The Song Dynasty was the king for thirteen years before he knew that he was Tianlong.

Chapter 26: The Scent of Horse Hoofs
The carriage continued along the way, out of the capital, passed Jingxi South Road, Jinghu North Road, Kuizhou Road, and directly reached Zizhou Road.

Then come to the Yangshan River.

Yangshan River was the border of the Song Dynasty. When the Song army arrived here, they reported to Taizu. Taizu used a jade axe to point to the river and draw a line on the map, saying that the area outside the river was not ours. Thus, this place was designated as the border.

When the Song Dynasty defeated Hou Shu, Dali celebrated and paid tribute, and has paid tribute many times since then. Over the years, it has expressed its desire to become a vassal state, but the Song Dynasty was mindful of Nanzhao's past rebellion against the Tang Dynasty and did not respond.

Zhao Ti only brought two people with him when he left Beijing this time, Zhou Tong and Su Da.

Zhou Tong didn't say that although Su Da looked honest and straightforward, he was actually a meticulous person. He was born into a military family of the Tokyo Imperial Guards and was the first to follow him.

After leaving the carriage at a farmer's house, they planned to cross the river. Zhou Tong was familiar with this kind of thing. He had rich experience in the underworld, and it only took him half an hour to find a boat and sneak across to the other side.

After crossing Yangshan River, the scenery suddenly changes and there is a completely different view.

It was inconvenient for the three men to walk, so they first went to Jianchang Prefecture to buy horses. They saw that the place was prosperous. Although the Song Dynasty had never opened a trading post, it was close to the border after all. There were all kinds of people, including Tibetans and Dangxiang, and it was very bustling and lively.

Although the customs are different, Dali admires the Song Dynasty, and many Song-style buildings can be seen in the city, and the characters used are all Chinese.

After staying in the city for a while and preparing some water and dry food, I went to the market to buy a horse.

The horses produced in Dali, although not tall, are sturdy and patient, and can run powerfully, making them suitable for use as war horses. However, this kind of horses will not be distributed among the people, and the horses that the three people bought were all inferior horses.

Mounting his horse and leaving the city, Zhou Tong asked, "Sir, should we go to Weichu Mansion to look for our good friend Ma Wude first, or..."

Zhao Ti groaned for a few breaths and said, "Let's go to Wuliang Mountain first."

Weichou Prefecture is Pu'er, which was called Weichou in the Song Dynasty and is very close to Wuliang Mountain.

He didn't know the exact time when the Shennong Gang would besiege Jianhu Palace. If he arrived early, it would be fine, but if he arrived late, there would be nothing to say. He was afraid that if he arrived late at that time, Ma Wude would take his close people and Duan Yu to Wuliang Mountain, and they would be empty-handed and miss the competition between the East and West sects in Wuliang Mountain. Later, Lingbo Weibu and Beiming Shengong would be taken away by Duan Yu.

The three men rode forward and passed Huichuan Prefecture. They watched the sunset and saw a small town in front of them, so they went in and planned to spend the night.

The town is called Danhua Town. It is not very big and has only one bluestone road. There is also only one inn, called Yuelai Inn.

Zhao Ti saw the inn sign and couldn't help but point and asked, "Why does it look familiar?"

Su Da rubbed his face and said, "Sir, there are at least ten families with this name in Tokyo."

Zhou Tong shook his head: "I have traveled a lot and have seen a lot."

"It seems that the whole world is the same." Zhao Ti nodded.

At this time, the innkeeper came out and saw the three people dressed in extraordinary clothes and leading horses. His eyes lit up.

Although this town is small, it is an important road in the east of Dali, so it is busy every day. The waiter is also a little concerned: "We are honored to have you three distinguished guests. I wonder if you would like to eat or stay overnight?"

Su Dadao: "What's the difference?"

The waiter bowed and said, "If you are just here for a quick meal, the horse will be tied by the door and I will let you guard it. If you are staying overnight, I will take it to the stable in the courtyard and prepare fine food for it to feed well."

Su Dadao: "Stop making noise, the sun is already halfway down in the west, if we don't stay overnight, are we going to sleep in the wilderness?"

