Chapter 23 Chapter 2 Twelve Stages of Moonlight

Shenwei Escort is very lively. The strength of the Shenwei Escort is mediocre, but it has always been extremely powerful because it is under the care of King Wuyue.Now that the Chief Escort is celebrating his birthday, of course it will be very lively.To eat this river and lake meal, it is natural to make some friends in the river and lake.The branches of Shenwei Escort have opened all over the thirteen provinces in the south of the Yangtze River and the north of the Yangtze River, and have done business several times across the country. It can be said that they have friends all over the world.Tie Wanchang wanted to take advantage of the birthday feast to make more friends, so he distributed invitations, and almost all the respectable figures in the martial arts world received a copy.

The Iron Mansion has been preparing since August. At this time, there are lanterns and festoons, noisy noise, cars and horses flocking in front of the gate, and guests in the mansion are thronging, it is really very lively. Old Man Tie is the birthday star, so of course he has to sit high in the Ming Hall, waiting for everyone to congratulate him. His son Tie Zhongying stands at the door to greet guests on his behalf. Guests and friends from all corners of the country were all smiling, bowing to each other and saying auspicious blessings as they entered the Iron Mansion. Guo Ao scratched his head and said, "Isn't it good that we went to congratulate him empty-handed?"

Bai Yong didn't answer immediately. He had just changed into a bright red cloud satin dress for celebrating his birthday, first carefully adjusted the belt, and then slowly pinned a peony to the "Unifying Mountains and Rivers" scarf on his head, and then said in a gentle voice: "Of course it's not very good." , Then I will lose all my face for you." Guo Ao stared and said, "Why did you lose face? Didn't you still pretend to be the head of the Shenwei Escort? Shouldn't you be paying homage to the head of the bodyguard?" Bai Yong giggled, and said: "I was disguised at that time, and no one could recognize me. Didn't you see that many people went in empty-handed? Let's hurry up and get in among them."

Guo Ao said disdainfully: "That's what the Jianghu beats the autumn wind and makes a living. If you want to mess with yourself, I won't accompany you." Boyong let out an "oh", then suddenly took out something, and said, "In this case, I can only give some gifts. This... what is this thing? Why is it so tattered? It still smells like sweat? Why don't you Don't you want to find some gold, silver or something to hide in your arms?" I saw him holding a tattered booklet in his hand, frowning, and held the booklet far away.The booklet was very old, and the paper was a little yellow. It seemed that it had been held in someone's arms, not only was the cover crumpled, but it also smelled very strong of sweat.

On the front page of the booklet, there are a few large characters neatly written: "Yu Gongchang Kong Zhijian Ji". Guo Ao's face changed drastically, and he shouted, "You... when did you steal it?" He stretched out his hand and grabbed the booklet. Boyong made a grimace, and said with a smile: "Just when you didn't accompany me just now." While speaking, he lowered his body and avoided Guo Ao's approach, while saying: "I think you cherish it very much. I hid it in the ground, thinking it was some treasure, but I didn't know it was such a broken thing. Let me see what is written in it..." While avoiding Guo Ao's grasping hands, he opened the booklet and read: "Ren Wuzhiqiu, Jinzhangzhiguan, Pangshu Qingfeng, Huaixin Chixian... Hey, your literary talent is quite good." As he spoke, he kept flipping through the booklet.

What is recorded in the booklet is the words Guo Ao wrote when he was thinking back to Changkong's teachings, and he has never shown it to anyone else in his life.At this moment, when I heard Boyong read it like no one was watching, I couldn't help feeling anxious, and I couldn't catch Boyong with several claws. After seeing him jumping over and over, the anger of being prying into his privacy could no longer be restrained. The outstretched right hand suddenly flipped out, and the surrounding temperature suddenly dropped. He saw his five fingers popping out in a row. Every time he flicked, a burst of sword energy burst out!

This came suddenly, the two were separated and close, and the sword qi sizzled violently, trapping Bai Yong densely, and they all gathered towards the middle! Boyong screamed strangely: "You want to kill people to silence your mouth!" The furious sword energy didn't stop at all, and struck down like a thunderbolt in the clear sky.The five sword qi intertwined with each other without even a single gap. Boyong shouted: "Just give it back to you!" He raised his hand and threw it at Guo Ao.Guo Ao took this booklet very seriously, and quickly recovered his sword energy to prevent it from hurting the booklet. As he surged with true energy, he instantly turned the extremely rigid force into extremely soft, forming an invisible encircling circle, holding the booklet steady. Steadily drag it in the middle and take it back.

