Chapter 40 The 40th Appointment with Death

But Tie Wa was really taken aback, and suddenly turned around.There was nothing behind him, not even a shadow of a ghost.Tie Wa plucked up her courage and said, "Who...who is calling me?" The voice said: "I." Tie Wa clenched her fist and said, "Who are you? Where are you?" The voice said: "I am here." Only then did Tie Wa realize that the voice came from behind a clump of dark miscellaneous trees. He opened his eyes wide, clenched his fists tightly, and walked over step by step. That voice said sharply: "Niu Tiewa, don't go any further."

Tie Wa said: "I want to go! Why should I listen to you?" The voice said: "I just want to chat with you because I see you are lonely. If you go any further, I will leave too. Haven't you failed my good intentions?" Sure enough, Tie Wa stopped, grinning and said: "So you just came to chat with me, and it turns out that you have good intentions for me, so I have to listen to you!" The voice also laughed to himself: "That's it." Tie Wa blinked and said, "But who are you? How do you know my name?" That voice said: "Not only do I know your name, but I also know many other things about you. In the whole world, there are so few things I don't know."

Tie Wa said: "Really? Do you really know everything?" That voice said: "It's true, if you don't believe me, just ask me." Tie Wa said: "Okay, let me ask you... who is my elder brother?" That voice said: "Fang Baoyu." Tie Wa said: "Ah! You really guessed it, okay, let me ask you again..." He tilted his head and thought for a long time before Fang Zi continued, "Who is my master?" That voice said: "Zhou Fang the wise man." Tie Wa said: "I... who is the person I miss most in my heart?" That voice said: "It's your sister Niu Tielan, and Jiang Feng."

Tie Wa's eyes were wide open, she was already stunned. He's straight to the point and never has any secrets in his heart--his biggest secrets are just a few simple things. Now, his biggest secret has been told, but how can he not be surprised?He was stunned for a long time, Fang Zichang sighed: "Good boy, you really have two tricks, you really know everything." The voice laughed, "Do you know who I am?" Tie Wa said: "I don't know." The voice said: "Who are my elder brother and my master?" Tie Wa said: "I don't know either."

That voice said: "Who is the person I miss the most?" Tie Wa sighed: "I don't even know." That voice said: "So you don't know anything, so you're just a big stupid cow." Tie Wa blushed, and said, "I...I also know a few things." The voice said: "What do you know? Hmph, even the letter that your elder brother read just now, I'm afraid you don't know what is written on it, so what else are you talking about?" Tie Wa laughed loudly and said: "Wrong, wrong, you are wrong now, I know all the ten characters on the letter that my elder brother read just now."

The voice said: "I don't believe it." Tie Wa said: "You don't believe it? Well, let me tell you, listen, the ten words written on that letter are: Outside Dongchangxi City, Sanglin... By the way, there is a red light in Sanglin." The voice said with a smile: "Okay, you are not stupid. But if you tell your elder brother about the trivial things we are chatting here, your elder brother will say that you are stupid." Tie Wa said: "I know. In fact, it doesn't matter if my elder brother calls me stupid, but then... that little princess, I can't let her call me."

There was no answer in the darkness. After a while, Tie Wa couldn't help but said again: "Hey! Did you hear me?... Hey! You came to chat with me, why didn't you talk halfway through?" There was still no response in the darkness. Tie Wa said: "If you don't speak again, I will go over." He waited for a while, and sure enough, he strode over. A pair of iron palms separated the bushes like two axes. How could there be any figure in the bushes? Tie Wa murmured: "My boy, he slipped away before he finished speaking! Do you think I can't find you?..." While muttering, he searched with strides.

After searching for a while, I saw a figure sitting under a tree. Tie Wa laughed and said, "Sure enough, I found it, where are you going?" He rushed over in one step, his eyes moved, and suddenly he let out a cry of surprise and backed up three steps. Standing there, he was stunned again. Xiwei's light from the sky shone down from the top of the forest, shining on the man's face, the muscles on this face were convulsed, the facial features were distorted, and the eyeballs seemed to have protruded. Although Tie Wa was courageous, seeing such a ferocious and terrifying face suddenly in this desolate dark forest, he didn't feel frightened and scared out of his wits.

