I am aging gracefully in the world of famous books

Pei Xiang put down the iron zither in his arms and got up to observe the octagonal pavilion.

——The Zheng family is weak and incapable of martial arts, and Huang Chang would not intentionally embarrass them, so the clues should be in places that ordinary people can easily access.

——No need to fly to the top of the gazebo or dig deep into the bottom of the gazebo, or toggle any special mechanism.

Wanting to understand this, Pei Xiang put aside all the complicated and weird problem-solving ideas in his mind, and started from the simplest place again.

Her eyes scratched the slate floor and fence benches, and gradually moved up, gradually attracted by the inscriptions and simple patterns on the eight gazebo columns.

She walked to a pillar and took a closer look, and found that the bottom of the stone pillar was carved with a picture of auspicious clouds and green pines, and there were inscriptions and poems on the cylinder above the pattern.The contents of the poems are all related to the word "songhe", such as "the shadows of people in the west of the moon are like shadows, and the voice of pine in the wind is accompanied by the sound of cranes" (Note 1).

Pei Xiang bent down to browse carefully, and realized that the lettering in some places was not very clear, so she stretched out her hand to touch it, and then read a few words in a guessing manner.

After she read around the middle and lower part of the pillar, she moved her eyes up again. After a blank cylinder, the inscription reappeared on the middle and upper part of the pillar.This time it is no longer a poem, but a brief introduction to the origin of the name of Songhe Valley, as well as words of praise for a certain court official.

After patiently reading this passage, Pei Xiang looked up at the top of the pillar, and at the part not entering the eaves of the pavilion, there appeared a picture of a crane carved by a craftsman and some poetic lines.Pei Xiang climbed onto the bench in the gazebo, struggled to identify every word on it, and stumbled to write down the content of the above text.

——Everyone who has been to Songhe Valley can read the words on the stone pillars, which seem to have nothing to do with hidden clues.

— but maybe someone would like to do the opposite?

——Like a hide-and-seek game, sometimes the easier it is to find, the easier it is for the seeker to ignore it.

After reading the pattern and lettering on one pillar, Pei Xiang looked at the other seven pillars.

This time she didn't choose at will, but walked directly to the point where the crane's beak was reflected on the lake, and stood in front of the corresponding pillar.

——The octagonal pavilion, with four columns on the left and right, each column corresponds to a pointed and upturned pavilion corner, which is symmetrical and beautiful, and also contains very obvious hints.

Pei Xiang still watched from under the pillar.

There are pictures of pines and clouds, good sentences from ancient and modern poems, words that record the whole process of building a pavilion, and then a picture of Ruihe. Pei Xiang's eyes glanced at the flying cranes, and he carefully identified the words on the top of the stone pillars word by word.

After a while, Pei Xiang frowned slightly, but she didn't find anything particularly noteworthy.

—Is it not this pillar?

She thought about it, and always felt that the hope here was the greatest.So, she simply stepped on the bench next to the pillar and climbed up to the railing of the back of the chair. Holding the pillar with one hand and stretching the other hand, she stretched out her body to reach the top of the pillar, and groped for a while.

Suddenly, Pei Xiang's eyes lit up, because she felt some small and clear scratches in the cracks between several rows of poems...

— not meaningless scratches, but tiny lettering!

"Leng, Jie, Crane Sound, Piercing the Clouds, Sea, Xian Xun, Butterfly, Dream, Bao Yu Nian." (Note 2)

Feeling the bumps and turns under his fingers, Pei Xiang slowly recognized these small characters.

"Xianxue Dimeng Bao Yu Nian..." she repeated, with a bright smile gradually appearing on her face, "Isn't the place where Zheng's book collection is called 'Yu Nian Pavilion'... and this poem is exactly inscribed Directly below the corner of the pavilion here, coldly hear the sound of cranes passing through the sea of ​​clouds...the butterfly dream will last for the rest of the year..."

Finding the clues in Songhe Valley, for Pei Xiang, is almost equivalent to locking the hidden location of "Nine Yin Manual".She remembered that when she went to search for books in Yu Nian Pavilion of Zheng's family last time, she found several old paintings in the corner bookshelf, one of which was about the allusion of "Zhuang Zhou Dreaming of Butterflies".

