The beginning of autumn coincides with the peak of yang energy in heaven and earth, and it is about to flourish and decline.

This...... It's a great time to travel.

At this time last year, two young heroes set off from Hangzhou and embarked on their journey to the rivers and lakes.

And this year, there is also a young man who chose to set off from Cangzhou on this day and went to Weihai.

This person was born with sword eyebrows and starry eyes, white face and thin lips, and he can indeed be described as handsome and chic.

His slender but athletic figure also looked majestic on horseback, and a sword hanging from his waist declared his identity as a swordsman.

He rode his horse like this, and walked alone on the road.

Pedestrians on the road, young and old, could not help but look at him more when they saw him passing by.

The men seem to be looking at a dream of their youth, and the women are also envious or yearning for what the boy has......

Who has not been a young man and wants to go to the end of the world with a sword.

But in the end, we finally accepted our mediocrity, lived a dull life, occasionally sighed at the fleeting youth, and regretted that we did not have the courage to take that step.

However, only a few people understand that small people also have the luck of small people, and big heroes have their own price for big heroes.

You envy them for having what you never had, but they envy you for having what they have long since lost.

Of course, Lin Yuancheng is not old enough to think about these things, and even if he does, he is not a person who can think about these things.

Because he was a "seeker."

In his eyes, the sword is extreme, and it is possible to die at night.

Some swordsmen think that as long as they practice a set, or a set of invincible swordsmanship, they will be considered a master of swordsmanship.

Wrong.

Couldn't be more wrong.

Is "Dao" something that fluctuates with the upper limit of the world's masters in each era?

According to this logic, if there is no martial arts in the world, then you will have reached the limit of the sword with a set of third-rate swordsmanship?

In the final analysis...... "defeating the opponent" is the easiest step, and "invincible in the world" is a matter of course for those who pursue the ultimate sword, it is just a process they must go through in the process of seeking the Tao, but it is far from the end...... There are also two steps later: "Defeat yourself" and "Defeat the sword".

It's just that the vast majority of the top masters in this world can only complete the second step in their lifetime, and there are too few people who can take the third step, or know that there is still a third step.

But Lin Yuancheng knew it - he knew it before he was twenty years old.

He also knew that the path he chose would be lonely, sad, and costly in the end......

Why do the legendary sword gods and swordsmen always have to do it when they face their old enemies? Because they all understand that once the person in front of them is dead, the step of "defeating the opponent" is over, and from then on, there is no one in this world who can understand themselves.

However, Lin Yuancheng has not yet reached this realm, he still has a long way to go, and at present, he needs to experience and need an "opponent", and this trip to Weihai is a good opportunity.

Everyone understands the danger of the Seven Heroes.

Shao Dejin, the master of the Xingyi Gate in Cangzhou, is not a stupid person, as the head of the weaker faction among the seven factions, he must pay more attention.

Therefore, before setting off by himself, Shao Dejin sent Lin Yuancheng to take the lead and travel lightly, and step on the point for the follow-up troops, in case anything happens, Lin Yuancheng is better to get out alone.

In this way, Lin Shaoxia rode thousands of miles alone, set off from Cangzhou, and traveled for more than ten days before arriving at the boundary of Shandong.

Shandong is the territory of the Cao Gang, their foundation is here, and the network of forces is spread; the reason why this session of the Seven Heroes Meeting will be held here is also because of the strong demand of Di Buti, the leader of the Cao Gang, and his intention is self-evident - if he Di Buti fails to be elected as the head of the sect this year, I am afraid that it will be difficult for the people of several other gangs to get out of Shandong.

Of course, Lin Yuancheng didn't care about this.

Whoever chooses the head of the sect will be the same for Lin Yuancheng, even if Cangzhou Xingyi Gate announces its dissolution on the spot tomorrow, he will not say more - he just needs to change the sect again, if there is no suitable one, it is not impossible for him to go into the rivers and lakes alone.

Jianghu is a place of "leveling" in Lin Yuancheng's eyes, today Shao Dejin asked him to be a scout to explore the way, he will explore the way, tomorrow if he changes his sect, people let him grab the land, he can also rob the ...... Anyway, as long as he is in the rivers and lakes, there will always be danger and there will always be times when he fights with others...... In either case, he can be stronger now, so he will be at ease with what happens.

On this day, the sun is empty, and the heat is steaming.

The stone slabs on the road were hot from the sun, and the knowledge in the woods on the side of the road was endless.

Lin Yuancheng, who was soaked with sweat all over his body, wore a hat and rode on the road.

