In the golden autumn of August, the weather is neither hot nor cold, and it is a good day to go out and travel. But soon after Fu Heng left Beijing, the sky changed. First, the wind blew, and the desert autumn clouds dyed the sky into a gray color. The green gauze tents in the area of Jingshi Zhili have long been cut, the west wind is raging on the empty and lonely fields, and the yellow sand and floating soil are rushing in bursts, choking people breathlessly. After Baoding, the wind was a little lighter, but it rained. It is dripping, dense and sparse when it rains, like a big sieve in the sky that is "sifting water" downwards unhurriedly. Fu Heng was in high spirits at first, laughing all the way through the cold rain of this cold autumn. For several days, it was either the sound of wind or rain, and gradually it felt boring and monotonous. The accompanying Wu Blind and the others didn't understand his set of Yaxing. Fu Heng had nowhere to drop the book bag, so he became dull. After Xinle, the front is the border of Delu County. Here the west leads to the well road, the east to the Dezhou Prefecture Water Transport Wharf, and the north and south post roads run through, and the population is becoming more and more dense. Merchants are in an endless stream, and Fu Heng's mood is gradually improving.

By the end of the day, the rain had lightened. Seeing a big dark town in front of him, the blind man Wu raised his whip on his horse and said with a smile: "It has been seven days and seven nights." It looks like it's going to be sunny on this day. Sixth Master, you are tired of such a precious body. In front of it is the famous Shijiazhuang, where we will shoot tonight. It's August 15th, let's have a good rest for a day, and then we'll do it the day after tomorrow? ”

"It's not the Mid-Autumn Festival, I forgot about it!" Fu Heng said with a smile, "In fact, it's not just Qingming rain that makes people break their souls. Isn't this Mid-Autumn Festival rain also frustrating! I was numb from walking. That's it, Ming'er rests here before walking. A servant next to him named Xiao Qi'er said with a smile: "How good it is for the master to go to Jiangnan and take the waterway." Take a boat to enjoy the scenery, and you can walk around on the shore when you are tired. I persuaded me a few times, but I didn't listen! Walking on horseback and on rainy days is enough of the sin. Even the minions can't bear it. Fu Heng smiled: "You know a fart!" I'm going to go to Henan first, can I take the waterway? Besides, now Caoyun is busy, and the canal is full of ships transporting grain to the north, and a wall is half a day, when and what month can it get to the south of the Yangtze River? ”

Blind Wu was stunned for a moment and said, "Didn't the master say that he would get off the boat from Texas?" Why do you want to go to Henan again? Fu Heng smiled: "I still have to go to Xinyang to buy tea." Seeing that he had already entered the town, he dismounted, took the reins, and said, "Let's find an old shop and rest first." As he was talking, he saw a few guys coming over with a lantern in their hands, and the lanterns were written with the words "Liujia Inn", "Ludao Linfeng", "Shunfeng Restaurant", etc., which were all from the inn in the town to solicit customers - seeing Fu Heng and his party coming, several people rushed up one after another, grabbing business, and it was noisy. Fu Heng was so angry and funny that he was noisy, pointed to a guy next to him who couldn't squeeze in, and said, "I'll live in this one-Ji family's old store!" When the men heard that they had a master, they scattered and went looking for other guests.

Fu Heng and his entourage followed the guys to the south, turned a corner, and saw that there was an empty field, and there was a hotel facing north on the opposite side, and a large beige watermelon lamp was hung in front of the gatehouse, which read:

A century-old shop, Jijia

Six imitation Song characters are written uprightly, and there are two stone lions, one large and one small, the big one is one person high, and the small one is like a monkey. Wu Blind looked at the threshold carefully, it was a passionflower carved stone slab, the middle had been ground into a crescent shape, and the stone lion claws and necks next to the door were stroking many people, and they were slippery, it was really an old shop, so he put his mind at ease. Fu Heng was very curious, and asked the guy: "Why is the lion big and small—a large vacant land over there, as if a house has just been demolished, what are you doing with such a big shed?" ”

