Volume 1 Chapter 10: Drinking and Feeling Sad
Seeing this, the waiter hurriedly stopped in front and said, "I'm sorry, the three of you, but now the seats are full!" The pockmarked man looked inside and saw that the hall was full of people, so he said, "Why don't we go somewhere else!" The young man said, "It's not easy to come out. Junior sister, you want to drink the wine here, can you drink it somewhere else? Humph! Go somewhere else, that sounds nice!" The eldest brother was ridiculed and rebuked by him, and his face turned blue and white, which made his pockmarks more prominent. The girl was annoyed by their quarrel, and turned back to the waiter and said, "Shopkeeper, we are really tired after walking all the way. It seems that our horses can't move anymore. Can you give us a favor and let us go up to see if there are any empty seats?"
The waiter was about to refuse, but when he saw the girl's big eyes just looking at him sadly, which was indescribably lovable , he said, "In that case, come up with me!" When the girl heard it, she immediately smiled, her smile was as beautiful as a flower, as if the sky was several times brighter.
The three of them went into the store and looked around until they reached the third floor. As the waiter had said, there were no empty tables. The girl scanned each private room again and saw a private room by the window. The large table only had a few side dishes, a pot of wine, and a small wine glass. She was very curious and looked inside. She saw an old man with a gray beard sitting alone.
The girl said happily, "I got it. Can you please ask this old man to be flexible and allow us to share a table?"
The waiter hurriedly shook his head and said no: "Absolutely not. This guest paid money to book this whole private room. There is absolutely no reason for us to share the table! If our boss finds out, I will not be able to continue my job!"
The young man called "Second Brother" angrily said, "We will pay the same amount of money, what are you talking about?" Then he rushed into the private room. The pockmarked man and the girl looked at each other, shook their heads helplessly, and followed in. The people outside had been arguing for a long time, but the old man seemed not to hear them. When the three people rushed into the private room, he didn't even raise his eyes, but picked up the wine glass and took a sip slowly. Seeing that the old man held the cup in a very strange way, pinching the edge of the cup with his index and middle fingers, everyone couldn't help but look at the old man's hand carefully. When they saw it, they were all shocked. The old man's thumb had been cut off!
The flowers are the same year after year, but the people are different year after year. The old man is Lin Longqing. Lin Jianlan was kidnapped by Lin Hongfeng, and it is his job to find Lin Jianlan and take care of his safety. Moreover, he is always worried about Lin Jianlan's life experience and the identity of the mysterious man in white, so he ends up reentering the martial arts world.
After listening to Wang Po's story about the experience of Lin Jianlan's family of three, he wanted to set off immediately, but Wang Po said that haste makes waste and that the journey would be extremely dangerous, so she advised him to stay at home and heal the wound on his chest before leaving. He carefully searched for clues in the books in the cabinets left by Lin Xiaoyu, and the more he read, the more frightened he became. There were annotations in the blank spaces of each book, which were quite insightful, especially on various military books, which were densely filled with annotations, and some self-created formations. Lin Longqing could only sigh that he had no chance to meet this person, otherwise it would be a great pleasure to have him as a teacher and friend.
Lin Longqing searched the books carefully for more than half a year, but not only did he not get anything, but he also had more doubts in his heart. First, he did not see the letter inviting Lin Xiaoyu to Beijing. Of course, it is possible that Lin Xiaoyu took it away when he left. Second, Lin Xiaoyu cherished the books he collected very much. He numbered them according to the categories and placed them in order in the cabinet. However, after checking, he found that there were more than a dozen books missing from No. 53 in Category E, and there were no book numbers until No. 67. Some of the other books in Category E were introductions to barbarians, and some of the words on them were like earthworms or tadpoles, which were completely incomprehensible. Wang Po also said that Lin Xiaoyu left home lightly and did not bring any books with him. Why were these books missing became another question in Lin Longqing's mind. Before leaving, Lin Longqing quietly walked under the tree, took out the things he had buried three years ago, took out a silver note worth 1,000 taels, went to the nearest big town to exchange it for loose silver, and gave it to Wang Po for daily use. Then he left the small courtyard without looking back, fearing that he would cry if he looked back at Wang Po's lonely figure. He just said silently in his heart: "Auntie, take care of yourself. Lin Longqing will not let you down."
