Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 321 Fighting God
As the magic rope gradually disappeared into the clouds, the two people also disappeared without a trace.

"Boom!!"

With a loud bang, the tavern collapsed and turned into ruins.

Xiao Ran walked out of the ruins and threw a broken arm on the ground, muttering, "The old guy ran pretty fast!"

"But this guy seems to recognize my boxing style. Could it be that he knew Li Jingqi before?"

Xiao Ran thought about it and realized that there was no information about this old man in Li Qijing's memory, so he simply didn't bother to pay attention to it.

Walking out of the ruins, Xiao Ran saw everyone staring at him in amazement. He turned his gaze and looked at Dong Ruopu, who was kneeling on the ground with snot and tears. The coldness on his face gradually faded. He walked in front of Dong Ruopu and pulled him up from the ground: "If you encounter this kind of situation in the future, run away if you can. There's no need to do this."

Dong Ruopu was still in shock. He looked at Xiao Ran, then at the broken arm on the ground. His face turned red and blue. After a while, he bowed to Xiao Ran and said, "Brother Xiao, it was my ignorance that almost hurt you..."

Although Dong Ruopu is an old man who is not familiar with the ins and outs of society, he is actually not a bad person.

He even knelt down to beg for mercy for Xiao Ran just now. This alone is enough to show that this kid has a kind heart.

So even though it was this kid who caused the trouble, Xiao Ran himself had no intention of blaming him.

Seeing that he was feeling bad, he jokingly said, "Okay, you know you are wrong, so let you pay for the loss of this pub."

"That's it!"

Dong Ruopu nodded repeatedly in agreement, and was about to search his pocket, but found nothing. When he looked up, he saw that his purse had fallen into Xiao Ran's hands without anyone noticing.

Xiao Ran opened the purse and saw that it was full of silver of very high quality and some gold beans.

There is not even a little money left.

Xiao Ran glanced at Dong Ruopu and frowned, "Be careful when you go out next time, and keep your money in a safe place."

"Oh."

Dong Ruopu took the purse and thought to himself, "Of course I know this, so I keep my money close to my body. It doesn't matter if these small amounts are stolen."

Dong Ruopu's little thoughts could not be hidden from Xiao Ran's eyes. Seeing this, Xiao Ran did not explain to him. He simply took out a large piece of silver from his pocket, weighed it in his hand for a few times, and handed it to the store owner, which was about twenty taels.

"Shopkeeper, this is enough."

"That's enough, that's enough."

When the shopkeeper took the silver and took a look at it, he immediately smiled happily. Silver of such high quality was enough to buy his shop.

What's more, the store just closed down, and the materials are still there. It won't cost much to rebuild it. At most, the drinks and food in the store will cost only a few hundred dollars at most.

So these twenty taels of silver are a huge windfall.

After handing the money to the store owner, Xiao Ran bowed to the people on the other side and said, "Everyone, I apologize for being rude today. We brothers will definitely hold a banquet at the Zuixian Tower in Wancheng to welcome you all."

After saying that, he pulled Dong Ruopu away.

After riding the horse for about a kilometer at a fast pace, Xiao Ran felt that it was about time, so he asked the guards to wait here and took Dong Ruopu back through a side path.

"Brother, what are we going to do back there?"

Dong Ruopu didn't understand what Xiao Ran meant by this. He only heard Xiao Ran sneer: "Don't you like the martial arts world? I'll show you what the martial arts world is."

As he spoke, Xiao Ran pulled Dong Ruopu to hide in the bushes in the distance. He pointed with his finger and they could just see the tavern at the foot of the mountain.

At this moment, everyone outside the tavern had dispersed, but there was only one group of people who not only did not leave, but instead sat on the ground and built a bonfire.

The group asked the boss to get them some wine and meat so that they could continue eating and drinking.

The boss was about to find someone. He was just clasping his hands to apologize to the others when he saw a man suddenly holding a knife to his neck: "Without wine and meat, what is the point of running a tavern? Well, give me the silver and I will spare your life!!"

