Yang Shuo only noticed when Zhang Wenwen ran out of the lobby that the big man who was standing on his back was actually Zhang Wenwen, one of the three heroes of the Qingying who had long been extinct, and the people in the rivers and lakes called the "Qingming Knife". Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info When Yang Shuo first came out of the rivers and lakes eleven years ago, he also had several encounters with Zhang Wenwen in Sikong's house, and he was a high-spirited man back then, but today he is full of frost and snow, no wonder he ignored him.

However, eleven years later, I am also ......

Thinking of this, a phantom pain came from his right shoulder, Yang Shuo exhaled a breath of turbidity in pain, and asked Sikong Gu, who was still frowning and silent, "What happened? Who is that Liu Langjun?"

Sikong Gu looked at the panicked Zhang Wenwen, and said to Yang Shuo and the others: "That Liu Langjun is the young master that Uncle Zhang is serving now, and he is a person from Tokyo. ”

Nangong Jun asked, "That brother is really the 'Blue Blade' Zhang Wenwen?"

After Nangong Jun came out of Mingyue Tower yesterday, he found a familiar face outside the door, and he couldn't help but look at it twice, but he didn't pay attention to it at all. Today, Sikong Gu came with him, and Nangong Jun returned that he was a guard in the Mingyue Tower, but under the thin tube today, he felt more and more familiar.

Sikong Gu made a look of sudden realization, as if he had just remembered to introduce himself to the Cao Gang: "Fang Cai kid was negligent for a while, and he didn't introduce it to your brothers, this is the 'Qingying Knife' Zhang Wenwen." ”

He pointed to the good man standing behind the chair on the right side of the hall, and everyone knew that the good man was the man who was shaking the oar and holding the box, although he had been following behind Sikong Lonely, but the Cao Gang didn't take him seriously at all. But after Sikong Gu's finger, everyone found that this unattractive captain had a lot of internal breath, presumably a good job, and listened to Sikong Gu's introduction:

"This is the predecessor of Sun Weixue, the famous 'Southern Ring Knife' in Jianghuai back then. ”

Among the people present, most of them had heard the names of Zhang Wenwen and Sun Weixue, both of whom were momentary figures who had been extinct for a long time. In the period not long after the heroes who had a close relationship with the Sikong family disappeared at the same time, there were still rumors about them in the rivers and lakes, some people said that they died, and some people said that they had gone into hiding, and after a long time, no one talked about them again. And now these two appeared next to this young son, and Sun Weixue also started rowing and rocking the boat, which really surprised everyone.

The Cao Gang, who was also active, had a question: "Not only can we see through the situation in the rivers and lakes in Yangzhou, and deduce that the murderer of Li Shao's gang leader is also protected by the long-disappeared masters of the rivers and lakes, who is this beautiful son?"

And Li Yan, who was more experienced in the rivers and lakes, didn't care about this, but asked Sikong Gu: "That Liu Langjun, is he from the capital?"

Sikong Gu understood what Li Yan meant, and everyone knew what the relationship between the government and the rivers and lakes was. And if Liu Sanbian came from Beijing, if it was the house of the rich, but if it was the house of the eunuch, then what kind of accident happened in this huge Yangzhou city, and what would happen to these "smugglers" in the eyes of the government? But Sikong Gu just shook his head and signaled to Li Yan, and he didn't know either.

At this time, Zhang Wenwen had already come to his senses, and after saluting everyone in the hall again, he explained to Li Yan, who was full of crane hair: "Master Liu's father served in the court, and served as a minister of the Ministry of Works, and Liu Langjun, who was kidnapped by gangsters, was the second son, and this time he was on his way back from the capital, and occasionally passed through Yangzhou. The younger generation bears the responsibility of guarding, but now ......"

Zhang Wenwen said this, sighed, and glanced at Sikong Gu with expectation.

