The mountains were very quiet at night, there were not many birds and insects, and the occasional wolf howl from nowhere pierced the darkness, showing the danger of the mountains. It was a cloudy day tonight, and the moon had already slept behind the clouds, looking at the dark clouds in the sky, and I didn't know when the tender crescent moon would show its head. It is also thanks to Situ Ping and Ma Gongzi that they are martial arts practitioners and have sharp eyes, so they can walk like flying in the dark night.

When they came to the front of the Five Claw Peak, there was a dead silence in front of them, and they could only hear the wind blowing. The Thumb Mountain of Five Claw Peak is a short and fat small mountain, and it is impossible to see how high it is in the dark night, and the east side of the peak is a flat land with a radius of four or five minutes, the terrain is very flat, and the ground is full of fallen leaves and dead grass, and the feet step on it, and "rustle". Ma Gongzi looked at it and said to Situ Ping: "It's here, let's wait here." Then, passing through the dry grass on the flat ground, he came to a stone as large as a lying ox protruding from the flat ground, flew up, sat down cross-legged, and said no more, as if in a state of steady. Situ Ping also followed him to the stone, but instead of jumping on the stone, she stood leaning against the stone, holding the sword at her waist, her eyes roaming around, observing this familiar place, the strange night.

The wind was whistling like this, and neither of them seemed to move, so it was time for a cup of tea.

Suddenly, Ma Gongzi opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the woods to the north, Situ Ping felt Ma Gongzi's movements, and turned to look at the woods, and listened carefully, but he didn't find anything, he was surprised, and he heard that people were performing light skills from the woods in the north to rush here, Situ Ping couldn't help but sigh again in his heart: "He is worthy of being a famous disciple." ”

After a while, the nocturnal people came to the eyes, it was Wen Wenhai and his junior sister, looking at their appearance, they also abandoned their horses at the bottom of the mountain and ran up on foot, Wen Wenhai did not jump down from the tree in a hurry, first looked at the situation in the field condescendingly, and then beckoned the junior sister to jump off the treetops, and did not greet the people in the field, but like Ma Gongzi, sat cross-legged under the tree, closed his eyes and sat down. His sister didn't stand, she took out a cushion from her backpack, put it on the ground, and sat on the cushion herself, looking at her, as if she was resting.

Ma Gongzi also closed his eyes again, as if he didn't see anyone coming, and Situ Ping had no choice but to stand there silently.

After a while, several people opened their eyes at the same time, and looked at the path opposite the peak, and from the other side of the path, there was a sound of footsteps, which seemed a little strange in this silent wilderness where only the sound of the wind sounded. The sound of footsteps came slowly, from far to near, but there was no human figure in sight, and the four of them were looking forward to seeing who this person on the mountain walk was?

When the person approached and saw clearly, everyone was even more surprised, it was actually two people, walking side by side with the same steps, the same body shape and the same movements, and they couldn't see whether they were the same clothes or whether they were the same in the night. However, looking at the two of them taking half a step more than ordinary people, in fact, everyone already knew the answer in their hearts, and they all thought: "It turns out that the other one is them." ”

The two of them walked to the sidelines, looked at the two groups of people in the field, and did not make a sound, nor did they enter the field again, just stood there straight, motionless.

The four people in the field, seeing the two of them standing still, just like just now, closed their eyes and recuperated, it seems that there are still people who have not come.

After another tea time, just when everyone was a little anxious, a voice suddenly fell from the sky: "The cold cicada is poignant, the long pavilion is late, and the shower is at the beginning." A figure suddenly appeared in the middle of the field, and the six people present opened their eyes together, and none of them seemed to notice how this person came out, but they all shouted out in unison: "Yanming monk?"

I saw that the one who had just arrived in the field was tall and long, and the color of the shirt and the scarf above his head could not be seen clearly, but his emaciated face and a few long beards under his chin were exactly what he was familiar with among the people in the rivers and lakes. Everyone did not hesitate at this time, and stepped forward and said: "Yanming monk, the younger generation is polite." ”

Yanming brushed his long beard with his right hand, smiled and said: "It's too late for the old man to come, let a few of you wait for a long time, you are not familiar with each other, just get to know each other first, and everyone will support each other in the task later." ”

The first Jinyi Ma Gongzi hugged his fists at everyone and said, "In Xia Wan Jianfeng Ma Xiangyang." This is the leader of the Evil Tiger Gang, Situ Ping. Then, for fear that everyone would misunderstand, he continued: "The Evil Tiger Gang is in the local area, and she is my subordinate, and she has come to guide us." ”

Yanming said with a smile: "Ma Shaoxia is really thoughtful, then it is the leader of the Situ gang." ”

Situ Ping hurriedly saluted and said: "I am fortunate to be able to serve you." ”

Then Wen Wenhai also hugged his fists and saluted: "In the next ethereal faction Wen Wenhai, this is in the lower junior sister Xue Qing." Xue Qing only removed the veil from her face at this time, revealing the true face of Yi Yi and Yi Xi, but no one could see it clearly in the dark night, she didn't speak, and just hugged her fists at everyone.