She also specifically asked the head of the Zheng family, who painted those paintings?It's a pity that the other party doesn't know either.

Dr. Zheng Yu never mentioned it before, and his descendants didn't care too much after confirming that those paintings were not pens and inks of famous people.They have been throwing the paintings casually in the library, just as the old man's casual collection when he was young.

Compared to the indifference of the Zheng family, Pei Xiang liked those ink paintings without signatures and inscriptions, and he specially ordered the guards of the Pei family not to forget the paintings when they packed and shipped the books and papers. Piggyback on.

Having made a new discovery, Pei Xiang couldn't wait to go back and verify it.It's a pity that the two companions were busy with martial arts competitions, and it seemed that it would not be over for a while, so she had to be patient and wait quietly.

Having nothing to do, Pei Xiang checked the other six stone pillars in the gazebo, and finally confirmed that there was indeed only one stone pillar with obvious clues.

About half an hour later, Ouyang Feng and Hong Qi came back from the direction of the pine forest. Both of them showed their sharpness and aura.

But it is a pity that these two people did not cherish each other because of a close match, but they were a little more jealous of each other.

Literati often say that "words are like the person", and martial artists also generally believe that a person's martial arts and fighting style are mostly related to his temper.Therefore, after this discussion, Hong Qi felt more and more that Ouyang Feng was a deep, sinister and ruthless person.

And Ouyang Feng didn't like Hong Qi's way of distinguishing between black and white and hating evil like hatred. He even thought that it would be good if the two of them would not become enemies in the future, and there was no possibility of becoming friends and confidants.

Because of this understanding, neither of them had much interest in drinking and chatting after the competition, but hoped to return to the city as soon as possible.

But if he said to leave directly, Hong Qi still hesitated, because he never forgot the basket of roast chicken and smoked rabbit that Pei Xiang brought.He secretly struggled, weighing whether he should stay a little longer for the delicious food, and have the cheek to eat one more meal.

On the other hand, Ouyang Feng, who was at the side, proposed to leave very simply.

Hong Qi rubbed his left shoulder injured by Ouyang Feng's Spirit Snake Fist, coughed in pain and said with a smile:

"It's good to go back, Mr. Ouyang must hurry up to heal his injuries, he was hit in the left rib by my Unfettered Palm Technique, it must be very painful, right?"

Ouyang Feng was really in pain, and he also knew that Hong Qi was not feeling well either.

The two of them acted as if nothing had happened on their faces at the moment, and they were even talking and laughing freely. In fact, they were just pretending to be enduring the pain. Anyway... no matter what, they couldn't show timidity in front of each other.

"Young master Hong is too worried. Brother, I have been practicing martial arts since I was a child. I have long been used to such minor injuries and pains. Even though the young master's palms are fierce, it will not make me timid to escape. I propose to go back earlier because It's getting late, and the wind and dew in this valley are heavy, and I and other martial arts practitioners don't feel much, but Miss Pei is different. If I continue to stay here, I'm worried that Miss Pei will catch a cold."

This reason was so legitimate that Hong Qi had nothing to say. He scratched his head and smiled at Pei Xiang:

"I forgot that you don't know martial arts, let's go, let's go out of the valley."

Pei Xiang, who didn't feel cold, smiled and nodded, picked up Ouyang Feng's kite and stepped down to the gazebo, chatting with Hong Qi while walking.After a few words, Hong Qi's attention left Ouyang Feng.

When Pei Xiang and Ouyang Feng passed each other, they seemed to have forgotten to return the heavy iron kite to each other because they were busy chatting.Ouyang Feng's lips moved slightly, but seeing Pei Xiang's brisk footsteps, he did not make a sound after all, but a little surprise appeared in his eyes, which finally turned into fleeting gratitude.

Ouyang Feng had dark wounds on his left rib and right arm. He seemed to be able to move without hindrance at this time, but every time he raised his hand and breathed, the pain would be involved.

Although it is not enough to hold an iron zither, Pei Xiang's method, whether intentional or unintentional, finally made him a little more relaxed, giving him more strength to maintain a steady breathing and steady pace, so as not to let Hong Seven sees through the depth of his kung fu.

