Chapter 337: Blood Under the Pine (Part 1)

"... Maybe, Miss Ming," Seeing Pei Ye said softly. "But I might really not be able to do it."

The conversation ended there. The peak was ahead, but after truly arriving at the foot of this peak, another three quarters of an hour had passed. The mountain road became extremely steep, and the two had to lead their horses on foot. At the top, the sign of the building that had been far away and hidden had finally appeared.

【The World of Others】.

"This should be the first gateway to the Kongdong Sect," Ming Qitian looked up. "It is said that Kongdong has a gate every thirty miles, and after ninety miles, it is the main court of the seventeen peaks of Kongdong."

"Didn't you see it when you came last time, Miss Ming?"

"I went straight over from the other side," Ming Qitian looked at the side of the road. "Kongdong Mountain actually has flowers at this time of year. Feet not touching the ground, I really missed a lot of scenery."

"Then Miss Ming can walk more when asking for sword advice in the future."

"..." The woman thought for a while and shook her head gently. "Better not, time is very tight."

The three characters 【The World of Others】 were written with iron hooks and silver paintings. Below them stood a row of five people, overlooking the winding mountain road, and the wind blew their clothes and hair ribbons into a flag in one direction.

"Zhang Shixiong Xi, do you think the uncles and others also came over like this?" Guan Qianyan was just over seventeen years old. Last month, she took first place in the "Sword Inquiry Before the Court," and today she got up at dawn and sat in front of the dressing mirror. She had the most beautiful face among the group.

At this time, she was a little discouraged.

"Naturally. This item is called 'Five-Child Pine Welcome'," Xi Tianji had just turned twenty this year. He was gentle and quiet. When talking to people, a gentle smile always hung on the corners of his mouth. Kongdong likes to divide segments by age outside of seniority. The man was exactly the "Zhang Shixiong" below this age. His sword technique and righteousness were impeccable. "Only young heroes are selected to welcome distinguished guests. If you haven't stood under 【The World of Others】 when you were young, how can you become an elder or peak master?"

"I don't want to be an elder or peak master," Guan Qianyan slightly elongated her voice. "I thought I could be the first to see Ming Jianzhu... I came in a hurry last time and left in a hurry. I just chose a skirt, and I was told that the person had already left."

"You are also stupid. Look at the sky in a while, is there a cloud passing through? That is Ming Jianzhu flying over. How could she walk ninety miles from here?" Yan Caiyue wore a loose green robe, and his face was also very peaceful, but his chin was habitually raised slightly, which gave him a clear pride. "And I told you to go earlier at that time. You had to dawdle yourself."

"Diecui Peak is remote, how can you blame me?" Guan Qianyan was not angry either, turned her head to look down at the other side. "Just hope we don't wait until we rush back, and Ming Jianzhu has already left—Lanting, you are the strange one. Why are you joining the fun instead of waiting at the mountain gate?"

Kong Lanting was the youngest one present, about eleven or twelve years old. His lips were red, his teeth were white, and his black hair and green clothes were all neat and tidy. At the age of four or five feet, he stood as upright as Xi Tianji, like the most gentle Confucian scholar in the Imperial College.

"Where the sword master walks should follow the guest's convenience. It is what I should do to fulfill the courtesy before the court," Kong Lanting said very seriously, but his voice had not yet changed, still like a child.

"Hmm, that's fine. Anyway, the sword master will mostly see you, and we can just take advantage of it," Guan Qianyan shook her sword and smiled.

This sentence fell, and it was quiet for a while. Yan Caiyue suddenly gave a light, cold laugh: "Isn't someone already taking advantage of it?"

Immediately, a questioning question mixed with anger came: "What did you say?!"

Zhang Jingbi wore a treasure blue long shirt, tooth crown, jade pendant, and soft boots. This outfit was indeed too thorough in the ancient Kongdong. Not only was there a bright red peace buckle tied to the sword, but when the man raised his sleeves in anger, a red rope with beads was also revealed on his wrist.

