In the isolated city of the frontier fortress, the dawn and the waning moon.
The moonlight passed through the window lattice, and the sound of the wind seeped into the wooden house from the gaps in the four walls, making a whimpering whine.
"..." The boy woke up from his sleep, reached out and rubbed his eyes. In the haze, he suddenly found a black figure sitting cross-legged on the head of the pit, with his back straight, every inch of his muscles tensed to the point of trembling slightly, as if he was enduring some kind of pain.
"Master?" The boy woke up and said, "Master, what's wrong with you?"
He rushed over quickly, but the next moment he was blocked by the young man's hand: "...don't come over..."
"Did it start again?!"
The young man shook his head dripping with cold sweat, and probably wanted to say something, but what came out of his mouth was an uncontrollable scream!
The young man was at a loss, his chest heaved violently, he froze for a few seconds and suddenly rolled down the kang, and ran to scoop water from the bucket in the corner of the room. However, when he came back in a hurry with a bowl of water, he saw the young man biting his wrist tightly, and the bead-sized drops of blood and sweat rolled down together, obviously in extreme pain.
On his thin and smooth back under the moonlight, a large piece of blue totem is gradually appearing, with a beard on the mouth and a pearl on the chin, it looks like a dragon!
The water bowl fell to the ground with a bang, and the young man gasped in fear: "Master...Master, this year's competition has started again, what the hell is going on..."
The young man's teeth sank deeply into his own flesh, and blood gushed out like a gush, smearing his handsome side face, which looked a bit sinister and hideous. The young man pounced on him and tried hard to pull his wrist away from his mouth, but it was of no avail. He was so anxious that the end of his voice changed sharply: "Hit me, master, don't hurt yourself, please..."
With a loud bang, the young man pushed the boy away fiercely, then staggered to the bed, and stumbled out of the wooden house.
The cold wind swept across the gray-white desert, rolled up the misty dust and sand, and laid out towards the horizon amidst the long howling of wolves in the distance. The young man got up and ran to the door, only to see the young man knelt down in pain, clutching the sand with his bloody hands, he didn't even notice that the rough gravel was mixed into the wound.
The once-a-year nightmare has begun again.
The usually perfect, omnipotent, and flawless master seemed to be entangled by the ferocious blue dragon totem on his back at this moment, struggling desperately to no avail, as if he would be pulled into a dark and bottomless abyss at any time.
The young man clung to the door frame tightly, his internal organs were torn apart by the great pain and sorrow.
—Why am I so useless
If only I could help him...
If only I could be strong enough to protect him...
Shan Chao suddenly opened his eyes, and loosened his tightly clenched fist.
The bright moonlight poured into the room from the window, the inn was quiet, and there was no sound around in the middle of the night.
He felt wet under his body, only to realize that his sweat had soaked the sheets.
Shan Chao got up and took a sip of water, his mind was dazed, as if he had just dreamed about something from the past, but he just couldn't remember what it was. He tried his best to recall those chaotic fragments, but only the boundless desert, the bleak moonlight, and the endless, weeping cold wind in the wilderness were in his mind.
He let out a trembling breath, and turned his head suddenly alertly.
In the girl's room opposite, there seemed to be an extremely slight and strange movement.
Dongdongdong, Shanchao tapped a few times, and asked: "Miss Long? Are you okay?"
In the room, Xie Yun's face was convulsed, dripping with cold sweat, clutching the broken porcelain in his hands—just now he grabbed a teacup somehow in pain, and then crushed the cup with his bare hands when his internal strength was fully sealed up!
Blood flowed from his palm again, but he didn't feel anything.
All the senses are concentrated in the back, where the flesh and blood skin seems to be opened inch by inch, every blood vessel and every muscle is torn alive and exposed to the air, and then the strongest hot wine is poured on it, the pain is so painful crazy.
The entire huge and complicated green dragon seal is slowly emerging on the thin and graceful back.
"Miss Long? Are you okay inside?"
Xie Yun took a breath—the bones of his body cracked several times in an instant, and his shoulders, elbows, joints, etc. widened and grew, and his whole body seemed to be two or three inches taller. The reason for going down.
"It's okay," Xie Yun said hoarsely, although his voice was slightly unsteady, but extremely calm: "Please ask Master, I'm fine."
Shan Chao heard that something was wrong, but he couldn't push the door in. He could only look at the closed wooden door of the inn in front of him, and a strange feeling suddenly appeared in his heart.
—It seems that I have experienced a familiar scene in my dream just now.
The wooden house in the wind and sand in Mobei, the patient panting and struggling under the moonlit night, and the helpless sorrow and pain of the young man clutching the door frame, penetrating into the bone marrow and even the soul...
