The afterglow of the setting sun turns the sky and the earth dim. Under the afterglow, people, horses and sand are yellow.
Forty miles outside Guyan Town, there is a man and a horse. The man listens to the horse tramping on the sand, and the horse staggers with the man, as if chatting. They walk in tandem, one behind the other, leisurely. The hustle and bustle of the small border town during the day seemed to gradually fade away with this person and horse.
"Old friend, just take two steps and we're almost there. It might be the last trip." The man said, licking his dry and crusted lips.
"Hmph..." The horse blew its nose as if irritated, and stopped, the still warm sand wrapping it lazily.
"Hey! Let's go, old friend, what do you mean, don't be ridiculous!" Ma simply lay down on the warm sand.
"My ancestors!" Dai Piaopiao was quite helpless at the moment. This horse was more difficult to take care of than his little mother. "Want to drink water or drink? Just tell me." Dai Piaopiao took two gourds from his waist, picked one with one finger, and asked the horse flatteringly with a smile.
The horse simply put its head on the ground, lying on its belly.
"Come on! I won't go either. Let's go to sleep. After drinking, we will go back to the city." He sat down with his head resting on his horse as if in a fit of anger, and took a greedy gulp of wine.
"You drink like you, I'm afraid you won't be able to leave a cup for me when you come to my place." The person who came was so thin that it looked like there was an extra long sword stuck in the ground. The horse started to neigh at the sound and kicked Dai Piaopiao into a somersault.
"Brother! You're scary, you're scared to death!" Dai Piaopiao jumped up, spat out a mouth full of sand, and smiled at those who looked at him.
The visitor did not say a word, but gently caressed the horse that was rubbing its face against his chest, as gently as if he were stroking his wife's hair.
"Hey! You little bitch. I raised you for three months and you didn't even let me ride. When I saw this half of you, I felt like I was meeting my own mother." Dai Piaopiao looked like a resentful woman.
"Half a person?" the visitor asked with a smile.
"There are less than half of us, you are such a closed-minded person, I give you delicious food three times a month, and you use them all to sacrifice to heaven? Do you still look human when you are so thin!" Dai Piaopiao yelled in a loud voice. With.
The visitor looked into the distance with indescribable worry in his eyes, as if he was deep in thought. After a while, he just said: "Thank you."
Dai Piaopiao is a talkative person. When encountering this kind of three-stick guy who can't beat him, he rubs his feet anxiously: "Thank you, I'll go to the city and give you some refills. Don't let your brother Yuan say that I'll starve you." Now, I only care about my own food and drink, and I don’t care whether you, Gu Ming, live or die."
"No?" Gu Ming said.
"What's wrong? What's wrong? Aren't you hungry? Look at how thin you are. I can pick your teeth after eating." Seeing that Gu Ming was silent, he added: "Hold on, it's been a few months, you're fully recovered." It’s not easy, and it’s several days ahead of schedule.”
"It's not healed yet." Gu Ming said calmly, his voice was very low, and he didn't know whether it was because he was hungry or because he was injured.
"Stop pretending." Dai Piaopiao only said two words, looking around. In the vast sea of sand, there were only the footprints of a person and a horse, and nothing else. Gu Ming seemed to appear out of thin air, but also seemed to have been here all along.
"I don't leave a trace when I step on the snow. Your mother can't leave a trace when she steps on the sand. Show off your skills." Dai Piaopiao curled her lips.
"got used to."
"Old dog Chen taught you, but he is not as used to it as you are." Dai Piaopiao seemed a little jealous.
"He taught us both at the same time." The visitor said calmly.
"Xingxing, you are smart. What are you doing here before you recover?" Dai Piaopiao was a little surprised and asked hurriedly.
"There are still two days before the promised date." Gu Ming looked into the distance again worriedly: "The date he mentioned includes all accidents and emergencies. Even the horse may have diarrhea, and suddenly in the desert The time it takes for boating to appear when there is a sea is taken into account." After a pause, he looked at Dai Piaopiao, who suddenly became serious, and then said: "If you calculate it this way, I'm afraid there will be some trouble if today is not here yet."
