Peach Blossom Button

"You know him?"

The cold moon hangs high above the sky, the breeze blows, and the bamboo leaves rustle. On the lampstands on both sides of the road, candle flames dance in delicate lanterns, casting orange light.

Under the lights in the forest, Tao Mo stared at the young man in white in front of him, and asked again: "Do you really know him?"

Bai Wangyan put away the folding fan in his hand, patted it on his palm, and said with a smile, "I don't know him, I just heard about it. Mr. Ge's whereabouts are indeed uncertain. His old man left from Qiulian Mountain many years ago. I wandered around the rivers and lakes, and I only met him once at the Sword Tasting Conference five years ago. It is only natural for Puppet Village to invite him, but his behavior is secretive, and he is not showing his true colors when he comes to the birthday banquet. Could it be Tao Shaoxia? Do you want to invite him to relieve Baiyou?"

Tao Mo frowned and said nothing. Hearing the words "Qiulian Mountain", the scar on his heart was opened in an instant.His voice suddenly became a little hoarse: "Indeed... That's right, I have something urgent to find him."

"It's okay," Bai Wangyan said with a smile as he clenched his fingers slightly on the fan. "It's getting late now, and it's extremely inconvenient to find someone. Why don't you go to the birthday banquet tomorrow, Mr. Ge will definitely be there, so you can look for it later." Not too late. Besides..." A deeper smile appeared on his face, "This time is the [-]th birthday of the owner of the Mo village. When the owner sent the invitation, the owner said that he would present a lifelong event at the birthday banquet. Hard work, doesn't Tao Shaoxia want to see it?"

In the rivers and lakes, the puppet agencies are in the opposite direction.There are only two schools in the world today who can use this ingenious mechanism technique to cross the rivers and lakes, Moyuan in the south and Shuze in the north.It's just that the owner of Senluo Mountain Villa is not only famous for the mechanism technique passed down by the Mohists, but for the technique of making puppets.The reason why this Senluo Villa is called the Puppet Villa is naturally named after it.

Before coming here, Tao Mo had also heard from Wang Yong, the guard of the bustling chamber of commerce.Five years ago, at the birthday banquet, the old owner shocked everyone when he showed off a dance and music puppet that was indistinguishable from a real person.At that time, the owner of the Moyuan Villa announced that at the birthday banquet five years later, there would be a more mysterious work than the current puppet, which was his life's painstaking work.

Tao Mo really didn't understand, if the puppet could look like a real person, how could it be considered a real painstaking effort?How to be superb?

Suddenly, a bird flew out of the bamboo forest. It flapped its wings and landed on Bai Wangyan's shoulder. Tao Mo took a closer look and found that it was a bird carved from wood. There is also a weird coat of arms.Bai Wangyan held up the bird with his hands and placed it in front of him, and the wooden bird immediately spoke.

"Forget the words, come back quickly, I have something important to discuss." The young man's voice came out of the wooden bird's mouth, which was a little weird in the bamboo forest at night.Bai Wangyan frowned slightly, held the wooden bird in his hand, and said slowly to the silent young man in black, "I'll ask Tao Shaoxia to decide the specifics. If you participate in tomorrow's birthday banquet, we will see you again." He cupped his hands at Tao Mo, turned around and walked towards the dark bamboo forest in the distance.

Tao Mo finally loosened his grip on the hilt of the sword. He only felt that the sweat in his palm had soaked the cloth covering the sword.Although the other party has an excellent attitude and is even eager to help, his innate sense of crisis makes it difficult for him to let go of his guard.What Bai Wangyan said was not wrong, Ge Baiyou was indeed born in Qiu Lianshan, wandering around the rivers and lakes with no fixed place to live, and he had been chasing after him for a whole year before he got this definite news and hurried to the Puppet Villa.But the insight of the young man in white really made it hard for him to dispel his guard. Those peach blossom eyes that bend into crescent moons when he smiles can see people thoroughly with just one glance.

Such a person is really hard for people to let go of their defenses.

Tao Mo sighed, turned back to the small forest courtyard, pushed open the door, and walked in.

Although this side courtyard is for people from the world who have not received invitations to stay temporarily, they have never neglected it.The interior decoration is simple, reminding Tao Mo of the mountain house he lived in before. He pressed the sword under the pillow, lay on the bed and looked at the roof.

Blood, dripping with blood, the long sword fell into the pool of blood, and the man with disheveled hair was kneeling in the pool of blood and laughing wildly, he turned his head suddenly, the whites of his eyes were blood red, and his canthus were about to split.Tao Mo was holding the long sword that had fallen into the blood at some point in his hand, and the lunatic-like man was about to rush in front of him, and a child's laughter suddenly sounded in his ears.Those children were laughing and reciting some nursery rhymes, which looked extraordinarily weird amidst the bloody eyes.Tao Mo couldn't see the group of children, but the blood under his feet was spinning crazily, and the child's voice became more and more noisy. They laughed and recited those two sentences together, and their voices turned with the blood, as if forming a scarlet vortex. Involving Tao Mo in it, the trap got deeper and deeper.