After a while, he was finally able to speak. He said loudly: "What are you? Are you a human or a ghost? Are you dead or alive?" The face didn't move, let alone answer. But there was a person behind Tie Wa: "Tie Wa, who are you talking to?" Tie Wa was like a frightened bird, he roared and turned around, only to see two figures standing side by side behind him, they were the little princess and Fang Baoyu. Tie Wa was full of surprises, and said: "Brother, it turned out to be you... Fortunately, it was you, otherwise Tie Wa would really go crazy." Baoyu wondered, "Could it be that you saw something?"

Tie Wa said: "Brother, look, under the tree over there." When Baoyu looked at it, he didn't feel surprised, but he calmed down and walked over slowly.Tie Wa followed and asked, "Is this person dead or alive?" The little princess said: "I'm afraid I won't survive." Suddenly Baoyu said in a deep voice, "Who do you think this person is?" Tie Wa said: "Brother, do you know him?" Before he finished speaking, the little princess lost her voice and said, "Ah, it turned out to be him. The two of us searched for a long time but couldn't find him, but I didn't want him here. He... Who did he suffer from?"

Tie Wa took a few more glances - just now he was still in shock, how could he have dared to take a closer look, now he saw it clearly, and couldn't help but lose his voice: "So this is the person holding the red light just now." Baoyu and the little princess had already skimmed under the tree, only to see the man collapsed on the tree trunk, not only his face and facial features were distorted, but his hands, feet and limbs seemed to have lost their original shape. The little princess said harshly: "What a vicious method!" Baoyu leaned over and looked at it carefully, and murmured: "It's strange! It's strange. Could it be that it's a broken hand?" The little princess sneered and said, "Did you realize that this is a broken hand?" Baoyu said: "Although I have already seen it, I can't believe it. Separating tendons and breaking bones is the authentic superior kung fu of the inner family. As far as I know, there are only Wudang, Shaolin, Emei and other authentic inner schools in the world. How many people can make such a kung fu, but who did this...isn't it unbelievable!" The little princess sneered and said: "Among the authentic disciples of the inner family, is there no one who is cruel? I hope he is not dead; I want to ask him who killed him!" She leaned over to support the big man's body, and patted more than ten acupuncture points with her palms. The big man's body trembled and his limbs curled up. Then he hissed miserably, and he really woke up—it was a pain that pierced his spine, and he was awakened by the sharp pain. Tie Wa's whole body was hairy from looking at it, and Baoyu couldn't bear to look at it, but the little princess kept her expression unchanged, staring at the big man, and said coldly: "Wake up, open your eyes." The big man opened his eyes and saw the little princess, but there was no joy in his eyes, but a look of horror, and he shouted in a trembling voice: "I didn't say... I didn't say anything..." With a thought in his mind, Baoyu suddenly asked, "What does that man want you to say?" The big man said: "I didn't say...I didn't say anything." Baoyu still didn't give up, and asked, "Who did it?" The big man hissed, "I don't know, I don't know anything." The little princess smiled slightly and said, "Okay, you can live!" Gently clapping his palm, the big man said: "Many..." Before he could say the word "thank you", he straightened his body and died. Tie Wa turned pale and said: "You...you also treat him..." The little princess said softly: "He's going to die anyway, it's better to be happy than to live and suffer. I'm doing it for his own good, don't you understand?" Tie Wa was tongue-tied, she was so angry that she didn't know what to say. Baoyu said slowly: "I should have already guessed that since that man is an authentic master of the inner family, but he tortured him like this, he must have asked him about an extremely important matter." The little princess smiled and said, "So what?" Baoyu said: "Now I know even more. Not only do you already know what the man is going to ask, but you have even guessed who the man is." The little princess said: "Really?" Baoyu said sharply, "Who is that man? What is he trying to ask?" The little princess sneered and said, "Why are you yelling? Will I tell you when you yell?" Baoyu grabbed her wrist and said, "Will you tell me?" The little princess said: "I just didn't say anything, so what about you?" Baoyu stared at her, and she stared at Baoyu.The two of you stared at me, and I stared at you. After a while, Baoyu finally let go of his hand with a long sigh, and said, "Even if you don't tell me, I will know one day." The little princess said: "Just wait slowly!" Suddenly Tie Wa shouted: "Come on, there is one more person here." Baoyu rushed to him, only to see that lying down in the grass over there was indeed another big man. His limbs were already