spring ice

Le Jingqi was still holding an umbrella.The rain has stopped, and if occasionally there are two or three drops of water falling, it is from the corners of the eaves, the treetops, and the accumulation of slightly rolled-up leaf hearts, suddenly pouring down like a surprise.But Le Jingqi was still holding the umbrella, which was almost so low that it blocked his sight, and he didn't dare to bring Zhong Wushe under the umbrella, so the two of them stood one behind the other, separated by a certain distance, intermittently, unable to face each other The appearance of each other has an overall impression.

Zhong Wushe walked dully.She was rarely so quiet, even with strangers, maybe this young man who claimed to be a disciple of the Huashan sect was too reserved, and even she felt that his hands and feet were in the wrong place.She was very reluctant to go with him, but Le Jingqi said that Zhong Zhimu found her and almost turned the whole Wancheng upside down, and reason told her that it would be better to confess to her father as soon as possible.She asked Zhong Zhimu if he hadn't come back yet.

"Yes, my senior brother is also with him." Le Jingqi said, looking at her thoughtfully, Zhong Wushe knew that he was referring to Feng Huanyuan. "But you don't have to worry, girl. Senior's martial arts skills are outstanding, and with the help of my brother who is the head of the sect, even if the other party has any plots and tricks, it will definitely be safe."

Zhong Zhimu is an old father, Feng Huanyuan is her future husband in name, they are all willing to go through dangerous places for her, just to create the golden thread of this dangerous place, it is hard to say that she is not in a dangerous place; It is not too much to commit suicide as a thank you for working so hard and mobilizing people.But deep down in her heart, she always felt that the fight in an unknown place at this moment had nothing to do with her.And no matter what she thinks, it doesn't make sense to show it to this Huashan disciple who doesn't know the details.So she just walked silently, looking very stable.Occasionally, he glanced to the side and collided with the line of sight under the umbrella, but only looked back cautiously.

Le Jingqi naturally understood the question in that gaze, and bowed his head respectfully: "Miss laughing, I have been weak since I was a child, and I was sick. I couldn't go out for 360 days in [-] days a year. I was sent to Mount Hua, but I was only doing some chores, and could hardly practice martial arts. Later, thanks to my brother in charge, I found a cure, and the disease was cured. Maybe old habits are hard to change. After all, I am more sensitive than ordinary people, especially in this season Alternately abnormal climate, hot and cold, most susceptible to wind and cold."

Zhong Wu shot a heart of compassion, and said: "Late bloomers are everywhere in the Jianghu. You are so smart, since you have been cured, you will definitely be able to get twice the result with half the effort in the future."

Le Jingqi smiled wryly, "Thank you for your good words, miss."

He rubbed the handle of the umbrella back and forth in his hands, and the raindrops on the umbrella swirled around, but none of them touched Zhong Wushe.The rainstorm has just passed, there are few people on the street, and the doors of the houses are closed when they pass by, Le Jingqi suddenly said: "I heard that your school has an internal skill—"

Zhong Wushe was a little dazed, startled by the interruption. "ah?"

"One internal skill." Le Jingqi seemed to have made up his mind to speak out quickly. "Ordinary internal energy training needs to be done step by step, and it takes at least ten years to achieve a small success, but the kung fu of your sect is extremely mysterious, and it has immediate results. Even people with no foundation can do it in just a few days. Advance by leaps and bounds."

He spoke faster and faster, with an eager look in his eyes as if he was about to grab something.Zhong Wushe took a step back instinctively, thinking about how to answer. "I've never heard of my father saying that there is such a kung fu in my sect—maybe I'm young and have little knowledge. But if there is, I think not everyone can practice it, and it must be talented. And according to your description, there is no such thing in the world. A good thing with no harm at all? It’s very similar to some insidious kung fu of the evil way. Although the progress is fast, there are bound to be many defects, and the consequences are unpredictable.”

Le Jingqi said: "Maybe it's just using such rhetoric to discourage people from trying." Before Zhong Wushe felt terrified, he smiled and said, "Miss, I'm laughing. I'm too far behind other people, and I dream about how to improve. Sometimes I can’t help but have absurd thoughts, and please don’t take these idiotic dreams to heart.”

