Ninety thousand miles of wind

"On the coast of the East China Sea, there is a thousand-year-old tortoise. They said that this tortoise was born with an abnormal appearance—" Seeing Wang Jiexi raise his eyebrows, Ye Xiu coughed, "—Leave it alone. At that time, in the Taihang, there was a The mountain will fall, and the ground will crack when the mountain tilts, and the people will not be saved when the ground cracks. Therefore, this tortoise is enslaved in the cracks below the mountain, saving the lives of people in a mountain and a county, and has done great merit. Although it will never be traced The tortoise is willing to be free and unrestrained. However, I don’t know if the tortoise has ever thought about it. Although the tortoise has a life span, it still has its end—how long can it last with its own strength?”

Wang Jiexi said, "Is this the story? If so, I have a story that can't be considered real to tell you."

"Please."

"Above China, I occasionally see a phoenix, an auspicious bird. This bird has colorful backs, eats naturally, rests on phoenix trees, has a clear pronunciation, sings and dances by itself. When ordinary people see this bird, they often serve it with clean water and pure food. It protects auspiciousness. However, the phoenix has eyes but no pearls, and it landed in a place where there is not even a half sycamore tree. Over time, the color of its coat becomes dim, and its voice is dull. When people see it, they think it is a rooster, so they want to catch it in a chicken coop. " Wang Jiexi raised the corners of his mouth, but his eyes were fixed on Ye Xiu, "As the saying goes: when a dragon swims in shallow water and is attacked by shrimps, a fallen phoenix is ​​not as good as a chicken. —— Don't you think it's a pity?"

Ye Xiu laughed, not feeling annoyed: "It's a pity, it's too early to say. As a phoenix, there will always be a time to soar to the nine heavens."

"The tortoise lives long, and has children and grandchildren." Wang Jiexi replied.

Ye Xiu clapped his hands and praised: "Well said. I still have one thing that I don't understand, and I need you to help me figure it out. If there is a blind man riding a blind horse in a deep pool in the middle of the night, if you call him, just call him. Frightened the horse, and fell down together; if you don't call, he will always go down by himself. ——If Wang Dayan sees you, will you call or not?"

Wang Jiexi's eyes froze, his face was a bit solemn, but he still replied softly: "Why don't you step forward and take the reins...?"

Ye Xiu gave him a meaningful look, and answered after a while, "That's right. I thought so too." As he said that, he cupped his hands and saluted, "I've been taught."

Wang Jiexi replied, "You're welcome. I should thank you only if the underachievers of Chinese grass can go through your guidance."

"Xiao Tang's side is also mutual. ——However, seeing that you have caused a lot of trouble for my proprietress today, what's the matter, how about patronizing for a night?"

Wang Jiexi nodded in agreement, and Ye Xiu also stepped down, saying to Chen Guo, "Miss Boss, how about this big business?"

But Chen Guo stared at him blankly, without saying a word.Ye Xiu turned his head and asked Tang Rou: "...What's going on?"

"Guoguo is frightened by you." Tang Rou rolled her eyes at him, "Don't talk to her yet, I'll take her back, and when she wakes up, I won't blame you if I don't give you a good cut."

"It's my fault again, it's really..." Ye Xiu muttered a few words, then turned back to greet everyone in the Chinese Herb Hall.

It wasn't until Zhongcaotang and his party returned to the inn to settle down that Wang Jiexi called Gao Yingjie into his room: "-I talked to Ye Xiu before, what did you understand?"

Gao Yingjie raised his eyes to peek at the teacher's expression, but he still mumbled, "...Senior Ye Xiu, you seem to be disrespectful to the teacher."

"I have been friends with him for many years, this kind of ridicule is nothing more than a low-grade joke." Wang Jiexi shook his head, "The most important thing is the last story."

"Finally...?" Gao Yingjie realized, "You mean the story of the blind man...? But, is there anyone in danger?"

Wang Jiexi tapped his finger on the table lightly: "Who is it?—He, Ye Xiu, is a battle god, with all four limbs and undiminished skills, but who else can't he protect?"

