At this time, it was the beginning of Shen, and it was the middle of winter. It was already dark early, and the weather changed a little, the northwest wind came one after another, blowing more and more fiercely, blowing the line of decayed willows near the river of Liuchangba, and the ups and downs were like a tide.

The Tian family has already harvested, the winter wheat is still in the ground, there is no unearthed, the field is empty, only a large square appears, separated by a shallow ditch, from the river, all the way to the foot of the Wulong Mountain behind the town, from the bottom to the top, there are layers of terraced fields. The south of the mountain is a slope shape, although there are many rocks and little soil, but the mountain, from the foot of the mountain, is about to reach the top of the mountain, and the slightly flat places have been reclaimed by the natives, and even the slope of the south side of the mountain path has been abandoned without gaps, either a piece of orange trees, or a cluster of unfinished grain stalks.

Across a mountainous area, there are three or two thatched tents, although they are full of people, because the weather is too cold, the front of the house is deserted, and there is no trace of fireworks and people's shadows. I stumbled upon a dog, shrunk with its head and tail between its legs, crouched in the shade of the corner, saw the living person, and just raised its head weakly, "Wang" half a sound, was blown by the cold wind, and retracted again, the body became a circle, coiled tighter, as if taking care of itself, and no longer on behalf of the dog owner to show off his power and meddle in affairs.

The sun has long been hidden in the clouds, and it appears and disappears under the wind and sand, and only a faint and pale shadow remains. The wind blew more and more fiercely, and from time to time there was a strange howl stirred up by the strong wind in the air, which was sharp and piercing. The wind blew on people's faces, and it was like a knife cut, forcing the other side to breathe. Streams of cold air poured into the cuffs of people's heads and necks, making them cold through their bodies, freezing their hands and feet, without the slightest warmth, and their upper and lower teeth were fighting non-stop. The walker did not dare to fight against the wind, so he turned his body sideways and walked backwards. The remnants of the grain stalks in the field were blown by the wind, and there was a loud noise. Fallen leaves and stump branches, rolling all over the ground with the wind, are a desolate scene.

There is only one hotel in the town of Heba in front of the mountain, and a thick and heavy curtain hangs in front of the door. Occasionally, there were people hurrying in and out in the cold wind, and the rest of the houses were closed, and the roads were cut off from pedestrians, and the weather was really cold.

Looking at the east of the town again, there is a large garden between the slopes and plains of the mountains and rivers. Outside a cold forest is sparse and neat, there are more than 10 rockery pavilions inside, covering a very large area, from the flat ground to the middle of the mountain, there is a row of fence partitions, and it is not estimated how big the place is, it is the best area of the local scenery at a glance. In the wind, sand, dust and fog, far away, you can't see the movement of the characters inside. I saw dozens of black smokes of all sizes, rising from the roofs of various buildings, blown by the wind, rolling all over the air, scattering and rising, and the old spray could not be finished. The wind has not stopped for the time being.

In the midst of the wind and smoke, a Sichuan horse carrying a person suddenly came from the small road east of the town, around the garden, and galloped into the wind. The horse is not very fast, but it looks very strong. The man was a man in his thirties, not very thickly dressed, carrying a package on his back, as if he was in a hurry to travel a long way, and he couldn't tell what industry it was.

Although the local area is a small town in the corner of the mountain, because it is very close to the mouth of the river, the river is wide, there are many boats and boats, although it does not stop on weekdays, when encountering wind and waves, the boatmen like to come here to take refuge for a while, so they will rest for a while. Due to the dry and shallow weather in recent days, the river has frozen on both sides, and there are no boats moored.

The Dragon Gate Inn is pitifully small, with only five upper rooms and three bunks, with a small façade and narrow and low houses. In the middle of winter, the sky is cloudy, the wind is cold, the water tank has begun to freeze, and all the rooms are not set up braziers, if the guests need to bake the fire, please go to the hall, to make another fire, you can ask the shop to prepare a charcoal basin, the charge is extra.

He lives in Datongpu, first find a guy to wash with a basin of hot water, settle his bags, and go out of the hall to buy food to satisfy his hunger. The hall is not big, it is almost dark and there is no light, because there are not many guests tonight, the small hall has six seats, and only three seats have guests.

The shopkeeper brought a pot of hot tea to warm up first. To eat rice in the south, he asked for two dishes and one soup, and when he came to a pot of rice, he buried his head and munched on it. A large pot of plates has been eaten half, full of warmth, hunger and cold, the body began to warm, at the same time the lamp has been lit, there are six vegetable oil lamps in the four corners of the hall, each lamp is about only three or four wicks, so only the dim light, can only see the face clearly, everything looks cold, this is the characteristic of the small inn. He began to look at the people in the hall, secretly watching.

At a table next to the wall sat a gray-haired old man, wearing a shabby old cotton jacket, his face was pale, his old eyes were dizzy, staring blankly at a plate of pickles on the table, slowly picking up the pale yellow rice grains in the bowl, he seemed to have no appetite, he was old and weak, and the situation of the wind and candle was hopeful.

