We made you practice martial arts, and you've mastered the Great Golden Body?

Later, several wealthy merchants in Lin'an City committed an unknown taboo, which, according to legend, was to provoke a dragon, thus delaying the dragon's path to transformation.

As a result, many were beheaded and sent home.

This Qingyun Corridor was also nationalized by the Song Dynasty and designated as the official road connecting Lin'an City to the capital.

Meanwhile, the county government of Lin'an organized people to plant evergreen cypress trees on both sides of the Qingyun Corridor, which has a history of over a hundred years.

It can be said that it witnessed the rise and fall of Lin'an City.

The cypress is an ancient cypress, and the road is an ancient road.

At its peak, the Qingyun Corridor was lined with hundreds of thousands of cypress trees, which, from a distance, resembled a green road leading straight to the clouds.

At the same time, it was also to bring good luck and auspiciousness to the scholars who were going to the capital for the imperial examinations.

Hence the name: Qingyun Corridor.

It means to rise rapidly in rank or achieve great success...

Song Yun quickened his pace and walked to the front of the Qingyun Corridor. Once inside, he could see more clearly that the cypress trees had a unique grayish-blue color.

For decades, the branches have been left untrimmed, growing freely and intertwining wildly. The lush leaves are so dense that even sunlight can only barely penetrate them, casting dappled patterns on the road.

The light and shadow are blurred.

Furthermore, due to the drastic changes in weather, the fragrant aroma of the soil can be clearly smelled.

The path below is paved with stones and slabs, which is not very smooth. Each stone and slab is of different heights and has been worn down over the years, with some already broken.

Song Yun gazed at the distant mountains with a serene expression. A few days ago, he buried his master next to the Taoist temple in accordance with his last wish.

He had no one left to rely on in this world.

Song Yun sat in the Taoist temple, thinking for a very long time, so long that he himself lost track of how much time had passed.

Finally, perseverance pays off.

Song Yun thought of a place to go in search of the secret to immortality. This was not what he wanted to do, but what his master had pursued all his life.

After a long time~
Song Yun took a deep breath, withdrew his gaze, adjusted the bundle on his shoulders, and then stepped onto the Qingyun Corridor. The sensation under his feet instantly changed from soft to hard, making it much easier.

It felt like stepping from the height of summer into late autumn, much cooler.

"Ding Ding Dong~"

On this wide official road, the jingling of mule bells occasionally rang out as caravans passed by. Light and shadow intertwined on the Qingyun Corridor, and the two sides exchanged glances. A young man greeted Song Yun warmly.

However, when the elders next to him saw the sword in Song Yun's hand, they immediately grabbed the young man's ear and pulled him aside, scolding him.

These past few days have been incredibly strange; even when caravans return laden with their goods, they dare not be careless in the slightest.

Everyone was on edge.

The government postman raised his whip, brought it down hard, and galloped past.

They disappeared from Song Yun's sight in no time.

Sometimes, you'll encounter porters who are short, skin and bones, and dark-skinned, carrying heavy loads, sweating profusely, and silently moving forward with their heads down.

Fortunately, the temperature on the Qingyun Corridor is more than ten degrees lower than the outside temperature.

Furthermore, the cypress trees nearby are generally not felled by anyone.

Three hundred years ago, after the Song Dynasty court realized the importance of official roads, it enacted laws to protect the roads and the ancient cypress trees along them.

Therefore, almost every official road has ancient cypress trees that are hundreds of years old on both sides.

The whereabouts of every ancient cypress tree had to be recorded in a proper and justifiable manner. After the county magistrate left office, he had to carefully count the number of ancient cypress trees before the successor county magistrate.

Once a mistake is made, those responsible must be held accountable to the end.

Song Yun walked slowly, carefully experiencing the official road, curiously observing everything around him, and a smile gradually appeared on his calm face.

This was a view he had never seen before.

Song Yun heard from his master that he had been an orphan since childhood and had stayed in the Taoist temple ever since he was adopted, never having gone out.

From then on, the Taoist temple that belonged to one person became a temple for two.

Throughout his more than twenty years of life, Song Yun had three hobbies, one of which was practicing swordsmanship in his spare time.

He had no other purpose than simply enjoying it, and he practiced year after year until his master could teach him nothing more.

They couldn't even withstand a single move from him.

His master said he was very strong.

But Song Yun didn't know how strong he was; he had only accidentally pierced through several boulders and leveled a small hill.

However, his master also said: The outside world is vast and wonderful; there are always people more capable than you, and heavens beyond heavens.

Therefore, one should not draw one's sword lightly unless absolutely necessary.

That night.

Wow…

When the rain falls, all things come to life.

Drizzling and crackling.

Song Yun sat quietly in the dilapidated mountain god temple, the campfire crackling beside him, calmly watching the drizzling rain outside the temple.

This is his second hobby: watching the rain.

Song Yun remained frozen in that position, as if petrified, for a long time, listening to the sound of rain outside the mountain god temple.

His mind gradually emptied, and a sense of security and comfort hidden within his genes made his heart increasingly calm.

The well was still. But suddenly, a sense of loneliness arose in Song Yun's heart. This rain, unlike usual, did not seem to be able to calm his mind.

