across the Quartet

Chapter Eight

Gai Nie looked at the motionless "bee grouper" on the ground, lowered his jaw and hands, panting endlessly.

It is not too difficult to see the flaws in this person's moves, but it is really not easy to completely defeat him.After more than fifty moves in the fight, Ge Nie had already gained the upper hand, but no matter whether he cut his wrist or kicked his leg bone, the man's face and eyes did not change at all, but the sword became more and more crazy , Every time the force is changed, the blood in the wound is splashed and swayed, and the bright red dots are like red beans.At this scene, the onlookers, whether friends or foes, couldn't help but be shocked.

Gai Nie recalled the old incident of being poisoned by the fire charm in Daliang Weizhuang, he thought: those who have poison in their weapons are often good at using poison and medicine; this person's skin is stiff, and he seems to feel no pain. He must have used some kind of strange weapon on him, so his blood probably won't get on him.He had this taboo in his heart, so naturally he didn't dare to inflict new injuries on this person, and he had to dodge the splashing blood like a hidden weapon, and was gradually forced into danger.At a critical moment, Gai Nie used the second form of vertical fencing "Flash Lightning" to attack his opponent, but actually took the opportunity to hit the ground with his sword and set up a wall of earth that was as high as one person - he retreated a few times in a flash while the dust blocked his sight. With a single step, he held the sword in his right hand to fend off the attack from the bee flock, and made a palm strike with his left hand, hitting the opponent's forehead.The man paused slightly, his right arm shook unwillingly, and finally fell to the ground.

Ge Nie stood still, the thick red pools formed puddles under his feet, and crawled towards the lower place: he couldn't help being a little strange—how could there be so much blood on the ground?The bee colony was killed by his palm, and the wound on his wrist was only two fingers wide, why did he bleed so much.Suddenly felt a throbbing pain in the cheek, and then murmured: "Yes, this is my blood."

Gai Nie broke into the crossbow array earlier and suffered several arrow wounds, but all of them contracted the wounds with his superb internal energy, which did not affect his movements; when he fought fiercely with the bees, he shot without reservation, and the wounds burst and bled again.However, he was so focused during the sword fight that he didn't realize it.It wasn't until the opponent was defeated that he felt bursts of severe pain all over his body.

But what Ge Nie was afraid of was not the pain, but the excessive blood loss that would make the body's senses dull.He secretly transported his true energy, the blood vessels all over his body narrowed, the blood flow slowed down, and the surface of his body became colder and paler.The surrounding swordsmen in black saw that his whole body seemed to be hissing and breathing cold air. They didn't know what kind of evil kung fu he was using, and the audience was silent for a while. Although everyone knew that he was at the end of his strength, no one dared to launch a sneak attack secretly.

Suddenly, there were three crisp sounds of "crack, clap, clap" from the front.Someone actually applauded to show their approval.

Gai Nie looked up and saw a strange young man in white clothes standing twenty steps in front of him, with his strong hearing, he didn't know when he got here.This person is seven feet long and has an outstanding appearance. He still has the beauty of Song Yu and the elegance of Xiao Shi.A gust of cold wind swept across his sleeves, rolling up pieces of dead leaves, dancing like bees and butterflies; above the slaughterhouse in front of the temple, there was a different kind of wind.

He had obviously never met him before, but his standing posture and demeanor around him made Ge Nie feel very familiar.

I just heard the man say: "Your Excellency is a disciple of Guigu." His tone was not a question, but affirmative.

Gai Nie thought for a moment, then suddenly said: "Your Excellency is the successor of the Sword Master."

The young man in white smiled slightly, making him even more suave. "I'm next to Meng Xiang."

"It's down Genie."

"... So you are not Wei Zhuang?" The young man frowned.He sighed, looking rather regretful. "My master is famous in the Seven Kingdoms for his 'Heavenly Questions' swordsmanship, and the world respects him as the 'Sword Master'; the only regret in his life is that he never fought against Gui Guzi, a master of swordsmanship who was also known at that time. Six years ago, my master searched for Yunmeng. Returning, he said to his disciples: "Although Yu doesn't know which sword technique is stronger than Guiguzi, none of Yu's disciples can match Guigu's disciple Wei Zhuang. Yu Kong bears the title of the best sword in the world, but ten years later, The world only knows that there is a ghost valley, but not a sword master.' We are all ashamed."

