From a refugee to a martial artist

Chapter 88 Harvest
The sky became increasingly dull and gloomy, just like the death of Xie Shen.

Meng Yuan first touched the corpse, and then started fire at his fingertips.

After burning Jie Shen and Jie Zhongliang in turn, Meng Yuan withdrew his energy and felt that it was growing again.

Moreover, Xie Shen's contribution to the essence and fire is even greater than Xie Zhongliang's, which shows that this person is stronger than Xie Zhongliang.

But when they were fighting just now, Xie Shen ran away the fastest. You can see the character of this man. He is a bully. When he sees blood and gets scared, he is like a castrated dog.

Regardless, the trip was a success.

Except for Xie Shen and Xie Zhongliang, the other six were also killed, including an eighth-rank warrior.

With the help of these people, the spirit fire has become much stronger and has already exceeded half.

Moreover, during the body search, more than 200 taels of silver ingots and 3,500 taels of silver notes were seized.

As for waist badges and jade pendants, Meng Yuan destroyed them all.

Apart from this, there were no other valuables. Of course, there was no Tianjitu, but a string of prayer beads was obtained from Jie Shen.

This thing is found in both Buddhism and Taoism, and Taoism calls it Liuzhu.

Generally speaking, the Buddhist form is mostly 108 beads, implying 108 kinds of troubles. The Taoist form is mostly 81 and 108 beads, implying the number of nine nines returning to one and the number of the Zhou Tian stars.

In fact, the functions are the same, which is to record the number of times you recite the scriptures and to calm your mind.

There are a total of 108 beads in this rosary, and each bead is engraved with a simple drawing of an eternal lamp. I don’t know what it means.

I couldn't tell which school of Buddhism it was from, but since it was made of bodhi seeds, it must be from Buddhism.

It is strange that Jie Shen, a man who disregards all living things and is the son of a prefect, carries Buddhist items with him.

Xie Shen also said that his mother was a vegetarian and that his brother was kind, but how could such a kind family raise such a son? Raised such a brother? Did they raise a Luo mother in the family?

By comparison, Dugu Kang does not love wealth, does not covet delicious food, does not commit murder, and does not bully the good. He is simply a saint!

Meng Yuan didn't know much about Buddhism, so he didn't think much about it. He just washed his arrows and sword by the pool and then returned.

After walking for a while, he changed out of his night clothes and burned them, then put on his regular clothes.

I hurried back to the backyard of the county government office and entered my room. Then I heard a muffled thunder, and then the rain began to fall.

After thinking for a while, the rain outside became heavier.

There were footsteps approaching the door. "Brother! The master has prepared some wine, and he wants to invite us to drink and enjoy the rain!"

After hearing this, Meng Yuan stood up immediately.

After the incident at the county government office, Meng Yuan felt something was wrong and immediately took Mr. Qi and Captain Yang to the backyard. After a little trickery, he found out that Mr. Qi had accepted money from the Li family, while Captain Yang had only accepted money from Mr. Qi.

They are just dogs and don't know anything about Jie Shen.

Since he had decided to take action, Meng Yuan showed no mercy and killed Mr. Qi and Captain Yang directly. With the fire and the wind, there was really no trace left.

Then Meng Yuan went outside to look for his enemy without waiting for Chen Shouzhuo to come back.

Jie Shen and his companions had just arrived in Hedong County at noon, and before they could make any plans or take any action, they were pursued by Meng Yuan.

They lived in a garden far away from the crowd, with no one else around, and they, along with Li Tianyun and others, were all turned into ashes. After the heavy rain, there was no trace left.

It happened silently and no one knew about it. Even Chen Shouzhuo probably didn't expect that he had gone on a killing spree.

Of course, when Meng Yuan just came back, there was a candle on in Chen Shouzhe's room, but he waited for a quarter of an hour before calling him, which was clearly a tacit understanding.

Moreover, although warriors have no magic to pursue, Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism each have their own magical powers. If you kill someone or set a fire today, you may be punished tomorrow.

