Chapter 1 The Pursuit of the Dead

Since Qin's attack on Huaiyin, Gai Nie led Jing Tianming and his party to leave the land that had been plundered by the war, Duanmu Rong and Mao Yu Shi went out of the same door, and it was not boring to talk about all kinds of things in Shendu Mountain along the way; Gai Lan was worried about the children, especially Liu Bi was always silent along the way, Jing Tianming, Xiang Yu and Gao Yue knew that he was sad because of the tragic death of his family, and from time to time deliberately laughed with each other to help Liu Bi lift his spirits. In this way, the group continued to move forward day after day, and wherever they went, they could see the wreckage of the war, and along the way, they saw other fleeing people, people walking in groups and twos, looking distracted, as if there would be no end to such an advance, and they had long lost their direction.

Jing Tianming spent a period of time when he was a child and was chased and killed by the Qin soldiers, and he was no stranger to fleeing, not to mention that he was older now, and he had more companions to travel together, compared to the past, he was not bitter about all this now. Gao Yue has been begging for a living since she was a child, and she is quite accustomed to eating and sleeping in the open. Among the three, the most unbearable is Xiang Yu, he was born in a nobleman, and he is accompanied by domestic servants wherever he goes, but seeing displaced people everywhere, Xiang Yu never complains of bitterness, but the more he walks in exhaustion, the more impatient he feels.

On this day, everyone walked to the tired place, sat down under the roadside tree at will, and rested for a while, everyone was so tired that they didn't even have an expression, except for Duanmu Rong sitting on the ground and looking at Gai Nie with a smile, and when he saw that Gai Nie didn't pay attention to it at all, he had to ask, "Isn't it time to eat?"

Gai Nie showed a look of embarrassment, and Gai Lan replied on the side: "Duanmu girl, there is only the last bit of dry food left, and I don't know how far I have to go to the next village, you can bear with it first." 」

Duanmu Rong looked left and right, and saw that everyone else was silent, so she pushed Jing Tianming and asked, "Tianming, aren't you hungry?"

Jing Tianming looked at Gai Nie, shook his head and replied, "I'm not hungry. 」

Duanmu Rong snorted and said, "Brave guy, if your master doesn't let you be hungry, you won't be hungry, and one day your master won't let you urinate urgently, I think you'll suffocate to death!" After scolding, he turned his head to look at the youngest Liu Bi, and asked softly, "Liu Bi, aren't you hungry?"

Liu Bi shook his head and replied, "I'm not hungry. 」

After leaving Huaiyin, Liu Bi completely lost his appetite. Duanmu Rong immediately realized that she had asked the wrong person, pursed her lips, turned her head and asked again, "Xiang Yu, aren't you hungry?"

"I'm not hungry. 」

"Hmph. Duanmu Rong looked at Gao Yue, "Gao Yue, aren't you hungry?"

"Hungry. Gao Yue nodded and replied.

Duanmu Rong clapped her hands happily as if she had met a bosom friend, and was about to speak, when Gao Yue continued, "Although hungry, I am still alive. Aunt Lan said just now that there is only the last little bit left to eat, and if you eat it all, you will starve to death, which is not very good, so you can't eat it now, since there is nothing to eat now, then I won't be hungry. 」

Gao Yue has always been sharp-toothed, Duanmu Rong was robbed like this, and suddenly had nothing to say, and was stunned for a while before finally scolding: "I knew that I would have let you be poisoned to death in the first place! What is the fun of not eating alive? You all don't eat, you all go to be immortals!" After scolding, he was still unwilling to think about it, holding on to the last glimmer of hope, he took the hair blanket and opened the knife, pushed him and said: "Senior sister has something to do, junior brother does what he does, Mao Yu, your senior sister is dying of hunger, go and take out something for me to eat." 」

Mao Yu came down all the way, and he had long been accustomed to Duanmu Rong's problems, and replied with wide eyes: "Life is death, death is life, if you are not hungry, if you are hungry, if you have something to eat, if you have something to eat, if you have nothing to eat, you have something to eat. Sister, are you mistaken? You're not hungry, and we don't have anything to eat. 」

"Looks like the master has taught your head badly. Duanmu Rong saw that it was really okay, and couldn't help but sigh deeply: "Alas~"

Unexpectedly, Gao Yue was also next to him and sighed: "Alas~"

"What are you sighing about?" Duanmu Rong said with a glare, "Your stomach is not hungry. 」

