Taiping Inn

Luzhou is close to Jiangnan, so it is inevitable that it has been tainted with many Jiangnan habits.

For the Jianghu, the biggest difference between the north and the south is that there are many forts in the north, and the word "fort" is often added to the end of the name, such as "Golden Eagle Fort", while there are many villas in the south, and the word "Villa" is often added to the end of the name, such as "Mingjian Villa".

Lingxiu Villa is located in Luzhou, and the architecture is more like a garden, so it is called a villa, not Lingxiu Fort.

For Li Xuandu and Hu Liang, two old Jianghu people, it is quite novel. The two of them have been in the Jianghu for a long time, but Li Xuandu became famous in the north of the Yangtze River when he was young, and he was in the capital when he was at his peak, which is considered the north. Hu Liang is even more needless to say, he has always been called by the wrong name but not the wrong nickname. Whether it is "Northwest Owl" or "Northwest Knife", it can be seen that Hu Liang has been active in the northwest for many years. If he had not come to help at the invitation of Li Xuandu this time, he would probably not appear in Luzhou.

Just as the three were waiting for the head of the manor, He Jin, in the main hall, a middle-aged man in a green shirt entered the main hall. The old steward who was accompanying him hurried forward and whispered something in his ear. Then the man in green shirt waved his hand and signaled the old steward to leave.

When the old steward left the main hall, the man in green shirt clasped his fists and said, "It turns out to be the Northwest Swordsman Hu. I am Yue Zuo, the second owner of Lingxiu Mountain Manor. I am honored."

The second owner looked about forty years old. His face was slightly yellow and his eyes were bright. He looked at everyone with a warm gaze, neither humble nor arrogant. He had a very good sense of proportion, which made people feel like being bathed in spring breeze.

Hu Liang stood up to return the greeting.

Then Yue Zuo and Li Xuandu exchanged greetings, and even Zhou Shuning, the little girl, was not left out.

Seeing Zhou Shuning return the greeting in a serious manner, Li Xuandu smiled and did not reveal the secret.

Although the second manor owner had never worn any weapons, and his palms were not covered with calluses like the third manor owner Wang Lie, he was a master with good cultivation, and he was probably even better than the third manor owner. It can be seen that no matter what the current situation of Lingxiu Villa is, its ancestors were indeed rich, and its foundation is deep, far beyond the comparison of those newly rising sects.

As the steward of the entire Lingxiu Villa, Yue Zuo was very good at dealing with people and dealing with people. At this time, he was respectfully sitting at the end and talking about some anecdotes of the rivers and lakes, which made the atmosphere not dull. While talking, it was inevitable to talk about Lingxiu Villa, especially the main hall where they were at this time, which had received many big figures. Among the officials, there were three Luzhou governors, two provincial inspectors, and one commander. As for prefects, judges, and county magistrates, there were countless. Unfortunately, when the Wei court established the positions of governor and governor, the villa had already declined, and no governor or governor came to visit the villa.

As for the characters in the martial arts world, there are also many visitors from all over the world, but the most important one is the leader of a certain Taiping Sect. When he returned to Taiping Mountain from Jingzhou, he passed by Jiuhe Mansion and visited the villa.

If it were other sects, they would inevitably exaggerate a little. Saying that the leader of the Taiping Sect actually visited the villa specifically would inevitably lose the truth and make people doubt its authenticity, but Yue Zuo never exaggerated at all. He told it frankly, which made people believe it.

On the way, Hu Liang once asked about the plaque of the villa. Yue Zuo knew everything. The reason why he did not mention this famous minister whose spirit tablet was entered into the Xianliang Temple after his death was because Xu Shisong had already written to Emperor Shizong to ask for his remains, resigned from his official position, and returned to his hometown. On the way back home, he passed by Lingxiu Mountain and visited the villa. Then, under the invitation of the owner of the villa at that time, he left the calligraphy.

This important official of the Central Government is also known as "Xu Tieshou". The first reason is that he is the world's leading master of gold and stone. It is well known that Xu Shisong can carve gold and stone seals with his palms alone. He is good at regular script, which is magnificent and plump, and the outlines are very heavy, which can be called the best in the world. The second reason is that he is also a real master. He once encountered an assassin while patrolling the border on behalf of the emperor. With just a pair of flesh palms, he shattered more than ten 10,000-jin boulders falling from the sky. This made the world know that this old man who seemed to be powerless was actually a first-class master. So Yue Zuo didn't know whether to regard this old man who retired and returned to his hometown as a person in the temple or a person in the rivers and lakes.

Yue Zuo told the stories of these villas in a leisurely manner, as if they were treasures, and the little girl listened attentively.

At this time, the real owner of the villa, He Jin, finally arrived late.

Yue Zuo took the opportunity to stand up and greeted the owner.

In this way, the three owners of Lingxiu Villa were all present.

Hu Liang also stood up from his chair and clasped his fists and said, "Are you the owner of Lingxiu Villa? Hu is polite."

"I don't deserve such a compliment from Mr. Hu." He Jin hurriedly returned the compliments, "I am the owner of Lingxiu Villa, but I have done nothing. I am far inferior to Mr. Hu. I have heard of Mr. Hu's reputation for a long time. He shocked Qinzhou in the northwest and moved Beijing with his sword. He is really the first-class hero of the world. Today I finally meet him. It's a blessing for three lifetimes."

Hu Liang took it lightly.

He had heard and seen a lot of these polite words in the rivers and lakes, so he was not so dazzled by a few words of flattery. Moreover, he didn't want to have any intersection with Lingxiu Villa. He just wanted to stay there temporarily.

Just as the two sides were exchanging greetings, the sky outside the door, which was not very clear to begin with, suddenly became gloomy, the clouds became thicker, and a southeast wind started to blow.

Li Xuandu glanced outside the door. He had been traveling around the world for many years and often had to sleep outdoors. He was naturally good at observing the weather and knew that it was a heavy rain. If it weren't for this heavy rain, he wouldn't have come to this Lingxiu Villa with Hu Liang.

As expected, not long after, the heavy rain came, and soon, water could be seen gathering on the bluestone ground in front of the door.

There is a saying in the world that it is easy to kill people when it rains, especially in such a heavy rain, because as soon as the blood flows down, it is mixed with rain and washed away. After the rain, no trace will be left.

This heavy rain has been accumulating for a long time, so it is naturally full of strength. It seems that it will be difficult to stop for a while. The fire that had just spread in Nanshan Garden was not raging because of this heavy rain and was quickly extinguished.

At this time, Nanshan Garden was in chaos. After the farmhands who had taken refuge in the garden found that Chen Guhong and others were dead, they all took their valuables and fled. Naturally, they were afraid of being affected by this fight between gods. In the past, there were many cases of entire families being wiped out in the Jianghu, whether for revenge or to seize treasures. Take a rumor that shocked the Jianghu not long ago. A woman from the Female Sect rushed to Longmen Mansion in Zhongzhou alone because of emotional injury, and then she slaughtered all 64 people in Longmen Escort Agency by herself. From the chief escort to the grooms and servants, without exception, they were all slapped to death. Then the woman wrote the eight characters "unfaithful and unlucky, worse than pigs and dogs" on the door in blood, shocking Zhongzhou.

Now Nanshan Garden was clearly being harassed by enemies. With the previous incident of Longmen Escort Agency as a lesson, everyone was worried. Therefore, at this time, all the people on Nanshan Mountain were heading down the mountain, fearing that they would be implicated.

It was raining heavily.

There was a man going upstream against the flow of people.