On the waterway, the boat moved forward leisurely, and the warm sunlight of early spring penetrated through the cracks in the bamboo window on the lonely white arm of Sikong in the cabin. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

In the cabin, Sikong Gu and Zhang Wenwen are enjoying the special pastries made by Mingyue Building, each of which is exquisite, Zhang Wenwen thinks that the horseshoe crisp is particularly delicious, crispy on the outside and glutinous on the inside, I don't know how many processes are made, each bite can taste different sweetness, it seems to be caused by nectar, and what makes Zhang Wenwen incredible is that there is actually a little fragrance of plum blossoms.

With the pastries, it was only halfway through the trip of the Cao Gang Helm, and the two were finally able to tell each other about their experiences over the years.

Zhang Wenwen finally knew Sikong Gu's experience over the years.

Sikong Gu was originally saved by his current master, and his teacher was Mr. Wu Qingshan, who was famous in Jiangnan martial arts. This Mr. Wu calls himself a hermit in Phoenix Mountain, and he has no choice but to go out of the mountain to support the righteous path because of the chaos of the world. Under the chaotic world of the collapse of the Southern Tang Dynasty, it is even said that he once broke into a robber cottage that endangered the township by himself with a sword, and took off the head of the big thief leader without hurting the group of thieves. Later, every time the thieves chose a leader, he went and cut off the head of that leader. But he came and went like the wind, no thief could touch him, and finally after seven or eight leaders died, no one was willing to be the head of the cottage, and finally a large village of hundreds of people was forced to disperse. Therefore, Wu Qingshan is also known as "Jianghuai Renxia", and people in the rivers and lakes praise his non-murderous character, and they all praise him.

It's just that this Wu Qingshan only deals with a few heads of the big sects in the rivers and lakes, and ordinary people in the rivers and lakes only stay at the level of "legends of the rivers and lakes" for this "benevolent man". However, eleven years ago, the sensational "Yang Twin Heroes" was his disciple, speaking of which, Master Sikong did indeed have a lot of connections with him at the beginning, after all, Yang Shuo, Yang Hui or Wu Qingshan were entrusted by Master Sikong to become his disciples. It was Yang Shuo and Yang Hui who called Sikong Wuya "Engong" at that time, that is, Zhang Wenwen was still in Sikong Mansion, and he remembered this vividly.

According to Sikong Gu, on the night of the collapse of Sikong Gu's house, Wu Qingshan happened to come and rescue Sikong Gu, who was hiding in the grass and was almost burned to death. Later, he taught Sikong Gu to read and write, and also gave Sikong Gu the Mingyue Building he established along with Yangzhou's intelligence network.

When Zhang Wenwen asked with a slight gaffe, "Why didn't the respected master come earlier", Sikong Gu just said with a blank face: "Presumably the master also has something unspeakable." Zhang Wenwen knew that he was out of shape.

"Indeed, Mr. Wu is afraid that he didn't catch up, maybe it was Yang Hui's incident that made him disheartened about the rivers and lakes, and he didn't want to meddle in the affairs of the rivers and lakes. Zhang Wenwen guessed.

Sikong Gu also told Wu Qingshan that he had died of illness three years ago, and that he had been filial piety for three years, and told Zhang Wenwen that his teacher had not talked a word about that night after accepting him as an apprentice. Zhang Wenwen guessed that Sikong Gu must have begged Wu Qingshan constantly before his formal apprenticeship, begging him to avenge himself and begging him to tell him what happened that night. At that time, Sikong Gu was just a ten-year-old child.

At the beginning, the three brothers benefited a lot from Master Sikong, and many things happened to rely on Master Sikong to help each other, but they were not able to take care of the orphans for him, thinking of this, Zhang Wenwen felt a trace of self-blame in his heart.

Zhang Wenwen knows very well that Wu Qingshan has gradually faded out of the field of vision of the people in the rivers and lakes as early as when Yang Shuo's brothers walked the rivers and lakes, and then because Yang Shuo's brother and his apprentice Yang Hui died, he completely disappeared from the rivers and lakes, and there are no legends related to the rivers and lakes since then. According to Sikong Gu's account, Wu Qingshan was in the third month after Yang Hui's death, on the night when Sikong's family was slaughtered, Wu Qingshan "coincidentally" appeared at Sikong's house in Jiangning and saved Sikong Gu, who was only ten years old at the time.

