Knife splashing

Chapter 20 Xianyang Ancient City
how so!
There were many passengers waiting for the ferry. The smell of tobacco from the old man, the smell of perfumed powder from the woman, the smell of sweat, the smell of fish, the smell of rotten wood at the ferry... rushed straight into my nose.

This taste is simply sour and refreshing.

Li Yan almost fell down from the fumes.

He understood that his sense of smell had suddenly improved once again.

Since the life-and-death battle with Leng Tan Cang Bing that night, including this time, he has experienced explosive improvements three times in a short period of time.

In addition to these common ones, he also smelled many special odors.

A few hundred meters away from the ferry, there was a cold and sticky smell, as if it was left by some evil thing, and it lingered for a long time despite the beating of the waves...

On the river, on the big boats of the Cao Gang, people were burning incense and tying red cloth on the bows, throwing paper money and pouring livestock blood. A hot air was flowing around the bows...

What’s even more terrifying is the city of Xianyang in the distance.

It is like a ferocious beast, sitting on the plain, exuding an ancient and desolate atmosphere, and there are also various scents of incense in the city.

Any one of them is dozens of times more fragrant than the Lijiabao Land Temple.

Is this the real world?

Li Yan was shocked.

Ever since he awakened his sense of smell last year, he has not set foot in Chang'an City, let alone Lantian County, and has been staying in Lijiabao.

Now that I have come to Xianyang City, I immediately find something different.

No wonder Widow Wang and her companions had to hide in the remote village of Lijiabao. If they arrived in Chang'an City, they would probably be exposed immediately and attract their enemies.

At this moment, Li Yan's eyes suddenly went dark.

Waves of dizziness came over me, and my amazing sense of smell disappeared.

Li Yan held down the willow tree next to him and it took him a while to recover.

His face looked grim and he cursed in his heart.

Obviously, this magical power does not come without a price.

Widow Wang didn't mention it, perhaps because she didn't expect that his sense of smell would increase explosively time and time again.

The worse reason is that his magical powers have gone out of control.

Any loss of control will be a big problem.

It must be resolved as soon as possible!

"The ship is coming——!"

The boatman's voice interrupted his thoughts.

Fortunately, his sense of smell had been shut down by then. Although he felt dizzy and sweat was pouring down his back, Li Yan still walked towards the ferry.

The ferry was not big, about seven or eight meters long, and had no straw covering.

After Li Yan paid the boat fare, he found a place to sit down.

The breeze blew across the river, and the sounds of people chatting around me continued to reach my ears:

"Mother Wang, why are you going into the city instead of harvesting the wheat?"

"This year, we have invited wheat pickers from Longyou. I have to go to the city to burn some incense and pray that it won't rain these days. Then I'll rush back..."

"You have a lot of male laborers in your family."

"Don't mention it. The second and third sons ran off to Tianjin, saying that they make a lot of money in the factory there and won't be back for the New Year. I thought, there isn't much land at home, so the eldest son will get it. The second and third sons must have something to go after..."

Li Yan in the village also knew what they were talking about.

The Daxuan Dynasty has been established for a hundred years and has reached its peak at this moment.

But beneath this prosperous era, there are undercurrents.

Large-scale land annexation began to occur, the number of refugees increased, and a lot of trouble occurred in the first ten years.

But at the same time, the imperial court also announced the opening of the sea for trade, and many port cities built large-scale handicraft workshops, absorbing a large number of refugees.

It is said that there is no peace in the court either, with factions forming and attacking each other.

Of course, Li Yan was not interested in these.

At this moment, he just wanted to solve his predicament as soon as possible.

After crossing the Wei River, Li Yan's mind was obviously much clearer, and his magical sense of smell was restored, but it became very weak, almost the same as before he dealt with "Blind Old Third".

Li Yan didn't bother to pay attention to him. He lowered his straw hat and entered the city.

After all, it is an ancient capital of the pre-Qin period. Classical literature describes that at that time "palaces, pavilions, towers, stretching for more than 300 miles, blocking out the sunlight."

Although the city has shrunk a lot due to several wars and reconstructions, it is still prosperous enough. As soon as you enter the city, you will be struck by the hustle and bustle.

Unlike the chessboard city of Chang'an with 108 blocks, the layout of Xianyang City is not standardized. Li Yan entered from the south gate, which is close to the ferry and leads directly to the criss-crossing old commercial street.

There are many shops along the street with various signs and flags fluttering, and the sounds of hawking are endless. Mule and horse carts and pedestrians at the ferry are intertwined, making the scene prosperous and chaotic.

Of course, there are also beggars.

Perhaps because Li Yan was carrying a knife, no one disturbed him. However, other unfamiliar merchants and travelers were surrounded by a group of beggars as soon as they entered the city.

They were dressed in rags, some even had incomplete limbs, and they surrounded people and begged, "Master, please be merciful, and make a fortune this year," "Madam, please be kind, and give me children and grandchildren"...

Li Yan took a glance and turned away.

The Beggars' Gang in the underworld is divided into the Eastbound and the Westbound.

The people traveling east are soft beggars, who mainly perform in markets. There are many types of performances, such as "Singing Xiangzi", "Wenwuqiang", "Worshiping the Gods", "Touring the Five Lakes", etc.

