This Pure Land Palace is no stranger to Xiu Niang.
When Tanlang drowned, he was sent to Donglin Temple for treatment, and he was recuperating in Sanhui Temple not far away.
Xiu Niang took advantage of her fourth senior sister to go out to clean her sword at night, fished out the bad-tempered old Taoist priest from a certain water prison, and brought him here to treat Ouyang Rong.
Because the underground palace here is quiet, it is not suitable to be disturbed by monks, but it did cause misunderstandings such as Xiufa and other monks who thought the county magistrate was missing and became anxious.
But for some reason, the bad-tempered old Taoist priest saw that Ouyang Rong was surprisingly displeased, and it was because of the kindness of the embroiderer who used her sword energy to clean his sores that he agreed to take action reluctantly.
Moreover, after curing Ouyang Rong, before leaving, Heguiqiu Laodao pointed at the Buddha Jataka mural "Kuaimu Wangsheyan" on the west side of the underground palace, and Leng said that if there is another time, he will take a pair of beautiful eyes from the embroiderer as a gift.
cost.
I don’t know if this old man covered in sores can’t get used to the dog food of lovers in the world...
Therefore, Xiu Niang is quite familiar with the crazy "Master Ignorance" in the underground palace who almost misled Ouyang Rong.
Moreover, on that day, when Master Hehuo Qiu was teasing Ouyang Rong with Master Ignorance, Xiu Niang was also selfish and wanted Ouyang Rong to stay in the underground palace for a while.
At that time, Xiu Niang only said that it was difficult to meet him again, so it would be better to just take one more look at him.
But Tanlang is Tanlang after all. He broke through the obstacles and climbed out of the underground palace hole tenaciously...
In the Pure Land Palace, Xiu Niang turned around and glanced at the lotus pedestal in the center of the underground palace that was shrouded in moonlight day after year year after year... It was also the place where Ouyang Rong once threw a rope out of the underground palace after he woke up.
Certain images flashed through her eyes. She raised her hand silently and took out something wrapped in a white handkerchief, the size of a fist.
The embroiderer untied the handkerchief, held it forward, opened her mouth and said softly "ah".
A piece of mung bean cake lay quietly in her hand.
Monk Xiuzhen was stunned for a moment, then folded his hands together, took the mung bean cake from the embroiderer's hand, sat down on the spot, and ate it with relish without feeling dirty.
The embroiderer smiled softly, turned around, a breeze blew by, and her figure disappeared from the spot.
Above is the dry well surrounded by stone railings.
The embroiderer who got nothing tonight turned away and left.
At this time.
Her steps suddenly stopped.
This Beitian Sanatorium is located on a relatively flat spot near the mountain. From here, you can overlook Longcheng County at the foot of the mountain on the west side and Butterfly Creek, which is shaped like a "ji"-shaped wing.
The embroiderer stood quietly and turned her head silently.
These clear eyes were clearly reflecting the Dragon City buildings at the foot of the mountain, and they could even vaguely distinguish the Luming Street where the Longcheng County Government was built and the densely packed red brick sword furnaces on the west bank of Butterfly Creek.
This scene is the same as when we first arrived, with sparse stars, a bright moon half obscured by dark clouds, and a group of dark buildings with scattered lights.
An ordinary night view.
And if we were an ordinary mortal here at this moment, the scene we would see with our naked eyes would be the same.
However, the same scene fell into the eyes of the embroiderer.
Her pupils shrank slightly.
At this moment, at a high place, the mute woman looked up.
In the field of vision, on the west bank of Butterfly Creek, a hill slightly shorter than Dagushan was guarded by many sword furnaces.
She looked from a distance and saw a thin line of red air halfway up the hill, rising and swaying.
Like a red line, straight up into the sky.
Connecting a flameout sword furnace halfway up the mountain to the night sky with sparse stars above.
Viewed from the perspective of the embroiderer.
This slender red gas flows from the Milky Way in the ninth heaven to a trickle in the human world.
The embroiderer's eyes were slightly confused, and then she looked surprised.
This is... sword energy.
"Ah." The embroiderer said softly.
Senior Sister mentioned that the three Qi practitioners who made an alliance at the Lotus Pagoda each held three things called "Red Lotus Sword Seal".
The one in the master's door, the embroiderer had seen once at the senior sister's place.
According to the original agreement, the Red Lotus Sword Seal was not only a token of alliance, but also a signal item similar to a beacon when a certain party convened to gather.
The disciples of the three Qi practitioners within a hundred miles radius should see this signal and attend the appointment.
The red sword energy soaring into the sky in front of me is exactly the same as the red lotus sword seal described in the senior sister's letter.
There are people who fulfill the alliance.
At this moment, on the small lonely mountain on the west bank of Butterfly Creek in the distance, the slender red light that was quite conspicuous in the Qi practitioner's eyes lasted for less than twenty breaths, and then disappeared without a trace in an instant.