Sikong Gu nodded, and wanted to say goodbye to Li Yan, but at this time, Zhang Wenwen suddenly remembered something again, and added: "Master Liu and the land supervision army of the Jian'an Army on Huainan Road are inextricably intersecting, although the land supervision army is not in Yangzhou City now, but the southern waterway is accessible, and I must know the news after a **** or two." ”

At this time, Sikong Gu added fuel to the fire, and said: "Uncle Zhang, I'm afraid it won't take a day or two, I heard Boss Huang say that this Lu Jian Army seems to be coming to Yangzhou City tomorrow, it seems that he is visiting the 'son of the old man', is that old man not the Liugong Department?"

When Zhang Wenwen heard this, his eyes widened, and he didn't go to Sikong Gu to confirm whether the source was true, and immediately lost his voice: "The old man and Lu Jianjun are old people in the Southern Tang Dynasty at the same time, and the two have not seen each other for many years, so I am afraid that this old man is referring to Liu Langjun." ”

Zhang Wenwen assumed the responsibility of guarding Liu Sanchang, but now that Liu Sanbian had an accident, how could he escape from it? If Liu Sanbian had three strengths and two weaknesses, and Lu Jianjun became angry again, he was afraid that he would not be able to keep this head.

How could this incident happen at this time? Zhang Wenwen glanced at Sikong Gu and thought of Sikong Gu's words, but he was suspicious of Sikong Gu again: "How did he know that the purpose of Lu Jian Jun was to visit the 'son of the old man'? Can he actually find out the secret secrets of the prison army all the way, is the intelligence system of Mingyue Tower so powerful? Or is there another hidden reason for this matter?"

Li Yan didn't think about it so much, and after learning the general appearance of this matter, he also understood the seriousness of this case, and as for the information provided by Sikong Gu, he didn't have much doubt. After all, Sikong Gu made his identity clear, and only then did he point out the murderer for the Cao Gang, and now he has the basic trust of Li Yan.

After hearing about this case, Li Yan's first thought was that the Cao Gang was now unstable, the enemy was at the head, the city of Yangzhou was full of clouds, and there was another "son of the old Lu Jian Army" who was taken captive in broad daylight. If that Liu Langjun really had an accident, the Cao Gang and Yangdaomen, as the leaders of Yangzhou martial arts, would not be able to escape their involvement, and it was obvious that if they were hit again, the Cao Gang might not be able to survive this catastrophe.

In the state capital under the rule of the government, whenever something happens to the traitorous department, the forces in the rivers and lakes "cannot escape the involvement", no matter whether this matter is related to the people in the rivers and lakes, those who catch heads and arrest will come to knock a "peace fee". Especially if some small cases are not resolved, the government will let the Jianghu forces take the top. Although the Cao Gang has been operating in Yangzhou for many years and has "cooperated" with the Criminal Division, the relationship has become worse and worse for some reason since Yangdaomen entered Yangzhou. Right now

Li Yan has been in charge of the Cao Gang for many years, so he naturally knows that whether today's events have anything to do with the Cao Gang or not, they will still have something to do with it in the end. This time, it was the official family who was taken away again, and it was impossible to be simply suppressed, who knows if the Cao Gang will be implicated under the government's accountability. When the Cao Gang has no leader, if they encounter another catastrophe, if they are not handled well, they are afraid that it will be a catastrophe.

Li Yan looked up at the blue sky outside the hall, it was noon at this time, the sun was hanging high, and there was no cloud, but everyone in the Cao Gang was shrouded in a layer of clouds.

"Under the inference of the little junior brother Fang Cai, the murderer of Brother Li is afraid that it is Jin Youde, the master of the Yangdao Sect. And now that Liu Langjun was kidnapped in broad daylight, the person who kidnapped him was ......" Thinking of this in his heart, Yang Shuo was full of excitement, and hurriedly turned his head to look at Nangong Jun, but he was facing Nangong Jun's same frightened eyes.

