Alternative Jianghu Adventures

After Qiao Anyue woke up, unexpectedly, Xia Yun didn't talk about anything related to Meng Po Tang in front of her.

The two parties seemed to have reached a weird consensus—the sudden coma last night seemed to be really caused by years of running around and exhausting.

On the wooden table was a half-opened white rice dumpling, which seemed to have been bitten by someone, and the edge of the gap was stained with white sugar particles.The only difference from other white rice dumplings is that in addition to the rice fragrance of glutinous rice, there is also a faint fragrance of herbs.

"It's delicious." Qiao Anyue commented persuasively, "I didn't expect it to be medicinal rice dumpling. You added autumn white to it when you steamed the rice?"

Qiubai is a unique herb in Baicao Valley that can strengthen the root and nourish the body. Mixing the juice into the food can not only enhance the freshness, but also strengthen the body.He Lianqiu is weak, and grew up eating this from pee, but the amount of autumn white is small, few people eat it all year round, even if they are lucky enough to eat it, they will not remember the taste, so when she heard Qiao Anyue accurately report After the word Qiubai, he was slightly taken aback.

"I didn't expect you to be able to eat it." He Lianqiu was a little emotional, "Elder You has eaten it for you?"

"...That's right." Qiao Anyue nodded sullenly, instinctively feeling that it's not good to say that she stole the medicinal materials from the warehouse of You Lao Pharmacy.

Qiao Anyue looked awkwardly at Xia Yun who was testing the knife outside, looked at the wormwood hanging on the door frame, and picked up the mung bean cake next to the white sugar porcelain plate, biting it, the smooth bean paste filled it immediately The whole mouth, even if it is a disguise, she can't help showing a few traces of sincere comfort in the corners of her eyes.

It's another year's Dragon Boat Festival.

What kind of rice dumplings did she eat at the Dragon Boat Festival last year?

Qiao Anyue's mind went blank, she thought for a while, but couldn't come up with any answers.Her heart sank completely——

...Since she woke up, she often forgot some things occasionally.At first, it was just some trivial things. For example, one moment she just took a bite out of a rice dumpling, and the next moment she was questioning whether she had eaten it. If she hadn’t seen the crack on the rice dumpling, she would not be able to recall it at all.

She knew the consequences of Meng Po Tang, but she didn't expect that the consequences would come so quickly and violently.

...Maybe that dream was an omen.

There was no panic in Qiao Anyue's heart - in her current memory, there had never been such a strong emotional fluctuation.She did feel guilty and uneasy when she killed someone for the first time, but that emotion just swept across her heart like a feather, and she would soon forget it.

The blood of the Qiao family has always been emotionally thin. She never felt that there was anything wrong with it, but this time, she felt that her chest was extremely tight. She didn't know what she was afraid of. Maybe it was just like in the dream that she forgot how Genshan treated her. The murderous intent, maybe she forgot who she is in the dream, or maybe...

She was afraid that she would forget Xia Yun.

Qiao Anyue took a deep breath and forced herself to concentrate not to think about these messy things. Just as she regained her senses, Helian Qiu put a handful of small white parcels in front of her.

"This is?" She opened it, and found a row of gold needles made of red gold, about three inches in length, with rosewood rosewood handles, and the tips were even thinner than embroidery needles. Made of the finest materials.

"The golden needle that Mr. You used in the early years," He Lianqiu smiled slightly. "Later, because of my illness, he sealed the needle and traveled all over the world to find the panacea, and this needle was kept. I didn't expect to meet you now. It can be regarded as...'return to the original owner'."

"Return to the original owner?"

"Old You... A few years ago, he resigned from his official position in the palace and returned to the valley, and passed away not long ago." He Lianqiu explained, "You are his disciple, so naturally you should inherit what the old man left."

Qiao Anyue was dumbfounded.

She stretched out her hand to touch the row of golden needles, only to feel a slight chill to the touch, and the appearance of You Lao vaguely appeared in her mind, but it was not very clear.Qiao Anyue didn't even know if it was because she hadn't seen her for a long time, or because of the Meng Po Tang. Even after hearing such news, her heart was extremely calm... so calm.

"Leave as soon as you eat." Xia Yun's voice came from outside the room, breaking the delicate atmosphere between the two of them.

