The twenty-second day of the winter lunar month is the day after the winter solstice.
In the early morning, it was as dark as the bottom of a pot, and the cold wind was blowing.
Even so, a large and dark group of people had gathered in front of the gate of Wujian Villa.
So how big is this "large group"?
Actually, it's not bad... There are probably more than three hundred or less than four hundred real swordsmen. Counting those who buy a sword temporarily to make up the number, there can be a hundred people. Oh my god.
Some people may say something when they see this, there are not many people here? Not as many as Qixionghui.
Then you have to think about it this way: Those who attended the Seven Heroes Meeting were basically "sects", and only a few participated in their personal capacity, so those people came "one by one"; and this The people who came to Wujian Villa to discuss swords this time were mostly stragglers, and at most they were in groups. Even if there were entire sects who came together, they were all small sects like the Longkou Sword Sect... So the guests this time, They all come from "a few or a few", and it's quite good to have **hundred in the end.
Then someone may ask again: Are there only these few hundred swordsmen in the entire Dashu Wulin?
The answer is naturally no.
Although there were many swordsmen who came to discuss swordsmanship this time, there were obviously more who didn’t come...
Mainly because Xiao Zhun’s opening of the swordsmanship competition this time was "selection and closing" The guise of "disciple" has blocked many people.
For example, most of those swordsmen who are already nearly first-rate or above are well-known in the world, and some of them are older than Xiao Zhun. You ask them to lose face and follow a group of The second- and third-rate juniors fight with each other, just for the opportunity to "become a close disciple of the sword master". No matter whether they win or not in the end, it will be ugly.
For another example, those sects that specialize in swordsmanship, such as Huashan, Taishan, Qingcheng, Hengshan, etc... they cannot be like the third-rate sects, even the leader and leader The disciples rushed over together and rushed to join other factions, right?
Not to mention, there are some swordsmen who are naturally arrogant, or their master is still alive and do not want to join another master...
Let's put it this way, if Xiao Zhun doesn't have to " Instead of accepting a disciple under the guise of "competition" and saying, "I want to discuss with the world's swordsmen who has the best swordsmanship," then there won't be hundreds of people coming... A conservative estimate is that Get three thousand to start.
Of course, Xiao Zhun also knows this.
Our Master Xiao is so good at settling accounts, how could he not think of this? It's just that he doesn't want to do it.
After all, he did not want to "discuss swords" in essence, but wanted to "refiner swords". If he really wanted to invite more than 3,000 swordsmen, and the proportion of masters among them would greatly increase, then his plan would probably be successful. suffered severely.
Not to mention the three thousand people, among the hundreds of people in front of us, there are also many people who logically "should not come" - like Wen Yuzhai and the six of them, and Dugu Yong ...are all unexpected visitors.
But the plan has come to this point, and this level of "accident" is naturally within the acceptable range.
So, on that day, when the hour came, the minions in Wujian Villa opened the gate on time and began to welcome the swordsmen who had been waiting for a long time to enter the village.
"I'm here to express the smoke sword Cui Zhengqing."
"Please."
"I'm here to express the soul sword He Kaize."
"Please." ."
"Chasing the wind with the next sword, Hu Yanxiu"
"Please."
As the swordsmen reported their names one by one, people flowed out. They also slowly poured into the villa.
And among them, there are certainly some of our old acquaintances...
"I give you the order to fly."
"Please."
< p>This Linghu Xiang is undoubtedly a participant in this "Destroying Demons with Swords" plan, but he acted separately from the others.Because Linghu Xiang’s natural temperament is not very eye-catching, and he is currently a famous face in the world, so this time he came as a "reconnaissance team" seven days in advance. At the foot of the mountain at Wujian Villa.
Although before departure, Linghu Xiang had obtained a lot of information about Wujian Villa from Xiao Wuji, the "former young owner of the Villa", after all, Xiao Wuji had left the Villa for five years. , some information is likely to be out of date and needs to be re-verified and updated... Also, someone needs to check the information of those who come to participate in the sword discussion in advance.
Therefore, during the past seven days, Linghu Xiang had been pretending to be an unknown swordsman who came to participate in the sword discussion, wandering around various villages and towns near Wujian Villa, carefully inquiring about information.
Right now, he was also blending in with the crowd. He only announced his name, without mentioning his nickname or sect, and just blended in.
“I’m flying down with the sword Zhai Hao. These are my brothers. We are collectively called the ‘Five Righteousnesses of Huizhou’, but...”
“Okay, Master Zhai, please. "
I think some readers with a good memory still remember that these "Five Righteousnesses of Huizhou" have also appeared in our previous documents: they were in the inn in Dengzhou City, and they met each other. Lin Yuancheng, Sun Yixie and those five people who had a little friction.
These five guys, said to be the "Five Righteousnesses", are actually just five little characters who like to make noises everywhere. Except for Zhai Hao, whose swordsmanship is not bad, the other four people are following him. It's just the younger guy who was hanging around in the back.
But no matter what, these five people also use swords, so today they all came to Wujian Villa, and they also wanted to try their luck in "Sword Discussion" - Wan What if Xiao Zhun didn't open his eyes and chose one of them to be a closed disciple?
Of course, as far as the gatekeeper of Wujian Villa is concerned, it doesn’t matter whether you have five righteousnesses or eight righteousnesses... As long as you have swords in your hands, you can enter.
…………
The words are divided into two parts. Just as the main entrance of the villa opens to welcome guests, somewhere in the villa...
"Manager, the people who came to discuss swords have entered the manor one after another. A conservative estimate... there are more than 800 people." A man with two swords on his back was standing behind Xiao Zhun, cupping his fists and reporting.
"Yeah...I know." At this moment, Xiao Zhun was holding his hands behind his back and looking at the clear spring in front of him.
