Chapter 2

Zhao Guo is a small country, much like the other small countries on the Southern Continent, yearning for the Eastern Land, for the Tang Dynasty, and for Chang'an. This is the admiration of the ruler and the ideal of the literati of Zhao Guo, just like the Tang-style buildings in the capital, which stand as tall as the imperial palace, as if they can gaze upon the Chang'an of the Eastern Land, thousands of miles away.

In April, it was neither cold nor unbearably hot. A gentle breeze swept across the land, passing over the northern deserts and the flutes of the Qiang people, and blowing through the Tang Dynasty in the East. It stirred up a mist of dust, which, under the setting sun at dusk, turned a corner and swirled around the Great Green Mountain on the southern border of Zhao Guo, landing on a young literatus sitting atop the mountain.

The youth was somewhat frail, holding a gourd in his hand, dressed in a clean blue scholar's robe. He looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old, not very tall, with somewhat dark skin, but his clear eyes carried a hint of intelligence. However, the frown on his face made his intelligence more reserved, and his expression was filled with confusion.

"Failed the exam again..." The youth sighed. His name was Meng Hao, an ordinary scholar from Yunjie County at the foot of the Great Green Mountain. His parents had suddenly disappeared when he was young, leaving behind a modest fortune. These years of studying had been costly, and now he was penniless.

"Three years of exams, reading those books of sages every day, almost to the point of nausea. Could it be that the imperial examinations are not the path for me, Meng Hao?" Meng Hao mocked himself, looking down at the gourd in his hand, his expression darkening.

"The dream of becoming an official and getting rich, and then going to the Tang Dynasty in the East... A scholar is useless for everything." Meng Hao smiled bitterly, sitting quietly on the mountain top, looking at the gourd in his hand, his confusion deepening. The confusion was tinged with fear of the future and uncertainty about his life, not knowing what he could do in the future or where the path ahead lay.

Would there be a benefactor who would take a liking to him? Or a young lady from a noble family who would suddenly fancy him? Or would he continue to take the imperial examinations for years to come?

These questions had no answers. For a sixteen or seventeen-year-old youth, such confusion seemed to turn into a huge, devouring mouth,无形中吞噬着他，让他有些害怕。

“即使是县城里的教书先生，每月也只有几钱银子，甚至不如王伯的木匠铺子赚钱，早知如此头些年不去读书，和王老伯去学木匠手艺，想来日后总算能解决温饱，好过如今一无所有。”孟浩沉默。

“家里已经没有多少粮食了，银两也都花的所剩无几，还欠了周员外三两银子，以后……怎么办。”孟浩抬起头，看着天空，喃喃低语，天空很蓝，很大，遥远看不到尽头，仿佛如他看不到未来。

许久之后，孟浩摇了摇头，从怀里取出一张纸条，认真地看了看，将纸条放进了葫芦里，站起身用力将葫芦扔下青山。

青山下有一条大河，河水寒冬不冻，传说通往东土大唐。

山顶的孟浩，默默地看着山下大河中渐渐飘远的葫芦，没有眨眼，仿佛看到了自己的娘亲，看到了儿时的欢乐，那葫芦里带着他的理想，带着他对未来波澜壮阔的憧憬，越飘越远，不知未来的某日，会有谁捡到这个葫芦，看到里面的纸条。

直至过去了数十息的时间，孟浩才收回了目光，将神色中的茫然隐藏起来，深深地呼吸了一口山顶的气息，目中露出坚定。

“不管如何，读书也好，做工也罢，总要……生活下去。”孟浩的性格本就这样，聪颖中带着坚强，若非如此，早年双亲外出后他也不可能一个人独自活到现在。

孟浩抬头看了一眼天空，目中坚定之意更深，就要向山下走去。

就在这时，忽然从那山崖下传来了微弱的声音，那声音似要被风吹散，落入孟浩耳中时微弱仿佛难以察觉。

“救命……救命……”

孟浩脚步一顿，怔了一下后仔细又听了听，那救命之声此刻随着他的专注也清晰了一些。

“救命……”

孟浩快走几步，到了山顶的边缘，向下看时，立刻看到在这峭壁的半山腰上，似乎存在了一处裂缝，有人从那里探出半个身子，面色苍白带着惊恐绝望，正在呼喊。

“你……可是孟浩，救命，孟才子救我。”从半山腰探出身子的也是一个少年，他一眼就看到了孟浩，神色立刻露出惊喜，仿佛绝处将要逢生。

“王有材？”孟浩睁大了眼，看着半山腰那里的少年，此人他认识，正是县城木匠铺王伯的儿子。

“你……你怎么跑这里来了？”孟浩看了一眼下方的山腰裂缝，那里极为陡峭，根本就无法让人攀爬下去，稍微一个不注意必定坠落山下大河中。

尤其是河水湍急，一旦落入水中九死一生。

“不止是我，还有附近县其他几人，我们都在这里，孟兄先别说了，快救我们出去。”王有材急忙开口，许是在那里探身子时间长了，话语说完时一手抓空，若不是被身后同伴抓住衣衫，险些滑落，吓的王有材面色更为苍白起来。

