Soon after Cao Yin arrived in Hangzhou, the fourth elder brother and the thirteenth elder brother set off for Beijing. Although Cao Yan had the heart to have a good relationship with the future Yongzheng Emperor and avoid the disaster of the Cao family's raids, he was bedridden and recuperated, and he didn't even have the opportunity to see them, so naturally he had no way to be courteous. Knowing that after the two returned to Beijing, Cao Yin sighed for a long time, Cao Yin thought that his son was grateful for the rescue of the two elder brothers, and did not take it to heart.

On the tenth day of August, the Li family, who got the news, took a few maids and daughters-in-law to Hangzhou. Although Cao Yin didn't want his wife to worry, because the Mid-Autumn Festival was coming soon, there were many affairs in the yamen and clan, so he couldn't stay in Hangzhou for a long time. Cao Yan still had to recuperate in Hangzhou, so he had to send someone back to Jiangning to deliver a letter and pick up his wife Li to take care of his son.

Although Cao Yan's skin injuries were good, Li felt sorry for his son and burst into tears. Cao Yin comforted him carefully, and told Cao Fang to take good care of the family and nursing home, and then got up and returned to Jiangning.

In the blink of an eye, it was August 15.

In the courtyard of the Cao family, although only Li, Cao Yan, and Liu Ping brought some subordinates, all kinds of fruit mooncakes were fully prepared. Li has learned about Liu Ping's life experience from Cao Yan, and is grateful for her rescue of her son and her love from the bottom of her heart. Liu Ping is well-behaved and clever, completely different from Cao Yan, who is like a little adult, and coaxes the Li family to be happy. After only a few days of getting along, the two are not like mother and daughter, but better like mother and daughter.

Cao Yan read a book in the room for half a month, and was carried to the courtyard by the subordinates at this time to admire the moon with Li and Liu Ping.

The night sky was as blue as the sea, the clouds moved slightly, and the full moon sprinkled a cold silver light. Cao Yan bit the moon cake in his mouth, but he was slightly sentimental in his heart. "I miss my relatives every festival", I don't know how my parents, brothers and sisters-in-law are in that world, I have been cared for by them for many years, and I gave my surname in confusion if I failed to reciprocate.

Seeing that his son's mood was not high, Li Shi had a little more worry in his eyes. Even Liu Ping, who usually said that it was best to chirp and speak, also noticed that something was wrong, looked at Cao Yan, looked at Li, and was a little well-behaved in the quiet.

Cao Yan didn't want the two of them to worry, suppressed the sadness in his heart, smiled more on his face, put a piece of lotus seed paste mooncake on Li's plate, and picked a double egg yolk and handed it to Liu Ping. The little girl loves to eat this flavor of moon cakes the most, and she has eaten a lot in the past two days.

The atmosphere relaxed, although Cao Yan was not good at speaking due to a throat injury, but with Liu Ping, who loves to talk, he was not cold. Li's surname is generous, thinking that the people in the other courtyard are also busy for a day, so he sent the maids around him to deliver moon cakes everywhere. Although they have been divided according to each person's example, those are not comparable to the mooncakes specially customized from the century-old store in front of them.

In the middle of the moon, Li was a little tired, and Liu Ping also yawned. Cao Yan was greedy for the moonlight and had no sleep, so he asked Li and Liu Ping to settle down first. Li wanted to stay with his son, but Cao Yan refused, so he couldn't rest assured, so he left his personal maid to take care of Cao Yan.

At midnight, there was silence in the courtyard, and even the embroidered mandarin ducks leaned under the porch, sleeping in a daze. In the future, the fate of the Cao family made Cao Yan feel a little heavy, and unconsciously, he pondered for a long time. He stretched, thinking about it no matter how much he wanted, he still had to wait until his leg was good before he could say anything else.

Suddenly, there were several dog barks in the front yard, which seemed unusual in the quiet of the night. Next, there was a faint noise.

After a while, the grandmother who was on duty at the second gate came over to tell her that there was a thief in the front yard and was arrested by Cao Fang. The ancient ruffians and hooligans have seen it, but the ancient "thieves" have not seen it, Cao Yan was a little curious in his heart, and said to the mother-in-law: "Mother, settle, I, go and see!" Because his voice was not yet sharp, he had to jump out one word or two when he spoke.

Although the grandmother felt that it was inappropriate, since the little master had spoken, there was no reason to disobey, so she called two sturdy servants to carry Cao Yan's chair to the front yard.

The front yard is brightly lit.

More than a dozen guards held torches and swords in their hands, not daring to slack off at all, and when they saw Cao Yan coming out, they bowed their heads and saluted. Cao Fang was a little embarrassed when he saw that it was not his wife who came out. There was a bald old man lying on the ground, his clothes were covered with dark red blood stains, his face was pale, his lips were black, and he looked like he was about to die. When Cao Fang was taking people to patrol the night, he found this old man outside the stable, and he looked like he was injured and poisoned, and he was afraid that he would die in the mansion under the festival, so he wanted to send him to the yamen after telling his wife, but he didn't expect that it was the little master who came out.

