Ling Jing smiled slightly and rode his horse to a place, leaning on a hill and separated from the lake outside by a long embankment, which made it even more quiet. The two reined in their horses from a long distance away and stopped by the lake.
The green branches of the rows of willow trees are swaying, and the breeze carries the fresh smell of the lake water.
The two of them looked into the distance and saw a row of stone steps winding up at the foot of the mountain. Looking up along the stone steps, after turning a few turns, they saw a large plum forest with slanting old trunks and sloping branches and leaves.
It's so dense, imagine the day when the plum blossoms are in full bloom in early spring, and the fragrant snow is like the sea, you will definitely enjoy endless viewing.
And deep in the plum grove, a large manor with red doors and high walls was faintly visible. However, the two of them were too far apart at this time, and they could only see a part of the manor sticking out of the plum grove. As for the situation inside,
, then it is unknown.
"Lianyi, that's Plum Village." Ling Jing stretched out his hand and pointed to the depths of the plum forest, exhaled a breath of turbid air, and said, "We finally got here."
Lian Yi nodded slightly, looked at the manor deep in the plum forest, and said softly: "Master, should we first explore the reality of this plum village?"
"There's no rush." Ling Jing looked into the distance, pondered for a moment, and then said: "We rushed to Hangzhou on a starry night. Although the speed was extremely fast, it was hard to predict whether Xiang Wentian had already arrived here at this time.
If this person has already gotten ahead of us, that's not a good thing."
After all, he has never been able to determine Xiang Wentian's whereabouts. Although the two of them are not slow, if they cannot grasp Xiang Wentian's movements first, they will be too passive.
"Let's take a look around here first and get some news, but we can't get too close to Plum Village, so as not to scare the snake." After Ling Jing said this, he urged his horse and started walking along the lakeside with Lianyi.
Go forward slowly.
The two of them rode horses and walked slowly. The scenery in the place where Plum Village is located is indeed very beautiful, and there are very few pedestrians passing by. It adds to the feeling of tranquility.
The air near the lake is slightly humid, the sun is shining all over the lake, and the microwaves on the lake are golden yellow. Occasionally, a few pure white wild geese will swim across the lake and make a "quacking" sound.
Ling Jing and Lianyi walked together for a while, but saw that there were very few people on the road. Not even half a person could be seen, which made Ling Jing feel a little depressed.
After walking for a while, I finally saw a thin man walking down the mountain road on the side. This man's clothes were old and his face was dark. He had a big black ax on his waist. He also had a load on his back.
A bundle of wood that appears to belong to a nearby woodcutter.
"Finally I saw a living person." When Ling Jing saw the woodcutter, he couldn't help but sigh, and thought to himself: "These "Four Friends of the South of the Yangtze River" are really good at choosing places. They walked for a long time before they saw a person.
Human figures, it seems that these people really want to hide from the world and live in seclusion."
Seeing him sigh, Lian Yi couldn't help but cover her mouth and smile.
Ling Jingce immediately stepped forward. He walked to the woodcutter and said, "Brother, please stay here."
When the woodcutter saw two young men and a woman dressed in exquisite clothes walking up to him, he felt a little ashamed. He glanced secretly at the beautiful woman who looked like a fairy descending from the earth. His face turned red and he couldn't help but lower his head and said:
"Sir, what's the matter?"
Ling Jing clasped his fists slightly and said: "I and my wife are here today to play. But I saw that there is a large manor deep in the plum forest on the mountain. I want to go up and have a look, but I don't know if the owner here likes to meet guests?"
The woodcutter was startled for a moment, then turned around and pointed at the manor on the mountain, saying, "Is this the Plum Village you are talking about?"
Ling Jing nodded. Then he saw the woodcutter smiled bitterly and said, "Sir, I advise you not to go there."
"Oh? Why did brother say this?" Ling Jing asked with a smile.
"The four owners of Plum Village have moved here for many years, but these people have weird tempers and never see visitors. It is common for the gate of Plum Village not to be opened once for several months in a row." The woodcutter said.
He said with a strange look on his face.
"So that's it." Ling Jing's heart moved, but he sighed on his face, and asked again, seemingly unwillingly: "Has Meizhuang received any visitors recently?"
The wry smile on the woodcutter's face became even worse, and he said: "Son, don't be ridiculous, my family lives nearby. Not only have there been no visitors to Plum Village recently, but I haven't seen a living person enter it in the past few years."
"That's it." Ling Jing sighed slightly, as if he was quite regretful, then he clasped his fists and saluted, and said: "It seems that these village owners really don't like to see guests, so I won't bother them. Brother, thank you very much.
Already."
Ling Jing turned around, nodded to Lianyi, and the two of them rode away again.