"Is there really such a coincidence in the world?" Zhang Wenwen couldn't help but guess when he heard this, but he asked Sikong Gu: "Mr. Wu should have been extinct at that time, why did he come to Yangzhou?"

Sikong Gu only smiled bitterly at Zhang Wenwen, saying that he didn't know the situation. But Zhang Wenwen guessed from Sikong Gu's eyes, Sikong Gu was also very suspicious of the connection between the two, but he couldn't ask Wu Qingshan for verification because of the grace of saving his life and the gift of master and apprentice.

Sikong Gu went down the mountain this time, naturally to find out the truth of that night, and then take revenge. When Sikong Gu mentioned the matter of snow hatred, Zhang Wenwen immediately said that he would follow it wholeheartedly. But Zhang Wenwen is not a "person in the rivers and lakes" now, he is still working for the Liu family, he must now send Liu Sanbian back to Chong'an, and then resign to the Liu family before he can come to Yangzhou to help Sikong alone.

After all, when he was in Tokyo, the "Three Heroes of the Green Underworld" was attacked, and he met the master of the Liu family who entered Beijing to study, which saved one of his lives.

Sikong Gu also said that his next step is to return to Jiangning, regain everything from the original Sikong family, and then use the financial resources and manpower left by the Sikong family to track down the murderer. Sikong Gu entered the rivers and lakes this time, not only to take revenge, but also to revive the Sikong family, one of the "Three Jiangning Families".

"This visit to the Cao Gang is to solve problems for my senior brother, and it is also to make a friend with the Cao Gang. ”

Zhang Wenwen was about to ask carefully, but he heard the sound of the boat docking, and at this time, the captain was already calling the two to go ashore.

Sikong Gu said to Zhang Wenwen that after meeting Yang Shuo, the three of them would talk about the old things together. Zhang Wenwen nodded, and followed Sikong Gu out of the cabin, waiting for the shore, but saw that the old gang leader of the Cao Gang, Li Yan, had slowly walked towards this side from the shade of the tree, and he was followed by more than a dozen Cao Gang gangs, including Nangong Jun, who was fighting in the Mingyue Tower yesterday.

Zhang Wenwen has long faded out of the rivers and lakes, I don't know the current situation of Yangzhou martial arts, I thought that Mingyue Tower was a luxury restaurant, but under Sikong Gu's explanation, I understood: For Yangzhou Wulin, because of the countless rich merchants who stop here every day, Mingyue Tower is regarded as an extremely important intelligence gathering place. This old gang leader of the Cao Gang, Li Yan, who had several relationships with Zhang Wenwen, didn't know that Sikong Gu was actually the junior brother of Yang Shuo, the deputy gang leader of the Cao Gang and the master of Xingtang, and he didn't know that he was the real boss of Mingyue Tower before yesterday.

Zhang Wenwen thought to himself: "Presumably, Ah Yuan (Sikong Gu's nickname) has already revealed his identity in the famous thorn, right?"

Zhang Wenwen expected it to be true, but Sikong Gu deliberately did not clarify his identity in the name thorn, but the identity of the boss of Yiming Yuelou handed over the name thorn. As for the identity of the "head of the Jiangning Sikong family" conveyed by Nangong Jun yesterday, although Li Yan was shocked when he heard it, he did not take this identity to heart. After all, for a Sikong family that has long been destroyed, the current problems faced by the Cao Gang are what Li Yan is most worried about, so in Li Yan's eyes, Sikong Gu's identity as the boss of Mingyue Building is more valuable than being a descendant of the destroyed family.

The Cao Gang, which lost the backbone of Li Zhou, had two infighting in the gang yesterday, and Nangong Jun, the head of the Cao Gang, provoked Jin Youde's eldest son, Jin Zhicheng, in the Mingyue Tower, which made Li Yan, who lost his only son and was nearly seventy years old, even more emaciated.

The Cao Gang is the hard work of Li Yan for half his life, and his status in Li Yan's heart is even better than Li Zhou. Although Yangdaomen has fallen behind in business disputes over the years due to Li Zhou's toughness, in Yangzhou City, Yangdaomen's power is not weaker than the Cao Gang, Jin Youde, Lu Song, and Jin Youde, as well as Mrs. Jin, who claims to withdraw from the rivers and lakes, but is still training disciples for her husband, plus the new generation of Jianghu characters who have won a lot of victories in the new generation of the Cao Gang. Therefore, the news that Li Yan suppressed Li Zhou's death was that he was worried that the Cao Gang would be in chaos, and Yang Daomen would take advantage of the situation to annex part of the Cao Gang's helms, and the Cao Gang would be completely defeated at that time, and half of his life's hard work would be in vain.

