The day of winter solstice.

There was a heavy snowfall.

The cold wind swept across, the snow rolled, and rushed directly under the eaves of the corridor, lifting the door curtains, making fluttering sounds, and the cold wind rushed in, making the chill even more oppressive.

Outside Taoan Market, a man walked slowly.

He was dressed in rags, his face had black wrinkles from long exposure to the wind and sun, and his hair was dry and tangled.

He walked unsteadily, carrying a thin package on his back. After seeing him, many people walked away, not wanting to stand with him.

Suddenly, a shout came from behind, and smoke and dust rose up.

Someone came galloping over on a huge white horse
A strong wind blew.

Ye Yang dodged to the side, and the horse had already leaped to the front.

It is white all over, extremely strong, has antlers, and has fluffy white hair under its four hooves, like white clouds.

The horse ran almost close to his body. Following the white horse came a group of black horses, each of them was nine feet tall, shiny and sleek, with scales all over their hooves.

A large centipede with red scales was lying on his forehead, and it rushed directly into Taoan Market like a black dragon.

"They are the Tuoyun Horse and the Fire Centipede of Feitianmen."

The people on the side all avoided the scene, and when they saw that it was a disciple of Feitian Sect, their eyes were filled with indescribable envy.

The group of mounts that Feitianmen currently trains.

One is the Cloud Horse, and the other is the Fire Centipede Horse.

Especially the Fire Centipede, which was originally small in size, but after obtaining a poisonous-scaled fire horse from Feitianmen over the years and transforming its bloodline.

Nowadays, each of them is fat and strong, shiny and slippery, with scales on their hooves. They can climb mountains and cross rivers.

Ye Yang didn't recognize the disciple, but the horse was very familiar to him.

The young disciple above was wearing a green shirt. He was furious when he saw a beggar-like figure blocking his way.

"Damn it, don't you have eyes? Why don't you avoid it? If I had stepped on you to death, would it be mine or yours?"

After saying that, he whipped me hard. The whip hit my body and I felt a burning pain.

Ye Yang frowned.

He thought to himself.

"Why are the disciples of Feitian Sect so overbearing and rude?"

After being whipped, he still said nothing and blended into the crowd.

The disciple didn't want to communicate with him any more. He snorted coldly, picked up the whip, and galloped away into the distance.

Ye Yang walked into the market town, and saw that it was extremely prosperous with heavy traffic. Casual cultivators were coming and going, shouting and hawking their wares.

There was a cultivator dressed in green, standing with a sword in hand, and there was also a barbarian warrior wearing animal skins and carrying prey.

There were also some people wearing blue clothes, wearing silver ornaments on their heads, holding poisonous insects and poisonous insects in their hands. They were people from southern Xinjiang who came here to exchange treasures.

"My fellow Taoist, I see that you are new here. Do you need a map of the market?"

A smiling old man appeared in front of Ye Yang, but when he looked at his appearance, he couldn't help but frowned.

But he still walked forward with the principle of not letting it go, holding an exquisite parchment scroll in his hand.

Ye Yang shook his head.

He was very familiar with the place and didn't need any map.

He pointed at a group of disciples running ahead and began to speak.

"Why are those people so overbearing?"

The old man put away the sheepskin scroll and chuckled.

"Fellow Daoist, please don't talk nonsense. I'm telling you that this entire market is owned by someone else. Do you know who's behind them?"

After saying this, he walked to Ye Yang in a very secretive manner and pointed his finger at the sky.

"It's Feitian Sect. These people are all disciples of Feitian Sect. Feitian Sect is extremely powerful. Its strength is ranked first within a radius of ten thousand miles. There are also real masters in the sect who suppress one side."

"I think you are an honest person. You are new here, so you should listen more and learn more, talk less and do less. Don't be nosy."

Ye Yang nodded without saying anything more.

The old man went to look for other targets and sell scrolls.

As the sky grew darker, the bustle of the market town did not diminish.

After walking for a while, Ye Yang arrived at a large three-way intersection in the market town.

People come and go, and it is extremely prosperous. A three-story shop stands tall on the street with its back to the river, and there is an ancient wooden plaque with a sign written on it.

"Songfeng Mingyue Tower"

The Songfeng Mingyue Building was originally owned by the Chen family, a small family nearby. It was rented to them by the mysterious high-ranking official of Feitianmen.
He occupied a good shop with a good position, and at the beginning he also did some business of talismans, magic tools, and other miscellaneous things.