"I'm sad. Gao Yue said, " In the past, I always picked up some tattered clothes that people didn't want to wear, although it was quite comfortable to wear for a long time, but seeing that others were dressed beautifully, I still felt envious in my heart, but it didn't matter, anyway, I was a little beggar, and the little beggar should be dressed like a little beggar; a few days ago, people were unlucky, and had a serious illness, hey, I was actually a blessing in disguise, and met a kind aunt; this aunt was beautiful, dressed beautifully, and her skills were more beautiful, she not only cured my illness, but also changed her beautiful clothes to small and distributed them for me to wear, and since then, I am no longer a little beggar。 Who knows...... Who knows...... Alas~"

"If you have something to say, let it go," Duanmu Rong knew that Gao Yue would have nothing to say next, but she couldn't help but urge curiously: "Who knows what?"

Gao Yue replied slowly, pretending to be sad, "Who knows, although this beautiful aunt is beautifully dressed, she is actually more like a beggar than me. Alas~" Gao Yue sighed and was about to go on but was suddenly slapped by Duanmu Rong, only to see that her mouth was still open, but she couldn't continue to move, Gao Yue blinked her eyelids, and her two eyeballs were rolling around, although she couldn't say anything, she seemed to be both happy and proud.

Jing Tianming looked amused on the side, stretched out his hand to unlock the acupoint for Gao Yue, and persuaded Duanmu Rong: "Aunt Rong, can you be patient? As soon as we get to the next village, I will definitely help you find food immediately." 」

Duanmu Rong saw that there was really no way, so she had to close her mouth, she couldn't hold it back, and said "sigh~" with a sad face, and then "sigh~", everyone was quiet, and she sighed desperately alone, so that in the end, Gai Nie finally couldn't stand it anymore, and finally turned out the last bit of dry food.

Seeing that there were nine buns left and eight people, Gai Nie divided one by one, but let Duanmu Rong take two buns to eat. Duanmu Rong gratefully held the bun, cherished a small bite and bit it one by one, revealing an extremely happy expression, and at this moment, everyone's ears were truly clean.

Gailan couldn't help but purse his lips and snicker, thinking to himself, "Dad is right with Duanmu girl, but the one who can cure this girl in the end is no one else, it's Dad." 」

Jing Tianming took advantage of Duanmu Rong's happy eating, and secretly broke half of the bun and stuffed it to Gao Yue, Gao Yue stuffed it back, and broke half of his own bun and stuffed it to Jing Tianming. Xiang Yu saw it on the side, so he simply crawled over with Duanmu Rong on his back, reached out and grabbed half of the buns of the two of them, and then broke half of his own buns, all of which were secretly stuffed for Liu Bi. Liu Bi's eyes widened inexplicably, and the other three hurriedly signaled him to keep quiet, and then looked at each other and smiled, the three of them waved their hands to urge Liu Bi to eat quickly, and sat side by side in front of Liu Bi, so that he could eat more steamed buns and not let Duanmu Rong find out.

Duanmu Rong bit her bun and scolded secretly: "Stinky little ghost, can anything related to eating escape my Duanmu Rong's eyes? Hmph, I'll let you go for the time being." 」

Among the four young people, Liu Bi is the youngest, and of course Jing Tianming and the three of them did not subcontract him because they felt that Liu Bi had the largest amount of food, but because they didn't know how to comfort Liu Bi's feelings, they could only express it in this way. Liu Bi sat behind the three of them, watching their virtue of wincing each other's eyebrows, holding two and a half buns, eating while shedding tears, and laughing while eating.

After filling their stomachs, the group continued to hurry, and soon after nightfall, they finally found that there was a village in front of them, and they were feeling happy, but when they walked in, they found that the houses in this village were decadent, and they were already deserted.

Gai Nie picked up the low room and walked in, looked around, and secretly said, "The door of this room is narrow, which is convenient for defending against enemies, and there is a hidden path behind the house, if there is any wind and grass, everyone also has a place to escape. The heart has been decided, and he called everyone and said, "The news of the Qin army's attack on Chu has reached here, and the villagers have fled for their lives. 」

When Gai Lan heard this, he immediately started to clean the house briefly, preparing to let everyone stay, Duanmu Rong stood aside and watched for a long time, and asked with a puzzled expression, "What?

Gai Nie replied in surprise, "Is Miss Duanmu hungry again? Didn't you just eat dinner on the way?"

Duanmu Rong's eyes widened when she heard this, obviously even more surprised than Gai Nie: "What? You said those two cold buns? Aren't they snacks?"

