Zhang Feng rushed straight to Xiangzhou Prefecture from Wudang Mountain, sixteen years had passed, Zhang Feng wanted to take a look at the place his master had mentioned and ask about what happened that year...

  "Hey, hey, kid, are you going into town or not? Don't just stand there on the road and block the people behind."

  "Ah, sorry about this, I've never seen such a large city wall before, it's left me a bit stunned. I'll just go into the city now, sorry about that."

  Zhang Feng scratched his head awkwardly and followed the crowd into Xiangyang City.

  "Hmph, another country bumpkin who's never seen the world." The young soldier guarding the city gate glanced at Zhang Feng with disdain.

  "On a hot day like today, just ignore him. There's always someone like that around. Just stand guard properly and wait for the shift change at noon to go home and rest, that's the right thing to do." Another soldier said lazily, leaning against the city wall.

  "Candied hawthorn, big and sweet candied hawthorn!"

  "Baozi, freshly baked and still hot!"

  "Hey, whose dog is this? Keep it from running all over the place..."

  The streets of Xiangyang City were bustling with people coming and going, shop owners smiling and welcoming every customer at the door, vendors shouting loudly to sell their wares, occasionally haggling with customers over prices, while the young waiters in the wine houses enthusiastically shouted "Welcome, sir!" Children played and frolicked in the streets, filling the air with a lively atmosphere.

  Zhang Feng came to such a big city for the first time in sixteen years, feeling that everything around him was full of novelty. Living on the mountain every day, the farthest he had been was to follow his master to visit friends in the village at the foot of Wudang Mountain, and whenever he heard his fellow disciples discussing the prosperity of the city when they went down the mountain to buy goods, he would feel a strong sense of longing.

  Just talking about candied hawthorn, it's been a long time since the senior brothers bought one back to taste the freshness. After the senior brothers brought it back to the mountain, the color of the candied hawthorn turned dark. Unlike now, the small vendors' hands held a string of plump candied hawthorns on the stick, with red and full packages wrapped in syrup emitting a faint sweet fragrance.

  Zhang Feng looked at the candied hawthorn and couldn't help but drool, so he walked up and asked: "Excuse me, brother, how much does this candied hawthorn cost per string?"

  "Oh, this young man is too polite! A string of sugar gourds for two cents, it's really cheap. You have one string." The vendor smiled and handed Zhang Feng a string of rock candy from the pole.

  Zhang Feng happily accepted it, took out the money bag that his uncle Jing Xu had given him when he went down the mountain, and inside was the newly minted currency of the Ming Dynasty, Hongwu Tongbao. Zhang Feng took out two coins and handed them to the vendor, then casually tied the money bag to his waist and walked away while licking a sugar-coated hawthorn stick.

  Others seeing Zhang Feng stupidly licking sugar gourd could only shake their heads and smile, sighing that this young man was simple and lovely.

  Suddenly a shabbily dressed little kid bumped into Zhang Feng and quickly ran away. Zhang Feng was focused on eating his candied hawthorn and didn't pay much attention to his feet, so he was almost knocked off balance by the sudden bump and his candied hawthorn nearly fell out of his hands.

  Zhang Feng didn't mind being bumped by a kid and was about to continue eating his candied hawthorn, but suddenly felt something was off. He raised his hand to touch his waist and found that his money bag was gone, which was all the money he had for his trip north.

  Zhang Feng didn't have time to continue savoring the delicious candied hawthorn in his hand, and he finished it in two or three bites. He picked up Wu Dang's Ti Yun Zong and rushed towards the direction of the child who had collided with him. The pedestrians on the street felt a shadow passing by their side, but when they turned around, there was nothing to be found...

  A small alley to the west of Xiangyang City, entering the alley will find that this is like two worlds with the outside. The houses here are dilapidated and overgrown with weeds everywhere, showing a scene of desolation.

  At this time, a thin figure quickly ran into the alley and rushed towards an abandoned temple deep in the alley. The child looked around outside the temple door for a while, then stretched out his hand to knock on the door. Soon, a soft voice came from inside: "Who is it?"