Mingyue Tower is a gathering place for the intelligence of Jianghu people, and Sikong Gu is the boss of Mingyue Tower. At this time, he came to help again, which couldn't help but make Li Yan feel defensive. As the leader of the Cao Gang, Li Yan is now coming to the ferry to greet Sikong Gu, which is also a manifestation of his goodwill to Sikong Gu.

Li Zhou's death can't be hidden, but now Li Zhou has no choice, and the Cao Gang is already in danger. Li Yan looked at the thin and handsome young man in front of him, and at the same time thought about the future of the Cao Gang, but his heart was even more worried.

Sikong Gu was also looking at the old man in front of him, who seemed to be in his last years, and he knew very well that Li Yan was just a small smuggler before he was forty years old. Later, he got acquainted with Nangong Jun's uncle, the Jiangyang thief Nangong Feilong, and then established the Cao Gang with Li Yan's capital over the years, and Nangong Feilong died because of the gang fire after the Cao Gang had just gained a foothold in Jiangnan, and Li Yan took over the position of the leader of the Cao Gang. At that time, it coincided with the Southern Tang Dynasty of the Great Song Dynasty, Li Yan threw himself to the side of the Great Song Dynasty and kept the capital of Jiangnan Caoyun, which established a new Cao Gang after the war, and after more than 20 years of development, it finally became the largest smuggling merchant group on the Yangtze River.

In the city of Yangzhou, the Cao Gang also did many good deeds, because of the good relationship with the government, and many famous among the people. Therefore, in the martial arts, the Cao Gang has always been regarded as a person in the white way. Of course, Sikong Gu didn't think so, in Wu Qingshan's teaching to him, Sikong Gu understood that there was no concept of underworld and white way in this vast river and lake, only the concept of friends and enemies. The current Cao Gang wants to make friends for Sikong Gu, so Sikong Gu also wants to give a big gift today.

However, since he regards the Cao Gang as a friend, the old man with an old face like an old wood in Sikong Gu's eyes is naturally not a smuggler, but a kind old man.

Of course, even if it is a friend, there are some methods to communicate, Sikong Gu knows very well that the biggest problem of the current Cao Gang is the loss of the person who gave orders, and the people's hearts are disheartened. If you want to gather people's hearts......

"Gang Master Li, the junior Sikong Gu came to visit today, offered a small gift, and hoped to smile. As he spoke, the captain behind him had already taken out an ebony box from the cabin, on which was carved a lifelike vermilion bird, which was very exquisite.

"Sikong Gongzi doesn't have to be polite, come, please. Li Yan's smile was very natural, the old face like old bark did not show too much emotion, in Sikong's opinion, Li Yan's smile was very kind.

At this time, Nangong Juncai, who came to take over the wooden box, found that in addition to the master who stood by Sikong's side alone and saw it outside the Mingyue Tower yesterday, the man holding the wooden box was a martial arts master, and the thick calluses on his hands proved that he had a solid foundation in fist kung fu, and the internal force contained in his breath was no less than his own.

"This kid actually has these two martial arts masters by his side, their strength is by no means inferior to the little cub of the Jin family yesterday. ”

While Nangong Jun was full of doubts, he had already entered the lobby of the Cao Gang Helmsman with the group at the ferry, and along the way, Li Yan and Sikong Gu just gossiped a few words, just some trivial matters in Yangzhou recently, and Sikong Gu did not reveal the purpose of coming recently.

But when everyone entered the hall of the Cao Gang Helm, as soon as Sikong Gufu sat down, Li Yan heard Sikong Gu say in a clear voice: "There are indeed juniors in the matter of the young helper." ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone in the Cao Gang present was taken aback, and no one thought that Sikong Gu would dare to be so straightforward. In the helmsman of the Cao Gang, most of them knew that Li Zhou was dead, and everyone in the hall was the elite backbone of the Cao Gang, so they naturally knew about it. Sikong Gu suddenly asked, what did he do?