Zhong Wushe didn't dislike him when he said that he confessed his enterprising spirit, so he coughed pretending to be old-fashioned. "That's right, Huashan's martial arts are also extensive and profound, so you don't have to ask him for rocks."

Le Jingqi said: "Yes, the swordsmanship of our school is enough for me to have a headache." He finally closed the umbrella carefully, watching the rushing rainwater in the deep ditch at his feet, and sighed: "Senior brother Feng can have a girl so considerate It is really his blessing to have a beautiful woman as his spouse."

Zhong Wushe thought: "Really?" Feeling the subtle presumption in his words, he decided to pretend he didn't hear it.Her judgment was very correct, because Le Jing's intention was not to praise, he just wanted to take the opportunity to talk about himself. "I used to have a junior sister, but she never looked me in the eye."

He thought for a while and added another sentence. "But no one else looked me in the eye."

Every sentence of this Huashan youth who met by chance reveals the atmosphere of self-harm and self-pity. Maybe he is really upset and just wants to be comforted.Maybe he wasn't complaining so much to everyone.In normal times, Zhong Wushe is also very willing to help others, but the danger of the enemy behind him is unknown, and the life and death of his father in front of him is uncertain. They are staying in this secluded and narrow street, and they cannot be completely irrelevant.

So she hesitated for a while, and finally asked. "Why are you holding a needle in your hand?"

Le Jingqi opened the umbrella with a bang.Not because of her question.But the umbrella can't block it; Zhong Wushe has already seen the knife light from top to bottom.

The light of the knife broke through the comprehensive but fragile umbrella, cut the umbrella bone from it, and chopped off his entire head and half of his shoulder.

The section is so neat that the severed meridians and bones can be seen.Then the blood was poured out.Zhong Wushe didn't see this scene, she had already turned around and ran wildly at the moment the knife light flickered, her speed was several times faster than when she escaped Botanmo a few days ago.

This speed is almost unimaginable for a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl.She didn't even think she could run so fast.

A masked swordsman jumped from a height.He glanced at the direction where Zhong Wushe was fleeing, and suddenly swung the knife across.Only a series of crisp sounds were heard, and the hidden weapon fell to the ground accompanied by splashing sparks.He knelt down and picked up one of them.

It was a Buddhist bead.The swordsman's wrist was already faintly numb.

He stood up slowly and looked around.Only Le Jingqi's severed limbs fell to the ground, there was no trace of the Buddha beads, nor was there any trace of Zhong Wushe.

Gao Ya digs earthworms in the yard.He meant to loosen the soil for flower roots, but it looked like digging for earthworms.As a guest, he got up earlier than the host.Of course he always didn't sleep well in strange places, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Yesterday’s rain fell more thoroughly than expected, the rainwater sucked by the soil is still in the bosom, not taken away, the end of the petals touched by the sun is wet, and it is also moist, creating some small rainbow shadows.Nearby are flowers in the ground, far away are flowers in pots, and looking up are flowers on shelves.There are shades and shades, dipped and permeated, sharp and blunt, square and round, red, purple, white and green, but the elegance cannot be called a name.There are countless things he knows nothing about.He just inserted his ten fingers deeply into the soil, allowing his fingers to feel the turbid coolness under the dust and the ensuing sweltering heat.

Behind him came the master, who always got up very early.Gao Ya didn't look back, she just crushed a handful of mud harder, wiped her sweaty forehead with the back of her hand, and then stood up.

"Did Qian Chongxue drop by your place the last time she returned to Tunan?"

Wan Muchun didn't answer.Gao Ya didn't need to answer.It's not because this topic is very heavy. Today, a close friend who died unexpectedly is no longer a sensitive part, or even dull. Even malicious stimulation will only cause a warm, caressing itching.It's just that such memories shouldn't be shared; he doesn't know Qian Chongxue's other friends, just like Qian Chongxue's other friends don't know him at all.