Appears only briefly.
The night was dark and unremarkable, as if the scene just now had never happened.
However, beside the dry well in Beitian Alms Home, the figure of a certain slender woman had disappeared.
…
Liu Zian was awakened by a close subordinate who was assigned to the Grade A Sword Furnace.
This trusted subordinate was responsible for his contact with the old swordsmith 24/7.
The old swordsmith is looking for him!
Because of the Zhiyiqu incident, Liu Zian's sleep was not very good in the past few days. When he heard his subordinate's footsteps, he immediately woke up.
He glanced out the window at the dark night and the figures of his subordinates bending respectfully.
Liu Zian frowned, but immediately rubbed his face and got out of bed, showed a gentle expression, comforted his subordinates, dressed up again, and hurriedly left the yard, went out through the back door, and rushed to the sword shop.
Except for his communication subordinates, he did not bring any other subordinates with him, and he did not even call his third brother Liu Zilin.
There's no reason why Liu Zian wouldn't be so cautious.
The young county magistrate's sensitivity and suspicion often made him feel a little frightened.
When he thought of Ouyang Rong's iconic smile when he put his hands behind his back, Liu Zian's eyes twitched fiercely.
These days, every day during the day, he had to pretend to be a pug and run to the Zheyi Canal construction site. On behalf of the Liu family, who had surrendered and reformed, they sincerely cooperated with the county government to drain the water and clear the silt, and rebuild the second phase of the Zheyi Canal.
In addition, from time to time we have to deal with Ouyang Rong's mysterious surprise inspections.
Fortunately, the latter returned to Luming Street on time every day and only came to find fault with Liu Zian and others during the day. There was no such thing as working overtime to supervise the project, otherwise Liu Zian would have been tortured to death.
"Hurry, Ouyang Lianghan, when that day comes, Liu will pay back ten times."
The dark mountain breeze on the night road covered the gloomy face of a new head of the Liu family, and his cold murmurs were also blown away by the cold wind.
But when Liu Zian came to the sword stove halfway up Xiaogu Mountain and his face was illuminated by the light of the oil lamp in the house, he immediately showed an elegant smile.
"The old gentleman called Liu in the middle of the night, but he has something to give you?"
The old swordsmith ignored him and packed his things silently. He occasionally turned his head and glanced at the night outside in a certain direction under the mountain.
Liu Zian looked at the old swordsmith strangely.
When he first arrived, he saw the old swordsmith bending down to pick up a hard object wrapped in dirty gray cloth on the lawn outside.
Liu Zian glanced curiously.
This solid object, randomly wrapped in gray cloth, has edges and corners, is square and about the size of a child's fist, and looks like a metal cube.
I don't know what it's for.
But now, after putting the object in his arms, the old swordsmith looked blank, and walked back to the sword furnace silently without looking at Liu Ziwen.
Liu Zian had no choice but to send his subordinates away and follow him alone.
The table in the room is covered with stacks of blue paper, many of which have been cut into small pieces of Pythagorean paper, and the small pieces of paper are pieced together into strange arcs...
Liu Zian's eyes filtered past the messy desktop, and he was no stranger to this.
The old swordsmith seems to be very obsessed with the blue butterfly flower that Ouyang Lianghan folded. He has been obsessed with paper art recently. He asked someone to help him find these rare blue papers, just to satisfy the old swordsmith.
needs.
However, right now, there is ink on the blue papers on the table, and there seems to be a lot of beautiful handwriting written on them.
Liu Zian frowned and glanced at the two cups of tea on the coffee table next to him.
One cup of tea was more than half drunk, and the tea leaves were at the bottom. The other cup was seventy percent full, and it seemed that no one had drank it.
The two cups of tea were only slightly warm.
"Has anyone been here?" Liu Zian suddenly asked suspiciously.
The old swordsmith opened the sword furnace next to him, grabbed the papers with Juanxiu's handwriting on the table, and threw them into the empty sword furnace.
Just like that day when the old swordsmith threw the blue paper butterfly flowers into the sword furnace, in the now empty furnace, the blue paper disappeared out of thin air, turning into ashes.
"Here we come." The old swordsmith said casually.
Liu Zian's expression changed and he couldn't help but said anxiously: "Who is coming?!"
"I discussed this with you in the evening."
"What about the person from Yunmeng Jianze?" Liu Zian looked around uneasily, then turned to look at the door that was not closed.
The night wind howled outside.
The old swordsmith said calmly: "Obviously, she left without drinking tea."
Liu Zian still looked surprised and looked around.
"Oh, don't be afraid."
The old swordsmith chuckled, and there seemed to be a bit of ridicule in his smile.
The old man seemed to be smiling but not smiling:
"That little girl from Jianze has gone far away. She is rushing back to deliver a message to the first female monarch in the female monarch palace."
Liu Zian breathed a sigh of relief, but the muscles on his face were still tense, a bit solemn and nervous.
