The first snow in the cold winter fell, swaying freely in Handan City, and soon it was completely covered with snow; the biting cold wind mixed with snowflakes fluttered in the air, but it still could not resist the excitement of the young people in Handan Houfu School Ground.
The school ground is about ten feet long and eight feet wide. It is made of Shouchun green sandstone and purple stone in a round shape. A group of shirtless teenagers in their teens were gathered in a circle around the school ground. They kept waving their hands. Arms full of power let out bursts of shouts.
In the center of the school ground, two young men with bare arms were fighting with swords. The young man holding the sword was light and had 70% of the attack power; while the young man holding the sword was clumsy and his swing speed was slow. The opponent's attack was Three swords were struck, and he had just returned one; he frowned, gritted his teeth, and managed to hold on even though he was struck by several swords.
"Mr. Wang has been praising Brother Zuo in front of me for his sharp eyesight and high abilities." The long-bearded man sitting on the high platform in the school grounds is the owner of the room, Murong Hao, the Marquis of Handan. He glanced at the man next to him with contempt and said with a smile: " As the saying goes, the ears are deceptive and the eyes are trustworthy; I wonder who Zuo, brother, thinks of the two who can win in this match?"
"The Lord's ridiculous praise, Tianhao deserves it." The burly man sitting next to the long-bearded man was Zuo Tianhao. He grinned: "The merits and demerits of the two people in the field must be in the heart of the Marquis." It’s been decided.”
"That's right! Zhao Ding's swordsmanship ranks among the top five in the palace. From what I've seen, I can defeat Xu Houfei in just a few moments." This Zhao Ding is the direct descendant of Murong Hao, the Marquis of Handan, and is extremely popular.
"Master Hou, don't be fooled by superficial phenomena." Zuo Tianhao held his chin with his right hand and rested his left hand on his left leg. He was sitting in an extremely heroic posture and did not take Murong Hao seriously at all: "From Zuo's point of view, The young man named Xu Houfei in the field is determined and will definitely turn defeat into victory."
"Oh? Brother Zuo, do you think so?" Murong Hao stroked his long beard and laughed: "It seems that Mr. Wang really praises you, brother! To tell you the truth, even though Zhao Ding is only twelve years old, he is already He stayed in Yanyun Cavalry for a year, otherwise how could his swordsmanship be so good at his age?"
"The Marquis is right! Zhao Ding's swordsmanship is light and fast yet powerful, giving people the feeling of flying sand in the desert. This clearly evolved from the spearmanship. At that time, King Zhao Wuling promoted horseback shooting in Hufu. It has been a hundred years, and I never thought that his descendants would be even more outstanding now." Zuo Tianhao spoke eloquently with all his family treasures.
"Hahahaha! That's right. Now it seems that Mr. Wang's evaluation of Brother Zuo is somewhat credible." Murong Hao was a little carried away by Zuo Tianhao's words.
"But..." Zuo Tianhao paused, glanced sideways at Murong Hao, but deliberately did not continue.
"Huh? But what?" When Murong Hao heard Zuo Tianhao's word 'but', he couldn't help but asked.
"Zhao Ding's arrogant character will have to pay the price when it comes to the battlefield!" Zuo Tianhao waved his hand: "He thought he was sure to win, so he actually gave up on defense and used all his offensive moves. As long as one of his sword skills appears, If there is a flaw, there will be..."
"Hmph! Look, Xu Houfei is out of breath and can hardly even swing his sword." Murong Hao didn't wait for Zuo Tianhao to finish, and couldn't wait to speak for Zhao Ding: "Zhao Ding gave up his defense and quickly killed the enemy. It’s the right strategy.”
"Hey! They are all idiots. My lord, I don't know why you have to make friends with this person." Zuo Tianhao cursed in his heart, but with a smile on his face: "Master Hou, would you like to make a bet with Zuo?"
"Bet?" Murong Hao slapped his thigh and immediately became excited: "Okay! I like to bet with others the most. How do you want to bet?"
"Tianhao heard that the annual winter examination in the Hou Mansion is equivalent to fighting on the battlefield, and the loser must be left to the winner's disposal. I wonder if this is the case?" The smile suddenly disappeared from Zuo Tianhao's face, and his expression became serious.
"That's right! The loser is the slave of the winner. Even if the winner wants to take the loser's life, it's okay." Murong Hao nodded.
"Then let's bet that the kid who uses the sword can win within three moves. If he loses, Zuo's life will be at the disposal of the Marquis." Zuo Tianhao said coldly: "But if Zuo wins by luck, I hope the Marquis will I will give this kid to Zuo as a lucky draw."
"It's settled, brother Zuo, don't regret it!" Murong Hao didn't even look at Zuo Tianhao, because he was sure that Zhao Ding would win unintentionally.
"Dang!" The deafening sound of swords in the school field brought both of them back from their thoughts. Zhao Ding changed his tactics of walking lightly and suddenly used his sword as a knife to slash out. Xu Houfei was pushed away a few feet, and he was alone. He knelt on his knees, holding the handle of the knife firmly on the ground with both hands, breathing heavily.
Zhao Ding held the sword behind his back, with a confident smile on his lips. His figure was looming and looming, rushing towards Xu Houfei.
Xu Houfei, who was still breathing heavily just now, looked at Zhao Ding three feet in front of him. Suddenly, his eyes sharpened, and he spotted the flaw in the moment when Zhao Ding swung his sword, the middle door was wide open, and the blade was full of energy like lightning. move forward.
