Chapter 3 The Shadow of Taihu Lake 1
Yu Shao waited in the Wang family's compound for more than ten days and didn't see Nangong and Xiaohui come to him, could something happen to them? Yu Shao watched the boats coming and going by the Taihu Lake every day, and of course Yin Xiaomei and Bai Mingyue were also there. Pen ~ fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info while waiting, Yu Shao has been practicing his 'Orchid Three Tribulation Fingers' by the lake, Bai Mingyue and Yin Xiaomei studied the moves in detail, Yin Xiaomei's pursuit of posture is very elegant, and some tea picking or sword dancing movements are used, combined with the pace of light skills and Yu Shao's white robe swinging with the wind, holding a jade flute in one hand, and holding an orchid finger in the other, the fingertips pop out of the stone whistling, and the fight is fluttering like a fairy. Bai Mingyue's martial arts cultivation is also very competent as Yu Shao's 'master', she has the Shaolin stunt 'Flower Finger', which is one of the seventy-two stunts of Shaolin monks, Yu Shao and Yin Xiaomei don't know that Bai Mingyue learned kung fu from there, and they don't know that this is Shaolin martial arts, but it's even more strange to know, a woman has Shaolin stunts. Bai Mingyue didn't say anything, but just combined the move of the 'Flower Finger' to increase the power of Yu Shao's 'Orchid Finger'. After nearly half a month of practice, Yu Shao has made great progress, the orchid finger popped out the stone bullet 'sneer' sound pierced the sky, startling countless birds in the forest, and the stone bullet was embedded in the tree trunk one by one, but it was also a little domineering.
In the evening of this day, as usual, Yu Shao practiced finger skills by the lake, Yin Xiaomei performed light skills and jumped on the big willow tree, sat on the tree and swayed her feet, Bai Mingyue leaned on the trunk and watched Yu Shao work hard. Yin Xiaomei suddenly shouted: "Look at what objects are floating on the lake. Yu Shao and Bai Mingyue both turned their heads to the lake, and a lump of objects rose and fell with the waves, not like someone was holding a boat. Yin Xiaomei flew down from the tree, and the three of them jumped into the boat docked on the shore, and Yu Shao rowed towards the unknown object with his oars. When I got closer, I saw a corpse, which had been soaked in water for a long time, and my whole body was swollen, and my clothes were torn. Yin Xiaomei paused for a moment and said with some surprise: "This seems to be the family of the Nangong family, I saw it when I went to Gongshan Island to pick tea a few years ago, although I can't see his appearance, but I remember very clearly that there is a black mole in the corner of his eye." Yu Shao looked at the corpse's face, and there was indeed a black mole on the corner of his eye, and the black mole on the face that was white from the water was even more obvious.
"Could it be that something happened to the Nangong family, and his family will be so unsalvaged on the lake?" Yu Shao said in surprise.
"It is estimated that this man has been dead for a few days, and it may have sunk under the lake, and the dead body swelled before it surfaced, and was washed here by the waves, and you can see that his limbs have exposed some white bones, which was done by the fish and crabs in the lake." Bai Mingyue said.
Yin Xiaomei didn't want to look at the corpse anymore, and said with concern: "Nangong hasn't come to us for so many days, it is estimated that he has encountered some trouble, and the nasty embryo has not come, is this kid also in the Nangong family on Gongshan Island?" ”。
Bai Mingyue took Yu Shao's oar, flicked the corpse and turned him over, a white feather was nailed to the back of the corpse, could it be "Feng Xueling". Bai Mingyue was afraid that the needle would be poisonous, and she was disgusted to pull out the needle on the corpse, so she took Yu Shao's other oar, held an oar in each hand and lifted the feather lightly, and there was indeed a steel needle connected to it.
"It should be Feng Xueling, the steel needle has not turned black, but it has not been fed with poison." After Bai Mingyue finished speaking, she lost the Peacock Feather Steel Needle, although Bai Mingyue gave people a pulse to see a doctor, she had always loved cleanliness and was unwilling to touch the things on the corpse.
