Chapter 335 Sunset Lake

There is a very famous place outside Duanliu City - a lake filled with golden water, called Xizhao Lake. The water of the lake is drawn from the Jie River, and there is nothing special about it. What really presents the golden color is a huge copper at the bottom of the lake. ?. .

Foreigners who come here to watch the story of Xizhao Lake, even if they have heard the story of Xizhao Lake, want to listen to the locals tell it again. The residents of Duanliu City always respond very enthusiastically, with flying eyebrows and eloquent words, describing the tragic battle of that year vividly, with blood in front of their eyes and wailing in their ears. Finally, when the listeners are satisfied, the narrator will spread his palms and say very politely: "I'm working hard, you are happy to listen, but you can't listen in vain, right?"

The tourists reluctantly took out a small piece of loose silver, feeling that they were cheated, and the next group of tourists continued the game.

Gradually, competition arose among the storytellers. After all, speaking is not as good as singing. A group of singing artists defeated the narrators who were spitting and monopolized the story market of Sunset Lake. There were about twenty artists in total, with varying levels of skill. They sang to different people and lived in peace.

That morning, all the artists were "invited" to perform for a unique banquet on the city wall. Some people felt that their singing skills were too poor and were afraid of being embarrassed in front of adults, so they declined the invitation, but were tied up with ropes by the soldiers and led all the way to the city wall, which was even more embarrassing. There were more than twenty artists, plus their companions who played wind, string and plucked instruments, a total of fifty or sixty people, men and women, old and young, who waited from morning to afternoon and were hungry. They were worried and didn't understand how they had offended the adults in the city.

When the golden color on the sunset lake looked like a ripe wheat field, a soldier came, looked at the people in the room, and said lazily: "If you sing well, you will be rewarded. If you don't sing well, you will be beheaded."

When everyone heard that it was really just singing, they were half relieved, and then their eyes fell on Yun Mengxian, a woman in her twenties, quite pretty. But she didn't make a living by her face, but by her voice. For several years, she has been the leader among the singers of Sunset Lake. If you ask who sings well, no one dares to boast that they are better than her.

Yun Mengxian is also a person who has seen some of the world. She had contacts with many dignitaries in the imperial capital. She immediately tidied her dress and took the lead to walk out of the room, looking straight ahead. She was arrogant. The banquet in the pavilion had just started not long ago, and the artists were waiting outside. Only Yun Mengxian and her zither player went in to perform.

Yun Mengxian lowered her eyebrows and bowed slowly. Although she was not young, her voice was as soft as a girl's. "My humble concubine Yun Mengxian greets all the gentlemen."

Since it was a banquet, there should be toasts and conversation. Even if the host and the guests were unfamiliar, it would not be as noisy as it was now. Yun Mengxian's heart skipped a beat, knowing that today's hurdle would be difficult. She quietly raised her eyes and quickly glanced around. She saw more than a dozen civil and military officials sitting at three tables. They were all like puppets, indifferent to the delicious food in front of them.

She saw someone she was familiar with, Chen Zhiwei, the defender of Duanliu City.

The old man with a bulging belly had once touched her after drinking. Fu Hao, the new commander of the Huangfu Army of Duanliu City, was said to be a descendant of the royal family. He was elegant and humorous on the surface, but he was weak and greedy in his bones. Yun Mengxian never received any reward from him, but had to pay a cent of the so-called military equipment fee every month.

"There are hordes of demons on the other side. It's not easy for the Yellow Fu Army to leave their hometown to protect you." This is a sentence that Fu Hao often says. Everyone understands the meaning of it, that is, to ask for money, and more money.

There are two strange guests at the main table, a young Taoist priest and a young talisman master. Yun Mengxian rarely sings songs for such guests. She was shocked again and lowered her eyes in a hurry, not daring to speak again.

Mu Xingqiu accepted the invitation and came to the banquet alone. He found that everyone had become forgetful: the city guard Chen Zhiwei had suffered a lot at the hands of Mu Xingqiu. After not seeing him for a few years, he seemed to have forgotten who Mu Xingqiu was. He kept calling him "Pangshan's distinguished guest" and spoke in an official tone; Fu Hao, the commander of the Yellow Fu Army, was originally the governor of the Southern Huangyin City. He almost died at the hands of Shen Geng. He also forgot the past completely and had a very cold attitude. After meeting, he only said two or three complete sentences in total.

Other officials were also lukewarm and tried to avoid Mu Xingqiu's gaze. In particular, no one dared to say the three words "General Mu".

This was not a nostalgic banquet. Only one person showed great interest in the past, and that was the young talisman master.

The talisman master was named Liang Shiji. He was handsome and less than 30 years old, but he wore a nine-layer crown and was the last of the twelve great talisman masters of the Dragon Bin Club of the Holy Talisman Dynasty. He only tried to talk about the battle of Duanliu City a few times, but Mu Xingqiu always perfunctorily passed it over.

The arrival of the singing artist changed the way of the secret fight at the banquet.

Chen Zhiwei pretended not to recognize Yunmengxian and asked coldly: "What can you sing?"

There are many songs in the Yunmengxian Club, but she knew how to answer at the Sunset Lake, "I will sing a battle outside the Duanliu City, and the world changed drastically because of it, giving birth to a golden sunset lake beside the city..."

