The prince is very fierce

It was already dark. Outside Caojiazhuang, located in the center of Junshan Island, nearly a hundred Cao clan members gathered under the stone archway, holding hoes, shovels and other farm tools. There were still many Jianghu people standing in front of them with swords in their hands, headed by Lin Yusong, the young master of Hutou Mountain. They all came spontaneously to help the Cao family.

Although the more than 100 male members of the Cao family are holding farm tools, they are obviously much more powerful than the Jianghu knights in front of them. The Jianghu family has been passed down for hundreds of years, and the imprint of martial arts is deeply rooted in the bones. Even after selling crabs for ten years, the Cao family is still the Cao family. , definitely not comparable to ordinary copycat gangs.

The archway is built on a white stone avenue leading to the square in front of the island. At the end of the road, there are more than thirty men in black standing, each holding a sword in his hand, motionless. In the night, they are like a statue asking for life. Among them Then there were Zheng Yushan and Chang Shijian.

The Jianghu people who came over to help the Cao family were mostly warriors who had been taken care of by the Cao family when they were young or had good connections in the neighborhood. The strongest was only the young master of Hutoushan, who was also a wealthy family in Chu. His passion could not make up for the gap in hard power. , are all a little panicked now.

Lin Yusong is considered the number one among the younger generation in Chu. He was the one who took the lead in supporting the Cao family this time. His face was obviously ugly at this time.

Lin Yusong dared to challenge Chen Daozi to a duel. He was very confident in his own strength, but confidence comes from self-confidence. The world is not a child's play. The fight with Chen Daozi and Xu Buling was just a sparring match. At most, it would be embarrassing to lose. Zheng Yushan is not as powerful as Chen Daozi, but now he is serious. If he is not careful, he will die on the spot. No matter how confident Lin Yusong was, he was never confident enough to kill Zheng Yushan unscathed in a life-and-death fight.

Fortunately, Dayinglou did not come directly to exterminate the family. At this time, he had no intention of taking action and just stood a hundred steps away and waited quietly.

The young men of the Cao family have arrived, but the two Cao brothers who are the head of the family have not shown up yet. There were also many people watching the excitement around Caojiazhuang. In order not to cause misunderstanding or be harmed, they all stood in the woods on the short mountains in the distance to watch.

Xu Buling and Ning Qingye hurried to the vicinity of Caojiazhuang and passed by a pavilion. In the pavilion stood several people watching the excitement, talking in low voices:

"I'm afraid the Cao family is doomed this time..."

"Many of Zheng Yushan's friends died at the hands of the imperial court. He took the lead here today and will definitely not let it go..."

"I heard that the Cao family has become the eagle dog of the court. Why don't you call the officers and soldiers over..."

"The boat crew must have been greeted. The ferries have stopped. The island is only allowed to leave but not enter. The police officers can't get through at all. Besides, it's useless to come with hundreds of police officers. Zheng Yushan can kill just one person. It still depends on the Cao family themselves..."

…

Xu Buling heard these conversations and looked at Ning Qingye who was busy walking next to him:

"Miss Ning, do you know about Song Ying?"

Ning Qingye looked solemn, walked from the hiding place to the big archway, and said softly:

"I've heard that he is the unfilial son of Cao Qujian. He was originally the young master of the Cao family and later defected to the government. It seems that Senior Cao's family withdrew from the world because of this incident. I don't know the details. But Senior Cao He is by no means a lackey of the imperial court. He is highly respected in the world of martial arts. People in the world of martial arts can solve their own problems. Even if they have the ability to ask the government for help today, they will not do that. "

Xu Buling shook his head slightly when he heard this. There has always been a clear distinction between Jianghu and the imperial court. Some Jianghu people would rather die than cooperate with the government after being caught and tortured, and would not even disclose information about their opponents. To put it nicely, this is called Jianghu rules and integrity, but the reason for the formation of this rule is simply that most Jianghu forces are unclean, smuggling, committing murders, collecting protection fees, etc. The little money earned by opening a martial arts gym and escorting escorts simply cannot do it. big.

