The two of them looked intently towards the direction from which the sound came. They saw a childish girl with two braids pointing upwards on her head. She pouted her pink mouth and looked at the two of them with her hands on her hips. Especially the charming and angry girl just now.
Anger makes this girl look a few years younger than both Qingqing and Qixue.
The girl came closer, raised her head and asked, "Who is Linghu Qingqing?"
Qingqing took a step forward and asked cautiously: "It's me."
"Kneel down!"
This sudden scolding shocked both Qingqing and Qixue. This woman had sharp eyebrows. Although she looked like a child, her tone was too mature to be that of an ordinary person. When Qingqing lowered his head, he saw the girl holding her hands tightly.
Holding a thin peach-leaf pen, he recognized it as something commonly used by people who are good at painting. He immediately straightened the hem of his skirt and knelt on the ground: "Disciple Li Rongshan Linghu Qingqing, was unable to meet the master from far away!"
When Qixue heard this, she immediately knelt down and kowtowed. It turned out that this short girl with a full head of Qingqing was none other than Ziqin, Ziqi and Zishu's fellow junior sister - Linghu Zihua. Zihua shook his head and raised his braid to the sky.
Swinging like a willow leaf: "You have nothing to offend me. How many troubles have you caused to your master in the past few days down the mountain?"
Qingqing was so frightened that she didn't know what to say. Although the incident at the foot of the mountain did not cause any serious disaster, it was definitely not a good thing that would bring glory to the ancestors. Qixue, on the other hand, replied: "Back to my aunt, I got lost on the way back to the mountain."
Direction, it’s too late to come back.”
"Ah! It's like this." Zi Hua clapped his hands and suddenly beamed, "Where's the chess piece?"
"Uncle Master..." Qingqing was speechless for a moment, "he refuses to come back with us."
"Hey, stand up, stand up!" Zi Hua put his hand on his forehead, "Hurry back now and you can still catch up with lunch."
With Zi Hua helping them along the way, the three of them went up the mountain in a short while. Zi Qin and other disciples were naturally overjoyed to see Qing Qing come back. Zi Qin saw Qing Qing and Qixue enjoying all kinds of fragrant fruits
The cake just dealt with it casually for a few mouthfuls. Feeling strange, he found an excuse to call Qingqing back to the bamboo house alone.
As soon as he sat down, Ziqin asked: "Where is your golden lock?"
Qingqing was suddenly shocked, "I lost it at the foot of the mountain..."
"Lie." Ziqin's tone was gentle, but she couldn't hide her displeasure.
When Qingqing raised his head, he saw that his master's eyes were a little less gentle than usual water waves, but a little more stern like an icy edge. He panicked for a moment and could only hesitantly tell about his experience at the foot of the mountain. Afterwards,
, the more he spoke, the more aggrieved he became, as if all the sorrow he had suffered in the past few days was poured out. When he talked about his uncle, he was so hungry that he fainted, and his chest was about to explode with anger, so he had to turn his head and wanted to seek help.
These comforting words from the master met Ziqin's cold eyes.
This time it was not a severe ice front, but an entire frozen iceberg.
Qingqing froze on the spot, swallowing the complaints that came to her lips. Ziqin asked in a serious tone that she had never used to Qingqing: "You have the ability to starve yourself to death, but why don't you have the ability to make your uncle hungry too?"
sky?"
Qingqing was completely confused, and the smug little face just now couldn't help but gradually deflated. Ziqin continued: "It's just because your uncle is paying attention to the juniors that you have such a temper; if it were other people in the world,
After snatching the white jade flute, will your rogue method still work? Remember—" Ziqin stared at Qingqing's tear-filled eyes, "tears and temper are never powerful skills, otherwise Linghu's thousands of disciples
What is the purpose of practicing hard skills from generation to generation?"
After a pause, Ziqin's tone softened, "You usually don't like to talk. Everyone says it's because you were beaten since you were a child. Now that you're nearly in your prime, you're still so ignorant of etiquette?"
Qingqing hurriedly turned her head to the other side, but she still didn't have time to stop the tears from welling up desperately.
Qingqing never thought that his master, who never even glanced at him, would teach him such a lesson for his experience of trying to take back his wooden flute. He wanted to rush out of the door, but his whole body refused to obey him.
Let the flood of tears become more and more fierce.
Seeing Qingqing crying so sadly, Ziqin sighed helplessly and rubbed Qingqing's somewhat disheveled hair.
After a busy day, Qingqing followed her brothers and sisters to prepare the remaining matters for the Lantern Festival. The sun set quietly in the west soon. At night, Qingqing looked up from the music score, stretched out and walked out, letting the cold wind in the night
Pour it down your throat. The stars blink at each other, as if they are reminding Qingqing of the ritual ceremony tomorrow morning, but even though Qingqing lies back on the couch, he does not feel sleepy at all.
