Chapter 23 Chapter 23 The Storm

The carriage stopped outside Banzhulou, Qiu Jiushi who was waiting hurriedly opened the door, and Baichun appeared inside the door, showing him a smile that would always impress him. Qiu Jiushi took her slender hand, waited for her to get off the car, smelled her fragrant breath, and sighed in his heart: "I'm with this beauty again." Baichun withdrew her jade hand and turned to look at him. Both of them seemed to be suppressing a certain emotion in their hearts, forgot to speak for a while, and stood face to face, a little at a loss. Qiu Jiushi thought to himself: Didn't you just see her last night?Why seeing her now, I feel a little reunited after a long absence.Faintly, he knew the reason, because this time was different from any other time in the past, he was no longer bound by his own thoughts, so he had expectations and longed to see her.

Baichun broke the silence and said overjoyedly: "I didn't expect you to meet Baichun outside the building. For the sake of this, I will settle old scores with you after I have a full stomach. I am very hungry!" Looking at her energetic and pretty appearance, listening to her coquettish words, Qiu Jiushi forgot everything. When Gu Yueming arrived at Hongyelou, to his surprise, Fatty Zhou personally greeted him at the gate, seeming to hug him warmly, which made him puzzled. Fatty Zhou ordered his servants to take Hui Jian to take good care of him, lead the way himself, and lead Gu Yueming to the Fengzhu Pavilion where Wu Zixu was, and said in a low voice: "Mrs. I know what the other party is thinking. The reason why Fatty Zhou is today, she has put a lot of effort behind my back. If she hadn't supported me financially and sent Baichun to help me, Hongyelou would never have the momentum it has today. Huameng is the person I am most grateful to. Yueming is coming to the south this time, if there is anything I can do for you, just tell me, I am on Yueming's side."

Gu Yueming followed him around the majestic main hall and stepped into the secluded central garden. Hearing this, he said in his heart: "In this case, I'm not welcome. I want to temporarily foster the horse in Hongyelou." Fatty Zhou patted his chest and said: "This is completely fine, I can guarantee that Yueming's mount will be taken care of properly." He sighed again: "Recently, in order to prepare for the tenth anniversary dinner of our Hongye Building, I only sleep two or three times a day. For an hour, the spirit is surprisingly vigorous, which is really weird."

Gu Yueming called out heartily, this was just an opening remark, and she also admired Fatty Zhou's change of topic, which made people feel natural and comfortable, and she nodded to express her understanding. Fatty Zhou lowered his voice and said, "Is Yueming an old friend of Mr. Lang?" Gu Yueming said lightly: "You can say that." The two walked onto a long bridge.The hanging ladle pool on the left is like a bright mirror, flat and clean, crystal clear, large groups of fish swim past in groups, carefree, the lake is surrounded by the reflections of the water pavilions and trees on the shore, occasionally the breeze blows, and sparkles appear. The sparkling ripples are refreshing to watch.

Fatty Zhou approached him and said, "Does Yueming suspect that Mr. Lang is impersonated by Wudun Pirates?" Gu Yueming said calmly: "I never said that." For Mrs. Hua Meng's sake, he was patient with Fatty Zhou.Gu Yueming is a person who has no friends and doesn't like to talk to others. Mrs. Hua Meng is the only exception.Perhaps even the loneliest people sometimes have the need to tell their hearts. Fatty Zhou hesitated for a moment, and said in a pleading tone: "Everyone is my own, and I don't want to hide my feelings. Now Mr. Lang is really the key to the success or failure of our tenth anniversary celebration. Big plans can only be put into practice, so...so I have an unfeeling request to Yueming, if..."

Gu Yueming went on to say: "If he is really the fifth escaped thief, I have to hide it for him, right?" Fatty Zhou said embarrassingly: "Yueming is really reasonable. Alas! Does my request embarrass Yueming? After all, Yueming is the emperor's master who specializes in catching thieves." Gu Yueming said: "Maybe he is really Lang Geng, Boss Zhou is overthinking." Fatty Zhou led him through a mottled bamboo grove, and sighed: "Hearing Yueming's tone made me even more worried. How about this? We'll talk about it after he completes the eight pictures of beauties. Ha! We're here."

