Looking to the Thirteen Rivers

At night, there are many tall buildings, and the lights of thousands of houses are as bright as stars. Under the bright moon like a boat, there is a beauty in red standing in the building, overlooking the city of Zhou.

"Several days have passed in a flash." Nangong Min stood leaning on the railing, twisting a white chess piece with his fingertips, "Why hasn't there been any movement on what I told you to do?"

There was a lot of people in the restaurant, and there were many guests, only the top floor was missing.Qin Zheng was sitting in front of the table, struggling to find a solution to the chessboard. She hesitantly dropped the black chess piece in her hand, and replied, "It's not that my subordinates are negligent. After Fu Cen's death, Fu Xiang has closed the lock building. , few people came in and out, and the believers squatted all night, but the girl never showed up."

A few crimson lanterns were hung under the eaves, and the halo cast on Nangong Min's body, making her red dress look like mist and smoke.Hearing the sound of falling pieces, Nangong Min turned around, walked to the table and stared at the chess game for a while, then smiled inexplicably: "You will lose if you take this step."

Qin Zheng didn't know how to play chess very much, not to mention that Nangong Min specially asked her to play chess tonight, but it was obvious that she was drunk and didn't want to drink.Qin Zheng said: "Since the leader made such a point, is he going to make his subordinates regret playing the game?"

"Repentance is not done by a gentleman," Nangong Min settled the white piece on his fingertips, and said slowly, "Although you and I are not gentlemen, we must abide by the rules. Even if I can't agree with you to regret the game, I can still let you live .”

Qin Zheng looked at her movements and said inwardly that it was dangerous.

She was only thinking about how to answer Nangong Min's words, but she didn't see that the game was decided, but Nangong Min let her go as she said, and a new life appeared on the chessboard immediately.

"Then for the next step, you have to think about it before making a decision," Nangong Min smiled, "There are not many chances of escaping death, and since I gave it to you, you have to firmly grasp it."

There was no mystery in her calm words, but Qin Zheng noticed something else in her words.

"But the leader made it too obvious." Qin Zheng hesitated, and didn't take another piece for a long time. "The situation is already clear, and the winner can be determined with one piece. I'm not your opponent, so how can I pick it for nothing?" Is this cheap?"

Nangong Min said: "If I let you win, you can win. Whether it's playing chess or something else, don't care how you win." She paused, then reached out and patted Qin Zheng on the shoulder, "Unless If you insist on going to death, then I can't stop you, right?"

Qin Zheng glanced at her, picked up a black chess piece, and dropped it under Nangong Min's calm gaze, ending the game.

Dark clouds came quietly, swallowing the moonlight slowly, and the wind outside the building suddenly seemed to have signs of rain again.

Nan Gongmin messed up the chessboard, walked to the side of the fence and continued to watch the sky, she said without looking back: "Wen Chaoyu can easily break into Yunhua Palace and capture Yin Qiu for me, but you can't enter Mingyue Tower to capture Yin Qiu for me." Afu," she chuckled twice, "I know you don't want to be compared with her, but things are always done beautifully. You used to regard her as a thorn in your side, and you often ridiculed her, but now you can't compare with her It's half right, what should I think?"

After playing chess all night, she finally got to the point.Qin Zheng couldn't sit still, so he could only sigh: "The leader's words are wrong. Wen Chaoyu is very familiar with the terrain of Yunhua Palace, and there were seven young masters helping him back then. My situation is different from hers, so naturally we cannot compare it."

"Then I'm curious," Nangong Min said, "I've sent people to watch Afu for a long time. She is Meng Wugui's right-hand man. People. Why do I want to arrest her now, but she suddenly stays in Mingyue Tower without going out? Don't you think this is strange?"

Qin Zheng thought for a while, and replied: "During this critical period, you must be cautious when you have no return to your dreams. Maybe she guessed that the leader will do something next, so she told the two apprentices not to show up easily."

Hearing this, Nangong Min tilted his head slightly, with a smile on his face, but his tone was a bit cold: "I don't want to know if she has guessed what I'm going to do, I just want to know, when will you give someone to me?" I'll catch it."

Qin Zheng stood up suddenly, with a troubled expression on his face: "The subordinates will naturally do their best to do what the leader told them to do, but Mingyue Tower is heavily guarded, and Meng Wugui himself sits in charge, and Fu Xiang is not easy to deal with. Not to mention that Afu's qinggong is excellent, and she is not so easy to be caught. Teacher...can you give me a few more days?"

"I will forgive you, who will forgive me?" Seeing Qin Zheng repeatedly excused himself, Nangong Min's face completely sank, "Just now you said that the situation is clear, I thought you understood what I meant, so you still What an out-and-out idiot. Recently, many Mingyuelou disciples have been approaching Shangyuan City. You can’t see what Meng Wugui wants to do? It’s true that she holds Mingyuelou and Jiuxiantang in her hand, but right now It's not a good time to attack Yunhua Palace. This only shows that she has the help of others. If you don't arrest Afu, Fu Xiang will not be restrained. Why, you want me to kill people myself No? Then what do I still keep all of you rice buckets for!”