Yu Shao asked Yin Xiaomei: "You have been to the Nangong family on Gongshan Island, can we go up and have a look." ”
Yin Xiaomei said firmly: "No, when I used to go, I had to be led by Nangong, the winding paths on the island are secluded, the organs are heavy, and the trees are towering and terrifying, I was very scared when I was young, almost all closed my eyes and bowed my head to follow Nangong, he had already asked someone to pick the tea, I just went to bake and roast the tea, and brought some back by the way, and I never saw his eldest brother and sister-in-law, only Nangong and some subordinates accompanied me, Nangong arranged for me to live in Xishan Town that day, I just remember that the island is not only densely wooded, There are also a lot of Nangong clan people on the island, and there are many pavilions and pavilions, all of which seem to be hidden in the woods, and only the tips of a few halls and courtyards can be seen from a distance. ”
"The Nangong family has always been mysterious, and although they are famous in the rivers and lakes, few people know where they live." Bai Mingyue said.
"I want to go to the island to see, after all, Nangong is a friend who has played since childhood, and I can't care about what he does." Yu Shao said.
Of course, the two girls know that Yu Shao is a person, although he is elegant, he is also the master of the righteous clouds. Among the three, Yin Xiaomei's martial arts are the lowest, although Yu Shao does not know martial arts moves, but his internal skills are profound, and his light skills are not weak, plus it is not difficult to escape from danger with just a little climate, Bai Mingyue is of course a person with a peerless education, and he also has some experience in the rivers and lakes. Yu Shao looked at Bai Mingyue and Yin Xiaomei. Bai Mingyue immediately understood, and said to Yu Shao: "I'll accompany you over," and then turned to Yin Xiaomei and said: "Little sister went back to the Wang family's compound to talk to my uncle, saying that Yu Shao and I went to Xishan Island to find some medicinal materials, so that he didn't have to worry."
Yin Xiaomei also wanted to follow, but Yu Shao and Bai Mingyue insisted, and Yin Xiaomei also understood that they cared about their own safety, and they really had to tell their uncle and aunt about the whereabouts of Yu Shao and Mingyue, so that they could be relieved. Yu Shao rowed the boat to the lakeside and let Yin Xiaomei go ashore, and then turned around and rowed towards the opposite shore, Yin Xiaomei threw the refreshments she brought with her to Bai Mingyue, and stood on the shore until she saw that the boat had become a black spot, and at this time the sky had darkened, so she went back to the Wang family compound alone.
Yu Shao and Bai Mingyue are no longer the tenderness they had when they first met for three days, I don't know what danger is waiting for them, Yu Shao is worried about the safety of his friends, Bai Mingyue cares about Yu Shao's mood is a little heavy, the waves of the vast lake around him are waves, the sky is dark and dark, extremely dull, and there is still a wind and moon to talk about at this moment. Both of them were silent, save for the sound of the sculls paddling across the water.
The surface of Taihu Lake is too wide, Yu Shao slowly slid away by intuition, Bai Mingyue picked up a piece of pastry and stuffed it into Yu Shao's mouth, she wanted to paddle for Yu Shao for a while, but she felt that it was impossible, such words hurt Yu Shao's self-esteem, Yu Shao has always been proud and conceited, and pays attention to gentlemanly demeanor, so that a woman can do hard work in the vast dark night, and she is also the goddess in her heart. Bai Mingyue understood Yu Shao so she didn't speak, all she could do was to grope and feed Yu Shao some refreshments, she just took a few sips, there were not many refreshments, this long night on the waterway, Bai Mingyue was reluctant to eat by herself, she listened to Yu Shao swallow the pastry and groped and wiped his mouth, it was really gentle.
