Simulation becomes reality, have I ever looked down upon the eternity?

Chapter 419: Just an average person, the lake is in turmoil!
Grand View Garden.

Suddenly, a crisp sound of porcelain breaking was heard from the viewing pavilion on the other side of the lake.

"Who are those people? Didn't we agree that there would be no boat to take Xie Guan across the lake?"

The curses were hoarse and harsh, like a dull knife scraping across bluestone.

The teacup smashed against the column, and the flying porcelain pieces frightened the servants so much that they stepped back repeatedly.

The instigator was a skinny young man who was wearing a gorgeous suit.

The five or six perfume bags hanging from her waist made her jade belt askew, and the jade hairpins on her crown were also twisted and distorted. Her narrow donkey-like face was covered with thick lead powder, but it could not hide the sickly hollows on her cheeks - she looked like a skeleton wrapped in silk.

This person is Zhao Yang.

The fourth son of the Zhao family and Xie Renfeng's cousin.

Compared with a few months ago, his face looked paler and more haggard, with a crazy light flashing in his eyes, as if he was suffering from a serious illness and unable to extricate himself.

When he learned that his cousin Xie Renfeng was beaten to death by Xie Guan, he not only had no sympathy, but instead coldly cursed: "Useless trash!"

Today, with the tacit consent of Madam Zhao and his long-standing dispute with Xie Guan, he decided to end the life of the illegitimate son in the Grand View Garden.

"Why would we need such a careful plan?" Zhao Yang bit his nails nervously. "Kill him with a knife while he's crossing the lake, and sink his body into the center of the lake..."

Thinking of the distinguished guests in Hongjing Courtyard who were drinking and having fun at the moment, a fierce light flashed in his sunken eye sockets, "Who would care about the life and death of a lowly bastard?"

Everything will happen without anyone noticing!
"Trash! A bunch of trash!"

He suddenly became furious and kicked over the stone bench next to him, making a chaotic noise.

The waves on the lake swayed in his distorted reflection, like an evil ghost appearing in the world.

"Get out! Get out! Useless things!"

The servants were so frightened that their faces turned pale. They crawled out of the pavilion, leaving the ground in a mess.

Zhao Yang roared hysterically until the old Taoist with white hair and a youthful face was the only one left in the pavilion.

The old Taoist was extremely tall, with the hem of his robe hanging more than three inches to the ground, like a piece of dry bamboo holding up a gray robe.

“Master Yang, are you still going to fight?” The old Taoist’s voice was hoarse, like the stroking of dead leaves, “Xie Guan is not alone now.”

Zhao Yang squinted his eyes and looked towards the center of the lake, and only recognized the two courtesans on the boat.

The others were nothing more than ants in his eyes. He immediately grinned and said, "Who cares who he is! How can someone who I don't know be a great figure? Do you dare to offend the Zhao family?"

Suddenly he remembered something and changed his tone: "Master Youguan, you won't make a mistake, will you?"

Zhao Yang's tone was a little more polite to the old Taoist.

Young Master Yang, you can rest assured." The old Taoist smiled kindly, but it was creepy. "My corpse has been waiting at the bottom of the lake for a long time. I only need to ring the silver bell, and it will suddenly kill people and suck them into a dried corpse."

"All my skills are in the corpse puppets. They are silent and undetectable, even those at the third level of martial arts cannot detect them. This corpse puppet has been raised in the White Bone Temple for three hundred years, so even those at the third level of martial arts can kill it."

"The Xie Guan Young Master Yang mentioned will surely die!"

Suddenly, a string of silver bells rang out from the old Taoist's sleeves.

I saw that his dry branch-like fingers were holding a small silver bell, and the body of the bell was engraved with hideous ghost faces.

As it swayed gently, a chilly wind suddenly blew up in the pavilion, mixed with faint shrill cries.

His long gray beard fluttered in the cold wind, revealing the faint threads on his neck - they were clearly made of human skin.