As a result, everyone in the hall raised their guards, Nangong Jun was even more out of the body with a long sword, and Zhang Wenwen, who was standing behind Sikong Gu, had already pressed his right hand on the knife, although Zhang Wenwen didn't know what was happening, he knew very well that Sikong Gu seemed to have said something wrong.

At this tense moment, Sikong Gu smiled and said, "I didn't know that this was a Hongmen banquet, do you want to smash the cup?" ”

Li Yan's face was gloomy, better than the dark clouds on a cloudy day, and his voice was a little hoarse: "What does my son's business have to do with you?

As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar in the hall, and Zhang Wenwen really sweated for Sikong Gu.

"Gang Master Li hid the truth and didn't let the news penetrate into this Yangzhou martial arts, did he think it would last a long time?" Sikong Gu's expression was leisurely, as if the dozen or so strong men of the Cao Gang in this room were useless vases.

"Why the hell are you here?"

"I have come today as a guest. ”

Sikong Gu had already put on a proud appearance, coupled with his cloudy and misty words, which aroused the fire hidden in the hearts of the uncertain Cao Gang.

"I think you're here to provoke, Si, Kong, family, and family master. ”

Nangong Jun said sharply, although he pretended to have a hot temper on weekdays, his heart was not cold-blooded and ruthless, and at this time, Nangong Jun was really a little angry.

Zhang Wenwen was full of wonder, how could this young man who was gentle and elegant when he was talking to him in the cabin seem to have become another person, with a haughty expression and a cold and hard tone, without the slightest warmth. Zhang Wenwen knows very well that he is afraid now, if he really makes a move, he is afraid that he will not be able to make three moves under Nangong Jun.

Li Yan sneered, the mung bean's big eyes narrowed, stared at Sikong Gu's thin face, and said: "Ah Jun, I see that this Sikong boy has something to say, what are you anxious about? ”

At this time, Li Yan picked up the teacup, blew the foam, and drank half a cup of tea in one gulp. He caught a glimpse of Nangong Jun still staring at Sikong Gu, so he shouted in a commanding tone: "Ah Jun!"

Nangong Jun returned the sword to the sheath and snorted.

"I didn't use any agitation methods, Gang Master Li, two days have passed since the matter of your son, no, maybe today is the third day, you can accept it?"

Sikong Gu's tone was still calm and clear, but in Nangong Jun's ears, the voice was cold, without a trace of emotion, like a piece of ice.

Li Yan sneered: "What is there that the old man can't accept? My kid is not filial, what does it have to do with Sikong Gongzi? Besides, didn't Sikong Gongzi come to offer condolences?"

Sikong Gu didn't answer Li Yan's question, but said: "I am also deeply saddened by the disbelief of your son, but the Li gang leader is not afraid of this murderer?"

Nangong Jun's eyebrows furrowed again, and he said in his heart: "This kid is really here to provoke." ”

Seeing that Sikong was lonely and did not answer, Li Yan frowned and asked: "The old man is already a person who is about to enter the earth, what is there to be afraid of? It's just that my son, as the head of the Cao Gang, died so unexplained, if the murderer is not traced, it will be difficult to comfort my son's spirit in the sky." But the most taboo thing to track down the murderer is to startle the snake, you are not very old, and you don't understand this truth......"

Sikong Gu threw out a question that shocked everyone in the Cao Gang: "That junior has something to understand, if it really wants to comfort the spirit of your son in the sky, then why should the matter of your son's burial be covered up today?

Nangong Jun's eyes flashed, and he almost blurted out scolding, and his heart was suddenly surprised: "How did this Sikong Gu know......?

Li Yan stared at Sikong Gu with a pair of cloudy yellow old eyes, put the teacup in his hand on the table, and then said: "Sikong Gongzi's eyeliner looks all over Yangzhou, I Cao Gang acted carelessly, thank you Sikong Gongzi for coming to remind me." ”

Sikong Gu smiled: "No, no, someone told me about this." ”

"Oh, I don't know ......" Before Li Yan could finish speaking, he heard Sikong Gu say the name that made him unbelievable.

"It's the deputy leader of your gang, Yang Shuo who sent the coffin out of the city. ”

This answer made all the Cao Gang gangs in the hall feel like thunder, Nangong Jun opened his mouth slightly, Zhang Wenwen saw the performance of everyone, and then he knew that they didn't know that Yang Shuo was Sikong Gu's senior brother, and Sikong Gu probably didn't write his identity clearly in the name of the gang in advance. And Zhang Wenwen was puzzled at this time, Sikong Gu deliberately concealed it and did not report it, what could he do in the lobby of the Cao Gang?

