Volume 2 Chapter 22: Changes and Poisons
Lin Jianlan thought for a while and said, "A Xiu, there is no need to do this. I will wait for Abbot Tanzong to come back and then go to Shaolin Temple in person to inform him. Let's get on our way. Little Master, thank you very much for taking care of us these two days." After that, he bowed eleven times to Wu Changhe, sat on the shaft of the cart, whipped the horse and drove away.
Wan Xiu looked back and saw the gate of Ci'en Temple in the rear window of the carriage getting smaller and smaller through the veil. However, her hand touched something. It was the poetry collection that Lin Jianlan had just handed to her. It was the poetry collection that she loved so much.
Watching the carriage going away, Wu Chang sighed softly, with a look of compassion on his face. He waved the broom in his hand a few times, and the bamboo branches on the broom broke into pieces and fell down. Only a shining long sword was left in his hand. He quickly chased after the carriage. His figure was extremely swift, and he was completely different from the timid and stupid novice monk in the past.
Although he promised to take Wan Xiu to Baiyun Temple, Lin Jianlan was not completely sure that Duanmu'er would agree. In addition, a lot of unexpected events had happened recently. Even though he was still chatting and laughing with Wan Xiu along the way, he felt extremely heavy-hearted. He still felt dizzy and had no energy to do anything.
Lin Jianlan did not pass through Chang'an City again, but only asked along the way to the northeast. He walked slowly, feeling a little regretful in his heart. Abbot Tanzong had a high status and often had contacts in the palace. He should ask him if he knew the origin of the second-in-command of the Yukou Division. Unfortunately, he was only concerned with inquiring about his life experience and forgot the tragic deaths of Nian Yongshou and Lei Kan.
Looking up, he suddenly saw that the sky was dark, and a pale white moon appeared in the sky. The surroundings were very desolate, and he had missed his place of residence without realizing it. It seemed that he could not find an inn or a house to stay. Lin Jianlan drove the carriage into the woods, found an open space to stop, opened the curtain and said, "A Xiu, I'm afraid we will have to sleep outdoors tonight."
The evening breeze was very cool at this time. Lin Jianlan gathered some dead branches and lit them. He took out a blanket from under the seat and spread it on the ground, then helped Wan Xiu out of the car.
Suddenly, a large flock of birds chirped into the forest, and the noise made the forest even quieter. Wan Xiu took down the cover, took a deep breath, turned around and said with a smile: "Mr. Lin, if it weren't for you, I'm afraid I would never know what it feels like to sleep outdoors."
Lin Jianlan had promised Madam Wan that he would take good care of Wan Xiu, so he was distracted along the way and missed the accommodation. He saw Wan Xiu's happy expression in the firelight, his eyes fixed on the jumping flames, a little excited, like a child. He swallowed back all the apologies in his heart, remembered that he still had some dry food and meat, and got up and walked towards the carriage.
The horse suddenly neighed loudly, and its four hooves kept digging at the ground. He felt a gust of wind behind his ears, and a dark shadow came down from the treetop, and a long sword shining in the moonlight stabbed straight at Lin Jianlan.
Wan Xiu screamed in shock and saw Lin Jianlan's body leaning to the side. Although the sword pierced into the air, its momentum was so strong that the sword shadow was almost invisible. Only a ball of white light was seen approaching Lin Jianlan, and Lin Jianlan looked very embarrassed.
Since Wan Xiu met him in Chang'an, she has seen him climb in and out of the high courtyard wall several times, effortlessly, with a very clever and graceful posture. But now he is in such a tight spot. It should be that the person who attacked him is so skilled in martial arts that Lin Jianlan could not resist.
Lin Jianlan dodged repeatedly, but he was extremely panicked. It was not difficult for him to avoid this sudden attack, but at this moment he could not use any internal strength, could not perform the Dongliuyun Step, and had nothing to defend himself with. After a few moves, he was at a loss. He couldn't help but think in his heart: "When I was a child, I knew nothing but could defend against Ding Lei and Ding Shui together with Yin Yin. Now that I have learned so much, my mind is blank and I am restricted."
But he heard Wan Xiu calling "Master Lin" beside him. He was distracted for a moment and his clothes were cut by the man's sword. He didn't know what happened to Wan Xiu. He just dodged and looked at Wan Xiu, but saw her struggling to get up, lying on the carriage, holding her sword in her hand, and throwing it at him with all her strength.
With the long sword in hand, Lin Jianlan felt more confident. He turned sideways and raised the sword, using the force to deflect the opponent's long sword's downward force.
Although he didn't know why he had no internal strength, Lin Jianlan's face remained expressionless. He took a breath and used the moonlight to see the man opposite him. He was a little surprised and asked, "Master Wu Chang?"
