National Division

The moon is dark and the night is murderous, and the wind is high and the sky is set on fire.

The whistling of the wind was like a ghost crying, the sky seemed to be too thick to dissolve ink, and occasionally there was a star, and the faint light was not enough to illuminate anything.

Qi Jun stood on the edge of the cliff, looking down at some faint fires in the valley below.It was the fourth watch, and all the miners who had worked hard all day fell asleep, even the night watchman fell asleep by the fire.In the past few months, nothing has happened to the silver mine, and even no outsiders can be seen in this barren mountain. Even though these private soldiers are well-trained, they will inevitably be careless.

"Let's go." Qi Jun felt the wind blowing from behind, and ordered in a low voice.

Each of his guards had a huge kite in his hand, and strings of talisman papers were hung under the kite, which looked like fruit hanging from a distance.The kite lifted off and quickly floated over the valley with the strong night wind.There is a small fuze at the root of the rope that is strung with the talisman paper, and the length is different.After lift-off, the short fuze burned out first, the rope was quickly burned, and a string of talisman papers fell down like celestial maidens scattered flowers, falling soundlessly into the valley.

The fuzes were blown one by one, and more than a dozen kites seemed to rain talisman papers in the sky. These talisman papers fell silently and unnoticed, but once they hit the ground, they stuck tightly, whether it was grass tips or Treetops, whether rocks or gravel, are all places where they attach.

It took more than half an hour for hundreds of talisman papers to be scattered.The kite that went up last carried a pack of kerosene, and Qi Jun personally controlled it to fly over the fire and cut the fuse.

The heavy cowhide kite fell down and fell into the half-extinguished fire. When the kerosene met the fire, it ignited, and with a whistling sound, a half-day-high flame shot up, igniting a piece of talisman paper that fell beside it, sending out a bang. There was a muffled sound, like a small thunder.

This thunder caused thousands of thunders. Wherever the thunder and fire talisman landed, there were booms and bangs one after another, and clusters of flames shone. The strange thing was that they scorched the earth and rocks where they were attached, but they did not take advantage of the wind to blow them away. Spread outside.At this moment, if someone can take a closer look, they will find that these dots of fire are connected end to end in the valley, as if drawing a strange symbol.The bright part of this symbol is the thunder and fire talisman, while the dim part is the land lock talisman. Together, they look like a huge, blinking eye, looking at the chaotic valley.

It's a pity that the people in the valley didn't notice that they were being awakened from sleep, running around in panic.What are you afraid of when mining?I am most afraid of landslides.But now there are muffled bangs everywhere, and the ground under their feet seems to be shaking. Isn't this an earthquake?If the ground moves, the mine will collapse!Everyone was running for their lives, so there was no time to see what was on the ground.

"It's messed up!" Qi Jun punched his palm, stared at him for a moment, then turned to look at Zhibai, "What should we do now?"

Zhibai stood behind him, his cheeks were flushed by the wind on the mountain, before he opened his mouth to answer, he sneezed a lot, sniffed his nose and replied, "Go to the mountain pass. Among the five elements, metal produces water, and metal objects are destroyed by fire. Turned into water, the water flows to the lower place, the mountain pass is low, if the silver essence escapes, it should go there."

The corner of Qi Jun's mouth twitched, and he took out a handkerchief to wipe his nose: "Is it cold?" Touching that he was not wearing much, he simply took off his coat and put it on him, "Go back and drink a bowl of ginger soup. Really Yes, or a cultivator who can't even withstand a gust of wind?"

Zhibai sniffled and curled his lips: "Isn't it exhausting to draw symbols?"

Qi Jun's heart suddenly melted into water. Seeing that Bai was wearing his robe and walking with one foot deep and one foot shallow, he simply squatted down in front of him: "I will carry you on my back."

A group of guards were struck by lightning, and some wanted to volunteer to carry the national teacher, but they were severely pulled by his companions, who did not dare to make a sound, so they had to bow their heads together, as if there was gold to be picked on the ground.

Qi Jun and Zhibai didn't feel anything unusual at all.Qi Jun has been in the top position for a long time, and the officials are just fine, because they have different political opinions and conflicts from time to time, they have to maintain a demeanor in front of them; and the guards, inner prisons and palace ladies are all obedient people, and there is no need to worry about their ideas and vision.Zhibai did whatever he wanted, and was never moved by external objects—well, maybe someone came up and strangled him at this moment to prevent him from climbing on Qi Jun's back, he would obey, but because no guards dared to raise objections to the emperor , so Zhibai also climbed up.