While the four people were talking in front, this youth had been standing to the side uncomfortably, looking at the mountain scenery in the distance with a stiff face. Now a cold mockery immediately stung some sensitive areas. Zhang Jingbi waved his arms and stepped forward: "Who are you talking about?!"

Yan Caiyue stepped back and gave a low laugh: "Be careful, don't get the smell of rouge on me... Whoever is anxious, naturally says who it is."

Zhang Jingbi's face suddenly flushed red: "I am the first in the Three Peaks Sword Meeting, I should stand here! Whose light did I take?"

Yan Caiyue looked up and laughed: "You actually have the face to mention it—there are seventeen disciples in this generation of the three barren peaks, and there are six of them wrapped in hair knots... Your mother held such a sword meeting for you, and she really wasn't afraid of the peaks laughing at you."

"Then invite you to Xianqiao Peak, why don't you dare to come?!"

"You have to invite me first."

"My mother said personally to invite you, it's you who don't come!"

Yan Caiyue gave a light laugh: "If she didn't lie to you, I would really go."

"What if you come?! I—" Zhang Jingbi shouted, but the words stuck in his mouth, he took a deep breath of turbid Qi, gritted his teeth and said: "... You only know how to talk nonsense."

Yan Caiyue gave a cold laugh: "You already believe it yourself. Isn't your mother like this? Hearing that Ming Jianzhu is coming, she ran to the Five Peaks Hall to make a scene and stuffed you in. Did she also tell you to lean more toward Ming Jianzhu? —I'm really strange, what does it have to do with you, this kind of person, to discuss swords in Yunlang Kongdong? Your mother is also crazy—"

"Caiyue!" Xi Tianji gave a light drink. "Do not insult your elders."

Zhang Jingbi had already rushed up with a punch. Kong Lanting hurriedly hugged his waist, his head against his chest: "Zhang Shixiong Zhang, we are welcoming guests, don't do it!"

Guan Qianyan also frowned: "Is a position worth anything? Zhang Shixiong Yan, say a few words less!"

Yan Caiyue didn't mean to do it, lowered his head and tidied his sleeves with a light sneer: "This position that Guan Junior Sister finds tiring to walk, how many disciples are squeezing their heads and can't touch it... but it's given to such a wine bag and rice sack."

Zhang Jingbi's eyes were red and swollen on the side, roaring: "Yan Caiyue, in a while at the sword meeting, I will let you know who is the wine bag and rice sack!"

Guan Qianyan frowned and looked at all this, her peripheral vision suddenly flashed far away. She tilted her head to look, and her neck stiffened.

"Don't... don't quarrel," she turned her head and said in a panic, "You guys look quickly, is there a white figure below?"

Everyone was stunned and cast their eyes to look.

The girl's not-so-confident voice rang in her ears: "Is that... Ming Jianzhu?"

————

【The World of Others】 was built on the first true dangerous peak after entering Great Kongdong. From then on, there was up but no down, until the true "Kongdong under the clouds."

Such a dangerous peak could not go up and down straight, so the road was winding and hidden. Everyone watched from afar a white dot flash and disappear, and then they couldn't see it again, but the bodies of the five people had all tightened slightly.

They were waiting for the Glazed Sword Master to arrive, and then return to the mountain gate as the "etiquette" to be withdrawn. After arriving here, even Guan Qianyan didn't fantasize about really meeting Ming Jianzhu.

After all, the mountain gate didn't even tell people that there would be five disciples waiting here.

But now, in the silence, after a long disappearance... that white figure actually appeared at the end of the road again.

It was just that abrupt; the Sword Path's young leader of the world walked toward them with an inimitable aura. He raised that face which could not be molded or shaped, also slightly surprised to see these five people standing side by side at the end.

Paused for a moment.

The sword master was not holding a sword, but leading a horse.

