When Nan Dao noticed something unusual, he dodged away. However, the long knife passed directly through the bamboo platform at his feet. Nan Dao stepped on the bamboo board, then jumped back, flying in the air. He pulled out the sword from his waist and held the horizontal sword in front of his chest.
The knife was relentless and struck towards the South Island again.
This time Nan Dao saw it clearly.
It was the man in black at the bottom of the river on the fourth night of the Lunar New Year.
The knife struck the sword on the chest, splitting Nan Dao out and landing on the steps leading to the river.
Nan Dao endured the pain, stood up, glanced at the man, turned around and ran away.
The man in black stood on the stage, raised his leg and stepped lightly on the guardrail. He looked like a ghost and chased after him.
The commotion behind the wine shop quickly attracted many people. However, when they came, they only saw the platform that had been chopped into a mess. No one could be seen here.
Nan Dao put away his sword and kept running down the long street.
The sword strike just now made Nan Dao realize that this person was not someone he could defeat, so he had no choice but to escape first.
However, while Nan Dao was running, he inadvertently raised his eyes and glanced at the eaves, and found that the man in black was following him along the green eaves of the long street under the moonlight.
Nan Dao stopped, and the man also stopped, standing silently on the eaves, not coming down, as if he didn't want to make too much noise in Nanyi City.
Nan Dao stood under the eaves holding an umbrella, silent for a long time.
After a long time, the man seemed to notice something. He glanced not far away, stepped lightly on the ridge of the roof, and disappeared into the lights of the world.
Nan Dao looked in the direction where the man glanced, but saw a middle-aged man in a black gold-patterned robe standing on the street holding a sword, with a black token hanging on his waist with two words on it.
Hell.
The man raised his head and looked at the man in black disappearing under the night. Without saying anything, he walked towards this part of the South Island.
Nan Dao stood under the eaves, silent.
The man from Heavenly Prison stopped in front of Nan Dao, looked up and down for a long time, and said, "People from Xuanxuyuan?"
Nan Dao bowed and said, "Concierge of Xuansheyuan."
"It's rare to see a concierge with a sword." The man turned around and looked at the moonlit night above the prosperous lights of the world. "How did you provoke the He Zong people?"
Nan Dao was silent for a while and said, "I don't know."
The man looked back at Nandao for a long time and said, "Do you know where He Zong is?"
"Where?"
The man turned back and walked towards the other part of the long street.
"They are crazy, much crazier than us in Heavenly Hell." The man said as he walked. "But you don't have to worry too much. You are still relatively safe in Nanyi City."
Nan Dao saluted the man from behind and said, "Thank you, senior, for your help."
The man didn't speak, held his sword and disappeared into the crowd.
...
The man in black put away his knife and quickly shuttled through the alleys of Nanyi City.
Then suddenly stopped.
Under the tree at the entrance of the alley ahead, there was a man standing leaning against the tree with a scabbard on his back.
"Whose hands is He Zong in now?"
Zhang Xiaoyu turned to look at the man and asked calmly.
The man in black didn't answer and turned around to leave, but was hit in the back by a scabbard. He groaned and fell to the alley.
Zhang Xiaoyu walked over slowly, picked up the scabbard from the ground, tied it on his back again, then squatted down in front of the man in black and looked at him for a long time without taking off his mask.
"I don't want to say forget it." Zhang Xiaoyu stood up and walked out of the alley calmly. "But this is Nanyi City. Since you like to hide in the darkness, you should hide in the darkness well."
"traitor!"
The man in black raised his head and looked at Zhang Xiaoyu's back from behind, cursing in a hoarse voice.
Zhang Xiaoyu stopped, looked back at him, and said softly: "In my opinion, you people from the He Sect are traitors."
...
Holding the umbrella tightly, Nan Dao walked uneasily through the long street of Xuanshuyuan and returned to the courtyard. He looked back at the door that had not been closed for many years and hesitated whether to close it.
After being silent at the door for a long time, Nan Dao gave up the idea.
It is naturally safe in Xuanxu Courtyard.
The two attacks on Nandao were both on the Nanyi River, and the first time was under the water. This time, although he chased after him, he did not dare to take action. Instead, he was frightened away by the people from Tianjing.
Nan Dao returned to the room, closed the door, slumped down and kept coughing.
He was hit by a knife earlier and hit the stone steps next to the wine shop. Nan Dao endured the pain and ran all the way. At this time, when he returned to the room, he felt as if his whole body was falling apart.
After sitting paralyzed for a while, Nan Dao sat upright with his legs crossed.
The vitality of heaven and earth in the Divine Sea is still abundant, but at this time it is also constantly shuttled through the body, repairing the injured bones and flesh.
Not in danger.
Nan Dao suddenly remembered what the man named Peach Blossom said that day.
It should be the Taoist text in Qingniu Five Thousand Words.
Looking inside the Divine Sea, the Blue Bull Five Thousand Words hangs there quietly, and the vitality that repairs the body is driven away by it.
If it persists, it will not be used diligently.
Nan Dao was silent for a long time, breathing in the vitality of heaven and earth, and began to practice.
After a long time, Nan Dao opened his eyes again.
He took off his clothes and raised his hand to touch his back. The pain there had alleviated a lot.
I think it won't take long to recover.
But Nan Dao felt very heavy.
River Zong.
Nan Dao whispered the name.
This was the first time he had seen this name.
People in Heavenly Hell say they are crazy.
Why crazy?
And why do you attack yourself repeatedly?
Nan Dao fell into deep thought, but still couldn't understand why.
It wasn't until late at night that Nan Dao sat on the bed and fell asleep holding an umbrella.
