tick knife

The darker the sky, the brighter the candles.In the windless attic, the shapes of the fireworks that spread wantonly to the surroundings are constantly changing, almost imposing.

The man in black with the knife behind Tantai Ze's chair woke up like a dream, and finally swung the knife to chop at Qi Diaoming.In Qi Diaoming's eyes, his movements were as slow as an 80-year-old man.Hearing a deep shout, "Stop!" The man in black's knees suddenly softened, he knelt down, and the knife fell to the ground.

It was Yao Ye who kicked his knee from behind.But stop is not what he said.

The person who spoke was Tantai Ze.He said kindly again: "Can you untie me first?"

Qi Diaoming stood up and took a step back.Yao Ye picked up the knife that fell on the ground and cut the rope that bound his hands.Tan Taize withdrew his sore arm and rubbed the red marks on his wrist.Qi Diaoming said: "Untie them all."

Yao Ye quickly cut the rest of the ropes.Uncharacteristically, he said nothing, but walked away to the wall and carefully tied the defenseless enemy together.After tying them up, he didn't approach the two of them, but leaned against the wall with his arms folded.

Qi Diaoming looked down at Tantai Ze who was sitting on the chair. "Even if you become Lu Jisheng's staff, is this the only person you can use under your command?"

His tone was calm, without sarcasm.Tan Taize shook his head: "I'm not his staff, just a guest."

Qi Diaoming said: "I thought he would always treat his daughter's master differently."

Tan Taize sighed: "I have treated him differently, so he let me be his daughter's teacher."

He didn't turn his head to look at Yao Ye, his voice was low and soft. "Yao Yi told you?"

It took Yao Ye a moment to reply a little bluntly. "no."

He seemed unwilling to speak again, Qi Diaoming said: "She has the same medicinal herb smell as you."

Tan Taize laughed: "It's impossible. You're saying that we are both human."

Qi Diaoming said: "Ah Huang noticed it first. The first time Ah Huang saw you, he seemed to be very familiar with the smell on your body. Yao Yi fed him bones, so he immediately begged for you. I mentioned it by chance, and Xiao Yao just I vaguely thought that Yao Yi's sleeves also had the bitter taste of that medicinal herb."

Tan Taize said: "It was the sachet I gave her, with some insecticide in it. It's a pity, if I knew it earlier, I should have let that beast die earlier."

There was no trace of pity on his face.Yao Ye suddenly asked: "Is she still alive?"

Tan Taize: "I don't know about it. After coming back this time, she has been ignoring me."

Yao Ye: "Then what about my master, is my master still alive?!"

He had always turned his back on the customer, and always had a kind of indifference that had nothing to do with him. Only this sentence revealed a little trembling of unwillingness to despair.Tan Taize said indifferently: "Dead, I have been watching him die before burying him. Don't you believe it?"

Yao Ye roared, couldn't hold back any longer, rushed towards Tantai Ze, swung the steel knife in his hand, and was about to cut off his head.Qi Diaoming moved, and stood in front of Tantai Ze.Yao Ye said sharply: "Senior!"

Qi Diaoming said: "Wait a minute, I want to know the reason."

Yao Ye bit his lower lip until he bled, and finally returned to the original place.Tantai Ze looked at the two of them with relish, and could not help but sneer. "I killed the fifth, and you killed me, it's just one and a hundred. One or two of you all want to ask me why, don't tell me that if I tell the reason, he won't count on me killing him, and you don't plan to avenge the fifth Yet?"

Yao Ye stared at him bitterly. "No matter what the reason is, you don't want to leave this place today!"

Qi Diaoming seemed to have never heard of it, and just turned around. "Tantai, tell me what I did wrong."

Tan Taize laughed and said: "No, not at all. You are all heroes with a profound sense of justice, and your actions are role models for the world. There will be mistakes where you make mistakes. Even the apprentices you teach are all like gourd paintings. There are dragons and phoenixes among the scoopers. It is because I can't tolerate such a perfect person in my eyes that I want to kill him quickly. Are you satisfied with this explanation?"

Qi Diaoming didn't even move his eyebrows. "You're venting your anger."

Tan Taize sighed wearily. "Qi Diao, don't ask any more questions. This matter has nothing to do with you. I killed him, and I want to kill you—that's enough for you to know."

