across the Quartet

Chapter Four

Gai Nie briefly revealed to Jing Ke his purpose of infiltrating the Guo Mansion, only concealing his identity as a "mountain ghost".

"So that's the case, Anie, you are here to save talents...but you can't let Guo Kai know that you are General Li Mu's subordinates..."

"That's right. We have infiltrated the Shangqing Mansion with a total of seven people, and we have to bring six people out from it; with so many people coming in and out, it's hard not to be noticed. In addition, if we successfully find the The juggling team, six of the seven members are accompanied by one person, their movements will become slow, and once they are discovered, it will be difficult to escape. So I made a plan, disguised as a gang of robbers, and mobilized all the soldiers in the mansion Going elsewhere, I hope to take advantage of the chaos and take people away. Therefore, I need someone to create chaos for me and confuse the soldiers' sight, which I cannot do alone."

"Hehe, I understand." Jing Ke rubbed his chin seriously, "So you release the news, let Boss Cao's people believe that there is a treasure hidden in Guo Kai's house; these thieves can't hold back, and they will attack sooner or later—"

Gai Nie nodded and said, "There are people I arranged in the jackal den. They spread rumors first, and then passed the news to me when Boss Cao took action. I then set the rescue operation and their attack on the same night. "

If you want to pretend to be a robber, what better disguise than a real robber.

Although he understood Gai Nie's intentions, Jing Ke still stared at his friend with surprise and a little bit of sadness, as if sighing, "My child can't be so sinister."

Ge Nie ignored the silent accusation in those two eyes, and continued to sort out his thoughts: "However, the inside story tonight is much more complicated than I expected. First, the juggling team may itself be a trap. Their purpose is probably to catch someone among us and use it to frame General Lee; second, among the six people who acted with me tonight, one of them is their spy and wants to assassinate me. Third, I did not Thinking of Jing Qing, you will be persuaded by Boss Cao, and you will also sneak in."

"It's a good thing I'm here, otherwise, Ah Nie, with your injuries, it wouldn't be very troublesome to deal with them..." Jing Ke smiled refreshedly with an expression of asking for credit, "Next, what are your plans? "

Gai Nie remained silent, as the scenes of the past few days seemed to flash before his eyes: banquets, dancers, dwarves, jugglers without hands and feet, Guo Kai, General Li, Zhongshan wolf, Xia Qi, Lu Goujian, son and mother Fenglei sword, Bull hair needles, man-eating fish, underwater skeletons.

He raised his head slightly and smiled.

"I'm going to kill Guo Kai."

Before Jing Ke could close his mouth wide open, his body froze unconsciously.

"Strong man, I think you laughed so terribly just now..."

Gai Nie covered his mouth tightly, suppressing his smile. "Actually, I already have conclusive evidence that Guo Kai accepted bribes from the Qin people in order to harm General Li; getting rid of such traitors will benefit the country of Zhao without any harm. It's a pity that this person is deeply favored by King Zhao. , the power is huge, there are many masters in the sect, and my current status is General Li's subordinate, if the assassination fails to succeed in one blow and get out of the body, it will definitely set off a huge storm in Handan and bring a lot of trouble to the general. The political turmoil in Zhao State and the discord between the generals and prime ministers will give Qin the opportunity to take advantage of it. Therefore, before I just ordered people to spy on him secretly, trying to make a decision before moving. Now it seems that Gai has miscalculated. I'm waiting, but my opponent won't wait. Guo Kai wants to get rid of General Li more urgently than I want to get rid of him. Even if his plot fails tonight, he will set more traps in the future. So Gai can't wait any longer. Besides," he said, looking at Jing Ke, "tonight is the best time to 'hide your whereabouts, get a hit, and get out of your body'. Such a good opportunity, there will be no second time Twice."

"Because there happened to be some robbers who messed up Guo's mansion?"

"It's also because they probably thought I was dead." Ge Nie clenched his fists tightly on the burden. "No one would have thought that a dead person would secretly aim at Guo Kai's head."

Jing Ke smiled slightly, stood up abruptly, and spread his five fingers to hold the long sword tied behind his back. "Anie, you are so injured, I'm afraid it's hard to move. If you can trust brother, how about leaving this matter to me?"

"Do you recognize Guo Kai?"

"...I don't know."

Jing Ke instantly withered to the ground.Ge Nie patted him on the shoulder.

