Zhu Yu walked along the official road for more than ten miles and came to a small town. The town was not big, but because it was close to the official road, there were many restaurants and shops.
Zhu Yu entered a small hotel, ordered a meal, wolfed it down, bought more than ten cold steamed buns, stuffed the steamed buns into a cloth bag, paid for the meal, and as soon as he got up and left, he heard the noise outside the store. About ten people came in, all of them rich and powerful, and they immediately asked the store to serve wine and meat.
Zhu Yu grew up in a monastery and was very sophisticated about people. Naturally, he was curious about everything he encountered, so he sat back on the stool, picked up the half-drunk tea, and used it as a cover to taste the tea, wanting to see what these people were like. .
"Dear bodyguards, I thought you would be able to get here today, so I would have prepared good beef and pure red wine for you." The short and fat shopkeeper said, while holding a large jar of wine from behind the counter, "Dong "Put it on a table in the middle of the store.
"Brothers, this place has passed the boundary of Dongshan where thieves are infested. There will be no danger. Let's rest here today. Wang San and Li Si are keeping an eye on the escorts, and the others can have a good drink." The person who spoke was Liu. A man in his teens, not tall, with a dark face, was obviously the leader of the group.
Everyone became excited when they heard that they could drink. They sat at three tables. Before the beef and other meals were served, a few people asked for bowls from the store, filled up the wine, shouted five and six and started to punch and drink.
Zhu Yu grew up in a temple and liked peace and quiet. Suddenly, the store became noisy. At the wheel hub, there is a small flag stuck diagonally. The three characters "Youzhou-Luo" are written on the small flag. Beside the carriage and horse, there are two men, one tall and one short, standing with steel swords on their backs.
Zhu Yu looked at the two people and saw that they were also looking at him sideways, so he turned his head to the side and walked towards the main road along the courtyard exit.
Zhu Yu walked south along the official road for seven or eight miles. Just when he was about to turn a corner, fourteen or five people suddenly turned out from the corner, riding horses, carrying swords on their backs, and wearing conspicuous yellow clothes. Zhu Yu flew past him, but no one glanced at him.
Zhu Yu walked another three or four miles, and it was getting dark. He saw that the road ahead was a forest. He was worried about encountering wild animals, so he found a big tree on the roadside, climbed up the tree like a monkey, and found a place with thick leaves. And where three or four branches branched out, I broke off a few thick branches and built a place for myself to sleep on, where I lay down comfortably.
After a long time, Zhu Yu was worried about encountering officers and soldiers, never stayed in a hotel, and was afraid of encountering wild animals, so he slept in a tree every night. He was not used to it for a day or two at first, but gradually he got used to it in the next few days. After lying down for a while, he fell asleep.
Early the next morning, Zhu Yu was awakened by the chirping of birds. He opened his eyes and found that it was still dark, so he squinted his eyes again and prepared to rest for a while. In his daze, Zhu Yu heard "clanging" in the distance. The sound of "clang" came closer and closer. He quickly opened his eyes and looked through the gaps between the leaves in the morning light. He saw a team of mules and horses walking under the tree from far to near. Zhu Yu could clearly see that this team They were the same group of bodyguards that I met in the tavern last night.
Zhu Yu heard Master Kong Shi say that because of the chaos in the world, thieves are everywhere, wealthy families transfer money, and officials retire and return home, they will ask the escort agency to suppress the escort to prevent the bandits from killing people and stealing goods. I don't know what valuable things these people are protecting.
It was estimated that the group of escorts had walked more than two miles. Zhu Yu was about to get down from the tree and rush on his way, when he heard the sound of rapid horse hooves along the road he came from yesterday, "Go, go, go". Zhu Yu pushed aside the leaves. Looking down, I saw more than a dozen people in yellow clothes on horseback passing under the trees. They were clearly the same group of people I saw yesterday. I don't know why they came and went.
Hearing the sound of horse hooves fading away, it was already dawn. Zhu Yufang climbed down from the tree lightly, straightened his clothes, and continued on his way south.
Zhu Yu was walking south for about three miles when he suddenly saw three or two horses rushing towards him. He hurriedly got out of the way. The horses were obviously frightened, and two of them were injured and covered with blood. Only in front of Zhu Yu After a pause, he ran north along the road.
Seeing the injured horse, Zhu Yu couldn't help but feel nervous. Thinking of the escort and the man in yellow who passed by one after another, he had an ominous premonition. Could it be that the man in yellow robbed the escort carriage? Thinking like this, Zhu Yu couldn't help but speed up her pace.
