Cloud of the Qing Dynasty

Zhang Chi lay in the haystack, trying hard to calm his shortness of breath, not daring to move.

That white figure was like Bai Wuchang who was looking for his life, pointing at the ground obliquely with the three-foot green point in his hand, approaching his hiding place step by step.

An invisible murderous aura rushed towards his face, and Zhang Chi's muscles tensed involuntarily.

He knew very well that he was no match for this person at all.

As long as it is discovered, it is a dead end.

He is not afraid of death, but he must not die in such a place for nothing because of a misunderstanding.

It was night, full moon, no wind.

The other party's white clothes were extremely conspicuous in the dark night, but Zhang Chi's gray clothes became an excellent cover in the night, blending in with the shadows of the grass, making it difficult to spot even if he was up close.

He had hoped that the other party would pass by in a hurry, ignoring his existence.

But things were not always so satisfactory, the white figure stopped not far from Zhang Chi.

He could see the other party holding his breath and standing motionless, his clothes being blown up by the breeze.

There was obviously the sound of the wind blowing through the leaves, the endless noise of crickets, frogs and toads, the chirping of night owls unwilling to be lonely, and the gurgling sound of the small river not far away, but Zhang Chi felt that his surroundings seemed to be in a state of death. the silence.

In the dead silence, Zhang Chi could almost hear the sweat "squeaking" from his forehead, running down his cheeks, and finally accumulated into a droplet, which landed on the blade of grass with a "squeak".

He had never felt that his heartbeat was so noisy, "dong dong", "dong dong", like a drum beating.

After a suffocating silence, finally, the other party moved.

The figure in white with a sword walked slowly but firmly towards Zhang Chi's hiding place.

Zhang Chi's heartbeat quickened, and he put his hand into the hidden pocket on his body. Even if he couldn't hide, he had to fight to the death. He must not wash his neck and wait for death.

At the same time, he turned his mind quickly, reviewing the ins and outs of the whole incident, trying to find any flaws in the other party that could be exploited.

***

If it hadn't happened, he himself wouldn't have believed that he could be so unlucky.

It was just a good dinner at a roadside inn, and he provoked such a terrible evil star for no reason.

Just half an hour ago, the sky had just darkened. He walked into a very ordinary inn as usual, put down his luggage and iron gun, and asked the store for a bowl of braised pork noodles and some dry food that was convenient to carry.

While waiting for the noodles to be cooked in the kitchen, he observed the surroundings according to his usual habits, looking for things that interested him, and saw a few people dressed in Qing palaces sitting at the table in the corner.

Huashan Shangqing Palace established a sect based on Taoism more than a hundred years ago. Since then, it has been recognized as a master of martial arts in the martial arts along with Songshan Shaolin Temple, but has always lived a low-key life of retreating from the world.It wasn't until the "Seven Sons of the Qing Dynasty" headed by this generation of masters made their debut that the sect grew stronger day by day, and they walked around the rivers and lakes more.

It is only natural for such a well-known decent school among the famous decent schools, such as Zhang Chi, who has just entered the rivers and lakes, to want to make friends.

Zhang Chi, who was particularly good at familiarizing himself with himself, took out the good wine he had bought from the previous village, and after only half a meal, he got up with the four people from Shangqing Palace to call him brothers.

Among the four people, a middle-aged Taoist with the Taoist name Yichenzi is a disciple of the head of the Shangqing Palace, and he seems to be the leader of this trip. The other three Taoist names starting with Qing are third-generation disciples. They all call Yichenzi Master Uncle.

The four of them traveled all over the world, apparently they had been traveling for a day, Yi Chenzi said that they were out on business, and as for what they were doing, Zhang Chi didn't want to ask rashly, he only heard Yi Chenzi say that they were the only ones traveling with him. Four of them were his uncles, who always liked to be clean, and went to take a bath and change clothes before eating.

Zhang Chi immediately said yearningly: "The person who can be called Master Uncle by Your Excellency must be an old man of the same generation as the leader of your sect, Tian Xing Dao. I don't know which one of the seven sons of the Shangqing is here? Be sure to pay a respectful visit.”

Yichenzi smiled and let it go: "Of course when the uncle comes downstairs, you will know."

After chatting a few more words about the customs of Huashan, the expression on Yichenzi's face was not right, and he seemed to feel a little uncomfortable clutching his stomach.

"Brother Yichen, what's wrong with you?" Zhang Chi asked with concern.

"It seems that I ate something bad..." After Yichenzi finished speaking, the expressions of his nephews also changed.

"Uncle, I, I'm not feeling well either..."

"Me too……"

Yichenzi's face turned pale, and he grabbed his sword and stood up, but he couldn't stand upright and fell to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blackened blood.