There is a moon gate at the end of the road, and houses are hidden in the shadow of trees in the courtyard wall, peaceful and serene under the scorching sun.Gu Yueming looked at Fatty Zhou who was sweating profusely, and said with a smile: "Please let me go in to see him alone. If Boss Zhou can't hear the sound of someone breaking the window and escaping, there should be no problem with your Bameitu, and it can be delivered as scheduled." Finish." Qiu Jiushi looked up at the sky and said, "The sky is getting dark, it looks like it's raining." Baichun smiled and said, "Should we plan ahead and move the tables and chairs inside first?"

Qiu Jiushi was still studying the dark clouds sprinting across the sky, shrugging his shoulders and said: "Anyway, we are full and have a roof to cover our heads. Wouldn't it be nice to sprinkle a few drops of rain? The weather is very hot. When I was young, every time it rained , always like to take off his clothes and run up the mountain until he is shivering from the cold before returning home, but he never catches a cold and gets sick because of it.” Baichun said softly: "Where is the son's home?" Qiu Jiushi showed deep sadness on his face, which was the irreversible sadness after all hopes were shattered.He shook his head and exhaled, "I don't have a home anymore." Looking back at Bai Chun's pretty face, he said in a deep voice, "We are living in a hopeless era. The emperor is incompetent, and treacherous men are in power. Foreign races invade , the people’s livelihood is in decline. I’m sorry! I shouldn’t talk about these spoilers.”

Baichun said: "No! I love to hear the ambition in your chest." Qiu Jiushi breathed out again, as if wanting to drive away the emotions in his heart, he said: "It's funny to say, I love watching the changes in the sky since I was a child. I am a person who doesn't like to cry, and I seldom shed tears, but when I watched The sky changes, the thunder roars, and the lightning splits the sky. I always have the urge to cry, and I feel my own insignificance. Especially when I am in the wilderness, a dazzling shock strikes suddenly, blinding people's eyes. Suddenly being engulfed by the boundless darkness, I can no longer tell what is the sky and what is the earth, the sky and the earth are integrated into one, that feeling will fill my heart with passion, and it will be difficult to express my feelings without screaming a few times."

Baichun was moved and said: "It turns out that the young master is a person with rich emotions, which is really unexpected." Suddenly a gust of wind blew, blowing the clothes of the two of them fluttering, dust and dust rolled up on the street for a long time, and pedestrians scrambled to avoid it.At this time, dark clouds took over, occupying most of the sky.A few drops of rain fell down and hit the upper cover of the platform seating, making pattering sounds of varying severity.Qiu Jiushi said: "This rain is bigger than I expected." Before the words were finished, another gust of wind blew, stronger than before, the trees on both sides of the street couldn't help shaking, and then the heavy rain suddenly broke out, and the heavy rain poured down from the sky, and the world outside the private seat became a chaotic world with confused water vapor. No matter where is the tree and where is the street, can't distinguish between horses and pedestrians, confused and cold, and the platform lounge seems to be the only safe place of refuge in this chaotic world.