About a quarter of an hour later, Zhu Yu came to an open place in the forest and saw more than ten people and four or five horses lying on the ground. They were the same group of bodyguards he saw yesterday. Zhu Yu lowered his body and inspected them one by one. Seeing these In addition to the wounds from swords and swords, each person had a dark palm print on their chest or back, which showed that they had obviously been killed with a single palm.
When Zhu Yu checked the sixth person, he found that it was a thin old man with a black face. He recognized that it was the person who gave orders in the tavern yesterday. The old man was breathing hard, moving his mouth and speaking vaguely. Zhu Yu hurriedly Putting his ear to the old man's mouth, he heard the old man say: "Wang, Mr. Wang's...! You are looking for Tian, the Tianlong Sect, he, they are Duan, Duantengxia, Shao Shao Bai..."
As the old man spoke, his voice became quieter and quieter, and the words behind him could no longer be heard clearly. Zhu Yu hurriedly tapped the three major acupoints of the old man to seal the blood vessels. Unfortunately, the old man was injured too seriously. He tilted his head and died.
Putting the old man down, Zhu Yu checked on the remaining people and found that all of them had been dead for a long time.
Zhu Yu did not expect that the world would be so dangerous. He had encountered such a tragedy just a few days after leaving the Shaolin Temple. He did not dare to think about how many bloody storms he would encounter in the future...
Zhu Yu stood up slowly, thinking about the old man's words. He didn't know what the old man meant by Mr. Wang, but he could understand it if he asked him to find the Tianlong Sect. As for Mr. Bai of Duantengxia, it might be the station and location of the escort guards. Name.
You cannot stay here for a long time. People who die will definitely be dealt with by the government. If you are discovered by the government, you may cause big trouble. So Zhu Yu decided to leave here immediately, go to the Tianlong Sect, and tell Lan what the old man said. Ling'er's father Lan Yiming, everything became clear.
Having made up his mind, Zhu Yu clasped his hands to the corpse lying on the ground, bowed three times, turned around, and hurried south along the road.
Although Zhu Yu was less than fifteen years old, he had been practicing martial arts in Shaolin for seven years. His physical fitness was not comparable to that of ordinary adults, so he did not feel tired along the way. He walked along the official road for more than twenty days and asked questions on the roadside. The villagers said that Tianlong Mountain was still seven or eight days away, and they felt a little discouraged. Some villagers persuaded him: "Tianlong Mountain is a gathering place for bandits. The government often sends troops to encircle and suppress people. It is helpless to force everyone to have a large number of people and a few bandits." The leader is very good at martial arts, so he has not been able to exterminate him. If you go there as a child, you might be kidnapped by a strong man and taken to the mountain to become a bandit." When Zhu Yu heard this, he just smiled and did not argue with the villagers. He knew that, To tell the villagers clearly what happened between Tianlong Mountain and the government would require a lot of talking, and it would also be easy to expose one's whereabouts.
Zhu Yu inquired about the direction of Tianlong Mountain while walking. After walking for another five or six days, he estimated that it was not far from Tianlong Mountain. He remembered that before leaving Shaolin, Master Kongwu warned that there might be obstacles set up by officers and soldiers near Tianlong Mountain. After checking, he told me not to follow the main road, so he left the main road and went into the nearby mountains and forests, looking for the paths trodden by cattle and sheep.
Zhu Yu walked along the path in the mountains and forests for two days and two nights, thinking that Tianlong Mountain should be nearby, but he couldn't see a village or a person. He couldn't help but feel strange that he was lost. He found a piece of flat ground, sat down to rest, looked up at the sun to determine the direction, but heard the sound of swords not far away.
Zhu Yu was startled and hurriedly ran in the direction of the sound of swords. When he saw an empty space in the woods, three young men in white were fighting with seven or eight men in gray. The leading man in white, with empty hands, fought against two gray men. The man in white is able to attack and defend with ease, and his skill is obviously higher than that of the two men in gray. The other two men in white can also deal with five or six men in gray with ease.
"Zhu Fake, Zhu Sengke, you two should go down the mountain quickly and don't come to Tianlong Mountain to cause trouble again." The leading man in white clothes said loudly while fighting with the two men in gray clothes.
"Young Master Lan, we from Northern Shaolin are also going to participate in the martial arts conference. Why don't you welcome us like this?" said a man in gray.
