Ji Zheng and Qingmen walked along the river valley for another two hours, and they crossed a cliff that winded and encircled a small low-lying canyon. Several waterfalls cascade down the lush cliffs and break into countless streams in the canyon, which sometimes converge and sometimes branch, steaming up a hazy mist that seems to soar into the sky.

"Sir, here we are, this place is called Xigu Yunjian." Qingmen said, pointing to the canyon.

Ji Zheng was deeply shocked, he had never seen such a magnificent scenery, and couldn't help but admire: "The valley and the clouds are streams, a good place!" ”

Qingmen took Ji Zheng to find a hidden passage on the cliff, and the word "cloud steps" was roughly engraved on the stone wall of the entrance. After walking down the cloud steps, I saw more than a dozen guards guarding the end of the cloud steps. When the guards saw Qingmen, they saluted him respectfully, they obviously knew Qingmen, but they still checked the passage of Qingmen, and then let the two of them pass.

Out of the cloud steps, the two came to the valley, and after walking in the lush woodland for a short time, they could vaguely see a huge courtyard, with white walls and black tiles looming in the shadows of the trees. Moving on, the outline of the courtyard becomes clearer, the pebble road meanders with the runoff meandering water, and on either side of the road stand huge stone pillars, the middle of which is hollowed out, and the lights are burning inside, and the light of the fire reflects the surrounding water vapor into a hazy halo.

The whole courtyard is like a pavilion in the clouds.

When the two came to the hospital, a doorman ushered in the horse. Walking into the courtyard, Ji Zheng looked around, only to find that the entire courtyard has four high platforms, which stand in the east, south, west and north directions, and the high platforms are connected by paths, and the center of the courtyard is a martial arts arena.

There is a purple bamboo forest next to the martial arts arena, and the stream is turbulent in the bamboo forest, and a wooden waterwheel is tirelessly turning, stirring up the diffuse white mist.

"I'm going to make a report first, and I'm going to ask you to wait here. Oh, sir, you can take a look around the neighborhood first. After saying that, Qingmen turned and left.

Ji Zheng nodded, and then walked into the martial arts arena by himself. The area is surrounded by all kinds of weapons, all of which are sharp iron weapons. Ji Zheng casually pulled out a sword, only to see that this iron sword was extremely sharp, but because of poor maintenance, there was a slight trace of rust. If this sword can wait for proper maintenance, I am afraid it will not be inferior to my own Blazing Sword.

Such a good sword made Ji Zheng love it, he couldn't help but wave it, at this moment, Ji Zheng found that there was an ethereal figure in the white mist of the bamboo forest, and before he could see it clearly, the figure actually waved a big sword and slashed head-on, Ji Zheng subconsciously blocked with the iron sword in his hand, and then turned around and opened the big sword, and then he stabbed the iron sword in his hand straight out, which was against the person's throat.

"Good skills!" A female voice sighed.

Ji Zheng fixed his eyes and saw that it was a beautiful woman who attacked him, he hurriedly withdrew his sword and saluted: "Girl, there are many offences in the bottom." ”

The woman didn't say much, she took a few steps back, threw the big sword on the ground, and then drew a short sword from the weapon rack, and without saying a word, flew up and stabbed at Ji Zheng.

Ji Zheng was puzzled, what is this woman going to do?

Ji Zheng was worried that he would hurt the woman, so he threw the sword in his hand to the ground, and then put his hands behind his back, allowing the woman to slash horizontally and vertically, he just flexibly dodged every attack of the woman. After doing this more than ten times, Ji Zheng seized the moment when the woman stabbed forward, dodged sideways, and then suddenly stepped forward, hit the woman with his left shoulder, and slammed into the woman.

The woman lost her center of gravity and was about to fall to the ground, and just before she was about to fall to the ground, Ji Zheng suddenly reached out and hugged her. Fang Cai only cared about the fight and didn't take a closer look, but at this time, Ji Zheng found that the woman in his arms was not only beautiful, but also different from ordinary people. She has deep eye sockets, a high nose, large bright eyes that cling to her dark eyebrows, and fair skin that sets off bright lip color. Her hair hung naturally behind her back, with only a few pigtails combed on the sides, and her gauzy exotic costume exuded a charming fragrance, like a fairy from a foreign land. Ji Zheng was fascinated by it, and forgot to let go of the hand he was holding.

I can't imagine that there are such beautiful people in the world.

The woman hurriedly straightened up, pushed Ji Zheng away, and took a few steps back.

"Who used you to help me!" The woman said with a little anger. Then, she clasped her hands in front of her chest, looked Ji Zheng up and down, nodded approvingly: "However, you are really good!" ”

"Oh, offended." Ji Zheng was slightly apologetic, and hurriedly bowed his head and saluted.

When Ji Zheng looked up again, he saw several veiled maids chasing after him. They hugged the woman, blaming her for not running around, and the woman looked helpless and reluctantly followed the maids back. After just a few steps, the woman stopped again, she turned around and smiled at Ji Zheng, and then left the martial arts arena quickly.

"Looks like Miss Hana likes you a lot."

Ji Zheng turned around when he heard the sound, and saw Qingmen changing into a green coat and standing behind him.

