Chapter 1 The first biscuit stuffing
The faint moonlight shone on the body of Min Daotong, and slowly moved to the little beggar, and the sound of horseshoes could be faintly heard from the southeast corner. This time the sound of hoofbeats came very quickly, just as I heard the sound, it suddenly came close.The residents of Hou Jianji were frightened, and when they heard the sound of horseshoes in the still night, they couldn't help being terrified, and they hid under the covers and just shivered.But this time there were only two horses running, and there was no whistle. The two horses look very strange.One has black fur from head to tail, but white hooves. It is the famous "Dark Cloud Covering Snow" horse; the other has black four hooves, and the whole body is snow white. , especially rare in Middle-earth. Riding on the white horse was a woman in white. If it wasn't for the red flower on her temples and a scarlet ribbon around her waist, she would have been in mourning. On the red ribbon was a long sword with a white sheath.The passenger on the black horse was a middle-aged man, wearing a black shirt, a black soft hat, and a long sword tied around his waist in a black scabbard.Two horses galloped side by side. In an instant, both of them saw Wu Daotong's body and the damaged household items all over the floor, and exclaimed in unison, "Huh!" The man in black swung his horsewhip, wrapped it around the neck of Wu Daotong's corpse, pulled it up a few feet, and the moonlight shone on the corpse's face.The woman said: "It's Wu Daotong! It seems that An Jindao has won." The man whipped out his horsewhip and threw the body on the side of the road, saying: "Wu Daotong died not long ago, the blood on the wound has not yet congealed, we can catch up!" The woman nodded nod. The two horses galloped side by side towards Bing.The eight iron hooves fell on the bluestone slab, and the sound of hooves was like a galloping horse.The front hoofs and rear hooves of the two horses rise and fall at the same time, they are extremely neat and beautiful, no matter who sees them, they will think that these two horses have been trained together for a long time. The foals are synchronized, there is absolutely no difference. The two horses ran faster and faster, and as soon as they passed the outskirts of Bianliang, the road was narrow, and they could not ride together.The woman reined in her horse slightly and let the man go first.The man tilted his head and smiled, galloped forward, and the woman followed behind. The two steeds had extraordinary foot strength, according to the circumstances of Wu Daotong's death, they should have caught up with the men and horses of Jindao Village, but there was no trace of them.They didn't know that although Wu Daotong died not long ago, the people in Jindao Village had already gone far away. They rushed non-stop for more than an hour.The two dismounted to let their mounts rest for a while, got on their horses and set off again. It was almost dawn when they suddenly saw several fires rising in the wilderness in the distance.The two looked at each other and smiled, and flew off the horse at the same time.The woman took the reins from the man and tied the two horses to a big tree.The two started to lighten their bodies and ran towards the head of the fire. Huotou seems not far between the plains, but in fact they are still several miles away.The two of them slid across the grass like a gust of wind.As the time approached, I saw a large group of people around a dozen or so fires, and could faintly hear the sound of snoring one after another. They were eating noodles with bowls in their hands.The two wanted to spy first, but there was no place to hide in the plains, and they were about ten feet away from this group of people, so they slowed down and approached side by side. Someone in the crowd asked, "Who is it? What