Chapter 180: Alternative Readers and Progress Bars (8000)

Outside the city gate, there was a constant stream of people, and people were coming in and out from time to time. Before Xu Bai got close, he saw that people had already started to gather at the city gate.

Originally, a place like the city gate should play a role in circulation, but at this time the city gate seemed crowded.

The noisy sounds of the onlookers came into Xu Bai's ears from time to time. Xu Bai listened to some of them and walked closer. Only then did he see the situation inside through the gaps in the crowd.

A scholar in ordinary clothes was falling to the ground at this moment, holding two tattered books in his hands, crying and shouting constantly, and in front of this scholar was a wealthy middle-aged man wearing silk.

When Xu Bai got closer, Xu Bai also understood the scholar's crying.

"You are so unreasonable. I work part-time in your house just to have a meal while I study."

"I work hard for your family, but in the end you don't even pay me. Look, this Nanhua Road is a holy place for scholars. Is there any law?"

"You must give me an explanation today, otherwise don't even think about leaving."

The poor and downtrodden scholar cried and kicked the ground from time to time, with a feeling of breaking a jar.

This scene has almost never happened in Nanhua Road, which is full of scholarly atmosphere, so it has also attracted the attention of many people.

It is said that the local water and soil nurture the local people. The people in Nanhua Road are also well-educated and polite. Most of them have read a lot of sage books, so even if they are watching the excitement, they are quite orderly.

Xu Bai also hid in the crowd and became a spectator.

Who in this world doesn't like to watch the excitement?

The wealthy businessman, who was quite strong, was obviously disturbed by the crowd around him. He felt that it was a bit embarrassing to stay here, so he waved his sleeves, ignored the poor scholar, and turned to leave.

But before he took two steps, the poor scholar shuddered, quickly climbed up, used his hands and feet, crawled to the side of the rich businessman, hugged the rich businessman's legs, and continued to shout.

"Everyone, bear witness for me, he actually wants to run away, is there any reason for this? He is not allowed to run away until the wages are paid today."

While shouting, the scholar's eyes swept over the people around him from time to time, and this scene happened to be seen by Xu Bai.

Xu Bai frowned. He always felt that there was something wrong with this scholar. This kind of situation is not uncommon in other places.

But rolling around in the street and looking at the people around from time to time proved that the scholar's intention was not here, but on the people around him.

Xu Bai continued to watch.

At this moment, the scholar's gaze suddenly paused, and the place where it paused was actually in the direction of Xu Bai. Xu Bai raised his eyebrows and raised the corners of his mouth slightly, and finally understood what was going on.

"Oh, it turns out that Xiang Zhuang danced with a sword, aiming at Pei Gong." Xu Bai thought to himself.

When the scholar's gaze paused in his direction, although it quickly shifted away, Xu Bai clearly felt that the scholar's real intention should be himself.

Xu Bai planned to continue watching, at least for now, it was still quite interesting.

The rich businessman was pulled by the scholar, a little irritated, and finally waved his hand to push the scholar to the ground, and then threw a handful of silver.

"Take it, is this enough?"

"You are a short-term worker for me, but you are often lazy. When you are lazy, you read books, but you should do your job, right?"

"You have earned this money today, but don't think about this business again in the future."

After all, he is a businessman, and the rich businessman doesn't want to waste time here. He didn't spend much money. He hurriedly said a few harsh words and left directly.

The poor scholar sat on the ground, looking at the silver and money on the ground, and the whole person was stunned on the spot.

He raised his head slightly and looked at Xu Bai inconspicuously, but saw that Xu Bai was looking at this side with the eyes of eating melons, and he didn't mean to come out.

The poor scholar gritted his teeth, and after reacting, he picked up all the money on the ground, and finally left.

Without melons to eat, the onlookers around naturally dispersed gradually, but Xu Bai stayed where he was, looking at the direction where the poor scholar left, and disappeared in the next moment.

After the poor scholar left the city gate, he walked through several winding alleys and finally came to a dilapidated house.

This house was indeed dilapidated. Compared with the surrounding houses, it seemed that it had never been repaired. If the roof was not relatively intact, it would probably leak.

The poor scholar opened the door and walked inside.