The means by which Jianghu people make a living are precisely prohibited by the imperial court. To seek refuge with the government as a whistleblower would cut off the Jianghu people's financial path. It is normal to kill the whole family in retaliation. This rule has been formed over time.

Of course, the imperial court is not always on the right side. There are many corrupt officials who plunder the people's wealth, and there are even more Jianghu people who care about the world. There is nothing wrong in not compromising with corrupt officials.

Xu Buling thought for a moment and said, "I am also a member of the imperial court. I cannot treat everyone who cooperates with the imperial court as a lackey."

Ning Qingye shook her head: "Everyone in the world has a criminal record and cannot be an official. Those who are able to become successful are mostly betraying their relatives and friends to perform meritorious service. Moreover, killing one's own people is far more vicious than the officials of the imperial court. What do you call this if not a running dog?"

Xu Buling thought for a while: "If you want to join the imperial court and prosper, you don't have to betray your friends. You can also betray your sex."

"..."

Ning Qingye obviously had no intention of letting Xu Buling tease him at this time, and said seriously: "Jianghu people will inevitably betray their trust by seeking refuge in the imperial court. Just like me, I killed the Wolf Guard. If a friend who knew about this defected to the imperial court and became an official, he would arrest him. Or don't you arrest me? If you arrest me, it's a breach of trust. If you don't arrest me, you're disloyal to the court and derelict in my duties. I'm not a human being inside or outside. Therefore, the affairs of Jianghu people have always been resolved by themselves. If Senior Cao seeks support from the government, he will be in the Jianghu. It means everyone is rebelling against their relatives.”

This explanation was spot on. Xu Buling nodded: "In that case, Jianghu is not interesting."

Ning Qingye didn't talk much, so she didn't delve into this issue in detail. She came to a stop near the archway.

Xu Buling didn't want to show his face yet, so he stood behind a big tree and watched the development of the matter.

Hundreds of people stood under the archway, and the quiet sound of pindrops could be heard, with only the occasional crisp sound of torches popping out.

After waiting for about half an hour, the crowd separated into a path. Cao Quyi, the second head of the Cao family, walked out of the village wearing a military robe, holding a sword box in his hand. He still had a pleasant expression and a smile. He walked to the front of the crowd and said to the people in Eagle Tower:

"Everyone has been waiting for a long time. My brother is not feeling well and cannot see the guests. I heard that the headmaster Zheng came to ask for a string of sword spikes. My Cao family has withdrawn from the world and left the sword to squander it. This family heirloom Zhanlu sword was handed over to me. Everyone, I hope Master Zheng can find a good master for him."

As soon as these words came out, the whole place was noisy. Even the people in Daying Tower were a little stunned, whispering to each other, and Chang Shijian's eyes were even more intense.

Lin Yusong immediately became anxious and turned around to stop him: "Senior Cao must not do it. How can I give this sword to a group of gangsters..."

Xu Buling is not surprised by everyone's reaction. There are only a few famous swords in the world such as Zhanlu, Chengying, and Zhaodan. The Zhaodan sword on his waist is the one that King Su and Princess Su have searched all over the world for. I don’t know how much effort it took to get it. Among the four major swordsmanship families, only the Cao and Lu families had it. The Zhu family’s sword was confiscated by the imperial court and hidden in the emperor’s inner treasury. The Tang family had been begging for it for more than a hundred years but never got it. It can be seen that How valuable it is.

Dayinglou came here just to ask for a bunch of sword tassels. The Cao family handed over all the swords directly. It was obviously too polite. Even Ning Qingye couldn't stand it and said softly:

"This sword has been kept in the Cao family's ancestral hall for hundreds of years. The successive family heads were reluctant to use it as a weapon. How could we just hand it over like this?"

Xu Buling picked up his sword and looked at it: "Do you want it?"

Ning Qingye was stunned for a moment, frowned and said, "Only when a sword meets a good owner can it live up to its illustrious reputation. I can't afford it. I wouldn't even dare to take it if it's given to me."

Xu Bu Ling thought so and chuckled without saying anything more.