are you doing?" The man took a step forward, cupped his fists and said with a smile, "Isn't Village Master An here? Which friend is here?" The short old man Zhou Mu looked up, and under the light of the fire, he saw a man and a woman, one black and one white, standing side by side.Both of them are middle-aged, the male is plump and handsome, the female is elegant and elegant, with fluttering clothes and long swords hanging from their waists. Zhou Mu's heart trembled, and then he thought of two people, stood up straight, clasped his fists and said, "It turns out that the owner and couple of Shizhuang, Xuansu Village in the south of the Yangtze River are here!" Then he shouted loudly: "Brothers, get up and salute, these two They are the master and wife of Shizhuang, who are so powerful in the north and south of the river." All the men suddenly stood up, and they all bowed slightly to show respect.Zhou Mu murmured in his heart: "Shi Qing, Min Rou and his wife have nothing to do with Liangzi in Jindao Village. They came here early in the morning. I don't know what they want to do. Could it be because of this thing?" There was no one else around, and I thought to myself: "Although I heard that his couple's swords are powerful, after all, a good man is no match for many people, so why would he come from here?" The Shi couple returned the gift at the same time.Mrs. Shi Minrou said softly: "Brother, this is Mr. Zhou Muzhou from Eagle Claw Gate." Although her voice was low, Zhou Mu heard it, and couldn't help but feel a little proud: "The Ice and Snow Excalibur actually knows my name." He hurriedly said, "Don't dare, Zhou Mu of Golden Knife Village pays homage to Lord Shizhuang and Mrs. Shi. "As he spoke, he bent down again, cupped his fists and saluted. Shi Qing clasped his hands together and said with a smile: "My friends are having breakfast, I'm sorry to disturb you, please sit down, please sit down." Turning to Zhou Mu, he said, "You are welcome, friend Zhou. Brother Zhuang has met on several occasions, speaking of which, we are not outsiders." Zhou Mu said: "'Flying to the Sky' is my uncle." He thought to himself: "You are much younger than me, yet you call my Uncle Zhuang Brother Zhuang, isn't that clearly calling yourself an elder?" Thinking of this verse, Feeling that the other party came here with malicious intentions, he became more guarded.In martial arts, the word "seniority" is very important. Of course, juniors must respect their elders when they meet them, and juniors should not disobey the elders' orders, otherwise they will be wronged if they say that they are wronged. Shi Qing saw his complexion darkened, knew what he meant, and said with a smile: "This is really offending! When we met in Songshan, I heard Brother Zhuang talk about the martial arts of the noble family, and the foolish couple admired them very much. I am a family friend, and there is a Don't blame Zhou Shixiong for your ruthless request." He changed his name to "Zhou Shixiong", and even regarded himself as an elder. Zhou Mu said: "If it's about my own business, and it's for the golden face of the two, as long as I can, the two of you will naturally obey everything. But if it's about our village, my position is low, and I can't be the master." Shi Qingxin said: "This man is so hot, he didn't listen to what I said, let's push it clean first." He said: "That has nothing to do with Guizhai. I want to ask Brother Zhou about something. The foolish couple pursued A man named Daotong Wu named him. He was armed with a pair of judge pens. He was very tall. I heard that he had disguised himself as an old man in recent years and lived incognito near Bianliang. I don’t know if Brother Zhou had heard of him before. message?" As soon as he said Wu Daotong's name, the people in Jindao Village immediately stirred up, and some immediately put down the noodle bowls