Both of them understood that this person who had the courage and ability to overturn the boat and plunder the passengers in broad daylight could only be a Jianghu man with good martial arts. If it is a foreign Jianghu person, if it is a Jianghu person in Yangzhou City, then it must be inseparable from the Cao Gang or Yangdaomen. After all, in the eyes of the two of them, in this Yangzhou City, where is there a third force?

After only a brief moment of staring at each other, Nangong Jun hurriedly walked to Xiao Liu, who was staring at Sikong Gu in the middle of the court, and asked her, "This girl, have you seen this Liu Langjun being kidnapped?"

Xiao Liu retracted his gaze, stared at Shui Lingling's eyes, and his voice was soft and glutinous: "How could I see it?" It was the shopkeeper Huang who hurriedly asked me to find the master, and told me to tell the master about this matter. Seeing Nangong Jun's wide-eyed eyes and the messy scum almost leaning on his face, he was a little dissatisfied, and added a playful voice to his voice: "What, this uncle, are you suspicious of this girl?"

The corners of Nangong Jun's mouth twitched, although he was full of beards, he was only twenty-nine years old this year, compared to Li Zhou, who had passed away, was thirty-four years old, and Yang Shuo, who hurriedly threw out of the lobby with him, was already the youngest of the "Three Pillars of the Cao Gang". Although he has been working the rivers and lakes since Li Zhou took the throne, and his face is indeed old, but today he was called "uncle" by a pretty little girl, Nangong Jun was already a little confused, and his brain began to hurt.

In Zhang Wenwen's expectant gaze, Sikong Gu bowed deeply to Li Yan who was standing in the hall door, and said: "Gang Master Li, I came to visit the gang today but had many accidents because of Meng Lang, I hope to forgive me." That Liu Langjun was originally a guest in my Mingyue Building, and now that such an incident has happened, I hope that Gang Master Li will allow him to retire first, go to deal with it, and then come to the door to make amends another day. ”

Li Yan nodded, and said to Yang Shuo and Nangong Jun outside the door: "Sikong Gongzi must not be polite, the distinguished guest was killed in Yangzhou, and the people in my Cao Gang will also help out of the morality of the rivers and lakes, not to mention that you have a long relationship with our gang, and the words of today's visit are blocked in my heart, and I have a great kindness to my gang, how can I help each other with a sword? Ah Jun, Ah Shuo, and the two of you bring a few clever brothers to assist Sikong Gongzi with all your heart, and you must take this matter well." ”

Nangong Jun knew the meaning of Li Yan's words, the people in the Cao Gang were out of "Jianghu morality" to help Sikong Gu and them, this matter had nothing to do with the Cao Gang, what he had to do was to completely draw a line between this matter and the Cao Gang, so as not to be framed by a certain force after Lu Jianjun came to Yangzhou.

After Sikong Gu and the others said goodbye, they rushed to the ferry. Yang Shuo walked with Sikong Gu and Zhang Wenwen in a boat, and went directly to the place where Liu Sanbian was taken away; Nangong Jun and several Cao Gang disciples took a boat, saying that they were going to the Cao Gang Chengxi Rudder to mobilize people to help, but Nangong Jun knew that he was going to the Chengxi Rudder, and its fundamental purpose was to draw a clear line between the Cao Gang and this matter, if this matter was related to the Cao Gang children, then Nangong Jun was going to secretly clean up the portal, if it had nothing to do with it, then the Cao Gang would do their best to "friendship in the rivers and lakes", at least they would not be implicated much.

Nangong Jun knows these rules of the rivers and lakes better than Yang Shuo, which is the reason why after Li Zhou took over the power of the Cao Gang, Nangong Jun was promoted to the head of the Cao Gang Zhongtang Hall, in charge of half of the waterway disciples, and Yang Shuo, as the master of the Xingtang Hall, was in charge of the punishment of the gang rules in the gang. It is true that in Li Zhou's eyes, Yang Shuo is like a clear stream in the court, but Nangong Jun is a person who can really do things.