Baichun said happily: "This is the first time that Baichun feels the beauty of the terrace seating. The platform seating is the original creation of Banzhulou, and other restaurants follow suit. It is both inside and outside the building. No wonder Banzhulou is ranked among the top three restaurants in Yueyang. One of the buildings." Qiu Jiu asked with interest: "The third floor of Yueyang, what are the other buildings?" Baichun replied: "Yueyang is famous all over the world because of Yueyang Tower, so the buildings in Yueyang City are called Yueyang Tower, and they are all named after the name of the building. Of course, Yueyang Tower is the first among all buildings, followed by our Red Leaf Tower and Banzhu Tower. I respectfully accompany you to the last table on the third floor, but it is very rare. Young Master is in a good mood today!" Qiu Jiushi smiled and said: "I'm really in a good mood. To be honest with Baichun, it was the first time for me, Qiu Jiushi, to have dinner with a girl's house. Baichun made me feel that watching people eat can be so enjoyable. Lots of fun." Baichun lowered her head shyly, and said disobediently: "Young master is teasing my slave, my eating is the ugliest." Qiu Jiushi laughed and said, "Of course not, I'm speaking from the bottom of my heart." Baichun looked at him, and said softly: "If the young master had the same attitude at the beginning, Baichun would never feel resentful. What is the young master's mind?" Qiu Jiushi wanted to speak, but was suddenly speechless.It's a thousand words, I don't know where to start. Gu Yueming stepped into the hall of Fengzhu Pavilion from the open door. There was a person sitting at the table in the center of the hall, facing the door, looking at himself with scorching eyes. Those are a pair of very special eyes, which imply a mysterious calmness, but they are by no means cold, without the slightest bit of viciousness, and hide an inexplicable vitality, which will change according to your mind, but you will never be able to grasp them The real thoughts in my heart are those eyes that surpass the comprehension of ordinary people, as if they are always pursuing something that others cannot understand. The real Wudun Pirates is much more attractive than the one on the reward map.Although he is sitting still, Gu Yueming can see that he is not moving, but he is as nimble as a fox and a rabbit when moving. Even if he is superior in martial arts, or even has a large number of people, it is still not easy to catch him. Wu Zixu said happily: "My old friend is here. Brother Gu, please sit down." Gu Yueming sat down opposite him, took off his saber, put it on the table, and said disapprovingly: "Am I your old friend?" Wu Zixu smiled and said: "We are not only old friends, but also a match made in heaven. Brother Gu is a soldier who specializes in chasing thieves, and younger brother is a thief who steals. They have climbed to the highest positions in their respective industries. God has this arrangement. , of course it was destined that we would meet, I just never thought it would be under such circumstances." Gu Yueming was noncommittal, and changed the topic and asked: "Why is it so unwise? Impersonating Lang Geng must be a stupid mistake." Wu Zixu looked helpless, and said: "At that time, I was eager to make money and entered the building, and I blurted out the four characters of Huaxian Lang Geng. Afterwards, I remembered how the doorkeeper knew what Lang Geng was. He said Geng Lang and Lang Geng made no difference, and in the end he used silver taels to open up the joints. Alas! Lang Geng is a lame man. They only need to know a little about him like Brother Gu, and they can expose me. I really made a mistake, as if I was fascinated by a ghost. " Gu Yueming said lightly: "You only have ten days at most, and Ruan Xiuzhen is prudent, and will definitely try to find out if there is such a person in the capital." Wu Zixu said happily: "Brother Gu decided to help me hide it." Gu Yueming said casually: "I never care about other people's business. I will not interfere in your affairs, I will not expose you, but I will not prove that you are Lang Geng." Wu Zixu asked: "Since that's the case, Brother Gu should pretend he's never heard of Lang Geng, let alone come to see me, lest he cause unnecessary trouble. One thing more is worse than one thing less." Gu Yueming said: "I do whatever I like, I don't have time to care about what other people think." Wu Zixu was at a loss for words. Gu Yueming pondered for a moment, and said, "I came to see you because I want to clarify one thing." Wu Zixu was puzzled and said, "What's the matter?" Gu Yueming's eyes shot a strange light, and he watched him calmly and said slowly: "The masterpiece hanging in Baichun's residence, the beauty in the ancient chariot in the painting, does it really exist? Where is she now? place?" As soon as the last sentence was finished, a strong wind suddenly blew into the hall from doors and windows from