Chapter 11 Chapter 3 Jiangzuo Mei's House

On Mang Mountain, there is a patch of green grass, which makes the two women sitting in it look like gods. The breeze blows slowly through the sleeves of the clothes, billowing like clouds. "Senior, I want to ask you, why did you follow Louzhu Xiao back then? Did you come to Tingxuelou and become a Jianghu man because of him?" "That's right. If it wasn't because I met Mr. Xiao, maybe I'm just an old-fashioned brothel girl in Luoyang Fengyuechang. There are few cars and horses in front of the door. The boss is married to a businessman's wife. Heh." "After joining Tingxuelou, have you ever killed anyone for Xiaolou?"

"Kill? Really no...I'm a lady from a scholarly family, how can I pick up a knife to kill someone? If someone threatens the landlord, I will first use my brain to come up with a plan to get rid of him—but If it is a last resort and I am really asked to kill someone, I will do it." "But..." The girl holding the Xuewei sword leaned on the stone, raised her head, silently looked at the white clouds above Mang Mountain, and sighed softly, "Even if it's for Yunting, I still don't want to go kill." Zi Mo looked at her sideways and smiled: "This is the difference between you and Miss Jing—your reverence and respect for life is far more than that of the Gorefiend's daughter who wandered alone since childhood." Zi Mo smiled and shook her head : "However, Lord Xiao never ordered me to kill people, and he would not force anyone to do what he did not want to do. This is what makes Yun Ting different from him—in this world, no one will be like others again." .”

There was a confused look in the girl's eyes, and she hugged her knees and sighed softly.After a long time, she only asked one sentence: "Then, senior, no matter how the landlord treats you, you think you will be happy as long as you are by his side, don't you?" "No, that's not the case. I devoted the best years of my life to him, dedicated all my talents and wisdom, and have no complaints or regrets." The woman smiled with wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, but she was still magnificent, "But, no matter what Is it me, or the other three protectors, we followed the landlord, not because he controlled us and made us lost—but because we followed him, we found ourselves and used our own choices to get rid of our fate."

She turned her head and looked at the girl: "You, do you understand?" Su Wei's whole body shook, she raised her head to look at the sky, and nodded slowly after a long time. "But, senior," before she stood up and left, she suddenly turned her head and asked the last sentence, "to Yun Ting, is Xuewei more important to him, or me to him? The most important thing in his heart What is it that matters?" Zi Mo smiled, gently folded a piece of green grass with her fingers, looked at the sky, and said leisurely: "I can't answer this question for you—I'm afraid Miss Jing has been asking this question in her heart decades ago. It's just the same Nobody gave her an answer."

"But in the end, the landlord is still..." Su Wei shuddered, thinking of the final result of the dragon and phoenix of the pair—a lifetime of suspicion and distrust piled up into a hard barrier that could never be broken. The two of them could no longer take a step closer to each other. "No, that's not the answer." Zi Mo smiled lightly and folded the leaves of grass, "I said before that no one will be the same as others, so even if you have the same question, you won't get the same answer." Reply." She turned her head to look at the girl wearing the blood myrtle, and smiled: "All the answers must be found by yourself."

Senran's swords hung all over the walls, and the strange weapons were displayed on the display racks, overflowing with murderous aura. There was silence in the Shenbing Pavilion, and the young man in white walked around with his hands behind his back, brushing his fingers over each of the collections, with a calm expression, listening to his subordinates telling the most confidential news—— "The mother and daughter of Mei An, the third house of the Mei family, were discovered by us in Qishan Town, Guangyuan County ten days ago, and the jade flute, the family heirloom of the Mei family, was finally found." The pair of cold and bright eyes are still as young as a falcon, "In three months, Chuihua Xiaozhu traveled a total of four thousand miles, killing a total of 26 remnants of the Mei family - now all the people on the family tree have been reported to the family. off."

"Okay." Xiao Yunting whispered, opened the Mei family tree, and marked off the last two names with a Chinese ink brush, "From now on, Jiangzuo Mei's family will become history, and the so-called Heavenly Dao League should also fall apart—it's really hard work, uncle." gone." Shi Yu made an offering and bowed his hands, but turned around and left without much courtesy. Since Louzhu Xiao passed away, he was dissatisfied with Louzhu Shi who took over. Many old people in the building had already chosen to retire at that time.Only the king of killers in Chuihua Xiaozhu remained in the building, and he never left after several changes.Many times, he was thinking that the reason why Shi Yu followed him was not because of true loyalty, but because of respect for the dragon and phoenix among the dead, right?

Maybe Master is right, he is indeed an unfortunate person... From birth to now, maybe until death, he could not get rid of the shadow of those two people. Xiao Yunting stood alone in the Shenbing Pavilion for a long time, looking at the swords. This is an attic built to commemorate the pair of dragons and phoenixes. It once enshrined the Xiying Knife and the Xuewei Sword. In addition, there are also many weapons of various sects on display—some were brought back as spoils of war after the conquest. There are also those offered by the surrendered sects themselves, from the south to the north of Mobei, representing the glory of Tingxuelou's heyday.

But now, a new member has been added to the pavilion: the jade flute of the Mei family. "Yellow Crane Tower blows the jade flute, and plum blossoms fall in May in Jiangcheng." The Mei family, famous for its jade flute and plum blossoms and poetry and prose, was originally a prominent family in Jiangzuo. Zhuo Jue, has been in contact with Tingxuelou since Xiao Shuishui's generation, and has always been respectful and polite on the surface. However, since Xiao Yiqing's death, Tingxuelou's influence has gradually weakened. There are many coveted people in the world, and the Mei family is no exception.

Private ambitions flourished, and in the end, they ended up like this. After the Mei family was uprooted, the forces against Tingxuelou collapsed. After forming an alliance with Jianjian Villa, apart from the underworld wind and rain organization, there was no other force in the south of the Yangtze River that could pose a threat to Tingxuelou. The problem that he had been worrying about day and night for the past few years has finally been initially resolved. Xiao Yunting took the jade flute in his hand, and blew it lightly a few times - first "Chaosheng" and then "Golden Thread", both of which were master's favorite tunes during his lifetime.The song echoed in the empty attic, passed through the blades and swords, and gave a low response, as if it was a wind passing through time and space.

