Good night!

Hearing him mention the medicine, Xie Lian turned around and looked inside the house, where the king and queen were resting. After a moment, he said, "I can think of another way to get the medicine, you can take it."

He insisted on giving it to him. Feng Xin didn't understand why. He felt puzzled and amused. He shrugged his shoulders, picked up the broken cattail leaf fan on the ground, and continued to fan the fire and boil the medicine. He said, "Okay, I'll keep it for you first. Come back to me when you want it back."

Xie Lian shook his head and said, “I won’t take it back. You can do whatever you want with it.”

After becoming the Red Mirror, they had more money, and they finally had a few good meals. In view of the Queen's amazing cooking skills, Xie Lian politely asked his mother to take care of his father and never cook, and he prepared the ingredients himself. Although he had no experience, he had seen pigs walk even if he had not eaten pig's trotters, so the food he made was still edible, which saved everyone's appetite.

After the argument with the king that day, Xie Lian actually regretted it in his heart, but he couldn't bring himself to do it to his father, so he just tried his best to take care of him silently. Since his father couldn't be exposed to cold due to coughing up blood, he bought some quilts and stoves for his father.

The Yong'an soldiers kept a tight grip on the escaped members of the Xianle royal family, and soon the city was put under martial law. After finally settling the city down, they had to leave again.

This was the nth city Xie Lian had passed through while fleeing with his parents. To be honest, what he saw along the way was much calmer than he had imagined. The worst-hit city was the Imperial City of Xianle. But many places outside the Imperial City did not seem to be affected that much.

After all, the king, the prince, the imperial city, and the nobles are extremely distant things to ordinary people, and are even similar to the gods that only exist in legends. Changing a king does not seem to make much difference. Especially when the new king is not a tyrant and has not issued any harsh laws after taking office, there is no more emotion except for an additional topic of heated discussion after dinner.

“If the king’s surname was Xie, I would still cultivate these few acres of land. If the king’s surname was Lang, I would still cultivate these few acres of land!” Xie Lian heard someone say this.

But the strange thing was that everyone was surprisingly united in their attitude towards the rumored Crown Prince who had gone from being invincible to being defeated in every battle. It was as if everyone instantly turned into Xianle citizens who loved their country when talking about him. This made him puzzled and unwilling.

However, he didn't have much time to care about these things. The money he got from pawning the red mirror didn't last for a few months before it was all gone.

The hemoptysis was difficult to cure, and the king was also depressed, so he needed a lot of medicine to keep his condition from getting worse. Once he stopped taking the medicine, his condition would definitely get worse. Xie Lian had nothing left to pawn, so he wandered the streets for a long time, thinking again and again, and finally said to Feng Xin: "How about... let's give it a try?"

Feng Xin looked at him and said, "Then, let's give it a try?"

It wasn’t the first time that the two of them hesitated to “give it a try”, but they hadn’t made up their minds before. Moreover, when the intention they revealed during one of their conversations was heard by the king in the room, he flew into a rage and threw a tantrum. He was determined not to allow Xie Lian to do such a shameful thing for money, otherwise he would rather not drink the medicine, so he had to give up. At this point, there was no need to explain it more clearly, everyone understood. Xie Lian nodded and wrapped his face more tightly with the white silk. Feng Xin said: “Your Highness, you don’t have to come, I can come alone. This way, it’s okay if the king asks!”

After saying that, he took a deep breath, held it for a long while, and suddenly shouted to the pedestrians on the street: "Dear fellow villagers, don't miss it if you pass by--"

The pedestrians on the street were startled by him and gathered around him in twos and threes, saying in unison: "Why are you yelling so loudly!" "What are you doing?" "Show me what you can do?" "I want to see a stone shattered by a chest!"

Feng Xin took the bow off his back and said, "I... my nickname is 'God Archer'. I can shoot an arrow through a target from a hundred paces away. Let me show you my skills and make you look ugly. If you enjoy watching, please give me some tips!"

What about the archer? What about showing off? These phrases were learned from watching other people perform on the street. Although they always said that they would never perform, they had been paying attention to what others said without realizing it. People shouted, "Stop talking nonsense! Get started!" "We've been waiting for you for a long time! Hurry up!"

Feng Xin put an arrow on the bowstring and pointed at a man in the crowd who was eating fruit and said, "Uncle, please stand out and put this apple on your head. I can shoot it from three hundred steps away!"

