C5 Li zicheng

The city gate was wide open, and in front of it were piles of wooden posts with sharp and bright blades embedded in them. Beside the horse, there was a group of soldiers in cloth armor. There were about ten of them, holding long spears in their hands. About a hundred victims were scattered in groups in front of the city gate. Their dull eyes looked over here from time to time as if they were expecting something. More victims gathered on the hillside not far away, and the whole mountain was covered with caves of various sizes, which were crowded with thin, yellow, ragged victims, sheltering from the scorching sun.

"Uncle, is this the elm forest?" Jiang Shuo asked the victims in the shade.

The victims lifted their heads from their torn collars, looking at Jiang Shuo with their cloudy, dusty eyes. Opening their dry lips, they weakly said, "Here it is."

Jiang Shuo felt sorry for him and could not bear to look anymore. He abandoned the victims and walked straight towards the city gate. Walking up, Jiang Shuo turned around, intending to pass through the gap between the lines, but he was stopped by a soldier who quickly said, "Go back, this Yulin City is not for you refugees to enter."

"I am not a disaster victim." Jiang Shuo said confidently. After a long and arduous journey, Jiang Shuo's hair was covered in mud and dirt, like a pile of dried weeds on his scalp. His entire body was dirty, but he never treated himself as a disaster victim.

"If you claim that you are not a victim, then do you have a fixed residence in Yulin City?" The soldier lifted his chin, seeing through Jiang Shuo's sophistry, showing his impatience.

Jiang Shuo was startled, and then asked, "Why don't you count me as a victim? Who are you, and why aren't you letting me enter the city? Don't tell me this city is yours?"

The soldiers were stunned for a moment before recovering and saying angrily, "Behind us is the imperial court. Under the heavens, the earth, the shore, the ground, the ground you are standing on, the sky above your head, even you and me, all belong to the imperial court. Let alone this insignificant Yulin City?"

"Court? A king? " In the Crimson Cloud Village, Jiang Shuo had learned the ways of the world, such as benevolent, righteous, intelligent and so on. Although the dynasty had been involved, due to the closed environment, the Great Elder's explanation still could not be understood.

"Stop playing the fool here, scram!" The impatient soldier grabbed Jiang Shuo by the back of the neck, forcefully threw him out. Unexpectedly, Jiang Shuo's feet felt like they were rooted to the ground, and he couldn't move at all.

Noticing Jiang Shuo's resistance, the other soldiers crowded around him, the weapons in their hands shining brightly and coldly.

"Soldier brothers, please show mercy." At this moment, a young man walked in quickly from outside the city. The young man stood in the middle and dragged the leader of the soldiers aside. He took out a bunch of coins from his bosom and secretly stuffed them into the young man's palm, "Brother Soldier, that was my little brother just now. He was a bit stupid when he was young, and ended up in such a sorry state after losing him along the way with me. "We are not the victims, we are here to do business in Yulin."

The soldier weighed the coins, appearing to be in a difficult position. "You know this, these victims are all mixed up. If put in the city, it would be hard to avoid stealing, which would affect the security."

"That's right, that's true. I must trouble you all to guard the city gate." The youth bent over and stuffed a few more coins in. He said softly, "Think of it as me asking everyone here to drink some tea to ease the heat."

The soldier's face finally revealed a satisfied smile. "Be more careful next time. Don't let your brother wander around outside like this. The others won't be as easy to talk to as me."

With that, he waved his hand behind him, and his companions sheathed their weapons and moved to either side of him, making way for him.

The young man nodded and bowed in agreement, dragging Jiang Shuo into the city.

The disaster had a certain effect on Yulin City as well. The shops on both sides of the street were quiet, with only a handful of vendors lazily shouting under the eaves. Occasionally, a couple of pedestrians would walk by with their heads lowered, hurrying on their way without saying a single word. The huge city was terrifyingly quiet. However, compared to the victims outside the city, their clothing and looks were not bad. The several zhang tall city wall separated the civilians into two completely different worlds.

Even when he was dragged into the city by the young man, Jiang Shuo was still confused. "Who are you, why are you helping me?"

"My name is Li Zi Cheng. As for why I helped you … " Li Zi Cheng's clever expression suddenly became gloomy, and he laughed bitterly: "Among all the victims in this world, there is only one person who can help."

The smile was full of helplessness and bitterness, without any pretence at all, which resonated with Jiang Shuo. Thinking back to what happened, he couldn't help but shake his head and sigh, "Along the way, I saw that the whole forest was stripped of a layer of skin, and the roots of the grasses under the soil were dug clean. There is no longer anything left alive. These victims were forced to leave their homes, as if they had placed their trust in Yulin City, but in the end, they were ruthlessly cut off from it. It is said that the Imperial Court's mere paper prohibition order has crushed their only chance of survival. How cruel is this? "

Li Zicheng looked deeply at Jiang Shuo, not expecting him to say such words, he could not help but echo him softly, "Who knows, the government will kill and rob you. What can the citizens do to make such a decision?"

"Now that there is no grass in the wild and no dogs in the village, and the people are displaced, isn't the court at fault as well?" Jiang Shuo could not help but blurt out what he wanted to say.

