The first meeting between Taihao and Lotte was short-lived, but this brief encounter left a deep impression on Taihao. Taihao thinks that this man of his age is decisive and shrewd, and has a natural sense of closeness to him. And Lotte also felt that Taihao was a young official with great potential and prospects, so there was a feeling of sympathy between them.

Lotte was born in Liguan Castle, and their ancestors have been officials in the court for three generations. He received a good education from an early age, and he was intelligent, witty, and sociable, which won the emperor's appreciation. Later, through his own efforts, he took the imperial examination and successfully passed the examination and became an official. After the flood in Jintang City, the emperor transferred him to the city lord of Jintang City, and not long after he took office, he successfully managed the flood problem, and now he has been in office for two years.

As soon as Taihao left Jintang City, Lotte received a holy decree from the imperial court. The general meaning of the holy decree is that the cities on the southeast coast have been harassed by the Japanese state for many years, and several coastal cities have been ordered to join hands to fight against the Japanese. The holy decree also said that the former city lord of Wenchuan City and the general who defended the city had been executed for corruption and collusion with foreign enemies, and the new city lord Taihao and the general of the city defense Nanzhu had taken office, and they would be the chief generals of the anti-Japanese war and presided over the war against the Japanese, and hoped that the officials of the coastal cities and cities would cooperate more. After listening to the holy decree, Lotte hurriedly called Liqing, the deputy general of the city guard, and instructed him: "Don't send the collected soldiers and horses to the northern counterinsurgency battlefield for the time being, you go to Wenchuan City first, and ask the Taihao City Lord if he needs help." Liqing answered the call and left.

At this time, Taihao and Ruoshui rode a horse together, like a couple on the road leisurely, this way Ruoshui has a secret affection for Taihao.

Halfway through, I saw a young man and woman fighting an old man, who were dressed strangely, not like the people of the Eastern Empire. The man was short in stature, with a fierce face, and looked like a demon, but the woman was charming and amorous, and she was very stunning. The man was armed with a sword, while the woman used a dart-shaped weapon to attack the old man frequently. Look at the old man again, he is wearing a navy blue robe, holding a long-handled broadsword, and his expression is calm and confident. Taihao and Ruoshui immediately dismounted and stepped forward to stop them. But the pair of young men and women wanted to attack Tai Hao, Tai Hao was in a hurry, and used the first trick of "Snow Cat Fluttering" "Chasing the Wind and Catching the Shadow", but this trick had no effect on the pair of men and women, Tai Hao saw that he could not fight with them with his bare hands, so he shouted to Ruoshui: "Ruoshui, throw me the long sword tied to the saddle." ”

No matter where he went, Tai Hao always carried his long sword with him, so as not to encounter enemies who also used weapons, which he couldn't deal with with with his bare hands. I saw Ruoshui take off the long sword and throw it to Taihao. At this moment, the woman threw a dart at Tai Hao and knocked the long sword directly to the ground. The old man stepped forward and said to Taihao while fighting: "Little brother, don't interfere, the moves of these two widows are too insidious, the old man can deal with them himself." ”

When Tai Hao heard that they were widows, he hurriedly picked up the long sword, pulled it out of its scabbard, and fought with the pair of men and women. Tai Hao used the first move of the "Jiuqiu Sword Technique" "Falling Leaves Without a Trace", only this move cut off a strand of the woman's hair, the woman wanted to fight back, but was pulled by the man, said a few words, and then a ghost flashed, and disappeared.

After they left, the old man sat on the ground to recover his true qi, Tai Hao took back his long sword, and said, "Senior, you just said that they are widows? ”

The old man said slowly: "That's right, they have been following the old man for many days, and today I just wanted to test their skills, but I didn't expect their martial arts to be so strong." ”

Tai Hao asked, "Why are they following their seniors?" ”

The old man said: "In order to get the martial arts secrets on my body, little brother, when you fought with them just now, you used the 'Jiuqiu Sword Technique', are you the apprentice of the 'Sword God' Jiuqiu?" ”

Tai Hao said: "That's right, my swordsmanship was taught by Master Jiuqiu. ”

The old man continued: "But when you just started, the old man looks very familiar with the boxing technique, isn't it "Snow Cat Fluttering"? ”

Tai Hao was surprised: "Senior, you even know "Snow Cat Fluttering"? ”

The old man smiled and said, "Of course the old man knows, who did you learn from in "Snow Cat Fluttering"? ”

Tai Hao said: "The junior learned from Master Yuan Shi, and he is the first master of the younger generation. ”

"Are you the apprentice of the Yuan Shi? I thought you were so young that you would be the disciple of the beginning. The old man laughed.

Tai Hao asked, "Senior, do you know my master?" ”

The old man said, "It's not just acquaintance, do you know who the old man is?" ”

Tai Hao shook his head and said, "The juniors don't know, can the seniors tell me?" ”

The old man said: "Yuan Shi is the old man's senior brother, you have to call me senior uncle......

