Chapter 51 Xiang's House

, Crossing the River

Liangzhou has a long and narrow terrain, with a large north-south span and a small east-west span. If you cross Liangzhou from north to south, the journey is really not short, passing through several prefectures and dozens of counties, a distance of more than a thousand miles. But crossing the waist of Liangzhou from west to east is about the distance of one prefecture, which is Tianshui Prefecture.

Not long after Qi Xuansu entered Liangzhou, he arrived in Tianshui Prefecture and went straight to the prefecture city.

The northwest is vast and sparsely populated, and many places are uninhabited. Most of the population gathers near several large cities.

This is not the fault of Liangzhou. When Xizhou was not recovered, Liangzhou was the border. It changed hands several times and fought for years. There were really corpses everywhere and blood flowing. That's all. There were locust plagues and droughts, which caused famine. As the saying goes, there must be a big epidemic after a big disaster. The corpses were everywhere and no one dealt with them. The final plague was inevitable.

There is a saying about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in the Holy See's "Revelation". At the end of the world, the Lamb will unlock the seven seals of the scroll and summon the knights riding four horses, white, red, black and gray, to bring plague, war, famine and death to the human beings who are accepting the final judgment. At that time, the heaven and earth will be out of balance, the sun and the moon will change color, and then the world will be destroyed.

At that time, Liangzhou had gathered the so-called four horsemen, so it was not an exaggeration to say that nine out of ten houses were empty, so that there were two-legged sheep and vegetable people in the market. The young Xuansheng had been to Liangzhou at that time. Although the newly crowned Xuansheng had not been in the flower garden for a long time and had experienced many winds, rains, fighting and disputes, he was still shocked by the purgatory-like scene on earth and was greatly shocked. Only then did he decide to save the world, and then there was the future Daxuan replacing Dawei and the Zhongxing Daomen.

After so many years of recuperation, Liangzhou finally recovered some vitality, but compared with other states, it was still sparsely populated.

For Qi Xuansu, the number of people is secondary. The key is that because of Qin Wubing, Qi Xuansu now has a black-clothed identity that can be used as a banner. With the support of the government, big towns are the safest places. Tianshui Prefecture not only has the Qianhu of Qingluan Guard, but also has elite black-clothed men stationed there because it is close to the border. Ordinary people dare not make trouble here.

Qi Xuansu can rest in the prefecture city. If he wants to enjoy, he can go to Taiping Inn. If he wants to save money, he can go to the contact point of Qingping Society.

However, entering the territory of Tianshui Prefecture does not mean that he has reached the prefecture city. There is still a distance, and he will probably pass through several counties.

Qi Xuansu wanted to go straight to the prefecture city of Tianshui Prefecture without stopping, but he encountered a late spring cold. Although the south of the Yangtze River and other places are already apricot blossoms and light rain, everything is blooming and full of vitality, the northwest is still cold and frozen, as if it has not yet come out of the afterglow of the cold winter. A late spring cold not only caused the temperature to drop sharply, but also snowed.

It really killed people with flying snow.

Qi Xuansu was fine, as he had bought a windproof cloak in advance. With the help of blood and true energy, he was physically strong and not afraid at all. However, the horse he bought could not bear it, and had frostbite and staggered.

When Qi Xuansu and his companions went to the Western Regions, they rode horses provided by the Taoist

sect. Those horses were all exotic species carefully selected and bred by the Taoist sect. They not only had excellent endurance and could run long distances, but were also cold-resistant and drought-resistant, which was not comparable to ordinary horses.

Since ancient times, good horses have been worth thousands of gold. The horse that Qi Xuansu was riding now cost less than fifty Taiping coins, which was a good deal. It was a good way to get around, and it would be unreasonable to ask for too much.

Qi Xuansu had to find a place to avoid the wind and snow, but Liangzhou was so desolate that there were not many inns, let alone post stations.

After all, now that there is a "Xun Fu Array", the 600-li and 800-li express services have been cancelled, and the functions of the post station have been cut in half, leaving only the function of receiving officials. However, most of the people in Liangzhou are soldiers, but there are no officials such as the Salt Inspector, the Superintendent of Maritime Customs, the Weaving Bureau, the River Office, and the Canal Transport Office. There are not many officials coming and going, so most of the post stations have been eliminated.

Qi Xuansu could only walk and search in the wind and snow.

After walking about 20 miles, Qi Xuansu finally found a village called Xiangjiabao. Unlike the villages in Jiangnan and Jiangbei, this place is more like a fortress, with high and thick walls on all sides, corner towers and arrow towers scattered in an orderly manner, and there are hanging gates. If you encounter banditry or war, you can build a fortress to protect yourself, which is also a relic of the wars in the past years.

Now the world is peaceful, the hanging gates of the fortress are lowered, and you can enter and exit freely.

