The spring is cold. The snow and ice have not melted. The old green of the remnants of bamboo is mixed with the pure white of the snow, and it is laid out in the quiet bamboo garden. Meltwater collects and drips from the tips of the leaves. A gust of wind blew, like rain but not rain, knocking on the melon vine trellis. The agarwood is half-burned, the stone table is one, and the black and white glass chess pieces are overflowing in the early sun. Two cups of tea, white jade porcelain cups, and a wisp of mist swirling around.

The bamboo fence sounded softly, the old man raised his eyebrows slightly, flicked his fingers, and the white jade cup shot radially towards the slightly hidden firewood. A white and powerful hand caught it steadily, not a drop was spilled. Chu Tao's smile bloomed behind the firewood: "Mr. tested me again." ”

The old man laughed: "There is one more question." ”

When the words fell, I heard the bowstrings in all corners of the courtyard. Chu Tao jumped up on his tiptoes, and with one move, the green clouds flowed, and his ten fingers had already gathered the bamboo arrows coming from all sides. With a wave of his sleeves, ten bamboo arrows were lined up in front of the melon and vine trellises.

"Listening to the strings in a hundred steps, this is still the problem. Chu Tao smiled, quite complacent. Compared with the light skill of taking off and stepping on the waves, the swordsmanship of Jiaolong going to sea, the hearing of the bowstring sound can be recognized from a hundred steps away, and the second one can not be found when looking at the rivers and lakes.

The old man still didn't seem to be happy: "Come and see Feng, do you have a meeting gift?"

Chu Tao beckoned: "Mo'er!" The child outside the door flashed in timidly along the root of the wall, "Bring a little apprentice to the seniors, very dexterous." He briefly described the child's life experience, turned around and took Mo'er to him and quipped, "How is it, this master is better than the guy who can only drink, right?"

"Don't talk about Master like that!" Mo'er was actually unhappy, "Master is Master, not to mention that Xie Daxia saved my life, he will always be my Master." Not only Chu Tao, but even Feng Ruohan laughed heartily.

"So, you don't want this master in front of you?"

Mo'er thought for a while before asking, "Can I go back to see Xie Daxia often?"

"If you're too naughty, you can't. ”

"Mo'er is never naughty!"

"If Mo'er is good, I will send someone to pick you up. ”

Mo'er thought about it again: "Don't deceive people, pull hook!" The big hand hooked the small hand and shook it twice, and the agreement was reached.

Chu Tao rubbed his little head and nudged him: "Why don't you meet Master soon?"

Mo'er stepped forward and knelt down seriously and hugged his fists: "Meet the master!"

The long white eyebrows stretched out like a weeping poplar, nodded and smiled and helped the child up: "Not bad, not bad!" Then he beckoned the little servant and settled down.

Chu Tao saluted respectfully: "Senior Feng, do you know a little about the old things of the Feather Sword Sect?"

"Don't be in a hurry, wait for me to break this situation. "Feng Ruohan is not in a hurry at all, he only cares about the black and white chess pieces in his hand alternately deducing. Chu Tao then sat on the opposite side and watched the changes. But seeing that the endgame is stalemate, attacking and defending each other, and rashly attacking will inevitably leak weaknesses and be counterattacked, and will be crushed for thousands of miles. Suddenly, white occupies the key points, and the whole game is alive. Immediately, success or failure is known. White's momentum was pouring out at this moment, and no matter how hard black struggled, it was difficult to turn it down.

"The momentum of the enemy is only in one blow. The so-called accumulation of thick and thin. Does the gentleman want me to build momentum?"

Feng Ruohan stroked his long beard that was as bright as snow, and nodded slightly: "The north-south stalemate, there is a lack of live chess." Only by accumulating strength, can still compete. ”

Although it is outside the rivers and lakes, it is clear about the overall situation, and it is worthy of being the head of the three heroes of Zhuyuan. ”

"Good boy, my two junior brothers can't get rid of the sea of suffering. You're pulling me into the water again. ”

Chu Tao smiled innocently: "I don't dare." ”

The three heroes of Zhuyuan, known as the Chu family, are cold and cold, proficient in music and rhythm, and familiar with the art of war. The second brother is an iron plow, with excellent arm strength, and the third Liu Siren, who knows all kinds of herbs and is good at treating all kinds of injuries with knives, guns and sticks. After Chu Yuan's death, the three of them saw through the battle and agreed to retire. It was Chu Tao's earnest plea that gave him the idea of returning to the rivers and lakes. However, if the wind is cold, he feels that he is old, and he only wants to die in the bamboo forest. Unless Chu Tao went into the mountains to seek advice, the rest should not be.

"Jiang Shaoyun is by no means a good type. You have to be cautious when you fight with it!"

Chu Tao coughed lightly, and the injury caused by Jiang Shaoyun's move has not healed so far: "I will be careful, sir, have you ever heard of the iron dust trick?"

Feng Ruohan was startled: "Where did you learn the Iron Dust Secret?"