When Cao Yan saw this old man, he thought of the embarrassment he was in distress when he was in trouble, and he felt a little more unbearable. Although I haven't seen an example, I have seen similar symptoms from books, frowned, looked at Cao Fang and asked, "Poisoning?" Seeing Cao Fang nodding, he pointed to the old man: "Lift, guest room!" ”

Cao Fang originally wanted to persuade the little master to do more than less, but when he saw Cao Yan's serious and solemn expression, he didn't dare to say much, so he took the two of them to carry the old man to the bed in the east wing guest room.

Cao Yan ordered someone to put a chair next to the bed, and first sent someone to the street to ask for a doctor. Ping said that the doctor who took care of Cao Yan went out of the city for the festival, and he would not be able to come back until later. Then he commanded: "Pancreas, milk, water!" ”

Fortunately, Mrs. Sun and Xiuyuan were not worried about Cao Yan, so they took a few servants to wait, so they were able to quickly call someone to go to the backyard to get pancreas and milk.

Cao Yan motioned to Mrs. Sun to put the pancreas in a bowl and melt the pancreatic water, and then asked someone to get used to the old man. In less than a moment, the old man, who had been unconscious, made a gurgling sound in his throat. Cao Yan asked someone to prepare a basin, and the old man vomited wildly in a daze, and spit out half of the basin.

There was a sour smell in the room, and Cao Yan was stunned, so he asked people to melt two bowls of pancreatic water and give the old man a habit of it. Pancreas, that is, handmade soap. Soapy water has an emetic effect, and judging by the old man's reaction, the effect of this pancreatic water is similar.

In this way, the old man vomited several more times, until at last he could not vomit anything, and vomited half a mouthful of green bile. Seeing that it was almost over, Cao Yan ordered someone to feed the old man a big bowl of milk.

After tossing for half an hour, when the doctor arrived, although the old man's face was still gray, his lips were a little bloody. Cao Yan's tense heart relaxed, it seems that soap and water should have a detoxification effect, but I don't know what the old man's injury is.

The doctor was called up in the middle of the night, and he was a little resentful, but seeing that his servants were all good, and the furnishings in the guest room were several times better than those of ordinary rich families, he naturally did not dare to be presumptuous. With his left hand stroking his beard and his right index finger and middle finger resting on the patient's veins, his face became more and more heavy. After checking the pulse, he carefully examined the old man's wounds.

Cao Fang saw that the doctor had finished checking and handed over the pen, ink and paper. The doctor didn't answer, sighed, and shook his head.

Cao Yan was anxious and said, "Poison, it's solved, what's the matter?" ”

The doctor saw that the little boy in front of him was dressed extraordinarily and was different from others, and knew that it was the master's family, but he wondered why he let such a small child come out to take charge. Hearing the little boy's voice hoarse, he knew that his voice was inconvenient, and when he heard what he asked, he replied: "Although most of the poison in this old man has been resolved, the wound on his left rib is too deep, and it hurts the liver and gallbladder, even if the gods come, there is no way." Hang it with ginseng soup and explain what happened! ”

Although the patient was covered in poison and wounds, the doctor did not bother to pay attention. As a doctor, I have seen a lot of patients, and I have long known what I can ask and what I can't.

When Fang just called someone to ask for a doctor, Cao Fang said that he was afraid that the wound was too deep and the medicine stone could not be saved. Cao Yan still had a trace of expectation in his heart, but he didn't expect this to be the result.

When I came to this world, I faced death for the first time, and I was a bald old man I had never met. For some reason, Cao Yan only felt that there was a providence in the dark.

After the doctor left, Mrs. Sun brought half a bowl of ginseng soup. Because there is a patient named Cao in the house, and Li's body is also weak, the ginseng soup is always prepared in the kitchen, and it can be used as soon as it is hot, and it is also convenient.

The bald old man was fed half a bowl of ginseng soup, his eyes closed, and he muttered a sentence in his mouth: "Earthquake ......" The voice was so low that even Cao Yan, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, couldn't really hear it, so he had to bow his head gently.

"Earthquake High Gang", Cao Yan's head buzzed, is it the "Earthquake High Gang"? Cao Yan turned around and saw that everyone's expressions were as usual, confirming that only when he heard it could he be relieved. This is no joke, wave your hand and send everyone out.

Whether it is the grandmother-in-law, the embroidered mandarin duck, or Cao Fang, they don't move for a long time. Although the person on the bed looked like he was already out of breath and less in breath, everyone didn't dare to leave the little master alone in the room, in case the old man made any reckless moves before he died, everyone couldn't get out of it.

Cao Yan snorted coldly: "Get out!" ”

The three of them had no choice, so they slowly moved towards the door.

