Chapter 113 Just in time
The master and servant had a wonderful experience and traveled much faster.

On the way, Li Yanming was still muttering to the rabbit spirit, saying that the things in the storybooks were actually true, and that there really were spirits in this world.

Seeing that the kid looked like he had never seen the world, Li Daoxuan couldn't help but sneer, "There are not only spirits and monsters in this world, there are also zombies and real dragons! Young master, I have seen a real zombie and even fought a life-and-death battle with it."

"Ah! Young Master has seen zombies?!" Li Yanming opened his eyes wide and looked at Li Daoxuan, his eyes full of curiosity.

Children of his age are very interested in these mysterious and fantastic things.

Once this topic was brought up, Li Daoxuan couldn't stop.

He first exaggerated Longling, with things like giant dragon pillars hundreds of feet high, palaces with green tiles, mountains and hills, giant dragons coiled around the pillars, and threatening Taotie. In short, he exaggerated it to make it seem magical.

"The demon Taoist waved his hand and shouted, 'Hurry up and obey the command!' Then a zombie sat up in the golden coffin. This zombie had a green face and fangs, was eight feet tall, had three heads and six arms, and was scary enough to kill you!"

"So tall! So big! Is it amazing?" Li Yanming asked nervously.

"You ask me if it's powerful? Of course it is! This zombie is the legendary Ba! Its body is invulnerable to swords and guns, and immune to water and fire. Ordinary thunder magic is useless against it. Its roar makes the heaven and earth tremble, and its stomping makes the earth shake. Each of its six hands holds a magic weapon. It is truly the reincarnation of the Demon Lord, the appearance of the Great God. All the people from the martial arts world who followed in, such as cultivators, Taoists, and monks, with their magic weapons, could not hurt this evil beast at all." Li Daoxuan spoke with saliva flying, describing the battle of Longling as exciting as he could. Li Yanming's heart was beating fast and his little face was full of excitement.

"So, how did you defeat it in the end?"

"You have to rely on me, your master. No matter how powerful this zombie is, I will take action." Li Daoxuan boasted. "You don't know how brave I was at that time. The flying sword in my hand was shining coldly, and 100,000 heavenly soldiers protected me. The four heavenly kings helped me to defeat the demons, and the Thunder God and Lightning Goddess helped me to be powerful. I fought with this beast for a hundred rounds, from the sky to the ground, and then from the underworld to the heaven. Finally, I shouted at the beast, "Hey! Evil beast!" and threw out the Heaven-Flipping Seal. In a flash, I suppressed this evil beast and made it never reincarnate!"

When Li Daoxuan made this move, cheers came from not far away.

"Okay! Okay!"

"Wonderful!"

The master and servant looked towards the cheering sounds and saw a play about Zhong Kui catching ghosts being performed on a stage at the entrance of Dingjiao Town not far away.

The onlookers all cheered, and they all had pigtails.

Seeing how lively they were, Li Daoxuan and Li Yanming walked over.

Standing behind the spectators, since they were both as tall as children, they could only look at the stage through the gaps between them.

A group of actors were dancing with swords and guns and having a lot of fun.

It was interesting and exciting, but unfortunately Li Daoxuan, the newcomer, could not understand much and could only watch. However, Li Yanming enjoyed the show very much and even cheered loudly along with others.

Dingjiao Town is located in the north of Maoshan Mountain, and there are quite a lot of carriages and horses coming here. After all, it leads directly to Zhenjiang Prefecture to the north and to Liyang to the south. Most of the merchants traveling back and forth will stop on this road, so there are endless passers-by.

In the 11th year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign, Zhenjiang Prefecture, which was already an important throat town on the Grand Canal, was forced to open its port. The "Money Wharf" of Zhenjiang Prefecture, the "Cloth Wharf" of Wuxi, and the "Chuan Wharf" of Hankou were collectively known as the "Three Wharves" of the Yangtze River. Various Western banks flocked to the city, and Zhenjiang quickly became a commercial hub.

There were many people gathered around the stage, and Li Daoxuan could hear other people's conversations when he stood among them.

"It is also thanks to Mr. Zhao that we can watch this play every day. It is so fun if we are not bored on weekdays."

"Alas, Mr. Zhao is a good man. It's a pity that good people don't get good rewards. How could such a thing happen in his family?"

Li Daoxuan listened with some curiosity to the discussions of people around him.

Looking at the opera on the stage, I knew that this opera was commissioned by the master of the Zhao family in Dingjiao Town.

As for why he was invited and why he was singing at the entrance of the town, it seemed that he had been singing for more than one or two days, but after listening for a long time, I couldn't understand the reason.

Although he had doubts in his heart, he didn't dwell on it too much.

After all, he was just passing by, and the Zhao family's affairs had nothing to do with him. Just as he was about to leave, he saw the crowd making a noise.

The crowd separated and several yamen runners came with a group of monks and Taoists.