He looked up at the snow-like flowers on the tumi shelf, and his voice was very gentle, as if he was talking to himself. "He said that he knew a flower maker in Wancheng. It was very interesting. The orchids he planted would dance slightly when he heard the sound of the piano. I hope I can see him one day."

"But you don't like flowers."

Gao Ya said, "Who wouldn't like flowers?"

He picked up a flower branch casually. The muddy ground was considered wet, but not soft. He sketched the shape of the hibiscus in front of him on the smooth surface of the moss, but only two or three petals were drawn, and the dead branch broke. .He shook his head.

"Sorry, I caused you trouble when we first met."

"It's good that you know." Wan Muchun said bluntly.He is about 50 to [-] years old, tall and thin, with disheveled gray hair and beard, and a pair of hands with veins and knots that have been worked all year round. It is obvious at a glance that he is definitely not the type that can be fooled.Gao Ya smiled awkwardly, he was actually a little scared. "I won't stay here for long."

Wan Muchun said: "I just said that it's good that you know, I didn't say to drive you away."

Gao Ya nodded vaguely, as if he himself didn't know what he wanted to ask. "Did Qian Chongxue tell you anything?"

"He said he was going to get married, and he was a little scared. He came to listen to my harsh words for the last time, so that he could decide whether to go back on his word."

These few sentences reflected the image of an indecisive Qian Chongxue, so real that Gao Ya could hardly laugh. "I heard from him that you have never been married in your life, that men and women live in a family, and that you are a big brother, but you have always been quite critical. You seem to think that no matter how ambitious a person is, as long as he gets a woman's lust, he will be ruined. "

Wan Muchun said: "No, you said it the wrong way. You will ruin women."

He picked a flower casually, stared at the extremely complicated creation in his hand, rubbed it lightly, and the tender petals in his palm turned into some dark red juice, which seeped into the hard knuckle lines.

"A woman is like this flower. If you break it for your own desire, she won't survive even a moment."

Gao Ya said, "What about her?"

Is golden wisp a flower?Or a piece of bamboo, no matter how hollow it is inside, it is still green on the outside.It is even more likely that she is not a plant that grows in spring and hides in winter at all, can go in and out, and doesn't need soil and water.If Wan Muchun had seen the golden thread, would he be able to understand Qian Chongxue's untimely death?

Wan Muchun didn't seem to hear his words. "In short, getting married is a thing that hurts others and yourself. Since he is determined to jump out of this fire pit at the last moment, I will definitely help as a person who has experienced it. I will list him the top ten disadvantages of getting married. For example, since he met the witch, Then he becomes crazy. Although he is always crazy. Moreover, he likes the new and dislikes the old very much. When he is hot-blooded, he will swear to each other. I am afraid that he will not end well when he is tied together. Not to mention other principles, such as the incompatibility of good and evil, and the incompatibility of water and fire. It will inevitably lead to a situation where everyone yells and beats, although this is not my business, but he is a young man with a bright future, so it cannot be said to be his business."

Such a cynical person like him can speak such a popular truth.Although Gao Ya himself has told Qian Zhongxue this truth, but Gao Ya does not think she is a cynical person, and she only said it to barely fulfill the responsibility of a friend. In fact, it is not true to him whether Qian Zhongxue is married or not. Very important.He thought that there was no reason to stop Qian Chongxue from receiving everything, even if it was a conceivable trouble.

...but what if I knew he was going to die because of it?

Gao Ya habitually stopped associating. "I'm afraid he didn't listen to one of your good words."

Wan Muchun snorted: "Not necessarily. Although his kid has always been proud of his talents, after all, I cross bridges more than he walks, so he listens to me more. What's more, he himself hesitated at first, and he couldn't refute a word I said. I said: What are the benefits of your marriage? You can run faster, jump higher, eat more, and sleep soundly? Since you know that peerless beauty, you will die except for this face. Living virtue, full of mother-in-law's thoughts, what else is there? He was stunned for a long time before he said: "It's nothing. After I recognized her, I realized that there are No. 30 seven moves in Cangming swordsmanship."

Suddenly there was a tight pain in Gao Ya's chest, probably because he didn't eat breakfast, his eyes were spinning.After the dizziness passed, he said, "I seem to know why he died."