The wind at the mountain pass was even stronger, and because it was downwind, the heat and smoke of the flames rushed towards our faces, making it hard for people to keep their eyes open.Everyone held their breath and waited for a moment, when suddenly a white shadow flashed on the path and three people appeared.

Although it is in the dark night, but with the light of the fire in the valley, even if someone comes out of the valley, they should be able to see clearly.But these three people seemed to emerge from the ground suddenly, without any warning. Even though everyone had been prepared for a long time, they still couldn't help being surprised.

These three people were neither miners nor private soldiers, but they were three old men. Some of them couldn't see their faces clearly in the dark night, but they saw a head of white hair as white as snow, shining silvery under the light of the fire in the distance.The three of them are about the same in stature, about eight feet tall, and all of them are leaning on a silver-white crutch with a dragon's head in their hands. Looking at their hair, they look like they are over seventy years old, but they walk briskly like young people. It's here.

Zhibai squatted behind Qi Jun, his breathing quickened with excitement, and seeing the three old men approaching, he suddenly shouted: "Get up!" A large net was pulled from under the feet of the three old men by the guards on both sides with all their strength. Rising up, wrapping people in it.

This was not unexpected, but the speed of the three old men was extremely fast. Even though the guards tried their best to tighten the net rope, one of them escaped from the net.A guard next to him got anxious and swung his knife to slash at him. The old man dodged to the side, and the blade swept over his head, cutting off half of his hair, but the old man disappeared suddenly.

Zhibai directed eight guards to weave this large net. The meshes are large and small, but the silk ropes used to weave the net are all soaked in cinnabar water.The net rope was tied up and attached to the two old people, it was like hot soup and woxue, watching the two old people's figures gradually shrink, and finally shrunk into two apricot-sized balls, shining silver Light, bumping back and forth in the net.The strange thing is that some of the meshes are bigger than these two balls, but the balls can't get out. Every time they get close to the net rope, they shrink back quickly, as if they are very afraid of this big net.

Zhibai came out from behind Qi Jun with a whoosh, jumped to the front of the net with one step, reached in with both hands, grabbed a ball with the other hand, and took it out from the net.As soon as the two balls were in his hands, he immediately calmed down, and even the dazzling silver light dimmed a little, as if a little downcast.

Qi Jun didn't stop him all at once, and ran over right after him: "What is this, you just grab it!" Youren Huaqiu, although he knew that this should be that silver spirit, but he just watched helplessly. This change is also horrifying, Zhibai just reaches out and grabs, what if he gets hurt!

Zhibai was elated, and he raised two silver balls in front of his eyes as if offering treasures: "Your Majesty, the silver essence that can transform into a human is far superior to the one that can transform into a white rooster. The amount of silver, I am afraid it is difficult to measure."

Qi Jun was shocked when he heard it, and suddenly remembered that one escaped, and hurriedly said: "Where is the one that slipped through the net just now?"

At this time, the valley was in chaos, and no one cared about it, so a guard took out a torch, shook it, and lit it on the ground.But the hair bun that was cut off just now disappeared without a trace, only in the grass where the crutch landed, there was a faint silver light.The guard took the knife and pulled it, and saw that there were strands of fine silver in the mud with a diameter of ten feet, all mixed in the mud and sand, and they could be separated after a little panning, and couldn't help being shocked: " Didn't it go underground?" He hurriedly dug down with a knife, only to find that the excavated place was also full of fine silver, and went deep into the ground, and he didn't know how deep he drilled.

But Zhibai waved his hand: "The silver spirit doesn't dare to stay here, it must have escaped, this is just a half-cut bun just now, even if there is silver, it is only a few thousand taels, not a threat."

Qi Jun firmly believed in his words: "Since this is the case, let's go back quickly, don't let people find out where we are, and it will be self-defeating."

Back at the inn, the sky was already pale.A group of people hid in the inn through the back door and entered the enclosed small courtyard. Only then did they heave a long sigh of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from their shoulders, and felt tired at the same time.

