No, gentlemen also guard against

Chapter 407 Teeth Marks on the Neck

I don’t know if this meeting is considered a meeting, but the "Butterfly Girl" is so graceful that it makes people unable to grasp the corner of her clothes.

Ouyang Rong, wearing a mask, stood in front of the door for a while before turning around.

"Brother, I will do this."

"fine."

Ouyang Rong shook his head and squatted by the well water, immersed in cleaning the chamber pot.

There was a faint warmth flowing through the meridians in the body.

It was the second rejuvenation pill swallowed at dawn that was evaporating, and the hidden wounds caused by the original snow-white sword energy were slowly recovering.

But Ouyang Rong's thoughts were not on that.

Instead, he fell into a mysterious state.

I don't know if it was an illusion, but the spiritual energy flowing through the limbs and the eight extraordinary meridians suddenly became lighter.

It's like a camel with a heavy load suddenly dropped a bunch of heavy luggage and started walking briskly.

This wonderful feeling is not unfamiliar to Ouyang Rong.

At the end of last year, when he was about to leave Longcheng to take up his post in Jiangzhou, he went to Ah Qing's house with a dissatisfied heart. After answering Liu's mother's question about courage, his mood suddenly became brighter and his spiritual energy circulated faster.

This is a symbol of inspiration and diligent cultivation.

Back then he had reached the ninth level of perfection, but now.

The eighth grade "craftsman's work" of the sword holder actually digested part of it "in a daze" this morning.

"Have you advanced from the eighth level to the intermediate level of minor success..."

Ouyang Rong squatted by the sink, immersed himself in cleaning, and silently looked inside to feel.

It must have been the feeling of sadness caused by the forced passing of the embroiderer just now, which caused the bottleneck to break spontaneously.

However, it may also be due to the insight into the "emptiness of dependent origination" of Takumi's natal magical power last night.

Ouyang Rong was silent.

It's obvious that his cultivation has improved a lot, but his mood is not that happy.

The eighth grade sword bearer, he used the true meaning of the tripod sword made by a craftsman to enter it, which can be regarded as choosing the path of "craftsmanship".

Only by getting through it can you break through this level and enter a higher world.

First of all, what is go-through?

According to Ouyang Rong's current estimation, only by summarizing the sword technique can it be considered a success and a symbolic perfection. Otherwise, he will be stuck in this situation and hesitate for the rest of his life.

Secondly, what is the path to “craftsmanship”?

According to the secret revealed by the junior sister, among the big forces on the mountain, the names of each grade are the cultivation directions summarized by the predecessors.

In the same way, what is the true meaning of craftsmanship?

Craftsman's work is an ordinary work that lacks spirituality and characteristics... Based on what I saw and heard in Longcheng, I can conclude that craftsman's work is the creation of myths in the mortal world.

Therefore, the road of craftsmanship is also an ordinary road. To be precise, it is an ordinary road leading to myth.

It seems somewhat contradictory to understand.

And after experiencing what happened just now but not being able to see each other, Ouyang Rong felt a little melancholy and trapped at the moment.

"Wearing a mask, hiding each identity, moving forward in a low profile, and finally reaching the other side and achieving the ultimate goal... it's like acting."

Ouyang Rong said to himself.

At this time, Ah Qing came over, knelt down next to him, handed something out, and asked in a low voice:

"Brother, this jade..."

Ouyang Rong said softly: "Take it. You are not young anymore. There are some things that you need to make your own decisions."

"Oh."

Ah Qing was not pretentious, put away the jade, lowered his head, and fell into thought.

After a while, she hesitated and asked, "Brother's injuries were caused by them..."

Ouyang Rong turned to look at her.

The latter immediately fell silent.

The two of them made a tacit understanding and stopped talking. After cleaning the chamber pot, they returned to the house together.

Ouyang Rong did not take off his mask, nor did he leave immediately.

After returning to the house and dutifully feeding Mother Liu and drinking the medicine, he had a hearty breakfast.

In the morning, Ouyang Rong continued to work in Sanhuiyuan under the disguise of Liu Ashan.

Sometimes he does housework for Ah Qing, and sometimes he helps Yun Niang cook.

In this way, half a day passed.

At noon, the family had another lunch in silence.

After the meal, Ouyang Rong and Ah Qing went to the sink in the yard to wash the dishes.

Suddenly, Ouyang Rong vaguely heard the sound of a clear bell. Without raising his head, he caught a glimpse of a white shadow outside the southeast courtyard wall and on a tree higher than the top of the wall.

A woman in a white dress with a red rope bell tied to her ankle seemed to jump off the treetop and float away.

I don’t know when she came, or maybe she has never been here at all?

Obviously, he had been monitoring Sanhuiyuan for a long time. It was not until he left without success that Ouyang Rong, who was very attentive, noticed a little noise, but there was no sign before.

This woman's spiritual energy cultivation must be much higher than Ouyang Rong.