"Of course it's because he didn't listen to me." Wan Muchun said angrily, his tall and thin figure seemed a little stooped.He dragged two legs, one long and one short, turned around and walked, every step he stomped on the ground was deafening.

Thanks to his master, Feng Huanyuan dreamed of rocks rolling down the mountain at the last moment, and woke up in excruciating pain.He listened carefully to the movement outside the door, and quickly pulled up the torn quilt to cover his head.When Gao Ya entered the room, what she saw was such an astonishing picture.

Before he had time to speak, Feng Huanyuan's strange voice came from under the quilt. "Go away, I don't want to see you."

The corners of Gao Ya's eyes twitched wildly. "Where did you sing it?"

Feng Huanyuan was upright and confident. "Why do you want to see me in such a shame?"

Gao Ya couldn't help pinching her knuckles. "Then I should silence you."

Feng Huanyuan lifted the quilt, smiled wryly, "That's true." He immediately jumped off the bed.Gao Ya was not so kind as to undress him before carrying him to the bed, anyway, the bed he slept on was not much better than a bare board.Feng Huanyuan was a disciple in Huashan in his early years, so naturally he went through some hardships and hard work, and the cold stove on the stone bed is no problem. Unfortunately, he became the master recently, and his living standard has suddenly improved to a new level.He beat his stiff waist and legs, smelling the rain mixed with blood on his sleeves, which had fermented into an indescribable rotten smell overnight, and leaned back consciously. "Where is this?"

Gao Ya said: "Qian Chongxue's friend's house. Qian Chongxue is different from me, he has many friends."

"What kind of person is Qian Chongxue?"

Gao Ya looked at him quietly, and said after a while, "He's a man of sentimentality."

"I can't tell whether it's a compliment or a derogation."

"Because I don't know very well myself. He can easily fall in love with something or someone. If it weren't for his sentimental character, it would be difficult to deal with me."

What he said was extremely ambiguous, although Feng Huanyuan could fully understand it, he still tried his best to control himself not to have some vulgar feelings of jealousy.Gao Ya turned a blind eye to it, and just continued: "He is easily absorbed and easily bored. But no matter what he falls in love with, he is very serious, so serious that he can be so heartbroken that he will die."

Before Feng Huanyuan's eyes, Qian Chongxue's heartless image was vivid. "Then I think he's going to be in a lot of trouble."

Gao Ya shook her head and said: "No. No matter how much he likes him, he rarely thinks of possessing him. Most of the time he has told me, even if he has done it. For example, sometimes we go to the theater together. I thought it was really soul-stirring, but he would write a long letter with thousands of characters. The whole article was probably willing to be in the clothes and lead it. We discussed the rhetoric all night, revised it to our satisfaction, and copied it carefully ,—of course he copied it, I couldn’t read my handwriting at all—and burned it. And after the burning, he himself forgot about it.”

Feng Huanyuan said: "Maybe I haven't forgotten, but this is enough."

"That's why I envy him. I envy how he can love something so easily and so often? When I'm with him, seeing him so hot and eager, it feels like I'm alive too. So I'm happy to go crazy with him , or give him an idea, and throw some cold water on it. But most of it is not helping, I am more talkative than him.

So when he came to tell me that he was going to get married, of course I was much calmer than him, and I said we'll see in three months.He said it was different this time, and he meant it.I thought to myself, which time have you not been serious before?As far as I know, anyone who is so serious that he can't hold himself in the battle and gets away with it will end in two ways.Either within a few days, he abandoned the family like a bag, or he cried and wiped his tears in the tavern, lamenting that he was unkind to others.With such a temper that has been taught repeatedly, even if a girl falls in love with him, she will die without a problem..."

At the critical moment, Feng Huanyuan interrupted him. "What you didn't expect was that this time he really took it seriously."

Gao Ya suddenly couldn't remember what she wanted to say anymore.

"What did the golden thread promise to give you?" After a while, he asked.

Feng Huanyuan spread his hands and tore off his clothes.There is half a black palm print on his side.The shape of the missing three fingers on the palm print is like the withered claws of a falcon.