He was about to close the door with his backhand, but he didn't expect that the next moment, a hand suddenly jumped out, grabbed his neck fiercely, and pushed him against the wall.

The poor scholar woke up immediately and struggled to shout, but when he saw the owner of the hand, his eyes were obviously dazed for a moment.

This dazed emotion only lasted for a moment, and was covered up by the poor scholar, but it could not escape the eyes of the other party.

"Who are you? Why did you break into a private house? Be careful, I will shout, and the government will come."

His tone was full of panic, as if he was really a vulnerable person who was suddenly caught by someone.

Xu Bai smiled and said, "Just now outside, weren't you looking for me? Now that I'm here, why are you afraid?"

"Who... who is looking for you?" The poor scholar shuddered.

Before he finished speaking, the next moment, he heard a melodious music, which sounded very pleasant to his ears, but in addition to the pleasant sound, there was also a feeling of disturbing his thoughts.

He felt that his mind was confused, and in the blink of an eye, he had fallen into chaos.

Xu Bai let go of his hand, letting the poor scholar stand in front of him, and slowly asked: "Who are you? Why are you looking for me? What is your purpose?"

The scholar whose soul was controlled was at a loss, but after hearing Xu Bai's question, he answered: "I am an ordinary scholar in Nanhua Road. I am looking for you mainly to get close to you and then kill you.

I deliberately set up this trap to test whether you will help me like those people in the martial arts world. If you can, I will make friends with you and then assassinate you."

Xu Bai pondered and said: "To assassinate me, what do you use to assassinate me?"

It's not that Xu Bai feels good about himself, but the scholar in front of him is powerless. If he stands there and lets the other party hit him, the other party will not be able to break his defense.

The poor scholar raised his hand, dug in his pocket, and then took out a scroll.

The scroll was curled up and looked like a painting.

Xu Bai stretched out his right hand and squeezed it hard.

In the empty room, the sound of bones breaking came.

The poor scholar screamed, the scroll in his hand fell to the ground, and he looked at Xu Bai with fear on his face.

Xu Bai picked up the scroll on the ground and said lightly: "Not bad, you can actually deal with my soul control. I don't know what method you used.

First, you used the so-called inferior method to approach me. In fact, you knew that you couldn't get close to me, so you deliberately exposed your flaws to lure me over, and then pretended to be controlled by me.

But you are still a little naive to play this trick of showing your dagger after the picture is exhausted."

The poor scholar laughed bitterly and said: "You are worthy of being Prince Xu. You are really worthy of the name. Today, I will treat you as a failure, but this is only the first time."

As soon as the voice fell, the poor scholar's face suddenly turned pale, and then his head tilted, and he lost his breath.

"Is it really organized and disciplined? If there is no chance, you will commit suicide directly?" Xu Bai shook his head and opened the scroll in his hand.

After the scroll was unfolded, a dagger was revealed at the end. The dagger looked ordinary, but it was painted with blood-red patterns. These patterns looked extremely evil.

Xu Bai suddenly had an idea in his mind - this dagger can hurt him!

This is an intuition from deep in his heart, which tells him that this dagger can hurt him and make him feel dangerous.

"It should be related to the blood-red pattern on the dagger." Xu Bai thought to himself, and at the same time rolled the dagger back into the scroll and handed it to the first-grade puppet next to him.

After doing all this, he used his soul to scan the surroundings. After finding no other abnormalities, he left this dilapidated house.

...

Qingyun Academy is the most famous academy in Nanhua Road. Here, academies are almost everywhere.

Xu Bai came here, and he would encounter an academy almost every thirty or fifty steps.

Either majestic or small and exquisite, in short, this place is full of the atmosphere of scholars.

Because Qingyun Academy is the most famous, Xu Bai only asked a little and found it.

Looking at the building with a strong bookish atmosphere in front of him, Xu Bai stood at the door and nodded frequently.

It must be said that this building alone is very consistent with the name of Qingyun Academy. It is elegant yet gorgeous, simple yet solemn.

The door is open. Since it is an academy, there are no servants here, and many scholars are walking back and forth.

Sometimes scholars go in, and sometimes scholars come out, and everyone holds a thick book in their hands.

