On the seventh day of May, the sun was shining brightly.
Zhang Xiaozu was walking on the streets of the imperial capital with a bone knife in his hand.
His pace is slow and steady.
His footsteps were not heavy, and if you didn't listen carefully, you wouldn't be able to hear them on the noisy streets with constant flow of people.
But some people hear it very clearly.
Bang-bang-bang-
Dull, deafening.
Every step was like stepping on their hearts, making them extremely uncomfortable.
Some people with lower cultivation levels were stunned by the dull footsteps for a short while, and their energy and blood surged back.
They stopped in panic and distanced themselves from Zhang Xiaozu. The dull and deafening footsteps suddenly disappeared from their ears, or rather from their hearts.
This discovery frightened them, and they immediately learned that they thought they were following them without anyone noticing, but in fact Zhang Xiaozu had already discovered them and was giving them a stern warning.
Many people immediately gave up their delusions, regarded Zhang Xiaopou as an extremely dangerous person, and did not dare to continue to follow him.
But as Zhang Xiaozu walked down one street after another, there were far more people following him than those who were scared away by him.
"Five hundred and seventy-six." Turning into a new street, Zhang Xiaozu read a number softly.
This is the number of people following him under the cover of his subtle state of mind.
He knows that the real number of people must be much higher than this number, and it will continue to increase.
It seems that everyone in the entire imperial capital knows that if you follow him, you can find Zhou Jianlai and win the Sword of Light.
He doesn't care who spread the news, what he cares about is how many people can be killed to calm the greed in these people's hearts.
If we can kill less people, that would be best.
If that doesn't work, it doesn't seem to matter if you kill more.
"ah--"
A scream rang out in Zhang Xiaozu's ears, and then a figure fell in front of him with a thud, blocking his progress.
Zhang Xiaozu frowned slightly, hesitated, then walked around and continued walking forward.
"No, please, don't arrest my daughter. I will definitely pay back the money, and I will definitely be able to pay it back. Please give me a few more days, sir."
"Dad, help me! Oh, mother, help my daughter!"
"Masters, please be kind and let my daughter go. This old lady is kowtowing to you!"
"roll!"
From behind came sounds of begging, crying, and cursing and scolding.
Zhang Xiaozu did not look back, because before he reached this point, these people were already arguing and entangled on the street, and his subtle state of mind allowed him to see what happened.
A middle-aged couple borrowed money and failed to repay it after three years of arrears. Today, the creditor came to their door. According to the IOU written in black and white, they wanted to arrest their daughter and make her a maid in the house to pay off the debt.
At this time, he was wailing and begging, kneeling on the ground and beating his head until his head was bleeding. Even though it made people sympathize, it was natural to pay back debts and there was nothing to say.
Zhang Xiaopeng didn't want to meddle in this business, but he walked a long way and turned back.
"You are not required to do good deeds every day, but as human beings, you must do good deeds!"
This was the admonishment and expectation given by the village chief grandpa to him and Niu Dawa at his coming-of-age ceremony at the age of sixteen.
Zhang Xiaozu felt ashamed of the instructions given by the village chief grandfather, because he had killed too many people in this year, and he might kill more people today.
He thought that if he did a good deed before killing someone, he might be able to do it more cleanly later.
"stop fighting."
"How much money they owe you, I paid it for them."
Zhang Xiaozu stopped and shouted to the debt collector who was beating people and robbing women on the street.
A little money is really nothing to him now.
"How come you are so short-sighted? I advise you to mind your own business." The debt collection leader looked at Zhang Xiaozu, stroked his goatee, and scolded impatiently.
Zhang Xiaozhu felt that this person must not have heard what he said clearly, so he seemed so impatient. Otherwise, he would have been very happy to hear someone come to his door to give him money.
So he raised his voice slightly and said: "I said, I will pay back the money for them."
"Pooh!"
Goatee spat on the ground in displeasure, glared at Zhang Xiaopeng fiercely, and then reluctantly ordered his thugs: "Brothers, if you meet a nosy person, are you willing to do it for this guy?"
Kuhaha, please pay back the money and let me go."
"How much silver?" Zhang Xiaozu asked.
"Eighty taels." Goatee replied.
Zhang Xiaozu reached into his arms, took out a hundred-tael silver note, and threw it away with his fingers.
The moment the crumpled banknote was thrown out, its four corners suddenly straightened and spread out, and it flew towards the goatee like a piece of iron.
Goatee snorted coldly, stretched out his right hand, and grabbed the banknote that flew in front of him. However, his expression suddenly changed the next moment, because the banknote carried so much power that Leng Buding almost knocked him down.
"One hundred taels, the remaining twenty taels, give him some medicine to treat his injuries." Zhang Xiaozu pointed at the beaten man, who had been beaten beyond recognition.
After saying that, he turned around and left. "Hey, I'm from out of town."
Goatee shouted at Zhang Xiaopou's leaving figure, raised his finger and pointed at the badge on his chest and shouted: "Remember, this is the badge of the uncle's house. If you see me in the future, go around the place and don't meddle in other people's business."
