At the end of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 455
The mountain breeze was blowing, and the fallen leaves were falling. Gao Bufan and the bearded man were sitting by the bank of the Black Dragon Pool, drinking and chatting freely, very speculative, but they hit it off.

The bearded man held the wine jar high above his head with one hand, tilted it slightly, and a wine arrow poured down, accurately falling into his mouth, his throat made a gurgling sound, and a jin of wine went into his stomach.

"Happy!" The bearded man laughed, slapped the wine jar with his palm, made a thumping sound, and then chanted loudly: "Although the tortoise lives long, there is still a time. Flying a snake and riding a fog, it will eventually turn into ashes. , the ambition is thousands of miles. The martyrs are full of ambition in their old age. The period of shrinking is not only in the sky; the blessing of nourishing happiness can be eternal. Fortunately, it is even good, singing to sing about ambition."

Cao Cao's song "The Life of the Turtle" was originally bold and grand, but now it is sung loudly by the bearded guest Linfeng, it is even more heroic, sonorous and powerful. The scabbard hit the rock next to it, making a series of slaps, and shouted loudly: "The Yangtze River is rolling in the east, and the waves have wiped out the heroes. Whether it is success or failure, the head is empty. The green hills are still there, and the sunset is red several times. The white hair fish On the Zhujiang River, I am used to looking at the autumn moon and the spring breeze. A pot of dirty wine is a joy to meet. Many things in ancient and modern times are all laughed and talked about."

As soon as Gao Bufan finished singing, the bearded man jumped up involuntarily, with a pair of bright tiger eyes, he blurted out: "What a rolling Yangtze River, how many things from ancient to modern times are just a joke! Hahaha, have a great time! , when it becomes clear!"

After finishing speaking, the bearded man raised his head, gulped and drank a few catties, then wiped the corner of his mouth, and threw the wine jar to Gao Bufan, who stretched out his long knife, stably lifted the mouth of the jar over his head, and a line of wine poured out immediately Down, straight into the mouth.

Gao Bufan also gulped down a few catties, and then pushed lightly, and the wine jar flew back into the hands of the bearded man, who laughed and said, "Third brother is better than me."

"If you don't pretend, how can you be worthy of your big brother's unrestrained temperament." Gao Bufan laughed.

The bearded man was so happy that he almost lost his temper with laughter, and he sat down for a long time and said with a serious face: "I have heard that the third brother is good at both civil and martial arts, and today I have learned the lesson. Okay, you third brother, the eldest brother recognizes it."

Gao Bufan smiled wryly: "Could it be that the elder brother never regarded me as the third younger brother before this?"

The bearded man laughed, and said bluntly: "I used to give Li Jing more face, but now, brother is convinced, this trip is not in vain, come, come, let's go again." After a few sips, he threw the wine jar to Gao Bufan again.

Just like this, you came and went, and a jar of realgar wine weighing [-] catties went into the stomachs of the two of them.

The bearded man shook the empty wine jar, very disappointed, obviously not satisfied yet.

Gao Bufan whistled, and the big green horse ran over from a distance and stopped a few meters away from the edge of the pool.The bearded man's eyes lit up and he said: "Third brother, the green horses in your area are very spiritual."

Gao Bufan walked over and took a bundle from the horse's back, which contained some clothes, two wine bags and some dry food.Gao Bufan had expected to linger for a few days when he came to explore the Black Dragon Pool this time, so he was well prepared.

Gao Bu took two wine bags, threw one of them to the bearded man, and said with a smile, "I also brought wine, but not much."

The bearded man took it, opened it, smelled it, and said happily, "This is...an old flower carving. The third brother is worthy of being an official, rich!"

"I'm rich even if I'm not an official." Gao Bufan corrected.

The bearded man laughed loudly: "That's right, if you want to have a good drink in the future, the eldest brother will find you, the third brother. Your second brother is a poor man. Every time I go to him for a drink, I have to bring my own drink."

Gao Bufan's heart moved and he said: "Could it be that the eldest brother is calling for the second brother?"

The bearded man nodded: "I heard from my second brother that you were a general in Zhuo County, and you seemed to be doing well, so I stopped by to meet you."

Gao Bufan suddenly said: "So that's the case, by the way, that day at the top of Huairou City, it was thanks to my elder brother to help me."

The bearded man waved his hand and said, "Even if the eldest brother doesn't make a move, those two may not be able to hurt you, third brother." After speaking, he glanced at Gao Bufan who was hesitant to speak, and continued: "Do you want to ask those two people Where now?"

Gao Bufan nodded frankly: "I have always had a question in my mind that I want to clarify."

"What question? Let's listen to it, maybe elder brother can answer it for you." The bearded man said with great interest.

Gao Bufan said bluntly: "That cold building, I fought against him in Fuyu City a few years ago, but a cold building appeared in Jixian City the year before last to assassinate me, they are not the same person, there was also a landlord who appeared at that time , almost killed me, but the landlord and the landlord who appeared at the top of Huairou city are not the same person, because in comparison, the landlord who appeared at the top of Huairou city has much weaker martial arts."

The bearded man smiled and said: "It's very simple, because third brother, the landlord you met in Jixian City is the real landlord. The landlord a few days ago was just a fake, but the cold building is real. You met in Jixian City. That cold building is a counterfeit."

Gao Bufan was a little confused, waved his hand and said: "Brother, wait a minute, I'll do it again. You mean, when I was assassinated in Jixian City the year before last, the landlord was real, but the cold building was fake. A few days ago in Huairou The landlord who attacked me from the top of the city is fake, but the cold building is real?"

