and Spring City.
Compared with the turbulent Jiugao Mountain, Jichuncheng has been relatively calm these days.
Ever since the mysterious man scared the innocent people in the teahouse, Jichun City's "fever for making swords" has suddenly cooled down. Although there are still many legends in the streets and alleys, ordinary people who are not involved in the martial arts have become a little timid about the sword-making competition. They no longer feel the honor and honor they had before. Even when their relatives and friends chat after dinner, they can only whisper in a low voice. Phrases like "there's a conspiracy behind it" and "everyone understands it".
This situation is certainly not what Bai Yushenghui wants to see, because it will greatly affect the market situation after opening a branch in the future. In the future, it will take a lot of effort to increase the popularity of the store again. But this is what the Chuncheng government and the local district inspection department want to see. Every local government hopes that there will be no trouble in their city, and the District Procuratorate is responsible for calming down the chaos. Although as Tang Zhao's half "parental family", he is ready to help suppress the situation when it is most chaotic, but if it is not needed Isn’t this kind of suppression that is “indistinguishable between public and private” good for everyone?
However, this peace only stays on the surface, and the situation underground has never been calm.
With the crypt as the platform and the ghost grinding mill as the center, people secretly observing and even coveting the sword-making conference are constantly watching, and the people coming and going are like a revolving lantern. It's just that these covetousness and confusion reached their peak in early July, but gradually declined in the first few days of the sword-making meeting, fading back and forth as if in tacit agreement with the enthusiasm on the ground.
The main reason is that martial arts people with connections, family background, and courage have already gone up the mountain in various ways. Whether they buy invitations, fight for favors, go directly to Zhuoyu Villa, or climb the snow-capped mountains to try their luck, they have already taken action. The rest are just onlookers with evil intentions but no courage.
Secondary reasons... of course there are secondary reasons, and there is an endless stream of warriors climbing the snow-capped mountains these days, but most of them never look back. This is not surprising. They go up the mountain for the sword-making conference, and of course the conference has not started yet. I can’t go down the mountain, so I might as well wait on the mountain. But there are also losers in twos and threes who come back from the mountain defeated. Most of these losers kept secret about their experiences on the mountain. Only a few of them occasionally confided some fragments to acquaintances. They all said that they encountered unimaginable disasters on the mountain and no longer dared to go up the mountain. Then most of them packed up and headed south that day. .
This vague and half-covered way of speaking, coupled with the silence of more people, created a creepy atmosphere. The mystery creates fear, and this fear begins to spread among those related to Spring City, and soon spreads like a plague to every corner of the underground. The remaining people were immersed in this atmosphere of fear. On the one hand, they were intimidated, and on the other hand, they were curious. They vacillated between avoiding right and wrong and staying to see what was right and wrong.
Therefore, word spread early that when the auction called "The Last Chance to Become a Swordsman" was held, although there were so many participants, all the remaining warriors would most likely go to watch the excitement, but they were determined to bid and compete. But there are not many people. Most of them just want to see a result - who is the person who makes the final deal? What will he gain?
Black Widow has been full of confidence in Zhuoyu Villa since she came down from the mountain. She has stabilized her mind and no longer cares about the monsters in Zichun City. She only plans to take the last train to Zhuoyu Villa - after all, she still has the invitation. . …
At this time, Li Laosan came to invite her to the auction. Black Widow was naturally not interested. After this incident, she basically knew all these people under the mountain - the so-called clowns were not worth mentioning. Let them toss around at the foot of the mountain, regardless of whether it is an auction or a gladiatorial meeting, or even a memorial service.
Little did Li Laosan know that Black Widow was no longer willing to be perfunctory. He was so greedy for her beauty that he couldn't help but pester her endlessly, and his words became more and more rude. Black Widow was impatient and turned her eyes with a fierce expression.
When Li Laosan saw this look, he was suddenly startled. He swallowed half of his words and didn't look back. Black Widow didn't care and went up the mountain on her own.
"Damn, what a dangerous woman."
Li Laosan hit a snag at the Black Widow and seemed to fly away. When he arrived at the unmanned prescription, he breathed a sigh of relief and was also covered in cold sweat. "The look in his eyes just now didn't look like a human being, but more like a poisonous insect that eats people. It's a shame that I still have to pay for it." If you don’t take action, why don’t you poison her to death?”
He cursed for a while and finally went to the auction alone. Just like most people, he had no intention of seriously competing for the so-called quota. He just felt that there was no way to climb the mountain after coming here. Why not catch up on the last excitement?
The auction was held in the crypt, occupying the largest cave in the crypt, which was as big as a small square. At this time, people are crowded and people are sitting next to each other, making it almost impossible to sit down.
Because it was held in a crypt and hosted by a gray force like Gui Tuima, the venue couldn't be very grand and there wouldn't be any fancy decorations. The door is open and there is no access control, let alone a welcoming lady. Those with invitations can enter, and those without invitations can enter. For a time, there is a mixture of people and people, and it is more chaotic than a vegetable market.