The old Taoist was none other than the famous abbot of the White Bone Temple in Bian Jing, Taoist You.

This evil cultivator should have been wiped out by the Great Qi Divine Hidden Division, but because of a piece of paper he became a guest of honor—

The contemplation of bones is a Taoist practice that emphasizes "viewing the body as impure and viewing feelings as suffering" and breaking obsessions through meditation on the process of the body decaying into bones.

However, the You Taoist lineage went the other way and created the evil method called "Nine Turns of White Bone Dao".

They slept with corpses in mass graves, tempered corpse puppets with death energy, and required the blood of living people to nourish them, and had long since fallen into the path of evil.

It is said that all the disciples of Baigu Temple carry coffins on their backs when walking. They are Taoist priests chanting scriptures during the day, and become evil ghosts stealing corpses under the cover of night.

Taoist You's great master had foresight and had attached himself to the Zhao family early on. He even obtained a document from the Ministry of Rites to transform this evil cave into a legitimate Taoist temple.

People didn't dare to commit crimes in broad daylight in Bianjing, so raising blood slaves to serve as slaves was not a new thing in the black market.

The black market in Bianjing was dominated by the nine major families.

Zhao Yang's face flushed even more when he heard this. "Okay! Okay! After the matter is done, the master will grant you the one move of the Heaven-Changing and Earth-Strike Magic Skill that you have been dreaming of. The Xie Mansion...will also benefit from you."

When Taoist You heard this, his skinny face trembled violently, and he bowed three times in a row: "Immeasurable Heavenly Venerable! I will definitely live up to Master Zhao's high expectations."

There was a hint of trembling in his tone, like a hungry ghost seeing food.

At this moment, the silver bell in the old Taoist's sleeve trembled slightly, and a faint "gulp" sound came from the bottom of the lake.

The five fingers that looked like dry claws suddenly tightened, and the sound of silver bells suddenly rang like the scream of a ghost!

The human skin amulet on Taoist You's neck glowed green, but he suppressed his pride and said, "The sour scholars in the academy are watching closely, and I have been feeling very depressed these years..."

"Today, let's drink the blood of these nine families and see what it tastes like."

There's a storm in the lake!
~

~

[You didn't hesitate. Considering the Xie family's dislike for you, I'm afraid you won't know how long you'll have to wait for the boat to cross the lake.]

[You walked in slowly and boarded the boat.]

[“Sorry to bother you all.”]

[The dumb boatman, seeing you board the boat, silently stretched out his long pole. ]

[At the bow, Liu Zixin and two girls shared an umbrella. ]

[Xue Huaian and others are looking at you, perhaps approaching.]

[Mei Qingsu's face became more and more confused.]

[A purple-clad woman, holding an eight-sided Han sword, leans against the boat shed, frowning as she looks at you. Even though you are so close, your temperament blends in with the scenery of the lake.]

[She saw that your trouser legs were soaked by the rain, the toes of your shoes were stained with mud, and your steps were unsteady.]

[This feeling... He is clearly just a person who is not proficient in martial arts, but he exudes a mysterious charm that makes her heart palpitate. ]

[When Liu Zixin looked back, her almond-shaped eyes suddenly sparkled with surprise. If a person had good looks and handsome features, there would be more femininity in them.]

[This gentleman is even more elegant when seen from close up than from afar. His features are like the mist of a lake and a mountain, and his gestures reveal a rare elegance.]

[Even those self-proclaimed talented scholars in Zixiao Pavilion can hardly compare to such a person. ]

[She opened her mouth softly, her voice as clear as pearls falling on a jade plate: "Young Master is truly a man of great stature and spirit, a man of heavenly beauty, and a man of great stature and presence."]

【As soon as these words came out. 】

【Luo Susu of Jinxiulou has always been arrogant, but now she even nodded slightly, her eyes lingering on you for a moment longer.】【Mei Qingsu came back to her senses, waved her folding fan, and said with a smile: "If I hadn't met Sima Chunfeng, the 'Jade in the Book' of the Sima family, who was good at cultivating the noble spirit, in my early years, I'm afraid I would have recognized the wrong person."】

[Xue Huaian's expression froze slightly when he heard this, and then he bowed and saluted, "My name is Xue Huaian, may I know your name, sir?"]

