First volume:
After drinking, I sing a joyful song, and when I hold a sword, it is like a long song all year round.
...
Time is like a song, loneliness is like a song.
In early spring, the willows are tender and tender, the sedges are green, and the misty rain in the south of the Yangtze River is hazy and pattering like a goddess scattering flowers.
Yangzhou, north bank of Xiyun Lake.
In the Huatan Temple, on the eaves corner of the top of the Sutra Tower, there is a cyan sword stuck on one side of the wood carving of the Chi-kissing auspicious animal guarding the tower. On one side of the sword, there is a seated person.
Brown coir raincoat hat, carrying pot diagonally across the body.
Drink alone in a high building, without a cup in the world.
His name is Ji Ruge, his surname is Ji Ruge, and his courtesy name is Zhiyu.
The master hopes that when he draws his sword, he knows where the rain is going to fall. When the drizzle falls on the eaves in bunches, he can reach out with his sword before the water droplets fall, and be able to catch and split the falling raindrops with his sword edge. raindrop.
So far, in the blink of an eye, he has been able to catch six drops of rain under the roof.
Except for the master and the old man, few people in the world know his name, and few people know that he is a rain-knowing guest.
In the consciousness of people in the world, what they know more is - there is a murderous demon named Ji Ruge!
His sword, like his people, is as lonely as a song.
The sword named Ji Ming, with its green scabbard, red handle, white light, and sharp edge, cuts iron like clay, and blows the hair off. It was the old man who took it out from under the stove and gave it to him.
He remembered that the old man said that this sword was his father's sword, and it should have been his. However, the fire sticks used for making fires and cooking in the past few years were not durable, so he used this sword for a few years and felt that it was quite good. It works.
The figure on the eaves swayed, and his figure was gone.
Only the wine bottle was left on the tile roof and the green beams, soaking in the light rain.
In the Sutra Collection Hall.
The rain on his body has not yet drained away, and the raindrops are still falling "tick...tick" along the raincoat, flowing down the stagnant water on the ground.
There were seven people in the house.
Kong Ming, the resident elder of the Sutra Pavilion, Kong Jian, the elder of Luohan Hall who came to borrow scriptures, Xing Chi, a monk sweeping the floor, a young monk who knows guests, and two young monks who look after the building.
Of course, there is him, his name is Ji Ruge.
Kong Ming looked at his sword, with its green scabbard and red handle.
"Ji Ruge?!"
Ji Ruge took off the bamboo hat that was still dripping from her head and threw it towards Kong Ming.
It looks like it was thrown casually, but in fact it took six points of strength. It is the sixth form of the Cloud Detector commonly used by concealed weapon experts - Ask!
Kong Ming raised his hand to block it, and the bamboo hat flew along with its force.
A "ding" sound!
It was embedded straight into the stone pillar on one side, and the cracks spread instantly.
The five monks except the sweeping monk stood over instantly.
After receiving Ji Ruge's move, Kong Ming's hand in his cuffs was shaken a little.
"I'm informing you, great uncle, that it's the devil - Ji Ruge!" Kong Jian was a little frightened and felt uneasy, so he said to the young monk watching the building on one side.
The young monk who looked after the building paused for a moment, then hurriedly opened the door from the side door.
Ji Ruge didn't stop him, and there was no need to stop him.
It is true that by the time the abbot of Huatan Temple arrives with his men, the person he wants to kill should already be dead.
Kong Ming saluted Ji Ruge with his hands together.
"Your Excellency came to visit in the rain early in the morning, but he was not welcomed at a distance. What's the matter?"
Ji Ruge smiled coldly,
"kill."
Two words, simple, the important thing is straightforward and clear! As long as you are a human being, you can understand the meaning of your visit as soon as you hear it.
Kong Ming frowned deeply when he heard this.
He didn't expect this devil to be so unscrupulous.
The Luohan Hall in Huatan Temple was specially designed to deal with foreign enemies. It was full of first-class warrior monks.
Kong Jian is one of the elders.
After hearing Ji Ruge's words, Kongjian frowned and shouted coldly:
"You are such a big devil, you come to Huatan Temple to run wild, and you don't even think about your own abilities!"
The sneer at the corner of Ji Ruge's mouth turned into a smile, with a hint of apology.
"Being wild is not a big deal. Taking your life is easy."
As Kong Jian's senior brother, Kong Ming became angry after hearing Ji Ruge's outrageous words.
"Bold maniac! With me here today, you...dare!"
That's true.
Ji Ruge had another smile on his lips, and his sword had been unsheathed.
Three feet of cold light, cold face like the moon.
