Chapter 5

Nangong Du unfolded the parchment scroll left by Granny Weng, and saw a red line drawn between the mountains and rivers on the map, leading straight to a mountain col, where there was a small red dot with "Weng" written next to it. Nangong Du calculated the route in his heart, and according to his current state, it was estimated that he would have to walk for three or four days. Nangong Du proposed to rest in the nearby temple for one night first, and then go on the road the next day.

On the way, Qi Xiaowu picked some wild vegetables, returned to the broken temple and began to cook porridge under the guidance of Nangong Du, although Qi Xiaowu was blind, but her memory and hearing were excellent, Nangong Du only took her through the hall, she wrote down the location of everything, and it was also handy to cook on the fire, she sat by the stove, stirring the porridge in the jar seriously, the firelight reflected her face, like a lily in the sunset, and her delicate face exuded a soft light that made people nostalgic.

Nangong Du couldn't help but look stupid, Qi Xiaowu suddenly turned around, and his eyes as clear as water collided with Nangong Du's scorching gaze, as if bursting into a fine sound. Nangong Du immediately lowered his head in panic, and suddenly remembered that Qi Xiaowu couldn't see him at all, and couldn't help but laugh dumbly. "Come, how about some porridge?" Qi Xiaowu looked at the void and handed over the freshly boiled wild vegetable porridge. Nangong Du took the porridge, the thoughts in Fang Cai's chest were as hot as this porridge, he settled down, and then opened his mouth to ask Qi Xiaowu: "Miss Qi, take the liberty of asking, you have an eye disease...... Is it a congenital disease or an acquired disease? Qi Xiaowu didn't think he was rude, smiled, and said: "This was when I was seven years old, I had a high fever for a few days and nights, and somehow, after waking up, I couldn't see anything......" She paused, and then said: "I remember lying on the bed at the time, looking out of the window in a daze, and just saw the old plum tree in the courtyard, the black branches reflected the big and round moon in the sky, very beautiful, like a painting - but that was also the last painting I saw." After Qi Xiaowu finished speaking, he lowered his head and drank the porridge, Nangong Du saw her low eyebrows and lowered her head, and infinite pity arose in her heart, and said softly: "Could it be ...... Are your eyes incurable? Qi Xiaowu put down the bowl and said: "I used to be a doctor and drank a lot of unpleasant medicines every day, but I never got better, but I have unconsciously adapted to the blind life." Then I thought, now that I'm used to it, why bother with a doctor? If you live with the obsession of being cured, it is just adding to your troubles, so it is better to go with the flow. When Nangong Du heard this, he was like a huge shock: Why didn't he live with the obsession of revenge? Now even if he solves this obsession, but he doesn't know how to face the huge nothingness, this is not just a "trouble" can be described, at this time, he suddenly opened his mouth, and couldn't help laughing: "Miss Qi is smart and open-minded, admirable!" It's better to let things run their course. ”

The two chatted for a while, and Nangong Du felt that the injury on his back was no longer so painful, but his mind was getting more and more dizzy, and he fell asleep soon after eating porridge.

In the early morning of the second day, Nangong Du and Qi Xiaowu went on the road together, Nangong Du broke a branch for her, used it as a crutch, and Qi Xiaowu helped him and walked hard in the mountains and forests. After walking all day, one injured and one blind, hard work is unspeakable, in the evening, Nangong Du heard the sound of a waterfall not far away, so he aligned Xiaowu and said: "There is a waterfall ahead, there should be a river or a waterhole, let's go and rest." Qi Xiaowu nodded, helped him to follow the sound, and saw a rather wide river, flowing to the cliff, and the river water burst down, forming a splashing waterfall. Nangong Du looked down the cliff, where there is any clear water and cold pool, the place where the waterfall falls is a turbulent river, the huge stones in the river are abrupt, the river water hits the stones, splashing bursts of white mist.

