An Feng Bamboo Horse

? After a short break, the team continued on the road.

Xia Anfeng is not afraid of tigers as a newborn calf, and Luo Tang is also a daring master who is not afraid of the sky falling.Even though they knew that someone was following them, no one took it too seriously because of their martial arts skills and well-trained guards from the two prefectures in the convoy.Just waiting to find a suitable time to catch those people behind and ask them.

Xia Anfeng still rode at the front with Luo Tang as usual, but he rearranged the order of the convoy and placed two of his father's soldiers next to Bu Zhangbai's driver.

The wheels are rolling, and the sound can be heard far away in the quiet afternoon.

Bu Zhangbai slightly pulled up the curtain on the carriage window and looked out.He didn't see the figures that Xia Anfeng and Luo Tang said were following their convoy, probably those people were alert when they found out that they had stopped halfway, and they had no intention of revealing their tracks.

Could it be that these people who followed them were related to those events back then?

He had a total of three encounters with the beggar who claimed to be a soldier under his grandfather.The first time the other party gave him a tiger amulet as a proof; the second time he was told that there were other surviving people who knew the truth of the year and hoped to have the opportunity to meet him, but did not disclose the number of those other people and where they were going; the third time This time was the last time in the alley, I gave him the remnant letter from the army that was kept by his companions.

Before he had time to ask more questions, the other party had already been discovered by the soldiers of the Xia Mansion, and the two hurriedly parted ways.

Unexpectedly, it was that farewell, Yin and Yang were already separated...

"Mr. Bu, it's windy outside, so it's better for you to lower the curtain." The soldier who was walking next to his car saw him open the curtain to look out, and said with a smile.

The soldier's face was so familiar.

Bu Zhangbai smiled at him, lowered the car curtain, and retracted into the car.

If he remembered correctly, the leading soldier who stopped the beggar on the street and forced him to commit suicide in the street was this man with a scar on his face and gloomy and indifferent eyes.

Ding Guohou was even willing to send the leader of his own soldiers to serve as his guard in Beijing.

Before leaving, Bu Zhangbai went to the Dingguo waiting room at dawn and wanted to say goodbye to him.The guards said that Master Hou was not in the room, and he should be meditating alone in the library at this time; but Lord Hou has instructed that if Mr. Bu wants to say goodbye, Mr. Bu should come in alone.

The guards led him to the book garden far away from the main courtyard, asked him to go in by himself, and then left.

It was the first time for Bu Zhangbai to come to the gate of Ding Guohou's Shuyuan.Looking around, this single-door courtyard with two entrances at the rear is as quiet as a hermitage, and the ground is spotless.In the courtyard, two red plums are still in full bloom, and the branches stretching upwards are intertwined with each other, showing intimacy.

He knew that this had always been the tacitly forbidden place in the mansion, and Dingguohou would not easily allow outsiders to enter.

The tall and handsome figure is standing under the red plum tree, with its hands behind its back, and its eyes rest on the bright red petals for a long time.

Bu Zhangbai approached him lightly, and stood beside him with hands down in silence.

The man's back is as straight and solemn as he first saw him when he was a child. The innate military temperament is like a good sword contained in a scabbard with undiminished sharpness. It is restrained but cannot be ignored by anyone.Xia Zun, Marquis of Dingguo, was once a figure who could stand shoulder to shoulder with his father in his mind.

Bu Zhangbai said softly: "Zhang Bai is leaving for Beijing today, and I'm here to bid farewell to Lord Hou."

If it were a month ago, he might have had a lot of words to confide in him, but now he thinks about it, and finally he can only say such a word that is not salty or bland.

The man turns around.He stood firmly in front of the 15-year-old boy, like an insurmountable mountain.

Bu Zhangbai raised his head slightly, and met Xia Zun's steady gaze.

What came to my ears was the words with profound meaning - "As long as his life is safe, I am willing to replace his father and die in Tianmai Valley -"

Ding Guohou stared at him with tenderness, relief, and a hint of loneliness.In this silent courtyard, under the tangled red plum trees, the outlines of the always upright soldiers look extraordinarily soft.Bu Zhangbai even had the illusion that he used all his tenderness to look at people in another time and space through himself.

No wonder my aunt would ask like that... Who in this world would use such lonely and soft eyes to look at someone who has no emotional connection with him?

Xia Zun reached out and touched his head.

"Safe journey. It's best to pass the exam. If you fail, Dingguohou's Mansion will always be your home."

The warmth left by that big hand on the hair is still there.It's just that if people can fake, some feelings will also be fake.

Bu Zhangbai covered the car curtain even tighter, and a faint sneer rose from the corner of his mouth.If Xia Zun really had that kind of affection for his father...how could he have the heart to sit back and watch his father die of depression?

I am afraid that in the end, wealth and fame are the most important thing.

After driving for a while, the sky gradually darkened, and the road was somewhat blurred in the twilight.

