The sun was shining brightly, and in the early morning, Lang Junxia left the palace in a hurry, dressed in a brown cloth robe, wandering in the market like ordinary people.
Lang Junxia crossed West Street and walked towards the backyard of the Prime Minister's Mansion. He suddenly stopped outside the alley, and then slowly backed away into the shadows at the entrance of the alley across the street.
Across the street, a carriage was parked. Duan Ling was dozing off, unable to climb up after a few tries. Wu Du became impatient, put him in the car, and turned around to buy breakfast on the street. Wu Du changed into a new robe, looking very energetic, carrying his sword box on his back, and talking to the boss at the wonton stand.
"Half a catty of fresh shrimp stuffing, half a catty of meat stuffing." Wu Duchao said the boss, suddenly he felt something sharply, turned his head and frowned.
Lang Junxia stepped back a little again, avoiding Wu Du's sight. Wu Du bought the wontons and got in the car, still pulling the curtain and looking out.
Duan Ling slept in a daze, and as soon as he woke up, Wu Du rudely wiped his face, put on his clothes, and stuffed him into the car to continue sleeping.
"Anything to eat?" Duan Ling woke up immediately after smelling the aroma of the food, took the chopsticks, and started eating with the bamboo tube.
After eating, Duan Ling tilted his head again, leaned on Wu Du and fell asleep.
"Hey?" Mu Qing had just woken up when he learned that someone had gone to the empty building and was busy chasing after him, but the carriage had already gone far.
The driver drove the car and took the two of them out of the city. They were driving on the official road in late summer and early autumn. Two leaves were rustling and green. The shadows of the trees swayed on the car. The air was very refreshing. He hung up the curtain of the car window, stepped on the low stool, and sat domineeringly on the couch in the car, with his elbows facing back. Duan Ling was lying on his side on the couch, pillowing on Wu Du's thigh.
With the cicadas chirping incessantly, Duan Ling turned over, the sunlight hit his face, and he woke up.
When he opened his eyes, he saw that half of Wu Du's body was sprinkled with sunlight, and the other half was dotted with the light and shadow of the leaves outside. The light spots were like shooting stars, rustling over them. Wu Du was thinking, when he was silent, there was a kind of indistinct evil spirit, as if nothing was pleasing to the eye, and no one looked down on him.
"Awake?" Wu Du said.
Duan Ling yawned, sat up, and went to the window to look.
"Wow!" Duan Ling exclaimed at the scenery outside the window.
Wu Du said, "Don't jump up and down."
I was very excited to be able to come out and play. Duan Ling was lying on Wu Du's left half, and looked out of the window over him. The space in the carriage was already small, and Wu Du didn't dare to move around, so he had to support him a little. The last time I came here, I entered Sichuan through Jianmen along Jiangzhou, and I did not walk the road leading to Hanzhong. I saw that the scenery along the way was different.
There is a pool of still water, thousands of miles of green wheat fields, there is an ancient tree, the sky is like blue washed by water, the cicadas on the tree are calling one after another. It has the meaning of a wild and low tree.
The driver went to have lunch, and Duan Ling and Wu Du sat under the tree. At this moment, Duan Ling really realized what his father once said about the magnificent scenery of the Central Plains.
Wu Du had an inexplicable melancholy. He looked down at the soil under the tree, dug some with his fingers, and took pictures again and again.
"Is there something?" Duan Ling looked curiously.
"Cicada slough." Wu Du replied.
Wu Du found some cicadas and wrapped them in paper. The driver shouted "ah" on the official road, and the two set off to go back. Before leaving, Wu Du turned his head again and stared blankly at the tree for a while. Duan Ling felt There seems to be something special to him here.
"What place is this?" Duan Ling asked again.
"Nothing." Wu Du replied, "Let's go."
Duan Ling was always curious about Wu Du's past, but Wu Du rarely mentioned it, as if it was a shame to tell him too much.
"Hey, Wu Du." Duan Ling said to himself with the dog's tail grass in his hand, looking over and over.
Wu Du: "?"
The two sat in the car, walking away from the tree.
Duan Ling: "Under the tree we just sat, someone died."
