The twenty-second day of the winter lunar month is the day after the winter solstice.
In the early morning, it was as dark as the bottom of a pot, and the cold wind was blowing.
Even so, a large, dark group of people had gathered in front of the gate of Wujian Villa.
So how big is this “large crowd”?
In fact, it's not bad... There are probably more than three hundred or less than four hundred real swordsmen. Counting those who buy a sword temporarily to make up the number, there can be eight or nine hundred people who can stand up to the sky.
Some people may have something to say when they see this. There aren't many people here, right? Not as many as Qixionghui.
Then you have to think about it this way: the people who attended the Seven Heroes Meeting were basically "sects", and only a few participated in their personal capacity, so those people came "one by one"; and this time they came to Wujian Villa to discuss swords Most of them are scattered soldiers, and at most they are in groups of three or five. Even if the entire sect comes together, they are all small sects like the Longkou Sword Sect... So the guests this time are all "a few or a few" "Come on, it's pretty good to have eight or nine hundred in the end.
Then someone may ask again: Are there only these few hundred swordsmen in the entire Dashu Wulin?
The answer is naturally no.
Although there were many swordsmen who came to discuss swords this time, there were obviously more who didn’t come...
Mainly because Xiao Zhun's opening of the sword debate this time was under the guise of "selecting closed disciples", which blocked many people.
For example, most of those swordsmen who are already nearly first-class or above are quite famous in the world, and some of them are older than Xiao Zhun. You ask them to lose face and fight with a group of second- and third-rate juniors. , just to fight for the opportunity to "become the sword master's closed disciple", it will be ugly no matter whether he fights for it or not in the end.
For another example, those sects that specialize in swordsmanship, such as Huashan, Taishan, Qingcheng, Hengshan, etc... they can't be like the third-rate sects, even the leader and his disciples rush over to grab it. Join another faction?
Not to mention, there are some swordsmen who are naturally arrogant, or whose master is still alive and do not want to join another master...
Let's put it this way, if Xiao Zhun did not use the excuse of "accepting a disciple" today, but instead used the excuse of "competition" and said, "I want to discuss with the swordsmen in the world who has the best swordsmanship," then it would be wrong. There will be eight or nine hundred people... a conservative estimate would start at 3,000.
Of course, Xiao Zhun also knew this.
Our Master Xiao is so good at settling accounts, how could he not think of this? It's just that he doesn't want to do it.
After all, he didn't want to "discuss swords" in essence, but wanted to "refiner swords." If he really wanted to invite more than 3,000 swordsmen, and the proportion of masters among them would greatly increase, then his plan would most likely be in trouble.
Not to mention the three thousand people, among the eight or nine hundred people in front of us, there are also many people who logically "shouldn't come" - like Wen Yuzai and the six of them, and Dugu Yong... these are all expected. outside visitors.
But the plan has come to this point, and this level of "accident" is naturally within the acceptable range.
So, when the hour came on that day, the minions in Wujian Villa opened the gate on time and began to welcome the swordsmen who had been waiting for a long time to enter the village.
"I'm here to express Yanjian Cui Zhengqing."
"please."
"He Kaize, the soul-binding sword."
"please."
"Chasing the wind with the next sword, Hu Yanxiu."
"please."
As the swordsmen reported their names one by one, people slowly poured into the villa.
And among them, there are naturally many of our old acquaintances...
"I give the order to Fox Xiang."
"please."
Linghu Xiang was undoubtedly a participant in this "Destroying Demons with Swords" plan, but he acted separately from the others.
Because Linghu Xiang's natural temperament is not very eye-catching, and he is currently a famous figure in the world, he acted as a "reconnaissance team" and arrived at the foot of Wujian Villa seven days in advance.
Although before departure, Linghu Xiang had obtained a lot of information about Wujian Villa from Xiao Wuji, the "former young master of the Villa", but after all, Xiao Wuji had left the Villa for five years, and some of the information was probably out of date. , needs to be re-verified and updated... Also, the information of those who come to participate in the sword discussion needs to be explored in advance.
