Where the wind chimes sound, there is a god

Chapter 23: Pretend to be dead in the rain
The twelve streets in the west block of Yunzhou City are divided into two areas. The last six streets are where common people, street vendors, poor beggars live. However, the shops in Xishui Street and Baihui Street cover all the food, clothing, housing and transportation needs of ordinary people in the entire Yunzhou City, so the land price is extremely high.

The first six streets were the places of entertainment where nobles often visited. There were the best restaurants and theaters in Yunzhou, a street full of singing and dancing, and red-rooms and brothels by the river...

Chen Beimo was looking at the scenery upstairs when the waiter started serving the dishes.

Crystal braised pork, West Lake vinegar fish, Mapo tofu, Dong'an chicken, crab meat and lion head...

Each dish was of top quality, with great color, aroma and taste. All the dishes were served in less than half an hour. The table was full of delicacies and fine wines. The waiters respectfully explained the preparation method of each dish or the story of its origin so that the guests would not feel bored.

"Sir, this crab meat and lion's head dish was introduced from Yangzhou. In the 368th year of our country's reign, when Emperor Zhengxuan was on a southern tour to Yangzhou, the imperial chef took the local beauty as inspiration and created a delicacy called 'sunflower meat offering', which is this crab meat and lion's head dish.

The crab meat and selected pork are finely chopped and roughly chopped, mixed into balls, and slowly stewed with broth. Thirteen kinds of fine herbs are cooked over two fires, one is so delicious that it lingers in your mouth and lingers on your tongue! Emperor Zhengxuan praised it highly after eating it, and it is said that he rewarded the imperial chef with ten taels of gold and gave him a plaque written by himself, creating a food legend. "

Chen Beimo laughed and said, "You know a lot, little boy. Go down. I don't need to serve you any dishes. Close the door and I'll eat to my heart's content!"

"Okay, sir!" The servant smiled and shut up, then respectfully retreated and closed the door.

In a blink of an eye, Chen Beimo was the only one left. He pulled his sleeves and Beichen Jun ran out. Looking at the table full of delicacies, he couldn't help but spit out his tongue, and then swallowed the vinegar fish on the table in one gulp. Even though it was a little small, he couldn't help but swallow it into his stomach.

Chen Beimo laughed and said, "You've already eaten it. You swallowed it like Zhu Bajie eating ginseng fruit. It's tasteless after one bite. Don't waste the delicious food!"

Unexpectedly, Beichen swallowed the food desperately without listening to him, and his beautiful tail swung left and right.

He was a little surprised that Beichen Jun was becoming more and more like a human. Even a snake demon like Yuanze had no perception of the deliciousness of food because snakes had no sense of taste.

Beichen couldn't stop eating the delicious food, and finished all three dishes on the plate in one breath. He climbed down from the table contentedly until his stomach was full, and lay comfortably on the soft couch, scratching his round belly with his tail from time to time.

"Are you still a snake?" Chen Beimo looked at it with amusement, "You are more like a cat."

Beichen Jun hissed softly, indicating that he was full and couldn't eat any more.

Chen Beimo didn't care about it and started to enjoy the delicious food. He ate two bowls of rice in a row but he didn't feel full. After half an hour, the table was empty.

However, Chen Beimo only felt half full, which was more than ten times his previous appetite.

He even drank up the pot of Spring Night wine. After having a full meal and a few drinks, he lay on the couch, listening to the fragrance of orchids and the gentle breeze. He dozed off for a while, feeling a little sleepy.

It was not until the servant outside the door walked in that Chen Beimo slowly woke up under the influence of his spiritual sense. He swept the also sleeping Beichen Jun into his sleeve with his wide cloud sleeves, and then let the servant who knocked on the door and asked in.

"Sir, but after using it up..."

The waiter was halfway through his words when he was surprised by the completely empty table. How big of an appetite does this person have to have? Even a cow can't eat that much. This guest looked skinny, but he didn't expect him to be so hungry.

