Chapter 12 Chapter 12 Huo Xiaoyu
The main entrance of the main hall was closed tightly, but a slightly smaller stone door on the stone steps on the left was slightly opened, revealing a faint light from inside.
Liu Yi looked at the stone gate, with a sneer on his face: "Prince Huo's Mansion, could it be that the next legend we meet is..."
"Huo Xiaoyu!" Before he could finish speaking, Nie Yinniang, who was behind him, spoke up.Liu Yi turned his head and saw that she escorted Xie Xiao'e to the palace wall.
Liu Yi seemed to have forgotten the displeasure just now, and smiled at Nie Yinniang: "Yes, it's her. Her story is originally one of the most famous chapters in Tang legends, and the legend we are going to meet is also a terrifying one." Her rival, the master, would never let a mediocrity get her name."
Nie Yinniang nodded: "Although Xiaoyu is the daughter of King Huo, due to her mother's humble background, after King Huo died, her brothers kicked her out of the house. She entrusted her whole life to Li Yi, a scholar she admired, but she didn't want to be treated badly by others. , was abandoned by Li Sheng. Huo Xiaoyu waited at home for several years, but there was no news. Later, fortunately, he got the help of the yellow shirt guest, who forcibly robbed Li Sheng to Huo Xiaoyu. Huo Xiaoyu scolded the unlucky person, and then mourned die."
Liu Yi nodded, and whispered: "'I am a woman, and my life is so miserable; you are a husband, and you have a heart like this. Shaoyan is childish, and she dies of drinking and hatred. A loving mother is in the hall, so she can't make offerings. Qi Luoxianguan, from now on forever Hugh. Pain in Huangquan is caused by you.' What a passionate and decisive woman, I think it is definitely not easy to be with."
The last sentence refers to Huo Xiaoyu in the legend of Tang Dynasty, while the second sentence refers to the enemy hidden in King Huo's mansion.
Before he finished speaking, Xie Xiaoe, who had been dying all the time, suddenly let out a sneer.
Nie Yinniang was startled: "What are you laughing at?"
Perhaps it was because the acupoints were restricted and there was no hope of breaking free; or maybe it was because she was too weak to resist, Xie Xiaoe's madness was slightly reduced, and her eyes became clearer, and she said in a hoarse voice: "I laugh at your stupidity! Xiaoyu is not some sentimental woman, but a man, a real man!"
Liu Yi said in surprise: "You mean, the legendary Huo Xiaoyu is actually a man?"
Xie Xiaoe's voice was extremely hoarse, it sounded like a poisonous snake gasping, and said with a hissing smile: "Huo Xiaoyu is the first legend under the master, speaking of it, we should also call him senior brother. He is a great assassin, you will always It is impossible to imagine what kind of position he is in the eyes of the master. Even the red line is not enough to compare with him. He is now in this hall, if you go in, you will never come out one day. "
Liu Yi was a little suspicious: "How do you know?" He paused, and then said: "Or, did you get his name roll?"
Xie Xiaoe's eyes burst out with hatred again: "Yes, I got his name roll, but I never thought of looking for him in Shura Town, because there is always only one person I want to look for, and that is my brother." Wang Xianke!"
When she said the three words Wang Xianke, her voice faltered suddenly, and the ending sound was pulled away for a long time, like crying and laughing, until the breath was exhausted, and there was another twitch in her throat.This sound echoed in the empty valley for a long time, and it was enough to make one's hair stand on end.
Liu Yi shook his head, and said to Nie Yinniang: "You also heard that Huo Xiaoyu, our senior brother and master's beloved disciple, is waiting for us in this hall, ready to take our lives at any time. But now this place is surrounded by mountains , it is clearly a death valley, and the only way out is in the main hall. We have to go in to find the way back to Shura Town. If you insist on taking her with you, that's up to you, but I just agreed in advance. I can't help you protect this lunatic."
Nie Yinniang glanced at Liu Yi and said coldly: "Perhaps a lunatic can also be useful as a lunatic." She turned to Xie Xiaoe and said, "Have you read Huo Xiaoyu's name roll, do you know what his specialty is?"