they were holding in their hands. Zhou Mu thought to himself: "You came from the east, of course you have seen Wu Daotong's body, if I don't say it, it will be not honorable." Immediately he laughed, and said: "That's really great, Master Shizhuang, Mrs. Shi It's a coincidence that although the man surnamed Zhou has low martial arts skills, he happened to do a little work for the Xian couple. This Wu Daotong offended the Xian couple, and we Jindao Village has taken care of him." When he said these few words , staring at Shi Qing's face with both eyes, seeing whether he is happy or angry. Shi Qing smiled slightly again, and said: "This Wu Daotong has never met us, so it can't be said that he offended the foolish couple. We went after this person, and it made Zhou Shixiong laugh at me, because of a thing that this person carried." The muscles on Zhou Mu's face twitched a few times, then he calmed down and said with a smile, "The Xian couple are really well informed. We at Jindao Village have also heard the news. To tell you the truth, I will bring these brothers with you this time. They came out for this matter. Alas, I don’t know which bastard made the rumor, but Wu Daotong was so tired that he wrote Wu Daotong in vain. More than 200 of us took a trip, that’s all, I’m afraid Brother An It is also to blame for my ineffectiveness in handling affairs. Rumors have always been flying all over the world. If you think that the thing is about Jindaozhai, they will make up their minds against us. Isn’t this wrong? Brother Zhang, how can we kill that surnamed Wu? Yes, how to search that biscuit shop, you should report to Master Shi and Mrs. Shi in detail." A short and sharp man stood up and said: "That Wu's martial arts is very good. Our leader Li Dayuan gave his life to his hands. Later, the leader Zhou made a move and knocked that Wu off the roof with his palms. He was so shaken that his muscles and bones were broken, and his five internal organs were shattered..." This man was quick to speak, adding oil and sauce, and told how the gangsters pried open the bricks under the biscuit shop, how they overturned the vat, how they demolished the wall and turned over the kang. It's a long article, but the section about Zhou Mu taking the package on Wu Daotong's back is omitted. Shi Qing nodded, and said in his heart: "When Zhou Mu saw us this week, he was all on guard and worried. Xuansu Village and Jindao Village have never had any problems. If he hadn't got that thing, why would he treat us as a couple?" So be on guard?" He knew that this group of people couldn't get this thing, so let them go, if they got it, they would be by Zhou Mu's side, and at a glance, he saw that there were more than 200 people in Jindao Village who were strong and tough, although they were not first-rate A good player, how many people are hard to fight.Just now Zhou Mu's words were polite, but there were quite a lot of bones in them, and there was no friendly intention at all. He also took advantage of the large number of people, so he still had a slight smile on his face, pointed to the woods far away on the left, and said, "I There is a word, if you want to discuss it with Brother Zhou alone, please take a step to talk in the forest over there." How could Zhou Mu be willing to take the order, and immediately said: "We are all good brothers and friends here, and we can do everything..." Before he could say the word "to people", he suddenly felt his left wrist tighten, and Shi Qing stretched out his hand to hold it. He stopped, followed by half body numbness, and his right hand had no strength.Zhou Mu was startled and angry, ever since Shi Qing and Min Rou's couple showed up, he responded attentively, not daring to be negligent, but Shi Qing did what he said, and he grabbed his wrist like lightning.The grappling technique was originally his specialty in the