As if sitting up from deep water, Tao Mo was gasping for breath, his whole body dripping with cold sweat. This nightmare for many years has added some new content.Taking advantage of the moonlight, he quickly raised his hands and looked hard, the moonlight flowed in through the window and slid across his palms.It was completely different from the shocking bloodstain in the dream. The warm moonlight flowed slowly through his hands. The round of moonlight outside the window reminded him of the man in white he had met before. The echoes echoed, and the qin music I heard before buried in my heart, calming my heart that was terrified by the nightmare.

He inserted his hands into his hair and let out a slow breath.

In fact, this dream has been haunting him for many years. What kind of nursery rhymes are those children singing? After all these years, he can't hear clearly at all. It seems that these little ghosts have been born in the dream, disturbing him. .

It would be great if the master was still alive, Tao Mo thought.But now, there is neither the master nor the Qiu Shui Sword School, there is only a lonely moon outside the window, and there is only one person in the room.

After the nightmare, there is no dream.

Early the next morning, after Tao Mo finished washing, he ate the meal delivered by the puppet servant, and was about to go out to find Boss Jin and the others.The puppet servants in this side courtyard are not as human-like as Wang Yong said, but just shaped like stone lanterns. There are cabinets in the middle, and there are utensils for guests. When the guests put the food boxes back , they will return by themselves with empty food boxes.Even if it didn't look like a human, this exquisite puppet servant really surprised Tao Mo.

Unlike yesterday, the scenery during the day can be seen more clearly. Tao Mo decided to go to the place where he met Bai Wangyan yesterday. After all, last night, whether it was the sound of the piano or the man, was like a dream.

In the bamboo forest, the extremely fresh air made him feel better suddenly, sweeping away the haze of last night.On the bamboo sea stone platform, there was still the huge chessboard from yesterday, he tried to push the chess pieces on the chessboard, but they did not move at all.Tao Mo, who knew nothing about mechanisms, had no choice but to walk outside the bamboo forest.

Before walking outside the bamboo grove, I vaguely heard extremely noisy voices coming from outside. I saw that there were countless people from the rivers and lakes gathered by the cold pool, which was a little quiet yesterday.Knowing little about the various factions in the Jianghu, especially here are mostly capable people who are proficient in heresy, Tao Mo felt a little dazzled for a while.Thanks to his good eyesight, he saw Boss Jin sitting in the pavilion by the cold pool not far away at a glance. He hurriedly bypassed the crowded crowd and hurried to the pavilion by the cold pool.

After all, the Bustling Chamber of Commerce is the largest chamber of commerce, and Jin Shuisheng is an old friend of the owner.At this time, Boss Jin was sitting leisurely on a carved chair by the cold pool, sipping good spring tea and admiring the scenery by the cold pool, with only a few personal guards standing around him.Seeing that it was Tao Mo, Wang Yong hurriedly reported to Jin Shuisheng: "Master, Shaoxia Tao is here."

Jin Shuisheng quickly put the white jade cup in his hand back on the table, and greeted him personally: "Benefactor, did you sleep well last night?"

Tao Mo was taken aback for a moment, and then remembered the encounter with Bai Wangyan last night, but he just nodded: "It's good." He paused, "Just call me Tao Mo."

"Ah," Jin Shuisheng had no choice but to change his words, "Tao Shaoxia. I have sent someone to inquire about the news. The gentleman you are looking for did come to the birthday banquet, but that gentleman used a disguise technique. But his servants can't find where others are now." Speaking of this, Jin Shuisheng's face was extremely embarrassed. He was the boss of the No. [-] Chamber of Commerce. It is really embarrassing for the savior to lose face.

Seeing that Boss Jin was in such a difficult situation, Tao Mo knew that it was indeed as Bai Wangyan said, that Ge Baiyou's whereabouts were erratic, proficient in disguise, and hard to find. It seemed impossible to leave immediately after finding someone, but if he attended the birthday banquet, There is nothing to take out in his hand... Thinking of this, he moved his hand to his chest, but finally moved away.

"Mr. Jin, Tao Mo has an unfeeling request..." In the end, he spoke with difficulty, "Can you please take me to the birthday banquet, sir?"

If you want to find Mr. Ge who is elusive, it seems that you have to go to this birthday banquet to find it.But what Tao Mo thought was difficult, actually made Jin Shuisheng laugh heartily.

"Haha, to tell you the truth, my benefactor," Jin Shuisheng said with a smile, rubbing his palms, "yesterday I explained the situation to the owner of Mo Zhuang. During the period of searching for people, you can come and go in and out of the villa as you like, including attending birthday banquets. If you feel that Zhulinyuan If you can't sleep well, I will tell my servants to move here."

Tao Mo looked up at the tall buildings extending on both sides of the cold pool, shook his head immediately, and replied truthfully: "Mr. Xie Jin's kindness, the small courtyard is relatively clean." After speaking, he bowed deeply to Jin Shuisheng, "Mr. Jin's kindness, Tao Mo will never forget it."

"Hey, my benefactor is gone now. You saved my life twice. I can't repay you for saving my life." Jin Shuisheng sighed and cupped his hands, "I didn't do much to help you find someone , I'm really ashamed."