Under the sky

Chapter 232

"This is how I met the Third Master again in Longdi." Li Jingfeng said, "We stayed in Qifeng Village for seven days. He taught me the secrets and formulas of Hunyuan Zhenqi, asking me to recite them over and over again, and gave me some pointers. , and taught me how to fight."

"I'm a slow learner, but I can use it very quickly. Third Master said that's because I have a foundation in internal skills. Although it has no effect, Third Master can knock me to the ground with just one slap." Li Jingfeng smiled bitterly, "After seven days, Iron Sword Silver Guard came to urge Third Master to go back. He gave me a letter and sent someone to take me to Kunlun Palace to find someone to help me get to the back mountain..."

Li Jingfeng finished explaining the night of life and death and concealed the relevant parts of Shen Weichen.

"Someone wants to assassinate the Third Master..." Shen Yuqing pondered, and then thought about Li Jingfeng saying that the masked man showed mercy to him, which may have something to do with the barbarians, and looked at Xie Gubai.

Old eyes?

Bao Lu confessed that Li Muhai once saved Lao Yan, so Lao Yan did not kill Li Jingfeng's family, and the two seemed to have a deep friendship.They may have assassinated Qi Zigai because the secret passage was broken, or they may have discussed with Kunlun how to coordinate the explosion, intending to eliminate the two important figures in Kongtong in one fell swoop.The third master is famous all over the world, he is brave and good at fighting, and he is the most popular person in Kongtong after the master and Master Zhu. If he really succeeds, I am afraid that Kongtong's vitality will be seriously damaged.

They were afraid of being recognized and losing their identity as spies. Perhaps as Hou Wentong guessed, they would later silence everyone at the scene, so they first laid an ambush at the intersection to remove some obstructionists.

Thinking of this level, he couldn't help but think of another level. If Bao Lu's confession was true... Shen Yu's heart sank.That Shen Yongci was Jingfeng's father-killing enemy, because he betrayed Li Muhai, which led to Li Muhai's death.

But is Li Muhai really dead?If Lao Yan is still merciful to Li Jingfeng, he may not kill Li Muhai. Maybe thinking on the bright side, Li Muhai is just imprisoned, or kidnapped back outside the customs?
This hope is too slim.

Shen Yuqing has always been a magnanimous person, but because he is too magnanimous, a nobleman from the Nine Families without any pretensions, and his behavior that is too close to the people are considered to be staged or hypocritical.

But there are more and more secrets hidden in his heart, including Shen Yongci's crime, Qingcheng's reputation, the mark on Xie Gubai's arm, his plans with Xie Gubai, and some things he even knows about except Xie Gubai. Neither Shen Weichen nor Mrs. Chu dared to tell.

Should he tell Li Jingfeng about Qingcheng? Should he tell Li Jingfeng that Shen Yongci killed his father?He looked at his cousin. Shen Weichen lowered his eyelashes and was thinking, his face a little pale. Did the little sister also think of something?

Zhu Menshang poured a cup of tea and said: "So now you are not only missing, but also it doesn't hurt when you are hit. Others are as quiet as a virgin and as active as a rabbit. You are as quiet as a tortoise and as active as a fly. You can be called a turtle." Fly, is that what you mean?"

Everyone couldn't help laughing when they heard Zhu Menshang's teasing.Li Jingfeng blushed and said, "Yes... that's pretty much what it means, but turtles and flies are too unpleasant to hear."

"How will the third master deal with those people who repay their kindness later?" Shen Weichen asked.She was curious whether the third master would be lenient.As for those people on the night of life and death, there is no need to ask more questions if they die deservedly.

"Everyone is exempted from the tax for two years. Master Zheng Yu was very happy and said that he would no longer owe money and would go back to his hometown to find another job with the master. The third master said that a confused person like him would have to do it again sooner or later."

"Third brother..." Shen Yuqing asked, "When you lived in Yi'an Town, did you ever have guests visit your home?"

"Guests?" Li Jingfeng shook his head, "Mom said we don't have many relatives or friends, and we don't have any guests... But..." He thought for a moment and said, "It seems that someone came to my house when I was a child."

His memory was too vague and he couldn't be sure. When Shen Yuqing asked about the guests, he always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't be sure if it was due to suspicion.

"Actually, I want to ask Mrs. Chu some more questions." Li Jingfeng said, "The second master and the deputy director both said that there is no need to hide things about my father. Only Mrs. Chu has not said anything yet."