Most of these beggars traveled all over the country, drifting with the crowd. Those who traveled west were mostly local beggars, usually entrenched in a certain city, led by a beggar leader who collected a cut of the daily begging proceeds.

Beggars traveling eastward must first pay their respects to the beggars in the west every time they arrive in a city. They must obtain permission before they can perform and they must also pay a fee.

If you don't know the rules, you'll be a dead body before nightfall.

Among the beggars on the Journey to the West, there are quite a few "fake beggars". They have been controlling the beggars' dens in the city from generation to generation. They wear rags during the day and change into brothels at night and have fun in brothels and taverns.

What’s even more despicable is that they also engage in the business of harvesting and dismembering living beings and trafficking in human beings, and have close ties with human traffickers in the city.

What they are good at is begging by force. Although those beggars seem pitiful, they are actually cruel and ruthless, and ordinary people can't afford to offend them.

Sure enough, when the beggars saw that the unfamiliar merchant refused to give them money, their faces immediately changed, they banged their broken bowls, sang lotus songs and cursed.

"If you don't give me money, I won't come. You can use the remaining money to buy a coffin!"

"If you don't give me anything, I won't beg. Let's see if your grandson is anxious or not!"

The merchant was furious and chased the beggar, but he didn't realize that his money bag had been stolen...

Of course, there are also many beggars traveling eastward.

Li Yan was walking across the street when he saw a blind old beggar telling stories.

His eyes were cloudy and his tone was old and ancient.

"Fame and fortune come every day, but glory and wealth are far away"

"The world is full of ups and downs, and few people have become immortals..."

“Achieve enlightenment!”

…………

"Excuse me, is Taoist Wang Daoxuan here?"

Outside a small shop, Li Yan asked the shopkeeper.

Near the Xianyang City God Temple, apart from those selling snacks and breakfast, there are basically paper-making shops, incense and candle shops, coffin shops, funeral clothing shops, and the like. There are also quite a few restaurants that sell fortune-telling and divination.

For example, the one Li Yan asked about was an incense and candle shop. It had everything from ordinary earth incense to long incense as thick as an arm, from ordinary red and white candles to gorgeous dragon and phoenix candles, and all kinds of paper money and gold ingots.

When Li Yan arrived here, he felt the strong smell of incense in the temple, which made him dizzy and headache, so he did not get closer, but directly looked for it according to the address given by Sharifei.

According to Sharifei, Wang Daoxuan also opened a restaurant, doing fortune-telling, feng shui site selection, weddings and funerals, and exorcising demons and monsters. He took on all kinds of work.

However, the shop at the address has changed owners.

Li Yan had no choice but to ask others.

"Wang Daoxuan?"

The owner of the incense and candle shop was a fat man with slanted eyes. He was puzzled at first, but then he suddenly realized something and said, "The customer is talking about Wang Laonian, right?"

Then he smiled and said, "He is in a lot of debt and has sold the shop to me. Now he runs the business at home."

Wang...Laonian?!
Li Yan's face froze and he felt anger rising.

Sharifei is really unreliable.

Although it was mentioned before that Wang Daoxuan takes on all kinds of jobs and is most likely a fool, at least he is a member of the Xuanmen and can find out some things.

But from what the boss said, it might be worse than I imagined.

If you owe a debt, you can’t even keep your shop…

The three words "Wang Daoxuan" are probably, like Shalfi, a stage name for self-promotion!

Li Yan's magical powers were already out of control, and at this moment, his evil fire was rising.

Seeing this, the boss had already made up his mind. He took a step forward and smiled, "Are you looking for fortune-telling or a wedding or funeral? Why don't you tell me? I'm familiar with all the shops on this street and I can even get you a lower price..."

"Thank you. We'll talk later."

The words sound nice, but Li Yan doesn't believe them.

He has seen a lot of people like this. They can tear down each other among their peers, so wouldn't they be even more cruel and ruthless when facing customers?

Besides, he could tell at a glance that the things in this incense and candle shop were all ordinary stuff. Even the statues of gods enshrined in them didn't have the smell of incense. It was just an amateurish thing.

Sure enough, seeing that Li Yan had no interest, the boss's attitude immediately turned cold.

Li Yan's heart moved, a trace of anger appeared on his face, and he clasped his fists and said, "I have a score to settle with that Wang Laonian, please let me know."

The boss glanced at him and saw the knife on his waist. He showed a hint of gloating in his eyes and pointed, "Okay, sir, do you see that alley? Walk 300 meters in and the Daoist Hall is on the right!"

…………

What the shop owner was pointing to was an old street with residential houses.

Li Yan entered and saw only quaint old houses. Although they all had their own gates and courtyards, they were remote and small, and were obviously the residences of ordinary people.

However, many of these houses have walls that were built with bricks collected from the Qin Dynasty in Xianyang. Combined with the mottled bluestone slabs on the ground, they have a very ancient feel.

After walking three hundred meters, we soon found the place.

I saw a plaque hanging on the gate of an old house.

It is made of ordinary jujube wood and is just painted with wood lacquer. It is not even as good as the ones in restaurants, but the three words "Wendaoguan" are simple and vigorous, and quite impressive.

Li Yan's anger inexplicably subsided a little.

Then he sniffed.

There are many special smells in the courtyard...

(End of this chapter)