"What should we do?" Dai Piaopiao rarely talks when he needs to use his brain or has no idea when something happens, and he seems to be much calmer.
"Go and find it, or should you wait?" Gu Ming asked, and then asked: "Or should you wait while I look for you?"
"I can't sit still! You go back, I'll look for you." Dai Piaopiao made up his mind and took action immediately - he grabbed the front of the skinny Gu Ming with one hand and threw it to the girl who was still struggling. He kicked the horse from behind and said, "Go home, little bitch."
However, he saw that the horse did not move, and turned back to look at him. The man also sat on the horse, looked at him quietly, and sighed.
"Let's go." Gu Ming said.
"Where to go?"
"Don't you want to make up for it?" Gu Ming said, "You have to make up for it faster."
"Haha! Let's go!" Dai Piaopian laughed loudly and turned his head as he spoke.
"Mount."
"No! This ancestor threw me three times today. If it weren't for your horse, I would have had more dried meat to drink with." After that, he took another sip of wine and threw it to Gu Ming.
"Then I'll go first. I'll wait for you in the city." After saying that, he gently stroked the mane on the horse's neck. The horse actually started to move as if it understood the words, and it was a few steps ahead of the rude man who always bullied it. "Zhuiyue, feed him some sand." The horse neighed when he heard the words, kicked his hooves, and picked up a pile of sand and threw it at the door in front of Dai Piaopiao. The latter dodged with a beautiful somersault, and Zhuiyue had already jumped halfway out. Going out to the field, the joyful look seemed to be that all the energy that had been saved for several months was used.
"Bah! You little bitch. I won't take off your two horse legs tonight and roast them for dinner." After saying that, he jumped up and flew ten feet away like a swallow. There was no stagger when he came to lead the horse, and his toes touched the ground a little bit. , the next moment the man was firmly on the horse, standing on one foot, and smiled proudly at Gu Ming, who was standing side by side. Chaiyue was bumping up and down, and the two of them were motionless, as if they were on the back of a horse.
Guyan Town, like Qinggang City, is on the border of Nanqi Kingdom. Both are important border defense areas, but the difference is that Qinggang City borders the Western Region to the east and Beihu to the south, while Guyan Town only borders the Western Region. It's said to be a town, but if you really count it, this town is bigger than Qinggang City. If people from the surrounding villages go to the town, they only say that they are going to the city. The common people have said that a place with city walls should be called a city or a town? Have you ever seen such a big town? Why isn't that circle over there called "the town wall"? Today, the gate of the city is more lively than usual. The government has posted a notice: The criminal Chen Yuan is from Longyou. On the ninth day of May, he and others assassinated Hu Bing, the deputy commander of the Northern Army of Qinggang City, resulting in the death of all six of Commander Hu and his party. The criminal was hit with several swords in his back and was also seriously injured. Anyone who knows the thief, his parents, or anyone who knows the thief should report it to the government immediately and receive a reward of ten taels. Those who get his body will be rewarded with a hundred taels, and those who capture the thief alive will be rewarded with one thousand taels.
The person riding the horse listened to the person standing on the horse's butt read the words on the notice with difficulty as if he was illiterate, and his worry became more intense under his contemplation.
"Ha! Damn it! The painting is so ugly! It's not as good as..." Before Dai Piaopiao could finish speaking, the person in front of him stood up and covered his mouth.
"Brother, don't talk nonsense, people talk too much." Gu Ming said seriously.
"Oh, yes, quietly." Busy nodded softly, and after a moment he was furious again: "Afraid of the ball! Who can hurt him in front of me!" His eyes were even wider than chasing the moon, and his beard was also wide. All stood upright.
"Drive!" The former quickly urged his horse and entered the city.
"It seems something really happened." A person at the dinner table was worried and threw a peanut into his mouth.
"Hey! He gets into trouble every three days." One person didn't care very much, biting a pig's trotter in each hand, with a shiny black beard on his face.
"How could a charlatan go and assassinate an official of the imperial court?" The worried man was very puzzled and threw another peanut into his mouth.
