The Wulin League took the official road all the way, while Zhu Mansion and Wanren Palace mostly took shortcuts. Although the shortcuts were more rugged and there were many steep mountains and deep valleys along the way, the speed was more than twice as fast. The Zhu Mansion had a large number of servants, half of whom took care of Zhu Yanyin, and the other half took care of the housekeeper and servants. They could also send a group to take the sick Canglang Gang with them. As the saying goes, a big family and a big business will never worry about anything.
When they arrived at the valley called Sanchongfeng, the large group led by Wan Zhuyun was still far behind, so Jiang Shenglin decided to wait for two days at a nearby farm. In the yard, there were a few little kids jumping and chasing each other, each holding a big fruit, which looked bright red and tender. After asking, they found out that it was a rotten red snake from the nearby mountains, and a bite of it would produce a bag of honey-like juice.
Zhu Zhang shook his head repeatedly, wondering who came up with this vulgar name.
Zhu Xiaosui also felt that the four words "rotten-headed red snake" were extremely unpleasant to the ear, like a poisonous fruit that would make one fall down after eating it.
Since everyone disliked it, Zhu Yanyin was too embarrassed to say that he wanted to eat it. Uncle Zhang would definitely not agree anyway. Jiang Shenglin saw what he was thinking, so he found Li Sui and asked him to take the second son Zhu to the nearby mountains to pick wild fruits. Before he was rejected, he threw out his trump card in time: "Bitter Gallbladder Coptis!"
Palace Master Li: “?”
Jiang Shenglin replied: "The Zhu family has spent money and effort on this journey, but I have to take their son on a journey. I feel really bad about it. Apart from medical skills, you are the only one I can use."
Li Sui frowned: "Go by yourself."
Jiang Shenglin immediately responded: "I'm busy. I need to prepare medicine for you. Are you going to kill Chi Tian or not?"
Very justified.
As for asking the servants of the Zhu Mansion or the people of Wanren Palace to pick the fruits and take them home, that was not possible because there were always people serving Master Jin Gui, and there was no chance to steal the fruits, so they had to go up the mountain themselves.
Jiang Shenglin continued: "Your horse ate half a bag of soybeans this morning." Normally, this stuff is everywhere, but for some reason, Kicking Snow Black Horse has to force itself to eat even a handful of hay from the trough of Zhaoye Jade Lion. I don't know if the horse feed of the wealthy families in Jiangnan is really good, or if the divine horse of Wanren Palace has been in charge for a long time, so the more it can save for the family, the better.
Li Sui: “…”
In the warm afternoon sun, Zhu Yanyin was reading in the yard, reading the bloody Legend of Zhang Da Xia in the Jianghu. He also wrapped himself in a layer of "Mencius" to avoid being nagging by the housekeeper.
Zhang Da Xia is so strong that he can pull mountains and rivers apart. He holds a blue dragon crescent blade and rides a red rabbit dragon horse. He stands on the Dangyang Bridge and shouts loudly, scaring away 400,000 Qin troops on the spot! It is wonderful, but everything looks familiar. The bookseller interprets the four words "patchwork to cheat money" very vividly. I flipped through the book and found that it was a long section of lovemaking, ignoring the fact that the hero was trapped on a cliff just a moment ago. Anyway, if he jumps down, there must be a ready-made bridal chamber.
Mr. Zhu yawned and lost interest.
The wooden door was suddenly pushed open.
Zhu Yanyin sat up straight without hesitation and slammed the fake "Mencius" shut, thinking it was the housekeeper coming.
The result is not.
After Zhu Xiaosui saw who the person was, he immediately and bravely stood in front of his own master. He could not classify this powerful hero as a member of a reputable and upright family. He always felt that he looked like a devil in every way. Maybe he was even more like a devil than Chi Tian. He had to block him.
Li Sui looked over the short shoulders of the little servant boy and said simply, "Come here."
Zhu Yanyin: “…”
Li Sui continued: "Take you to relax."
This reason was taught to him by Jiang Shenglin, and there was nothing wrong with it, but because Palace Master Li's aura was too "I will kill the world", dark and gloomy, it had nothing to do with enjoying the autumn scenery. Or, to put it another way, even if he really wanted to relax, he might have to take the heads of a few enemies on the way. The little book boy was terrified just thinking about it, so he declined: "My master will have lunch later-"
"OK."
Zhu Xiaosui’s eyes widened: Young Master!
Zhu Yanyin stood up and whispered to comfort the servant: "It just so happens that I feel bored in the courtyard, so I can go to the nearby mountains to have a look."
