Chapter 153: Set Off Towards Dragon City!

  Zhou Mingxuan heard this, but had an air of indifference, and said languidly, "I still have a reputation for self-awareness, there are many people stronger than me, the position of imperial son-in-law is not something I can aspire to. I'm just going through the motions, on the other hand, it's you, Xiao brother, who has a relationship with the crown prince, and I've heard that the ninth king also highly praises you, this time in Long City, you might have an opportunity!"

  Xiao Yun shook his head and didn't speak, he was still very clear about his own weight, although he had broken through to the middle of the music worker in the past two days, but even Zhou Mingxuan, a musician at the initial stage, felt that he had no chance of winning, let alone him? It's basically hopeless!

  ——

  On the official road, two fast horses galloped by, raising a trail of dust!

  "Brother Zhou, do you know the way? Don't get lost!"

  It was the season when autumn tigers were rampant, and under the scorching sun, Xiao Yun wiped away the dense sweat on his forehead, looking at Zhou Mingxuan leading the way in front. Xiao Yun knew that this guy had lived for thirty years but had never been to Long City once, so he couldn't help but worry about taking a wrong turn.

  "Don't worry, this is the official road, it won't be wrong!"

  Zhou Mingxuan casually replied to Xiao Yun, "There's a teahouse up ahead. It's too hot today, let's take a break and rest for a while before continuing when it cools down!"

  Xiao Yun's hand shaded his eyes as he looked ahead, and in the distance, at the foot of the mountain, a tea house was faintly visible. After rushing for an entire morning, although they had horses to ride, under the scorching sun, both of them were already drenched in sweat, hungry and hot, and couldn't take it anymore.

  "Alright!"

  Xiao Yun responded with a sentence, and the two of them dismounted their horses and walked towards the tea house in front, each leading their exhausted fine horses.

  "Boss, bring a pot of iced tea and two baskets of steamed buns!" Zhou Mingxuan shouted loudly as he walked into the teahouse, wiping his sweat.

  "Uh, sir, do you want a vegetable bun or a meat bun?" The boss lady came out carrying a pot of cool tea, looking like a simple rural woman, but Zhou Mingxuan's request for both vegetable and meat buns left her somewhat bewildered.

  "It doesn't matter whether it's vegetarian or meat-based, they're all the same!" Zhou Mingxuan said.

  "Alright!" The landlady responded with a single word and immediately ran off to fetch the buns.

  Zhou Mingxuan lifted his clothes to fan himself, but complained in his mouth, "This day is too hot, I knew we should have left later. My dad really knows it's a waste of time, but still let me go. It's unbearable."

  "Stop complaining, the more you complain, the hotter it gets. A calm mind is naturally cool!" Xiao Yun shook his head. Zhou Wenting sent Zhou Mingxuan to Longcheng, of course not for the position of son-in-law, but because the princess was getting married and as a young master of Pingyang Houfu, he had to attend the ceremony. Even if he couldn't become the son-in-law, it would be good to get familiar with the royal family.

  The teahouse wasn't very big, but there were still quite a few customers, apart from some local villagers, there were also some traveling merchants, each of them either complaining about the heat or chatting idly about Zhang's family and Li's family.

  "Did you hear that Meng's little grandson has gone crazy?" A shirtless old man at the next table, with a dry cigarette in his mouth, said to an old man with a fan in his hand across from him.

  "Who told you that? That little easterner from the Meng family is quite clever, don't talk nonsense!" said the old man in a sweat-stained shirt disbelievingly.

  "Who's talking nonsense?" The old man with a bare upper body looked somewhat displeased, puffed on his pipe twice, and lowered his voice. "Yesterday, Xiao Dongzi went up the mountain to chop firewood and didn't come back until evening. I even helped look for him and only found him at midnight. He was crazy and stupid, crying and making a fuss, saying he had encountered evil spirits. If you don't believe me, go see for yourself. This morning, Meng Guofu went to Lingtang Temple to find the master to exorcise the evil spirits."

  "Old man, you say there are ghosts on this mountain?" Zhou Mingxuan's curiosity was heavy, and he couldn't help but strike up a conversation with the old man.

  The old man with the bare arms turned his face, saw that the two were dressed in finery, and was certain they were of noble birth. He flipped up his big yellow teeth and grinned at Zhou Mingxuan, "Whether it's a ghost or not, I don't know, but Little Dongzi was indeed frightened out of his wits!"

  "You old man is just talking nonsense, maybe you've encountered a big bug and got scared by it!" said the old man in the opposite sweat shirt.