Yanming said: "I have heard the great names of Wen Shaoxia and Xue Nuxia for a long time, if you see each other, you are worthy of the name, and I am very relieved. ”

zuihou, the two people standing quietly clasped their fists at the same time and said to everyone: "Tan family, Tan Wen." "Tan Wu. "The rough voice is one after the other, and with the tall figure, it is also mighty.

After listening to everyone's introduction, Yanming put away the smile on his face and said, "Okay, I will also introduce myself, I am the owner of Yanming Villa." From now on, everyone knows each other and knows who the Shili of the Quartet involved in this matter tonight is, and our action will begin now. ”

"When you came, the elders of your sect also gave you orders, everything will be listened to me tonight, and I have reached an agreement with your sect, and we will talk about the specific content while walking, and now take out your tokens. ”

After speaking, Yanming Jushi took out a one-foot-square leather from his arms, and Ma Xiangyang, Wen Wenhai and Tan Wen also took out the same thing from their arms. Yanming handed the piece in his hand to Ma Xiangyang and said, "You put them together." The rest of the people also handed the leather to Ma Xiangyang, and Yanming took out a night pearl from his arms and handed it to Situ Ping, saying, "There is a Lao Situ gang leader to take a look at this figure." ”

So Situ Ping took the night pearl, Ma Xiangyang quickly put together four pieces of skin under the light of the night pearl, under the faint light of the night pearl, everyone saw that a map was drawn on the skin, shaped like five fingers, and a circle was drawn in the middle of the fingers of the ring finger. Situ Ping carefully identified the map, glanced at Ma Xiangyang, and said to everyone: "That's right, this picture is the five-claw peak, and the length of these five claws is the same, you see, this thumb is longer than the index finger, and the ring finger is the longest." ”

When everyone heard this, they all looked at the Yanming monk, and the Yanming monk said, "That's very good, everyone gets their things back." Ma Xiangyang returned the four pieces of skin in his hand to the original owner according to his words, and Situ Ping also returned the Night Pearl to Yanming Jushi, who took the Night Pearl and said, "Situ Gang Master, do you know where the circle should be?"

Situ Ping said: "It was a sour jujube forest, I had been there before, and I had let a wolf dog go in, but I never came out of it again." ”

Yanming said, "This is very good, then bother Lao Situ to lead the way." ”

Situ Ping said, "Haode, then please come with me." After speaking, he walked forward with light skills.

Yanming's eyes looked at Ma Xiangyang, Wen Wenhai and Tan Wen in turn, they nodded knowingly, and they also used light skills in this order to chase after them.

Zuihou, Yanming looked around carefully, and found nothing unusual, so he got up and followed them like a bolt. All that remained, the lonely Lying Cow Stone was still there, and the wind blew through it, blowing up the fallen leaves and dead grass, and in a few moments it covered all traces, as if no one had ever been to such a remote place on such a night.

It is said that a group of seven people performed light skills and were led by Situ Ping, like a wind and lightning swept through the dark night, and about two pillars of incense, they rushed to the sour jujube forest mentioned earlier. By this time the moon had set in the west, and thick black clouds were still covering the sky, and it might soon be light, and it was the darkest time of the night.

The sour jujube forest in the dark is not clear to see, like a huge monster entrenched on the mountainside, Situ Ping looked at the place he had been here, and actually felt a trace of strangeness, it turned out that there was such a difference between day and night, but he didn't know what secrets this mysterious sour jujube forest hid in, and he actually let the people of the four factions come all night and cooperate so much.

Situ Ping stopped, and when everyone arrived, he said to everyone: "Everyone, this is the sour jujube forest marked by the circle in the map, and according to the height comparison, this is it." ”

Yanming said, "It should be right. After speaking, he didn't come close to check, but sat on the ground, looked at everyone's incomprehension, and said with a smile: "There is still a period of time before we start, everyone take a break, and I will tell you about it, otherwise you are still confused, and dare to ensure that nothing happens when you go in." ”

So the other six people all sat on the ground and sat in a semicircle in front of the Yanming monks.

Monk Yanming sorted out his thoughts, looked at the juniors sitting around, and said, "Do you know the one-armed sword god three hundred years ago?" Everyone shook their heads.

Yanming went on to say, "Before February 2 last year, I didn't know, and neither did your master. ”

"When the second dragon raised its head in February last year, I went to the Longshen Temple in Yucheng with my wife to burn incense. In the Dragon God Temple, I actually saw your Wan Chengjiu Wan Jian Master and his family members of Wan Jianfeng, as well as the Ou Peng Ou head of your ethereal faction, Tan Yefeng, the head of the Tan family, the four of us have been friends for a long time, and we have never met, and we finally met together, so we all abandoned our families and found a place to learn martial arts and compete in the amount of alcohol. ”

"We brought swords and wine to find Wutong Mountain next to Yucheng, ready to spend a few days, but unexpectedly, just to the top of the mountain, we encountered a strange thing. ”