孟浩看到了险急，但他独自上山，没有绳索想要救人根本就没有办法，此刻回头看了一眼漫山遍野的藤条，双眼一亮立刻开始寻找起来。

他身子本就瘦弱，用了两柱香的时间，这才找到足够长的藤条，喘着粗气连忙卷着藤条回到山崖边，一边喊着下方王有材的名字，一边弯腰将藤条顺下山崖。

“你还没说，你们到底怎么下去的？”孟浩顺着藤条问道。

“飞！”说出这个字的不是王有材，而是他旁边探出身子的一个八九岁少年，这少年虎头虎脑，大声开口。

“扯淡，飞什么飞，你能飞下去，现在怎么不飞上来。”孟浩嘲讽，索性把藤条向上拽了一些。

“别听他胡说，我们是被一个会飞的女人抓过来的，说是要带我们去什么宗做杂役。”王有材连忙开口，生怕招惹了孟浩收回藤条。

“又扯淡了，会飞？那是传说中的仙人，谁信啊。”孟浩不屑一顾，暗道自己看过的书籍里，有不少遇到了仙人结果成为有钱人的故事，这种事情，只是书本骗人的罢了。

眼看那藤条已经到了山崖的裂缝处，被王有材一把抓住，可突然的，孟浩觉得身后阴风阵阵，仿佛四周的温度一下子回到了冬季，让他身子哆嗦，下意识的回头时，立刻惊呼一下，整个人险些踏空落下山崖。

一个面色苍白，看不出年纪的女子，穿着一身银色长袍，站在那里面无表情的望着孟浩，这女子样貌极美，只是那煞白的面孔，阴寒的气息，却是有种刚刚从坟墓里爬出之感。

“有些资质，既然自己找来，也算你的造化。”

这声音落在耳中如骨头在摩擦，尤其这女子的双眼睛仿佛蕴含了某种奇异的力量，让孟浩看一眼，立刻全身瞬间一片寒冷，仿佛在这女子面前没有丝毫秘密，被看透了全身。

话语还在回荡，那女子大袖一甩，顿时一股绿色的风瞬间卷起孟浩，在孟浩惊呼中，随着那女子竟直奔山崖坠落，这一幕迅雷般让孟浩大脑一片空白。

待到了那裂缝处，这女子抬手一甩，将孟浩直接扔入裂缝内，绿风呼啸间她自己也踏入进去。她这一进来，顿时吓的王有材三人连连退后。

这女子站在那里没有说话，只是抬头看了一眼上方顺下来的藤条。

孟浩身子颤抖，内心紧张，爬起身后快速的看了一眼四周，这裂缝不大，内部很小，站了几人后已没多少空余。

当他的目光落在王有材身上时，看到了他身边的两个少年，一个是那虎头虎脑的家伙，另一个则是白白净净身子较胖，这二人此刻都身子颤抖，神色恐惧，似乎快哭了出来。

“本就缺一个，你和他们一起吧。”那面色煞白仿佛没有任何情绪的女子，此刻不再去看藤条，而是目光落向孟浩。

“你……你是谁。”孟浩强忍内心的惊恐，他毕竟读过不少书，且性格坚强，尽管恐惧，但却知晓此刻决不能慌乱。

女子没有说话，右手抬起一挥，绿风再次出现，呼啸卷起孟浩以及王有材等人，与这女子一同飞出了洞穴，直奔天空而去，刹那不见了踪影，只有这大青山，依旧耸立，在这黄昏里渐渐融到了黑夜中。

孟浩面色苍白，他看到了自己在绿风内，竟横渡天阙，在这天地间疾驰飞行，前方的风呼啸灌入口中，呼吸都觉得困难，可脑海中却是强烈的浮现了一个词语。

“仙人？”他坚持了数十息的时间，便难以承受，眼前一黑昏了过去。

当他睁开眼睛时，已经在了一处半山腰的青石空地上，四周山峦起伏，云雾缭绕绝非凡尘，能看到一些精美的阁楼环绕山峦八方，满眼陌生。

他身边王有材以及另外两个少年，此刻都已苏醒过来，正身子颤抖惊恐的望着前方背对着四人的女子。

在这女子的前方，有两个穿着绿色长袍的男子，年纪看起来都是二十许岁，但都是双眼凹陷，瞳孔绿油油的，让人望之生畏。

“许师姐好手段，出门一次竟带回了四个拥有资质的小娃。”两个男子中的一人，带着恭维向着那女子说道。

“将他们带去杂役处。”那女子神情冷漠，看都不看孟浩四人一眼，迈步间整个人化作了一道长虹，没入山峦之间消失不见。

此刻的孟浩已恢复了心神，他怔怔的看着那女子消失的地方，目中渐渐竟露出了一抹在他身上十六年来前所未有的神采，这神采让孟浩的内心，一下子沸腾了。

“杂役？这是要给仙人打工，应该不少赚吧。”孟浩期待起来，因为他看出来了，这里的人不是要害命。

“许师姐已经到了凝气第七层，被掌教赐了风幡，没到筑基便可飞行，让人羡慕。”另一个绿袍修士，感慨的说道，随后神色带着高高在上之意，看向孟浩四人。

“你，还有你，跟我走，去南区杂役处。”话语间，此人指了指王有材和其旁虎头虎脑的少年。

“这……这里是什么地方？”被那人一指，王有材身子哆嗦，打着颤音开口。

“靠山宗。”

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