"Hui Ye's words." The guy smiled and said, "This lion was left by our old owner of the previous three generations, our old owner was born as a stonemason, and he also repaired the Taihe Hall of the Long Live Lord!" We are not gentlemen. If the lion is as big as that, then it won't be a yamen? Just because of this big and small, the people in the past found it interesting, and I don't know how many customers were recruited - the empty field over there is the homestead of the old lady Shi, which is to be renovated, and the tenants are waiting for the tenants on August 15, and all those who plant the old lady's land have to come to eat this banquet. While nagging, the guy let Fu Heng into the inner courtyard and upper room. Open the door and light the lamp, wash your face, burn your feet, keep busy, and your mouth is not idle: "This autumn, the crops in our place are growing wickedly, you calculate, one acre of land to hit three stones, pour three seven rents, and collect two stones and one." A hundred hectares of land - how much should I receive? This year, August 15 has a good fight! Fu Heng saw that the guy was so talkative, but he couldn't understand his words, his feet were soaked in the basin and rubbed together, and said with a smile: "You stood aside and didn't say anything just now, I thought you were a stuffy gourd, I didn't expect you to be a question-and-answer character!" The guy smiled and said, "Picking up customers is knowledgeable, and killing pigs and tails has its own way of killing." For example, your old man, so many people can't go away, so you have to live in our old Ji's house, is this fate? As he spoke, he wrung a handful of hot towels and handed them over a cup of tea.

Seeing that he was going, Fu Heng stopped and said, "Don't be busy, what you said is quite interesting: tenants and owners are in the ring, why?" The guy smiled: "You old Mingjian, this is every year." Tian Dong wants to seize the tenants, and the tenants want to reduce the rent, and they will all see it at this banquet. If the landlord is strong, the tenant loses; The landlord is weak, and he cries at the banquet and calls his mother, and he has to honestly reduce the rent for others - the Zhengding Hu family asked the tenants to surround the tenants on August 15 last year, and the houses were set on fire. At this time, Fu Heng knew a rough idea - it turned out that August 15 was not only about eating watermelons and moon cakes, but also about the day when the owner and the tenant farmers settled the general ledger and made the charter for next year's lease. When I was about to ask, someone outside called: "Luo Gui! Guests are here - stay in the West Wing! Luo Gui agreed loudly, and said to Fu Heng: "Lord rest in peace first, just tell me what you want!" After that, he went out with the water that Fu Heng had used.

After dinner, it was already dark. After a while, a bright moon gradually rose, and through the sparse shadows of the trees outside the courtyard, the soft moonlight like a light veil sprinkled down. Fu Heng put on his shoes, walked out of the upper room wearing only a stone green poplin robe, walked in the patio, and looked up at the moon. Wu Blind walked over lightly and said with a smile: "Is the sixth master going to write poetry again?" Just now I asked someone to go out and buy good Baoding moon cakes, and a big watermelon, today I am wronged, just a few of us enjoy the moon, and it has passed August 15. ”

"There's no poetry at all." Fu Heng listened, the people on the street outside were noisy, and sometimes there were cheers, and said: "Is the Shi family's 'ring' feast open?" It's so lively, let's go out and have a look. Xiao Qizi smiled under the porch: "No." I went out to take a look just now, and it was a group of performers walking ropes outside, surrounded by a large group of people to watch! Fu Heng suddenly got up, lifted his heel and said, "Let's go, take a look." Wu Blind and a few people had to follow out.