Later, he opened a teahouse on the second floor, and his specialty was the imitation of Feitianmen Bitan Piaohua Tea, which became an instant hit and became very popular for a while.

It attracted countless tea drinkers who came here for its reputation, so the restaurant simply closed down its other miscellaneous businesses and focused on making tea, changing its name to "Songfeng Mingyue Tower".

At the door, the waiter was attracting customers.

Seeing Ye Yang in tatters, he waved his hand.

"Where did you come from, beggar? Go to the side and don't disturb us while we are doing business."

The waiter waved his hand to drive him away, but the man just stood there motionless and said nothing.

Suddenly, the man raised his head, looked at the plaque, and a glimmer of light appeared in his eyes.

"Does your family sell tea?"

"Nonsense, doesn't it clearly say tea shop?"

The waiter waved his hand and answered impatiently that their tea was not cheap and was mainly served by famous monks from all over the country.

It's obvious at first glance that this person can't afford it.

Seeing that the man was not leaving, he stared blankly at the old plaque, reached out his hand and pushed him away.

But the man was welded to the ground like a block of iron, and no matter how hard he pushed and shoved, he did not move at all.

“Tao can cultivate one’s mind, tea can cleanse one’s character, there is sweetness in bitterness, bitterness in sweetness, first bitterness then sweetness, and life is like this too.”

"When you sink, you fall to the ground; when you float, you rise to the sky."

It was snowing heavily at this time. Ye Yang stood motionless on the street. Suddenly, he felt something in his heart and couldn't help but blurt it out.

“I want to open a teahouse, too.”

"teahouse?"

"Stop joking. Can you make tea?"

"meeting."

Ye Yang nodded and then continued.

"Unfortunately, it's not well made."

"Do you know that every inch of land in this market is worth a lot of money? How many spirit stones does it cost to rent a shop?"

This question stumped Ye Yang, and he shook his head and said.

"do not know."

The waiter smiled and thought it was just the beggar's babbling.

At this time, a guest came over.

He hurried forward and greeted the guests into the teahouse.

When I looked back, this somewhat mysterious and weird beggar had already walked to the end of the alley.

Ye Yang searched for a long time in Taoan Market and finally found a dilapidated old house.

It is called a house, but in fact it is only the size of a few tables. Fortunately, one side faces the street, and the backyard is an old house with green tiles covered with moss.

The shop was leaking air from all sides and the conditions were bad. The thick wooden boards on the shop walls had a greasy sheen because no one had cleaned them for a long time. Logically speaking, in Taoan Market, where every inch of land was worth a lot of money, there shouldn't be a place like this.

But this house is too dilapidated and is located at the very end of the market town, almost close to the mountains, making it the least prosperous area.

Fortunately, several inland rivers diverted from the Niu Mo River meandered through the house, winding around and falling behind it, adding some vitality to this dilapidated house.

An old monk who lived here a few years ago was stuck at the fifth level of Tongqi. He practiced for his entire life but could not make a breakthrough, and eventually died of old age in this house.

His two sons, the eldest went to a distant place to practice, and the second was not around and married a girl from a small family and became a son-in-law.

There was only the youngest daughter, who took on some sewing work in the market, but her life was very difficult.

She is now over 50 years old, her figure is seriously out of shape, she wears an apron and has a dark yellow face. When she saw Ye Yang, she frowned and said.

"You want to rent a house?"

Ye Yang nodded.

"You know, every inch of land in Taoan Market is worth a lot of money."

She put her hands on her hips and kept raising the price of her house. In fact, the house was located outside the most dilapidated mountain in Taoanfang City.

To speak in this way is nothing but asking for an exorbitant price.

But the man did not speak, but continued talking according to her temper.

She asked for an exorbitant price and waited for the other party to pay her back.

But she never expected that this person would suddenly stop talking. Her anger was like hitting cotton.

"Do you know how many spirit stones it takes to open a shop?"

"Just this palm-sized place of mine would cost three hundred spirit stones."

“How many years do you want to rent it for?”

Ye Yang said.

"One month."

"A month?"

"Are you here to make fun of me?" But after a pause, she suddenly remembered that the person in front of her was dressed like this and might not even be able to afford a meal, so where would he get the extra spirit stones from.

What's more, this place is dilapidated and the location is not good. The most important thing is that the three brothers and sisters are arguing over who the house belongs to.