After the song was over, he put the jade flute in his hand, looked at the empty inner room, and suddenly sighed: "Master... If you are still here, you will definitely like the gift I brought you today." On the four walls, only swords and swords faced him coldly. The woman who had been confined in the pavilion for many years had died. However, as his only mentor since childhood, the lessons she said to him have always been lingering in his ears, and he has never forgotten it for a moment. Yun Ting, you are an unfortunate child, because you were born to face an almost insurmountable role model. This may become the biggest confusion and pain in your life. Tingxuelou is the overlord of Jianghu, but not everyone is qualified for the role of overlord——Shi Mingyan is ruthless and wise, and she became the landlord when she was a teenager, but she is not a great person. Tired of the feelings in his heart, he left without saying goodbye; and your father, Nan Chu, was a modest gentleman, although he was excellent as a friend, but as the landlord, he obviously lacked domineering. what about you?You are an extremely intelligent child, both in martial arts and in tactics, you are extremely talented, just like your senior brother back then.So, I accepted you as my only disciple——and also the last disciple under Xuegu's sect. Blood Demon, Snow Valley and Baidi were once called the three land gods in the world.However, the Gorefiend died young and the Baidi was dismissed. There are still disciples in the world, and only the Xuegu faction is left.With my martial arts and Xiying Dao, you are already unparalleled in this arena. However, martial arts attainments are far from everything, and more important than strength are tactics and means.You have to remember that although the overlord itself has great power, a person's ability is limited after all.More importantly, is the ability to use the power of others.However, it is unavoidable for the overlord to use people, but they all vary from person to person: the greedy are for profit, the brave are for fame, and the loyal are for sincerity... To control men, one relies on cunning; to control women, one can only win over with emotion. These are very difficult to do. However, it is still not enough to do these things. What is more important is to be able to know how to advance and retreat, and not to force the whole body and mind of the subordinates to be controlled.It should be noted that the saying of "being able to bend and stretch" is not only applicable to the superior, but also to the inferior - just like before Gao Mengfei's rebellion, the senior brother knew that some subordinates in the building were ambivalent and indecisive, but they still held back.It is also because of this that in the final civil strife, he did not drive those "changers" to a dead end, and forced them to become the opponent's dead soldiers. But even he, who is astonishingly talented, has one of his greatest weaknesses. It was that weakness that destroyed him at the last moment. Remember, Yun Ting, it is human nature to be greedy for warmth, but those who play with fire must set themselves on fire.You can borrow it to warm yourself overnight, but never get too close to the fire - remember, don't be too dependent on another person, and never lose your mind. Otherwise, your destruction will only happen overnight. "Master..." In the empty Shenbing Pavilion, he sighed slightly with his hands behind his back. As the youngest disciple of Old Man Xuegu and the only junior sister of the original host, your life is also a legend.You and Tingxue Louzhu's childhood sweetheart grew up side by side, and almost became his wife.However, because of the appearance of that scarlet-clothed woman, you immediately lost everything.From that moment on, the seeds of resentment are planted inside of you. No one knows your inner journey, no one knows why you suddenly betrayed the host, and no one knows why the host didn’t kill you in the end—in the decades after the host’s death, you were forgotten In this Shenbing Pavilion, the old people in the building hate you, but the new people have long forgotten you. When that person was alive, you never got his love, nor his hatred, what you got was only a lifetime of hardship. After that person died, you lived here alone, your heart was as still as water, but you seemed to see through everything. When you decided to pass on all the old man Xuegu's unique skills to me and make me the true master of the Xiying knife, did you also foresee my predicament today? It was already dusk when I learned that Su Wei had left Mang Mountain. It was still raining outside, and the young man in white who was reviewing the files in the white building and discussing with the elders of Songzhumei stood up, pushed the door open without hesitation, got on his horse, and went out in the rain.For some reason, he felt a faint sense of uneasiness in his heart, and hurried all the way, finally stopped her at the east gate of Luoyang. Sure enough, she didn't go to Suzaku