"Duanmu girl," Gai Nie replied as if to explain and remind, "everyone here only eats one bun, and you eat two. 」

"I know, I know," Duanmu Rong's pair of red phoenix eyes instantly became very gentle, and she asked Gai Nie with the last trace of expectation, "I just thought that when you get to the village, you will cook and make supper." 」

Everyone on the side saw that the conversation between the two people was clearly absurd, but the person who asked was extremely serious, and the person who answered was also very funny.

Gai Nie saw that Duanmu Rong also opened a pair of clever eyes, looked at himself with his eyes, looking forward to making a supper for her to eat, so he had to reply patiently: "There is no supper, Duanmu girl should go to sleep quickly, she has to hurry up tomorrow morning." 」

Duanmu Rong sighed desperately when she heard this, looked around, and said helplessly, "How can you sleep here? Seven or eight people are crammed into such a small and dilapidated house, and they can't even stretch their feet straight when they sleep at night. 」

As everyone knows, Duanmu Rong is withdrawn by nature and has always been used to being alone, but now that the times are forcing her, she has to get along with such a large group of people day and night, which has already made her awkward and impatient, but it is difficult to speak. Gai Nie didn't know, and when this woman was pampered and didn't know the suffering of the world, she suddenly felt disgusted in her heart, so she didn't want to bother to explain that this hut was convenient for resisting the enemy and escaped, and said with an ugly face at the moment: "This is not what it used to be, of course this little dilapidated house can't be compared with your Qinyun Courtyard, it's difficult for Duanmu girl to be wronged. 」

"Why are you wronged, since every house in this village is uninhabited, can't you pick a bigger one?" Duanmu Rong was stunned by Gai Nie's ugly face, and said lightly, "You guys go to sleep, I'm leaving, get up tomorrow morning, and I'll meet you." 」

Gai Nie was even more displeased when he heard this, and he no longer blocked the back of his hands, and said coldly, "Listen to your respect. In case of trouble, please do not hesitate to shout for help. He was finally physically and mentally exhausted at this time, and since Duanmu Rong didn't appreciate it, he simply let her go.

Duanmu Rong nodded, and before leaving, she turned to Jing Tianming and ordered, "Tianming, if your master is hungry in the middle of the night and gets up to make a supper, don't forget to call me, I will definitely hear it." See you tomorrow. After saying that, he stepped out of the door without looking back.

The others packed up and found a corner in this low room, or sat or lay down to rest, Mao Yu, Xiang Yu, Liu Bi and Gao Yue almost closed their eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

The faint moonlight dyed the inky black in the room with a layer of quiet blue, Jing Tianming leaned on the corner of the wall and looked out the window, but he couldn't sleep for a long time, and he expected that Gai Nie would still be awake, so he asked softly, "Master, where do we go from here?"

"Let's go to Handan. Gai Nie replied in a low voice, "With the loss of the Chu State, the next goal of the Qin State is very clear. We must call all the people to gather before the Qi country is murdered. 」

Jing Tianming didn't expect Gai Nie to seem lost and depressed along the way, but he had a plan in his heart. Hearing Gai Nie say that he wanted to call on the children of the Mo family to fight against Qin together, his originally lost strength instantly recovered a lot, thought about it, sat up and whispered, "Master, I'll go to the neighborhood to see if there is a well, fetch some water, and then see if there is any food left by the villagers. 」

Although Gai Nie felt that it was inappropriate, he also felt that Jing Tianming was reasonable, and he couldn't let go of these many people and walked away, so he groaned for a while, nodded and said, "Okay, you be careful, don't go too far, don't be reckless when something happens, hurry up and say hello loudly." 」

"Got it. Jing Tianming got up in response, found a bucket in the corner, walked out of the low house with the Qingshuang sword, and traveled along the main road in the village, unconsciously some distance away from the hut where they had settled, and after a while, finally found the well at the intersection of the two forks.

He put the bucket down in the well, and suddenly felt that there was someone behind him, and when he looked back, the bucket in his hand immediately fell into the well with a bang, and Jing Tianming shouted: "Who?!"

I saw a masked man in front of me dressed up vigorously, and did not respond to Jing Tianming, and when Jing Tianming found out, he turned around and ran. Jing Tianming was afraid that the other party was a soldier of the Qin State and was about to go back to report the news, so he hurriedly followed the sword without thinking to catch up.