The bearded man nodded and said, "That's right!"

"Why did you see that? Could it be that elder brother interrogated those two people?" Gao Bufan felt that his words were superfluous. Since elder brother Zhang had already captured those two people, he must have interrogated them.

The bearded man smiled and explained: "Actually, I have been chasing Jinghua Shuiyuelou all these years, and I have been eyeing this person Lenglou for a long time."

Gao Bufan's heart moved, and he suddenly woke up that the bearded man and Qingruo were actually brothers and sisters. Qingruo hid for several years in the form of Hanyue, and the purpose was to find out the identity of the owner of the Jinghua Shuiyue Tower. Could it be that the bearded guest is helping Qingruo?

"Brother, did you find out who the host is?" Gao Bufan asked.

The bearded man shook his head and said: "Not yet, this person hides very deeply, but now there are some clues, the fake landlord who assassinated you actually has a lot to do with the real landlord."

Gao Bufan looked at the bearded guest, quietly waiting for the next sentence.

The bearded man continued: "The fake landlord's name is Wei Yuansong. He worshiped under the seat of an unknown mage back then. He was wild and unruly, and he didn't abide by the rules and precepts. He was not allowed in Buddhism. Later, he returned to the vulgarity and entered the Taoist school, and won the favor of Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. It was this person who instigated Emperor Wu of Zhou’s extermination of Buddhism. After Emperor Wu of Zhou passed away, Buddhism was restored, but Wei Yuansong, the one who started it, has disappeared. For decades, people in Buddhism have been looking for him.”

Gao Bufan was moved in his heart and said: "Could it be that this person has kept his name incognito and founded the killer organization called Jinghua Shuiyuelou?"

The bearded man praised: "Third brother is indeed smart, indeed."

Gao Bufan wondered: "Didn't elder brother just say that Wei Yuansong is actually a counterfeit and not the real landlord? Isn't that contradictory?"

The bearded man shook his head and said: "There is no contradiction. Although Wei Yuansong is one of the founders of Jinghua Shuiyue Building, he is not the owner of the building, but someone else. This person and Wei Yuansong are collaborators."

Gao Bufan suddenly said: "So that's how it is. When the eldest brother interrogated Wei Yuansong, the other party refused to reveal who the landlord was?"

The bearded man shook his head and said: "It's not that he refuses, it's that he can't, because Wei Yuansong has never seen the real face of the landlord, so it's more appropriate to say that they are subordinates rather than collaborators, because both Buddhism and Taoism are looking for Wei Yuansong, and the landlord rescued Wei Yuansong, and helped him escape the pursuit of Buddhism and Taoism, so Wei Yuansong actually obeyed the landlord's orders."

Gao Bufan couldn't help but suddenly realized, and asked curiously: "So, although the elder brother interrogated Wei Yuansong, he still doesn't know anything about the real identity of the landlord?"

The bearded man smiled wryly and said: "You can also say that, but what is certain is that the landlord has been hiding in the court, and his status is not low, and he may even be a close minister of the emperor."

Gao Bufan was surprised and said: "Is it possible? I heard that the landlord also assassinated the emperor back then. If he was a close minister of the emperor, with his martial arts, the emperor would still be alive?"

The bearded man nodded and said: "So I'm also very strange, but I think this person must have his purpose, to assassinate Yang Guang, and to lurk beside Yang Guang. Well, yes, the assassin who assassinated Yang Guang back then There are two people, one of them is Wei Yuansong, and the other is the landlord himself, I have also interrogated Wei Yuansong, he does not know why the landlord wants to assassinate Yang Guang, he just followed orders."

Gao Bufan couldn't help frowning his sword eyebrows, this landlord is really getting more and more mysterious.

"By the way, what happened to that cold building?" Gao Bufan asked.

"That Lenglou is a disciple of Wei Yuansong, and Wei Yuansong himself is the first generation of Lenglou. Later, he went to Goguryeo, changed his name to Taoist Zhang Song, and was reused by the king of Goguryeo, and the disciple he trained became the first generation of Lenglou. The second generation of Lenglou, oh, maybe not the second generation, over the past few decades, Louyue Jinghuashui has selected several times as envoys, and has produced several Lenglou and Hanyue, but there is only one host from beginning to end."

Gao Bufan nodded and said: "Understood, that is to say, the two cold buildings I met are cold buildings, but they are different generations of cold buildings."

The bearded man smiled and said: "Not necessarily, because Jinghua Shuiyue Building will only select a new Lou envoy when the previous generation of envoys dies. Wei Yuansong is just a special case. He is the first generation of Leng Lou, but he did not die, but Withdrew, this time I came out to help Xi Ren, it was completely ordered by the King of Goguryeo, and had nothing to do with Jinghua Shuiyue Tower, so the third brother encountered the Lenglou in Jixian City, there is a high probability that it is not Lenglou, but the relationship between this person and the landlord It's unusual, if you find this person, you may be able to find the real landlord."

Gao did not hesitate for a moment, and asked, "Where are Wei Yuansong and Leng Lou now, were they killed by the eldest brother?"

"Wei Yuansong not only provoked Zhou Wu to exterminate the Buddha with one hand, but also provoked the fierce struggle between Buddhism and Taoism by means of assassination. In fact, I was looking for this person ten years ago. I wanted to catch him and get rid of him, but That bald donkey Daoxin was chattering and annoying, so I entrusted Wei Yuansong and his disciples to him and brought them back to the mountain gate for punishment. I'm afraid he has shaved his head and become a Buddha right now."

(End of this chapter)