The servant who led the way came to ask the young master if he should find a nearby inn to rest for the night.In fact, Xia Anfeng was also traveling far for the first time, and he was the type of person who took a step at a time, so he asked Luo Tang for advice.

The third son of Weiguo Mansion looked around: "This road deviates from the official road and is sparsely populated. It may not be easy to find the inn." He raised his horsewhip and pointed to a mountain not far away, "On that mountain, there is a Taoist temple, the Taoist priest inside is familiar with me, he can be regarded as a good friend for many years. If I ask him to borrow a night, I will definitely not refuse."

Xia Anfeng set up a pergola with his hands and looked up the mountain. The gradually approaching twilight made it difficult for people to see the mountain scenery clearly.

Curiously said: "Unexpectedly, you also have contacts with Taoists. The third son really has a lot of friends."

Luo Tang laughed: "Where is it? It's just that he traveled a few more distant places than you, saw more customs and customs, and made more friends that we can talk to. That's all. He is the only Taoist priest in that Taoist temple." , I hope our fate will be a coincidence, so that he won't go down the mountain and wander around."

Lowering his voice, "The terrain of this mountain is complicated, and it is the easiest to set up an ambush. If those people follow us up the mountain, we can find an opportunity to teach them a lesson."

Xia Anfeng understood and made the motorcade speed up.

The Taoist temple is located on a flat ground halfway up the mountain. The front and back of the Taoist temple are covered with lush camphor trees, and the ground in front of the gate is overgrown with weeds.Xia Anfeng and Luo Tang jumped off their horses. In the twilight, they happened to see a rabbit jumping through the knee-high weeds.

Looking up at the gate of the Taoist temple again, most of the vermilion paint on the door has been peeled off, and the three characters "Liuyunguan" on the door plaque are as weak as a homeless man who has not had enough to eat.

Xia Anfeng: "... How long has it been since you went up this mountain?"

Luo Tang coughed twice to cover up, and looked around.

Xia Anfeng sent guards to knock on the door of the Taoist temple, and called a few times tentatively.There was no voice to respond.The dilapidated door of the Taoist temple creaked open without knocking.

Looking around, the Sanqing God Table enshrined in the Taoist temple is facing the gate.The altar is fairly well cared for, and there are no signs of decay such as the peeling of the carved paint; there are only some spider webs, which have obviously not been cleaned for a while.

Looking at the situation, the Taoist friend of the third son is either wandering away from the temple, or he has not lived here for a long time.

Luo Tang pushed the door open and asked people to bring food, bedding and other things into the temple one by one.Not without regret, he tutted at Xia Anfeng: "Maizi is a very interesting Taoist priest. I originally wanted to introduce you to my friend. It seems that the opportunity has not yet come."

Xia Anfeng watched him ostentatiously set up fireworks in other people's Taoist temples, and led the horses in, as if he was acting like his own mansion, and said to his heart that it's fortunate that your friend is not there, otherwise, he might have ruined the place of Qingxiu like this. The broom sweeps out.

The accompanying guards unloaded the luggage in the courtyard and prepared dinner by the lit fire.The horses are tied to the nearby posts, and special personnel are responsible for washing and feeding the animals after a day of hard work.The rooms have been allocated, the east house belongs to the people of Ding Guohou's mansion, and the west house is for the people of Wei Guogong's mansion to live in.

Several maids came in and out, busy taking the bedding in the car into the room and making it up.

Commander Qin divided the guards into three teams. One team was stationed at the front door and the back door of the Taoist temple, and the third team was responsible for patrolling the temple to prevent bandits from sneaking down from the eaves.This kind of defense can be described as flawless. If the opponent cannot be crushed by force with absolute numbers, there will be no gap to break through.

Xia Anfeng and Luo Tang did not go into the room to rest, they sat cross-legged beside the fire, discussing how to lure the enemy.A sizzling rabbit was roasting on the fire, resembling the one that ran out of the grass before entering the door.

Bu Zhangbai saw that the two of them were whispering, their expressions were half amused and half cautious, and he knew that they should be discussing strategies to deal with the stalkers.

Thoughts quickly turned in his mind.

Knowing that the convoy belonged to Ding Guohou and Wei Guogong, the bandits who still pursued them should not be ordinary people; their purpose is quite clear, which is to come for Ding Guohou and Wei Guogong.

Or narrow it down a bit, and come for Xia Anfeng or Luo Tang.

But is it possible that it was aimed at him?

What if some of these people knew the truth about the Tianmai Valley battle back then, but they just wanted to find an opportunity to reconnect with him?

——Even if there is a slight possibility, even if there is only one person among those people, he must not let that person fall into the hands of the soldiers of the Xia Mansion, and then end up like a bearded beggar who died on the street.

How could Xia Anfeng and Luo Tang be able to figure out the purpose of coming here before Xia Anfeng and Luo Tang? ?