Seven years ago.
Night in the city.
It was the rainy season in the south of the Yangtze River. It had been raining for nine days in a row. The mist was thick and the air was filled with water vapor. The whole town seemed to have fallen into a fairyland, ethereal and psychedelic. But today's rain was very different. It was no longer a drizzle, but a heavy downpour that hit the eaves with a crackling sound.
Under the eaves of a medicine shop in Liucheng Lane, a woman in plain clothes was looking at the sky. She looked to be no more than 20 years old, with a beautiful face but a little haggard. She stared blankly at the rain curtain in the sky, as if thinking about something. After a long time, she opened her mouth and muttered something.
“It’s raining so hard.”
But the sound overlapped with another sound.
The woman was startled and turned her head quickly, only to find that a scholar in white clothes had been standing next to her. The scholar looked to be no more than seventeen or eighteen years old, with a long sword on his waist and a book box on his back. It seemed that he had just taken shelter under the eaves and was wiping the rain off his face with his hands.
"Who are you?" the woman was surprised.
The scholar wiped the rain off his face, turned around and smiled gently at the woman: "Hello, young lady. My name is Su Baiyi."
The woman was stunned. The rain suddenly slowed down at this moment. There was no hostility in the scholar's gentle smile. She thought to herself: Could it be that he is a traveler who has really taken the wrong road
The scholar who called himself Su Baiyi turned around and put the book box on the wall, still with a gentle smile on his face: "That's right, the murderous aura is so tense that even this gentle drizzle seems menacing."
Before he finished speaking, the rain began to fall even harder.
A long knife was pressed against Su Baiyi's chest. The woman said in a cold voice, "When I asked you who you are, I didn't ask your name. I asked why you appeared here? The checkpoints within a radius of three miles should be guarded by people from the four major families. How did you sneak in?"
Su Baiyi still smiled calmly in the face of the sharp long knife: "How did you get in, girl? That's how I got in. This question is meaningless. But our meeting here is very meaningful. Because... I'm here to help you."
The woman put away her long sword and looked at Su Baiyi suspiciously: "Are you from Demon City? I thought they didn't receive my letter."
Su Baiyi scratched his head and pointed at his face: "Excuse me, young lady, what do you see on my face?"
The woman looked at him for a long time, frowning even more tightly, not understanding what the young man in front of her was up to: "I didn't see anything."
"Pure and kind. I can tell at first glance that he is a gentleman like jade, pure and harmless. How could he be from Demon City?" Su Baiyi sighed helplessly and shook his long sleeves. "Can anyone from Demon City have eyebrows and eyes as beautiful as mine? Can anyone have eyes as clear as mine? Girl, your vision is really not very good. No wonder you like..."
"A man like Qing Yi Lang."
A gust of wind blew by, and rain poured in, hitting their faces, causing some pain.
Su Baiyi still looked at the woman in front of him with a gentle smile, although there was obvious provocation in his words.
The woman felt that she should be angry, but she held down the long knife, looked into Su Baiyi's eyes, and just lowered her head slightly.
The wind died away, and the rain began to fall vertically again. Then there was the sound of horses' hooves stepping on the rain.
"Here it comes." Su Baiyi raised his eyebrows.
The woman's expression suddenly became serious. She whispered, "I can't guess who you are, but since you said you are my helper, then I believe you. After all, I have no choice. It's just that we have to work together to fight the enemy. Between life and death, I still hope that Mr. Su Baiyi will be honest with me."
"Actually, I really don't know what to say. I have no sect or school, and I come from a small village. You definitely haven't heard of that village, but you may have heard of the wine there. As for why I came to help you? My master asked me to come." Su Baiyi scratched his head, "I am a good disciple, and I listen to my master very much."
"Who is your master..." the woman asked.
"Hush." Su Baiyi pointed a finger and made a gesture to silence people. He raised his eyebrows slightly. "Listen, the sound of horse hooves has passed the second intersection. When they reach the third intersection, it will be time to take action. I will go there first. If everything goes well, I can do it alone. If you need the girl's help, I will send a signal."
The woman shook her head and said anxiously, "The fourth street corner is the best place to start. That place is the smallest and it is difficult for the carriage to move. Even if they have a lot of people, they can't move..."
"Indeed, but there are more good places like that than we can think of. So I guess there are other people who want to ambush waiting there."
"A-choo!" At the fourth street corner, a carriage was parked quietly. A burly man in white clothes was sitting in front of the carriage, holding the reins in his hands. He sneezed violently, blew his nose, and said unhappily, "Sister, we have come here, can you tell us who we are waiting for?"
"Have you heard of the man in blue?" A woman's gentle voice came from the carriage.
"Young master, a handsome man in blue, comes from the apricot garden in Jiangnan. Isn't he the most romantic young man in Jiangnan today? It is said that half of the women from the four major families in Jiangnan like him. Senior sister, do you also..." The burly man raised his eyebrows maliciously.
