Xiao Ning is a good horse, riding a good horse from the north. Yabo Han has grown up on a horse, and his horse control skills are unmatched by people from the Central Plains. The two of them were separated by one or two miles. But they never distanced themselves. After running like this for more than ten miles, he saw the road ahead suddenly passing through the town. Seeing the bustling crowd in the distance, Xiao Ning was overjoyed and rushed into the town at full speed.
In less than a quarter of an hour, Yabohan also arrived at the entrance of the town. When he looked again, Xiao Ning had disappeared. He looked up and saw the words "Hexi Town" written on the archway at the entrance of the town. Then he looked at the crowd in the town, but he also frowned.
This "Hexi Town" not only has an official road passing through it, but also has a river wharf leading directly to the Yangtze River. Water and land transportation converge here, making it very prosperous. Xiao Ning got off his horse and walked early when he entered the town. Knowing that Yabohan would catch up to him from time to time, he hurriedly hid in the crowd. As the crowd moved to a remote place, he changed his clothes in a garment shop and wrapped them in a parcel. Armed with a weapon and a human-skin mask, Fang had to find an inn to stay at the corner of the street regardless of whether it was morning or evening.
The guest room was a single room on the second floor. A window faced the busy street, and the head and tail of the town could be seen in the distance. At this moment, Xiao Ning opened the window generously and looked at Yabohan who was gradually walking into the town, and sneered secretly in his heart.
Yabohan hesitated for a moment at the entrance of the town, and then led his horse into the town. There was a large population in the town, and there were constant shouts from the merchant shops on both sides. He couldn't find anyone for a while, and he looked like a foreigner. It attracted many good people to point out and watch, which made him very upset. He just searched around the town for a while, bought some simple food, and then chased through the town.
Seeing Yabo Han go away, Xiao Ning breathed a sigh of relief, then half-closed the window, came to the table, took the newly acquired long knife and looked at it carefully.
Judging from the appearance alone, the knife is three feet and nine inches long. It has a straight cutting edge. The handle occupies more than a foot. The width of the blade is about two inches. The edge is sharp. The back of the knife is half a finger thick. There is a dragon head faintly carved on the tang. Gold clamps the blade, the wooden handle is rotten, and the tail of the handle is made of a phoenix bird, with its wings spread out in a ring.
There seemed to be words on the blade. He wiped it and took a closer look, but it was engraved with thirty-two words: "An ancient sharp weapon, Wu Chu Zhan Lu, Da Xia Longque, famous as the capital of the gods, can be far-reaching, can be soft and close, like wind-swept grass, powerful Serve the nine districts.”
After Xiao Ning read it, he couldn't help but take a deep breath. He had also read the "Book of Jin". During the Wu Hu period of chaos in China, Helian Bobo, the leader of Xia, claimed that after Xia Qi, he established the Hu Xia regime. He once occupied Chang'an and commanded the Central Plains. Among them, borrowing the name of the giant bronze blade made by Emperor Zhi of the ancient Xia Dynasty, he made a hundred steel-making knives with five mouths, three feet and nine inches long, decorated with a large dragon and bird ring, with an inscription and seal carving of thirty-two characters, named " "Da Xia Long Que" are all precious blades that cut through gold and jade, and cut iron like mud.
Later, according to the "Records of Ancient and Modern Swords" written by people from the Southern Dynasties, Liu Yu got a sword when he defeated Chang'an. It was also rumored that Wei Taizu Tuoba Tao got a sword when he killed Helianchang, and the other three were missing. Xiao Ning was surprised when he saw a knife here today.
Seeing that the wooden scabbard was rotten and barely usable, I had to find a piece of white cloth, wrap the knife thinly, and put it on top of the luggage.
Now I looked out the window again. It was already dark. I came to the window and watched for a while. Suddenly I saw a man riding a horse at the end of the town. When I looked closely, it was Yabohan. Apparently he had just chased for a while and found no one, so he realized that the person was still in the town, and then he returned.