"Hana?" Ji Zheng asked puzzled.

"That's right, it's the woman who fought with Mr. just now, oh, it seems that Mr. hasn't seen the Yue people, right?"

"Yue's people? I've never seen it. Ji Zheng said.

"They are from the Western Regions Yue Clan. Over the past hundred years, many Yueshi people have crossed the desert and come to our Huaxia, and most of them have settled in the Qi country. Miss Hana's family also came here through the Qi country. ”

"Oh, I see, the appearance of the Yue's people is really very different from my Huaxia people."

"Yes." Qingmen nodded, and then saluted Ji Zheng: "Mr. Ji, please come with me first." ”

Ji Zheng followed Qingmen to the southern high platform, only to see a plaque hanging on the high platform, with three big characters of "Suzaku Terrace" written on it. Ji Zheng touched the Vermilion Bird Red Jade on his waist and asked, "Vermilion Bird Terrace?" What are you doing here? ”

"Please sir rest here for the time being, I will arrange Qinglongtai to detoxify Mr. tomorrow."

"Qinglongtai? So what? ”

"Sir, please look."

Qingmen turned around, pointed to the other three high platforms, and introduced them to Ji Zheng one by one. It turns out that these four high platforms are named Qinglong Platform, White Tiger Platform, Vermilion Bird Platform and Xuanwu Platform respectively, corresponding to the four ancient divine beasts. Qinglongtai sits in the east, belongs to "wood", and has classics about farming, medicinal materials, herbs, etc.; The White Tiger Terrace sits in the west, belongs to the "gold", and contains classics about smelting, weapons, armor, machinery, etc.; Suzaku Terrace sits in the south, belongs to "fire", and contains classics about the art of war, martial arts, formations, etc.; Xuanwu Tai sits in the north, belongs to "water", and has classics about governing the country, governing the people, maps, hydrology, etc.; The martial arts arena in the middle, named Juntai, belongs to the "soil", and has the purpose of practicing martial arts, lecturing, competing, and arguing about the Tao.

Ji Zheng listened to it and appreciated it, the layout of this place is exquisite, and it must be a master's design.

Later, Qingmen took Ji Zheng to live in Suzaku Terrace, and Ji Zheng saw that there were a lot of books in the room, so he flipped through a few volumes and found that they were all some art of war. Ji Zheng glanced at it a few times, then rolled up the scroll and asked: "The valley and the clouds are a rare place in heaven and earth, and this courtyard is also extraordinary, thinking about it, it won't be just to hide a few books, right?" ”

Qingmen approvingly: "Mr. Ji is really not an ordinary man, yes, this place is not just for the collection of books. ”

"Hehe, it's for recruitment, right?"

"Mr. Ji is a keen person after all. Since the gentleman has seen it, then I don't have to hide it. That's right, this place is called 'Xingyue Hall', which is the place to recruit talents, and my king intends to recruit talents from all over the world and seek great causes, just like the stars holding the moon. ”

"The stars hold the moon?" Ji Zheng stretched out his arm that had been cut by Li Shi and sneered: "Hmph, do you just use these inferior methods?" ”

Qingmen hurriedly apologized: "Please don't blame Mr., I really have to do it." ”

"As a last resort? Hehe, aren't you afraid that Wu Wangfu will know? ”

"Qingmen doesn't dare to say anything, please rest first." Qingmen took a bowl from several cases, then he took out a water bag, poured chicken blood into the bowl, and said to Ji Zheng: "Please Mr. drink this bowl of blood to relieve the toxicity, tomorrow morning, Qinglongtai will come to detoxify Mr." In addition, tomorrow afternoon, Mr. Fan will come to Xingyue Hall, and Mr. Fan will be invited to Juntai to listen to Mr. Fan's speech. ”

"Master Fan?" Ji Zheng asked suspiciously.

"I'll know tomorrow, so let's ask my husband to rest for the time being. In addition, the cabinet volume can be accessed by the gentleman at will. With that, Qingmen turned and left.

Ji Zheng drank chicken blood, and the symptoms of poisoning were slightly relieved. As soon as he lay down in bed, the tiredness came over him, his head was dizzy, and his heart was still worried. At this time, he no longer dared to ask for the safety of Yiyang Village, and only hoped that Zhang Xun and Gong Huiran and others could escape smoothly.

For a moment, hope, despair, pain, and hatred collided violently in his heart, and he was in a hurry, but he could not do anything. He had to be calm, went to the library and took a few books and hurriedly flipped through them. He found that the contents recorded in these books were extremely extraordinary, whether it was the art of war, martial arts, or formations, they were all very valuable, and some of the contents were refreshing to him. Ji Zheng became interested in these books, and after reading the few volumes in his hand, he hurriedly ran to the library and began to study them hungrily.

It was getting late, and Ji Zheng felt tired, so he picked up a few books and went back to his room to rest. Not long after, someone brought food, Ji Zheng finished eating, wanted to go out for a walk, and just walked to the gate of the high platform, he was blocked by the guards. Ji Zheng understood that he was under house arrest, so he thought about it, just forget it if he wasn't allowed out, anyway, everything had to wait for detoxification before making calculations.

