There is a very inconspicuous tea shop behind Yipinxuan, a famous restaurant in Chang'an West City.

There were two people sitting behind the bamboo mat in the depths of the tea shop, among which the short and fat middle-aged man kept wiping the sweat on his forehead, it seemed that the sultry heat at the end of summer had a great impact on him, and even the Hebei accent when he spoke seemed a little dry.

"You're a secret guard, you always have to do what you need to do, what's the problem with going to the wasteland this time, and helping you do the task by the way? It's just for you to see, not for you to investigate any case. ”

This short and fat middle-aged man is Lord Xu Chongshan, the commander of the inner guard, and he deliberately went out of the palace today to have a secret meeting with Ning Que. Ning Que, who was sitting opposite, took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and began to wipe his sweat like him, but it was obvious that his sweat was not because of the sultry late summer weather, but because of what the other party said.

"General Xiahou...... What kind of character is that, do you want me to see what he thinks? Look at how many beards he has grown or how many times a day he goes to the toilet? Lord Xu, I know what His Majesty means, but you have to think about it, with General Xiahou's temper, if he finds out that I am secretly peeping, he will definitely turn his face in anger, and when the time comes, find a place where no one slaps me into a pulp, and then wrap it into a bun and feed it to the horses to eat, who will stand up for me?"

"If General Xiahou really can't leave any evidence, Tang Lu is above, and neither the palace nor the academy can come forward for you. If you could leave evidence of his actions before you died, you might as well ......

"Haha, you know I'm joking. ”

Ning Que put down his handkerchief and looked at Commander Luo, who was smiling awkwardly, thinking that this joke was not very funny.

It is very likely that he will meet Xiahou in the wasteland, if he has the opportunity, of course he wants to check the other party, but this matter is too dangerous, but he did not expect to receive this request at this time - it seems that His Majesty is still not very at ease with Xiahou after all, so what role can he play in this process?

Seeing that he was silent, Commander Xu thought that he still had a feeling of resistance in his heart, and said with relief: "Don't worry too much, Your Majesty's meaning is very simple, you just need to see General Xiahou's reaction to his actions on the side, and after returning to Beijing, tell him some details you have seen, and don't take any risks." ”

"Your Majesty likes you, you are a student of the master, although General Xiahou is violent and ruthless, he is not one of those wild boars in the mountains with brute force and ferocity, he is not stupid, and he will not offend you for no reason. ”

Ning Que thought to himself that if he offended Xiahou by then, what would he do?

"No problem, right?" Xu Chongshan picked up the handkerchief and wiped his sweat again, looked at him with hope, and said: "If it's okay, I'll go to the palace to reply, if there is anything worrying in Chang'an City, you sue me, I'll do it." ”

Ning Que said: "You know that I have a shop in Linforty-seventh Lane......

Xu Chongshan slapped his chest hard, showing his extraordinarily heroic spirit, and said, "I'll show you!"

Ning Que shook his head and said with a smile: "The main thing is that there is a little maid who wants to ask the guard to help me take care of it." ”

The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty sent secret guards to watch the words and deeds of the imperial generals with cold eyes, and if this matter was spread, it would definitely lead to a political turmoil, so in order to keep it secret, His Majesty the Emperor did not summon Ning Que into the palace at all, but asked Xu Chongshan to find a secret place outside the palace and secretly passed on the secret decree.

After receiving the secret decree, Ning Que should have sealed this matter in the deepest part of his heart and not tell anyone, but there has never been any secret between him and Sang Sang, so when he returned to Lin Forty-seventh Lane, Sang Sang, who was about to cook, knew the specific content of the secret decree as soon as possible.

She looked at Ning Que at the window and asked, "Will it be dangerous?"

Ning Que lifted the brush, looked at her through the window and said: "The main thing is to look at the face, and then inquire, Xu Chongshan is right, there is no danger at all in this matter, if there is really danger, I will not do it." ”

Sang Sang lowered his head and continued to wash rice, and asked, "So you agreed?"