Gai Nie also felt ashamed, he didn't know if it was for the sword master or his junior brother.

What Meng Xiang never said was that after the old Juggernaut said these words to his disciples, he took unusual actions.The Sword Master of Shu Kingdom is famous, he has eight disciples, and dozens of disciples. The Sword Master summoned them all and announced that only one of them will be able to obtain the true instruction of the "Heavenly Question" swordsmanship.So the disciples were ordered to compete in pairs, and the winner of each round would fight with other winners until only one person won in the end.Every match is extremely tragic, almost life and death.Half a year later, except for Meng Xiang, the eldest disciple of the Sword Master, the rest of them either died or were seriously injured, and could no longer use swords for the rest of their lives.The sword master immediately summoned Meng Xiang into the mansion, and within a hundred days, taught him all the essence of Tianwen swordsmanship, and passed on all his life's internal energy to his disciples, only then was he satisfied.Another year, the sword master died of a critical illness due to a great loss of vitality. Before his death, he entrusted: "I have a ten-year agreement with the disciples of Guigu. After ten years, you will have to challenge the disciples of Guigu on your behalf. Don't bear the sword." Holy' name."

Juggernaut seems to be free and easy, but in fact he is extremely competitive.His disciples are also eager to compete for fame, how can they not hold grudges when their master praises other disciples so highly?After Meng Xiang left the army, he fought against well-known swordsmen from all over the world, without losing a single defeat, he soon became famous in the Jianghu, and everyone changed their names to call him the new "Sword Master".He thinks very highly of himself, and couldn't wait ten years, so he wanted to find a disciple of Guigu to challenge him; he became an official in Qin because he heard that Qin's "network" had spent a lot of money to reward Wei Zhuang's leader.He knows that the snares have psychic eyes and ears, and they can penetrate everywhere. As long as he follows them, he will be able to find out the whereabouts of the descendants of Guigu.

The current king of Qin also practiced swordsmanship hard when he was young. Later, because his father took him back to Xianyang to learn the legalist way of governing the country, his swordsmanship gradually fell into disuse.However, King Qin's interest in martial arts never waned; after taking office, when he was dealing with political affairs, he often asked the warriors around him to demonstrate their skills to each other.Meng Xiang is young and handsome, with chic and elegant swordsmanship, and is most favored by King Qin among the guards.This time in the battle to destroy Zhao, Meng Xiang heard that the swordsmen of Zhao State were very famous, so she asked to enter Handan first, but only wanted to fight against the top swordsmen around King Zhao.The king of Qin knew that he was crazy about martial arts, so he laughed and agreed, and ordered him to go with Zhao Gao, the magistrate of CRRC.The order of the CRRC Mansion was supposed to be in charge of the royal family and horses, and serve the king of Qin, but for some reason, he left Qin and entered Zhao alone. Meng Xiang didn't know the intention of this, and he didn't dare to delve into it.

After the city was broken, Meng Xiang and Zhao Gao entered the palace together.I couldn't help being very disappointed that King Zhao and his clan were not found.Later, Zhao Gao suddenly sent someone to invite him, saying that a highly skilled assassin broke into the palace, and none of his subordinates were opponents, so he begged the sword master to capture this person.Only then did Meng Xiang get a little interested, and when she walked out of the hall, she happened to see the fierce battle between Gai Nie and the "Bee Grouper".

Meng Xiang was in the master's school, and he had listened to his master's explanation and practiced the Guigu School's sword skills countless times, so he recognized it after a little closer inspection.It's just that the person in front of him is not the "Wei Zhuang" that Master never forgets, which is a disappointment.

"I heard that after the Guigu disciple left the mountain, there is only one left in the world. If you are not Wei Zhuang, could it be that Wei Zhuang has already passed away?"

Gai Nie shook his head and said, "Junior brother is in charge of the sect now. Xia Nai sect abandoned his disciples and went down the mountain privately."