cold and he had been dead for a long time. Tie Wa rolled over him, and couldn't help but exclaimed again.This big man bled from his seven orifices, and he died of poisoning. Obviously, he took poison and killed himself without waiting for others to question him. Baoyu sighed secretly and said, "Sure enough, the sect of Fire Demon God has strict rules, so these people would rather die than reveal the secret. From this, it can be imagined that this secret must be of great importance." Tie Wa looked at the corpse, but murmured in her mouth: "You are so unlucky, you died as soon as you met us, you..." Baoyu's heart suddenly moved, and he blurted out: "Ah! Not bad." Tie Wa was taken aback, and said, "Brother, what's good?" Baoyu said: "Before these two people saw us, they were not very panicked, but after seeing us, they immediately let go and ran quickly, as if they already knew that someone was going to harm him." Tie Wa said: "Yes! But...but why?" Baoyu said: "It's just because their opponents don't know who is the disciple of the Fire Demon God, but they know that the disciples of the Fire Demon God must contact me in order to guard us in secret. Therefore, after they met me, Xingzang immediately exposed , within a moment, you will be poisoned by others." Tie Wa said: "Others? Who are these others?" Baoyu sighed: "I don't know anything about these people, but these people must know a lot about me, otherwise how would they know that anyone who contacts me must be the disciple of the Fire Demon God?" Tie Wa said: "Yes! But..." Baoyu cut off and said, "One more thing, these people must wait until they break up with me before attacking them. This shows that these people seem to have scruples about me." Tie Wa said: "I know, these people must be afraid of big brother's martial arts." Baoyu smiled wryly and said, "How can things be so simple..." He has finally figured out so far that not only the people who secretly acted must have a lot to do with him, but even the secret they want to ask has a lot to do with him. But until now, he only knew so much, who these people were, and what secrets they were trying to ask, he still didn't know anything. He pondered for a while, then sighed, "Outside the west city of Dongchang, there is a red light in the mulberry forest. Let's go to Dongchang now, and we must pay more attention on the way to see who is following us." But it was too late for him to pay attention at this moment, because Tie Wa had already been tricked out of the secret, and others could know their whereabouts without following them. Others can already wait for them there first. Dongchang City, dusk. Baoyu entered the city from the east gate and left the city from the west gate. Ever since they crossed the Yellow River at night, they had already got rid of those powerful men and women who were following them. During this journey, Baoyu did not find a single person's whereabouts suspicious. But he still didn't dare to be careless, after leaving the city, he paid more attention to every step.After a cup of tea, the setting sun shone at night, and there was indeed a mulberry forest in front of me. Baoyu looked around, the dusk was vast, and there was no one in the suburbs.He firmly believes in his own eyesight. If he cannot see others, it will be difficult for others to see him. So he secretly breathed a sigh of relief and went straight to Sanglin.I saw a wisp of cooking smoke curling up from the forest, and the sound of chickens and dogs could be heard faintly. This is a quiet and peaceful evening scene in the countryside, without the slightest ominous omen, let alone the slightest murderous intent... A peaceful and beautiful picture seemed to appear in front of Baoyu's eyes. The farmer in the mulberry forest is sitting on a bamboo chair in front of the door, smoking a pipe leisurely while looking forward to the dinner his wife is busy preparing for him. The innocent children are chasing chickens and dogs beside him-everywhere in the world is full of happiness, and everyone is so satisfied. The burden in Baoyu's heart seemed to be relieved, and he almost forgot that this peaceful mulberry forest was the place where the Fire Demon God met him. But at this moment, he saw the red light in the mulberry forest. Tie Wa blurted out: "The red light, the red light is right there." Baoyu smiled bitterly and said, "I really don't understand why the Fire Demon God chose this place, why he wanted to destroy the peace and tranquility of the farmers in this mulberry forest, and why he didn't let them live a good life." The little princess said slowly: "Life is too quiet, and it will become boring... Maybe the farmers in the mulberry forest have long been looking for some excitement!" Baoyu smiled wryly, walking through the forest, he saw three or five huts surrounded by half bamboo fences in the middle of the forest, and a red light was hanging in front of the half-covered firewood gate. A flower dog, hiding behind the bamboo fence, barked at people, and six or seven yellow chickens paced leisurely in the