Qiu Che ran quickly in the forest carrying Lian Shenwei on his back, using his Qinggong skills to the extreme, and only his afterimage could be seen.

Over the years, he had thought about the scene of his reunion with Ximian more than once, but he never dreamed that they would meet in such a situation.

Near death.

He had never associated these two words with sleep.

And it looked like he was poisoned. He knew Ximian's temperament and strength, and he must have been accidentally tricked by someone and ended up like this.

Ximian just rescued the prince...so was it the group of assassins who were targeting the prince who poisoned him?

So cruel.

whoosh——!

There was a sudden sound of breaking air behind him, and Qiu Che dodged instantly, sensing danger. At the same time, a hand rushed to grab Lian Shenwei on his back.

Robbery?!

Qiu Che's eyes suddenly turned cold.

He flew up and kicked the tree next to him, then spun around and landed on the ground, saying coldly, "Who are you?!"

Ming Cang pulled out the long whip from her waist, and the whistle tightly clenched in her palm vibrated continuously. She glanced at her master who was breathing weakly on the back of the strange man, and her usually calm eyes were filled with anger and murderous intent.

Could it be that the master was defeated and seriously injured by this assassin? Where does this damn guy want to take the master? !

Ming Candle: "Hand him over."

Qiu Che looked at Ming Candle and became quietly alert.

Could this person be the assassin who poisoned Ximian? Was the antidote also in her possession? Such a sinister person snatched Ximian away, and there was no telling what cruel things he would do.

The two looked at each other, and both saw hostility in each other's eyes.

The battle is about to begin.

Qiu Che took advantage of the opportunity to untie the gray and white cloth strip from his sword. He didn't intend to draw his sword, but to tie the cloth strip around Lian Shenwei's waist, entwining it with himself, to prevent it from falling to the ground in case of a fall.

Lian Shenwei was unconscious, with his arms hanging down without any fixed support, and occasionally he would bump into the tree trunks as Qiu Che dodged.

Soon, purple marks from bumps appeared on the pale back of the hand.

Qiu Che didn't notice it. Considering the poison in Lian Shenwei's body, he didn't dare to take action. He hid while concentrating on snatching the antidote from the "assassin".

Ming Cang, who was always keeping an eye on his master, looked more and more unhappy, and his forehead was twitching.

The master is in poor health and is taken good care of by them on a daily basis. Even if he gets a bump or a cough, they will ask Mr. Feng Ke to come and take a look.

How dare this assassin treat his master like this!

It's simply courting death!

Ming Cang didn't want to hurt Lian Shenwei again, so he forced himself to stop: "What do you want me to do to let you go?!"

“……” Qiu Che paused, stunned.

Um?

master?

Three days later.

"Still no sign of the Regent?"

"Your Highness, no."

Ying Jingjue let out a long sigh, with deep marks between his brows.

It has been exactly three days, and we have searched everywhere around, but there is no sign of anyone. Not a single person, not a body either. It is as if the person has disappeared into thin air.

Xiao Zhizi hesitated and said, "Your Highness, tell me, will the Regent…"

"will not."

Ying Jingjue affirmed, "The fact that there is no news means that he is probably fine now. Even if we all die here, he will be fine."

Even a man as cunning as Shen Wei would not die in such a place, even if it was for the power and position he had worked so hard to obtain. His personal guards were also missing, and he should have been with him now, but he just didn't want them to find him.

After three days of delay, it will take some time to reach Jinling by water. I promised Master Ximian that I would go to Fudu Villa to offer sacrifices on his behalf on June 2nd. If I don't leave now, I'm afraid I won't be able to catch up.

He had arranged for his confidants to take his token by land and rush to Jinling and Yunnan, looking for Lian Shenwei with his portrait.

Any further delay here would only be a waste of time.

Ying Jingjue made up his mind: "Don't tell the truth in the letter to the capital. Write that the Regent and I are just acting separately, leaving half of the fleet here to wait for news, and the other half and I will go to Nanjing."

Xiao Zhizi: "I understand."

Jinling has always been prosperous. Here there are brothels where people can spend a fortune, wine, women, wealth, power, beauties who can conquer a country and playboys who indulge in pleasure.

There are countless ancient temples in the rain, quiet and peaceful, lonely knights walking alone in the night, fighting in the wind and clouds, righteousness and justice, young men drunk on white horses, and the dreams of the rivers and lakes of generations.

The drizzle in the south of the Yangtze River, the bustling chaos and the ubiquitous atmosphere of rivers and lakes make up the unique city of Jinling.

…

Jinling.

Drunk guest inn.

Lian Shenwei slowly opened his eyes.

My vision was blurry for a while, then slowly became clearer, and I felt a familiar pain in my meridians and right hand.

Lian Shenwei coughed a few times, and then he felt a suffocation in his lungs. He leaned over the bed and relaxed. This simple movement caused his meridians to spasm, and his whole body trembled slightly uncontrollably.

"master!"

Ming Cang pushed the door open with a bang, put the porridge in his hand on the table, walked over in two or three steps with a tense face, and helped him up.

Lian Shenwei closed his eyes and said in a hoarse voice: "...It's okay, close the window, it's very cold."

It was already June, the sun was shining brightly outside, and passers-by were all wearing thin clothes. However, the young man was still covered with a quilt, yet his body was as cool as jade.

"yes."

Ming Candle closed the window, feeling a little depressed. The master had never been so afraid of the cold before. Was it because he hadn't fully recovered this time?