I just don’t know who this white figure, who only slightly let out the sound of his footbell until he was off guard and before leaving, is who he is and what his rank is in the Yunmeng Jianze Female Sovereign Palace.

In the courtyard, beside the sink, a dull man looked as usual and was still washing dishes in silence.

If this continued, he stayed with Ah Qing, Liu Mu, and Yun Niang for another afternoon.

During this period, the group of Wu Yue female nuns were not found again.

After dinner, after washing the dishes again, Ouyang Rong returned to the main room and coaxed Liu's mother to sleep with Ah Qing and Yun Niang. Then he stood up and in the dim room with only one light, Liu Ashan's eyes faded. False body and shadow.

Temporarily disarm.

Ah Qing and Yun Niang didn't feel scared when they saw the simple blood-stained bronze mask on his face.

Looking at Ouyang Rong's movements, they roughly understood what he meant.

Yun Niang glanced at the quiet girl, turned around silently, and went to help the husband who was about to leave to fetch the long wooden box that he had hidden.

Ah Qing asked in a low voice: "Brother, is he safe?"

"Yeah. I managed to get through it, thanks to you, thank you for your hard work."

"Brother is the one who works hardest."

Ouyang Rong was silent and suddenly asked: "Ah Qing is not curious, what did I do last night?" Ah Qing did not answer, and walked over and put the remaining two new clothes into Ouyang Rong's hand. The girl held it with her little finger. The fallen hair on her forehead was pushed to her ears. Under the orange candlelight, her little face smiled sweetly:

"Brother, this black one looks really good."

Ouyang Rong was a little dumbfounded. Looking at the girl's smile, his mood became brighter. He lowered his head and thought about it, and finally asked some questions in his heart:

"This morning when you went out to call for repayment, did you see clearly the person standing next to Hu Ji? Was there a girl with a bow on the back of her head among them? Do you still remember it?"

"Remember. Bow tie..."

Ah Qing nodded:

"It's the one standing on the right side of Sister Hu Ji. This young lady is thin and quiet. She carries a sword and stands with her head bowed. She doesn't know what she is looking at. At that time, everyone else turned around when they heard me shouting. But she didn’t move, her back was turned to me, and I couldn’t see her face clearly, but she looks pretty good from the back..."

Speaking of this, she glanced at her brother who was looking down and thinking.

"Haven't you looked back..." Ouyang Rong pursed his lips.

Ah Qing suddenly said: "Brother, I think I know her, she seems very familiar with her."

When Ouyang Rong heard this, he couldn't help but said: "How do you know... why do you ask like this?"

Ah Qing said softly: "Brother taught me the bow she tied. Have you forgotten? When we first met last year, we were also in the temple, and you stayed for dinner..."

As she spoke, the delicate girl buried her head and silently opened the hem of her short jacket, revealing the bow tie on her slender waist to the surprised Ouyang Rong in front of her.

The atmosphere was silent... Although it was not considered undressing, the gesture of facing the man and opening up her undershirt, slightly revealing some of the lining, still made Ah Qing, who was bound by the strict etiquette of this era, blush. Rong looked away and said in a serious tone:

"I've never seen anyone else use it, only Brother Brother knows how to use it, so Brother Brother must have taught her. Brother Brother knows her very well."

Ouyang Rong pursed his lips and didn't bother to explain. That girl Ye Weilai probably taught him this.

He was silent for a while and asked, "Is there anything special around her neck?"

Ah Qing was stunned for a moment, with an expression on his face as if he was trying to remember something, and replied softly:

"There seems to be a faint red mark. I don't know if it's a wound or a birthmark..."

Ouyang Rong suddenly became quiet.

"Brother, what's wrong?" Ah Qing asked with concern.

In front of the bed, the Confucian scholar wearing a fox mask shook his head and did not answer.

He actually wanted to answer that maybe it wasn't a birthmark, but a tooth mark, a very deep bite mark.

I finally swallowed the words, the taste in my mouth unspeakable.

From this point of view, Ouyang Rong's original guess was correct. The mute Xiu Niang and the volunteer in Sanhui courtyard who took care of his daily life under the pseudonym Zhao were the same person. And the "bullying in the dream" that Ouyang Rong vaguely remembered was the same person. It is very possible that what actually happened happened in the courtyard below.

It’s hard to calm down.

After a while, Yun Niang returned holding a sword box filled with well water.

Ouyang Rong said goodbye thoughtfully, lowered his head to take the sword box, and dove into the dark night wind outside the door.

Ah Qing and Yun Niang watched silently.

……

The next day, morning.

Jiangzhou Biejia and Jiangzhou Governor's convoy came down to inspect the counties and arrived at Longcheng County.

Magistrate Diao and other Longcheng County government officials personally went out of the city ten miles to greet him.

Ouyang Rong's figure appeared in the motorcade as scheduled. He got off the car with Li Dalang and Xie Lingjiang, and faced the reception lunch of the Longcheng officials with a normal expression, as if he had just returned.