Therefore, during the past seven days, Linghu Xiang had been pretending to be an unknown swordsman who came to participate in the sword discussion, wandering around the villages and towns near Wujian Villa, carefully seeking information.
At the moment, he was also blending in with the crowd. He only announced his name, without mentioning his nickname or sect, and just blended in.
"Jian Zhai Hao comes flying down here. These are my brothers. We are collectively called the 'Five Righteousnesses of Huizhou', so..."
"Okay, Master Zhai, please."
I think some readers with good memories will still remember that these "Five Righteousnesses of Huizhou" have also appeared in our previous documents: it was in the inn in Dengzhou City that they had a little affair with Lin Yuancheng and Sun Yixie. The five who had a small friction.
These five guys, called the "Five Righteousnesses", are actually just five little characters who like to make noises everywhere. Except for Zhai Hao, whose swordsmanship is not bad, the other four are just younger brothers who follow him around.
But anyway, these five people all use swords, so today they all came to Wujian Villa, and they also wanted to try their luck in "Sword Discussing" - just in case Xiao Zhun didn't open his eyes. , choose one of them as a closed disciple?
Of course, as far as the gatekeeper of Wujian Villa is concerned, it doesn't matter whether you have five righteousnesses or eight righteousnesses... As long as you have swords in your hands, you can enter.
…………
The words were divided into two parts. Just as the main entrance of the villa opened to welcome guests, somewhere in the villa...
"Master, people coming to discuss swords have entered the village one after another. A conservative estimate... there are more than 800 people." A man with two swords on his back was standing behind Xiao Zhun, cupping his fists and reporting.
"Yeah... Got it." At this moment, Xiao Zhun was looking at the clear spring in front of him with his hands behind his back.
In the spring water, there was a red sword that looked like it had not yet been sharpened.
"Have you found out what happened yesterday?" After pondering for a few seconds, Xiao Zhun asked again.
The swordsman almost didn't think about it before he replied: "Yes, it's been found out clearly. Wu Hongmao died under Dugu Yong's sword. It is said... that he did it first."
When Xiao Zhun heard the name Duguyong, his expression changed slightly, but he was not surprised. After a breath, he continued: "I understand, you can go down."
Hearing this, the double swordsman hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Uh... Master of the village, don't you ask Wu Hongmao why he took action?"
"Xuan Xiao..." Xiao Zhun slowly turned his head and looked at the other party, "...you have been following me for a long time, why do you still ask this kind of question? Do you think it is still important?"
After hearing this answer, the man named "Xuan Xiao" thought about it and said in his heart: Yes, now that it is known that Wu Hongmao took the initiative to fight with Duguyong and was killed, then why did he fight? , it really doesn't matter anymore - who cares about the reasons for an overestimating idiot to seek death?
"What the village owner said is absolutely true, but I asked too much." After thinking about it, Xuan Xiao cupped his hands and said, "My subordinates, please leave."
And just when Xuan Xiao turned around and hadn't taken a step forward, a minion from the villa suddenly rushed from the distance. The minion ran up to him, knelt down on one knee, and reported hurriedly. : "Report to the owner of the village! Something happened at the gate..."
"What's the matter? You need to be so panicked." Xiao Zhun still asked calmly and calmly.
"Yes...yes..." When the words came to his lips, the guy struggled with the words, but in the end he said the sentence, "It's the young owner of the village who is back..."
As soon as these words came out, Xuan Xiao, who was standing aside, immediately turned his gaze to Xiao Zhun's face.
As for Xiao Zhun, in just a few seconds, his face could be said to have experienced various emotions such as surprise, joy, anger, sadness, and sadness, but he had suppressed most of each emotion. , only a little bit was exposed, and it was all mixed together.