Wu Du: "..."
Wu Du frowned and said, "How do you know?"
"There are traces of blood under the roots of the tree," Duan Ling said. "It was not too long ago, probably not more than a year."
Wu Du couldn't help but admire Duan Ling with admiration.
"You are very smart." Wu Du said casually.
Duan Ling hesitated for a moment, and speculated that Wu Duhui would stay under the tree for a short time. Perhaps it was because of the special significance of that place. The person who died was probably his friend. He hesitated whether to say something to comfort Wu Du. , by the way, get to know him a little more. Every time he was with Wu Du, he always remembered that he knew nothing about Lang Junxia, maybe this is the root of all betrayal.
The dead person... Could it be Zhao Kui? If it is calculated from the time, it should also be at that time, Duan Ling imagined that Zhao Kui was chased and killed by his father until here, and then died under a tree. Wu Du had nowhere to escape, so he had to put down his sword and be loyal to his father.
He really wanted to ask another question, but this would probably arouse Wu Du's suspicions, after all, he seemed too smart.
However, Wu Du took the initiative to speak and told him.
"It's General Zhao." Wu Du said.
Duan Ling understood, but made a "shush" action, which meant that there was a driver outside, and there were ears on the wall to avoid any trouble. Wu Du waved his hand, indicating that it was okay, and put one hand on Duan Ling, who was still leaning against him. Wu Du, half-lying, in a daze lazily.
Wu Du had a very comfortable smell on his body, like the feeling of green grass mixed with the skin of a healthy man. He never took care of himself, but this made Duan Ling feel very friendly and act casually, like a rogue big brother.
"Didn't you realize that the driver was deaf?" Wu Du said to Duan Ling.
Only then did Duan Ling know that the coachman was both deaf and dumb, and after thinking about it, Mu Kuangda personally sent them the car, but the deaf and dumb coachman could not hear or speak, and would not be held hostage and tortured.
"How is General Zhao treating you?" Duan Ling asked.
"It's okay." Wu Du said, "Actually, he looks down on me."
Duan Ling asked again, "Why?"
"It was a long time ago." Wu Du said leisurely, "I have a senior sister named Xunchun, and she, like me, can play the song "Meet each other", which was taught by my teacher. My teacher used to have an old lover, It's General Zhao."
"Where's your master?" Duan Ling asked.
"He died a long time ago." Wu Du frowned, "I made some longevity medicine pills, believed in a recipe that I didn't know where I came from, mixed some mercury, and made myself soaring."
Duan Ling wanted to laugh, but because of Wu Du's face, he didn't dare to laugh.
"The last emperor." Wu Du said, "Today's father, the emperor who passed away last year, also believed in this, and spent all day refining pills and taking medicine in the palace, begging the immortals to ask."
Duan Ling thought that it was my grandfather, but I haven't seen his face, so I don't have much affection for him, just make it up to you.
"Why did you follow General Zhao?" Duan Ling asked again.
"Because the mistress died." Wu Du said, "The Liao people entered the Great Wall, and my senior sister and I separated. Zhao Kui recruited me and asked me to work for him, and the senior sister went to Beijing to take revenge. I don't know now. alive or not."
Duan Ling thought of Xunchun, but did not dare to tell Wu Du that he still had a lot of things that he hadn't figured out clearly.
"Is this tattoo also from your teacher?" Duan Ling sat up on his knees and looked curiously at the tattoo on Wu Du's neck. Wu Du glanced at him sideways, and Duan Ling reached out and turned over his collar and pulled it off. He clicked, trying to see more clearly, but Wu Du's face turned a little red, he unnaturally pulled up his collar, and without looking at Duan Ling, he casually pointed to the couch and motioned him to sit down and not move.
"Well." Wu Du said casually.
"What's your name?" Duan Ling asked.
"Why do you have so many questions?" Wu Du asked impatiently.
Duan Ling said: "To satisfy my desire for knowledge, if you hear about it in the morning, you can die in the evening."
Wu Du replied, "White Tiger Hall."
Duan Ling said, "I haven't heard of it."
Wu Du: "..."