"... If there is anything," Shan Chao said suddenly, "Please... please tell me, at least let me help..."
As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he suddenly stopped, and suddenly realized how many times he had made it.
There was silence in the house for a while.
On the other side of the door, Xie Yun leaned against the wall, his slightly bewildered and tired face reflected in the cold moonlight.
"Thank you," he replied softly after a long time. If you listen carefully, there seems to be a trace of sadness and tenderness hidden in the dissipated tail.
"But really no need, I'm fine."
Outside the door, Shan Chao gently closed his eyes.
·
The next day, West Lake.
Xie Yun was dressed in white and a dark toga, leaning lazily on the boat alone, with one hand resting in the water boredly, looking at the fragrant wind on the lake and the pleasure boats.
This is already the sixteenth day since they left Chang'an.
Half a month ago, they rushed out of Xie's mansion that night, and hid in Chang'an City, which had already closed its doors, for a night. The next morning, when the sky was bright, they disguised themselves and left the city.
Fortunately, Commander Xie's mansion lost its master and the imperial guards lost their heads. They both knew they were determined not to say anything, so they didn't dare to search around in Chang'an City. Only then were they able to take the Longyuan Tai'a twin swords and go south smoothly.
——The reason why he went south instead of going north was because Master Shan Chao asked the beauty: "Amitabha, dare to ask the girl's name and surname, where is the fairyland, so that the poor monk can send you back to your hometown safely before making other plans?"
The beauty replied: "Master Gao De. The little girl's surname is Long. She was trafficked since she was a child and no longer remembers her parents' hometown. She only knows her hometown of Suzhou and Hangzhou."
Fortunately, Xie's confidant was clever and took the best gold in the mansion, which was enough to exchange more than a hundred taels of silver, so the two of them were not embarrassed on their way south. It's just that Xie Yun's left hand was pierced through the palm, and it took a lot of money to ask doctors and delay medicine, and it also seriously delayed the trip, so it took half a month to reach the border of Jiangnan.
Jiangnan is rich and rich, and its scenery is quite different from that of Beijing Normal University. The golden autumn is sunny and sunny, the streets are full of restaurants and lounges, little girls are carrying baskets full of flowers to sell along the street, literati and poets are in groups of romantic and suave, and it is a prosperous and romantic atmosphere.
There are many cruise ships of rich and noble families on the lake, all covered with veils and gorgeously decorated. There are also singers on boats playing zithers and feasting, which attracts many sons and daughters to come to the front, and the fragrance of makeup and powder drifts with the wind all the way.
Xie Yun didn't use the boatman either, so he let the boat float freely, resting his forehead with one hand, his flowing black hair fell down the side of the boat along his arm.
He was dressed plainly and wore a light gauze hat, making it difficult to see his face clearly. But after all, he has been a high-ranking person in the capital for a long time, and the nobility and laziness in his attitude can still be seen from his bones. When many cruise ships pass by, the people inside frequently turn their heads and look at him curiously.
Commander Xie didn't bother to pay attention, and even closed his eyes and took a nap for a while.
After a while, it was almost time before he opened his eyes slightly.
Sure enough, there was an extraordinarily fragrant and resplendent painting boat on the lake, slowly passing by not far away.
Even though there are many boats nearby, this huge and gorgeous boat is still very conspicuous, and other boats on the entire river will avoid it. Xie Yun's small boat drifted past calmly, only to hear a boat passing by not far behind, and there was a discussion coming from inside: "Look, the painting boat of the Chen family, the richest man in the south of the Yangtze River..."
"Tsk tsk, well-deserved reputation..."
"Master Chen came out to swim in the lake again..."
The Chen family's painting boat approached slowly, only to hear the sound of silk and bamboo coming from inside the boat, the cabin window was pulled open by the wind, and several people inside were feasting and having fun on a flowing water table; Holding a long sword, he turned out to be dressed as a knight-errant.
Xie Yun lowered his eyelashes slightly, counting the time in his heart.
It's time for Shan Chao, who went to get the medicine, to come back.
Xie Yun took off the gauze hat and threw it into the water casually.
The next moment, the bamboo hat floated down the river towards the Chen family's painting boat. As expected, the boatman, attendants and others on the deck were all well-trained, and they immediately noticed it, and they all raised their heads to look this way.
Xie Yunkuan leaned on the bow of the boat with his wide sleeves, without even raising his eyelids, and said lazily with his forehead propped up: "My things have fallen..."
"Ask your master to bring it back to me."
·
In the cabin behind the jade mat, Chen Haiping turned his head, the expression of chatting and laughing with everyone hadn't disappeared yet, and shock appeared in his eyes.
