Chapter 9 A Kang
Although Dangshan is often called a "county", it is the seat of Huizhou after all, and the hometown of Zhu Wen, so it is quite large in scale.

By the time the mule carts were approaching Dangshan from the suburbs, it was almost evening. The evening light was fading away, but from afar, the outline of a city could be seen emerging on the plain, stretching from east to west and from north to south.

At this time, the government office had already closed, so the old farmer led the two men directly into his house.

At night, the old farmer's wife treated Xiao Yan and the girl to a meal of corn rice, bacon, and pickles, which filled their stomachs.

After soaking his feet and washing up after dinner, the old farmer heated the earthen kang in his son’s bedroom and took the two of them in to rest.

After all, it was the middle of winter, and the snow and wind that had rested for a day started to blow again. Fortunately, although this house looked simple, it was very warm to live in.

The girl was a little embarrassed, but on the surface she still pretended to be calm.

There's no way, this ordinary family's house only has two bedrooms.

If she wasn't afraid of arousing suspicion, Ji Ruxue could stay in the firewood shed for a night, but she had no choice at this moment.

Now, there is only one earthen kang in this room, and only one quilt.

Since they had accepted the fact that they were a young couple in the evening, they had no right to let others arrange it that way.

Ji Ruxue lowered her voice and emphasized word by word to Xiao Yan across from her: "I don't want to sleep with you."

After coming out of Zuiyin Tower, Xiao Yan has always behaved very strongly, but she does not submit to him.

This kid not only took advantage of others, but also went back on his word and bullied others. Moreover, today she was chased by him for hundreds of miles, which made her very angry.

"Then you sleep on the floor."

Xiao Yan didn't need to argue with her, but he still joked: "And if you really can't stand it, you can go outside and sleep under the snow."

"Oh, so what if I sleep on the ground!"

Ji Ruxue snorted lightly, but was a little confused about how to sleep on the floor.

"Okay, sleep on the kang."

Xiao Yan turned around, leaned against the corner of the earthen kang, and untied his quilted clothes with his hands.

The girl was still surprised at his generosity, but now she was shocked and stepped back cautiously: "What are you doing?"

Xiao Yan glanced at her and ignored her, then lifted up his underwear and sweatshirt, and untied the bandages on his chest one by one. The innermost layer, but blood could be seen oozing out by the firelight.

Ji Ruxue had a cold face, but was secretly surprised in her heart.

Xiao Yan's injuries had already healed a lot, so it seemed that the wound had just opened up a little.

She sneered, and took out a small bottle from her bosom, and then snorted at Xiao Yan, "This is a special wound medicine, apply it."

"No need."

Xiao Yan freed up one hand, took out a herb from his sleeve, crushed it with his internal force, and applied it all over the wound.

Finally, he wrapped the gauze again, crossed his arms over his chest, and was about to close his eyes and go to sleep.

Ji Ruxue gritted her teeth and climbed onto the earthen kang, covering herself with a quilt.

But after a moment, she sat up from the kang with a guilty look on her face and said stiffly, "This bed can accommodate two people. Otherwise, you can sleep on it and it won't be a problem for me to rest below."

"I won't fight with a little girl. Just go to sleep peacefully."

"Can……"

"Okay, take a rest. You don't have to be afraid of me. I'm not very interested in your two taels of meat."

"I wish you would freeze to death!"

Ji Ruxue was furious and no longer insisted. She just covered her head and lay down.

----

The next day, Ji Ruxue suddenly woke up when she heard the crowing of a rooster.

She turned around and saw Xiao Yan still leaning against the wall with his eyes narrowed.

The girl breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the warrior was able to keep warm.

There were noises coming from outside early in the morning. Ji Ruxue had extremely sensitive hearing and could tell that it was the sound of an old man preparing breakfast.

She immediately got down from the kang and couldn't help calling Xiao Yan, "Wake up, wake up."

"What's the matter?"

"We should report it to the police."

"?"

Xiao Yan was puzzled, but after hearing the noise outside, he understood.

The people of the country have always only paid attention to two meals, one at noon and one in the evening, and the food is generally thin.

This family does not look like a wealthy farmer.

He didn't expect that this girl would be so thoughtful, so he said, "No problem, we can compensate them later."

"You don't have any money."

"Are you always so serious?" Xiao Yan was amused and asked, "According to the information from your Huanyinfang, how is the Xuanming Sect distributed?"

Ji Ruxue was a little confused and replied: "Aren't you a bad person? You don't know these things?"

"This organization has been disbanded for thirty years, and I haven't had the opportunity to learn more about it formally."

"I'll believe you for now." The girl glanced at him and said, "According to the Xuanming Sect's system, there are two Hades Emperors and Ghost Kings who jointly govern the Xuanming Sect. They are respectively held by Zhu Wen's second son Zhu Yougui and adopted son Zhu Youwen. Under them are Meng Po, two judges, and several Lords of the Palace. Further down, each state has a branch office, and in addition to the heads of each branch office, there are five Lords of Hell in the east, west, south, north and center who are in charge of five places."

She thought for a moment and said, "According to rumors, there are also Black and White Impermanence, who are only at Meng Po's disposal. As for the countless followers under them, we mostly call them 'ghost soldiers' or 'ghost soldiers'."

The information Ji Ruxue provided was very clear and concise. After Xiao Yan thought about it, he asked, "That is to say, there is also a branch of Xuanming Sect in Huizhou."

"Exactly."

Ji Ruxue nodded slightly, but suddenly realized something and said in surprise: "You want to..."

"That's right." Xiao Yan agreed, and at the same time drew a sketch on the ground with the tip of his boot, saying: "If you and I go back to Caozhou now, it would be like a blind man fishing, and it would be very easy to fall into the trap of the Liang people. But if we get first-hand information from the Xuanming Sect, we will have the initiative. At that time, I will seize the opportunity to take the Bad Flag, and you can return to the Zuiyin Tower."

Ji Ruxue remained silent, but she seemed to be thinking about this plan, and she understood why Xiao Yan was willing to say yesterday that they were of the same kind.

But now, she had to cooperate with him again.

With this in mind, she asked, "What should I do?"

"Simple. According to the information you have, find the branch of Xuanming Sect first."

"..."

The two men discussed the matter for a while, and then they heard the old farmer calling them from outside.

So, after another hot wash, I had breakfast.

"Don't be surprised, young man. My family is so poor that we can't compare to your wealthy family. I can only treat you two with such simple food and drink."

"We should be the ones to thank you." Xiao Yan held the pottery bowl and said sincerely, "If you didn't take us in, we would have no problem sleeping in the snow. But it would be troublesome if the officials took us away as spies."

The old farmer pulled his beard and replied, "It is indeed time to report to the police. If it is too late, I am afraid I will not be able to reunite with my family in time."

"That's the way it is."

"It's a pity that I went to Yanzhou on business, otherwise he would have some connections in the government..."

"No problem, my wife and I can handle this matter, so there is no need to trouble you, old man. It is a great favor to take you in, but I am afraid that this matter will implicate you, old man."

"How could it be implicated..."

In the end, the old farmer was unable to persuade the two men, so he could only watch them go out the door and disappear into the snow.

(End of this chapter)