Meng Xiang felt contempt suddenly.In the eyes of him and others, the disciples of Guigu fled down the mountain, presumably because they were afraid of a life-and-death duel with their fellow disciples, because they knew that they could not win, so they had to live on the sidelines.He glanced at Gai Nie's bloodstained body, and sighed: "Your Excellency's swordsmanship is unique, informal, and quite interesting. It's a pity that it has exhausted its strength and has no successor. If not, it would be worthy of a fight with me. "

What he said seemed to be a compliment, but in fact he was condescending, and commented on Gai Nie as a junior.It's a pity that Ge Niehun didn't care, and said calmly: "Thank you for your praise. Although I feel tired, I'm not exhausted." The implication is that we can still fight again.

Meng Xiang seemed to be smiling but flicked his sleeves, and said, "In my opinion, all the brave men in the state of Zhao are not as good as the king. However, with the bravery of one man, the king arbitrarily broke into a desperate place with thousands of troops, and plotted to assassinate him. This move can relieve the people from hanging upside down and save Zhao from survival, which is too unwise."

Gai Nie said: "I'm not trying to assassinate, but I just want to see General Wang Jian and advise him to treat Li Shu kindly and not to hurt innocent people."

Meng Xiang smiled and said: "Innocent? How many innocents are there in the world? The strong will meet the weak, and the weak will prey on the strong. This is the law of heaven."

"In your opinion, all the weak can be killed? However, when a person is born, his limbs are weak and he only knows how to cry; Slaughter as much as you like, leaving only the strong ones?"

"...This is the sophistry of famous experts, not the way of heaven!"

"Is that true? Although I am superficial, I also know that nature is divided into day and night, and the earth is divided into cold and heat. Things have the principle of change. The way of heaven changes, there is no constant weakness, and there is no constant strength. Babies can become strong men, and heroes will also grow old. The common people farm for food. Soldiers; soldiers and horses are strong, and they should protect the people. The strong and the weak should coexist in order to survive. Your Excellency only understands the superficial theory that the weak can prey on the strong, but you don’t know the way of yin and yang, and the way that the strong and the weak coexist, which is not enough to discuss major issues.”

"..." Meng Xiang was enraged by what he said, but she didn't know how to refute.But for Gai Nie, this debate between strength and weakness is something that he has never stopped thinking about and interrogating since he came out of the mountains.At this moment, when he heard again that someone took "the strong prey on the weak" as the only criterion for action, he unconsciously expressed what was in his heart.

In the desperate situation where all the people he protected died, all the things he planned were defeated, his homeland was destroyed, and he had nothing left, Gai Nie finally understood the "Tao" that did not violate his heart.

The original intention of Meng Xiang to start the conversation was to arouse Gai Nie’s anger or frustration, and shake his mind—seeing that Gai Nie’s body had been wounded several times, and he was not authentic in Guigu, he despised him, but he was also in a dilemma—— He not only wants to win this battle, but also wins decisively and beautifully.Otherwise, with the prestige of a "Sword Master", it takes a fierce battle to defeat a severely wounded and exhausted person, which is simply a mockery of fame.Unexpectedly, a few words before the battle, not only did not shake Ge Nie, but he was dumbfounded by the opponent's words, and his peace of mind was also disturbed.

In the battle between masters, the difference between victory and defeat is often only a few millimeters; the state of mind at the moment of the shot is also very important.What the two discussed before seemed to be state affairs, but the reality also secretly confirmed the most reasonable principles in martial arts.At this moment, in the eyes of others, the "Sword Master" and the "Assassin" are dressed in white, so chic, and the other is covered in blood, completely embarrassed, but the latter has a faint momentum of gaining the upper hand.

Unexpectedly, Gai Nie suddenly drew out his sword and bowed his hand to his opponent, saying: "If I die in this battle, I implore you to pass on the words just now to General Wang Jian."

He said he was defeated before a fight, which was tantamount to surrendering a slight advantage.Because apart from taking the lead in the debate, compared with Meng Xiang, Ge Nie's physical strength, internal strength and spirit are all at a great disadvantage.In fact, he knew very well that he was unlikely to survive this battle.