Across the blue water, Xie Yun slightly raised his eyebrows.
"My lord, the girl on the opposite boat said..."
Before the housekeeper finished speaking, Chen Haiping had already got up and left the cabin, and asked politely, "What's your order, Miss?"
Xie Yun didn't even answer, and winked at the bamboo hat, meaning that you should pick it up and pick it up, don't talk nonsense.
Chen Haiping said solemnly: "Since the girl ordered, I will naturally serve you." Saying that, he jumped into the water!
At that time, the distance between the two boats was several zhang, but Chen Haiping leaped into the air with power, planted one foot firmly on the water, leaned over to pick up the bamboo hat, and then flew over. The mind method is really good, looking at the entire martial arts today, there can't be more than five people with such beautiful lightness kung fu.
"it is good!"
The surrounding river suddenly roared, and Chen Haiping jumped up before approaching the boat. This time, he landed on Xie Yun's small boat with incomparable precision.
"Girl," Chen Haiping handed over the bamboo hat gracefully: "Chen has fulfilled his mission, please accept it."
Xie Yun's injured hand didn't move, and he stretched out his other hand to pick up the bamboo hat, but then Chen Haiping shrank back again, and said sincerely: "Miss, this light gauze is of fine quality and looks like a jade, but it's just that it was covered by water today. It’s soaked, so it’s probably useless. Why don’t you take it home, wash and iron it, and then send it to the girl’s house in person, but I don’t know the girl’s name, where does she live? If it’s not far away…”
"Young Master Chen is too famous," Xie Yun said lazily, "I bought it at a veil stall, and it costs two cents a piece. If you can't use it, just throw it away."
Chen Haiping: "..."
Chen Haiping's smile remained unchanged, "Why is your girl's hand wrapped in a bandage, but it's injured? To tell you the truth, there are a few well-known doctors in the humble house, who come from all kinds of bruises, terminal illnesses and chronic diseases. This minor injury will take half a month. If you don't dislike it if… "
"dislike."
Chen Haiping froze on the spot, Xie Yun turned his head and stared at him playfully.
For some reason, Chen Haiping suddenly felt that the woman in front of him was beautiful, but her facial features were a bit rigid, and her gestures and gestures also had an indescribable chic demeanor, which was very different from ordinary daughters, and there seemed to be something wrong.
He had some doubts in his heart, so he had nothing to say and asked: "This... the girl is so interested, why is she swimming here alone?"
Xie Yun said: "The weather is fine, I am bored."
When it came to the girl, he couldn't help but stumbled, and then smiled.
This smile was a moment of gloom in the sky, and Chen Haiping's red heart skipped a few beats, and it was too late for him to react: "Girl, the eldest son of the Chen family in the south of the Yangtze River, has a thousand hectares of fertile land and a wealth of wealth. Marrying a wife, I don’t know where the girl’s fairyland is, whether she’s married or not, I’ll see if it’s suitable for me... Is that suitable?”
Xie Yun glanced at the shore, and a figure in black monk clothes was striding over the bridge with a medicine bag in hand.
"Appropriate." Xie Yun turned to Chen Haiping with a smile, regretfully said: "But this girl... is already married."
Chen Haiping was taken aback: "Who did you marry?"
Xie Yun's smile seemed to be full of sincerity:
"Married to a monk."
Before Chen Haiping could react, Xie Yun suddenly raised his voice and yelled: "Help—" Then he got up gracefully and fell straight into the water!
With a splash, Shan Chao rushed to the side of the bridge and shouted, "Miss Long!"
As soon as Chen Haiping raised his head, he saw a monk. He was stunned for a moment, and then he realized that he jumped into the water to save people. Xie Yun stretched out his strong arms and hugged him from behind.
Chen Haiping also swam to the front, and before he had time to reach out to help, he saw the young monk in black frowning, and stretched out his hand to slap him!
-boom!
Chen Haiping, a generation of young masters, didn't even have time to raise his breath to resist, only heard a muffled sound in his ears, followed by severe pain in his breastbone, shock of Qi and blood, and his whole body retreated several feet against the current!
It was just horrific.
When making a move in the water, the thinner the internal force, the bigger the splash, but there was no splash at all in the palm just now, only the fan-shaped wave centered on the monk and spread rapidly to the entire lake, with a radius of more than ten feet!
Suspected and furious, Chen Haiping endured his internal injuries and climbed ashore, only to see that Shan Chao had already hugged Xie Yun, who was drenched and coughing, and then turned his head and kicked him.
thump!
This time the water splashed everywhere, but it was Chen Haiping who was firmly kicked into the water.
