the top of the mountain. It would be better to sit on a smaller seat than to be tied up as a shield..."

...

Several people have their own opinions and say everything to the leader.

As the leader, Jiang Heng, no matter how popular he is, he cannot produce food without his hands; but Jiang Heng has ambitions and does not want to rape and rob the Qingjia Army three feet away as a front pawn. At this time, there is no way to break the situation, so he can only pretend to be deaf and dumb, come alone under the eaves, look at the sea in the distance, praying that God will open his eyes and float over a few grain transport ships.

He stood alone for a while, and I don’t know if God heard the thoughts. The grain ship did not float. Jiang Heng found that Lu Chen, a wanderer who had always been alone, walked over from the mud.

Both of them were from the martial arts world and were looking for a life in troubled times. Lu Chen didn't like to form cliques and still took the path of giving money and doing things. Jiang Heng never recruited them.

Seeing this, Jiang Heng thought he was here to surrender. He walked up to him in the rain and said with a smile:

"Sage Lu, what wind blows you?"

Lu Chendao simply said: "Do you still have surplus food? Give me a few liters of it, and I may be able to recruit you an expert."

When Jiang Yi heard that the person who was entrusting the food, her face was not very good on the spot, so she turned around and left.

"Wait, don't worry."

Lu Chen grabbed Jiang Heng, looked around and whispered:

"I just caught two people from the sea and said that the ship sank through this place, but I think it's definitely not that simple. The men among them look young, but their swordsmanship is superb..."

"The sword technique is better than you?"

"What am I? Old Zhu Lao Cao in the tea shop, plus me, three against one, I guess I can't stand three moves."

"What a joke..."

"Who is joking with you? I'm serious."

Lu Chen looked so silly that he said closer:

"I heard from Mr. Storyteller that in times of trouble, there will be saints born. These 'saints' are exiled immortals sent from heaven, specializing in saving the people from water and fire. The two people I caught up today looked like immortals and looked like gods and immortals descended to earth, especially the master named Zuo. His swordsmanship is not something that humans can practice at all. He is obviously exiled immortals..."

Seeing that Lu Chen was speaking very seriously, Jiang Heng gradually became serious:

"It seems that there is such a statement... Where is the Zuo Xian you mentioned now?"

Lu Chen hooked Jiang Heng's shoulder and hooked it with his hands:

"First pick up a bag of rice, and a 10 kilogram of meat and two jars of wine, I will give it to someone as a gift for me. This master naturally has a master's style. If you are sincere, they may help you achieve great achievements. If you are not sincere, you may turn to the Qingjia Army."

Jiang Heng pulled up a team of hundreds of people, but he was not a fool with stupid people and a lot of money. He frowned:

"Lu Chen, I respect you as a man, so I treat you kindly. Do you think I am a three-year-old child?"

Lu Chen sighed: "Anyway, it's not that I want to be king. I'm going to give me a sword technique that will be enough for me to learn for the rest of my life. It's better if you don't believe it. Just pretend that I haven't said this before. I'll lend me a bag of rice first. I'll go out to sea to catch two baskets of fish in two days to return it to you."

“…”

Jiang Heng knew something about Lu Chen, and was not a cheating man from Jianghu. He was silent for a while. Maybe he felt that he had no ammunition and food, and that he could not change the situation even if he was cheated of a few kilograms of meat. In the end, he turned around and said:

"Xiao Su, go get a bag of rice, ten kilograms of meat, two jars of wine... and get an old hen."

Seeing this, Lu Chen patted Jiang Heng on the shoulder:

"With your vision of knowing people, you can definitely accomplish great things."

…—

Papa

The dilapidated courtyard under the rain curtain ignited smoke from cooking.

Zuo Lingquan was working back and forth in the old kitchen. Without dry firewood or fire source, he cut a broken window with his sword and used drilling wood to make fire, which caused the stove fire.

I have had no worries about food and clothing since I was a child, and I almost forgot about the memories of my previous life. Zuo Lingquan actually doesn’t know how to cook, but there is no problem with getting the things done. Anyway, there is no oil, salt, sauce and vinegar, so I can’t do it.

The smoke from the cooking tiles was curling. As the water boiled, the smell of boiled fish was also spreading in the yard.

In the room in the main room, Shangguan Lingye closed his eyes and concentrated. Although he was weak, he was in an unknown place and could not sleep. While he was thinking about it, his chest suddenly moved slightly:

"grumble……"

A very weak scream rang out.

Shangguan Lingye buzzed his clothes twice, and Xiaobai Tuanzi poked his head out of his collar and turned his head to look at the kitchen. He was obviously awakened by the smell of boiled fish.

Shangguan Lingye opened his eyes, took out the dumpling and put it beside him, and said softly:

"Are you hungry? Linglong Pavilion can't be opened and dried fish can't be taken out. So bear it first."

"Ji~"

Tuanzi woke up and was a little confused. After tilting his head for a while, he circled around the bed, looking southeast, west and north, as if he was distinguishing the direction.

After a while, the dumpling said "Chi" and should be saying, "Where is this place? Why is the country of birds missing?"

Unfortunately, Shangguan Lingye couldn't understand the words of the dumpling. He thought it was confused about the current situation, so he just raised his hand and rubbed it and comforted him:

"Don't worry, I'll go back in a few days."

"grumble……"

The dumpling was half-believing and half-doubted, and it couldn't figure it out, so it stopped paying attention. It spread its wings and leaned against Shangguan Lingye's chest, and looked pitiful, "The birds were so hungry that they could not walk anymore." She sighed.

Shangguan Lingye felt a little distressed. Although he was weak, he still stood up, walked out of the main house with his dumplings, and came to the kitchen behind him.

The house is very old and there are a few leaks on the roof, so I followed it with a broken bowl.
To be continued...