No one expected that such a heavy guest of the sect would really want them to welcome her first. The process that went in the left ear and out the right ear before departure couldn't be thought of at all. "East Pine" Guan Qianyan should have stepped forward to salute, but she just stood stiffly. None of the scenes she had thought of could match the current one.

Fortunately, this suffocating silence only lasted for two breaths. Xi Tianji stepped forward, bowed, and clasped his fists: "Sincerely waiting for the treasure guest under the pine, fortunate to see the true immortal above the clouds. Kongdong Yuanwu Peak disciple Xi Tianji, together with the junior brothers and sisters, is here to respectfully welcome the sword master's jade feet to the 'World of Others'! The elders of the sect are already waiting at the next gateway."

That white figure like a cloud stood quietly and listened. After the words were finished, she bowed slightly, her voice like clear water: "Moved by your courtesy, it is a great honor."

After the ceremony, she apologized slightly: "Were you waiting here last time I came? Sorry for the empty wait, really sorry."

The people behind were simply flattered. They really didn't expect that they had messed up the etiquette, and they could still get the sword master's apology first. They hurriedly bowed back, then retreated and stood on both sides, making way for the woman.

The five people watched respectfully, and with the temperament as clear as a god and high clouds, the woman started to walk again and approached them.

'Where is the Glazed Sword?'

'It seems I didn't see the Slash Heart Glazed last time either.'

Just as a few people had this thought, they saw that after the woman gave up her position, someone followed closely from behind the mountain col, also walking and leading a horse, with a green sword hanging on the horse, a small black cat lying on her shoulder, and a clear and beautiful glazed long sword in her hand.

This figure appeared, and it seemed to be more eye-catching than the sword master. The eyes of a few people were sucked up in a daze at the same time. She was clearly traveling with Ming Jianzhu, a clear and unfamiliar face, a tall and straight stature half a head taller than the sword master, black hair tied behind her head, wearing a common autumn shirt.

Her sword eyebrows were slightly lowered, her lips were flat, and her gaze was slightly downward. Her body was more still than moving, without any unnecessary movements, and the whole person was like a silent ancient sword.

After turning around the mountain col, she raised her head and swept across the five people, nodding slightly in response to the measuring gaze.

Until she came to the front, the eyes of a few people still couldn't help but fall on her. It was Ming Jianzhu who spoke first: "Seeing Pei Ye."

Only these two words.

The youth nodded to the few people again: "Fortunate to see."

After speaking, he stood still behind the woman in silence.

"... Fortunate to see."

"Fortunate to see, fortunate to see."

"Brother Pei is good." Kong Lanting was the only one who didn't hide his curiosity, but he didn't ask rashly, and bowed respectfully again: "Ming Jianzhu is good."

Ming Qitian smiled slightly and took out the "Ode to the Pine Mist Sword": "The questions we talked about last time, I have annotated them for you."

"Ah!" Kong Lanting's eyes widened. "Sword Master, didn't you have things to do these two days?"

"It was fine on the road," Ming Qitian smiled.

Kong Lanting held this sword book like a treasure, and the dignity just now disappeared. He couldn't help but flip through the pages gently. Guan Qianyan peeked from the side.

"The sword master can enter the building to rest first," Xi Tianji arched his hands to the side. "I will send a letter to the sect to welcome you immediately."

Ming Qitian looked at Seeing Pei Ye, and Seeing Pei Ye nodded.

Walking slowly was to give Kongdong time to catch the traces of Huan Si Lou. Now that the news of Ming Qitian's arrival had reached the mountain gate, there was no point in them dawdling on the road.

Great Kongdong was both this high and deep mountain range in the heart of Shao Long, and the martial arts world often referred to the Kongdong Sword Gate.

Within a hundred miles, seventeen peaks were scattered, and the connection between the peaks was inevitably distant. Only the five peaks in the center gathered like a lotus, which was often considered the true location of the Kongdong mountain gate.