Although Lin Longqing had been living in seclusion for more than three years, his mind and body were indifferent, and his martial arts had improved slightly. However, his thumbs were cut off by Lin Hongfeng, and he might not be able to use his most proud Tiangang Qianyuan Sword as well. It would not be difficult for him to use Qinggong all the way, but he took all the medical books collected by Lin Xiaoyu with him before leaving, so he bought a carriage, put the books in it, and often studied at night. He traveled along the official road of Hebei, and when he went to Jiangnan, it was another year of green grass. Seeing that it was a good time of spring, Lin Longqing could not help but slow down his journey, look at the flowers and enjoy the scenery, but he had a feeling of "things have changed". When I left, the flowers on the road were like brocade, and today the willows on the top of the building are green again. Thinking of the time when I played with Lin Hongfeng without suspicion when I was young, and the time when he was successful and led the Kuangyi Gang, and then thinking of the tragic situation of being chased by his sister and having his fingers cut off, he couldn't help feeling sad.
When he arrived in Yangzhou, he was not in a hurry to go to the headquarters of the Kuang Yi Gang in Hangzhou. Instead, he rented a courtyard, dressed up as an old man, and first inquired about the movements of the Kuang Yi Gang in some surrounding areas. On this day, he went to Qiyun Tower to drink and relax, sitting alone by the window, thinking about these past events, and thinking about Cao Shujian's death from poisoning, the incomplete letter he took out of his arms before dying, the mysterious guest who rescued and reminded him along the way, the unknown origin of the man in white, the loss of letters and books, and the strange internal force in Lin Jianlan's meridians. He was puzzled by all these. Although he saw the grass growing outside the building and the flowers blooming, he was confused and wandered in the sky for a while. Just now, the three brothers and sisters quarreled for a while, and Lin Longqing came back to his senses. With a quick look, he knew that these three people were also children of famous schools. They were new to the world, and their hearts were flamboyant and they didn't know how to restrain themselves. If it were three years ago, Lin Longqing would definitely teach them a lesson, but firstly, Lin Longqing has been cultivating himself these years and doesn't care much about these things. Secondly, he doesn't want his old friends to know him, and now he doesn't want to cause any more trouble. He thought to himself: "Lin Longqing, Lin Longqing, when you were young and just started to venture into the world, weren't you also full of ambition and didn't take anyone seriously?" Having made up his mind, he didn't say anything, but just smiled.
Seeing that the old man was not afraid and did not speak, the fair-faced young man was angry. He felt that the old man's smile seemed to be full of ridicule, which was very hateful. So he did not ask, "Hmph" , took the chair opposite Lin Longqing and put it heavily on the ground, and then sat down. The girl said anxiously: "Second brother, this old man has not agreed to share the table! You... Before she finished speaking, she heard a "Kala La" sound. Before she could react, the four legs of the chair had broken, and the second brother had already sat on the ground, looking extremely embarrassed. Lin Longqing still did not speak, but gently picked up a peanut with two fingers, put it in his mouth, and closed his eyes to chew.
The young girl realized that the old man seemed different from ordinary people, so she smiled and said to Lin Longqing: "Uncle, he just sat for a while, why are you angry? Even if you are angry, why do you take it out on the chair? I apologize to you!" The voice was extremely coquettish, as if a little girl was acting coquettishly with her father, or a girl whispering softly to her lover. Lin Longqing glanced at the girl, but saw that the girl's eyes looked at him pitifully, which was somewhat like Lin Jianlan's eyes. He couldn't help but tremble in his heart, and looked at the girl carefully, and said with all his strength: "Put away your soul transfer technique, you are not yet good at it! The two beauties of the Nanhai Li family specialize in these little things, which branch are you from?"
The young girl blushed when Lin Longqing revealed her martial arts skills. She stopped practicing and thought to herself, "How does this old man know my background? His actions don't seem to be bad for me. It's just that my second senior brother was rude and offended him, so he should teach him a lesson." She thought carefully and bowed to Lin Longqing and said, "My surname is Lu Man, my mother's name is Li Meijiang, this is my eldest senior brother Ma Wang, and this is my second senior brother Bai Zongping. We didn't know that you are my mother's old friend, so we may have offended you in our words and actions. Please don't mind it, senior."
Lin Longqing said slowly: "You think in your heart that my second senior brother behaved rudely and tried to force the table together without other people's consent, so this old man taught him a lesson, right? Humph, when your second senior brother saw that I ignored him, he thought that I looked down on him and got angry, so he took advantage of the momentum of sitting on the chair to throw the Taiyin needle at me from under the table. If I were an ordinary old man with a stubborn temper, wouldn't I have died unclearly today? Is this how you, the Li family, teach your disciples?" After saying that, he took out his left hand from under the table and stretched it out, revealing several Taiyin needles that were glowing.
