In the Blade

"...Wait a minute, is this serious?"

The next morning, under the Bell and Drum Tower of Sanshan Town, Wang Wenshun, who came to ask for advice, was dumbfounded for a moment when he heard what the young man said.

"The training method is actually hide and seek?"

"……Um."

The young man gritted his teeth and nodded.

When he got this answer, he was also surprised. You must know that only children under ten years old can do things like hide and seek. He is now fourteen, how can he play such a thing? If young people see it, they will be laughed at.

But just when he wanted to raise a question, he saw the real master with an unprecedented seriousness on his face.

“This sport is very safe, it’s rare for anyone to get injured, and it can also train people’s awareness of tactics and strategies…”

Recalling what he had heard, the young man tried his best to repeat what Du Chengfeng had said.

“The most important thing is that it keeps everyone involved and it’s fun.”

Although he said this, the boy really couldn't figure out what the meaning of hide-and-seek was. Maybe it was the stereotype of adults, thinking that young children should play this, but he wanted to say that anyone over ten years old No one would play with such childish things.

As you get older, you naturally want to play more mature things, such as imitating the fighting skills of those martial arts masters...

However, after thinking about the scene where he and the Jingtao Sword King fought, he still felt that hide and seek might be better.

At least he can run away, at worst he should go back first.

Wang Wenshun didn't expect that the so-called "senior" had already wanted to run away before things started. He was still thinking about the hide-and-seek problem - but he didn't quite understand what was going on. , although he is certainly old now, but he also knows that only children under ten years old will play such childish games.

What other training tactics and strategies...can this thing really play a role in training?

Wang Wenshun didn't quite believe it. This training method was too outrageous.

"In short, there are three requirements."

While Wang Wenshun was still hesitating, the young man continued.

"The reporting officer is not allowed to ask for help, is not allowed to run across the backward river, and is not allowed to open his eyes while counting. The scope is limited to the town. Do you understand?"

"I...can."

Taking a deep breath, Wang Wenshun nodded.

Now that we have talked about it, why don’t we just give it a try? Anyway, if you can hit three poles with or without dates, even if you really can’t learn anything, at least it will let him know that this so-called “old-timer” is not that Reliable - in fact, he even has some doubts now whether this "old senior" is the kind of expert who has good looks. After all, the other party pretends to be a young man, and he is really pretending to be like him. a little.

If the opponent's iron whip didn't really contain the master's sword intention, he would even think that this was really just an ordinary young man.

"Okay, are you ready?"

The boy's voice sounded again.

"Come to me when you count to a hundred, and don't open your eyes."

"OK."

Wang Wenshun closed his eyes as a matter of course.

He is not a naughty child, so he will not cheat at this time. With his skills, what if he follows the rules? Just like now, after closing his eyes, he can hear more clearly. The footsteps of the senior leaving.

The footsteps were so heavy that he could even hear that the other party's body was not as coordinated as he imagined.

"this……"

Wang Wenshun frowned.

Such a reckless running style is not like a senior expert at all. This kind of unstructured body operation is just like that of teenagers who can be seen everywhere.

"Did I really make a mistake?"

Wang Wenshun's doubts became more and more obvious.

In the final analysis, the biggest reason why he regarded the opponent as a senior expert was because the knife marks engraved on the iron whip shocked him so much. Therefore, if he followed this idea, he could fight against an expert of this level. This young man must be a master, but now it seems...

"Um?"

Wang Wenshun was suddenly stunned.

Doubts were still swirling in his mind, but at the moment he had no time to care about such trivial matters.

Just because he, who had been listening carefully, actually lost track of her.

This is not because of that moment of distraction. With his current skills, even when he is distracted, he can still hear the sound of the retreating sound. Following the retreating footsteps, he can even determine the direction in which the other party is leaving. ——But now, this method is completely unworkable.

After all, more footsteps sounded.

The warm sunshine shines on the town, and the people who have rested for the night also return to the streets. The noisy footsteps, the shouts along the street, the sound of pouring chamber pots, the hoofbeats of cows and horses, and the wheels rolling on the road, making a squeaking sound. There was a crunching sound, and there were even a few bird calls in the air.

Noisy and bustling, this is the early morning in Sanshan Town, and the smoke and smoke of the world completely fills Wang Wenshun's keen hearing.

The most important footsteps disappeared without a trace.

"Varied……"

Wang Wenshun suddenly felt that this hide and seek was not as simple as he imagined.

Resisting the idea of ​​opening his eyes, Wang Wenshun held his breath and listened to everything around him. He didn't believe it. It was just hide and seek. How could he not find anyone? With his skills, even if he closed his eyes, he could still find the person. Can hear...

"Found it!"

Recalling the loose and heavy footsteps unique to the young man just now, Wang Wenshun immediately locked his target.

But immediately, Wang Wen started to sweat.

Just because of such footsteps, there were eight of them around him.

There was even a ninth footsteps coming from a distance, accompanied by the creaking sound of the wooden door being pushed open - obviously, these were the teenagers living in the local area and were not the target he was looking for at all.

"this……"

Wang Wenshun looked stern.

This hide-and-seek seemed far less simple than he imagined.

Especially when I close my eyes right now, because I can only rely on hearing for relatively distant perception, the uneasy feeling in my heart is infinitely amplified - if someone can touch it quietly at this time, Can you get behind him and kill him easily?

What kind of enemy will he encounter when he can't see anything?

Without visual aid, can he really be as accurate as usual? Could something like sound be used as a bait to induce him to reveal his flaws?

"Ninety-nine...one hundred!"

