Volume 1 Chapter 42: A sudden storm with thunder and rain, a beautiful and beautiful flower that seems familiar
Lin Jianlan was afraid that the two would attack and endanger the guests in the room opposite, so he was about to open the door to go out, but he heard two screams of "Ouch" and "Ouch". The two were kicked out of the door and rolled on the ground for several times before they stopped.
Lin Jianlan was so surprised at this moment that he did not care to hide his figure. He stood blankly at the door of his room. He looked across and saw a young woman with long black hair draped over her shoulders. She wore a yellow shirt casually on her body, and a water-red jacket underneath. She had a slender and graceful figure, leaning against the door, holding a long sword in her hand, revealing a part of her pink arms, which were even more crystal clear and round in the moonlight, like snow lotus roots.
The woman looked up and saw Lin Jianlan staring at her in a daze. Her eyes sparkled and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly, showing her teeth in a smile. She looked gorgeous and playful, and said, "Little brother, you are so cunning. Are you hiding behind the door to watch the fun?"
The words sounded as crisp as a silver bell, but sounded soft and pleasant to the ears. When Lin Jianlan heard her question, his face turned red and hesitantly said, "My dear, I heard these two people had malicious intentions in the house, so I was secretly on guard behind the door. I wanted to go out and teach them a lesson just now, but I didn't expect you to be so skilled. It was a waste of my time." By the end of his words, his face had returned to normal, not so embarrassed, and his words were much more coherent.
Seeing that he looked serious and spoke very sincerely, the woman covered her mouth with her hands and smiled, but she was very charming and said, "How old are you? I think you are only fifteen or sixteen years old. Why do you follow those gangsters and pretend to be adults when you meet people and call them "girl" and "girl"?"
Since Lin Jianlan came to Jiangnan, he had only met one girl, Yin Yin, who was also very cold to him. He had been in the gang for a year and had not spoken a few words to her. Now, when he heard this girl teasing him, he suddenly lost his mind and didn't know how to respond.
The woman saw that his face was red again, and she looked him up and down and said, "If I didn't have any martial arts skills, would you save me with this stick?"
Lin Jianlan heard her question and replied, "I have a sword in my house, and I was afraid of hurting their lives, so I found a stick."
The woman was stunned for a moment, and muttered softly, "You are kind-hearted." But her hands were not idle. She tied the couple tightly with ropes, then wiped the sweat from her forehead with her arm and said, "What's your name? I am familiar with the disciples of your age from various sects, so why haven't I seen you before?"
Lin Jianlan shook his head and said, "Young lady... I am not from any sect. I just came out to try to travel the world on my own. Um... if I can't call you young lady, what should I call you?"
The woman saw him looking up and asking with a serious look in her eyes, so she couldn't help but tease him, "You must be younger than me, so just call me sister!"
Lin Jianlan said "Oh", nodded, and said seriously: "My surname is Lin and my name is Jianlan. May I ask your name, sister?"
Seeing that he took the joke seriously, the woman looked a little surprised, and immediately smiled at Lin Jianlan, "Oh, you took it seriously! In that case, I can't let you call me sister for nothing. My name is Lu Man. Oh, by the way, come with me!" After that, she took Lin Jianlan's hand and ran to the next room in a hurry. When she got to the door, she banged on it and shouted, "Second Brother! Second Brother!"
The door creaked open and a man walked out. Lu Man saw him and said, "Second Senior Brother, come out quickly! You are such a good sleeper that you didn't hear the loud noise outside!" That man was Lu Man's senior brother Bai Zongping. He was woken up from his deep sleep and was yawning. Suddenly, he saw Lu Man in disheveled clothes, holding a young boy's hand. He opened his eyes , feeling jealous and unhappy, but he just had a green face and said lazily, "Junior Sister, what's the matter? Who is this kid?"
Lu Man smiled and said, "What kid? He's not a kid anymore. I recognized him as my brother. If it weren't for him, you wouldn't even know that I, your junior sister, was sold. How are you going to explain this to my mother when you get back?" Then she turned around and said to Lin Jianlan, "This is my second senior brother, his last name is Bai and his given name is Zongping."
One of Lin Jianlan's hands was still held by Lu Man, so he couldn't clasp his hands. He could only smile and say to Bai Zongping, "Hello, Mr. Bai. I'm honored."