This group of monks and Taoists were dressed appropriately and looked like monks, but Li Daoxuan did not sense any Taoist aura from them.

They walked to the front of the stage, and after the singers finished singing, they walked around the stage beating gongs and chanting scriptures.

The monks sat in a row, beating wooden fish and chanting scriptures, while the Taoists wore Taoist robes and chanted spells while stepping on the steps of the magic circle. They were doing their own things and did not disturb each other. To outsiders, they looked very decent, but Li Daoxuan took a few glances and found them ugly.

Li Daoxuan couldn't bear to watch it any longer and was about to leave when he saw several yamen runners walking towards him, seemingly wanting to interrogate him.

These yamen runners were also experienced and knew the good and bad of the men. They saw that the two men had young and unfamiliar faces and were carrying luggage. One of them had delicate skin and looked like a young man. It was obvious that he was a foreigner passing through here, and it seemed that he was not accompanied by an adult.

This kind of thing is very common. After all, in this era, you need a pass to go anywhere. Especially when traveling across cities, no one will let you in without a pass. This also gave rise to many strange phenomena, such as forging a pass or bribing the officials who checked.

Anyway, there are always corresponding measures for corresponding policies. At this age, the intensity of road permit inspection in various places has gradually decreased, which is also because the Qing court's control over all parts of the country has gradually weakened. Without the intensity of inspection, more people travel. Therefore, this period can be regarded as a period of rapid development of business in the late Qing Dynasty.

But this thing still exists, and the yamen runners often use it to make extra money. If you have a pass, they will charge some money and let you go. If you don't have a pass, you have to pay more.

The yamen runner saw that Li Daoxuan and Li Yanming looked unfamiliar but were dressed neatly. Naturally, he became suspicious and came over to question them.

"Where are you two from? Do you have a pass?" the bailiff asked fiercely. "Why didn't you shave your hair? Are you planning to rebel?"

Li Yanming saw the yamen runners and hid behind Li Daoxuan in fear. Although Li Daoxuan was a little surprised, he still calmed down.

He had watched so many Qing Dynasty TV dramas in his previous life, and he had gone down the mountain once before the New Year. Before going down this time, the old Taoist priest gave him so many instructions and warnings. How could he not know what was going on?

Li Daoxuan calmly took out the certificate and the pass from the package and handed them to the yamen runners. Then he quietly took out some copper coins and stuffed them into the hands of the leading yamen runner.

"Gentlemen, I am a Taoist priest from Mount Mao, so I have not shaved my head. This is my certificate, please check it. This is my Taoist boy, who also came with me to do business." Li Daoxuan calmly explained everything clearly. The leading yamen runner skillfully put the copper coins into his sleeves, took Li Daoxuan's certificate and pass, checked them, and his tone suddenly became much gentler.

Bra, martial arts belly, monk and Taoist leader, book mouth, servant sleeves, matchmaker and fan shoulder, there is really no free lunch in this world.

"You two are both little kids, so be careful when you go out and don't go to the wild mountains and wilderness."

"Your Excellency is right." Li Daoxuan nodded repeatedly.

"You have to keep these things well and don't lose them." After the bailiffs returned the things and comforted Li Daoxuan, they were about to leave when they saw a young man suddenly appear behind them, wipe the sweat from his forehead and looked at Li Daoxuan.

"Are you the Taoist priest from Maoshan?" the young man asked nervously, holding Li Daoxuan's hand.

"Ah, yes." Li Daoxuan was confused by the situation and answered the young man's question inexplicably. Then he saw the other party talking to the yamen runners with an excited look on his face.

He turned to look at Li Daoxuan, then at the certificate that Li Daoxuan had not yet put away, and quickly took out an invitation from his sleeve and handed it over: "I just heard your conversation, and I didn't expect that the young Taoist priest is a hero in his youth, and he was ordained at such a young age. I am from the Zhao family, and I would like to invite the young Taoist priest to my home for a chat."

"Ah? This..." Li Daoxuan was confused. Why was he invited to be a guest just after watching a play?
"Zhao asked the young Taoist priest to go to my house and take a look. If you can solve the strange things in my Zhao family, the Zhao family will definitely reward you handsomely!"

Looking at the young man's expectant eyes, Li Daoxuan pondered, then turned to look at the monks and Taoists under the stage.

"Young Taoist priest, please stop looking. They were all invited by my father. It has been several days, but they have not shown any effect." Seeing Li Daoxuan's eyes looking at the group of people beside the stage, the young man continued, "Young Taoist priest, if you can help my Zhao family solve the problem, the Zhao family is willing to offer a thousand taels of silver!"

"Let's go. I just want to meet the highly respected Mr. Zhao in Dingjiao Town." Upon hearing this, Li Daoxuan said solemnly to the young man.

It doesn’t matter whether you have money or not, right?

(End of this chapter)