Some scholars look down, some hold books under their armpits, and some walk while reading.

Xu Bai did not see Liu Xu's figure. After all, he came here this time without notifying Liu Xu in advance, so no one greeted him.

But it's not a big problem. Xu Bai looks at this situation and estimates that he will not be blocked. Thinking of this, he raised his foot and walked towards the door.

When he stepped into it, there was a sense of righteousness. After all, this is a holy place for scholars. Even an ordinary person can feel it clearly here.

No one cared about him, and no one looked over here. Everyone was reading books, as if the books in their hands were more important than anything else.

But Xu Bai didn't know where Liu Xu was, so he had to ask, so he found a scholar and grabbed him.

The scholar frowned and shook his hands in dissatisfaction, trying to shake Xu Bai off, but Xu Bai's hands were like iron clamps, and he couldn't shake them off at all.

"How can you be so rude? This is a place of saints, why do you do such an impolite thing?"

The scholar's hair was crooked because of his shaking hands. He was very dissatisfied with Xu Bai's actions and could not help but scold him.

"Excuse me, where is Liu Xu?" Although Xu Bai said it was rude, he did not loosen his hand and asked.

"Senior Sister Liu?" Hearing this, the scholar seemed to think of something, and his face was full of contempt: "Another playboy. Since Senior Sister came back from the Jiantian Division, you guys have been tempted. I advise you to go back early and don't make yourself unhappy. Be careful not to lose your life."

Xu Bai grinned and said, "Why did you lose your life? Is Liu Xu a female demon?"

The scholar's face changed and he said coldly: "Senior Sister Liu is now the chief of the Jiantian Division. This time she asked for leave to come back mainly to wait for someone. Do you know who she is waiting for?"

"Who?" Xu Bai was quite curious.

The scholar's face became even colder: "Bloody Knife-Slayer, have you heard of it?"

In his opinion, the man in front of him was not only a scoundrel, but also an ignorant scoundrel. He didn't even know who Senior Sister Liu was waiting for. What kind of knowledge did he have?

But for some reason, when he said the four words "Bloody Knife-Slayer", he felt his hand suddenly tightened, and the other party's strength seemed to increase, and he could feel that the other party seemed to have a disgust for him.

"What do you want to do? Do you want to go wild here?" The scholar felt the pain in his hand and couldn't help but raise his voice.

"Ignorance is not a crime, forget it this time." Xu Bai said sinisterly: "Next time you call me this name, I will hook your tongue. Remember to call me Lord Xu in the future, no, call me Lord Xu."

He didn't forget that Eunuch Wei told him that he had to call himself the king to the outside world. After all, Xu Bai was now a king of a different surname and couldn't lose the face of the Great Chu State.

"Lord Xu? This Lord?" The scholar's face was full of doubts, and he obviously hadn't reacted yet. When he reacted, he finally understood the meaning of these words.

"You are Xue Tu..."

He was full of astonishment, and wanted to repeat Xu Bai's address again, but he felt that before he finished speaking, a chill came out of his spine, and he swallowed the last two words directly.

"Lord... Lord."

At this time, the scholar was a little terrified: "I don't know the identity of the Lord, please don't blame me."

"Yes." Xu Bai said: "Tell this Lord, where is Liu Xu?"

Although there were scholars around, Xu Bai and his team made a lot of noise, so naturally some people turned their eyes to them. After knowing Xu Bai's identity, many people took a breath of cold air.

The scholar quickly pointed in a direction, indicating that it was Liu Xu's room, and Liu Xu was waiting for him in the room.

Xu Bai then let go of his hand and walked in that direction, but before he left, he turned back and said, "The so-called mighty force cannot bend. I see that although you are studying, you have not read out the character of a scholar."

This sentence was just a quick word from him. After all, when it comes to insulting people, Xu Bai is also the best.

"Mighty force cannot bend..." The scholar looked at the direction where Xu Bai left, lowered his head and pondered over this sentence repeatedly, and left as if he had found a treasure.

The scholars who were watching around looked at each other and repeated this sentence.

Of course, Xu Bai didn't know this. He had already found Liu Xu's room in this direction.

