The sky is gray.
The patter of rain has become much quieter.
Inside the shabby and cramped stone house, the light was dim.
Except for a few irregular shallow pits, there are only four walls, and it is difficult to tell what its original use was.
Not only this stone house, but the entire Qili Kiln is like this.
Since being abandoned, they have been deprived of life and will only be slowly forgotten.
Things without life are dead things.
However, two "dead things" were added to this dead thing.
These two "dead things" were leaning against the wall and sitting on the ground, motionless, as if melting into the darkness and integrated with the entire stone house.
Only a few extra rays of warmth in the room and three imperceptible breaths can prove that these two "dead things" are not "dead things".
But three living people.
The three of them are Ning Kuang from Tingyu Pavilion, and the people he and his companions need to protect during this trip, Niu Kelian and Xiaohua.
Some of his companions were already dead, and some were still fighting the enemy.
Xiaohua nestled in Niu Kelian's thick and warm arms.
Although the late spring rain was still a bit chilly, it was not as chilling as what happened today.
Therefore, even if he could hide in the arms of the person next to him, those sparkling eyes did not seem to be comforted at all. They were always blinking uneasily, and most of the time they were always looking in one direction.
Sitting slumped in that direction was a "cartman" who had been driving horses and carriages for them all night.
"Cartman" Ning Kuang was already a grown man at that age, but he liked to quarrel and argue with others like an old child.
In fact, Xiaohua could see clearly that these brothers and sisters were playing tricks in different ways, just to make her not feel that the journey was boring.
Just like this, they need to be quiet.
Ning Kuang is the quietest among the three, and the one who looks most like a dead thing.
Both Niu Kelian and Xiao Hua were more or less curled up, but he was the only one slumped against the wall as if his whole body had been torn apart.
However, among the three of them, he was the one who made some "big noises" from time to time.
From time to time he would clench his teeth and make tiny grinding sounds.
From time to time, he would suddenly hear a heavy and short breathing sound.
Fortunately, as he fully spread his limbs, the temperature of his entire body slowly dropped, and he made less and less noises.
Fortunately, the sound of falling rain was enough to drown out his "big noises".
It was nothing compared to the strong wind that whistled through the corners of the damaged house from time to time.
Just like this stone house that is small enough and dilapidated enough, it should be insignificant and inconspicuous in this Qili Kiln.
No one would choose such an inappropriate hiding place to hide.
But the two footsteps stopped outside the house.
Not long after, five or six more footsteps approached, and they all stopped outside the stone house.
Hearing the movement outside the house, Niu Kelian sighed.
He slowly pushed the little flower in his arms to the side and patted her twice gently on the back, teaching her not to worry.
A woman's voice sounded outside the house at the right time.
"General Niu, why bother?"
"That adult in Youjing just asked you to go back, not to kill you."
"He said, if you don't like the sea breeze blowing in Jinzhou City, he can arrange a good place for you in Youjing City, and he also promised to entertain you and your good daughter with fine clothes and fine food, so why bother to hide in Tibet? , and you are hiding in this place where there is not even a ghost to suffer?"
"It's a rainy day. I'm covered in mud and water. It's hard for anyone. It's not too late now. Come back to town with us, take a good wash, and sleep comfortably. Tomorrow we will How about we set off back to Youjing?"
Without any surprise, the first two people standing outside the shabby stone house were Weaver Girl and Cowherd.
The six people who arrived later were "that group" who were driven back by Jiang Yichen, and the eighteen people were divided into six groups to search for traces of the Niu family's father and daughter.
"That group" was originally trained by the imperial court, while Weaver Girl and Cowherd should have been invited by the imperial court.
As for which force belongs to the imperial court, it is not yet known.
"Noisy!"
Ning Kuang hit his leg with his right fist, trying to wake up his numb limbs as soon as possible.
He was going to stand up and fight again.
But he didn't know that his fists didn't have much strength, and he didn't know that his voice was so small that it couldn't be heard outside the room.
Niu Kelian stood up, waved to him, and opened the thin wooden door.
Before walking out of the door, Niu Kelian glanced at Xiaohua again.
Xiaohua didn't make a sound, her extremely bright eyes in the darkness told Niu Kelian that she believed him.
But the worry in my heart still made tears flow down unsatisfactorily.
"General, general..." Ning Kuang still wanted to persuade Niu Kelian.
But Niu Kelian only responded with a full smile to the two people in the room, walked out of the stone house, and closed the wooden door again.
Looking at the formation outside the stone house, Niu Kelian was silent for a long time.
Compared to the so-called Weaver Girl and Cowherd, he was more interested in the six masked men in black, all holding strange weapons, although he took a second look.
After all, Weaver Girl and Cowherd are people of the world, but these six people are genuine minions of the imperial court.
Can the various ills and wounds left by the three years of foreign barbarian wars be repaired in less than twenty years?
No, Niu Kelian doesn't think so.
However, under such circumstances, there are still people in the imperial court who have the intention to cultivate such forces and disrupt the balance of the entire Zhongzhou martial arts world.
Sure enough, quite a few people in this court now have no good intentions!
Niu Kelian shifted his gaze back to Weaver Girl.
