When the Great Dao Dies, I Remain; When Spiritual Energy Withers, I Endure

The new year is approaching.

The Hemu Temples in the north and west of the city have also been completed.

The incense continues every day.

Because taxes and grains have increased a lot in the coming year, people's lives are under great pressure. Even on this winter day, they cannot stop to rest.

The men are out doing business, while the women are weaving at home. They often invite a few neighbors to go to the Hemu Temple together to pray for their husbands who are away from home.

It's another early morning.

It's still dark.

There is occasional snow.

Several women passed by Long Laixiang's door, holding small baskets containing some fruits, jujube cakes and other tributes.

They looked anxious and rushed towards Hemu Temple. When they passed by Li Changxiao, they glanced at him and then left in a hurry.

Li Changxiao looked at their backs and said nothing. He picked up the broom and cleared the snow in front of the door.

"Woof!"

"Woof!"

The vicious dog from Hu Laixiang bared its teeth and barked at Li Changxiao.

He even made a flying move. If it hadn't been tied up with an iron chain, I'm afraid he would have pounced and bit him long ago.

This dog seemed to particularly hate Li Changxiao.

Whenever he sees Li Changxiao, he will scream extremely fiercely.

How could Li Changxiao care? He just swept the snow in front of the door and occasionally had a sip of wine.

The broom hit a foreign object.

Li Changxiao pushed aside the snow and found a woman freezing to death on the roadside.

He called out to the boss lady, but Yang Xiuhua didn't dare to delay, so she immediately ran to the nearby Yamen and invited two widowers.

Wu Zuo just glanced at the body and told Yang Xiuhua that the man froze to death and would not implicate the two of them.

Wait for the sky to light up.

Long Laixiang has officially opened its doors.

Business remains lukewarm.

Recently, there are always frozen corpses at the door of Longlaixiang.

Everyone thought it was unlucky, so they all went to Tiger Lamia.

Speaking of frozen corpses, a few are found almost every year. They all died drunk on the roadside in the middle of the night and were covered in ice and snow and froze to death.

It’s just that there are so many this year.

Because more and more refugees are pouring into Dragon City.

The sea rages.

What was once an annual tidal spectacle has turned into a life-threatening ghost.

The tide has risen and turned into waves, which have engulfed several fishing villages on the seaside.

Rumor has it, the tide is still rising.

More and more refugees have nowhere to go and can only flock to Dragon City, so... more and more people are freezing to death every day.

Some time ago.

I also heard that a famous poet refused to listen to advice and insisted on watching the tide. As a result, he was swept into the sea by the tide and has not been heard from since.

evening.

It's freezing cold.

After Longlaixiang closed, Yang Xiuhua gathered together and bought some incense, then took Li Changxiao and ran to the nearby Hemu Temple.

She prayed devoutly.

It's not for herself. She runs a canteen, so she doesn't have to run around.

She knelt in front of the golden body of Hemu and muttered words, asking Lord Hemu to be accommodating and go talk to Lord Poseidon and stop letting the tide make trouble. Recently, there have been more and more refugees in Longcheng.

Li Changxiao kindly reminded her that He Mu could not speak, and she could only control the river.

Yang Xiuhua didn't believe it. There was water in the river and water in the sea. Why couldn't Lord Hemu speak?

After worshiping for half an hour, the two returned to the Long Laixiang dining hall.

The watchman held a fire lamp and a pair of gongs to remind people to close the doors and windows and not to get cold.

The days passed like this day by day.

In Li Changxiao's room, there is a small wooden board with seventeen horizontal bars on it.

A horizontal bar represents a day. If he raises thirty, his debt for eating the Overlord's meal will be paid off.

And he.

At that time, he will leave Dragon City.

He calculated the days and found that he could spend the Spring Festival in Longcheng and stay for a few more days.

A few more days passed.

A suona suddenly started playing in a house near Long Laixiang.

Inside the house, the woman's cry was heartbreaking.

As soon as I got to know him, I found out that it was a man from her family who unfortunately fell into the water and died while doing business.

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When the tide rises, the canal connected to it cannot be calm.

The woman cursed God for being unfair and scolded the river mother for her inaction. She also cried bitterly with her three-year-old child in her arms, asking what would happen to the mother and son in the future.

Nothing is permanent.

the next day.

Yang Xiuhua cooked two bowls of hot noodles early and asked Li Changxiao to bring them to the mother and son.

Li Changxiao kept his face straight and knocked on the door for a long time. When there was no response, he pushed the door open.

I saw the woman, holding her child, leaning on the coffin and falling asleep.

Maybe it was because they had a good dream last night. When Li Changxiao woke them up and offered them a bowl of hot noodles, they felt a little better.

…

The Spring Festival is getting closer and closer.

There are more and more refugees in Longcheng.

The tide is still rising.

even……

It may affect Dragon City!

Huang Tingsheng, the prefect of Longcheng, called on young men to dig channels outside Longcheng and divert water. If the tide really rose to Longcheng, they would be able to cope with it.

This day.

When I opened the door to clear the snow, I encountered another frozen corpse.

is a child.

Curled up into a ball, there was a smile on the corner of his mouth.

Yang Xiuhua stared blankly for a long time, clenching her fists as if she had made some decision.

She told Li Changxiao that she wanted to open a porridge shop.

Every morning, a certain amount of hot porridge is cooked to help these refugees.

Li Changxiao naturally had no objection. Long Laixiang belonged to Yang Xiuhua. She could do whatever she wanted. Li Changxiao was just a wage earner.

However, he still kindly reminded Yang Xiuhua.

With the foundation of Longlaixiang, it can't last long.

And now, the world is turbulent, everyone protects themselves, and it is not wise to help others.

Yang Xiuhua said that she knew it, but Longlaixiang has never been just a canteen that makes money.

So.

The next day.

A large number of refugees lined up in front of Longlaixiang porridge shop.

Just for that mouthful of hot porridge.

Hu Laixiang on the opposite side saw this scene, with a sneer on his face, scolding Yang Xiuhua for being too soft-hearted and courting death.

Li Changxiao was so busy that he didn't even have time to drink.

Another bad news.

The tide suddenly rose.

The momentum exceeded all the previous ones.

This time.

Not only flooded the village.

But flooded a county under Longcheng!

The incident happened suddenly.

At least 80% of the people in the entire county died!

The people suffered.

Huang Tingsheng's face became extremely solemn after he knew about this. He sent more people to dig the channel and sent two monks to investigate the reason for the high tide.

A few days later.

Hail fell in Longcheng.

With the crackling sound, the people's houses were smashed.

In addition, the weather was cold.

For a time, there were external and internal troubles.

More and more people went to the temple to pray.

People prayed that the mother of the river could show up, calm the sea level, and have a good Spring Festival.

One day.

In the evening.

Longlaixiang had just closed.

There was a knock on the door.

Yang Xiuhua shouted that it was closed and no customers were accepted.

The knock on the door paused, and then knocked a few times.

Li Changxiao sat on a wooden chair and looked at the scene expressionlessly.

Yang Xiuhua thought that it might be a refugee who was starving. She looked into the kitchen and saw that there was still half a hot steamed bun left. She took it in two or three steps and opened the door.

Cold wind blew in.

The person who came was not a refugee.

But a very beautiful woman.

Yang Xiuhua was secretly surprised, and then she felt that she looked familiar, as if she had seen her somewhere before.

The woman smiled, her eyes fell on Li Changxiao behind her, and said, "Can I go in and sit down?"

"Oh, sure." Yang Xiuhua nodded.