Avenue, but went directly to the direction out of the city. She was walking in the rain, heading towards Luoshui outside the city, with her head down, as if she was thinking about something.She didn't ride a horse, and she didn't hold an umbrella. The tips of her jet-black hair were covered with rain, showing a fresh and bright aura--he just glanced at her, and suddenly fell into a trance, as if he had returned to many years ago. The season when we first met beside Luoshui. How many years have I not seen such an expression on her pale face? "Why don't you go back to the building?" He jumped off the horse and asked in a low voice. She looked up at him and smiled: "I'm going to drink." "Didn't the four seniors give you wine?" He smiled, trying to liven up the atmosphere, "I remember that Guardian Biluo is also very good at drinking, and has collected many famous wines in the world-could he hide it privately?" "The four seniors took good care of me," Su Wei smiled, "but I just want to drink Lengxiang." "Well," he thought for a while, sighed, and put the umbrella over her head, "I'll go with you." "So free today?" Su Wei raised her head in astonishment, and looked at him - his eyes were dark black, and there seemed to be another person hidden under the double pupils. She suddenly felt distressed: in the past few years, she seemed to have been unable to see through this person's true heart. "I haven't had a drink with you for a long time, so I should accompany you to that place again." Xiao Yunting smiled, saw her eyes, and quickly added, "Don't worry, I'm definitely not here to be courteous just to beg you to kill someone— —I'm just afraid that you'll get drunk again by yourself like last time." "Oh..." She breathed a long sigh of relief, as if she had thought of something, she finally nodded, "Well, let's go together——I have something to tell you." It was already late autumn, and it got dark very early, before we reached Luoshui, it was already time to hold the lanterns. Luoshui is open, with dense rain and slanting wind, the official road is quiet and no one is there. From a distance, the surrounding fields are pitch black, except for a little warm yellow light in the simple tavern.Su Wei looked at the light from a distance, a smile suddenly appeared on the corner of her lips, and she involuntarily quickened her pace. The business in the tavern was still not good, there was only one customer sitting alone, silent. The boss was about to close up, when he saw a man and a woman coming in, he couldn't help but widen his eyes—this woman, didn't she come here every day to get drunk?Why did he become so energetic today, as if he was a different person—could it be because of the young man in white who accompanied him today? "A pot of cold fragrant wine?" Xiaoer also recognized this woman, and asked tremblingly as she went up to her. "Bring an urn first." The young man in white sat down, "Side dishes or something, pick clean and refreshing ones." The two of them chose a quiet place in the back and sat down - as soon as they sat down, Xiao Yunting couldn't help laughing, and looked up at Su Wei: "It seems that we are sitting at the same table again?" She didn't smile, as if she was thinking about something silently, her brows were slightly frowned. Xiao Yunting glanced at her, his eyes darkened, as if he had a vague premonition of something bad, silently squeezed the wine glass tightly with his fingers.After only three months of rest in Beiman Mountain, Wei'er's eyes are already different. The bright and shallow eyes that can see the bottom at a glance, now seem to be elusive to him. How did the four protectors on Beiman Mountain release her? "Lord, there is something I want to tell you—" After a long time, she finally raised her head and spoke with a difficult tone. Since when did she actually call him "the landlord" instead?He sat across from her, watching her silently, as if waiting for her to finish speaking.However, as soon as Su Wei raised her head and saw those deep double pupils, her words gradually stopped when she reached her mouth. After all, she never said the second half of the sentence. "Wei'er, what do you want to say?" He smiled and asked in a low voice. She looked at him, her eyes turned a thousand times, and she suddenly laughed. As soon as she pressed her finger on the table, she turned around and flew back, her voice echoed in the air: "I want to know: Is it you?" Is your Xiying Knife stronger, or my Xuewei Sword stronger?