The horse didn't go fast, because if it went any faster, it would probably fall down and foam at the foam. Lin Yuancheng can only endure it, because it is better to be sunburned on horseback than to be sunburned on the road.

At this moment, Lin Shaoxia also regretted it a little: when he came out of the last post house, it was still morning, and the temperature on the road was not so high...... He had known that the sun was so poisonous at noon tonight, that he should have rested for a few more hours to come out, so that he could almost reach the next inn before evening.

Now under the scorching sun, the horses cannot go fast, and the people suffer...... Isn't that unlucky?

Just when Lin Yuancheng was thinking about whether he should find a shady place on the side of the road to hide, suddenly, a fork in his sight appeared.

When the horse reached the edge of the fork in the road, Lin Yuancheng raised his eyes again, and saw that there was a smoke rising from the place where the path was going, and looking at the direction of the smoke, it was only a stone's throw away from the main road.

This is called wanting to eat hail under the ice, there must be people in places where there is cooking smoke, and it is not too much to beg for a bowl of water to drink in the past, right?

Lin Yuancheng thought so, so he turned the horse's head and turned along the fork in the road.

The horses had not gone far through the forest, and there was a wine flag fluttering in front of them, and a decent wine shop was sitting.

When Lin Yuancheng saw it, he immediately turned over and dismounted, sped up his pace and led the horse to the front of the store, and after bolting the horse casually, he opened the curtain and drilled under the shady eaves.

The space in the wine shop is not very large, but Kankan can also squeeze five or six tables, and when Lin Yuancheng entered, the room was basically full: those in silk clothes, cloth clothes, short coats, shirtless, pickers, burdens, baskets, and bags...... There are all kinds of people at a glance, and it seems that there are really a lot of pedestrians who choose to turn here to escape the heat on this hot day.

"Yo, guest officer, here we are. As soon as the little second in the store saw Lin Yuancheng enter the house, he stepped forward and greeted, "The place in this store is small, do you think you want to share a table with someone?"

In those days, it was very common to share a table with others when he was out of the house, and Lin Yuancheng didn't have such a big shelf, so he agreed without thinking.

After Xiao Er got his response, he led him to a square table where three people were already seated.

The three of them don't look like they're together, and they're all dressed differently: one looks like a farmer, the other looks like a trader, and the other is a man from the rivers and lakes.

When Lin Yuancheng sat down, he said, "I'm sorry", and nodded politely to the three, and the three of them also nodded politely.

"Little Er, quick, give me a pot of water first, and then some refreshments. After Lin Yuancheng sat down, he hurriedly asked Xiao Er to get something.

Seeing this, some people will definitely say: Eh, this Jianghu high-roller sits down in the wine shop, doesn't it all start with good wine and beef? Why does this Lin Shaoxia eat so vegetarian?

would ask such a question, obviously being fooled by film and television dramas again......

Where is there anyone who is in a hurry in the middle of the day, and he is half drunk? He also said that drinking is delaying things, and if he is drunk, he will try to ride a horse? This drunk driving is more difficult to ride a horse than drunk driving, and if you don't make it, you will fall off the horse and fall on your head and die directly.

Yes, there are so many people in "Water Margin" who have done similar things, but they are outlaws, would normal people drink a few catties of liquor and then break into a wildlife reserve in the middle of the night to sleep?

And don't forget the weather outside.

There is a saying that "the more you drink the wine, the warmer it gets, and the more you drink the water, the colder it gets", on this hot day, Lin Yuancheng is already soaked with sweat all over his body, and if he doesn't drink some water to replenish it, why do you still drink alcohol and sweat?

As for why he doesn't eat meat, it's very simple, eating that kind of high-fat and high-calorie food will not only make people's body temperature rise but also make people feel sleepy, at this time, come to some coarse tea snacks (at that time, "sugar" is not so easy to get, so the snacks in the general shop are very rough and not sweet, and there is no problem that blood sugar will rise very high after eating) Pad it, you have to eat and drink, and then talk about it when you get to the post house at night.

After a while, Lin Yuancheng ordered something up.

He is not stupid, when eating outside, if you don't have the ability to distinguish poison, then you have to pay attention to "look, smell and taste", when you taste, take a small bite, rest for a while after eating this mouthful, make sure that there is no problem, and then eat the rest, so ...... Even if something is drugged, you won't be poisoned too deeply by that first sip.

Don't look at Lin Yuancheng who is hot and thirsty at this time, but he still abides by this principle, only nibbles the edge of the lost snack, drinks a small sip of tea, and then endures and waits there.