Li Zicheng shuddered, looking at Jiang Shuo with shock and astonishment. After reacting, he immediately pulled Jiang Shuo to his side, putting his index finger in front of his mouth to indicate for him to be quiet, and turned around to observe. Seeing that the soldiers at the city gate didn't hear him, his tensed nerves finally relaxed a little.

Seeing the other's performance, Jiang Shuo vaguely understood that the position of the government was high and the people were very respectful.

After a moment, Li Zi Cheng let go of Jiang Shuo and looked at him with interest. "I haven't asked your name yet." Although Jiang Shuo's words were bold, but wasn't this the thought that had been running through Li Zicheng's mind? He could not help but want to befriend them.

Jiang Shuo told him his name. Li Zi Cheng generously patted Jiang Shuo's shoulder, and happily said: "Brother Jiang, I still need to hurry to the Hundred Flowers Sect, I can only help you to this point. If you have any difficulties, you can go to the Hundred Flowers Sect to find me. "I still have some money here. You should take it and change into a set of clothes. Remember, you can't be too ostentatious in the city. Even if you get caught, I won't be able to save you."

With that, Li Zicheng took out a few coins and gave it to Jiang Shuo, waving goodbye and turned to leave.

"Brother Li, please wait." Jiang Shuo thought of Chen Zhentian's words to him, and called Li Zicheng, "I also want to go to the Hundred Flowers Sect. I wonder if Brother Li would mind taking me there?"

"You're also going to the Hundred Flowers Sect?" Li Zi Cheng raised his eyebrows, he did not expect it to be such a coincidence, "Where are you going?"

"There are some injuries on my body that have yet to completely recover, so I want to go there to treat them." Jiang Shuo answered truthfully.

"That's great. Come, I'll take you there." Li Zi Cheng waved at Jiang Shuo. Along the way, Li Zi Cheng specially brought Jiang Shuo to change into a clean set of clothes. The two of them turned three blocks and saw a grand house on the side of the street. Green tiles and white walls, magnificent, in the low houses suddenly towering. In contrast to the quiet and secluded surroundings, there was a bustling crowd of people gathered in front of the gate. It was bustling with activity, quite lively. Judging from their attire and attire, they seemed to be from all over the country, men, women, old, young, all of the Three Churches and Six Streams.

"Looks like it's not over yet. It's not in vain for me to rush over from Mi Lian." Li Zi Cheng raised his arm to wipe the perspiration on his forehead.

This was the first time Jiang Shuo saw so many people at the same time, and he could not help but mutter in surprise, "This..." What exactly is this Hundred Flowers Sect? "

"The Hundred Flowers Sect was originally made up of a group of wandering doctors. In recent years, the Imperial Court gave the Hundred Flowers Sect a strong support due to the natural calamity that had struck the entire nation and the outbreak of epidemics. The Hundred Flowers Sect had set up branches in various places, mainly to treat the commoners' illnesses for free. Therefore, they were highly respected by the commoners. It had a high reputation for saving the dying and helping the injured. It had attracted a large number of famous doctors and experts from the Mortal Realm. Although it does not participate in the Martial Arts Competition, but the people of the martial world have subconsciously treated it as a proper and upright sect. " Li Zi Cheng explained simply, his tone full of yearning.

"Brother Li, then why did you come to the Hundred Flowers Sect?"

"Of course it is to become a disciple. To learn a good medical technique and use it to save the people of this world. When I heard that the Yu Lin Hundred Flowers Sect is recruiting, I immediately rushed over. " Li Zi Cheng looked forward to it, he changed the topic and invited, "Brother Jiang, since you are so close to me, how about joining the Hundred Blossom Sect with me?"

Jiang Shuo thought for a moment and nodded in agreement. He had just arrived in the outside world and desperately needed an identity. The purpose of the Hundred Blossom Sect was very suitable for him, not to mention he also had Li Zi Cheng as his companion, so he had no reason to disagree.

Seeing that Jiang Shuo had agreed, Li Zi Cheng immediately pulled him to the door.

There were even more people in the yard, which surprised Jiang Shuo. "These people are here to study medicine to help the world?"

"This …" Li Zi Cheng paused, then shook his head: "Of course not. Many of them were born rich, and just wanted to use the Hundred Flowers Sect as a stepping stone to establish a relationship with the imperial government. "

Jiang Shuo thought to himself, so he was pulled to the front by Li Zi.

At the foot of the stairs in front of the hall, a long square table had been set up with ten herbs. The rules of the selection were to write down their names and recognize five of them to pass.

An old man with a white beard leaned against a rattan chair in front of the hall and slowly waved his fan. Occasionally, he would raise his eyelids to take a glance and then return to his lazy appearance of closing his eyes and resting his mind.

Li Zicheng grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and placed them together in front of a bunch of herbs. He stared at them, scratching his ears and cheeks.

"This is too difficult. Sigh, I was too naive. We might not even be able to make it through this selection." Li Zicheng looked up at Jiang Shuo with a worried look, only to see that Jiang Shuo's paper was filled with words. "Even if you don't know it, you can't give up, can you? Make up a few names and hand them over?"