Then a guard went to ask for hot water, and everyone washed up.When Qi Jun came out of the clean room, he saw Bai lying on the table, his wet hair was scattered on his shoulders, and the tips of his hair were still dripping water, he didn't care, he just fiddled with the two silver balls on the table with great interest .

"Why don't you dry your hair first? Forget that you were sneezed by the wind on the mountain?" Qi Jun immediately sank his face when he saw him like this, walked over to pick up a dry handkerchief and threw it on his face on, "Wipe!"

"Look at this, forget it!" Zhibai smiled and didn't take it seriously, just rubbed a few dry handkerchiefs casually and put it on his head, pointing to the silver ball on the table, "Your Majesty, this is a lot of silver." .”

Qi Jun took a closer look, and found that the light of the two silver balls seemed much dimmer in the daytime, but they were extraordinarily soft. At first glance, they seemed to have no substance, just two balls of silver.Hearing Zhibai talk about money, he was also a little curious: "How much can there be?"

Zhibai laughed: "Think about it, Your Majesty, how many pieces of hair are there just by cutting it off?"

A small piece of hair can fill the ground with a radius of ten feet in fine silver, how much fine silver can a person who is eight feet tall and short bring?Let alone two!Afraid there are millions of taels?Qi Jun did the calculations, and couldn't help but be speechless: "Unexpectedly, Mrs. Ye found such a mine!" Thinking of the old man who escaped, he was a little worried, "Where can I escape to?"

Zhibai said affirmatively: "Don't worry, your majesty, there is a thunder and fire talisman to startle this time, Yinjing dare not stay nearby, I'm afraid it's already thousands of miles away at this moment, if King Ping wants to find it again, he absolutely can't!"

Qi Jun couldn't help laughing when he thought that Qizhang found that there was no more silver in the mine in a few days, and he didn't know how to be upset. In this way, the tax reduction in Shandong and the armament in the Northwest will be safe. Tell me, what reward do you want?"

Zhibai was not happy: "Could it be that I did this just to get a reward from the emperor?"

Qi Jun was taken aback.Zhibai always liked to bargain with him, thinking back in the southwest mountains, he would have been dragged down and beaten to death, and he still had the guts to play tricks with him, why is he unhappy now?

Zhibai really looked down, put two silver balls into his sleeves, turned around and threw himself on the bed.Qi Jun was stunned for a moment, then sat on the side of the bed and said, "What's the matter? I just think you have made a great contribution, and I just want to thank you—"

Zhibai lay face inward, and Qi Jun had no choice but to sit there with him. After a while, Zhibai quietly turned his head, but unexpectedly, Qi Jun was staring at him. Their eyes met, and Zhibai was suddenly caught. I'm so sorry, I stuck out my tongue and turned my face away again.

How could Qi Jun let him succeed, he immediately rushed down to hold him down, pulled his face and said: "It's very good, why are you getting angry, huh?"

A suspicious blush appeared on Zhibai's face, and he said vaguely: "The emperor kindly treats you like a donkey's liver and lungs..."

Qi Jun didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "I will return this to you as it is! I just want to give you something good, and you don't appreciate it."

Zhibai curled his lips: "If the emperor wants to give me something good, I will give it. What excuses do I need?"

Qi Jun was so angry that he tore his mouth, and the two rolled into a ball again.Qi Jun didn't sleep all night, and he kept worrying about his heart. After laughing for a while, he felt tired, held Zhibai in his arms, and fell into a deep sleep.

Zhibai didn't fall asleep, but stared at the bed curtain with wide eyes.The bed curtains in the inn can be good, but they are embroidered with flowers and plants according to the occasion, and no matter how good they are, they are just adding some grass and insects.There is a clump of grass embroidered on this bed curtain, and there are two grasshoppers in the grass.The embroidery work is mediocre, and the two grasshoppers look very rigid, and they are exactly the same, without even a change.

Zhibai was fascinated by it, and suddenly felt that the two grasshoppers standing side by side were himself and Qi Jun.On weekdays at the observatory, even though he was frugal, Qi Jun gave him many rewards, sending him all the good things.But those rewards seem to be different from the rewards that Qi Jun said today, and he can't tell what is the difference, but he just feels uncomfortable, but after thinking about it carefully, he feels that his discomfort is quite inexplicable.After thinking about it for a long time, he couldn't get in, and felt that Qi Jun's arms were warm but comfortable, so he closed his eyes and fell asleep...