  "The flower sister is me." The child replied in a low voice.

  "Wow! Brother Stone is back!" The temple was filled with excitement.

  The creaky temple door was pushed open a bit, revealing a dirty little face, which was the flower sister mentioned by the little boy.

  The little girl was also dressed in tattered clothes, just like the little boy. Her thin body seemed as if it would be blown away by the wind. The flower saw her stone brother return and felt very happy. The little boy named Stone took the little flower's hand and retreated into the temple.

  Zhang Feng walked out from behind a wall, and saw the meeting of these two children, seeing the pure smile that appeared between them.

  He felt very puzzled, wasn't the world unified? Why would children of five or six years old end up like this, shouldn't they be playing freely like those kids on the streets at their age?

  Zhang Feng walked silently towards the Land Temple.

  This is a very small temple, which road of fairy Buddha is unknown, several piles of thatch form a group is the bed of these two children.

  At this time, Shi Tou pulled Xiao Hua Er to sit on the thatched grass pile, took out the money bag stolen from Zhang Feng in his arms, and opened it. Shi Tou looked at it with a surprised expression and said: "So much money! Hua Er sister, now we can have new clothes for winter and eat our fill."

  Xiao Hua also showed a sweet smile after hearing this.

  "Stealing is wrong, didn't your parents tell you?"

  The stone was startled to hear someone speaking and quickly hid the money bag in the thatch, holding Xiao Hua's hand tightly with the other. He looked up to see Zhang Feng, who had been robbed by him. The stone knew he was in the wrong and hung his head without answering Zhang Feng. Instead, Xiao Hua spoke up: "I don't have a father or mother, I only have Brother Shi." Upon hearing this, the stone held Xiao Hua's hand even tighter.

  Zhang Feng silently squatted down and took out his own purse from the thatched grass heap, facing the two of them: "Let's go, I'll treat you to something to eat."

  The stone didn't respond, instead it pulled the little flower back. Zhang Feng shook his head helplessly and walked out of the temple, came to the street and bought a few buns to take back.

  "Come on, eat it while it's hot." Zhang Feng smiled and handed over the bun, the aroma of the meat bun wafted out, Xiaohua poked her head out from behind the stone and swallowed a mouthful of saliva, clearly craving the bun.

  The stone looked at the bun in front of him, then glanced at this smiling brother who silently took over the bun, pulled over Xiaohua and sat on a pile of thatch to eat quietly.

  The little flower was obviously starving, opening its small mouth to take a big bite, and a satisfied expression appeared on its face. The two siblings shared this rare delicacy together.

  Zhang Feng sat on the ground with his legs crossed, rubbing his cheeks and said to the two of them: "Are you two planning to continue living here or should I arrange for you to go somewhere else?"

  The stone that was gnawing on a bun suddenly lifted its head. "Where are you going to take us two siblings?"

  "I came from Wudang Mountain, so naturally I will send you to Wudang."

  "Alright alright alright, let's go to Wudang Mountain, just the two of us."

  "Huh? It seems you know what Wudang Mountain is?" Zhang Feng asked in puzzlement.

  "Uh-huh, I usually hear it when I'm wandering around the streets... uh, hanging out at teahouses and listening to the big shots who transport goods mention Wudang Mountain." Shitou explained with embarrassment.

  "Alright, after you two finish eating, I'll take you to wash up and then buy a new set of clothes." Zhang Xiao said with a smile.

  "Uh-huh, uh-huh" The brother and sister both happily replied in unison.

  Zhang Feng led his siblings to an inn to clean up. After the two little ones washed and changed into new clothes, they were no longer the little beggars in the temple, but Zhang Feng's brother and sister.

  The next day, Zhang Feng found a well-known escort agency in Xiangcheng and asked them to send the brother and sister to Wudang Mountain. The siblings bid farewell to Zhang Feng at the city gate with tears in their eyes. Zhang Feng waved his hand towards their carriage and turned around to head towards the place where Qingxuzi had picked him up years ago...

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