After listening to the man in gray, Zhu Yu realized that the man in white was Lan Ling'er's brother Lan Tian. So, he should help him, so he jumped out of the woods and took care of a man in gray who was fighting with Lan Tian. Push out a palm.
The man in gray clothes was frightened when he saw Zhu Yu stabbing at him from an angle. He hurriedly stepped aside to let Zhu Yu's palm hit him, but Lan Tian pointed to his chest. As the man in gray clothes fell backward, he was pulled sideways by another man in gray clothes. He stopped and jumped back. As soon as he landed, the man in gray shouted: "Let's go." The other five people heard the call and jumped out of the battle circle one after another and retreated down the mountain.
"Are you Zhu Yu?" Lan Tian asked.
Only then did Zhu Yu take a closer look at Lan Tian. Seeing that he was tall, with big eyes and a straight nose, and very handsome, he felt a little fond of him at first.
"I am Zhu Yu, how did Brother Lan know?" Zhu Yu felt strange that Lan Tian guessed his name when he saw him for the first time.
"Shaolin Feige sent a message saying that you are coming, and Ling'er mentioned you many times, I guess it must be you." Lan Tian said.
Zhu Yu said: "I heard that Brother Lan also went to Shaolin to practice martial arts and practiced Prajna Palm with Master Kongwu. I wonder when he can teach me?"
"Compared with Kong Kong Tathagata's Powerful Vajra Palm, Master Kongwu's Prajna Palm technique is still slightly inferior. It's a pity that Master Kongwu's Shenlong has never seen its beginning and tail, and he didn't learn Powerful Vajra Palm." Lan Tian sighed.
"It just so happens that I have practiced the powerful Vajra Palm technique with Master Kongkong. Don't worry about this. I can take the time to teach you." Zhu Yu said.
"Great, I'll teach you Prajna Palm and you teach me Vajra Palm." Lan Tian said happily.
"By the way, this is Zhao Li. His father is Zhao Zhou, the third protector of Tianlong Sect. His mother is Yunshan, the fourth protector. He practices swordsmanship with my father and is excellent in martial arts. His name is Luo Lin. His father is Youzhou, North of Tianlong Mountain. Share the helm with Luo Mai." Lan Tian pointed at Zhao Li first, then at Luo Lin, and introduced them to Zhu Yu.
Zhao Li was sixteen or seventeen years old. Although he was not handsome, he had a broad face and a kind expression. The man named Luo Lin is about fifteen years old, short, short-haired, with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a straight nose. He looks much more handsome than Lan Tian and Zhao Zhou.
Zhu Yu stepped forward to meet Zhao Zhou and Luo Lin one by one. Lan Tian said: "Let's go back quickly. There will be a martial arts conference in Tianlong Mountain in the next few days to elect the martial arts leader. Evil heretics like Bei Shaolin want to disrupt the conference. It appears here frequently, so we'd better be careful." After saying that, Lan Tian took Zhu Yu, Zhao Zhou and Luo Lin and walked up the mountain road.
"Brother Lan, on the way to Tianlong Mountain, I encountered a group of bodyguards who were killed. One of the old men said a few words to me intermittently before he died. He mentioned something about Young Master Bai of Duantengxia, and... Speaking of Mr. Wang, let me go to Tianlong Mountain to report the news." Zhu Yu said as he walked.
"Oh! There is a group of bandits in Duanteng Gorge. They call themselves the Feilong Sect. The leader is Bai Shaofeng. The death of everyone in the pressure escort should be related to them. The old man called Mr. Wang should be someone from the imperial court, because only those who are officials are That's why I call you "Sir", but most of these escort agencies are run by my Tianlong sect. Maybe one of my own people will die. Go to the sect and tell my father, and he will send someone to find out the whole story." Lan Tian walked and turned around. Zhu Yu said.
After walking through an overgrown shrubbery, a river seven to eight feet wide lay in front of the four of them. In summer, the river is fast and flows down the mountain with waves. There is a tower over the river that is more than ten feet long and wide. The stone bridge is more than one foot long. The stone railings on both sides of the stone bridge and the stone slabs on the bridge deck are very smooth, indicating that the stone bridge is quite old.
After crossing the stone bridge, Lan Tian led the three of them through a dense forest. When they looked up, they saw an unusually majestic mountain lying in front of the four of them. The top of the mountain was shrouded in clouds and mist, and it was hard to tell how high it was.
Looking from a distance, on the mountainside, there are some scattered buildings, some yellow or red, hidden among the green trees and rocks.