Lu Man said with shame and anger: "I will report this to mother when I get back and severely punish my second senior brother. I have disturbed your drinking mood, so I will pay for today's wine." She smiled charmingly and said: "The broken chair you broke is also our fault!"
Lin Longqing sighed, "Hey, Li Meijiang is lucky to have such a well-behaved and cute daughter like you. Why worry about the Nanhai lineage not making a name for themselves in the martial arts world in the future? I won't bother with you younger generations. I spared your second senior brother because of your face, not your mother's!" But he sighed in his heart, "When I first entered the martial arts world, the sisters Li Meijiang and Li Meihai of the Nanhai School were very popular. Many martial arts disciples surrounded them like bees and butterflies, hoping to get the favor of their elder sister. I was one of them. If they looked back and smiled, I would be so happy that I couldn't sleep all night. I didn't expect to see Li Meijiang's daughter so big today. Alas, the past is gone and it's hard to catch up!"
Lu Man blushed, and she and Qin Wang helped Bai Zongping up. Just as they were about to leave, they heard a sinister voice outside the private room saying, "She was lucky enough to have a good daughter, so they asked you to forgive her. But you are not so lucky, and no one will forgive you!"
This voice was filled with a chill that chilled people's hearts. Lin Longqing was not surprised by the voice. He sat calmly and said with a smile, "My dear niece, please sit down with the two brothers. I still want to ask about your mother's recent situation!"
Lu Man secretly wondered in her heart: "This old senior looks and speaks like my mother's elder, but why is he calling me 'niece' incoherently?" She listened again, and there was a "knock knock" sound slowly approaching the elegant hall. She had no time to think about it. The wooden door of the elegant hall made a "clattering" sound and broke into pieces. It turned out that a thin old man was standing with a cane and another slightly fat old man. When the two saw Lin Longqing, they said angrily: "My dear, your affair has been exposed!"
Lu Man and the other two looked back at Lin Longqing, only to see him sitting there leisurely. He said, "You two are unfamiliar to me, but I don't know..."
The thin old man said, "Don't play dumb with me! You robbed Xinjiazhuang of 70,000 to 80,000 taels of silver in Xuzhou. I will not be a human being if I don't avenge the shame of that night!"
Lin Longqing said, "I didn't commit this crime. Even if I did, Xinjiazhuang has been bullying the people in the village for more than ten years. Anyone can borrow some money to spend. Why do you two think it was me? Speaking of which, there are two dogs in the Xin family who always follow me. Now, I don't know what power these two dogs have, but they actually followed me to Yangzhou!"
The two old men were the retainers of Xinjiazhuang in Xuzhou. The owner of Xinjiazhuang was originally a state official. He made a fortune while in office. It is said that he had established a relationship with the noble relatives of the Wu family. When he returned to his hometown, he continued to act arrogantly, but no one dared to stop him. Even so, he was afraid of retaliation, so he invited these two people to be guests in the manor. They were called guests, but in fact they were guarding the house. That day, Lin Longqing went to Xinjiazhuang and saw that the people around Xinjiazhuang were complaining bitterly. In the past, he would not bother to care about these trivial matters, but since he had lived with Wang Po's family in Liaodong for more than three years, he felt that the farmers were working hard. That night, he sneaked into Xinjiazhuang and robbed a group of people, but he did not touch a penny and gave all the money to the people.
They are also famous in the martial arts world. The skinny old man is known as "Ji Zhang Feng" Ding Lei. He holds a carved-head stick and can spit out hidden weapons by pressing the trigger on the carved head. The slightly fat old man is his younger brother "Slow Shangliang" Ding Shui. He holds a weapon like a scale bar with a weight hanging at one end. There are not many such strange weapons in the martial arts world. Ding Shui is very slow-tempered, but actually he is the most vicious.
The two never fight alone. Ding Lei is a master of stick skills, while Ding Shui is insidious and vicious. Many martial artists have suffered from them. They suddenly disappeared a few years ago. It turned out that the two wanted to practice a set of martial arts together. They happened to meet Xinjiazhuang recruiting martial artists, so they hid in Xinjiazhuang to practice hard. Lin Longqing robbed the manor at night and fought with the two. Although his two thumbs were cut off by Lin Hongfeng, his kung fu was still there. He was angry that the Ding brothers helped the evil, so he taught them a lesson. The Ding brothers were also famous figures in the martial arts world. How could they endure this great humiliation? Recovering the silver was secondary, so they followed Lin Longqing all the way to Yangzhou.