When Nangong Jun proposed to go to the west of the Cao Gang to divide the rudder, Sikong Gu readily agreed, but Yang Shuo tried to persuade Nangong Jun to go to the scene of the crime with him, which made Sikong Gu feel powerless.

"It's better to have more people, this has to bother Nangong Daxia. ”

In the end, due to Sikong Gu's dissuasion, Nangong Jun was able to take a boat to the west of the city and sail to the rudder. Therefore, Sikong Gu completely understood that he, the senior brother, did not understand these truths. He secretly said in his heart: "The second of the 'three pillars' of the Cao Gang has gone, and this Li Yan is also about to die, even if the senior brother becomes the leader of the gang, I am afraid that the actual power in this gang is still in the hands of Nangong Jun, but fortunately, the senior brother should not care." ”

And Xiao Liu and Mingyue Lou accompanied the servants who came to find Sikong Gu to return to Mingyue Tower on another boat, and told Huang Dong's shopkeeper to send people to go to various small sects in Yangzhou City with the Cao Gang to investigate.

After assigning each person's figures, Sikong Gu said goodbye to Li Yan and the others who were sent to the shore of humanity. Afterwards, three small boats sailed into the waterway, each heading in the other direction.

In the boat, Zhang Wenwen was in a hurry, and he had drunk a few cups of warm tea, but beads of sweat were still hanging on his face, and after wiping them off, they kept popping up for a while.

Sikong Gu saw Zhang Wenwen's circular action, so he said to Zhang Wenwen: "Uncle Zhang, although it is noon now, the sun is a little poisonous, but there are already stored ice cubes in this cabin, it is not so hot, right?"

Zhang Wenwen smiled bitterly: "Young Master Sikong, my old Zhang is not hot." ”

"The little nephew also knows, but since he can't solve the problem in a hurry, it's better to sit quietly, and he doesn't have to stretch out to see how much the ship has gone, right?"

Zhang Wenwen knew that what Sikong Gu said was very true, but he still shook his head again and again, saying that he couldn't do it.

Sikong Gu stopped looking at him, after all, this was really an upsetting scene for others, and looked sideways at the one-armed swordsman who was leaning against the bulkhead with his sword and resting with his eyes closed.

Yang Shuo seemed to feel Sikong Gu's somewhat confused gaze, and asked Sikong Gu, "Little junior brother, what's wrong?"

"Why has Senior Brother's martial arts regressed?"

Yang Shuo smiled: "This kid of yours is the first time I've seen me make a move today, right? Senior Brother's martial arts are progressing or regressing, how do you know?"

Sikong Gu said: "From the point of view of the senior brother, the sword intent of the senior brother's move is not like a swordsman at all, that move could have broken Nangong Jun's sword, but the senior brother failed to do it, so the junior brother guessed, senior brother, your martial arts have regressed again." ”

Yang Shuo argued: "Why should I break the sword of Brother Nangong, I just need to save your life under his sword, by the way, how can you ...... today?"

Seeing that Yang Shuo seemed to want to avoid this question, and wanted to ask a question that he didn't want to answer, Sikong Gu had to interrupt him and said, "What are you afraid of, Senior Brother, Senior Brother, I won't harm you, when I saw Senior Brother three years ago, Senior Brother exuded sword intent everywhere, and now not only the sword intent has disappeared, but even the sword moves have slowed down, which makes Senior Brother very puzzled, I don't know what has happened in the past three years." ”

Yang Shuo sighed, as if he lowered his head to think, and said slowly after a while: "Ah Hui went before me, and the master has passed away, and now the Cao Gang is facing a big disaster, and when he is upset, the sword will naturally be slow." ”

Sikong Gu smiled and said, "It turns out that Senior Brother's sword is waved for others. ”

"We people walk the rivers and lakes, and fighting the sword is an injustice, of course, it is for others to wield ......"