Wu Chang re-formed the sword formula without answering. He used the "Sword Pointing to the South Mountain" move to stab towards Lin Jianlan's chest. Thinking of the previous move, Lin Jianlan suddenly felt that this monk was trying to take his life with every move, but he was powerless to fight back. Fighting hard was obviously a bad idea, but always dodging and parrying was not a solution either. He thought about it and changed his move, which was the Lingfeng Sword Technique, and twisted the sword in the opponent's hand, directly forcing it to the wrist.
When Wu Changchu attacked, he saw him rolling and crawling, and thought that his martial arts skills and internal strength were mediocre, and he would not be able to withstand a few moves from him. He was secretly happy to think that he could do the job cleanly and neatly by himself. Unexpectedly, Lin Jianlan was greatly encouraged after taking the sword. After a few moves, although he still mainly dodged, he often counterattacked with light moves , which made him a little anxious.
The five-word formula of "twist", "unload", "entangle", "shock" and "bounce" in Lingfeng swordsmanship were all evolved from Yue Lingfeng's stick techniques, especially the two words "shock" and "bounce", which were originally to use the characteristics of the long stick to borrow the opponent's strength to parry and then counterattack. Lin Longqing's sword was originally a famous weapon with a soft and tough blade. Lin Jianlan used these two words to the extreme when using it, and actually forced Wu Chang to retreat repeatedly.
However, the two had never had a real confrontation. The counterattack power of Lingfeng Sword Technique was weak, and Wuchang's moves were all transformed by the five-word formula. At this moment, both of them had the same thought in their minds: when would this fight end.
Although Wu Chang was shocked, Lin Jianlan was also uncomfortable. If he continued to fight like this, he could only barely hold on and there was no hope of winning.
After more than a hundred moves, Lin Jianlan suddenly felt that the pressure was gradually easing, and his momentum of rebounding was getting weaker and weaker. It seemed that the opponent's strength was slightly insufficient. He glanced over and saw that Wu Chang did not show any signs of fatigue, but his expression did not seem as calm as before.
After a while, Wu Chang drew his sword without any internal force at all. The two of them fought back and forth in the moonlight like a pair of butterflies. From time to time, the crisp sound of weapons colliding could be heard. To outsiders, it would seem that their moves were exquisite, but in fact, this fight was just a show of fancy moves.
The two men were both in agony. After exchanging moves, they retracted their swords and leaped back. However, Lin Jianlan did not pursue them. They stared at each other from a few feet away. After a long while, Wu Changfang squeezed out a sentence with hatred: "Despicable, you actually used poison to attack me!"
After hearing this, Lin Jianlan didn't know whether to laugh or cry, thinking: "I don't know who has ambushed me." He withdrew his sword. At this moment, he knew that Wu Chang was no longer a threat. He put his mind at ease and ignored him. He walked to Wan Xiu. Wan Xiu was still lying on the car, only paying attention to Lin Jianlan's fight. At this moment, he paused for a moment, and immediately trembled all over, his legs shook, and he could hardly stand.
Lin Jianlan stepped forward to support Wan Xiu, and helped her sit down on the blanket. Seeing that Wu Chang was still staring at him, he felt a little strange that he didn't leave quickly after his assassination attempt failed, but was still lingering here. He stood up and asked, "Master Wu Chang, I didn't offend anyone in the temple, why did you chase me here?"
Wu Chang put his palms together and said, "I am doing this for the Buddha. If you are obsessed with the past, you deserve to be killed!"
Lin Jianlan said, "So you heard everything. I was looking for my father's whereabouts. What does it have to do with you, a monk? You are obsessed with making people in the mortal world cut off their gratitude. Little Master, isn't this also an obsession?"
Wu Chang was about to retort when he heard someone in the air say, "Lu Lian, why bother with him?"
In an instant, two figures, one black and one white, gracefully fell down with the same posture, and the time they landed was exactly the same, as if the black figure was the shadow of the white figure.
Lin Jianlan looked at him intently, but was surprised. The man in white was wearing brocade with some gossip patterns on it. It was a Taoist robe, but the collar and cuffs were embroidered with golden phoenix patterns, which were extremely gorgeous. His slender fingers gently grasped a whisk, and the handle was inlaid with several jewels. Although it was dark, it was still radiant. He looked quite handsome, but a little angry. After a few years, Lin Jianlan was still impressed by this man. It was Yun Mengzhen from the Eastern Capital Yukou Division.
But the man in black said, "Master Yun, this is not Lu Lian's fault. When I was watching the fight, I saw that his strength was gradually weakening, which was not normal. I'm afraid he was poisoned and couldn't use his internal strength."
The voice was so soft and pleasant that Lin Jianlan could not help but look at the man. He was dressed in black and looked a little thinner than Yun Mengzhen's tall and majestic figure. He had a silver ribbon tied around his waist and a silver peony at the corner of his clothes, swaying in the wind, looking very vivid. His face was covered with a veil, leaving only a pair of eyes looking at Lin Jianlan.