Because of Ya Ye's death and the war, Qingcheng was in chaos.Mrs. Chu and Li Jingfeng had only met twice. The first time they met was when they first entered Qingcheng. Mrs. Chu asked Shen Yuqing to introduce her. At that time, Li Jingfeng only felt that this lady was noble and heroic, her manners were elegant, and her speech was elegant. She had a bit of a Jianghu person's neatness, which was completely different from the noble ladies he had seen before - in fact, he had only seen two noble ladies, Mrs. Yu and Mrs. Su, mother and daughter.

If my little sister gets married, will she look like this, right?he thought at the time.No, the younger sister will be more dignified and less quaint.He had not dared to have any hope for Shen Weichen for a long time, but when he thought about it, he still felt a little sore and unbearable, so he quickly changed his mind.

Mrs. Chu only asked him a few things about his mother and where he lived, but Li Jingfeng told him everything.

"Sister taught you well. You are worthy of being their son." Mrs. Chu was reminded of her memories and said, "I still have many things to tell you. You should stay in Qingcheng first."

Li Jingfeng met his mother's old friend for the first time. He had many things to ask, but he still pressed the button. Qingcheng was holding a funeral for the next few days.

The second time they met was on the day that Master Ya was buried. He looked at him from a distance and expressed his condolences. The first time he saw Shen Yongci was his second brother's father. Even though he was middle-aged, he was still handsome and handsome. He must have been with him when he was young. Mrs. Chu is a perfect couple.

During the dinner, Mrs. Chu held her husband's hand all the time, which shows the deep love between the couple.It's just that I don't see any signs of illness. Of course, it's hard to ask anyone but Dr. Zhu.Zhu Menshang said: "When some madness does not occur, they look like ordinary people. Some madness will never attack in their lifetime, and when they become mad, they will not recognize their relatives."

"Zi Shi~Have a good rest! It's safe and sound!"

The sound of the watch was heard in the distance, but no one was tired.Zhu Menshang got up to check the oil lamp and added some new oil. Shen Yuqing sent wood to refill the stove. Li Jingfeng asked Shen Weichen: "Are you tired, little sister?"

Zhu Menshang said: "You ask the best person here whether we are tired, why don't you ask Lao Xie if he is hot, and ask your second brother if he is short of money?"

Li Jingfeng shook his head: "Doctor Zhu's words are inconsiderate."

Zhu Menshang was stunned, remembering that Shen Weichen had suffered the death of his father, and was afraid that he would not be able to sleep well in the past few days. He made a quick joke, but was slapped down by Li Jingfeng.

Xie Gubai said: "Doctor Zhu, please think more about others."

Zhu Menshang was speechless and muttered: "You have the nerve to say this."

Shen Weichen stood up to stretch his muscles and said with a smile: "I'm not sleepy. What happens after? After you go to Kunlun Palace?"

Li Jingfeng looked at Xie Gubai. He knew that what he was going to say next was closely related to Xie Gubai.That was Xie Gubai's secret, and Li Jingfeng was flattered that he was the first to tell him.

Xie Gubai nodded: "Before Jingfeng finishes telling his story, Xie asked a question first."

"What's the name of the angry king?"

Although this question is simple, it is not simple either.As we all know, King Nu has no name. No, it should be said that King Nu has too many names and too many legends to be verified.

He called himself King Nu during the uprising. At that time, the people also called him King Nu, but few people knew his real name.All the Nine Families have recorded the deeds of King Nu, because this world belongs to King Nu. If it were not for the accident at Sanlong Pass, the Nine Families would have been just a few of the many sects that followed King Nu in the uprising. Even there, At that time, neither Huashan nor Qingcheng was one of the nine largest sects. Emei declined and was annexed by the Tang sect. Songshan was incompetent and was annexed by Shaolin. The Kunlun sect had long been beaten into history by the barbarians. In the hands of the Kongtong faction, it was also considered too gentle and difficult to use on the battlefield.Today's nine great families are the result of more than thirty years of fierce fighting and annexation to each other.

Some people say that King Nu’s surname is Zhao, Zhao Ziwei, from Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province; others say that King Nu’s surname is Chen, and that he comes from a remote village in Gui; others say that King Nu is from the north because he started the rebellion in Longdi—— There are dozens of names and origins, making it difficult to tell the authenticity.The main reason is that during the 30 years of great chaos, too many ancient records were lost. This is not surprising. It is common for later generations to write history without any evidence in the past 30 to [-] years.

But it was unusual for such a big man as King Nu.Shen Yuqing asked her grandfather, and Shen Huaiyou explained that at that time, many sects wanted to claim the world in the name of the angry king. Due to the war, various places occupied land and became kings, and it was difficult to communicate with each other, so there was confusion.

