In October, the temperature in Jiangnan is getting colder, and the rain in autumn is often fine but biting, but today is different, in the town of Yuwan, about 50 miles away from Stone Town, the torrential rain is like a silver needle falling from the sky, stirring up layers of mist. Even if ordinary people hold an umbrella, they can't stop the cold drill body from covering their eyes, so they can only curl up and squeeze their heads down to slowly grope their way forward in the sound of bursting raindrops.

In the midst of the group of passers-by who were slowly moving forward on a rainy night, a black figure passed by, and the passers-by next to them could hear the light sound of their boots treading water, wiped their faces and looked forward vigorously, only to see the tattered black robe fluttering messily in the rain and a ring-headed knife with a pale yellow glow on the hilt.

The black-robed traveler suddenly stopped in front of an inn, breathed a sigh of relief, tossed his messy hat and clothes twice, and muttered, "I won't have to hurry on a rainy night." ”

The door of the inn was open, but there were two bloated men standing at the door, one of them was wearing two bulbous buns, and when he saw that the traveler wanted to enter the inn, he stretched out his hand to stop him and said, "This place is covered, get out of ......"

Before the big man with his hair tied up said "go to other places", the black-robed traveler had already rushed between the two big men, and said softly: "It's all empty seats, I'll avoid the rain and leave."

The traveler walked as smoothly and briskly as he had just done in the rain, and the two bloated men at the door could not catch up with him until the traveler found a vacant seat and sat down, and the two big men chased after him angrily.

The inn is bright and spacious, it can be regarded as the number one in the town of Yuwan, if it is a rainy night as usual, this inn often comes out of the chatter laughter, from the west or the north of the literati, merchants and rangers almost all of the top can speak and drink, happy to make friends, if you are lucky enough to meet a heroic guest who likes music or a talented accompanying lady, maybe you can also listen to a song or two of different styles, the cheerful and warm atmosphere will become an unforgettable scene in the journey.

It's just that the atmosphere in the inn today is as cold and gloomy as the ragged black robe on the traveler's body that is wet by the rain, and the two bloated men standing behind him are angry and about to attack, only to hear another guest in the inn say quietly: "You two stop me." ”

"But young master, this thief dares to play tricks on me and Ah Wang." The bloated man with his head tied in a bun was full of annoyance, and he said angrily, "Let me tear him up, so as not to sweep away the young master's fun." ”

"Hmph, it's okay, you two go and close the door, so that no one else will disturb you." The speaker sat on the main seat of the table in the center of the inn hall, surrounded by a group of men and women in brocade clothes with different expressions, some laughing, some eating. Near the center of the hall, there were several tables of middle-aged men and women dressed in round-necked regular clothes, some wearing small felt hats, they looked at the black-robed traveler from time to time, and from time to time they looked at the young man at the main table, with a proud and serious expression, but none of them dared to move their chopsticks.

In front of the main table there was another party, but these people did not sit, but scattered on the ground with the table and chairs, some were moaning and some were cursing sharply, and standing between the two people was a slender swordsman, who was holding his sword in place at this time, and there were still undripped blood stains on the tip of the sword.

"We've already said we're going to leave immediately, so why do we have to be so heavy-handed?" A woman dressed in blue jade men's clothes asked, she used her delicate and thin body to protect the front of the fallen men, her smooth and green face was as petite and immature as a girl, and a pair of sparkling eyes were staring at the young swordsman who suddenly shot in front of her at the moment, without the slightest fear, like a velvet white kitten protecting cubs.

The man on the main seat stood up and came to the sword-wielding man, he was well-proportioned, wearing a scarlet round-necked brocade robe, the robe was delicately and neatly embroidered with rows of floral patterns, the jade pendant and copper plaything on his waist jingled, the bridge of his nose was high, his face was slightly square, and he looked more rich and comfortable with his white skin and the gold-inlaid jade crown on his head, he looked at the woman in front of him and played with taste: "It's late, you didn't let you go at first, you have to talk about crooked theories there, now it's okay, none of you want to go." ”

As he spoke, the rich brocade-robed man looked at the black-robed traveler with a smug look, and his calm demeanor seemed to tell the other party that everything was under his control, and everyone couldn't escape from his palm, while the latter put the hat aside, and then shouted: "Boss, is the boss here?" Don't you say hello to anyone at the inn? ”

The owner of the inn and the shopkeeper hid behind the counter, and after hearing the traveler's words, they even asked the shopkeeper to go out to pour tea and entertain guests, but the two shopkeepers were timid and afraid of being the master, and they were not easy to mess with the three parties, and they didn't want to go out desperately, for fear of being injured by mistake. One of the more daring shopkeepers poked his head out and shouted in the air: "The wine jar is piled up next to you, and there are tea and snacks on the counter, if the gentleman wants to use it, he can pick it up himself." With that, he retracted his head again.

Because it was a rainy night, the inn lit up all the oil lamps and candles, illuminated inside and out, the traveler's appearance was also seen clearly by others, his appearance was far from the ordinary people think of the rivers and lakes man, there was no rough face and unruly look, there was no heroic beard, but more like a rushing scholar, soft and white face and Jiangnan businessmen were as good as the children, straight nose bridge flying eyebrows and eyes should have made him look more radiant, But his eyes did not have the pride of a rich child or a scholar, only a faint emptiness and confusion, which made him look cold and mysterious.

