Pingshan Port, as the sea dog said, is a real place where birds don't poop.
So there isn't even a town or village here, it's just called a seaport.
However, this name is only spread among sailors. Pingshan Port is often used as a unit of measurement when talking about how big a place is.
With great difficulty, Yin Xiu and Ma Xiaoyu found a restaurant on this island.
"Five pieces of Dongpo meat, a chicken, a steamed fish, six hairy crabs, a pot of rice wine, two bowls of rice, one bowl in a sea bowl, and by the way, to supplement vitamins, stir-fry a plate of Qingjiang vegetables, that's it. , that’s enough.”
The guy swallowed and said, "Two people?"
"Well, there are two of us. I have two pieces of Dongpo meat and she has three pieces. Is there any problem?"
After saying that, Yin Xiu turned to look at Ma Xiaoyu, "Is that enough?"
Ma Xiaoyu nodded with satisfaction, "No more, no less, just right. Let's add more soup."
"Okay, wait a minute..." The guy ran away as if running away.
After a while, the food was put out and the table was filled.
"How is it? Are you satisfied now?" Yin Xiu asked.
"It's much better than eating salted fish and dried meat on the boat." Ma Xiaoyu picked up the chopsticks.
After a while, the two of them swept away the food on the table, leaving only a few plates that were as clean as new.
Wiping her mouth, Yin Xiu said: "I heard people say that girls are lucky if they know how to eat."
"My good luck was all gone when I met you."
Yin Xiu narrowed her eyes slightly, "You mean, meeting me cost you all your luck?"
"No, I mean, I haven't seen anything good since I met you."
Ma Xiaoyu folded two stacks of paper towels in her hand and wiped her mouth with lingering thoughts.
Yin Xiu smiled awkwardly, then turned to look at the middle-aged man sitting on the other side of the restaurant.
It was not meal time at the moment, and apart from the two of them, the only other person in the restaurant was the middle-aged man.
The man was somewhat stout and had two beards on his mouth, which were trimmed very carefully. He was also wearing a silk coat that ordinary people had never worn, giving him a luxurious and elegant feel.
"Is it convenient?"
He smiled at Yin Xiu and glanced at Ma Xiaoyu again, "Will this disturb your date?"
"What kind of date? It's just a matter of having a meal, talking, shopping, and walking outside together." Ma Xiaoyu said coldly.
"Come on, you're welcome." Yin Xiu shook the wine bottle in his hand at him.
"In this case, it would be disrespectful for me to refuse."
The middle-aged man came over.
"Brother, clean up the table, serve a few plates of food and drinks, and bring us a jug of wine." Yin Xiu greeted.
"You're welcome, that's too polite."
The middle-aged man tapped on the countertop, his index finger wearing a green thumb ring particularly conspicuous.
"Oh, I'm sorry, haven't you introduced yourself yet? My name is Ruan Tianyuan, and I am a traveling businessman."
"I'm Yin Xiu." Yin Xiu cupped his hands with him.
Ma Xiaoyu ignored him and just ate snacks.
Ruan Tianyuan didn't take it seriously and just chatted with Yin Xiu.
"I hear your accent is from Yujing, brother. Are you a stranger in the imperial capital?" Yin Xiu asked.
Ruan Tianyuan waved his hand, "Businessmen travel all over the country and live in pursuit of profit. They go wherever they have money. They just learn to speak from that place. In fact, my ancestors are from Jiangsu and Zhejiang."
"Oh."
Yin Xiu nodded and threw a braised vermicelli sausage into his mouth, "The current situation is chaotic and it is not easy to be a businessman."
Ruan Tianyuan sighed, "How can anything be easy these days?"
"That's right, come on, stop talking about those unpleasant things and drink."
"Come!"
After Yin Xiu poured a glass of wine for each of them, he drank his own glass in one gulp.
Ruan Tianyuan held the wine glass in his hand, put it under his nose and smelled it.
He wandered around and smelled, shook and smelled, and sniffed again with his left and right nostrils. Then he drank the wine slowly and let out a hearty sigh from the tip of his nose.
After finishing a sip, he saw Yin Xiu staring at him with interest. He said sheepishly: "Yellow wine has the aroma of flowers. The longer it is aged, the richer the aroma and the milder the entrance. Although the wine here is only brewed in a small workshop , but it also has a unique charm.
It feels bitter in your mouth, and you feel acid reflux after swallowing it, but there is such a faint sweetness in the middle that makes you feel comfortable. ”
"Nostalgia is the taste of homesickness."