The idle man shrank his head, retreated into the crowd, and said, "I won't do it!"

Feng Xin said, "I won't hit you, don't worry! If I do, I'll pay you whatever amount of money you want!"

The idle man said, "I'm not a fool! If you shoot me, it will be useless no matter how much money you pay. Since you are here to perform, don't you have any property? Shouldn't you shoot the one next to you?"

Everyone said, "That's right!" Xie Lian also said, "Let me do it." Someone in the crowd threw a fruit over, and Xie Lian took it and was about to put it on his head, but Feng Xin didn't want Xie Lian to get involved, so why would he ask him to come? He got anxious and snatched the fruit, ate it in a few bites, turned the arrow, aimed at a corner of a colorful flag hanging on a tall house nearby, and said, "I'll shoot that!" As he said that, he shot an arrow. His archery skills were excellent, and he naturally hit the target. The crowd laughed and said, "Great, you have some skills!" As they laughed and made fun of it, a few people really lost a few coins.

The small round coins rolled around on the ground. Feng Xin went forward to pick them up. Xie Lian also squatted down silently to pick them up, but he always felt lost in his heart, as if he had lost something.

Feng Xin used to be a servant of the crown prince. Not to mention ordinary people like him, even ordinary officials and ministers had to be polite to him and even try to curry favor with him. It was already very frustrating to be ordered around by the little leader when he was moving stones and transporting soil. Now he has to endure being treated like a monkey. His ability to shoot through the arrows at a hundred paces was not used to kill the enemy in battle, but for people's entertainment. It was really unpleasant to think about it.

At this moment, a sharp female voice said, "Who is shooting arrows randomly on the street?!"

Xie Lian’s heart sank when he heard this. Everyone pointed at Feng Xin and said, “It’s him!”

Feng Xin was puzzled. The crowd parted and several women came over with an arrow in their hands. It was the arrow that Feng Xin had just shot. Several women surrounded him and said, "Did you shoot that arrow? You are so brave! You shot a weapon in broad daylight and broke the screen in our yard. Tell me, how are you going to compensate us?" "Yes, you scared away many of our guests!"

It turned out that Feng Xin's arrow had hit the colorful flag, and it continued to move forward, falling directly into the courtyard. Feng Xin didn't like dealing with women in the first place, and these women were wearing heavy makeup, and the fragrance of powder was suffocating. He was afraid that they had bad intentions, so he waved his hands and retreated repeatedly. Xie Lian quickly stopped him and said, "Sorry, sorry. He didn't mean to do that. As for compensation, we will find a way..."

The women were very angry and pushed and shoved him: “Who are you? You…” Who knew that with this push and pull, the white silk wrapped around Xie Lian’s face accidentally slipped off. When the women saw his face, their eyes lit up and their tone suddenly became a little more coquettish, saying: “Oh, what a handsome little brother!”

Xie Lian: “???”

A woman clapped her hands and said with a smile, "Okay! It's decided! You two are in the same group, right? I'll use you as compensation!"

Xie Lian: “???”

Before he could react, he was dragged by the women for a distance and pulled to a gorgeous small building. Looking up, he saw women dressed up in fancy clothes and chirping. Only then did Xie Lian realize that he was dragged away by a few brothels!

He immediately got goosebumps all over his body and said, "Wait, I have no money, I really have no money!"

Several madams laughed and said, "Of course you have no money, we brought you here to make money!"

“???” Xie Lian: “I’m sorry, I’m a man?”

The madam said angrily, "We know you are a man, and we are not blind!"

Feng Xin, who was surrounded, finally broke through the crowd, ran over, and shouted, "Hurry up and let Dian go... Let him go!"

The two men were in such a state of panic that they tried to run away. However, they knew they were in the wrong and did not dare to fight back. The enraged madams called over 20 or 30 thugs to chase them all over the city. They had never seen such a scene before. In short, they never dared to approach this area again.

However, the two of them were sure that they could make money by performing, so they moved to a new place and set up a stand to perform. They had just arrived, and the locals were all curious about it. In addition, Feng Xin was a handsome man, quite decent and good-looking. In the first few days, they really made a little money by performing, which was enough to cover their food and medicine expenses. But the good times didn't last long. Within less than half a month, someone came to them.

That day, after Xie Lian and Feng Xin closed their stall, seven or eight burly men approached them. Xie Lian was very alert, fearing that they were soldiers from Yong'an. He was ready to strike with his hands in his sleeves, and whispered, "Who are you?"