The traveler stood up and prepared to walk towards the counter, he was about the same height as the man in the main seat, but slightly shorter than the ruthless sword-wielding man, the man in the main seat sneered, "I still want to drink water, stand still for me." ”

The traveler did not listen to him, and continued to walk forward, and another noble-clad anointed man at the main table slapped the table and scolded, "Grandma's told you not to move, don't you understand human speech?" ”

"He looks good, but it's a pity that he was born lowly, and he is still a reckless man." A woman in a bright shirt covered her mouth and said to the woman next to her, who also joked with a sneer, "Maybe she's deaf." ”

"If you don't follow the rules and don't listen to people, I'm afraid that there is no etiquette at all in this land south of the Yangtze River, and my husband often wants to take another look at the former 'Shendu' Jiankang City of Chen State." A rich young man dressed as a literati stood up and pointed a fan at the traveler.

The woman in men's clothes on the other side was unconvinced when she heard this: "Etiquette? Obviously, we arrived first, and when you entered the inn, you rashly drove all the people away, and our people reasoned about two sentences, and you were seriously injured, and you are not welcome in the land south of the Yangtze River, and you are not welcome in the Shendu City! ”

"Hahahaha, burned and burned, where did the gods come from, why didn't I see it." The man in the scarlet brocade robe pretended to be a lookout, which made the rich young master's daughters laugh, and he looked at the Jiangnan woman in front of him and said word by word: "Your Chen State is gone, Jiankang City is gone, the former 'Shendu' is now just the 'deserted capital' in our Sui population, do you understand the female slaves of the country." ”

The few domestic servants who had just been stabbed down next to the man and the woman heard that their homeland and the young lady in the family were insulted, and they stood up to teach the group of domineering high-ranking disciples in front of them some lessons, but they were knocked down by the slender white-clothed swordsman in an instant, and the disparity in strength between the two sides was visible to the naked eye.

The white-clothed swordsman looked indifferent, and said with a sarcastic face: "What I Qinghe Cui Yu looks down on the most is you people in the rivers and lakes, who are invincible in the world after practicing strength for a few days and a few hands, but I don't know that the real mastery of martial arts is to practice unique breathing while practicing martial arts, so that you can be able to retract and release freely with qi power, but you straw bales have no chance to learn in this life."

By this time the traveler had poured himself a cup of tea and asked for half a cold scone on the counter, and he sat hunched over the chair closest to the white-clothed swordsman, drinking and nibbling, silently watching what was happening in front of him.

The man in the crimson brocade robe stood on the side of the white-clothed swordsman and looked at the gobbling traveler, but the other party's face still did not show any shock or panic, but made him, the young master of the gate valve, who enjoyed the pleasure of bullying others every day, feel extremely annoyed.

"Cui Yu, I'll find someone to clean up this little woman in a while, you first abolish this beggar-like Diao Min for me, cut off his two wrists, and see how he eats and drinks." The man in the crimson brocade robe said viciously to the traveler.

Before the scarlet brocade robe's voice fell, Cui Yu's cold light sword was unsheathed and pointed directly at the traveler's wrist holding the cake, but after only listening to a few dings, Cui Yu's three cold swords stabbed out in a row were all blocked by the teacup held by the three fingers in the traveler's left hand, and the teacup was still intact. At this moment, the tip of Cui Yu's sword pressed hard against the bottom of the empty teacup in the traveler's hand, but he couldn't stab forward any more.

The traveler's wrist was sent outward, and the empty teacup was forced back three steps against Cui Yu's long sword, and in the crisp sound of the teacup falling to the ground, the traveler's voice was low, but his tone was very casual and even a little frivolous, "The few you stabbed seem to be just some brave businessmen and servants, and they are not even considered people in the rivers and lakes. ”

The inn was so quiet that he could clearly hear the sound of rain outside the house and the sound of impurities bursting in the oil lamp, Cui Yu turned back with his sword, and saw the almost angry face of the man in the scarlet brocade robe and the surprised looks of the men and women of the family who traveled together, and his heart welled up with inferiority, panic, shame, and anger.

Although Cui Yu is the Qinghe Cui clan, but the distant side branch, among the men and women of the family who traveled together, belongs to the mediocre family, but he has always been arrogant, and the swordsmanship he has practiced has also attracted him attention in this trip, which makes him very satisfied, after all, if he has the support of the young master of the gate valve in the main seat, he will have more opportunities to let his lineage raise his eyebrows in the clan of the Qinghe Cui clan.

Therefore, Cui Yu obeyed the arrangement of the man in the scarlet brocade robe in everything, just to make this son happy, after all, his grandfather was a popular man in front of the Daxing Duke of the Sui Dynasty, and his brother and father were also deeply trusted by the King of Jin, not to mention that after the prince was deposed, the King of Jin was very likely to inherit the unification, as long as this Yuwen prince was happy, he Cui Yu was at least enough to show his strength and make contributions in the entire southern land.

But all this was ruined by the appearance of this lowly traveler in a shabby black robe in front of him, Cui Yu knew that the Yuwen prince behind him was as cold and ruthless as his family, and the other princes of the family were now looking at their own jokes, and the women of the family who came from Chang'an and had a good impression of each other along the way now only had disappointment and indifference in their expressions.

And the traveler in front of Cui Yu who made a lot of changes even shook his head and joked after getting up and dodging Cui Yu's rapid swords: "When everyone in the world is practicing swords, the children of your family will practice swords, and when everyone in the world is practicing swords, I don't know what kind of strange weapons you children of the family will come up with." ”

Cui Yu gritted his teeth with hatred, his eyes widened with hatred, he stood up, adjusted his breathing, regained his sword momentum, and vowed to end the other party's life with his hard-working family mastery.