—Look at the sword!" With a chuckle, a streak of crimson lightning flowed from her sleeve, heading straight for his throat! This time there was no warning, she didn't even show the slightest murderous aura at the moment she drew the sword, just in the midst of such light anger and laughter, the sword stabbed head-on, as fierce and swift as thunder! "Ding"!At the critical moment, the pale blue knife light suddenly stood up like a poisonous snake spewing out letters, blocking Xuewei. Sudden attack, Xiao Yunting's face instantly became murderous, and he looked up at the other party.However, seeing Su Wei's expression and realizing that she was just joking, the chill in his eyes quickly melted away.The speed of Xiao Yunting's transformation was astonishing, and the moment he drew his sword, he had already swept up, and his figure disappeared out of the window in a flash, and he laughed loudly: "This tavern is too dilapidated, just let it go... Come outside! " The shopkeeper's exclamation was still in his mouth, and the two people who did it were no longer in the room. "Amitabha..." The old shopkeeper wiped the cold sweat on his forehead, and in a blink of an eye, he saw that the remaining customer in the store had also disappeared. The dilapidated shop still scares away his only customer. Luoshui flows quietly, and the reeds on the bank are undulating, stretching as far as the eye can see. The two fought against each other in the dark night, and their figures were as erratic as ghosts.The cyan knife light and the scarlet sword light travel across the river, and the snow-white reeds fly up, as if snowflakes have fallen all day, which is so beautiful. "Where are these Jiang Hu people..." The old shopkeeper sighed out of curiosity, returned to the hall, and told the waiter, "Closed!" However, before the last door panel was erected, two bolts of lightning passed through the room again, landing one after the other. "How? I won!" The woman laughed loudly, flicking the dagger in her hand, full of joy.The young man in white beside her fell to the ground, smiled and said nothing, and silently put the knife into his torn sleeve, still exuding a gentle aura. "Hey, you didn't let me do it on purpose, did you?" Seeing his expression, Su Wei suddenly felt guilty. "Where is it?" Xiao Yunting smiled, "The fourth form of the dragon is really powerful, and I can't resist it." "Really? That's great... To tell you the truth, before I came to this so-called 'Jianghu', one of my greatest curiosity was 'Which one is better, Xuewei or Xiying?'" Su Wei heard him admit defeat , breathed a sigh of relief, and said with a smile, "Now it's time to solve the puzzle!" Xiao Yunting was amused: "Then what are the other curiosity?" Su Wei glanced at him, with a strange expression on her face, and said for a while, "I won't tell you." Just now, after a round of fierce fighting, she felt hungry and thirsty after exerting all her strength, so she happily sat down at the table and picked up the half-drunk cold incense on the table—but just as she drank the wine, her complexion suddenly changed . "What?" Xiao Yunting lost his voice and rushed to support her. She clutched her throat, unable to speak, as if an invisible hand was quickly reaching into her throat, tearing her lungs apart.She tried her best to support her body, not letting herself fall down like this, she clenched her teeth and persisted, using her inner breath to fight against the rapidly spreading pain, her face gradually became pale, and then changed from pale to pale—— She gestured with her eyes, looking at the empty wine glass. ——In the cold residual wine, the golden petals float up and down, and there is a faint trace of a strange blue color that is almost invisible. "Green Silkworm Poison?!" Xiao Yunting exclaimed in surprise, without any hesitation, with a sweep of his body, he immediately cornered the shopkeeper, holding the knife and sternly: "The antidote!" "No...it's not me..." The old shopkeeper couldn't speak, he huddled in the corner, just mumbled for a while.On the other hand, Xiaoer next to him reacted quickly and exclaimed, "It's that guest just now! Where's that guest?" Xiao Yunting's thoughts turned, and he immediately dropped the two of them, opened the window and chased them out—— However, it was dark outside, so where was that person? He only chased a few feet, and immediately came back to his senses. He didn't dare to chase any further, and quickly returned to the hotel—once he entered, he saw the shopkeeper and Xiao Er still cowering aside, and Su Wei couldn't hold on any longer, and fell to the ground. Putting it on the table, his cheeks were soaked in a puddle of residual wine, and his face was bloodless. "Wei'er!" He picked her up and shouted sharply, only to find that her breath gradually weakened. At that moment, he felt his heart was in a turmoil, he couldn't speak, he just held her wrist, dazed - how could this happen?Weier was poisoned?who is it?It was only a short while after they left this hotel, who unexpectedly hibernated here without realizing it, and poisoned him before it was too late! He pressed his palm on her vest to help her force the toxin in one place, his face pale. "I...I..." Su Wei breathed weakly, opened her mouth, and seemed to mutter something. "Don't talk!" He sternly stopped, quickly took out two suet jade bottles from his inner pocket, opened them, poured out two blue and purple pills, crushed them with his fingers hurriedly, and rubbed them on her lips and teeth In the middle—his hand was shaking violently, and he knocked on her jade teeth