The truth is more straightforward than Shen Fengming's intuition. "Jinling a knife" Wang Songbai, on the morning of the first day of the lunar month, did not show up to make an appointment.

The gazebo was really not suitable for the cold day of Erjiu, Xia Chen waited patiently for most of the hour, and finally couldn't hold his breath. Cousin Xia Po had already jumped on the side, so he had to send someone to Wang Songbai's mansion to check, and the rest went to the nearest teahouse to order tea to keep warm.

The weather was gloomy as if it could hit a city of blizzard at any moment, but it didn't, it was just so oppressive, but it was dry. Xia Chen's mind was also unconsciously irritable, ordered tea twice, and got up to relieve himself.

"I'll go with you. Shen Fengming also got up.

Xia Chen was a little unhappy, "It's just a matter of unraveling, you don't have to follow step by step!"

"Jun Chao......" Shen Fengming was a little surprised by his seizure.

"I mean...... I'll be careful myself. Xia Chen knew that he was out of shape, so he could only lower his eyes and whisper, "Brother Shen...... You don't have to be so concerned all the time. ”

Shen Fengming saw him turn around and go, hesitated, but in the end he got up and followed, but he didn't get too close to him, just taking into account his mood. Come to think of it—even this young man probably realized something, and he was rarely impetuous.

The vicinity of Zhenhuai Bridge is quite lively, even in this weather, there will be a long queue to relieve the hand, and it can be seen that the civilians of this Jiankang Mansion are still living quite leisurely. Shen Fengming waited at the handrail of the teahouse for a while, and suddenly his shoulder was patted, and he turned his head to see that it was Xia Po.

"Shen Gongzi is really hard. Shaper said, "Take care of my little cousin everywhere." ”

Shen Fengming looked upstairs, "Why did Master Po come down?" Do you want to get rid of it?"

"Seeing that you haven't been back for a long time, I'm a little worried. By the way......" said Sharper, looking around, "there are so many...... I'm just going to do it. I'm not as particular as Xiao Junchao, big man...... You can't suffocate urine at any point. ”

Shen Fengming laughed when he heard this, the two chatted casually, and turned around Xia Chen to lift the curtain and come out, obviously still disgusted with the clean room outside, and still frowned after untying his hand. Shen Fengming smiled and said, "Okay, let's go upstairs, so as not to make him unhappy." ”

The two went upstairs, and saw Xia Chen go back into the building, but he didn't come up, and went to the back. Xia Po turned his mind and said, "I'll just say that Jun Chao is exquisite." Then he went downstairs, and found him in the back to scoop up water and clean his hands.

After some tossing, when he got to his seat, Xia Chen also knew that he had been going for a long time, half complaining and half explaining, "There are many people." ”

Before the words fell, a disciple followed behind, but he was sent to Wang Songbai's mansion to inquire about the situation.

"Less...... Young Zhuang Master," the boy's face was blown pale by the wind, and he was out of breath, "I found out outside Old Man Wang's mansion, and he—he seems to be missing!"

"What are you talking about-" Xia Chen will sit down, a sentence was stuck in his throat, and he could barely spit it out, as if his premonition had finally been smashed by a heavy punch, and everyone felt that their hearts were pinched and they were congested and nauseated.

"When did you disappear?" asked Shen Fengming calmly.

"Last night. The disciple said, "It was said that it was fine at night, but the disciples watched him fall asleep inside, and no one disappeared in the morning." ”

"Didn't see you out either?"

"No one saw him out!"

"What...... Who are we going to see, and who is gone?" Xia Po said on the side, "Could it be that the Lord of the Dongshui Alliance is really targeting us?"

"Brother Po thinks this matter has something to do with the Eastern Water Alliance?" Xia Chen raised a slightly blooded face and asked him. "Senior Lu and Senior Wang are both famous heroes in the martial arts, can the Dongshui Alliance make it so easy and overnight, so that both of them disappear, and they can't even find a trace?"

"That'...... Otherwise, who else wants to target us except the Eastern Water Alliance?" Xia Po was also a little alarmed.

"I don't think so. If so, he knows everything about us. Shen Fengming thought for a while and instructed the three disciples: "Go out to explore again, and see if there is any movement from other martial arts families in Jiankang Mansion except for Old Man Lu and Old Man Wang, go quickly!"

The three of them were ordered to go. Shen Fengming looked back at Xia Chen's face. "Whether it's aimed at us or not, Jun Chao, this time we will be more and more careful, and we can't be easily angry, and it's dangerous to be alone, do you understand?"