Although Meng Xiang was puzzled, but he didn't care to think too much, he nodded and drew his sword, and made a gesture of raising his hand. "……I promise you."

Gai Nie knew that in his capacity, he would never make the first move, and his injury could not be delayed for long, so he came up with a quick attack.He drew inspiration from the "Yue Nv Sword" that Mi Qi is good at, and his moves are not limited to swords, but fists, palms, fingers, and legs all at the same time, orderly in chaos, and seeking stability in ruthlessness.Meng Xiang responded calmly, he learned from his teacher's skills and profound inner strength, he can be called No. 1 in the world, so he was almost completely unafraid of the true inner strength in Gai Nie's fists and feet, and was able to free up his spare energy to strike later and seal Gai Nie's moves. Nie's swordplay makes it impossible to display the strengths of "Li" and "Decision" in vertical swordsmanship.Ordinary people fight swords, it is easy to fight faster and faster, but these two fights slower and slower--Gai Nie and Meng Xiang are both top masters who can see the opponent's intentions from the movement of their bodies and the flow of true energy, and they can also He guessed the opponent's response; but because he saw too thoroughly and knew the result of every move, he often had to change his move halfway, and the long sword moved away before it touched.The more erratic the two's movements were, the more sluggish the tip of the sword became, just like someone who is good at calligraphy, holding a wolf brush soaked in ink, and putting in a thousand ounces of strength with each stroke.

After thirty or fifty strokes, Gai Nie's forehead and the tip of his nose were already covered with fine sweat.This is the most exhilarating and dangerous battle he has encountered since he came out of the mountain. Every move and every move consumes not only his internal strength, but also his mental strength; Advance, detour, and defense are like commanding the actions of thousands of troops.He found a fleeting opportunity and swiped his sword at his opponent; Meng Xiang subconsciously turned around to dodge, while Gai Nie Zao pointed to the void, and as he turned around, he just aimed at himself impartially. The Jianjing point is sent to Gai Nie's fingertips.Jianjing is a large acupoint on the upper body, once hit, half of the body will be paralyzed.But in the blink of an eye, Ge Nie suddenly felt a sharp pain in his finger bones, a force rushed into his body along his arm, and his whole body flew backwards.

He never expected Meng Xiang's internal strength to be so strong.Ordinary people have to go through many years of practice before they can emit true qi from their fingers and palms; Meng Xiang is so young, but he can freely circulate the body-protecting true qi, and send it out from various acupuncture points on his body at will, seriously injuring the opponent. This is his master Guiguzi A realm that has never been reached.

Why do I always meet this kind of monster whose internal force is like a bottomless pit?Gai Nie coughed twice, got up from the ground, his left arm drooped weakly.Meng Xiang didn't pursue, but just stood there with her sword in her arms.The swordsmen and soldiers of Qin who had been holding their breath and fascinated by watching it all woke up with a start, bursting into applause.

Gai Nie swallowed a mouthful of blood froth welling up to his lips, raised his right elbow, each sword pierced the sun like a rainbow, and went straight to the Juggernaut.With a sneer on Meng Xiang's face, he swung his sword lightly, and the tip of the sword was actually on the same point as the tip of Nine Death's sword!For a moment, the swords of the two were connected in a line, and the light of the swords reflected each other, so wonderful.The sword fight immediately transformed into a contest of internal strength.But Gai Nie knew that he was definitely not an opponent, so he had to try to draw the sword, otherwise, the longer it dragged on, the greater the loss of internal energy would be; The Juggernaut's true energy reverberated, and his lungs must have been seriously injured.He trembled his wrist slightly and exerted a lot of force secretly, the tip of the sword suddenly raised up——Meng Xiang's sword tip was also forced to be raised at the same time, and a sharp peak was gradually pushed out in the middle of the straight line formed by the two swords.The flow of zhenqi is stagnated here, if it bounces back, it will damage your own sword.Meng Xiang had no choice but to use his left hand to assist, and slapped Gai Nie Tanzhong with his palm in the air.But these slight distractions have given Gai Nie enough opportunities to dodge, and the intersection of the two swords also slides from the tip to the side, and sparks shoot all the way, noisy and ugly.