The masked man always deliberately maintained not far in front of Jing Tianming, and the two of them ran in the dark for many moments one after the other, when the masked man suddenly stopped, turned around, slowly reached out and pulled off the mask, and said to Jing Tianming in a deep voice, "It's been a long time, little brother. 」

Standing in front of Jing Tianming was none other than his uncle, Wei Zhuang.

The memory of many years instantly hit in front of him, that is Han Shen holding him who was only six years old, running away for his life under the pursuit of Wei Zhuang, Han Shen's tragic death, Jing Tianming still remembers it vividly, if it wasn't for Gai Nie arriving in time, I am afraid that Jing Tianming would have died under Wei Zhuang's hands.

At this moment, Jing Tianming was not only shocked, but also puzzled. He obviously saw with his own eyes that this uncle had committed suicide on the spot after losing to Gai Nie. Now standing in front of him, is it a human or a ghost?

In any case, Jing Tianming knew that Wei Zhuang was a subordinate of King Qin, and he was a killer who came specifically to kill him. He is no longer the immature child he was back then, knowing that he was invincible, Jing Tianming still pulled out the Qingshuang Sword.

Wei Zhuang smiled slightly, stood still, and said, "Little brother is really brave, since you even drew your sword, I don't need to bother to speak. 」

As soon as the words were finished, three or four sword lights flashed towards Jing Tianming, which was the "Grass Growing Warbler Flying" of the Hundred Steps Flying Sword. The sword light went fast and ruthlessly, but each sword only lightly swept past Jing Tianming's side. The sword light had not disappeared in the dark, and Wei Zhuang had already forced in front of Jing Tianming for a while, but for some reason, his figure paused instantly.

Jing Tianming didn't have time to think about it, he seized the opportunity to use the first style of the hundred-step flying sword "consistent", stabbed straight with the sword, Wei Zhuang gently avoided it, flipped his wrist, and the long sword in his hand quickly swept down on the blade of the Qingshuang Sword, and then took a step back, instantly opening up a foot away from Jing Tianming.

Jing Tianming stole the gap and sank slightly, and used the second style of "Hundred Steps Flying Sword" "One Hundred", but before the sword move was finished, Wei Zhuang had already changed his move abruptly, turning defense into attack, and hit "Rain Hit Pear Blossom" The general came out, and in an instant, the sword light flew up, surrounding the Qingshuang Sword, Jing Tianming felt a huge shock coming, and his wrist instantly became sore, and then, the shock rolled backwards as if the tide had receded, Jing Tianming's body couldn't help but lean forward, the Qingshuang Sword came out of his hand, with a crisp sound, the sword fell to the ground, and the tip of Wei Zhuang's sword had already reached Jing Tianming's neck.

Although Jing Tianming was terrified, he was even more puzzled, he saw that Wei Zhuang had a chance to take his life, but for some reason he didn't do it, but played with himself in the palm of his hand. "What do you want?" Jing Tianming asked coldly.

Wei Zhuang replied: "Gai Nie once said that in his later years, the master simplified the hundred-step flying sword and refined it into three styles, although I had no chance to learn it, but Gai Nie's three styles have not been fully used, and I have already defeated me, if I want to defeat him, even if I can't practice these three styles, at least I have to see a clue and know the mystery. 」

Hearing this, Jing Tianming suddenly realized that Wei Zhuang was tricking his sword moves. I only heard Wei Zhuang continue: "It's a pity, Gai Nie accepted an apprentice who didn't have a wisdom root, and just gave it a try, your flying sword three forms have form and no marrow, and the hundred-step flying sword has become an ordinary sword move in the mortal world in your hands, but it's a pity. 」

Jing Tianming's face was red and white for a while, but he felt ashamed, thinking that he must not be able to grasp the essentials, so he practiced this swordsmanship more and more stupidly, seeing that it would be humiliating to the master if he continued like this, he said angrily: "If you want to kill, you will kill, don't say more!"

Wei Zhuang tugged at the corners of his mouth, nodded and said, "Okay. The long sword was raised high and was about to be slashed down with a sword, when he suddenly heard a crisp and delicate voice: "Keep people under the sword!" Before the words fell, he saw a pair of iron chopsticks clamping the long sword in Wei Zhuang's hand, and Jing Tianming was taken aback, he recognized this pair of iron chopsticks, and the person who came was Duanmu Rong.

