The Dao dies but I live on, the spiritual energy dries up but I remain evergreen

The Spring Festival is coming.

Long Lai Xiang has been closed for a few days, but it still serves hot porridge as usual every morning.

Countless refugees depend on this bowl of porridge to survive.

After being kicked out and forced to take three days off, Li Changxiao took out the copper coins from the brocade bag and went to the brothel to listen to music.

If we talk about this place in this world, it is the most wonderful and the most unforgettable place.

There is only this place of fireworks.

Li Changxiao likes flowers, the more colorful and dazzling they are, the more he likes them.

No matter how long the flowering period is, each flower is unique when it blooms.

He doesn't find it vulgar.

For three consecutive days, he stayed in that place of brothel, and talked with the woman who was the daughter of a wealthy merchant in Longcheng, but whose family fell into poverty and she had no choice but to become a prostitute.

To outsiders, they would definitely think of going somewhere else.

However, there was no physical contact between the two.

They were just discussing folk art, and Li Changxiao was seriously asking about the art of phonetics.

When I feel bored, I listen to the woman's unfortunate story.

The woman had been in this red-light industry for many years, but this was the first time she had seen such a strange guest.

She told him her story.

Tell Li Changxiao that her father was the richest businessman in Longcheng and owned more than 30 merchant ships.

Every spring, merchant ships come in large numbers, some heading north, some heading south... In every town or city accessible by the canal, you can see some of their presence.

Later, the family fell into poverty, her parents committed suicide, and the family fortune was divided up. What's worse, she even owed a huge sum of money for no apparent reason.

Fortunately, she learned music, chess, calligraphy and painting when she was young, and she was also beautiful, so she was well-known in the area.

Many wealthy young men wanted to take her as their concubine.

She refused them all, preferring to go to a brothel rather than be a concubine.

Although she was selling her art and not her body, she had to entertain guests with drinks. In addition, because of her special status, many guests liked to watch her.

It's not all bad though.

She looked around at the guest and felt that he was very different from other lustful men.

It just so happened that I had no one to talk to, so I told them some of my inner thoughts.

In this place where power and sex are traded, she was fortunate to meet the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

He was an honest man who did not despise her background. He promised to work hard to make money and bring her out.

A few years down the line.

With the efforts of both of them, the huge debt was almost paid off. After this year's Spring Festival, she will be able to get rid of her status as a slave and live a stable life.

When she said this, a hint of worry appeared on her face and she raised her head to look towards the south of the city.

"The tide is out of control, rising fast and unpredictably."

"The prefect summoned the people in the city and divided them into two groups. One group went to the counties below to dig drainage channels, and the other group built flood control lines outside Longcheng..."

"He is among them. I hope he is safe. I don't know when I can see him again."

The woman prayed silently. Having experienced drastic changes, she knew how rare it was to find such a person and stay with him forever in this world.

Li Chang smiled and said, "Maybe we can meet in my dream tonight."

"Pfft." The woman covered her mouth and chuckled, "Young Master is really good at joking."

Li Changxiao also looked towards the south.

He likes listening to people tell stories.

Except for leisure.

The more important reason is because of his Great Dream Immortal Body.

The Great Dream Immortal Body is able to weave dreams.

But in the human world, and even in the spiritual world, the dreams of all living things do not all come out of thin air.

It must be based on reality, start with thoughts, and then transcend.

In other words...

All kinds of stories and experiences will become the material for Li Changxiao to weave his dreams.

They are also the tiles and bricks on the road he walks on.

In the first half of his life, he had no time to chat with anyone. And few people were willing to chat with a mediocre person.

Now, with the spiritual energy drying up, he actually has a lot of free time. Slowly, more and more people are willing to tell stories.

Although he is an immortal, Li Changxiao himself still doesn't understand how to live.

Suddenly, Li Changxiao sensed something, frowned slightly, and turned his head to look somewhere.

"Master? Master?"

The woman first called out twice tentatively, and seeing no response from the other party, she stretched out her hand and waved it in front of Li Changxiao.

Li Changxiao came back to his senses.

A blue light flashed in his eyes.

The woman suddenly felt drowsy, then she lay down on the table, fell asleep, and even snored slightly.

Li Changxiao's figure gradually faded and then disappeared...

……

The river mother, who had been worshipped by the people of Longcheng, was found in the early morning, leaving behind two lines of blood and tears.

In fact, these two lines of blood and tears had already been shed.

It's just that the smoke of incense obstructs the view.

In addition, looking directly at the River Mother is considered disrespectful, and few people would look up and carefully examine the face of the golden statue.

Some of the children who came to burn incense liked to look around, so perhaps they had noticed it a long time ago.

But every time they pointed their finger, their mother would scold them, and they dared not make a sound anymore.

In short, after the river mother's blood and tears were discovered.

Longcheng fell into panic, this was a very bad omen!

Soon, a blind fortune teller came out to interpret the situation, saying that the river mother shed tears of blood because she felt sorry for the people of Longcheng!

There will be a great disaster in Dragon City!

Then think of the tide heading straight for Longcheng.

For a time, people were in panic, but...

Longcheng is a big city after all, and many people don’t believe it.

Some scholars even stood up to refute that the blood and tears of the river mother might not be a bad omen, but could also be a good omen.

In short, one thing can be interpreted from many angles.

Huang Tingsheng, the prefect of Longcheng, cut the Gordian knot and forcibly appointed two officials from humble backgrounds as flood discharge officers, despite opposition from some of the gentry in Longcheng.

In terms of flood discharge and prevention, these two officials have the second greatest power after Huang Tingsheng.

In the face of this natural disaster.

Any interests or favors require concessions.

The day after the discovery of the river mother's tears of blood.

He issued an evacuation order, asking some of the elderly, the weak, women and children in Longcheng to evacuate Longcheng in advance.

And tell the world.

There will be a big flood in Longcheng!

As soon as the news came out, Longcheng was shaken, but to Huang Tingsheng's surprise, the people did not seem to be very willing to evacuate.

Firstly, Longcheng has a long history and has never experienced a flood in more than 300 years.

Even though Huang Tingsheng was a prefect, what he said was not necessarily correct.

Secondly, if they are not registered with the local government, they will become refugees if they leave the city.

In addition to these two reasons, some wealthy families and nobles also played tricks.

There is a rumor circulating.

Huang Tingsheng did this on purpose to reduce the population pressure in Longcheng.

After Huang Tingsheng learned about the rumors, he was so angry that his mouth twitched, his chest heaved, and he slapped the pear-patterned mahogany table in half.

But there is no way.

He visited the noble families in Longcheng one by one and advised them to evacuate first. Only when these prestigious local families evacuated, would the people below believe that a flood was about to come.

However, these big families were surprisingly united in their words, and had no intention of evacuating at all. They said that if there was a flood, they would live and die with Dragon City.

Huang Tingsheng felt like his heart was on fire. Seeing the expressions of these nobles, he wished he could just slap them to death.

Live and die with Dragon City?

If that were true, that would be fine, but they had already prepared their carriages and horses and were ready to evacuate secretly.

I just don’t want the people to know.

It's just bad.

In addition, because of the matter of the two flood discharge officers, Huang Tingsheng rejected their faces in order to teach Huang Tingsheng a lesson!

Officials come and go, but the gentry remain unchanged. Without their support, even if you are a prefect, you will find it difficult to move forward and your policies will be difficult to implement.

night.

In the light, Huang Tingsheng's eyes flickered, as if he was facing a major decision.

After a while, he slowly calmed down.

After leaving a letter, he pushed the door open, walked to the stable, and patted his beloved horse.

He is going north.

If you take the express road, you can arrive in two days!