For the past few days, Wen Heng often referred to Xue Qinglan as junior and junior, which was based on Xue Ci and Qin Ling's seniority. He felt that it was just an ordinary title, and it was no different from calling others "senior brother" and "senior sister". Xue Qinglan never responded to him seriously. Who would have guessed that this brat's first "Senior Brother" would be called out in this situation. Wen Heng was caught off guard, his heart swayed, and he suddenly felt a rush of heat from his chest to his neck. The side of his ear was slightly red due to the burn.
Xue Qinglan is so coaxing, he thought, why does he always meet such a coaxing child.
"The climate in the north is cold, and it is indeed not as pleasant as Mingzhou. Why didn't you tell me when it was cold?" Wen Heng helped him stand up and coaxed, "For now, I will bear with you tonight, tomorrow I will find senior brother and ask someone to add an extra brazier to your courtyard. ."
Xue Qinglan started with chestnuts, raised her face to look at him, clearly afraid of the cold, but said, "No need, I'm a guest here, why would I bother the host again?"
Wen Heng looked down at him, with layers of smiles in his eyes, and his eyes were bright. Although the expression was not obvious, it was a rare and undisguised expression of his true feelings.
He teased and said with a smile: "It's hard for Junior Brother to be so sensible, so why don't the brazier?"
Xue Qinglan struggled to the death: "The weather in the north is really hard..."
Obviously he was afraid of the cold, so he had to blame the weather, Wen Heng finally couldn't help laughing, taking into account his face, he had to pretend to be serious, and said, "Okay, okay, then I can make a fire in my house. , if junior brother doesn't think the smoke is too loud, how about condescending to come and sit often?"
While this man was teasing him, he wanted to spread the steps under his feet. The hate is really hateful, and the gentleness is really gentle. Xue Qinglan couldn't play with him, so he had to make a dull "um". Wen Heng brushed off a little bit of dust on his sleeves with his fingers, and said, "It's not early, I've been busy all day today, it's time to go back to sleep."
Xue Qinglan nodded as if he was sleepwalking, but his feet were rooted and refused to move.
It was a cold winter night, and everything was silent at this time. Only the charcoal in the stove occasionally made a slight "crack" sound, and the candlelight shook to reflect the shadows of the two of them. Between heaven and earth, there were mountains and fields, and it seemed that only this narrow and shabby room was filled with warmth. , making him like a moth to a flame, reluctant to go beside the fiery wick.
Wen Heng understood his eyes, it was funny and sighing, he gently pushed his shoulders and turned in a direction, softly compromised: "It's dark outside, the road is not easy to walk, I'll take you back."
Xue Qinglan is fourteen years old this year, and when he first came to the door, he dared to stand on the bar of the Chunjun disciple who was alone in the same courtyard. But in Wen Heng's eyes, he seemed to be a child who knew nothing, afraid of the dark and cold and squeamish.
He clenched the cloth bag in his hand and couldn't find a reason to refuse: "Thank you, brother."
The wind was tight in the long night, and the two walked side by side, walking across the lush moonlit sky. Xue Qinglan endured the pain from the contraction of his internal organs due to the invasion of the cold, but felt that this moment was the most unforgettable moment in his life. In vain he suffered so much suffering on Yueying Mountain.
Wen Heng watched him carefully carry the bag of chestnuts, turned in through the window, waved goodbye to him, and quietly left the guest house as if he had come.
He didn't rush back to the room, but walked towards the back mountain.
The back mountain of Yuquan Peak is connected to Linqiu Peak, the restricted area of Chunjun. Wen Heng often practices swords here. He is very familiar with the terrain, and he is also familiar with walking at night. It was purely a whim, or the bag of chestnuts inspired him. Seeing that Xue Qinglan was really afraid of the cold, Wen Heng remembered that when he was in the palace, the winter in the north was cold, and there was always a stove at home. It's just that since he came to Yueying Mountain, all he saw were people who practiced martial arts. They were physically strong and protected from cold and heat. Naturally, there was no such thing. Wen Heng didn't use it for a long time, and he didn't think of it for a while.
Disciples of this sect are not allowed to go down the mountain at will. It will take half a month for someone to bring one from the city down the mountain. Wen Heng remembered that he had seen a kind of translucent stone in the back mountain forest when he was practicing swordsmanship. It was probably mica or the like. The ore is not big, and the hardness is acceptable. It can be dug with a dagger, and it can be used for grinding and making a hand stove.
He walked into the pine forest by the dim moonlight, while distractedly paying attention to the large and small stones around him, he walked a long way without realizing it, and went straight into the depths of the forest. The dense trees gradually covered the path, Wen Heng walked to the end of the road, looked up, and was in front of the Linqiu Peak boundary monument.
In the pale moonlight, the eight characters on the stele, "Forbidden by the sect, must not enter without permission", are carved with sharp swords, and they are extremely hostile and extremely chilling.
Wen Heng naturally heard that Linqiufeng was a restricted area, and he also heard the rumors of the disciples in private, but he was naturally lacking in curiosity, especially did not like to die, and had no plans to spy on the secrets. When he saw the boundary monument, he turned his head Just go. But just as he took a step forward, he suddenly heard the wind blowing through the treetops above his head, and then there was a muffled sound of his feet stepping on the fallen leaves behind the boundary monument.
It's so late, who will come to the forbidden area
Thoughts were spinning in his mind, but he didn't dare to move his feet, for fear of making a sound that would alarm the other party, so he could only hold his breath, leaned down, and quietly looked out through the gap in the trees.
