The pinnacle of magic

Although they were invited to "chat for a while", the magician and Shi Rui were "invited" into two black cars as soon as they walked out of the villa.Blindfolded, with a cold gun on each side of the body, this way of trekking is obviously not very comfortable.So, after getting off the car, Shi Rui almost saw the indignation materialized around the magician.

"The boss said there is no need for a body search." A young man came over and said.

The man who seemed to be in charge of tonight's operation frowned. "Then please, please!" He made a gesture of invitation to the magician and Shi Rui, and strode into the arch in front of him.

The meeting place chosen by the head of the Qinglong Gang was not close.They walked through an antique Chinese-style corridor, passed more than a dozen arches and independent courtyards, and even passed a nine-curved bridge.The magician had no interest in the dark courtyard in the middle of the night, but could not stop looking at the ubiquitous dragon-shaped patterns around him.

Compared with his ignorance, Shi Rui was secretly surprised by the layout of this place.In modern times, it is rare to see such pavilions and pavilions built according to Qimen Dunjia.The man in front seemed to be walking without stopping, but in fact, before every turn, he would secretly glance at the hidden markers to make sure he was on the right track.Shi Rui guessed that the price of accidentally walking into the gate of the formation may not be as simple as being trapped to death.In fact, he has seen hidden muzzles on the road more than once.

"The leader is waiting for you inside."

The man stopped in front of a lake.The surface of the lake under the night is covered with white mist, and a simple pontoon bridge extends into the mist.

"Don't touch the railing on the bridge." The man smiled wryly, "This is a friendly reminder." He walked back the way he came from without looking back.

The width of the floating bridge can only allow one person to pass through, and there is a thick rope on both sides as a railing.

"Try it first." Shi Rui said to the magician.

The magician stepped on the pontoon tentatively, and the bridge immediately shook violently to both sides. "That's not right," he said, frowning. "I'm barely pushing. It shouldn't be shaking so much."

"You must land in the middle of every step, and the interval between two steps should not exceed one second." Shi Rui took a few steps forward, but the bridge did not move at all, and the bridge deck began to shake slightly as soon as it stopped.He jerked backwards and volleyed back to the shore. "Usually this kind of bridge cannot be crossed by two people at the same time," he explained to the magician.

"I don't believe that the gang leader can pass here." The magician curled his lips.He stood in front of the pontoon again. "Although I can't guarantee that every step is exactly in the middle, I can use the next step to make adjustments. Don't worry!" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Shi Rui raised the corners of his lips, proud that the magician was able to discover the trick so quickly.

The magician steps onto the pontoon for the second time.He walks pretty fast.He soon discovered that the pontoon bridge was not long, but the fog on the water was too thick, so they couldn't see the scene on the other side.On the other side of the lake was a small house with a roof covered with straw.He also noticed that the part of the pontoon bridge erected on the shore was connected with many iron cables and iron balls. It is estimated that these are the mechanisms that control the swing of the pontoon bridge.He continued to walk forward, and when he was less than three meters away from the shore, his feet suddenly loosened.A bridge board broke in two without a sound!The magician's body suddenly lost his balance, and the whole pontoon bridge suddenly turned sideways.

"catch me!"

A hand stretched out, and the magician instinctively grabbed the opponent's wrist, and his body was instantly pulled up by a huge force.Almost immediately, he heard the sound of the pontoon breaking.

"Now we can finally go back by the normal way." He said to the half of the pontoon bridge that was gradually sinking into the water. "Rui, are you always behind me?" He turned to look at Shi Rui.

Shi Rui silently put away his hair band, and rewound it around his wrist round and round. "Of course." He took the magician's hand.

He didn't tell the magician that when he saw the thatched hut in front of him, he was in a state of confusion, so he couldn't control his strength when he jumped up, and the pontoon bridge was broken with a shock.

This place is exactly as I remember it...

He stood at the door of the thatched hut, watching the magician's hand press the door panel, and slowly push open the two simple wooden doors.Shrines, bookshelves, chess tables, low couches, washbasin stands... The scene inside the house made him feel a certain space-time disorder.

"You guys are here." The leader of the Qinglong Gang sat in a wheelchair and smiled at them.