This move was transformed from Wudang swordsmanship, it was exquisite, and the booklet was not damaged at all.But Guo Ao still inspected it carefully, and was sure that there was no damage to it at all, so he just received it in his arms with precious and preciousness, and hid it as before. Boyong looked at him with a smile and said, "Is this booklet so important to you?" Guo Ao snorted and ignored him. Boyong said with a smile: "Actually, the more important something is, the easier it is to become a shackle. If you are as open-minded as you, I thought I could see it through."

Guo Ao said slowly, "If you can see through, you can't see through. Who can really explain clearly?" Boyong laughed loudly and said: "Your words are good, you really have the taste of an old monk, let's go, let's go to the ten mile shop outside the city to eat dog meat, if you congratulate, you don't congratulate, if you don't congratulate, congratulate, don't care!" With that said, he took Guo Ao's hand and walked out. The outside is neither a door nor a road, but a smiling face.A face that can be called handsome, modest, graceful, and capable.This face was full of smiles, and with two raised hands, it stood in front of the two of them.

Guo Ao frowned and said, "What are you doing?" The man smiled unabated, and said: "Until now, Tie Zhongying is known as an iron-faced tiger. When I saw him today, I realized that the two are dragons and phoenixes among men. Even if I am a tiger, I'm afraid they are just a gecko." Boyong smiled and said: "You are a gecko, then we will have to be nothing but grass dragons and paper phoenixes." Tie Zhongying looked the two of them up and down, and said, "Where are you two going?" Boyong said: "There is good dog meat in Ten Mile Shop, which is easy to roast. We are going to drink there."