Yu Shao was very moved in the dark night, a girl's family accompanied herself to the dangerous lake island on the assassinated Taihu Lake, how distressing it was, and sent the only snacks to his mouth gently, groping and wiping his mouth, knowing that he was in a bad mood and silently accompanied him silently, Bai Mingyue is an empathetic, gentle and intelligent beauty, if he has a wife like this, what more can the husband ask for, this life will definitely live up to the bright moon. Yu Shao's eyes were filled with tears of gratitude, and he forcibly held back not to let it fall.
Although Bai Mingyue couldn't see Yu Shao's expression, she also felt that Yu Shao had herself in her heart. She felt that Yu Shao would definitely support what he wanted to do, she didn't want to leave him, he was righteous for his friends, he would never be careful about his safety and stop him, his friends were his friends, Nangong and Xiaohui were indeed not scoundrels, they were also martial arts righteous people from famous families, things gathered by like, people by groups, Bai Mingyue knew that Yu Shao would not make friends with scum in the rivers and lakes, and the friends around him were all friends worth making, just like Yin Xiaomei, although she was her rival, she was also her sister, honest and bold, Tasteful, youthful and lively, beautiful and generous, it is precisely because there are so many points, Yu Shao will not be unmoved at all, and he is his strong rival.
The two of them were thinking about things silently, and they didn't know how many hours had passed, and they could vaguely see some lights in the distance, and Yu Shao estimated according to the usual time to go to Xishan, they didn't deviate. They were in a much better mood when they saw the light, and Yu Shao forgot about his fatigue and danced the oars hard, and soon arrived on Xishan Island. They found an all-night Chaos vendor in the town and asked for two bowls of wontons and some cold dishes, and Yu Shao swallowed a bowl and asked for another bowl, and he was really hungry. Bai Mingyue looked at Yu Shao with some distress, although Yu Shao is not like those gentlemen who can't endure hardship, but after all, he has not suffered or suffered setbacks since he was a child, a handsome and pink face has been haggard after the wind and waves in the middle of the night, and some pastry powder eaten on the boat sticks to his mouth, Bai Mingyue didn't bring a handkerchief, so he raised his sleeve to wipe Yu Shao clean, and the gentle and lingering scene even the uncle of the chaotic vendor felt full of happiness, recalling his youthful years, He blessed this pair of talented and beautiful women with a smile. Yu Shao ate a total of three bowls and still felt that it was not enjoyable, and drank the leftover soup from Bai Mingyue, and smashed it to make a 'tsk' sound, like a jade dew elixir. Bai Mingyue smiled and glanced at him, sweet in her heart.
Yu Shao was in high spirits after filling in his stomach, and took Bai Mingyue's crispy hand and got on the boat again, and they took the fire fold given by the street vendor and rowed towards Gongshan Island. Yu Shao saw Bai Mingyue clasping his hands around his chest, a little cold, Yu Shao immediately took off his robe and draped it on Bai Mingyue's body, and looked at her with some apologies, Bai Mingyue happily accepted Yu Shao's kindness, and in the dim light, Bai Mingyue's eyes could be seen with tears, nothing else, tears of happiness.
Gongshan Island is in front of you, but some tree shadows are blurred, there is no light, the waves crash against the stone embankment on the shore to make a 'whoosh' sound, occasionally a few jackdaws chirp, at this moment it is even more terrifying atmosphere, before they go ashore, both of them feel that there is a ghostly aura on the island, which makes people shudder. There are many organs on the island, and Yu Shao didn't dare to go ashore in the dark, so he just rowed a boat around the island to see if there were any lights on. Finally rowed to the place where there were some big steps, it should be the entrance to Gongshan Island, a few houses in the distance had a little bright light, Yu Shao bolted the boat to a metasequoia on the side of the stone steps, and went ashore with Bai Mingyue. Yu Shao shouted loudly to Nangong a few times, but there was no answer, and then some of the lights in the house suddenly disappeared, and the entire island was covered in darkness. Yu Shao found a few dead branches and tied them together, Bai Mingyue lit him up with a fire breaker, and walked towards the island step by step, always on guard against hidden weapons. The trees on both sides are indeed tall and lush, under the trees are lush bushes, there are rockeries everywhere next to them, small ponds are everywhere, they are full of duckweed, almost no water surface, only the sound of frogs, occasionally a frog jumps up and burrows into the pond with a 'poof', and the cries of insects in the grass around come and go. Although there were the sounds of various small animals, Yu Shao and Bai Mingyue's intuition was even more mysterious and terrifying.