After the banquet, I learned from Magistrate Diao that several female officials from Xunyang City were investigating the case in the market.

Li Dalang and Ouyang Rong showed interest on their faces, and they were taken over by Magistrate Diao for a look in the afternoon.

After meeting several female officers investigating the case, Ouyang Rong inquired about where Xia Rongzhen was.

A female official replied that the female historian went out last night and returned in a hurry this morning. She seemed to be in a bad mood. She returned to Xunyang City alone in the morning without waiting for anyone.

Ouyang Rong nodded calmly.

Early the next morning, the inspection of Longcheng ended, and this inspection could be considered to have come to an end.

Everyone immediately took the boat and returned to Xunyang City.

The ship arrived at Xunyang Ferry in the afternoon of that day. Ouyang Rong originally thought that Rong Zhen would come to "greet" her. After all, she had the responsibility of supervision. Previously, she had also been very strict in controlling people from the Xunyang Palace when they came in and out of the city.

Unexpectedly, no one came at all. There was no sign of a cold and cold girl in palace attire. Only the officials in the Jiangzhou lobby came to greet them.

It seemed that the female officers investigating the case in Longcheng were right. Rong Zhen was indeed in a bad mood. It was unknown whether she was busy or thinking about something important. Even Ouyang Rong and Li Dalang were too lazy to pay attention to them and were stingy. energy.

Thinking of this, Ouyang Rong couldn't help but feel a little guilty, and glanced at a sword box with numerous achievements in the luggage behind him.

For a while, his expression continued to be as if nothing had happened.

Ouyang Rong returned to Jiangzhou lobby and took a walk.

In the days since I left, nothing major happened in Xunyang City, everything was as before.

The important thing that Jiangzhou Hall is currently preparing is the banquet to welcome Qin Jingqin the day after tomorrow.

An envoy from Yangzhou came in advance to deliver a message. The chief marching officer of Jiangnan Road appointed by His Majesty arrived in Xunyang City the morning after tomorrow.

Ouyang Rong, who had returned from his travels, summoned Liu Lang to ask questions, and found that there was nothing important to do, so he ran to Prince Xunyang's Mansion to report that he was safe...

In the evening, Ouyang Rong finished everything and Shi Shiran returned to the Huaiye Lane mansion.

Ouyang Rong exchanged pleasantries with Zhen Shuyuan, who was in high spirits, and brought her some specialties sent by Magistrate Diao, Master Shandao and others. After a while, he found an excuse and said he would go back to the house to rest.

As soon as he returned to Yinbingzhai, Ouyang Rong turned around and sent away Ye Weila and other maids.

He placed the piano-shaped sword case on the desk, sat back on the chair, and looked quietly at the empty study room in front of him.

I silently reviewed it in my mind and muttered to myself:

"She can stand so close to Xuezhongzhu. She doesn't look like an ordinary Yue girl. Could it be that she is a titled female monarch in the Queen's Palace? Her status is not inferior to that of the chief female monarch Xue Zhongzhu and the legendary Yue Chuzi. How many……

"Not to mention that time in Dagushan, she didn't see her and left anonymously for some reason. Is it because of the sect's rules and regulations... Let's just say that this time, I not only cut off the old swordsmith's tripod sword, I also fought with her senior sister, accidentally handed over this woman's sword, and severely offended Bo Ren... Why do I feel that Yunmeng Jianze and I are becoming increasingly difficult to deal with.

"Do her senior sisters know about me? They should know, but they definitely don't know the identity of the Ding Sword and the sword holder. If they know my identity, Xuezhongzhu will probably have to slap me to death. Just in case, if it happens, If the day comes, I don't know if the embroiderer's face will matter. Forget it, Ouyang Lianghan, just don't drag me down... Do you expect me to intercede for you if I put you in a dilemma? "

Ouyang Rong rubbed his face hard.

"No, if something happens next time, I can't blame Yunmeng Jianze. Even if I don't mention Xiu Niang, it's a bit unethical to do so. If I didn't know her before, I can just talk about it casually.

"As for a head-on conflict like that night, avoid it if you can... Well, it's a confusing account."

Someone sighed, thought again, nodded and said to himself:

"But speaking of it, I don't owe Yunmeng Jianze anything except Xiu Niang's favor. This time I was seriously injured by that girl's sword energy. Her senior sister came over with a roar, and her posture was going to tear me apart. Damn, we can’t do it without fighting back. It was an accident to hand over her sword... Let’s just treat it as a one-on-one deal and we won’t owe each other anything..."

After a while, he shook his head helplessly, retracting his thoughts, and his eyes fell on the sword box placed on the desk again.

Ouyang Rong then took out a bulging baggage and counted some of the gains from this trip to Dragon City behind closed doors, including... the equipment that the little hamster tripod sword exploded.

(End of this chapter)