Ning Que lowered his head and continued to draw talismans, and said: "As a gold medal spy of His Majesty, the key training object of the younger generation of the Tang Dynasty, the so-called empire uses me, and I will win...... Well, I must admit that my life has not been able to go smoothly for too long, and the reason why I don't refuse should be very clear to you. ”

Having the opportunity to approach Xiahou and observe Xiahou with the secret decree of His Majesty the Emperor, it is even possible to find an opportunity for revenge in it, which is an opportunity that cannot be missed for Ning Que, who has been waiting for fourteen years.

Sang Sang didn't say anything, his little hand rubbed the rice vigorously in the basin, the water gradually turned into something like rice milk, the rice didn't know how many layers were rubbed off by her, and his body became thinner and thinner.

"If you let you pick this rice a few more times, can it still be steamed out of rice?"

Ning Que put the pen on the current stage, looked at the picture outside the window, and said after a moment of silence: "Don't worry, my current level is not enough for Xia Hou to poke a finger, so naturally he will not be so idiotic as to take revenge immediately." ”

Sang Sang stood up, wiped his hands on his apron, looked back at him behind the window and said, "Young Master, since you can't take me there, then when you see Xiahou, you must hold back." ”

"When I saw Prince Li Peiyan in the academy entrance examination last year, did I hold back?" Ning Que shook his head and said, "We are hunters who grew up in Minshan, and patience when dealing with prey is our most powerful weapon. ”

"What do I need to prepare?"

"It's still the same as the old three. ”

Soon, he was about to take the students of the academy to the Biansai Wasteland, and he might see Xiahou, Ning Que was a little faintly excited, but more nervous, thinking about the dangers he might encounter, he became more and more anxious to develop the talisman arrow successfully.

After dinner that day, Sangsang rolled up his trouser legs, sat down at the well and began to cut and grind the feathers for him, while he was engrossed in the white paper on his desk, drawing intricate rune lines.

Not all parts of the wasteland are desolate, and most of the ground is covered with felt-like grass before the strong winter wind arrives, but when it comes to the end of summer, the wasteland will feel the slight cold autumn in advance, and the grass will begin to turn yellow and white with frost, showing a bit of a killing taste.

The horse's hooves stomped a frost grass taller than its companions into the mud, and with a slight neighing and heavy breathing, more and more horses appeared on the meadow, and the elite cavalry of the Left Tent Court escorted the tribe south.

Farther south, more than a thousand steppe cavalry, wielding scimitars and shouting strange sounds, broke through the northern border of Yan, instantly occupied a brigade village, and surrounded a caravan.

Blood began to spray along the gaps cut by the scimitar, the summer grain harvested in the village began to flow along the gaps cut by the scimitar, and the precious tea and salt bags began to spill along the gaps cut by the scimitar.

The villagers and caravan guards of Yandi fell to the ground screaming in a pool of blood, and their bodies fell heavily to the ground, just like those heavy grain bags and caravan goods, and lost their lives in an instant.

The steppe cavalry shouted excitedly, and after killing everyone, they began to clumsily reset their carts, carrying all the food and goods they could find, and then returning north.

Summer is over, autumn has arrived, and winter is naturally not far away. The tribe of the Left Horde, which had lost the fertile pastures in the north, could not support too many cattle, sheep and livestock, and if they did not hurry up and grab enough food before the first snow arrived, then the tribe would most likely be wiped out.

As for the villages they slaughtered, and the caravans, whether they should endure such a miserable encounter is not a question that the steppe barbarians need to consider.

In fact, the people of the wasteland were well aware of the importance of the caravan, but now that they were facing immediate panic, even the wisest of the royal court military advisors would not force them to think about long-term problems.

The border fortresses in Yanbei were broken by the grassland barbarian cavalry, countless caravans were looted in blood, and the grain of countless villages was robbed, and these news were quickly spread to all parts of Yan by the wind in the wasteland, and then gathered in the imperial palace.

Prince Chongming, who had just returned to the country not long ago, calmly put on his armor under the indifferent gaze of his father on the sickbed, and led 3,000 guards to the northern border.

The city gate was wide open, the ceremonies and music were played, but there was not much excitement on the faces of the people of Yan Kingdom who watched the excitement, and the eyes that looked at the prince's car were extremely indifferent.