Nangong family is a famous martial arts family, there are many disciples under his clan, why is there not even a night watchman, Yu Shao is very puzzled, there is still a light in the distant house just now, indicating that there should be no one who sleeps, but after hearing Yu Shao's shout, he blew the lamp and pulled out the wax, which is a little abnormal, but it is certain that Nangong is not on the island, Gongshan Island is not big with Yu Shao's internal force, Nangong must be able to hear it, unless it is controlled, but this possibility should not be, no one on the island dares to move the second young master of the Nangong family, Moreover, Nangong Ling's martial arts have long been known in the martial arts. Just when Yu Shao stopped in the middle of the path to ponder, Bai Mingyue felt that the rockery and bushes just now seemed to have moved the direction, obviously there was an intersection in front of him, but at this time it was blocked by a bush of thorns, and when he looked back, the circuit was also broken, but a path led to the pond, if it wasn't for a frog jumping up just now, the water surface full of duckweed was a meadow in the dark night, and the torches made of a few branches could only shine in a small place in front of him, if he didn't look carefully at the road, he would definitely walk through the 'lawn' of those duckweeds, and he didn't know what traps would be in the pond.
The two of them were trapped in the flowers and trees, and they were a little scared, Yu Shao pinched a stone in his hand and bounced towards the thorn bush, "Don't" Bai Mingyue shouted in a low voice, but it was too late, a steel needle suddenly flew out of the thorn bush, so that the two of them had nowhere to hide, fortunately, Bai Mingyue had experience, and knew that there must be a mechanism in these flowers and plants, and the moment Yu Shao popped out the stone, he pulled up Yu Shao at the same time, and jumped on the branch of the big tree next to him with a wonderful light skill, the steel needle was scattered all over the ground, and the two wanted to land at this time but they didn't dare, There were invisible needles on the ground, and the torches were thrown on the ground at the same time as they were on the plane just now, and they were extinguished, and it was also thanks to Yu Shao's quick reaction, Bai Mingyue jumped up with her as soon as he pulled his hand, otherwise the consequences could be imagined. Yu Shao wanted to say a word of thanks, Bai Mingyue stretched out her finger and pressed Yu Shao's lips, and hugged Yu Shao's waist with her other hand, afraid that he would fall. Yu Shao admired Bai Mingyue's kung fu very much, and his heart was as careful as a hair, when he activated the hidden weapon in the thorn bush, Bai Mingyue found that a black shadow flashed by, so he didn't let Yu Shao speak. The black shadow probably thought that the person who entered the island had been tricked, and when he saw that there was no figure on the ground, he knew that the kung fu of the person who came tonight should not be underestimated, and he could dodge the hidden weapon on the island so quickly without falling into the trap of the pond in a hurry, he must be a brave and resourceful martial arts master, so he quickly avoided it.
Yu Shao and Bai Mingyue stayed on the tree for a while, and the black shadow did not move, but at this time it was not yet dawn, and the two of them were a little tired after tossing and sleeping all night, but they didn't dare to relax their vigilance, and they hugged each other's waists and limbs and stuck to the trunk of the tree to wait for the dawn, and they were afraid that the black shadow man would find out the movement on the tree and launch some hidden weapon, but there was really no way back. Fortunately, the trees are lush enough and have many branches, which are difficult to spot. Yu Shao thought to himself that this black shadow man may not be from the island, although he was familiar with the layout of the mechanism on the island, he didn't dare to go up the tree to track down, it must be the person in the bedroom with the lights on just now, he should be looking for something, and he hid when he found someone from the island, and he also knew that Yu Shao They were not from the Nangong family, and they would not have been hit by the island at such a night.