Bai Zongping had just fully come to his senses. Seeing that Lin Jianlan was only a teenager of fifteen or sixteen, he didn't know why he was jealous. He smiled and asked Lu Man with concern, "What's wrong? What happened?"
Lu Man just told Bai Zongping what happened just now, and he chuckled: "How can these two people be my opponent? I'd better let my little heart jump out for you." Then he said hatefully: "What's the use of this? It can't compare to the prestige of my senior brother in front of others."
Seeing that his tone and expression were extremely frivolous, Lin Jianlan knew in his heart that he and Lu Man had an unusual relationship. Although Lu Man didn't care, he felt a little embarrassed, so he slowly pulled his wrist free. Lu Man lowered her head and glanced at him. Knowing that the young man had other thoughts in his mind, she didn't force him and gently let go of his hand. She said to the two of them, "Anyway, I can't sleep well. There's tea brewing in my room. Let's go and chat for a while." But she dragged her feet and refused to walk faster. She deliberately lagged behind and said softly to Bai Zongping, "Second Brother, I know you are unhappy that mother sent Senior Brother to Taihu Lake this time. But we can't be less polite." Bai Zongping said: "Huh, Master's wife is biased on purpose. Am I not as good as the eldest brother in martial arts?" Lu Man said with a smile: "Second brother, if you say that again, I am guilty. I begged mother to let you accompany me to Luoyang. If I had known..." Bai Zongping said anxiously: "Good sister, I don't mean that. Let that stupid piece of wood go to Taihu Lake by himself. As long as you accompany me, I..." Lu Man laughed and said: "Second brother, why don't you come into the house!" After that, she turned around and floated into the house.
Lin Jianlan was in front, and the two did not deliberately cover up their voices, so he could hear everything clearly. He thought, "It turns out that among the three brothers and sisters, the eldest brother was sent to Taihu Lake. Since the day when the Yukou Division came to the headquarters to provoke, the various sects in the martial arts world have made an agreement to communicate and help each other. They originally wanted to wait for Master Yun of Shushan to come down the mountain to preside over the joint Taihu righteous army, so that the Yukou Division would not dare to offend the people in the martial arts world lightly. I didn't expect that they would gather in Taihu Lake now. The action is really very fast. Although Bai Zongping was very jealous of the eldest brother for having such a good opportunity to show his face, he was completely convinced by what this sister said, as if he was willing to do it."
As soon as they entered the house, they smelled the fragrant tea. Lu Man brought the teacup to Lin Jianlan and said with a smile, "Brother, try it. This is the tea I brought from home."
Lin Jianlan saw Lu Man's face blooming like a flower in the mist in the mist, and her eyes were as dark as night in the water vapor, staring at him. He quickly lowered his head, took the teacup, smelled it, and took a sip. Then he raised his head, met Lu Man's eyes, smiled and asked, "How is it?"
Lin Jianlan took another sip and said, "Sister Man, this tea is different from the ones I've had before. The tea leaves I've had before were all bitter with a hint of fragrance, but this one doesn't taste bitter at all. Instead, it has a sweet floral aroma."
Lu Man tilted her head and said, "Sister Man, this name sounds very nice. You are right. This is a special tea produced in our hometown. It is called Oolong Tea, but mine is different. I added orchid and osmanthus to it. I call it Orchid Osmanthus Tea."
Lin Jianlan took another sip, and the sweet fragrance was refreshing. He was not in the mood to sleep. At this moment, there was thunder and heavy rain outside. After drinking this good tea, his eyes were bright and energetic under the candlelight. Lu Man frowned and thought for a while, then said slowly: "This deserted village and wild inn, why is my brother here?"
Lin Jianlan wanted to say that he got lost after coming down from Baiyun Temple, but he changed his words when the words came to his lips: "I originally booked a room at an inn in Sanyuan City, and then went out to wander around. I don't know how I walked out of the city. I only vaguely remember that I walked north to Sanyuan, but I walked here."
Lu Man smiled slightly, pulled out a hairpin from her long hair, and casually plucked the candle wick without saying anything. A few lightning flashes came down, and her face was as white as snow. Bai Zongping paced a few steps, but he couldn't help but said: "My brother, we met by chance. What my sister said about sister and brother was just a joke. Don't take it seriously. If someone asks you if you have seen us, you can't tell the truth, otherwise our whole sect will make things difficult for you."