  "What a big worm? We haven't had any big worms on this mountain for many years!" The old man with the bare upper body curled his mouth, "I guess, it must be that girl from Ding Laoer's family who is causing trouble."

  "Ha! You think Ding's daughter is still alive? She's been dead for decades!" said the old man in a sweat-stained shirt.

  The old man with a bare arm said, "You may not believe it, but do you know where we found Little Dongzi last night? It was in the woods where Ding's daughter hanged herself. That place is now eerie!"

  "Alas, it's all Meng Guofu's fault!" The old man in the sweat-drenched shirt sighed.

  At this time, the landlady walked over and put a pot of tea on the table. "I'm telling you two old men, can't you not talk about these things in my place? You scared away my customers, are you going to compensate me?"

  The two old men exchanged a sly smile and both shut their mouths.

  Zhou Mingxuan listened on the side, but was full of curiosity, "Old man, what are you talking about with this DING family servant girl and SUN family young master? What's going on?"

  "Young man, don't ask so many questions, there's nothing good to ask!" The old man with a bare torso shook his head, "I don't want to gossip about others behind their backs."

  Sweat! Just now wasn't it said behind his back that he was short?

  "Old man, tell me about it, and this thing is yours!" Zhou Mingxuan's curiosity was piqued, and he couldn't help but take out two silver ingots and place them on the table.

  The old man saw it and almost got choked by a mouthful of smoke, his eyes fell on the silver ingot and couldn't move away.

  "This young master, what he knows I also know, let me tell you!" The old man with the bare waist was still in a daze, but the sweaty old man next to him hastened to speak up. Two taels of silver, for them, was a large sum of money.

  "Get out of here!"

  The old man with a bare upper body cursed and scolded, facing Zhou Mingxuan, "This old man doesn't understand anything, I'll tell you!"

  As he spoke, the old man with a bare upper body opened his mouth, "This Meng Guofu, is considered one of our village's wealthy families. I think it was about 40 years ago, Meng Guofu had an eldest son named Meng Guangren, who was famous throughout the region as a talented young man. The Ding family was also a wealthy household in our village, and Meng Guofu had a good relationship with them. Ding Weifeng had a daughter named Ding Xiang, who was born beautiful. Ding Weifeng wanted to marry his daughter to Meng Guofu's son, and the two families would form an alliance through marriage. It was considered a great match in our village. However, people have unpredictable fortunes, and Ding Weifeng went out on business and encountered bandits, who killed him. The Ding family lost its pillar of support and quickly declined. At that time, several large music schools in Longcheng were recruiting apprentices, Meng Guofu wanted to send his son to take the exam in Longcheng, for the sake of Meng Guangren's bright future, he broke off the engagement. Alas, afterwards...

  "What happened later?" Zhou Mingxuan asked, Xiao Yun was also somewhat curious.

  The old man with the red vest continued to puff on his pipe, while the old man in the sweat-drenched shirt took over the conversation and said, "Later, after a series of setbacks, Ding Yaotou became so despondent that he ran up into the mountains and hanged himself from a crooked-necked tree!"

  "Huh?"

  Zhou Mingxuan's face stiffened upon hearing the words, and Xiao Yun shook his head. Such a tragedy might be unfolding on Leshan Continent at any moment.

  "What else?" Zhou Mingxuan asked.

  The old man with the bare arms said, "Later on, when Ding Yaotou was around, many people went up the mountain to hunt at night and passed by that forest. They all said they could hear a woman crying inside. No one knew how it started, but as the story spread, some people said it was haunted. Meng Guofu went to Lingtang Temple and found a master to perform a ritual, telling people to burn down that forest. It wasn't until then that things slowly calmed down. It's strange to say, but that crooked-necked tree was also burned, yet its stump remained, covered in patterns like tear stains. Some people said it was Ding Yaotou's spirit that wouldn't disperse. Yesterday, Meng Guofu's youngest grandson was the one who got scared silly in that forest."

  "That's really what goes around comes around!"

  Zhou Mingxuan shook his head somewhat shamefully and after listening to the two old men's words, he felt that Meng Guofu's actions were quite shameful.

  "Who says it isn't?" The landlady also came over and started chatting, "Speaking of which, Dingxiang was still my cousin, just like that she's gone, really a pity. Now that piece of forest has grown back up again, inside are blooming with fragrant flowers, Dingxiang's spirit must still be wandering around the forest, the Meng family is also considered to have gotten their retribution, these years, they've been declining more and more."