There is a house outside Daming Mansion that seems to have been abandoned for a long time. Older locals know that this house used to be the place where a great martial arts master established his sect. Twenty years ago, the great master participated in a competition. After returning, he stayed behind closed doors. Gradually, the house became deserted. Because his status was so remote, no one knew if there was anyone else in the house.
It's almost winter, and it's located in a plain, so the wind and sand are very strong. The doors and windows inside the house were closed, and an old man's cough could be faintly heard.
The courtyard is overgrown with weeds, and most of the houses are dilapidated. Only the largest room is still barely habitable.
The coughing sound came from that room.
There was a fire in the house, so it was very warm. A petite girl with a beautiful face was adding firewood to the fire. She used an iron skewer to pull the firewood a few times, making the fire burn even brighter. She picked up the teapot on the fire and walked to the wooden bed nearby. Lying on the wooden bed was a gray-haired old man. The old man is very old, so old that his age cannot be discerned.
The girl poured a cup of tea, brought it to the old man's mouth, and said softly: "Master, have a sip of tea."
The old man took the tea cup and did not drink it. Instead, he held it quietly in his hand as if to warm his hands.
There were two people in the room. One was a young man about the same age as the girl. He was sitting cross-legged on the ground and was flipping through a book of musical scores. The other one lay sleeping behind the screen, snoring loudly.
"Jing'er..." the old man started to speak, as if his throat was stuffed with cotton, "How many years has it been?"
This question has been asked by Master since the beginning of this spring.
The girl replied: "It has been nineteen years since Changfeng Tower entered Chaolan Valley, and it has been nine years since my brother and I studied with you."
Usually, after she finished answering, the master stopped talking, but it was different today. The master seemed to have something to say.
The old man nodded: "It's been almost sixty years since I came out of the Taihang Mountains as my teacher. Twenty years ago, I fought countless masters as my teacher without ever losing. But... I was still defeated by one person, a little girl. His hand. Haha... What kind of martial arts master can't even touch him with a finger, and loses like a dog."
The boy and girl were a little shocked. They had never heard the master say this. Behind the screen, the snoring also stopped.
The old man continued: "The person who defeated me was Changfenglou Chen Shi. When I was young, I relied on Qinggong and swordsmanship. Who would have thought that I would be no match for these two things. I don't accept it, so I'm ready. I have to practice for a few more years to try to get my place back, but the more I practice, the more hopeless I get... I am old and can't go any further. That's why I brought you back."
The girl tilted her head and asked, "Master, do you want us to help you regain your position?"
The old man nodded: "You two brothers and sisters, Jing'er is good at Qinggong and Jingge is good at swordsmanship. In terms of Qinggong and swordsmanship alone, the two of you combined have already passed the peak period of being a master."
The young man asked: "Even Master can't win, do you think we can?"
The old man nodded and replied: "Yes."
The young man stood up from the ground and said, "We, brother and sister, will definitely find a way for Master!"
The old man coughed a few times, finally drank the tea, and said, "Chen Yan is in Chaolan Valley. You can't enter, but her descendants came out a few days ago. You can practice with them first."
The girl asked: "Then where are they?"
The old man stretched out his hand and took out a scroll and threw it to the girl and said, "Here is their information. Go ahead while it is still early and someone will tell you where to go."
"Hahahahaha," a sharp voice suddenly came from behind the screen, "Old man, are you confused? With these two little beasts? You might as well let me go."
When the young man heard this, his face turned red with anger and he shouted: "You are a little beast!"
The girl hurriedly grabbed the boy and said, "Brother, don't be as knowledgeable as him."
The man behind the screen was still smiling, laughing out of breath, as if he had heard some big joke. His voice was sharp and hoarse, and he smiled dryly at the vulture woman.
"Seriously," the man finally stopped laughing, "Old man, as long as you give me this job, I will help you get rid of the three yellow-haired girls in Chaolan Valley, as long as you pass the Wuxin Sword Technique to me."
"Humph," the old man sneered, "You can't practice the Wuxin Sword."
"Hey," the man said, "you don't know, right? Yang Yanxiong, who was ranked tenth at the time, lost and was beaten to the point where he was unable to fight back. Do you think these two little beasts are rivals?"
The old man opened his eyes slightly, and a sharp light rushed out of his eyes: "It's normal for Yang Yanxiong, that loser, to lose to anyone... Okay, you two brothers and sisters, hurry up and get on your way."
"Yes! Master!".
…
Li Fenglan and others searched around Chuzhou for more than half a month, but still found nothing. Both Bai Shuyu and Li Fenglan felt that it was not an option to waste time like this, so they decided to go back to Luoyang first and meet their old friends from Changfeng Tower in the Xianren Hall, and then go to Chang'an.
No one saw him off before leaving. Only Bai Shuang'er and his servants secretly watched from a distance, never forgetting to wipe away their tears. During this period of time, although Bai Shuyu and her father and brother had repeatedly warned her not to go to other courtyards, she refused to listen and still went there every three days. Gradually, Li Fenglan and the others got used to Bai Shuang'er's presence.
After walking for another ten days, we arrived in Xuzhou.
Because the three girls were not used to riding horses, Bai Shuyu spent a lot of money to buy a luxuriously decorated carriage before leaving. It was much more spacious than the ones they rode in before. It was pulled by two horses, which was very grand.