The rain made the black dress cling tightly to Weaver Girl's body, but her figure, which showed no twists and turns, could only be described as four words.
skinny.
But it is undeniable that this forty-year-old woman is tall enough, and she is not far behind Niu Kelian.
As for the person behind Weaver Girl, even though he is hunched over and his hands seem to be hanging to the ground, he is still a head higher than Weaver Girl.
The giant man's eyes were lifeless, but as long as he kept the pestle there, it felt like there was a mountain pressing on his chest.
From Ning Kuang's mouth, we learned that Juhan was a foolish man who was rescued by Zhinu when he was young and gradually grew up to be her thug.
Of the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd, only the Weaver Girl can be classified as the Fourteen Evil Persons, because the Cowherd is useless without the Weaver Girl and can be slaughtered by others.
Back then, someone made a ranking of the strength of the fourteen villains, and the Weaver Girl ranked third because she was always accompanied by the Cowherd.
Ning Kuang also said that the fourteen villains all had weird tempers and few of them could be provoked.
Niu Kelian disagreed. The fourteen evil men were still human beings after all.
Such people have seven emotions and six desires, and have various needs for benefits. As long as they give in to what they like and promise heavy profits, they can make ghosts go around.
Now it seems that his judgment was good.
But he was also a little curious as to who it was and what kind of promise they made to invite this pair of villains.
So Niu Kelian asked: "I wonder which adult has the intention to invite a commoner like me to enjoy the prosperity and wealth?"
Weaver Girl said: "There is an unwritten rule in the world. Don't betray your employer's identity casually. General, you will know as soon as you follow me to Youjing."
Niu Kelian asked the next question: "What benefits did that lord promise you?"
Weaver Girl had no intention of hiding it this time, and said straightforwardly: "My Alang was infected with a strange disease last year, and I couldn't cure it after searching many places. That gentleman had a pill in his hand, and he divided half of it with my Alang. It was true. It's getting better. After careful inspection, there are no other side effects. In order to have half a pill left, we have to ask the general to come with us no matter what."
"So that's it." Niu Kelian understood, and immediately said, "The place Niu went to on this trip is Lingnan Medicine Valley. It is said that Medicine Valley's medical skills are second to none in the world. Miss, you might as well take your family with me. Yaogu, let Mr. Yao make a detailed diagnosis, Mo delayed the treatment because of a mere pill."
"It's interesting. I didn't expect that a general who leads troops to fight would also be an eloquent person. However, not everyone can go to Yao Valley, and Yao Lao doesn't treat everyone. Bet on the uncertainties. Instead of counting, it’s better to go get the food that’s half eaten.”
A voice sounded from the opposite eaves, and at some point there was a man wearing a yellow shirt and a black crown with gold patterns on his head.
As soon as he finished speaking, the weapons of six men in black had already greeted him.
After a clanking sound, the man in yellow shirt had retreated to the wall further away.
The channel in his mouth: "Hold on, hold on!"
Seeing that the man in yellow never drew his sword, Weaver Girl patted her hand twice to tell the man in black to stop his attack.
"Now that we've been beaten back and all our men are dead, what's the point of coming here?"
"Haha, it's a pity to abandon those pieces of mud that can't hold up the wall. If you die here, you can not only straighten the family tradition, but also prove your loyalty. Why not? I'm just here to let others know that my Yu family has been here. I Yu Le has also been here, just try your best."
"To put it bluntly, I'm not interested in knowing the dirty thoughts of your family."
"The task passed to the family from above is to kill General Niu, but since you want to take him back, I will just watch from the sidelines."
"Take a look?" Weaver Girl withdrew her gaze with disdain, and then stared at a dark corner not far from the stone house. "Are you here to take a look too?"
A figure slowly emerged from the dark corner.
The man had gray hair, was short and thin, and wore a black hood to cover the lower half of his face.
Before the short and thin man spoke, Yu Le spoke: "The little girl's blood is so tender, so soft, so pure, so I guess Senior Gu came here for the delicious taste."
Gu Ye didn't say anything, obviously acquiescing to Yu Le's statement.
Yu Le's eyes suddenly flashed with light, and he said with a smile: "However, I wonder if General Niu is willing to sacrifice his own daughter? Even though he is not his biological daughter."
Niu Kelian did not answer Yu Le, and the answer this time was obviously no.
Yu Le asked Zhi Nu again: "What do you think, Senior Zhi Nu?"
The Weaver Girl glanced at the Cowherd beside her and said, "As long as General Niu doesn't agree, Alang and I will naturally keep his daughter safe."
Yu Le smiled and said: "It seems that this junior is lucky enough to see the seniors who are ranked third and fourth among the Fourteen Evils tonight competing against each other."
Weaver Girl also smiled and said: "Don't be too happy, little kid. These young officials were beaten back by a passing swordsman. I think that gang of people should have arrived at this time. I don't know if your sword might suppress that passing swordsman." A swordsman’s sword?”
A cold light flashed in Yu Le's eyes, and he said, "Is this happening?"
As if to confirm Weaver Girl's statement, the sound of fighting could be heard from the far end.
