On the banks of the Yellow River, the town of Kunyu is a mixture of decay and dilapidation.

Half of the houses in the town have collapsed, and in some places there have been fires, and the gray and black beams have survived the wind and rain, and are still standing in ruins. In the more than ten years since the Jurchens first went south, there were wars, bandits, refugees, famine, plague, and corrupt officials...... Round after round left a mark here.

At that time, Kunyu was now only a small half of the residential area, because of the remoteness of the place, it is a good place to retain some vitality in the entire Central Plains ten rooms and nine empty scenes. Although the roads in and out are in disrepair, they can still be used by large cars, and although the town has shrunk by half, in the core area, inns, restaurants and even brothels for the sale of leather and meat are still open.

In the past, many large crossings on the banks of the Yellow River were controlled by the Jurchens and pseudo-Qi forces, and the water flow near Kunyu was slightly slower, and it once became one of the black crossings smuggled on the banks of the Yellow River. A few small boats and a few boatmen who are not afraid of death have supported the subsequent prosperity of this town.

During this period, there were several underworld battles, expulsions by the army, and looting by mountain bandits, but in any case, the small town still gradually came over in this cycle. The inhabitants of the town are less war-torn and more when the environment is slightly better.

In the summer of the second year of revitalization, the situation was quite peaceful, but due to the slight easing of the situation in the world, the Dadu port on the bank of the Yellow River was no longer under martial law, and Kunyu's private ferry was also affected, and business was much lighter than last year.

May is the flood season, and fewer people cross the river from this side. On the third day of the new year, there are not many guests in the restaurant in the town, and the regular customers in the vicinity sat at two tables in the lobby.

Towards noon, two figures walked along the road in the middle of the town, and the destination was obviously the gate of the restaurant here. These two figures, one big and one small, one fat and one thin, are two monks wearing shabby monk robes. The fat monk was tall and shaped like Maitreya, and he seemed to be a little old, and he carried a package on his back; The skinny monk was just a young novice who looked to be twelve or thirteen years old.

Seeing such a combination, Xiao Er's face showed a little irritated look. The monks eat ten squares, but in such a chaotic year, who can have surplus food to do good deeds? He took a closer look at the fat monk's back and saw that there was no weapon behind him, and subconsciously stood at the door.

"Two Masters......"

The slightly rushed tone had just come out, and the fat monk who was walking towards him looked at the lobby of the restaurant and said with a smile: "We don't make a relationship." ”

"We have the money." The little novice took out a copper coin in his hand and held it up.

Xiao Er immediately changed his face: "...... Two masters inside please. ”

The two monks walked in, and then the little novice asked, "Can I sit upstairs?" ”

"Absolutely." Xiao Er said with a smile, "But our shopkeeper recently invited a storyteller from the north with a lot of money, and the lobby below may be able to hear it more clearly, of course, upstairs is fine, after all, there are not many people today." ”

Kunyu has a smuggling business, the business is good in the past, there are many customers here, and the smuggling businessmen drink and have fun and act generously, there is also a row of tables and chairs on the second floor of the lobby of this restaurant, leaning on the railing, for the guests to listen to books and watch the play condescendingly. Xiao Shami was obviously interested in the high position, and when he opened his mouth, the fat monk also said, "Let's go upstairs." Xiao Er naturally didn't say more, and accompanied the two of them upstairs with a smile.

After sitting down, the fat monk opened his mouth to ask about today's menu, and then generously ordered a few portions of fish, meat and fishy things, Xiao Er was a little surprised, but naturally he would not refuse. When he finished ordering, he told him to bring three pairs of dishes and chopsticks, and it seemed that there were still companions coming here.

After the order was finished, Xiao Er went down, and the storyteller sitting in the lobby considered that there were guests, and his voice was a little louder, talking about the world's first martial arts tournament that happened in the southwest last year. The little monk lay on the railing upstairs and listened with interest.