Tie Zhongying said: "There is good dog meat here, which is easy to roast. It is guaranteed to be boiled in the same pot and scooped out of the same vat as Shilipu's. And it will never be out of the pot for a quarter of an hour." Boyong nodded and said: "Then there is really no need to go to Shilipu. But..." Boyong pointed to the inside of the Iron Mansion and said, "This place is full of delicacies from mountains and seas, why does Brother Tie only invite us to eat dog meat?" Tie Zhongying laughed and said, "You two can eat whatever you want, and Tie Mansion is open for you anytime from now on!" Boyong arched his hands, and said with a smile: "Then stop bothering, let's go, let's go to celebrate the old man's birthday, with a glass of wine, I wish the old man's life will be one year longer. If I don't drink enough glasses today, I will never leave!" Following Guo Ao, he walked inside. Guo Ao said: "Aren't you hanging out with those who play autumn wind?" Boyong smiled and said: "I have already given gifts, why should I be with them?" Guo Ao asked suspiciously, "Gifts? What kind of gifts have you given?" Boyong said: "Idiot, it's your swordsmanship! Is there anyone who has seen the Sword God Excalibur, why don't you hurry up and invite someone in?" The Tie family's methods are really magnanimous, there are hundreds of banquet tables in the hall and the courtyard, almost all of them are full. Bai Yong dragged Guo Ao back and forth among the crowd, this table was not good, and that table was not good either.Guo Ao is used to being promiscuous, so he doesn't think there is any difference between sitting at this table and that table.After walking through dozens more, Boyong suddenly said, "I found it! This one is the best!" The courtyard of the Tie family is arranged according to the layout of Jiangnan gardens. The curved ponds, flowing water, and bamboo forests are all detailed and ingeniously arranged in the courtyard.The table that Boyong pointed to, facing Qingshui and facing Bishan, is the best position in the entire courtyard, but the strange thing is that there is only one person sitting on this table. There were only a few plain dishes on that table, not like the delicacies on other tables, which emerged endlessly.The seated person was dressed in an ordinary gray robe and sat there quietly without any special movements, but the guests on the tables around them showed a very embarrassed look on their faces, as if they were just approaching this person , you will feel an invisible pressure, which will induce inexplicable uneasiness deep in your heart. The person was sitting in a very casual posture, and there was not even a trace of true energy on his body.There was laughter and chatter all around, but he didn't even look at it, and slowly raised his glass.The expression on his face was extremely pale, like the most distant white cloud in the depths of the blue sky, curling up leisurely, but he had an unconcealable appearance of being born. Guo Ao stopped walking.His sword aura has clearly told him that this person is the only enemy he has ever seen in his life.He didn't want to sit with this person, not because he was afraid, but because he didn't want to expose himself to this person's eyes. Boyong didn't care about it at all, walked over carelessly, sat across from that person, snatched the flagon in front of the person, poured himself a glass of wine, raised his head and drank it, and praised: "It really is Good wine, much better than the knives at Shilipu Niaoshui! Hey, why don't you come and sit down?" Guo Ao walked over and sat down slowly. His face changed. The person on the opposite side looked at them with a smile. In the blinding sunlight of the afternoon, the divine light in his eyes came from across the air, reflecting two strange halos, like an impenetrable torrent of color, following the swaying of his heart. .The double color halos are dense and flowing, and reveal an inexplicable strange feeling, which is both luxurious and ordinary, friendly and cold, and the brilliance of the sun at noon is overshadowed by it. Guo Ao had seen such eyes once before. On Longevity Peak of Songshan Mountain. Boyong glanced at that person, then at Guo Ao, and said, "Do you know each other?" The man still smiled and did not answer, Guo Ao slowly said: "The new leader of Tianluo Sect, Chongxuan." Bai Yong patted the table and said: "I'll just talk! See if the table I chose is good? We will become old friends after we sit down and talk." Guo Ao said coldly: "I don't have such an old friend. Shaolin Wudang has more than 1,000 lives, how will the worshiper pay back? How many people do you want to kill when you come to Jingzhou today?" Chong Xuan slowly put down the wine glass, and said flatly: "I have never killed anyone, and I don't want to kill anyone today. I am here to find someone." Guo Ao said: "Looking for someone? Who are you looking for?" The corners of Chongxuan's mouth twitched, and he smiled: "The birthday feast is about to begin, why don't we wait for Mr. Tie to come out and talk about it? Maybe the person I'm looking for will come soon." Guo Ao snorted coldly, and then heard a cough in the hall, and several middle-aged bodyguards surrounded an old man with silver hair and came out.Although the old man was old, he was very energetic, his eyes were shining brightly, and he looked around like lightning.When he reached the entrance of the hall, he burst out laughing and said: "Everyone came from a long way, it really gave the little old man enough face. I can't say, I want to have a good drink with everyone today." The voice was also extremely loud and full of spirit. Immediately there was a commotion from all around, and everyone left their seats one after another to pay their respects to Old Escort Tie.Tie Wanchang's memory is excellent, walking among the crowd, greeting guests, even young people who are two generations younger than him can remember the names of those he has met.After a noisy and chaotic half day, just after the meeting, Tie Wanchang returned to the hall with a few bodyguards who were close to him, sat on the seat of the