Further from Red Frost Town, he really entered the realm of Beacon Ridge, Tang Yao's lair. The endless mountain roads here are the nightmare of many righteous people in the rivers and lakes.

"Ahead is Paiyun Gorge. Wang Hong stood at the top of the mountain, and the horsewhip pointed to a narrow passage between the mountains in front of him and said, "The throat of the Beacon Ridge." There are cliffs on both sides. After going through this paragraph, Tang Yao probably won't be able to use any tricks. ”

Chu Tao said with a smile: "If I were Luo Ang, I would definitely cut off this place and catch turtles in the urn." ”

One sentence made Wang Hong extremely frightened: "Then we are still here?!"

"Just his guts?" Chu Tao sneered, "Xiao Ding and the others have already explored the road, and he is busy reinforcing the camp to prevent me from rushing over from elsewhere." It seems that the fire frightened him a lot. Now, he wants to see me walk into the Beacon Ridge, but never come out. Don't worry, Uncle Wang. ”

"......"

Chu Tao's face suddenly gloomy: "I've been waiting for twelve years, it's time for him to pay it back." ”

The low sound and the crisp sound of a horsewhip that followed echoed like a dark cloud.

Paiyun Gorge was so quiet that people couldn't imagine it, Wang Hong was frightened every step he took, but the enemy never appeared, and Tang Yao, who was arrogant a few days ago, suddenly disappeared. Chu Tao only looked forward and walked until the moment when the remnant sun was like blood, and a bamboo forest in a deep valley was placed in front of him. From the moment he entered the bamboo forest, Wang Hong's frightened eyes were in stark contrast to the tranquility of the bamboo forest. Chu Tao's order sounded a little harsh to him: "Let's spend the night here!" The subordinates picked up firewood and set up a tent and were busy, hoping to light a bonfire before dark, Chu Tao also stepped forward to help, and Wang Hong commanded and coordinated.

Chu Tao suddenly became absent-minded, and accidentally, the dry firewood in his hand was inexplicably scattered all over the ground. Wang Hong said with concern: "What's wrong with the young master? We can do these things enough!" Only then did he come to his senses, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and smiled bitterly: "It's okay." ”

Wang Hong couldn't help but press him to the side of the tree and sit down, nagging, and telling him to be careful.

He shook off his unruly hand and let out a long breath against the tree. Twelve years ago, the scene in this bamboo forest burst into his mind. I don't dare to remember it all my life, but I can't help him at this moment:

At that time, he was just a teenager, and his swordsmanship was not as old as it is today, and he traveled all over the world with his father. This trip seems extraordinary, my father asked everyone to set up camp in the bamboo forest, but they went to the depths of the Beacon Fire Ridge alone. He had nothing else to do, but to study and practice swords in the camp, counting the days and worrying about his father's situation with his subordinates. Until the evening of that day, my father's slightly tired figure appeared in the depths of the bamboo forest. He was in ecstasy and ran towards his father. The subordinates then caught up.

"Dad, you're back!"

His father was not in a hurry to talk to him, and turned to Wang Hong: "Everyone is okay?"

"It's all good. Waiting for your orders. ”

"Everything that should be solved has been solved. Business with the Duan family is as usual, taking the waterway, bypassing the Tianyue Gate. Tomorrow you will leave the land of right and wrong. He patted Chu Tao's shoulder and handed over a piece of parchment: "Tao'er, put this picture away for me." ”

"Why do you want to bypass the Tianyue Gate?"

The father didn't explain much, only smiled: "We will come again in the future." ”

But this sentence "in the future", Chu Tao has been waiting for twelve years.

He only remembered that night the wind howled like a wolf through the forest, back and forth, hitting the wall surrounded by thick fog, but he couldn't knock out the dense forest as cold as an ice cellar. He took the wine bag his father handed him and poured a large mouthful into his mouth. The strong smell of alcohol burned his throat and chest, as if it were draining his soul.

With his father's kind laughter, he walked to the stream—just to wash his face and sober himself. There is no moon, no starlight, and the stream that should be clear cannot reflect the danger in the darkness and the coldness of the face. The icy water almost froze his hands, his consciousness, his heart. Father was right behind him, always there. He didn't hear anything, except that the moment he turned his head, he caught a glimpse of a cold light—a very thin steel wire wrapped tightly around his father's neck!

What a master his father had been!, but he stared at his frightened eyes and stretched his arms helplessly forward, as if to warn him of the approaching danger.

"No!" as if a sharp weapon had slit open his chest, making him tremble.

Intense pain enveloped him and his father.

Standing behind his father in white, he couldn't see his face clearly, but he could see the hands trembling with all his strength holding the steel wire, carving black blood marks on his father's neck......

All he remembered was that he was furious and raised his sword to kill him.

