After autumn, the temperature drops, and Jiangning City is still as prosperous as ever. Cars and pedestrians on the roads in the city, small sedan chairs in Tsing Yi, and peddlers come and go between the long streets and narrow alleys of Qingshi.

The autumn wind is sorrowful, the leaves of the trees on the banks of the Qinhuai River are falling, the water in the river is clear, and the painting boat is still continuous. Where the water is a little gentle, occasionally women are washing clothes in groups, and occasionally laughing.

In the early morning, the sun is rising. People had already started their busy day, and under a locust tree by the river, a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy was wielding a sword glowing red, gorgeous but disorganized.

On the side, there were three or five children who looked at it with great energy, and sometimes clapped their hands.

After a while, the boy stopped his sword with a smile, turned around and asked the child if he wanted to learn his peerless swordsmanship, and the child looked excited and nodded his little head.

Seeing this, the boy jumped slightly, broke off five or six locust branches, and sharpened them into rough wooden swords with the long sword in his hand, and distributed them among the children.

The children cheered a few times, holding the wooden swords in their hands and waving them pretending to be like swordsmen.

With a smile on his face, the young man led several children to dance the sword together, and the sword style was slow. The children followed suit and rowed.

Pedestrians passing by, seeing the movements of the boy and the child, all sighed secretly, the boy is young, he does not go to study and ask, seeking fame, but here he frolicks and plays with the child, what a waste of this good time.

The boy didn't care about the pointing and pointing of passers-by, and still led a few children to fiddle with the sword pose, and occasionally the child did it crookedly, and the boy would correct his movements by hand. The children were also full of interest, and they cooperated with the teenager's movements with a serious face.

After practicing like this for a long time, the boy saw that the children were sweating and panting slightly, so he stopped the professor and asked the children to rest.

"Brother, what kind of swordsmanship are you?" A girl with two pigtails asked, waving her wooden sword twice.

The young man touched her head and said with a smile: "This is called the Zhiyang Wuji Sword Technique of Opening Mountains and Breaking Rivers, and when you practice to Dacheng, you can open mountains and rivers with one sword, and shock the world."

When the girl and the children around her heard this, their eyes were full of stars, and they worshipped: "So powerful, then I can learn to be a generation of heroines."

The young man laughed: "That's nature, little woman, after the miracle is completed, when the time comes, you will fight with others, don't forget my master's name, my name is Xu Zilingha."

The girl raised her little face and nodded earnestly.

The young man shook his head slightly, smiled, put away his sword and prepared to leave, and said before leaving, "I will still be here tomorrow, and I will teach you my invincible swordsmanship." ”

A few children cheered again.

On the second floor of a tea shop dozens of meters away, a woman leaned against the window, taking in the movements of the children and teenagers, the corners of her mouth slightly curled, and smiled softly.

When I looked from the outside, I saw that the woman was covered with a scarf, and she couldn't see her face clearly.

After a while, a small servant came to the women's table and whispered: "Miss, it has been confirmed that the target will go to the banks of the Qinhuai River tonight to watch the Mid-Autumn Festival night view."

The woman bowed slightly.

The little guy said no more and turned to leave.

Then the woman put her sleeve on her lap, and two huge spiders crawled out of it and swirled around the woman's lap. Because it was under the table, the tea guest next to him did not notice the abnormality here.

The woman's jade-like fingers gently caressed the blue and purple spiders, but the look in her eyes was very complicated, with doting, sadness, and hatred.

When Xu Ziling returned to the courtyard where he usually lived, he heard a Manichaean disciple say that Fang Baihua had left Jiangning and went to Hangzhou.

Fang Baihua said goodbye without saying goodbye, Xu Ziling suddenly lacked interest, and the questions about swordsmanship in his heart could only be resolved. However, what he cared more about was Fang Baihua's attitude, he didn't say goodbye like this, did he really have no feelings for him? Even though he didn't know what the reason was, he was sincere to Fang Baihua.

Xu Ziling is also a cheerful person, so if he doesn't understand, he won't think about it anymore, and he will ask Fang Baihua in person when he meets him in the future.

After lunch, when he had nothing to do, Xu Ziling continued to practice his sword in the courtyard. These days, Fang Baihua will more or less instruct him a few times a day, although he practices the sword late, but the understanding of the sword intent is a thousand miles a day, plus the sword in his hand Chixiao, although he lacks experience in battle formations, the power of the sword technique is not much different from the average kendo master.

However, the swordsmanship he taught children in the morning was based on the swordsmanship he created himself based on the Wudang Dan Sword, and the moves were very shallow, which could only be used to consolidate qi and polish sword intent, not to kill the enemy. And the swordsmanship he practiced at this time was the only swordsmanship that Fang Baihua passed on to him, called Juque Four Styles, which is said to be the peerless school of a sect in Zhanlu Mountain, Fuzhou.

The four types are the positive and negative vertical splits, and the left and right sweep four styles. Although this swordsmanship move is ordinary and clumsy, it can be used to break through the power of a thousand jun, which is just right for Xu Ziling's Pure Yang Sword Chixiao.

After becoming familiar with the essence of swordsmanship, Xu Ziling also practiced many times, but he was often unexpected, just as at this time, the Chixiao Sword was waved horizontally and vertically in Xu Ziling's hand, which seemed to be full of vigor and terrifying sword energy, but if he looked closely, it was no different from an ordinary charged slash.

However, the divine will of the sword technique in the world begins with existence and returns to nothing. It is not necessary to stick to the moves, but to change, to have moves and no moves, and to win by surprise, so as to survive a hundred battles. But this is also the pinnacle of kendo, and few people today can reach this level.

