Mysterious Martial Arts: The Record of the Swordsman

Chapter 140
It was a long time at night, but Lin Pingzhi tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

When Li Chunfeng of the Tang Dynasty formulated the "Linde Calendar", he clearly pointed out: "The division of the ancient calendar starts at half a day." The midpoint of the Zi hour is the beginning of the day, which is just a moment with a special timing function.

But Lin Pingzhi, who had something in his heart, still remembered that the old people who were enjoying the shade under the big tree once told him mysteriously, "When you are about to have a baby, you should return quickly. When the baby is halfway there, a hundred ghosts will come out, and ghosts are the easiest to see." , it is advisable to find the place as soon as possible.”

Lin Xiu, who couldn't sleep under the quilt, felt apprehensive, watching the pale moonlight leaking into the room through the window, and listening to the city soldiers' sound of watchtowers slowly approaching.If you listen to the melancholy rhythmic sound of watchdogs in the city late at night, the three beeps of the watchman are often accompanied by a long chant, which is like saying the word "killing".

In the end, the young head of the Fuwei Escort got up alone, walked out of the room cautiously, walked quickly past several lit rooms, and passed through the martial arts field surrounded by trees, and finally came to the door of the backyard. Peep inside through the crack of the door.

A few days ago, the Escort was very lively, but now it was deserted, as if it had been a lifetime ago.

After Tian Guinong brought people to kick the hall and returned home, Lin Zhennan was overjoyed and ordered people to buy a large amount of water and land ingredients. Drunk to the brim, Jiang Wen's apprentices even ate without any scruples.

But after that, Lin Zhennan seemed to learn from the pain, and suddenly ordered his two children and Jiang Wen's three apprentices not to step into the front yard and the escort house at will. A pair of sons and daughters are responsible for going inside and outside every day, serving food and water.

Lin Zhennan's reason is that the world is dangerous and he has to guard against it.But Lin Pingzhi always felt that something was wrong, even the sound coming from the guard house in the front hall and the smell wafting in were wrong.

The escort house was constantly lit at night, and there was always the sound of swords and guns clashing during the day, as if there were many escorts practicing martial arts day and night.Every half an hour in a hundred days, there will be heavy steps like raindrops, mixed with the beating of gongs and golden drums, as if they are fighting some invisible opponent.

Even through the courtyard wall, Lin Pingzhi could hear their voices of anger and fear, their footsteps resolute and pessimistic, and they hurried without stopping, as if they were engaged in a game that would never win and could never see. Fight to the end.

Slowly, Lin Pingzhi also discovered that whenever this door was opened, Lin Xiu could see some exhausted and sweaty bodyguards leaning against the corner to rest, and then disappeared into a brightly lit room in the backyard inside.

Out of curiosity, Lin Pingzhi once stepped onto the wall with his light kung fu. Although his line of sight was blocked by a gable in the backyard, he could still see the small door on the side of the escort agency.Carts transporting meat, vegetables, poultry and livestock are waiting in line in the narrow aisle, waiting for the chef in the house to count the ingredients and send them into the kitchen.

Such a bizarre scene never stops at the corner of the day and at the end of the day.The amount of ingredients used each time is equivalent to a banquet for the whole family.

Lin Pingzhi couldn't figure it out, how could there be a reason for the family to eat feasts every day, but if no one ate them, the ingredients accumulated over time by these small carts were enough to fill the front hall, but now they seemed to be sent Into the bottomless stomach of Taotie, without causing any waves.

The weirdness doesn't stop there.

Since the arrival of the golden plaque on a black background, the bodyguards have been whispering in twos and threes, talking about this ominous thing, looking at it with fear and disgust, even if they just pass by by chance, they will panic Avert your eyes, and would rather turn a blind eye, as if there are some ghosts that can eat people's minds and take people's lives.

And Lin Zhennan, who used to teach Lin Pingzhi his homework and weigh his martial arts every morning and evening, hadn't set foot in the backyard for several days, and he didn't even sleep in his own room as if he was possessed, he just stayed in the front hall day and night.

