Ning Que looked up at him and asked, "If you want to kill someone, go and kill it, what is the pestle doing at the door of my shop?"

The middle-aged man responded: "I'm waiting for the rain to stop, and I'm waiting for a few people." ”

"When the rain stops, it doesn't stop, and when people come, people don't come. Ning Que kindly persuaded.

"If people don't come, there must be a reason why they can't come. The middle-aged man smiled and said, "But can I talk to you about a few more serious words, instead of trying to go around like those ascetics?"

"That's right, I don't like to go around in the clouds. Ning Que replied with a smile: "But I don't like to squat on the ground and talk to people who are standing, because there is a difference in height." ”

"You can stand up. ”

"Why didn't you squat down. ”

The middle-aged man smiled, squatted down directly without the slightest hesitation, and the hem of the wet green shirt covered the threshold of the old pen. Then he looked at Ning Que's green face and said seriously: "I'm struggling now. ”

Ning Que lowered his head and ate noodles, waiting for the following.

"A lot of big people want me to take a stand, but my current situation is that I can't make a statement, so I'm under siege now, my brothers and I are doing things very cleanly, and it's inconvenient for the government to use Tang Law to punish me, so they decided to kill me directly tonight, taking advantage of this night rain, the opponents in Nancheng and Xicheng have already rushed over. ”

"What about the people you're waiting for?"

"One of my brothers died a few days ago, and most of the remaining brothers have errands in the official mansion, and those big men can use errands to trap them in the barracks and yamen, so I have very few people tonight. ”

The night rain continued, and it seemed to have a tendency to get bigger and bigger, and the middle-aged man and others couldn't wait, but he didn't seem to care, just calmly and gently talked about the situation he was facing, without any cover-up, and then he looked at Ning Que beside him, and said with a smile: "But all of this is not a problem, my problem tonight is that there must be someone by my side, but I can't find that person." ”

Ning Que glanced at the saber at his waist, guessed that the sword inside should be small, and asked, "What kind of person do you need by your side?"

"Fast enough, ruthless enough, brave enough, you can't blink an eye when you kill, you can't let anything fall on me. ”

"Doesn't include rain?"

"Naturally not. ”

"That's not a big deal. ”

Ning Que scratched his somewhat damp hair and said, "Why me?"

The middle-aged man's gaze fell on his right hand holding the bowl and said, "I asked about something." Although the woodcutters of Sobi Lake are not well-known in Chang'an City, I know very well what a teenager who specializes in killing horse thieves can do. ”

Ning Que was silent for a moment, then smiled and said, "Why should I go with you?"

The middle-aged man admired the young man's directness, stretched out his fingers to flick off the rain on the oil-paper umbrella, and said with a smile: "No one in the entire Chang'an City knows my hole cards, if I win tonight, that hole card can be opened, and then you will know that I am really a very thick thigh, which is worth your hug." ”

"Since tonight is so dangerous, why don't you play your hole cards first?"

"Because the hole card is not a card, it is a person. I can't order him, he can order me, he needs me to win tonight's fight, because he wants to see if his opponent has cards hidden in his hand. ”

"Well, I'm a little sick of this style of dialogue, and I just want to say that your thighs may be thick, but they don't really appeal to me. Since you know the distant Sobi Lake, then you must know that I once had the opportunity to hold a leg that seemed to be very thin, but was actually one of the thickest legs in Datang, but I didn't hug it. ”

Ning Que said naturally the fourth princess of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yu, after saying this, he was silent again, put the bowl in his hand on the wet ground, and squatted side by side with the middle-aged man to watch the rain, at this moment, he suddenly thought of a certain picture in a story that he liked very much, and thought of Xiao Heizi's explanation in the small restaurant, so he made a decision. (Note)

The middle-aged man was silent for a moment and then said, "Or...... Are you used to making direct offers?"

Ning Que stretched out his palm to slap the other party in the face of the annoying rain, and said cleanly: "Five hundred taels of silver." ”

The middle-aged man frowned and said, "It's too little, is it a little more?"

Next to the threshold of the bookstore on a rainy night, the picture of the two bargaining is really a bit weird, and the main employee actually feels that the money is too little.

Ning Que turned his head to look at him and asked, "How many people do you estimate I will kill tonight?"

The middle-aged man thought for a moment and said, "At least five." ”

Ning Que replied: "On the grassland, I may not be able to find five taels of silver if I kill five horse thieves, so don't worry, for five hundred taels of silver, I can definitely fight hard." ”

"I don't need you to be desperate. The middle-aged man looked at him with a smile and said, "If it's time to fight hard, you can leave first." ”

Ning Que shook his head and said, "That's not my style of doing things. It is indeed a very idiotic word to love and righteousness, but since it is a business, of course, you must abide by the basic professional ethics. ”

The middle-aged man smiled and stretched out his hand: "Deal." ”

Ning Que stretched out his hand and shook him lightly and then let go, saying, "My surname is Ning, Ning of Anning." Rather short. ”

"My surname is Chao, the dynasty of the Tang Dynasty, Chao Xiaoshu. ”

"What an arrogant surname, such a gentle name. ”

"The people of Chang'an call me the old dynasty of Chunfeng Pavilion, you can call me Brother Chao. ”

"It's better to listen to the little tree...... I said, Xiaoshu, you are the leader of the Ichthyosaurus Gang?"

