Evergreen Immortal..

Chapter 133 An Ning Guard Competition

Time seems to pass by in cultivation, and in the blink of an eye, another autumn has arrived.

There are more and more masters in Qinghe City.

The people of Qinghe also experienced the happiness of Lord An Ning. Even the tea vendors on the street could chat with him. Yesterday, a seventh-rank warrior drank a pot of tea in his house.

I unconsciously feel a bit superior to people from other counties.

"Hey, Master Li."

A young vendor came forward flatteringly.

Li Rui smiled and said, "Do you recognize me?"

"You are seventy years old and have broken the eighth rank. Everyone in Qinghe knows this. You don't remember that you once drank noodle porridge at my stall."

Li Rui glanced at the flag with "Zhou Ji Congee Shop" written on it stuck on the straw shed.

Then I remembered.

When he was still working as a groom in the Zhu family, he loved to come to this porridge shop to drink noodle porridge for a while.

Without him.

The boss is very honest. Whenever he sees someone poor, he will deliberately add more porridge.

For people who do a lot of physical labor, having enough food to eat is a big deal.

"Where's your father, Xiao Zhou?"

Li Rui remembered that the previous owner of this porridge shop was clearly a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, who looked weathered and not much younger than Yang Yong.

The young man said sadly: "My father fell ill and died last month."

"Dead"

Li Rui sighed softly.

The first time he came to this porridge shop to eat, he had just become a groom, and the original owner of this porridge shop was still a teenager.

When we met again, we were already separated by Yin and Yang.

"Give me a bowl of noodle porridge. No need to add more. I don't need that now."

"Okay."

The young man was ecstatic.

He immediately asked the young woman under the noodle stall to scoop a bowl of thick noodle porridge.

Accustomed to eating delicacies from land and sea.

The noodle porridge tasted really bland, but Li Rui still ate it with relish.

He drank it by slurping along the edge of the bowl.

When other customers at the noodle stall saw this, they all exclaimed in amazement.

This is a way of eating that only people who have been hungry know.

"Master Li, are you satisfied with this porridge?"

"It still tastes the same as before."

Li Rui smiled and fumbled in his arms for a long time, then smiled bitterly: "Keep the bill first, a young man will come to pay tomorrow."

The young man waved his hands quickly and said, "Master Li came to my house to drink porridge. This is a great blessing. How can I charge money?"

Not to mention Li Rui, who is such a high-ranking official.

Even the unpaid servants in the county government eat without paying.

He just wanted to make a good impression.

Li Rui didn't say much. He stood up, thanked him, and walked north towards the street.

No money?
No, it's too much money.

To be precise, they were too big. The smallest one was just a silver ingot, and the stall owner couldn't find the difference at all.

As for the old man in the storybook, he would just throw a silver ingot away.

And reluctant.

Cross Nanluo Street and you will reach Liutiao Lane.

Li Rui clearly remembers every brick and every tile here.

If you walk it three times a day for fifty years, you will remember it.

Not bad.

The largest house with five courtyards in Willow Lane belongs to the Zhu family.

Li Rui had to pass through this alley every day to feed his horses, so how could he not be familiar with it?

After a while.

A huge red gate with the words "Zhu Mansion" written on it appeared before his eyes, but it was different from before. There were paper money and soul-guiding flags in front of the door.

If there are these two objects at the door, it means that someone in the family has passed away.

Li Rui has been in the Zhu Mansion for fifty years and has seen such scenes too many times.

Picking money and paper is a way to commemorate the deceased and pray for his soul to be reborn, hoping that he will be rich and prosperous in the afterlife. The soul-guiding banner is to guide the deceased to his resting place.

"This money paper should be hung on the left, ah."

Li Rui walked into the Zhu family.

As soon as I entered the door, I saw a group of people from the Zhu family kneeling in the courtyard in mourning clothes, sobbing and wailing. On the spirit tablet was written "The spirit of the late father Zhu Ping."

Yes, Zhu Ping is dead.

In fact, Zhu Ping should have died a year ago.

The Red Refining Girl massacred the Zhu family. Zhu Ping had never been good at martial arts, and his heart meridian was broken in that battle. The damage was not obvious at first, and by the time he discovered the problem by coughing up blood, it was too late to save him. He has been relying on strong medicine to stay alive until now.

After Zhu Ping died, the Zhu family no longer had an old man who could take charge and understand the rules.

This is why you would hang the money paper incorrectly.

If the deceased is a male, the tablet should be hung on the left.

No wonder Zhu Ping wanted to survive even though he was suffering from illness every day.

Without him, the Zhu family would probably fall apart.

Li Rui just walked in.

Zhu Yue came forward and said, "Mr. Li, my father passed away suddenly, so I hope you can forgive me for the poor hospitality."

"It's okay, thank you for your hard work."

Li Rui nodded at Zhu Yue.

The Zhu family did not expect Zhu Yue to come back to preside over the funeral.

If Zhu Yue hadn't come back, they would have probably been fighting over the division of the family property and wouldn't even be able to set up the mourning hall.

"It's become much more mature."

Zhu Yue has shed his childishness and looks a bit like the head of the family.

I heard that Zhu Yue has left Huaqing Sect.

From then on, he was no longer a disciple of Huaqing Sect, but the head of the Zhu family.

The hometown that he once didn't want to return to eventually became Zhu Yue's prison.

Li Rui is older than Zhu Ping.

There was no reason for elders to burn incense for younger generations. He just stood there and watched for a while, and then taught Zhu Yue how to rearrange the mourning hall.

Now it begins to take shape.

Zhu Yue looked at Li Rui gratefully: "Mr. Li, I was young and impetuous before, I'm sorry."

"It's all in the past." Li Rui waved his hand indifferently.

That’s the good thing about getting old: you don’t hold grudges.

