Wujiang Town, the east of the town is a big green mountain, there is a mountain bandit entrenched in the depths of the mountain forest, but sixty or seventy people, but they are here all the year round to block the road and rob money rampantly.

It was when Yu Yan and others returned to the tea shop from the county government that these mountain bandits actually came out to rob in broad daylight. At this time, there was only an old man riding a donkey on the mountain road. The donkey also carried a chest on which lay a long strip of objects, wrapped in coarse cloth.

With a "bang" of mountain artillery, more than a dozen mountain bandits rushed out to block the mountain road in front of the old man.

The mountain bandit led by him held a pair of bright silver hammers, screamed strangely, and said, "Acquaintances, what kind of business are you doing!"

Seeing this, the old man was not in a hurry, and said, "There is a pianist under it." ”

The mountain bandit said: "I opened this mountain, I planted this tree, if you want to pass from here, leave to buy road money." ”

The old man said: "There is no idle silver tael below. ”

There was a bandit who looked like a military division beside the bandit, pointing to the long package and box on the donkey, and said, "What is that?"

The old man turned around and picked up the box and the long package from the donkey, turned over and got off the donkey, placed the box on the ground, put the long package on the box, and then slowly opened the package, revealing the contents inside.

I saw that this piano is about six feet long, painted dark brown, and because of its age, there are a few traces of cracking at the tail. The strings are made of unknown and are willow yellow.

The old man said: "The box is just a change of clothes below, and the lower is the violinist's natural carryover." ”

The leader of the bandits said: "Leave the piano, the box, and the donkey, and I can let you live!"

The old man said: "This piano is my cherished thing, how can it fall into the hands of you and other bandits." ”

"Ho, you don't cry when you don't see the coffin, the brothers leave me with the qin!" The mountain bandits raised their weapons, hula, and rushed up.

The old man said, "Wait." The bandit stopped, thinking he had figured it out. The old man turned around, stroked the donkey gently, and pressed his hand on a certain part of the donkey's body, and the donkey snorted and collapsed to the ground like a puddle of mud. The bandit leader looked strange and shouted, "What are you doing!" The old man ignored him, still unhurried. He sat on the box, lay the piano flat on his lap, his arms relaxed, his right hand playing, and his left hand pressing. With the flick of the thumb, invisible sound waves shot out from the piano, and the mountain bandits suddenly felt the wind and ghosts, the mountain collapse and the ground cracked, and the sound of the piano hit the eardrums, like two sharp swords piercing the skull from the left and right ears at the same time. In an instant, the mountain bandits huddled on the ground, in pain.

Two days later, when someone passed by here, they found that the road was full of bandit corpses, all of them with distorted faces, and they died of blood. The mountain bandits in Wujiang County, who have been encircled and suppressed for many years but are still active, were wiped out cleanly overnight-

When Wu You returned to the tea shop, everyone chartered a big boat and sailed north overnight, it seemed that everyone couldn't stand the air here, and they didn't want to stay here for a moment.

Two days later, when the body of the mountain bandit was found, Yu Yan and the others had already traveled more than 200 miles north.

Early in the morning, Yao'er got up early in the morning and walked to the bow of the boat. At this time, the breeze blows on the face, with a fresh aroma that refreshes the heart. The surface of the river is sparkling, and there is silence all around. Suddenly, there was a sound of the piano. Yao'er likes the piano and listens quietly, the sound of the piano is sometimes majestic and agitated, like a cavalry swinging forward, sparks bursting out from the impact of swords and guns, and sometimes it is soft and distant, like a stream gurgling and flowing, rolling up and falling flowers falling on the water.

Yao'er frowned, contemplating.

I don't know when, Yu Yan came to her side, and when he saw that she was engrossed, he didn't bother her.

The sound of the piano stopped, and Yao'er walked out of the sound of the piano and saw Yu Yan.

Yu Yan smiled: "What were you thinking about just now?"

Yao'er smiled: "It's not a matter of mind, did Brother Yu hear the sound of the piano just now?"

Yu Yan nodded, but it was just an early morning to play the qin, nothing unusual, he thought.

Yao'er said: "The person who played the piano just now was not simple. ”

"Oh?" Yu Yan was a little interested.

"The man's technique was extremely skilled, and it was even more unbelievable that his instrument was anything but generic. Yao'er has studied the piano quite well, she said with certainty.

"A high-quality piano is only a dozen taels of silver, and the piano will be better than your piano at home?"

"That piano is by no means an ordinary good instrument, but a peerless one. ”

"Peerless good piano", Yu Yan's expression became serious.