On the other side of the table, a big man in a new cotton jacket sat on a stool with his elbows crossed, crossed his legs, and watched the old man eat with interest without blinking.

On that day, two poor boys, less than six feet tall, were living in the Dragon Gate Inn, and a pair of bright eyes indicated that they were still underage young men, but they were sophisticated in conversation and had dark faces. There was a large birthmark on one of the stone cheeks, which dragged all the way to the base of the ear and to the lower part of the neck. One has two brownish-black scars on his left cheek, but the facial features of the two are quite upright, and when they speak, two rows of neat, yellow and black teeth are exposed. In a word. It's ugly enough.

The two of them were bloated and dirty, and the rotten cotton jackets they had worn for three or five years were oily and shiny, and the nails were overlapped, and it was unknown whether there were lice in them.

The two of them were so poor that they only brought a package, which was a basket made of bamboo silk, about three feet four or five long, and about ten feet high.

There is a cloth bag hanging under each flank, carrying a cane made of Arhat bamboo, looking at the surface, it must be two small flowers, but they live in the upper room, adjacent to the old man. The shopkeeper is afraid that they will be lazy and live in vain, and they will not leave tourists at the end of the year. The two little shouting flowers immediately went sideways and wanted to smash the signboard of the store. and threw ten taels of silver on the cupboard to prove that they had money to live in the store, and if they were wordy, they would beat people.

"Zuo Si meets Mr. Huangfu." The old man is about the age of six. The appearance is thin, sparse and white, with the spirit of a fairy, with a pair of sharp eagle eyes, and the other is about half a hundred years old, five short stature, with a large eagle hooked nose that is unforgettable today, and two front teeth are missing in the mouth. Lao Dao hung a long sword at his waist and held a dust. The big man with missing front teeth wore a heavy nine-ring gold-backed knife, and an extra dagger on his belt.

The big man with missing front teeth crossed his hands on his hips and said in a strange voice with a leaky voice: "Good boy, if you can avoid the old man in the warehouse and swoop with a blow from a branch, you can dominate the rivers and lakes." ”

The "bell" rang violently, and the big man with missing front teeth reacted very quickly, and stabbed him with a knife, and returned with another knife with his backhand. His knife was collected quickly, but there was a gap the size of a finger, but he had tried out the internal strength of the thief, not much better than him, and couldn't help but settle down in his heart, with a heavy drink, he unfolded what he had learned to attack bravely, tried to avoid head-on contact with the heavy nine-ring knife, fearlessly played his strengths of daring to fight and fight, and with Qiao 's body method, he launched an unprecedented fierce storm-like attack, cutting, approaching, and stabbing like electricity. It exerted its desperate power and was unstoppable.

The sound of ......the two sides touching the blades of the two sides broke out from time to time, and with the deafening sound of the knife ring, the hair stood on end.

After more than 30 vicious fights, the body of the toothless man slowed down, sweating like rain, the previous shouting and wild laughter can no longer be heard, and the wheezing sound is faintly audible, the heavy nine-ring knife has become a burden, but there is no single knife light and flexible, and the situation gradually reverses, only the ability to parry, and the strength is weak, and it is difficult to support. "Horn" sounded, a single knife flashed, the blade was half a point, brushed under the ears of the deadly knife, life and death are not allowed to be fired, this knife is indeed extremely dangerous.

The big man with missing front teeth broke out in a cold sweat and quickly retreated. Zuo Si followed up like a shadow, and with a flash of knife, he attacked the opponent's waist ribs. The toothless man frantically swung his knife and then stepped back.

"Go!" Zuo Si sneered, halfway through the move, the tip of the knife was smooth, and the lightning swept over the side of the opponent's thigh, and the whistling sound of breaking the true qi of the body was faintly audible.

The knife cracked through his pants, and the big man with missing front teeth felt cold in his heart, and he retreated ten feet and shouted urgently: "Dao Chang help me!" ”

"Zheng" There was a loud sound, Zuo Si pushed away his knife, and the tip of the knife burst into his chest, and the knife couldn't be dodged.

Life and death are in a hurry, at this moment, the emperor Fu arrived, swept the dust, attacked Zuo Si's flank, attacked what he must save, and forced Zuo Si to withdraw his tricks to protect himself.

Of course, Zuo Si refused to lose both, so he withdrew and waved his knife to block the dust, and jumped to the right.

"Horn" sounded, the knife whisk intersected, the Buddha broke some whisks, but most of them were not damaged, the original whisk was sandwiched with nine alloy wires, and the internal force on the left knife was actually useless and difficult to hurt the dust.

Zuo Si was taken aback, and felt that the anti-shock force from the knife was very fierce, and the shock made the tiger's mouth hot, and his true qi floated for a while, and it was difficult to stand firm immediately when his feet landed on the ground.

Zuo Si was very pleased, and said with a smile: "The little brother came from a humble background, he couldn't help himself, and he was uncertain, but he had time to come to the door to pay respects, and the little brother was grateful for his concern." ”