Wu Du looked at Duan Ling, Duan Ling immediately flattered and said, "It's because I'm ignorant, that's why I asked Master Wu for advice."
"Do you know Zhenshanhe?" Wu Du said, "I don't think you know."
If you praise you for being fat, you will pant, Duan Ling thought to himself, and became complacent.
"It's a sword." Duan Ling said.
"Yes, a sword." Wu Du said, "This sword was forged by Baihutang."
In the past, the mountains and rivers of Dayu were broken, the chaotic times were scattered, the Hu tribe outside the Great Wall invaded, and the nameless sword was left in the world. In the end, "Wan Li Fu", a Han Chinese knight in the White Tiger Hall in Xichuan, killed the leaders of the four Xiongnu tribes in a row for three nights. Wan Lifu established a ranger organization in Xichuan called "White Tiger". He also taught a martial art to four disciples, making them follow the owner of Zhenshanhe and restore the rivers and mountains.
Thirteen years later, Da Chen was established, and Wanlifu also retired. The three disciples each left the assassin organization "White Tiger". Although they taught skills, they always remembered Wanlifu's admonition. All martial arts inheritors must Get a white tiger tattoo on your body.
That is the shock and deterrence of assassins, and it is also the shrewdness of "the hero uses force to violate the ban", which symbolizes that even if the times are chaotic and the people are hanging upside down, these are above the law and the political situation, and the killing gesture hidden in the rivers and lakes will definitely appear again. Heaven-defying forces to interfere with the country's fortunes.
Wanlifu is naturally very powerful, and even its name is a glorious ancient sword "Riding Victory Wanlifu". In addition to cultivating four major disciples, each passing on his own skills, he also taught the Li family Shanhe Jianpu and Tiger Roaring Mountain Forest Boxing.
As a result, the four disciples forgot each other in the rivers and lakes, but each had a white tiger tattoo on their bodies. The master and the disciple were in the same blood, and Wu Du's master was the youngest disciple of Wanlifu back then.
Duan Ling listened to the story for a long time, and felt extremely surprised. After all, very few people knew the secrets of these rivers and lakes, and his father never told him in detail.
In other words, the four major assassins are all descendants of the White Tiger, and Wu Du's mentor learned the most important skill - poison.
"So." Wu Du casually said, "My wife always remembered this responsibility during her lifetime. Master went early, and she tattooed this tattoo for me with her own hands, but it has been passed down for so many years. already."
"Why?" Duan Ling didn't quite understand and asked, "What responsibility?"
"The responsibility of poisoning." Wu Du said.
"Responsibility for poisoning?" Duan Ling was puzzled.
Wu Du said, "You don't understand."
"Tell me, I really want to know." Duan Ling intuitively felt that this was very important, and looked at Wu Du expectantly.
Wu Du thought about it, and said to Duan Ling, "Wen Wu is the first, Wu Wu is second, is there anyone who is a natural martial arts genius, and finally is so powerful that Kung Fu is unparalleled in the world?"
"Yes." Duan Ling nodded.
"I've only met one person." Wu Du said, "It's the late emperor. Of course, he's already an emperor, so it's impossible to attack him, except for him?"
Duan Ling really wanted to hear Wu Du talk about his father again, but Wu Du explained to him seriously: "It's not the first emperor, it will be someone else. There will always be people of one kind or another, and even the four kills of the white tiger may be born. A master in the world, he can kill anyone at any time, but he is not bound by the rules of the rivers and lakes. If he is besieged, he can escape, one-on-one, and he is not his opponent. A person who is too strong to be restrained, once If you do evil, you will bring disaster to the common people."
"That's true." Duan Ling admitted that the more powerful a person is, the more terrifying the evil they will do once they fall into their inner demons.
"So when the time comes when sanctions cannot be imposed." Wu Du said, "Poisoning is the last resort. Even if a person does not eat or drink, he must breathe. The final responsibility is to use poison to solve all uncontrolled endgames. Take back the famous sword."
Duan Ling understood now, and Wu Du finally said, "Why did the three disciples leave the organization back then, while we are still here, precisely because we are the official heirs of the White Tiger."