Chen Beimo waved his hand, "Pay the bill, it's right here."

The servant smiled and said, "Okay, sir, you ordered ten dishes and a pot of Spring Festival wine, totaling eight taels and three cents!"

"Eight taels?" Chen Beimo shook his head and smiled. This delicacy was delicious, but it was also incredibly expensive.

The servant hurriedly explained, "Sir, these ten dishes total 4 liang 7 qian, and a pot of Spring Festival wine costs 3 liang 6 qian."

"This Chun Xi wine is good. Send two jars to Ting Yu Pavilion on Xi Shui Street."

Chen Beimo did not ask any more questions. The price was indeed correct. He now had a superhuman memory and could remember the prices on the menu at a glance. He picked up a ten-liang silver ingot and handed it to the servant.

"The rest can be considered as a deposit for the Spring Festival wine."

"Oh, all right! Young Master is so generous!"

The servant escorted him all the way out of the store, and even the shopkeeper in the front hall greeted him warmly with a smile.

Chen Beimo touched his stomach and felt neither full nor hungry. It had been like this since he started fasting.

At this moment, he could feel that the food in his body was being transformed into various forces, transported to all parts of the body, and his body seemed to exude a vitality of yang.

He was still in the growing stage, but he didn't expect that he could accelerate his physical growth by practicing true qi.

When he returned to his own house, he was still a little drunk from the Spring Festival wine, but he did not practice. Instead, he took advantage of the heat in his body to practice with the sword.

If Chen Beimo's current strength was not blessed by the Fengduo Magic Bell, his physical instincts alone would be equivalent to those of a second-rate master. If he were blessed with the Kanshui true qi, he would be equivalent to the perfect state among the first-rate.

This is the domineering nature of refining true Qi, and this is also the gap between immortals and mortals, not to mention that he has only just started practicing.

It was a bright day in the courtyard at noon, with shadows of bamboos interlaced. In the huge courtyard, a young man holding a soft sword was as light as a flying butterfly or a gust of wind and waves. Although his swordsmanship was not very advanced, his sword speed was getting faster and faster.

As the young man exerted force to make the sword dance's shadows heavier, the flaws in his swordsmanship were also covered up. When the sword's speed reached an extreme, more than ten shadows appeared in the yard, forming a circle and stabbing out with the sword at the same time. It seemed as if there were nine swords. The swords came out like the sea, with great force and irresistible, as if facing the abyss and being covered by the vast sword power.

"Om~"

The sound of a sword was heard in the courtyard, shaking the bamboo leaves and persimmon flowers to fall, scaring the neighbors into a panic, creating a very lively scene.

The sword shadows dispersed, but the Bishuihan Sword in Chen Beimo's hand was still shaking. Even a sword nourished by blood could not withstand its speed.

Chen Beimo made a sword flower, put away the water-repelling weapon, looked at the fallen flowers on the ground, and said softly: "This move is called the Return of the Sea Abyss!"

He firmly believed that the only way to defeat martial arts in the world is to be fast, so he increased his body speed to the limit of his physical ability and used his shadows to take advantage of the situation. The swords thrust out from the layers of shadows were like layers of waves. When his speed reached the limit, he thrust out with his sword, combining the Kanshui Qi with the sword, and it was like facing the power of the vast ocean, which was beyond human power to resist.

After a while, there was a knock on the door. Chen Beimo opened the door and saw the wine delivery man.

Chunxi wine is considered a good wine. It melts in your mouth and is full of floral fragrance. The delicate and refreshing aroma has the slight sweetness of flowers, but it is not too sweet, nor too strong. You will just be intoxicated by the floral fragrance.

Just these two jars of wine cost twenty-seven taels of silver. Wine was a luxury in ancient times, let alone good wine.

Since he discovered that alcohol can help the growth of yang water in the body and moisten yin and regulate yang, he has started to like drinking.