Wang Wenshun finally let out a sigh of relief after counting a hundred. When he opened his eyes, he was already sweating profusely.

Even though the chase hadn't even started yet, it was already as if he had experienced an incredible war.

"Strategy and tactics...?"

Thinking back on what he had just heard, Wang Wenshun did not dare to be careless at all this time.

Indeed, the moment he closed his eyes, he had already entered an extremely passive situation, whether at the strategic or tactical level - if someone attacked him at that time, even if he could resist it, he would definitely You will be beaten and confused.

So, after opening your eyes now, the situation is better?

Not really.

Just because in front of him, the shadow of the young senior could no longer be seen at all.

"In other words, he knows where I am, but I don't know where he is..."

Wang Wenshun turned around and looked around. He suddenly felt that things seemed to be more troublesome.

Sanshan Town is not that big when it is said to be big. After all, this town is so small that there are only four streets in total. This is why he can agree to it as a matter of course. After all, this kind of place is too small for him - but now, in After counting a hundred and opening his eyes, facing the crowds of people walking on the street, he realized that this Sanshan Town could actually be so big.

Sanshan Town is so small that you can run from one end to the other with just your feet.

But Sanshan Town is also very big, so big that when a person breaks into the crowd, he is like water dripping into the sea.

Is there any way to tell a drop of water from the ocean?

Does this method really exist?

"First... let's take a walk."

Following the direction in his mind, Wang Wenshun walked all the way.

Then he walked to the gate of the county government office and stared at the two stone lions.

"this……"

Wang Wenshun couldn't help but smile bitterly.

This is not a passage, and the other party is obviously not stupid enough to run to a dead end. It is obvious that he only pays attention to the direction in which the footsteps are leaving, but forgets the layout of the town - perhaps this is the so-called strategic deception. , using false footsteps to lead him to make wrong judgments.

Just like what he just thought, when sound becomes the only source of information, sound itself can also be used as a method of deception.

"Strategy..."

Wang Wenshun took a deep breath.

This time, he was extremely serious.

Continuing to walk on the street, Wang Wenshun looked around and recalled the words he had just heard - at this moment, he had devoted himself wholeheartedly to it. He even felt the specific ideas of this training method. There was no doubt that , this so-called hide-and-seek is indeed a training, it can even be said to be more rigorous than any method he can think of.

According to his long-standing thinking, he has always found his opponent and then used his sword. This is the style of martial arts masters, and it is also the most common fighting method.

But this so-called hide-and-seek revealed to him another, more dangerous way of fighting.

When your enemy is lurking in an area, how do you find him?

From the beginning, he had no initiative to take action. The enemy was hidden in the town and had no idea of ​​showing up. But now, because he had concentrated on finding it for an hour, he was even slightly out of breath - he had never thought about it. , paying full attention to the surroundings, it consumes so much physical strength and energy, especially energy. Now he just wants to find a place to sit and rest for a while.

If someone attacks him behind his back at this time...

"who!"

Wang Wenshun twisted the wrist of the man behind him with his backhand.

"What do you want to do!"

"No, no, no, no! Sir, I was wrong! Just spare me a lot!"

The thief who was about to steal the money bag turned pale with pain. It was obvious that Wang Wenshun's twist had directly broken the thief's wrist.

Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Wang Wenshun kicked the thief's leg and broke it. It happened to be a time when he was not in a good mood, and the thief deserved to be unlucky.

Although the thief was dealt with, Wang Wenshun felt even colder in his heart, because if the person who just approached him was not a thief but a real master, he might not even have time to react in this most basic way.

Death was so close to him.

"Strategy and tactics..."

Wang Wenshun's understanding became clearer as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Just like now, making him tired and exhausted, this kind of thing he had never considered before, isn't it also part of the strategy?

Think about it, if there is a martial arts master who duels with him, makes an appointment in the morning, and then deliberately leaves him alone for a day, and waits until the evening when he is upset because of waiting, and the other party appears in his prime state after eating and drinking and warming up, then he will die without knowing how he died.

The most terrifying thing is that he may not even be able to see this strategy. After all, he knows his own thoughts. If he encounters such a situation, when the opponent appears, he will definitely chop him directly with a knife.

Instead of finding a seat on the street like now, just take a break first.

"Strategy... yes! Strategy!"

Wang Wenshun took the herbal tea handed over by the tea shop waiter and drank it in big gulps.

After the herbal tea went into his stomach, the feeling of fatigue immediately dissipated a lot. It was just a bowl of cheap herbal tea, but Wang Wenshun even squinted his eyes comfortably.

This is not just physical comfort, but more of a spiritual comfort.

Yes, at this moment, he finally found a way to solve the problem.

"Since the other party has already made a strategic arrangement, the best way to resolve this strategic arrangement is not to follow the opponent's strategy!"

Wang Wenshun felt that he had found the answer to the problem.

Perhaps this is what the senior wanted him to understand.

If he follows the arrangement of this senior and chases all the way, he will definitely not get anything. In the case of not finding anyone, as an outsider, he will definitely choose to look at them one by one at the first time-the simplest elimination method, although it is a stupid way, but it is also a good way. At least when there is no way, this thing can be considered a way.

But if he really follows this inertial thinking and goes on instinctively, he will jump directly into the trap set by this senior. No matter how long he searches in the town, he will find nothing, after all, his thoughts have been predicted in advance.

And now, while he is in high spirits after drinking herbal tea, he also wants to calculate the thoughts of the senior in reverse.

"He will definitely not return to the post station. After all, he knows that I know the location."

Thinking of this, Wang Wenshun couldn't help but glance at the hilltop in the distance.