Lin Jianlan was about to answer when he saw Lu Man randomly poking at the candle tears and said, "Hey, second brother, why are you so impatient? You scared him. My brother looks like an honest man. He will definitely not tell anyone, right?" After saying that, she raised her eyes to look at Lin Jianlan with a slight smile on her lips. Although she was asking questions, her expression was quite confident.
Lin Jianlan was stunned for a moment and asked, "Did Sister Man meet an enemy?"
Lu Man smiled and said, "Maybe they can be considered enemies, but we didn't meet them. We provoked them ourselves."
Bai Zongping hurriedly said: "Junior sister, don't tell him. We don't know his background yet. If he sells us out, wouldn't it be bad? In my opinion, it's better..."
Lu Man said with a sullen look on her face: "Second Senior Brother is still so indiscriminate and wants to attack. I just abandoned my long sword and used a wooden stick instead, which shows that I am a kind-hearted person. How come you have forgotten what happened in Qiyun Tower in Yangzhou?"
Bai Zongping was scolded, but he didn't dare to say anything back. He just muttered a few words with an unhappy look on his face and sat aside. Lin Jianlan said hurriedly: "Brother Bai is also thinking about Sister Man, and what he said is not unreasonable." He didn't know that Bai Zongping was not very kind-hearted. If Lu Man hadn't stopped him, he would have wanted to kill him. He looked up and saw that it was pitch black outside. It was still raining heavily. He could vaguely hear the couple praying and wailing in the rain. He stood up and said: "Sister Man, Brother Bai, it is fate that we met here. No matter what, if someone asks, I will not tell you that I have seen you two here. Is this okay?"
Lu Man smiled and said, "I have never doubted my brother. In this case, we still have to travel tomorrow. Let's go out and see how the couple is doing, and then we can rest." The three walked out of the room and saw the two people suffering from the rain in the courtyard. Although it was midsummer, they were shivering under the heavy rain and leaning against each other. Lin Jianlan stood under the eaves and said sternly, "You two fell into our hands, what else do you have to say? This black shop has harmed countless passers-by. Today, you will have to pay with your lives!" The waiter nodded like pounding garlic and said, "Grandpa, please spare our lives! My husband and I have been doing business here for a short time. Who knew that the land in this village was taken away by some dignitaries, and most of the people fled. Business became more and more difficult to do, so we made up our minds to make a deal today. I didn't expect to meet you for the first time. We haven't killed a single life!" After that, he hugged Lu Man's legs and said, "Buddha Grandma, please have mercy on us and spare our two cheap lives. We will worship your statue and burn incense day and night..."
Seeing him getting too wordy and talking without thinking, Lu Man couldn't help but chuckle and said, "Brother, I think they dare not tell the truth, let them go." Lin Jianlan frowned and said, "Can they just seize the land of ordinary people?" The waiter hurriedly said, "I dare not lie. Of course they didn't seize it by force. They said they bought it with silver, but they only gave a few coins to ordinary people for dozens of acres of land. Isn't that the same as seizure?"
Lin Jianlan asked, "Then you can't just not sell it?" The waiter laughed and said, "My lord, you are not a local, are you? If you don't sell it, it will be even worse. I will accuse you of some crime and make your family destroyed overnight."
Lin Jianlan shook his head and sighed, "In that case, I will believe you." Lu Man asked the waiter, "What's your name?" The waiter hurriedly said, "My humble name is Yu Sigou." Lu Man laughed again, took out a few ingots of silver from her waist and said, "What a strange name, you can accept this silver." Her face turned cold again and she said, "Live a serious life in the future, and don't plan to harm others. If I find out, you will be in trouble!" After that, she untied the ropes of the two men.
The two took the silver and thanked her profusely, saying, "Female Bodhisattva, we will never dare to harm anyone again. We had to ask many people for help and spent money to buy the incense. The first time we used it, we were scared to death. If we meet a master like you who looks delicate but is so hidden again, and if she is not as kind as you, wouldn't our lives be spared in vain?"
Lu Man waved her hand and said, "Don't keep talking, it gives me a headache. I have to remind you that if someone asks you if you have seen the three of us, you can't say yes, otherwise it won't be as simple as getting wet in the rain. Get down!"
The two of them bowed their bodies and swore something before walking out of the door. Lu Man turned around and said, "Brother, go back to your room and rest. I'll take my brother over." After that, she walked towards Lin Jianlan's room opposite. She saw that the room was just as Lin Jianlan said. The long sword that had not been used was placed on the table. Judging from the scabbard, it looked like a famous weapon.