Perhaps because he couldn't stand Lin Pingzhi's hard interrogation, the head of escort Shi of the Fuwei Escort Bureau finally revealed a little bit that the head of the escort Lin had something important to do now, so he could only sit upright in the front hall without leaving his body. Undress and leave.

What's even more strange is that some people said that they accidentally saw Lin Zhennan, who had neglected martial arts for a long time, dancing his sword alone in the front hall late at night, as if he was fighting fiercely with some invisible opponent, using cunning and sharpness that he had never seen before. But when he came back to his senses again, he found that Lin Zhennan was sitting upright with his sword in his hand, as if he hadn't gotten up at all.

All kinds of news came quietly, but Lin Pingzhi saw fewer and fewer bodyguards.

Lin Pingzhi instantly thought of that ominous black plaque.

Now, as long as he closes his eyes, he will see his father's majestic face, holding his sword full of fear, staring at the rough and winding handwriting on the golden lacquer plaque.

Lin Pingzhi's illusion saw that various strange shapes were continuously changing on the plaque, raging in the front hall with teeth and claws, condensing into a nightmare entity, spreading all kinds of disasters and terrors, devouring the lives of the bodyguards in the Fuwei bodyguard agency , and devoured his father's sanity that was on the verge of collapse...

With the sound of another "killing!", Lin Pingzhi was awakened from the chaotic illusion.

At this time, outside the crack of the door is the dense night that cannot be dispelled. If you stare for a long time, you can also see the loneliness of white shadows emerging in the void.

With a burst of pungent, smoky, indescribable rancid smell rushing towards him, Lin Pingzhi's eyes were blurred for a moment, and there were ghostly shadows floating around all the time, and those lurking monster minions rushed towards him together!
Lin Pingzhi suddenly fell from the crack of the door, covering his mouth so tightly that he didn't scream.

He was very scared, very confused, and very desperate, because all the dependence he had once had turned into the astonishment that he stretched out his hand but caught nothing.

But he must not give up, because he is the young head of the Fuwei Escort, and besides his father, he is the one who should guard the Escort the most.

He still remembers the poverty and loneliness with his mother in the countryside when he was a child, and he even more remembers the grand occasion of today's Fuwei Escort Bureau surrounded by crowds and flowers.

This huge difference made him have the same nightmare more than once.And since his mother passed away after giving birth to his younger sister, the last beacon to distinguish between illusions and dreams has disappeared. In his eyes, it is even more difficult to distinguish between reality and illusion, and in the upside-down and uneasy dreams, there are always similar story lines with minor differences.

In the upside-down and bizarre dream, he encountered the death of his father, the decline of the Escort Bureau, his family business was burned to ashes, and he was alone in the rivers and lakes.

He met many people and made a lot of efforts, but he still suffered all kinds of humiliation and fraud throughout his life. At the beginning, the name of his enemy was resounding all over the world, but he could only secretly look up to him like an ant, and he would never have a chance to turn over.

What's even weirder is that in this dream, he never dreamed of his younger sister Yueru, nor his master Jiang Wen—but once his father passed away, the person he cared about most was his own sister, and the most trustworthy Man, this is the master who lives in seclusion in Wuyi Mountain.

As he grows older, Lin Pingzhi can also guess the root cause of these dreams, which is the hesitation that emerges in his heart.

People who once had nothing, once they encounter even a straw like hope, they will try their best to grab it, and then guard against being taken away viciously like a wolf.

Lin Pingzhi is obviously very timid, but he always wants to grab something boldly.

Such as his father, such as the Escort Bureau, such as all the people who are by his side now, he doesn't want to lose any of them.

The sound of watchman sounding went away suddenly, Lin Pingzhi stood in the cold wind wrapped tightly in his single clothes, puffed up his chest again and looked at the crack of the door.