small courtyard, pecking at the rice grains on the ground. Smoke rises from the roof, and the smell of rice comes from the house—if it weren't for the eye-catching red light, Baoyu couldn't believe that this is the place where the fire demon god met. His footsteps were still very light, as if he still didn't dare to disturb the peaceful atmosphere here.He was determined not to let this peaceful mulberry forest become a place of murder. When the three of them walked to the door, the flower dog didn't dare to bark, but stared at the three strangers with its tail between its legs and its eyes wide open in horror. Baoyu coughed lightly and said, "Is there anyone in there?" A gust of wind blew, and the firewood door blew softly. But there was no sound in the half-covered chaifei. Baoyu raised his voice and asked again, but there was still no response from the door. Tie Wa said: "Could it not be here?" Baoyu also couldn't help wondering: "Could it be that there is a red light here just by chance?" The little princess said: "How can there be such a coincidence?" She pushed the chaifei away with one hand, and walked in. There are three huts, one facing the door is a small hall, and in the middle of a small shrine leaning on a statue of Guanyin, there is also a statue of Guan Gong, a martial sage. In front of the shrine, there is a table for the Eight Immortals, on which there are three sets of bowls and chopsticks, and a cage made of bamboo branches, which seems to be covered with several bowls of tea. A door on the left leads to the bedroom, a huge and heavy wooden bed, with two or three colorful quilts stacked neatly. Bursts of rice aroma came out from an open door at the back, the fire was still burning and the house was full of warmth. All of this is just the scene of the most ordinary farm family dinner, no one can see anything unusual, but what about the people in this farm family? There was no one, and there was no one in front of, behind, or behind the hut. Even the little princess couldn't help being a little surprised by this, and Baoyu couldn't guess what the fire demon god was up to.I saw the little princess walking back and forth twice, muttering to herself, "Are they still in the future?" Only Tie Wa's eyes kept staring at the bamboo cage covered with several bowls of tea.The smell of rice bursts, and his stomach is already rumbling with hunger. In the end he couldn't bear it any longer, he opened the bamboo cage, exclaimed, and took two steps back, even the bamboo cage fell to the ground. Baoyu said, "What's the matter?" Tie Wa said: "Look, look, there are these again, these again..." Surrounded by bamboo, there is indeed a red parrot tongue, but this time there is a big bowl of braised beef and two fat chickens. Baoyu looked at the little princess and said, "They have already been here." The little princess said: "Since I have been here, I must have never gone far." Baoyu pondered and said: "The fire is still burning, and the food has not yet come in. It is obvious that they have not left for a long time, but they are leaving in a hurry. Why did they leave? Where did they go?" The little princess said: "Since you can't guess, you have to wait for them to come back and ask." Baoyu said, "Will they come back?" The little princess smiled and said, "I'm hungry when I see these dishes, let's eat anyway...Since they haven't seen you yet, are you still afraid that they won't come back?" Tie Wa clapped her palms and laughed loudly: "Yes, it's a good idea to eat first and then talk." After the meal, the autumn night was as cool as water. Baoyu moved a chair and sat at the door, looking up at the stars and moonlight leaking from the forest, not knowing what to think—he didn't know what to think. His mind was so chaotic, he didn't know where to think of it. I saw the little princess leaning against the altar with her chin in her hand, staring at the not-so-delicately shaped Avalokitesvara Buddha statue, as if fascinated by it. But Tie Wa mixed a bowl of rice with beef and was feeding that flowery dog. The cool breeze is blowing, the autumn stars are twinkling, and the starlight sprinkles pearls and jade all over the ground from under the forest tops, and the earth is filled with the unique sweet fragrance of autumn night. Baoyu sat quietly in this quiet autumn night, quietly looking at the little princess, at Tiewa, at the tidy hut, at the starry sky... Unknowingly, the picture he had just imagined appeared in front of his eyes, and gradually, he himself seemed to melt into the picture. Starlight, huts, loyal companions, beautiful wives... Is this scene really an illusion?Gradually, even he himself couldn't tell the difference. Suddenly, a dog barking interrupted his reverie. Tie Wa said: "Little Huagou, such a good beef rice, if you don't eat it, I will eat it." The Huagou raised its head, watching him bark, and there seemed to be tears in its eyes. The little princess also turned around, frowned and said: "Could it be that these people are all dead? Why haven't they come back yet? I'm afraid