"If Jing Qing is willing to help, it will indeed be a great help to Gai. But the assassination must be done by myself. First, I have met Guo Kai several times, and I can recognize him in the crowd; second, I There is no need to approach them at all, but you can cut your throat with a single blade from a hundred steps away. Jing Qing only needs to use a little trick here to attract their attention. The two of us will join forces and we will be safe."

"...Listen to you. What should I do?"

Gai Nie walked to the center of the room, casually flipped through the books on the flip table, but found no important information, so he simply used bamboo slips as props to lay out the structure of the inner courtyard on the ground.

"I just took a general look around. This study faces south and is located in the center of the inner courtyard. It must be something that Guo Kai attaches great importance to. If we set a fire here, everyone in the mansion will be attracted. Jingqing, you You might as well hide here, where the fire cannot spread temporarily; when Guo Kai and his door guards are about 150 steps away from you, you should shout a word."

"What?"

Gai Nie thought for a while, and said: "'Guo Kai, you bastard who deceives the Lord with evil words and knows a lot about foreign countries, I, Zhao Zheng, will take your life today!' That's all."

"Very good! By the way, who is Zhao Zheng?"

"... Qin people are very famous. After shouting, Jing Qing, you must be careful with crossbow arrows. It is best to find some armor to block the vital points in advance. At that time, the doormen around Guo Kai must have stood in front of Guo Kai, guarding against the north direction; and I hid on the big tree in the southeast of the inner courtyard, and took advantage of the flames to send out a sword. After the incident was completed, we left immediately, climbed over the courtyard wall, and met at the root of the wall directly east of the Guo residence."

The two have discussed and decided to split up immediately.Gai Nie lit the brazier in the study with flint and poured it on the bamboo slips.Before leaving, he entrusted the baggage in his hand to Jing Ke for safekeeping, and after Jing Ke thought about it, he handed it to Zuo San, and asked him to leave first with the package and wait for them outside the mansion.

Soon, raging flames and a burst of black smoke alarmed everyone in the Shangqing Mansion.The owner, Guo Kai, hurried towards the direction of the fire, surrounded by master disciples.Just a few steps into the inner courtyard, I heard a thunderous roar:

"Guo Kai, you shameless thief who betrays the country and seeks glory, I, Zhao Zheng, will kill you today!"

Guo Kai was shocked.Several guards shouted "Be careful, my lord" and wrapped him tightly with a human wall.Among the four great swordsmen, Ji Sunlong and Ximen Vulture were also among them, and their swords had all been unsheathed.However, there were no assassins who broke through the crowd and wanted to fight them.

Suddenly, a fierce air current swept across the crowd.

It was a flying sword that traveled against the wind.

This sword has poured [-]% of Ge Nie's internal strength, so there is absolutely no possibility of failure.But now he has three weaknesses: first, in order to ensure the accuracy of the flying sword, he used his usual right arm to shoot the sword; However, there was still some numbness in the arm, which made the angle of the shot slightly deviated.Second, he had just gone through a hard battle, lost a lot of blood, and his physical strength was more depleted than expected, and the speed at the moment Feijian shot was also weakened.Thirdly, the Qingjiao sword Gai Nie used was the one he brought out from Ghost Valley.Back then, in order to control his murderous nature during the decisive battle, he personally broke off the tip of the sword by an inch or three.Although this sword is still sharp enough under normal circumstances, but now Ge Nie's physical strength is exhausted and his true energy is weak, so the strength of this sword has also been greatly affected.

Gai Nie knew something was wrong the moment Qing Jiao left his hand.

The last form of vertical swordsmanship "opening the sky", also known as the hundred-step flying sword, is a lore sword designed to stop the sword with one sword and leave no one alive.This style is not suitable for fighting with many people; and when masters are fighting for their lives, issuing this sword means the end of the competition.

I once remembered that the master said that the essence of the "opening the sky" style does not lie in sharpness and ruthlessness, but in the words "fine" and "micro".No matter how huge the target is, it will become small if it is far enough away; and in order to hit the prey, the breath of the swordsman must be precisely coordinated with the movement of true energy, and the spirit must be absolutely concentrated, from the upper arm to the palm to the ground. The muscles and bones of the fingertips must not vibrate in the slightest.When practicing in Guigu, Gai Nie often practiced stabbing a cicada drinking dew with his sword from a hundred steps away; therefore, he was nicknamed the sword of "killing cicadas" by his younger brother Wei Zhuang.

But this time, under the coexistence of the three major weaknesses, the hundred-step flying sword, which is known as invincible, only pierced through the breastbone of a dead man standing in front of Guo Kai, and then penetrated into Guo Kai's upper abdomen, bleeding all over the ground on the spot, but Not fatal.