Eagle Claw Sect, but he fell into the opponent's hands before he delivered a single move. He was eager to use his energy to struggle, but his strength suddenly disappeared. He knew that the key point had been controlled by the opponent. Beads of sweat broke out immediately. Shi Qing said in a clear voice: "Since Zhou Shixiong agreed to go over and talk, it's best not to." Turning back to Min Rou, he said: "Junior Sister, Zhou Shixiong and I went over to have a word, and we will be back in a moment, please wait here a moment. "He said and walked slowly.Min Rousi said politely: "Senior brother, please go ahead." Although they are husband and wife, they are called brothers and sisters. Everyone in Jindao Village saw Shi Qing walking with Zhou Mu with a smile on their face, they didn't seem to have any malicious intentions, and his wife stayed there, no one could have imagined that Zhou Mu would be hijacked away without making a sound because of his martial arts skills. Shi Qing grabbed Zhou Mu's wrist and walked faster and faster. If Zhou Mu slowed down a bit, he would fall down immediately, so he had to run desperately.It was about miles from the fire to the forest, and the two of them entered the forest in a flash. Shi Qing let go of his wrist, and said with a smile: "Brother Zhou Shi..." Zhou Mu said angrily, "What are you doing?" Cheng Cheng grabbed his right hand, and with a move of "Lion Fighting Hand", he grabbed Shi Qing's chest hard. Shi Qing swiped his left hand from right to left in front of him, lightly touched his wrist, brought his right arm to the back, grabbed his left hand, and unexpectedly grabbed both of his wrists behind his back with one hand.Shocked and angry, Zhou Mu kicked back with his right foot. Shi Qing smiled and said: "Brother Zhou Shi, why bother to get angry?" Zhou Mu only felt numbness in the two acupoints of "Fu Tu" and "Huan Tiao" on his right leg.This time, he only had one left foot on the ground, if he kicked backward again, his body would have to fall forward, his face flushed red, and he said angrily, "You...you...you..." Shi Qingdao: "Brother Zhou has already taken the things on Wu Daotong's body, so I want to borrow them for a look. Please take them out!" Zhou Mu said, "I have them, but they are not with me. Since you want to see them, let's go back and see them." Just go over there." He wanted to trick Shi Qing back to the fire, when he gave an order, the crowd rose up and attacked, no matter how strong Shi Qing and his wife's martial arts are, they will inevitably be outnumbered. Shi Qing smiled and said: "I can't believe it, but I want to search around Brother Zhou! Don't be offended." Zhou Mu said angrily: "You want to search for me? Who do you think I am?" Shi Qing didn't answer, and took off his left leather boot as soon as he stretched out his hand.Zhou Mu let out an "ah", and saw that he had already poured out a small bag from the boot, which was exactly what he got from Wu Daotong.Zhou Mu was shocked, angry, and surprised: "This... this... how did he know? Could it be that he saw me hiding there?" In fact, as soon as Shi Qing said he wanted to search, he saw his eyes naturally glance to his left foot. , his eyes turned away immediately, and he looked into the distance, guessing that the object must be hidden in his left boot, and sure enough, he searched for it. Shi Qing thought to himself: "Just now that person described the scene of the big search of the sesame seed shop, it is not false, but this thing was found on you, of course it is your intention to hide it from everyone and swallow it privately." The three fingers of the left hand squeezed the small bag. After a few strokes, his face changed slightly. Zhou Mu blushed so anxiously that he couldn't make up his mind whether to call for help.Shi Qing said coldly: "You betrayed Master An, are you willing to reveal this matter in public and receive the punishment of cutting off your ten fingers?" Zhou Mu was shocked, and tremblingly said: "You...you How do you know?" Shi Qing said: "Of course I know." Song Zhi let go of his hands and said, "An Jindao is so smart, you can't even hide it from me, how can you hide it from him?" At this moment, only a few footsteps were heard, and someone had arrived outside the forest.A rough voice laughed loudly, and said loudly: "Thank you for the compliment from the master of Shizhuang, An Mou thanked you here." After speaking, the three broke into the forest.
