Shuqing went to Qiuye to listen to the training, followed Xia Houlin to pack up and prepare to go to Suzhou. Shuqing received his first order this year, Qiuye asked him to cut the knife by himself this time, and Xia Houlin only assisted. After this time, he could not rely on his brother and had to do business by himself.
He was in a panic, he wore flowers and willows along the way, the road loomed among the trees, and the light leaked from the leaves fell on his hand holding the whip, as if a fire was burning on the back of his hand. The cicadas in the woods chirped one after another, the wind rustled in his ears, and sometimes he shrank his head in fright when he bumped into the black flying insects. As the sun went down, the two of them were going to sleep in the suburbs. He built a fire and roasted a rabbit. The elder brother closed his eyes and rested on the opposite side.
When they arrived at Suzhou Xingyi, they saw a small river running parallel to the street, pavilions and water pavilions with glazed tiles and red lacquer doors, crowded shops, signs with black characters on a red background, and the words on them were white noodles, wine utensils, and made products. Gold and silver jewelry, women's steel needle combs... The eyes are full of excitement. On the street there are shirtless people juggling, craftsmen wearing cloth shoes and sackcloths performing puppet shows, and a few servants are playing at the intersection, and the babble can be heard halfway across the street.
This time, the unlucky ghost is not from Jianghu, but a salt merchant. He lives in Renfengfang. He crosses the Huju Bridge and walks ten steps ahead to his house. He dug a large pond and connected the canal outside, and repaired it. In the water corridor, a water pavilion is built in the middle, a rockery is piled up, and lotus flowers are planted in patches on all sides.
The employer is his first wife. He has been in business all his life, transporting salt all his life, and hooking up with slutty women all his life. It is rumored that he once had an affair with the concubine of another salt merchant in Suzhou. Someone saw them hooking up in the Junpu House Hall. At that time, both salt merchants were invited by the prefect of Suzhou to attend the opera.
Now that he is older, his lust has not changed, but his brain has become a lot more dizzy. In the past, she married a concubine with seven or eight rooms, and she never let go of money. She gave as much as her son deserved. Now, after picking up a prostitute from Nanjing, he sent five or six shops to her name in one go. . His hair-haired first wife bit her lip and became anxious, so she simply bought an assassin from a shop, so that the old man could die early in bliss.
Xia Houlin and Shu Qing climbed over the wall and entered the garden. The night was dark, the moon was shining in the sky, and the misty moonlight was miserable. The flowers and trees all over the ground were immersed in the moonlight, melting into one piece. The lotus flowers in the pond are blooming just right, and they are dark red at night, with a different kind of bewitching. The old man and his new wife were in the Shengyunshui Pavilion in the middle of the pool, surrounded by pools of water, separated by a small paradise. The water corridor with green tiles and white walls twists and turns, winding several bends, connecting the water pavilion and the land.
The master and servants were all asleep, the garden seemed to be hoarse, only the leaves were rustling, and the worms were calling in the shadows. But if you listen carefully, you can still hear the sweet laughter of the woman in the water pavilion, passing along the wind and the water waves. Shu Qing followed Xia Houlin sneaking into the darkness, the cat stroking to the back of the water pavilion's turtle-backed lacquer door, the soft smoke on the window drawer, Xia Houlin pierced a layer of window screen, and could see two people looming inside. Share and sit.
Xiahou Lin winked at Shu Qing, who shook his head violently. Xia Houlin made a slashing gesture. He was wearing a mask, so he couldn't see his expression, but he could only see the ruthlessness unique to assassins in his eyes. He had heard Qiuye say that his brother didn't dare to do business on his own like him before, and he followed other assassins as a display for two years. Jialan also passed on the name of Xiahou's useless for a while. But now, Xiahou Lin is ruthless, and when the wave comes out, he will definitely see blood and his throat will be blocked. How can he look like a useless Xiahou
He shuddered, took a few deep breaths, pushed open the door a little bit hard, and let the cat go in. Xiahou Rin followed behind him, and they walked like ghosts without making a sound.
The old man was full, pressed the woman face down on the table, took out a small square box from the arm cage, took out the pills inside and swallowed it. The woman turned her back to them, and she saw the old man pressing against her, her bloated belly deformed on the smooth bare back like a kneaded dough.
Xia Houlin scratched his neck and pointed at the old man.
The book twitched the spring, and the knife in the flute popped out of its sheath silently. He walked quietly behind the old man. The hair of the two people on the table was intertwined, and their bodies swayed violently. Literary ears. The sound was somewhat familiar, and the book suddenly hesitated, the knife held in the air for a long time without falling.