"Huh...... Little brother, big man. Seeing his actions, the middle-aged man dressed in rivers and lakes who was sitting at the same table with him smiled and spoke, "Drinking a pot of water here, are you still so guarded?"

There was a bit of sarcasm in his words, thinking that he didn't know Lin Yuancheng.

However, Lin Yuancheng was still very calm, and just replied calmly: "The rivers and lakes are sinister, be careful." ”

"Hahaha...... the middle-aged man smiled, "that's ...... Okay, you bear it, I can't bear it as a little person, and no one can harm me. Speaking of this, he raised his voice, "Little Er, warm me two more pots of good wine!"

"Eh~come~" Xiao Er over there followed and responded.

After a while, the wine was warm, and Xiao Er took it on a tray.

"Two pots of good wine~ borrowed and borrowed ......" Xiao Er skillfully moved left and right in that small space, and approached the table where Lin Yuancheng and them were.

Just as he was walking not far behind Lin Yuancheng, suddenly, he took out a dagger from under the tray and stabbed it towards Lin Yuancheng's back of the heart.

said that it was too late, but when he saw Lin Yuancheng move the side of his upper body on the stool, and grabbed it with his backhand, he firmly grabbed the wrist of the little second dagger, and said coldly: "Before anyone arrived, your murderous aura moved, so you also want to sneak attack?"

He criticized it very much, if a high-level assassin came today, he would at least be able to suppress the murderous aura to the moment before he could make a move, and the top assassin could even complete the assassination process without killing the murderous spirit at all, and then retreat with his whole body.

This little second ...... in front of you It's so unprofessional.

"Okay! Good Lin Yuancheng. In the next second, the middle-aged man at the same table spoke again, "It's really a pity to give you a knife in the back, or the way to die with a thousand knives is worthy of you, the leader of the Young Heroes Association!"

When he finished speaking, all the people in the whole wine shop, from the shopkeeper to the men, to the silk clothes, the cloth clothes, the short coats, the shirtless, the pickers, the burdens, the baskets, and the bags...... They all stood up and looked coldly in Lin Yuancheng's direction.

A blade hidden under the counter and in the luggage was also unhurriedly taken out by them and held it in their hands.

Almost at the same time, Lin Yuancheng felt a little dizzy and wanted to come...... It was a small piece of snack and a small sip of tea that he had just eaten that "worked".

"Hmph......" Lin Yuancheng calmed down, snorted coldly, and then shook his hand, threw the whole person out of the little two, kicked over the table in front of him again, and drew his sword and swept it.

Although this action allowed him to force back the few people closest to him, and carved out a clearing with a radius of a sword around him, the situation was still not optimistic—he was still surrounded by dozens of killers with swords, and he could faintly hear some movement on the roof......

"You don't seem to be afraid, huh?" Looking at Lin Yuancheng's cold expression, the middle-aged man couldn't help but ask again.

"Why are you afraid?" asked Lin Yuancheng.

"Aren't you afraid of death?" said the middle-aged man.

"To die here means that I am nothing more than that. Lin Yuancheng said, "It's not so much that I'm afraid, it's better to be ashamed." ”

"Heh......" the middle-aged man sneered, "Are you looking down on us?"

"Then can you afford to look up to yourself?" Lin Yuancheng asked rhetorically.

This question made the other party stunned......

After a few seconds, the man replied, "Hmph...... You are indeed a big man, you are right, there are so many of us who come to deal with you, and we don't deserve to be looked down upon. ”

"It seems that you are also a sensible person. Lin Yuancheng said.

"It's a pity, in this world, you can't eat it as a meal. The man said again.

"Then who gave you this mouthful of food?" Lin Yuancheng said tentatively.

"Do you need to know?" said the man.

"Absolutely. Lin Yuancheng replied, "If I die here for a while, then I know who instructed you before I die, and I will be considered dead; ”

What did he say...... There is some truth to it.

If the other party did this out of "loyalty", Lin Yuancheng's statement would not be valid, but just now the other party had clearly said that it was for the sake of just dinner...... That is, taking people's money to do things for others...... There is no question of loyalty.

"Okay, then I'll tell you......" The man thought for a while and said with a smile, "It's the Di gang leader of the Cao Gang, and I'm going to buy your life today!"

As soon as the word "life" came out, the killers in the room were ready to do it.

Who knows, at this moment of tension and a desperate moment......

"it! I'm dying of heat!" A characteristic voice came from outside the door, and the man shouted as he entered the house with the curtain, "Little Er, come and have two pots of good wine, and cut another pound of beef!"