birthday star, and announced the opening of the feast. All the people who came to congratulate him raised their glasses together, Tie Wanchang drank three cups in a row, his face became even more rosy, he talked and laughed in high spirits, and he kept urging everyone to drink.All the people in the meeting were extremely happy. The high-ranking guests in the Jianghu, who did not stick to etiquette, suddenly shouted and drank, resounding throughout the Iron Mansion.Tie Wanchang looked at the guests with a smile, and seemed to like the festive atmosphere very much. Suddenly, Tie Zhongying, who was welcoming the guests, hurried in and leaned over to Tie Wanchang's ear, as if to report something urgent. At this time, Guo Ao was stretching out his chopsticks to grab Lingqu's drunken shrimp; Bai Yong had just finished drinking, and moved his jaw away from the wine glass; Chong Xuan stretched out his hand to grab the jug.For no reason, the three of them felt an inexplicable chill hit them at the same time. The three of them stopped at the same time, and a green leaf floated leisurely down from the hall. Tie Wanchang's body stiffened suddenly, and he still maintained the posture of listening attentively, but his eyes quickly froze.Tie Zhongying's expression changed drastically, he staggered back a few steps, and knocked over the birthday table behind him!He raised his hand vigorously and grabbed his chest, as if he was about to grab something out, but suddenly there was a muffled sound, he let out a loud cry, spit out a mouthful of blood on his back, and fell straight down! All the congratulators were taken aback and rushed forward together.Those middle-aged bodyguards were relatively close, and rushed to support the two, but found that Tie Wanchang and Tie Zhongying were out of breath, and in this instant, under the eyes of everyone, they were killed up! There was not a single scar on Tie Wanchang's burly body, but Tie Zhongying's chest was blurred, and his meridians were cut off, as if someone had slapped him with a thunderous palm.However, there may not be thousands of guests in the Tie Mansion, and the entire mansion is full of water. Mr. Tie is surrounded by veterans, and no one can see how the murderer killed the man! The leaf fell slowly, covering Tie Wanchang's gradually icy body, as if the god of death was attached to him, and he smiled mockingly, calling for the arrival of the night. Chong Xuan sighed, got up and walked out the door.Guo Ao frowned, he couldn't make up his mind whether to stop him or not. Suddenly, Bai Yong beside him yelled: "Picking leaves and flying flowers, it's picking leaves and flying flowers again!" Guo Ao's face changed and he looked down. Bai Yong was holding a leaf in his hand. The leaves were green and bright, as if they had just been picked from the tree, and their shape was very strange. They were not produced in Jingzhou, but the ones in Qian Yingshu and Yang Feng. Could it be that the murderer who killed these three people was actually the same person?Tie Wanchang didn't have any wounds on his body, but Tie Zhongying died of a broken meridian, exactly the same as the previous two cases. Bai Yong murmured: "Could it be that the one who killed Qian Yingshu, Yang Feng, and Mr. Tie was really the legendary martial art - picking leaves and flying flowers, wounding people and killing them?" Guo Ao's face was gloomy.He really couldn't imagine that such a small leaf could kill a gangster like Tie Wanchang.Anyone can see that Tie Wanchang's internal strength has reached a high level. Even if Guo Ao makes a move himself, he may not be able to win easily. How is this small leaf possible? At this moment, Bai Yong suddenly let out a snort, and said, "There are words on the back!" He turned the leaf over and looked at it carefully in the sunlight.The back of the leaf was pierced with many small holes with needles, but the hands were very precise, each needle just penetrated into the leaf, but did not pierce, so the traces left were very light, even if you observe carefully, It may not be possible to see it.Boyong is good at Qimen Dunjia, and the power of induction on the palm is better than ordinary people. This time, when he started to check under the sun, he immediately found that there were words on the back of the leaves. He lifted the leaves, facing the sun, and squinted his eyes to look carefully.While muttering: "This handwriting is really bad...much worse than Mr. Guo... Mr. Guo is much worse than me...well, the first word is Zhu... Zhu... thick... ...Xu...Who is Zhu Houxu?" As soon as he said this, the people around were startled. After a long time, someone answered in a low voice: "This is the title of the Seventh Prince." Guo Ao frowned: "King Wuyue? What does it mean that the murderer carved his name behind the leaves?" Boyong thought for a while, and carefully took out a brocade box from his sleeve. Inside were two leaves side by side. This was the physical evidence left by the previous two cases. Boyong temporarily took over the case before King Wuyue came back. The box was always with me. The leaves of the trees were still green, and each was pressed with a piece of red paper about the width of the fingers, on which were written: "Qian Yingshu" and "Yang Feng".Bai Yong picked up the two leaves carefully, and looked at them carefully for a long time under the sun, saying: "Qian Yingshu died first, then Yang Feng..." He shook his head, lifted up a leaf, and said: "The word engraved on it is 'Yang Feng'." Then he held up another leaf: "The word engraved on it is 'Tie Wanchang'." "Yang Feng" is the one that killed Qian Yingshu, and the one engraved with "Tie Wanchang" is the one that killed Yang Feng. Guo Ao's expression changed: "You mean, when the murderer killed Qian Yingshu, he also announced that he would kill Yang Feng; when he killed Yang Feng, he also announced that he would kill Mr. Tie?" Bai Yong smiled and nodded. Guo Ao's face was even more gloomy: "Then what does the third leaf mean? Could it be..." Bai Yong said it directly: "The next person the murderer wants to kill is what they call the Seventh Prince!"