"Leave now?" He Lianqiu looked at Xia Yun gesticulating the Miao Dao that he had just obtained, a little surprised, and asked: "I see that you haven't rested for many days, do you really want to stay here for a while?"

"No." The tip of Miao Dao pointed forward, and a white light was wiped out in the sunlight in front of the courtyard outside. , sonorous and powerful.

"I'm worried that the longer we delay, the more likely it is that Gen Shan will wait at the exit of the mountain range first... If we do everything possible to avoid him, the loss outweighs the gain."

Xia Yun pondered for a while, smiled at He Lianqiu, and asked back, "Besides, you are not in good health, if we stay here for a few more days, I think Wan'er can kill us both with a single look. . . . I can't afford it."

Said that Cao Cao Cao Cao arrived.

As soon as Xia Yun mentioned Wan'er, she saw the little girl trotting over, panting heavily, "...Sister, Chieftain Long and Deputy General Sha have brought people to the organ city. On the way."

"The two of them?" He Lianqiu thought for a moment, then remembered, and asked suddenly: "They ran out of herbs so soon?"

"You go ahead and order, move out all the hemostatic powder in the T-shaped warehouse and prepare first. Long Tusi and the others only come to get a lot of quantity. You tell the people in the pharmacy, but try to meet their requirements. .”

"Chief Dragon?" Xia Yun picked up his ears, his expression changed slightly, "Deputy General Sha?"

Could this be the legendary saying that there is no place to find when you walk through the iron shoes, and you can get it without any effort... Could it be that these two people have been mixed together for a long time?Deputy General Sha, if she remembers correctly, there is no one who can call himself a general here, except for the branch that the late emperor planted in southern Xinjiang.So, could General Lantian be around here?

She quickly grabbed He Lianqiu's shoulders, quite seriously, "What's going on with Chieftain Long and his party?"

He Lianqiu took several steps back, Xia Yun felt that he was too impulsive, so he quickly let go and apologized.When Wan'er saw it, she wanted to yell and scold, but He Lianqiu stretched out her hand to stop her.

"Although the organ city is the place Cheng Zhe built for me to clean up, after all, there are so many land boundaries and herbs that need to be taken care of. You saw it when you were outside. There are large terraced fields all down here. It is cultivated by people who are half Hmong and half Han, half medicine farmers and half self-cultivated.

If there are too many common herbs, they will find a way to sell them, which is considered to be exchanged for some money to maintain the manual operation of the entire organ city.Long Tusi is the local snake in southern Xinjiang. It is said that in recent years, he is also preparing to carry the banner of the Northern Expedition. The demand for ointment for bruises is huge on weekdays, so he has maintained cooperation with us for a long time. "

"Strange," Xia Yun shrugged, "Haven't you Baicao Valley devote yourself to refining medicine and aloof from the rest of the world? Now that it involves important matters of the imperial court, you don't even try to avoid them, and you even stand up? To provide herbs to the south... Is this standing in line?"

He Lianqiu stared at Xia Yun for a while with a half-smile, then slowly said, "Didn't Shen Yuan Pavilion have a fight over this matter a few years ago? I heard that this is how the Ten Mile Sword was distributed? Our Baicao Valley... also It can be regarded as a decent family, right and wrong, you still have to stand. You should know better than me."

This is extremely reserved, but people who understand it will naturally understand it.

Mu Zhi's identity has always been a tacit fact between He Lianqiu and Xia Yun. He Lianqiu didn't deliberately mention Xia Yun's identity in front of Qiao Anyue because of the secrecy of Xia Yun's identity, but Xia Yun's subsequent reaction was different. It was beyond her expectation.

Xia Yun said with a smile: "Everyone in the world thinks that there is no difference between assassins and killers, but I didn't expect that there is still one person who understands.

...Whether it is Xia Yun or Mu Zhi, this is the first time I finally heard this difference from an outsider. "

***

"Xia Yun, what do you think is the difference between an assassin, a killer, a hidden guard...?"

Xia Cunxiu sat on a half-worn rattan chair, watching little Xia Yun struggling to split the firewood for dinner with an axe. Instead of helping, he stretched out his hand and hit Xia Yun with small stones. Pull off the clothes and you will find that every swipe is a bruise!

