Li Mu thought that his cultivation speed was already fast enough, but when he saw Li Si again, he found that his seven souls had all been refined.
There was no difficulty in refining the soul and condensing the soul. As long as one had enough courage and soul power, it was not difficult to cross two realms in half a month.
However, this required a large amount of resources. For an ordinary person without any background to collect these resources, it was much more difficult than cultivating step by step.
However, Li Mu did not envy him.
While Li Si's cultivation was rapidly increasing, the weight on his body was not light.
There was no free lunch in the world. If one wanted to gain something, they had to lose something else.
He gained money, power, and women, but lost his freedom.
However, Li Si did not seem to care about this. Li Mu often saw him and Chen Miaomiao appearing together. The smile on his face was much more than before, as if he was a different person.
It seemed that he had really found his love.
Speaking of love, Li Mu was a little confused. Of the seven emotions, the only one he lacked was love. However, he had never felt this kind of feeling from anyone until now.
Even Liu Hanyan was no exception.
Li Mu even suspected that she did not actually like him, but simply lusted after his body.
He could not figure out this question and planned to ask Li Si.
"What is love?" Li Si leaned back in his chair and shook his head at Li Mu. "This question is very profound and there is more than one answer. You need to discover it yourself."
Li Mu asked, "Is it not love when two people who like each other are together?"
Li Si patted his shoulder and said meaningfully, "Like is like, love is love. Like is possession. Love is giving. Like is unbridled and willful. Love is restraint and tolerance. After you and Lady Liu get married and spend a few years together, you will naturally understand."
Li Mu understood Li Si's meaning.
At first sight, there is liking, but after a long time, there will be love.
If Liu Hanyan wasn't so beautiful, didn't have such a great figure, wasn't the shopkeeper of the Yunyan Pavilion, didn't have a Pure Yin Body, and wasn't so multi-talented, Li Mu would still like her. Then, it would be true love.
Right now, the relationship between the two of them was merely liking each other.
Love would only develop after a long period of time.
Love wasn't something that could be created overnight. He still needed to cultivate feelings with her.
With nothing to do in the yamen, Li Mu used the excuse of patrolling to go to Yunyan Pavilion.
There were only two branches of the Yunyan Pavilion in the county city. One was a bookstore, and the other was a teahouse where storytelling was the main business.
With the help of the Xu family, the two branches opened smoothly without any obstacles. Although business was temporarily slow, the bookstore would soon become popular with a few best-selling books such as "Strange Stories from a Strange Story" and "Confucius Does Not Speak" in Yangqiu County.
On the other hand, business in the teahouse was very average. Without good stories and a storyteller with great storytelling skills, very few people would specially come here to drink tea.
Li Mu went to the bookstore first. Zhang Shan told him that Liu Hanyan was in the teahouse. Li Mu walked into the teahouse and saw that there were only a few guests sitting in the teahouse. The storyteller on the stage wasn't in a very good mood.
Liu Hanyan sat in a corner, frowning in deep thought.
Li Mu walked over and sat beside her.
Liu Hanyan instinctively moved to the side. When she turned her head and saw that it was Li Mu, she moved her butt back.
The teahouse was very quiet. She asked in a small voice, "Why are you here?"
Li Mu held her hand and said, "I missed you."
Liu Hanyan's face was glowing. She allowed Li Mu to hold her hand. She looked at the storyteller on the stage and said, "Business in the prefecture capital is really difficult. The teahouse is losing money every day …"
Very few of the guests who came to the teahouse actually came to drink tea. Most of them came to listen to some novel stories to pass the time.
Before the Yunyan Pavilion moved in, the market of the teahouses in the prefecture capital had already been divided up by a few families. It was not easy to snatch a fixed source of customers from them.
Li Mu smiled and said, "At the crucial moment, you still have to rely on me, right?"
In Yangqiu County, if it weren't for Li Mu, the Yunyan Pavilion wouldn't have been so popular. The guests in the teahouse were also exchanged for by Li Mu using one unusual story after another, one exciting chapter after another, risking his life.
Others thought that he had hooked up with Liu Hanyan, but few people knew that he was the man behind Liu Hanyan.
Liu Hanyan gently pinched his waist and said, "You're still making sarcastic remarks. Hurry up and think of a solution. If this goes on, the teahouse will close. When that time comes, I won't be able to support you."
…
In the teahouse, the few guests were somewhat dispirited.
In this newly opened teahouse, the taste of the tea was acceptable, but the storyteller's story was dull. Two people finished their tea and directly left. When the others were about to finish their tea and leave, they saw the storyteller on the stage walk down.