Can rent for one month
"I know your difficulties. People like you who come from the mountains and fields all want to make a living in Tao'an Market, dreaming of making a fortune right away and becoming successful. I have seen many people like you."

"Since you said to rent it for one month, then I'll rent it for one month."

She looked at the beggar in front of her, stretched out her hand, and waited for him to take out the spirit stone.

Ye Yang untied the backpack on his back. In addition to some dry and yellow tea leaves, there were also some scattered spirit stones.

He picked out thirty and handed them to the other party.

The woman saw that the spirit stones were covered with stains and guessed that the person in front of her had saved them for many years and was reluctant to spend them.

He took it with some disdain, wiped it on his sleeve, and when he saw that it was in good condition, he took it with joy on his face.

"You are really lucky. Nowadays, evil bandits are rising up outside, and independent cultivators are rampant."

"He is still alive today with dozens of spirit stones on his back."

Ye Yang did not say anything. He turned around silently and began to clean up the dilapidated house.

This house is very run-down.

An unknown little street with bluestone-paved roads and gray-white walls.

The withered unknown wild vines rustled in the winter wind, birds flew by, and a few people walked by alone.

At the end of the small courtyard, there is a weak ginkgo tree in the backyard, which is just bare.

There were no leaves left in the winter. There was a bunch of yellow leaves under the tree, which had fallen in the autumn. Ye Yang cleaned them up and piled them up not long ago.

Ye Yang started wiping the wooden table and chairs.

He found a large boiler in the backyard of the house, which was just right for boiling hot water.

After cleaning the small shop, he walked into the backyard, opened the dilapidated door, and a rotten smell came out.

In the middle of the room, there was actually a dried corpse of an old man.

He was thin, hunched over, and his face was covered with age spots.

He obviously suffered a lot during his lifetime.

But Ye Yang could see that he did not die from illness or serious injuries.

Instead, before the end of their life, their cultivation was unable to make further breakthroughs and they died of old age.

"After practicing for a lifetime, there's no one to collect your body."

"What is the meaning of this practice?"

Ye Yang stood in front of the mummy, feeling an inexplicable sadness in his heart.

He looked around and saw that there was no other furniture in the house except a stone bed. It was obvious that it belonged to an ascetic monk.

There were only some worn-out clothes and a few yellowed books piled up in the corner.

He squatted down and gently flipped through the books, and found that they were all secrets about cultivation, but none of them were advanced techniques.

Just some basic cultivation methods.

This old man might have studied these secrets with great hope during his lifetime, hoping to break through the bottleneck one day, prolong his life, and pursue the highest realm.

However, the reality is cruel, not everyone can become the legendary immortal.

Not every effort will lead to success.

Just as the old man wrote on the cover page of the training manual when he was dying.

"The road of cultivation is long and endless. You and I are both mortals, so don't force it."

And it seems that he did not have a good relationship with his family when he was alive, otherwise no one would have come to collect his body until now.

Ye Yang carried his body on his back, then put him in the yard, dug a hole under the old ginkgo tree, and buried him.

……

In winter, there is heavy snow, the roads are muddy, and the icy wind penetrates into people's bodies.

A bowl of tea can soothe you from the stress of life, relieve fatigue, and warm you up and keep away the cold.

So many people drink tea.

But this place is too small. The room facing the street can only accommodate three or four tables.

There was only one window seat, overlooking the clear river outside, so the view could barely be considered nice.

So he placed two old, red, greasy elm tables that had been used before at the door.

Afterwards, Ye Yang found a broken wooden board, borrowed a brush from his neighbor, and wrote a few large characters "A Floating Life" crookedly on the broken wooden board, and then hung it up.

It’s a pity that the door plaque is too big and the house is too small, so it looks extremely inappropriate when hung there, but he doesn’t really care.

Ye Yang started making tea. The tea from the ancient sword and sword tea tree was very bitter and had a strong irritating taste. It was not delicious.

It has no aftertaste and no overly mellow aroma, so Ye Yang used to just treat it as the base tea for Bitan Piaohua.

The sweetness and mellow aroma of the tea actually comes from
Various wild flowers made by scenting.

But this time he didn't want to add those flowers, so all that was left was bitterness.

He named this tea.

It's called "A Bowl of Floating Life".

Tea is like life, people are like life, a bowl of life, life is only in one bowl, everything in the world is like life.

Looking forward to it, looking forward to it.

The tea shop finally opened as planned.

(End of this chapter)