Chapter 920 Jianghu

What do I want to learn?

Hearing the serious words of Zishan Zhenren, Xu Xian was slightly startled, thinking, isn't it a default to cultivate immortals?

Zishan Zhenren glanced at him, turned his back immediately, looked at the bright moon outside the window, and said proudly: "Master has been practicing for more than 460 years. In addition to practicing Qi cultivation and ascending to immortality, I am also proficient in all worldly skills."

"If you are reluctant to leave this world and don't want to return to the mountains with your master to practice in seclusion, your master will not force you. Whether it is piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, poetry, wine, flowers and tea, astronomy, geography, classics, history, and collections, your master can teach you!"

"..."

Hearing the heroic words of Zishan Zhenren, Xu Xian opened his mouth wide, staring blankly at his tall back covered by the moonlight, and suddenly an indescribable shock and admiration emerged in his heart.

Mortal skills, all proficient...

Is there such a powerful hidden master in the world?

If the master is really as he said, and is a master of classics, history, and literature, then wouldn't he be able to fulfill his dream of becoming a famous teacher, follow the master to annotate the classics, and then pass the imperial examination and enter the palace in one fell swoop?

Just as Xu Xian began to enjoy the future, he suddenly came back to his senses and frowned tightly.

...Wait, is this a test from the master?

Although it is his biggest dream to bring honor to his family through studying, compared with the master who can go to heaven and earth, the fame in the mortal world is still a little too small.

Is he really going to give up the opportunity to cultivate immortality for a mere fame?

But then again, if practicing Qi and cultivating the truth means giving up the world and returning to the mountains to practice in seclusion, he is also reluctant to do so.

In this way, the young Xu Xian fell into an unsolvable tangle for the first time.

Zishan Zhenren looked at Xu Xian's expression with his spiritual consciousness, and couldn't help but smile slightly in his heart.

At present, Xu Xian is still young and has not yet made up his mind. It is naturally difficult for him to make a decision in the face of such a major choice at the crossroads of life.

Zishan Zhenren threw the question to him just to let him think carefully about the consequences of each choice, and by the way, to make Xu Xian take the initiative to throw the question back to him, so that Xu Xian would willingly accept his suggestions and arrangements.

Sure enough, after hesitating for a long time, Xu Xian lowered his head and said with a face full of shame: "Master, I... I don't know, what do you think I should learn?"

Zishan Zhenren smiled and said: "You want to hear the master's advice?"

Xu Xian nodded repeatedly: "Yes."

Zishan Zhenren said decisively: "Then martial arts."

Xu Xian was stunned when he heard this: "...Huh?"

Zishan Zhenren turned around, with his back to the moonlight, and said with a smile: "Martial arts are skills in the human world, between immortals and mortals. They can be used as a means to strengthen the body and even gain fame, or they can be used to enter the Tao and ascend to immortality."

"To practice martial arts, you don't need to give up the world and return to the mountains to live in seclusion. If you still want to study, they can complement each other."

"You are an apprentice of Baozhitang, and you also know some medical skills. You should understand that the stronger the body, the clearer the mind."

"As the saying goes, sharpening the knife does not delay the chopping of wood..."

Under the moonlight, Zishan Zhenren talked freely, and Xu Xian listened attentively, nodding from time to time, thinking that what the master said was very true.

But deep in his heart, he always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't tell the specific reason...

Just then, there was a sudden commotion outside, and seven or eight hurried footsteps sounded, as if passing by the gate of the courtyard

Xu Xian was startled, and hurriedly passed by Zishan Zhenren and closed the doors and windows.

Zishan Zhenren glanced out the window, his eyes lit up, and through the window, he saw the scene in the courtyard.

Xu Xian's brother-in-law Li Ren opened the door, holding a knife in his right hand, and came to the gate of the courtyard angrily.

He was disheveled and his hair was disheveled. It was obvious that he had put on his clothes in a hurry and had not tidied up.

After opening the gate of the courtyard, Li Ren shouted to the officers and soldiers outside the courtyard, and asked the reason with a bad face.

Zishan Zhenren was curious, listened attentively, and then couldn't help but smile.

He looked at Xu Xian, who was lying in front of the window and peeping through the crack, and said:

"Good disciple, do you want to know what happened?"

"..."

Xu Xian was slightly startled, and then suddenly realized that he had a master with great magical powers beside him.

He turned around quickly and nodded expectantly: "Yeah!"

Zishan Zhenren laughed softly: "Official silver was stolen from the treasury of Lin'an Prefecture. It is suspected that a big thief was involved. The government is currently trying its best to hunt him down."

...Official silver was stolen, and a big thief was involved?

Xu Xian's eyes widened, obviously very curious about this.

Zishan Zhenren looked at the expression on his face and couldn't help but smile slightly.

A teenager of this age, if he is fooled by big principles, he will inevitably become rebellious.

It is better to take him to see it with his own eyes, maybe he will become interested in martial arts.

It would be a pity if the martial arts talent of B-level is not started from martial arts...

Thinking of this, Zishan Zhenren suddenly asked: "Want to see it?"