He turned around and walked away, slamming the door shut with a loud bang.
"Why don't the old gentleman discuss it with me? Just call someone here?"
Liu Zian turned around and said in a dissatisfied tone.
"I told you yesterday, and you agreed."
The old swordsmith's expression remained unchanged and he replied in a relaxed tone.
"But..." Liu Zian hesitated and wandered around the room, "But I didn't expect the old gentleman to move so quickly and call someone here tonight... I originally wanted to discuss some details with the old gentleman tomorrow.
Come on."
"It's nothing to discuss."
The old swordsmith sneered:
"The people of the Wei family are almost here. If we delay it any longer, if we miss one move, we will never get the sword that we tried so hard to get."
Liu Zian couldn't help but glance at the expression on the old swordsmith's face and argued:
"Why are you trying so hard? I am also helping the old gentleman. Don't forget, we are in the same camp...
"Isn't the old gentleman also dissatisfied with my elder brother? Without my help, the sword will really fall into the hands of your enemies. The old gentleman has spent most of his life making swords, how can he bear the feeling of making wedding clothes for others?
"
"Are you making wedding clothes for others..." The old swordsmith chewed something in his mouth, smiled, and said no more.
Liu Zian stopped, turned around and asked:
"Why did the female cultivator from Yunmeng Jianze come so quickly? What did the old gentleman use to contact him?"
The old swordsmith calmly stretched out a withered finger and pointed at the bulging chest.
Nothing to hide.
Liu Zian followed it with a dazed look on his face. It turned out to be the square hard object wrapped in gray cloth just now. It was probably some items left by the masters behind the old swordsmith.
Although the craftsmen who create the Dao Meridian have no lethality, don't forget that they still belong to one of the nine mythical Dao Meridians and are Qi practitioners.
Although he understood the current situation, Liu Zian's brows still did not relax, and he frequently looked sideways at the old swordsmith's expression.
"Do you doubt me?"
The old swordsmith suddenly smiled and nodded, as if answering the question to himself:
"I just want to make swords and take revenge. If the latter is fake, why would I help you trap Liu Ziwen? Wouldn't it be better to directly cooperate with Liu Ziwen and the Wei family? It would be more stable?
"Otherwise, why do you think I can help you? Just because you are beautiful? I do think you are beautiful."
"Anyway, I have told you the secret of what happened back then. Why I wanted Liu Ziwen to die and why I couldn't let Wei get the sword? We have the same request.
"Liu Zian, you are so generous. You actually killed Liu Ziwen for me. I am very satisfied with this murderous and heart-wrenching way of death."
The old swordsmith smiled, lifted the pot, raised his head, and took a swig of rice wine.
Is there anything that makes enemies more happy than brothers killing each other?
Especially for Liu Ziwen, who values clan.
Hearing his eldest brother's name, Liu Zian silently looked away and did not answer. He changed the topic and stared at the old swordsmith with a huge appetite and asked:
"Then you summoned the female cultivator Yunmeng to come over, why didn't you inform me earlier? Is there something you're hiding from me, and you want to send it to the eldest female cultivator Yunmeng Jianze?"
Liu Zian's tone was dissatisfied. The old swordsmith's casual behavior gave him a vague feeling that things were out of his control, which was not good.
"As soon as I found out that the girl was here, I had already sent someone to call you in advance. It's a pity that you came too late..."
The old swordsmith curled his lips, but paused for a moment and shook his head:
"But I didn't expect that the female cultivator from Yunmeng Jianze would arrive so quickly. It only took two sticks of incense for the sword energy to arrive...Originally, I was afraid of attracting the attention of other qi practitioners, so I planned to divide it up several times at intervals.
Use this thing at night.
"But for some reason, this Yue girl is near Longcheng County."
Liu Zian looked sideways and frowned: "Did he just pass by, or...had he noticed it already?"
The old swordsmith shook his head:
"If I had noticed it earlier, the Yue girl wouldn't have left so easily. Don't worry, the letter will be delivered to the lady named Xuezhongzhu as scheduled, and she will... come as scheduled."
The old man took a sip of wine, squinted his eyes and muttered.
Liu Zian's expression changed, and finally his complex expression turned into a look of helplessness.
If Wei was not under too much pressure, he would not have taken such a dangerous move. The day agreed upon to retrieve the sword from the sword box was getting closer and closer, and Liu Ziwen was dying, but he died too late for him to come.
Urgent arrangement, unable to fool the Wei family, now can only lead the wolf to drive away the tiger...
"However, the little girl just now is quite interesting. She is a little mute. This Yunmeng Jianze is really a woman with all kinds of strange things."
The old swordsmith laughed and shook his head.
"What do you mean? Little mute?"
"It's nothing. We didn't talk much in detail just now. I don't know what status this little girl has in Yunmeng Jianze. She doesn't look like an ordinary Yue girl..."