"Impossible...... Brother Yang, he ......," Nangong Jun said in a speechless manner.

"Yang Shuo is my senior brother, of course he will tell me. Sikong Gu smiled slightly, and threw out another news like thunder.

"You don't want to sow discord...... You ......"

These words sounded in Nangong Jun's ears, as if Yang Shuo was colluding with Sikong Gu. Thinking of this, Nangong Jun pressed the hilt of his sword with his hand, and he trembled all over, just like when he heard the news he didn't want to hear in the early morning two days ago. He only hoped that the man in front of him was talking nonsense.

But he heard Sikong Gu say slowly: "Senior Brother Yang helped the coffin out of the city early this morning, you should have made a big fanfare, but unfortunately, you missed the opportunity." ”

When Nangong Jun was about to draw his sword out of the sheath, Li Yan slapped the table fiercely, although Li Yan didn't know martial arts, but he also smashed the wooden table with a muffled sound, and the undrunk half cup of tea on the table also fell to the ground, making a crisp sound.

"Sikong Gu, what do we do to do with you? If you want to sow discord here again, don't blame the old man for being polite!" Li Yan's old face became even darker after being congested.

"I'm not here to sow discord, I just want to tell you that you are hiding this matter, which is a good thing for the murderer and a ...... for you" Zhang Wenwen found that at this time, Sikong Gu's voice became emotional and no longer cold. On the side, Nangong Jun had already unsheathed his long sword and stabbed at Sikong Gu. Zhang Wenwen heard the sound of the sword coming out of the sheath, and also drew his knife to protect Sikong Gu.

I only heard Nangong Jun shouting angrily: "You little rabbit cub, what do you know?"

With the angry shout, Nangong Jun stabbed with a sword, which was the spirit snake style in the "Taisho Thirteen Styles", and its sword momentum should have been as fast as the spirit snake coming out of a hole, but Nangong Jun was unstable because of his confusion. But even so, Zhang Wenwen's long knife was still half a point slower.

Seeing that this spirit snake letter was about to kiss Sikong Gu's neck, but he heard a gust of wind outside the door, and a slender sword with silver light hit the side of the spirit snake seven inches, and under the huge earthquake, the spirit snake slid in the opposite direction of Sikong Gu's neck. At this time, Zhang Wenwen's belated upper slash was slashed into the sword, and the long sword was hit by two types in a row, and because Nangong Jun's move was unstable, the long sword left his hand and slammed into the lobby beam, which happened to pierce three inches into the beam.

At the moment when Nangong Jun's long sword left his hand, the Cao Gang in the house was all out of the sheath. After the piercing voice lasted for a while, everyone in the Cao Gang froze, because it was none other than Yang Shuo, the deputy gang leader of the Cao Gang and the master of Xingtang, who broke into the lobby with a gust of wind.

Yang Shuo, who was only thirty-two years old, had a slender figure, a few black and thick stubbles on his lips and under his chin, and his empty right sleeve was still slowly fluttering. Sikong Gu, who was saved by Yang Shuo and Zhang Wenwen, raised his eyes to look at his senior brother, but saw that he was also staring at him.

At this time, Sikong Gu thought: "Senior brother, you came back too late, it seems that you have regressed again." ”

Everyone in the hall, including Li Yan, who has always been old and serious, felt a chill in their hearts.

"Yang Shuo really colluded with this Sikong Gu, did they come to provoke today? or ......?"

Just thinking of Yang Shuo's possible betrayal, everyone in the Cao Gang in the hall shuddered. Seeing Sikong Gu sticking out his tongue again, he said to Yang Shuo, "Senior brother, good morning." ”

Everyone in the hall waited for Yang Shuo to respond, but when they saw Yang Shuo pouting, they ignored him.

At this time, Yang Shuo looked around the lobby, but saw that everyone was staring at him, some people were incredulous, some people were confused, and some people were actually afraid. Yang Shuo knew that something was wrong, he was afraid that this unruly junior brother would cause trouble again, and he really shouldn't do what he said, and he should still say hello to all the brothers.

Seeing Sikong Gu smiling at him, Yang Shuo became angry and scolded in his heart: "You guy, what a big trouble you caused here!"