like shells. Suddenly aware of something, he suddenly turned his head and shouted: "Stop!" The old shopkeeper was so frightened by the murderous aura that he stood there, the water bowl in his hand almost fell to the ground: "I... I just brought clean water for this girl, this girl..." His mind turned , in order to prove that the bowl of water was non-toxic, he picked it up and took a big gulp: "Look, this is clean water!" "Put it on the table." Xiao Yunting glanced at him coldly, "You all go out." "That's impossible." The old shopkeeper was embarrassed, and said timidly, "If this girl died in the store, the younger one would have to be involved... I'd better ask this young man to get her out of here as soon as possible. ..." "Shut up!" Xiao Yunting was even more confused and angry. The shopkeeper only felt a flash in front of his eyes, and a blue short knife was already on his neck. "Get out." Xiao Yunting shouted, suppressing the killing intent in his heart, the Xiying knife trembled slightly.When the old shopkeeper saw that the knife had been moved, he didn't dare to say another word, put down the water bowl and fled staggeringly, not daring to turn his head all the way. He picked up the water bowl, tried it with a silver needle first, and then poured clear water between Su Wei's lips and teeth. Xiao Yunting lowered his head and thought for a while, stabilized his breathing, and slowly placed the Xiying knife horizontally on the case, within his reach, then hugged Su Wei in his arms, and passed his arms behind him. Holding her hand, he slowly penetrated his inner force, forcing the poison in her body to remain in one place. In the blink of an eye, she let out a groan, her fingers were cold. It was as if something was crawling under the skin and gathered at the Shaochong point on her finger, and the blue color gradually condensed, turning the entire palm into a pale blue color!The blood under the skin twisted like a snake, and suddenly, as if pierced by a needle, a stream of thin blue blood spurted out, spilled into the wine bowl, and was immediately dyed bright red! "Uh..." Su Wei finally moved, and slowly opened her eyes. "Don't move." He said in a low voice, put his hand into her skirt, and pressed it on her heart. "You... what are you going to do!" She was startled, and raised her hand tremblingly. If she couldn't lift it up with a breath of true anger, she would have slapped him in the face. However, he didn't pay attention to her at all, he just put his hand into the skirt of his clothes and pressed his palm on her heart. Su Wei didn't have time to become angry. The moment his palm was pressed, she felt a surge of warm and warm internal force, which melted the chill accumulated in her chest, and quickly opened up the blocked meridian—just a blink of an eye, a mouthful of truth. Lifting her spirits, her fingers regained their flexibility, and the next moment she slapped him hard in the face! "Pa", he was concentrating on healing her, and five finger marks appeared on his face. Xiao Yunting was stunned by that blow, his fingers subconsciously tightened at the moment of being attacked, and he was about to turn his hand to hold the knife - but just as he moved, the woman opposite screamed again, and the second slap fell on his face again superior. This time he was prepared, flipped his left hand, and immediately clamped her wrist. "Take it away!" Her body had not yet recovered, but her tone was fierce, "Rogue!" He smiled wryly, feeling a burning pain on one side of his face: "It's good if you still have the strength to swear..." "Why? Take it away!" Su Wei was furious, looking at the hand that was poking into her front, she wanted to bite it down - but the hand didn't intend to let go at all, but pressed it even tighter , and even stretched out his other hand to hug her by the waist. "The poison is not completely cured, so you must protect your heart first," Xiao Yunting whispered, "Let's go back to the building first, it's very dangerous here." Hearing the chill in his tone, Su Wei was slightly taken aback, and let go of her hand.As dull as she was, she finally realized what a terrible trap she had fallen into. The intense energy just now disappeared, and at this moment she felt the piercing cold and pain, as if her limbs and bones were soaked in ice water. inside.She tried to mobilize her inner breath several times, but with just a slight movement, the dantian pierced down like thousands of needles, making her unable to move anymore. "Am... am I poisoned?" She asked weakly. "Yeah." He hugged her sideways, walked out, and got on his horse. "Who...who wants to kill me?" She felt incredible. "I don't know," Xiao Yunting gritted his teeth, "but the green silkworm is one of the poisons in Miaojiang." "Miao Jiang?" Su Wei felt even more unbelievable, "I've never been to such a far place..." "It's not for you," Xiao Yunting sneered, "it's for me——for Tingxuelou." "Someone is going to declare war on us!" He hugged her sideways and got on the horse, controlled the rein with