"Zhu Yu, the mountain in front of us is Tianlong Mountain. It is thousands of feet high. On the top of the mountain covered by clouds and mist, there is snow all year round and it is extremely cold. Almost no one has been there. It is a good place to practice martial arts." The blue sky pointed at the clouds covering the fog. He looked very excited as he circled the top of the mountain.
"Brother Zhu Yu, Tianlong Mountain is huge. What you see here is only its front. In fact, this mountain is dozens of miles wide from north to south and hundreds of miles long from east to west. It is the most dangerous place in the Central Plains." Zhao Li said to Tianlong Mountain. Zhu Yu was shocked by the description. No wonder Tianlong Mountain made the court helpless. In addition to the strong martial arts, large number of disciples of Tianlong Sect, and their entangled forces in the Central Plains, it was also because they occupied such a dangerous and good place to maneuver.
At the foot of the mountain, there is a huge stone gate standing abruptly. The gate pillars are more than three feet high, each made of a whole piece of flower steel rock. Two red birds are carved on the top of the gate on the left and right, and the four vigorous characters of Tianlong Blessed Land are carved on the lintel. .
"This gate is really grand, but since this mountain is called Tianlong Mountain, why not carve two dragons on it?" Zhu Yu asked.
Lan Tian smiled and said: "The dragon symbolizes imperial power. If you carve a dragon, it will be destroyed by officers and soldiers sooner or later. When the predecessors built this mountain gate, they had a plan. Therefore, after thousands of years, this stone gate can be well preserved."
After crossing the stone gate, the four of them started to climb up the mountain along the stone steps paved with stone slabs. Zhu Yu curiously asked this and that.
It turns out that Tianlong Mountain was spotted by Zhang Daoling, the founder of Taoism, as early as a thousand years ago, and he founded a sect here to spread Taoism. At that time, the founder of Tianlong Mountain ordered people to build this stone gate at the foot of the mountain. Later, the Yellow Turban Army uprising, even more Taking Tianlong Mountain as their base, after the failure of the uprising, tens of thousands of Yellow Turban Army soldiers hid in this mountain and dispersed after decades of spreading. After that, thieves or Buddhists occasionally came to this mountain. Evading pursuit or cultivating in the world, the mountain was far away and life was inconvenient, so it didn't last long. It wasn't until Lan Xiong and Li Qi, Lan Tian's grandparents, established a sect here that Tianlong Mountain prospered again.
After walking for half an hour, the four of them came to a pass with huge rocks on both sides. The pass was about three feet wide and could only accommodate one person. On both sides of the pass, there was a simple wooden house built with wood. When they heard someone coming, the house Four or five men with big muscles and round waists came out, holding sharp knives.
"Uncle Zhang, masters from all major gangs will be coming to the mountain in the past few days. You should work harder and report anything as soon as possible." Lan Tian said to the strong man at the head.
"Don't worry, Young Master Lan, we will definitely guard the pass. You should go back quickly, otherwise it will be difficult to travel when it gets dark." The man whom Lan Tian called Uncle Zhang said.
After squeezing through the pass, the four of them continued to move forward. In front of them was a cliff, which was a hundred feet high. There were steps going back up the cliff. Even though there was an iron chain protecting the side of the cliff, Zhu Yu still felt frightened.
Seeing Zhu Yu's worry, Luo Lin said: "Brother Zhu Yu, don't be afraid. Just look forward and don't lower your head. It's my first time to climb this cliff and I was very scared. I gradually got used to it."
Fortunately, the cliff was not too high or too long, and Zhu Yu was considered a martial arts master, so he had some courage. He followed Lan Tian cautiously, and in a short while, he climbed over the cliff called Feiying Cliff.
On the cliff, Zhu Yu looked up and saw clouds and mist above her head. She didn't know where the top of the mountain was. She couldn't help but sigh: "Tianlong Mountain is so high!"
Zhao Li winked at Zhu Yu and said with a smile: "Brother Zhu Yu, I'm afraid you have never seen such a high mountain!"
"I grew up in the mountains, but I have never seen such a high mountain. Brother Zhao, how long do we have to walk to reach the mountain?" Zhu Yu asked.
"It's not far away. In two hours, we can reach the sect. When the time comes, I wonder how happy Lan Ling'er will be to see you?" Zhao Li said.
Hearing Zhao Zhou mention Lan Ling'er and thinking of the days when he and Lan Ling'er practiced martial arts in the Shaolin Temple, he couldn't help but feel a little sad.