After about a quarter of an hour, another figure came from outside, this time a man of distinct character and a burly figure, with a scar on his face and a mess of his hair, which, despite the dust, looked extremely difficult to mess with. As soon as the man entered the door, the little bald head upstairs waved his hand vigorously, and he went upstairs, and the little monk saluted him and called, "Uncle Shi." He also said to the fat monk: "Senior brother." ”

The three people who appeared here were naturally Lin Zongwu, the number one in the world, his junior brother "Mad Tiger" Wang Nantuo, and the little monk was safe.

During this period of time, Jin Di gradually became calm after the Jurchens went, and Lin Zongwu took his disciples to live in seclusion for a period of time, mainly to strengthen the foundation of martial arts on Ping'an's body - although actual combat can train adaptability, but the basic skills on weekdays are equally important. After he came out of the seclusion with peace, he felt that the land of Jin gradually did not have much meaning, but the south was surging, and there was a vague big event, which was the most suitable for training, so he simply took him all the way to the bank of the Yellow River.

He has not been much concerned with Manichaean affairs over the years, and the only person who knows his itinerary in private is the Mad Tiger King Nanda. Knowing that his senior brother and nephew were preparing to go south, Wang Nantuo wrote a letter and made an appointment to meet at Kunyu's side.

The three of them sat down, Xiao Er had already served the food one after another, and the storyteller downstairs was still telling interesting stories from the southwest, Lin Zongwu and Wang Nantuo exchanged a few words before asking, "How is the south?" ”

"Sabre-rattling." Wang Nantuo smiled: "Liu Guangshi paid a lot of money and got the first batch of military funds in the southwest, and his intention to take the south of the Yellow River has become obvious, maybe Dai Mengwei is also mixed in and wants a piece of the pie." Bianliang Chen Shiquan, Luoyang Yin Zong, Funiushan Zou Xu and others have now formed a group and are ready to fight. ”

Chen Shiquan, Yin Zong...... I shouldn't be able to beat Liu Guangshi. ”

"Liu Guangshi's soldiers are strong and strong, but on Bianliang's side, Zou Xu is a hard idea, he is a person trained by Ning Liheng himself, although he is said to be a traitor, but he is very good at training and using soldiers. Luoyang and Bianliang are now fully supporting him, and the entire east and west of the Yellow River is close to the 40,000 people in Zou Xu's hands...... They can't help it, in the past, Yin Zong was the boss, but now, Zou Xu doesn't play tricks or tricks, just rely on his subordinates, Yin Zong and Chen Shiquan have to call him big brother. ”

Lin Zongwu nodded: "These 40,000 people, even if they are half as powerful as the Southwest Black Flag, I am afraid that Liu Guangshi will have to beat the drum in his heart......"

After receiving aid from the southwest, Liu Guangshi was not so timid. I heard privately that the one in the southwest was also instigating Liu Guangshi to fight, and it seemed that he had arrested Zou Xu, and all the transactions he had with the southwest before would be returned to 20%. So Liu Guangshi wants Zou Xu's head, but if it really starts, things are not necessarily simple, Dai Mengwei's old goods, colluded with Liu Guangshi in private, and wanted to take the Central Plains, but in Zou Xu's matter, he hoped to mediate in the middle, persuade Zou Xu, Yin Zong, and Chen Shiquan to surrender, and all parties form an alliance to resist the southwest. So, it's not clear what it will look like. ”

Wang Nantuo paused: "But no matter what, in the second half of the year, it will definitely be a fight." ”

Lin Zongwu nodded, and then said a few more words, and someone came in the lobby downstairs. There are eight people in this group, all of whom are carrying knives, guns and weapons, and have an arrogant appearance of the green forest people, the person headed by them is dressed in noble and bright clothes, holding a long knife, triangular eyes, and a gloomy face, it seems that he is a local underworld figure in Kunyu, and he is very familiar with the boss.

After the eight people came in, they looked around and saw that the previous two tables were all locals, so they waved and raised their eyebrows to say hello. Then I saw the three people upstairs, two of them carrying knives ruffians came upstairs, probably to check whether the three "outsiders" were threatening, and the triangular eye headed by him had already sat down at a square table closest to the storyteller, and said: "Lao Xia, talk about some excitement, there are women, don't keep talking about the southwest of Laoshizi." ”

"Hey, hey......" The storyteller nodded hurriedly, and began to tell a certain story of a green forest with heroes and chivalrous women, and the triangular eyes were quite happy. The little monk upstairs pursed his lips and leaned back to the table to eat with some grievances.