Whether the wine tastes good or not is not the key point; what is key is that it is beneficial to spiritual practice.

At dusk, Chen Beimo began to practice meditation. At this moment, he could feel that a faint Yuan Qi between heaven and earth was being drawn into his body. Even the water in the well beside him began to ripple. Strands of water Yuan Qi were absorbed into his body and passed through the thirty-six acupoints, turning into Yin water and gathering in his body.

Before, after practicing for a whole night, he could only gather a wisp of Yin Zhong Water Vapor. Now, he can cultivate three or four wisps of Yin Zhong Water Vapor in one night, and his mind will not be tired or weak, and he can even read books before going to bed at night.

Time flies by in the blink of an eye. When there is no threat to survival and the environment is comfortable, the days will pass quickly. In the blink of an eye, it is already the middle of May. Chen Beimo swallowed the spiritual peach, but it was not as he thought or as described in the legend that swallowing and refining it could directly increase his cultivation.

There was only a lot more Yi wood energy in his body, but not Kan water energy. He needed to spend more time to transform wood into water, and this process was a bit difficult.

Wood energy entering the body can heal a weak body. If you want to increase your cultivation, you must use wood to raise yang, turn it into fire, turn fire into earth, accumulate earth into gold, and gold produces water.

Although the process is laborious, once the transformation is completed it becomes direct Kanshui true Qi.

However, Chen Beimo learned his lesson. He should not swallow any spiritual fruit from heaven and earth in the future. He should deduce the conversion of the five elements of Taoism before swallowing them.

Come to think of it, there is no such shortcut in the world that can increase one's cultivation several times by swallowing a spiritual fruit or eating a spiritual herb.

There are various ways to cultivate all things in the world. He is cultivating the right position of Kanshui, so he cannot easily eat spiritual objects of Bing, Ding, and Si fire, such as Zhuguo. Otherwise, it will go against the luck, cause the conflict between water and fire, and cause abdominal pain and physical damage. In severe cases, the internal organs will be damaged by the conflict between water and fire, and it is very likely that the foundation will be damaged from then on.

After understanding these principles, Chen Beimo felt at peace. It seems that the road to greatness is not about being more noble and powerful. Only the one that suits you is the best.

Not long ago, during the Dragon Boat Festival, the neighbors in the neighborhood sent him hundreds of rice dumplings, and Chen Beimo became a little numb from receiving them.

He always gladly accepted these small gifts. Since others had given them to him, they were given with sincerity. If he refused to accept them, it would show his noble character, which would not only make the gift giver unhappy, but also make him lose face and thus create estrangement.

When someone gave a gift, Chen Beimo would accept it. He would be happy, and the person who gave the gift would also be in a good mood.

Of course, everyone in the village and neighbors knew that he was home alone and that he definitely wouldn't be able to make rice dumplings, something women do, so no one cared if he didn't return the gift.

The reason why everyone was so enthusiastic about him was, of course, because the prefect personally came to the scene that day to support him.

Mr. Qi was imprisoned in the prison for three days. He was only released after his wife gave an unknown amount of property and land deeds to the prefect.

After this incident, Mr. Qi completely gave up his plan for Tingyu Pavilion.

……

At the end of May, the weather in Yunzhou City began to become gloomy, with heavy rain falling tirelessly. The water level of the Ying River outside the city rose and almost overflowed the embankment.

Fortunately, Prefect Fu was a practical man and he did not cut corners on the flood control of the embankment, so it did not collapse when the flood hit.

The soldiers in the city were put to good use. Thousands of them went into battle to reinforce the levees, which prevented the flood from reaching outside the city.

The construction of the new city in Dongcheng has not stopped. Every day of delay will mean a huge amount of financial support. The court only allocated 50,000 taels of silver for such a large project. Prefect Fu embezzled money from several local banks such as Huangfu Money House to barely cover the cost.

Therefore, the construction period must be completed as soon as possible, which has also given rise to dissatisfaction among migrant workers.