This time, even though he heard the strange sound of rustling tiles in his ears, and glimpsed a ghostly shadow falling from the corner of his eyes, there was only firmness and determination in his eyes.

…………

It had been a long time since night fell, but Lin Zhennan waited restlessly.

Fuzhou city is like the sound of "fighting and killing" at night, and it comes back again and again, every night. When Lin Zhennan first came here, he heard the local people say, "Three mountains and two towers are in the city, and you can know what is going on by listening to the tower bell." It is reminiscent of the specious omens of blessings and misfortunes in ancient books.

Looking at the "Nanlvlin Chief Alliance Master" plaque with gold letters on a black background, Lin Zhennan remained silent, and slowly closed his eyes, slightly soothing his exhausted nerves.

Suddenly, a furtive figure entered through the front door.

"Chief Escort, I'm back..."

The figure of Escort Chief Shi slowly emerged from the night, and walked quickly into the hall of Fuwei Escort Agency where the plaque of "Fortune is in front of Wei" was hung. He came to Lin Zhennan who was sitting upright with his sword in his hand.

Lin Zhennan slowly opened his eyes when he heard the voice, his eyes were bloodshot, and he said in a slightly hoarse voice.

"How are things going?"

Biaotou Shi heaved a sigh of relief, and stiffly moved his shoulder that had been injured a few days ago.

"Don't worry, Chief Escort."

He grinned secretly, and said with some pride, "I saw it go out with my own eyes, there is no problem, don't worry!"

Lin Zhennan finally heaved a sigh of relief when he got this expected but deeply concerned answer.

"That's good. Go to the kitchen in the backyard and call Master Hua out. I have something to tell you."

Biaotou Shi left in a hurry under his orders, and came back in a hurry, this time bringing back a middle-aged man with a chubby face.

"Chief Escort, are you looking for me?"

Master Hua in the kitchen had just fallen asleep, and the recent incidents at the Escort Bureau had put him under a lot of pressure. A person who was optimistic about his fate also began to fidget, and his fat face was obviously worried.

"I want you to know that the kitchen and the guard house are almost full now, and if you go any further, you can only put them in the front yard."

Lin Zhennan waved his hand, signaling for him to stop talking.

Lin Zhennan watched the two of them arrive together, and wanted to stand up from the grand master's chair in the lobby, but his physical strength had already been exhausted in the silent confrontation with the imperial plaque that lasted for several days, and he staggered and almost fell.

Biaotou Shi hurried forward to help him, but Lin Zhennan accidentally took a picture of the cross wound on his shoulder, and grinned instantly.

"Hiss... Chief Escort, you have to be careful!"

Brigade Chief Shi didn't make a sound, and endured the labor pains before supporting Lin Zhennan to stand upright, but he didn't dare to let Lin Zhennan move his hand away.

"Boss Shi, Master Hua."

Lin Zhennan politely declined the support, stood up and said slowly, "Through planning day and night these days, I finally secretly sent more than a hundred people from the Fuwei Escort Bureau out of Fuzhou City, preserving the vitality foundation of the general number. The two of you really have contributed."

The two looked at Lin Zhennan without saying a word, but their eyes were full of mixed expressions of joy and sorrow, and even a little bit of embarrassment, because all this was so difficult.

Lin Zhennan looked into the distance, the candlelight in the hall danced and shone on his face, moving with the light and shadow, so that although his expression did not change, it clearly showed various emotions of joy, sorrow, and joy.

"The plan of reducing troops and adding fires has worked, but I still feel a little uneasy. The agreed secret signal has not been sent back from outside the city. Maybe it is because the imperial envoys are too strict to seal the city. I hope I am careless..."

Lin Zhennan said, "As the Escort Bureau's popularity has passed, Fuzhou City's current attention has been diverted by the imperial envoy's rebellion. Tomorrow, Escort Chief Shi, you will go to Zhongren Medical Center to seek medical advice in the name of your injury getting worse." Medicine, don't come back yet."