However, the situation is beyond doubt.When Gai Nie saw Guo Kai collapsed, he turned around and left.Everyone panicked because of the sudden murder, most of them yelled around Guo Kai, only a few people caught up.Gai Nie used the kung fu of "dissolving fog" to walk and avoid among the trees and houses, and at the same time searched for an opportunity to send out crossbow arrows to shoot at the chasing soldiers.When he crossed the outermost courtyard wall and met Jing Ke and Zuo San who were waiting there, there was no one behind him.

"Here."

Gai Nie continued to lead the way ahead, crossing two streets and alleys, and finally got around the posthouse where he had stayed before.The carriage that came had long since disappeared, but there was a good black horse tied to the hitching post, which was obviously specially reserved for Ge Nie.

Seeing that no one was chasing him, Jing Ke excitedly grabbed Gai Nie's right arm and said excitedly, "How, you got it?"

Ge Nie frowned suddenly, and pulled his arm back without knowing where he was going.

"I'm not sure." He said as he untied the cloth strips that had been hastily wrapped around his right arm just now, "Although I saw him fall with my own eyes, the feeling at the moment of the shot made me not 'sure to kill' Confidence."

After he removed all the coverings on his arms, Jing Ke couldn't help but let out a worried "ah".

Gai Nie's entire forearm was swollen, and around the needle point at the bend of the arm, there were bruises "grown" between the intersectoral veins, which made one's hair stand on end.

"Strange, it wasn't like this last time..." Gai Nie said to himself.

"What a powerful poison!" Jing Ke smacked his tongue. "Although I don't know if there are any famous doctors in your country of Zhao--but I have a feeling that the poison on this hidden weapon is not simple, and it is definitely not something ordinary people can deal with! The right hand is a swordsman." Annie, you should come with me and go to Yunmengze to find the medical fairy mother-in-law."

Ge Nie was silent.The immortal doctor of the Mo family had some old friends with Guiguzi, since he left Guigu, he was reluctant to see his master's old friends.However, if you lose a hand because of this, it is indeed not worth the loss...

The two were still discussing in low voices, the third from the left had already unbridled the black horse, patted the horse's back, and his eyes slipped to this side from time to time.

He still carried the heavy burden in his hand.

There is only one horse, but there are three people.

At that moment, Zuo San suddenly had a thought in his heart.

Under normal circumstances, he would never have such an idea.He had heard the people in the jackal's den brag about Jing Ke's abilities; his friend who got out of the water had such fierce eyes, and he thought it was not a good thing.However, now one of them is seriously injured, and the other has to take care of the wounded, and his back is turned to him...

Besides, they only had one horse.

From the first time he saw Gai Nie, Zuo San, like Jing Ke, noticed the baggage he was carrying at a glance, and felt bad luck in his heart - it turned out that the treasure they hadn't found for a long time was actually found by this person first.He didn't hear what Gai Nie and Jing Ke said when they went into the study, and he didn't know what they were arguing about by setting fire to the inner courtyard just now—he only understood one thing, that there was enough food and drink in this bag for a lifetime No worries, happy baby.

The weight of the burden is getting heavier.The third from the left seems to have seen a whole bag of shining pearls and jade, emeralds and agates... all of which are tied on his hand.The palms of his hands were already covered with sweat, and beads of sweat were unknowingly stained on his eyebrows.His eyes were fixed on those two people all the time, but he quietly took out a skinning dagger from his bosom.

Gai Nie and Jing Ke heard a horse neighing at the same time.The two turned their heads, and saw Zuo San stabbing the horse's hip with a knife, flying up at the same time, straddling the horse and walking away - the horse was originally a military horse, and after suffering the pain, it ran extremely fast, like a gust of black wind Disappeared in the night in an instant.

Jing Ke was stunned.Suddenly shouted: "Hey! Hey, hey!! The third from the left, you, you, you kid——"

Gai Nie immediately figured out the reason and gritted his teeth. "He probably mistakenly thought that there was something valuable in that bag..."

"Huh? Isn't it?"

"No. But, I have to chase."

Gai Nie was about to raise his breath and jump, but was stopped by Jing Ke holding his shoulders. "Don't worry, Ah Nie. I've heard from the Immortal Doctor that people who have been poisoned must not act rashly, otherwise the toxin will flow to the whole body along with the blood, and it will be more difficult to remove after that. I probably know what the idea is, and I will definitely get it back for you. I know you must have a place to stay in the city, so go back and re-bandage and rest; before dawn, I will wait for you at the North Gate of Handan."