Xu Xian was startled and asked subconsciously: "What to see?"

Zishan Zhenren smiled slightly and said leisurely: "The world."

...

...

In Lin'an Prefecture, beside the military bridge, outside the Black Pearl Lane, teams of officers and soldiers dressed in black, holding waist knives and holding torches hurriedly passed by.

Tonight, the official silver in the treasury was stolen. Although the amount was not large, the thief was extremely rampant.

After stealing the official silver, he not only stayed on the roof of the warehouse for a while so that he could be discovered by the patrolling officers and soldiers, but also left a note after leaving, provoking the majesty of the government with words.

Just a few years ago, Bao Zheng was appointed as the Supervisory Censor, and he was responsible for inspecting officials and counties. Now it was Lin'an Prefecture's turn.

At this critical moment, a thief stole official silver at night and provoked the government. How could Lin'an Prefecture not be angry?

But unfortunately, without diamond drills, people would not take on this porcelain job.

Under the siege of many officers and soldiers, the thief escaped easily.

His light work was so wonderful that it could be said to be the best in the world, so that all the officers and soldiers and constables of the government could only look up to him.

Not long after, the black shadow quietly came to the alleys, like a breeze quietly passing over the eaves.

Every time it passed a house, the black shadow would take out a dime of silver from his arms, and then flick his fingers to make it fall into the houses on the street.

Repeatedly, in just one street, the thief dispersed at least dozens of taels of silver.

When he came to the end of the street and was about to jump over the roof, he suddenly found that there were two figures, one tall and one short, standing in another alley not far away.

Among them, the short one was a boy of thirteen or fourteen years old, with a delicate face, a thin body, and a bookish air. He was standing in the alley at this moment, looking at him with surprise and a little yearning.

Behind the boy, there was a tall Taoist in purple robe.

He had his hands behind his back, his expression was calm, and there was a smile on his handsome face, just looking at him quietly.

The moment he met the eyes of the Taoist in purple robe, the bandit was startled and felt a sense of tension inexplicably.

But when he came to his senses and took a closer look, he found that the Taoist had flaws everywhere, and it seemed that he was not a martial artist.

"...I think I'm overthinking it?"

The bandit looked at the two suspiciously.

The Taoist in purple robe smiled slightly, suddenly raised his hand, and pointed in the direction he came from.

The bandit was startled and looked in the direction of the purple-robed Taoist's finger. Sure enough, he saw another figure flying over the roof. His lightness skill was extremely good and his footsteps were silent. He was only slightly inferior to him.

"Oh no, there is a master!"

The bandit was shocked and prepared to leave immediately.

However, before leaving, he did not forget to thank the purple-robed Taoist and flicked his finger to shoot a corner of broken silver.

"Swish--"

The broken silver broke through the air and accurately shot to the corner of the window sill beside the two.

This was done deliberately considering that the two might not have practiced martial arts.

But what the bandit didn't know was that before the corner of the broken silver was about to hit the window sill, two fingers suddenly stretched out and accurately clamped the broken silver in mid-air.

The young man reacted and turned his head quickly. He saw the purple-robed Taoist holding the broken silver between his two fingers, throwing it lightly, catching it with his backhand, and then blinking at the young man playfully.

"Ha, there is an unexpected gain!"

"..."

The young man or Xu Xian took the broken silver in a daze, looked at the silver in his hand that was obviously cut off, and then looked at the back of the thief flying quickly on the eaves in the distance, and couldn't help saying:

"Is he the thief who stole the official silver... person?"

Zishan Zhenren smiled and nodded: "Yes."

Xu Xian looked up and asked: "He stole the official silver to rob the rich and help the poor?"

"Maybe." Zishan Zhenren turned his head and looked at the black shadow in the distance and smiled, "From the current traces, it is true, but there may be deeper reasons."

Xu Xian looked puzzled and was about to ask more questions, but suddenly found that he couldn't open his mouth.

Just when he was a little frightened, he suddenly heard a very slight sound of wind.

The next second, a black shadow fell from the sky and landed in front of the two.

Xu Xian was startled and almost fell backwards. It was Zishan Zhenren who reached out and pressed his shoulder to help him stabilize his body.

At the same time, the heroic young man who fell from the sky was also shocked when he saw this scene, and hurriedly said: "Sorry, little brother, I am a government official, and I am chasing a big thief. I wonder if you two have seen where this thief is going?"

Xu Xian was still staring at him in a daze, and the Zishan Zhenren behind him smiled slightly and raised his hand to point.

The heroic young man looked in the direction of his finger, immediately bowed his hands to thank him, and then jumped up and chased after him.

After flying past several houses at a high speed, the heroic young man felt something was wrong and suddenly realized.

How could a Taoist and a young man appear in such a place in the middle of the night?

The heroic young man turned around and flew away, and returned to the alley in the blink of an eye.

But at this time, the alley was already empty. The heroic young man frowned, knelt down, and reached out to touch the place where the two had stood before.

"Sure enough, there is a ghost..."

The heroic young man frowned tightly, and he couldn't figure it out.

How could he not notice such an obvious weirdness at the first sight?