"But Senior Ye Xiu's Myriad Manifestation Umbrella is powerful, but it's still unfinished. If Tyranny Han Wenqing, Samsara Zhou Zekai, Lan Yu Huang Shaotian, or you, teacher, attack with all their strength, Senior Ye Xiu must not be able to resist... Right?" At the end of Gao Yingjie's words, he became unsure.

"Even so, the others like me have no reason to fight with him. He, Ye Xiu, is well-known as a fighting god, but he was generous and righteous back then, and the money he got was often given away like water. The world thinks of his benefits Old friends are everywhere. Even if Excellent Era doesn't deal with him, in the current situation, I dare not do it; we have been friends with him for a long time, so we can just exchange ideas, how can we get to the point of fighting to the death?" Wang Jiexi mused. After a while, he finally shook his head, "I don't think Ye Xiu is talking about a person."

"The so-called 'blind person' is..."

Wang Jiexi got up, walked around the room, and whispered, "It's been ten years since the turmoil. The officials in the court are old, so it's probably not far away from Bintian; The Jimin' gold medal exists, but the official family is holding a rope tied to the sect of the rivers and lakes. If there is chaos in the court, I don't know what kind of troubles will happen... Some people in Kunlun defected and fled; There was an uproar; Excellent Era resigned from Ye Xiu and hired Lei Ting Xiao Shiqin as his guest; I'm afraid, everyone is blinded by the current interests, and they can't even see the crisis one step away."

The more Gao Yingjie listened, the more frightened he became, he quickly asked, "Teacher, do you know that the crisis—"

Wang Jiexi stood there, remained silent for a while, and said, "I just hope I made a mistake. Yingjie, after you go back, go and ask Tian Nanxing carefully to see if anything has happened to the outer gate recently."

Gao Yingjie immediately cupped his hands: "Yes!" Seeing Wang Jiexi waving his hand again, he backed out.Hearing these words, the more he thought about it, the more worried he became, and hurried back to his room, wanting to talk to Qiao Yifan.But when he opened the door, he saw that the room was empty, only Qiao Yifan's packages were neatly piled up on his couch.

"...Where did this go?" Gao Yingjie sat down talking to himself, and the teacher's words echoed in his ears, and for the first time in his life, he felt a kind of irresistible bewilderment.

In the wing room Chen Guo allocated to him, Ye Xiu turned on the light, and looked at the curved Tang knife under the light.He had wiped it well, and the snow-white blade flashed a faint blue light under the lamp.However, if you just look at it, you will feel that there seems to be a layer of bloody red floating on the knife.He stretched out his hand to caress the blade, and smiled: "The Blood Shadow Knife really deserves its reputation. It's just—" The blade jerked violently, cutting a few inches on Ye Xiu's fingertips, "It's really too hostile. No wonder you still have to find that Bodhidharma reed to turn blood... Tsk, this is really a problem for brother, isn't it?"

He said to himself, and wrapped the long knife in heavy silk again.When he was about to stick the talisman on the package, a sound of footsteps gradually approached from far to near, until he stopped in front of the door, and after a pause, he heard a low voice: "Junior Qiao Yifan, please ask senior."

Ye Xiu stood the wrapped Tang saber in the corner and said, "Please come in."

The door opened with a creak, and a young man came in. He was neither tall nor short. He was neatly dressed in bunts, but he had a baby face, and the corners of his eyes and brows were indistinguishable. Qiao Yifan of Gray Moon.Ye Xiu sized him up, with a pipe in his hand: "Come to visit in the middle of the night, what's the matter?"

Qiao Yifan nodded vigorously, but hesitated for a moment before saying: "This junior wants to ask for advice, what senior said to me on stage today. If this junior really has the aptitude to practice ghost swords, this junior wants to try it."

Ye Xiu waved his hand: "Don't be a junior, it sounds tiring. You are currently practicing assassin all the way, but have you encountered obstacles?"