This was obviously poisoned, and Zhang Chi was stunned by the sudden situation. He had never seen such a quick onset and such powerful poison before he knelt down and tried to do something to help Yichen. Yichenzi grabbed his hand, stared at him with cold sweat and said, "You... why did you want to kill us?"

"It's not me..." Zhang Chi's explanation was drowned out by the screams of other Shangqing disciples, the innkeeper and other diners were also shocked, screaming and running away, the scene was chaotic for a while.

When Zhang Chi raised his head in panic, he saw a man in a Taoist robe with a white background and black border, leaping down the stairs almost without touching the ground.

And Yichenzi, with the last of his strength, grabbed Zhang Chi's hand, struggling and said to the man: "Uncle Master, he was the one who poisoned us...revenge..."

Zhang Chi felt that he was more wronged than Dou E. He really didn't do anything.

But the other party didn't even give him a chance to speak. Before Yi Chenzi could finish the word "resentment", Zhang Chi felt a silver light flash in front of his eyes. The sword on the other party's back was unsheathed, and he stabbed at his vitals directly. Come on, the speed was so fast that Zhang Chi felt that, let alone resisting or dodging with a weapon, he might not even have time to scream, and the sword in the opponent's hand had already pierced his throat.

At the juncture of life and death, Zhang Chi didn't care whether it would cause a bigger misunderstanding, and subconsciously pulled up Yi Chenzi who was holding on to him and blocked him in front of him.

Sure enough, he was concerned about the same door, and the opponent suddenly stopped. Zhang Chi took the opportunity to break free from Yichenzi's hand, pushed Yichenzi's body towards the opponent, picked up the weapon and fled away, not even taking care of his luggage.

The "uncle master" probably stopped to check the situation of Yichenzi and other sect disciples, but he didn't catch up immediately. To be on the safe side, Zhang Chi ran a long way in one breath, and didn't stop until he couldn't see the lights of the inn at all. down.

Panting heavily, he was thinking about how to explain this huge misunderstanding to the Qing Palace when he turned around, when he saw a white shadow flying towards this direction like a ghost in the distance.

Bai Ying's speed can't be seen clearly in the dark night, but there is no doubt about one thing - that "uncle master"'s lightness kung fu is quite good, he can't run at all.

In desperation, Zhang Chi quickly lay down in the grass by the side of the road.

He originally hoped that he could not be discovered by the other party by lurking in the dark, but things were obviously not as optimistic as he thought.Zhang Chi has heard that people with high internal strength are very good at listening to voices and debating positions. His hidden tricks can only fool ordinary martial artists, and they cannot escape the eyes of real martial arts masters.

***

As it got closer, Zhang Chi could almost hear the sound of the opponent's golden boots stepping on the grass stems.

He admired himself a little, for he could still calmly analyze the situation in his head at this time.

First of all, the other party is very young, probably less than 30 years old.

So much so that when Zhang Chi saw him for the first time, he didn't realize at all that this was the "Uncle Master" that Yichenzi said in his mouth. It is a sect with orderly seniority and strict seniority, it is impossible for Yichenzi to make such jokes.

Unless Yichenzi's brain was poisoned, it's not impossible for him to be poisoned because of Zhang Chi's unreasonable insistence.

But judging by the other party's attire and the imposing manner of the sword, it is completely reasonable to say that he is Yi Chenzi's uncle. Maybe he just changed his appearance, or he is particularly good at keeping in good health.

Many Jianghu sects dress as they please, but Shangqing Palace is still a Taoist sect after all, and has its own unified costumes, which are slightly different from common Taoist costumes. People in the sect either wear black and white borders, or wear The Taoist robe with a white background and black border, probably only the Taoist priests with higher status will be like him. The white outer robe is thick and straight, with exquisite workmanship, and the edge is embroidered with cloud patterns with black thread. The black middle coat is simple in style but of high quality. The seal is also adorned with a eight-diagram-shaped buckle made of jade.

Although it was just a quick glance, Zhang Chi still noticed that the black cloth brocade boots he was wearing were very clean—they could keep them so clean after traveling all day, and they were so well dressed. From the point of view of taking a bath and changing clothes before eating, this person must have a cleanliness freak.

This can be regarded as one of Zhang Chi's specialties. Ordinary people can only leave a rough impression when looking at people. If it takes a few hours, they may not even be able to tell what clothes the other party is wearing. See every detail of a person, and infer the person's personality habits.

Cleanliness is not a fatal flaw for a master, but for Zhang Chi, it is the only weakness he can take advantage of at the moment. He took a peek at the nearby river, and a bold plan popped up in his mind .