Qin Zheng's heart trembled, his expression suddenly changed due to the sudden aura of Nangong Min, and he quickly knelt down.

She has served Nangong Min for many years and is the elder of the Ziwei Sect. Although Nangong Min is unpredictable and her preferences are unpredictable, her image has always been gentle and polite. It can be said that she is approachable. It's not too frightening either.However, at this moment, the smile on that face was no longer there, only a piece of icy frost remained, which made Qin Zheng almost out of breath.

"Master, please calm down!" Qin Zheng didn't dare to find any excuses, and hurriedly said, "This subordinate will definitely arrest Afu for you!"

Nangong Min sneered, stepped forward and kicked Qin Zheng, and said coldly, "I don't mind the intrigue among the disciples, but I especially don't want anyone to take my words seriously. I can let Wen Chaoyu go, then It's because she has both credit and hard work, and she is a sensible person who knows how to repay her kindness. But what kind of bastard are you? Wen Chaoyu is gone, and you think you are the only one in the Ziwei sect? Yunhua Palace, if she skinned that person, her next target will definitely be me. If she is alone, I will not be afraid, but as long as she succeeds this time, let alone Man Jiangxue, even The entire Yunhua Palace will definitely turn against me together with her, how many people in this vast river and lake want me to die in Nangong without a burial place? If I die, how can you people live!"

Qin Zheng almost vomited blood after being kicked by her, but she could only endure the pain and swear: "The subordinates understand what the leader said, and please don't get angry, the subordinates will fulfill your order now! "

After she finished speaking, she was about to pull away, but Nangong Min grabbed Qin Zheng and said each word: "Let me remind you one last time, the world is like a game of chess, and you have no regrets. If you miss again this time, Then if I let you lose, you will lose completely, understand?"

Qin Zheng looked panicked, swallowed and said: "Ming, understand..."

Seeing the fear on her face clearly, Nangong Min smiled contentedly, and returned to his usual kindness.

She gently stroked Qin Zheng's face, and said kindly: "Very well, then I will wait for your good news here."

·

The spring rains stop and fall, sometimes slow and sometimes urgent, and the yard is glistening with residual petals everywhere.Before the flowers are fully in full bloom, the flower branches are broken. When the wind blows, the sky is full of drizzle and the flowers are flying, making it even more deserted.

Duan Ning changed into a light riding outfit and took the whip from the maid. When he was about to leave the house, he realized that the moonlight had faded outside and a strong wind was blowing up. It was fine just now, but now it’s going to rain again, I haven’t seen a complete sunny day in the past few days, it’s almost making me sick!”

Before she finished complaining, there was already a drizzle in the yard.The maid behind her smiled and said, "It's like this every spring. Miss Duan is good at getting used to it. Besides, what kind of horses are you running at night? Why don't you rest in the building, maybe the sun will rise in the morning, and then go It's not too late."

Duan Ning said: "If I didn't find it troublesome to travel, I would have gone back to Yao Dingcheng a long time ago. I have to race horses every day at home. If I don't run for a day, I will not feel happy. Your Mingyue Tower is really outrageous. You don't even have a special racecourse. No, you are not poor, right? It doesn’t cost much to set up a pasture!”

The maid explained: "If the disciples in the building want to race horses, they all go to the outskirts of the city. Which Jianghu sect builds a horse farm at home? If you are really bored, the servants will invite some storytellers to tell you stories. How about going to bed after listening to it?"

Duan Ning said: "I'm not that suckling child, what bedtime story do I listen to?"

She walked out the door swinging her horsewhip, a figure ran away from the beams in her eyes, Duan Ning paused, quickly flew towards the figure, and shouted: "Who is it!"

That man's lightness skill is extraordinary, like a swallow fleeing under the eaves, no matter how Duan Ning tried his best, he still couldn't catch up with him.It wasn't until the maid behind him yelled "Catch the thief!" that the figure hurriedly turned around and swooped to push the maid into the room.

"Don't bark! It's me!"

Duan Ning followed into the room, and saw a young girl pinning the maid on the ground to silence her.Duan Ning's expression was brilliant, and he immediately whipped the whip, scolding: "Young girl is doing something wrong, she has to be a thief! Give me a whip!"

The girl reacted quickly, turned over to avoid it, and then jumped up with a carp, trying to escape again.Duan Ning hurriedly backed away, closed the door with a long whip, leaned against the door, glared and said: "You are not cowardly, you have stolen to Mingyue Tower, where do you want to go?" He shouted loudly, "Come quickly! The thief is caught! It's still a female thief!"