It’s not scary to be accosted by someone, what’s scary is that someone comes to your door but you can’t beat them!

Therefore, I need to sharpen the knife! Then you don't need to wait for someone to come find me, I will go find them myself!

Meng Yuan decided to practice diligently. When he opened the door, he saw Tie Niu standing outside with an umbrella.

"Brother, I heard about the incident in the county government. Where did you go?" Tie Niu looked at Meng Yuan curiously, holding an umbrella in one hand and touching Meng Yuan's arm with the other.

"Nothing." Meng Yuan patted Tie Niu's shoulder.

The two men came to Chen Shouzhe's room, only to see that he had prepared a small stove with a clay pot on it, in which was stewed mutton.

Chen Shouzhuo invited Meng Yuan and Tie Niu to sit down and personally poured them some wine, without any scholarly airs. "My two brothers have seen me off all the way and helped me a lot here. I toast to you two."

This was just a polite remark. Meng Yuan and Tie Niu didn't contribute much. At most they just bought some food for others.

"I didn't do anything! By the way, what about my brother's case?" Tie Niu asked hurriedly, "Sir, they are here for my brother, you have to handle the case impartially!"

"Captain Yang and Mr. Qi have disappeared. They must have fled for fear of punishment. We'll post their arrest warrants tomorrow." Chen Shouzhe said with a smile.

Tie Niu didn't understand the protective meaning in the words, and kept muttering for a long time, saying something like my brother is the most honest.

"Watching the night rain with wine is a unique way of life." Chen Shouzhuo smiled and raised his glass again, "The princess praised you for being good at both literature and martial arts, especially poetry. Do you have any good verses?"

Meng Yuan can only write doggerel, and can barely sing with Dugu Kang, but is still inferior to Xiangling. So if we talk about poetic talent, it is none at all. The third young lady is good in everything. She is good-looking, generous, and kind to her subordinates, but she has a big mouth.

"I'm really not good at this." Meng Yuan smiled modestly, "But just now when I went out, I saw green mountains under the dark clouds. I remembered a sentence I saw in an ancient book, which made me think about it for a long time. It was that I found the green mountains so charming, and I thought the green mountains saw me the same way."

"Wonderful!" Chen Shouzhuo clapped his hands immediately, and Tieniu also praised while eating, "Wonderful!"

What Meng Yuan meant was that you came to Hedong County to be an honest official to do justice for the people, and I went out to get rid of harm for the people, and we are the same.

Since the other party has praised it, there is no need to ask more questions. The tacit understanding comes from the wine.

"But my dear brother," Chen Shouzhuo smiled softly when he saw Meng Yuan pouring the wine, "The princess's name is in this poem, so you can't just recite it carelessly."

Meng Yuan had stayed in the palace for a long time, and he only knew that the princess's surname was Ying. Only today did he learn that the princess's full name was Ying Rushi.

"I really don't know." Meng Yuan didn't feel rude, and asked curiously, "This name seems to be a common term in Buddhism. Did Ying ever worship Buddha?"

"No." Chen Shouzhuo smiled and waved his hands, "The princess is the third child. Her eldest brother's taboo name is Qiushi, and her eldest sister's taboo name is Zhishi."

Meng Yuan understood that the names of the princess's two siblings were probably in response to their father's mood changes.

First, you want to seek "yes", even if you can't get it, you can be determined and vow to find "yes", which is to control "yes". In the end, you still can't get it, so you can only compromise and think that it's almost enough, which is to be "yes".

"Mr. Chen, I have been in the palace for a long time, but I know very little about the princess's mother's family." Meng Yuan poured Chen Shouzhuo some wine and asked curiously, "Mr. Chen, can you give me some advice?"

"Princess, your late father, the old Yinggong, and your late brother, the young Yinggong, have both passed away. The few words they left behind have also been banned. It is not surprising that you don't know them."

Chen Shouzhuo took a sip of wine and was silent for a while before he said, "The princess's father and brother are great scholars of the time, role models for thousands of scholars in the world, and even people from the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism hold them in high esteem."