[You look up, curious, is his surname Xue? He is able to ignite the divine fire at such a young age, and he appears in this Grand View Garden. He must be a descendant of the Xue family, one of the nine major surnames, and should be quite famous.]

[It’s a pity that you have been living in seclusion in your small courtyard for these years and have not been to the entire Bianjing, let alone meeting these talented people from the nine major families.]

[After the words were spoken, there was a moment of silence on the boat, with only the sound of the drizzle tapping on the roof.]

[Everyone's eyes are burning, as if they want to get some clues about the boy's identity from your eyes. ]

[You face everyone's gaze and smile calmly: "Thank you for watching."]

[My sleeves flutter in the wind. "I am just an average person. Thank you for your kindness."]

【“Thank you for viewing——”】

[Liu Zixin's handkerchief suddenly tightened, and she and Su Zhirou looked into each other's eyes. Surprise flashed in their eyes, and then it turned into sudden realization - the most famous person in the West Wing in recent months is none other than Xie Guan.]

[Su Zhirou, who was always aloof, took a half step forward and opened her red lips: "But I will never regret writing that my clothes are getting looser and looser, and I am becoming haggard because of you?", "How much sorrow can you have? It is like a river of spring water flowing eastward."]

[“Mr. Guan, who has received personal comments from Mr. Jin Zitan on ‘The White-robed Prime Minister’?”]

[You recall that Hu Yunniang once said that Mr. Jin really wanted to make you famous.]

[You laughed and said, "If there is no other Xie Guan in Bianjing City, I think it must be me."]

[Su Zhirou's eyes flickered slightly, and she was already 70% convinced. Such an elegant demeanor was worthy of the poem that seemed to have been picked from heaven.]

[She bowed and said, "Many sisters in Zixiao Pavilion admire your talent and learning. I am very lucky to meet you today."]

[She actually had something else to say. There were countless courtesans in the West Wing who were willing to offer themselves to Mr. Xie in exchange for a poem.]

[Liu Zixin bowed gracefully, her eyes full of admiration: "Zixin greets Master Guan."]

[Her voice was as gentle as spring water, "Your reputation is far-reaching. I finally realized today after meeting you that your poems are just like your personality."]

[The girls in the West Wing admire this kind of talented and romantic man the most. A wonderful poem can double their status.]

[They are not familiar with the importance of the government, the kings and generals, and the distance of the rivers and lakes, the flashing of swords and the shadows of swords. ]

[The topics of conversation are all about these talented people who write beautiful poems. ]

【What's more, under the influence of the Confucian atmosphere of the Great Qi Dynasty, the four words "white-robed minister" are not an empty title. 】

[Luo Susu's eyes moved slightly. She naturally knew the name of Xie Guan. As one of the most powerful escort agencies in the capital, gathering information was their specialty.]

[This Xie Guan seems to be in a precarious situation in the Xie family, and the rumors spread by the nine major surnames indicate that he is not talented, but just a person with an empty reputation.]

[Seeing it today, it seems a little different, at least it is truly a beautiful sight!]

【When Xue Huaian saw the two women's expressions, a trace of unnaturalness flashed across his face, "So it's Master Guan, I've heard of you for a long time."】

[Su Zhirou introduced him at the right time: "This Mr. Xue is the second young master of the Xue family. He won the first place in the imperial examination last autumn. Because of his outstanding calligraphy and painting, he is now teaching in the academy."]

[With so many titles, Xue Huaian glanced at the brilliance in Liu Zixin's eyes, and it seemed that none of them could compare to Xie Guan's reputation.]

[Mei Qingsu suddenly clapped his hands and laughed: "So it was the Master Guan who wrote 'Peng Beihai, Feng Chaoyang, and carrying books and swords on the vast road'!"]