"The things here are all arranged according to my impression. Because of the age, I don't know if it is right."

"There should be a chair here." Shi Rui blurted out.

"Huh? When you and your mother are playing chess, is there anyone else watching the game?" The leader of the Qinglong Gang paused, his expression a little sad, "That's right, after so many years, your mother should have someone in the room."

Shi Rui pursed his lips, but did not answer.

"Sit down!" The leader of the Qinglong Gang waved his hand at them.

Seeing Shi Rui sit down, the magician also pulled a chair and sat on it.From the moment he entered the door, this "Chinese old man" was talking to Shi Rui in Chinese, which made it impossible for him to intervene.A pair of Nine Links on the shelf beside him quickly attracted his attention.While fiddling with the iron ring above, he observed the two people around him.

"My father is a teacher." The leader of the Qinglong Gang said quietly.

Immediately understood that what he was going to tell would be a very long story, Shi Rui frowned, but did not interrupt.For some reason, he had a feeling of nowhere to focus.

"I am his son who was born at the age of 40. People say that when you are old, you must love me very much. But he has been very strict with me since he was a child, even unreasonably strict. His words and deeds, even the way he looks at people, He has strict requirements on me. At first, I only thought that he had high expectations of me, so the requirements naturally became stricter. I didn't know the real reason for his behavior until my father died. I will tell you about this later. you."

Shi Rui pursed his lips, secretly thinking about the possible reasons behind this.

"In short, when I was ten years old, not to mention it was a game among children, no one even told me a joke. I looked like a serious little old man. During that period, the country was turbulent and learned. The person who was the first to bear the brunt, my father was taken away, and I was "assigned" to work in the fields. It has been several years since I saw him again. My father was dying, and he told me to be content with the status quo until the moment of his death. You can't go on the wrong path. Naturally, I have heard such words, but they can't affect my decision much."

"If I am content with the status quo, my background is not good. It is said that my grandfather still had a lot of land, and I am afraid there will be no good way out in this life. My hometown is not rich, and it is on the border, so there are people all the year round. I went abroad to ask for a living. I was only in my teens at the time, and my family was all on my back, so I sneaked across the border with an older brother without much thought. After that, I went to many places, asking for food, getting injured Surpassed, deceived, and deceived. In short, I finally came to this country."

"I didn't want to get into the underworld at first. Although what my father said has long been blurred, after all, the precepts and deeds I taught for more than ten years when I was a child are still there. In my mind, as long as I can survive, I shouldn't go to crooked ways. Who knows that things are impermanent , After all, I owed someone my life, and for a word of justice, I joined the gang. From then on, it was like fate, every time I acted, I always succeeded, and the people in front of me always succeeded. It didn’t end well. In just over ten years, I have controlled half of the underworld in this country.”

"At that time, I began to believe in fate. I took a few brothers back to the country, not only to return to the country in good clothes, but also to rebuild the ancestral graves, and to do some practical things for the folks and elders to accumulate some virtue. After the matter is done, a My brother instigated me to go for a walk around Qiantang and visit some places of interest. I have never had such a relaxing time, so I agreed after thinking about it. Unexpectedly, I was ambushed by the enemy on the west mountain the next day. Counted shots, fled to a river, jumped in, and lost his senses."

"When I woke up, I found myself washed up on a shallow beach. The wound on my body didn't hurt, but it was numb. I know this is the worst situation. If I don't get timely treatment, my life will be accounted for here. At that time, there was a sudden burst of music in my ears. I thought I was hallucinating, but after a while, a small group of people really came from a distance. I tried to concentrate and wanted to climb up. Call for help on the road. There are about [-] people in that team, not only those who play musical instruments, but also those who hold god statues and incense candles in their hands, and there are even eight people carrying a sedan chair..."

"Ah!" Shi Rui couldn't help but let out a low cry.

The leader of the Qinglong Gang gave a wry smile: "You already know who is here, right? I thought it was some kind of welcoming team. Although I didn't see the bridegroom officer, the wedding customs are different in different places. Maybe the people around here This is the fashion. I didn't care about the blood hitting the newcomer, so I crawled desperately towards the middle of the road. I was injured too badly. I only had time to see the sedan chair stop, and vaguely heard a woman say something, Just passed out."