The sky gradually turned white, but a huge Nangong family could not see a single figure, the two of them saw the situation underground, carefully jumped down from the tree so as not to stab the steel needle, and did not dare to touch those bushes and rockery again, maybe they were all traps. After the two came down, they walked into the path leading to the pond, and there was a gravel path on the opposite side of the pond, Yu Shao took the lead and flew over without any abnormality, and on both sides of the path were some bushes and thorns planted under a few old trees, and the trimming was very neat, and the empty space was dense grass, and a few unknown flowers were dotted among them, and small ponds could be seen everywhere not far from those old trees, and they were also overgrown with aquatic plants and duckweed. Bai Mingyue also flew over, the two of them stopped and stopped, cautious everywhere, but there was a big stone at the end of the path and there was nowhere to go, this time Yu Shaoxue was obedient, first jumped to the big tree to observe the terrain, but the branches and vines were intertwined, the leaves were dense and impermeable, and the vegetation terrain behind the big stone could not be seen at all, Yu Shao flew to the top of the canopy, and it was all green, the whole island was an arched peak, only a few roof cornices in the distance were faintly visible, and the places where I could see were all tea ridges, which should be the tea garden of Gongshan Tea. Only then did Yu Shao know that he was not in the Nangong family, but in Xiaogong Mountain.
Gongshan Island is an island in the middle of the lake surrounded by water in the northeastern waters of Taihu Lake, composed of large and small Gong Mountains, facing each other with the Ten Thousand Buddha Stone Pagoda in the southwest, the big one is called Dagong Mountain, the small one is called Xiaogong Mountain, there are folk legends in the past, probably that Dagong Mountain was originally incarnated by a turtle, and Xiaogong Mountain is the incarnation of a dragon, but the story is gradually forgotten by people. The big and small Gong Mountain is one of the seven peaks of the two peaks, the Gongshan tea is basically on the small Gong Mountain, not all of them are the forbidden area of the Nangong family, the two islands are connected by pontoon bridges, in the area where there are no tea trees is the intersection of the Nangong family, you can see the pontoon bridge through the heavy set of organs, and the pontoon bridge is the Dagong Mountain, which is the Jiangnan residence of the Nangong people. It seems that the Nangong family is not so unkind as the legend, picking Gongshan tea is not the people of the Nangong family, but the tea farmers of the nearby surrounding islands, as long as they do not enter a small area near the pontoon, they will not be attacked by the Nangong family, this small Gong Mountain is also here with towering trees, dense organs, and almost all other places are tea gardens and loquat forests, and overgrown with weeds, shrubs are vertical and horizontal, and the shore is also dense with wild reeds.
Yu Shao knew that he had not gone up to Dagong Mountain, and Nangong had never talked about the geographical layout, so he did not know how to enter the Nangong family. Now when they were both trapped at the entrance, hungry and thirsty with nothing to do, Nangong Ling appeared, and both of them were surprised.
"Yu Shao, why did you appear here, white girl." Nangong asked with some surprise and confusion.
"Don't you treat me as a brother, I waited on the other side for nearly half a month without news, and found the body of your descendant on the lake, so I risked my life to come to see you, but I was trapped here." Yu Shao pretended to be angry and yelled at Nangong, and was relieved to see that Nangong was intact.
Nangong was actually very moved, and didn't say anything, walked to Yu Shao's side and hugged him, patted Yu Shao's back, what else is there to say about the brother being so righteous. Bai Mingyue watched the two brothers be so affectionate by the side, and they both had a thrilling reunion, and it was not in vain to accompany Yu Shao to this experience.
"Brother Nangong, where have you been for more than ten days?" Yu Shao asked eagerly.
"Since you're here, I don't care about waiting a little longer, come to my house and talk to you slowly, now I see that both of you are already haggard, go, your first time, I have to treat you well." Nangong is very careful, his friend is so righteous, in order to know his own safety and make a mess, he has to arrange for his friend to eat and drink first.