The two ruffians walked to the side of the square table here, looking at the three people here, they might have wanted to find some fault, but when they saw Wang Nantuo's fierce face, they didn't dare to make a move for a while. Seeing that these three people really did not have conspicuous weapons, they showed off their might at the moment, and after making a signal of "don't make trouble", they turned around and went down.

"How's Jiangnan?" Lin Zongwu asked Wang Nantuo with a smile.

"The Fairness Party is huge, and now it has more than a million soldiers under its command." Wang Nantuo said, looking at Lin Zongwu, "Actually...... I'm here this time, and I also have something to do with the Fairness Party, and I want to talk to you about it. ”

"I'll just guess what's going on with you." Lin Zongwu smiled, "You and I don't have to shy away from anything, just say it." ”

"The boss of the Fairness Party is He Wen, but although He Wen played the banner of the southwest at the beginning, he is actually not a person with a black flag, and the senior brother should know about this."

"I've heard that there is actually a discrepancy between his thoughts and Ning Yi's, and he said the same thing to the outside world."

"Since last year, He Wen has played the banner of the Fairness Party, saying that he will divide the land, equal the rich and the poor, and defeat the landlords and gentry, so that everyone is equal. At first glance, it seemed a little crazy, but what everyone thought of was at most the Yongle Dynasty of Fang La. But He Wen in the southwest, did learn a lot of skills surnamed Ning, he grasped the power in his hands, serious discipline, the fair party everywhere, counted the rich people's property, openly tried the crimes of these rich people, but strictly prohibited indiscriminate killing, just a year later, the fair party swept all over the south of the Yangtze River, from around Taihu Lake, to Jiangning, to Zhenjiang, and then all the way up to Xuzhou, the soldiers were strong and strong. The entire Jiangnan is now mostly his. ”

Lin Zongwu frowned slightly: "Tie Yan and Wu Qimei, just watching them get into such a situation?" ”

"The people of Lin'an can't stop it, they have sent troops three times, and they have been defeated repeatedly. Outsiders say that the people of the Fairness Party who do not want to die in a war are comparable to those in the southwest. ”

"Then what you're trying to say is ......"

Although he beat the rich households, divided the land, and lured them to profit, but at the same time restrained the people, did not allow people to kill indiscriminately, and the military law was strict, these things were ruthless, but they made the army under his command more and more capable of fighting on the battlefield. However, this matter has become so big, and there are also various forces in the Fairness Party, Xu Zhaonan, who is called one of the 'Five Tigers' by outsiders under He Wen, used to be a branch altar master under us in the past. ”

"You want me to do something for him?" Lin Zongwu's face turned gloomy.

"Senior brother, listen to me, Xu Zhaonan now has nearly 200,000 people under his hands, but he has always been a Manichaean leader, and he has always been respectful to the elders in the sect. This man is good at training and employing troops, and for a while, he talked about the southwest. At that time, Zhou Tong once combined his lifelong learning, and left Ning Yi a set of cooperation and technical methods for the team on the battlefield, and later Ning Yi combined this method to improve, and organized the scout elite into the so-called special forces, specializing in assassinating leaders and beheading generals on the battlefield, and repeatedly performed miraculous feats. ”

Wang Nantuo said: "Senior brother, this so-called special forces, to put it bluntly, are those people in the green forest who are strong in martial arts, but in the past, people with high martial arts skills were often arrogant, and the method of cooperative technical attack, I am afraid that only those close relatives often train." But now it's different, the enemy is now, Xu Zhaonan has gathered many people to train such a strong army. Therefore, I also told me that today's teachers, I am afraid that only the sect leader can get along with the training methods comparable to Grandmaster Zhou. He wants to ask you to come over and give me some advice. ”

When he said this, the little monk Ping'an, who had already finished eating, stood up and said, "Master, uncle, I'll go down for a while." I didn't know what to do, so I walked downstairs with my rice bowl.

