On the Avenue.

Chapter 250 Grassroots
In the early morning of Qingzhou City, yamen runners were posting notices at the city gate.

It was not early anymore. At three or four o'clock in the morning, manure carts were leaving the city, and vendors were pulling vegetables, fruits, meat and eggs into the city to prepare for business. By this time, the city gate was already crowded with people and cars.

On the notice board, the ranking of the wanted orders had changed. There was one more thief riding a fiery horse. It was Chen Shi who killed the county magistrate on horseback, and he was ranked second on the Qingzhou wanted list.

Li Tianqing still tops the list and has the highest reward.

A young yamen runner had just put up Chen Shi's portrait when the old yamen runner next to him poked him in the waist and pointed to the side.

The young yamen runner looked and saw the first and second place on the wanted list walking towards him.

He hurriedly looked at the notice board and then at the people who came. It was indeed the first and second place winners. The two teenagers were both twelve or thirteen years old.

The number one criminal was wearing a white Taoist robe with a black collar, a red ribbon around his waist, and a platinum crown on his head.

The second-ranked criminal was wearing a light green Taoist robe with a purple collar, a black silk ribbon around his waist, and a golden crown on his head.

The two men had handsome features, and judging from their appearance alone, they did not look like the vicious Red Horse Bandits at all.

The two men walked into the city. One was very curious and wanted to look at the notice board, while the other was more cautious. He reached out and held his hand and walked aside.

The young yamen runner drew his sword and tried to capture him, but the old yamen runner knocked him to the ground with a slap and shouted, "Don't you want to live? If you don't want to live, I still want to live!"

The young yamen runner threw his embroidered spring knife aside, covered his face, and said in confusion: "The reward for these two criminals must be a lot of silver!"

"Lord Lu, the Salt Commissioner and a great master in the God-descending Realm, was killed by him with one blow. Aren't you courting death by going there?"

The young bailiff said, "Let's call more people!"

The old yamen runner said angrily: "There are so many people that they can't kill them! Besides, they robbed the silver and distributed it to the villages. Many villages have received a lot of silver. The reputation of the Red Horse Bandits is very good now. The villagers are grateful to them. If you really kill the Red Horse Bandits, you will not be able to survive. You will definitely be beaten to death!"

Chen Shi and Li Tianqing walked through the streets and alleys and came to the door of a house.

This family's house is not big, with three main rooms and a kitchen. It is an ordinary house that can accommodate a family of four at most. Five people would seem a bit crowded.

However, Chen Shi and Li Tianqing listened to the breathing in the yard and found that there were seven people living in this household.

The two waited outside the house for a while, and then someone opened the door. It was the man in black who had been performing rituals outside the Temple of the God of Wealth at dawn these past few days.

The man changed into a coarse linen dress and a pair of straw sandals. Although the dress was old, it was washed very clean.

The man was not very old, about thirty years old. As soon as he went out, he saw Chen Shi and Li Tianqing standing across the street. His face changed drastically and he wanted to run away.

At this time, a woman's voice came from behind him, saying, "Will the master be back at noon?"

The man froze, not daring to run away. He bravely said, "I won't be back at noon. Madam, after school is over, go pick up the child. I... am afraid I don't have time."

When he saw Chen Shi and Li Tianqing, he knew that his identity was exposed. They were very powerful and he was definitely no match for them. He was afraid that if he escaped, his family would be implicated, so he did not dare to run away.

A woman came out, stuffed a lotus leaf bag into his hand, and whispered, "I prepared some food for you, including eggs and a piece of meat. You must have been exhausted these days, so don't let yourself suffer."

The man said yes, pushed her back to the room, and said, "I understand. Go back quickly and help me take care of my parents."

The sound of an old man coughing was heard in the room.

The woman went back to her room, probably to take care of the elderly.

The man's eyes twitched violently twice, and he walked towards Chen Shi and Li Tianqing with his head held high.