Qi Xuansu rode into the fort. Because of the heavy snow, every house was closed. Qi Xuansu walked along the road in the fort and came to a big house. Lanterns were hung in the wind and snow. In the middle of the house hung a plaque with black background and gold characters, with two big characters "Xiang's House" written on it.

It was still a gentry family.

The reason why Qi Xuansu could tell that it was a gentry family had nothing to do with whether the family was rich or not, but the word "house" on the plaque.

There have been strict regulations on the names of houses since ancient times, and they have been passed down no matter how the dynasties changed. Generally speaking, the ruling officials and princes are called mansions, the other officials are called houses, and the common people are called homes. The palaces and halls are exclusively for the royal family, and those who use them without permission are regarded as usurping.

In this dynasty, the residences of the first and second rank officials and princes of the current dynasty are called mansions, the houses of other officials are called houses, and the houses of ordinary people are called homes, so there are the prime minister's mansions, the minister's mansions, the scholar's mansions, the general's mansions, as well as the prince's mansions, the duke's mansions, and the marquis' mansions. There is no mansion below. In addition, the governor's office and the provincial governor's office at the local level are actually government offices, or in other words, the governor, provincial governor and other high-ranking officials temporarily live in the government offices and regard them as their home. This "mansion" is actually the government office.

As for the Taoist sect, people from this palace or that house naturally do not abide by the rules, but there is no way. The Taoist sect is so powerful that no one can do anything about it. Power may not be the truth, but it can establish rules. Moreover, since ancient times, Taoist Buddhist temples have been called palaces and halls. Strictly speaking, these palaces and halls are not used by Taoist priests and monks, but are dedicated to Taoist ancestors and Buddhas. Taoist priests and monks serve as temporary servants. Living here, the royal family cannot go against the sky full of gods and Buddhas, which is considered a special case.

If this family can hang a plaque with the name "Xiang Zhai", it means that someone in the family is an official, or there have been officials in the ancestors, but they were not able to enter the cabinet to worship the prime minister and cannot be called the government.

This can be regarded as experience in the world. At least when Qi Xuansu first came out of the Wanxiang Taoist Palace, he would never identify a gentry family from the word "house", but would only regard it as an ordinary rich man.

Qi Xuansu dismounted and came forward, knocking on the door.

After a while, a concierge opened the door from the inside and saw Qi Xuansu with a snowy cloak. He was surprised and asked: "Your Majesty is..."

Qi Xuansu took out his waistband and imitated the tone of the man in black: "A certain family is a soldier of General Loulan. When passing through here, we suddenly encountered heavy snow and the road was difficult to travel. I wanted to use your land to escape the heavy snow temporarily. I hope I can go there." convenient."

When the concierge saw the genuine black waist tag, he did not dare to neglect it and said: "Please wait a moment, Lord Jun, I will go and report to the master first. In addition, I am short-sighted. Could you please bring the waist tag to me, Lord Jun?" The master has seen it?”

"Thank you." Qi Xuansu handed over his badge and took a few steps back.

The concierge took the badge, bowed, turned and left.

After a while, the concierge came back, bringing with him a follower. He first respectfully returned the badge to Qi Xuansu, and then said: "My master invites the military master to come into the house for a talk. Please follow me."

At the same time, the attendant stepped forward to take the reins and take care of the horse for Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu followed the concierge and walked into the house.

The house with two entrances is large in scale and planted with vegetation. Although it has withered and withered due to the cold weather, it can be seen that the gentry's family is still somewhat elegant.

However, not long after Qi Xuansu entered the gate, he felt his heart skip a beat and his back felt like being pricked by a needle. Something seemed wrong.

He frowned slightly, stared closely at the concierge walking in front, and used the "Yin-Yang Eye", a personal magical power that he had not used for a long time. This small-scale method came from the alchemist's inheritance, and was inferior to the alchemist's medium-level method "Transparent Dharma Eye". . The "Transparent Dharma Eye" can directly immobilize ghosts, while the "Yin Yang Eye" can only detect ghosts and ghosts, but for Qi Xuansu, it is enough.

The scene in front of Qi Xuansu changed accordingly, but it was a bit beyond his expectation. The three lights on the concierge were bright and there was nothing abnormal.

According to Taoism, there are three yang lanterns on the human body, one on the head and the other two on the shoulders. They are the yang fire on the human body. When walking at night, if someone calls your name, Never look in both directions. If it is blown out, it will attract ghosts.

The concierge has plenty of yang energy, so he shouldn't be playing tricks on a deserted house. And even ghosts, unless they are powerful ghosts with good moral character, can't get even half a step closer to Qi Xuansu. Warrior blood is no joke. For ghosts, it is like a furnace, unbearably hot.

Qi Xuansu was a little confused. Could it be his own misunderstanding?

However, he is a person who has been walking in the world for a long time, so he still secretly keeps a close eye on it.