Sikong Gu disagreed with this: "But in the eyes of the junior brother, the three-foot Qingfeng in the hands of every swordsman should come from his heart." ”

"What is the difference between the heart and the righteousness of justice?"

Facing Yang Shuo's question, Sikong Gu's expression was very firm.

"I want to ask my brother, where does this injustice come from?"

"Injustice is naturally ......" Yang Shuo frowned, not understanding what Sikong Gu was asking. But if this grievance comes from the sage, this little junior brother will probably ask the sage where he came from, and if he continues to ask like this, Yang Shuo doesn't know how to answer.

Yang Shuo said: "Justice is the right way, why do you chase after it? Could it be that the little junior brother has other answers?"

Sikong Gu smiled and said: "Senior brother, this grievance comes from the chest, from the heart, what others tell you is not yours after all." The same is true of this truth, the so-called righteous and evil ways, but just a thought, the difference between good and evil comes from the heart, this justice also comes from the heart, not so much that the chivalrous man is unhappy for others, it is better to say that the chivalrous man is unjust for his own heart. ”

When Yang Shuo heard this, he argued: "Isn't it true that the words of this sage article can't be divided into black and white?"

"The books of the sages are like the sword of a chivalrous man, and they all come from the heart. ”

Yang Shuo's heart moved, and the words of rebuttal came to his mouth, but he also grabbed it stiffly, he pondered the meaning of "original heart", and listened to Sikong Gu continue:

"The second senior brother and the senior brother have brotherly affection, so the senior brother wants to swing the sword for the second senior brother out of affection; the master treats the senior brother like a son, so the senior brother wants to swing the sword for him out of filial piety; the many people on the rivers and lakes who have suffered misfortune have been met by the senior brother, because it coincides with the word 'morality' in the heart of the senior brother, so the senior brother wants to swing the sword for them. In the same way, today, the junior brother encountered the fear of his life, and the senior brother came to help in the friendship of the senior brother, and the senior brother wielded the sword for his own 'heart'. ”

Sikong Gu paused until a thoughtful Yang Shuo nodded, and Fang continued:

"Senior Brother has never swung a sword for others, but for the true feelings in his heart, if he lacks true feelings, Senior Brother's sword intent will naturally gradually weaken. ”

Hearing this, Yang Shuo felt a fire in his heart, and almost scolded Sikong Gu: "Are you saying that I am becoming more and more ruthless?"

"No, it's Senior Brother that you didn't face your sincerity. The master is gone, the second senior brother is gone, and now Li Shao's gang leader is also gone, the senior brother is not a ruthless person, but he is getting less and less courageous, and he doesn't even dare to face the true feelings in his heart.

When Yang Shuo heard this, he was silent, and he also knew in his heart that what Sikong Gu said was the crux he was facing now.

"Is this what Master once said about the inner demons? Little junior brother has broken through the inner demons, and it seems that his realm is above mine. ”

Yang Shuo closed his eyes and pondered Sikong Gu's question, Sikong Gu also closed his eyes and recuperated and stopped talking.

And Zhang Wenwen, who heard the conversation between Sikong Gu and Yang Shuo, looked at Sikong Gu from time to time who closed his eyes and recuperated, and his suspicion of this "Sikong family orphan" became more and more serious.

I met Sikong Gu yesterday, but Sikong Gu was defenseless against himself, if Sikong Gu is a teenager who does not understand the world, it is okay, but his performance today is not an ignorant teenager, judging by his words and deeds, his sophistication of human feelings, and the transparency of affairs, there is no appearance that a young man should have. But he is still unguarded against himself...... The more Zhang Wenwen thought about it, the more thrilling he became, Sikong Gu was abnormal and alternative in his "original heart".

Fear is born of ignorance, in this spring breeze and cold March, the sweat on Zhang Wenwen's head can't stop flowing.

When the boat docked, Yang Shuo's mind was still thinking about what Sikong Gu said to him.