Xie Xiao'e smiled strangely, then lowered her voice: "I burned the name paper after reading it, but I remember every word on it clearly, and I know his strengths or weaknesses..." Her voice suddenly rose, It only made people's eardrums hurt: "But I didn't tell you! I just want to see how you die at his hands!" Her crying laughter filled the valley, like a mandrill's night horn.
Nie Yinniang frowned, and couldn't help but take two steps back.She cast her eyes on Liu Yi helplessly, but saw that he seemed to have expected this result, lowered her head and coughed lightly, as if trying to hold back a laugh.
A gleam of anger flashed across Nie Yinniang's face, but instead she was aroused to be competitive. She turned away from Xie Xiao'e who was still laughing wildly, and escorted her to the stone steps.
Liu Yi didn't stop her either, just followed behind.
The stone door was only ajar, and Nie Yinniang knocked on the door with her pointed nails.Before she could exert any strength, the door creaked softly and opened by itself.
A delicate and weird face appeared from behind the door, with two big dark eyes staring straight at Nie Yinniang.
On such a terrifying night, such a pale and strange face suddenly stood less than a foot away from him, and no one could help being shocked.
Nie Yinniang couldn't help but took a step back. She took a deep breath, bit her lips tightly, and managed to keep herself from yelling.
The visitor grinned, forming a very stiff smile on his face, bowed deeply, and turned to the side, as if to invite her in.Nie Yinniang was still hesitating, the man picked up a red palace lantern in his hand, with a big Huo character written on it, and shook it twice towards Nie Yinniang, like a servant who is hospitable to invite guests.
Nie Yinniang nodded, helped Xie Xiaoe up, and walked inside.The visitor still maintained a humble attitude, shining the lantern forward.
The moment Nie Yinniang walked past that person, she suddenly raised Xie Xiao'e's hand, as if she couldn't bear Xie Xiao'e's weight, and wanted to change her arm from the right shoulder to the left shoulder.At this fleeting moment, her left hand suddenly passed through Xie Xiao'e's armpit, and the cold light between her two fingers pierced deeply into the man's chest.
The only remaining blood shadow needle was just pulled out from Wang Xianke's body, and the poison had been wiped away.Nie Yinniang's needle was extremely accurate, facing Zhangmen acupoint, the moment the silver needle touched the other's skirt, a confident smile appeared on her face: Once the silver needle entered the body, the other person would immediately fall down.
However, the moment the silver needle touched the visitor's body, the smile on Nie Yinniang's face froze instantly!
The four-inch long silver needle seemed to have touched something extremely hard, bent downward suddenly, and almost broke.Nie Yinniang's wrist was astringent, and the silver needle was almost dropped.Fortunately, she reacted in time, exerted strength again, and the silver needle barely pierced through, but it seemed that what pierced was not a flesh and blood body at all, but a piece of dead wood!
Nie Yinniang looked up in surprise, and saw a strange smile on the face of the visitor.Suddenly, the hand holding the lantern swung over. The lantern was thrown high in the air and fell to the side, but it did not go out. The waving arm swept down towards Nie Yinniang with the sound of whistling wind.
This blow was so powerful that Nie Yinniang didn't dare to take it forcefully, she pressed down on Xie Xiao'e suddenly, and both of them fell short at the same time.That arm whizzed past her head and slammed hard on the stone door behind her.
There was a loud clang, and the stone chips flew like an iron rod against the door.
Nie Yinniang couldn't help being shocked.This person was obviously only carrying a lantern, but now the lantern has also been thrown away, he should be bare-handed, where did he get the iron rod?Could he pull out a weapon from the void in such a short moment?Or is his inner strength already strong enough to use his flesh and blood to smash the Shimen to pieces?No matter which one it is, it can be described as unimaginable, and Nie Yinniang's heart can't help being extremely cold.