When Xiao Ning saw him upstairs, he also found an inn across the road and stayed in it. It was also a guest room near the street entrance, and the windows at the beginning and end of the town were also visible. He couldn't help but murmured "Xiao Shi Xian" coldly, closed the window and came inside. , but also frowned. It turned out that there was only one way out of the town, and it was not easy to slip out from under his nose. It took him a long time to think about it, but he finally came up with a plan.
As soon as it was the fourth watch of the night, Xiao Ning got up in the dark, packed his luggage and carried it on his back. He called the innkeeper and handed him a piece of broken silver to give him instructions. The waiter nodded in agreement.
A quarter of an hour later, a figure led the horse quietly around the end of the town in the dark, then got on the horse and rushed out of the town. At this time, a window on the second floor of an inn on the street suddenly opened wide, and a figure jumped out like a goshawk and headed straight for the end of the town.
As soon as the people at the end of the town got on their horses, the man was already approaching, and he heard a low voice: "Boy, where are you running!"
The rider on horseback trembled and was already caught in the hands of those who came after him. It was Yabo Han who jumped out. At this moment, the man who caught the horse realized that something was wrong. He knew it, but he heard the man on the horse scream repeatedly, "Uncle, let go, it hurts me to death, let go."
When he looked again, he saw a man dressed as a waiter, grinning in pain. It was rare that Yabo didn't understand martial arts and was not good at hitting hard, so he let go and yelled: "Whose horse is this?"
"The horse belongs to a guest in the shop," the waiter said tremblingly.
"What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?"
"The guest officer said he would let me ride a horse from the back door to the end of the town and out of town, and then it would be mine."
Yabohan looked carefully and saw that there was no weapons and luggage on his horse, and growled: "No, I've been fooled!" He asked Xiaoer where the inn was, turned around and rushed back. When I rushed into the store, I saw that the door of a guest room on the second floor was wide open and there was no one in the room. He jumped up to the roof of the house, only to see that someone had already ridden Zhenwei's mount and ran away. He was so angry that he smashed his hands together in hatred.
He turned around and returned to his room, but was furious again. It turned out that except for the weapons that he had just chased out, all the other things had been turned to pieces. There were no traces of gold, silver or valuables. Nothing at all, seeing that the dignified second disciple of the Shenyin Sect had to go back to the North Kingdom with food.
As soon as Yabohan left at the end of the town, Xiao Ning emerged from the shadows, reached out to take the reins from the waiter's hand, handed over another piece of silver, got on his horse and galloped out of the town.
After walking for three to five miles, the sky was getting brighter. Xiao Ning didn't hear the sound of chasing behind him, so he expected that he had given up. Then he felt relieved, but he also became more careful. He had prepared enough dry food in front of him. He never passed through villages or towns, and always took detours as much as possible to avoid leaving traces.
Another seven or eight days passed in a blink of an eye. When they arrived at Baidi City, Xiao Ning only took a short rest before riding into the mountains. On that day, Divine Doctor Dong only left a message: "The land of Bashu is near Baidi." Baidi City looks to the south of the Yangtze River, and the northwest is full of mountains. He couldn't find out the specific location of "Yaowang Valley" for a while. He just wanted to call it a valley. When it was among the mountains, he went to the northwest to find it.
The mountains are also rugged and difficult to navigate, and sometimes horses cannot be ridden. It was getting late that day, and I met a hunter coming down the mountain in the forest. Xiao Ning came forward, bowed, and asked where he could stay for one night. The hunter was very generous and said with a smile. : "Little brother, don't worry, just follow me. Three or four miles down there is a sweet puddle. I still have three earthen huts in the village. Little brother, you can make do with it for one night."
At this time, he also thanked him and went down the mountain with the hunter. After walking for three or four miles, he saw a small village sitting in the valley.
Entering Orion's house, he saw that the walls were empty and desolate. Orion smiled and let Xiao Ning sit. He picked up a few hares and pheasants in his hand and brought them up, and then took out half a jar of turbid wine to entertain the guests.
