Embrace the blade

On May [-]th, the Famous Sword Conference.

The scorching sun is like fire, and the summer flowers are about to burn, bright and enthusiastic.As soon as Qi Zhaoxi stepped into the martial arts arena, several people turned their heads to look at him, their faces were full of anxiety, they were disappointed when they saw it was him, and they couldn't help muttering.

Xue Le really didn't call Qi Zhaoxi again this morning, he himself didn't know when he arrived, he took a good spot to watch, and was waving at Qi Zhaoxi, when Jiang Li and Zhaoyue were standing beside him.

This martial arts arena is much more lively than yesterday's rookie competition.After all, when it comes to not doubting the sword, no one is willing to stay out of it, so there are no seats on the high platform, and there are crowded crowds in the arena, but from the appearance of the clothes, the various sects are still distinct.

"What's going on?" Qi Zhaoxi asked.He came on the tail of the opening hour, and he was already surprised that he didn't hear the sound of swords and soldiers outside the wall. Who knew that the arena was empty, and there was only Wei Min standing beside him, and his face was dignified when he looked carefully.

Xue Le looked at Zhaoyue staring at his toes, and said in a low voice, "Cheng Daxia hasn't arrived yet."

No doubt that the sword is not there.

Qi Zhaoxi laughed lowly, as expected.Others ran out of patience, complaining with suspicion, wave after wave.

"Master Wei, don't you want to give us an accurate explanation?"

"What a big shelf! It's so hot, do you want us to wait until dark?"

"Everyone, be safe, don't be impatient, I've already sent someone to urge you!" Wei Min repeatedly apologized, and suddenly saw a servant running in anxiously, and hurriedly asked, "Where's the person?!"

"Master, there is no one!" The servant yelled from afar, "I have searched all over Zhuangzi, but I haven't found anyone!"

This loud voice smashed into the crowd, and at the same time, hundreds of people shouted, drowning Wei Min's voice mercilessly, and the martial arts arena suddenly seemed to be boiling porridge.

"Damn it! I've said it's unreliable, Cheng Daxia, Cheng Daxia, fart! Why don't you just run away overnight after seeing the baby!"

There was a cold mocking voice nearby: "What do you mean by a real gentleman, he is so benevolent and loyal, it turns out that the previous benefits were not big enough and not tempting enough."

Someone rushed out immediately, as if they could snatch Cheng Juxian out with their own hands as soon as they went out.The aristocratic family still held their breath, and only sent a few disciples to follow them out to have a look, while the rest stood still and waited for news.

"Handing the Sword of No Doubt into Cheng Juxian's hands is still under the watchful eyes of everyone. No matter what happens today, I'm not surprised." Pulling up his sleeves, he gestured to his side.

Jiang Li also looked at Zhaoyue, she was still staring at the ground without blinking, the toes of her shoes were grinding the yellow sand, her face was as expressionless as a woodcut.

At this moment, a servant plunged into the door, but was pushed into the crowd, unable to stand still, so he could only shout loudly: "I found it! Master, I found it. It's in the woods outside the village!"

The surroundings stopped suddenly, and the servants struggled to stand still, sweating profusely, panting for breath.Wei Min's expression changed drastically, and he asked, "Did you find someone? Why didn't you bring them here?!"

The servant got out of the crowd, nearly fell to the ground, finally managed to catch his breath, and shouted: "Dead!"

Zhaoyue raised her head suddenly.

Wei Min hurried forward a few steps, sticking to the edge of the ring: "Where's the sword?"

The servant shook his head: "I didn't see it, I'm afraid it's gone!"

Wei Min flickered, took a step back, and then sighed: "Let's go outside the city first."

This time, the various sects couldn't wait any longer, and hurried out.Qi Zhaoxi and Xue Le were about to tie the knot, when a voice suddenly exploded beside them.

"I'm not going there!"

Zhaoyue took a step back, staring at Jiang Li with a stern look like a frightened little animal.Jiang Li stretched out his hand to her, and was about to speak, Zhaoyue covered her ears with both hands, turned around, and didn't even look at him.

Only Jiang Li was left looking at her back helplessly.

Xue Le couldn't bear it, and whispered to Jiang Li: "You go with your master to have a look, and you can tell her when you come back. I will stay and watch to avoid accidents."

Jiang Li glanced at Xue Le, finally nodded, and followed Qi Zhaoxi.

Juyizhuang almost occupies a corner, and the surrounding neighborhood is sparse. If you walk for a few miles, you can see a vast green forest, and the jasper-like branches and leaves intertwine and cover the top of the head, adding a little bit of coolness.