Fortunately, the man didn't pursue him, but slowly retracted his arms, bowed down again, and resumed his inviting posture, with a stiff and humble expression, as if the blow just now was purely instinctive.
Nie Yinniang took a deep breath, such an invitation, should I go or not?
While hesitating, Liu Yi walked over slowly, picked up the lantern that had fallen on the ground, and patted the dust on it.His movements were very leisurely, as if he completely ignored the powerful enemy at the side.And that person just continued to invite, without taking any action.
Nie Yinniang was surprised, Liu Yi smiled lightly and said: "You don't need to be afraid, he is not a human being in the first place." He said and shone the lantern on the man.
The light was slightly brighter, revealing a face like a mask.The facial features of that face are extremely correct, and it can even be said to be quite handsome, but it gives people an uncomfortable feeling.He still stood there silently, his smile was extremely stiff, the corners of his mouth moved, but he didn't make a sound.
Liu Yi stared at him and praised: "I never thought there would be such an exquisite doll in the world."
Nie Yinniang was taken aback: "Puppet?"
Liu Yi nodded, and said to Nie Yinniang, "Look if you don't believe me." Before he finished speaking, he suddenly swung the wooden handle of the lantern and slashed at the head of the person who came.
The visitor straightened his body back, raised his right hand high, and swung it down heavily.Taking advantage of the firelight, he saw his arm turning in mid-air, and with a slight sound, the pale skin on his arm suddenly split and sank in the middle.In the blink of an eye, that arm had turned into an iron rod, and it fell on Liu Yi's head.In the light of the flames and the shadows, Liu Yi's body retreated like a dragon. Unexpectedly, when the man turned his iron arm, he changed his direction, bent his elbow outward, and shot towards Liu Yi!
It is impossible for a human elbow to bend to such an extent anyway.
Nie Yinniang was dumbfounded, and saw Liu Yi sideways to get out of the way of the iron arm to pursue, pointing his toes, and jumped up again, this time he had retreated to a distance of one zhang.
The man didn't chase anymore, but slowly withdrew his arm.There was a slight crackling sound on his arm, and the skin and palm were rolled over again, and the shiny iron rod quickly returned to a human arm.
Without any expression on his face, he bowed slowly again, and resumed his invitation posture again.
Nie Yinniang was astonished and took a step back, but Xie Xiaoe beside her seemed to have been prepared, and just looked at the two gloatingly.
Liu Yi sighed behind him: "I didn't expect him to be able to change his moves. I was careless just now and almost got hit by him."
He came to Nie Yinniang with a lantern and said, "But don't be afraid, as long as he doesn't take the initiative to attack, he won't fight back."
Nie Yinniang didn't answer, just grabbed the lantern and carefully focused the light on the man.She moved the lantern closer to try to see more clearly; at the same time, she tried her best not to touch the man's body, so as not to trigger his violent counterattack.
She forcibly suppressed the fear in her heart, but her wrist still trembled slightly.Under the flickering firelight, a piece of delicate skin was illuminated.The skin is delicate and smooth, like a woman, and the fine hairs can be vaguely seen on it, which is really lifelike.She looked up again, and there were faint tendons on the man's neck. Except that he was not breathing, he was completely indistinguishable from a real person.
However, under the neck, there is a row of petite lowercase scripts, the characters are delicate and elegant, deeply sunken into the skin, as if they were not written or engraved, but melted and cast as a whole.
Eighteenth, made on a certain day of a certain month and a certain year.
Nie Yinniang took a deep breath: "Is it really a doll... who can make such a doll?"
Legend has it that Zhuge Liang in the Western Shu Dynasty made wooden oxen and horses, which can carry loads and walk. They went from Jiange to Dazhai in Qishan to carry food and grass back and forth, and helped the Shu army win the victory in Beiyuan.Nie Yinniang thought that this was just a novelist's exaggeration, but she didn't expect that in this ancient house deep in the mountains, she saw with her own eyes a mechanism puppet that was several times more exquisite than a wooden cow and horse.This puppet can not only act as usual, but also counterattack according to the opponent's attacking moves. Its power is only comparable to the eighteen bronze figures of Shaolin Temple in the legend.