The woman in the carriage did not seem to be in the mood to flirt with him, and continued in a calm tone: "Wang, Xie, Chen, and Dongfang, the four great families in Jiangnan, hold a discussion meeting every three years. At the discussion meeting, the four great families will send their most powerful young disciples to compete, and Qing Yilang will represent the Xie family this time. The Xie family has declined in recent years and has become the last of the four families, but Qing Yilang broke into the final round of this discussion meeting with his own strength, shocking everyone. Many people say that after more than ten years, the Xie family has finally waited for the dragon among people of their generation."
"Jiangnan Xie Family? Isn't it the family of Xie Yuling, the one I hate the most?" The burly man was stunned. "It is said that the guy has always wanted to revive the Xie Family, but now it seems that someone has gotten there first."
"But it didn't happen. During the final battle with the young master of the Wang family, Qing Yilang suddenly went crazy and his true energy ran wild. The four elders of the Wang family attacked him at the same time to subdue him. According to what they said later, the reason why Qing Yilang suddenly rose to prominence in this discussion conference was that he secretly practiced some martial arts, and this martial arts was most likely the evil martial arts passed down by the destroyed demon sect. So the four elders are now escorting Qing Yilang to the Wang family mansion to investigate the matter."
"So we are here..."
"In recent years, the Wang family has been the leader of the four major families. They have been deliberately suppressing the power of the other families. If Qing Yi Lang is really sent to the Wang family mansion, I am afraid that he will be in danger. Qing Yi Lang is Xie Yuling's eldest brother. After he learned about this, he begged you for help. You also felt that this matter was not that simple, so you sent me here."
The burly man licked his lips and said, "If you save that kid's elder brother, will he dare to be arrogant in front of me in the future? No wonder you chose to bring me here, Senior Sister. I can't wait."
"You have to wait even if you can't wait." The voice in the carriage was soft, but it had a certain irresistible power. The burly man shrugged and raised his head: "Well, it will be soon anyway."
"Almost there, almost there, almost there." Su Baiyi muttered at the door of the medicine shop. Every time he said "almost there", there was a sound of rain splashed by horse hooves. "Almost there, almost there, almost there... Here we are! Can you lend me a hairpin?"
A man in white rushed out like an arrow. Su Baiyi's movements were incredibly fast and his footsteps stepped on the accumulated water without causing any splashes.
Such a movement... The woman recalled a legend from long ago. She touched her bun and found that the emerald green hairpin was gone.
When the speeding carriage turned into the third street corner, a man in white suddenly appeared at the corner and jumped up, stirring up rain all over the ground. The rain then spread down and poured down on the heads and faces of the people who were protecting the carriage.
"There's an ambush!" the leader drew his sword and shouted angrily.
But the white dress had disappeared.
The leader wiped the rain off his face, looked around, cursed angrily and said, "Everyone cheer up and be careful on the road ahead!"
In the carriage, two people looked at each other at this moment.
A man in green was leaning there, his face was sallow and his eyes were dull. His neck, arms, face, almost all places visible to the naked eye were covered with sores. He looked dying all over, not even a bit like a handsome young man from the south of the Yangtze River. He glanced at Su Baiyi in front of him, and tried with all his strength to open his mouth to speak, but only made some babbling sounds.
Su Baiyi, who suddenly appeared opposite him, hurriedly took out the emerald green hairpin and placed it in the hand of the man in green.
The man in green lowered his head and looked at the hairpin, his eyes moist.
Su Baiyi whispered: "Don't worry, I'm here to save you."
The carriage sped through the third intersection and arrived at the fourth intersection.
"Whoa." The driver pulled the reins and stopped the carriage.
Another carriage was parked across the fourth street, blocking their way. A burly young man stood up from the carriage, his white robe fluttering in the wind. He had a toothpick in his mouth and a bamboo sword on his shoulder. "Senior Sister, they are coming."
In addition to the driver, there were four riders escorting the carriage. The leader rode to the front, looked at the arrogant burly young man, and asked, "Who are you?"
"Leave the man in green behind." The burly young man stretched out his bamboo sword and pointed it at the carriage.
The leader sneered and said, "You dare to stop the cars of the four big families?"
"The four great families are very impressive. Just now you asked me who I am, so I will tell you." The burly young man said proudly, "I am the leader of the Extreme Evil Gang, Feng..."
A steamed bun flew out of the carriage and hit the burly young man on the head, interrupting the young man's fluent introduction.
"What leader of the Evil Gang? Say it again!" A woman's voice came from the carriage.
"Okay." The burly young man jumped up and swung the bamboo sword in his hand. The bamboo sword brought with it a strong wind, which swept down the rain curtain and hit the leading guard.
"This is the sword technique of Dafeng Style!" The leading guard swung his sword to block, but the iron sword that could cut through iron like mud was suppressed in just one move when it met the bamboo sword that fell from the sky.
The burly young man snorted coldly, suddenly retracted his bamboo sword and kicked the leading guard away. Then he rolled over and fell to the ground, splashing rain water all over the ground.
"Academy, Feng Zuojun." The burly young man curled his lips and smiled.