Seeing this, the girl rushed over and covered Duan Ning's mouth, and whispered: "Stop yelling, stop yelling! I'm not a thief!"

"Miss Duan! This is our landlord's junior sister!" The maid on the ground finally saw who this "female thief" was, and quickly helped to comfort her, "Calm down, don't really call her!"

Since Duan Ning came to Mingyue Tower, he has seen many people up and down, but he has never seen Fu Xiang's junior sister.She pinched Afu's hand and said doubtfully, "Who are you? Why haven't I seen you before!"

Afu pressed her heart, glanced out the door twice, and saw that no one was here, and then she breathed a sigh of relief: "I have been grounded for several days, you haven't seen me, I haven't seen you yet, Who are you?"

The two reported their identities and names to each other, and a group of Mingyuelou disciples came outside the door, banging on the door and saying, "Who was calling to catch the thief just now? Come out! Where did the thief escape to?!"

Afu hid behind Duan Ning, the maid looked panicked, stumbled and couldn't answer.Duan Ning had no choice but to reply through the door: "Hey! There was a misunderstanding! I'm telling a story to the girls, it's the thief in the story, let's go away!"

Several Mingyuelou disciples were speechless, and after questioning for a few more words, they asked Cang Tiandi to go back the same way.Duan Ning said: "Since you are also from Mingyuelou, what are you doing sneaking around?"

With a sad face, Afu sat cross-legged on the ground, looked at Duan Ning and said, "Master doesn't allow me to go out, I'm getting bored, so I can only come out at night to get some air, and I'm afraid of being seen, so I just go out." I was running and playing around in the corridor, but I just happened to be bumped into by you."

"Your qinggong is really good!" Duan Ning's eyes lit up, "Come on, get up quickly! Let's find a spacious place, you teach me!"

Afu said: "This is not possible. If Master finds out that I sneaked out, I will be punished."

Duan Ning said: "If you train me, I will train you. If you have a thicker skin, you will be fine. The left ear goes in and the right ear comes out!"

Afu originally thought that she was already disobedient, but she didn't expect this young lady to be even more defiant than her.Afu waved her hand and said, "No, no, it's for my own good that Master doesn't let me go out. I've committed the crime knowingly, so I can't make a noise to let her know."

Hearing what she said, Duan Ning didn't want to harm anyone. Seeing that Afu was carrying a small and exquisite curved bow, he asked curiously: "Your bow looks pretty good, so you must be very good at archery, right?"

After receiving these few compliments from her, Afu couldn't help feeling complacent, and said, "That's right, there are no mistakes! My archery skills are even better than my lightness skills!"

Duan Ning was naturally interested, dragged Afu and said, "That's a good thing, since you can't teach lightness kung fu, let's try archery!"

"I can't go out, where can I compete?" Afu refused to leave.

"Go to the back garden!" Duan Ning said, "I'll let someone set up a few archery targets, and we can play casually, just to relieve boredom. Don't worry, I've been running into the garden at night these days. The place is clean and no one will see us."

"This...what if someone passes by?" Afu hesitated, but still didn't agree.

"Then you run away!" Duan Ning said, "You are so good at lightness kung fu, who can catch up with you? Since I only return to Yao Dingcheng in a few days, I can at least be your companion and have fun!"

Afu was a little moved. She had been eating, drinking and sleeping in the room these days, and she couldn't stay any longer. garden.The accompanying maid called two young men to set up archery targets, but everyone remained silent and watched the wind for the two girls outside the garden.

The bright moon was covered by dark clouds, and it was raining lightly in the world. Fortunately, the lamps in the garden were still on, and the sight was still quite clear.Although Duan Ning is not good at martial arts, besides his love of horse racing, he can also draw a bow and shoot arrows. With Afu as his company, Duan Ning is very happy, and he still refuses to go back to his room after pestering others to play until the end of Haishi.

"Let's play again tomorrow night," Afu put away her bow and arrow, and glanced at Xiaolou, "It's already so late, I have to go back."

"What are you afraid of?" Duan Ning insisted on staying, "At this time, Fu Xiang is still practicing the mind method in the secret path, and she won't come out until midnight, why don't you stay with me!"

"I really can't play anymore," Afu said with all her heart after being frightened for a long time, "I'm not worried, sister, but my master is still here, or you can just practice for a while, and I'll come back to you tomorrow night." Yes."

Duan Ning looked at the sky, saw that Afu was not willing to let go, and did not want to stay any longer, so he said, "Then show me your bow before you leave, your bow is really unique, is it tailor-made?"

"Master asked the mechanism master of Jiuxian Hall to make it for me," Afu smiled, and handed her bow to Duan Ning, "Every bow I used since I was a child was given by Master. , you can’t even buy it in the market, this is a treasure!”