we have been waiting for two or three hours." Baoyu said, "It's been three hours." The little princess said: "What if they don't come back in another three hours?" Baoyu said, "I should have asked you that." The little princess stomped her feet and said, "Dead! Where will these people go?" Suddenly Tie Wa laughed and scolded: "Little Huagou, you don't eat beef rice, but you want to eat my rags, you are an idiot"?While laughing and cursing, the flower dog has been biting the corner of his clothes and dragged him into the house. The little princess murmured: "I'm so anxious, this idiot is still in the mood to play with dogs." Baoyu ignored her, stood up, took a few steps, and said in a deep voice, "I'm afraid this matter will change!" The little princess said: "What's changed? Besides you and me, who would know that this ordinary farmhouse is the place where we meet? It must be those dead people..." Suddenly, Tie Wa exclaimed in the room: "Dead man! Dead man! Dead man is here." Startled, Baoyu and the little princess flew into the bedroom. I saw the flower dog squatting on the corner of the bed, barking unceasingly, Tie Wa pulled the bed sheet with one hand, half bent, stood in front of the bed like a stone statue, and seemed to have been stunned again. The little princess said: "What the hell are you doing?" Tie Wa said: "Under the bed...under the bed..." Suddenly, he raised his hand and lifted up the heavy bed, and there were actually two dead bodies lying side by side under the bed. Baoyu thought that the two corpses must be the owners of this hut, but after a closer look, he saw that the two were dressed in black, with thick eyebrows and wide mouths. It will be an ordinary farmer's family, apparently the partisans sent here by the Fire Demon God. The hands and feet of these two people were already cold, but there were no wounds or blood on their bodies, and there were no signs of being injured by internal force, let alone died of poisoning. Baoyu bent down, only to realize that there were stones the size of eggs embedded in the left chests of the two men, plugging the wounds. At a glance, he saw that the two people had been pierced through the chest by a sword, but before the blood flowed out, the wound was stuffed with stone eggs. Baoyu said in amazement: "Such a fast sword, such a fast skill." The little princess said: "I'm just surprised that since this place is so secret, how could it be discovered and killed before us? How did they find this place?" Baoyu said, "Someone must have leaked the news." The little princess said coldly: "Followers of the Five Elements Demon Palace would never dare to reveal the news, not to mention that even if they want to reveal it, they will never know the date in the letter." Baoyu thought of the prudence of the Fire Demon God, and knew that what she said would never be false. The little princess paused for a moment, then suddenly asked: "Where is that letter at this moment?" Baoyu said: "It's in my arms... After I have seen it, I hide it carefully so that no one will see it." The little princess said: "Did you tell others what was written in the letter?" Baoyu smiled bitterly and said, "Do you think I will?" The little princess stomped her feet and said, "What's going on, I'm also confused." Tie Wa kept her head lowered, her face was also red, and at this moment she finally couldn't help but muttered: "I told someone that I have heard what was written in the letter." The little princess suddenly changed color, and said: "You? You said it? Who did you tell it to?" Tie Wa said: "I don't know who he is, I..." Now he stammered and told the story of the incident. The little princess—combining her hair with her hands, stroking her earlobe with one hand, stared blankly at Tie Wa for a while, without any expression on her face, she just sighed softly, and said: "You are so smart." Tie Wa only thought that she was going to scold herself, but she only said these four words lightly, Tie Wa was stunned, and said: "You...why didn't you scold me?" The little princess said: "Why should I scold you?" Tie Wa said: "I... didn't I do something wrong?" The little princess smiled faintly, and said: "The people I want to scold are all worthy of my scolding, people like you..." She shook her head lightly, and looked away. Although she paused her voice, the meaning behind her words was much more mean than cursing, but Tie Wa never spoke in circles - he didn't understand words that circled around her neck and scolded people. Tie Wa said: "People like me, you don't want to scold me, do you?... Sigh! But the more you don't scold me, the more uncomfortable I feel. You should scold me anyway!" Although the little princess was full of anger, she couldn't help laughing out loud at this moment. She finally cursed with a smile, and said, "Stupid cow..." Baoyu's face was solemn, and he kept frowning in deep thought. At this moment, Fang Zi said in a deep voice: "This man is so good at home, his swordsmanship is so sharp, and he is so clear about Tie Wa and me. He... he will Who is it?"