"He definitely didn't kill him. This cowardice has caused harm to others." The indifferent person was very sure. "The big tree attracts the wind! We are the best in the world." Seeing that the person sitting opposite him was still distracted, he grabbed a lamb kidney and said: "Eat quickly. Only when you are full can you look for him. Maybe when you find him, he will be surrounded by the army. We have to fight with the army for the first time. Hahaha! My elder generation is also someone who has been on the battlefield and fought in the war!" The bearded man felt that it was endless fun to think about it.
"Okay, let's get ready after dinner. Let's walk all the way to Qinggang." Gu Ming pursed his lips and decided immediately. "Waiter, two bowls of dry noodles."
"Hey! That's right. You can patch it up here first, and I'll go out and patch it up too. Each of us buys something useful. We'll meet at the south gate in half an hour at most." Dai Piaopiao squeezed towards Gu Ming Eyes, smiled.
Gu Ming also laughed, holding the chopsticks and shaking his head: "What time is it, you!" Looking at Dai Piaopiao who had run out the door, he thought to himself: "Could this guy really have four waists?"
At night, south gate.
"Why are you procrastinating like this!" Gu Ming was quite angry.
Dai Piaopiao said nothing and put his hand into his arms.
"Why are you mute? You don't know what we are going to do?" Gu Ming scolded.
Dai Piaopiao remained silent. She groped in her arms for a long time, took out a narrow strip of silk, and said, "See for yourself."
"What?" Gu Ming's tone softened slightly, but he still couldn't help but glare at him.
He unfolded the piece of cloth in his hand and wrote: "My guess is ninety-nine out of ten. The mastermind behind the scenes wants to get rid of me. The medicine is in hand. Come and find me quickly, the water of the long river." Gu Ming slowly finished reciting in a low voice and raised his head. Looking at Dai Piaopiao, he frowned and said, "Where did his handwriting come from?"
"You don't think I'm late now? Humph!" Dai Piaopiao snorted coldly and looked away.
"What? After finding a girl, you have become a girl yourself? Stop moaning and groaning here, which is disgusting." Gu Ming said.
"What's wrong, ladies? This piece was given to me by ladies." Dai Piaopiao snorted again and said.
"Which girl?" Gu Ming was a little shocked.
"The one who sleeps with me." Dai Piaopiao said.
"When did you not sleep with three or five people in a row? Which one?" Gu Ming said angrily.
"That's the oiran from Xunxiang Tower." Dai Piaopiao said.
"How come she has Brother Yuan's handwriting?" Gu Ming said.
"A girl inside also gave it to her and asked her to pass it on to me." Dai Piaopiao said.
"Why is it so confusing! Who does Brother Yuan know?" Gu Ming felt that there was already a mess in his mind, and he was pestered a few times by Dai Piaopiao.
"Okay, listen to me once and for all. Don't interrupt me and ask questions. Don't interrupt me. I'll forget once you interrupt me. I'm serious, as long as you dare to interrupt, I will forget." Dai Piaopiao blackmailed people. Pan said.
Seeing that Gu Ming didn't open his mouth and just stared at him fiercely, he instantly felt comfortable all over and said with a smile: "Haha! You're honest."
"Say!" Gu Ming roared in a deep voice.
"Okay, okay." Dai Piaopiao quickly stopped laughing and continued: "There is a girl in Xunxiang Tower who was rescued by us before, the time we brought Ji Tongcheng in Yincheng. Didn't we save many people? Some of them stayed, and some of them changed their lives. But what else can you do if you change your place? They are also poor people, they don’t know anything else, and they have no relatives. Most of them can only go back to their old jobs. The girl who received the letter is one of them." Dai Piaopiao said.
"Oh, that's it." Gu Ming said, and then quickly added: "I didn't interrupt, and I didn't ask a question."
Dai Piaopiao laughed loudly, and then continued: "After receiving the letter, the girl handed it to the oiran, and also told her about my appearance and dress, and asked her to give it to me when she saw me."