As if he had a nightmare, he woke up lying in the middle of the camp, with blood stains on his forehead, and Wang Hong and everyone surrounded him with concern. He asked his father what was wrong, but no one answered him. So he saw the corpse in the corner with a white cloth over its face. No one found any trace of the man in white, not even footprints, and the murder weapon was nowhere to be found. However, the feather-chasing short sword that Chu Yuan had with him was also gone.

Wang Hong told him that from that moment on, if he didn't pick up the burden, then his father's grievances would never be washed away.

So he didn't even have time to cry, so he gave the first order to his uncles: return to the village quickly, and then discuss the funeral, unanimously declaring that Chu Yuan died of a violent illness, even if it is not to mention it to the people in the village.

"If you don't talk about revenge, you are unfilial!"

Under the cries of the crowd, he made an oath: "If you don't take revenge, you won't give up!"

It was from that day that there was a strict prohibition of alcohol within the Feather Sword Sect - anyone who dared to drink alcohol during or before the mission would be punished with a cane and expelled from the wrongdoing. At first, there were also people who didn't care, but when they really tasted the pain of a stick that could almost take people's lives, they realized that Chu Tao really hated wine. So everyone was afraid of this, and they didn't dare to cross the thunder pool anymore - except for the out-and-out drunken maniac in the Ning Xiang Pavilion, of course, the drunken maniac was not less beaten.

However, the loss of the Feather Shortsword was a terrible blow.

This sword has always been a symbol of the power of the head of the Feather Sword Sect, and the absence of this sword has set off turmoil within the sect.

How did he survive at the age of fourteen? He never recalled. only knows that all the things that can be carried and those that cannot be carried will collapse in an instant if he doesn't carry them. Ten years have passed in a blink of an eye. Now, the position of the Feather Chasing Sword Sect is unshakable, but what about his father?

Chu Tao took out a picture and unfolded it.

Among my father's relics, there is only one map of Beacon Fire Ridge that can be followed, with some strange circles and dots on it, and four words: The long river sinks into the sand. He has never given up investigating this matter, and sent his subordinates to secretly disperse into the rivers and lakes to find clues. The entanglements of the rivers and lakes of the year also surfaced sporadically, but they never figured out a clue.

So, he had to go to Beacon Ridge in person.

Chu Tao knew that he could not predict the danger behind this trip, however, as the current head of the Feather Chasing Sword Sect, only by unlocking this secret with his own hands could he calm the resentment that had been hidden in his heart for many years.

"Uncle Wang, I owe you an explanation, so naturally I will pay it back. If you remember that night twelve years ago, let me go. You don't need to look up to know that Wang Hong is standing silently behind him, silently worried. For more than 20 years, since Chu Tao was a day, Wang Hong has never been worried. When he was a child, he was naughty, and when he was a little older, he made mistakes, and he hung his heart for him afterwards.

"The young master is still injured, be careful!"

"With Uncle Wang to answer, I can't get wrong. Do as planned. "Chu Tao's stubbornness is something that no one can shake. Wang Hong had nothing to say, bowed his head and sighed and went about his business.

As soon as the day dawned, Chu Tao gathered everyone, and finally explained a few words, and walked to the depths of the bamboo forest alone.

In the depths of the bamboo forest, the path became narrower and narrower, and then there was no road at all, and there was only unmelted snow under the feet, and slippery dead leaves could be seen where the snow melted, and under the dead leaves was soft moss. This road has not been walked for at least a decade. After going up and down for miles, the scenery before me had changed countless times, from bushes to stone walls, and back to flat ground. He still had no intention of stopping, until the whole mountain forest was silent, until the sun set and the sky was setting, and he stopped on the high slope where he could see the afterglow.

In front of him was a half-man-high field of barren grass. The mountain stream flows by, merging into a shallow pool of emerald green, and then goes down the mountain like a white rainbow. The trees stretch out to the sky against the mountains. There was a fog all around. Pushing aside the wild grass, I faintly saw a stone monument that was about to fall. There are rare inscriptions on the stele, but they are washed by the wind and rain and are difficult to read.

The picture left by my father marks the tombstone and seems to be a very important place.

Chu Tao saluted respectfully to the tombstone, and then looked at the fading red glow in the distance, waiting quietly. Who is resting in this mound? Why did you choose this desolate place to live? Will anyone come here to worship? I don't know, I don't know anything. Could this be the answer he had been looking for? Could it be that the answer he was looking for was another mystery? Interestingly, right in front of the tombstone, he found a few messy footprints—new footprints, and the grass leaves that had been trampled down were still dripping with grass juice.

Who? He realized that there were other people nearby.

The sky was dark and sunk, and the air suddenly filled the air with a strong smell of fireworks, mixed with a faint smell of blood. He went against the wind.