When Zhou Mu saw it, his face turned ashen.These three people are the master of Jindao Village, An Fengshuan, the master of the second village, Feng Zhenwu, and the master of the third village, Taoist Yuan Cheng.When Zhou Mu was ordered to go after Wu Daotong, Village Master An didn't say anything about sending someone to meet him, but for some reason, he went down to the village himself.Zhou Mu thought to himself that his plot to swallow this thing had already come to fruition, and his reputation would be ruined, and his life might be in danger, so he hurriedly said, "Brother An, that...that...he took it away." An Fengri cupped his hands and bowed to Shi Qing, saying: "The owner of Shizhuang is famous all over the world. An has admired him very much, and has never been close to him. Our village is nearby, so I invited the owner of Shizhuang and his wife to stay together for a few days, so that brothers To be taught a lesson.” Shi Qing saw An Fengri with round eyes and beard, short and stocky, with a rough look on his face, but unexpectedly he spoke in a decent manner, and invited him to Jindao Village for a while without mentioning that he had robbed him.But this time going to the stronghold, how can I get out easily?After bowing his hand to return the salute, he put the small bag into his arms and said with a smile, "Thank you, Master An for your kindness..." Suddenly there was a flash of blue light, Taoist Yuan Cheng drew his long sword out of its sheath, the tip of the sword stabbed Shi Qing's wrist, and shouted: "Put this thing down first!" This came down so fast, did he know that Shi Qing was even faster, he was on one side, and had already bullied Taoist Yuan Cheng, handed out the small bag and put it in his left hand, and said with a smile: "Here you are!" Yuan Cheng The Taoist was overjoyed, he didn't have time to think about his intentions, so he grabbed it, but his right wrist went numb, and the long sword in his hand was snatched away. Shi Qing turned the long sword upside down, slashed at Yuan Cheng's left wrist, and shouted: "Put this thing down first!" Yuan Cheng was startled, seeing the cold light flashing, the sword's edge was less than five inches away from his left wrist, he retracted his hand and retreated, but it was too late, so he had to turn the small bag with his palm throw back. Feng Zhenwu shouted: "What a handsome skill!" Before Shi Qing reached out to pick up the small bag, he unfolded his single knife, rolled to the ground, and slashed at his leg.Shi Qing stabbed down with his long sword, this move came later, before Feng Zhenwu single-handedly cut his right leg, his long sword was about to nail Feng Zhenwu's head to the ground. Seeing the critical situation, An Fengri yelled: "Please stay..." Shi Qing's long sword continued to stab forward, Feng Zhenwu's heart felt cold, he closed his eyes and waited to die, only felt a slight pain on his cheek, but Shi Qing's long sword stopped When he stabbed, it turned out that he was merciful with his sword, the tip of the sword touched Feng Zhenwu's cheek, and immediately withdrew, the position and strength of the sword were not even half the difference.Following a light click, Shi Qing slapped the small bag back with his long sword, and reached out to catch it, An Fengri said the word "love" before he uttered it. Shi Qing withdrew his long sword and said: "Offended!" He took two steps back. Feng Zhenwu stood up, holding the sword upside down, with a face full of shame, he retreated behind An Fengri, muttering something in his mouth, whether Xie Shiqing was merciful with the sword, or scolded him for being cruel, only he knows. An Fengri stretched out his hand to undo the brass buckle on his chest, removed the single knife from his back, and pulled the knife out of its sheath.At that time, the sun was just rising, and the sunlight shone in from the gaps in the forest. The golden knife shone brightly, with a thick back and a thin blade, it really was a sharp weapon!An Fengri raised his golden saber and said, "Master Shizhuang's skills are astonishing, I admire, admire, brother, I want to ask for some advice!" Shi Qing said with a smile: "It's so lucky to meet Gao Xian today!" He raised his hand and threw the small bag out.The four of them were stunned, only to hear a swishing sound, Shi Qing threw out the long sword that was taken from Taoist Yuan Cheng, and just as the small bag hit the opposite tree trunk, the long sword caught up with it and nailed the small bag into the tree.The sword's edge only passed through a corner of the small bag, but it did not damage the contents of the bag. The quickness of the technique, the ingenious movement of strength, and the accuracy of the sword fall are no less than the two moves that Shicai defeated Taoist Yuan Cheng and Feng Zhenwu in a row.The long sword is nailed to a small bag and hangs high, about ten feet above the ground. If someone jumps high and wants to grab it, the hilt of the sword is several feet higher, and it is extremely difficult to reach out and draw the sword. The enemy is attacking, and it is difficult to resist and throw. When the eyes of the four people returned to Shi Qing from the tree trunk, they saw that there was an extra black long sword in his hand, and they only heard him say: "The ink sword knows the golden knife, hit it as far as it can go. Who will make the first move?" Half way, how about getting this thing?" When An Fengri saw that he had actually nailed what he had already obtained to a tree, and then used a contest to decide who owned it, without any advantage, he was very impressed and said, "Master Shizhuang please!" He had heard about it a long time ago. Xuan Suzhuang, Shi Qing, and Min Rou are superb swordsmen, just now they saw him subdue Taoist Yuan Cheng and Feng Zhenwu. He didn't dare to rush into the move again. Shi Qing pointed his sword to the ground, his whole body remained motionless, and said: "Let's make a move!" Only then did An Fengri swung his knife and slashed obliquely. Before the stroke was old, he had already turned upside down.As soon as he makes a move, he has seventy-two tricks of "Splitting Diagram Knives" in his life, with hidden moves in the moves, and styles in the moves, with many changes.Shi Qing used the ink sword, at the beginning he saw his moves were broken, and defended them very strictly, after more than 30 moves, there was a clear whistle, and he launched a sharp attack, the sword was as fast as a sword.After An Fengri received more than 30 moves, he couldn't see where the opponent's sword was coming from at all, and secretly panicked, only Wudao protected his vitals. The two made seventy stances, but they never exchanged their swords. Suddenly there was a light ding, and the blade of the ink sword had already stuck to the back of the sword, and slid down.This stance of "going down the stream" was originally an ordinary stance of using the sword to break the sword. If the swordsman is skilled in martial arts, An Fengri only needs to swipe the body of the sword and swing the sword away immediately.But Shi Qing's ink sword came very fast, An Fengri was about to swing the sword, and the blade