Master doesn't like the way I am now.
What should I look like?
Qingqing counted the cicadas: one Zhengshang, four Bianzheng, three Qingjiao... There is also one, is it Zhengyu or Qingyu? He was thinking deeply until a white chess piece hit his forehead, and he passed.
It took a long time to calm down and asked: "Uncle, why are you here?"
Zi Qi was leaning against the tree trunk, his legs hanging dangling on the branches, and he hooked his hands towards Qing Qing, beckoning her to come over. Qing Qing tiptoed onto the tree, and Zi Qi took out a shining circle from his arms.
, dangling in front of Qingqing's eyes - it's Qingqing's golden lock!
Qingqing's eyes lit up and he took it, but his eyes were immediately filled with gloom.
"Uncle, I spent a lot of money to redeem it," Ziqin squinted, "You don't know how to thank me?"
"Thank you, uncle."
Seeing Qing Qing's distracted look, Zi Qi stood up and asked, "What's wrong?"
Qingqing's eyes were blurry: "Master is angry."
"Seriously?" Zi Qi opened his eyes wide, "Have you ever said a few nice words to your uncle?"
"mad at me."
When Zi Qi heard this, he lay down again and shook his head, "I don't dare to interfere with the affairs of senior brother's family. But..." Zi Qi suddenly came close to Qing Qing's face and snickered, "I have a way to make you forget this.
Something." After saying that, he reached out and took out a big jar from a branch in the dark, and then two bowls appeared out of nowhere.
Qingqing heard the sound of water swaying in the jar, which was very pleasant. However, there was a pungent smell coming from inside the jar, so he hurriedly covered his nose and said: "Uncle, why did you move such a jar of rotten food with so much effort?"
Water coming?”
Zi Qi chuckled: "You don't understand! You know Zi Qin won't let his disciples touch these." As he spoke, he opened the lid, and the strange smell instantly filled the air around him. Each poured a small half of the bowl, Zi Qi
Qi, minding his own business, clinked the two bowls loudly and handed one bowl to Qing Qing:
"You will never taste this jade dew and fine nectar in Lirong Mountain, which is priceless and cannot be bought in the world."
Qingqing was in a irritable mood and had no time to pay attention to Ziqi's smooth words. Without thinking, he picked up the bowl and drank it all in one gulp.
"No, I haven't..." Before Ziqi could finish his words, Qingqing coughed violently and almost fell off the tree. As he coughed, he coughed out tears one by one. This cry made him cry again.
He couldn't stop it. "Okay, okay, Ziqin is the same..." Before Ziqi could finish, Qingqing poured herself a large bowl from the jar, poured it down her throat, and then coughed and cried.
After crying, he simply grabbed the jar, but Zi Qi snatched it away again.
"Leave some for the elders!" Ziqi put the altar and bowl back into the shadows and gently put his hand on Qingqing's shoulder: "What's going on? Tell me, uncle."
Qingqing shook her head and stopped her tears little by little, but she still kept sobbing.
Ziqi was helpless: "Uncle, I will go to your master tomorrow and explain it clearly, okay?"
"Don't, don't go." Qingqing brushed his sleeves and wiped away the snot that had covered his face, "Be careful, uncle will also be punished by the master."
"That's not necessarily the case." Ziqi smiled proudly, "Your master can't beat me."
Hearing these words, Qingqing finally got out of the sad mood temporarily, and did not hide his expression of disbelief. Qingqing had followed Ziqin's academics for a long time, and although he was not a master, he could see that he was a master.
I figured out the secret of my master's Qin skills. In the past few days, when I saw Zi Qi making moves, whether it was the speed of decision-making or the time of reaction, he was a little behind Zi Qin. Now that I heard Master Uncle talk so shamelessly, Qing Qing came over instead.
Interest: "Uncle and master compete, can they still win?"
Ziqi crossed his legs and laughed: "Of course, your master was also defeated by me back then."
Qingqing raised her little hands and said, "Would you like to hear the details?"
"To be honest, Zi Qin and I are still a little behind in terms of skill. But..." Zi Qi suddenly sat up straight and his tone became serious: "If you want to win, your uncle has many ways."
"I do not believe."
After hearing this, Zi Qi looked into the distance, and a strange smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, probably because he had some strange calculation in his mind. Sure enough, after thinking for a while, Zi Qi raised his head and said, "I'll teach you a unique trick.
I promise you will be invincible in all battles, invincible in all attacks, and invincible in the world..."
"You don't want to learn." Seeing Ziqi's stern expression, Qingqing quickly added: "There will be a martial arts competition tomorrow. It's unfair to Qixue."
"How is this unfair?" Zi Qi smiled helplessly, "I taught her, but it's a pity that she can't learn it."
