The headless corpse twitched several times on the ground, and finally stopped moving.
When he was young, Cai Zhao once asked his aunt if she was afraid when she killed someone for the first time.
Cai Pingshu told some past events as usual.
The first person she killed was an unknown gangster. In terms of ability, that person is not worthy of carrying shoes for the Demon Cult, but his cruelty is still beyond the pale.
That year, Cai Pingshu was not yet fourteen. He was rushing with the children of the Zhou family to attend the rookie competition of the six factions organized by Yin Dai. When passing by a farmhouse in the mountains and forests, he saw an old couple holding their little granddaughter's hand. The corpse cried bitterly.
After careful questioning, I found out that one of the gangsters felt hungry on his way back to his nest last night, so he broke into the farmhouse and demanded food and drink. That area was already full of bandits' nests, so how could the old couple disobey them and spend all their money to entertain the bandits with good food and drinks.
Unexpectedly, after the gangsters were drunk and full, they fell in love with their thirteen-year-old granddaughter. Because the little girl scratched the gangster's flesh in severe pain, she was humiliated and stabbed to death.
Cai Pingshu was so angry that she couldn't express her anger. Her brothers and sisters who were traveling with her all advised her to leave some money for the old couple. There were many bandits' nests in that dense forest. God knew where the little thief was hiding. To avenge the old couple was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Ying Yin The call of the old sect leader is to jointly resist the demonic sect.
Cai Pingshu couldn't figure out whether it was only the devil's sect that committed evil, and ordinary gangsters who killed innocent people were not considered evil, so she left a message and ran away after a few days in front of the large group of people, and slipped back alone.
At that time, she was still young and a little bit road-crazy. She had traveled many wrong roads and suffered so much. She had almost leveled half of the mountain forest, and had over a dozen bandits' nests entrenched here turned upside down and screamed in agony. Finally, she found her. That thief.
The frightened village leader quickly pushed out the subordinate who had caused trouble. Cai Pingshu killed the traitor without hesitation and overthrew the entire bandit village - why did he go there earlier? Hand it over.
Of course, she also missed the Beichen Rookie Competition.
Cai Pingshu thought she would be scared for her first murder, but when she cut off the thief who raped and killed a weak girl, not only did she not have the slightest fear, she felt very happy instead.
Chang Ning killed the remaining three people and rushed to the pavilion in a few steps.
Seeing that Cai Zhao was in a daze, he thought she was afraid after killing someone for the first time, so he quickly said: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. This place is very close to the kitchen at the outer door. How about I accompany you to have a bowl of soothing soup?"
Cai Zhao looked at the corpse of the man in gray on the ground, bleeding from the broken neck.
She shook her head, "I'm not afraid."
——"Auntie, the man who came to seek refuge with daddy is dead. His body is in tatters and blood is everywhere. Mom can't save him. I'm so scared. Auntie, are you really not afraid of killing someone for the first time? ?”
"Don't be afraid." Cai Pingshu stroked the little girl's hair, "We can help the strong and help the weak and uphold the principles of nature. There is nothing to be afraid of."
Cai Zhao recited these twelve words silently in his heart.
At this moment, she also experienced the relief after cutting off the evil thief.
Three years later, she realized that her aunt had not left. She had left her martial arts and courage to herself.
The young disciple who had just called for help died due to his serious injuries.
Chang Ning checked the breathing of the remaining corpses and shook his head.
He looked up and saw Cai Zhao with a gloomy look on his face. He made a new move and said with a smile: "Just now you started to use it, and I realized that what you were using was actually not the sword technique, but the knife technique. Haha, you were hiding it well."
"Both each other." Cai Zhao wiped the long sword on the clothes of the gray-clothed corpse, "I used to think that Senior Brother Chang used his left hand when fighting the enemy, but today I realized that Brother Chang actually uses his right hand."
Chang Ning's expression remained unchanged, and her smile became gentler, "What does Zhao Zhao mean by this?"
"It's not interesting." Cai Zhao raised his head and smiled, "We have only known each other for more than ten days. There are many things we don't know, and we can't hide them."
Seeing her relaxed and casual expression, Chang Ning also smiled: "Zhaozhao is right."