"Just sing this." Fu Hao, the commander of the Yellow Talisman Army, rarely said a word, then grabbed the wine glass and drank silently, as if he didn't belong to this banquet at all.

The zither player plucked the strings while Yun Mengxian sang in a melodious voice. She was a well-behaved woman and knew what kind of song to sing for such an occasion. Huang Fujun was the protagonist of this song, and half of the words were used just to describe the numerous spells created by the talismans. Then came the song praising the soldiers of the Shengfu Dynasty for their courageous march forward.

No matter what she sang, Yun Mengxian's voice was impeccable. Several officials gently shook their heads to the tune, and the deserted atmosphere at the banquet disappeared.

After the song, Yun Mengxian peeked at the faces of everyone at the main table. Chen Zhiwei had a smile on his face. She knew that this smile would turn into a fierce face at any time. Fu Hao was still tasting the wine silently, seemingly not noticing at all. When the song ended, the Taoist priest seemed to be smiling but not smiling. The Talisman Master's face was expressionless, as if he was a little dissatisfied.

Yun Mengxian looked away, her heart pounding. She finally understood that the real protagonist of today's banquet was this Liang Da Talisman Master. The two had met before, and Liang Shiji at that time was not as indifferent as he is now. Eyes.

"Isn't there a song called "General's Journey"? Sing it and listen to it." Fu Hao, who had been drinking silently, suddenly spoke. His tone was stiff, as if he was holding back anger, and he didn't even raise his head when he spoke.

"I'm not familiar with this song. Mr. Zhang San outside..." Yun Mengxian didn't understand the intention of Commander Huang Fujun, but she had a premonition that it would be dangerous if she continued to sing, and she wanted to turn this hot potato away. Transfer it to someone else.

"Not familiar? That means you know how to sing. Let's get started." Fu Hao's voice became stern. Several officials who were still immersed in the tune were startled. They hurriedly sat upright, looking at the table full of wine and food, but they didn't even have chopsticks. Don't dare to touch it.

Yun Mengxian had no choice but to sing slowly. I tried to speak as vaguely as possible, but it had a different charm, and some officials started to shake their heads.

She has been quietly observing Liang Shiji. I always feel that this young great talisman master is brewing something. So when Liang Shiji raised his eyebrows, she immediately shut up and stopped singing. The unprepared luthier took a moment to stop.

"Let me ask you, what is the name of the general in "The Journey of the General"?" Liang Shiji asked.

Yun Mengxian immediately knelt down and said, "I don't know, I learned the song from someone else. I don't know what it says even if I only know it half-heartedly."

Liang Shiji chuckled, "This is an anti-poem. The general in it is not a human being, but the giant demon king Qi Wushang. The demon made this song up, concealing his name, and using your words to praise the achievements of the demon soldiers."

Yun Mengxian's expression changed suddenly. She never thought that a song would lead to such a big crime. "Sir, please forgive me, I am ignorant. I really don't know what this song is about."

Liang Shiji turned to Mu Xingqiu, "Although Duanliu City has been defended, the demon clan has not been destroyed, and there are battlefields everywhere. Untouchables like these, who look pitiful, are actually trying to deceive people for the demon clan."

Mu Xingqiu understood the purpose of this banquet. Liang Shiji obviously wanted to give him a show of confidence.

"I don't know something."

"Please speak, Taoist priest." Liang Shiji was always polite when facing Taoist priests.

"It is said that the scenery of Xizhao Lake is the most beautiful at this time. We can see it when we walk to the window, but we are sitting here listening to a featureless song, and we have to analyze whether there is any conspiracy of the demon clan in the song. I don't understand. why is that."

Liang Shiji laughed twice and said, "Please forgive me, the Taoist priest, Duanliu City is now an important border town to stop the demon army. I have a heavy responsibility, and it is inevitable that all the trees and grass will be soldiers."

"Then drive her away. If you don't listen, you won't bother her."

Yun Mengxian was secretly grateful to the Taoist priest and thought that the danger was over. Unexpectedly, the Great Talisman Master still refused to let her go.

"Forget it if you didn't hear it. Since I heard it, I can't pretend to be confused. Please go enjoy the beautiful scenery first. I can finish the case before it gets dark."

Before Mu Xingqiu could agree, Fu Hao waved to the sergeant at the door. Dozens of artists were escorted into the pavilion. Everyone saw Yun Mengxian kneeling on the ground and knelt behind her. They were all wondering about this. Where does trouble come from?

Liang Shiji stood up and looked at the artists, "Can you all sing "The General's Journey"?"

No one dared to admit it, no one dared to deny it, a.cm was all silent.

Fu Hao patted the table and said, "A group of opera singers, whoever pays them can sing the best, just kill them all."

The artists were all shocked and kowtowed to beg for mercy.

Liang Shiji waited for a while, but when Mu Xingqiu didn't respond, he said, "I'll give you a chance. You claim to be singers, not monster spies, so let's sing a song together. The eighteen people here can make you sing." If half of you cry, I will let you live."

The artists were stunned. Even Yun Mengxian, the best singer, didn't have the ability to make people cry. Besides, if everyone sang a song together, the effect would only be worse.

The officials all clapped their hands and praised him.

Mu Xingqiu stood up, walked to the window, looked at the Sunset Lake, and secretly used the illusion of mind. As expected, the city wall was full of restrictions, like an invisible giant net, blocking his illusion. .

He knew that this was Long Binhui's challenge to him.

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