Xia Houlin shook his head behind his back, and pulled out the wave to help him. Shu Qing shook her head, stopped thinking nonsense, dropped the knife extremely ruthlessly, the knife cut through a fierce arc, cut off the old man's head, the head rolled off the wine table, and blood sprayed the woman's head all over her body.
Liu Shao'er originally shouted with a hanging voice, but the old man's strength is far less than that of writing, and the things below are not enough to see. But she still had to scream out loud and nice. Fortunately, she had studied Kunqu Opera, and her voice was high and powerful, which made the old man rejoice.
She was screaming when a warm and sticky liquid was suddenly poured on her neck. She suspected that it was the old man who vomited filth, and when she opened her eyes, she saw that she was covered in blood. The old man was still lying on top of her, she turned her head in horror, and saw the neck that had lost its head.
"Ah-" Liu Shao'er wanted to push the old man's headless corpse away, but he hugged it so tightly that he couldn't push it away, she turned around, and the blood-splattered neck went straight into her arms .
"Liu Shao'er!" A familiar voice rang in his ears, Liu Shao'er shuddered, and looked up to see Shu Qing holding a blood-stained knife in one hand and a bisque mask in the other, looking at her blankly.
Another man in black stood outside the bead curtain. She recognized it was Xia Houlin at a glance, and she understood at once.
"You are assassins! You are assassins!" Liu Shao'er wanted to break off the old man's hand, but fell to the ground together with the old man, "Someone! Somebody! Killed! Killed!"
"Liu Shao'er, stop shouting, I'll take you away!" Shu Qing lost her mask and came to help her.
Liu Shao'er stepped back in horror, even with the corpse, dragging a long line of blood on the ground. She shouted hoarsely: "Don't come here! Assassin! Murderer! Help, help!"
"Don't worry about her, let's go!" The sound of footsteps outside, and the light of torches, Xia Houlin came over to write a book.
"Liu Shao'er!" Shu Qing was still looking at Liu Shao'er, and Xiahou Rin took him and ran away.
The naked woman on the ground entangled with the corpse was getting farther and farther away from him. The night was unbelievably dark. The wind was like a dove digging into his cuff, flapping its wings under his clothes. The sheep's hair grass on the edge of the rockery is sharp like a pair of sharp knives, stabbing out from all directions. The vines wrapped around the tree, like a weary snake, hanging from the branches.
Xia Houlin held him all the way and didn't let go, and the sheath received them. After the dark stake was broken for them, they entered the winding alley and returned to Xingyi through the back door.
Shu Qing squatted in the corner, buried her head, and said nothing. The warm wind of the summer night blows in bursts, and the moonlight dissolves like water. He just felt cold, bone-chilling cold.
Xia Houlin went to the letter and asked what was going on at Wanxianglou. Liu Xiangnu wrote to him saying that the salt merchant came to watch a play at Wanxianglou a month ago and caught Liu Shaoer at a glance. Liu Shao'er was about to leave, but the big guys couldn't stop him. He was planning to tell him when Shuqing came back, but he didn't expect Shuqing to meet him in Suzhou.
Tang Shiqi came to offer condolences, but he would only play after the fact, saying that Liu Shao'er was not a safe person, and he had to marry a good girl from a clean family.
Xia Houlin drove him away and left Shuqing alone.
Shuqing sat under the patio in a daze day by day. He raised his head to look at the stacked sashes on the second floor. He opened like a dense book of pages one after another, opening and closing in the wind. He remembered that in Wanxianglou, Liu Shao'er combed her hair earnestly behind such a window sash, her hair was tied into a bun, and when she lowered her eyebrows, she was as gentle as a moonlit spring river. He still remembered her rounded arms, a pair of tender wrists protruding from under Yuebai's sleeves, with emerald green bracelets hanging from her, when helping him tuck his temples, the dark fragrance of Begonia floated from his sleeves.
"Brother Shi, what would you do if it were you?" One night, Shi Qing asked Xia Houlin.
Xia Houlin was stopped by the question. He had never even thought about getting married, how could he have thought about being cuckolded
"Why did she do this to me?" Shu Qing said bitterly, "I have thought about everything, how many children to have, what name to name, and think that we can live in Jialan Village when we are old, and we will be buried in a knife when we die. Tsukasa. But I didn't expect that she would betray me."
Xia Houlin's lips moved. He wanted to say that no assassin can live to old age or to die, but he didn't speak. It's better to have ideas than no ideas, and hope is better than no hope. He didn't want to expose it.
Shu Qing wiped her eyes and hands full of tears.
After three or four days of silence, Tang Shiqi hurried over again, Shu Qing ignored him, stood up and left.
"Liu Shao'er has been arrested!" Tang Shiqi shouted.
Shu Qing stopped.
