Chapter 94 Snow Passenger

"New fermented wine from green ants, small red clay stove.

It's snowing tonight, can I have a drink? "

It was late winter, and Siming Mountain was covered with snow.

And at the foot of the mountain, in a small wine shop next to the official road, an old man in sackcloth was sitting in front of the fire in the courtyard, shaking his head and reciting poetry.

There were several young scribes with him, and they gathered around a fire made of wood.

The flames were blazing and making a crackling sound. There was a black jar with boiling water inside, and a large pot of soju was being warmed.

"Old man Hua, you are using other people's poems to make up your mind. You have read books all your life, but you have never been able to write a decent poem yourself. Are you ashamed?" One of the young scribes said with a sneer.

As soon as this statement came out, everyone agreed. Old Man Hua's face turned red, but he said unwillingly:

"You brat, what do you know? What I call appreciating literary talents. How many young talents are eager to be appreciated by me! But they say that Zhang Xiucai in the village, if I hadn't tried my best to guarantee him, how could he have passed the provincial examination? How could he have achieved fame now? , Returning home in fine clothes?"

"Old poor man, you can handle it!"

Another young scribe said: "How many years have you been talking about this bad thing in your life? A few years ago, Master Zhang rewarded you with a table of delicacies, and said that from now on, all the past kindnesses have been forgotten. Pay it off so that you can stop talking nonsense?"

Old Man Hua was aroused by his words, and his face was quite angry. He wanted to say something more, but suddenly he saw a white light flashing in the distance.

The white stream of light passed through the air, flying towards the wine shop from far to near. It wasn't until he was not far away that he saw clearly that there was actually a whisk in the white light, with two people standing on the whisk.

Old Man Hua's pupils were dilated, with an incredible look on his face, and he shouted: "Look, there is someone flying in the sky!"

Everyone was sitting around the fire, but when they heard Old Man Hua yelling, they all turned their heads and looked back.

I saw heavy snow flying in the air, and there was no human figure anywhere. There were two people on the path, wearing coir raincoats and bamboo hats, one behind the other, walking in the snow, meandering towards the wine shop.

"Old poor man, you are old and your eyesight is not good?" A young scribe laughed.

"That's right! A visitor from outside the world? Have you seen me, Zi Qi Dong Lai?"

Everyone laughed together, but Old Man Hua rubbed his eyes and looked towards the path again.

"It's strange. I just saw a whisk in the sky, and suddenly there was a gust of wind that blinded my eyes. When I looked at it again, it was gone. Could it be that my eyes are really dim and I'm hallucinating?" Old Man Hua thought to himself.

However, before he could think about it, a young scholar next to him took his arm and said:

"Stop, stop, it's rare to get together outside to drink today, old slick guy, you have to give us a good talk!"

Old Man Hua retracted his gaze, glanced at the person in front of him, seemed to be interested again, smiled slightly and said:

"Okay! Today we will start with the last emperor of the previous dynasty, Emperor Xian. It is said that although Emperor Xian was incompetent in governing the country, his character and literary talent were outstanding. He loved playing games, reciting poems and composing poems, and even funded the skilled craftsmen of the time to create world-famous Twelve copper coins, known as 'Tianbao Copper Coins' in history."

Just as spittle flew from his mouth, the two men in raincoats in the distance had already arrived at the wine shop. The two people passed by the courtyard and without stopping, opened the door and walked into the restaurant.

There was little business in the wine shop, and no one was drinking here at this time. As soon as the shopkeeper saw a customer coming to the door, he immediately ran over with a smile on his face.

"Two distinguished guests, do you want to stay in the hotel or stay in the hotel?"

"Bring two pots of soju to warm your stomach!" one of them said.

"Okay! Here are two pots of fine soju!"

The shopkeeper shouted loudly into the inner hall, wiped a table and chairs in the middle of the hall clean, and led the two people to sit down here.

The two men took off their raincoats, took off their bamboo hats and put them aside. Only then did they reveal their appearance. They turned out to be an old man and a young man.