The leading burly man snorted, "You've been in our territory for several days, and you still don't know who we are?"

Xie Lian and Feng Xin were both confused. Another man said, "After stealing so much of our business, it's unreasonable not to give us an explanation, right?"

The two finally figured out what was going on. It turned out that these were other local street performers.

The gangsters in every area of ​​the world form gangs and factions, and each has its own territory. When they come, they drive away the original customers of others. Others can't make money, so they naturally want to find trouble with them. They are not old gangsters, so how can they understand the ins and outs of this?

Xie Lian thought to himself, “If there was no other way, who would want to steal your business?” He said gently, “It’s not a matter of stealing business. People will go and see what they want to see. We didn’t force others to see our… archery skills.”

The other party was not willing to listen to him and said in a gruff voice: "Haven't you robbed them yet? We haven't collected much money in the past few days, and you two have taken all the money!"

"Boom!" Everyone was startled and looked back, only to see Feng Xin taking his fist off a wall at the side, and a huge fist mark appeared on the wall, with cracks spreading out in all directions.

He said coldly: "Are you looking for trouble?"

This group of men probably originally wanted to cause trouble, and their fists speak louder than anyone else. However, Feng Xin's blow showed that his fists were harder than theirs, and their arrogance instantly subsided. However, they were unwilling to just let it go. The leading man choked for a moment and changed his words, "Well, according to the rules, we draw a line and compete. The winner stays, and the loser quickly packs up and leaves. You are not allowed to set up a stall in this area again!"

Feng Xin was delighted when he heard about the competition. Of course he was. How could a mortal compete with them? He was sure to win!

Xie Lian also breathed a sigh of relief and said, “That’s exactly what I want. How are you going to compete?”

The man shouted, "Use our unique skills as street performers!"

As they were talking, the other two men brought in a few long square stone slabs. The man patted the stone slabs and said, "Heart-breaking stone! How about it? Do you dare to come?"

Seeing his very proud expression, it seems that this is really his unique skill. Xie Lian also squatted down and touched the stone slab, raised his head and said: "Of course I have no problem, but, do you have any problem too?" This stone slab is not fake. The man laughed and said: "With your physique, you should worry about yourself."

Feng Xin squatted beside him and said, "Your Highness, should I do it?" Xie Lian shook his head and said, "No. You have worked hard these past few days, so I'll do it this time." He had to put in some effort.

So, Xie Lian and the man both lay on the ground, with a stone slab on their chests. Feng Xin took a sledgehammer, weighed it, and was about to smash it down, when Xie Lian suddenly said, "Wait."

Someone else said happily, "Why, are you going to admit defeat? It doesn't matter if you admit defeat now, I'll just let you go!"

Xie Lian said, “No. I want to add a slab of stone.”

Hearing this, everyone was shocked: "Aren't you crazy???"

Xie Lian said slowly, “Didn’t you all say that? This is a competition. If both of us are the same stone slab, with no difference, how can it be considered a competition?”

The street performers were skeptical. Some thought he was stupid, while others thought he was bluffing. After discussing for a while, they really put another stone slab on his chest. But Xie Lian asked them to add another one!

Now, everyone thought he was being stupid, so they simply gave him another stone slab. As a result, Xie Lian had three stone slabs stacked thickly on his chest, which looked quite terrifying.

In full view of the crowd, Feng Xin picked up a sledgehammer and smashed it down without blinking, splitting the three stone slabs neatly into more than ten pieces! Amid the cheers, Xie Lian got up from the ground calmly and unscathed, brushing off the dust on his clothes calmly, leaving the crowd stunned. The man in the lead had a pale face, and Xie Lian thought to himself, "This time we should finally give up."

He thought that the other party admitted that he won, and no one would bother him from now on. Unexpectedly, the man's face changed again and again, and he gritted his teeth and suddenly said, "Give me two more pieces too! No, give me three more pieces!"

Everyone said, "Brother, this is not okay. This guy will definitely use some magic. You don't have to accompany him!" "Yes, he must be cheating!"

Feng Xin said angrily, "What the hell? You have no ability, so you say others are faking it or using magic?"

The leading man shouted, "Both the slate and the hammer are ours. Isn't it clear whether there is any magic? This guy is indeed quite capable, but it's nothing special that he can stack three pieces. I can stack four! As long as we win, they have to leave!"