Xia Houlin turned out from behind the shadow wall and asked, "What's going on? Don't make a fuss all day long, make it clear."
Tang Shiqi took a breath and said, "The old man's mother-in-law is a ruthless character. She bought the county magistrate and gave Liu Shao'er a crime of making money and murdering her, and she was put in jail. But the evidence was insufficient, so she didn't say anything. The sentence will only be locked there. But in this way, the shops that Liu Shaoer got will have to be returned to the mother-in-law."
Xia Houlin and Tang Shiqi looked at Shuqing together, waiting for him to make a decision.
Shu Qing held her head and sat on the small tumbler without speaking.
"Let me tell you, leave her alone. Let her teach her a lesson, and let her dare to put a cuckold on a man!" Tang Shiqi said.
"Shut up!" Shu Qing shouted with red eyes, Tang Shiqi stopped, and Shu Qing said to Xiahou Rin, "Senior brother, can you help me again? Let's go save her."
Xia Houlin put Hengbo on his waist and said, "Let's go." He raised his chin towards Tang Shiqi, "Come along and help us watch the wind."
Tang Shiqi used Jinghong arrow to solve the two yamen guards, Xiahou Rong and Shuqing went straight in, knocking down the yamen all the way. These yamen servants only know how to gamble and drink, and their kung fu is terrible. When they meet someone like Xia Houlin who comes over from a mountain of swords and blood, they only have to admit it.
There is only one passage leading to the end of the prison, and the end is eerily dark, with cells separated from one another on both sides. The ground is covered with cold stone bricks, the walls are covered with dirt, some look like blood stains, slippery moss grows in the cracks, and unknown bugs crawling around dragging wet traces.
Liu Shao'er sang songs in the cell, babbling babble, high and low tones, her voice was hoarse, like rubbing a handful of sand in her voice, grinding out the taste of pity. Shu Qing did not dare to go forward. He was afraid of seeing her, so he stopped at the corner and wept silently.
Xia Houlin waited beside him, and after waiting for a long time, there was no movement of his book, Liu Shaoer stopped singing, and there was a rustling in the cell. Xia Houlin kicked the wooden railing irritably, scratched his hair, and said, "What are you doing, dawdling and babbling, you don't go, I'll go!"
Shu Qing raised her head as if she had just woken up from a dream, walked to Liu Shao'er's cell, and opened the door with the key found from the yamen.
Liu Shaoer sat on the ground disheveled, wearing a dirty prison uniform and a blanket over her knees. After a few days, she had
The glorious Jinling courtesan became a lingering prisoner. She was not happy when she saw Shuqing, her eyes stared straight at Shuqing from bottom to top, the corners of her mouth curled up, and her lips formed a thin curved line, revealing a little pale red.
Shu Qing looked at her smile, and suddenly felt that a basin of cold water had been poured over her head, which started to cool from the heart, until it was cold to the fingertips.
She is no longer like a person, like a ghost.
"You're here, Shulang!" She laughed, grinning at the corners of her mouth, revealing her white teeth.
"I'll take you away, get up quickly." Shu Qing said with a frown.
"Go? How to go?" Liu Shao'er laughed, she lifted the blanket on her lap, only then did she realize that she was not wearing pants, and her fair legs were covered with injuries. Looking up, there was a muddy patch between her thighs. .
Xia Houlin, who was standing beside him, looked away and frowned.
"Liu Shao'er..." Shu Qing's eyes turned red.
"Why did you come!" Liu Shao'er stood up against the wall, trembling all over, "Why do you want to come! Originally... I already got those several shops, all of which are excellent locations, one bookstore, two There is also a pastry shop in the wine shop. How wonderful, when the dead old man stops breathing, I will come out and order alone. I have money, and I can do anything! But you are here, you are here! You are here! What are you doing here! How many women in the world hate the poor and love the rich, why do you want to destroy me!"
"I don't know..." Shu Qing stretched out her hand.
Liu Shao'er dodged him and screamed: "Now you are satisfied! I was put in prison, and those bastards bullied me one by one! Last night, how many slept with me? I count... Oops, can't count. Clear. Why am I so stupid? You murderer, outlaw! You are also a beast, you want to make me like you, shameless, shameless!"
Xia Houlin and Shu Qing were shocked.
"Knock her out, take her away!" Xiahou Rin shouted at Shi Qing.
Liu Shao'er saw Xia Houlin, pointed at him and said: "And you, you bastard! I know, you and Wanxianglou are all in one group, all in one group! Mama Liu wants to give me to you. , give birth to a child for this murderer! You are also beasts, you are all beasts!"