Qi Diaoming said: "You don't want to kill me. If you really want to kill me, why use this bitter trick?"

Yao Ye interrupted him anxiously. "Senior, he not only wants to kill you, but also wants to kill me."

Qi Diaoming still shook his head. "If he really wants to kill you, you can't stand here."

Tan Taize smiled bitterly: "Qi Diao, your biggest mistake is that you don't understand anything, and your biggest advantage is that you don't understand anything—why do you even pretend to understand everything?"

Qi Diaoming said: "I am not only your patient, but also your friend."

Tan Taize looked at him in surprise, as if he had said something ridiculous.He laughed so hard that the smell of dust filled his mouth and nose.He wiped the corner of his mouth with his sleeve. "Qi Diao, I just want to ask you one question, if one day you were in the current situation and could only choose one of the two, who would you choose?"

Qi Diaoming asked back: "If I choose Yao Ye, will you kill me too?

Yao Ye raised his eyes suspiciously when he heard his name. He thought that he was just a pawn being used to murder the fifth person (it turns out that he only has such value at most), and he couldn't figure out how he was related to this matter.Tan Taize knew that it was impossible for him to get a conclusive answer; he thought with luck that Qi Diaoming might have given him the answer when he walked in, and he couldn't believe it no matter what.He suddenly realized that Qi Diaoming might have understood everything. After all, the fifth person was only willing to confide in him. The reason why he didn't tell the truth was to leave him with the last affection in front of the younger generation. The image in Yao Ye's mind obviously has no room for redemption).But maybe Qi Diaoming is just intuition, and the fifth person doesn't like to show off his achievements, let alone show off his sins.Then Qi Diaoming is also hateful, an accomplice, or rather the source of all this, enjoying the goodwill of frankness and non-confession, dull as a deep pool of water, which cannot be filled no matter how many stones are thrown into it flat.

He put down the hand covering his mouth, and looked down at the open palm, there was a pool of dark marks inside.Qi Diao Ming said: "Tantai, you won't survive this winter."

His tone was calm, just stating the facts.Tan Taize smiled and said: "So you plan to be kind and give me a few more months?"

Qi Diaoming bent down and met his gaze, while Tantai Ze turned his eyes away and stared at his dangling empty sleeve. "The day before yesterday, you talked to me about death. Everyone is afraid of death, and I am also afraid of death, but I think you are just afraid that there will be no one to accompany you on this road. After a hundred years, you and I will both be loess, but first come, first come , there are people who can wait. Those who arrive late will be greeted, you don’t have to be attached to this day and night.”

Tan Taize didn't speak for a while.With his left hand, he slowly groped for the mechanism of the bleeding needle in his clothes, found it, and then slowly let go. "Qi Diao, are you pitying me?"

Qi Diaoming said: "You are my savior, I will never turn sword against you."

He left Tantai Ze's side, walked to the wall, and patted Yao Ye's shoulder. "I'll wait for you outside."

Yao Ye smiled bitterly: "You can't do it, so you want me to do it for you?"

Qi Diao said: "He is the enemy who killed your master, you already have the right to do it."

He really left, and the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs was heard in an instant, leaving Yao Ye and Tantai Ze indoors.Yao Ye gritted his teeth, raised his knife and walked in front of Tantai Ze.He was still wary of Tantaize's sharp blades and hidden weapons. He knew that Tantaize, who had no martial arts skills, was safe from swords and swords, but Tantaize was obviously tired of these delicate tricks, and his two pale hands moved peacefully. Put it on your lap.Yao Ye gritted his teeth, and finally asked: "Senior, why did you kill my master?"

Tan Taize smiled and said: "Because he owes me a heart."

Yao Ye thought there was something wrong with his ears. "What?"

Tan Taize said: "If you can't give me back my heart for him, then kill me. You really are not what you used to be, Xiao Yao."

Yao Ye raised his knife.This knife is extremely ordinary, yet extremely strange, the handle of the knife is permeated with other people's sweat.Tan Taize closed his eyes, not caring to pay attention to his expression.Yao Ye carefully stroked the blade on his neck, then drew it back, pointing the tip of the knife at his chest, like facing a dying fish on the chopping board.The buzzing sound in his head became more and more intense, and he had to block one ear with his fist, and the tiny blood vessels in it seemed to be bursting one after another; the mint-flavored candy that Tantai Ze brought him when he was young, with candied fruit Compared with everything the fifth person gave him, these are extremely meager and hypocritical, and they suddenly crossed his mind, just cowardly excuses, like piercing in his eyes. The sand in the sand cannot be closed safely.