After finishing the fight, the two of them continued moving forward without further delay.
Qingque Sect occupies a huge area and is sparsely populated. With Muwei Palace as the boundary, the martial arts field is at the northernmost part of Muwei Palace, and Wanshui Qianshan Cliff is at the southernmost part of Muwei Palace. The two of them walked with their backs to the palace buildings. The further they went, the fewer people there were. Except for the scattered corpses along the way, even the man in gray was nowhere to be seen.
Running all the way, stepping on the leaves and falling dust, Chang Ning noticed that there was always a smile on Cai Zhao's lips, and couldn't help but ask: "Why are you so happy?" Killing a bad guy wouldn't make you happy like this.
Cai Zhao asked back: "Do you know that more than 20 years ago, the old master Yin Dai held a Beichen rookie martial arts competition?"
Where did this topic get sidetracked? Chang Ning prides himself on having a clear mind, but at the moment he can't figure out what the girl means.
"In that competition, Uncle Zhou and Wu Yuanying stood out, and they were neck and neck." Cai Zhao didn't know what he thought of, and smiled especially happily, "But Aunt Zhixian said that it was actually Uncle Zhou who won the championship. When he faced Wu Yuanying, Keep your hands."
"That's why."
Cai Zhao's cheeks were pink and his smile was bright, "Because he saw that Old Sect Leader Yin wanted his beloved disciple and future son-in-law to show his face in front of everyone. Uncle Zhou is a humble gentleman, so he has no intention of stealing the limelight. Alas, it's a pity that Qiu Renjie failed. It was so fast that he didn’t even think about how to give up the moves and the contest was over, so Uncle Zhou had to cleverly give up half a move against Wu Yuanying.”
Chang Ning chuckled and asked, "What about your aunt? Could it be that her martial arts skills were not yet mature at that time?"
Cai Zhao: "That time she was delayed because of something and didn't go."
"Does this make you smile like this?" It was sweeter than when you were eating chicken soup wontons that night.
The girl's heart sank slightly, and she explained patiently, "It's not because I'm happy about this, it's because I think about my aunt and she's happy."
Chang Ning reluctantly expressed understanding.
Cai Zhao paused and then said, "A year later, when it was Taichu Temple's turn to hold the Beichen Rookie Competition, my aunt went."
Chang Ning hummed: "Is it that time when your aunt broke someone's sword?"
"...That's right."
She only learned this from her mother more than ten days ago.
That year, Cai Pingshu, who had just turned sixteen, was accompanied by Chang Haosheng, who was worried about the country and the people, on the left, and Ning Xiaofeng, who had just been coaxed back from Xuankong An, on the right. In the middle, there was also a silly person with low self-esteem and introversion. Qi Yunke.
She wanted to make Chang Haosheng relaxed, wanted to make Ning Xiaofeng happy, and wanted to encourage Qi Yunke, so she used all her strength in the competition. In fact, after wandering around outside for more than a year, she didn't realize that her cultivation was far behind. Winner of the six factions.
In the end, Taichu Guan's sword was broken, and a rift arose.
Ning Xiaofeng said that in fact, Cai Pingshu did not regret it later. In fact, Wu Yuanying was generous and heroic and had an upright character, which was very worthy of friendship. It was a pity that everyone had a bad look because of this.
…
The two finally arrived at Thousands of Waters and Thousands of Mountains and Cliffs.
Seven huge black chain boxes stand on the edge of the cliff. Each chain box is square on the outside and round on the inside. There are huge sprocket shafts and powerful dark iron mechanisms hidden inside, and the iron chains can be retracted and released at any time.
At this time, the iron chains had been ejected from the seven chain boxes, but the locks were also unlocked, and the iron chains hung down into the abyss under the cliff. Surrounding the chain boxes were the corpses of the cliff-guarding disciples, as well as some men in gray and the outer disciples. The bodies of people who died in a fight.
Chang Ning's wide sleeves fluttered and he leaped over to the corpse to inspect it. Sometimes he looked at the corpse of the man in gray, sometimes he squatted down to check the injuries on the corpse of the sect disciple. Cai Zhao followed him quietly.
After half a quarter of an hour, he came to the conclusion: "There is a thief."