A waiter carried a screen onto the stage. Not long after, a young voice began to speak from behind the screen.
"A water ghost, a young man, an old man who grows grapes …"
"Seems a little interesting."
The young man's story was quite interesting. A guest had already stood up and was about to leave. After standing and listening for a while, he sat down again and poured a pot of tea.
When Li Mu was in Yangqiu County, he had already figured out that those who liked to listen to stories, songs, and operas had their own cliques.
Good wine fears no dark alley. As long as there were good stories, songs, and operas that were approved by a few guests, the Yunyan Pavilion's reputation would be spread by word of mouth in a few days.
It only took five days for the teahouse branches in the county city to fill up more than half of the seats during the peak period from the number of guests that could be counted with one hand.
On this day, the teahouse was even more crowded. Because the storyteller had told a story in the past two days, and it had reached the most exciting part.
After everyone was seated, the young storyteller behind the screen began slowly.
"Last time, Zhang Luer failed to get Granny Cai to betroth Dou E to him, so he put poison in the soup and intended to kill Granny Cai. As a result, her father was poisoned to death by mistake. Instead, Zhang Luer falsely accused Dou E. That muddle-headed county magistrate accepted Zhang Luer's bribe and turned the case into an unjust one. He intended to execute Dou E … "
This play, "Dou E's Injustice," tugged at the heartstrings of many guests. As people at the bottom of society, they could empathize with Dou E's experience. They also urgently hoped that someone could uphold justice for her and punish evil …
"Those who do good suffer poverty and have a shorter life, while those who do evil enjoy wealth and have a longer life. Heaven and Earth, you are afraid of the strong and bully the weak, but it turns out that you are pushing the boat with the current. Heaven and Earth, you can't tell good from bad. Heaven and Earth, you are wrong to judge the virtuous and foolish! "
"Before Dou E died, she made three vows: blood staining the white cloth, heavy snow falling from the sky, and drought for three years. Her cry of grief and indignation moved heaven. Suddenly, the sky above the execution ground was covered with dark clouds, and the sky darkened. The scorching sun in June disappeared, and snowflakes fell from the sky. Frightened, the county magistrate ordered the executioners to carry out the execution immediately. Wherever the saber passed, the head fell to the ground. Dou E's hot blood sprayed directly onto the white cloth hanging high in the air, and not a single drop fell to the ground. For the next three years, there was no rain in Shanyang …"
… …
When Li Mu walked out from the backstage, the guests sitting below the stage were still sitting there in a daze. None of them left.
This time, he did not suddenly stop at the most exciting part of the story. The spirit of the Concealed Arrow had been condensed, and the anger of these people did not have as much effect on him as before.
Li Mu stood at the entrance of the teahouse, and did not go out because it was raining outside.
When he was telling the story on the stage, there was a sudden burst of thunder outside, and it started to rain heavily. At this moment, the rain was much lighter. Under the eaves of the shops on the street, there were pedestrians taking shelter from the rain.
There were also passers-by who did not have time to escape, and were completely drenched, cursing as they walked on the street.
In the corner of the roof of the teahouse, there were two figures curled up. One was a skinny old man, and the other was a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl. Both of them were dressed in rags, and the girl was holding a broken bowl in her hand. They should be beggars who were temporarily taking shelter from the rain. It seemed that they disliked them for being too dirty, and the passers-by who were taking shelter from the rain were not willing to get too close to them.
Li Mu took out a piece of broken silver and put it in the bowl. The two hurriedly thanked him.
Two days ago, the weather had turned cold, and the two were drenched in the rain. Li Mu saw them curled up in the corner, shivering. He walked in again, took a pot of hot tea and two bowls, and handed them to them. He said, "Drink a cup of tea to warm up. It's free."
The girl was stunned. She had been hiding outside and eavesdropping, and the kind man in front of her had the same voice as the storyteller.
She quickly reacted and knelt down to kowtow to him. She said, "Thank you, benefactor. Thank you, benefactor …"
Li Mu waved his hand, held up the umbrella, and walked to the county government.
Several patrolling constables walked into the government office awkwardly, and muttered, "Why did it rain so suddenly? There was no sign at all …"
Outside the county city.
Several women who were washing clothes by the stream were suddenly drenched by the heavy rain. Their clothes became translucent, faintly revealing their bloated figures.
A shabby Taoist priest in rags was among them. He was talking and laughing with them, and his eyes were looking around. The women did not avoid him. From time to time, they would pull their clothes and tease him.
The old Daoist priest looked at it for a while and felt bored.
It was still raining. He looked up at the gloomy sky, counted with his fingers, and said in surprise, "My dear mother, this rain is not right …"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