With bushes and boundary markers blocking him, he couldn't see the man's whole body. He could only judge by a vague outline that the man was of medium height, with slightly narrow shoulders and right-handedness. The man turned his back to Wen Heng at first, but then he glanced back for some reason, just so that Wen Heng could see the front.
His face was covered with a black cloth, which was tightly wrapped, only showing a pair of cold eyes, and at first glance he was dressed like a thief.
Wen Heng instinctively felt that it was not good, and secretly supported the sword on his waist. Who knew it was such an unfortunate coincidence that the grass beside him suddenly rustled, and a dark shadow who didn't know whether it was a hare or a pheasant suddenly started up. Wen Heng's breathing stopped suddenly, the man in black over there was already alarmed, and the sword edge swept over instantly, the astral wind aroused by the inner qi swept across his cheeks, a stinging pain—
Without time to think about it, Wen Heng raised his sword and walked away. After a crisp "click" sound, the wooden scabbard was torn apart. Wen Heng drew back his sword and rolled on the ground, avoiding the sword's edge, and shouted at the same time: " Linqiu Peak is a forbidden area, no idlers can enter, are you illiterate!"
This move was deliberately pretending to be stupid, hoping that the other party would not kill him because he didn't know the truth, but the man sneered and didn't answer.
Wen Heng has never encountered such a danger of life and death since the battle of Hua Temple three years ago. He didn't dare to be slighted, and he didn't dare to be distracted to speak again. He gritted his teeth and took the sword.
The opponent's sword was filled with internal force. Every time Wen Heng took a sword, it felt like he was hit with a heavy hammer. The cold sweat was pouring down like rain, but taking advantage of the empty space, he grabbed a sword, and the blue light was like a few dots of fireflies, and stabbed at the man's waist and abdomen. When he waved the sword to block, the sword light flashed strangely and appeared out of thin air Between his right wrist, a sword swept away his fine iron bracer!
The man jumped back in shock and gave a suspicious "Huh".
If Wen Heng's internal strength is strong, with this sword, even if he can't cut off his right hand, he can also cut into the bone for three points, making him unable to hold the sword again. It's a pity that he is an ordinary person with no inner strength, and he was blocked by the fine iron bracer. Although this surprise attack was swift and unparalleled, it failed in the end.
The man's sleeves were loose and drooping, but he didn't care. Instead, he smiled and said, "If you can stab me with a sword, you won't be wronged if you die tonight!"
Before he finished speaking, he rushed forward with his sword and his sword. The chain of nine swords moved like wind and thunder, and the attack was fierce. Wen Heng suffered a loss and did not dare to parry head-on. The factions fought back with their swords in hand.
His left sword and right sword seemed to have no rules, but the sword pointed to the key point, causing the man in black to be in a hurry several times, and he had to withdraw his sword and return to defense. In just a short moment, the two of them had already broken dozens of moves like lightning. The man's moves gradually became poorer, but Wen Heng's strikes became smoother and smoother.
Seeing that the situation was not good, the man in black knew that he couldn't be led by the nose by Wen Heng, his eyes rolled, and he deliberately sold a hole, causing Wen Heng's sword to be raised high, revealing the empty door in his chest. With a palm shot, it hit Wen Heng's "Tanzhong Point" in the chest from the air, and immediately shot him upside down and slammed into a pine tree behind him.
Wen Heng received a heavy blow on his chest, and the zhenqi in his body immediately condensed spontaneously, but the man in black put his palm out from the air and didn't touch him, so naturally there was no way to be counterattacked by this zhenqi. His back was in severe pain, and he even heard a "click" at the moment of impact. I don't know if it was a broken tree or a broken bone. Blood surged in his throat, and he endured for a long time before finally spitting out a mouthful of blood.
The man in black walked slowly with the sword in his hand, kicked him on the side of the waist, kicked him to the side of a shallow pit in the wild bushes, gritted his teeth unhurriedly and said, "I was smashed by you today, I absolutely can't keep you, boy, if you want to blame it, you can blame yourself for your bad life, for being a wicked ghost!"
The voice fell to the ground, the long sword was raised high, and it was cut down by the strong wind. Wen Heng's eyes were completely black at this moment, and his whole body was in severe pain. He had no strength to resist, but he was not reconciled and died. In one breath, he suddenly rolled to the side, the whole person fell into the shallow pit, and he fell straight down.
The bottom of the pit was covered with branches and withered grass, which looked very shallow. The man in black originally wanted to kill him and then bury him on the spot, saving him the time of digging the hole. Who knew that the branches and withered grass were only a thin layer, and there was still It was a pit, more than 30 feet high, very deep and dark. It took a long time after Wen Heng fell to hear a muffled sound of "Tong". After that, it was quiet and there was no movement.
The man in black took out the fire and polished it, and saw a dark hole with deep twists and turns inside. The situation in the hole was completely unclear, and Wen Heng was nowhere to be seen. After thinking for a while, he finally didn't dare to take the risk and went down to explore in person, so he found several stones the size of bowls and plates from the side, kicked them into the hole one by one, tried to kill Wen Heng, and finally found another big stone. Strictly blocked the hole.
This is deep in the jungle, and the location of the hole is very hidden. Even if someone finds that the kid is gone, he will starve to death long ago when he finds it here. The man in black looked at the pitch-black bushes and stones, thinking that it was better, he didn't need to do it himself, and it would not be easy for others to suspect him in the future.
He blew out the fire and picked up the scabbard scattered on the ground. His movement was erratic like a ghost in the night, and he quickly disappeared into the darkness.