Yun Mengzhen was already considered a first-rate figure, but the man standing next to him was no less impressive. He had sword-like eyebrows and a calm gaze like a deep pool. There was only a slightly deep vertical wrinkle between his eyebrows, which slightly revealed his vicissitudes of life and added a bit of charm.
Although Lin Jianlan didn't know who this person was, he felt that his eyes were familiar. Since he was working alongside the chief of the Yukou Division, he must be of a high status. On that day, no leading figures from the Yukou Division were seen chasing him because of the incident with the golden-crowned clam, but now he had offended such a big shot for some reason. Lin Jianlan was confused at this moment and had no time to worry about his situation.
Yun Mengzhen lightly rebuked: "It's useless. Such a character actually needs two of us to come forward."
Wu Chang looked very frightened, and lowered his head and said, "I am useless."
Yun Mengzhen didn't look at him, but only sized up Lin Jianlan and said, "It's a huge dereliction of duty to let Dazhi meet others. You know the rules of the company, so let's deal with these two first."
Wu Chang took several steps back and said sadly, "I have made no mistakes in the past ten years. In the first few years, I was able to deal with all the people who followed and rescued me. I have been living a life of hardship year after year. Even if I have no merits, I have worked hard. It's just that this time..."
But the man in black scolded, "Shut up, you're talking too much!" Lin Jianlan thought, "From what Yun Mengzhen said, his real name is Lu Lian. In order to monitor Elder Dazhi, he has been a fake monk for more than ten years. Anyone who got close to Elder Dazhi has been dealt with by him. It seems that the Yukou Division punishes those who fail very severely, so Lu Lian is so scared."
The man in black spoke in a slower tone and said, "Although there have been no incidents in recent years, we can't relax. Isn't this time enough? Fortunately, you realized that the situation might not be under your control alone, and you sent a message in time. Otherwise, if things got out of hand, the entire Yukou Division would not be able to cope with it." After that, he turned around and said, "Master Yun, you don't need to deal with such a small character yourself." He drew out a long sword from his waist and slowly approached Lin Jianlan.
The three of them were talking here, as if they didn't see Lin Jianlan, because with Yun Mengzhen and the black-clothed man's martial arts, it would be easy to kill him. Lin Jianlan was complaining in his heart. He had secretly tried several times, but it was like a drop in the ocean. His internal strength disappeared completely. Even on ordinary days, he was no match for the two of them with his martial arts, let alone today? He could only hold the sword tightly and stare at the black-clothed man, not daring to move.
The man in black saw that he looked quite nervous, with a hint of smile in his eyes. Although he was only a few steps away from Lin Jianlan, Lin Jianlan felt that this process was extremely long. The night breeze was cool, but sweat was already oozing from his forehead. Sword shadows were intertwined in his eyes, so he had to raise his sword. He still used the "bounce" technique in the Lingfeng sword technique, but he felt the opponent's internal force rolling over him, as if he knew what Lin Jianlan was thinking. He added some rebound force to Lin Jianlan's sword and bounced back again. After a "clang" sound, the two swords separated. Lin Jianlan's blood was already surging, and the long sword in his hand was still shaking. He knew that those moves of using force to unload force were completely useless.
Lin Jianlan saw that the black-clothed man's sword moves were peaceful and moderate, steady but not without sharpness. If the swords collided, he would be the only one to suffer. Since Lingfeng sword technique evolved from stick technique, it often had to entangle and collide with the opponent's weapon. Thinking of this, Lin Jianlan turned his sword and switched to Liuyun sword technique.
The man in black saw that he suddenly changed his sword technique, which became light and flowing. He only dodged around his sword and did not confront him head-on. A smile suddenly appeared in his eyes.
Lin Jianlan was already exhausted. He knew that this person was interested in his moves, so he did not use his killing moves, but just teased him. If he continued like this, he would be killed here, and Wan Xiu would be implicated too. He gritted his teeth, twisted his body to avoid the attack, held the sword with both hands, and attacked Yun Mengzhen with all his strength like a flying arrow. His moves were fierce and experienced, and he stabbed, slashed, hacked, and swept as if he was fighting for his life.
Yun Mengzhen rarely saw the man in black showing his martial arts. He was just thinking about it at the moment, but he didn't expect Lin Jianlan to suddenly change his moves and attack him. He was caught off guard and retreated several steps. The moves became more and more powerful and fierce. Lin Jianlan's whole body was exposed and he was completely unprepared, as if he was fighting with someone for a life-and-death battle.
Yun Mengzhen had no choice but to draw out his whisk. After fighting a few moves, he felt that the young man's attack was fast and fierce, and he could not defend himself easily. His face turned red and white. He felt that the man in black could handle it well, but he was forced to use weapons by this insignificant young man. It was a great shame and humiliation. He was extremely angry. Seeing that Lin Jianlan was attacking with another wave of powerful moves, his defense was exposed. Yun Mengzhen showed a trace of ruthlessness on his face. He pinched the tip of lowered his body, and the handle of the whisk swept towards Lin Jianlan's chest with a gust of wind.