Nangong skillfully turned east and west, and rotated some protruding or recessed places on those rockeries, and the path in front of him appeared in front of him, and he didn't have to jump over those small ponds. Nangong explained with Yu Shao and Bai Mingyue: "This entrance really took a lot of effort from my ancestors, after my father's improvement, it has formed the current appearance, it is arranged according to the arrangement of the Big Dipper, there are seven small ponds, the bottom of the pond is full of sharp knives, these sharp knives are connected to some stone boxes, as long as they touch any sharp knife, other sharp knives will pop out of the stone box, and there are water hyacinths and wanderers planted on it, there is no danger at all, frogs and water snakes and other animals do not have so much force to bounce off those stone boxes, The thorn bushes on both sides are equipped with iron spring syringes that shoot steel needles, I see the steel needles on the ground, I know that Yu Shao you have hit with stone bullets, thanks to your two cleverness, light skills are easy to dodge, otherwise I feel uneasy, and those rockery show stones are loaded with thunderbolts, strong push away or break it will detonate, these bushes and rocks are actually floating on the criss-crossing ditch in pieces, can change their appearance at any time, and those flowers are white and tasteless, but can not be touched, sticky with a little pollen, the whole body is very itchy, It is the strange flowers and plants that my father brought from the Western Regions, and the local poisonous weeds and poisonous flowers are grafted and cultivated, and there are only here in the world, surrounded by towering trees that are decades or hundreds of years old, so that you can't be separated from the southeast and northwest, if no one leads the way, no matter how strong your martial arts are, you will definitely die."
Yu Shao listened to his heart palpitations, and also admired the Nangong family's knowledge, skillful organs, martial arts and stratagem are all first-class good hands, no wonder Nangong Ling has his own status in the rivers and lakes at a young age, not only martial arts family origins, but also must not be weak when it comes to the mechanism of arranging troops, but it is not just on paper like Yu Shao.
Nangong continued: "The entrance here is actually the secret realm of my Nangong family, there is an underwater secret passage that leads to Dagongshan Island, if Dagongshan Island encounters a strong enemy, you can escape from this secret passage, there are several courtyards here, there are a lot of martial arts cheats and places to make secret weapons, and it is also the place where my eldest brother and I practice profound martial arts, in order not to let the clansmen know that there are contradictions, this is the forbidden place of my Nangong family, of course, the layout of Dagongshan Island is even more sophisticated, it is laid out according to Zhuge Liang's gossip array, and the changes of yin and yang and five elements are even more unpredictable, But no, this place is full of deadly overbearing hidden traps. It may be trapped on Dagongshan Island, and if it is not a sworn enemy, we will still send it away politely. There is a dock there, and most martial arts people go to the island from there, Yu Shao, you must have passed through Xishan Island, so when you go to Xiaogong Mountain first, you will blindly go to the island." Yu Shao nodded, Nangong introduced his own layout and secret passage so unreservedly, it seems that he really doesn't treat Yu Shao and Bai Mingyue as outsiders, so secret that even the clansmen don't know, and he also said that it is just the leisure courtyard of the head of the Nangong family. "Nangong, you told us two outsiders such a secret, aren't you afraid that we will steal into your secret passage?" Yu Shao said jokingly.
"Since you are willing to risk your life to come, just to see if I am okay, just because of this you are my lifelong friend, the white girl is with you to show that it is your relatives and my friends, but I have met a few times and am willing to accompany you to come to me in danger, of course I am also my own person, not to mention that I just said some fur, you don't know the entrance and exit, and you have not disobeyed my father and eldest brother to ask me to keep secrets." Nangong said affirmatively.
Bai Mingyue was also moved after hearing this, Yu Shao's friend Nangong Ling is not as superficial as a martial artist, and his observation of people's hearts is also to the point, he is a downright man, and he firmly believes in the affection of friends. Yu Shao was even more speechless and hugged Nangong's shoulder.
The three of them crossed the pontoon bridge after a while, and under the leadership of Nangong, they came to the courtyard of the Nangong family.