Liu Yi sighed, held her trembling hand, and pointed the lantern in her hand slightly downward.
The dim yellow light sank slightly following his actions, revealing a fiery red paint mark, on which was the word "Huo" in seal script!
The two looked at each other without speaking.
Without looking at the name scroll in Xie Xiaoe's hand, they could already guess what Huo Xiaoyu's specialty is.
Yet they could not think of his weakness.
At least, as a mechanism maker, the dolls under him are astonishingly perfect.A puppet ranked No. 18 already possesses such a powerful combat power, who knows how many such puppet he has in his hands, and how terrifying he is?
The two were still hesitating, and Wu Shiba seemed to be a little impatient in waiting, and waved his outstretched arms in the air a few times.With a soft sound, a gap opened again in his wrist, and a white silk book hung down from his arm.
Above is a small manuscript:
"I am a jade tree, and you are the autumn wind. When the wind comes and the clouds move, the tree is full of autumn sounds. Now I miss you, can you not?"
Should I go at the invitation, or leave early?Nie Yinniang cast her eyes on Liu Yi.
Liu Yi seemed to have read her mind, shook his head and said: "Since Huo Xiaoyu can arrange it like this, I'm afraid we won't let us walk out of this gate safely."
As soon as the words were finished, there was a loud bang behind them, and the stone door had been closed tightly, not even a ray of light could penetrate.
Nie Yinniang instinctively cast her eyes on Liu Yi, but she was secretly startled.She suddenly found that she was used to asking for his opinion before acting, which she had never done in her many years of traveling alone.
Perhaps, a woman is neither lazy nor stupid, but when she has a man by her side, she always relaxes involuntarily, letting him go to the front, while she sits aside and enjoys the benefits.So he became more and more lazy, more and more stupid, and finally became a waste who could only scream in the dark.
For Nie Yinniang, this is really a dangerous omen.
She shook her head, as if she wanted to shake all these signs out of her mind. She collected herself and tried to put on that charming and firm smile before, but it was somewhat stiff.She took a deep breath and said: "In that case, why not meet this senior brother who has never met before?" She deliberately stopped looking at Liu Yi, pulled Xie Xiao'e up, and walked straight into the dark hall.
Liu Yi didn't stop them, but just followed behind them.
Wu Shiba seemed to be able to sense their actions, and took a step ahead, blocking in front of the three of them. He shook his head a little stiffly, pointed his finger aside, and signaled them to avoid the main hall and go to a side door on the side.
Nie Yinniang was about to move, but Wushiba had already pushed open the side door.The door shaft made a rusty rustling sound, as if it hadn't been opened for a long time.
Behind the door is a long passage, completely made of huge stones, exuding a musty smell.Just as Nie Yinniang stepped into it, a cloud of choking dust rose up. She brushed the dust away with a wave of her sleeve, and at the same time lifted the lantern to carefully examine the surrounding environment.
I saw that this passage was full of various kinds of wood and iron wares, in various shapes, such as round, square, chain, pyramid, and straight. There are various shapes and forms, as if it is a huge warehouse.
Nie Yinniang dragged Xie Xiao'e and walked forward slowly. The utensils around her were constantly changing. Some were several huge cabinets stacked on top of each other; some were a half-broken windmill; There is also a huge wooden tiger with mottled patterns and flying claws. It seems that it will wake up from the dust at any time, and let out a long and earth-shattering roar!
However, all of this is really not surprising compared to the scene at the end of the passage.
At the end is another door, and on both sides of the door are piles of garbage several people high, like two weird hills.The light approached, but it revealed an astonishing scene—the inside of the two rubbish hills was filled with people's heads, hands, feet, internal organs, and torsos!