"Being stuck in a bottleneck, I can't make any progress." Qiao Yifan blushed, but still told the truth.

Ye Xiu nodded: "Assassin ninjas focus on making decisions before moving, and one strike will kill you. Although you need to evaluate the overall situation... But judging by your character, you are less brave and decisive." Qiao Yifan just bowed his head in shame, but Ye Xiu continued Said, "However, when you besieged me that day, you reminded me twice and shot once. The timing was good, but unfortunately, the attack was too weak. Every inch is short and every inch is dangerous, but you always give way to people, no wonder you Together with the assassins, it's hard to get an inch."

Qiao Yifan knew that Ye Xiu's every word was on the point, so he didn't care about the shame, and hurriedly said: "Please teach me, senior!" As he spoke, he bowed to the ground.

Ye Xiu asked him to get up, but only breathed out the smoke. After a long time, he said, "Rebuilding the ghost sword is to break your current foundation and start over. Do you have the determination?"

"I have—" Qiao Yifan just said a few words, but Ye Xiu snatched him back: "Can Zhongcao allow you to do this by yourself?"

Qiao Yifan froze, his face was covered with a layer of black mist.

"What Zhongcao lacks is not Qiao Yifan, but the assassin Huiyue." Ye Xiu sighed, "What's more, when it comes to Ghost Sword, Zhongcao already has Zhou Yebai. I suggest it to you, although it is not impossible; The Chinese herbal medicine has no advantage. Why don't you be cruel and continue to practice assassins..."

Qiao Yifan stood on the same spot, remained silent for a long time, and finally said: "——If I leave Zhongcao, senior, would you like to give me advice?"

"I don't specialize in ghost swords. Are you afraid of running into the hands of a mediocre master?" Ye Xiu asked.

Qiao Yifan naturally knew that this was a major choice in his life, and it was impossible to make a decision in just a few words.He lowered his head, clenched his hands tightly into fists, and finally said after a while: "...What if I decide to follow Senior?"

Ye Xiu looked at him again and again, and said, "If you come, I will always wait here at Xingxin."

Without saying anything, Qiao Yifan gave a deep bow, then turned and left.Pushing open the door, only to see the proprietress in a jacket standing at the door.He was startled, and hurriedly nodded, not daring to look back.

Ye Xiu saw it with his head, and complained endlessly: "Ma'am, is there something urgent that you can't talk about tomorrow? If it hurts your boudoir reputation, how can I bear it?"

Chen Guo frowned, her expression meant "Who dares to gossip in front of me?" Ye Xiusheng had the illusion that the proprietress and Tyranny Han Wenqing were distant relatives, so he didn't dare to refute, and politely dismissed Chen Guo Invited to come in, leaving the door open to avoid suspicion.As soon as Chen Guo entered the room, she said, "I can't figure this out, so I can't fall asleep even though I'm drugged. Your real name is Ye Xiu?"

"good."

"The battle god One Autumn Leaf is you?"

"Exactly."

"Then your name is Ye Xiu? Everyone in the world knows that the single name of the God of War is Qiu."

"The name Ye Qiu, I only use it now because I made a promise with someone back then. Now I can't care less about hiding from Excellent Era, so I take my real name back and use it."

"Then you have kept it from me and Tang Rou until now..." Chen Guo spoke aggressively halfway, when she remembered the first time she met that day, the man had already given his surname as "One Autumn Leaf".Then look at Ye Xiu spreading his hands, looking extremely innocent, but he extinguished the little flame of guilt that had just sprung up in Chen Guo's heart.So she cleared her throat and asked, "Most of the things between you and Excellent Era were caused by Excellent Era framing you?"

"Tell me I'm too old and too old for the job--what do you think?"

"I'm not blind. Can't I see that you fought today?" Chen Guo snorted, "You said you betrayed Excellent Era, so what's going on?"