Yin Xiu poured another glass, "People who have been away from home for a long time will inevitably have this thing."
"That's it."
Ruan Tianyuan suddenly realized it and cherished the wine glass in his hand even more.
“When you’re out and about, it’s rare to have such a leisurely drink, right?”
Yin Xiu added another glass for him, "Just like these days, the world is not peaceful, very uneven.
First, the Wenling White Lotus Sect rebelled, and then Prince Su was assassinated, which caused a huge commotion and disturbed everyone's peace. ”
"Who says it's not?" Ruan Tianyuan smiled, "However, even if there is a turmoil outside, it doesn't stop the people from eating at home, right? Just like us now, we can still drink a glass of hot wine in the current situation, that's all It’s the best gift.”
"You mean, good people are rewarded?"
Ruan Tianyuan was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said: "I didn't say that, but you can think of it this way, if the good people in the world are not rewarded, is it possible that the bad people can be rewarded?"
"It's hard to say, that's how things are in the world, right, Jieyuan?"
Yin Xiu suddenly put the wine bottle on the table and looked at him lightly.
Ruan Tianyuan, or rather Jie Yuan, suddenly stopped raising his glass. After a long time, he smiled and said, "How do you know?"
Yin Xiu didn't speak, but took out a business card from his pocket and handed it over.
Jie Yuan took it and took a look and found that it was the business card of his own firm, and it was also a fake name.
"You found me based on this alone?" He shook the business card in his hand.
"This alone is absolutely impossible."
Yin Xiu took out another list from his arms, which was a registration form for port employees in a certain place in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and then he pointed to one of the names.
"Why Lin Yun and Kong Qingpeng were able to intercept the next ship so smoothly, and why their route was so accurate? Not only was it because you were the person who handled the customs clearance procedures for this ship, you even bought an extra ship for the sake of insurance. Tickets.
Then you use this forged identity to board the ship, but leave the ship at the last stop and take a boat to leave, avoiding the next disaster, leaving only a bunch of Tenri believers on the ship.
After the mission failed, you left there without hesitation and ran to Pingshan Port to take refuge. This was the second step of the plan you prepared for yourself. ”
Hearing Yin Xiu's analysis, Jie Yuan smiled and turned the business card in his hand, "You can trace me so quickly. Your work efficiency shows that you are not from the imperial court. So, who are you?" "Why, The leader of the Tenri Sect, who thinks he can control people’s hearts, is sometimes confused?”
"Oh, I've found out everything for you."
Jie Yuan smiled and said, "So, who are you?"
Yin Xiu didn't say anything, but put a piece of talisman paper on the business card.
"Oh? Maoshan Taoist priest?"
Jie Yuan raised his eyelids slightly, "Most of those Taoist priests in Qintian Prison are from Longhu Mountain, so you are not a secret chess piece of some adult in Qintian Prison, nor are you from Qintian Prison, nor are you a secret agent of the imperial court, so you are , are you a nosy person?”
“Not bad at all.”
Yin Xiu took back the talisman, "But now it's me who's asking you, not you who's asking me."
"What do you think I would tell you?"
Jie Yuan clasped his hands together and leaned back until he was leaning on the chair, obviously not wanting to talk to Yin Xiu.
Yin Xiu smiled and said, "I'm just here to say a few words to you, and then I'll leave."
"Huh? You didn't come to me for revenge?" Jie Yuan was a little confused.
"Revenge? Today is the first time the two of us have met. What grudge do you think we can have? Besides, I have very few relatives and friends, so what's the point of revenge?"
"I told you earlier, it made me nervous."
Jie Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the jug and started pouring wine again, "By the way, how did you know?"
Yin Xiu didn't answer him.
Of course he would not tell Jie Yuan that he had used [Bloody Memories] and directly contacted Kong Qingpeng's blood to obtain most of the memories related to him.
Otherwise, if Yin Xiu was given another month, he would not be able to connect the seemingly benevolent middle-aged businessman in front of him with the scheming leader of the Tianli Sect.
After a pause, Jie Yuan said again: "Well, each sect has its own methods and means. If you don't want to tell me, I won't ask. Anyway, you have indeed found me. Tell me, what do you have? Do you want to tell me something?”
"It's not an explanation, it's an exhortation, or a warning." Yin Xiu knocked on the table.
"Oh?"
Jie Yuan's eyes flashed coldly, "I'm all ears."