"...No, the speed is still too slow. If my pebbles were replaced with hidden weapons, you would have died a thousand or eight hundred times." Xia Cunxiu sat and talked without pain in his back, "Don't show such a painful expression, just laugh... ...You see, no matter what time it is, smiling can always make people feel happy. When others are happy, they will relax inadvertently, and you have a chance to strike.

Come on, have a laugh. "

Xiao Xiayun pulled out a smile that was uglier than crying.

"I've made progress," Xia Cunxiu said slowly, keeping the stones in his hand, "Okay, you can't be single-minded in doing things. Come and talk to me. What do you think is the difference between an assassin, a killer, and a secret guard?"

Xia Yun shook her head honestly. She struggled to find a sliver of energy to think about this problem that was too grand for a five-year-old child. Except for the ignorant feeling that these people were all murderers, she had no idea at all—just Even the concept of killing people came from the butcher's stall selling pork on the street.

Fortunately, Xia Cunxiu didn't make things difficult for her. The man over forty years old sighed on the recliner, giving off the air of an old man in his seventies and eighties, "...Xia Yun, remember."

A stone hit Xia Yun's wrist, and Xia Yun dropped the ax in pain, almost cutting off his own foot!

"... Make it more impressive." Xia Cunxiu explained with a smile.

Xia Yun: "..."

"The dark guards and dead soldiers are the retainers of a certain force. Regardless of life or death, they are just a dagger for killing people. They have no freedom, but they are the easiest type of life among all people."

"...Why?" Xia Yun vaguely felt that lack of freedom is a particularly unacceptable reality—for example, Huzi is often locked up at home by his parents, and he can't come out to play with her everywhere. It's pitiful to watch .

"Because they don't have to blame themselves." Xia Cunxiu raised his eyebrows, "Xia Yun, what would you do if you had to kill Rhubarb who was guarding the door?"

Xia Yun struggled: "...I will remember it for the rest of my life."

"You see, normal people have seven emotions and six desires, have a guilty conscience, and feel sympathy for the world. But a dead soldier is no different from a weapon. They can put their own murder faults on the person who gave the order, so that their conscience will be lessened. be condemned."

"What about the killer?"

"The killer walks in black and white, and takes money to do things, but the life of licking blood comes from his own choice. He will lead a more interesting life than the killer, but it is also very easy to collapse. The final end is nothing more than death or death. It’s a golden basin to wash your hands.”

"Assassin... is there any difference?" Little Xia Yun was even more confused. She looked at Xia Cunxiu and found that the master was resting with his eyes closed. A firewood was broken.

"Assassin... Cao Zi's dagger, Lu Huo's land, Qi Ming's faith; Yu Rang is not in two minds." Xia Cunxiu raised his eyes and glanced at Xia Yun, "A real assassin can be promoted to the ranks of scholars. Scholars , You can die for your confidant.

Xia Yun, remember——

Assassins are heroes, and the so-called great heroes serve the country and the people. "

Xiao Xiayun gritted her teeth: "I don't understand."

"It's okay, just remember." Xia Cunxiu smiled, "One day you will understand."

Someday.

Xiao Xiayun has never understood, and the one who understands is Mu Zhi.

By the time she understood, she had already become a tree.

***

"I have something to ask." Xia Yun looked into Helian Qiu's eyes, "I know that Baicao Valley keeps the identity of the guests extremely secret, but can you tell me the route of chieftain Long and others?"

"What capacity are you asking for this matter?" He Lianqiu was extremely intelligent, and said with a smile, "The traces of chieftain Long and others have nothing to do with a little escort."

Xia Yun Diao Erlang grinned at the corners of his mouth, "We are also members of the Southern Army, so you can't do nothing for such a small favor?"

This is showing the hole card.

Shen Yuan Pavilion and Baicao Valley also stood behind the young emperor in the court.

The author has something to say: Thank you Tangjia Azhuo for the nutrient solution*5XD

***

... I actually thought about the difference between mercenaries and killers seriously

Cao Zi's dagger, Lu obtained his land, and Qi Ming believed in him; Yu Rang was not half-hearted. (From "Historical Records" written by Tai Shigong), it probably just cited the names and examples of a few very powerful assassins→_→