The Left Tent Court on the wasteland is completely unable to restrain all the tribes, those barbarian cavalry have gone crazy, and the border troops of the Yan State alone, as well as these thousands of guards who only know how to eat, drink and have fun, cannot stop those steppe cavalry who come like the wind and arrows go like gods.

Fortunately, the Xiling Temple has issued an edict, all the countries in the Central Plains will come to support, and the hateful and terrible Tang State will also send their cavalry, for the monarchs and people of the Yan State, what a humiliating but helpless choice.

This is Chengjing, the capital of a weak country.

On the mountain behind the academy, the morning light is faint, and the mountain fog is gradually divided.

The Fourth and Sixth Senior Brothers sat cross-legged beside the waterwheel, and after meditating and pranayama, they looked at each other and began to repeat the process they had been repeating for several days. Between the two of them was the magical sand table, on which the complex rune lines slowly moved forward on their own, and then formed all kinds of possibilities.

In the iron-striking room, which is very close to Cheonggye, the water vapor is constantly thickened with the infusion of the waterwheel, and in the furnace where the flames are blazing, some metals that look like silver and iron are slowly softening and melting.

The seventh senior sister, who had just gotten up, stood in the upper reaches of Qingxi, looking at the silent and worried expressions on the faces of the two of them, and after a moment of silence, she threw the wet towel in her hand onto a stone, and turned around and walked towards the waterfall in the distance of the cliff.

About seventy miles away from the capital of the Southern Jin Dynasty, there is a mountain.

This mountain is not as majestic and high as the mountain behind the academy in the southern suburbs of Chang'an, and most of its body is covered by clouds and mist all day long, but it is calmly exposed under the clear sun, and every cliff crevice and every rock seems so clear.

The overall shape of the mountain is also clear, with three cliffs relatively smooth, reflecting the light cast by the sky, shining, and then meeting at the summit, looking like a sword.

The sect of the world's strongest sword saint Liu Bai is at the foot of the mountain, which is an old-style ancient pavilion with clear black and white colors.

Dozens of young cultivators knelt on their knees and bowed respectfully towards the ancient pavilion.

Behind them were all swords tightly bound with straw ropes, and unlike the flying swords of ordinary swordsmen, these swords were relatively long and larger, more like the swords used by warriors, and each was quietly hidden in its sheath.

The young swordsmen knelt respectfully on the ground, the ancient pavilion was silent, I don't know how long it took, a calm but sharp voice like a sword sounded, this voice was as sharp as if it could pierce the solid cliffs behind the sword pavilion, and could pierce any tangible thing in the world.

"Shame on him, don't come back. ”

Hearing this voice, the dozens of young swordsmen kneeling on the ground had slightly stiff expressions, looking extremely nervous, and seemed to be extremely excited, and they got up and walked out loudly.

Dozens of horses were neighing.

The young man rode his horse and left the division and headed north.

This is the Sword Pavilion, the place where the strong shine on it.

Didi Yellow River, turbid waves rolling, for a while I don't know how many waves produce annihilation, the ferryman next to the river bank holds a bamboo pole, respectfully kneeling on both sides of the wooden road.

Back then, the sword saint Liu Bai realized the surging sword intent by the side of the Yellow River.

Today, the younger generation of cultivators in the Great River Kingdom will cross the Yellow River and head north.

Under the White Pagoda on the shore of Hai'er.

A woman with a wrinkled face, wearing a strange dress composed of countless pieces of cloth, looked indifferently at the juniors in front of her, and said in a hoarse and strange voice: "If you want to go to Yanbei, you need to pass through the Tang Realm, the imperial court has already issued a document, but it is okay for you to go, I believe that the Tang people will not embarrass you." ”

A young ascetic looked at the woman in surprise and asked, "Master Qu Ni, won't you come with us?"

A look of vicious hatred flashed in the old woman's eyes, and she said sharply: "In a sinful place like Tang Guo, where there is no religion at all, a grain of dust on the sole of my shoe will make me feel sick. ”

The sister of the lord of the Moon Wheel has led the practice of Buddhism since she was a child, and her cultivation realm is profound, and her status in the Buddhist sect is extremely high.