"Over the years, have I never dared to face my sincerity?"

Yang Shuo looked at the thin and handsome young man who walked side by side with Zhang Wenwen, but suddenly found that he had been together for many years, and he still didn't know anything about him. 、

Sikong Gu has been by Wu Qingshan's side since the slaughter of Sikong family, and Yang Shuo can only meet him every year when he returns to the mountain to visit his master, although Yang Shuo will stay for a few days every time, but Yang Shuo can never guess what this child is thinking. But to Yang Shuo's surprise, Sikong Gu could guess what he was thinking every time, he frowned, Sikong Gu knew that he was worried about trivial matters in the rivers and lakes or reminiscences of the past, and he didn't even need to frown himself, Sikong Gu could guess his thoughts just by looking at his eyes, which even made Yang Shuo feel a trace of fear.

As the child grew up, he had fewer and fewer conversations with himself, and now he recalls that two years before Master died, he didn't even say a word to him, but at that time he didn't feel anything wrong. It's not so much that this little junior brother is smart, but that he can see through people's hearts, right?

If you want to talk about the actual friendship, Yang Shuo and Sikong Gu do not have a deep friendship, although they are brothers of the same sect, but the actual exchange is not much, like today's exchange, it is the first time that Yang Shuo has known Sikong Gu. But Yang Shuo didn't feel disgusted, he only felt that Sikong Gu was a little too smart, which was really terrifying.

Looking at Sikong Gu, whose face gradually became solemn, Yang Shuo remembered that person, he and him were really a little similar.

After Zhang Wenwen landed on the shore, he immediately investigated the surrounding situation, and one of the guards on the ship had been waiting at the incident site for a long time, and he wanted to explain to Sikong Guren.

There are Zhumen mansions on both sides here, which is the quietest waterway in Yangzhou City, and the villains chose to start here, presumably it was carefully planned, not improvised. Sikong Gu and the three of them personally visited several families on both sides of the waterway, but did not get any valuable information, and the masters or servants of those noble families all said that the people in the mansion did not hear the slightest sound, and they did not know that there was a kidnapping here.

And the guard of Mingyue Tower also said that a man in black overturned the boat, and he fell into the water in panic, and when he reacted and dived into the water to investigate, the Liu Langjun and the little scholar disappeared. The water is not deep, only about a zhang or so, and there are aquatic plants in the water, but it is not long, and if someone is trapped underwater, it can be seen clearly at a glance.

Zhang Wenwen and Yang Shuo didn't know the nature of water, so Sikong Gu went into the water to investigate and see if there were any clues left by the thieves. He analyzed the matter with Zhang Wenwen and Yang Shuo on the shore.

"I still think that if it is a robbery, there is no news so far, which makes no sense. If you are seeking revenge, you don't have to take people captive. ”

At this time, Sun Weixue, who came out of the water for the third time, shook his head and said, "Young master, do you need me to search again?"

Sikong Gu shook his head and said, "You have already gone down three times, and it is not comfortable to soak in this water, go ashore." ”

After saying that, Sikong Gu turned his head again, looked at Zhang Wenwen with a gloomy face, and said: "Uncle Zhang, we can't find out who the thief is with the clues at hand, why don't we wait for Nangong Daxia and them to come over, let's see if they can provide us with some?"

Zhang Wenwen sighed, did not speak, and nodded in agreement with Sikong Gu's words.

After waiting for a long time, Zhang Wenwen, who could no longer sit still in the cabin, got out of the hatch, looked up at the sun again, and found that at this time, the time was about to pass, and the sun that was about to sink in the west was shining with a soft golden light. He looked at Sikong Gu, who was standing under the willow tree and looking up at the fluttering willow leaves, and Yang Shuo, who was leaning on the side of the stone steps and closing his eyes to cultivate his mind, and remembered Sikong Gu's words about "original heart" in the small boat, and his heart became more and more anxious.

"So...... What is my 'heart'?"