Then he turned his head and took out a receipt from his sleeve, "Master Hua, the 100 taels can be redeemed at various branches of the Escort Bureau, and you can take the child back to your hometown to visit relatives under the pretext of leaving tomorrow. With your superb cooking skills , even if you don’t want to work in the semicolon, it’s probably fine.”

The two were very moved when they heard the words, and they immediately admired Lin Zhennan's thoughtfulness and consideration.

Shi Biaotou didn't even expect that the strategy of "reducing troops and adding more stoves" that he had only heard about in story books and storytelling, could be played to perfection in Lin Zhennan's hands, and he couldn't help but be astonished.

Lin Zhennan has been operating in Fuzhou for a long time. He has always insisted that good fortune comes first, peace is the most important, and he implements the business of making good friends to the end. He is completely different from ordinary gangsters who look like gangsters.Therefore, news from all parties in the city can still be gathered in Lin Zhennan's hands through different channels, helping him find the problem.

In the past few days, although he was ordered to close the bodyguard office and thank guests, he did not become blocked and ignorant because of this.

He knew that Geng Jingzhong had gone crazy, that the imperial envoys had hunted down the White Lotus Sect, that the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys had been turned upside down, and that since Tian Guinong was scared off, some rumors about the Fuwei Escort had been spread intentionally or unintentionally. open.

These ghost tricks are not to be feared in normal times, but at this dangerous moment of turmoil, Lin Zhennan can no longer sit idly by.

Relying on his keen sense of smell, he found the only way out from the many murderous opportunities—withdraw!

He was once persuaded by Jiang Wen, so Lin Zhennan has also read a lot of books in the past few years. The strange thing is that what interests him most is not poetry, poetry, arithmetic and numerology, but books about strategy and strategy.

Lin Zhennan believes that since ancient times, the way of business has been like the way of war, and the way of using soldiers is nothing more than the four words of falsehood, reality and reality.

For example, when the Qing government thought that the Fuwei Escort would take the opportunity to retreat from Fuzhou City, Lin Zhennan used small stones and Hong Wending to defeat the heroes in the plaque receiving battle, and secured his position as the leader of the Southern Green Forest.

Another example is now, when the Qing court thought that the Fuwei Bodyguard Bureau was preparing to accept recruitment and rest easy, but Lin Zhennan was secretly planning to withdraw the people of the Fuwei Bodyguard Bureau from Fuzhou City to preserve their vitality.

No one expected that Lin Zhennan would choose to have the courage to withdraw the people secretly under the watchful eyes of all parties and the cusp of the storm.

But Lin Zhennan thought very clearly that Geng Jingzhong, the backer of the Fuwei Escort Bureau, is now imprisoned in the palace. The situation of the net jaws.

With Lin Zhennan here, the head office of Fuwei Escort Bureau is there, and with the presence of the bodyguards, the local branches will not collapse. Both are indispensable.

The strategy of adding stoves and reducing troops is to reduce troops first and add stoves.

In order to reduce the number of soldiers and keep Chen Cang in the dark, Lin Zhennan made the illusion of drinking every day in the past few days, and asked his bodyguards to hide under the car and transfer out of the bodyguard by taking advantage of the time of transporting ingredients. , sent out of the city safely in batches.

In order to add cooking stoves to cover people's eyes and ears, he ordered Master Hua to stock up all kinds of ingredients he bought every day, which made Master Hua struggle with processing ingredients and delaying rot and stink; , Confused the eyeliner outside the mansion, so that when there were fewer and fewer people, the bodyguards had to be exhausted to make noises of nearly a hundred people with a dozen people.

In order to ensure the safety of channels, Lin Zhennan went through various contacts in cloth and silk stores, gold blacksmith workshops, fruit and fruit stores, Wenwan bookstores, medicine shops and medical centers, etc., and planned every step day and night. Thinking about the aftermath of being smashed.

Relying on restlessness and exhaustion, he finally waited until the day when all of them were evacuated.

