Chapter 300: The last Night Watchman

People in the opera troupe are mortals, unlike cultivators who don't need sleep.

So this motorcade walked and stopped all the way, traveling during the day and resting at night. If they met an inn during the rest, they would stay, and if they didn't meet, they could set up a shed to deal with a deep night.

And in the nights when everyone was sleeping, Ji You would continue to spit out spiritual energy to refine his body in a quiet place nearby.

Like this, day after day, the opera troupe's carriage went through an incomparably long journey and finally returned to Pingyang County.

Pingxi County is in the southeast of Yunzhou, not in the mining area.

The people here still live by farming, working at sunrise and resting at sunset.

When the opera troupe returned to the county town, they happened to encounter a spring rain falling, looking from a distance, the smoke and rain were misty.

As soon as they entered the city, the four carriages that had traveled a long way began to slow down, and finally stopped in front of a courtyard with a plaque of "Fengxian Opera Troupe."

The miscellaneous lines jumped off the car one after another and began to unload the luggage from the car.

Busy until noon, the spring rain eased a little, and one of the carriages headed east.

Two hours later, the troupe leader brought wine and meat, and appeared on a diagonal street with the little flower dan and martial student in the troupe.

Along the street, there were wooden frames everywhere, and houses undergoing repairs. Some were courtyard walls that had collapsed and had been filled in seven or eight, and some were roofs that had collapsed and were completely abandoned.

Ji You followed behind them, his gaze sweeping over these houses.

"The repairs after the snow disaster only started now?"

"Does the young master also know about the snow disaster?"

Ji You nodded: "I've heard a little bit."

The troupe leader couldn't help but sigh lightly: "We took a job at that time, but were trapped in Qingzhou and couldn't return home. We were anxious for a whole winter when we learned that our hometown was severely affected by the disaster. Fortunately, everyone in the family was saved."

"Who gave the money for the repairs?"

"I don't know about this. We don't have an old house in the city, and we have always lived in Xujiakou outside the city. It was only after that snow disaster that we knew that living in the city was safer than living outside the city, so we took out our savings for many years and bought some dilapidated houses in the city that the original owners didn't want to repair anymore."

The troupe leader stepped over a piece of mud and stopped in front of a courtyard gate: "Here."

Ji You looked up and saw a courtyard with blue stone and gray tiles: "Although it is remote, the area is not small."

"It was bought by our opera troupe with money. After buying it, we hired people to repair it immediately, used to support the elderly in the family. My junior uncle and junior uncle live here, and my grandmaster is also here."

The troupe leader said, while leading everyone to push the door and walk in.

In the courtyard, there were two middle-aged men whose hair was already gray, wiping some old jade belt opera costumes in the courtyard.

Seeing the people in the opera troupe swarm in, the two looked up and smiled.

"Back?"

"Junior uncle, junior uncle, we are back. Where is master?"

"Your master went to pick up other jobs. How was your trip?"

"Sang for eight days, the employer didn't know why, and didn't let us sing the last scene..."

The little flower dan looked at the troupe leader who responded, bit her lip, and swallowed the guess that the Lang family ancestor had faked his death.

The troupe leader handed the wine and meat in his hand to the older one: "Junior uncle, how is grandmaster now?"

"His spirit is still good, and he eats quite fragrantly. He has been chanting why you haven't come back these few days. Now it is considered to be looking forward to it. Eh, who is that..."

"Oh, by the way, junior uncle, I also brought a friend back this time."

The troupe leader's junior uncle had already seen Ji You, and only after staring for a long time did he come back to his senses: "Your friend...?"

The troupe leader nodded: "This young master is someone I met on the road. He is very interested in our play about the immortal saving the world and wants to know what happened later. I don't know about this, so he wanted to come and see grandmaster."

Grandmaster looked at Ji You for a long time, then coughed twice: "Please invite him into the front hall."

"Young master, my grandmaster invites you to the front hall."

The troupe leader turned his head and shouted.

Ji You bowed and thanked him after hearing it, then walked toward the grandmaster and entered the front hall with him.

The flower dan and martial student had already sat down in the courtyard. Seeing Ji You walking toward the front hall, their expressions were a bit confused.

From Zhongzhou to Yunzhou, they were familiar with Ji You and knew that he came for the story of that play.

But in their view, the rules of their opera troupe had always been very strict, and this person would probably return in vain.

But what they didn't expect was that the young young master was really invited in.