, you have no control over the affairs of my uncle's house."
Zhang Xiaozou didn't even look back and left.
At twelve o'clock at noon, with the sun shining brightly, Zhang Xiaopeng walked out of the south city gate and headed straight south along the flat and wide official road.
Nearly a thousand people came out of the South City Gate, and without the street buildings and other coverings, they were all exposed at once.
A large group of people gathered on the official road, looking at each other as if they were frightened by the sudden appearance of so many colleagues.
"Hey, Brother Li, you're here too!"
"Haha, what a coincidence."
Some people even met familiar friends and started chatting on the spot.
Then I saw small groups and camps appearing one after another.
The strong men who have full confidence in their own strength are very disdainful of this kind of hypocritical alliance that has its own agenda and is not in harmony with its heart, and is unwilling to be associated with it.
For example, Jiang Han.
However, the main purpose of his trip was not to seize the Light Sword, but to capture the three brothers Zhang Xiaopeng and return to the Wuwei Camp.
Of course, if given the chance, he wouldn't mind taking it.
The Sword of Light is the sword of the king.
If Su Hui can hold this sword, he will be as powerful as a tiger and command the world, and no one will dare to disobey him.
Another example is Ye Shisan.
As the king of the younger generation of Excalibur City, he is known as the "Little Sword Fairy" and is as aloof as the sword in his hand.
He was unhappy.
He felt that if he had not arrived in the imperial capital a day late, the Sword of Light would definitely be in his hand at this moment.
Another example is Nian Lifu, an orphan in the desert of the Western Regions.
He had just climbed to the top of the Wusheng Tower and was in need of a suitable weapon.
But he doesn't like to use swords, he likes to use knives.
Butcher Zhang’s killing knife was pretty good. He wanted to take the sword of light and go to Northern Xinjiang to exchange it with Butcher Zhang.
There are also several star powers hidden in the folded space, and naturally they don't bother to form alliances with others.
There was a large group of people following behind him, but Zhang Xiaopou acted as if he didn't know anything and kept his head down as he walked forward.
After walking fifteen or six miles in one breath, he passed a high bridge. He suddenly changed his route, jumped off the bridge, and walked west along the river.
The people who were following him immediately became energetic, and they all sped up and followed him, as if they would see Zhou Jianlai soon.
However, this walk actually lasted a full hour.
Just when the crowd behind him started to get restless and could no longer hold it any longer, Zhang Xiaozu finally stopped.
He raised his head and looked to the south. He saw towering green mountains. To the north, he saw a surging river. Then he nodded with satisfaction and murmured to himself: "It is a good place with mountains and rivers and beautiful scenery."
After saying that, he sat cross-legged on the green grass, took off the two oil paper bags from his waist, and opened them one by one in front of him.
A pack of fried peanuts and a pack of fragrant beef in soy sauce.
Then he took off the wine bottle hanging from his waist, pulled out the bamboo stopper, and took a sip.
"Ah - good wine!" The strong wine passed through his throat, and he couldn't help but praise it.
After that, he didn't use chopsticks, just grabbed the peanuts with his hands, grabbed the fragrant beef, and stuffed it into his mouth.
Have a sip of wine, a sip of meat, and eat and drink happily.
"Hey, I'm so angry!" Someone finally couldn't help but burst out.
He got news early in the morning that Zhang Xiaozu, Zhou Jianlai's good brother, appeared on the street. If he followed him, he would find Zhou Jianlai and win the Sword of Light.
So he didn't even have time to take a bite of breakfast before he hurriedly ran to the street to look for Zhang Xiaopeng.
After a lot of effort to find it, he followed Zhang Xiaozu around the streets and alleys of the imperial capital.
It was not until noon that Zhang Xiaopou left the city gate. Unexpectedly, he walked for a long time, and finally ran to this wilderness mountain forest with no villages or shops in front of him, sat down on his butt, and started eating and drinking while enjoying the mountain breeze.
Unfortunately, his stomach was growling with hunger, and he was so greedy that his mouth watered when he smelled the aroma of wine and meat brought by the mountain breeze.
How could this not make him furious?
But his shouting didn't even make Zhang Xiaopou raise his eyelids.
He was not the only one who was hungry, less than half of the people following him were also hungry.
He is not the only one who is holding fire in his stomach, most people are holding fire in their stomach.
They were all anxious to see Zhou Jianlai and the Guangming Sword, but in the end they followed Zhang Xiaozu around for a long time.
They finally figured out that Zhang Xiaozu had no intention of taking them to find Zhou Jianlai, he was deliberately trying to lure them here.
"Hey, boy, when are you going to take us to find Zhou Jianlai?" Someone couldn't bear his temper, jumped out and shouted to Zhang Xiaopou.
However, Zhang Xiaozhu was eating and drinking alone and ignored him.
"Boy, if you are wise, hurry up and take us to find Zhou Jianlai. If we find him, we will say hello to you. Otherwise, if you don't drink a toast or eat it, you will be fined, and you will be beaten until you kneel down and call me grandpa. You will still have to take us to find Zhou Jianlai."