She looked at the juniors who were waiting respectfully, and said indifferently and proudly: "I'll go from the north and go directly to the Gangshan Mountain, but I want to see if anyone in the Tang Kingdom will stop me." ”

This is the country of the moon wheel, the place where the light of the Buddha shines.

The horse's hooves stepped on the fat field, as if they could squeeze out the oil.

Hundreds of knights marched solemnly in the warm sunlight, wearing pure black armor, the armor was painted with intricate golden patterns, and the surface of the black armor and the golden patterns kept flashing in the bright light, revealing a solemn sense of beauty and coercion.

Thousands of devout disciples of the Haotian Sect were about to kneel down to worship the mountain, listening to the thunderous hoof, they were shocked to avoid under the tree by the roadside, and after they saw the knight's face clearly, they quickly knelt down and kowtowed, full of surprise and awe.

Xiling Guardian Holy Cavalry, known as the world's most elite cavalry, in the side of the road pious kowtow believers usually see a person, they feel that it is the ancestors of the accumulation of virtue, today actually saw hundreds of holy cavalry, can not help but be surprised and uncontrollable, even a woman looked at the holy cavalry solemn appearance, chalky fainting.

Some wealthy and well-informed believers probably guessed what the reason for the dispatch of these apologetic god armies was, but they still didn't understand, it was just some barbarians on the steppe who were making trouble, why did the temple attach so much importance to it?

Among the hundreds of guardian holy cavalry, mixed with several Haotian Daomen priests wearing red Taoist robes, the young guardian holy cavalry general LinkedIn among the priests seemed to be a few, walking in the sun, the armor on his body seemed to be plated with a layer of Haotian divine radiance, as perfect as a god son and inviolable.

This is Xiling, the place favored by Haotian.

The mountain behind the academy was shrouded in deep night.

Ning Que put the rune drawings on the table, sat down in the corner tiredly, looked at the shaking fire for a while, and fell asleep unconsciously, he was really tired to the extreme in the past few days, and his brain power was also squeezed to the extreme.

"In such a short period of time, I actually came up with a solution, I praised the little junior brother that day as a genius in the rune path, and he really did not disappoint me. The fourth senior brother looked at the lines on the paper, then at Ning Que, who was sleeping in the corner, and said, "I don't know what gave him such a strong motivation. ”

While calculating the metal ratio needed for materials such as talismans, the sixth senior brother lowered his voice and said, "I can feel that the little junior brother is very anxious...... It seems that he is worried about something, and I don't know if it is a matter of going to the wasteland. ”

The fourth senior brother said, "The wasteland...... Xiling Temple is worried about the resurrection of the Demon Sect, and the junior brother is a member of the academy after all, so what is there to worry about? Could it be that those remnants of the Demon Sect were killed by the junior uncle badly enough?"

The sixth senior brother asked honestly: "Senior brother, I don't really understand the logical relationship of this sentence, the little junior uncle killed the Demon Sect miserably back then, if the little junior brother encounters the people of the Demon Sect again, shouldn't he be more worried?"

The fourth senior brother looked at him and asked, "Do you say that the Imperial Rite Department Shangshu will go to the Yan Kingdom to worry about being killed by the Yan people?"

The sixth senior brother raised his head, thought for a moment and said, "Of course not, if the Ministry of Rites Shangshu visits Chengjing, as long as there is a single hair missing, Yan Guo is afraid that it will usher in a catastrophe." ”

"The same simple truth. ”

The fourth senior brother said calmly: "If the people of the Demon Sect dare to hurt the little junior brother by a single hair, isn't the Demon Sect afraid of ushering in a catastrophe?

"But Uncle Xiao is dead. ”

"Uncle Shi is dead, Master is not dead, not to mention that the second senior brother has always wanted to have the opportunity to learn from Uncle Junior. ”

"What is the little junior brother worried about?"

The fourth senior brother looked at Ning Que, who was still frowning in his sleep, and said after a moment of silence: "I don't know, but he is a junior brother, of course those of us who are senior brothers have to find a way to make him not afraid." ”

"What can you do?"

"Get the talisman arrows ready for him first. ”

"Oh.