"Chief Escort, I don't necessarily have to go."

Biaotou Shi sighed and said, "Your relatives haven't left yet, so you need someone to protect you. Although my martial arts skills are low, I can always delay for a while."

Master Hua bowed his head and remained silent.

Although he is the head chef of Fuwei Escort Bureau, he was only hired with money, not like a man in the world like Escort Shi, and it is his utmost benevolence to cooperate with the Escorts tremblingly these days, and he does not want to go deep Stuck in this quagmire.

Therefore, he had already made up his mind to leave, and Lin Zhennan could tell that he just wanted to take his sons and daughters away from right and wrong, and live an honest life in another place. Considered.

"It's okay, I have my own plan on how to get out of the city. Zilu is still trapped in prison, I must find a way to break the situation and return him to freedom."

Lin Zhennan shook his head and said, "Besides, the reason why I dare to do this is also because Zilu left me behind. With the skills of his two apprentices, it is enough to deter the thief Xiaoxiao and protect Xiu'er and Yueru thoroughly." .”

Biaotou Shi was stupefied for a moment, and then said unwillingly, "But...they are still children after all..."

Lin Zhennan gave him a meaningful look.

"They are children, and they are also Zilu's apprentices. Since their master is able to predict the enemy and keep them, how can he stand by and watch when the Escort is in danger? Don't worry."

Shi Biaotou sighed slightly, he didn't know why his chief helmsman trusted a knight-errant so much, and even in his eyes, the hundreds of bodyguards in the bodyguard bureau did not make him feel as safe as Jiang Wen alone.

"Chief Escort..."

Master Hua finally plucked up the courage to speak.

"Although I'm leaving tomorrow, I still want to repay you for taking care of me all these years. Thanks to the Chief Escort, my two children can go to school and learn to read."

There was a smile on Master Hua's fat face, but he couldn't hide his guilt, "I, I'll go to the kitchen to dispose of the ingredients, so I'll dig a hole in the corner of the kitchen and bury some more rotten ingredients..."

Lin Zhennan looked at him regretfully, but he didn't try to hold him back, but said sincerely.

"That's work."

Master Hua's chubby figure disappeared into the smashed and unrepaired side door, and Escort Shi also sat in the hall, accompanying Chief Escort Lin in silence.

Lin Zhennan stared at the golden plaque on a black background, fell into deep thought again, and started a long game against an enemy far away in the Golden Temple, trying to break free from this deadlock.

But suddenly, two hurried footsteps sounded from the side door.

This time, it was two short figures walking quickly, carrying an unconscious half-child on their shoulders.

"Xiu'er! What's wrong with you!"

Lin Zhennan suddenly exclaimed, and found that it was his eldest son who was unconscious, and it was Hong Wending, who was handsome and stupid, and Xiao Shitou, who carried him in.

Hong Wending frowned slightly, put Lin Pingzhi on the chair, checked his breath and pulse familiarly, and then said to Lin Zhennan: "Boss Lin, I was resting in the room just now, and suddenly I heard some movement outside the door and hurried away." When I went out, I found Mr. Lin passed out at the gate of the yard."

He thought for a moment, and continued to add: "In my opinion, it should have been knocked out intentionally by someone, and Life Wuyou didn't kill him, so it's hard to judge the other party's intention."

Lin Zhennan also stepped forward to check nervously, trying to wake up Lin Pingzhi, but in vain.

"Hong Shaoxia, haven't even you found the other party's trace?" Shi Biaotou asked in surprise.

Hong Wending nodded: "The opponent's qinggong is very good, and there may be more than one person. First, someone lured me out, and when I fought with me, another person knocked out Mr. Lin. And it is very likely that there are third and fourth personal existence..."

Lin Zhennan only felt that the alarm bells were ringing in his heart, and asked anxiously, holding back his unease.

"How did you know?"

Hong Wending remained calm.

"Because at the same time, your daughter was also targeted by the man in white, so it is estimated that there are thieves breaking in."