had already touched his index finger coldly.An Fengri was shocked: "I can't protect my four fingers!" He wanted to throw his knife and retreat, but it was too late.When his mind was spinning, Shi Qing's long sword was abruptly held back, not only did not cut forward, it moved back a few inches in the opposite direction.An Fengri knew that his subordinates were merciful, and at this moment he wanted to throw the saber, but he couldn't say anything, so he had to let go of the saber handle. Unexpectedly, when the ink sword turned over and turned under the knife, he held the golden knife and did not let it fall to the ground, only listening to Shi Qinglang's voice: "You and I are evenly matched, it is hard to tell the winner." The ink sword shook slightly, and the golden knife jumped rise. An Fengri was very grateful, and clenched the hilt of the knife with his five fingers again. After knowing that he had won, he still saved face for himself, so he quickly raised the knife and saluted respectfully. South China Sea Respect Buddha". When he used this move, he was even more startled, and his face changed color. It turned out that he had used every move and style. At this time, he just finished using the seventy-two "Cugua Knife" saber techniques, and it was obvious that the opponent was on him. I have already learned this special skill, and I didn't restrain myself until Xiao Ji's saber technique reached the 71st road, if he rushed to attack as soon as he came up, would I be able to block his ten or eight moves? , is also uncertain. An Fengri was about to say a few words of thanks, Shi Qing put his sword back into its scabbard, cupped his fists and said: "The surname Shi has made friends with Village Master An, so we don't need to compare any more. When you pass by our village, please come and hang around for a few minutes." Day." An Fengri's face was miserable, and he said, "I'll come and visit you." He leaned close to the tree, faced Shi Qing, jumped up, pulled out Yuancheng Taoist's long sword with his backhand, caught Xiaobao, and stuck both swords and swords in On the ground, holding the small bag in both hands, walked up to Shi Qing, and said: "Master Shi, please take it!" Although he got this important thing but lost it, but Shi Qing took care of his face and saved his four roots. Fingers, but also very acknowledging his affection. Unexpectedly, Shi Qing arched his hands and said: "There will be a time later!" He turned and left. An Fengri shouted: "Master Shizhuang, please stop. The owner of the village cares about Quan An's face, does An not know? An is obviously a big loser, so please ask Master Shizhuang to take this item, otherwise, wouldn't An be taken away?" I've become a scoundrel who doesn't know good and bad." Shi Qing smiled and said, "Master An, today's martial arts competition, the victory or defeat is undecided. Master An's Azure Dragon Saber, Road Breaker Saber and other exquisite sword techniques have not yet been used. , how can you just say you lost? Besides, there is no such thing in this small bag, I'm afraid Zhou Shixiong has been fooled by others." An Fengri was startled, and said, "Isn't that in there?" Hastily opened the small bag, and removed one layer after another. After five layers, there were only three copper coins in the bag. Fang, its shape is flat and thin, but it is not three coins. What is it?Startled, he couldn't help being surprised and angry, and forced himself to restrain himself. He turned around and asked Zhou Mu, "Brother Zhou, what the hell are you kidding?" Zhou Mu murmured, "I... I don't know either. On Wu Daotong, only this small bag was found." An Fengri's heart is clear, he knows that Wu Daotong either hid the object in a secret and unusual place, or handed it over to someone else, this time he not only trekked in vain, but also greatly damaged the prestige of the Golden Knife