Ye Xiu couldn't help showing a bit of bitterness on his expression: "Before I left Excellent Era, I made three agreements with sect master Tao Xuan: first, I will never say that I am a member of Excellent Era's sect in this life; Three, within a year, you are not allowed to join another sect.... Now the rumors are getting more and more serious, and the words are getting worse."

Chen Guo was startled when she heard this, and knew that no matter which one of them, it was a soft knife that pierced people's hearts, not to mention that Excellent Era had withheld the weapon that a warrior relied on for a living... Just put herself in her shoes, she They all felt that their hearts were twisted, and they just said in a daze: "——Why is this so?"

The lights on the table shook a few times, shaking Ye Xiu's face into a blur.He was silent for a moment, then said, "I don't know either."

"Then," Chen Guo swallowed, "what do you do now?"

Ye Xiu pointed to the Myriad Chance Umbrella hanging above the bed: "Fix the umbrella first, then talk about other things."

Chen Guo looked at the Thousand Manifestation Umbrella, "It's true that Lord Grim, who is rumored to be getting more and more popular in the world, came from you?"

"I have to make a living in the rivers and lakes. I haven't thought about washing my hands and returning to the fields..." Ye Xiu said, laughing. go?"

Chen Guo only felt her heart pounding, and after thinking about it for most of the night, the proposal came to her lips: "Do you want to—" Start the stove again in Jiangzhou?But as soon as he uttered the first four words, another person inserted it: "Miss Boss, Boss! I saw a ghost today!"

Chen Guo turned around angrily, and she saw Bao Rongxing leaning half of her body. Although she said there was a ghost, her face was full of joy, as if she wished to bring the ghost back to the two bricks.

Chen Guo looked at him with a full beard and tail, and found that he was fine, so she let go of half of her mind first: "Ghost? This blue sky and white sun...cough, where did the ghost come from when the moon is bright and the stars are thin? Did it smash the utensils on the cabinet? Or the wine jar? beated?"

Baozi excitedly said: "I went hunting in the woods today, and in the end, hey! A ghost in black came out and wanted to snatch the rabbit I caught. How can I do that? I gave him a brick right away, but he unexpectedly It turned into a wisp of smoke, brushed away, and when I turned around, hey, it was him again, so I gave him another brick—”

"That's right, keep it simple—" Chen Guo suddenly felt a sense of foreboding coming up, "Don't you say you brought this ghost back?"

"Then I can bring it back. I split a brick on the left and a brick on the right. Finally, I split the ghost, but I don't know what happened. I just heard the ghost fall into the bushes, but when I went to see it , it’s gone. I searched and searched in the woods, and came back when I couldn’t find it. Hey, Boss, can you invite these Taoist priests to drive out ghosts in the woods?”

Ye Xiu coughed, "I don't think this person is a ghost."

"But I'll turn into smoke as soon as I hit it!" Baozi said with gestures, wishing he could take out another brick to show off.Ye Xiu said with a smile: "There is a kind of person who has been subjected to the secret method of Yingzhou, who can separate himself, earth escape, and shadow escape. He can come and go without a trace. He is called a ninja in the world. Baozi, you met a ninja today. But you can beat a brick Hitting a ninja, it can be seen that I haven't been lazy recently, not bad."

"Oh!" Baozi was happy, but remembering that he couldn't bring the ghost back, he still couldn't forget, "But he still ran away."

"Then how can you catch it easily? To say ninja..."

Chen Guo was relieved at the mention of it. Hearing that Ye Xiu and Baozi were about to start an in-depth discussion on ninjas, she simply let them chat and left the house.At this time, the end of winter was about to pass, and the cold air was blowing up all the way along the calf, Chen Guo couldn't help tightening her jacket, and looked up to see a full moon in the sky covering behind the fish-like clouds, and fainted a light blue moon halo.

"...It will be sunny tomorrow."

She whispered, she had already made up her mind, looked at the moon for a moment, then turned back and walked into her room.

——Later generations talked about the whole story of the turmoil in the world, but they never imagined that the famous Xingxin Villa was born in such a night by the thought of an unknown woman.