Gai Nie wanted to say something, but Jing Ke smiled and shook his finger. "If you're a brother, you don't need to say thank you. I'll go back as soon as I go." He kicked his legs, like a falcon that found a rabbit, and disappeared after a few ups and downs.

Looking at the dark alley, Gai Nie showed the most relaxed smile of the night for the first time.

Jing Ke didn't specifically track down the whereabouts of Zuo San's man and horse at all, but went back to the jackal den in a swaggering manner.He found some blood stains outside Boss Cao's winery, but he remained calm and greeted the guys in the winery with a smile.

"Brother Jing is back?" Boss Cao hurried out from the back hall with a few people, his face was covered with oily sweat, and his flesh was heaving with laughter, "Our brothers were always worried before—"

"Thank you, everyone." Jing Ke sat down on the ground, took off the long sword behind his back and patted it on his hand, "The wind is tight outside, I will let a few brothers go first, I wonder if they have arrived yet?"

"It's here, it's all here—"

"Where is the third from the left? Are you back too?"

"Uh... just came back. He just arrived on the front foot, brother, you came in on the back foot."

Jing Ke smiled. "It's good that he's fine. I was worried that the horse was startled and what would happen if he fell off someone. Ah yes, speaking of it, there was still a burden tied to my brother right away. Maybe he didn't look carefully and brought it along with him." I'm gone. Please ask Boss Cao to help me ask, can I return it?"

Boss Cao exchanged glances with the people behind him.He also sat down opposite, still with a smirk on his face, and ordered his men to reorder the wine.

"Brother Jing, let's not talk secretly tomorrow; I have been busy all night, if I just come and go empty-handed like this, I really can't give an answer to the brothers. That kid on the third from the left is too reckless, I will apologize for him ; But he is also thinking about everyone who has worked hard. If brother Jing is willing to sell me, I only need [-]% of the things in the bag, and it will be used as errand money for the brothers, how about it?"

"Old Cao, old Cao, I'm not going to hide it from you. If the bag is mine, I can give it to you. It's a pity that it belongs to my brother. I have promised him to come back... I don't even have anything in the bag. Not sure."

What Jing Ke said was sincere, but unfortunately, most of the people in the jackal den were used to stealing, plundering, and cheating, and none of them would believe it.

"Brother Jing, you're being a little unkind; for this business, several brothers have already fallen into Guo's residence. Don't you really want to show any sympathy?"

Jing Ke sighed, and deliberately turned to another person next to Boss Cao, who was also the 'military adviser' among the bandits. "Old Liu, tell me, if I don't show sympathy, will the kid from the third on the left come back?"

"Old Liu" said with a dry smile, "Hero Jing and my boss are on the same side, so how can we hurt our peace because of a trivial matter. But, Hero Jing, you really want to close the house and eat alone, without even leaking a little soup, because you are cold." Is it the heart of the brothers?"

"Other people's things, I can't decide." Jing Ke spread his hands and said, "Forget it, I know that you old guys are not willing to be straightforward. Why don't we make a bet here - if you win, You just take the burden, and I will go and plead guilty to the brother who threw the thing, whether it is to cut off my hand or my foot, Jing Ke will never say anything. If I win——I ask you to return it to Zhao.”

Boss Cao turned his head left and right, flirted with "Old Liu" and others for a while, and finally nodded and said, "How do you bet?"

"Just bet..." Jing Ke rolled his eyes, picked up a wine jar at hand, weighed it in his palm, and put it back on the ground.Then he pulled out his saber, hung it over the mouth of the altar, and made a gesture. "Just bet on how many pieces will this wine jar be split into if I cut it down with my sword? If you bet on singles, I'll bet on doubles. If you bet on doubles, I'll bet on singles."

Boss Cao frowned and refused to say "yes" for a long time.Even "Old Liu" whispered a few words behind his ear, but was waved away impatiently.

The pottery that holds the wine is their own, and they cannot move their hands or feet; the texture of the pottery is rigid and brittle, and it will be broken into pieces when it is slightly bumped. Have you ever heard of chopping with a sword?What's more, the shape of the broken shell is beyond human control, just like the ancients drilled a hole in the shell of a tortoise and roasted it with fire. Who knows what kind of lines it will crack?But that kid said so, could it be that he... Could it be that his swordsmanship has reached the peak, and he can split this clay pot like a log?Boss Cao has been in the underworld for many years, and he has never heard of such incredible swordsmanship...