"I woke up in a room like this. There was no electricity, no running water, and all the furniture was made of bamboo. I didn't know I was in one of the most amazing places in the world, I lamented that there are such backward villages around the bustling Qiantang. Then, I saw her. She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life."

"I could see that the villagers around her were very respectful to her, and she was so beautiful, so they were extra polite to her. When she asked me about my identity, I lied that I was a passing businessman and met a gangster She was injured and washed here. Sigh... she is so smart, she probably saw the clue from me at that time, but she didn't tell me the truth, she just told me that the bullet had been taken out, so that I could recuperate."

"My injury healed very quickly. But I was a little reluctant to heal so quickly. She was always busy and would disappear for a few days from time to time. I also gradually discovered the difference in that place. Although I was a little worried, but More in the hope that she would agree to go back with me and be the wife of the leader of the world's largest underworld gang. When the injury was finally healed, I immediately told her what I thought. She smiled and told me Once you get to their place, you can’t leave easily. Unless you join them, if you want to leave, you must defeat their leader. In other words, not only will she not go back with me, but if I want to leave, I must first defeat her.”

"I was completely stunned at the time. In terms of boxing and kicking skills, I was no match for her. She taught me a set of grappling techniques during my recovery period, which is much more powerful than any kung fu I have ever seen in the world. Isn't that Doesn't it mean that I can't go back at all?"

"Unexpectedly, she came to comfort me first, saying that I could choose to compare guns with her. I was somewhat confident when it comes to marksmanship. I taught her marksmanship basically. At first she said she knew guns, but she didn't bother to go. Learn. Later, because of my insistence, she got two guns and played target shooting with me. But she is too capable, even if it is her master, I am not sure that I can beat her in a duel with guns. What's more, guns are no better than fists and feet, and the slightest carelessness will cause death or injury, which greatly violates my original intention."

"I wanted to run away, and every time I ran halfway, I always ran into her. After a few tries, she threw me a gun and said that a man should just leave or die. I was aroused by her Bloody, agreed to duel with her at the moment. We drank all night and went up the mountain together before dawn the next day. After watching the sunrise, she counted one, two, three, and we each drew our pistols. Until the shooting The moment I realized that she didn't aim at me at all. I regretted it so much that I yelled. But she didn't fall down as I imagined. She quickly raised her hand, aimed at my heart, and pulled the trigger. "

Shi Rui frowned, not surprised by this result.

"When I woke up again, I was already lying in the hospital in Qiantang City. The bullet missed a little and missed the heart. At first I thought she was being merciful, but then I felt that my hand was as if before I fired the shot. I also trembled in this direction. Strange to say, I have killed countless people in my life, and I will never be soft when things come to an end, but that time I still couldn't hold my wrist. Could it be that she sensed my hesitation, so she paid me back The exact same shot? This kind of idea is too appalling. It is incredible enough that a person can survive the gun without any damage. Not to mention that bulletproof vests were not very common at that time. She only wore a single jacket, I remember Clearly, how could someone return such a shot in an instant?"

"To tell you the truth, I once thought she was not a mortal, because this kind of thing is probably only a god can do it. Later, I got rid of the enemy and returned to the ocean. I have never stopped sending people to look for that woman for decades. place, but there was nothing. If I didn’t keep a photo of her, I almost thought all this was a dream of mine. Until, I saw you on TV!”

"You look so much like her. I thought you were her daughter, but I found out that you are her son. I can't help but wonder, if she has that ability, will you also have it? If you can If it proves that you are from that place, can I find her through you?"

"So you hired Kaos to test me?" Shi Rui stated the facts coldly.

"Yes. I don't know if there are any conditions for that ability to activate, so I called an 'expert'." The leader of the Qinglong Gang admitted generously, "I originally planned that as long as he can prove that you also have that ability, I will Just come forward and let you take me to that place."

"Or detain me and lead my mother to appear?" Shi Rui sneered.

The leader of the Qinglong Gang nodded: "Of course! There must not be too many people with that kind of ability. Your mother must be willing to come to see me for you. If you are an abandoned child abandoned by her, I don't need to be with you. Too much effort has been put into it.”