As they were talking, several people came over and surrounded the boss.

“This…they!”

Dong Ruopu was watching this scene from a distance, and his eyes widened immediately. When these people were listening to his story before, they all looked so righteous, but how could they turn around and draw their swords against each other for just twenty taels of silver, and do such a despicable thing? ?
"What? Are you surprised? Isn't this the world you long for?"

Xiao Ran squatted behind the bushes, looking at the shocked look on Dong Ruopu's face with a half-smile on his face.

"They...don't they have any sense of justice?"

"Morality?"

Xiao Ran raised his eyebrows slightly: "Be it morality or rules, if you are strong, you are morality, you are the rules. To put it bluntly, whether it is acting on behalf of heaven or robbing the rich to help the poor, morality is something that cannot be seen or touched. It's okay to fool others, but if someone fools himself, he is a big fool."

Xiao Ran's words undoubtedly hit Dong Ruopu hard and tore off the veil of his beautiful fantasy about the martial arts world.

"I asked you to bring some small change because I'm afraid that once you hand over the money, it will cause trouble for others."

After Xiao Ran finished speaking, he saw that the food was almost cooked, so he pulled Dong Ruopu and prepared to leave.

"Big brother!"

Dong Ruopu glanced in the direction of the store.

"They...just don't care?"

"How do you want me to do it? Kill them?" Xiao Ran stopped and looked at Dong Ruopu.

Dong Ruopu frowned for a while, gritted his teeth, and said like a frustrated rooster: "Let's go."

It is not difficult to kill these people, but there will be more troubles later. They may have brothers and friends behind them. When they come to the store to ask questions, it will only bring more troubles to the store.

Dong Ruopu was a little confused about what was right and what was wrong. How could this world be so different from the stories he had heard?
The two men met up with the guards and waited outside the city gate until dawn before entering the city.

As soon as he entered the city, Xiao Ran found that the atmosphere in the city was even more depressing than the last time he came here.

The last time I came here, it was night and there was still a curfew in Wancheng, but from the brothels and restaurants, it was not difficult to feel that the atmosphere in the city was still quite relaxed. Now after entering the city, I saw beggars all over the roadside, huddled together, looking around with wooden expressions.

"Brother, isn't Wancheng a rich place? Why..."

“They are all disaster victims who came from Hedong.”

Xiao Ran explained to Dong Ruopu: "The situation in Hedong District is not optimistic. There are yellow disasters, evil spirits, and... starvation. They are lucky to be able to escape."

"Yellow Disaster! I've heard about it, but isn't it said that only a small number of people are rebelling?"

"A small portion?"

"Yes, when I passed by Chang'an before, that's what people in Chang'an said."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Ran couldn't help but twitch the corners of his lips. He roughly understood in his heart what the so-called man-made disaster was.

After the group found an inn and settled down, Xiao Ran asked Dong Ruopu to inquire about the gathering of heroes in the martial arts world.

I believe this little thing shouldn't be difficult for him.

Xiao Ran planned to go out for a walk during his free time. He came in a hurry last time, so this time it was a good opportunity to go out for a walk and take a look.

After all, although the world is cruel, it also has its own unique fun.

Compared with Ruzhou City, Wancheng is only slightly larger in size.

Perhaps because the news of the gathering of heroes from the underworld has spread, nowadays many figures holding swords and knives can be seen hurriedly passing by on the streets.

"strangeness!"

Xiao Ran silently counted the gangsters he met along the way, and always felt that something was wrong.

"I encountered twelve gangsters on one road. So many gangsters gathered in Wancheng. Not to mention the government of Wancheng, the Nuo sect actually turned a blind eye to it?
You should know that the Nuo sect has already formed a powerful sect in the southwest of Ruzhou, controlling Wancheng and having tens of thousands of believers.

Zhao Shixiong was just one of the thirty-six divine generals, but he was considered a big shot who could call the wind and rain in Wancheng. You can imagine how powerful the Nuo clan was. So many people from the martial arts world entering Wancheng was like inviting a wolf into the house. What's more, Zhao Shixiong's death was also closely related to the initiator of this gathering, and the Nuo clan would not fail to understand this.

