It was 1547 AD, the 26th year of Jiajing!
In the tenth month of the twenty-first year of Jiajing's reign, the "Renyin Palace Rebellion" broke out. Emperor Jiajing almost died at the hands of the palace maids. After the frightened Emperor Jiajing moved to the West Court, Yan Song, the First Assistant, began his path of ruling the country. Persecuting loyal officials and harming common people, Yan Song's rule made the people living in poverty. Evil spirits and monsters ran rampant, and the world was in chaos.
On one of the official roads, a tall black horse was galloping at high speed. On the back of the horse was a young man. No matter how fast the black horse ran, the young man's figure was still as steady as a pine tree, not swaying at all.
This young man was Ye Xuan, who had "escaped" from his marriage. It had been seven or eight days since he left Huaining County. To get to Guobei County in time, Ye Xuan rode nearly two hundred kilometers every day. He was neither fast nor slow. At this moment, he was near Mount Huang. He had asked around and learned that he needed to follow the road to Quzhou in Zhejiang, and then take the road to the north to enter Jinhua. It would only take him three or four days to get to Guobei County. If there were no accidents, he should have more than enough time to get to Guobei County.
Of course, there was also the possibility of encountering some accidents, such as bandits blocking the road and robbing them. Over the past seven or eight days, Ye Xuan had encountered no less than ten robberies. Sometimes, the two groups of bandits were less than ten miles away from each other. As soon as he encountered a group of bandits on this hill, he would encounter another group of bandits on the next hill.
However, many of these bandits were ordinary people who couldn't survive in this chaotic world. They had to live on the grass to survive, and most of their weapons were wooden sticks or stones. As for these bandits … Ye Xuan didn't give them a hard time and let them go after teaching them a lesson. Sometimes, seeing that they were so hungry that they were only skin and bones, Ye Xuan would even throw them some rice from his storage space.
As for the ferocious bandits who were armed with knives and spears, Ye Xuan would let them go. Ye Xuan would always spend more effort to get rid of all of them. He might even go straight to their lair and wash them with blood.
Riding on the official road, the sky gradually darkened. Anyway, there was still plenty of time. Ye Xuan did not intend to travel at night, so he urged his horse to go down the official road and enter a small town.
This town was called Donglin Creek Town. It was a small town. As soon as Ye Xuan walked into Donglin Creek Town, he felt as if a strange aura had enveloped the entire town.
Although the sky had yet to truly turn dark, there were very few pedestrians on the streets of the town. Even the shops along the streets had long been closed, their doors tightly shut. Other than a few rays of dim light seeping through the crack of the door, there was no other light.
The clip-clop of the horse's hooves was exceptionally loud in the silent night. Some people hiding in their homes heard the clip-clop of the horse's hooves and quickly peeked through the crack in the door. Ye Xuan could even hear the sound of breathing coming from behind the door.
After sensing this, Ye Xuan couldn't help but frown. Was there something wrong with this town?
Despite his thoughts, Ye Xuan did not show any sign of flinching. He kept moving forward on the horse. Not until hundreds of feet later did he see an inn with a signboard hanging in front of the door, whose door was half closed.
Propping himself on the horse's back with his right hand, Ye Xuan nimbly dismounted from the horse. He casually tied the horse's reins to the wooden fence outside the inn and strolled towards the door of the inn.
Squeak! — —
The door was pushed open, and the sound was exceptionally clear in the silent inn.
"Hey, dear customer, it's so late. Are you here to stay?" Hearing the sound of the door, the waiter who was sitting in the inn and counting mosquitoes in boredom immediately stood up and greeted him enthusiastically.
"Yes!" Ye Xuan nodded as he sized up the interior of the inn. He saw that the inn was extremely deserted. Apart from the shopkeeper standing behind the silver counter and the waiter in front of him, there were only three fierce-looking men with swords and sabers sitting at the table next to them. They looked like they were in a bad mood.
"First, help me prepare some food and a good room. Then, bring my horse in and feed it with some good fodder!" Ye Xuan casually waved his hand and a silver coin that was worth one tael flew across the air and landed in the waiter's hand. Then, he casually found a seat in the hall and sat down.
"Yes, dear customer, please wait a moment!" After the waiter received the money, a flattering smile appeared on his face. He first ran over to help Ye Xuan wipe the table and pour a cup of tea. Then, he quickly ran off to prepare something.
When the three men with swords and sabers saw the taels of silver that Ye Xuan had casually tossed to them, a glint of light flashed across their eyes. The three of them looked at each other, and a hideous smile appeared on their faces. They picked up the swords and sabers on the table and walked towards the table where Ye Xuan was sitting casually.
There was only one shopkeeper left in the inn. When the shopkeeper saw the three men walking towards Ye Xuan with swords and knives in their hands, he sighed in a low voice. He looked at Ye Xuan with a pitiful gaze and shook his head. Then, he lowered his head and went back to his own business.
When the three men walked to Ye Xuan's side, one of them fiercely put the broadsword in his hand on Ye Xuan's table. With a "peng" sound, the tea in the teacup shook and rippled.
"Brat, we forgot to bring money when we went out today. We're in an emergency, so we want to borrow twenty taels of silver from you. You won't turn us down, will you?" One of the men stepped on a chair next to him and said to Ye Xuan in a rough voice.
Glancing at the three men around him, Ye Xuan slightly frowned. He looked at the broadsword on the table and lightly said, "I can borrow it, but before I borrow it, how about I perform a magic trick for you?"
"Ah ha, there is a magic trick to see. Then, you perform it for us three brothers. If your performance is good, we three brothers might be happy and reward you with one or two copper coins."
"Then let me borrow your broadsword first." Ye Xuan faintly smiled and reached for the broadsword on the table. The man next to him was startled and wanted to take back his weapon to prevent Ye Xuan from touching it. But who would have thought that Ye Xuan's movements might seem slow, but his true speed was not slow. In an instant, the broadsword was in his hand, causing the man's hand to fall on empty air.
This caused the three men to jump in fright. They thought that Ye Xuan was going to make a move. The other two pulled out their swords and the three of them were ready to fight.
Looking at the three of them, Ye Xuan smiled faintly and ignored them. Holding the handle of the broadsword in one hand, he used his index finger and middle finger to clamp a small section of the broadsword in the other hand. Then he exerted a little force.
Ka! The front of the broadsword was broken. The cut was neat and smooth, as if it had been cut by a divine weapon.
"How about it, you three? Is my magic trick acceptable to you?" Ye Xuan glanced at the three muscular men around him with a smile. His fingers moved a little closer to the blade, as if he was breaking a piece of wood. He exerted a little force, and with another click, another blade appeared in his hand.
Thank you to "Zhongnanhai Killer", "Motherf * cker", and "Dark Dragon" for your monthly votes! (To be continued.) (。))
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