There was no feeling of time passing in the cave. I only knew that after a while, even Li Laosan thought it was too noisy and suddenly got a shock.
"when--"
There was a loud noise, but it was a rough woman on the stage who had been glaring down menacingly before ringing a bronze bell hanging in front of the stage.
Li Laosan was so shocked by the woman's eyes that he thought: What a rude woman, much worse than Mrs. Yin... Hey, in fact, they are both vicious women. I am also unlucky to meet him in one day. The last two. In comparison, Mrs. Yin at least has a soft smile. Where did she find this dominatrix?
At this moment, a scar-faced man came out of the audience.
As soon as the scar-faced man appeared, everyone was slightly silent. Almost everyone knows that this is the general manager of Guituimo in Jichun City, who is responsible for sending and receiving tasks. Those in the crowd who were lucky enough to come down from the mountain most likely received the mountain climbing task from him. The scene was slightly uproar for a moment, obviously Some people still remember the terrifying experience on the snowy mountains, which almost left a psychological shadow. When they see this half of the "initiator", they will inevitably feel angry. If it weren't for Gui Tui Mo being such a bad brand, I'm afraid someone would come up and scold him to settle the score.
The scar-faced man came on stage and said with a smile in his trademark hoarse voice: "Everyone, everyone has come. The time has come. Those who didn't come will be considered absent."
"There is only one item in today's auction, so there is no process. If you come up and auction it, it will be over soon." The scar-faced man opened a box behind him, revealing a bright red invitation. "There are invitations to the Sword Making Conference, and there is also a direct bus. For distinguished guests who buy the invitations, we will send them up the mountain in a special car to ensure that they arrive before tomorrow's Sword Forging Conference, and there will be no delay. There are still six hours before tomorrow's conference. , more than enough time.”…
Six hours later, there were only the last six hours left before the sword-making conference.
He changed his tone, with a hint of playfulness in his hoarse tone, and said: "Are the rules simple and clear? However, this also creates a problem - the auction will end quickly. Except for the final winner, everyone will be white. Come here and don’t even have to watch the excitement? That’s not good. Let’s play a little game to warm up the atmosphere and add to the fun.”
Everyone couldn't help but be confused, but also a little interested. After all, although there was a lot of news in Jichun City these days, it would actually be a bit boring if they stayed in the city all the time. As for games, everyone thinks of guessing games, throwing pots, drinking orders, etc. Some people who have seen Bai Yushenghui's methods even think: Is it a lottery?
The scarred man waved the rude woman forward, spread a piece of white paper on the wall, and then wrote a few large characters on it.
"Sword Forging Conference."
"How about we play an association game? The theme is a sword-making convention. For example, when you see a sword-making convention, you will think of swords." He wrote the word sword on the paper, "and I will think of Zhuoyu Villa." Then he wrote the words "Zhuoyu Villa".
"I will think of the sword furnace, Jiugao Mountain, and the success of making swords... Hmm..." he said while writing these words on the paper. "What other words can you think of? Tell me and I will write it. Let's see who comes up with it. Lots of words.”
The scene fell silent.
No one answered, everyone stared at him, and two words flashed through their minds at the same time: "Silly——"
What kind of bullshit game is this?
Do you think we are three-year-olds playing house with you?
Seeing that two hot-tempered people were about to stand up in the crowd and scold him, the scar-faced man immediately said: "It's not in vain. Whoever makes the most connections will get a piece of top-notch information for free from us. "
The scene fell silent again. Some people breathed heavily due to greed.
Finally, someone said loudly: "I think of mountain climbing."
The scar-faced man smiled and said: "Okay, this is good." He immediately wrote down mountain climbing.
With the arrival of the first brave man, everyone saved their dignity and immediately called out an "invitation" from the left and a "swordsmith" from the right. Various answers came one after another, and the lively atmosphere was restored.
"The time has come."
In the guest house, someone took out a small piece of tortoise shell.
Special lines appeared on the tortoise shell, which was a signal to gather.
It was the third watch at this time. There was no moon tonight, dark clouds were pressing overhead, and the water was pitch black through the window. It was a good time to do something.
The tortoise-shelled guest carefully packed his luggage, wearing only close-fitting black clothes, and dug out of the guest house.
There are many people like him.
Normally, there would be an expert in charge of the guest house who seemed not to be trifled with, and they would be somewhat hesitant to act openly. However, the old man was not in the hall today for some reason, and the ordinary disciples left behind had no way of discovering the master lurking in.
More than a dozen men, women, and children came to a lake they had already spotted, like ghosts, and turned sideways into the reed marsh, immediately becoming one with the reeds. Covered by clumps of reeds and it was such a dark night, it was really hard to see the gods.
There was a small boat hidden in the reed marsh. There was a young man standing on the bow of the boat, wearing a cloak. He was the leader of this trip and the first guard of the Zhu Kingdom.
"Sit down, please, and wait for everyone to gather before we set off. Tonight, Zhuoyu Villa will be transformed."