Wang Nantuo was trying to persuade Lin Zongwu, and continued: "According to what I have seen in Jiangnan in the past, between He Wen and Ning Yi in the west, there may not be much to deal with, such as today, the black flag in the southwest is considered to be first-class and powerful, and the big one in the middle is Liu Guangshi, and among the several groups of people in the east, speaking of which, there is only the Fairness Party, and now it has been developing, and it is bottomless. I estimate that if one day the black flag jumps out from the southwest, maybe the Central Plains and Jiangnan are already the territory of the Fairness Party, and the two sides may have a war. ”

"In the past, the senior brother stayed in Jindi and didn't come out, so it was inconvenient for me to say this, but this time, since the senior brother wants to travel the world with peace, Xu Zhaonan's side, I think I might as well take a look...... Well? What is Ping An doing? ”

He said this, and then found that the situation downstairs seemed to be a little wrong, Ping An held the rice bowl and approached the triangular eye who was listening to the story, and the swordsman who followed the snake stood up, and seemed to be very impatient to talk to Ping An, because it was a child, although everyone was not like a big enemy, but the atmosphere was by no means relaxed.

Lin Zongwu smiled: "Yesterday when I walked here, I met a person crying on the side of the road, that person was robbed of his property, killed his family, he was also seriously injured, dying, very pitiful, Ping An ran up to ask ......"

Having said that, the peace downstairs staggered in the push and shove of people, and the blood swept into the sky, but it was a broken tile that directly crossed the throat of the triangular eye. After that, the thigh of the person who pushed Ping'an also suddenly bleed, and before everyone could react, the little monk was short and rushed directly past the two square tables from below.

"Ahh

"Catch him—"

"The owner—"

"Kill him, kill him—"

The voice below burst suddenly.

“…… The result of the later question, the one who did the best thing, of course, is the following one, saying that it is Kunyu Yiba, called Geng Qiu, who usually bullies men and women, and kills a lot of people. Then I found out that he likes to come and listen to books recently, so he happened to stop by. ”

The scene in the lobby was chaotic, and the little monk took advantage of the cover of tables and chairs to put down the two of them. Some people lifted tables and chairs and smashed them, some people slashed indiscriminately, and for a while, debris flew everywhere in the room, the smell of blood was permeated, and the eyes were dazzled.

Wang Nantuo smiled and nodded: "So that's the case...... It seems that Ping An will be a good chivalrous man in the future. ”

"Whether it's a hero or not, it's up to him." The fight was chaotic, Lin Zongwu sighed, "Look at these people, and say that Kunyu eats green forest rice, and the three kinds of people that green forest should watch out for the most, women, old people, and children, have no vigilance at all...... Xu Zhaonan's personality is really reliable? ”

"He is a man who does things, although he is ambitious, but he does not dare to mess around in front of us."

"Well, this time I went south, if I stopped by, I would go to his side to have a look."

Wang Nantuo laughed: "Senior brother and Ping'an are going out of the mountain this time, and the rivers and lakes are going to be troublesome." ”

"Liu Watermelon made a poem back then," Lin Zongwu said, "The world is out of my generation, and once I enter the rivers and lakes, I am urged by the years, and in the grand plan to dominate the industry and talk and laugh, it is better than a drunk in life...... We are already old, and the next rivers and lakes will be safe for their generation......"

"Liu Watermelon can also compose poems?"

"This seat also thinks ...... strange"

Ping Pong Ping Pong, there was chaos downstairs, and the shopkeeper ran upstairs to take refuge, perhaps trying to ask the two of them to stop all this, but in the end he didn't dare to speak. Lin Zongwu stood up, took out a silver ingot from his arms, put it on the table, tapped it lightly, and then walked downstairs with Wang Nantuo.

Ping An had already rushed out of the back door of the restaurant and couldn't find it.

The triangular-eyed man named Geng Qiu was sitting on the seat, he had already died, and several of his attendants in the store had been injured, and some had not been injured. This is probably Geng Qiu's henchman, Lin Zongwu smiled: "Have guts." Reaching out and grabbing him, the next moment the man had flown out, and along with a gray wall next to him, he had smashed a hole in it and was slowly falling.