The two of them exchanged first and last names in the dining room, only to find out that this man's surname was Zhang, and his nickname was Niu'er. His parents were both dead, and he had no wife or children. He only went to the mountains and forests to hunt some game every day, and went to the town every other day to sell some furs and medicinal herbs. Make a living. At this moment, Zhang Niu'er asked: "Brother Xiao, I see that you are from a big city and you are literate. What are you doing in our valley?"
Xiao Ning took a sip of the sour turbid wine and replied with a smile: "Brother Zhang, it's nothing. It's just that the elders asked me to find a place and said it was nearby. By the way, Brother Zhang, you often run in the mountains. Have you seen me?" I’ve seen these three words carved on rocks.”
As he spoke, he dipped his hand into the wine and wrote the words "Yao Wang Valley" on the table. Zhang Niuer looked at it for a long time and shook his head, "Brother, you also know that I am illiterate, but I have never seen such three words carved on any stone."
"Yeah." Xiao Ning nodded, slightly disappointed. Zhang Niuer held the bowl and asked again: "Brother, what place are you looking for?"
"This is where my elder's sect is. I am also a member of the martial arts world. However, my elder moved out of the sect hundreds of years ago and hasn't had any contact with the sect for many years. Now he asked me to come find him again. I heard that in In a valley.”
"Oh," Zhang Niu'er nodded after hearing this, then frowned and said, "Then I think you can find it, brother."
"Why is this?" Xiao Ning asked strangely.
"I heard from the old people in the village that there was an earthquake here a hundred years ago. Rocks fell from the mountain and hit many people. Many people living in the valley moved out. I'm afraid your disciple also moved out. .”
Xiao Ning was also stunned after hearing this, thinking that this torment was really difficult to find. After thinking for a while, he asked: "That's difficult. Brother Zhang, have you ever heard of any strange valleys or strange people walking out of here?"
Zhang Niu'er was nibbling a rabbit head. Hearing this, he raised his head and thought for a while, shook his head and said: "It seems that I haven't seen any strange places or strange people. I can't go far. It's just three miles around here." Forty miles away, there’s really nothing strange here.”
"Oh." Xiao Ning became even more disappointed after hearing this. He had been out for more than half a month this time, and it was even more difficult to walk alone in the world. He thought to himself that if he searched for a few more months and there was still no trace, it would be a good idea to go back as soon as possible to become his disciple.
At this moment, Zhang Niu'er was gnawing on the bones and suddenly raised his head again, "By the way, there is something really wrong!"
"Oh? Brother Zhang, what's the matter?" Xiao Ning perked up when he saw his sudden words.
"About two or three years ago, I met two anxious herb collectors on the mountain. They said they saw the mountain god appear and that there was a mountain that could shine. They were so scared that they ran out overnight."
"Huh? Is there such a thing?" Xiao Ning also became more energetic, "Brother Zhang, where is that?"
"I don't know." Zhang Niu'er held the bones and shook his head. "They left in a hurry at that time. I didn't want to go and didn't dare to ask any more questions."
"Hey." Xiao Ning sighed in disappointment, "Brother Zhang, where did you meet them?"
"To go west from here, you have to climb over that mountain." Zhang Niu'er thought for a while and said, "Brother, don't be curious, it will be bad if you collide with the gods."
Xiao Ning smiled, nodded and didn't say much. He already had a plan in his heart. At this moment, he took out five taels of silver and put it on the table and said: "Brother Zhang, it's very difficult for me to walk in the mountains with horses." Sorry for the inconvenience, can I keep it with you for a few days, and this little money can be used as fodder money?"
Zhang Niuer had never seen so much money in his life. He was so frightened that he waved his hands quickly, "No, no, brother, you can't use so much."
Xiao Ning smiled slightly and insisted that he accept it. The two refused repeatedly before Zhang Niuer accepted the money and carefully placed it under the suitcase. Then they finished eating and fell asleep with a pile of hay in the side rooms on both sides.