Although he didn't want it, Xu Ziling still decided to stick to the practice, hoping to go from shallow to deep and comprehend the true meaning of swordsmanship as soon as possible. Due to the demand for strength in the sword style, every move and style is exhausted, and the arm is sore. When it was really unbearable, Xu Ziling rested for a while and then continued to practice.

Until the evening, Fang Jie returned to the courtyard, saw Xu Ziling practicing swords, walked to the side and said, "Brother Xu, stop practicing, go, go out and be happy." ”

Raising his hand to collect the sword into the sheath, Xu Ziling wiped the sweat on his face with his sleeve and said, "It's still early, it's not too late to rest for a while and then go." ”

Fang Jie looked at the fiery sky, and also felt that there was still a moment before it was dark, and looked at Xu Ziling, who was tired, and said, "Okay, your body smells, I'm afraid that I will scare away the girl later, so hurry up and wash and change clothes." ”

Xu Ziling also felt that his body was a little thick, so he nodded, put down the Chixiao in his hand, and went to take a bath and change clothes.

Fang Jie was bored waiting in the courtyard, so he picked up the Chixiao Sword that Xu Ziling put on the stone table and played with it, the long sword was in his hands, and he felt a little hot and unbearable, and there was a hint of resistance, Fang Jie was secretly surprised, this sword had such spirituality.

After a while, Xu Ziling changed into a white robe and walked out. Although he is only seventeen years old, his face is still childish, but he is also tall and tall, and he has practiced martial arts all year round, but the muscles of his whole body are not obvious.

When Fang Jie saw him come out, he put the sword back into its sheath and handed it over, saying, "Let's go." ”

Xu Ziling took Chixiao, tied it around his waist, and walked out of the door with Fang Jie.

At this time, at the beginning of the night, the entire Jiangning City was already in the midst of bright lights. There are also more people on the streets, walking on the stone steps in groups of threes and twos, talking and laughing, and it is very lively.

The streets on the banks of the Qinhuai River at night are the most brilliant scenery in the whole Jiangning, compared with the previous days, the streets in the Mid-Autumn Festival are even more gorgeous, the road is full of lanterns, full of colors, and occasionally the team dancing with the dragon beats gongs and drums through the streets. The river is full of splendid painting boats, from wealthy businessmen or rich and powerful green buildings, there are many boats in succession, cruising on the banks of the Qinhuai River, such as a water fairy palace.

In the midst of the lively crowd, Xu Ziling couldn't help but feel a little lonely, looked at Fang Jie on the side, and asked, "Why don't you go back with Sister Baihua?" ”

Fang Jie has long been used to it, and he doesn't care: "As long as the money is in hand, it is not chic." I want to do more. ”

Xu Ziling looked at the crowd of people in the distance, didn't speak again, and walked straight over.

In order to accumulate fame, businessmen often take advantage of the opportunity of various festivals to spend money to hold poetry meetings to invite talented people from all walks of life to participate.

At this time, Xu Ziling saw the four big characters of "Qiyuan Poetry Club" posted on the courtyard of a building on the street, and someone walked in intermittently, Xu Ziling had to chuckle and shake his head, he learned some words when he was young, and read some four books and five classics, but after following the master, he read all the boxing and knife books, where do you understand these literati and elegant things.

After looking at it for a while, he suddenly saw a familiar figure enter the gate of the building, and when he looked at it carefully, it was yesterday's Chen Dagongzi, and he couldn't help but wonder, could it be that this person is quite talented? Thinking of the impression that the man had given him last night, he smiled unconsciously and continued to walk down the street.

Walking along the street again, there are more and more people, there are vendors carrying baskets and selling all kinds of lanterns, there are also performers who use the lights to perform their talents at night, and even the red card of the Qinglou throws hydrangeas to receive guests. The nearby river surface is also slowly covered with glowing river lanterns, swaying in the water, as brilliant as stars.

Xu Ziling walked from it, like a horse watching flowers, but he was also in a good mood.

Compared with the happiness and enmity on the rivers and lakes, this kind of harmonious event is more desirable. On weekdays, they gather and disperse, and in this Mid-Autumn Festival, families and couples will come out together to enjoy the moon, enjoy the lanterns, and eat moon cakes at this time.

Walking and walking, Xu Ziling felt wrong, and when he turned around, he found that Fang Jie was gone, but with his skills, he didn't need to worry, so he continued to look at the lively scene along the street. Looking left and right, he looks like a rural villager who has entered the city for the first time.

After walking a few more steps, Xu Ziling saw two figures of water lanterns by the river, which were the two sisters from yesterday, and then walked up slowly.

As soon as they walked behind the sisters, the two daughters who put down the water lantern turned around together and saw Xu Ziling.

Ye Qinghe, who was originally smiling, changed his face in an instant, his eyes widened, his mouth pursed, and he stared at Xu Ziling fiercely. Yesterday I ate this bastard in Xin Ya Ge, and now my butt is still a little sore, and I am ashamed and angry when I think about it.

Ye Qingzhu, who saw his sister's demeanor, was really afraid that the two would fight again here, so he quickly grabbed his sister and said to Xu Ziling: "Young Master Xu." You also came to see the Mid-Autumn Festival. ”

Xu Ziling nodded: "I was going to walk around, but when I saw you, I came over to say hello."

"If Gongzi Xu is alone, you might as well go shopping with us, and the multiple companions are also lively." Ye Qingzhu saw that Xu Ziling was alone, and said softly.

"I don't want to be with him." Ye Qinghe said coldly.

"Sister~" Ye Qingzhu called her softly.

"Humph!" Ye Qinghe snorted and turned his head.

Ye Qingzhu smiled, looked at the distance and said to Xu Ziling: "Young Master Xu, let's go over there and have a look."

Xu Ziling nodded lightly and walked slowly forward side by side with her. He didn't have to be with them, but it was better to have a companion than a single person.