When he woke up the next day, it was raining lightly in the yard. Nan Dao picked up the broom as usual and planned to go out to clean up. However, when he walked out, he found Zhang Xiaoyu sitting at the door.
Seeing Nan Dao open the door and come out, Zhang Xiaoyu said guiltily: "Junior brother, I didn't catch that person last night."
Nan Dao was stunned for a moment, looked at Zhang Xiaoyu and said, "Senior brother was here last night?"
Zhang Xiaoyu nodded and sighed: "I was playing cards nearby last night. When I heard the noise, the man had already started to run away. When I saw you talking to the man from Heavenly Prison, junior brother, I went to chase him. But unfortunately I couldn’t catch him, he ran into the river and disappeared.”
Nan Dao looked at Zhang Xiaoyu and said gratefully: "Thank you, senior brother."
Zhang Xiaoyu stood under the eaves and shook his head.
Nan Dao held the broom and said, "Senior brother, does he know about He Zong?"
Zhang Xiaoyu was silent for a moment, then turned to look not far away and said, "I know, could that person be from the He Sect?"
Nan Dao nodded and said: "What the person from Heavenly Prison told me last night is strange to say that I have stayed in Nanke Town since I was a child and have never gone out to make enemies with anyone. As soon as I came to Nanyi City, I I was chased by him twice, and I don’t know why.”
Zhang Xiaoyu looked at the wall in the rain, where a green grass was swaying. After looking at it for a while, Zhang Xiaoyu said, "Yeah, it's really strange."
"Senior brother is a disciple of the Sword Sect, so he should know where the He Sect is."
Nan Dao looked at Zhang Xiaoyu and asked.
Zhang Xiaoyu said calmly: "I know, He Sect belongs to Shanhe Temple, and I have always been unhappy with them."
"Senior brother, have you ever had any enmity with people from the He Sect?"
Zhang Xiaoyu was silent for a while and said, "You can say that."
"Senior brother, please be careful. The people from Heavenly Prison told me last night that people from He Sect have always been crazy."
Zhang Xiaoyu turned to look at Nan Dao, then smiled and said, "It's okay, they don't dare to touch me, but junior brother should be more careful."
Nan Dao nodded and said: "That's true, after all, you are a disciple of the Human Sword Sect."
Zhang Xiaoyu walked towards the rain, thought for a while, and then looked back at Nandao.
"Don't have too much contact with people from Heavenly Prison."
"Why?"
Zhang Xiaoyu turned back and said slowly: "They are not much better than the He Sect."
Nan Dao nodded in agreement from behind.
"I understand, senior brother."
As he spoke, he remembered something again, looked at Zhang Xiaoyu and asked, "By the way, why haven't you seen senior brother in the past few days?"
"I went to play cards with other senior brothers in Sword Sect."
"oh."
Looking at Zhang Xiaoyu's slowly leaving figure, Nan Dao always felt a little strange.
Yes.
Zhang Xiaoyu's mood was wrong.
Such Zhang Xiaoyu.
Not cheerful at all.
Nan Dao suddenly missed Zhang Xiaoyu who was laughing and joking before.
After Nan Dao finished his work, he went out to buy two jars of wine, stacked them in his arms, and then went to the library.
Chen He from Xianyun Yehe was sitting at the door, his eyelids constantly crossing his eyes, obviously extremely sleepy.
Nan Dao put the wine on the counter and threw the remaining money on him.
"Brother Chen He, didn't you sleep well last night?"
Chen He woke up in a daze, glanced at Nandao, yawned, and said, "Someone was playing cards in the library last night and kept me noisy all night. I was so annoyed."
Nan Dao looked at the library curiously, and sure enough, a space there was cleared and a card table was placed.
Nan Dao was stunned by this scene.
"Did you come here to play cards?"
"That's right." Chen He said helplessly, "It is said that he is from the School of Mathematics and Physics. He loses too many credits playing cards on weekdays, so he comes to the library in the middle of the night to practice his card skills."
"..." Nan Dao was speechless.
The oldest and longest tradition in Nanyi City is indeed playing cards.
Chen He looked at the wine he bought from Nandao, yawned and said, "You go up and sit down for a while, and I'll come up after I catch up on my sleep."
Nan Dao smiled and said: "It's okay, you sleep in your bed and I'll read a book."
Chen He nodded and fell asleep again.
Nan Dao walked upstairs and flipped through the practice books on the second floor for a long time, but didn't find what he wanted.
That is Taoism or swordsmanship.
Most of them are methods of practice or initial explanations.
The only book that can be regarded as swordsmanship is "The Preliminary Explanation of the Cause and Effect Sword" written by Cong Yan.
Nan Dao took out the book again, read it for a while, and then put it back.
But suddenly he remembered something.
Cong Ren's sword is still in Nanyi City.
Where did Zhang Xiaoyu's go?
Although it was known in the past that he only carried a scabbard, Nan Dao just thought that the sword was lost, or that it was kept somewhere - like autumn water.
Qiu Xi'er once said that Zhang Xiaoyu is the only person in the human sword sect who has learned the fruit sword.
Where had he sent the sword?
Nan Dao suddenly became curious.
Thinking that I must ask this question next time I see Zhang Xiaoyu.
If possible, you can also learn the Karma Sword.
After all, it is one of the three swords in the world.
Nan Dao thought and stood on the stairs leading to the third floor.
The door is closed, and you can still hear the sound of rain on the third floor. It must be the slant wind blowing the rain into the small building.
But it seems to have turned into the sound of flowing water in a large lake on a high cliff in the sea of clouds.
So what is behind the door?
Nan Dao stood there hesitantly.