[He said with a playful tone: "But the rumors are really ridiculous - the Xie family actually said that the young master is weak and sickly, with sores on his head and a face full of flesh?"]

[Liu Zixin smiled softly with her hands covering her lips when she heard this: "I also heard that Master Guan hasn't bathed for half a year, and lice fall off his body when he walks."]

[“How despicable! How dare you destroy your reputation like this.”]

[In fact, this is no wonder - not many people saw your true face at the banquet, and then you went to the Invitation to the Immortals Tower, and you showed up in front of people even less.]

[Plus, the Xie family seemed to have done this on purpose. During your days of seclusion, there were many rumors about you in the West Wing.]

[You said calmly: "It's just a few clumsy works that earned me a reputation as a fickle person in the brothel."]

【Liu Zixin hurriedly shook her head, "That won't do! When I return to Zixiao Pavilion, I will make sure to explain everything to my sisters - those rumors are so far off the mark."】

[Mei Qingsu suddenly laughed out loud, clasped his hands together and performed a standard martial arts salute: "I am Mei Qingsu, honored to be the leader of the Giant Whale Gang, and I make a living by water."]

[“Giant Whale Gang?” Your heart moved, and you remembered the secret story of the grain transport in Bianjing that Wutong had told you - when the grain transport in the capital was blocked, it was this Jianghu sect that supported half of the waterway. Being able to run the grain transport under the feet of the emperor and let the name of the gang spread throughout the market, this Mei family leader is indeed extraordinary. ]

[You respond: "Meet Master Mei."]

[A hint of surprise flashed across Xue Huaian's eyes - Mr. Mei, who always looked down on others, actually took the initiative to reveal his identity today? Before he could think about it, another cold voice sounded:]

【“Xiujinlou, Luo Susu.”】

[These six short words surprised Xue Huaian even more. She knew the character of this Sister Luo from Xiujinlou. She always looked down on men and few people could catch her eye.]

[“Xiujinlou”, you look at the purple-clothed woman, her reputation in the Bianjing market is not inferior to that of the Giant Whale Gang. Judging from her appearance, her status in Xiujinlou is not much inferior to that of Mei Qingsu.]

[At this moment, the sound of rain outside the boat tent gradually subsided, leaving only a few wisps of wet water vapor on the lake surface. ]

[Liu Zixin is a talkative person, chattering on the side, and the laughter lingers on the bow, so the scene does not seem awkward. ]

[You secretly noticed that Master Xue's eyes fell on Liu Zixin, tenderly and affectionately.]

【Su Zhirou looked at Xue Huaian again and again.】

[However, these three people were unaware of each other's feelings for each other. They kept their love deep in their hearts and did not dare to easily break the thin window paper.]

[Liu Zixin asked curiously: "I heard that someone was willing to pay four million taels of gold for a painting and a poem from you, is it true?"]

[“Master Guan, have you ever really been to the fourth floor of the Yaoxian Tower and met Prime Minister Su and the Third Master?”]

[“Also, and more, didn’t Master Guan say that he could see the fairyland and hear poetry for five thousand years?”]

[As you prepare to answer——]

[A sudden incident occurred in the lake!]

[The entire lake surface suddenly tilted like a bowl of water that had been tilted, and the green waves surged.]

[The hull creaked as it could no longer bear the weight, and cracks appeared on several planks.]

【"ah-"】

【Liu Zixin exclaimed.】

[Your eyes moved slightly, and you had already noticed something strange in the lake.]

[Xue Huaian remained calm and protected the two girls behind him without making a sound.]

[Luo Susu's feet were rooted to the ground, holding the sword and looking coldly at Hu Di.]

[Luo Susu's feet were rooted to the deck, and the eight-sided Han sword in her arms was humming and trembling. Her eyes were like knives, looking at the deep bottom of the lake.]

[Mei Qingsu sensed the murderous intent in the lake, but his eyes seemed thoughtful.]

~

(End of this chapter)