"How is Jingjue?"

"His Royal Highness is fine. He left by sea a few days ago and is now in Jinling like the master."

Lian Shenwei paused: "Jinling?"

Ming Cang explained the whole story, including Feng Ke's pills, and finally said: "I met an old friend of yours. He found you first, and it was with his help that I was able to settle you down."

The master did not want to be exposed in front of the prince, and the situation at that time made it impossible to go back, so he had to come to Nanjing.

An old friend will appear in Jinling at this time.

Lian Shenwei was silent for a long time, "...What's his name?"

"Why not just ask me directly?" A cold voice sounded.

The black-clad swordsman stepped forward, his eyes fixed on the dazed pale young man lying on the bed.

"Rest and sleep."

…

[“Who is better than you?”

The drunken old Taoist slapped his thigh and glanced at the stern-looking young man with a bad look on his face.

"Of course it's Ximian. He's a true martial arts genius. I tell you, among your peers, if you can defeat him," the old Taoist pointed to the sky, "you'll be ranked first in the rankings soon."

The young Qiu Che clenched his sword tightly: "I will defeat him, where is he?"

The old Taoist pointed to Jinling.

So he went and searched for three whole months, and finally found Ximian on the Phoenix Terrace.

Phoenix Terrace has released a new fine wine called Qing Ye Candle. Only the winner of the competition can be the first to taste the wine.

He found his rest in the spring when the flowers were in bloom.

That man was lazily leaning under a tree at Phoenix Terrace, wearing a small half-mask, intoxicated in the flowers, with the famous Cangshan sword casually placed aside by him, and a green Dongxiao hanging from his waist.

He used his sword energy to wake the man up and issued a challenge.

Originally, I wanted to find a proper day to have a proper competition with this guy after he sobers up.

Unexpectedly, the half-drunk boy accepted his challenge with a smile, brushed off the petals stuck on his hair, drew his sword on the spot, picked up a flower at random with the tip of the sword, and the cold sword energy was immediately shaken away.

With just a few simple moves, Qiu Che was defeated.

Ximian said: "Your swordsmanship is very interesting, but it is too immature."

He rubbed his eyes sleepily after finishing his words, drank the remaining few sips of the night candle, tiptoed out of here, and went somewhere to hide away.

The young boy Qiu Che stood where he was.

For the first time, he clearly understood how huge the gap was between a genius and a person with ordinary talent.

Although they were about the same age, 14 or 15 years old, Ximian treated him like a kid.

That was their first competition, and Ximian didn't even ask his name, as if he had defeated an ordinary passerby.

For the next six months, he sought sleep challenges almost every day.

Ximian was interested in it at first, but later he became annoyed and finally went to hide in Feng's house.

It was not until the ranking battle of the Fengyun List two years ago that he broke through under great pressure, and his sword power reached a higher level, ranking second. He fought with Ximian, who was in the first place, for a hundred moves and remained undefeated, that he was finally noticed by him.

He half-knelt on the ground, the tip of his sword against the ground, and he could barely hold the hilt. He was shaking violently. He tried a few times, but he didn't even have the strength to stand up.

Ximian put away his sword, stretched out his hand to him, and said seriously: "Friend, what is your name?"

The young Qiu Che took a breath, shook off the blood on his hands, gritted his teeth, shook his hands, and said coldly: "Qiu Che."

"I will defeat you."

Ximian was startled for a moment, then smiled: "Okay."

Gradually, they became each other's only rivals among their peers. Their youthful vigor and ambition, and their friendship of mutual respect were all forged through fighting.

At that time, Feng Ke, he and Xi Mian traveled around the world freely.

Feng Ke is the heir of the Feng family, Xi Mian is the second son of Fudu Villa, and Qiu Che lives with his studious younger brother Qiu Cheng. His background is not as good as theirs.

But no one cares.

Qiu Che never took the initiative to learn about their family backgrounds, nor did he ever visit their homes.

To him, friends are friends.

However, Ximian took the initiative to bring his younger brother Qiu Cheng, who was studying in Jinling, to live at Fudu Villa. He smiled and told him that his elder sister became very bored after he left Fudu Villa, and Qiu Cheng moved in to help him make his sister happy.

Sometimes, when Ximian was in the mood, after a fight, he would play a tune or two on the Dongxiao.

On the eve of another competition, Ximian Yinhua received a letter. After reading the letter, his face turned pale and he hurriedly said, "I owe you a competition."

Just left.

After that, there was news of the massacre at Fudu Villa.

Ximian, with his hands covered in blood, came to him holding the body of his brother Qiu Cheng. His eyes were red and his look was empty.

"Fudu Villa, 237 bodies. Your brother... took my name."

"Qiu Che, I'm sorry, I owe you."

There are 236 more tombs in Fudu Villa. People don't know the relationship between Ximian and Fudu Villa. They only know that Ximian went crazy and hunted most of the martial arts world, and single-handedly killed Duiyue and forced him to escape from the world.

During that period, whenever the Cangshan Sword was mentioned, the conversation would be shrouded in a layer of cold and bloody color that would scare people to death.

Ten years later, Qiu Che never saw him again.]

Until now.

Qiu Che took out the tightly wrapped Cangshan Sword, untied the cloth strip, handed it over, and said slowly: "You said it yourself, a swordsman will never abandon his sword."

"Qiu Che."

The young man leaned against the bed and smiled weakly, "I am no longer a swordsman."

The owner of the Cangshan Sword died ten years ago.