Cheng Juxian was lying under the thick shade, his clothes were hard to distinguish their original color, they were completely soaked in blood and turned dark brown, even the grass and soil under his body had a strong smell of blood.His corpse can be described as tragic, with a total of twelve wounds scattered all over his body, each of which broke out, as if the person who killed him had a great enmity with him.However, the strange thing is that there is no pain in his eyes-closed expression, it is extremely calm, and against the dirty blood and flesh all over his body, there is an indescribably weirdness.

Jiang Li followed Qi Zhaoxi and stood aside, watching Second Young Master Shen of the Qingshan School take out a short dagger, and gently and cautiously cut open the clothes stuck to the body bit by bit.The people around were staring at the movement of his hands, unconsciously holding their breath, even those who were stopped outside the forest couldn't stop looking over their heads, trying to see clearly.

The large group of people who came along just now were a mixed bag of good and bad people, who were noisy and mixed with unbearable laughter and cursing, wanting to see what would happen to the world-famous hero.

Shen Shensi, the eldest disciple of the Qingshan School and the eldest son of the head, turned around suddenly, drew out his knife, a cold light flew past, the crowd hurriedly retreated, and then there was a loud bang, a thick tall tree was cut off by the middle, lying on the road.

Shen Shensi stepped on the tree trunk, raised his knife and said angrily, "When someone is killed, how dare a cat or a dog speak nonsense? Human death is nothing more than a mass of flesh and blood, but he was also aboveboard during his lifetime. What are you doing here laughingly? Is it fun for you to see?"

His eyes swept like a cold wind, everyone shrank and stopped speaking.

Major affairs in the Jianghu are left to the Shanhe League, and in the Shanhe League, decisions are made by Guiyun Villa, Qingshan School, and Guangqin Sect. Even the leader of the alliance cannot make decisions on his own—this is the rule set by Jiang Luming, the leader of the first generation in the past.

It has been 36 years since the establishment of the Shanhe League, and everyone in the world has gradually become accustomed to and convinced enough of the reputation of the three sects.Therefore, whenever it is difficult to accomplish things without a leader, if someone from the three sects is present, they will naturally stand up and preside over it.

The head of the Qingshan School, Shen Shen, has the third son. The eldest son, Shen Shensi, has taken over most of the sect's affairs, and is also well-known in the world. Lin Kuangge, who came to the Guangqin School this time, is a girl in her early twenties. It is good to deal with this bloody scene.Since he opened his mouth, no one spoke his beak, and Wei Min retreated behind him with a very winking look.

The second son, Shen Zhiyan, nodded to him, and consciously stepped forward to examine the corpse.Shen Shensi ordered people to disperse the idlers and guard the four directions, while searching for clues in the forest, after finishing the order, he saw the third brother waiting behind him.

Third Young Master Shen Duanxing said expectantly: "Brother, then I..."

Shen Shensi waved his hand in annoyance: "Get out of the way, don't get in your second brother's business."

Shen Duanxing let out an "hey" and rolled to the side of Miss Lin from Guangqin Sect.

The light sound of the dagger tearing through the fabric stopped suddenly, Shen Zhiyan opened the skirt with one hand, and carefully took out a thin blood-red thing.It was vaguely discernible that it was a folded piece of paper. Shen Zhiyan looked at the sunlight leaking through the gaps in the forest leaves for a while, and said, "It looks like a letter, but it's a pity that it's too heavily stained with blood. Clear the content."

"If it's a letter, it must have something to do with why he appeared here." Shen Shensi approached and looked closer, "Didn't you still keep that thing, can you remove the blood?"

Shen Zhiyan couldn't help being taken aback, nodded and said, "I'll give it a try."

After finishing speaking, Shen Zhiyan continued to move his hands, and took out a blood-covered jade pendant from Cheng Juxian's lapel, but found nothing.The Zhaoyue Sword also fell quietly in the pool of blood with him, and after pulling out the sheath, the sword body was clear and the shadow of a person could be seen.

Shen Zhiyan stood up and shook his head.Sou Lin's disciples also rushed back, but found nothing, no doubt the sword was lost.

Killing someone for the sword was expected.After discussing with Wei Min, Shen Shensi decided to send someone to bring Cheng Juxian's body back to Juyi Village first, and then investigate carefully.

Seeing everyone returning and leaving, Qi Zhaoxi turned to Jiang Li, who was always silent beside him: "Do you see anything?"

"Judging from the degree of rigor, he died last night. The sword was clean, and there were no signs of fighting on his body, only those twelve wounds." Jiang Li frowned slightly, "He couldn't draw the sword at all."

The opponent is so powerful?

If it was a one-hit kill, Cheng Juxian didn't have time to make a move, it's not too strange.But with his martial arts, how could it be possible that he has no room to fight back when he has been severely injured twelve times in a row?What's more, he probably died of blood loss, but his expression was painless and ferocious, as if he had just fallen into a big dream from which he would never wake up again.