"Do you still remember those black-clothed killers we met? They were the subordinates of the dumb Hein Tianque. Heen Tianque is a very well-behaved person. Although his employer and my elder brother are dead, no one will pay him anymore." The final payment, but he has to finish the business. The second senior brother also killed him."

"Is he dead?"

Feng Huanyuan said: "He gave me this palm print, and I broke his arm. I don't know if he will die or not. In the past six months, I have relied on the pill that Lao Qi trained for me, and I am not dead."

He covered up his skirt again, and frowned elegantly. "Can the golden thread heal this injury?"

"She said she did. Hean Tianque was originally a member of the Devil's Cult, and most of the kung fu has its origins. She said she could solve it, so it is more credible than others."

"The condition is that you kill Zhong Zhimu."

Feng Huanyuan smiled and said, "So you see, I have nothing to do."

Gao Ya said: "Why do you seem to have no way to do anything?"

Feng Huanyuan smiled and said for a long time: "It's not just Lao Qi who cheated me. The last killing tune of the golden thread, the more pure the inner strength, the deeper the wound. Once this song comes out, even if it can kill Zhong Zhimu, I will Even if I don’t die, I will be seriously injured. She didn’t expect me to succeed in one fell swoop, at most, I was only used as a containment, and I was her abandoned child from the beginning. It’s ridiculous that I was cornered, and I was tricked by her.”

He spoke very easily, as if he was talking about other people's affairs, with a slightly self-deprecating look, as if he was really convinced.Gao Ya didn't have a word to ridicule, nor did she have a word to comfort her, only her tone couldn't be more gentle. "You're oversimplifying this matter."

Feng Huanyuan sighed: "Actually, what you said is correct. Lao Qi was able to betray Kong Fanxiang in the past, and he can betray me today. But I thought that he could be used by me. I insisted on seeking skins from tigers. It was me who was bitten back." Serve it right."

Gao Ya said in a low voice: "If it wasn't for me, maybe he wouldn't have turned his face so quickly."

Feng Huanyuan laughed loudly, and suddenly approached him, stretching out his hand to pinch his chin. "It's a blessing in disguise, but you don't know it's a blessing. If it wasn't for this mistake, how could I see you come to save me?"

Gao Ya opened his hand with a blank expression. "I still have the strength to think about these things. It seems that the injury is not serious."

Feng Huanyuan stuck out his tongue. "I'm used to taking Lao Qi's medicine, and I'll be able to detect if there's anything wrong with it. When he's not sure about the attack, he doesn't dare to do too much. It's a surefire thing to reverse my internal energy in a crisis. But why did Zhong Zhimu not attack me?"

Gao Ya said: "When I arrived, Zhong Zhimu had disappeared, and he was probably chasing after the golden thread. There was only Wei Qingjia left at the scene, and he was about to give you a good time."

"With you here, not to mention one Wei Qingjia, even ten Wei Qingjias won't help."

Even if this is the truth, it sounds a bit nasty, elegant and noncommittal. "But he hinted that if I had to take you away, he might kill himself."

Feng Huanyuan sneered and said, "It's rare that he has the brains to get this move."

Gao Ya glared at him. "Can you speak human words? I was trying to make things difficult for others."

"You can't kill him for me. He's just using this to blackmail you. He's not someone who would ask for death at all."

The two of them had the same judgment on Wei Qingjia, Gao Ya couldn't help being a little dazed. "Death is not so easy sometimes."

When he said that, of course Wei Qingjia's fate was also in his hands, but this kind of speech was big and inappropriate, and it was easy to make people forget everything.Looking at his stubborn posture, Feng Huanyuan always had the urge to break it with a punch. "You just said Qian Chongxue, and I really admire him. You are like a frightened bird. Once you touch it, you can't wait to fly away. Once you get close, you will feel the smell. You said that he is emotional, but I think he must be very serious. Proper, to be friends with you."

He then added: "Fortunately, I didn't intend to be friends with you."