"Dang, Dang, Dang!" But what was unexpected was that Zhao Ding swung half of his sword with his backhand and suddenly reversed it and flew backwards. The withdrawn long sword danced in the air, and four or five fire crossbows were shot down to the ground.
"Houfei, are you okay?" A shirtless, frail-looking young man ran out of the crowd and rushed forward to help Xu Houfei, who was almost out of strength.
"Li Hongxi! Xu Houfei and I have a fair fight. What do you mean by interfering with each other?" Zhao Ding was shocked and angry when he was attacked by a crossbow. He pointed his long sword at the weak young man who came forward and asked.
"Zhao Ding! You have been in Yanyunqi for a year after all, and you actually bully a newcomer like this." Li Hongxi's frail body protected Xu Houfei, not afraid at all: "How dare you compete with me? ?"
"Li Hongxi, you don't even know how to use weapons to compare with me? What a joke!" Zhao Ding shouted impatiently.
"You will definitely win if you fight with brute force?" Li Hongxi stretched his right palm towards the crossbow arrow that landed on the ground. The crossbow arrow seemed to have spirituality and pointed towards Zhao Ding, with flames still attached to the arrow.
"Interesting? It's so interesting!" Zuo Tianhao clapped his hands and laughed: "Master Hou, how do you think our bet should be calculated?"
"Come here!" Murong Hao had long been trembling with anger at this sudden scene. When Zuo Tianhao asked him, he finally burst out: "Take Li Hongxi down and put him in a cell."
"Wait a minute." Zuo Tianhao said something to stop the two guards who were about to come forward, and said with a smile: "Master Hou, why should I be angry? Zuo looks at this young man named Li with great loyalty. How about we change the gambling method?"
"Change your gambling method?" Seeing that Zuo Tianhao did not laugh at him, Murong Hao's livid face softened slightly, and he waved to the two guards: "Brother Zuo, do you have any good suggestions?"
"Why don't we let those two young men and Zhao Ding have a two-on-two game, and Zuo and the Marquis have another bet!" Zuo Tianhao was also very fond of Li Hongxi.
"Two against two?" Murong Hao's right index finger kept tapping on the chair handle: "It seems that Brother Zuo wants to use Li Hongxi as a lucky draw again?"
"The Marquis knows me!" Zuo Tianhao did not deny it, and said with a grin: "The Marquis can choose anyone to help Zhao Ding."
"Okay! It's rare that Brother Zuo is so happy. I have agreed." Murong Hao patted the chair, but then changed the topic: "But what bet is Brother Zuo going to make? It's just you."
"Of course not." Zuo Tianhao seemed to be prepared, and took out a short blade from his arms: "If Zuo loses, this Black Eagle Blade belongs to Zhao Ding."
"Brother Zuo has even taken out his most beloved weapon, so what else can I say?" Murong Hao waved his hand to a guard: "Pass this to me, let Wu Lin go."
"Yes! I'm here to go." A guard with a sword in his hand bowed his hand to Murong Hao, then walked straight off the high platform to the school grounds.
"Zuo has another request!" Zuo Tianhao pointed to Zhao and Xu in the school field: "They are very tired from the competition just now, so I kindly ask Mr. Hou to take a break for an hour."
"Brother Zuo is quite thoughtful. I happen to be a little tired too, so I'll see you in an hour." After saying that, Murong Hao left the high platform surrounded by the guards.
"It was during this hour that Zuo Tianhao taught you the basic techniques of Qingzong Quan." Xu Houfei was talking about this past event at an emotional point when Tong Bo suddenly interrupted.
"Not only Qingzong Quan, but also Hong Xi's fire control method was personally taught by the leader." Xu Houfei ignored Tong Bo at all and just said to Li Hongxi: "Remember how we won Zhao Ding and Wu Lin? "
"Remember? How could I forget?" Following Xu Houfei's question, Li Hongxi sighed softly and fell into thoughts about that battle.
In the school grounds, Zhao Ding and Wu Lin, who was appointed by Murong Hao, stood side by side. A thin layer of snowflakes had accumulated on their shoulders, and they had obviously been standing for a while.
"Xu Houfei, Li Hongxi! You two are so arrogant, you actually made us wait for so long." Looking at the two people walking slowly from the opposite side, Zhao Ding's anger soared.
"As long as it's not too late, you don't care when we arrive?" Li Hongxi said back unceremoniously.
"Zhao Ding! Concentrate and don't engage in such meaningless verbal battles with them." Wu Lin said solemnly.
"Yes! Brother Zhao!" Zhao Ding, who had a lively and impetuous personality, seemed to be very afraid of the young man next to him who didn't talk much, and immediately did not dare to say anything more.
"Brother Zuo! Even if you rest for an hour, it won't change the result." Murong Hao handed his cloak to the attendant casually, and sat down on the throne with his golden sword: "Wu Lin's marksmanship ranks first among all the people. , even if Zhao Ding doesn’t take action, he can still fight one against two.”
"If the outcome of everything is guessed in advance, wouldn't such a bet be boring?" Zuo Tianhao waved his hand nonchalantly: "Master Marquis, can we start?"
"When this competition is over, will you still be able to laugh?" Murong Hao snorted heavily and said, "Send the order for them to start."