Tai Hao hurriedly saluted and said respectfully: "Juniors meet my uncle, my master has seven junior disciples, I don't know which uncle you are?" ”

The old man said, "The old man's name is Shang Mang, and he is your fifth uncle. ”

Tai Hao said: "I didn't expect to meet Uncle Shi here, it's really unexpected, I have long heard of Uncle Shi's name, Master once said that the Master passed the fifth part of the "Cat Ancestor Divine Skill" "Cat Drawing Tiger" secret book to the Fifth Uncle, presumably those moves used by Uncle Shi just now, right?" ”

Shang Mang said: "That's right, those two widows also want the cheats of "Painting the Tiger with Cats", where are you going now?" ”

Tai Hao said: "I am going to Wenchuan City now, and I am ordered by the emperor to go to Wenchuan City to fight against the Japanese." ”

Shang Mang asked, "Are you an official of the imperial court?" ”

Taihao said: "Exactly! The nephew is the new lord of Wenchuan City. Where did Uncle Shi come from and where is he going? ”

Shang Mang said: "The old man lives in Dongbai Mountain, not far from here, since you are going to fight against the Japanese, I will tell you some things about the Japanese Invaders, in those Japanese Invaders, there are some Japanese warriors, their martial arts are all learned from the Eastern Empire, but they have been carried forward." Including the weapons they used, they were also modified from the weapons of the Eastern Empire. Male samurai of the Wa Kingdom liked to use Japanese swords, but female samurai preferred to use hidden weapons. Although their sword skills were all learned from the Eastern Empire, their power was not much worse than ours. ”

Tai Hao listened to Shang Mang's words, and his heart moved, he knew that the combat effectiveness of the Japanese Kou should not be underestimated, especially their hidden weapons and sword skills. He decided to ask Uncle Shang Mang for advice on how to deal with the attack of the Japanese before going to Wenchuan City.

Taihao was about to open his mouth to ask Uncle Shang Mang for advice, but saw Shang Mang stand up and said to Tai Hao: "It's not early, I'm going back to Dongbai Mountain, nephew, do you want to go to my house with Uncle Shang to sit down?" ”

When Tai Hao heard this, he agreed: "Thank you, uncle, my nephew can't ask for it, and my nephew just has something to ask for uncle." ”

Shang Mang pointed at Ruoshui and said, "But she can't go ......"

Tai Hao was about to ask why he couldn't go, but before he could speak, Shang Mang said: "Don't ask why, you can let her go to Wenchuan City first, or let her wait here." ”

Taihao said: "But she can't ride a horse......"

Shang Mang said: "This is easy to do, your uncle and I will ride the horse, let her sit on the horse." ”

Taihao was skeptical about this, but he did it anyway, he asked Ruoshui to sit on the horse, and Ruoshui asked, "Lord Taihao, what are you going to do here?" ”

Tai Hao said: "Ruoshui, you go to Wenchuan City first, and I will follow Uncle Shi to Dongbai Mountain." ”

Ruoshui said: "But...... I don't know how to ride a horse......"

Shang Mang walked up to them and asked Ruoshui, "What's the girl's name?" ”

Ruoshui replied in a whisper: "My name is Ruoshui......"

Shang Mang nodded and said, "Okay, Ruoshui girl, you sit on the horse and don't move." ”

When Ruoshui sat on the horse's back, he saw Shang Mang touch the horse's head a few times, and then said a few words in the horse's ear, and Taihao and Ruoshui didn't hear what he said.

When Shang Mang finished speaking in the horse's ear, he patted the horse's back again, only to see the horse walking slowly, and gradually increasing the speed, Ruoshui was a little scared at first, but the horse was very stable, and she put her mind at ease.

Looking at Ruoshui's distant figure, Shang Mang asked, "This is the old man's nephew and daughter-in-law?" ”

Tai Hao hurriedly explained: "No, no...... She was the woman whom her nephew had met on the boat when he came, and when he saw that she was pitiful, he took her with him. ”

Shang Mang smiled: "I didn't expect my nephew to be so kind-hearted. ”

They chatted as they walked, and Tai Hao also told him that he had met the seventh uncle Yi Si in Tubo, but Uncle Yi Si was killed at that time. Shang Mang's heart hurt when he heard this, but he was also a little relieved to hear that Tai Hao had avenged him.

Tai Hao took the initiative to help Shang Mang hold the long-handled broadsword, Tai Hao felt that this broadsword was very special, so he asked Shang Mang: "Uncle Shi, is this the knife used in the knife technique of "Painting the Tiger by Cats"?" ”

Shang Mang said: "That's right, this knife is called Mo Dao, and its characteristics are...... This is a two-edged knife, one zhang long, weighing fifteen catties. ”

Tai Hao asked: "Now that my nephew has learned the boxing technique of "Snow Cat Fluttering Shadow" and the fingering technique of "Idle Cat Listening to the Sea", I wonder if I can learn the knife technique of "Drawing Tiger by Cat" from my uncle?" ”

Shang Mang said: ""Cat Ancestor Divine Skill" has a total of nine volumes, you have learned two volumes, which has surpassed most of the martial arts practitioners on the rivers and lakes, and you have also learned the 'Jiuqiu Sword Technique', you have mastered a weapon, and then learn "Painting Tiger by Cat", how can you bring so many weapons on your body." ”

Tai Hao pondered for a moment, nodded and said, "Uncle Shi is right, it's my nephew who is greedy." ”

Shang Mang said: "In this world, except for my master, there is really no one who can practice all the "Cat Ancestor Divine Skills". At the beginning, my eighth junior brother Zhexiao had the idea of collecting all the "Cat Ancestor Divine Skills", and he was looking for a few of our senior brothers everywhere, but how could we let him succeed, he was careful of his narrow chest, and he was also angry to death in the end, but it was not his senior brothers who killed him, but his four apprentices. His four apprentices have the same idea as him, that is, to learn all the "Cat Ancestor Divine Skills", but as far as their ability is concerned, it is simply a fool's dream to collect "Mao Ancestor Divine Skills", three years ago they somehow learned that I lived in seclusion here, so they came here to ask me for cheats, but they came once I ran once, and I ran twice when they came...... Since then, they have never dared to come here to disturb me again. ”

Tai Hao said: "His four apprentices and nephews also know each other, and they have fought with them many times. ”

Shang Mang asked: "Then you didn't give them the cheats of "Snow Cat Fluttering" and "Idle Cat Listening to the Sea", right?" ”

Tai Hao said: "Of course not, even if the nephew dies, they will never let the cheats fall into their hands." ”