As early as the beginning of the Kunlun Conference, King Nu was already his only name, and everyone only remembered this title.No one knows where he came from, and no one knows his name, only a legend remains.Spark rose from Longdi and fought many times. He was captured and escaped from prison. He fought against thousands of troops and broke out. He was also trapped and escaped from death. In the end, he overthrew the previous dynasty and died in the Three Dragons. Guan, major and minor battles are clearly recorded and praised by others, but there are no details.

The angry king is like a character in a story, not a name recorded in history books, and this was just over a hundred years ago.

"No one knows the name of the angry king." Shen Yuqing shook his head.Common people or ordinary sect disciples who have not read many books may believe that the name of King Nu is really lost, but Shen Yuqing is the heir apparent of the Nine Families. He is very smart. He has understood the power struggle and the art of controlling the people very early. He once guessed that the reason why King Nu's name was lost might not be accidental. He once thought about an unbearable possibility.

"The Nine Families don't want King Nu to have a name." Shen Yuqing said, "They use many names to hide King Nu's name."

Shen Weichen, Li Jingfeng, and Zhu Menshang all looked at Shen Yuqing with surprised expressions on their faces.Li Jingfeng was puzzled, Shen Weichen seemed to understand, but Zhu Menshang seemed to understand quickly.

"Really speaking, there were no Nine Families at that time, and those who didn't want King Nu to have a name were the rebels who followed King Nu in the uprising." Shen Yuqing thought of a rumor, one that no one dared to say but has been silently circulated. Rumors.

"Why not let the angry king have a name?" Li Jingfeng asked.These power struggles were something he didn't understand yet, and he had no interest in them.

"Unless the name of the angry king will affect the nine families' governance of the world." Shen Yuqing thought.

One answer, a very simple answer.

"Jingfeng, continue talking about what happened after you went to Kunlun Palace." Xie Gubai said.

Shen Weichen complained: "Mr. Xie is just whetting his appetite."

※As Li Jingfeng guessed, there were patrolling Iron Sword Silver Guards all along the way. Without Qi Zigai sending people to lead the way, it would have been impossible to even reach Hugou Town, let alone Kunlun Palace, let alone go up the mountain.

"That's it, you can go alone. But first, I have to remind you that the end of the mountain behind Kunlun Palace is a cliff and there is no road."

Li Jingfeng thanked the person who led the way.The snow-capped mountains were extremely cold, so he wrapped himself tightly in his cotton-padded jacket and took out a map to compare the location.

A "convex" shape is drawn on one end of the map, extending from the convex character, with many curved shapes like mountains on both sides.He remembered what Xie Gubai said, "There is a secret here, hidden in Kunlun." If the embossed characters represent the Kunlun Palace, then this terrain...

He compared it. Yes, although there were some small differences, the places where the mountain lines were drawn on both sides were compared with the mountain walls on both sides. If there were only one side of the mountain line, and the other side was a cliff, this was indeed the Queen of Kunlun Palace. Mountain map.

There is a small "ten" drawn on the map. There is no mountain line on the left, but a cliff. There is a "well" written on the left of the small "ten", and a cross is drawn on the left about an inch away from the line.

He came to the position marked with a cross. There was a mountain wall on the right and a cliff on the left. Looking down from the mountain, the valley was hundreds of feet deep and completely white.He leaned over and shoveled away the snow, and stepped hard a few times to confirm that there were no secret passages or mechanisms under his feet.

What secrets could be hidden in a place like this?Li Jingfeng thought.When he came to the end of the back mountain, a mountain wall lay in front of him, with no way to go. Then he circled back to the original place, thinking about the meaning of the three marks.

If the cross marked the edge of the cliff, then the tic-tac-toe and the cross-tac toe would be in the air.He originally thought there would be a hillside for him to walk down, but this was clearly a cliff with no way forward.

What if the edge of the mountain wall is not the position of a cross, but a tic-tac-toe or a fork?There is still a problem. Whether the tic-tac-toe or the cross represents the edge of the cliff, and the cross represents the bottom of the foot, which one marks the secret place?
"Big brother knows I'm not smart, yet he still tests me." Li Jingfeng smiled bitterly.

Li Jingfeng looked back at the mountain wall. When he was at Lenglongling, Hu Jing told him that it was unreasonable to dig into the mountain. The mountain wall was solid, difficult to drill through, and very easy to collapse. He couldn't imagine that he could find it after removing a piece of the mountain wall. There is such a thing as a way out.

He groped on the mountain wall, peeling off the snow on the mountain wall, and suddenly saw a black mottled mark. He became suspicious, pushed aside the surrounding snow, and couldn't help but cheer.