With a clang, the knife fell to the ground.Yao Ye rushed out of the attic as if fleeing, chasing after the figure carved in lacquer.When he frantically ran down the stairs, he heard Tantai Ze's mournful laugh from the pavilion:

"Don't you see that carrying snow and stuffing the well is empty, and cooking sand and cooking is unbearable. A lifetime of courage and courage is spent on others, it is better not to know each other than to know each other!"

He ran a long way before stopping, panting on his knees.Looking around, Shuozhou City was the same as usual, but it was getting warmer, and there was a slight smell of gunpowder in the air.This is the place where he was born. He circled the city, intending to search for the entrance, but he could only scratch the surface.There is not enough time to give him to try all the options.

He walked forward aimlessly with his head depressed, and almost bumped his head against Qi Diaoming's back.Qi Diaoming turned around, holding a pair of swords in his arms.

It was Yao Ye's sword, which was lost when he was caught, and Qi Diaoming found it from which corner of the wine shop.

"Put it away," he said.

Yao Ye took the sword, looked at the sword and shook his head. "Senior doesn't have any knives anymore, keep them. My knives don't work well, so giving them to me is just a waste of money."

Qi Diaoming ignored him. "There is no reason to take back what was given to you."

"Being respectful is worse than obeying orders." Yao Ye took the knife. "Has the senior thought of the name?"

Qi Diaoming was a little embarrassed. "I thought of it. You are not allowed to go back on your word."

"I don't go back on my word, how could I go back on it." Yao Ye said quickly. "Please enlighten me, senior."

"insufficient."

"what?"

"Insufficient." Qi Diaoming said bravely, he was rarely so embarrassed. "The name of the knife is insufficient."

Yao Ye was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Senior, do you know what my sword is called? It's called Yu Yu. The sword Master gave me is named Yu Yu. You and Master are really a match made in heaven."

He took a step back, saluted solemnly, bowed his head and looked modest, like a beautiful bamboo. "So senior, let's say goodbye here. I've been bothering you for too long."

Qi Diaoming was not surprised by his sudden farewell, but just asked: "Aren't you going to see Lu Jisheng?"

Yao Ye smiled and said, "I won't go. My surname is not Lu. My father doesn't need me, just like he doesn't need my mother. I wish him all the best."

He looked down at the sword in his hand with awe and fascination in his eyes. "When I am truly worthy of this sword and can stand in front of you with dignity, I will definitely come to you."

Qi Diaoming said: "What if that day never comes?"

Yao Ye: "... Senior has no confidence in me?"

The lacquer carving remained motionless. "How do you call it worthy? Is it number one in the world? Is it surpassing your master? If you can't surpass it, will you never have the face to see me?"

Yao Ye moved his lips, as if he wanted to say something, but he might not be able to refute it, or he might be too lazy to refute it, so he just smiled self-deprecatingly in the end. "Senior, please don't make fun of me. Maybe I am impatient and frivolous, destined to achieve nothing in my life, but now I really have no need to stay by your side."

Because it hurts me to see you.When people see the mountains, they look up and stop, and when they see water and fire, they know how to avoid them. When they see the lacquer carvings, only the five insides are burnt. It is like a mirror that sees through the skin, reflecting his unspeakable delusions and sins.Before, when he was eager to try, he thought about it in advance, how could he not let himself fall into the situation of stalking; but he never thought that one day he was determined to leave, and Qi Diaoming was trying to persuade him to stay.

Yao Ye is already begging for mercy. "So senior, let me go."

He no longer looked at Qi Diaoming's face, but just lowered his head.The moon rose behind them, a full moon that was slowly beginning to thin again.Standing in the lacquered shadow, he was still safe.For a moment, it was inevitable that they did not dare to act rashly, as if as long as they stepped out of the range of the mask, maybe they would never have the chance to meet again in this life.But he thought again: so what?There are always many such things.

"Yes. Before that, I will go back to Jiangling with you to see the fifth."

Yao Ye suddenly raised his head.Qi Diaoming said in a low voice: "I will not break my promise to you. Although it is too late."