At the end of May, news came from the east of the city that thirty-nine workers had fallen into the Ying River. The whole city was shocked. Some people said that the Dragon King in the Ying River was dissatisfied with the construction of the city because the East City covered a small section of the Ying River, which disturbed the Dragon King and water gods in the river.

Some people also said that it was the supervisor who abused the laborers, relied on his official power to bully people, embezzled their wages and killed people to silence them.

In short, there are different opinions.

These had nothing to do with Chen Beimo, but among the 39 civilians who jumped into the river, one was the eldest son of Grandma Wang San, the neighbor on the left, and another was Old Man Zhao, the neighbor on the right.

There were bereavements all around, and in this continuous rainy day, the deafening mournful music continued for a long time.

One of them is a good friend of his senior brother and also the big brother next door who takes good care of him. The other one is Old Man Zhao who is a bit stingy but still a kind-hearted person.

Chen Beimo made white umbrellas, also known as funeral umbrellas, for the deceased elders of the two families. There is a custom of burning paper umbrellas during burials.

Umbrellas are not only a tool to protect against wind and rain, but also an object for praying for blessings or sending off mourning.

Wedding umbrellas are mostly red. People who are getting married hold umbrellas to receive congratulations from heaven and earth and to protect the newlyweds through all the wind and rain.

Funeral umbrellas are mostly white. Families burn umbrellas to bury the deceased and to comfort the deceased in the afterlife.

Of the two families, Grandma Wang San was in great pain as she lost her son, but Aunt Zhao's family was even more miserable.

The Wang family has many relatives and friends in the village, as well as sons and daughters, and Old Man Wang is still alive.

Aunt Zhao's family was left with only a middle-aged woman and a young son. They had no relatives, only a few distant relatives. It was difficult for an orphan and a widow to survive, as they were alone and weak.

Chen Beimo stood in front of Old Man Zhao's coffin and looked at Zhao Xiaohai's tearful face. This time there was no chili powder, but he cried even more sadly.

Wang San's mother-in-law's family had a lot of help, so he didn't need to come at all. Aunt Zhao's family only had two or three distant nephews to help with the arrangements, and Aunt Zhao was so sad that she was in a trance.

During the midnight vigil, Aunt Zhao sat in the mourning hall with a pale face. Zhao Xiaohai beside her cried himself to sleep. All the mourners had left. Only a few relatives of Old Man Zhao were left in the small courtyard, sleeping drowsily against the wall.

Chen Beimo was sitting in a small room behind the mourning hall. Aunt Zhao's two distant nephews were trying to get close to him, talking about Old Man Zhao's past and sighing from time to time.

Old man Zhao had two sons in his early years, but unfortunately one died in battle and the other was kidnapped by human traffickers. He thought he would have no descendants, but he unexpectedly had another son when he was nearly fifty years old. It was really a blessing from God.

Zhao Xiaohai is not yet nine years old this year, and Aunt Zhao is over 40 years old. I am afraid that even his closest relatives will not be able to accompany him when he grows up.

It was midnight and it was drizzling. Everyone was drowsy. The two young men could not hold on any longer and fell asleep leaning against the wall, even snoring.

Chen Beimo sat quietly, thinking about the past carefully. Sleep was no longer necessary for him now, and he could still be full of energy even after staying up for three or two nights.

Suddenly, a gust of night wind blew up without warning, startling him and he looked up at the black wooden coffin placed in the mourning hall.

"boom…"

"boom…"

"boom…"

There were bursts of banging sounds coming from the coffin, which seemed even clearer in the silent night. Aunt Zhao, who was beside the coffin, woke up and looked at the coffin in shock. She was in a daze for a while before she murmured, "Old man, are you back?"

Several people in the yard were awakened by the noise. They looked at each other in shock and fear, not knowing what to do. After all, not everyone would encounter a corpse resurrecting.

(End of this chapter)