The two walked out of the restaurant not far away, and Ping An came out of nowhere and walked with them in the direction of the pier.

*************

In the afternoon, they had already boarded the bumpy ferry, crossed the boiling water of the Yellow River, and headed for the south of the world.

"Peace." Lin Zongwu called a little excited child: "Doing chivalrous righteousness, very happy?" ”

"Uh-huh." Ping An nodded repeatedly.

"Do you know, although Geng Qiu has evil deeds in Kunyu, but because of him, some people outside Kunyu did not come in. You killed him today, have you ever thought about what will happen to Kunyu tomorrow? ”

"How, how......"

"You're going to start fighting tomorrow, you just killed Geng Qiu today, and he brought a few people in the store, and you were all merciful, and there was no real killer. But then the whole Kunyu, I don't know how many times there will be a fight, I don't know how many people will die. I estimate that dozens of people will definitely die, and the people who live in Kunyu may also be dragged in. Do you feel sad when you think about it? ”

"Yes...... But I'm doing good deeds, I'm ...... I'm just killing Geng Qiu......"

"You killed Geng Qiu because you wanted to do a good deed. But Geng Qiu died, and then dozens of people died, and even those innocent people, just like the shopkeeper and Xiao Er of the restaurant today, they may also have an accident, is this really a good thing, who is it good for? ”

"That'...... What should I do? Ping'an stood on the boat and turned his head to the bank of the Yellow River, which was already far away, "Or go back...... Save them ......"

"Turn around and go back to Kunyu, there are bad guys coming, kill them again, beat them away, it's a good way, then from today on, you have to stay there all the time, take care of these people in Kunyu, do you want to stay here for the rest of your life?"

"Master, what do you want to say, then what should I do......" Ping'an looked at Lin Zongwu, and when he passed, this master would always say something that was difficult for him to understand and difficult to think about. At this time, Lin Zongwu smiled.

"Geng Qiu is dead, there is no boss here, there is going to be a fight, all last night, for the teacher to visit Kunyu's side of the second power of the head snake, he is called Liang Qing, for the teacher told him, today at noon, Geng Qiu will die, let him take over Geng Qiu's territory quickly, in this way, Kunyu has a boss again, the others are slow, this side can't fight, there is no need to die too many people. By the way, I helped him so much, and I also received him a little silver tael as a reward for the teacher. This is what you earned, so it can be regarded as the entanglement of our master and apprentice going south. ”

He took off the burden behind him and threw it to Ping'an, the little bald head reached out to hug it, a little stunned, and then smiled: "Master, you have planned everything." ”

"Feeling happy?"

"Hmm."

"But, when you come back here in two years, you can take a look, the boss here is still not the one named Liang Qing, you will see that he is just like Geng Qiu, here, he will continue to be powerful, and he will still bully men and women to ruin people's families. Just like the poor man we saw yesterday, this poor man was harmed by Geng Qiu, and the poor people in the future will be harmed by Liang Qing. If so, are you still happy? ”

The monk looked at the child, Ping'an's face was confused, and then he became aggrieved: "Master, I can't figure it out......"

"Everything has a way, like a dream bubble." Lin Zongwu said, "Peace, sooner or later, one day, you have to think clearly, what do you want?" Do you want to kill a bad person and be happy in your heart, or do you want everyone to get a good result, so you are happy? You are still young, now you want to do good deeds, you are happy, you feel that you only have good things in your heart, even if you have suffered so many things in Jindi over the years, you feel that you are different from them. But one day in the future, you will discover your sins, and you will find your own evil. ”

He put his finger on Ping'an's little chest: "Right here, all men have iniquity, some good and some bad, good because of good and good because of evil." When you see your sins clearly, you will slowly know what you want......"

His gaze was serious, facing the child, like a question and a judgment, and Ping An couldn't understand these words. But after a moment, Lin Zongwu laughed and touched his head.

"Think slowly, don't rush." He said, "The future rivers and lakes are yours." ”

The big river went east, and in the early days of May, there was a bright sunshine.