Lin Zhennan almost crushed the armrest of the chair.

"What! Yueru was also murdered?!"

Hong Wending shook his head unhurriedly and said, "Don't worry about the Chief Escort."

He pointed to the dazed little stone beside him, "My senior brother was walking out of the door at that time, and he wrestled with the thief, biting each other hard all the way, so that the thief didn't succeed."

Lin Zhennan was in a daze for a moment, staring at the little stone, as if he couldn't figure out whether this "biting" was a false word or a real reference.

"I was hungry at the time, so I came out to look for something to eat." Xiao Shitou added abruptly, which made Lin Zhennan even more confused.

"father!"

With a cry, Lin Zhennan turned around abruptly, and saw his little daughter was already standing behind him, impatiently about to throw herself into his arms, his hands were tightly clutched, and he refused to let go for a moment.

Lin Zhennan hugged his daughter tightly, and kept saying, "It's fine, it's fine..."

Little Shitou thought for a while, then suddenly said: "But Junior Sister is gone again."

——He didn't know why he said again, he just felt that the scene was very familiar.

Lin Zhennan's mood went up and down in a short period of time, and he felt like his heart was about to stop.

"What?! Ningdie disappeared?!"

"When we went in to find Ningdie, we found that the roof tiles of her room were broken and she was nowhere to be seen. She might have been taken away by another man in white. Fortunately, my brother remembered the smell on her body. We are going to go Get the little junior sister back."

Hong Wending nodded, "Master once told us to guard the Escort, but now only the head of the bodyguard is in charge of the Fuwei Escort. We will try our best to get back before dawn, and please be careful."

Sensing the unprecedented tense situation, Lin Zhennan nodded resolutely, glanced at his tightly hugging daughter and unconscious son, and said firmly.

"There is no delay in this matter. The two of you go as you please. I have my own opinions on everything in the mansion!"

The two children looked at each other, and then climbed over the wall without further words, and disappeared into the night, leaving only Biaotou Shi in a daze, dumbfounded in the face of the sudden incident, and said slowly.

"Chief Escort, now I can always stay here, right?"

Lin Zhennan looked at him and said helplessly: "Then I will trouble you, and be careful not to cause a flare-up of the shoulder injury."

Biaotou Shi raised his head and chest with a little satisfaction and sang "Hey", picked up the cooked copper stick with his uninjured hand, and volunteered to patrol the house to see if the thieves had gone and returned.

In the gloomy night, Biaotou Shi stepped through the door of the front yard, walked into the range of the lighted dart house, and almost bumped into Master Hua who was in a hurry and went back and forth.

"Oh, look at the road, what are you doing?!"

Shi Biaotou dodged the wound slightly annoyed, and stopped the bewildered Master Hua, "What are you holding in your hand?"

Master Hua woke up suddenly when he heard the words, and grasped the end of the cooked copper stick tightly as if holding on to a life-saving straw. His body shivered involuntarily, as if suffering from malaria.

"Dart...the head of the bodyguard! I was digging a hole at the door of the kitchen just now...and I found it...you...look at this!"

He was holding a greased paper bag in his hand, and was about to hand it over, but suddenly his hands shook and fell to the ground.

In an instant, a black and smelly thing rolled out of the oil-paper bag, turned around twice before lying down on the bluestone board, and there was no more movement.

Brigade Chief Shi approached with his nose not too filthy, relying on the pale moonlight in the yard, he finally saw clearly the sloppy thing on the ground, it was a rotten and smelly human palm that had been severed by the wrists!

Master Hua has long been frightened to the point of being out of his wits. Isn't this ghostly thing appearing next to the kitchen where he is busy every day, like a butcher's knife hanging around his neck every day? !
What made Biaotou Shi even more unbelievable was that he recognized the owner of this palm from the short ring finger at a glance—the original owner of the severed palm must have been drinking and gambling with him every day, and Escort Zheng, who should have left the city safely two days ago!

(End of this chapter)