one hand, and galloped towards Luoyang City.The woman in her arms didn't speak any more. She raised her eyes and looked at the cold first quarter moon over Luoyang. She trembled slightly due to the poisonous erosion, and her fingers were cold. That's right... this river and lake has finally revealed its most ferocious side, and it wants to swallow her too! Once inside, no one can escape. She languished in his arms, feeling the warmth and firmness of his arms, and suddenly there was a trace of sadness in her eyes—yes, only at such moments could she clearly feel that he cared about her.However, that kind of love is so chaotic and fuzzy that people can't tell whether it's true or false, whether it's caring or using. Is the one he really loves, Miss Zhao, or himself? If it's him, then, does he love Xuewei, or her? The fact that Su Wei was poisoned by the Luoshui River was not publicly reported on the rivers and lakes, but was only circulated among the very few upper-level leaders of Tingxuelou.However, whether it was the three elders of Songzhumei or Shi Yu of Chuihua Xiaozhu, they all expressed great shock at this. That's because of the green silkworm poison—this rare poison is formulated from the eggs of wild green silkworms in the Wulu River in the far south of Yunnan. It is extremely poisonous and has never appeared in the Central Plains martial arts for decades.Due to its regional specificity, almost everyone can vaguely smell the many hints hidden behind it. Miao Jiang—Witch Gu—for the power of Tingxuelou— Thirty years ago, there was an unprecedented fight between the Central Plains Wulin and the Miaojiang Witch Gu. "Could it be the Moon Worship Sect?" In the Lanxue Pavilion, the blind woman murmured, "It's unbelievable." "Priest Guguang made a covenant with Louzhu Xiao in the past, and no one will cross the Lanjiang River in his lifetime," Xiao Yunting said coldly, "Moon Worship Sect has kept its promise for decades, and suddenly it has no reason to kill." "However, I heard that his wife Ruoshui died two years ago because of helping the Miao people get rid of the miasma, which brought a great blow to the priest." Zhao Bingjie tapped the scroll lightly with her fingers, and muttered, "The priest has lived in seclusion since then. Moon Palace Holy Lake completely entrusted the affairs to the left and right guardians—and the leader Minghe is a master who doesn't care about things, and it's rare to see her show up in ten years." "You mean..." Hearing such an analysis, Xiao Yunting fell silent and clasped his hands together, "Has there been any changes within the Moon Worship Sect?" "I can't rule out this possibility," Zhao Bingjie paused for a moment, and suddenly sneered: "However, if it is really the hands of the Moon Sect, using the Bi Silkworm Poison would be too straightforward—this would be tantamount to declaring war with Tingxuelou head-on, and going through He exposed his identity early." Xiao Yunting whispered: "Yes, I also thought of this." Zhao Bingjie smiled and didn't speak. After a long while, he said, "Don't you think it's strange? That assassin was clearly prepared and waited in that tavern every day - if he wanted to poison Miss Su, he had plenty of opportunities before, why didn't he do it earlier, and chose you You only do it when you go with her? Isn't this the worst time to choose?" "Yes!" Xiao Yunting's eyes suddenly focused, and he clenched his hands tightly, "You mean..." "The other party doesn't really want to kill her." Zhao Bingjie whispered, "But I still can't figure out why - I think the other party's doing this is not just to weaken the strength of Ting Xuelou, I am afraid there is another deep meaning .” Xiao Yunting smiled wryly: "I heard Xuelou's enemies are all over the world, so it may be too difficult to delineate the area." Hearing those words, a smile suddenly flashed across Zhao Bingjie's face, and he said: "Yes, so, now we only need to identify friends, and don't need to distinguish enemies. This will make it much easier - Priest Guguang and Master Minghe It should be our friend, this is not a big problem, just send someone to Miaojiang to find the antidote immediately." "It has already been dispatched, but Doctor Mo said that the green silkworm poison can only be suppressed for three months at most. After three months, the poison penetrates deep into the meridians and lungs, and Wei'er will become a useless person even if she does not die." Xiao Yunting sighed, "And the road to Miaojiang Far away, starting from Luoyang, coming and going, I'm afraid it will be too late." Zhao Bingjie was silent, and asked after a long time, "How is Miss Su?" "After seeing the doctor, Doctor Mo said that her life is not in serious danger, but she still can't use her true energy, so she can only recuperate in the Feiyi Building every day." He frowned, full of thoughts, "But her mood is very low, and she seems to have passed away. Knowing that the poison in oneself is very difficult to cure." "Miss Su doesn't have enough experience in the world, and