Yao'er asked, "Brother Yu, you often walk the rivers and lakes, do you know who has a rare guqin that has been handed down for hundreds of years?"

Yu Yan thought of something in his heart, but then denied it again, so he smiled: "I really didn't pay attention to this kind of thing. ”

Yao'er listened again, and there was no sound of the piano on the river. She was very excited and said, "Brother Yu, do you know, I have never heard such a good pianist play a piece with such a good piano. ”

Yu Yan said: "But that person doesn't play now." ”

Yao'er smiled: "Despite this, I am also very happy. The sound of the piano just now is unforgettable, and I am very satisfied to hear it once in my life, not to mention that I may hear it again tomorrow morning. ”

Yu Yan looked at her face flushed with excitement, and her heart was full of infinite love. He thought, if it was really a peerless piano, it must have come from that place, and when the murderer of the eldest brother was killed, I would definitely take her there.

At this time, he suddenly felt that someone had come to the side of the ship, and when he looked back, Wu You was standing not far away with a solemn expression.

Yu Yan was feeling strange, Wu You's face was expressionless, and he immediately turned around and returned to the cabin.

Not long after, everyone rose one after another, and the boat was also lively. The boatmen shouted and stepped on the pulp, and some boatmen took out steaming buns for everyone. When the boat was chartered, Zhao Jing rushed to pay the bill. When they ran out of the palace, they didn't bring any silver at all, because except for Li Shaoxi, who could get in touch with the silver, the remaining few people had no chance at all, but the guards with knives didn't need to carry silver in their sleeves in front of the emperor, so they didn't have a single or two lines of silver on their bodies at all, but Zhao Jing broke off the branches of a coral tree in the palace before he traveled, and he was saved along the way. Several people pawned this piece of coral before, although it was only a branch, but it was exchanged for a hundred and ten taels of silver, and several people were very excited, only Li Shaoxi felt that he had been deceived by the pawnshop, but he didn't care too much. After having the silver, several people ate and drank as much as they wanted along the way, and they also gave alms everywhere, and in the blink of an eye, the silver was exchanged for money, and the money was scattered again, and it was almost exhausted by the time they met Yu Yan. So what kind of charter boat did Zhao Jing use, it turned out that this coral branch was full of gold leaves, carefully crafted by craftsmen, and the texture of each leaf vein on the pure gold leaf was clearly visible. Zhao Jing originally didn't like these things decorated with gold and silver, so he wanted to do them together, but Li Shaoxi still had some experience, and felt that a piece of high-quality coral was very eye-catching, and if it was covered with gold leaves, it would probably arouse the pawnbroker's suspicion, so he removed the gold leaves. Now Li Shaoxi used a gold leaf to charter the boat, he promised the boatman that when he arrived at the destination, he would give another gold leaf, and the boatman met the big customer, and naturally ran before and after the promise.

Xiao Shan bit the bun and told Zhao Wei and them the anecdotes of the masters of the rivers and lakes. She said that she heard Uncle Liude, who was a disciple of Mr. You Jiang and knew everything about the anecdotes of the rivers and lakes, and when the two sisters were at home, Liude would pick up some interesting stories to tell them. Li Shaoxi also listened attentively on the side, and memorized the names mentioned in his heart. Sometimes they would ask questions such as "How is that Shuangjian brother now", "Which one of the elders of the Huashan Sect or the master of the Fahua Temple is more powerful", and if Xiao Shan couldn't answer, Yu Yan would introduce one or two on the side.

Wu You didn't say a word, finished eating the buns early, listened to Xiaoshan's story for a while, and got up and went outside the cabin.

Yu Yan also left the table and came outside the cabin.

There were a few fishing boats speeding past the river, and Wu You walked to the stern.

Yu Yan walked up behind him and said, "The buns are not to the taste of the witch brothers?"

Wu You said: "Where, I'm already full." ”

Yu Yan walked up to him and looked at the river. Wu You said: "Brother Yu, can you hear the sound of the piano this morning?"

Yu Yan nodded and said, "I don't know the rhythm of music, I just heard Yao'er say that it is a good piano and a good luthier." ”

Wu You said: "Brother Yu is too humble. But when it comes to good pianos, have you ever heard of the peerless pianos in this world?"

Yu Yan said: "Speaking of the peerless good qin, it reminds me of seven people, but they haven't left Qinshan for about ten years, so how can they appear here!"

He said in his heart: Isn't it Wuyou, you have a holiday with these people, so you are so sensitive to the sound of this piano? If these people really come for you, it will be hard enough for you.