"What's there to worry about?" Jing Ke shook his head and said, "You guys know what I'm like: I like to drink but not get drunk, and I like to gamble without cheating. People in the Jianghu are called 'the fairy of wine' and the 'sage of gambling'..."

Boss Cao finally hesitated and said, "Then I'll bet—double."

He thought about it, if Jing Ke had really mastered a magical skill, one sword would be just one sword, and at most he would split the clay pot in half; It was just a random bump on the ground, and it was God's will to break into several pieces.

"Okay, I'll bet on the bill."

Jing Ke smiled slightly, and the sword light flashed suddenly, and the wine jar was split into two from the middle - the cut was flat, as if cut in mud, and the people behind Boss Cao stretched their necks, not daring to breathe .

The wine was spilled all over the floor, and the room was full of mellow aroma.

Boss Cao was about to applaud in his heart, when he heard a small "pop", half of the wine jar was split into two again, as if it had split open by itself.

"Oh, good luck!" Jing Ke himself was very surprised, put away his sword, and took a sip from half a piece of wine jar, "It's just a bit of a waste..."

Boss Cao's face was ashen, but he held back his temper.He didn't want to really tear faces with Jing Ke.The one on the opposite side is the world-renowned Mo Xia and the number one master of Feigong Academy. At the age of seventeen, he was called "Ten Swords" together with nine other famous people.The hand he just showed, whether it is sword skills, eyesight, or internal strength, is enough to shock all the buddies on his side.Although a tiger is no match for a pack of wolves, if Jing Ke really wants to make a big fuss, I'm afraid the jackal den will suffer heavy losses - it's not worth it.Although reluctant, but still have to give up.

"Go, get something."

Jing Ke raised his neck and poured wine while laughing.When he first supported the wine jar, he had already clasped the side of the mouth of the jar with his thumb, and a tiny crack was created by his internal force.If the opponent bets single, he will cut the wine jar along the crack, and the wine jar will naturally be cut in half; , the half piece with cracks will be charged by his sword energy and shatter into two pieces, making a total of three pieces.

After waiting for a while, Zuo San came out from the back hall carrying a bundle; his face was ashen, and his head was covered with sweat.

—He has seen the contents of the bundle.

Boss Cao didn't know yet.He took the burden and put it on the ground, said: "Brother Jing, do you want to count the number?"

"Eh? No need—" Although Jing Ke said so, Boss Cao had already untied the knot on the burden.Then he paled for a moment.So did everyone in the room.

Jing Ke himself was dumbfounded.After thinking about it, he quickly tied the bag again and held it respectfully in his arms.

"A-Nie, A-Nie, you are really...really..."

He couldn't say the rest.

At this moment, Gai Nie returned to one of the strongholds of the "Mountain Ghost" in Handan City.Sima Shang and several of his personal soldiers waited there all night, and when they saw him, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"You, you..." Sima Shang felt a headache when he saw his bruises all over his body.While checking Gai Nie's wound, he asked, "Why did it become like this? The others were all fine when they came back. Those jugglers were also brought back, and they will be sent out of the city tomorrow morning."

Ge Nie coughed several times.Sima Shang understood, and asked all the soldiers to retreat on the pretext of looking for medicine.

Gai Nie quickly narrated the night's adventure, and Sima Shang frowned and sighed.

"You kid is really...really..." He couldn't say a word, so he could only sigh, "It's good that you come back. As for Guo Kai, no matter if the old thief is dead or seriously injured, the situation should be for now. It is beneficial. Just as you said, it is the best policy to let them mistakenly think that "Gai Nie is dead". You must not stay in Handan, it is best to leave Zhao. I will make Zhongshan regain control of the mountain ghost; as for when you will When you come back, just pay attention to the secret lines of the mountain ghosts in various countries, and I will send you the news."

Gai Nie nodded, and said again: "But, that spy—"

"I will definitely find him." Sima Shang narrowed his eyes and put his hands behind his back. "According to the clues you said, that person joined the Hundred Gold Men after hunting in the autumn field. I will find out all those people." Transfer away from the general and check one by one. You don't have to worry about the general's safety."

"Yes."

"That's right," Sima Shang looked at Gai Niekong's waist, and took down a sword from the wall. "This is a good sword I got recently, you can use it for self-defense."

"...Thank you, General." Ge Nie took it with both hands.

"This sword is called 'Nine Deaths' - there are nine deaths in battle, and the brave one lives. Although the name is not good, it suits you very well." Sima Shang said slowly.

"Go here...Treasure."

TBC