A cross mark six feet high and three feet wide, carved out with an ax or a chisel.

This is the cross on the map, not the edge of the cliff, but the edge of the mountain wall.But what's the use of the cross?The tic-tac-toe next to the cross should be nearby. He searched for a long time and cleared away all the snow around the cross. His fingers were stiff from the cold, but he still couldn't find anything.There was only a protruding stone about two feet high around the cross. This protruding stone was part of the mountain wall and could not be moved. There was nothing related to the tic-tac-toe mark.

After working hard for a long time, he sat down on the ground and couldn't help but breathe.It was getting dark, so he set up a tent to rest. He spent the whole night thinking about the tic-tac-toe mark, and suddenly thought: "What if this tic-tac-toe is not a mark, but a word?"

Crosses and crosses are both marks, and well is a word. If the elder brother wants to mark something, he can draw a circle or something like that. It can be seen that it is not a mark, but maybe an instruction.

What does the well do?Li Jingfeng thought for a long time, only carrying water, fetching water, turning the windlass, and digging wells.The possibility of digging was too low. He had only dug today. The thousand-year-old frozen soil was as hard as stone.

It's better to think about things the other way around. Instead of trying to crack the mystery, it's better to think about where the secret treasure can be hidden in a place like this.On the mountain?At the foot of the mountain?Or... the belly of the mountain?
Early the next morning, he got up and looked again. He looked up at the high place. There were piles of rocks and he wanted to climb up... He didn't know where to climb.And the fork is on the left side of the tic-tac-toe, which is the direction of the cliff.He looked at the protruding stone again and thought: "Is it necessary to tie a rope here and hang yourself down like water from a well?"

This idea seemed to make some sense. He immediately took out a piece of clothing and tore it into long strips. It looked a little short, so he had to tear off two more pieces of clothing and formed a long rope of about ten feet, with one end tied to the stone. Go up, tie the other end around your waist, and climb down the cliff.

He had just climbed down about three feet when he saw a protrusion about two feet long and more than one foot wide three or four feet below. It turned out that the cliff was wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. The protrusion at the bottom was covered by the ground above and could not be seen. He had to climb. You can only see it below.

The rope was not long enough and he couldn't go down. Li Jingfeng couldn't tear off his clothes anymore. He didn't have much clothes, and he would be freezing in the snowy mountains if he tried to tear them off.Besides, although there are few people here, such a long rope hanging on the edge of the cliff will definitely attract attention.

Be adventurous.He climbed back onto the cliff, packed his luggage, tied it firmly to his back with a rope, and climbed down slowly with his hands on the rock wall.With his current skills, he was really taking risks. Not to mention falling due to exhaustion, even a rock collapse would be enough to kill him in the abyss.

He climbed down about four or five feet, and was about two or three feet away from the platform. He jumped and landed on the platform.

There was nothing on the platform. Li Jingfeng looked around. It was just an ordinary platform, but there was another platform about two feet away from the platform.

Want to jump?It was two feet away and relatively low, so he should be able to jump over, but once he jumped over, he had no ability to jump back.He had a feeling that he had done something right. The platform was positioned so cleverly that it could not be discovered.

Determined to give it a try, he took off his luggage and threw it to the platform below. Then he took a breath and jumped forward. As soon as he landed on the second platform, he slipped and fell to the ground, and his body slid to the edge uncontrollably. .Li Jingfeng couldn't stand up, and kept grabbing at the ground with his hands. Seeing that his legs were already hanging in the air, he reluctantly climbed up on the ground.

It was so dangerous that Li Jingfeng shivered.There is a third platform two feet behind, just below the previous platform. These platforms are like stairs, one on the east and the other on the west. The closest ones are more than ten feet apart, and the far ones are more than two feet apart. Li Jingfeng He jumped all the way and rested for a moment when he lost strength. He believed that this must be the place indicated by his elder brother. The cross mark corresponded to the cross mark on the mountain wall, the tic-tac-toe corresponded to the stone used to tie the rope, and the cross-marked place pointed to It's the cliff, not the edge of the cliff, but the bottom of the cliff.

He lost count of how many platforms he had jumped. Li Jingfeng had fallen nearly a hundred feet, and even if he wanted to look back, he could no longer turn back. He finally saw a cave next to the platform below, and he was excited for surprise.

The entrance to the cave is about ten feet deep and somewhat winding. There are candlesticks hanging on the mountain wall, which indicates that someone has lived there.There is no door here, and there is no need to guard against thieves. The passage is somewhat winding, and the wind is not easy to blow in.But when they reached the depths, it was a pitch black where even Li Jingfeng's night eyes could not see anything, but he could feel the emptiness, as if... there was also the feeling of a breeze.