Wu You said: "Don't hide it from Brother Yu, I have some festivals with Qiqin and Six Swords.

"Ten years ago, I was hired to hunt down a man. This person has an excellent reputation, but the employer has come up with a 'reward and kill order'......"

Yu Yan said: "'Reward and Kill Order'? It seems that the employer is extraordinary, and the deceased is also unusual." ”

Wu You laughed dryly and said, "Brother Yu has also heard of the 'Reward and Kill Order', so we don't care about the unusual target."

This person knew that he could not escape, and relied on his relationship with the Seven Qin and Six Swords, and rushed to Qinshan overnight.

"But people are not as good as heaven, the seven pianos and six swords were originally in Qinshan to retreat, but at that time they went out to travel at the same time. The man who had lost his asylum was killed by me, who had come later. ”

Yu Yan shook his head and said, "Brother Wu has caused a lot of trouble. ”

Wu You smiled bitterly and said, "We can't take care of these things in our business. ”

Yu Yan said, "But what Brother Wu said is an old thing ten years ago. If the sound of the harp heard this morning was really these people, it must not have been for the witch brothers. ”

Wu You said: "I'm afraid I won't be able to get out if I encounter it." ”

Yu Yan thought for a while, and suddenly asked, "I heard Brother Wu talk about the 'Reward and Kill Order' just now, I want to ask when the latest 'Reward and Kill Order' was issued?"

Wu You said: "I haven't been hired to kill people for a long time, and I haven't paid attention to it. The most recent time I killed a bully in Hangzhou, but that person was not enough to ask for a 'reward and kill order'. He glanced at Yu Yan, paused, and said, "Brother Yu, Brother Ling Qiao did issue a 'reward and kill order' before he died, but no one dared to take it. ”

Yu Yan said: "Who is qualified to issue a 'reward and kill order', and how to carry out the intermediate transaction?"

Wu You said: "Brother Yu may not know the profession of professional killers, after all, there are only a few people like Zaixia who are well-known and take this as a full-time job, and employers only need to hide their identities." And many more killers are hired to kill people as part-time jobs behind their backs. On the surface, they may be martial arts heroes who dominate one side, they may be the heads of sects with thousands of disciples, or they may be unscrupulous Jiangyang thieves, but only a few people know that they are also professional killers.

"As long as the employer can give these people the price they want, they will be a colder killer than me. The background behind the hiring of these killers is even more complicated, after all, it is not ordinary people who can satisfy the desires of some heroes who are already dominant or famous. Therefore, both parties pay more attention to the identity not being revealed.

"That's when the role of the middleman was born. The middleman collects the entire remuneration as a security deposit, and then publishes a message to recruit the killer, and after the killer completes the task and is confirmed by the employer, the middleman will transfer the remuneration to the killer through the previously agreed method. A commission of 2 to 30% will be charged in the process. Although expensive, middlemen are becoming more and more popular because they provide identity protection to both parties, employers don't have to worry about identity leakage, and killers can safely receive bounties.

"The news released by a reputable intermediary is called a 'reward and kill order', and now the biggest intermediary in the rivers and lakes is Mizusawa Green Valley. Brother Ling's 'Reward and Kill Order', if I remember correctly, it was issued by Mizusawa Green Valley. ”

Yu Yan said: "If the 'reward order' is not accepted, does it mean that there is no professional killer involved?"

Wu You said: "The middleman generally avoids such a situation. If a task is not completed, the intermediary will refund the full amount of the gratuity. In other words, the middleman does not get a penny of benefits, and the reputation will be damaged, affecting future business. Therefore, in order to avoid transaction failure, the middleman will screen the assassination target, and if the task is too difficult to complete, the middleman will not issue a 'reward order'. The golden dart long knife is ranked among the top ten masters, and it is estimated that no killer is willing to accept such a target, so it is expected that the 'reward and kill order' was issued but not accepted. However, a 'reward and kill order' was issued, which is very strange in itself.

"A 'reward and kill order' is a way to provide security for both parties and protect their identities. However, there is a special situation, that is, the two parties to the transaction know the identity of the other party and have formed a relatively stable cooperative relationship, so there may be no need for an intermediary or issue a 'reward and kill order'. In the industry, the killer with a stable employment relationship is called the 'core killer group', which is actually a professional killer who has been raised by a certain big customer. Therefore, whether the 'reward order' is issued or received cannot be used as the only criterion for determining whether a professional killer is involved.

"However, although no one has picked up Brother Qiao's 'reward and kill order', the agreed trading place is near here. Brother Yu should know whose territory this is, right?"