The old man was dressed in a soap robe, with a whisk hanging from his waist, and looked like a Taoist priest. The other person was a boy of sixteen or seventeen years old, with a handsome face, but his brows were dusty and he looked quite tired.

The two people sat down at the table. Not long after, the shopkeeper brought a pot of soju and filled it for the two of them very diligently. The old man didn't say anything. He raised the big bowl and took a sip, seeming to enjoy it very much.

The young man on the side frowned slightly when he saw that the old man closed his eyes and said nothing, just drinking. He could only pick up the big bowl and take a sip.

"Ahem!"

The soju turned out to be very spicy when it entered his throat, causing him to cough several times.

Almost at the same time, the door of the wine shop was pushed open again. The young man looked up and saw two people standing at the door.

Walking in front is a scholar in brocade robes. This man has a white face and a slender figure. Although he was extremely handsome, his lips were slightly white, and his eyes revealed a sickly look, as if he had been suffering from a long-term illness.

Behind the scholar was a girl in blue. This girl had two pigtails, a face with oval seeds, pink and phoenix eyes, and a beauty mark under her left cheek. Although she is young, only sixteen or seventeen years old, she is still a beautiful woman.

She was carrying a huge bamboo basket behind her back at the moment, which was filled with various books and bamboo slips, and she was also carrying a large wine jar in her right hand. Rather like a scholar's book boy.

It's just that so many heavy objects are actually pressing on such a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl, which makes anyone feel distressed. But the scholar didn't take it seriously at all, as if he had long been accustomed to it.

After the scholar entered the door, he glanced at Lao Dao's table and paused briefly on the young man next to him, with a smile on his face.

He picked a table and sat down on his own, and the wine shop owner had already greeted him with a smile.

"Sir, what kind of wine would you like to order? Our soju is famous far and wide, it is one of the best! In addition, we also have the daughter's red that has been collected for 18 years. It tastes first-class. Don't miss it!"

"I only drink the wine I brought with me." The scholar was unmoved. He pointed at the wine jar in the girl's hand and said, "Just bring me two big bowls and some side dishes."

"okay!"

The shopkeeper responded and hurried to the inner hall to give orders.

"But he said that Emperor Xian, although he was talented in literature, was nothing but a loser in the way of governing the country!" At this time, in the yard outside the wine shop, Old Man Hua seemed to be talking about the topic, and his voice rose a little higher.

"He allowed treacherous ministers to rule and brought trouble to the court. Not only did he do nothing, but he prayed to immortals and worshiped Buddha every day, advocating the illusory way of immortality. In the end, he actually sent several of his princes and grandsons into the deep mountains and forests to worship those wandering people. It’s absolutely ridiculous to have Taoist Fang as your teacher!”

"Later, Zhao Gaozu raised his troops to attack the capital. Emperor Xian was still drunk in the palace. Zhao Gaozu kicked over the dragon table and dragon chair, trampled it on the ground, and chopped off the head of this foolish emperor with a knife. So far, it has been a long time. The 20-year Emperor Xian Rebellion has just come to an end, ushering in the glorious rule of Zhao Gaozu, the founder of the Zhao Kingdom. Let me tell you, this foolish king died well, died well!"

Old Man Hua, the storyteller outside the door, suddenly screamed and could no longer utter a single word, because there was a bamboo chopstick stuck in his throat and blood was pouring out.

"Killing!"

Several scribes in the courtyard shouted in panic, and then fled in all directions.

The fire, which was very lively just now, was deserted in the blink of an eye, leaving only a cold corpse and a pot of soju warming on the fire.

"Once you practice Taoism and enter the immortal gate, you will be separated from the world from now on. The Tang Dynasty of the past no longer exists, and you are no longer a secular royal family, so why should you care about the jokes of these secular mortals? You think so, Yun Kyoshi.”

The person who spoke was the sickly scholar, and what he was looking at was the old man in soap robe at the other table.

Shockingly, there was only one chopstick left in front of the old Taoist table, and the other one was missing.