different directions. The trees outside the pavilion shook their leaves, the sky and the earth changed color, and the birds flew in fright.The two of you look at me and I look at you, and they both have a strange feeling. The rain fell, and it was quite restrained at the beginning, but suddenly the sky collapsed, and the heavy rain was out of control, and the outside of the pavilion became a world of water. Qiu Jiushi sighed. Baichun said quietly: "Is it really so hard to say?" Qiu Jiushi nodded and said, "That's true. Because if I say it, I'm afraid you will think I'm crazy, or that Ruan Xiuzhen is crazy." Baichun's spirit was lifted, her beautiful eyes sparkled and she said: "So it's so interesting. Tell me quickly, I love to hear absurd and bizarre things. The more absurd and bizarre, the better." Qiu Jiushi began to discover Baichun's hidden side, her side that pursues excitement, talking to her will never feel dull.The rain outside the building was getting heavier and heavier, everything was covered by the torrential rain, it seemed that only their platform seat was independent, and there were only the two of them left in Yueyang City, and all other personnel matters were no longer important.Suddenly, he felt that it didn't matter what he said, as long as it was exciting enough, it was what Baichun liked. Qiu Jiushi withdrew his gaze from the outside, looked at Baichun, saw her longing and expectation, and said in a deep voice: "If I want to describe it in the simplest terms, it means that Xiu and I are really fighting against an invisible piece of paper. Everyone around you may be caught in the net of destiny. Only me and Xiuzhen know this situation. Others let him have three heads and six arms. , Gu Yueming and others are still just poor ignorant fish caught in a net." Baichun's face turned pale, and he said: "Baichun told you that it was heartbreaking." Qiu Jiushi wryly smiled and said, "Then should I continue?" Baichun said happily: "It sounds so nice, of course I have to continue. Why do you have this idea, and where did you get such a bizarre inference?" Qiu Jiushi immediately looked at her with admiration and wondered, "Baichun really understands what I'm talking about?" Bai Chunbai glanced at him and said: "What is difficult to understand. Tell me quickly! What basis do you have?" Qiu Jiushi said: "It's mainly based on two things. Firstly, the cultivation hexagrams for the same event on different days. Although the hexagrams are different, the images of the hexagrams are the same, which shows that evil spirits are at work. Then we received news that a man who looked like a thief with five escapes With one tael of silver in his hand, he won seven games in a row in a gambling house in a town south of Dongting. No matter how many tricks the people in the gambling house used, he was defeated. Doubtful, I went to that gambling hall to investigate how the people in the gambling hall lost. I went to Yueyang to meet Qian Shichen, because I thought that Qian Shichen's family treasure, the Heavenly Maiden Jade Sword, would be the next one to be stolen by Wu Dun. Treasure target. On that day, Baichun was stopped by the six sons of Yueyang, Xiuzhen had just arrived in Yueyang, and explained the results of the investigation to me in this private seat." Baichun frowned, looked at him intently, shook his head slowly and said: "I still don't understand!" Qiu Jiushi said: "This matter is beyond common sense, it is really not easy to understand. Let me talk about the result of the cultivation investigation first, that is, the gambling masters in the gambling hall seem to be fascinated by ghosts. They should roll this point, but they rolled another point." Come out, and comprehension draws a conclusion from this, there is an invisible enemy in the dark, who is setting up a fateful situation. This situation is centered on the five escaped robbers, and all people related to the five escaped robbers are involved." Baichun took a deep breath and said, "Is there such a strange thing in the world? If you are not overwhelmed, it will be terrifying and exciting, and it cannot be resisted by humans. But what does this have to do with you and me?" Qiu Jiushi said: "The moment I jumped to the street from here, my comprehension suddenly dawned on me. Why didn't the sixth son of Yueyang intercept Baichun earlier, or later, but it happened in front of the Banzhulou, which made us Can't stay out of it? In fact, this shows that the invisible enemy is secretly manipulating everything and leading things to develop in a certain direction. And this situation is intertwined. As long as we can destroy one of its links, we can break Get rid of this fateful situation, and everything is under our control." Baichun gasped and said, "I'm horrified when I tell you. Do you think that our encounter is one of the links in this fateful situation. But what role can I play?" Qiu Jiushi said: "At least Baichun won an eight-day grace period for Wudun Pirates. Until