Meng Xiang didn't want to hold it for a long time, so he retracted his sword and retreated a little, and then flew into the air, showing the essence of Tianwen's sword technique: "Lie Xing An Chen" hit the enemy's top door, "Zhulong He Zhao" stabbed the enemy's double Eyes and "heavenly style from horizontal" to take the enemy's throat; these three styles seem to have their own trends, but in fact they complement each other and form an unbreakable move;Gai Nie blocked the first two strikes with the "Moon Swallowing" style, but was forced to kneel and lean back by the third strike; Meng Xiang immediately took the move of "Pushing the Wings Together", and the tip of the sword rushed towards the opponent like a snake letter. Its left rib.Ge Nie was unable to defend himself, and the skirt of his clothes was cut from his chest to his hem by the sword blade—but at the same moment, he raised his head and let out a long breath, completely exhaling the remaining air in his lungs, and his ribs retracted half an inch at the very moment, so he only hurt the skin.

The two continued to fight fiercely for several rounds. Although Gai Nie responded with all kinds of strange moves, some of which were almost rogue, they still supported them after all.Meng Xiang saw that the winner was still not determined within a hundred moves, her heart gradually became restless, and her strikes became more and more ruthless, no longer caring about "everyone's demeanor".He knew that the opponent's left arm was disabled, which was his weakness, so he repeatedly attacked it: no matter how Ge Nie moved and dodged, he could always change his footwork and turn to the opponent's left side; Butterfly, it can be said that "looking ahead, suddenly behind." Gai Nie was unable to resist again, was stabbed in the shoulder blade by a sword, and backed up again and again.He originally wanted to lure the enemy to go deep, using the "Dragon Abyss" style to bring the opponent's sword into a "suction force", and seek an opportunity to control the enemy from it; but at this moment his internal energy was almost exhausted, and Meng Xiang broke free easily. The aura formed by "Lyong Yuan" found a gap and stole a kick, hitting Gai Nie's lower abdomen.This time, he was kicked more than ten steps away, and just fell to the edge of the car.Among the surrounded Qin swordsmen, several people's clothes were splattered with blood.But none of them took a step back, and none of them made a surprise attack. Their bodies stood still, as indifferent as a city wall.

Ge Nie stood up unsteadily again, wiped away the blood on his lips, his eyes were as black as nothing.He lost a lot of blood, walked a little staggeringly, and his eyes gradually became blurred.But the spirit has never become so concentrated and pure: the sound of wind, dust, human movements, and even invisible malice can all be captured by this body, naturally leading to a counterattack momentum.He slowly raised the long sword in his hand, facing the opponent's neck with the tip of the sword, almost forgetting everything outside; at this moment, his mind was empty, and only one thought was left - how to hit this sword.

All of a sudden, Nine Deaths flew out, rushing towards Meng Xiang's throat at the speed of off-string.But if Wei Zhuang was watching the battle here, he would definitely frown: this "opening the sky" style is extremely reluctant, only about seven points of the usual speed, three points of strength, and one point of sharpness and isolation.Not to mention the sword master, it is not difficult for any first-class figure in the world to avoid it.But for Meng Xiang, his goal is not to "avoid", but to "break".He had to completely crack this trick in order to wash away the shame of not being able to win quickly.

Meng Xiang's robe sleeves bulged, like a Kunpeng spreading its wings, and rushed towards the direction where Nine Deaths were flying!His running was different from the straight attack of the flying sword, the footwork of his feet, the swing of his arms, and the deviation of his body were all just right. When Feng bounced back, he happened to point directly at the opponent who was chasing after Nine Deaths. From the eyes of others, it seemed that Ge Nie was desperately hitting the sword with his chest.

"Destiny is reversed!" The people in the car murmured: "Today, I am finally lucky enough to see the unique skills of the Juggernaut."

It was an indescribable moment.Those who were watching the battle only felt their heartbeats stop suddenly, and the victory and defeat were already divided.