As for why he could find it so accurately, the answer is very simple, just one word.

——Fragrance.

The good smell of sandalwood can be smelled clearly even from a long distance. Xu Bai estimated that sandalwood had been burned in Liu Xu's room, so he only needed to smell it to smell it.

"Dong Dong Dong!"

He walked forward and knocked on the door gently, and the sound of Dong Dong was recalled.

After a while, Liu Xu's voice came from the room.

"Xu Bai, wait a minute, I'll remove the mechanism in the room."

After all, Liu Xu was a third-grade master, so he could easily tell who was standing outside the door.

Hearing these familiar words, Xu Bai instantly remembered the scene when he first met Liu Xu that day.

At that time, it was still Sheng County, and both of them were rookies, but Liu Xu was an old rookie compared to him.

In Liu Xu's room, various mechanisms were arranged, and they were all the ways of the rivers and lakes, just for defense.

Unexpectedly, in Qingyun Academy, Liu Xu was still the same, and had not changed at all.

Soon, the door of the room opened, and Xu Bai came back to his senses.

Liu Xu had a veil on her face, and she bent down slightly and said, "Meet Lord Xu."

There was a joke in her eyes. Although the veil covered her face, it could be seen that the smile in her eyes did not diminish.

Outside the room, a few scholars in white happened to pass by and looked at him with curiosity.

But after feeling Xu Bai's gaze, they quickly dispersed.

Xu Bai deliberately said with a straight face: "If you tease me like this again, I will turn around and leave."

How could he not hear that Liu Xu was teasing him.

Liu Xu turned sideways and tilted her head: "No, please come in, my Prince Xu."

Xu Bai was quite helpless, but he still walked in.

As soon as he entered the room, he smelled a stronger sandalwood scent. Xu Bai saw the metal container on the table, which was emitting green smoke, and couldn't help shaking his head.

"Aren't you afraid that this scent will make you smell pickled? Oh, no, you have already smelled pickled."

Liu Xu turned around and closed the door. When she was about to turn around, she saw Xu Bai coming to the table. At the same time, she saw Xu Bai picked up the book on the table and was slowly turning it over.

Her face suddenly changed, and she was about to take a few steps forward to snatch the book, but Xu Bai's hand was faster.

"Oh, it seems that this is your secret. Is it a diary? Who writes a diary?"

Xu Bai teased and turned over one of the pages. When he saw the content on it, his face froze.

"Bang!"

"Ah!"

Liu Xu covered her head with indignation in her eyes: "What are you doing!"

Xu Bai retracted his hand, and the corner of his mouth twitched: "I told you not to write these things, why are you still writing?"

That day, when they were in Sheng County, Xu Bai and Wuhua often discussed Buddhism all night long. In fact, it was Xu Bai's excuse to deliberately work on the progress bar.

As a result, Liu Xu wrote about the two of them directly in the book, and wrote vividly.

As for the content... it is indescribable.

Now this book is actually the sequel to the previous book.

"Give it back to me!" Liu Xu took advantage of Xu Bai hitting her head and quickly snatched it, hugged it to her chest, and then quickly retreated.

"This is also my way of reading."

"Is this also considered?" Xu Bai said in astonishment.

Liu Xu nodded seriously: "Of course, everyone has their own way, and I am about to enter the second grade now."

Xu Bai was confused.

"Okay, okay." Liu Xu waved her hand, changed the subject, and hid the book behind her: "Let's not discuss this issue, Xu Bai, you have come a long way this time, I will find the kitchen staff and ask him to make you some side dishes."

With that, Liu Xu ran away.

Xu Bai looked at Liu Xu's hasty escape and shook his head, but he did not stop her. Instead, he sat on the chair, put his hands on the table to support his head, and waited patiently.

To be honest, I was indeed a little hungry. Although at their level, not eating for a long time would not have much impact, but there would always be some appetite.

It's like a person who doesn't eat, but he can't refuse delicious food. This is the same reason.

Not long after, Liu Xu came back, and there were many dishes on the table.

Xu Bai glanced and said, "It's quite rich."

There was also a pot of wine next to it.

Liu Xu poured a glass for himself and another for Xu Bai.