〖The Legend of Huo Xiaoyu
During the Dali period, Li Yigang, a famous scholar in Longxi, was selected as a Jinshi. He was self-confident and coquettish, and wanted to find a wife, but he couldn't get his wish for a long time.The matchmaker Bao Shiniang told him that there was a woman named Huo Xiaoyu, who was the daughter of King Huo. After King Huo died, Xiaoyu's brothers thought she was a concubine, so they kicked Xiaoyu's mother and daughter out of the house, and now they live in Zhengqu.Huo Xiaoyu's appearance is like a fairy, with a peerless beauty, which is enough to match her.Li Sheng was overjoyed and hurried to go.
Xiaoyu's mother entertained Li Sheng with wine. When Xiaoyu came out, she saw that she was very beautiful like a jade tree in a jade forest.Li Sheng fell in love with him unconsciously, and Xiao Yu also admired Li Sheng's talent. The two fell in love at first sight, and they became close friends of Qin and Jin. Li Sheng stayed here.
After two years of this, Li Sheng appointed Zheng County Chief Registrar, and when he was about to take up the post, Xiaoyu said to Li Sheng: "I know that Mr. Lang is young and tall, and there must be many rich and powerful families competing for marriage, but I am only ten years old this year. Eighth, Mr. Lang is twenty-two years old, and there are still eight years before Mr. Lang is in his prime. I know that I am just like a willow, and I am not good enough to serve a gentleman. I ask Mr. Lang to love me for eight years, and then I will It is enough to shave my hair and become a nun."
Li Sheng was so moved that he made an appointment with Xiaoyu, and he would welcome Xiaoyu there at the latest in August.The two bid farewell.Unexpectedly, Mrs. Tai at home has arranged a marriage for him, and it is his cousin Lu Shi.Li Sheng did not dare to disobey, but could only obey his mother's will.He felt ashamed of Xiaoyu, so he didn't dare to go to Huo's house again, and when he had to pass by occasionally, he would rather take a detour.Xiaoyu became ill with love, and wanted to see Li Sheng, but couldn't convey it to Li Sheng.Xiaoyu was full of resentment and resentment, and her condition became more and more serious.Those who heard about it were all moved with pity.
In March of the following year, Li Sheng and five or six friends went to the Chongjing Temple to enjoy the peonies. When they were chanting, suddenly a heroic man in a yellow shirt came forward, saying that he admired Li Sheng's name, and tried his best. Invite Li Sheng to be a guest at home.Li Sheng refused, but had no choice but to move forward.Huang Shike led him all the way to Huo Xiaoyu's door, Li Sheng wanted to leave in panic, Huang Shanke hurriedly ordered his servants to block him, and forcibly invited him into Huo's house.
Earlier, Huo Xiaoyu dreamed that a man in yellow hugged Li Sheng and put him in front of her. After waking up, she believed that she would meet Li Sheng today, so she began to dress up.After he was dressed neatly, the man in yellow shirt took Li Sheng hostage and snatched him in.Xiaoyu was overjoyed, regardless of her serious illness, she hurriedly got up to greet her.Sitting in the hall, Li Sheng saw Xiaoyu's shapeless, weak and pitiful, and felt sorry for him for a while, but he was at fault, so he couldn't speak.Xiaoyu endured the illness, turned sideways, squinted at Li Sheng for a long time, poured his glass of wine on the ground, and said: "I am a woman, and my life is so miserable; you are a husband, and you have a heart like this. Shaoyan is immature, and she died of drinking and hating. The loving mother is in the hall, so I can't make offerings. Qiluo stringed pipes will rest forever. The pain of the Yellow Springs is all caused by you. Li Jun Li Jun, now I will die forever. After I die, I will be a fierce ghost, making your wife and concubines restless all day long."
Xiaoyu grabbed Li Sheng's arm, cried several times and died.After Li Sheng returned home, he felt that the world was vast and seemed to have changed color.Since then, his suspicions have become increasingly serious, and he often suspects that his wife is not chaste, and finally divorces.Later, she married three more times, and they all ended up like this.People who heard about this said it was the retribution of Li Sheng's misfortune.
Non-smoking case: Huo Xiaoyu and Li Wa are both advocating daughters, but they are very different. 〗