Ouyang Feng has always been suspicious and cautious. He is very wary of Hong Qi, a powerful opponent who is likely to become an enemy in the future, and he is unwilling to show weakness easily.

The carriage and horses returned, and the three of them had their own gains from this trip.

Pei Xiang found the clue she wanted.Although Ouyang Feng was injured, he gained even more. He had more ideas on how to improve his family's martial arts.Similarly, Hong Qi has gained a lot, but the fly in the ointment is that in the next few days, he will have to spend some time to recuperate his internal energy.

After arriving at the residence, Hong Qi didn't want to live under Ouyang Feng's watchful eyes when he was injured, and he happened to be busy with the flower pickers, so he offered to leave.

Pei Xiang exchanged contact information with him, and handed a basket of food in the car to Hong Qi.This move earned Hong Qi's sincere gratitude, and the young gang leader immediately smiled, thinking that after eating this delicious meal, most of the internal injuries on his body would be healed.

After bidding farewell to Hong Qi, Pei Xiang and Ouyang Feng also parted in front of the courtyard.

Ouyang Feng went to heal his wounds and comprehend his experience in today's martial arts competition, while Pei Xiang took Biyun back to the room, while taking a bath, he asked someone to bring the Zheng family's paintings.

After Pei Xiang took a comfortable hot bath, those ink paintings of unknown authors were already placed on the table.

"Biyun, I'm a little hungry, go to the kitchen and see if there's anything fresh to eat."

"Girl wait a moment." Biyun left the room.

Pei Xiangli wiped his hair, and slowly unfolded several scrolls on the table.After appreciating all the paintings, Pei Xiang kept the painting "Zhuang Zhou's Dream of Butterflies".

——Looking at the paintings alone, these plants are quite interesting.

Because she had known in advance that the painting was different, Pei Xiang's search was very targeted, and she soon discovered the clue.

She found a hole the size of a bamboo stick at the bottom of the painting scroll of "Dream Butterfly". After opening the top of the hole, Pei Xiang pulled out a gauze as thin as a cicada's wing.

The gauze is extremely light and thin, translucent light golden in color, and can wrap Pei Xiang's entire body when fully spread out.

However, Pei Xiang didn't see any words on this piece of gauze.

She raised her eyebrows slightly, and re-observed the ink painting of "Zhuang Zhou's Dream of a Butterfly".

Pei Xiang discovered that the several plants used as background decorations in the painting are some common and confusing herbs, which look like inconspicuous weeds at first glance, but they can actually be used as medicine.

"Is this a reminder?" Pei Xiang murmured.

After she recognized several herbs, she quickly deduced the general effect of the mixture of several herbs in her mind, and immediately found it very interesting.

It just so happened that the medicinal materials in her room were quite complete. Although the amount was not much, it was enough to think about it.

——This senior Huang Chang is really testing the younger generations!

——If you really read Zheng Yuyi's collection of books, you will probably be able to solve this problem.

——I'm taking advantage of this.

After thinking for a while, Pei Xiang ground the selected herbs into powder, blended them together, and roasted them on the fire for a while.After the powder changed color slightly, Pei Xiang poured the hot powder back into the water, and then she tried to dip a corner of the tulle into the water.

Unfortunately, it failed the first time.

Pei Xiang readjusted the dosage ratio and experimented again.

The second time, some handwriting slowly appeared on the corner of the wet tulle...

After the entire gauze was soaked in the liquid medicine, characters the size of rice grains finally emerged one by one, quickly filling the entire gauze.

Pei Xiang read it carefully from the beginning, and the beginning of the text is Huang Chang's own self-report.He didn't introduce his identity and experience, but simply talked about his friendship with Zheng Yuyi and his regret that his friend had no successors.

He warned the person who got this tulle not to reveal the "Nine Yin Scriptures", so as not to bring death to himself and his family.At the same time, he hoped that the descendants of Zheng Yuyi or those who sincerely cherish Zheng Yuyi's lifelong collection of books can have the power to protect themselves, but don't rely on this martial arts to bully the weak and kill innocent people indiscriminately.

On the tulle, Huang Chang explained some of his thoughts.