Gao Ya opened her mouth, instinctively wanted to refute, but finally gave up, and said: "No matter what he does, I just want to accompany him, and I don't want to interfere. But you are different. I got involved too deeply."

Feng Huanyuan held his hand with ease, as if he had done this action ten thousand times. "Don't you like this?"

Gao Ya looked at him sideways, he seldom looked into each other's eyes and talked, even Feng Huanyuan was a little overwhelmed. "It doesn't matter whether you like it or not. Maybe I'm planted in your hands, and you won't accept it."

Feng Huanyuan clenched that hand tightly as if comforting, but what he said was hateful in the opposite direction. "Well, I thought I would pay off what I owed you before. Now I think it's better to owe you a little more, the more the better. Because apart from this, I really don't know how else I can make you grieve gone."

Gao Ya didn't know whether to laugh or cry, she tried her best to shake his hand away. "Right now, Tunan is probably still searching for you and me everywhere. Zhong Zhimu must have more than those few apprentices under his command. What's the next plan?"

Feng Huanyuan said: "Without Lao Qi's medicine, I can't survive ten days. But Huang Jinlian is probably worse than me. This time, only the former subordinates were used. The Demon Cult did not take advantage of the opportunity to mobilize. I am afraid that it is really for personal revenge. I have lost the old bottom. I have to be buried with her when she dies, and now I have to find her before Zhong Zhimu gets his hands on her."

"I hope that the seventh son of your family still has a little affection for his sect."

Feng Huanyuan smiled wryly and said: "Although you laughed your teeth out, I'm really not completely unprepared for him. If I act hastily this time, if I fail, it will definitely involve Huashan. The Phoenix Wing Formation has been improved. As long as you don’t leave alone, you can protect yourself in a crisis. The fourth child is especially stable. If I have an emergency, he knows how to do it. Master Xu is close, and he also promised to help me look after him if he can. The decline of the Huashan faction is a trivial matter, if it is really going to be extinct in my hands, it would be shameless to see the ancestors of Huashan, and it would be better to be killed by the elder brother with a sword."

Before he finished speaking, the door hinge creaked, and when Wan Muchun pushed the door and entered, the distance between the two was at least ten feet.Feng Huanyuan hadn't met the owner yet, so he was about to express his thanks immediately, but Wan Muchun stared terribly, and slapped a wooden box on the only table with long and short legs in the house, and walked away without saying a word. go.The two looked at each other, Gao Ya raised his chin towards him: "It should be yours."

Feng Huanyuan was suddenly blessed. "What's mine is yours."

Gao Ya was unmoved: "Why are you obsessed with these rote nonsense?" But she really reached out and lifted the lid of the box.There is a small white jade bottle and a square of plain silk in the box.

They all seemed to be hallucinating.Compared with the escaped string sound sealed in the box, the fragrance of flowers entering through the window is stronger.

The person who sent the letter didn't need to ask; Zhong Zhimu was not dead, and Huang Jinlu still fulfilled his promise.The antidote in the bottle is more like a reminder to do what you say, rather than a long overdue reward.Feng Huanyuan unfolded the plain silk, his face changed again and again, and finally he laughed and said: "Okay, okay, what a wonderful voice envoy, she is the host in this round, and I am not respectful of this guest. Are you going?"

Gao Ya turned his head, even if he didn't read it, he could guess the content of the letter. "Who do you think told me about your meeting at the Town God's Temple?"

Feng Huanyuan clapped his hands and said, "That's it. I have a [-]% chance of winning against Zhong Zhimu, and you have a [-]% chance of winning. Let's join forces, that is..."

"Not one percent."

Feng Huanyuan lost his voice: "That can't be! Are we going to kill each other?"

Gao Ya: "I have never used a sword with others."

Feng Huanyuan was really shocked. "Have you never had a relationship with Qian Chongxue?"

Gao Ya hesitated for a moment, Feng Huanyuan knew that he had asked a stupid question, and immediately smiled: "Then maybe I am the first one, and the first one has the honor to see your sword."

The sword is clearly in Gao Ya's hand, you can see it when you lower your head, but he seems to be discussing something far away from him. "That's not my sword. It was my present for him."