In the mouth of a villager in the Beacon Ridge, the last words he had before he was killed were these three words. ”

"This person's experience must have been extraordinary. Feng Ruohan sighed, "Iron Dust Jue, that is already a martial arts mastery in another world." As early as three hundred years ago, the last descendant of the Iron Dust Jue died in a melee on the Long River. This is a very mysterious mental method. According to legend, it was the first creation of Guiguzi, the Central Plains has long been lost, only a Miao tribe is left to master, and it has been passed on to the witches for generations, and then somehow it was introduced into the Demon Sect. Therefore, the Central Plains martial arts know very little about this. Legend has it that if this mental method is refined, the sword weapon within ten steps, where there is an attacker, will instantly shatter into powder. There is no close blade, let alone flesh and blood, and it is invincible in the world from now on. But there is a vicious curse, the Miao people think that this technique violates the will of the gods, manipulates life and death without authorization, and is called a technique against the sky. ”

Chu Tao was surprised: "There is such a peerless learning in the world?"

Feng Ruohan shook his head: "It's all a legend." Whether there is such an iron dust trick in the world is still doubtful. You must know that the biggest loophole in this legend is the melee: the master who can turn the sword into dust finally dies under the sword - how can people believe it? ”

Chu Tao suddenly frowned, but just smiled.

In this Jianghu, there are too many rumors that are true and false, and it sounds sanctimonious, but it is actually an illusion. It sounds incredible, but it's really the case - such as the pear flower sword, such as the chaos in the Song family's fireground. Who can guarantee that the Iron Dust Trick has never appeared? Who can guarantee that the matter of cocooning oneself has never happened in the rivers and lakes? Not to mention that the rivers and lakes have always been a place for you to compete for each other. Who can guarantee that their noble body will always walk by the river without paying attention to the time when they get their shoes wet?

It's light when your shoes are wet. has been at the peak of the rivers and lakes for a long time, but as a result, there are too many people who have ruined their families and ruined their reputations.

Feng Ruohan pulled his thoughts back with a question: "However, a mountain village man will never easily know such an unfathomable mastery of the Iron Dust Technique. There must be something involved. ”

Chu Tao told the Song family's fire scene as it was.

If so, it is not difficult to explain. Feng Ruohan added, "More than ten years ago, there was really a rumor that the Iron Dust Recipe had been obtained by the descendants of the Song family. But no one has ever seen Song Li perform such a miracle, so naturally they don't believe it. However, from this point of view, the root cause of the Song family's disaster is very likely to be the dispute over the iron dust trick. Feng Ruohan got up, put his hands behind his back, and stomped around the courtyard, with a calm look with a little solemnity, "Or perhaps, someone is using the legend of the iron dust trick to spread doubts." Otherwise, how could the mastery of 300 years ago reappear?"

Chu Tao smiled leisurely: "Mr. slandered me." ”

The wind was cold, and his face was like ashes in an instant.

"Mr. clearly knows that his father went to Fenghuoling in name to investigate the Song family's bloody case, but in fact he went to track down the whereabouts of Tie Chenjue. Such a magic technique made the lord of Duan Zhai frightened when he heard his name, and if he reappeared in the rivers and lakes, it would be an uproar. According to the heart of the martial arts people, how can they be dismissed after hearing about it?"

Feng Ruohan only smiled lightly and was speechless. Although he didn't want Chu Tao to repeat the mistakes of the past, he still couldn't get around a bitter battle in the future.

He was silent for a long time before he made up his mind to tell Chu Tao: It turned out that twelve years ago, Chu Yuan had looked for Feng Ruohan before going to the Beacon Fire Ridge, and he had guessed from Song Li's sworn words that the Iron Dust Recipe was indeed in the hands of the Song family, so when the Song family was killed, he suspected that this was a conspiracy of his fellow Jianghu people, and he was worried that the Iron Dust Recipe had fallen into the hands of those who were plotting against him, and after receiving the invitation from Beacon Ridge, he was even more resolute in his intention to investigate thoroughly. He was worried that he would be in danger, so he told Feng Ruohan the inside story and made the latecomers vigilant. I didn't think it was really gone. It's just that Chu Tao was still young at that time, and Feng Ruohan was worried that he was acting too impulsively, so he has kept it a secret to this day.

Chu Tao was stunned for a moment: "Could it be that the Tang and Song families fought for the Iron Dust Technique, so that there was that fire?" and my father found out the truth, Tang Yao ......."

Feng Ruohan shook his head lightly: "The wind is high and the waves are dangerous, and people's hearts are unpredictable." ”

Chu Tao knew that things were far from being that simple, if Tang Yao did it single-handedly, why would the Chu family's short sword stay at Jiang Shaoyun's place? If it wasn't Tang Yao's doing, how could that strange anonymous letter remind him of the Tang and Song Dynasty disputes? He felt more and more that what was hidden in the Beacon Fire Ridge was clearly a huge net, weaving everyone into it, and once he was involved, no one could break free from the pain that became more and more entangled.

To check, or not to check?

Once again, the question stood in his way.

Feng Ruohan's game of chess just now jumped into his sight again. Gather momentum, and then the strong enemy can be broken. All of a sudden, it was like an initiation. Chu Tao bowed deeply to Feng Ruohan: "Thank you, Mr. for your advice!" In exchange, Mr. stroked his silver beard and smiled leisurely.

Why bother with small things? He must see the overall situation clearly and find out the most important points before he can wait for an opportunity to act. And this big place is just in Jiang Shaoyun. He should have withdrawn a long time ago, otherwise, he would end up just a pawn in that big net.