"Did he come alone or with others?" But Xiao Zhun was Xiao Zhun after all. After a few seconds, he regained his composure and asked in a deep voice.
"Accompanying the Young Villa Master are Young Master Wen Yuzhai, Canglong Hidden Peak Haicangfeng, Hunyuan Divine Sword Lin Yuancheng, and two others whose identities are still unknown..." The minion also replied truthfully.
"Wen Yuzhai?" Xiao Zhun looked sideways and pondered. It seemed that this was the only one of these names that he cared more about. After reciting this sentence, he thought about it for a while and then said, "Where are they now? Have they been let in?"
"This..." The guy hesitated again before replying, "According to the rules set by the owner of the village, we can only let the 'Swordsman' in today, but among the six of them, only three are wearing swords. The one with the sword, so..."
"So you came here to ask me?" Xiao Zhun answered.
"Please let the owner decide." The man lowered his head and clasped his fists.
"Hmph..." Xiao Zhun sneered, "Okay, just go back and say something and let all six of them come in."
"Yes." After accepting the order, the man stood up and left.
At this time, Xiao Zhun suddenly remembered something and called him again: "Wait a minute."
"What other orders does the village master have?" When the man heard the voice, he stopped and turned around to ask.
"Well... among those six people, does any one use a fork as a weapon?" Xiao Zhun asked.
"Fork?" The guy was also stunned when he was asked, "What kind of fork is it?"
"It's that kind of long-handled weapon with three blades on the tip." Xiao Zhun said.
"That shouldn't be the case," the subordinate replied, "I can see that the six of them are either wearing swords or carrying knives. Even if some of them have other weapons hidden on their bodies, they can't hide the long-handled forks."
Xiao Zhun nodded after hearing this answer: "Okay, you go."
"Yes." The guy promised, turned around and walked away.
Xuan Xiao immediately cupped his hands and left.
After they all walked away, another person walked out of the shadows beside Xiao Zhun.
There was nothing special about that man, either in his clothes or in his appearance. He looked like just an ordinary servant. But when he came to Xiao Zhun, he did not bow or kneel, but stood with his hands behind his back. His tone and demeanor were also like Arrogant posture: "Master Xiao, you are a little confused."
"Why did the immortal say this?" Xiao Zhun replied calmly.
"Ha... Master Xiao, you don't have to pretend anymore... I'm neither deaf nor blind. I saw the way you looked when you heard your son came back just now." True Lord Fire Lotus said with a smile, " If you get confused because of this, you may cause serious problems."
When Xiao Zhun heard this, he paused and replied: "Didn't the Immortal Chief say that according to the hexagrams, the person who can ruin my big things this time... is a person who uses a 'fork'?"
"Hey~" True Lord Fire Lotus waved his hand, "The hexagrams are just imaginary numbers. If you get one, you can't get the other two... If you want to succeed in this matter, you have to do it consistently. There is no other way. But if you want to fail, there are countless ways. The cause of defeat, which can be calculated based on the hexagrams, is usually just the most dangerous one."
"Well..." Xiao Zhun groaned again, "Then in the opinion of the immortal, what should Xiao do?"
"Ha..." True Lord Fire Lotus smiled, "If Master Xiao really doesn't care about Young Master Ling's life or death, then it would be easy to handle... There is no harm in letting him be present during the 'Sword Sacrifice'."
"What if I care?" Xiao Zhun said.
"It's easy to handle..." Lord Fire Lotus said, "Pindao can let Mr. Ling and his friends get lost during the 'Sword Sacrifice' and stay temporarily in a place where they won't hinder the owner of the village."
"I see..." Xiao Zhun thought for a few seconds, then turned around, raised his hand, and bowed to True Lord Fire Lotus, "Then... then Immortal Lao will be here for you."
"Hehehe..." Lord Fire Lotus's smile became more and more charming, and there were secrets hidden in his eyes that even Xiao Zhun didn't know, "It's easy to say... it's easy to say..."