now, we still can't see through its entire layout, we only firmly believe that this invisible enemy is on the side of Wudun Pirates. And we are Being led by the nose step by step, I am on the defensive.” Baichun frowned and said: "You broke the appointment and didn't come to see my slave just because you wanted to break the situation. Alas! Baichun didn't know whether to blame you or sympathize with you. Tell me, is the five escaped robbers really that important to you? Can everything be ignored?" Qiu Jiushi seemed to have forgotten the increasingly violent wind and rain outside the building that was ravaging Yueyang City, his eyes shone with a strange light, and his tone was sonorous and authentic: "Xiuzhen and I have known each other long before joining the Great River League, and we have the same goal and ambition. I study the rise and fall of chaos in ancient and modern times, and I practice military art and martial arts. We do not have the ambition of being kings and emperors, but we hope to bring order out of chaos and bring the country back on track. To achieve this goal, we must have a strong force. the cause of the alliance." Baichun happily said: "There are many people who say they have great ambitions, but it's the first time Baichun has met someone who puts it into practice like Young Master and Mr. Ruan. But didn't I clearly express my position? Baichun won't Those who hinder the son's great cause." Qiu Jiushi sighed: "The situation is so simple, in some cases, problems will arise." After a short pause, he continued: "I really don't want to say some things. After I say them, Baichun's opinion and impression of me will never return to what it was before I said them." Bai Chunda said with great interest: "You seem to be taking the initiative to introduce your shortcomings, right?" Qiu Jiushi looked at the world blocked by the water curtain outside the private seat, and said with emotion: "When I chose the path to take, I knew that the situation in front of me would eventually happen. Facing a woman who can make me fall in love, but But I have no blessing to accept the beauty's favor." Baichun happily said: "I have never heard such a tragic love story. What is the problem with the young master?" Qiu Jiushi's eyes returned to her, his eyes lit up, and he said in a deep voice: "After studying all kinds of battles since ancient times, I came to a conclusion that war is absolutely not suitable for cowards or moralists to participate in. The essence is ruthless, you can only use your brains, not your emotions. For example, in a war, Xiuzhen and I each lead an army to confront the enemy in different positions. If we win this battle, the final victory It will belong to us. And there may be only one way to win, that is, I must sacrifice myself and my troops to obtain the final victory. I will do so without hesitation when my heart is not tied. But when I Qiu Jiushi's heart If you have worries, you will hesitate, and you will miss the opportunity and lose the last battle. Baichun, do you understand? If you become my woman, I have to think about you." Baichun looked at him thoughtfully, nodded and said, "I'm starting to understand a little bit. But I firmly believe that no one is your opponent on the battlefield, and you will never encounter the situation you are afraid of." Qiu Jiushi smiled wryly: "Baichun, you are wrong, a similar situation happened earlier, but you didn't notice it!" Baichun's tender body trembled slightly, her face turned white, and said, "You mean the five escaped robbers?" Qiu Jiushi closed his tiger eyes, opened them after a while, and said, "Baichun is really smart. I understand that Baichun sympathizes with Wudun Pirates. Frankly speaking, if I had a choice, I would never But I have no choice, this is no longer a question of who is right and who is wrong, or whether the five escapes deserve death, but for the final victory, anyone can be sacrificed. Five Dudao is becoming such a key figure. For a bigger goal, we must kill the five escaped robbers. Does Baichun understand?" Baichun's face turned even paler, unable to speak. Qiu Jiushi said sadly: "This is the first time in my life that I have to do something against my conscience. It is the unworthy son of our leader who deserves to be damned, and it is definitely not the five escaped robbers. But unless I give up the path I chose, I will only have one Choice. I can tell Baichun that I will never change in this matter. Can Baichun accept a person like me?" Baichun bit her lower lip and said in a low voice: "Don't you think this is a kind of destiny? Why don't you fight against it and find another way to get the best of both worlds?" Qiu Jiushi nodded and said: "If Ruan Xiuzhen can't think of a way to get the best of both worlds, there is probably no such possibility in the world. Baichun, go home! Try to forget me. I, Qiu Jiushi, will destroy you life. You can hate me, anything, I don't deserve you at all." The heavy rain continued to ravage Yueyang City.