Li Fenglan felt that it was too expensive and too eye-catching, so she refused. But Bai Shuyu believed that Ye Yu Xiaozhu had just made great efforts to encircle and suppress them. Not only was he unsuccessful, but he also lost a lot of people. He would not come again in a short time, so it was better to be comfortable.
While on the road, they received two letters, one of which was the news from Chaolan Valley brought by Xiao Hui. The news was quite shocking. It briefly explained Mu Zi’s visit to Chaolan Valley and clarified her identity. This made Li Fenglan blame herself. She was still kind and easy to trust others.
Another letter was sent by a man dressed as a farmer. The farmer had an ordinary farmer's name and said it was sent to him by a middle-aged man. The content of the letter is simple.
"Miss Li Fenglan of Chaolan Valley has personally initiated the project, and Huaju has just been completed. I will now submit the list, and the rest will be completed within two months."
After reading the letter, Li Fenglan smiled slightly.
Bai Shuyu outside the car asked: "What did the letter from the old man say?"
Li Fenglan opened the curtains and said with a smile: "The several hiding places I asked Gongshu to build have already been built."
"Ah?" Amber was a little surprised, "Didn't you say that the Gongshu family wouldn't accept our business?"
Jade said: "People from the Songshan sect were present at the time and I lied to them."
Bai Shuyu asked: "Are any of the hiding places you built close to us? If so, there is no need to spend the night in Xuzhou City tonight."
Li Fenglan looked at the list on the letter and frowned: "Yes, yes, but it's far away from us. It takes two days to get there, and we have to find a place to spend the night tonight."
Zhu Mingyu said: "It's better to find a small place to spend the night. It's easy to run away if something happens. I remember there is a small town here. I traveled here with my master the year before last and stayed for a few days. There are not many people in the town and it is very quiet."
Li Fenglan nodded: "Then just follow what Taoist Zhu said."
The town was not far away from them, and they reached it in less than an hour.
As Zhu Mingyu said, the town is not big and there are few people, but it is very peaceful. They first found an inn to stay. Seeing that it was still early, Li Fenglan asked everyone to walk around the town and buy some necessary supplies.
Li Fenglan and Feicui walked on the street of the town. When the lanterns first came on, the originally peaceful small town turned out to be brightly lit. The night market is very lively and there is an endless stream of pedestrians. The two stunning beauties looked at each other and soon attracted the attention of countless young men.
Li Fenglan couldn't stand such gazes, and being stared at made her feel uncomfortable all over. Jade is different. She inherently doesn't care about other people's eyes.
The town is not big, and I walked less than half a stick of incense, so I walked from the north end to the south end, and walked two more steps before leaving the town. Li Fenglan and Feicui also bought a lot of things, and they could hardly take any more.
Li Fenglan said: "Let's go back."
Jade nodded: "Yes."
At this moment, I suddenly heard someone not far behind me
Talk to them both.
"Excuse me, which one of you is Li Fenglan?"
Li Fenglan turned her head, while Jade took a step forward alertly to protect her behind him.
Not far ahead, there were two people, a man and a woman, both young.
Li Fenglan replied: "I am, who are you two?"
The girl smiled slightly: "It seems we have found the right person."
Jade asked: "Are you looking for trouble?"
"That's right," the young man replied, "I heard that Li Fenglan is unrivaled in the martial arts world, even more powerful than Chen Yi back then, and his two maids are also unparalleled in swordsmanship. (Jade yelled: Who are her maids?!) When we meet today, But that’s it.”
It was rare that Jade was a little angry, so she emphasized again: "First, I am not her maid, and second, I haven't taken action yet, but where did this statement come from?"
"Oh?" The girl smiled, "Isn't it? We'll find out after a fight."
Jade had already dropped the large and small bags he was carrying on the ground. Li Fenglan reached out to stop Jade: "Don't accept their provocation. Amber and the others are still in the town, why don't we all come together..."
Before he could say anything, the girl said sarcastically: "I heard that you were seriously injured in Yaoxian Valley. If you really have such good Qinggong, how did you get injured?"
Li Fenglan suddenly became angry. She gritted her teeth and asked, "What did you say?"
The girl turned the long sword in her hand with the scabbard in a circle and said, "Compare?"
Li Fenglan asked: "What kind of comparison?"
The girl pointed at Li Fenglan and said, "I will compete with you in Qinggong, and she will compete with my brother in swordsmanship. How about that?"
"Okay!" Li Fenglan responded loudly, then turned to Jade and said, "Don't hold back, beat me to death."
"Jade nodded."
After saying that, Li Fenglan suddenly moved. He jumped up and landed on the archway of the town as lightly as a fallen leaf. He said to the woman: "There is no time limit for you to chase me. If you catch up with me, you will win. If you can't catch up, or you are tired and vomiting, I will lose."
The girl smiled slightly and said, "Okay." After saying that, she stood up and rushed towards Li Fenglan.
This girl's Qinggong is really good, and her jump just now made Li Fenglan look at her with admiration. It seems that this woman is confident that she can beat Li Fenglan in Qinggong. Li Fenglan did not dare to neglect, turned around and flew out of the town.
The young man looked at Jade, smiled crookedly, and said, "It's easy for the two of us, as long as..."
Before he could finish his words, Jade had already stabbed him with his sword finger. The young man hurriedly dodged and said angrily, "The rules haven't been set yet!"
Jade said coldly: "We will fight until we die."