Li Jingfeng touched the oil lamp on the wall, took out the fire stick and lit the lamp. Fortunately, there was still lamp oil inside. After lighting up one lamp after another, Li Jingfeng realized what kind of place he was in.

A huge library.

In a cave that is more than a hundred feet long and wide and has an irregular shape, there are hundreds of bookshelves. The bookshelves are full of books and volumes. I don't even dare to count the number of books in the collection.Li Jingfeng was surprised, happy and doubtful. He was happy that his guess was correct and finally found the secret treasure mentioned by his elder brother. He was surprised by the rich collection of books, but he was doubtful: Where should I start reading these books?Read each book one by one, I'm afraid I won't be able to finish it even if I am reincarnated ten times.

He raised his head and walked around the cave with an oil lamp. In addition to the entrance, there were four exits in the cave with a radius of a hundred feet. There were words carved on the stone wall on the right side of each exit.He didn't take a closer look, because he found a dusty bookshelf in front of the stone wall behind the center of the cave. There was a piece of paper with an unknown name on the stone wall behind the bookshelf, which aroused his curiosity.

He took the oil lamp and walked to the bookshelf first, where four books were placed. The books were covered with dust and the paper had turned yellow.Li Jingfeng gently swept away the dust and saw that the four books were in order: "Right Qi Jue", "Xuan Hua Bao Dian", "Marrow Cleansing Sutra", and "Yang Hao Sheng Gong".

Li Jingfeng didn't know the origins of the other three books, but the "Marrow Cleansing Sutra" was a Shaolin martial arts treasure that was as famous as the "Yi Jin Jing" from Xiao Qing's story. The other three books could be compared with it, so it must be very powerful. Martial arts.He couldn't help but feel his heart beat faster. He saw words engraved on the bookshelf. When he brushed aside the dust, he saw that it was: "It's hard to be greedy, so choose one and be good at it." It seemed that he could only choose one of the four skills to improve.

Li Jingfeng suppressed the throbbing in his heart and moved his eyes to the paper embedded in the wall behind the bookshelf.

The paper is about eight feet long and four feet high. It is considered huge. It is set in a specially made stone frame with appropriate sides. It is obviously more valuable than the four martial arts manuals, so it was placed in such a special place.

Maybe it's the ancestral teachings of the cave owner?He had heard that some people would make a plaque or copybook of their ancestral teachings and place it in the hall of their home. So, if the owner of the cave is the eldest brother, would this be the ancestral teachings of the Xie family?

The piece of paper looked much older than the four books. Li Jingfeng did not dare to touch it for fear that it would break if he touched it. He opened his mouth and gently blew away the dust on the paper.The ink on the paper is thin and has faded a lot, but the red seal is still bright. There are a total of six seals and red palm prints.

Li Jingfeng raised the oil lamp and looked at the words carefully. Although the handwriting was light and obscured by dust, it did not affect Li Jingfeng's ability to see clearly. The words on the paper were also very simple, and Li Jingfeng could recognize them.

Therefore, every time he read another word, it was particularly thrilling. Li Jingfeng took a breath and held his breath to read the words above.

Today, everyone is determined and working together to conspire against the angry king and divide the world equally. They are allied with blood. This book is an oath, and it must be declared secretly!Those who rashly reveal themselves will have their sect overthrown and their entire family wiped out!Anyone who leaks information will be killed!The tipster, kill!Anyone who is lucky but does not try his best will be killed!Anyone who regrets quitting will be killed! …

He quickly moved the oil lamp down...

■

"There are six signed sects in total," Li Jingfeng said, "Diancang, Emei, Huashan, Wudang, Beggar Gang, and Kongtong."

Except for Emei, which later declined and was annexed by the Tang clan, these are the nine major families that account for more than half.

Shen Yuqing's throat was dry and her hair was dry, she couldn't believe it, Shen Weichen's face was pale, and Zhu Menshang... he already regretted listening to this story.

"King Nu..." Shen Yuqing asked in a trembling voice, "Was he murdered by a conspiracy by six families?"

"Why would King Nu's name shake the status of the Nine Families?" Xie Gubai said, "Because this world originally belonged to King Nu. After King Nu's death, who should own this world?"

Shen Yuqing guessed, and the answer was that simple.The Nine Families hid the name of King Nu because King Nu had heirs and he had descendants. They used a hundred fake names of King Nu to cut off the real descendants of King Nu.

"The surname of King Nu is Xie." Xie Gubai said, "His name is Xie Yangqing, whose surname is Zi Che, and he is from Hezhou, Longdi."

(End of this chapter)