"You can call me Lao Chao...... In addition, I never admitted that I was the leader of the Ichthyosaurus Gang, I just gathered a group of brothers and did something inconvenient for the imperial court. ”

Ning Que finally confirmed his identity, patted him on the shoulder with a smile, and said, "The leader of the No. 1 gang in Chang'an is still so modest, Xiaoshu, you are too hypocritical. ”

......

......

He took out the ordinary knife from the pyre, took out the boxwood hardwood bow and quiver from the box, picked up the big black umbrella from the crude celadon jar and wrapped it in layers of old cloth, and then tied it all to his back, and then he felt at the bottom of the box for a long time, and found a black mask that had not been washed for an unknown amount of time.

Carefully put on the close-fitting soft armor, put on an old short-sleeved arrow robe at the bottom of the box, spread out his hair and re-tie it into the common style of the Moon Ring people, and covered most of his face with a black mask, Ning Que looked carefully at the bronze mirror for a long time, confirmed that there were no loopholes, walked outside the small kitchen and said inside: "I'm leaving." ”

Sang Sang is cleaning up the kitchen stove, washing pots and bowls and pen inkstones, there is no expression on his little face, and there is a faint childish irritability in his slender eyes, I don't know why, the little maid is putting aside the bowl and shabu today, and there is a big bang sound from time to time, and the rag rubs the bottom of the pot as if to wipe through the black and pasty bottom of the pot.

Ning Que was slightly stunned, then understood a little, and explained gently: "It's always good to earn some silver, and I think that guy should have a good background, give the other party a favor, and I can use it in the future." ”

With a snap, Sang Sang slammed the rag on the edge of the stove, and poured dirty water with a heavy iron pot, and the little girl's waist twisted, as if she didn't see him and didn't hear his explanation.

Ning Que rubbed his frowning eyebrows, and after a moment of silence, he said: "That idiot Xiao Heizi burped when he casually dropped a word, even if I wanted to, I couldn't run to the underworld to find him, so tonight can be regarded as paying off the debt." ”

After saying this, he no longer paid attention to Xiao Sangsang's little feelings, and walked directly out of the back house into the shop in front.

As the leader of the first big gang of fish and dragon gangs in Chang'an, the old dynasty of Chunfeng Pavilion has been floating on the rivers and lakes for many years, and he doesn't know how many strange people he has seen, he knows that the young boss of Lao Bizhai must also be one of the strange people, and he has been mentally prepared, but at this time, when he saw Ning Que's dress, he still couldn't help but feel a little surprised. He looked at the mysterious thing behind Ning Que that was wrapped in rags like a thick stick, and said with a slight wry smile: "Seeing that you don't look like you're going to kill someone, but like you owe a gambling debt and are about to run away overnight, don't you plan to carry all your belongings on your back?"

"I've only carried a knife, so be content. ”

Ning Que walked to his side, glanced at the wind and rain in Linshi Alley, noticed that there were no figures at both ends of the long alley, and couldn't help frowning and said: "I hope there are no traitors among your brothers, I hope your brothers can take a good look at this alley, I don't want the picture of following you Feng Xiaoxiao to kill people will become Suotu in Chang'an Mansion." ”

The old man of Chunfeng Pavilion glanced down at the black mask that covered most of the young man's face, and said with a smile: "Actually, you don't need to be so cautious, if you and I are still alive after tonight, then in the future, as long as you don't violate Tang Law and do evil, no one in this Chang'an City or even the entire Tang Empire will dare to trouble you again." ”

Hearing this, Ning Que thought to himself who said that the No. 1 gang in Chang'an had no background behind him, but he didn't have the idea of taking off his mask to kill people in the open, and his childish voice came out through the black mask: "I'm used to being low-key." ”

The old man of the Chunfeng Pavilion smiled and no longer persuaded him to do anything.

The quiet of the spring night had long been disturbed by the sound of the rain, and at this time there were more footsteps, Ning Que walked out of the threshold, stretched out the oil-paper umbrella that seemed to break the wind towards the small tree, and the two of them raised their feet at the same time and walked towards the night and the rain.

Sangsang rushed out. She stood in the threshold, holding the heavy iron pot with both hands, looking at the bowl of noodles on the table that still had a lot left, looking at the background in the wind and rain alley and shouting anxiously: "Young master, you haven't finished eating noodles yet!"

Ning Que looked back at her with a smile and said, "Let's leave it there first, come back and continue eating." ”

Sang Sang hugged the big iron pot, leaned his thin shoulders against the rain-soaked shop door, and shouted loudly: "It's not delicious when it's cold!"

Ning Que waved his hand vigorously, and replied loudly with a smile: "Then you cook another pot and wait for me to come back to eat." ”

Sang Sang pursed his lips tightly, watched him turn around in a daze, and finally shouted: "I'll put more green onions, young master, you have to remember to come back and eat!"

Ning Que didn't answer anymore, but the smile in the eyes outside the black mask became thicker and thicker, looking at the darker and darker alley scenes, looking at the more and more urgent rain, and suddenly asked, "Xiaoshu, where are we going now?"

"Spring Breeze Pavilion. ”

Lao Chao replied calmly, "Where is my home...... The enemy is also there, and I still build yì You call me Lao Chao, because you are a small tree. ”

The wind and rain in the alley are still there, and I don't know how the Spring Breeze Pavilion is.

......

......