Xia Chen bit his lip, but he could only nod, sat down dejectedly for a long time, and suddenly jumped up, "I...... My jade pendant ......!"

The people in the tea party looked at him, only to see that his face was pale, and he stretched out his hand and only pressed his waist - there was a clear and pure jade hanging in that place, but at this time, the clothes and belts were neat, only empty and empty, and there was nothing.

-------------

"Hmm...... It's a good piece of jade. "In a mansion across the water from the Zhenhuai Bridge, a jade pendant is being held into the air by a young and dry hand. The gloomy sky light has never penetrated the most perfect light, and the jade texture can only be seen approximately, but he still generalizes it and calls it "a good jade".

At least the tentacles are warm and moist, without astringency, showing that the owner cherishes it and caresses it from time to time.

In the darker than the light of the sky stood another man, whose face and body were almost invisible in the shadows, and if he did not make a sound, he would probably make people forget his existence. "Does the alliance leader have any other orders?" Knowing that he was the only listener, he didn't pick up the topic of Yu Pei, and his tone was calm and low, not like a request for instructions, but like he was in a hurry to leave.

The man he called "the leader of the alliance" suddenly turned around in the light of day, and his face suddenly lost his light, but he could still tell that it was an oversized puppet mask - it was too large and suddenly turned to be terrifying. The mask is covered with black and white lines—black lines on a white background, to be exact, outlining a ghostly pale face that looks like weeping, not crying.

The person in the shadows seemed to have long been accustomed to it, and he didn't react to this, but made a clear "knock" of the jade shatter, making him move his gaze slightly. "It's not this piece of jade at all!" The person behind the mask didn't know how to make an expression, but he was sure, and after praising this piece of good jade, he suddenly slammed it to the ground.

"Isn't it?" The voice of the man in the shadows was cold, and although there was no mask on his face, he was also expressionless, and leaned over to pick up the broken jade that had been swept in front of him. It can't be called a broken jade—probably by luck, the jade pei was neatly split from the middle into two pieces of almost the same size, "You said the jade was on him, and I took it from him." ”

The man in front of him took a few breaths, collected his gaffe, and the eyes behind the mask were staring at the man in the shadows, thinking about the traces in his words.

"It should have been expected – it wasn't going to go this way. He let out a long breath and suddenly sneered, "But what I asked you to take seems to be more than one piece of jade?"

The man in the shadows did not move, nor did he speak.

The voice behind the mask was raised again, "Did you take something missing?"

The man in the shadows remained silent.

"Why don't you take it?" the masked man said aggressively, "Did you know that this piece of jade was not what I wanted, or did you ...... Do you sympathize with him?"

The talent in the shadows spoke: "The alliance leader looks high. 'Feng Ming' and 'Half a Cup of Wine' are inseparable from him, and it is a fluke that I can get this piece of jade. ”

"For you, it should be easier to take a life than to take a piece of jade pendant, right?" The voice behind the mask has become cold and compassionate, "'Jinling First Knife', 'Qingxi Holy Hand', 'Dong Shopkeeper', you don't pay attention to any of them, how can you be a little Xia Junchao, but you ...... Be merciful?"

The man in the shadows tried to defend himself, but he slowly picked up something from the table. His form froze for a moment, and all his words pressed into his throat.

The man behind the mask slowly opened the paper and read it in the gloomy skylight: "'Turn back quickly, don't put yourself in danger'—these are the words you want to leave him?" he raised his head and let out a strange laugh, "Thirty, do you say—are you my man, or—his Xiajiazhuang?"

The shadow guest he called "Thirty" was speechless, and could only stand like this, unable to say a word.

------------

In the Zhenhuai Bridge Teahouse, everyone's complexion has changed slightly. "Did you accidentally drop it when you got rid of it?" Xia Qin asked.

Xia Chen shook his head, "Suitable talent...... I came out and tidied it up, and I was still ...... at that time" He pressed his head with one hand, and his face was full of annoyance and anxiety.

"I went downstairs to look for it, but I accidentally left it in the back hall. Shen Fengming said. Xia Chen came out of the clean room, and he did see that the jade pendant was still hanging in front of his clothes, but later he and Xia Po went upstairs first, and when they looked down at him from the building, they didn't see it clearly, and they didn't pay attention to whether the jade pendant was still on his body when he went to get water and wash his hands. When he went upstairs, the news of Wang Songbai's disappearance came, Xia Chen sat down, and no one thought of his hanging jade anymore.

Fang Zi walked to the escalator, and Xia Chen suddenly said, "Brother Shen!"

Shen Fengming turned around and saw Xia Chen slowly and tremblingly take out a letter from the placket of his clothes.