"You've been looking through the corpse for a long time and you can see this? I know this too."
Cai Zhao sighed, "The iron chain is sent out from the cliffs of thousands of rivers and mountains, and it is not shot from the top of the wind and clouds on the other side. The troublemakers are naturally the people in the sect." This is nonsense.
"Has any of the outer disciples been bribed, or has the family member who came to visit the child on the cliff today been impersonated?" Her guess was endless - there were at least two to three hundred people in the sect, including cooks, gardeners, maids, and servants. The range of insider thieves is too great.
"Strange, really strange." Chang Ning's expression became more solemn.
Cai Zhao stopped sarcastically: "What happened?"
"Come and see." Chang Ning ordered the corpses of several sect disciples on the ground. "This one died from the Judge's Pen, this one died from the Fenshui Emei Thorn, and these three died from the Purple Gold Hammer - but the demon lying on the ground None of the religious corpses use these three weapons."
Cai Zhao read it again: "That means that those who used these three weapons left immediately after killing people."
Chang Ning nodded, and then nodded at the four or five corpses of men in gray on the ground: "Look at these people. Except for one who died with the long sword, the remaining four were all killed by the Great Compassion Hand and the Vajra Finger - but the sects on the ground None of the disciples have any traces of having practiced the Great Compassion Hand and Vajra Finger on their hands."
The Great Compassion Hand and Vajra Finger are both extremely powerful external martial arts skills. Therefore, those who practice this skill will inevitably have thick calluses on their palms and fingers.
Cai Zhao thought for a while: "Maybe it's Master Chen and Master Ouyang. I heard that they were both disciples of Buddhism. After returning to secular life, they were recruited by Sect Master Yin." According to Fan Xingjia, these two people have a blood feud with the demon sect. , but the strict rules of Jialan Temple prohibited the monks from starting wars with the demon sect for personal revenge, so the two had no choice but to return to secular life.
Chang Ning glanced at the girl: "You don't have to be a Buddhist to practice the Great Compassion Hand and Vajra Finger."
He added, "What I mean is that both the enemy and us did not suffer losses, but that there were people on both sides withdrew completely. There must have been a crackling fight, and the demon sect thieves ran away first, and the sect disciples chased after them, leaving many on the ground. Corpse. But the strange thing is here——"
"If you have something to say, just say it and don't keep it secret." Cai Zhao thought with a headache, "The weather in Luoying Valley is going smoothly and business is booming. I have never encountered such a thing."
"Look at these corpses. They are either injured on the back or on the side. Moreover, the swords are not out of their sheaths. It is obvious that they died from a sneak attack before they could even fight back." Chang Ning left the six or seven corpses and walked a few steps to the left. , pointing to the ground, "Looking at these two corpses again, although they were injured on the front, they could barely draw the sword halfway, and their elbows could not be straightened, and their expressions of shock before death were indescribable - they obviously saw 'one of our own' Because of the sudden attack."
Cai Zhao agreed: "If we want to kill eight cliff-guarding disciples at once, I'm afraid there will be more than one thief."
Chang Ning nodded, "After quickly killing the disciples guarding the cliff, the thief immediately opened the chain box, closed the engine box, and shot the chain to the other side - Fengyunding must have been controlled by the thieves at that time. However, once the black iron machine box was closed, When activated, a loud noise will be made, thus alarming the patrolling disciples not far away..."
"Is the sound so loud when the engine is closed?" Cai Zhao wondered.
Chang Ning: "You think it's too simple to think of thousands of rivers and thousands of cliffs. For two hundred years, the Demon Sect has been unable to attack the cliff despite all the troubles. The Qingque Sect has its own advantages."
"There are checkpoints and outposts everywhere from the cliff to Muwei Palace, and there are disciples patrolling back and forth. If one place is attacked, a whistle will be sent out immediately to warn, and then reinforcements will come from everywhere." He pointed at the disciple on the ground who died half-way through drawing his sword, with his neck Sure enough, there was a silver whistle hanging on it.
"Even if the disciples guarding the cliff are plotted without blowing the whistle, the loud noise when the machine box is activated can be heard within seven or eight miles. As long as the patrolling disciples of each team are not deaf, they can also blow the whistle to warn, and then the entire sect will Got it all."