But they didn’t make any movement at all, which was really puzzling to me.”

Just when Xiao Ran was confused about what Nuomen was planning, a crowd of people in the distance surged and rushed forward.

Xiao Ran didn't know what was going on, but seeing that everyone was going that way, he simply followed them over to take in the fun.

When we got to the end, we heard loud music in the front and the beating of gongs and drums became increasingly lively.

Seeing this, Xiao Ran simply turned over and jumped onto the roof of a nearby building to take a look. It turned out to be a troupe performing arts.

"Clap clap..."

Three whip sounds were heard, and in front of the team appeared a shirtless burly man with a red devil mask on his face. He waved the whip and kept lashing the street, forcing the people on both sides who were watching the excitement to make way for him.

A long procession came, with the sound of suona, gongs and drums deafening.

"It's Nuo opera."

Xiao Ran looked at the long line and sat on the beam eating melon seeds with great interest.

Not to mention Nuomen, Nuo opera itself is the most primitive opera of the Han nationality, also known as ghost opera.

Painted masks are worn according to the roles played, commonly known as "faces".

The roles are divided into three parts: one is Wei, two is Jing, three is Sheng, four is Dan, five is Chou, six is Wai, seven is Tie Dan, and eight is Xiao Sheng. The performance is commonly known as "Tiao Nuo".

This thing was popular in the Tang Dynasty, but basically faded away after the Song Dynasty. It is not easy to see Nuo opera in reality.

In the team, under the strange masks, it was like a hundred ghosts parading at night. The dance steps were varied, sometimes strong and unrestrained, sometimes soft and unrestrained. Combined with the strange and distorted masks on their faces, they looked like evil ghosts coming out of the world.

However, the people along the street knelt on the ground with pious expressions, prayed silently, and then threw the incense and candles they had prepared earlier into the incense burner behind the team.

Xiao Ran glanced around and actually saw an acquaintance.

He Lao San! (From Chapter 277)
I saw the old man limping in the crowd, all the things on his body clanking, kneeling on the ground, his head banging against his head.

This guy is a notorious madman. He worships every god he sees, even the Black Saint Sect (Heifengzi) that others avoid, he would take the initiative to offer a leg to them. Xiao Ran had met him once before when he was in Ruzhou City.

At that time, Yang Mingjie said that this guy was insane and possessed by a demon.

Unexpectedly, this old cripple actually ran from Ruzhou City to Wancheng.

Xiao Ran had no intention of laughing at such a person. As the saying goes, "If you don't know the hardships, you won't believe in gods or Buddhas." He Lao San just felt despair about the world.

At this moment, Xiao Ran suddenly raised his head, an inexplicable feeling of uneasiness came over him. He looked in the distance and saw a faint yellow mist floating in the air, like a huge hand covering the sky, gradually covering the sky above Wancheng.

"The Yellow Disaster is coming??"

But they soon realized that something was wrong. The Huangzai Army was still far away from Wancheng, and it was impossible for such a large army to rush over so quickly.

But the yellow mist above his head was getting thicker and thicker, and Xiao Ran's heartbeat couldn't help but quicken.

In his eyes, he saw a huge shadow in the dim clouds, as if a god was hovering over the earth.

"Could it be..."

Seeing this, Xiao Ran immediately thought of the group of priests from before. It seemed that they were going to summon something. Could it be this thing? ?
"Woooo..."

The dim yellow clouds in the sky naturally attracted the attention of the people in the city, but before people could figure out what it was, the sound of the conch shells spread from all around Wancheng at the same time. They saw that the movements of those dancing Nuo became more and more crazy, as if they were possessed by evil spirits, and strange whispers came out of their mouths.

Wisps of fragrant clouds surged out of the incense burner at the back and rushed straight into the sky, dispersing most of the dim yellow clouds...

　Sorry, I was too tired yesterday and slept until noon. The update will be a little late, but there will be two updates today.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)