When only the old man and himself were left in the room, Cao Yan breathed a sigh of relief and said in a low voice: "Earthquake Gaogang, a stream of water is beautiful through the ages!" ”

"The door faces the sea, and the Sanhe River flows for ten thousand years!" The old man replied slowly, opened his eyes, and saw that there was only a young boy in the room, and his eyes flashed with a little surprise.

"Which hall is there by the Red Flower Pavilion?" Cao Yan saw that the old man was no longer squeaking when he saw him, so he had to speak hard.

The old man listened to Cao Yan's voice and was convinced that the phrase "earthquake" was not his auditory hallucination, but he felt confused about the phrase "red flower", and asked: "What do the little brother's parents call it, have you heard this from their mouths?" ”

Cao Yan was stunned for a moment, and said slowly: "I listened to what my master said!" ”

"Your master?" The old man's face was solemn, he stretched out his hand to grab Cao Yan's arm, he was very puzzled, the kid in front of him had no internal strength at all, looking at him white and tender, not to mention that he was from a foreign sect.

"Little brother, your master's surname, where is you?" The old man asked.

"He didn't say his name, but just accepted me as a disciple, so that I could understand the truth of Heavenly Father and Earth Mother, and said that although I didn't know 'Sijiu', I was half of the Hong family." Cao Yan said nonsense, in fact, at first he was just curious, so he used the Tiandi Hui he had seen in "The Legend of Deer and Ding" to cut a few words, and then saw that the old man was full of hope, and he couldn't bear to tell the truth to disappoint him, so he had to make it up.

"I didn't teach you martial arts, but I told you this, shouldn't you?" The old man was puzzled: "What does that person look like, can he be in Hangzhou now?" ”

"He's a Taoist, a little sloppy, a heavy drinker, in his fifties, or in his sixties, or seventy or eighty! I went to Fujian last month and I don't know when I will come back. Cao Yan touched his head, a little embarrassed, and there were more and more lies. Seeing that this old man is about to die, why bother to lie to him, or tell the truth, just say that he is a stranger, and ask him what will happen to him. Speaking of the old way, it is because in the previous life I was a little bit understood by the Heaven and Earth Society, and knew that its birthplace was in Fujian and Taiwan, and a large part of the Taoists, monks, and nuns accounted for a large part of the people.

Although Cao Yan said confusedly, the old man nodded: "It turns out to be Brother Su's disciple!" Seeing that Cao Yan's face was full of doubts, he explained: "Your master's surname is Su Hongguang, and his nickname is 'Drunken Daoren', he is the 'Wei Zong' of our five sects of Hongmen, and he is a superior internal kung fu. ”

Cao Yan didn't expect that he would be open-mouthed, and there was really such a person, so he didn't know what to say.

The old man's face grew rosy, and his eyes became much brighter. Cao Yan knew that this was a reflection of the light, and he couldn't bear it, and said softly: "Who harmed you, let the master help you take revenge!" But I thought in my heart that if it was a wicked person who harmed this old man, then I would help him avenge him in the future.

The old man listened to Cao Yan's words and understood his intentions, he was very relieved, and his face showed a little sadness: "Brother Su has returned to Fujian, I'm afraid he will be like the old man!" Speaking of which, he took Cao Yan's hand and placed an iron wrench in his hand.

The wrench is very heavy, and there is a plum blossom pattern carved on it, Cao Yan feels that his head is big, this can't be a token, right? What are you afraid of, what is coming, I just heard the old man say: "The old man is your uncle, the first generation of the chief helmsman of Hongmen, 'Dazong' Wan Yunlong." Since Kangxi opened the mountain in Fuzhou in the thirteenth year, it has been twenty-seven years, and there are 100,000 Hongmen brothers. The original intention was that under the rule of the Manchu Qing Tartars, the poor brothers of the Han family helped each other, but I didn't expect that in recent years, some people's appetite has become bigger and bigger, and they want to take the surnames of thousands of brothers to do the dream of Huangliang. Speaking of this, he pointed to the wrench in Cao Yan's hand: "This is a token of the helm of the Hongmen, although the inner eight halls rebelled, but the outer eight halls were not in the sphere of influence of the rebels." Although the old man is no longer good, the rebel who poisoned and murdered the old man made the old man break his heart, and the remaining few dog-eat-dog will not be able to achieve any climate in three and five years. ”

Wan Yunlong's expression changed, and he didn't know whether he was melancholy or relieved. Cao Yan only felt that the wrench was heavy and hot, and hurriedly asked: "Who are you going to pass this wrench to, tell me quickly, and I will send it for you!" ”

Wan Yunlong saw that Cao Yan's eyes were clear, and he didn't hesitate for a minute, and said with a smile: "The wrench helped the old man hand over to Wu Tiancheng, the lord of Dahong Mountain, he naturally understands the deep meaning, don't worry about this, wait for you to be older." The voice grew lower and lower, and finally faded into obscurity. When Cao Yan opened his mouth to ask where the "Dahong Mountain" was, he found that he had already gone.