Qingqing thought to himself: "Since Senior Sister Qixue can't learn it, I probably can't learn it either. It's not as happy as Master Tu." Thinking of this, he stood on the branch of the tree, cupped his fists and said: "Uncle Master, please
Guidance.”
When Qingqing went back, it was already dawn. Step by step as he climbed the steps back to the cliff, Qingqing thought from time to time: If he went back and fell asleep at this time, he should be able to catch up on another hour of sleep. He was still a little drunk, and his head was
The words that Ziqi had just said flashed across the screen, and Qingqing's hands couldn't help but tremble slightly.
"Uncle Master, can this move of 'Flying Crows' really be able to escape completely at all times?"
"Most of the time it's no problem. If you meet a powerful person like your master, just add the 'Wood Fox Wild Hidden' move and it's almost done."
"Uncle Master..." Qingqing asked tentatively, "Would you like to teach me?"
"Are you fifteen this year?"
"Well, Xu Shiliu."
Ziqi narrowed his eyes and smiled: "I will tell you when you take the first place in the ancestor worship ceremony during the Lantern Festival."
Faintly, the steps disappeared at the end of the road and were replaced by a path in the forest. It was the time of dew in the bamboo forest, and the bamboo leaves were full of dew, ticking on the stone steps, like a natural song.
The morning light of the piano. The rising sun casts a few bamboo shadows on the ground, and the broken shadows gradually form a human figure:
Ziqin was standing at the intersection, looking at the stone steps Qingqing was climbing up.
Qingqing was tired after a night, and her drunkenness had not faded away, so she could only complain in her mind that her uncle's water was rotten, while she ran uphill crookedly. Suddenly, she was tripped by a tree root that suddenly came out.
, and fell down. Seeing that the tragedy of kissing the ground on the cheeks was about to happen again, Qingqing only felt a pain in her shoulders. It turned out that her arms were pulled up by someone.
"Qing Qing."
When Qingqing raised his head, Ziqin's tired face came into his eyes. Ziqin's eyes were slightly swollen, and there were a few broken hairs scattered under the scarf. It was probably because he had not slept all night. Qingqing called Master and stood up.
He stood up and lowered his head again.
"Where is your uncle?"
Qingqing pointed to the woods behind the bamboo house. Ziqi probably didn't expect that his niece would betray him so quickly.
Ziqin nodded and smiled: "You even drank."
Qingqing was startled and woke up most of the time. It turned out that the drink his uncle gave him had a strange pungent aroma, which made him feel bitter and uncomfortable in his mouth. After drinking two bowls of rotten water, it made him dizzy. It turned out that it was
It's the ancient poems that wiped out the ups and downs of the past generations, caused waves of bloodshed in the world, and the master emphasized in every possible way not to touch the slightest bit - wine?!
As if cold sweat and hot blood rushed into the meridians at the same time, Qingqing could only cry out in endless pain: Uncle Master, Master Master, this is the first time in my life that I have violated the rules of the sect, so no wonder I betrayed your hiding place...
In the early morning, it started to rain lightly in the bamboo forest. Ziqin walked in front silently, and Qingqing silently followed behind. They just walked in the bamboo forest silently, letting the rain and dew wet their hair and sleeves.
Qingqing lowered her head and watched her footsteps hitting the soil of the path step by step. She saw her master's green clothes ripples in the wind. She raised her head again and finally saw her master's back carrying a lyre, like a jade stone standing still.
People walked silently into the rain, and the vast piano music spread across the world, but they quietly played the morning on Lirong Mountain.
Ziqin stopped in front of the bamboo house and turned around: "Go back and sleep for a while, don't get caught in the cold."
Qingqing nodded and wanted to go inside to get an umbrella for his master, but Ziqin waved his hand and walked away in the rain again. Suddenly, Ziqin stopped and showed a gentle smile that he had not seen for a long time: "The Lantern Festival is over,
I'll play "Goose Falling on the Flat Sand" for you."
The Lantern Festival, which has been busy for many days, has finally arrived.
With sleepy eyes, Qingqing walked among the various colorful spiritual lanterns. Some of the spiritual lanterns that had been hung in the hall depicted a silver-grey judge's pen, some imitated several strings of green pine and cypress needles, and others
Or a yellow and white paperweight with strange words written on it... all the same, they all reproduce the precious magic techniques that the previous masters of Dongshan Linghu once traveled all over the world.
Ziqin and the other three led the disciples to pay homage to their ancestors, and then bowed several times to the largest spiritual lamp in the center, which was only decorated with black and white ink. Qingqing stood behind the crowd, and all the disciples followed Ziqin in cross-legged postures.
Sitting there, hands clasped and eyes closed, he recited the Linghu instructions left by Master Shuichen:
"If you don't see the history of Taiping, you won't leave the dust of water and fire."
