Two people in the middle of the crowd were playing chess, an old beggar and a middle-aged merchant passing by.

The chessboard was more than a man tall and rested on a wheelbarrow. There was a wooden board hanging on the car, and two columns of words were written crookedly with a brush on the wooden board: "Deng Youbang, the world's first ghost chess king." "And" a game of chess for two pennies. ”

Indeed, no one has ever won a chess title in Nanjing, and at most there have been a few draws.

Zhou Jinyu and Wu Hongwen were really stunned by the chess king in front of them. The chess king is about sixty years old, but his hair is still black, and because he has not been washed all year round, the chess king's hair is strands, and his temples are still combed with two small braids. A hat was placed over his head, and a hole was made in the top of the hat, from which strands of hair were squeezed out and placed on the brim. The chess king's face looked very old and wrinkled. But the wrinkles were full of black mud, like the terraced fields of Yunnan full of crops. The sixty-year-old chess king still has very good teeth, but the color is a little strange. I don't know why the chess king's teeth are white on both sides and black in the middle.

In April, it was extremely hot in Nanjing, but the chess king was still wearing a cotton coat. The cotton wool was exposed from the hole in the cotton coat, swaying with the soft spring breeze in Jiangbei.

Every move the king makes, he has to match his own voice. He shouted "Ahh The chess pieces were also cast in iron, and they "belled" on the iron-beaten chessboard, and after a while, the kung fu chess king won another game. The middle-aged merchant shook his head helplessly, threw two coppers on the chessboard and stood aside.

Wu Hongwen has been fond of qin, chess, calligraphy and painting since he was a child, and he has long been eager to try it when he sees that the chess king's skills are so superb. Now that he finally vacated his place, he said, "I'm here to learn the old man's tricks." ”

The chess game has just begun, and Wu Hongwen is still able to equal the chess king. However, since the chess king sold a flaw and let Wu Hongwen eat a rook, the situation on the chessboard has completely turned to the side of the chess king. The power of the chess king has gradually expanded, swallowed and encroached, and the pawn has been unhindered on Wu Hongwen's territory. Wu Hongwen now has to use a fan against his chin to meditate for a long time every step he takes.

At this time, a young man dressed as a scholar walked up to Zhou Jinyu and asked, "This eldest brother, is that your friend?"

Zhou Jinyu heard someone talking to him, and his voice was extremely rough, but it seemed to be a woman's tone, which was obviously intentional. When Zhou Jinyu turned his head sideways, he saw that it was a young man who stepped forward to talk. The blue turban was tied with a tuft of swarthy hair, and his face was so white that it dripped. Not to mention the big eyes, the extremely long, wet eyelashes almost fanned the eyes. The high nose bridge makes the facial features more three-dimensional. The mouth is slightly wider, and the white teeth are neatly arranged. Looking at Childe's dress again, he is dressed like a chivalrous man, and there is a golden short sword pinned to his waist, which looks very exquisite.

Zhou Jinyu had already seen that this was clearly a woman, but it was difficult to tell it, so she pretended not to know and said: "That's the friend below, dare to ask the son for any advice?"

The boy smiled: "Hahaha, don't you dare to advise, I want to tell you that this friend of yours is very stupid, and he drilled into the old beggar's sleeve." However, watching chess is not a true gentleman, and we are inconvenient to remind him. ”

Zhou Jinyu said: "It seems that the child's chess skills must be very high?"

The boy said, "It's average, but it's better than your stupid friend." ”

The conversation between him and Zhou Jinyu was overheard by Wu Hongwen, who was thinking hard, Wu Hongwen was at a loss in the game, and at this time he heard someone ridiculing him, so he said unceremoniously: "This son! ”

The boy blinked, looked at the chessboard again, and said with a smile: "Haha, what's the matter? I can't play the old beggar, then I'm angry? You're about to lose, if I go now, won't it ruin my reputation? If I want to play, I'll wait until you lose." ”

The young man's words were always to the point, Wu Hongwen's face was flushed when he was said, and he was thinking about what words to use to scold back. Suddenly, from behind the crowded crowd, four masked men in black flew over. The young man had been gagged with his hands by one of the men in black. The other three black-clothed men were also very neat, and the hemp rope had already been wrapped around the young man's body a few times, and the young man had no time to draw his sword.

When the crowd of people watching chess saw this scene, they scattered in a hurry, stumbling, and many small stalls were followed by seedlings, and small commodities were scattered all over the ground, allowing people to trample on them. Zhou Jinyu and Wu Hongwen saw that the situation was not good, and they all came to the rescue.

Wu Hongwen put a folding fan in his hand and was soft and rigid, and he had already knocked a man in black to the ground. Wu Hongwen was about to deal with the others, but he couldn't find an opponent. The other three people had already been knocked to the ground by Zhou Jinyu's understatement, and they couldn't get up for a long time in pain, and Zhou Jinyu didn't even pull out his sword.

Wu Hongwen was surprised and curious, in just ten days, Zhou Jinyu's martial arts had reached such a realm.

The four black-clothed men got up from the ground, and one of them threatened: "The two boys don't want to live anymore? After saying that, he quickly slipped away without looking back.

At this time, Zhou Jinyu had already helped the young man untie the rope on his body. Because Zhou Jinyu saw that this boy was a daughter, he felt quite awkward when he untied the rope, and when the young man's hand could move, he stood aside and stopped helping. I don't know why, Zhou Jinyu actually felt that her face was hot, and her heart was beating as if it was about to rush out of her mouth.

The young man untied the rope and hugged his fists and thanked: "Thank you for saving each other, the younger brother's surname is Lan, and he is known as the overlord, and there will be heavy thanks in the future." ”

Wu Hongwen said: "No need to thank you, we just saw that the road was uneven and drew a knife to help." It doesn't have much to do with you. ”

The corners of the young man's mouth raised and said, "Cut, who wants to thank you? I am the eldest brother Xie." As he spoke, he thanked Zhou Jinyu with a fist.

Zhou Jinyu's heart was beating so hard that she couldn't speak at this time, but she just hugged her fists hastily.

Wu Hongwen said: "You still have to go back and forth! You three-legged cat kung fu also brought a sword out, the rivers and lakes are not so easy to walk, and we don't care if someone ties you up." ”

The young man said, "Hmph, who wants you to be nosy?" After that, he took a big stride behind his back and swaggered away.

At this time, the chess king was slowly drinking wine and staring at the chessboard, as if everything that was happening around him had nothing to do with him.

Wu Hongwen looked at the chessboard and felt that his defeat was decided, so he threw two copper coins on the chessboard and wanted to continue his journey with Zhou Jinyu. As soon as he turned around, he was hooked back by the chess king with a cane, and Wu Hongwen felt that the strength on this crutch was amazing, and it seemed to have amazing internal force.

Wu Hongwen said: "I lost, and the money has already been paid, why don't you let me go?"

The chess king said leisurely: "Accompany me to play a few more games." ”

Wu Hongwen said: "No, I admit that my skills are not as good as others, and I am not the opponent of the old man." ”

The chess king said: "Then you stay, I will teach you how?"

Wu Hongwen said: "That's not necessary, we have other things to do." ”

The chess king's eyelids raised upwards and said, "I don't want to teach you kung fu?"

Wu Hongwen thought it was funny, a beggar actually wanted to teach himself kung fu, so he said: "Thank you for your good intentions, I'd better go home and learn by myself." ”

When the chess king heard this, he was furious, picked up his crutch and struck Wu Hongwen three times on the top of his head and said: "Bastard, bastard, bastard! You have to learn, you have to learn, you have to learn if you don't learn, you go and show me." ”