Nangong Du and Qi Xiaowu lit a fire near the waterfall, Qi Xiaowu picked some wild fruits all the way, and then the two took them out to eat, Nangong Du always felt that eating these fruits was the same as not eating them, so he said: "It would be nice if there was meat to eat." But he did not have the strength to fight wild creatures at this time, so he had to eat two fruits, and when fatigue hit, he fell into a deep sleep again.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Qi Xiaowu drenched all over his body, and he was holding a grilled fish in his hand, and handed it to him with a smile: "I caught a fish and grilled it for you to eat, you can eat it quickly." Nangong Du took the fish and inadvertently touched Qi Xiaowu's cold hand, thinking that she must have jumped into the cold river in order to catch the fish, her heart was moved beyond words, and she was speechless for a long time. The two of them were silent for a moment, Qi Xiaowu seemed to feel that his mood was different, and said with a smile: "I'm good at catching fish, they will have a sound when they swim...... Ahhh......h So, she gently leaned closer to Nangong and said in a low voice, "Put on your clothes quickly, I'll sit over a little." Nangong Du was stunned for a moment, and suddenly understood, so he stretched out his hand and gently hugged Qi Xiaowu.

The two hugged each other for warmth, the shadows of the trees were mottled around, the cold moon was silent overhead, and the chirping of partridges and nightingales echoed in the mountains, as if there were only two of them in heaven and earth, and they depended on each other for their lives. Nangong Du felt in his heart that he killed Qi Xiaowu's father, but he was here to play the benefactor who saved her life, he didn't dare to think about the future, he just hoped that this moment could stay longer. Qi Xiaowu is not full of feelings, in just two days, Qi Mansion has suffered great changes, three days ago she was still the eldest lady of Qi Mansion, but at this time she is already an orphan girl who has lost her father and is living in the mountains. However, Nangong Du's warm embrace made her feel a love that she had never had before.

Suddenly, Nangong Du's ears moved, pushed Qi Xiaowu away, and quickly picked up the iris knife and blocked it in front of his chest, and with a "zheng" sound, a long sword slashed the iris blade. Nangong Du jumped up, and the iris knife rushed up - it was the female killer of the Thousand Bird Pavilion again.

The female killer fought with Nangong Du, her martial arts were not as good as Nangong Du, and she followed them for a day and a night, just to determine Nangong Du's injuries and make a move at this time, because she already had nine points of certainty.

The female killer's sword moves are ruthless, her body is light, and her moves are all direct to the opponent's vital point, Nangong Du did not dare to take it lightly, although she was injured, but relying on the advantage of the iris knife, she braked with quiet, and attacked with defense, and she could barely fight a draw with her. But the female killer couldn't kill him for a long time, and suddenly turned around and attacked Qi Xiaowu. Nangong Du was furious in his heart, and immediately stepped forward to stop it, and the iris knife went straight to the empty door behind the female killer, who knew that the female killer sneered, and suddenly reversed the long sword in his hand, stabbing Nangong Du in the chest, Nangong Du secretly shouted "Oops", and struggled to let go, the long sword still broke his left rib, but at least avoided the fatal blow.

However, Nangong Du knew in his heart that he might not be able to defeat the female killer today, not to mention, even if he defeated her for a while, if she was allowed to escape again, there would inevitably be more people from the Thousand Bird Pavilion chasing them. It doesn't matter if he lives or dies, but he must not implicate Qi Xiaowu, even if he dies, he must protect Qi Xiaowu. Nangong Du had already made a choice in his heart, shouted angrily, grabbed the female killer's long sword, and took advantage of the situation to slash at the other party's shoulder. The female killer staggered a few steps and retreated to the edge of the cliff. Nangong Du didn't give her any respite, flew over, and there was another rush attack, he had already felt the wound on his back crack, the blood flowed like an infusion, and the time had come - Nangong Du bullied himself and approached the edge of the cliff, deliberately exposing the empty door under his armpit, the female killer was really fooled, a sword slashed at his armpit, Nangong Du tightened one arm, clamped her long sword, and pushed it with one palm, the female killer couldn't stand it, took two steps back, stepped into the air, and was about to fall off the cliff. Who knew that this female killer also reacted very quickly, she grabbed Nangong Du's belt, and used all her strength in her hands, vowing to pull Nangong Du down the cliff and die with him. Nangong Du was already at the end of the strong crossbow, and he couldn't get rid of it, so he suddenly stuck the iris knife in his hand on the ground, and let go of his whole body, and in an instant, Nangong Du and the female killer fell into the cliff and waterfall together. Only Qi Xiaowu's shouts echoed in the mountains.