Six people came out, only to see the black crowd on the street, the four lights on the opposite side of the empty field just shone in the center of the street, a fifty-year-old man with long hair and a fifteen or sixteen-year-old hairy boy were playing the field, and there was a girl about twenty years old standing with her backlight, small and exquisite, wearing lambskin and roses, purple, and a sword seemed to be hanging from her waist, but she couldn't see her face. There were two wooden poles standing along the street, and a thin rope was tied to the wooden poles at both ends, and they were pulled straight. The old man arched his hands, said to everyone, and said: "The people of Piao Gao Dao once again greet all the officials, not for food or money, but for the sake of making good karma in the world." "Sigh of the World" cloud "This year is eighty-one, and the practice is just sixty years, just for the old age and no sex, and the granddaughter will return the yuan"! Just now, a gentleman said that the rope that the apprentice stepped on was thick, not a fairy method. Here is a red velvet rope, which is used by the little apprentice Juanjuan to tie her hair in braids. Which believer has come to test it? Fu Heng couldn't help but sink in his heart when he heard this. He vaguely remembered which book he had seen these cutouts. But I remember the three words of "Sighing the World" very clearly. It was originally said that the White Lotus Sect was prevalent in Jiangxi, and whoever wanted to meet the missionaries before they came out of Zhili. Fu Heng secretly glanced at the blind man Wu, who didn't look aside, only touched Fu Heng's elbow to show his understanding. Fu Heng froze and said with a smile: "How can a braided velvet rope withstand it?" I don't believe it! ”

"It's reasonable for the officials not to believe it." Piao Gao Daoist waved at Fu Heng and said, "Please ask the guest officer to inspect it himself!" Fu Heng squeezed sideways to the middle, pulled the velvet rope with his hand, didn't make much effort, the velvet rope broke with a "boom", picked up the rope and looked at it carefully in the moonlight, and sure enough, it was not surprising that a red velvet rope was handed back to Piao Gao's hand, and said: "It's a velvet rope, it's true." Piao Gao smiled, put the two rope heads together, I don't know what technique to use, only a twist and then tightened. The crowd just shouted, "Good!" I saw Juanjuan throw off her cloak, flip lightly on the spot, step on the rope with one foot, tie a portal with both hands, and pull out a pair of swords. Look at this Juanjuan under the moon, dressed in a palace dress, with an apricot yellow water drain long skirt on the lower body, the upper body is a light red armor with gold thread piping, and the delicate face seems to have no expression, and she slowly dances the Tai Chi sword on the velvet rope with her mouth pursed, sometimes jumping high and splitting, sometimes circling and walking, really like Luoshen Lingbo, soaring into the sky. The velvet rope only trembled slightly with the footsteps, and the hundreds of people below looked up, all of them were stunned, until she flew down in a whirlwind, and the people took a long breath and cheered loudly:

"Good!"

"It's remarkable." Fu Heng even praised the combo festival, and even forgot that these three people were cultists, and happily said to a few people around him: "How many people I have seen in Beijing who have gone through a hundred operas, and today is an eye-opener!" As she was laughing, Juanjuan took out a plate from her bag. Piao Gao smiled at everyone: "We are practitioners, not for the sake of showmanship, ranking, just trying to make good connections, collecting money not trying to make a living, just to see the official to seek blessings and avoid disasters." Whatever you want, no matter how small you want. "The one who watched the excitement saw the money, and suddenly went to more than half of it. However, the women were generous on this, some threw copper brothers, and some pulled off the silver hairpin on their heads and respectfully put it in. In front of Fu Heng, Fu Heng was busy touching his sleeve, but it was twenty taels of Jing Yuan, which was too dazzling to put in, and he felt that he didn't want to go, and after a little hesitation, Juanjuan had already moved the plate. Fu Heng was very close to Juanjuan at this time, and when he looked closely, the willow eyebrows, the crescent eyes, and the dark pupils were scorching, and the end was as bright as a peach and plum, but his expression was as cold as frost. Fu Heng involuntarily hurriedly took out the ingot of silver, put it on the plate across the person, and said softly: "Girl, put a little bit of line." ”

Seeing Fu Heng's generous move, Piao Gao came over and said, "If a noble person is willing to form such a good fate, he will have a long life!" If you still want to see Juanjuan practice, please feel free. Fu Heng smiled: "What kind of 'noble' am I?" Selling tea, porcelain, an authentic 'merchant' - I just saw that the girl Juanjuan danced very well, after all, she was restrained on the rope, and if she wanted to dance on the flat ground, it must be more spectacular. Piao Gao was about to answer, when he heard the sound of gongs at the entrance of the street in the east, several officials carried lanterns and shouted, and two sedan chairs came behind him. Dozens of family members of the Shi family stood under the big lantern and shouted and shouted:

"Let's all go to the table! Hurry up, hurry up! What's so good about a stinky player? Mrs. Shi invited the county master to come! ”

So even the remaining audience left. Fu Heng saw Juanjuan and the hairy boy cleaning up the yard, so he walked over and asked, "Which inn do you live in?" Piao Gao smiled and said: "The monks are at peace with what they encounter, and we live in the Guandi Temple in the east of the town." If you want to see Juanjuan dancing the sword, you have to go to our next place. Fu Heng said with a smile: "Then just make some more fortune - I have a small courtyard in this store, there is a spare house, please move over and live, I will naturally pay the store money." Piao Gao didn't shirk much, only asked Juanjuan to pack up the box, and instructed the hairy boy: "Yao Qin, you go to the temple and get our bedding." After packing the box, he followed Fu Heng into the store. Fu Heng gave them the three rooms in the west chamber, and ordered the servants to make wine since he entered the upper room, and ordered "Buy a few more candles, light them inside and out, let's watch the sword!" Seeing that Piaogao and they hadn't come over yet, the blind man Wu approached and said:

"Sixth Master."

"Hmm!"

"Be careful."

"Huh?"

"I haven't heard of it on the rivers and lakes. They're not serious about it. ”

Fu Heng nodded and said softly, "I want to ask them about the situation in their sect." They have no enmity with me, and they were invited by me, so they will not lie to us......" Before he finished speaking, Piao Gao had already come in, so he stopped and said with a smile: "Please sit down - it's really fateful, today is the fifteenth day of August, a good moon, we will eat and enjoy the moon under this eaves, watch the sword dance, and talk all night, which is also a great pleasure." Piao Gao glanced at the blind man Wu who was sitting silently on the side, and said with a raised face: "Please ask the two nobles to have their names?" ”

"Don't dare, my surname is Shi, my name is Yong."

"Wu Liang, known as Wu Blind," Wu Blind said coldly, "I don't use my real name—why do you think we are nobles?" ”

Piao Gao Daoist only sighed slightly, and said: "Wu Blind, naturally he is not an idle person. You must have a bit of 'serious kung fu', otherwise why would the world's dart game, black and white friends praise you? Wu Blind didn't expect that even the whispers would be listened to by him, and he was even more vigilant in his heart, he smiled and asked tentatively: "That-which 'Dao' are you, Floating High Daoist?" "I am the zodiac." Piao Gao laughed and said, "I am a missionary messenger of the Zhengyang Sect; vowed to help the world with his body, cut the shares of the doctor, and feed the eagle with his heart; In case of good fate, it will be raised, and in case of disaster, it will be saved; is doing a dignified and righteous thing, with the will to save the catastrophe, what is there to see people, and ask people to 'be careful'? ”

"The Taoist Chief's skills are really amazing! It's common for us to be reminded when we're away from home, right? Fu Heng also smiled, "But I just heard you say that the 'Zhengyang Sect' is like Confucianism, Taoism and Buddha, and it is not Confucianism and Taoism, is it not the 'White Lotus' faction?" Oh, I don't quite understand that, just ask. Piao Gao sighed and said, "There are many roads, how can you generalize?" On the contrary, the Zhengyang Sect is anti-White Lotus Sect, and we make it clear in the salvation song. Then he hummed softly as if singing:

White Lotus Sect, go to hell, suffer in life and death;

The White Lotus Sect turns back to life and never turns over;

The White Lotus Sect, coaxing people, money and good things;

Break the king's law, take you, and harm many people!