Qi Zhaoxi rubbed his chin and said, "Besides not being able to make a move, maybe it's because he doesn't want to make a move?"

Jiang Li looked at him sideways, but said calmly, "What do you mean?"

Qi Zhaoxi was a little surprised, then smiled: "It's so smart, I understood it right away."

"You mean..."

"I have nothing to say." Qi Zhaoxi interrupted him, and walked out of the forest, "I just mentioned it casually, you are on good terms with that little girl, so don't take it to heart."

Jiang Li stared at his back, and it took him a while to catch up.

Zhaoyue waited in Qi Zhaoxi's courtyard, and Xue Le sat on the porch with her.I don't know what he said, Zhaoyue's face was clear, and he smiled when he saw them coming back: "It's so slow, if you don't come back, we don't plan to wait for you two to eat."

It seems that Qi Zhaoxi and Jiang Li did not inspect her father's body, but went out for a walk.

Qi Zhaoxi didn't care, and sat down on the porch too: "Just mentioning it, I'm really hungry."

Jiang Li was still standing in the courtyard, he exchanged a glance with Xue Le first, then his eyes slowly fell on Zhao Yue, hesitating whether to speak.

There was sudden noise of footsteps outside the door, they just looked around, the other party had already broken into the courtyard directly, after the sword-wielding disciples formed a circle, there was another gap left, Shen Shensi walked in first, followed by a group of people.

"What is the meaning of Mr. Shen?" Xue Le was startled, and stood up.

"Don't blame the two of you, this time I'm just looking for someone." Shen Zhiyan walked out from behind his elder brother, nodded apologetically, and then looked at the little girl beside Xue Le, "Miss Zhaoyue?"

Zhaoyue also got up on guard early, she didn't know, so she said: "It's me."

"May I ask what is your relationship with Cheng Juxian Cheng Daxia?"

Zhaoyue answered simply: "I have nothing to do with him."

The visitors looked at each other with delicate and complicated expressions.Shen Zhiyan choked on his words, sighed and said, "Then I asked straight to the point, did you invite Daxia Cheng to go to the forest outside the village last night?"

Zhaoyue was startled for a moment, then slowly frowned: "What do you mean, you suspect that I killed him?" She sneered, "What did I kill him for?"

"Aren't there many things you can do to seize the sword and vent your hatred?" Shen Shen thought.

Zhao Yue suddenly widened his eyes.Shen Zhiyan hurriedly shook his head at his eldest brother, reached into his bosom and took out a crumpled piece of paper, unfolded it and revealed it.It was the letter on the corpse, and I don't know what method he used to wash away the blood on the letter paper, leaving only a faint reddish color. Although the ink was slightly smudged, it was enough to identify the content.

"It says in the letter that you met his son in the forest, do you have something to say?"

Zhaoyue's face turned pale, and everyone waited for her to explain, even Xue Le couldn't help looking at her in shock.Jiang Li's peripheral vision quietly fell on the porch, Qi Zhaoxi was still sitting leisurely, as if watching a play.

Just now what he said in the forest was referring to Zhaoyue.

It would be appalling to say that someone's martial arts were so high that he could inflict twelve serious injuries on Cheng Juxian and still make him unable to draw his sword in time.Rather than saying that he was unable to make moves, it was that he was unwilling to fight back, and it was more credible to let him kill.

What's more, killing people is just a matter of sealing the throat, so how can you stab him alive into a pool of dripping flesh and blood?

The man must have hated him.

Jiang Li suddenly remembered Cheng Juxian's expression, he was extremely calm, and felt a little sad.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhaoyue took a deep breath: "Yes, I did write the letter." She gritted her teeth and said, "But I didn't kill him! I didn't go to the forest at all last night, and I didn't see him at all! "

Shen Zhiyan said: "Since you wrote a letter to make an appointment, why didn't you go?"

Zhaoyue involuntarily lowered her voice: "I remembered that my mother left something for him before she passed away, and I originally planned to pass it on to him. After I gave the letter, I realized that I still don't want to see him."

She suddenly remembered something, and turned to Jiang Li: "Last night I was so upset that I couldn't sleep at all, so I sat under the window in a daze. Jiang Li, don't you read at night, you can see my shadow when you look up! I didn't go out at all. right?"

Jiang Li was slightly taken aback, but hadn't answered yet.

Zhaoyue said urgently: "Say it quickly!"

He didn't speak, but another voice sounded from behind Shen Zhiyan.

"I know!"

Everyone turned their heads to look, and Wei Min also glanced at his son unexpectedly: "What do you know?"

Seeing that his father didn't intend to blame him, Wei Ke bowed to everyone before walking forward: "I don't know if Miss Zhaoyue was in the house last night. But this junior knows a little bit," he pointed at Jiang Li ,"He's not in now!"