Zhu Xiaosui became even more anxious when he heard this. Even if he wanted to go out to relax, didn't our family have its own guards and carriages? Why did he have to go with Palace Master Li? But he couldn't stop him. He watched the young master being carried on the horse by the big devil, so he had to cry again and go to the housekeeper.
Tan Shuqiu leaned against the window and watched eagerly. Oh, it was so intimate that he didn't know where to start his envy.
Kicking Snow Wuzhui ran out of the farm with light steps, head held high and chest puffed out, looking graceful and elegant, and learned new postures from Zhaoye Jade Lion next door.
Li Sui kicked it in dissatisfaction.
Kicking Snow Black Horse: No matter what.
After a while, Zhu Yanyin asked quietly, "Are my guards still following me?"
Li Sui glanced at them and said, "Yes, ten people."
Zhu Yanyin said: "They are all masters that Big Brother found from the East China Sea. They are said to be able to chase the wind and waves and float on the water without a shadow."
Li Sui was disdainful in his heart, so he put one arm around his waist and flew up to the dangerous peak.
The guards of Zhu's residence were shocked and quickened their pace to catch up, but they could not catch up. The two figures, one black and one white, disappeared in a flash, and only a breeze and a black horse standing on a stone and eating grass remained.
For a moment, this group of top masters even began to doubt whether the Palace Master of Wanren Palace was a human or a ghost.
…
Li Sui held Zhu Yanyin and landed steadily on the ground.
This is the highest point of Sanchong Peak, seldom visited by people. The wild grass on the ground is one foot high and full of yellow and white flowers. There are no butterflies, but there are many birds, chirping in a clear and melodious voice. The book says "the grass is fresh and the petals are colorful", and this place is similar, but there is no enthusiastic Wuling people fishing, replaced by Li Palace Master who seems to be always cold and indifferent, with ten thousand stories in his heart.
When scholars go out together to enjoy the autumn scenery, they want to talk about the past and the present, recite poems and express their feelings, or walk with wine cups flowing in the winding stream, or play pot-tossing and horse-riding, singing songs about the blooming flowers, just to be free and unrestrained. But once scholars and people of the world go out together, these activities don't seem to be very suitable, so Zhu Yanyin asked: "Do you want to take a break?"
Li Sui knocked a ripe red snake with a rotten head off the treetop and threw it over.
Zhu Yanyin hurriedly took it, thanked him but didn't eat it.
Because it wasn't washed.
Li Sui was displeased: "Do all scholars have the same problems as you?"
Mr. Zhu II protested in his heart that being clean was not a bad thing, but he did not dare to say so, so he said "hmm" vaguely and forced all the scholars in the world to take the blame.
The so-called rotten-headed red snake should be some kind of wild pear, which is ugly in appearance but delicious. Jianghu heroes do not need to wash and peel wild fruits when eating them. Li Sui wiped them twice and took a bite in front of Zhu Yanyin.
Jiangnan Rich Man: “…”
Li Sui asked: "You really don't want to eat?"
Zhu Yanyin's Adam's apple rolled. He was thirsty and wanted to eat, but he didn't wash it.
Li Sui stretched out his hand: "There is no stream here, throw it away if you don't want to eat it."
Zhu Yanyin took two steps back: "I have a knife."
Li Sui laughed and ignored him, sitting down under a tree and continuing to rest in the breeze.
After a while, Zhu Yanyin also sat next to him and took out an exquisite white knife from his sleeve. It was only a few inches long when folded, and the scabbard was thin. It was a "Duanxue" knife made by a Nanyang weapons master. It was used by Jianghu people to kill people, and the second son of the Zhu family used it to peel pears.
I'm not very skilled at cutting.
Li Sui looked at him for a while and asked, "Do you know that this knife doesn't need to be very fast to easily cut off your finger?"
Zhu Yanyin stopped what he was doing, looking rather bewildered: "Really? Big brother didn't tell me when he sent me off."
Li Sui frowned: "You two don't have a good relationship?"
Zhu Yanyin: “…”
The eldest son of the Zhu family shivered inexplicably in faraway Jiangnan.
The beloved younger brother was going on a long journey, and the elder brother hired a master to protect him all the way, but still felt uneasy. He asked around and bought this "Broken Snow" and gave it to the younger brother to keep close to him. At that time, he only thought that the sharp weapon could cut hair, but he did not consider that the weak younger brother might cut himself when using it.
Li Sui took the dagger and peeled the remaining half of the pear to prevent Jiang Shenglin from hanging himself on the spot after seeing the sponsor with blood on his hands.
Zhu Yanyin ate in a very elegant manner, without making any noise. He sat upright under the tree with his snow-white face. Soon, only a small core was left in his hand.
Li Sui asked, "Do you still want to eat?"