It feels like something is missing from my heart.

On a lonely mountain in the light rain at night, a lone fire burns for a stranger in a foreign land.

The thought of spending the next few years, or even decades, alone, and experiencing countless rainy nights like this, filled Song Yun with a sense of loneliness.

He suddenly lost interest in seeking immortality.

After an unknown amount of time, the rain not only showed no signs of abating, but instead intensified, with large raindrops pounding on the leaves, making a crackling sound.

Suddenly, the sound of horses' hooves rang out amidst the rain.

Song Yun felt something and shifted his gaze from the rain curtain, turning his head to look into the depths of the rain curtain. For some reason, although the rain curtain was extremely thick...

But he clearly saw five or six swordsmen carrying knives and knives riding towards him.

The person arrived before the voice.

"This is terrible! The weather on this mountain is so strange. When we set off, it was sunny and bright, but now it's pouring rain."

"I remember there's a mountain god temple up ahead. We can go in to take shelter from the rain and take this opportunity to rest and recharge."

"Let's walk a little further; we're not far from the place the hunter mentioned."

"Wouldn't that be perfect? ​​If someone gets there first, we can just snatch it away..."

"Quiet down. There's a fire at the mountain temple ahead. Anyone daring to climb the mountain at this hour is probably..."

After watching for a while, Song Yun looked away and quietly waited for the group to arrive.

There were five or six people, all middle-aged, dressed as江湖人士 (jianghu figures), each carrying swords and knives, and dressed mainly in black; two women and four men.

The person who just said "Just take him by force..." was one of the burly, shrewish women with a scar on her face.

These five or six wandering swordsmen deliberately avoided Song Yun, communicating in hushed tones in a dialect-infused, encrypted language. They were soaked by the rain and chilled by the wind and rain.

Some people couldn't help but look at the campfire next to Song Yun and exchanged glances with each other.

Finally, a middle-aged man with a straight posture and a square face walked over and bowed to Song Yun: "Little Master, could we borrow this firewood and fire to warm ourselves?"

In the Song Dynasty, Taoist priests were often referred to as "Masters".

Song Yun was still wearing a Taoist robe. Hearing the voice, he snapped out of his reverie and calmly turned to look at the middle-aged man.

hum!
When the middle-aged man saw Song Yun's gaze, alarm bells went off in his mind, his hair stood on end, and his hand involuntarily went to the hilt of his knife, ready to strike.

The surrounding air seemed to freeze.

"This, this...this look..." The middle-aged man's forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat without him realizing it, and his thoughts drifted away.

This indifferent gaze, this look that regards all living beings as ants, is something the middle-aged man has only ever seen in generals who slaughtered thousands.

He couldn't understand why a seemingly ordinary, somewhat handsome young mage could have such an indifferent gaze, as if life were nothing more than ants.

And in the back.

"Hmm~ What a handsome little mage." The domineering woman with a scar on her face and a stout build immediately felt a stirring of lust upon seeing Song Yun's delicate features.

Tears of shame flowed from the corners of his mouth.

"Hiss~" The other heroes, seeing this, secretly gasped, their scalps tingling, and cast sympathetic glances at the young Taoist priest.

This domineering woman was no pushover; she was a wanted criminal by the imperial court, a legendary womanizer.

My favorite type of young master is the one with delicate skin who has never experienced the hardships of the martial world.

To evade capture, the domineering woman has not had sex for more than half a year, so it's easy to imagine what will happen to Song Yun if she targets him.

After a while.

"Take whatever you need, just leave me some." To the middle-aged man's surprise, Song Yun was unexpectedly easy to talk to.

"Then, senior, I won't stand on ceremony." The middle-aged man took some firewood, but did not make a fire source. Not daring to linger for even a moment, he immediately distanced himself from Song Yun.

This left Song Yun completely bewildered and at a loss for words.

However, what the middle-aged man didn't know was that although Song Yun had never traveled far from home, he was familiar with many dialects because of his master.

Therefore, he had taken the conversation between the six middle-aged men to heart.

I have a general idea of ​​the other party's purpose in going into the mountains in the middle of the night in the rain: to seek immortality.

However, this is understandable, as the battle a few days ago had already spread to several cities near Lin'an, and the rumors were becoming increasingly exaggerated.

Originally, it would have been treated as casual conversation after dinner, something to laugh off.

Unfortunately, there were just too many people who saw it.

Almost all the residents of Lin'an City, regardless of their wealth or age, witnessed the battle between Shen Bailian and Fahai.

Therefore, in the past few days, people have been flocking here in search of immortality.

The fire dwindled, so Song Yun added more firewood.

Whether it was because the middle-aged man said something to the others, or because of their own wariness, the two groups remained completely separate and showed no intention of exchanging words.

But only that domineering woman's gaze towards Song Yun's delicate skin grew increasingly intense, her eyes fixed on Song Yun's every move with a sinister intent.

Like a hungry wolf.

Before we knew it, the rain had stopped.

"Ha—" Song Yun stretched, then avoided the rude woman's gaze, found a corner covered with weeds, and lay down. (End of Chapter)