The lighting in the front hall was quite good, so even though the weather was slightly gloomy today, the room was still bright.

The wind-candle-year-old grandmaster reached out to invite Ji You to sit down

The troupe leader turned his head back and shouted once.

After hearing this, Ji You cupped his hands in thanks, then stepped toward the old master and followed him into the front hall.

At this time, the *dan* actress and the martial actor were already seated in the courtyard; seeing Ji You walking toward the front hall, their expressions were somewhat puzzled.

Along the way from Central Province to Yunzhou, they had become quite familiar with Ji You and all knew he had come for the story of that play.

But in their view, their troupe's rules had always been strictly kept, and this person would most likely make the trip in vain.

Yet, to their surprise, that young gentleman was actually invited inside.

The lighting in the front hall was quite good, so even though the weather was slightly gloomy today, the room was still quite bright.

The old master, in the twilight of his years, reached out to invite Ji You to sit, trembling as he wanted to pour tea for him, but Ji You waved his hand to stop him and poured a cup for himself from the teapot.

"The old gentleman's health is still quite good."

"A pile of old bones, nothing much left to live for. I just heard Wensheng say that you, sir, are very interested in our play."

Ji You held his teacup and nodded: "I have inquired for a long time; I have heard shadow plays and *sanxian* storytelling, but listening to them, they were all stories without heads or tails. It was only after hearing a few plays from your troupe these past few days that I gradually began to make sense of it."

The old man in the twilight of his years was silent for a long while: "Since you have come from such a long distance, sir, may I ask what you are curious about in this play?"

Ji You's initial excuse to the troupe leader was that he wanted to know what the final play was about, but saying so now was clearly a bit clumsy.

No one would travel thousands of miles from Central Province to Yunzhou just for the content of the final play.

So, after pondering for a long while, Ji You said: "I seem to have some connection with the people in the story, and there are some things I wish to ask about, but many people I asked did not know. By chance, I heard a few words while listening to storytelling at a teahouse, and only then did I investigate all the way to the present."

"So you are looking for the people in the story, sir. However, this old man only knows the person who wrote the story."

"The person who wrote the story will do as well. May I ask, old gentleman, where did he hear this story from?"

The troupe's old master spoke in a hoarse voice: "My old master was once saved by an immortal when he was a child, and this story was arranged by him based on that immortal."

As the words fell, Ji You's brows could not help but twitch.

Before coming, he had already set a psychological expectation, feeling that the older generation of this troupe might not be clear about the source of the story, or perhaps it was just hearsay.

If that were the case, he would not intend to investigate further.

Because regardless, he had already embarked on this path of body refinement, and no matter what stage he reached, he would have to continue walking it.

Yet he truly did not expect that he had actually found the source of the story.

Upon thinking of this, Ji You recalled the young boy character in the play.

That character had very few lines, appeared to have no great use, and had never appeared in other performances, yet it was not deleted in their troupe's play.

Now it seemed his premonition was correct. That character was likely one of the ancestors of this troupe.

After pondering for a long time, Ji You came back to his senses: "Besides the content of the play, did the old gentleman's master ever say anything else about this immortal?"

The old man was silent for a long while: "I can tell you about my old master's life, sir."

"That would be good."

"My old master's name was Cui Rong."

In the drizzling rain, the old man spoke slowly in a hoarse, weak voice.

His old master was named Cui Rong, an orphan who begged everywhere, living dependently with many children of the same background, mingling among the dregs of society.

Having barely survived until they were a bit older, these children, in order to fill their stomachs, followed some slightly older children into the gambling dens.

It is said that those older children were very clever and had a talent for gambling; at a young age, their gambling skills were already superb.

Thus, some were responsible for stealing, some for gambling, and they were able to get by.

But then, suddenly one day, they failed to stop in time after winning too much and were targeted by the gambling house's proprietor, nearly losing their lives.

Just at that critical moment, those children were saved by an old man covered in immortal light.

Unlike the story of the wandering savior in the play, this old man was not just passing by; in reality, he was also a regular at that gambling house.

Cui Rong often ran into him at the gambling table, knowing only that he looked shabby and his gambling skills were terrible, sometimes even welching on debts, never imagining he was an immortal.

Hearing this, Ji You frowned slightly: "As far as I know, practitioners can use their spiritual sense to see through dice cups."

The troupe's old master paused slightly: "As for this matter, this old man is not clear, but that is how the story is told, and I am only trying to pass it on as accurately as possible."