Embrace the blade

The old house is located in the southeast of Pingchuan Town, which is the place where Jiang Li chased and lost the mysterious Jianghu man the day he entered the town. The poor live here mixed together, theft and fights often occur, and the government rarely supervises it. Li's family saved enough savings and moved to the more affluent west side, leaving the house abandoned.

There were cobwebs on the gate of the house, and weeds were overgrown on the courtyard wall. Qi Zhaoxi and Jiang Li climbed over the wall without making a sound. However, there are many sword scratches engraved on the pillars on the wall, proving that a fierce fight did take place here.

Jiang Li walked around the house slowly, but found no mechanism, turned around and saw Qi Zhaoxi stopped in the corner of the room, opened the dusty wooden cabinet, and took out a cloth bag from it.

Jiang Li walked over to him to see, there were several dry grain noodles in the cloth bag, probably the food that Fan Li sent to the Jianghu people.

This is not surprising, but Qi Zhaoxi leaned closer to smell it, and suddenly broke off a small piece and put it in his mouth.

"..." Jiang Li said, "What are you doing?"

"It's still edible, but it's a bit hard." Qi Zhaoxi swallowed reluctantly, picked up the teacup on the table and handed it to Jiang Li.

Jiang Li was speechless, subconsciously went to get the teapot, picked it up heavily, and immediately reacted, opened the lid and saw that it was indeed clean water, and looked at the teacup in his hand, it was also spotless, obviously it had just been washed.

Jiang Li looked around again: "Is that person still hiding here?"

Qi Zhaoxi said: "Pour water."

After pouring a cup of tea, Qi Zhaoxi calmed down and replied, "It's very possible, after all, the town is looking for him, and he doesn't dare to show his face, but he has to eat and drink."

Jiang Li became vigilant, and there was nothing in the house, so the two of them walked in. The backyard was empty, and there were some old sundries scattered on the ground, which could be seen clearly at a glance, and the only place left to hide people was The cellar is gone.

Qi Zhaoxi removed the stone cover on the cellar and looked around. A ladder was nailed to the wall and extended into the deep darkness at the bottom of the cellar. He sighed and said, "Jiang Li, there are two possibilities right now. Hiding who we're looking for, or a trap waiting for us."

Jiang Li frowned: "I always feel weird."

"Yeah." Qi Zhaoxi nodded, "I'll go down and have a look, you stay outside and wait."

"No." Jiang Li didn't even think about it.

Qi Zhaoxi looked at him with a smile: "If you two go down together, if the entrance of the cellar is sealed, won't you be caught in a urn?"

"That's not OK."

Qi Zhaoxi smiled even deeper, and leaned closer to him: "I didn't expect you to be so worried about me, how about a kiss?"

"Who's worried about you?" Jiang Li stretched out his hand to push him away.

"Are you still shy when there is no one?" Qi Zhaoxi held his hand instead and said in a low voice, "I was busy checking that Jiang Hu person early this morning, and almost ran all over half the town. I have never been so diligent, you Don't you want to give me some reward?"

Jiang Li met his gaze, his heart was about to move, and he felt embarrassed.

Qi Zhaoxi said again: "I'll go down for a quarter of an hour at most, if there is no response, you can come down to find me again."

Jiang Li finally let go: "Yes."

That being said, Qi Zhaoxi didn't move, and stared at him with a smile in his eyes, waiting for his 'reward'.

Jiang Li looked away uncomfortably, and said vaguely, "We'll talk about it at night."

"Okay." Satisfied, Qi Zhaoxi turned over and entered the cellar, climbing down the ladder.Jiang Li looked down at the entrance of the cave, Qi Zhaoxi's figure was submerged in the thick darkness below, the sound of slight movements was echoed up, and then, a small ball of fire tremblingly lit up in the deepest part, it was Qi Zhaoxi who ignited it Huo Zhezi looked around.

"How is it?" Jiang Li asked.

Qi Zhaoxi's voice came up with an echo: "This place is quite big, and there is a cave inside."

Following the voice, the small group of flames moved forward and entered the cave, where they could no longer be seen, only silent darkness remained in the field of vision.