Ji Zheng observed at the door for a while, and found that there were indeed a lot of people living in Suzaku Taichung, but these people didn't talk to him as if they couldn't see him, and even deliberately didn't look at him. In addition, these people were all dressed in green clothes, and only Ji Zheng was dressed in light red, which looked out of place.

Afterwards, Ji Zheng returned to his room to rest. He lay on the bed, opened a scroll of the Art of War, and had just read a few sentences, only to hear a squeak, the door was opened, and a woman asked, "Hey, what's your name?" ”

Ji Zheng hurriedly got up, only to realize that it was the previous Yueshi woman who spoke.

"Miss Hana." Ji Zheng hurriedly saluted.

"Huh? How do you know my name? Hana walked towards Ji Zheng.

"Aoto told me."

"Oh." Hana smiled slightly, sat down next to Ji Zheng, stared into his eyes and asked, "Come on, what's your name?" ”

Ji Zheng hurriedly looked away and quickly dodged to the side, separating himself from Hana for some distance. He saluted again and said, "Under Himeji." Miss Hanna, I've been offended today. ”

"Offended? Where have you sinned against me? Hana tilted her head with an inexplicable expression.

"That's it...... That's when we meet......"

"Hey, you mean a competition? What's this! Hee-hee, your kung fu is good, I like it very much. Hana said, leaning forward.

"Where, where, Miss Hana has won the prize." Ji Zheng hurriedly lowered his head, but his face couldn't help but show a hint of joy.

"You're really powerful, you can defeat me with one move, and you don't need to use your hands."

Ji Zheng felt a little embarrassed, so he could only quickly change the topic and ask, "It's strange, why is Miss Hana here?" ”

"Me? They caught me! Hana said with a smile.

"Oh? There is such a thing! Ji Zheng was taken aback, and his body tensed up. He just wanted to fight for Hana, and then he felt very strange. He looked at Hana's laughing expression and was puzzled. If she was caught, how could she be so comfortable wandering around?

Ji Zheng calmed down for a moment, and then asked, "Why did they arrest you?" ”

"Because they need me." Hana said as her eyes swept towards Ji Zheng's waist. Before Ji Zheng could react, Hana had already leaned down and burrowed into Ji Zheng's arms. She reached out and grabbed the blazing sword, and jerked it outward, only to hear a snort, and the bronze sword immediately appeared cold.

"What a good sword!" Hana applauded.

Hearing Hana say this, Ji Zheng was a little embarrassed, he scratched his head and said: "Hehe, this sword was given by my uncle, it is a famous sword, it is said that it has followed many famous masters......"

Before Ji Zheng could finish speaking, Hana frowned and said, "Although it is a good sword, it is still worse than the flowing iron sword refined by our clansmen." ”

"Flowing Iron Sword? Never seen under it. ”

"Huh? No, what you've seen is the sword you used in Juntai today. ”

"Huh? No way. Ji Zheng felt a little displeased. How could his own heirloom sword be as good as an ordinary weapon thrown on the martial arts arena and exposed to the wind and sun.

"It's the sword. Our people are proficient in iron smelting, and the flowing iron sword we have created has long surpassed the bronze sword. Therefore, these Yue people have to forge flowing iron swords for our people. ”

Ji Zheng thought about it carefully, that iron sword was indeed extremely sharp, although he didn't want to admit it, but that sword was at least no worse than the Flame Blazing Sword.

"However, the sword you used today is sharp, but it has a fatal flaw."

"Oh? Flaw? ”

"Well, that sword is not a finished product, it is very easy to rust, as for the way to improve it, hehe, I haven't planned to tell them yet!" With that, Hana swung the blazing sword left and right twice.

Ji Zheng was not convinced, he said affirmatively. "This Flame Blazing Sword may not be as sharp as the Flowing Iron Sword, but it is extremely hard, it can be described as the best among the bronze swords, in my opinion, even if you take out the finished Flowing Iron Sword, my Flame Blazing Sword will still be better."

"Hmph, then tomorrow we will compete to see if your bronze sword is powerful or my flowing iron sword is powerful." After that, Hana pushed the blazing sword in her hand to Ji Zheng with a little displeasure.

"Okay, then we'll try again tomorrow." Ji Zheng took back the sword, held the hilt of the sword, and said confidently.

"Hmph, boring fellow."

Hana turned and left. Looking at Hana's distant back, Ji Zheng suddenly regretted it. had a good conversation, but a sword comparison made people angry. However, Ji Zheng thought carefully about what Hana said, since the Yue people arrested them to come to Xingyue Hall in order to let the Hana clan smelt iron, presumably the smelting skills of the Yue clan are very superb. Looking at the preferential treatment Hana has received here, it seems that her status in the clan must not be low.

Ji Zheng thought to himself, what this Xingyue Hall was planning was by no means a trivial matter, and his ambitions could be described as lofty. He suddenly remembered that a few days ago, he and Dongya went to report to the official, and when they were eating, they heard the diners say that the king of Yue was about to return to the country next month, maybe this king of Yue Gou Jian had already planned to strengthen the country?