Fu Heng somehow felt relieved when he heard it. Seeing that Yao Qin had come back, and his family had already placed melons, fruits, vegetables, tea and wine in front of the eaves, Fu Heng smiled and said: "We are all foot merchants and businessmen, what do we teach him this and that, come and come!" Please floated high into the guest seat, poured himself a glass of wine and held it to Miss Juanjuan, and said: "A glass of water and wine is a thank you, please show your talents." ”

Juanjuan took it with both hands, looked at Piao Gao, saw Piao Gao nodded slightly, raised her glass and drank it all, whispered "thank you", and handed the cup back to Fu Heng. Under the moonlight, seeing her slender hands as white as jade, Fu Heng couldn't help but be stunned, but listened to Juanjuanjiao's voice: "Sit and watch the sword!" A light body jumped back to the middle of the patio, a "witch flying sky", two silver swords have been in the hand, but the body with the sword turning, stabbing and spinning, the two hands are different, the wind and snow have been in the patio around a turn. Wu Blind Man is an expert in this, sitting on the side holding a cup and groaning, seeing that this swordsmanship is neither Taiji, nor Emei, not Rouyun, not Kunlun...... With the breadth of his belly, he didn't know what routine Juanjuan was making, and in the blink of an eye, Juanjuan had changed her body, two cold swords protected her body, spinning like a top into a ball of silver, and a whirlwind struck. Wu Blind couldn't help but exclaim: "Okay, the thousand-armed Guanyin technique!" It's too labor-intensive, and I'm afraid it won't last. ”

"Mr. Shi, is there an inkstone?"

Piao Gao Daoist asked Fu Heng, and when he saw Fu Heng watching intently, he didn't hear it. After saying one more sentence, Fu Heng woke up from his shock: "Huh? Ah, do you want an inkstone? Then he turned around and ordered: "Take out the big inkstone from the horse jacket, and I will use it with paper and pen." Xiao Qizi hurriedly agreed, took the inkstone to scoop water, grinded the ink, and it took a while to grind half of the inkstone ink. When Fu Heng picked up the pen to write, he grabbed the inkstone without saying a word, and splashed half of the pool of ink on Juanjuan, who was dancing with a sword!

Everyone exclaimed, caught off guard. The ink was blocked by the sword and splashed in all directions, and the people under the eaves couldn't dodge, and their faces, hands, and clothes were splashed with ink everywhere. In surprise, Juanjuan rotated slowly, retracted her double swords, put them into the sheath, and bowed to everyone under the eaves, still with a cold and solemn demeanor. Only then did everyone come to their senses and applaud in unison and shout: "Good! ”

"Yikes!" Fu Heng got up and went down the steps, hurriedly walked towards Juanjuan, went around, and saw that there was no ink on his body, and shook his head again and again and sighed: "Such a stunt, how can you bury the pearl in the world!" Piao Gao said to the blind man Wu: "Mr. Wu, I said that Mr. Shi is a nobleman, right?" Tea and porcelain dealers may not be able to say this. Wu Blind just drank and didn't speak, Fu Heng ordered the little seventh son: "Re-sharpen the ink, I'm here for poetry." A few people in the upper room immediately set up the table and spread rice paper. Juanjuan seemed to have just glanced at Fu Heng seriously at this time, and immediately lowered her head and turned her face. Fu Heng walked in the courtyard and chanted:

Moth eyebrows have heroes, and evening makeup is thin and powdery. Short sideburns and red clothes, narrow sleeves lingering. The person on his back tightens his Hunan skirt and holds a lotus flower. Please dance for the feast and enjoy this night. Take the ink-stained inkstone pond, which was originally a lot of poetry. Xiao Li was speechless, and tried to expand left and right. Wei Zhuoman's boots were tipped, and he suddenly made it. When he first entered the double jade dragon, he grabbed it in the air. Gradually, like electric training, swirling and staggering. There was no one in sight, and a cold light shimmered. Straight up the ape, horizontal to the light swallow sweeping. The courage is torn and sorrowful, and the heart is broken. The child shrank and was discouraged, and the adulterer trembled and wanted to abuse. The ink was sprinkled and the inkstone was drained. Strike dance to look at his body, not a little ink.