Zhu Yanyin was not used to the devil who snorted coldly: "Eat."
Li Sui helped him cut the second one.
After a while, he peeled a third one.
Seeing that the other party was about to pick the fourth pear, Mr. Zhu, who had a stomach full of pears, burped quickly and said, "I'm full."
Li Sui returned the dagger to him, then lay on the grass with his arms as a pillow, looking at the blue sky above his head.
Zhu Yanyin wiped the snow clean carefully, and when he turned around, he saw that the person next to him had fallen asleep.
It was quite rare to see Palace Master Li sleeping. After all, the great devil should not rest no matter how he thought about it, as it would delay his career of killing people who destroyed the world. Zhu Yanyin was curious and could not help but look at him twice more, twice more, twice more.
Li Sui's skin was very pale, without any blood color. He was like a piece of ice, always giving people a cold feeling, even when he was sleeping. His arms were placed behind his head, revealing thin, white and slender fingers with calluses on the joints, which just matched the Xiangjun sword.
Zhu Yanyin moved a little closer, wanting to verify on the spot whether masters really did not breathe when they slept. After all, eight out of ten books wrote so.
Li Sui asked: "Have you seen enough?"
Zhu Yanyin was caught off guard and almost lost his breath from fright.
Li Sui stood up and said, "Let's go back."
Zhu Yanyin said "Oh" obediently, picked another fruit from a low place and prepared to give it to Jiang Shenglin.
When the two men went down the mountain, the servants of the Zhu Mansion were still guarding there.
Kicking Snow Wuzhui trotted over, bent down and nudged Zhu Yanyin affectionately, completely ignoring the fact that his owner was right next to him.
Li Sui was too lazy to teach this traitor a lesson, forget it, now it should be the horse that eats outside and betrays outside, so he took Zhu Yanyin on the horse and prepared to go back to the farm. Who knew that when passing by a valley, he happened to run into the Wulin League below who were arguing, so there was the fierce question from Heifeng just now.
…
The scene was silent.
Half of it was because of shock, and half of it was because of fear. They were afraid of the flying move that was almost like a ghost sword. If they had used a little more force, they would have been killed. Thinking of this, everyone became even more silent, fearing that they would die here if they were not careful. The only one who could breathe a sigh of relief was perhaps the leader of the alliance, Wan Zhuyun. He handed the long sword to his disciple and clasped his fists: "Palace Master Li, Master Zhu."
Li Sui glanced at the group of people on the ground and asked again coldly: "What are you arguing about?"
"All of them are trivial matters, not worth mentioning." The Qingfeng Hall disciple replied in a low voice, "It was our recklessness that disturbed Palace Master Li and Master Zhu."
Although Wan Zhuyun was dissatisfied with their calls for fighting and killing, and even more dissatisfied with their disregard for the leader's orders, he did not want the team to fall apart in the middle of the journey, so he waved his hand to signal the two groups to leave quickly and not to talk too much and cause trouble.
Everyone understood what he meant and scattered like birds and beasts at an extremely fast speed. They estimated that even if they met the real Chi Tian in the future and had to flee for their lives after being defeated, they might not be able to run as fast as they did now.
The servants of the Zhu Mansion also rode over on horseback and tried to test him: "Palace Master Li, since you still have something to do over here, why don't we take the young master away first?"
“No need.” Li Sui was not interested in staying in the Wulin Alliance any longer. He pulled the reins, asked Kicking Snow Wuzhui to turn around, and took Zhu Yanyin back to the farm.
Everyone in the Wulin Alliance watched his back gradually go away. Arrogant, cold, and strong, even though they had agreed to go north together to fight the devil, they did not consider the other sects as their own at all. They were even too lazy to consider the face of perfunctory courtesy and still came and went as they pleased.
Some disciples were dissatisfied: "You are so ignorant of etiquette, it's clear that you don't take us seriously."
"Shut up!" Wan Zhuyun scolded in a low voice, and then looked back at the end of the mountain path, his tone full of emotion, "He really doesn't need to take anyone seriously. If you can have one tenth of his talent, you also don't need to take anyone seriously."
These words are exactly the same as what Pan Shihou said when he scolded Pan Jinhua. Or to be more precise, everyone in the martial arts world who has seen Li Sui's kung fu will have the same thoughts and envy—one tenth, even one tenth.
The disciple was still indignant: "But there is still a long way to go. If Palace Master Li continues like this, then the leader of the alliance will..."
Wan Zhuyun sighed, "Although Palace Master Li is used to doing things his own way, Second Young Master Zhu is relatively easy to talk to. Let's build a good relationship with him first, and then slowly discuss future matters."