He believes that those who can devote themselves to study Zheng Yuyi's lifelong collection of books are unlikely to be martial arts people, but should be descendants of the Zheng family or those who are obsessed with medicine.For those who don't like martial arts, this martial arts secret book can only be regarded as the icing on the cake, and it's between practicing and not practicing.

However, Huang Chang devoted his whole life to writing this martial arts masterpiece. After all, he still hopes that the "Nine Yin Manual" can be inherited and carried forward, not to be buried in it.

Therefore, he will store two volumes of the manuscript of this exercise in another place, in order to give fellow martial artists the opportunity to learn the contents of the scriptures.

Huang Chang said that he could foresee that the publication of the "Nine Yin Scriptures" would definitely cause chaos in the world.Therefore, he once again told the person who got the light love not to reveal the secret, so as not to cause trouble to the upper body, and there will be no peace in the future.

After reading Huang Chang's self-report and confession, Pei Xiang then looked at the text of the "Nine Yin Manual", and found that the first half is about internal strength exercises, and the second half is about enemy moves. The arrangement of the content of the Bible.

Immediately afterwards, she looked at the end of several internal exercises, and found that there was an article with the same content as the general outline, expounding the principle of yin and yang mutual assistance, hardness and softness in the realm of martial arts, which is very profound and mysterious.

Of course, even better, this general outline is not a Sanskrit transliteration.

Huang Chang probably felt that those who could find the "Nine Yin Scriptures" through the Zheng family's collection of books were very unlikely to do evil.Therefore, he did not deliberately write the general outline into a Sanskrit transliteration like the original work.

— or maybe because he thought Sanskrit was hard for someone who had read a roomful of books.

Pei Xiang still had to take a closer look, Biyun came back with food.She calmly put away the tulle with the "Nine Yin Manual" recorded on it, smiled and asked Biyun what delicious food he brought her.

Biyun chattered about how she went to the kitchen to order food, and Pei Xiang responded from time to time. She didn't read the newly acquired "Nine Yin Manual" again until before going to bed at night.

In the daytime of the next day, Pei Xiang finally had a long time alone, so he carefully read the words on the tulle.

For Pei Xiang, this top-notch Taoist exercise is actually not difficult to understand. Although she does not have a high level of martial strength at the moment—it is predicted that she will not be able to practice internal strength in the future, but her martial arts realm is still there.

Not to mention the cultivation of internal strength that needs to be re-trained in every world, but only to talk about her sword intent and swordsmanship. If she is allowed to swing the sword with all her strength, she will have her place in the future Huashan Lunjian.

It's a pity that with Pei Xiang's current physical condition, if she wants to live a long life without hurting her foundation, she has to restrain her majestic sword intent.The strongest attack power she can exert at present, that is, like the last time she dealt with the flower thief, cannot be used continuously.

After reading the "Nine Yin Manual", Pei Xiang sighed silently.

Among the inner strength and heart methods recorded above, "Tendons and Bone Forging Chapter" and "Healing the Wounds Chapter" are very exquisite, and for martial arts practitioners who can cultivate internal strength, they are almost equal to panacea.But for Pei Xiang, it still didn't help much.

Because no matter what, these two exercises are not out of the scope of internal cultivation.

——It seems that the only way to go is body forging.

——It’s just that if that’s the case, I have to find a way to collect a large amount of rare poisons and rare medicines, and then gradually exercise my body to forcefully increase my physical strength.

——Once you have a certain foundation, you can use sword intent to hone yourself, break through and stand up.Maybe in this life... I might be able to temper myself into a sword.

In fact, when Pei Xiang just crossed over, as soon as she found out that she had the physique of six yangs, she already had the idea of ​​exercising her body.

However, this method is full of difficulties. Not only does the exerciser have to endure all kinds of pain and suffering, and he will not be able to get rid of the pain until the day of great success, it also requires various rare and rare medicines and poisons, each of which is very valuable.Therefore, Pei Xiang has been looking for an opportunity to "get rich quickly".

Now, with the "Nine Yin Manual" in hand, Pei Xiang felt that she could finally start working.

The author has something to say: Note [-]: This verse comes from Shu Yuexiang, a poet of the Song Dynasty, "The cool air is like autumn after the Jiashen rain in June".

Note [-]: From Modern Chen Sanli's "Ciyun Hao'an Old Man's Notes".