Jiang Li couldn't help being a little nervous, but he didn't act rashly, and counted the time silently in his heart.

At this moment, a familiar voice suddenly sounded from behind: "Jiang Li!"

Jiang Li looked back cautiously, and saw a pretty girl jumping down from the wall, but it was Cheng Nian whom he hadn't seen for a long time.

When Cheng Nian saw his face clearly, he was startled for a moment, and then realized: "Your mask is so realistic, if I saw your face first, I wouldn't dare to recognize it."

Jiang Li looked at her: "Why are you here?"

Cheng Nian stepped forward quickly, and grabbed his arm with his hand: "I came to look for you while Master was not paying attention. It's not suitable to stay here for a long time. Come with me, I have something important to tell you!"

Jiang Li remained calm: "What's the matter?"

"There's a mechanism in the cellar that can hold him back for a while. Come with me quickly, and I won't harm you!" Cheng Nian said eagerly.

Jiang Li still didn't move: "What do you mean?"

Cheng Nian saw that he was guarding against him, so he let go of his hand in frustration, turned his head and took a quick look to confirm that there was no one behind him, and said, "Jiang Li, Qi Zhaoxi is actually not your master, right? You and him are also the first in Dongting." meeting?"

Jiang Li was stunned for a moment, Cheng Nian knew he was right, and continued: "He is not a hero at all, he is the left protector of Prajna Sect!"

"..." Jiang Li glanced at the cellar and asked, "How do you know?"

"I eavesdropped on the conversation between Master and the people of Prajna Sect. They also said that you have clues of the "Longevity Jue" on your body. That left guardian came for the "Longevity Jue". You must not believe him, no matter what he tells you. What, I must have lied to you!"

Jiang Li looked at her quietly: "How can I be sure you didn't lie to me?"

"I..." Cheng Nian was speechless.

"She tried to slip away from me and wanted to save your life. Of course she was telling the truth." A soft voice answered for her.

Cheng Nian turned pale with shock, turned around and saw Xiao Lingyu who was leaning on the wall: "Master..." He hurriedly stood in front of Jiang Li again, and said to him in a panic, "Jiang Li, hurry up and leave this town! Believe me Once, I really didn't lie to you this time..."

The woman who was leaning against the wall was languid, showing no intention of making a move. Jiang Li stared at her and raised his hand to press on the sword.

"Don't be nervous, I just want to chat with you." Xiao Lingyu smiled softly, "Cheng Nian didn't know that I was following behind, this was not an ambush, and she certainly didn't lie to you. It's not easy to see through your disguise, so I have to let Cheng Nian find you."

Cheng Nian realized something and couldn't believe it: "Master... did you let me hear those words on purpose?"

Xiao Lingyu avoided answering, and only said to Jiang Li, "Have you ever heard of the mysterious Left Protector of Prajna Sect?"

Jiang Li remained silent.

"It's not a secret, you can find out after a little effort. The left protector is erratic and has never interfered in the affairs of the Prajna Sect. The old leader has only entrusted him with one thing for ten years, and that is to get the "Longevity Secret" "."

Jiang Li clenched his sword tightly, and asked coldly, "Why did you tell me this?"

"I can't get the "Secret of Longevity" from Qishamen, and of course I don't want the Prajna Sect to succeed." Xiao Lingyu said, "Think about it carefully, if it is not for no reason, why is he so kind to you?"

Jiang Li was silent for a while, and only replied: "I trust him."

"Believe it?" Xiao Lingyu was amused, covered her lips and smiled, "It's really rare that you are still so naive. Think back in Dongting, before you found out that Cheng Nian lied to you, didn't you also say you believed her?"

"..." Jiang Li frowned, as if hurt by the sarcasm in his words.

Cheng Nian trembled all over, lowered his eyes, and didn't say a word.

Xiao Lingyu said: "I'm also very puzzled, with your intelligence, can't you really not see that there is something wrong with Qi Zhaoxi?"