"Don't look for ......"

Shen Fengming only understood in a moment: there is indeed no need to look for it. Xia Chen naturally never took this letter with him when he went out. He must also understand: the jade pendant was not lost, but taken away. The person who took his jade pendant even had the spare time to stuff a letter into his shirt, if he hadn't subconsciously searched for the jade pendant on his body, he probably didn't know anything about it.

He walked back in three or two steps, "Give it to me, I'll see." ”

"I ...... I'll do it myself. ”

Xia Chen did not allow anyone to object, and tore open the letter with the worst speculation and the greatest care, and unfolded the letterhead. The letter didn't seem to have any special organs, and there was not a word on it, except for a small symbol of the flag of the East Water Alliance in gold in the corner, which exuded a silent mockery.

“...... Eastern Water Alliance. Xia Qin spoke first, "Is the Dongshui League here to demonstrate......?"

"It means that we didn't notice a letter here, and if we wanted to do it at that time, Brother Chen would have ...... it a long time ago," Shaper suddenly stopped.

Shen Fengming was speechless. He asked himself if it was not impossible to take and let go of Xia Chen like this, but Xia Chen was not the only one - he was under everyone's nose most of the time, and today was just a short moment out of his vision, someone could find an opportunity in such an instant, patience, eyesight, and means were unusual, and he would be a master of the same way.

He looked at Shaper. That short moment of negligence was due to Shaper's holding himself and chatting for a while. He was Xia Chen's cousin, and he didn't think it was intended, but who could be 12 percent sure that Xia Po was fine, and the cousins who had been separated since their grandfather's generation might not be so close.

Cold sweat still ran down my spine. The Eastern Water Alliance used such a method, Shicai could really take Xia Chen's life; did Lu Shou and Wang Songbai, who disappeared last night, also retreat because they received some kind of demonstration and warning, and even-they did not have Xia Chen's good luck, and under some kind of negligence, they were erased without leaving a trace?

He always felt that there should be something familiar here, but—a trace of spiritual thought was like a fleeting light, fleeting, and he thought about it carefully, but he lost a trace.

Xia Chen calmed down from the initial tremor and sat at the table, holding the empty letterhead in his hand, staring at the dazzling shape of the Dongshui Alliance flag.

"It's very ......good," he gritted his teeth and said, "I'm still worried about where to find my jade pendant, since the Dongshui League has recognized it ......."

"Young Zhuang Master, now that I have lost the jade pendant, it is a small ......" Wan Xiyang didn't mean that he was so fearless, and he didn't feel dissuaded, "The other party seems to have capable people, or ...... from the long term"

"How small is it to lose the jade pendant!" Xia Chen clenched the letterhead, "If you want to threaten me, this letter alone is enough, but you still take away my jade pendant - that is humiliating me! If I don't go back and return to Lin'an, how can I explain to my father and Lord Junli!"

When Shen Fengming heard him mention Jun Li, he couldn't help but say, "Jun Li?"

Xia Chen looked at him: "This jade pendant was given by Lord Jun Li at the beginning, I exchanged the jade that my father left with me when he left, and he regarded this jade as a family heirloom, and never left his body from time to time, and now Fang Zhijiankang was taken by the East Water League, Brother Shen said, if it is replaced by you, is it inevitable to take it back, I can't be afraid, I will go back and wait for my father, wait for Lord Jun Li to know, and wait for them to come out of this breath for me, right?"

Wan Xiyang and the others knew the story, but Xia Qin's father and son were surprised, "What do you mean-this piece of jade was given by Xia Yan?

Xia Chen knew that these uncles and brothers were very disdainful of Xia Yan, and he was not surprised when he heard this, so he just pinched the letterhead, and the paper was already crumpled into a pile, "Why not?" he gritted his teeth and asked, even forgetting about his elders for a while.

Before Xia Qin could say anything, Shen Fengming had already said: "Senior Xia don't have to worry, don't forget—the Tuoba Sect Master should also arrive in Jiankang in the next two days." With his help, I think the leader of the Dongshui Alliance must be a little jealous, and it is not impossible for us to retrieve the jade. Jun Chao is also a little restless, we are planning for the future, first find a stable place to settle down, don't separate, wait to see the Tuoba Sect Master, and then discuss those. Regardless of whether this jade pendant is Jun Li's or Jun Chao's, in short, it's always right to take it back. Isn't this time to come to Jiankang just to earn face?"

What he said was reasonable, and Xia Qin had no choice but to give up.

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Xia Yan's proposal team has been gone for most of the day at this time.