this sudden catastrophe, I'm afraid she won't be able to recover for a while." Zhao Bingjie couldn't see the expression on his face clearly, but could hear his tone, and couldn't help sighing: "Master, are you worried about her? " "Yes," Xiao Yunting murmured, "I didn't realize that I was really worried about her until the moment she was suddenly poisoned." Zhao Bingjie smiled in the dark and didn't speak. Xiao Yunting was silent for a long time, then looked at her suddenly, and said carefully, "I think... When Wei'er passes the threshold of life and death this time, I will keep her by my side forever. After all, Xuewei can't leave Xiying." "Yes," Zhao Bingjie just smiled slightly, with a calm tone, "Life is short, like the dew in the morning. With the lessons learned from the past, you should grab what you want as soon as possible, otherwise you will miss it." Xiao Yunting approached her cheek silently, staring at her for a long time, as if he wanted to see something from her face, but the woman's eyes were empty and silent, without any emotion at all, he didn't even know if there was something in her eyes. I can see myself. "They all say that I have two pairs of eyes, double pupils," he sighed softly, "If possible, Bing Jie, I really want to give you a pair of eyes——in this way, you can become a perfect woman." Perfect? The breath from his lips seemed to be still lingering on her cheeks, she sat in the dark, thinking about his last words, raised a finger, gently stroked her lips, her eyes gradually changed. Inside the Lanxue Pavilion, the usual silence and desolation returned. She lowered her head, touched the volume of paperwork at the bottom of the case, pulled it out, and looked carefully under the lamp. The names on it pierced her heart like needles. Those people have disappeared from this world one by one in the past ten years. Just like her parents. She suddenly remembered that year when she was running wildly on Zhuque Street in Luoyang—her mother pushed her forward, as if death was chasing after her, and her father stayed behind, but there was no news of her.Before dawn, Luoyang was shrouded in the darkness of winter, and there was no light in it. Only the footsteps of their mother and daughter resounded through the empty streets. She knew that those killers hiding in the dark were following closely behind. "Go! Go in!" Seeing that the vermilion lacquered door opened a thread, her mother suddenly pushed her behind. At the age of fourteen, she staggered and fell straight into the open door. The moment her forehead hit the stone floor, a pair of arms stretched out and caught her in time.Those arms were still immature, but they were as strong as iron—it was a boy about her age, only twelve or thirteen years old, holding the rein of the horse, walking out of Tingxue Building with his father and preparing to go on the road. She fell into his arms, and before she could turn her head, she heard a scream behind her ears, a knife lighted up in the darkness, and a hot blood splashed on her back. "Mom!!" She screamed, struggling to turn her head, but suddenly her eyes were dark.The boy supported her, quickly covered her eyes with his palm, and whispered in her ear: "Don't look." Don't look...don't look. Those were the first words he said to her, more than ten years later, they still echoed in her ears. That group of killers, after chasing down their family all the way to Luoyang, finally dared not strike again under Tingxuelou's interference, and retreated quietly.After that, she stayed in Tingxuelou, living alone under the hedge of others.For more than ten years, if she hadn't been taken care of by Nanzhuzhu's family, she would have died in the rivers and lakes without a place to bury her. Now she can hardly see anything - but if she doesn't look, wouldn't the blood that flowed out not exist?Those dead people, those eyes that never closed, don't they stare at her day and night underground? ! No... no no! She doesn't want this kind of life...not!Those people, those dead people, stop staring at her! More than ten years later, I still feel the dampness and heat behind my back, as if my mother's blood is still flowing.Zhao Bingjie's hands trembled slightly, and she clenched the roll of list tightly. Some kind of sharp light appeared in her dim eyes. She raised her wrist, and brought the paper in her hand closer to the candle—— The seven names written on it were finally written off. The tongue of fire quickly licked away the flimsy paper, turning it into thin fly ash.十二年了，原来所有的一切，那些挣扎、取舍，背叛和被背叛——到最后，换来的终究是一场空无。 “呵……如今梅家也死光了，从此你的秘密就再也没人知道了，对么？” 忽然间昏暗的室内有人在说话，轻微而冰冷，宛如耳语。 “谁？！”赵冰洁霍然抬头，脸色一瞬间变得极其恐惧。 来人只是微微的轻笑，声音如同鬼魂一样飘忽不定。岚雪阁虽然不比白楼守卫森严，但这个人居然能够夜探听雪楼而不被察觉，这种身手，已经是令人惊骇不已。 “是谁？是谁在那里说话！”她厉声，摸索着站起来，朝着声音来处走过去——因为急切，平日在阁里如履平地的她踉跄走着，几次几乎被书架撞到。然而，在靠近的时候，那个声音忽然又远离了，悄无声息宛如一个鬼魂。 她颤栗不已，压低了声音：“你……是谁？” 黑暗中的人影在冷笑，藏在林立的书架背后，影影绰绰，声音飘忽：“我是世上唯一知道你的秘密的人……十二年前，你们谋划了什么，除了这宗卷上的七个人，可能就只有我知道。而且，我更知道这几年来，你一直扮演着什么样的角色。” 她终于按捺不住心中翻涌的恐惧，失声：“你是谁！你怎么可能知道？”她喃喃，苍白的手指不自觉地抓紧，“如今这个世上根本不可能有人知道那件事……” “无论什么样的事，都不是天衣无缝。