"But then you changed your mind?" Shi Rui was not at all surprised by the thoughts of the leader of the Qinglong Gang.Without such means, how could this person be sitting in his seat today.

"Yes. I know that people in that place have marks on them, so I asked Kaos to show me the proof first. Your mark is on your lower back. I have never seen people there put marks on this And, in connection with what my father said to me, I think your mother chose this part for a reason."

"What's the reason?" Shi Rui asked.He wasn't used to being led by the nose in conversations, but the question certainly stuck with him.Vaguely, he felt that this was related to a very important secret.

"I told you just now. My father said one thing to me before he died, which is the real reason why he has been strict with me. My family, or, this is too small to be called As a family, we used to be very prosperous in a certain dynasty in the past. Every male in the family would have five red birthmarks on the lower back. A well-known fortune teller once advised the emperor that these birthmarks were the five birthmarks. Clawed blood dragon seal. If the five-clawed golden dragon is the symbol of the emperor, then the five-clawed blood dragon represents the emperor of the dark world. Once a person with this kind of seal does evil, he will definitely cause huge waves. The emperor will be destroyed for this The whole family, only one of my ancestors escaped the catastrophe by chance. He lived in seclusion and set up a family motto from then on. The men in the family are righteous from generation to generation, and must not be involved in any crooked ways. To my father For a lifetime, he originally wanted me to be an obscure gentleman, but he didn't expect that I would end up in the underworld. Maybe it's really because of the five-clawed blood dragon mark on my body. I am like a fish in water in the dark world. No one has ever been able to Defeat me. Now you understand why my mind suddenly changed?"

Shi Rui pursed his lips.

"The mark can be left anywhere, but why is it on the lower back? Although the photo Kaos gave me is not clear enough, but after zooming in, I can still tell that there is a faint red on your skin. I checked your age , you were born about a year after I was injured, and the error will not exceed four months. All of these point to the same conclusion." The leader of the Qinglong Gang stared into Shi Rui's eyes and said, "You are my son, I and her son."

Shi Rui slightly avoided his gaze.

"I have four adopted sons, each of whom can be independent, but I have never had a biological son in so many years. Fortune tellers say that I should have a son in my destiny, but I never understood. Now I understand, it turned out that as early as 20 Many years ago, I already had a son. Hahahaha..." The leader of the Qinglong Gang laughed a few times, and looked at Shi Rui with burning eyes, "If you are willing to take over my class, my country is yours. There is also the five-clawed blood dragon seal, in this world, you are as invincible as me."

Shi Rui bit his lower lip tightly.He finally understood where the restless power in his blood came from.As if sensing that his expression was wrong, the magician immediately put down the Nine Rings in his hand, and stretched out his hand to hold his palm.

After a long time, Shi Rui's expression suddenly relaxed. "Sorry." There was a faint smile on his face, "I'm not interested in taking your class."

As if he had expected this answer a long time ago, the leader of the Qinglong Gang sighed. "If you like these gadgets, you can take them home and play slowly." He said to the magician, "Of course, you can also come to chat with me often. After all, you are my important son-in-law."

He pressed a button on the wheelchair, and soon two skinny servants came and took the magician and Shi Rui out.

"What did he mean by 'son-in-law'?" The magician couldn't help asking after he was finally put down in the city.

"That man is my biological father." Shi Rui said calmly.

"Ah?!" The magician suddenly widened his eyes.

"Let's go! Let's go home."

"Okay, I'll call a taxi." The magician's mind was still a little confused, and he suddenly caught a glimpse of something in Shi Rui's palm, "Huh? What's in your hand? It was your father who stuffed it into Shi Rui when we left." Is this yours?"

Shi Rui glanced at the bamboo tablet engraved with a seal character in his palm. "Nothing. Just a last name I won't use." He pocketed the bamboo token. "Do you want to have supper when you go back?"

"Of course! I'm starving to death! I only drank wine at the celebration banquet!" The magician stopped a taxi.

"I thought you ate at least three pieces of your favorite baked tomato with cheese." Shi Rui got into the taxi.

"But those have been digested a long time ago! I want noodles, the dry mixed one, that's it! Ha! It can be regarded as breakfast now!"

In the morning light, a bright yellow taxi took them away.