"Although Aunt Rong has excellent medical skills, her martial arts have always been mediocre, but she didn't expect that she would be able to restrain Wei Zhuang with one move. Jing Tianming was suspicious in his heart, but how did he know that Wei Zhuang had stopped his move instantly as soon as he heard Duanmu Rong's voice, of course he didn't see it, in this dark night, Wei Zhuang, who was originally calm and neat, suddenly seemed a little overwhelmed at this moment.

"Duanmu girl. Wei Zhuang muttered, turned his head to look, and saw Duanmu Rong standing in the moonlight, wearing a green coat swaying in the wind, smiling and grinning to withdraw the iron chopsticks, turned his head to Jing Tianming and said, "What are you doing over there? Then he said to Wei Zhuang: "Wei Daxia, this kid's life and death have nothing to do with me, but if you kill him in front of me, if Gai Nie knows, he will definitely blame me for not stopping him, if he turns his face against me, who will make hot buns for me to eat?"

Wei Zhuang didn't hear that Duanmu Rong was telling the truth, but felt that she had used an unjustified reason, just to save the life of Gai Nie's apprentice, and couldn't help but feel a sour feeling and a burst of excitement in her heart, holding the long sword in her hand tightly, and shouting over and over again in her head: "Gai Nie, Gai Nie, Gai Nie again!"

Seeing that Duanmu Rong's right hand was naturally protected in front of Jing Tianming, Wei Zhuang smiled bitterly and said, "Duanmu girl, I, Wei Zhuang, serve the King of Qin, and my status in the Qin Palace is not low. What's more, if King Qin wants to kill this kid, it is definitely not something that Duanmu girl can stop alone. 」

"Do you really think that I haven't eaten Duanmu Rong the dishes in the palace?" Duanmu Rong pouted, "Are there any good dishes in the world that I haven't eaten Duanmu Rong?" Alas~" Speaking of this, Duanmu Rong actually sighed, "Of course the food in the palace is extremely delicious, but you haven't eaten the buns made by Gai Nie, if you add a bowl of hot and sour soup, alas~" Duanmu Rong sighed again, swallowed her saliva, and said with an extremely intoxicated look, "That's really delicious, so delicious." 」

Hearing these words in Wei Zhuang's ears, he didn't realize that Duanmu Rong was really praising Gai Nie's cooking skills, but it was like Duanmu Rong was saying, "You don't know Gai Nie, he is really good, so good. Hearing Wei Zhuang's chest churning and contracting, Duanmu Rong didn't realize it, but the more she talked, the more intoxicated she became, and she began to murmur to herself: "Hot buns, fragrant hot and sour soup, I haven't eaten you for several days, I really miss you." 」

As he spoke, he shook his head and sighed, as if he had many lonely grievances, and the affectionate appearance on his face made Wei Zhuang's heart fall straight to the bottom, he stood for a long time, and finally silently put away his long sword and turned to leave, walked two steps and couldn't help but stop, and asked, "Duanmu girl, why bother following Gai Nie to run around and live a life of displacement?"

"It's not all your fault!" Miss Duanmu came back to her senses and complained with a straight face, "I used to live a free life in the Qinyun Courtyard, but now I have been burned by your bird fire!"

"Miss Duanmu has a life-saving grace for Wei, as long as you are willing to go to Xianyang and want to live any kind of life, Wei can arrange it for you. 」

"Don't don't, don't, if I go like this, won't those fat-brained dignitaries come to me for treatment?

Wei Zhuang had already expected Duanmu Rong to answer like this, he glanced at Jing Tianming, and then said to Duanmu Rong: "Duanmu girl, the killers sent by King Qin are not only Wei someone, if you continue to walk with Gai Nie, I am afraid that there are still many risks, you ...... Take care of yourself. As long as Miss Duanmu changes her mind, Wei will be waiting for you at any time. Say goodbye. 」

After saying that, he was about to turn around, but Duanmu Rong suddenly shouted, "Wei Zhuang, if you find any new and good dishes in the palace, bring them to me next time and let me taste them." 」

When it came to eating, Duanmu Rong's original Wei Daxia naturally became Wei Zhuang. As soon as she said this, Wei Zhuang's original completely dead thoughts instantly ignited again, he took a deep breath, nodded and smiled, and finally really turned around and left.

After Wei Zhuang walked away, Jing Tianming silently took a few steps forward and picked up the Qingshuang Sword that had just fallen to the ground. Duanmu Rong looked at him like this, knowing that he was shocked a lot in his heart, and he didn't say much at the moment, just accompanied Jing Tianming back to the low room.

In the night, except for their figures, only silence remained.