"Why didn't she give it to you herself? Afraid of being embarrassed to face her benefactor?" Gu Ming then asked.
Dai Piaopiao didn't answer. She groped in her arms twice more and took out another letter.
Gu Ming unfolded a small piece of paper and read: "Sister Qian'er, the letter has been received and everything is fine. I have something important to entrust you with this reply. One of our sisters' three benefactors is in danger and needs another one." You two came to the rescue, and it happened that your benefactor with a big beard was near you. The place where you are is the largest fireworks place in the area, and that benefactor will definitely come. My sister is afraid that you will pass by your benefactor, so Write another piece of paper and give it to the oiran. Tell her the appearance of your benefactor. Please pass it on. If my benefactor goes, I will find the oiran. My sister is busy at the moment, so I won’t say much for the time being. We will meet later. Smoke."
"Yan...is this? That letter from Yanqi?" Gu Ming asked.
"Exactly, the girl who received the letter was also one of the people we rescued last time." Dai Piaopiao said.
"You put her..." Gu Ming hesitated and looked at Dai Piaopiao and raised his eyebrows.
"Huh?" Dai Piaopiao was stunned for a moment, and then said angrily: "Fuck you! How could I attack an acquaintance? She is so pitiful."
"I didn't say anything. Why are you anxious? What I mean is that you have checked with her to see if this is another trap." Gu Mingdao.
"Confirmed, I have an impression of her, she also recognizes me, and everything she said is correct." Dai Piaopiao said, "I gave her ten taels of silver for free, and I even saw half of her exposed breasts. Not a sideways glance. Hmph!"
Gu Ming was speechless for a while, and then said: "It seems that we left early. It may be unsafe where you live."
"I think so too, otherwise he used to give me letters directly from Fei Ge, but this time he was so roundabout." Dai Piaopiao said.
"It seems that the situation is more dangerous than we imagined." Gu Ming looked at Yue, who had half of his head sticking out from behind the mountain in the distance, and let out a sigh of relief.
"What secret did he know? Why are the officials looking for him now?" Dai Piaopiao also sighed like Gu Ming.
"Not just the government." Gu Ming shook his head with a wry smile and took out a small wooden sign from his arms. There is only one word engraved on this dark wooden sign, kill. It was also dyed with cinnabar, and there was a blood-red word "kill". Turn it to the back, and there were also two words carved on it, which read: Chen Yuan.
Dai Piaopiao reached out to take it, turned it over and looked at it twice, and sneered: "What is this!"
"Beiyuan's death order." Gu Ming said with a bitter smile, "I received it when you were looking for flowers and willows."
"Peng Taiping?" Dai Piaopiao asked.
"Well, the killing order is issued to all the sects in the world. On the back is the name of the person their gang wants to kill. You don't have to help them kill, but you can't go against him, deliberately hide him or... Protect him, otherwise it will be regarded as a declaration of war with Beiyuan." Gu Mingdao.
"So overbearing!" Dai Piaopiao scolded.
"There's nothing overbearing about this. It's just to inform the various sects that this person is our mortal enemy in Beiyuan, and I'm not asking you to work for them." Gu Mingdao.
"Furthermore, he has told the world that we must kill this man. If you still help him, aren't you going against him? If I don't fight with you until death, will I still be friends with you for generations?" Gu Ming asked again.
"Isn't this just giving the person they are chasing no place to hide?" Dai Piaopiao said.
"Yes, that's the purpose. And if you really kill this person, you can ask Beiyuan to do something for you. Of course, it can't be unreasonable or unreasonable." Gu Mingdao.
"Oh, that's it. Isn't this just a wanted order?" Dai Piaopiao said.
"You are also a disciple of Lingyun Palace, how come you haven't even heard of the killing order?" Gu Ming said.
"You've heard of it. Hey, what's the use? Do you have it?" Dai Piaopian sneered.
"Of course." Gu Ming said matter-of-factly.
"What?" Dai Piaopiao opened his eyes wide in surprise.
"Your Lingyun Palace also has one. The larger sects all have their own killing orders." Gu Mingdao.