"Another person shouted viciously and threatened Zhang Xiaopou.
Zhang Xiaozu still ignored him.
"Bah!"
"Unreasonable kid, are you deaf? Grandpas asked you questions, why did you ignore them? Do you believe that grandpa cut off your useless ears to drink?" Someone was angered by Zhang Xiaopou's ignorance.
Zhang Xiaozu then took his eyes away from the food and wine in front of him, raised his head and looked across the river, glanced at it, and couldn't help but smile.
He was on this side of the river, and those people were all on the other side of the river, making it as if water from a well did not interfere with the water in the river.
It's really ridiculous.
"Why should I take you to find Zhou Jianlai?" Zhang Xiaozu asked with a half-squinted smile.
His eyes paused at several deserted places.
The few people hiding in the folded space couldn't help but feel a thump in their hearts, knowing that they had been discovered by Zhang Xiaozu.
"Haha, this is a good question."
A bearded man in a short-sleeved suit jumped over from the other side of the river laughing.
The river was more than twenty feet wide, and he jumped across it with a slight leap. He was obviously a man of good cultivation.
He jumped over the river and walked straight to Zhang Xiaozu, saying as he walked: "Zhou Jianlai is your brother of life and death. You really have no reason to take us to find him. However, we want to find him, so you must take us there, otherwise you will
You have to die, no, these people will torture you in countless ways until you are worse than dead, and then let you lead the way obediently."
"What are you looking for Zhou Jian for?" Zhang Xiaozu asked.
"Lend him the sword of light."
"He loves swords as much as his life, and he won't lend them to you." Zhang Xiaozu shook his head.
"You have to borrow it, you have to borrow it, you have to borrow it if you don't want to," the bearded man said with a fierce look.
"That's not called borrowing, that's called robbing." Zhang Xiaopou corrected.
"It doesn't matter." The bearded man shrugged.
"What do you think of the scenery here?" Zhang Xiaozhu suddenly pointed around and asked.
"It's surrounded by mountains and rivers, and the scenery is beautiful. It's very nice." The bearded man responded.
Zhang Xiaozu nodded and said: "This is the resting place I specially chose for you. It seems that you are quite satisfied."
As he spoke, he grabbed the wine bottle in one hand and the bone knife in the other, and stood up.
With a shake of his wrist, the black cloth wrapped around the blade was scattered.
He looked at the bearded man and asked, "Do you insist on taking the Sword of Light?"
"I have to seize it, and I can't wait, so I'm here to prepare you to lead the way quickly by using some means." The bearded man sneered.
"You are sincere." Zhang Xiaozhu smiled.
Then he stepped forward to meet the bearded man who was striding over. He stepped in front of the bearded man with one step and swept his right leg out at the same time.
The bearded man's eyelids twitched suddenly, and he looked surprised, as if he didn't expect Zhang Xiaozu to be so fast.
But he was only frightened, not panicked.
The cultivation of the eighth heaven in the sea realm gave him the confidence to not be surprised when a mountain collapsed in front of him.
He raised his foot and kicked the whip leg that Zhang Xiaopou was sweeping from his waist. At the same time, he quickly thrust out his right hand, clawing his five fingers towards Zhang Xiaopou's face.
boom!
The next moment, the bearded man flew out.
Because Zhang Xiaopu's speed was much faster than what he could see with his eyes, his foot was only halfway through the kick. His claws were still three feet away from Zhang Xiaopu's face, but Zhang Xiaopu's whip leg had already hit him.
On the waist.
Click——
The crisp but heart-wrenching sound of bones breaking caused the people on the other side of the river to take a breath, knowing that the bearded man's waist was broken.
After just one meeting, he was defeated by Zhang Xiaopou.
The bearded man was indeed disabled. He fell to the ground and crawled several times but did not get up.
Zhang Xiaozu's whipping leg directly shattered his body-protecting essence, broke his waist bones, and caused great damage to his internal organs.
He lay on the ground and looked at Zhang Xiaopeng, who was approaching step by step. He was so frightened that the hairs all over his body stood up.
Only then did he realize Zhang Xiaozu's terror, but it seemed too late.
Bang!
He gritted his teeth and tried to get up.
However, when he finally climbed halfway, Zhang Xiaopeng stepped on his back and knocked him to the ground unable to move.
"Do you have to seize the Light Sword?" Zhang Xiaozu's faint voice asked again in his ear.
"Magic weapons are for those who are capable." The bearded man yelled, holding his neck.
"good!"
Zhang Xiaozu nodded, then raised the wine bottle in his left hand, poured a large sip of wine into his mouth, and then raised the bone knife in his right hand.
puff!
A mouthful of strong liquor sprayed on the bone knife.
He slowly raised the blade and asked again: "Do you have to seize the Sword of Light?"
At this moment, he was like an executioner on the execution ground, just waiting for an order to let the bearded man's head fall to the ground.
It's just that this order came not from the mouth of the supervisor, but from the bearded man himself.