Nangong Du only felt that there were constantly heavy blows, hitting his head and body, and he didn't know whether it was a stone or a wave, which made him dizzy, but in an instant, he fell into the river, first sank, choked on countless saliva, and then was washed away by the river, constantly hitting the boulder in the river, the whole body was in pain, and there were some driftwood and broken branches in the river, as long as it touched, it would be rubbed out of a long wound. He was familiar with the nature of the water, and knew that the more he struggled in such rapids, the more dangerous it became, so he could only go with the flow, try to avoid the branches and rocks in the river, and occasionally show his head to breathe. He vaguely saw a dark shadow rushing towards him with the waves, rising and falling in the rapids, and occasionally pulling his hands out of the water. It turned out to be the female killer, she obviously didn't know how to water, so she kept trying to poke her head out, but kept choking on water, out of the instinct of survival, her hands were clawed around, trying to grab the branches and rocks in the river, but doing so only hurt herself more seriously. In the blink of an eye, she was getting closer and closer to Nangong Du, but her movements gradually calmed down, and there were fewer and fewer times when she came out of the water, not dead or alive. Nangong Du naturally didn't care about her life or death, and wholeheartedly maintained his rhythm in the current, while observing the stones or driftwood around him that he could stop. Just when the female killer rushed past him, Nangong Du suddenly felt a tightness in his waist, and when he looked down, the female killer actually stopped beside him, because one of her hands grabbed his belt tightly, although she was facing down, Nangong Du also knew that she was not dead. However, at this time, Nangong Du didn't have time to scold his mother, and he didn't have time to clasp her hand away, because a huge piece of driftwood was floating towards him.

He hugged the driftwood, the driftwood carrying the weight of the two suddenly slowed down, sinking slightly, Nangong Du paddled his legs in the water, and swam towards the shore with all his might, the female killer kept clutching his belt, Nangong Du had to free his hand to pull her away at this time, but he was afraid that he would not be able to hold the driftwood with one hand, so he had to drag this female killer who didn't know whether he was alive or dead. Suddenly, the female killer suddenly moved, a pale face emerged from the water, and her black hair was messily attached to her face, like a ghost. She gasped for breath, she glanced at Nangong Du, Nangong Du was startled by her movement just now, and the driftwood in her hand was almost released, and he also looked back at her. The two looked at each other in embarrassment, and they couldn't say anything awkward and embarrassed. But at this time, her life was at stake, the female killer would not let go, and Nangong Du had no time to fight her, so she had to swim to the shore with her......

The moon shines on the clear river, the waves are sparkling, and the river is finally calm. Nangong Du lay exhausted on the shore, with cold pebbles under him, and the wound on his back soaked in the cold river water, which kept him awake, looking down at his waist, a white hand still tugging at his belt. Nangong Du turned her head along this hand and greeted an unfamiliar face: her skin was as white as jade, her eyebrows were like thin knives, and her lips were like dots, without the enchantment of Granny Weng, and without the purity of Qi Xiaowu, there was a cold beauty that was extremely difficult to see. This is also the first time that Nangong Du has seen the appearance of this female killer.

The female killer opened her eyes slightly, her eyes were dazed for a moment, but soon she became cold, she let go of the hand that grabbed Nangong, slowly supported her to get up, and touched her waist for the first time, the knife was still there! She looked at Nangong Du, hesitated slightly, the hand on the handle of the knife moved slightly, and finally, she slowly pulled out the knife...... Nangong Du stared at her deadly, he had already thought about it, it was a coward's behavior to die with his eyes open and his eyes closed.

Suddenly, the female killer's eyes lit up, as if she had made up her mind, the cold light of the knife in her hand flashed, and she stabbed straight towards the door of Nangong - the pupils of Nangong Du, the tip of the knife, dilated in an instant, and the murderous aura stimulated his eyes to hurt, and finally, when that moment came, he couldn't help but close his eyes!

The sound of "squeak-" sounded in Nangong Du's ears, and there was a strong fishy smell between his noses. He opened his eyes suddenly, only to see the female killer looking at him, with a contemptuous sneer on her face, while wiping the blood stains on the knife in her hand on her sleeve, she said: "I thought you were really not afraid of death, hum ......" Nangong Du's heart moved, and then he turned his head to look, only to see a severed snake lying two feet away from the side of his head, and the remaining half of his body was still writhing...... Nangong Du suddenly understood. "You saved my life tonight, and now I'll give it back to you! Understand that in the morning, I will come to take your life again! The female killer's voice came from afar, and Nangong Du looked up with great difficulty, only to see a slender and staggering back gradually disappearing into the darkness.