The word "dare" of the old monk Kong Ming has just fallen out.
Kong saw that there was a trace of blood as thin as silk hair on the old monk's neck.
"Uncle Master!?" A young monk on Kong Jian's side saw that he was motionless and pushed him gently.
Sora Mi's body fell straight to the ground with the force of the push.
The faint red mark on his neck gradually became like a red line and was clearly visible.
After falling to the ground, blood began to slowly flow out of his neck, moistening the ground.
The bamboo hat stuck sideways on the stone pillar is still dripping.
"Tick...tick..."
There were already two pools of water on the ground at this time, one was dripping from the bamboo hat under the stone pillar, and the other was where Ji Ruge had just stood.
"Such a fast sword, no wonder it's so..." Kong Ming sighed, "No wonder it's so rampant...".
Except for the puddles of water on the ground, there was no one around.
The door of the Sutra Pavilion was pushed open by two young monks.
"No need to chase, you can't catch up." Kongming sighed and stopped him.
A quarter of an hour passed.
The abbot of Huatan Temple, the old monk Kongxing, led a group of monks to the door of the Buddhist Scripture Pavilion.
Kong Ming, as the elder of the Sutra Collection Pavilion, stood at the door of the Sutra Collection Pavilion, clasping his hands and waiting for orders.
"Junior brother, where is the devil?" Kongxing asked Kongming.
The old monk Kongming sighed again, "No more." He paused and continued, "Junior brother is no more."
Of course the two words 'gone' have completely different meanings.
At six bells, the eminent monks of Huatan Temple and Luohan Hall were killed.
...
By the Xiyun Lake.
Spring noon.
In Xiyun Pavilion.
The breeze blows on my face, the willows cling to my face, and the drizzle is still hazy.
A strong man, nine feet tall, wearing broad cloth and brocade clothes, with disheveled hair, and a face with a Chinese character, and he has a majestic air.
In the pavilion, on the table, wine and food are ready.
Two maids were waiting on one side, they seemed to be waiting for someone.
A fluttering figure tapped on the lotus leaf of Xiyun Lake. After a few breaths, there was a wine-tasting swordsman on the railing of Xiyun Pavilion.
Ji Ruge took a sip of turbid wine and heard a cold voice.
"Can you hear the bell?"
After listening to Ji Ruge's words, the strong man put his hands behind his back and watched the drizzle scattered on the quiet lake, on the green lotus leaves, and on the awning of the cruise ship in the lake.
The microwave is sparkling, the lotus leaves are swaying, and the cruise ship is still there.
"The death knell rings six." The strong man turned around and frowned, "But I can only give you half of the money first, and the remaining half will be given to you after it is confirmed that the person who died is Kong Jian."
The strong man glanced at a maid.
Not long after, there was a stack of banknotes on the table.
Ji Ruge took a few sips of wine, stood up slowly, grabbed it, put it in her arms, walked to the pavilion, and said to the small boat waiting for people to cross the lake:
"Boatman, Zuiyulou."
When the boatman heard this, he stood up quickly, propped up the bamboo pole, and moved the boat closer.
Ji Ruge jumped slightly on the pavilion, fell into the boat, and entered the boat canopy.
"Okay, let's go..."
The boatman shouted loudly, the drizzle was drizzling on the boat, and the clear waves were rippling.
In the pavilion, the food and wine are still warm.
The strong man sat down, picked up the wine glass on the table and drank in one gulp.
"Tomorrow, send someone to Huatan Temple to burn incense and check whether Kong Jian has passed away."
The two maids bowed and said, "Yes, Master."
The man dressed as a scholar is Chen Daofeng, the helmsman of Jiangnan Trading Company in Yangzhou.
Seeing that Ji Ruge's boat had gone far, Chen Daofeng slowly took out a brocade handkerchief from his arms, with a pair of mandarin ducks embroidered on it, and two names embroidered in red thread on the side corners, one for Daofeng and one for Yueru.
His words were choked and he was talking to himself.
"Yueru, listen, your revenge has been avenged."
The corners of Chen Daofeng's mouth raised slightly, and the deep sorrow between his brows slowly dissipated.
In the eyes of a native boatman, a sluggish traveler who earned money from a wealthy businessman by Xiyun Lake went to a brothel to live in a romantic life, but in the end his diet and daily life were so ordinary.
"gone!"
The boatman glanced at the figure of Yang Xiaoyu in coir raincoat who was leaving with a bamboo hat, and with another meaningful shout, he propped up the bamboo pole and rowed the boat away to pick up the guests.
The drizzle is like sorrow, spreading all over the lake.