He was much taller than the other two, but at the moment he was terribly frightened and his body was shaking constantly.

Chen Shi said calmly: "Tell the truth, what's your name?"

The man trembled and said, "Luan Disheng. If you let my family go, I will tell you everything!"

Chen Shi looked at Li Tianqing, and Li Tianqing said, "I am not a bloodthirsty person."

Chen Shi smiled and said, "I am also a well-known philanthropist in Xinxiang. Brother Luan, let's talk while we walk."

Luan Disheng asked in a trembling voice: "Where are you going?"

Although these two men said that they were not bloodthirsty people, he knew that their portraits were still hanging on the wanted list, ranking at the top, and they had taken the lives of several Qingzhou officials!

Li Tianqing smiled and said, "Where you go, we will go there."

Luan Disheng said, "I am working for Master Wan and need to go to the herb field. I am the herb farmer of the Wan Mansion."

Chen Shi and Li Tianqing were amazed. Luan Disheng was definitely an expert. They had both seen his Five Ghosts Moving Technique, Flying Technique, and his method of controlling evil spirits!

His strength can be considered as that of a top master in the Nascent Soul Realm. If he gives it a try, Chen Shi and Li Tianqing will go one-on-one, and neither of them can guarantee victory.

Who would have thought that such a master would work as a medicinal herb farmer for a wealthy family!

Chen Shi smiled and said, "Then let's go to the medicine field."

Luan Disheng led the two of them out of the city, tears rolling down her cheeks uncontrollably.

Chen Shi was surprised and asked, "Weren't you very powerful when you controlled the evil spirits to attack us? Why are you crying now?"

Luan Disheng choked up and said, "If I take you there, I'm afraid you won't survive. I'm crying because I think of my wife, children and old man, who have no one to take care of them."

Li Tianqing said: "From the way you talk, I think you are a scholar. Have you ever taken the imperial examination?"

"I passed the exam and was a scholar in Tan County, Qingzhou. Later, I passed the imperial examination in Qingzhou and ranked eleventh."

Luan Disheng wiped away her tears and said, "Later, I saved money for two years and planned to go to Xijing to take the imperial examination. Maybe I could pass the exam and become a Jinshi. When I passed by Gongzhou, the people of Gongzhou cheated me of all my money and sold me to a farm. I almost died there. I finally escaped and begged for food all the way to Xijing. I didn't pass the exam and came back."

When he talked about the sad things, tears fell again.

Chen Shi felt the same way and said, "It's the same in Gongzhou. I... I have a friend who was also cheated out of all his money and sold to a farm."

Li Tianqing glanced at him and asked, "Is she the sister of the Hu family?"

Chen Shi said: "No, you don't know this friend... Don't interrupt, Luan Disheng, keep talking!"

Luan Disheng said, "I gave up the idea of ​​going to Beijing to take the exam and returned to Qingzhou. My wife waited for me to come back and did not despise me for being poor. Although I passed the exam, I have been idle at home and lived on my wife's weaving and selling cloth. Master Wan felt sorry for me, so he asked me to help him grow herbs."

Li Tianqing asked, "Who is Master Wan?"

"Don't you know the Wan Clan of Qingzhou?"

Luan Disheng was surprised, then realized, "Yes, you are from other places, of course you don't know the Wan family in Qingzhou. The porridge stand over there is Master Wan's."

Chen Shi and Li Tianqing looked and saw a porridge stall set up on the right side of the door of a big house. There was porridge cooked there, and there were steamed buns just out of the pot, covered with steaming cloth, still steaming hot.

There was already a long queue of hungry people waiting in the porridge stall, and the queue seemed endless. A man who looked like a servant was helping to organize the queue to avoid chaos.

"The Wan family is the most philanthropic family in Qingzhou, and the head of the family, Wan Shide, is the most philanthropic person in Qingzhou."