It seems that the chant has come to an end here, Fu Heng stared at Juanjuan, and slowly groaned: "Yanran clay people's arms, waist and limbs are as thin as shaved. After chanting, he went up the stairs and wrote the book in one go. When he was waiting for the title, he hesitated for a moment and wrote: "Under the moon on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, watch the beauty Juanjuan dance sword poem." Handing over the ink-drenched words to Piao Gao, Piao Gao smiled and said to Juanjuan: "This is also the best time I have seen you dance, and it is in vain for Mr. Shi's poem!" Juanjuan looked at it embarrassedly. Her eyes flashed, and she glanced at Fu Heng again, her cheeks flushed, and she seemed to sigh lightly with emotion, and then whispered: "Sir, this...... Can you send me? ”

"Of course." Fu Heng smiled and said, "It's written for you." I was about to speak, when I suddenly heard a shout on the street outside, a group of people shouted and rushed into the front yard, Fu Heng frowned and said, "Is it the opposite?" Little Seven Sons go and have a look! Xiao Qizi agreed, and before he reached the second door, more than a dozen officials held torches in their hands and rushed in. Before Xiao Qizi could ask, he was only grabbed by a big man and pushed to the sky! Xiao Qizi was used to following Fu Heng as a prestige, where was he willing to spare these people, and immediately scolded: "Bastard! If you don't know how to read and touch the signboard, you dare to come here and bully people! I'm fucking you blood grandma, is this a rebellion? A squad leader lifted him, looked at his face with two mouths, pushed it, and kicked his buttocks, kicking Xiao Qizi to the ground for a long time and couldn't move. The yatou glared at Fu Heng and the others, called a Zhuang Ding, and said, "You go up and recognize the murderer!" ”

"Yes, Jiang Bantou!"

A Zhuang Ding came out with a voice, walked to the front of the steps, and looked at people one by one under the flickering lamp. After a while, he suddenly took a step back, pointed at Yao Qin in surprise and shouted, "It's him!" Jiang Bantou laughed and said: "It's hard to hide in the three-foot world of life, it's really true!" Take down all of them! ”

"Meng Lang!"

A person behind him suddenly said coldly. Jiang Bantou turned around and saw a short black man standing behind him, and couldn't help but be stunned: "Who are you, are you blocking the way?" Fu Heng saw that this person was Wu Blind, and he didn't know when he had gotten up and walked around. Wu Blind said again: "What are you going to do?" If you have something to say slowly, how can you raise your hand and hit someone? ”

"Hitting?" Jiang Bantou gritted his teeth and said, "The murderer is hiding here with you, and I still want to arrest and kill people!" I couldn't help but say that a sky-high cannon hit the ribs of the blind man Wu. Unexpectedly, the fist was on the body, but it was like hitting a pig iron ingot, and a few phalanges were immediately in unbearable pain! Jiang Bantou flashed, kneaded his dislocated hand with his eyebrows, and shouted to everyone: "Beat him!" More than a dozen officials immediately rushed up in a swarm, surrounding Wu Blind in the middle. Some punched, some kicked, and a few crouched and hugged their legs to knock him over. The blind man Wu was full of hard work, pushed and squeezed by others, and did not move at all as if he had taken root. Fu Heng also had the intention to let him show his kung fu in front of Piaogao, and only after a while did he say, "Old Wu, don't care about them." Come here! The blind man Wu roared, his whole body only trembled slightly, and the five or six servants scattered in all directions. The blind man snorted and walked to the table and said, "Speaking of fighting, can you withstand my finger flick?" He took the porcelain lid of the wine jug on the table, took off the thumb-sized top button on the cover, and pinched the thumb and index finger lightly, the solid porcelain button had been shattered into powder.

Fu Heng then stepped down and said, "We are the people who know the law. If my guest kills someone, I don't shelter either. Pointing at Yao Qin, he asked Zhuang Ding: "-Such a big child, did you see him kill with your own eyes?" ”

"Yes......" Zhuang Ding was a little stunned by Fu Heng's gaze, and hesitated for a moment, "It's him!" ”

"Who, when, and where were you killed?"

"It was our old lady Shi who killed us, just now at the banquet outside!"

Fu Heng suddenly burst out laughing and said, "He is in this courtyard with me, not leaving an inch." If you can't catch the murderer, is it okay to slander people? - Please come to your county master, I will talk to him face to face! ”