Cai Zhao couldn't help but put his little hand on the cold black iron chassis, showing a look of awe.
After a second thought, she suddenly said, "No. Even if the disciples from all over the place came after hearing the news, the machine box has already been activated by this time, and the thieves have already come up."
Chang Ning smiled: "How much time did you spend on the iron rope from Fengyunding to Ten Thousand Rivers and Thousands of Mountains and Cliffs?"
Cai Zhao was startled, remembering the swaying iron ropes and the harsh scraping sound of the iron plates, "We, a family of four, came by carriage, and it took a lot of effort. But if we use Qinggong, it will definitely be much faster, right? .”
"It takes about half an hour to walk normally on the iron rope. If you use Qinggong to leap, it can be half as fast." Chang Ning said quickly, "The machine started and made a loud noise. After a moment, the thief came up the cliff - but at this time, the sect disciples Already arrived."
"Besides, only the first wave of people can climb up the cliff within a moment. Even if the seven iron ropes are opened simultaneously and seven masters come up at once, if there are far more disciples coming to support them, only one or two people need to be spared. You can open the lock in the machine box. The iron rope will be disconnected immediately, and all the people on the iron rope will fall into the abyss."
Cai Zhao thought about it carefully and realized that this was indeed the case, "Also, if they want to perform Qing Gong, they cannot be too close to each other. The iron rope is so swaying that it is easy to fall if there are people crowded together."
She made an inference and estimated, "The patrolling disciples who arrived first happened to encounter the first wave of demon sect thieves who came up the cliff. The thieves were highly skilled in martial arts and the sect disciples were unable to defeat them. However, the subsequent sect disciples arrived one after another... less to say …”
She looked at the messy footprints on the ground and said, "At least there are forty or fifty people." Qingque Sect is accustomed to forming groups of seven people, and there are at least seven or eight groups of people patrolling around the cliff.
"About twenty demon sect thieves are coming." Chang Ning also estimated the time.
Cai Zhao continued, "There are more and more disciples of the sect, and the demon sect thieves are outnumbered. Moreover, the lock of the machine box has been opened at this time, and the demon sect thieves behind can't get up. They are not eager to fight, but want to fight. After killing and injuring several sect disciples, he escaped and went north."
In terms of individual combat power, the demon sect thieves were obviously stronger in martial arts than the sect disciples, and they could not stop them. So everyone sent people to blow the horns to warn the sect and pursued them closely.
"That should be the case." Chang Ning said.
"But so what?" Cai Zhao looked at Chang Ning, "We have deduced so much, even if they are all correct, so what." - If you don't rush to Muweigong's aid, you'll have a bloody face.
Chang Ning seemed to see the girl's anxiety: "Then the question is. Did the Demon Sect go through so much trouble just to send more than 20 people to the Qingque Sect? What can these 20 people do? Hundreds of sect disciples rushed forward , trampled them to death."
Cai Zhao was also confused. How did she know this?
She looked around with a headache, and suddenly pointed to a corpse on the ground and said, "Do you think this person died because of a plot by a traitor?"
Chang Ning was startled, answered yes, and asked why.
Cai Zhao was shocked and said: "This, this is the sword technique of Taichu Guan."
Chang Ning was shocked and lowered his head to look - he saw that the man was stabbed with a long sword from the left chest, and then penetrated from the right back, killing him with one blow, "Are you sure?"
Cai Zhao nodded vigorously, pointed at the man's left chest and said, "If you don't believe me, tear open his clothes and see if there is a half-circle scar where the sword tip penetrated the flesh."
Chang Ning tore open the clothes at the chest of the dead body, and it turned out to be true.
Cai Zhaodao: "This is the thirteenth form of Taichu Guan Ziyang's sword technique, 'Looking back at the window and looking at the moon'. It is a proud move created by Xiaoyaozi, the third generation leader of Taichu Guan. My aunt told me that when drawing the sword, you should lower your body first." Half, and then stab the enemy's vital point from bottom to top. Because the force must be exerted upward, the sword hilt must be rotated when it penetrates the flesh, leaving such a curved sword mark."