Luan Disheng said, "The Wan family often distributes grain and opens a porridge stall to give porridge to the poor. The master Wan is called Wan Shide, and he is the living Buddha of the Wan family in Qingzhou. Every day when the Wan family gives out porridge, there will be thousands of people lining up to wait. The Wan family is also an aristocratic family in Qingzhou. The ancestor was once the governor of Qingzhou. Later, the Wan family did business and became rich."

The three men passed by the porridge stall and were about to leave the city, but they saw an endless stream of people queuing up to get porridge and steamed buns, which stretched all the way outside the city.

"After the Wan family had money, they bought good farmland during the disaster years. Their family was big and prosperous, so they could survive the disaster years. But other families did not have such a rich family background, so they had to sell their property when they could not survive the disaster years. Gradually, the Wan family had more and more land."

Luan Disheng said, "I heard people gossiping in the teahouse. They said that there was a famine one year. There was a beggar woman who was quite pretty and was favored by Master Wan. The woman refused to give her body to Master Wan, which offended him. The woman had to pee urgently and wanted to relieve herself on the spot, but the servants of the Wan family drove her away, saying that she could not urinate on the Wan family's land. The beggar woman was also very stubborn and said that even if she was suffocated to death, she would never urinate on your Wan family's land."

They came to the outside of the city, where there were endless acres of fertile fields. Looking around, there was no end in sight.

"The beggar woman walked in one direction from morning to night, and walked hundreds of miles. She couldn't hold it any longer, so she was looking for a place to relieve herself. Someone told her that this was still the land of the Wan family."

Luan Disheng said, "She was very desperate and asked how long she would have to walk to get out of the Wan family's fields. Others told her that if she walked for another ten days without eating or drinking, she would be able to get out of the Wan family's fields."

Chen Shi lost his voice and asked, "The entire Qingzhou farmland belongs to the Wan family?"

Luan Disheng shook his head and said, "Not entirely. Some of the land in the mountains does not belong to the Wan family. However, most of the country people are tenant farmers of Master Wan's family."

Chen Shi asked, "What happened to the woman later?"

Luan Disheng said, "I don't know. The people in the teahouse stopped talking after this. The woman may have died from holding her urine, or she may have obeyed Master Wan. Such rural stories usually have no ending. However, this story must be true, because the Wan family has too many fields."

Li Tianqing seemed to be thinking: "The Wan family is considered an aristocratic family in Qingzhou. Many of the high officials in other provinces are from the Thirteen Aristocratic Families. However, in Qingzhou, the emperor is far away, so it is difficult for the Thirteen Aristocratic Families to gain influence."

Luan Disheng said, "In Qingzhou, even if he is the governor, he can't hold the position without Master Wan's approval."

Chen Shi thought of the Salt Commissioner who died at the hands of Li Tianqing the night before. His name was Lu Song. From his surname one could tell that he was not from the Thirteenth Family.

"The same is true for the Zhao family in Xinxiang."

Chen Shi said, "In the past, Xinxiang was the power of the Zhao family. From the governor to the county magistrate, most of them were from the Zhao family and other small families."

Li Tianqing shook his head and said, "The Zhao family was able to gain a foothold in Xinxiang because of my Li family's connivance. We wanted the Zhao family to find the True King's Tomb and find out the truth about it. The other twelve noble families had the same idea. Later, the Zhao family fell, and the thirteen noble families regained power in Xinxiang. After that, there was no more work for the small noble families."

Chen Shi asked: "Behind the Xinxiang Zhao family are thirteen noble families, so what about behind the Qingzhou Wan family? Can the Wan family, without any background, monopolize Qingzhou?"

Li Tianqing was stunned.

The story of the Wan family that Luan Disheng just told included the process of the Wan family's rise, as well as the Wan family's wealth and power, but there was no story about the Wan family's background.

Is it credible that the Wan family, who has no background, has such power in Qingzhou?

The Wan family’s fields are endless, planted with various crops and medicinal fields.