This sentence is like a hook, mercilessly uncovering the details that have been deliberately ignored, and various clues can't help but come to mind: Qi Zhaoxi's extraordinary understanding of the Prajna Sect, from the identity of the people in the teaching, to the martial arts, to asking for help The smoke of the signal, the method of refining human Gu, and Jiang Li's sanity outside the cave in Jiuyuan Mountain, but he still vaguely remembered that he appeared majestically and hugged himself in his arms.

It's not that he didn't notice it, but he couldn't help yearning for the warmth of his embrace.

Xiao Lingyu didn't let go of the slight change in Jiang Li's expression, and added unhurriedly: "Or, you are aware of it, but you dare not think about it, and you have learned to deceive yourself?"

Jiang Li suddenly looked at Xiao Lingyu, the corners of his lips pursed tightly.

"Jiang Li, the rivers and lakes are dangerous." Xiao Lingyu shook his head and smiled, "You don't have to believe me, anyway, the Prajna Sect protectors have tattoos under the collarbone. You will know if it is true or not."

Before Jiang Li could react, there was a sudden violent noise in the cellar. He suddenly turned his head and saw a strange man jumping out of the cellar, rolling on the spot, stabilizing his figure with his sword on the ground, his cold light flickering, it was no doubt sword!

Jiang Li was startled, the Qingshuang Sword had already struck like lightning, the man hastily took the move, turned around and fled.

Qi Zhaoxi jumped out of the cellar, took a breath, and immediately caught up. Jiang Li didn't care about anything else, and hurriedly followed, and the three disappeared in the blink of an eye.

All the accidents happened in a short time, Xiao Lingyu came back to his senses, unbelievable: "Do not doubt the sword, how could it really appear..."

The dilapidated houses and huts in this place stretched out in stretches, and the roads were narrow and intricate. The man shuttled around among them, obviously wanting to repeat the old trick to get rid of them.

How could Jiang Li let him get what he wanted? He picked up a dead branch lying on the ground with his toe, grabbed it with his left hand and threw it, the dead branch flew forward like an arrow, and hit the man's back. He also slowed down, seeing that he was about to be overtaken by Qi Zhaoxi who was behind him, and immediately dodged and rushed into the broken house on the side of the road.

Qi Zhaoxi broke through the door and chased him in. In the dust that was stirred up, he saw the man's sword flash, swaying over the beam like a stream of water, and slashing at him condescendingly.

Qi Zhaoxi grabbed the lame square table by the wall and threw it up, but the sword was so sharp that it sliced ​​through the thick square table without any hindrance, and it still fell on the head. Qi Zhaoxi blocked the attack with the horizontal sword. After following into the room, he thrust out a sword suddenly, and the man retreated quickly.

Jiang Li pressed on step by step, pouring his inner strength into the sword, trying to take down the opponent in one fell swoop.

The wall of this dilapidated room is half collapsed, the pillars are collapsed, the man leaned on the only remaining pillars, and there is no way to retreat, Qi Zhaoxi suddenly became alert, and hurriedly said: "Jiang Li, wait!"

It's a pity that it was too late, Jiang Li swung his sword horizontally, and the sharp sword energy poured out instantly. Almost at the same time, the man flew to the beam, the sword energy cut his thigh, splashed blood, but completely shattered the pillar. There was a loud bang.The man also drew his sword and cut off the rotten beams. The precariously broken house suddenly roared like thunder, and broken stones and wood fell like a torrential rain amidst the overwhelming dust.

Qi Zhaoxi grabbed Jiang Li and retreated. The broken house almost wiped their clothes and collapsed, billowing dust and mist.

It was almost evening, the dust and mist had settled, the setting sun was shining on the ruins, and the figure of the man had long since disappeared.

Jiang Li couldn't help being annoyed when the opponent escaped from his eyes again, and he put his sword back into its sheath as if venting.

Qi Zhaoxi stood beside him and sighed. He didn't know what he had experienced in the cellar. He had several thin bloodstains on his body, and now he was covered with dust again, looking quite embarrassed.

"It doesn't count as nothing. Let's go back to rest and discuss later." Qi Zhaoxi took Jiang Li's hand, but unexpectedly he withdrew it suddenly.

Qi Zhaoxi looked in surprise, but saw Jiang Li staring at him, slowly backed away two steps, his eyes were strange that he had never seen before.