赵总管，瞒了十几年，终究是瞒不住的。”那个人的声音低沉，“就如你的眼睛一样，迟早，还是会看不见。” 赵冰洁的手猛然一颤，几乎站不住身子。 “在洛水的酒馆里，难道是你……”她喃喃，思路渐渐清晰，“你是谁？” “不错。是我。”黑暗里的人微笑，声音平静冰冷，“至于我是谁，这并不要紧。重要的是，我没有直接去找萧楼主，而是先来找了你——你应该知道这其中的区别。我正在给你机会，你必须要做出选择。” 赵冰洁不再试图靠近那个声音，踉跄着扶住了书架，低低喘息。 “和我合作没有什么不好。你看，我已经替你废掉了那个苏薇——这不是你一直想做的事情么？她一旦失去了武功，没了利用价值，萧筠庭待你的态度便自然不同。”黑暗里的人冷笑，“当日，你不是故意隐瞒了资料么？——梅景瀚的武功更在当家梅景浩之上，这一点，就算天下没有几个人知道，赵总管不可能不知道吧？你派苏薇过去执行这种任务，不就是借刀杀人么？” “你……”她凝视着黑暗深处，在这个声音里颤栗不已，“怎么知道？” “这世上本来就没有永久的秘密，”那个影子在微笑，“你以为杀光了世上所有知道你的秘密的人，就可以从此脱胎换骨？——只可惜，你没有想到，苏薇会忽然到来。” “……”赵冰洁没有回答，扶着书架垂下了头，苍白的手指微微发抖。 “如今你还有什么指望呢？你这样一个孤女，是怎么也无法和血薇的主人相比的，”那个人的声音残忍而犀利，“十几年的苦心经营不过是一场空，你很快就要什么都没有了——更何况，萧筠庭只是把你看作一颗棋子，根本不曾真心待你，这一点你心里应该清楚得很吧？呵，如果再让他得知了你真正的身份，恐怕你连……” “好了，不要再说了！”她厉声截住，沉默了片刻，忽地冷笑起来，“让我来猜猜，你想要的是什么？” “我想，你应该已经猜到了。”那个人微笑，“赵总管一贯聪明。” 她沉默了很久，苍白的脸上没有表情，瓜子脸藏在阴影里，尖尖的下颔不停微微颤抖。许久，才道：“如果你想要的是十二年前他们想要的一样，那我可以做到。” “赵总管已经舍得了么？果然聪明。” “要毁掉听雪楼，不是那么容易的事情，”赵冰洁冷冷道，“几十年来，从高梦非池小苔到拜月教江左梅家，多少人试过了，都全部失败——不管你是谁，面对着夕影刀和血薇剑，你也不会有太多的胜算。” “那么，如果以你我，再加上风雨组织的力量呢？”黑暗里的人微微笑着。 她猛然一震，抬起头来，再也止不住心中的惊骇：“什么？难道你居然是风雨组织的……” “不，”那个人低笑，“我只是借用了风雨组织的力量而已——自从二十多年前秋老大离开后，风雨组织经过几次内部权力变更，在黑道上扩张的越发迅速，每年的生意超过千万两黄金。只要有钱，谁都可以调用他们最高等级的杀手，不是么？” “的确，”赵冰洁叹了口气，“如今的风雨早就是一个认钱不认人的地方了。” “不错，”黑暗中的人道，笑声冰冷，“偏偏我有的就是钱。” “你到底是谁？”赵冰洁只觉不可思议，这一刻，她才恨自己的眼睛看不到，喃喃，“我从来没有发现过江湖上还存在着你这样的一个人——像你这样的人，我不可能从来不曾留意到！你究竟来自何方？” “呵，”那个人笑了，“我本来就不是江湖中人，你自然从未见过我。” 他飘然凑近，宛如一个剪影一般，在她耳边低低说了几句什么，然后迎着她愕然的目光笑了一笑—— 忽然间，穿过墙壁，仿佛是幻影一样凭空的消失了。 苏薇坐在灯下，卷起袖子，看着自己袖中的一双手臂。 她的手很瘦，纤细得可以看到皮肤底下的淡蓝色血脉和微微凸出的肘骨——然而，这样一双纤细苍白的手臂上，却密布着可怖的伤痕。 从手腕到手肘一列密布着的，是乌青的七处印记，那是梅家的玉笛梅花留下的伤痕——那一次，奉命追杀的她遇到了伏击，那个梅家的二当家几乎废了自己的这一条手臂。而在乌青之上，却还笼罩着一层淡淡的碧色。那种青色仿佛是活的，在雪白的肌肤下蠢蠢欲动，想要顺着血脉蔓延开来，却被十二支埋入肌肤的银针钉住。 那，就是日前的碧蚕毒。 “姑娘，现在我把毒逼到了你的手腕以下，用银针封穴止住。但从此后，你不能随便用内力——否则这碧蚕毒就会脱出银针的控制，蔓延到心脏。”墨大夫临走前的话萦绕在耳边，“待得三个月内拿到七叶明芝，把毒彻底拔除，姑娘才能再度握剑。” 再度握剑……她坐在黑暗里，定定看着自己的这一双手，再看看横放案头的血薇剑，忽然间有泪盈睫。three months.如果三个月之内，拿不到解药呢？ 那就是说，她这双手，是真的废了？ 那一瞬间，她摸着耳畔的坠子，忽然叹了口气——翡翠的白金扣上裂开了一个细微的缺口，那是日前的那一轮交手里，被夕影刀的刀意割伤的。 她望着灯火依旧通明的白楼，默默叹息。原来，他毕竟是手下留了情，不曾全力施展，更不曾让她看出他武学的深浅来。 他还在那里深宵忙碌，查看各个分坛递上来的文卷，批示楼里大小事务——自从她中毒之后，他每日都来看她，也提起过要执子之手与子偕老的话，暧昧的态度渐渐明朗，只差直接挑明、说要迎娶她为妻了。 然而，不知道为何她却没有半分喜悦，仿佛不知道要和他说什么，生怕一开口便是说出伤感情的话，只是让他坐了片刻便找借口赶他走。 是的……她不敢，不敢应承下这样的邀约。她知道，对筠庭来说这不仅仅是一场婚约，不仅仅是一场你情我愿的欢好，更是一场结盟。 Hold your hand and grow old with you. 可是，他并不是向她伸出了手，而是向她手里的血薇伸出了手；他要握紧的，也并不是她的手，而是那一把可以重现人中龙凤江湖传奇的血薇剑！ 苏薇捂住自己的脸，拼命地摇头，似乎要把这个念头从脑海里甩出去—— 为什么……为什么自己要这样想呢？如果不明白就好了……如果不清楚他这句话背后的残忍意味，她也会普通女子一样满心欢喜吧？就这样欢欢喜喜的出嫁，将手交给身边的那个人，任他牵着她走到天荒地老。 可是，为什么她非要那么清楚的知道、他渴求的并不是她呢？ 他需要的不是她，而是她那种杀人的力量——可天知道她是多么厌恶杀戮和征服！ 仿佛是生怕他再进一步说出更明确的话，挑破了最后一层窗纸——那么，最后的结果只有两种：要么，两人之间一夕决裂、再无圆转余地，各奔东西；要么，她便会盲目的追随他而去，违背了自己的心意，做为他的妻子、盟友、战士和利剑，将自己的全部力量都双手奉上，从此在血海中迷失了自我。 而无论哪一种结果，都是如今的她所不能承受的。 于是，她卧病在绯衣楼，却找各种借口把前来探视的人挡在了门外。 既然见不到她，他就把更多的时间用在了白楼和岚雪阁里。 岚雪阁……一想到那个穿着月白衣裳的女子，她的心就猛然抽了一下，觉得背上有森森的冷意。那个盲眼的孤女深得楼主信任，也被听雪楼上下所敬重，十几年来主持楼中大小事务，从无一次失算。对她这个新来的人更加是恭谦亲切，没有一丝一毫的失礼。 然而，不知道为何，一看到她那双没有神采的眼睛，她就觉得不自在。 这个人，应该是憎恨着自己吧？因为自己的到来，夺走了原本属于她的一切东西——众人的关注、楼中的地位，还有……筠庭的心。 可是，筠庭的心，真的就在自己身上么？ 苏薇握紧了那把血薇，在灯下微微苦笑，那把神兵在她苍白的手心低低吟动，冷光四射。 她想起了那一日在洛水旁不曾和他说出口的话：她要离开了……离开江湖，离开听雪楼，离开他，也离开那一对“人中龙凤”的阴影，她只是苏薇，不是血薇的前任主人，她要离开这不属于自己的江湖，按照自己的想法生活，不再被任何人、任何事影响和左右。 在北邙山下来之后，她其实早已有了这个决定。带他去酒馆里，也只是为了和他把那句话挑明——只是不知为何，在看到那一双重瞳时，她便仿佛再也没有勇气说出离开的字眼，她想，她毕竟还是迷恋着他的，就如迷恋着那个传奇一样。 可是……三个月后，如果滇南解药不到，她一身武功便从此作废，再也无法做这把血薇的主人，也无法对听雪楼有丝毫的用处。 到了那个时候，筠庭……又会怎样呢？ 难道，她就要在这里坐以待毙，眼睁睁看着梦想碎裂、血色狰狞那一刻的到来么？ 苏薇一个人在绯衣楼里默默坐了很久，忽然间仿似下了什么决心，提起笔，在书简上写了几行字，将纸轻轻压在了砚台下。然后站起身，如同一只夜行的白鸟一样掠出了室外。 然而，令人吃惊的是，她刚一出去，就在花径上遇到了那个女子。 赵冰洁沿着小路走来，脚步轻盈，似是被一阵风吹过来。夜已经很深，她也没有提灯笼，却依旧走得仿如行云流水无半丝阻碍——这种熟稔，令她想起这个盲眼的女子已经在听雪楼里待了十几年，熟悉这里的每一个人和每一寸土地。 一念及此，她心里就是一阵黯然。 在她快要撞到自己时，她轻轻一侧身，躲到了一边。 赵冰洁显然看不到藏在黑夜里得她，自顾自地朝着绯衣楼走了过去——她在黑暗里怔怔看着，忍不住的惊讶：这么晚了，她来找自己做什么呢？要知道她们之间一直存在着微妙的敌意，若非迫不得已，从不主动相互说话。 苏薇想了想，还没打定主意要不要返身上楼，却听到楼上发出了一声惊呼，然后就看到赵冰洁踉跄着奔了下来，手里拿着自己压在砚台下的那一张纸，一路往白楼奔去。 唉……她默默叹了口气，转过身。 看来，事情已无圆转余地，自己还是得赶快走了。 “江湖多险，梦醒难续；听雪一聚，终难久长。双手已废，亦不愿在楼中坐以待毙，决意独赴滇南——三月后，若碧蚕之毒能解，则于洛水之上再聚；若不能，则从此天涯陌路，再无重逢之日。薇” 白楼里的人，在看到那一张纸时霍然长身立起，变了脸色。 不知来自何方的敌人，还在暗地里环伺，危机重重——薇儿武功未复，却居然一人离开听雪楼远赴滇南，岂不是自寻死路？ 萧筠庭扔下了手里的所有文书，飞身掠下楼去，甚至来不及叫人备马。 只留下赵冰洁一个人站在空荡荡的白楼里，走到窗边，凝望着他消失的方向，眸子空茫，脸上的表情变得莫测而深沉。 血薇的主人表面看起来年轻而孩子气，原来生性还是如此倔强绝决——生怕自己成为别人的累赘，不待人赶，终究还是自己先走了么？ 那样一来，倒是省了自己的事儿呢。 等赶到洛水时已经是深夜，四野一片漆黑，酒馆早就打烊，只有一灯昏黄。萧筠庭从洛阳城内出发，一路不曾停歇地冲到了洛水旁。呼唤着她的名字，四顾。 “公子是来找那位姑娘的么？”仿佛是被他的喊声惊醒，小二抹着迷蒙的睡眼出来，“她有东西留给你呢……” “什么东西？”萧筠庭一惊，闪电般地揪住了小二的衣领，“什么？” 小二被他吓了一跳，一时间睡意都醒了，挣扎着：“是……是一把剑——”他一指室内，讷讷：“在掌柜的那里。” 萧筠庭更不迟疑，返身掠入室内，却看到老掌柜披着衣服提了一盏灯出来：“呦，公子真的那么快就来了啊？苏姑娘说的真是一点都不错……”一边说，他一边从柜台下拿出了一物，放到了桌上，寒意逼人而来。 萧筠庭只觉气息一窒：被放到桌上的，竟然是那把血薇！ “她说，只要把这个东西给公子，公子就会结清她在这里的所有酒债。”老掌柜搓着手，打着哈欠，“这个姑娘的脾气一贯凶狠，我们哪敢说不呀……我看这剑柄上还镶着一颗什么宝石，估计也值点钱，也就只能让她当了。” 萧筠庭往前一步，将血薇拿在手里看了又看，一时脸色复杂。 “她欠了你多少钱？”他低声问。 “那可真算不清了。一年多前开始，苏姑娘就经常来这里喝酒，每次都喝得烂醉，从来没付过钱。”老掌柜想了想，一边给小二递了一个眼色，一边说了一句，“加上她今夜强抢了店里的两瓮酒和一条船，怎么着也有五十两银子了吧？” “五十两……”萧筠庭重复了一句，忽然笑了起来，“五十两！” 他握着那把血薇，喃喃苦笑，心怀复杂——无论如何，她把剑留给了他，大概以为即便自己不能回来，他还能找到代替她的人来握起这把剑吧？在她的心里，自己想要的东西始终只是这把血薇而已。 这个丫头……从何时开始变得这样的骄傲和自卑了呢？ 老掌柜和小二莫名地看着这个人，看到他扔下一锭金子，便抓起剑冲出了门外。已经是深冬，江面寒风呼啸，黑沉沉一片，依稀只见一叶孤舟远去，竟是再不能追及。 他紧握着那把血薇，望着黑暗中随波而去，大江浩瀚，再无踪影。 终究是，走了么？ 当日在酒馆里，他已经猜到了她欲言又止的那一句话里的告别之意。他本以为可以挽留住她——血薇是不能离开夕影的，血薇的主人，也是不能离开听雪楼的。这就像是一道魔咒，会将她捆绑在了他身侧。 然而，她却将血薇留给了他，只身飘然离去。 在北邙山上静养的几个月里，她到底都想了一些什么呢？ 你我相逢在黑夜的海上，你有你的、我有我的方向； 你记得也好，最好你忘掉，这交会时互放的光亮。