Village, he wrapped the paper and buried it underground Tossing it, he said to Shi Qing: "I am taught that Master Shizhuang laughed at me, but I don't know how Master Shizhuang knew?" When Shi Qing grabbed the small bag just now, he pinched it casually and realized that it was three round objects. Although he didn't know they were copper coins, he was sure that it was definitely not the object he wanted, and said with a smile: "I just want to It's just a random guess. We are both fooled by others, and I hope that the village master An will forgive me a lot, so I can laugh it off." Clasping his fists, he turned around and cupped his hands at Feng Zhenwu, Taoist Yuan Cheng, and Zhou Mu, and walked out of the forest quickly.
Shi Qing walked to the side of the fire, and said to Min Rou: "Junior Sister, let's go!" The two got on their mounts and went back the way they came. 闵柔看了丈夫的脸色,不用多问,便知此事没成功,心中一酸,不由得泪水一滴滴地落上衣襟。石清道:“金刀寨也上了当。咱们再到吴道通尸身上去搜搜,说不定金刀寨的朋友们漏了眼。”闵柔明知无望,却不违拗丈夫之意,哽咽道:“是。” 黑白双驹脚力快极,没到晌午时分,又已回到了侯监集。 镇民惊魂未定,没一家店铺开门。群盗杀人抢劫之事,已由地方保甲向汴梁官衙禀报,官老爷还在调兵遣将,不敢便来,显是打着“迟来一刻便多一分平安”的主意。 石清夫妇纵马来到吴道通尸身之旁,见墙角边坐着个十二三岁的小弓,此外四下里更无旁人。石清当即在吴道通身上细细搜寻,连他发髻也拆散了,鞋袜也除了来看过。闵柔则到烧饼铺去再查了一次。 两夫妇相对黯然,同时叹了门气。闵柔道:“师哥,看来此仇已注定难报。这儿日来也真累了你啦。咱们到汴梁城中散散心,看几出戏文,听几场鼓儿书。”石清知道妻子素来爱静,不喜观剧听曲,到汴梁散散心云云,全是体贴自己,便说道:“也好,既然来到河南,总得到汴梁逛逛。汴梁龙须面是天下一绝,一斤面能拉成好儿里长,却又不断,倒不可不尝。又听说汴梁的银匠是高手,去拣几件首饰也好。”闵柔素以美色驰名武林,本来就喜爱打扮,人近中年,对容貌修饰更加注重。她凄然一笑,说道:“自从坚儿死后,这十三年来你给我买的首饰,足够开家珠宝铺子啦!” 她说到“自从坚儿死后”一句话,泪水又已涔涔而下,一瞥眼间,见那小丐坐在墙角边,畏畏葸葸,污秽不堪,不禁起了怜意,问道:“你妈妈呢?怎么做叫化子了?”小丐道:“我……我……我妈妈不见了。”闵柔叹了口气,从怀中摸出一小锭银子,掷在他脚边,说道:“买饼儿去吃吧!”提缰便行,回头问道:“孩子,你叫什么名字?” 那小丐道:“我……我叫'狗杂种'!” 闵柔一怔,心想:“怎能叫这样的名字?”石清摇了摇头,道:“是个白痴!”闵柔道:“是,怪可怜见儿的。”两人纵马向汴梁城驰去。
那小丐自给吴道通的死尸吓得晕了过去,直到天明才醒,这一下惊吓实在厉害,睁眼见到吴道通的尸体血肉模糊地躺在自己身畔,竟不敢起身逃开,迷迷糊糊地醒……又睡,睡了又醒。石清到来之时,他神志已然清醒,正想离去,却见石清翻弄死尸,又吓得不敢动了,没想到那个美丽女子竟会给自己一锭银子。他心道:“饼儿么?我自己也有。” 他提起右手,手中兀自抓着那咬过一口的烧饼,惊慌之心渐去,登感饥饿难忍,张口往烧饼上用力咬下,只听得噗的一声响,上下门牙大痛,似是咬到了铁石。那小丐一拉烧饼,口中已多了一物,忙吐在左手掌中,见是黑黝黝的一块铁片。 那小丐看了一眼,也不去细想烧饼中何以会有铁片,也来不及抛去,见饼中再无异物,当即大嚼起来,一个烧饼顷刻即尽。他眼光转到吴道通尸体旁那十几枚撕破的烧饼上,寻思:“给僵尸撕过的饼子,不知吃不吃得?” 正打不定主意,忽听得头顶有人叫道:“四面围住了!”那小丐一惊,抬起头来,只见屋顶上站着三个身穿白袍的男子,跟着身后嗖嗖几声,有人纵近。小丐转过身来,但见四名白袍人手中各持长剑,分从左右掩将过来。 蓦地里马蹄声响,一人飞骑而至,大声叫道:“是雪山派的好朋友么?来到河南,恕安某未曾远迎。”顷刻间一匹黄马直冲到身前,马上骑着个虬髯矮胖子,也不勒马,突然跃下马背。那黄马斜刺里奔了出去,兜了个圈子,便远远站住,显是教熟了的。 屋顶上三名白袍男子同时纵下地来,都手按剑柄。一个三十来岁的魁梧汉子说道:“是金刀安寨主吗?幸会,幸会!”一面说,一面向站在安奉日身后的白袍人连使眼色。 原来安奉日为石清所败,甚是沮丧,但跟着便想:“石庄主夫妇又去侯监集干什么?是了,周四弟上了当,没取到真物,他夫妇定是又去寻找。我是他手下败将,他若取到,我只有眼睁睁地瞧着。但若他寻找不到,我们难道便不能再找一次,碰碰运气?此物倘若真是曾在吴道通手中,他定是藏在隐秘万分之所,搜十次搜不到,再搜第十一次又有何妨?”当即跨黄马追赶上来。 他坐骑脚力远不及石氏夫妇的黑白双驹,又不敢过分逼近,是以直至石清、闵柔细搜过吴道通的尸身与烧饼铺后离去,这才赶到侯监集。他来到镇口,远远瞧见屋顶有人,三个人都身穿白衣,背悬长剑,这般装束打扮,除了藏边的雪山派弟子外更无旁人,驰马稍近,更见三人全神贯注,如临大敌。他还道这三人要去偷袭石氏夫妇,念着石清适才卖的那个交情,心中当了他是朋友,便纵声叫了出来,要警告他夫妇留神。不料奔到近处,没见石氏夫妇影踪,雪山派七名弟子所包围的竟是个小乞儿。 安奉日大奇,见那小丐年纪幼小,满脸泥污,不似身有武功模样,待见眼前那白衣汉子连使眼色,他又向那小丐望了一眼。 这一望之下,登时心头大震,只见那小丐左手拿着一块铁片,黑黝黝的,似乎便是传说中的那枚“玄铁令”,待见身后那四名白衣人长剑闪动,竟是要上前抢夺的模样,当下不及细想,立即反手拔出金刀,使出“八方藏刀势”,身形转动,滴溜溜地绕着那小丐转了一圈,金刀左一刀,右一刀,前一刀,后一刀,霎时之间,八方各砍三刀,三八二十四刀,刀刀不离小丐身侧半尺之外,将那小丐全罩在刀锋之下。 那小丐只觉刀光刺眼,全身凉飕飕的,“哇”的一叫,放声大哭。 便在此时,七个白衣人各出长剑,幻成一道光网,在安奉日和小丐身周围了一圈。白光是个大圈,大圈内有个金色小圈,金色小圈内有个小叫化眼泪鼻涕地大哭。 忽听得马蹄声响,一匹黑马、一匹白马从西驰来,却是石清、闵柔夫妇去而复回。 原来他二人驰向汴梁,行出不久,便发现了雪山派弟子的踪迹,两人商量了几句,当即又策马赶回。石清望见八人刀剑挥舞,朗声叫道:“雪山派众位朋友,安寨主,大家是好朋友,有话好说,不可伤了和气。” 雪山派那魁梧汉子长剑一竖,七人同时停剑,却仍团团围在安奉日身周。 石清与闵柔驰到近处,蓦地见到那小丐左手拿着的铁片,同时“咦”的一声,只不知是否便是心目中那物,二人心中都怦怦而跳。石清飞身下鞍,走上几步,说道:“小兄弟,你手里拿着的是什么东西,给我瞧瞧成不成?”饶是他素来镇定,说这两句话时却语音微微发颤。他已打定主意,料想安奉日不会阻拦,只须那小丐一伸手,立时便抢人剑圈中夺将过来,谅那一众雪山派弟子也拦不住自己。 那白衣汉子道:“石庄主,是我们先见到的。” 闵柔这时也已下马走近,说道:“耿师兄,请你问问这位小兄弟,他脚旁那锭银子,是不是我给的?”这句话甚是明白,她既已给过银子,自比那些白衣人早见到那小丐了。 那魁梧汉子姓耿,名万钟,是当今雪山派第二代弟子中的好手,说道:“石夫人,或许是贤伉俪先见到这个小兄弟,但这枚'玄铁令'呢,却是我们兄弟先见到的了。” 一听到“玄铁令”这三字,石清、闵柔、安奉日三人心中都是一凛:“果然便是'玄铁令'!”雪山派其余六人也各露出异样神色。其实他七人谁都没细看过那小丐手中拿着的铁片,只见石氏夫妇与金刀寨寨主都如此郑重其事,料想必是此物;而石、闵、安三人也是一般的想法:雪山派耿万钟等七人并非寻常人物,既看中了这块铁片,当然不会错的了。 十个人一般的心思,忽然不约而同地一齐伸出手来,说道:“小兄弟,给我!” 十个人互相牵制,谁也不敢出手抢夺,知道只要谁先用强,大利当前,旁人立即会攻己空门,只盼那小丐自愿将铁片交给自己。 那小丐又怎知道这十人所要的,便是险些儿崩坏了他牙齿的这块小铁片,这时虽已收泪止哭,却茫然失措,见身周刀剑晃动,白光闪闪,心下害怕,泪水在眼眶中滚来滚去,随时便能又再流下。 忽听