"The road ahead will be difficult. If you need any help, please tell me and I will help you if I can."

Li Rui said to help if we can.

Qinghe is not what it used to be. The Zhu family has already declined and must be having a hard time. He doesn't mind helping out in small matters, but if they offend someone they shouldn't, he naturally won't be able to help out.

Zhu Yue felt warm in his heart: "Thank you, Mr. Li."

This period of time.

He had seen a lot of cold and indifferent people. He was a disciple of Huaqing Sect before, so of course he was the center of attention when he came to Qinghe.

But now that he has become the patriarch of the Zhu family, even Zhu Ping's funeral was deserted.

Li Rui was one of the few people who came to pay their respects.

After staying there for about half an hour, Li Rui looked at Zhu Ping's token again.

This was the second head of the Zhu family he had sent away.

“Life and death are unpredictable. You have no choice but to fight to cross them. Otherwise, no matter how prosperous your life is, it will all turn into dust in the end.”

"The way of immortality. Longevity."

Li Rui seemed to have some understanding in his mind.

This day.

Ge Hong excitedly knocked on the door of Li's house.

When Li Rui opened the door.

Ge Hong was very excited: "I did it, I did it, Brother Li, we agreed to drink, so we can't miss it."

Li Rui looked at Ge Hong.

Soon, they discovered that there was an extremely weak fluctuation of true energy on Ge Hong's body.

It is the sign of willow tendons.

"Congratulations!"

Li Rui smiled and bowed to congratulate.

A year ago, Ge Hong felt that the bottleneck was loosening, and it took a full year before he finally made a real breakthrough.

This shows how difficult it is to make willow tendons.

People like Li Rui who are relaxed are actually very rare.

He could feel Ge Hong's Qi, that was because Ge Hong had just begun to cultivate his Qi, it did not have any special characteristics yet, and the quality was far inferior to that of Xuanqing Qi.

Of course, even if he succeeds, it will still be a long way to go.

Li Rui possesses the Changchun Gong and the Longyou Jiuxiaotu. In terms of rank alone, there are not many people in the world who can surpass him.

So he can see other people's qi, but not the other way around.

It's due to blood suppression.

Ge Hong felt as if the moon was shining after the clouds had parted. Over the past ten years, he had tried every possible way to break through.

If it weren’t for the sixth-grade elixir bestowed by Ning Zhongtian, it might have taken another ten years.

This is why wealth comes first among the three aspects of wealth, companions, Dharma and place.

Good talents also require accumulation of resources.

He was even more grateful for his decision to leave the Iron Sword Martial Arts School.

"Let's go and have some wine!"

Li Rui was also very happy when Ge Hong made a breakthrough.

It's the kind of satisfaction that comes from seeing good younger generations have a bright future.

Ge Hong did not look down on Li Rui at all because of the breakthrough and the gap between him and Li Rui. In fact, after the breakthrough, the first person he looked for was Li Rui.

It’s not easy to find close friends.

Li Rui first went to Zuixianlou in the city and booked a private room.

When Ge Hong arrived, Wei Ming's big head showed up first. To Li Rui's surprise, Ning Zhongtian also came to celebrate in person.

But it's normal when you think about it.

After Ge Hong's breakthrough and his position is confirmed, there is an 80% chance that he will be Ning Zhongtian's subordinate, and the difference will be only one level.

Ning Zhongtian rarely attended Ge Hong and Li Rui's drinking parties before.
That's because the difference in levels between the two sides is too great, one is at the eighth rank, and the other is at the sixth rank. It may not be a good thing for either to go.

But now that Ge Hong has made a breakthrough, he is qualified to be taken seriously by Ning Zhongtian.

Interactions between people.

Equality of strength comes first.

Otherwise, even if they are brothers in their youth, they will become strangers due to the disparity in status when they grow up.

Ge Hong called Wei Ming and Ning Zhongtian.

In this kind of situation, the fewer people there are, the more useful it is and the more they can communicate with each other.

Otherwise, the place would be filled with smoke and dust, making it difficult for a group of people to talk, and the wine would be wasted if they drank it.

Ge Hong would naturally do it, but not today.

The three of them took their seats.

Ge Hong then looked at Ning Zhongtian tentatively: "Boss Ning..."

Ning Zhongtian was a generous person, he laughed and said, "Brother Ge, today is to celebrate your breakthrough, there is no need for a boss, you are the one who makes the decision."

"Yes."

Ge Hong grinned.

In the past, Ning Zhongtian would never say such things to him.

After the breakthrough, he went from being a close friend of Ning Zhongtian's faction to someone who could truly be his confidant.

Ge Hong breaks through.

Naturally, he became the object of toasts. Wine is a good thing. Even for warriors, there is wine that can make them drunk. The most he would have to do is spend more money.

After three rounds of drinking.

The atmosphere quickly became warm and everyone started to treat each other like brothers.

Li Rui was the oldest, and Ning Zhongtian even called him Brother Li for a long time.

Ning Zhongtian was already seven-tenths drunk.

He lowered his voice and said to the three people, "The military and political assessment of our guard will begin in three months. I heard that Jiang Touer asked the Ministry of War for several positions."

He then looked at Ge Hong and Wei Ming and said, "You two better fight for me!"

He did not mention Li Rui in what he said.

There is no other reason. These positions are all of the seventh rank, and Li Rui cannot compete for them even if he wants to.

Ge Hong's eyes lit up.

He knew that Wei Ming, a seventh-rank general, had been waiting for five or six years.

If he can perform well in the competition, coupled with Ning Zhongtian's efforts, he might even get a good position.

"God help me too!"

When it comes to promotion, personal ability is important, but timing is equally important.

Li Rui listened silently at the side, his heart slightly moved.

(End of this chapter)