"Where did the wild monk come from... Cough cough! Cough cough!" Chen Haiping was both embarrassed and angry. He had just climbed ashore to settle accounts with Shan Chao, when Shan Chao took off his monk's robe and put it on the coughing Xie Yun. , then turned around and raised his palm to push Chen Haiping.
"-you!"
That palm was like King Kong's glaring eyes, Mount Tai crushing the top, Chen Haiping fought furiously, but as soon as the internal force in his whole body touched the opponent, it felt like the surging river met the vast ocean, and instantly pushed him back into the water forcefully!
"Eldest son!" "Who? Stop!" "Where is the monk so cowardly, why don't you let go?!"
The boat landed quickly, and dozens of guards got off the boat and rushed towards this side. Shan Chao squatted on the shore, picked up Chen Haiping's lapel with one hand, and said condescendingly, "Why are you molesting a woman from a good family?"
"..." Chen Haiping was dumbfounded: "Who are you, you—"
The veins on the back of Shan Chao's hand bulged, and he pushed Mr. Chen into the water with a crash, and picked it up after a while: "Why do you moles a good woman?"
"Cough, cough, cough, cough..." Chen Haiping was in a state of embarrassment, cursing angrily, "Which fucking mountain and temple are you from? Tell me your name, and I will meet you in the future—"
Crash!
Shan Chao lifted Chen Haiping out of the water for the last time, looked into his eyes, and said calmly: "The one who seeks revenge and can't beat him will ask others for his name, and those who can beat him will leave after beating."
Chen Haiping was the eldest son of a family since he was a child, and became the number one young hero in the martial arts world when he grew up. He has never been so embarrassed as he is now in his life. Is it okay to be silly? My fair lady is a gentleman, what's wrong—?!"
Before the words finished, Chen Haiping was taken aback.
He caught a glimpse of the woman—Xie Yun wiped the water off her face casually, then looked back at Shan Chao and smiled.
At this moment, Shan Chao's back was facing Xie Yun, so he didn't see that smile. However, Chen Haiping was sure that there was something extremely familiar in that smile, even a kind of joking joy.
If I had to describe it, it would be the same as when he was a teenager and finally practiced a peerless swordsmanship, or he made great progress in martial arts.
Then Xie Yun glanced at Chen Haiping and raised his eyebrows.
——The four eyes meet, the beauty's eyes are full of undisguised sympathy and narrowness.
Chen Haiping: "..."
"—My younger brother is dissolute and absurd, offended Master, I apologize for him, Master please forgive me!"
A male voice suddenly came from the crowd of onlookers on the third and outer floors, and Chen Haiping raised his head suddenly, with a bitter expression on his face: "Cousin...cousin!"
Shan Chao turned his head and saw the crowd parted ways, and several attendants were walking slowly from the direction of Chen's painting boat, carrying a chic bamboo chair.
Sitting on the bamboo chair was a man, about 27 or 28 years old, pale and weak in appearance, he seemed to be incapable of doing anything, but his expression was very humble and gentle; Looking at Xie Yun anxiously: "Is the girl alright? The brother-in-law is absurd and disturbed Yujia. I don't know if he is..."
"yes."
Xie Yun sat on the ground casually, tilted his head, twisted his long hair with both hands to squeeze the water, and was very calm and calm under the eyes of everyone: "Young brother Chen Shaoye saw that I was alone, so he molested me, little... little girl is really helpless." , I had to dive to protect myself.”
"This Master Xinchao is a little girl's companion. Young Master Chen uttered wild words unscrupulously, so the master acted as a lesson. I hope this young master Haihan."
The eager onlookers finally let out a satisfied voice: "Oh—"
The man on the bamboo chair was a little embarrassed. He looked at Chen Haiping and then at Shan Chao. He didn't dare to look directly at the "girl" who looked so frightening on the ground. This kind of thing will happen, I'm sorry to surprise the girl. Fu Wenjie, who lives in Duanjianzhuang, is the cousin of this Dengtuzi... "
"If the girl and the master don't dislike it, please come to the humble house to rest for a while, how about changing into dry clothes?"
A dialogue flashed through Shan Chao's mind in the blink of an eye:
"I've heard rumors in the rivers and lakes that the Lotus Valley and Forging Sword Village used the snow lotus water from Tianshan Mountain a hundred years ago to forge the Longyuan Tai'a twin swords..."
"The one who killed you here today is Qixing Longyuan."
Shan Chao got up suddenly, and Chen Haiping, who lost his support, almost slid into the water again.
"—Where do you say you live?"
"Responding to Master's words," Fu Wenjie said shamelessly, facing Shan Chao's piercing gaze, "I'm not talented, and people in the world call him the young owner of 'Forging Sword Village'."