The woodcutter stood there for a long time watching the two people leaving, thinking, there is such a beautiful woman in this world, tsk tsk, it would be great if the girl just now could say a few words to me.
Ling Jing and Lian Yi walked forward for a while, and after riding around a few corners, they gradually walked back towards the city. It wasn't that Ling Jing didn't want to ask more, but there was really no one around to ask questions.
, and had no choice but to turn around and go back.
"Sir, it seems that Xiang Wentian didn't arrive before us, so when are we going to take action?" Lian Yi rode on the horse and turned around to ask.
Ling Jing looked forward, his eyes a little erratic, and said thoughtfully: "Although the woodcutter's words are credible, we'd better make sure first. Well, tonight you go to Meizhuang to investigate the situation.
, if there is no unusual movement among the "Four Friends of the South of the Yangtze River", it means that Xiang Wentian really hasn't arrived in Hangzhou yet."
"As for future plans, we will discuss them in the long term."
The woodcutter was just an ordinary person, and it was impossible for him to keep an eye on the activities of Meizhuang all the time, so he still had some doubts about what the woodcutter said.
"Well, I will go to Meizhuang tonight to take a look first." Lian Yi nodded. Now her injuries have been greatly healed and her strength has been restored. Even the most powerful owner of Meizhuang, Huang Zhonggong, should have better martial arts than her.
The only difference is that if she had been more careful after entering Meizhuang, it would have been difficult for anyone to spot her.
That night, Ling Jing stayed at the inn in Hangzhou City. When night fell, Lian Yi changed into night clothes and quietly went to Meizhuang alone.
If it were in the past, Ling Jing would naturally go to Meizhuang to investigate in person, but now that his martial arts is not as good as before, it is more appropriate for Lianyi to handle this matter. Even if he is discovered in the end, with her martial arts
, it shouldn’t be difficult to escape.
Ling Jing was sitting alone in the wing of the inn, with a pot of wine on the table. He looked at the wine glass in his hand, and then fell into deep thought again.
Now that he and Lianyi were in Hangzhou City, all plans could begin to be implemented. However, Xiang Wentian was really a variable, so we had to find a way to delay him first.
If not, when your plan starts to be implemented, this person suddenly jumps out and disrupts the situation, which would be very unpleasant.
And there is another thing that he still can't figure out until now. He and Lianyi stayed near Meizhuang for a long time today, but he never received a prompt from the system. According to common sense, he is now
We are in the middle of this plot, and this plot still plays an important role in the main line of this world. How come the system doesn't even give any prompts?
About an hour later, the window in the wing suddenly "squeaked" and a cool breeze blew into the room, bringing with it a bit of biting chill. The candle on the table was blown by the wind and swayed slightly.
.
A slim figure flashed to Ling Jing's side. The night clothes on her body highlighted her slim and graceful figure, and her lines were perfect.
The woman smiled and said, "Sir, it's very quiet in the Plum Village. Everything is normal. Nothing seems to have happened."
"That's good." Ling Jing felt relieved, with a smile on his face, and said, "It seems that we are really ahead of Xiang Wentian." A light flashed in his eyes, he thought for a moment, and then
He said: "If my prediction is correct, Xiang Wentian will definitely arrive in Hangzhou in the near future. Then we will wait and see and never let Xiang Wentian approach Meizhuang easily."
The two rested in the inn for a day, and early the next morning they checked out of the guest room and found a place to stay near the pier outside the city. If Xiang Wentian wanted to get to Hangzhou as quickly as possible, he would take the waterway.
It is certain.
Two days later, it was noon, the scorching sun was in the sky, and there was a slight burning sensation in the air. The pier was crowded with people, travelers and porters coming and going. The place was noisy, with laughter, curses, and shouts coming from time to time.
.
After a while, a passenger ship stopped at the edge of the pier. Passengers on board poured out of the ship, of all shapes and sizes, including some martial artists.
At this moment, a tall old man walked out of the boat. He had a yellow turban on his head. He was dressed luxuriously, but his complexion was a little sallow, but his eyes were very bright. Occasionally, there was a flash of light, which made him appear...
Very shrewd.
This man was carrying a luggage on his back. The luggage was bulging and obviously contained a lot of things. One end of a scroll was exposed above the luggage.
After the old man got off the boat, he laughed "hehe", then straightened his clothes a little, then left the pier and headed south.
In a secret corner outside the pier, Ling Jing stared closely at the old man, and suddenly said to Lianyi beside him: "Lianyi, let's follow him quickly."
He and Lianyi had been waiting near the pier for two days, but they had never seen anyone suspicious. Although he had never seen Xiang Wentian's appearance, the things that the old man was carrying revealed very big flaws.
He was almost 70% sure that the old man was Xiang Wentian himself.