No one could understand why the sword that was obviously swung by the sword master ended up in the hands of the assassin.The assassin's left palm was pierced by the sword, but the sword in his hand was buried in the back heart of the Juggernaut, and pierced out from the front heart.

"Your... left hand..." Meng Xiang asked in disbelief as blood gushed from between his teeth.

"You can still move." Ge Nie said.Although Meng Xiang's initial blow broke his phalanx, his arm bone was intact, but he couldn't hurt people with punches and palms.He pretended to dislocate his shoulder and elbow, which made Meng Xiang overestimate his inner strength. Originally, he wanted to lure the opponent to attack his left side and wait for an opportunity to counter him;It wasn't until the last desperate moment that this camouflage was useful, and it slightly offset the strength of Meng Xiang's last sword.

Gai Nie's last move of the hundred-step flying sword was incomplete, because he planned to withdraw this move halfway - he expected that the sword would be blocked by Meng Xiang, so he cut into the opponent's arms at that moment At the same time, he stretched out his arms to retract the sword, held the sword body and swallowed his mouth, and changed the half-stroke of "Opening the Sky" into the half-stroke of "Swallowing the Moon".This change is dangerous and dangerous, like riding a rope on the cliffs of the abyss; but because of this, the opponent is completely unpredictable.If the essence of Guigu Wushu's "Earth Realm" lies in "self-restraint", then the essence of "Heaven Realm" is "unpredictability"-as the saying goes, there are unpredictable things in the sky, if the swordsmanship can imitate the wind and rain like the sky , Unpredictable, nature can always be beneficial.Although Gai Nie's internal strength practice has not yet reached the realm of the sky, his understanding of the sword has opened the "door" to a higher realm in this move.

Gai Nie took half a step back, and wanted to pull out Nine Deaths, but unexpectedly the blade of the sword was tightly stuck between Meng Xiang's ribs, and he couldn't pull it out for a while.He let go of his right hand, and pulled out the sword that passed through his left palm and pierced his lower abdomen.The flesh and blood separated from both sides of the white blade and closed again, making a viscous "chirp" sound.Because the surroundings were extremely quiet, the sound seemed loud for a moment.

He finally pulled out the sword, and blood gushed from the wound; Meng Xiang's body shook, and she let go of the hilt with her right hand, and slowly fell forward.Gai Nie was able to pull Nine Deaths from his back.Suddenly his whole body trembled, as if all the strength in his body had been exhausted, he just wanted to fall to the ground as well.

But for some reason, he felt like he couldn't fall down yet.

Is it for Handan?For Zhao Guo?Or for those who died?

"...You are so young, you are so desperate to fight. Very good, it's my old Zhao!"

"...Little brother is the awl in the bag, and he will stand out soon."

"...The mountain ghost is the eyes and ears of Zhao Guo's entire army, and it is also the painstaking effort of a certain man for many years."

"...The country has reached this point, and we don't know how meager the manpower is."

"...They are all brothers of our own family, and they are dying people, so there are no misunderstandings and temper tantrums."

"...After Changping, there will be death without surrender!"

The bamboo curtain on one side of the car was rolled up, and a person stepped out of it.It's a pity that Ge Nie's eyes are blurred at this time, and he can't see his appearance clearly.The man raised his hand, and the incomparably neat sound of the crossbow being wound up came from all directions.

A cold and gentle voice came from the front: "If you don't want to die here, let go of your sword and kneel down."

Ge Nie coughed twice, and a smile appeared on his lips.He cleared his throat, and began to hum in a low voice like nobles from all over the world chanting "Poetry" during the banquet.

"There are nine deaths in war. Those who advance aggressively die. Those who retreat prematurely die. Those who are greedy for merit die. Those who are cowardly die.

This is a ballad circulated in Zhao Guojun, which was compiled by Li Mu to alert and motivate the soldiers in the army.When Sima Shang presented the sword, he also said, "There are nine deaths in battle, and the brave one lives." This is the origin of the name of this sword.

"Gei has committed nine deaths, so why fear him?!"

He seemed to be able to hear the long sword laughing sharply in his hand, and countless innocent souls entangled between his five fingers, rushing forward as the cold blade was unsheathed.

Thousands of arrows fired.

TBC