Feng Xin said, "It's impossible. Give up! Don't lose your life." But the man insisted on competing, and asked people to put four heavy stone slabs on him, saying, "Watch this!"

Xie Lian saw something was wrong and whispered, “Feng Xin, do you want to stop him? Four stone slabs are too much for a mortal to handle.” Feng Xin also whispered, “Don’t move yet? He’s not risking his life. A few hits will make him realize how powerful it is.”

Xie Lian frowned slightly, nodded, and waited and watched. Sure enough, the younger brother holding the hammer only hit it once, and the man's face changed. The man holding the hammer immediately dared not move, but the man scolded: "Use more force! Haven't you eaten? How can you smash it like this?"

The younger brother didn’t dare to be careless, and used all his strength the second time. With a loud “bang”, the man’s face turned red, as if he had swallowed a large mouthful of blood. Xie Lian and Feng Xin both saw something was wrong and hurriedly said, “Wait, don’t force it!”

The man cursed, "Who is forcing yourself? This is my specialty! Watch me, I'll make you admit defeat, keep going!" The younger brother made a bitter face and hit him with the hammer again. This time, the man spat out a mouthful of blood and spurted all over the ground. The younger brother was so scared that he dropped the hammer. Everyone surrounded him and said, "Forget it, brother, if these two guys want to stay here, let them stay. Your life is more important!"

Veins popped out on the man's forehead, and he spit out blood foam from his mouth as he said, "You can't just let it go! We haven't had enough food at home for days. If you continue like this, won't it cost you your lives? Keep going! I don't believe it. Can I be inferior to this delicate boy? This is my specialty!"

Xie Lian couldn’t bear to watch this anymore, so he took the initiative to say, “Forget it. In this case, I admit defeat. From tomorrow on, we won’t come again! Feng Xin, let’s go!”

After saying that, he turned and left. The crowd behind him cheered, and Feng Xin followed and asked, "Your Highness, are we just giving up this place?"

After so much difficulty finding a way to make money, he had to give it up. Xie Lian sighed and said, "There is no other way. He has already suffered serious internal injuries from those few blows just now. I am afraid he is almost half-crippled. If we continue to compete, he will really die. Then we will not be able to stay here either."

Feng Xin scratched his head and cursed: "This guy really doesn't want to live!"

Xie Lian said, “We are all trying to make a living.”

He felt a little regretful. If he had known this, he should not have stacked three pieces. He should have admitted defeat earlier. Otherwise, this man would not have insisted on stacking four pieces. Although he was rude and reckless, he also had his admirable qualities. He added, "Besides, it's not necessary for me to perform here and hang myself on a tree."

However, at night, when they returned to their hiding place, the queen told him with a worried look on her face that the king's hemoptysis had become more serious and he might not be able to endure the fatigue of the journey and needed to rest for a while. In other words, they could not leave the city for the time being.

Xie Lian searched through the boxes again, but couldn't find anything that could be pawned, so he sat beside the box in a daze. Feng Xin was boiling medicine, humming a song while boiling it, and the humming became more and more unpleasant. Xie Lian didn't want to pay attention to him, but he couldn't help but pay attention to him, and asked: "What are you doing? Are you in a good mood?"

Feng Xin looked up: "Ah? No?"

Xie Lian didn’t believe it, and asked, “Really?”

He noticed that Feng Xin had been acting strangely in the past few days since he started performing. Sometimes he would suddenly giggle for no reason, and sometimes he would suddenly start to worry. When Mu Qing was around, the two of them were inseparable most of the time. After Mu Qing left, Feng Xin sometimes had to go back to deliver meals to the king and queen or do something else. He was away for a period of time during the day. Xie Lian always wondered if he had encountered something, but he didn't have the energy to investigate. Looking at the medicine jar in front of Feng Xin, after a moment of silence, Xie Lian said, "Is this the last packet?"

Feng Xin flipped through the medicine bag on the ground and said, "Yes. I won't go tomorrow..." He remembered that the king was in the house and couldn't be heard by him, so he lowered his voice and said, "What should I do if I don't go to perform?"

“…”

After a long while, Xie Lian suddenly stood up and said, “Just stay here and I’ll think of a solution.”

Feng Xin asked suspiciously: "Where are you going? What can you think of?"

Xie Lian walked out without looking back, saying, “Don’t worry about it. Don’t follow me.”