Liu Shao'er suddenly jumped and rushed towards Xia Houlin, Xia Houlin quickly retreated, put the handle of Hengbo's knife in his right hand, and shouted "No!" , hit the wall, the book heard a muffled sound, Liu Shaoer slid down the wall, lying upright face down, dark red blood came out from her like a snake, first one, then the second strips, and then many more strips merged into a pile, and finally became a circle, which slowly faded away.
Xia Houlin stayed in Suzhou for a month with Shuqing, taking care of Liu Shaoer's funeral. Shu Qing buried her at the back of Hanshan Temple, and donated a memorial tablet in the temple, hoping that she could give birth to a good child in her next life.
Shuqing followed the monk to recite scriptures for the deceased in the Daxiong Palace, Xia Houlin and Tang Shiqi squatted on the edge of the eaves, holding their heads and waiting. The iron horse on the corner of the eaves was rattled by the wind, and his nose was filled with the choking smell of incense. Tang Qiqi kept sneezing. The sound of the monks chanting sutras came from far and far away, endlessly, like a bell and drum.
"Hey, Seventeen, do you really think there is bliss in this world?" Xia Houlin asked.
"There is no such thing in this world, there must be outside the world." Tang Shiqi replied with a smile.
Xiahou Lan looked at the sky for a while, and then said, "If I die, remember to burn some paper for me."
"That's for sure," Tang Shiqi patted Xia Houlin's shoulder, "I'll burn you a big house with three entrances and three exits, four paper concubines, seven or eight servants, I will keep you satisfied!"
A servant of the Xingyi Station hurriedly walked up the stairs. Xiahou Lin stood up and waved to him.
The servant ran up out of breath and said to Xiahou Rin: "Master Xiahou, please bring Master Shu back to the mountain, there is news from the mountain temple that Master Qiu is not in good health!"
——————
The leaves of the old locust tree spun down onto Xia Houlin's shoulders, and the dim light passed through the dense locust leaves, and scattered spots of light fell on Xia Houlin's body. Dead roses were crawling on the bamboo fence, and the petals were as gray and black as paper. In the bleak autumn wind in the courtyard, the chick in Qiuye sat in the nest with its wings covered and croaked softly.
Qiuye is the most beautiful man in Jialan, with affectionate eyes, rosy lips, and always gentle and gentle in his speech, like the autumn waves in Dongting Lake, and he can only turn over a few waves when he gets angry again. Xia Houlin liked to follow him since he was a child. He went to Jialan Village to buy rice and oil and Xia Houlin followed him. He went to the woods to chop bamboo and Xia Houlin followed him. He taught Xiahou Lin how to cook and sew clothes, and he also taught Xiahou Lin to disguise and ventriloquism.
But the leaves were finally about to fall, and Xia Houlin could no longer follow behind him, calling him "Big Brother" and calling him "Master".
Shu Qing wiped her eyes and walked out of the room, "Brother Shi, Master told you to go in."
Xia Houtong stood up, pushed open the creaking old wooden door, Qiu Ye lay on the kang, his thin body wrapped in floral silk, and a hand resting on the edge of the kang, the sharp small bone on the wrist was almost broken. Thin flesh.
He stretched out his hand towards Xia Houlin, and the corners of his lips curved into a shallow smile.
"It's time to say goodbye, Xiaolin." Qiuye sighed softly.
"I'll accompany you." Xia Houlin whispered.
Qiuye took out a small wooden box from the bedside and placed it in Xia Houlin's palm.
"There are twelve of my Qiushui Cicada Wing Knives, four for you, and eight for your junior brother." Qiuye opened the box, and the dazzling autumn water knives were coded inside, each with the length of fingers, as thin as a cicada. Wing, the blade has a faint flowing water cloud pattern. Xia Houlin picked up a knife and suddenly felt that the lines on it were very familiar.
"Master, what is the Cicada Wing Blade made of?"
"Tianshan Meteorite was picked from the Tianshan Mountains by the first-generation head of the Qiu family." Qiu Ye said, "You have to keep it well. Although you don't have to pass it on to future generations, you can't throw it away."
Xia Houlin closed the box and nodded solemnly.
"There is one more thing," Qiuye looked at him deeply, "I have a senior brother named Qiushan, who lives in seclusion at the foot of Qixia Mountain. He will know the real disguise in this world - deboning and fleshing, and changing his face. If one day , you can leave Garan, you may as well go find him."
"Yes, I know." Xia Houlin said.
Akiba nodded with a faint smile and closed his eyes. The wind gradually picked up outside the window, and Xia Houlin saw the deep locust leaves outside, trembling branches, and a bright red sun hanging through the I-shaped lattice flowers. The bell of the mountain temple in the distance rang, and it rang one after another according to the slow rhythm.
Xia Houlin put Qiuye's hand into the quilt and said softly:
"Master, bye."