In the spring water, there was a red sword that looked like it had not yet been sharpened.
"Have you found out what happened yesterday?" After pondering for a few seconds, Xiao Zhun asked again.
The swordsman replied without even thinking: "Yes, we found out clearly that Wu Hongmao died under Duguyong's sword. It is said... that he did it first."
When Xiao Zhun heard the name Duguyong, his expression changed slightly, but he was not surprised. After a breath, he continued: "I understand, you can go down. "
When the double swordsman heard this, he hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Uh... Master, don't you ask Wu Hongmao why he took action?"
"Xuan Xiao... ..." Xiao Zhun slowly turned his head and looked at the other party, "...You have been following me for a long time, why do you still ask this kind of question? Do you think it is still important?"
< p>After hearing this answer, the man known as "Xuan Xiao" thought about it and said in his heart: Yes, now that it is known that Wu Hongmao took the initiative to fight with Duguyong before he was killed, then why did he do it? And taking action is indeed no longer important - who cares about the reason for an overestimating idiot to seek death?"What the village master said is absolutely true, but I asked a redundant question." After thinking about it, Xuan Xiao cupped his hands and said, "My subordinates, please retire."
And just now Xuan Xiao turned around, and before he took a step, a man from the villa suddenly rushed from a distance. The man ran up to him, knelt down on one knee, and said hurriedly: "Excuse me. Master! Something happened at the gate..."
"What's the matter? Do you need to be so panicked?" Xiao Zhun asked calmly.
"Yes...yes..." When the words came to his mouth, the guy struggled with the words, but in the end he said the sentence, "It's the young owner of the village who is back..." ”
As soon as these words came out, Xuan Xiao, who was standing aside, immediately turned his gaze to Xiao Zhun’s face.
As for Xiao Zhun, in just a few seconds, his face could be said to have gone through various emotions such as surprise, joy, anger, sadness, and sorrow, but each emotion was different. Most of it was suppressed by him, only a little bit was exposed, and it was all mixed together.
"Did he come alone or with others?" But Xiao Zhun was Xiao Zhun after all. After a few seconds, he regained his composure and asked in a deep voice.
"Accompanying the Young Villa Master are Young Master Wen Yuzhai, Canglong Hidden Peak Haicangfeng, Hunyuan Divine Sword Lin Yuancheng, and two others whose identities are still unknown..." So are those minions. Replied truthfully.
"Wen Yuzhai?" Xiao Zhun looked sideways and pondered. It seemed that this was the only one of these names that he cared more about. After reciting this sentence, he thought about it for a while and then said, "Where are they now? Have you put it in? "
"This..." The guy hesitated again before replying, "According to the rules set by the owner of the village, we can only let the 'Swordsman' in today, but there are six of them. Among the people, only three of them are wearing swords, so..."
"So you came to ask me? "Xiao Zhun answered.
"Please let the owner of the village make a decision. "The guy lowered his head and clasped his fists.
"Huh..." Xiao Zhun sneered, "Okay, just go back and say something and let all six of them come in." "
"Follow your orders. "After the guy accepted the order, he stood up and was about to leave.
At this time, Xiao Zhun suddenly remembered something and called him again: "Wait a minute. "
"What other instructions does the owner have? "The gangster heard the sound, stopped his steps, turned around and asked.
"Well... among those six people, does any one use a fork as a weapon? "Xiao Zhun asked.
"Fork? The guy was stunned when he was asked, "What kind of fork is it?" "
"It is a long-handled weapon with three blades on the tip. "Xiao Zhun said.
"That shouldn't be the case. "The subordinate replied, "I see that the six of them are either wearing swords or carrying knives. Even if some of them have other weapons hidden on their bodies, they cannot hide such long-handled forks. "
When Xiao Zhun heard this answer, he nodded: "Okay, you go. "
"Yes. "The minion made a promise and turned away.
Xuan Xiao immediately bowed his hands and left.
When they were all gone, Xiao Zhun stood beside him Another person walked out of the shadow.
That person was nothing special in terms of clothing or appearance. He looked like just an ordinary servant, but at this moment he came to Xiao Zhun. , but he neither bowed nor knelt, and stood with his hands behind his back. His tone and demeanor were also proud: "Master Xiao, your heart is a bit messed up. "
"Why did the immortal say this? "Xiao Zhun responded calmly.
"Oh...Master Xiao, you don't have to pretend...I'm neither deaf nor blind. Just now you heard the way your son came back, I can see it all. Lord Fire Lotus smiled and said, "If you get messed up because of this, you will ruin a big thing." "
When Xiao Zhun heard this, he paused and replied: "Didn't the immortal say that according to the hexagrams, the person who can ruin my big things this time... is a person who uses a 'fork' ? "
"Hey~" True Lord Fire Lotus waved his hand, "The hexagrams are imaginary numbers. If you get one, you can't get the second... If you want to succeed in this matter, you have to do it consistently. There is no other way. But if you want to lose, there are countless reasons for defeat. What can be calculated based on the hexagrams is usually only the most dangerous one among them. "
"Well..." Xiao Zhun groaned again, "Then in the opinion of the immortal, what should Xiao do? "
"Heh..." True Lord Fire Lotus smiled, "If Master Xiao really doesn't care about Young Master Ling's life or death, that would be easy... It doesn't matter if he is present during the 'sword sacrifice'. ”
"What if I care?" Xiao Zhun said.
"It's easy to handle..." Fire Lotus True Lord said, "Pindao can let Young Master Ling and his friends get lost during the 'Sword Sacrifice', and get to a place where they won't hinder the owner of the village. Let’s stay here for a while.”
“I see…” Xiao Zhun thought for a few seconds, then turned around and raised his hand, bowing to True Lord Fire Lotus, “Then…it’s time for Immortal Lao.”