Duan Ning plucked the bowstring, and listened to the deep and powerful voice, said: "Then can you sell me? If you make a price, I can pay as much as you want."

Seeing her action, Afu hurriedly said: "Don't release the arrow, and don't draw the string. If the bow is broken, it's nothing to worry about. Don't hurt yourself! If the string is broken, the bow piece will bounce back and give you a discount!"

Duan Ning has never seriously studied archery, how does she know the tricks here?He didn't care at the moment, just asked: "Are you going to sell it or not? Our Duan family has nothing else but a lot of money. I like your bow, so why don't you sell it to me?"

Of course Afu refused, and said, "If you really want it, I'll ask Master to ask someone to make one for you. This one won't work."

Duan Ning said, "That's fine... Hey, where are you going!"

Before she could finish her sentence, Afu suddenly jumped up, and disappeared into the night in the blink of an eye, running away without a trace.The maids and servants outside ran over covertly, and said in a low voice, "There is a patrolling disciple coming! Eh... where is he?"

Duan Ning couldn't help slapping his hands, and praised in the direction of Afu's departure: "Good lightness kung fu, strong archery skills, and even good hearing skills! Good, good, I can make another friend!"

Soon, the patrolling disciples entered the garden, seeing that Duan Ning was here, he didn't ask any more questions, only gave a few instructions and then left one after another.The maid comforted: "It's getting late, Miss, you'd better go back to your room to rest, Miss Afu won't dare to go out to look for you after she leaves, this servant will send this bow back to her for you."

Duan Ning said: "No hurry, no hurry, let me play with it again, you guys wait by the side!"

After she got the bow, her playful spirit only increased, so the maid and servant had to go to the door and squat down to wait.When Duan Ning was playing alone in the garden with a bow, a few figures of Haloxylons appeared on the wall covered by the flowers and jungle trees at some point, looking back and forth at her through the gaps in the branches and leaves.

"Guardian, is this the person?" A believer asked in a low voice.

Qin Zheng frowned, shaking his head: "No."

The believer wondered: "Is that the one who ran away just now?"

Qin Zheng let out a "hmm".

"Then why don't you let your subordinates do it?" The believer was shocked, "It's such a good opportunity, and you can make a job if you catch him back, the leader is still waiting!"

Qin Zheng stared at Duan Ning's figure, thoughtful, but didn't answer this question.

"What are you worrying about? It's been several days, and there are opportunities, but you let people go every time," the believer broke into a cold sweat, "this time the patience of the leader has been exhausted, If you don't take him back, we all have to go to see Lord Yan!"

Qin Zheng signaled him to be calm and calm, pointed at the bow in Duan Ning's hand and said: "The night is dark and the wind is fast, we only know bows, not people, understand?"

The believer was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly said: "What do you mean...take this girl back to make up for it?"

Qin Zheng snorted coldly: "When the domestic dog bites its owner back, she is ruthless, so don't blame me for being ruthless."

After finishing speaking, she flew down the wall first, and walked behind Duan Ning like a ghost. Duan Ning only felt a chill on the back of her neck, as if someone had come. She thought it was Afu who had gone and returned, but when she was about to turn back, she It was a sudden pain in the neck, followed by black eyes and loss of consciousness.

Seeing that Qin Zheng had succeeded, the disciples immediately ran over, carrying Duan Ning on their shoulders, and were about to leave.Qin Zheng said: "Don't worry, cover her head up. If the leader pursues the blame, he will say that it was too dark to see her face clearly. Don't worry, I will take care of it if something goes wrong."

Although the believers didn't quite agree with it, they didn't dare to disobey. They quickly took the black cloth and covered Duan Ning's head, and fled quickly over the wall.

Unexpectedly, just as they landed on the ground, a few cold lights suddenly flashed in the small bamboo forest in front of them, as if someone had thrown some hidden weapon in the dark, like a star falling into the world, with a frightening aura in an instant. Murderous intent approached.

The believers froze, and drew their swords to resist. After a clang, the cold lights brushed the blades and fell to the ground, embedded in the soil like nails.

Everyone took a closer look, only to see that the cold light was not a hidden weapon, but several small flying knives tied with red ribbons!

Qin Zheng's face changed suddenly, and he looked up again, and saw two familiar figures suddenly appeared in the bamboo forest.

The woman holding the flying knife was wearing a dark blue dress that almost blended into the night, and beside her stood a young woman in fluttering green clothes. The two stood side by side in the forest, one smiling but not smiling, the other With a cold expression, they are both looking at them carefully.

The believers were surprised and took a few steps back involuntarily.

"Wen, Wen Hufa...?"

Wen Chaoyu grinned, took Ji Wanshu's hand and walked out of the bamboo forest, and greeted Qin Zheng: "Yo, Protector Qin, don't come here without any problems."