Xu Bai didn't drink it, but pointed at his face.

Although he didn't say anything, his meaning was very clear.

You still have a veil on your face, how can you eat and drink?

Liu Xu smiled: "You are still so curious about my appearance."

"I wear a veil on weekdays, just because I don't want to cause unnecessary trouble because of my appearance."

"Today it's just you and me, so why not take it off."

As he said, Liu Xu raised her fair hand, stretched it to her ear, and took off the veil in front of her.

A white face appeared in front of Xu Bai.

"Beautiful." Xu Bai's simple two words seemed very uncultured.

It's not that he doesn't have other adjectives, on the contrary, he also has them.

For example, the cheeks are dyed red, and the earrings are swaying.

Or the hair is soaked in ink, and the hair is flying with a phoenix hairpin.

Or the spring onion jade fingers are like orchids, and the small golden lotus is like a gold ingot.

Or the cloud sleeves are lightly waving to dance with butterflies, and the slender waist is slowly twisting the floating silk ribbon.

There is no problem with those sentences to describe Liu Xu at this moment.

But it is far less wonderful than the word "beautiful".

As we all know, when a person has countless emotions, he can express them with some specific words, but when it comes to his mouth, two words can express them vividly.

——Fuck!

Why use other words when it can be expressed with two words?

Liu Xu's mouth twitched slightly, raised the wine glass in his hand, tilted his white neck, and drank it in one gulp.

Xu Bai also drank the wine in the glass.

The two began to chat, and in the atmosphere of talking and laughing, they became more and more excited.

As they chatted, they drank three rounds of wine and five kinds of dishes.

Liu Xu's cheeks flushed, which was the reaction after drinking.

Although she would not get drunk, she was particularly charming.

In Xu Bai's view, beauty is like jade, and drinking is like covering jade with a white veil, which makes it more attractive.

"Oh, I almost forgot to talk about business."

"I have something here that I want you to see."

One person said it, and they said it at the same time.

Xu Bai and Liu Xu were both stunned.

"Do you have anything for me to see?" Liu Xu asked.

Xu Bai was not polite, saying something like "you speak first".

He waved to the first-grade puppet next to him, and the first-grade puppet immediately stepped forward and handed the scroll to him.

"I encountered an assassination on the way here." Xu Bai slowly recounted his experience when he came.

He put the scroll on the table and opened it, and then the dagger inside was revealed.

The blood-red pattern on the dagger still looked weird, like a flower stained with blood.

"This thing gives me a very dangerous feeling. My intuition tells me that it can hurt me." Xu Bai said.

Liu Xu was slightly surprised when she heard Xu Bai talk about his experience.

Although she was surprised, it was not enough. After all, Xu Bai's current strength, Liu Xu thought it was not difficult.

However, when she saw the dagger in front of her, she stood up suddenly with astonishment in her eyes.

This action instantly aroused Xu Bai's curiosity. It was obvious that Liu Xu knew it.

"Do you recognize this dagger, or do you recognize the pattern on it?" Xu Bai asked.

Liu Xu came back to his senses, nodded with a complicated expression, and then sat back in his chair.

"This is... carved by a scholar."

"Scholar?" Xu Bai touched his chin and said, "Aren't scholars a noble spirit? How could they make such a weird thing?"

In his opinion, the pattern on the dagger was very evil and could not be made by a scholar with a noble spirit.

Liu Xu smiled bitterly and said, "This thing was carved by a scholar, and it contains the essence of the scholar's life. The person who carved this thing is probably exhausted and died."

Xu Bai frowned and said, "Tell me in detail, from beginning to end."

He felt confused and had no beginning or end, so he needed to understand it from beginning to end.

Liu Xu nodded slightly, and even stopped drinking the wine, and explained the cause and effect of the matter.

Xu Bai listened quietly, and when he finished listening to Liu Xu, he gradually understood.

As we all know, scholars gain abilities through reading, and the so-called abilities are the noble spirit.

But scholars have a characteristic, which is well known, except for Xu Bai.

After all, Xu Bai has not been in this circle for long.

The noble spirit obtained by a person reading good books is positive, and the noble spirit obtained by a person reading bad books must be evil.