At the end of the conversation, the heavy sound of striking iron in the room sounded continuously, and the movement of the sixth senior brother's arm swing was as fast as an afterimage, and the sound of striking iron stretched in one place, as if it was like a thunder that never stopped, but even such a loud sound could not wake up Ning Que, who was extremely tired.

The fourth senior brother kept simulating the runes designed by Ning Que with a sand table, referring to the marginal notes written by Ning Que on the paper, trying a variety of different rune combinations, and even began to try to recombine these lines with formations.

The material of the rune arrow is special, although the weight has been reduced a lot by the exquisite air tube design of the sixth senior brother, but it is still too much heavier than ordinary feather arrows, so there is no way to use ordinary hardwood bows, and before creating rune arrows, the first thing they have to do is to make a special bow first.

As the sound of striking iron continued, and as the sound of molten iron pouring into the mud mold continued, gradually, the strange hard bow parts composed of mixed steel thin strips gradually took shape in parts, and the most important part began to glow with a faint luster under the careful consideration of the sixth senior brother.

The fourth senior brother completely mastered Ning Que's design of the rune line, walked over to guide the design of that part, and looked at the sixth senior brother's seemingly stupid fingers like embroidery carrying the silver tray to grasp the silk, he frowned slightly and asked: "What are you going to use for the carving knife?" The material of the rune arrow is extremely hard, and the requirements are very precise, and the ordinary carving knife is completely useless. ”

The sixth senior brother smiled, molded out a small box from his arms, took out a transparent stone particle from the box that was two-thirds of the part wrapped in a secret metal sheet, and said: "Use the extremely hard miscellaneous silver as a tray, and use the diamond as a carving knife." ”

"Diamond is not very good at hitting it. ”

"So I wrapped another layer of iron under it, of course it wasn't an ordinary piece of iron, it was still the alien steel left over from the last time we worked with Professor Huang to build the armor for General Xiahou. ”

"How's the sharpness?"

"I grinded for three whole days and the cut surface was excellent, you see. ”

The sixth senior brother raised the diamond to the blazing fire, and the bright yellow flames spread out through those complex surfaces, turning into countless beautiful lights, just like the stars in the night sky.

Next, these two men, who were accustomed to silence and then silence and decided not to let the little junior brother be afraid, began the most difficult part of the work, that is, the creation of the body of the talisman arrow, and it was in this part that they encountered an unsolvable problem.

"There is no problem with the ratio of the four metals, the point is that there are too many impurities in it. I chose the best materials from the military department, but the materials themselves have impurities, and the temperature of the furnace is difficult to clean now. ”

The sixth senior brother looked at the hot molten iron, scratched his head and said helplessly: "I have never tried this method before, forcibly fusing these four metals, the temperature required is too high, I don't know what to do." ”

At that moment, the door of the blacksmith room was pushed open.

The seventh senior sister walked in the door, looked at Ning Que who was sleeping in the corner and smiled, turned her head to look at them and said, "I brought two helpers over, I don't know if you need it." ”

The fourth senior brother looked at the two people behind her, waved his hands and saluted slightly, and then didn't know what to think, looked at Ning Que who was sleeping with a smile and said, "I finally understand why those talisman sages failed to make talisman arrows. Let the two great cultivators of the Knowing Destiny Realm seem to be blacksmiths, who can have such treatment except for the junior brother?"

The second senior brother walked over with a blank face and snatched the heavy hammer.

Chen Pipi walked over with a smile, stood up to the fire and slowly closed his eyes.

The fire suddenly became extremely bright, and then quickly turned a faint blue.

The second senior brother held the ancient crown on the top of his head, and smashed the burnt red metal block with a hammer with one hand.

Boom!

The hammer falls on the anvil, and the energy is sprayed like electricity.

Except for Chen Pipi, the rest of the people in the room were shocked and fell to the ground.

The huge crashing sound was like a muffled thunder, resounding throughout the valley behind the academy.

Qingxi has no reason to make waves.

The fish swim restlessly.

The woman who copied the flowers on the upper floor of the old book looked up at the east window and was silent.

Two chess idiots hugged loose.

The two musicians hugged Xiao and Qin in their arms.

The protects the flower in front of him.

The bookworm is still looking down and copying the book.

This is a seowon, a unique seowon in the world.