"Respect for the three religions?" Meng Yuan was a little surprised.

"When the princess's father and brother passed away, a great monk from the Buddhist country came to the west, and the three Taoist sects also went to the capital to pay tribute, not to mention the Confucianists." Chen Shouzhuo said, "The most unacceptable thing in many people's lives is not being able to die with the two Ying Gongs. The princess was just a young girl at that time, how do you think she survived?"

He pointed at the rain outside and said, "Buddhism believes that all living things are equal. Taoism has the lament that the heaven and earth are unkind and treat all things as straw dogs. Confucianism also has the saying that the people are more important than the king. Confucianism entered the world, and many theories and schools emerged. There are countless brilliant people in Confucianism. From ancient times to the present, they all seek a way to bring peace to the world. Lao Yinggong is also like this."

Meng Yuan had heard Master Nie mention before that the princess was the real backer. He also said that if one wanted to go higher and further, the princess would be a great help.

Meng Yuan couldn't empathize with her before, but now he understands. The princess has inherited the reputation of her father and brother, which is indeed more valuable than any wealth.

"I wonder what school Mr. Ying belongs to and what his ideas are?" Meng Yuan became even more curious.

"This court does not allow us to talk about this." Chen Shouzhuo smiled slightly, "Please drink."

This seems to be a bad idea for meat eaters!
"..."Meng Yuan was tempted, but thinking of the princess' reputation for kindness, he guessed that it had something to do with the peasant.

Of course, Meng Yuan himself is also a peasant.

Remembering that Master Nie once claimed to be a lackey of the Ying family, Meng Yuan planned to ask Master Nie about it when he returned.

But he became more and more curious about the Third Miss, so Meng Yuan poured wine and asked, "Sir, how was the princess married to Prince Xin?"

"I don't know either." Chen Shouzhuo smiled, "Prince Xin has no reputation for virtue, and no power. Songhe Prefecture was not originally Prince Xin's fiefdom, but was moved here later."

"I wonder where Prince Xin's original fiefdom was?" Meng Yuan asked casually.

"He used to live in Ping'an Prefecture, but after his first wife died, he was driven back here." Chen Shouzhuo had no respect for Prince Xin and whispered, "It seems that Prince Xin caused trouble over there, I don't know if it's true or not."

Ping'an Prefecture is the only place in Qing Kingdom with Buddhist heritage and is a den of monks.

For a moment, Meng Yuan thought of Dugu Kang.

It had been nine years since Prince Xin came to Songhe Prefecture. At that time, Dugu Kang was about ten years old and had already grown up.

After a little more thought, Dugu Kang didn't like women, money, or food, and he even planned to treat himself to a tofu feast...

For a moment, Meng Yuan felt that Dugu Kang really had some of the flavor of a monk.

And he is a serious monk, unlike those who have gone astray like Dawei Zunzhe and Dihan Vajra.

Meng Yuan had known for a long time that Dugu Kang was not normal, but he had never specifically inquired about it. Since the princess and Xuanjizi did not care, it was obvious that Dugu Kang could not stir up any trouble.

But now that he had obtained the rosary from Jie Shen, Meng Yuan felt that he could find an opportunity to test Dugu Kang.

After all, the matter of Jie Shen was not yet settled, and Meng Yuan was ready to be accosted.

Sharpening the knife is important, but it would be even better if you could find out the other party's background.

Eat mutton, drink wine, and listen to the sound of rain.

The three of them only chatted about small things, mostly Meng Yuan asking about Chen Shouzhe's official affairs, which was quite interesting.

Another five days passed in a blink of an eye, and nothing unusual happened in Hedong County. Li Tianyun disappeared, but the Li family did not make it public.

Meng Yuan even went back to the crime scene, but found nothing unusual. It was just the Li family's sons fighting with each other, and the second son currently had the upper hand.

Of course the most important thing is that no one came to find Jie Shen.

Moreover, the thirty-three heavens in Meng Yuan are already fully opened, waiting to be completed.

(End of this chapter)