The second arrival of the Glazed Sword Master once again received a grand welcome. The respected peak masters and elders gathered around the woman and went to the "Lotus Leaf" on the side of the five peaks together.

Seeing Pei Ye had fallen far behind the woman early on, accompanied by a law-enforcement elder with a face like a goshawk.

The noise ahead gradually went away. Seeing Pei Ye looked up at the five majestic peaks ahead. Distant light clouds lingered on them, and the red maple old trees on the side were dropping red fire all over the ground.

"... A hundred years ago, the elders liked to say that this is the soul of our Kongdong," Gan Zifeng smiled and said a digression, then restrained his expression and pointed, saying softly, "I heard the meaning of the Crane Inspector, Huan Si Lou is likely to harm a talented disciple of our sect, should it be correct?"

"Only if they have mastered a sufficiently good sword technique," Seeing Pei Ye added. "Age and identity are not limited."

Gan Zifeng nodded: "We haven't found their traces in the past two days."

Pointing his finger, he said: "We mainly did two things. First, the Kongdong disciples are scattered, so we took advantage of Ming Jianzhu's sword inquiry to advance the annual 【Iron Pine Sword Meeting】 by two weeks, so that the disciples were gathered in front of the five peaks, which is convenient for protection, and several peak masters secretly checked; second, we started the Five Peaks Array. Any entry of the Mystic Gate and above can be checked by the sect."

Seeing Pei Ye nodded and said again: "The array technique of the Huan Si Lou play-master is very high. I don't know if this array can be relied upon?"

"When Kongdong starts the array, we also invite a true master—at least no one can break it within ten days."

The two walked forward while talking in a low voice, and gradually the noise became louder again. Ahead was a platform that was extremely large, and it extended far out of the cliff, which was indeed quite like the shape of a lotus leaf.

At the same time, a pine tree that was larger than imaginable grew up from under the cliff, and the shade of the tree covered the platform. Its branches were like cast iron, and the needles were like small swords, deep green and emerald, eye-catching.

"... A hundred years ago, the elders liked to say that this is the soul of our Kongdong," Gan Zifeng smiled and said a digression, then restrained his expression and pointed, saying softly, "I heard the meaning of the Crane Inspector, Huan Si Lou is likely to harm a talented disciple of our sect, should it be correct?"

"Only if they have mastered a sufficiently good sword technique," Seeing Pei Ye added. "Age and identity are not limited."

Gan Zifeng nodded: "We haven't found their traces in the past two days."

Pointing his finger, he said: "We mainly did two things. First, the Kongdong disciples are scattered, so we took advantage of Ming Jianzhu's sword inquiry to advance the annual 【Iron Pine Sword Meeting】 by two weeks, so that the disciples were gathered in front of the five peaks, which is convenient for protection, and several peak masters secretly checked; second, we started the Five Peaks Array. Any entry of the Mystic Gate and above can be checked by the sect."

Seeing Pei Ye nodded and said again: "The array technique of the Huan Si Lou play-master is very high. I don't know if this array can be relied upon?"

"When Kongdong starts the array, we also invite a true master—at least no one can break it within ten days."

The two walked forward while talking in a low voice, and gradually the noise became louder again. Ahead was a platform that was extremely large, and it extended far out of the cliff, which was indeed quite like the shape of a lotus leaf.

At the same time, a pine tree that was larger than imaginable grew up from under the cliff, and the shade of the tree covered the platform. Its branches were like cast iron, and the needles were like small swords, deep green and emerald, eye-catching.

"... A hundred years ago, the elders liked to say that this is the soul of our Kongdong," Gan Zifeng smiled and said a digression, then restrained his expression and pointed, saying softly, "I heard the meaning of the Crane Inspector, Huan Si Lou is likely to harm a talented disciple of our sect, should it be correct?"

"Only if they have mastered a sufficiently good sword technique," Seeing Pei Ye added. "Age and identity are not limited."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 338 =====