The ninth day of the twelfth lunar month is cloudy.
The second day of the martial arts conference.
On the official road from Dengfeng to Luoyang, two carriages were driving.
Four large Mongolian horses pulled two carriages at high speed.
Driving in front was a hearse, with soul-inducing flags stuck on the shaft and two Taoist priests in green clothes sitting on it.
One person drives the car, holding the reins in his hand.
Another person holds ghost coins in his hand and sprinkles a few on the ground from time to time. This is commonly known as buying money to clear the way for the ghosts.
He shouted: "The soul returns to the ancient land, and strangers avoid it."
In the car behind, two Taoists in Qingyi were also sitting in the driving position.
All four of them have hemp ropes tied around their waists, white hats on their heads, and heavy filial piety on their bodies.
It seemed that the four of them were all under thirty years old, and all of them had stern expressions and were silent.
"I heard that all the Four Shows in Qingcheng have excellent swordsmanship and are all famous handsome men in the world. Today, when I saw them, they are indeed well-deserved. It turns out that to become a handsome man, you have to talk very little. It seems that I will also learn from it in the future. ." The voice came from the carriage behind.
Neither of the two people sitting outside the car answered, but someone inside the car was laughing.
The laughter was sweet, a woman's voice.
Her voice was also very pleasant: "Isn't it? I heard that famous beauties in the world are vying to marry them."
"What about you, have you ever fought to marry them? If you did, I guarantee no one can compete with you."
The squeaking sound showed that the woman was acting coquettishly. Normally at this time, the man next to her would get a nudge, but at most it would only be pinched by her.
She said coquettishly: "Huh, I'm not fighting. If I want to marry, I will only marry you. I won't marry anyone but you."
"Speaking of which, your magnificent daughter of Tang Dynasty is already a headache after following me all the way. Now you insist on marrying me. Now I feel even more headache."
The daughter of Tang Dynasty is of course Tang Qingqing, and the other one is of course Xiao Ding.
Xiao Ding said at the martial arts conference that he would escort the coffin of Qingcheng leader Zhao Wuji back to Qingcheng Mountain.
He didn't know at that time that the Four Best Showmen from Qingcheng were also in Shaolin. If you want to know, he would rather go to Qingcheng alone than go with four people.
He must have felt uncomfortable being in the company of four cold people.
In this martial arts competition, the Qingcheng faction came to Zhao Wuji and the five masters and apprentices of Qingcheng Sixiu. On the night when Zhao Wuki was assassinated, Qingcheng Sixiu was still at Xifengju at the foot of Shaoshi Mountain.
In fact, the four of them were also present on the day of the conference, but there were so many people there that Xiao Ding didn’t pay attention.
The four outstanding figures in Qingcheng are the eldest brother Wei Qingshu, the second eldest brother Liu Qingfeng, the third eldest brother Nie Qingyun, and the fourth eldest brother Zhao Qingming.
This Zhao Qingming is the only son of Zhao Wuji, and his swordsmanship is also inherited from Zhao Wuji.
Master Qingxuan had introduced these things one by one before leaving.
Sitting in the carriage carrying the coffin were Zhao Qingming and Wei Qingshu.
The car in front suddenly stopped, and Liu Qingfeng, who was driving behind, quickly lifted the reins.
"Huh..." The carriage stopped just four or five feet away from the car in front. Liu Qingfeng frowned and was about to poke his head in to ask.
I saw Zhao Qingming also walking to the shaft of the car. He clasped his hands and said to the car: "Ding Shaoxia, we are not far ahead from Luoyang City. It is getting late now. I may not be able to find the inn after leaving the city. Why don't I wait for tonight?" Stay in the city and set off early tomorrow morning, what do you think?"
Xiao Ding opened the car curtain and stretched out his head. He looked at Zhao Qingming's red and swollen eyes and said with a faint smile: "Master Zhao, right? Let's continue on our way. Luoyang City is within Hu Ba's sphere of influence. I believe there are still more With so many other forces from the Blue Dragon Society entrenched inside, it will be very inconvenient for us to escort the coffin."
Nie Qingyun said solemnly: "But if you leave the city, there will be no place to stay."
Xiao Ding smiled and said: "I remember there was a temple not far from the city, so I had to make do with everyone in the temple for one night."
Tang Qingqing said: "Are you talking about the White Horse Temple?"
Xiao Ding shook his head: "No, the White Horse Temple is not convenient, and the White Horse Temple is too big. If it is too big, there will be too many people. If there are too many people, it will inevitably cause problems. The temple I am talking about is just a small ruined temple. .”
Zhao Qingming bowed and said, "I respect your orders."
After Zhao Qingming finished speaking, he climbed into the car. Wei Qingshu loosened the reins and shouted, "Drive"...