The waiter smiled and said, "You are right, my dear guests, please..."

The three of them were about to go into the inn, and the waiter was leading the horse through the side door to the yard for maintenance. At this moment, suddenly a sudden "trample trample" sound came from a distance.

Zhou Tong pricked up his ears and said in surprise, "What a fast speed, and such a regular sound. It must be a good horse." The sound was made by a galloping horse. The slow horses of the three of them could neither run at such a speed nor make such a sound.

Su Da was puzzled and asked, "Where can such a good horse be found in a small country town? Could it be that it was sent out by the army to deliver newspapers?"

Zhao Ti narrowed his eyes and looked in the direction where the sound came from. At this time, the sun was setting in the west, and the sky was filled with rouge colors, red and yellow, and a glow was scattered. The beautiful scene was right in front of him.

I saw a mount coming in from the entrance of the town. It was shining in the sunset, and its black fur was as beautiful as satin. When it raised its head, it looked even more majestic.

It was indeed a good horse. He nodded involuntarily. When he saw the person on the horse, he was slightly stunned.

Sitting on the horse was a woman dressed in black. She had an extremely slim figure and her hair was tied up like a girl, but her face was covered with a veil, revealing her delicate eyebrows like the dark mountains in the distance, her eyes were bright as lacquer, and her skin was as white as jade.

The horse came close to them, and the girl reined it in. She glanced at the men, then jumped down and said to the waiter, "Take the horse and feed it enough."

The waiter took the reins and asked, "Miss, do you want to stay or eat?"

The girl said, "Just come for a snack, and leave when you're done."

When Zhao Ti heard her soft and pleasant voice, he couldn't help but look at her a few more times. The girl noticed it, and looked over and glared at him.

Zhao Ti was not afraid and smiled slightly.

The girl raised her eyebrows and walked straight into the inn.

When passing by, a faint fragrance came, although not very strong, it was very refreshing.

"Sir, this girl's martial arts are pretty good..." Zhou Tong said in a low voice.

"Oh?" Zhao Ti asked, "How do you mean?"

Zhou Tong said: "From what I have seen, this girl is very agile, but her aura is very stable. Her martial arts skills must be good enough."

"Have I entered the mainstream?" Zhao Ti thought about it. There is such a saying. I don't know how mainstream I am after learning the Phantom Yin Finger. "

Zhou Tong said: "There is a bottleneck in the improvement of martial arts. The higher you go, the more you need to hone your skills."

Zhao Ti nodded, still having some doubts in his heart, but outside the door was not the place to talk, so he turned and went into the inn.

The entrance to the inn is a lobby with seven or eight tables. The girl in black from before is sitting at a table by the window, obviously ordering something good. She has cold eyes and is waiting quietly.

The waiter came over and asked the three of them to sit down. Then he said, "What would you like to eat, my three distinguished guests? Although our inn is simple, it has a complete range of food. We have mutton, goose breast, smoked chicken, and a variety of seasonal fruits and vegetables. We also have aged wine. You don't have to strain it. You can drink it directly."

Zhao Ti asked Zhou Tong and the other man to order some food, and asked for a jar of wine, and then they started eating and drinking.

After a while, the girl in black sitting by the window stood up, went to the counter to pack some steamed buns and meat jerky, then went out and left. Zhao Ti looked at her graceful back and had some guesses in his mind, but he felt that it couldn't be such a coincidence.

He turned back and looked at Zhou Tong: "Guangzu, just now you mentioned the bottleneck of martial arts practice. I remembered something and I am a little confused. I want to ask you."

Zhou Tong said: "I will tell you everything I know."

Zhao Ti said, "The internal energy I'm learning now is divided into six levels. When I first practiced a few days ago, I was able to master the first level. Then I felt unsatisfied, so I continued practicing and reached the second level effortlessly. If it weren't for the lack of internal energy, I would probably have reached the third level by now. Is this normal?"

Zhou Tong was stunned when he heard this: "Master, you said that the martial arts you practiced is divided into six levels. You practiced the first level directly, and then practiced the second level as if it were a natural progression?"

(End of this chapter)