"That's easy!" Dai Piaopiao raised his hand and said, "You go back to your Lone Peak, and I'll go back to my Lingyun Palace. Let's issue a kill order together and kill Peng Taiping, damn it!"
"Huh...in what name?" Gu Ming asked.
"You want a name?" Dai Piaopiao asked.
"After all, you have to cooperate with you. What if it's not a legitimate reason? Those so-called righteous martial arts people care most about reputation, like dung beetles care about dung balls. Besides, Peng Taiping doesn't need you to issue a death order." Gu Mingdao.
"Then Beiyuan wants to kill Chen Yuan, for what purpose?" Dai Piaopiao asked.
"That's what I just said. You don't need to issue a killing order." Gu Mingdao.
"What?" Dai Piaopiao couldn't figure it out.
"Peng Taiping is dead." Gu Ming said, looking at Dai Piaopiao in a daze, and then slowly said: "Brother Yuan killed him."
"What?!" Dai Piaopiao was completely stunned.
"Not only Peng Taiping, but all the martial arts heroes who came to celebrate his birthday that day were all killed by Brother Yuan." Gu Mingdao.
"Fart! He's not that person!" Dai Piaopiao said angrily, "He was wrongly accused!"
"Who said that! What evidence is there!" Dai Piaopiao said angrily again.
"There are a few people who survived, Mr. Wu, the leader of Wanyi Valley, Guo Yunjie, the leader of Qinghe Sect, Li Yi of Xiaotai Mountain, etc. The seven or eight survivors are all quite famous, and they all came forward to testify that it was Brother Yuan who killed them. "Gu Ming said.
"They all fart! Not to mention seven or eight people, just seventy or eighty people! That's also seventy or eighty farts!" Dai Piaopiao said firmly.
"It's fine for everyone else, but this Wu Lao Valley Master is of high moral character and high respect. He gave us Lone Peak before, and he also had a life-saving grace..."
"Favours are favors! Farts are farts! Don't get confused! Just repay a favor! Just poke him in the ass if he farts! One code is a code!" Dai Piaopiao blew his beard and glared.
"Haha!" Gu Ming laughed loudly and said, "Yes! If you believe in him so much, I feel relieved."
"Without further delay, find him quickly! Now the government and the Jianghu are chasing him! This guy knows something terrible! Someone has joined forces to silence him." Dai Piaopiao said anxiously.
"Do you know where to find it?" Gu Ming asked in surprise.
"Isn't it on the note? I can understand the first two sentences, but the last four words, the water of the long river, what does it mean? Is it clear that it is talking about the location! Let's just find a long river near Qinggang City." Piao Piao said.
Gu Ming laughed and said, "You're half right. The last four words are just talking about the location, but it's not by a river."
"What did you mean then?" Dai Piaopiao asked.
"The water of the long river is a painting." Gu Ming said.
"Oh? Do you know the specific place?" Dai Piaopiao asked.
Gu Ming nodded and said, "Linze."
"We were always together when we were in Linze!" Dai Piaopiao wondered.
"We haven't been together for a while." Gu Ming said.
"Oh! I'm..."
"You are in the bed of a girl named Lele." Gu Ming nodded and said with a smile.
"Hi!" Dai Piaopiao scratched his head in embarrassment and said, "Let's go, let's hurry up!" After saying that, he jumped on the horse's ass and stood still. Zhuiyue blew his nose twice and looked back, seeming a little dissatisfied.
"Ha! You also know how embarrassing it is. Brother Yuan can find you using this method." Gu Ming said with a smile.
"Are you leaving or not!" Dai Piaopiao shouted.
Gu Ming also jumped on the horse, stroked his mane, and said softly: "Let's go, Chai Yue, be fast."
Hearing the sound, the horse immediately kicked its hooves and ran wildly. Dai Piaopiao lost his balance and almost fell off the horse, cursing: "Little beast! I didn't know you could run so fast!"
The two of them and one horse galloped towards Linze under the bright moon. Gu Ming looked a little worried: Will the future be as clear as the moonlit sky this time? he does not know.