The green tiles upstairs were soaked by the drunken rain, and the spring rain under the eaves flowed along the tile troughs.
Inside the building, the gauze curtains moved slightly, and the incense burner overflowed with incense.
Zuiyulou is a famous brothel in Yangzhou.
Ji Ruge, wearing a raincoat, walked through the bustling crowd, and went up to the attic surrounded by several prostitutes with rich rouge and pink.
The old bustard with a big hairy muzzle at the corner of his mouth greeted him with an embroidered handkerchief in his hand. He grabbed a one hundred tael silver note from his arms and handed it over.
"Attic room."
The madam took the banknote and smiled from ear to ear. It was rare for a traveler to be so generous.
"Okay, Lan'er, come here, take it to the private room No. 2 of Liuge." The old bustard shouted loudly to a little girl next to him with a smile.
The little girl led Ji Ruge up to the attic and to a private room in the corner of the second floor.
After the maid left, the madam led a group of girls in and asked Ji Ruge to choose one. Ji Ruge casually ordered one and asked her to go down and prepare.
After the people dispersed, he took off his bamboo hat and raincoat, and left another one hundred taels of silver notes on the table.
A face of about thirty years old has transformed with visible changes to a handsome young man of twenty years old. This is the real Ji Ruge.
Ji Ruge, who has memorized and practiced the art of bone disfigurement since childhood.
It is true that the evil name Ji Ruge has been around for a long time. As a young man in his early twenties, he does not use his real name, but a pseudonym. He has no surname and is only called Xiao Yu. Most of the time, he is just a busboy selling alcohol at a roadside station.
He opened Yiliu's window by the lake and jumped out lightly.
Not long after, the girl who was waiting for him, Xiao Cui, opened the door and came in with a drink. There was only a wet bamboo hat next to the table with water all over the floor, and a big raincoat on the ground. The person was gone.
The girl quietly exchanged the one hundred taels for fifty taels of tickets, in order to have more private money, and then went to shout to the old madam in surprise that she had left.
At the end of Laoma Bridge in Xiyun Lake, a young man dressed in commoners pulled out a straight bamboo pole from the haystacks at the end of the alley behind the brothel.
The drizzle was still hazy, only three points lighter. We could walk about seven miles with wet hair.
The old trees and willow branches are weeping, and the old man is fishing alone in his coir raincoat.
Two barrels of old wine were covered with a few crisp lotus leaves, just to prevent water from dripping into the wine.
A fist-sized old Nanzhu pole, the young man was using a little finger-thick hemp rope to tie the knots at both ends. Passersby passing by said that the poor boy buying wine had broken the pole and was just tying it.
Who ever knew? Inside the pole with hemp ropes tied at both ends was a green sheath sword that had killed countless people - Annihilation.
The hemp rope tightened the wine barrel, and the young man inserted the pole into the two pole holes, weighed the weight a few times, and asked to the old man wearing a bamboo hat sitting fishing on one side: "Old man, you didn't secretly drink from me. s Bar?"
The old man stretched out his hand to pluck the bamboo hat, turned his head, rolled his eyes at him, and cursed: "Little guy, you have been repairing a pole for a long time, and you still come out of the kiln. Go back carefully and your father will pull out your skin! The wine money is here Under the fish basket, take it yourself, I only drank five cents of your wine, I won't take more."
"Uncle Six is not my father. Old man, you have just arrived in Suzhou recently, right? Even Uncle Six is not familiar with you, and you thought I was his son. I only came to Suzhou last month to make a living. So I'm just doing some odd jobs at Uncle Liu's hotel." Xiaoyu looked sullen, frowning and looking at this old man whom she had only met once.
After he finished speaking, he walked towards the old man's fish basket, then tossed it a few times, and muttered: "Tsk, let me take a look, I have been fishing for a long time, and there are only a few fish, and they even said they would catch me. I just Go inside and listen to a book, and then go back when the rain subsides. What do you know?"
The old man smiled meaningfully, shook his head, his eyes were contemptuous, as if he was a little contemptuous of the young man who went to a brothel and refused to admit it. Then he turned his head and continued fishing, sighing: "Yes, I don't understand, I don't understand."
Ji Ruge walked over with a smile, took a few coins from under the fish basket and put them into his arms.
The old fisherman doesn't know how to be a drinker. He only knows that the old wine is soft in the mouth, and fishing makes him feel comfortable and spend his time.
The old man remained silent and still sat there, waiting for the fish to take the bait.
Xiaoyu rubbed the lotus leaves covering the lid of the barrel, tightened it, picked up the barrel, hummed a little tune, and went up to Lao Maqiao against the drizzle, and walked along the road out of the city.