The carriage moved on.
The sky is filled with gloomy clouds and dusk is falling.
When the carriage drove out of Luoyang, the sky had darkened. Fortunately, the official road was wide enough and the road surface was still vaguely visible.
When we arrived at the ruined temple that Xiao Ding mentioned, the sky was completely dark.
It turned out to be a dilapidated temple, so dilapidated that there wasn't even a plaque. I didn't know what kind of temple it was, let alone what gods were enshrined in the temple.
Although the temple is dilapidated, the temple door is very wide and can just accommodate a car to enter.
Qingcheng Sixiu untied his horse and tied it to a short tree in the courtyard. He took out fodder from the cart containing the coffin and fed it to the horse.
There are several steps from the courtyard to the temple, so the carriage can only be parked in the courtyard. Fortunately, there is no rain or snow tonight.
Winter in the Central Plains is horribly cold.
As soon as Tang Qingqing got out of the car, she felt the biting cold night wind. She kept breathing to warm her hands.
Xiao Ding had obviously been to this place before. He pushed open the door of the hall with ease, and with the fire stick in his hand, he fumbled and lit a pile of firewood after a while.
The light of the fire was particularly dazzling in the cold night. Looking at the warm light of the fire, even if I sat further away, I felt that the chill was gradually disappearing.
After casually eating some dry food, everyone looked at the ruined temple again.
This dilapidated temple has obviously been neglected for a long time. There are ruins and broken walls everywhere. It is really dark and hanging with cobwebs, and the empty beams are covered with mud.
Fortunately, this ruined temple is not far from the official road, and passers-by who miss the inn often stay overnight, so there is not much dust in the temple. There are even two simple wooden couches with hay on them against the corner.
Tang Qingqing was lying on one of the wooden couches, sleeping with her clothes on. Xiao Ding took off his black fur and covered her with it.
Tang Qingqing was injured and should have rested, but she insisted on going to Qingcheng Mountain with Xiao Ding. Xiao Ding was stubborn and fed her a Dahuan Dan last night.
Shaolin's Great Returning Pill is very effective. In addition, Tang Qingqing is a martial arts practitioner and has deep internal strength. After a few days of training, there will be no serious problems.
In this weather, it was naturally much warmer inside the house than outside, but Zhao Qingming could only go to the courtyard to guard the coffin, and his senior brother Wei Qingshu also went with him to keep him company.
Sitting next to the firewood were Liu Qingfeng, Nie Qingyun and Xiao Ding.
Liu Qingfeng added firewood to the fire from time to time. Nie Qingyun held his sword in both hands and leaned against a central pillar with his eyes closed to meditate.
After a day of urgent trekking, everyone felt tired.
But Xiao Ding seemed to be made of iron. His eyes flickered under the firelight in the dark night. How could he be sleepy?
He looked at Liu Qingfeng and smiled: "It is said that the Four Swordsmen of Qingcheng have superb swordsmanship. Wei Qingshu, the 'Epee Sword', Liu Qingfeng, the 'Junzi Sword', Nie Qingyun, the 'Biyun Sword', and Zhao Qingming, the 'Qingming Sword', many years ago They are already well-known in the world, and the swordsmanship of the four of them has long been outstanding. It seems that the rumors are true."
Liu Qingfeng said calmly: "It's just a rumor, it's just false. Don't believe it, Shaoxia Ding."
Xiao Ding smiled and said: "I have come to believe that some things cannot be mistransmitted."
After speaking, he picked up a five- to six-inch piece of wood next to his feet, raised his hand, and with a whoosh, the wood shot straight towards Nie Qingyun's face.
When Liu Qingfeng saw Xiao Ding taking action, he didn't know if he was in a hurry. He didn't see him shout out to warn Nie Qingyun, nor did he take action to stop Mu Mu.
He didn't even raise his eyelids.
The wood broke through the air and came towards him. Nie Qingyun didn't even open his eyes, the long sword in his hand was already unsheathed.
With a "crash", the wood was split into two and fell to the ground.
The wood just fell down, and the sword was sheathed with a clang.
What a fast sword.
What a quick response.
Nie Qingyun had opened his eyes, stared at Xiao Ding, and said coldly: "Ding Shaoxia, what do you mean?"
Xiao Ding said with a smile: "Nothing, I just want to test whether your sword is fast enough."
After saying that, he stood up, patted the dust on his body, stretched lazily, and said with a smile: "Because I suddenly want to have a good sleep, of course I have to test whether your sword skills are fast enough. "
Xiao Ding walked directly to another wooden couch and fell asleep.
Liu Qingfeng and Nie Qingyun were left looking at each other in shock.