After fighting and killing last night, Qingqing almost never closed her eyes. Instead, she drank a glass of wine and was extremely sleepy. She was sitting quietly behind her senior brothers and sisters, and couldn't help but doze off again. She heard Master Wen Ruqingming's voice intermittently speaking to her.
came in my ears:
"Today, on the seventh day of the fourth lunar month of the Year of Jiazi, the ceremony of worshiping ancestors is resumed. Firstly, I wish that our ancestors will be happy that there will be successors to Linghu's art. Secondly, I wish that there will be many diligent and innovative disciples who can study the art on their own and travel around the world... Linghu Qi
Xue and Linghu Qingqing are both fifteen years old, and they are competing in the branch hall before this ancestor worship ceremony..."
"Split hall?" Qingqing suddenly woke up, but she didn't remember the reason why the master read her name. She saw Qichuan and Qilang both looking at her, and even Hengshen, who was usually expressionless, looked at him at this moment.
There was a smile in her eyes. Qingqing was just dizzy and couldn't hear anything clearly, when she saw Qixue walking towards her.
Quickly standing up, Qixue took the lead in rolling up her sleeves and saluting: "Junior sister, please give me some advice." After saying that, she looked at her master and head master.
Qingqing heard what Master Cai said about "competition", so he also bowed and looked at Ziqin. Ziqin nodded to Qingqing, and saw Uncle Ziqi coming to a lamp case and holding up the
The chess set above came to the two of them.
"There should have been one hundred and eighty-one black stones in this hairpin, but at this time there are only one hundred and eighty black stones and one white stone. Whoever picks out the white stone among them first will be considered as the same as the hairpin, and he will open the magic by himself.
Fa, do you understand?"
"Yes!" The two disciples kowtowed together.
"If you don't see the history of Taiping, you won't leave the dust of water and fire."
Under the night, the mottled trees became a natural practice ground, and a row of sunspots spilled from the sleeves of the chess pieces, flying toward Qingqing in a neat "one" shape.
If there were other chess formations with uneven heights, Qing Qing would have some ways to avoid them and destroy some more. Now this simple "one" formation is not easy. The chess pieces come in quickly and are in the shape of a half-circle. No matter how you play,
No matter which chess pieces you drop, you can't avoid the rest of the fish that slip through the net. Qingqing's heart brightened, and with the attitude of giving it a try, he directly placed the wooden flute in front of him. However, the flute body was too short, and not only did he get hit too quickly
The chess piece staggered on the soft branch, and the black chess pieces that were out of reach on both sides continued to fly towards him along the original path.
"The so-called Wulu." Ziqi rolled up his robe sleeves, "There are black and white in the air. Only when you win or lose can you understand the fun of chess." The remaining black stones were taken back by Ziqi. Ziqi lost his hand.
Standing not far from Qing Qing: "Can you solve this life-or-death situation?"
Qingqing stretched out his wooden flute and repeatedly pointed at the position in front of him. In fact, he could dodge upwards and downwards for a while: if he jumped up, he would probably hurt his feet if the speed was too slow, not to mention that it would be difficult to avoid it when he was in the air.
The enemy should make up their moves; if they were lying down, this place was far away from the enemy, and there would be no opportunity for the Earth Dragon to sneak attack, which would be equivalent to being captured without any help. Qingqing was heartbroken, thinking that he had found a dangerous but safe way, and rushed forward
Ziqi nodded and said, "Let's try it."
The chess piece raised its hand gracefully, and another burst of "crows flying across the sky" came to Qingqing. As soon as Qingqing saw the wind of chess, he immediately jumped back and followed the offensive of the chess pieces to get further away step by step.
When he retreated a hundred steps away from the chess pieces, sure enough! Qingqing felt a burst of joy in his heart. The two chess pieces in the center of the chess array collided with each other and fell down the tree. As long as he retreated far enough, he could wait for them...
Before Qingqing could raise his lips, there was a "boom" and his back slammed into a strong tree trunk.
After an unexpected shock, the dead leaves in the forest fell down. The chess piece ran over in a few steps, knocking the chess piece that had been forced into Qingqing's heart with a clatter to the ground. Qingqing felt dizzy and had no choice but to move lightly.
He sighed softly and sat down on the old tree. Ziqi suddenly patted Qingqing on the head: "That's the right idea."
"Eh? Seriously?"
"Of course. It's just that you are still too young to be able to escape unscathed."
Qingqing lowered his head silently. Indeed, Ziqi had been able to slow down the chess pieces when practicing with him. If he encountered a real enemy, where would he have any room to retreat? Seeing Qingqing's silence, Ziqi smiled and said
: "Think about it, if you use this formation on the enemy on the opposite side, what will the enemy do?"
Qingqing said without thinking: "Of course I keep retreating."
"That's exactly it." Zi Qi's dark eyes were shining brightly in the night sky, "This is the real purpose of the 'Flying Crow' move given to you by my uncle."