Reading can make people wise, and it can also make people sensible. Good books and bad books are like fine wine and blended wine.

Reading good books is naturally approved by the Great Chu State, but after reading bad books, the noble spirit has changed its taste, and naturally it can no longer be called noble spirit.

Not only that, it will also affect the mind and make people more evil.

These are also scholars, but they are like rats crossing the street, and everyone shouts and beats them.

At this moment, the pattern on the dagger in Xu Bai's hand was carved by such a person.

"Wait." Xu Bai raised his hand and said, "Liu Xu, I have something to say but I don't know if I should say it or not?"

Liu Xu was a smart man, of course he knew what Xu Bai was going to say, and smiled, "You want to say that my noble spirit is not right, right?"

As he spoke, the noble spirit that belonged to Liu Xu burst out, and the noble spirit brought a certain strange feeling, which made people feel dazed and confused.

"I am also confused, but I can be sure that it has not affected my mind." Liu Xu explained, "The teacher once said that a book is like a knife in the hands of a butcher. The butcher's heart is righteous, and this knife is still righteous no matter how many livestock it has killed."

"Although this metaphor is a bit vulgar, I thought about it carefully and it is the same, so I think I have no problem."

Xu Bai touched his chin. He didn't know if there was a problem, but at least from the contact, Liu Xu didn't give him any abnormal feeling.

"So do you have any clues?"

Since someone is targeting him, Xu Bai certainly wants to find them and give a strong counterattack.

"No." Liu Xu said helplessly: "They are hiding very deeply, at least they are almost extinct in Nanhua Road. I didn't expect to see them today."

It sounds like there is no news and no clues.

Xu Bai doesn't care about this.

It's still his previous idea that there is nothing flawless in this world, it's just about the number of flaws.

The more opportunities the other party has to attack, the more flaws there are.

"Let's talk about your business. You asked me to come all the way here. Is there anything to tell me?" Xu Bai changed the subject and asked.

Liu Xu shook his head: "Originally, it was the dean who wanted to find you, but now the dean has something to do and it will probably take some time for him to come back. Otherwise, you can stay here for a while?"

"Dean?" Xu Bai was slightly surprised.

He didn't expect that it was the dean who wanted to find him?

Who is the dean? In Xu Bai's view, this is a person as famous as Eunuch Wei.

Just from that book, which was written by the dean when he was young, I can see the progress bar in it, which can definitely prove it.

"Yeah." Liu Xu nodded and said, "The dean didn't say anything when he left. He just said that if you come, just wait for him here. He will be back soon. By the way, the dean asked me to give this to you. He said that he learned from me that you like to read books about various trades the most, so he brought you a travel note he wrote in his early years."

Travel notes?

Originally, Xu Bai was instantly interested when he heard the word "book". After all, this might be related to the progress bar, but when he heard the word "travel notes", his interest was somewhat lost.

What is a travel note? In layman's terms, it is something recorded while traveling.

"There shouldn't be a progress bar here." Xu Bai thought to himself.

As soon as this idea came out, he took it back instantly because he saw a golden progress bar on the book that Liu Xu handed over.

Not only that, the speed of this progress bar was surprisingly slow.

You know, his golden finger has been upgraded, and the progress bar should be very fast, but now the progress bar has slowed down, proving that this book is a good thing.

I'm rich!

Xu Bai was very sure.

He took it expressionlessly: "Thank the dean for me."

Although his face was expressionless, he was very happy in his heart. This wave was another big profit.

Liu Xu was used to Xu Bai's jumping around, so he nodded indifferently and chatted with Xu Bai again. This time, he talked about trivial matters.

The two chatted and drank, the wine was finished, and the dishes were almost eaten.

Liu Xu stood up, covered her veil again in Xu Bai's sight, and prepared to arrange a room for Xu Bai.

But before she could say it, suddenly, a loud noise appeared.

"Boom!"

The sound came from outside, and at the same time, the scroll in the hand of the first-class puppet glowed red.

The temperature was 38.5 degrees last night, but I still managed to write this chapter.

Everyone, please take precautions. The pain from this thing is unreasonable, really unreasonable, and very uncomfortable.