"This is something that will make you more uncomfortable than killing you. It's very simple. I'll say it again, listen to it, go back and think about it in bed at night, and you'll understand."
Yin Xiu took a deep breath.
"Give up your dream of competing for the world."
"Huh?"
Jie Yuan suddenly chuckled, "Why, just because of one or two failures? Have you ever heard of a man named Liu Xuande? This is what I saw in a martial arts novel. He was in his twenties. When I was still weaving straw mats and making shoes, I thought I would never get ahead in this life
Later, his classmates funded him with a sum of money and a team of soldiers, so that he could join the ranks of chasing the world and stand shoulder to shoulder with the heroes of Wei Wu.
But during this period, he continued to fail and wander around, running from one site to another, always being someone else's little brother. It wasn't until he was in his forties that he had his own site. Later, he became a hegemon and was recognized by future generations. He was called Emperor Zhaolie. ”
"Do you think you are Liu Bei?"
"My surname is not Liu, but I think I am capable enough to hold the world in the palm of my hand."
Jie Yuan opened his palm and turned it up and down, "In troubled times, heroes rise together."
"It is indeed a troubled time, but you are over. If I can find it here, will the court not be able to find it?"
Yin Xiu ignored Jie Yuan's surprised expression and just continued: "That's why I told you to give up your fantasy and run away directly. This way you can save a life."
"You think I value this life?"
Jie Yuan unbuttoned his sleeves and placed two daggers only as long as his palms on the table.
“My family runs a shop, selling everything from rice to groceries.
When it was handed down to my father's generation, there was still a plaque given by the emperor hanging at the door of the head office. When locals mentioned businessmen, they would only think of our family. ”
But I have not been interested in abacus beads since I was a child. What I like to play with are knives, large and small, from the ring-headed broadsword used by street performers to files only used for carpentry. I like to play with them all.
Later one day my father threw all my knives into the river. He told me that those who play with knives and fight for their lives with knives are despicable.
I cried and said that those who played with knives were all martial arts masters and strongmen, very majestic and handsome.
But he just smiled and told me that no matter how good he was with the knife, he was still despicable and not worthy of respect.
I asked him again, what does it mean to not be mean? Is that what you call respect?
My father pointed to the plaque and told me: Only those who can make others take out knives for you, and those who can tell others to go through life and death for you with just one sentence, are respected. You should be such a person in the future, not those despicable people. . ”
Jie Yuan pushed one of the daggers in front of Yin Xiu, "What do you want?"
"The coastal defense map, the coastal defense map from the port city to Tianjin, I want that."
The reason why the Tianli Sect's previous operations were so smooth was because Jieyuan had such a thing in his hands.
And now if Yin Xiu wants to go to the waters outside the customs, which has become increasingly heavily guarded, he must first break through the water between the port and the city to avoid patrols.
Therefore, the drawing indicating the scope of the inspection is particularly important.
"Are you also here to fight for the world?" Jie Yuan asked.
"I'm different from you." Yin Xiu said calmly.
"Okay," Jie Yuan took the blueprint out of his pocket and put it on the table, "If you beat me, the coastal defense map will be yours."
"Don't run away?" Yin Xiu glanced at him.
"One code returns to another code, one thing is exchanged for another thing, there are no more."
"Okay."
The two of them sat down and picked up the dagger respectively, put the tip of the knife against their arms, turned to themselves, faced each other with the handles of the daggers, and touched each other lightly without moving apart.
Ma Xiaoyu seemed to have no idea what was going on, just sitting next to Yin Xiu and cracking melon seeds.
She calmly picked one from the plate and put it in her mouth.
knock!
Cold light flashed.
The green wrench on Jie Yuan's hand was broken, and there was a bloodstain on his face, from his chin to under his eyes, bleeding continuously.
"I left this scar. You can mention it to others in the future and treat it as the biggest conversation piece for the rest of your life. You can be proud of it."
Yin Xiu put the knife back on the table, took the coastal defense map and put it in his pocket.
Ma Xiaoyu also stood up, gently took Yin Xiu's hand, and walked out of the store with him.
After they left, Jie Yuan still sat on the table.
At this time, the wound on his face was no longer bleeding, and was covered with a layer of black blood scab, which looked quite scary.
His lips opened and closed a few times, tears streaming from the corners of his eyes, staining his clothes red again.
Jie Yuan looked at the surprised man on one side.
"Are there any ships that go to Southeast Asia and never come back?" (End of Chapter)