Medicinal herbs are quite precious, so many monks guard near the medicine fields.

Chen Shi looked at these cultivators. Each of them was very powerful, and many of them were scholars who had achieved the golden elixir stage.

They are also herbal farmers working for the Wan family.

However, masters like Luan Disheng are still very rare among herbal farmers, and Luan Disheng has a high status among herbal farmers. When those herbal farmers see him, they will greet him.

"Luan Disheng, why do you want to harm us?"

Li Tianqing couldn't help but ask, "You grow your medicinal herbs, what does it have to do with us?"

Luan Disheng hesitated for a moment and said, "The medicinal herbs I grow are different from other medicinal herbs. I grow elixirs for longevity. You killed my medicinal fertilizers, and I can't deliver my mission, so I have no choice but to kill you."

"Medicinal fertilizer?"

Chen Shi and Li Tianqing looked at each other. What would be the fertilizer for the elixir of life?
Luan Disheng brought them to his own medicine field, but seeing that it was close to the mountains, he used the spiritual springs from the dragon veins of the mountains to irrigate the medicinal materials and divided them into different spiritual gardens.

The structures of spiritual gardens are also different. Some spiritual medicines prefer shade, so rocks and trees are used to provide shade. Some spiritual medicines prefer sunlight, so mirrors are placed in the air to refract the sunlight, and monks activate the shrines to illuminate them with divine light.

Some spiritual medicines prefer dryness, so some monks use fire and wind spells to dry the soil. Some spiritual medicines prefer bitterness and coldness, so some monks use ice and snow spells to create bitter and cold spiritual gardens.

There is also an incense burner here to offer these spiritual medicines. The incense is burned continuously to cultivate the spirits of the spiritual medicines.

However, most of the spiritual medicines planted in the spiritual garden are actually spirits. From time to time, some of them will change their shapes and become palm-high boys who run in front of the incense burner to absorb the aroma of the incense.

A spiritual garden of such a scale made Chen Shi and Li Tianqing stare in amazement.

Chen Shi said: "The fertilizer you mentioned is the evil spirit you let loose, right?"

Luan Disheng nodded and said dejectedly: "When I took on this job as a herbal farmer, I knew it was wrong, but I have to support my family. Master Wan gave me money and gave me the skills and magic to practice, so that my children can go to private school and my father can be cured and stay alive..."

Chen Shi said, "So, your Southern School Talismans were passed down to you by Master Wan? Master Wan is a Southern School Talisman Master?"

"Southern school talismans? Southern school talisman master?" Luan Disheng was slightly stunned.

Chen Shi said: "Your method of creating evil spirits and your means of controlling evil spirits are from the Southern School of Talismans..."

Luan Disheng interrupted him and shook his head, saying, "We didn't create the evil spirits. Master Wan only taught me the method to control the evil spirits. The evil spirits in Qingzhou are all wild."

Chen Shi was shocked: "Can you control wild evil spirits?"

Luan Disheng said, "Of course it is wild. Could there be man-made evil spirits in the world?"

He was shocked.

Chen Shi was also extremely shocked.

Both of them have their own inherent cognition. Chen Shi believes that innate evil spirits cannot be controlled, while Luan Disheng believes that evil spirits are innate and monks cannot create evil spirits.

At this moment, their inherent cognition was broken!
Chen Shi was the first to calm down and asked, "Can the magic that Master Wan taught you control evil spirits? What will happen after you control the evil spirits?"

"grazing."

Luan Disheng said, "Qingzhou is a pasture. We herbal farmers need to restrain these evil spirits so that they cannot escape from Qingzhou at night. Also, during the day, when these evil spirits are not active, we collect medicinal fertilizer from them to fertilize these spiritual medicines."

Qingzhou, ranch!
Chen Shi and Li Tianqing opened their eyes wide, feeling as if the world was spinning around them.

Evil spirits are the sheep being herded!

So who is the grass eaten by the sheep?

(End of this chapter)