But a month has passed, and the master has not returned.

So the eldest grandson Qi looked at the top of Niumao Mountain every day, hoping to see the figure of the master. But two months have passed, and the master still hasn't returned.

Usually the master went down the mountain and came back in more than a month at most, why did he not come back for so long this time?

A trace of uneasiness flashed in Changsun Qi's small heart. As the days passed, the uneasiness in his heart became stronger and stronger day by day. He had a foreboding feeling that his master might encounter some danger when he went out this time.

His hunch was accurate. At the beginning of the fourth month, his master finally returned. It was not yet dawn, the darkest hour of the day, and the sweetest time of the day.

The eldest grandson, Qishang, was still asleep when he suddenly heard a quick knock on the door. He woke up in shock, and hurriedly put on his clothes and went to open the door. I opened the door and looked, but I couldn't see half a figure, and I searched for a long time, only to find that this person was lying on the ground, his white clothes turned red due to blood soaking, and he was dying, it was his master Jingzhuang.

The eldest grandson Qi was taken aback, and hurriedly dragged the master into the door and carried him to the bed. He carefully examined the master's body, there were three knives on the lower abdomen, leg, and left arm, one of which injured an artery, so the blood flowed, although Jing Zhuang insisted on walking back, but at the moment he fainted because of excessive blood loss.

Xingxi's treatment of this kind of wound is a piece of cake for Changsun Qi. He helped the master to bandage the wound fluently, put on medicine to stop bleeding, and boiled a big bowl of soup to replenish blood and relieve pain for the master to drink.

Jing Zhuang's face was already rosy the next day under his careful care, and he called the eldest grandson Qi to the bed and said to him: "I went out this time, and I met a few thieves who assassinated me. I narrowly escaped, but I am afraid that the enemy will soon find me. I'm so badly injured that I can't do anything with anyone, and you don't know martial arts at all, so we're in a very dangerous situation. Then I will have a chance to survive only by hiding you under my bed and slashing his feet with a knife when the enemy comes. ”

Hearing what the master said very seriously, Changsun Qi was scared in his heart, and said timidly: "But I have never used a knife, and I will not kill anyone." ”

Jing Zhuang comforted him and said: "It doesn't matter, you hide under my bed and don't make a sound, I'll try to talk to them Zhou Xuan, when you hear me coughing, you will sweep the enemy's feet with a knife, understand?"

Changsun Qi held the single knife tightly with both hands and nodded.

Jingzhuang expected it to be good, only a day later, there was a sudden sound of someone talking outside the usually quiet study. It sounded as if these people were looking for something, and then one of them exclaimed in surprise: "It's here, it must be in this courtyard, he can't run away!"

Another hoarse voice said, "This is it, everyone rush in, be careful." ”

Hearing this voice, Jing Zhuang hurriedly said to Changsun Qi: "Quick, hide under my bed!"

Changsun Qi hurriedly picked up the single knife on the table, and got under the master's bed in one go, and he didn't dare to take a mouthful.

After a long time, the wooden door "slammed" and someone kicked it open. Then three men walked in and stood still a foot away from the bed.

One of the three was Toutuo, whose brain was one with its skin, glittering in the rays of the setting sun, one eye blinded, the upper and lower eyelids one, and its sockets replaced by a flat patch of skin, while the other was wide and cold, and held a broadsword in his hand.

The other was an old woman, with gray hair and a wrinkled face, hunched over, with a cane in her hand, and a few coughs whispered from time to time, as if a gust of wind could blow her down.

The last man looked like a merchant in the market, and he wore the most ordinary clothes, shiny with a smell of copper mixed with lard, and he looked like a rat-headed and calculating, the kind of peddler who thrived in the vegetable market. At this moment, he was holding a scale in his hand and was looking at Jingzhuang with a smile.

Jing Zhuang didn't look at the three of them directly, but said lightly: "You guys are finally here." ”

The old woman said in a hoarse voice, "It's not too late to find it." ”

The peddler grinned and said, "How about we make a deal?"

Natou Tuo said coldly: "Hand over the "Swordsman Technique" and spare you from death." As soon as the three words "Swordsman Technique" were spoken, the atmosphere in the fighting room suddenly became solemn.

Jing Zhuang smiled and said, "You have come all the way to follow you all the way to get the "Swordsman Technique"?"

The old woman said: "Nonsense, as the saying goes, 'Thousands of troops and horses laugh at the sea, and once they enter the swordsman, they have become immortals', and the prestige of "Swordsman's Formula" is known even to a three-year-old doll! My grandfather dreamed of it in that era! My old woman, who has been in the armor this year, also wants to take a look at what the "Swordsman Formula" is like and what is written on it in her lifetime!"

Jing Zhuang said: "Then after you read it, I'm afraid it will disappoint you." ”

The old woman said, "Why?"

Jing Zhuang said: "Because this "Sword Hero Formula" is just a disguise, it is all white paper, and there is nothing!" As soon as he said this, Toutuo, the old woman and the hawker were taken aback at the same time.

The old woman said to herself: "I have lived for more than sixty years, and every ten years or so there is a copy of "Swordsman's Technique" in the rivers and lakes, which attracts people to compete one after another, if I remember correctly, it has appeared four times in total. ”

Jing Zhuang said: "Yes, this book is the fourth "Swordsman Technique" that appeared in the rivers and lakes. The results of the first three competitions, you must have heard of it. ”

The old woman said: "The results of the first three times are ridiculous. Either I found out that "Swordsman Jue" is a bunch of blank blank paper, or the messy things recorded on it are simply incomprehensible, and the last time there is a text that can be understood, the practice method recorded is completely opposite to the ordinary method of practicing internal strength, and many heroes of the rivers and lakes practice according to the recorded content and go crazy. Alas, does the "Swordsman Technique" really exist?"

Jing Zhuang said: "Therefore, there is no real "Swordsman Formula" in the rivers and lakes, and the people who tout how powerful the "Swordsman Formula" is every day are either afraid that the world will not be chaotic, or there is another conspiracy. ”

The peddler smiled and said: "That's not necessarily, since everyone in the rivers and lakes is rumored to be able to practice peerless martial arts when they get it, then it must not be groundless." I personally saw a friend of mine who had practiced the Swordsman Technique, and his skills had suddenly increased several times. Although it is not enough to sweep thousands of troops and even become immortals, it is not what it used to be. ”