Seven, Re-encountering Zhi Zi Lan (Second Watch)

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  The Fan family has been rooted in Huyang for over 300 years, with great wealth and a rough temperament. Although Fan Jian and his men were all buried in Bao Village, they still left behind five good horses. Zhang Xun had his own horse to ride and didn't pay attention to them, and continued on his way. Bao chose two strong horses from among them, built a carriage, and also gathered some knives, spears, and other equipment to arm the villagers. Early in the morning, he escorted his mother out of the village first.

  The remaining three horses were all left to Qin Yu.

  Apart from Qian Yun and Zhang Ren Shi, Bao Chu also specially dispatched a skilled planner named Zhuang Ke to follow Qian Yun and the others.

  The name of the villa owner was Wen Shou. When Bao Chu fled south with his mother from Jingzhao, they encountered many difficulties on the road and saved several people along the way, one of whom was Wen Shou. Later, Wen Shou followed Bao Chu to Wudang Mountain and settled down in a villa, gradually showing remarkable management skills. Bao Chu was not interested in such trivial matters, but seeing that Wen Shou was capable, he eventually handed over all daily affairs of the villa to him.

  Wen Guan was deeply grateful to Bao for saving his life, and he worked diligently to manage a small village that was in disarray with chaotic finances and severe debt.

  This time going south, Qin Yu plans to go to Jiangling to "borrow" a batch of military funds prepared for Zhang Xian by the three major wealthy families, and Wen Zhou can show off his skills.

  The three men finished their lunch, rested for a moment, and then led three tall horses southward.

  From Wudang going south to Jiangling, the road is not close at all. Nowadays, human disasters are frequent, and it's a snowy place. Moreover, the three of them are only slightly familiar with riding skills, so they don't dare to rush. Qin Yu followed Wen Huo's suggestion and proceeded along the main road, taking his time, and also took the opportunity to get familiar with horseback riding.

  Zhang Ren was tirelessly practicing his new favorite technique.

  Shoot an arrow!

  Ever since Zhang Ren obtained the copper ring, he became extremely interested in horseback riding and shooting, starting his years of diligent practice with bow and arrow.

  Obviously, he is particularly good at remote weapons. Originally, the crossbow was already familiar, and the speed and accuracy were no less than those of any dark bow master on the rivers and lakes. This time, starting again from scratch, he really worked hard, forgetting to sleep and eat, and it's difficult to describe in words.

  The difference between a bow and a crossbow is still quite large. Zhang Ren took a shortcut to get familiar with the horse bow as soon as possible, he found a relatively long riding bow, with the bowstring in front and the bow back in the back, slung over his right shoulder, then, his left hand stabilized the bow body, and his right hand actually just pressed the arrow onto the string, shooting out from under his armpit.

  Not to mention, his unique skills are truly impossible for others to imitate.

  Because Zhang Ren was born with a long arm, his arm length exceeded that of ordinary people by more than 1/4, and if others were to do it, they couldn't even pull the bowstring halfway.

  This archery method still borrowed from the crossbow's technique, only replacing the bow arm with one's own body.

  The bow's power is far greater than that of the crossbow, and the feathers on the arrow tail can support the high-flying arrow. Unlike the short and thick arrows of individual hand-held crossbows, which are prone to falling down.

  After mastering archery, Zhang Ren's body was like a porcupine with quills all over, his lethality increased by more than double.

  Tan Yu was delighted to call Zhang Ren "Arrow Man", because in this case, even if Little Zhang fell down, he could lie on his side and easily complete the shooting process, and work continuously for twelve hours without interruption.

  Zhang Ren, who had long been influenced by Qin Yu's elegance, naturally knew the indecency of this nickname and immediately strongly protested against Second Brother's bad taste.

  But protests were also ineffective.

  Three days later, at around five or six o'clock in the afternoon, several people arrived at a quiet little town. There were only about forty or fifty households here, and it was called Shenmu Town.

  Tan Yun's eyes were slightly tense. A few miles outside the left side of the small town was the edge of a large forest, which was Shennongjia.

  Ten days ago, he had just passed by this place.

  That icy cave, sharp sword tip, is it just a memory?

  To avoid being pursued by certain forces, he deliberately did not take the main road that went straight to Xiangyang and then south to Jiangling, but instead had Wen Jiao choose a longer route.

  But no matter how you walk, Shennongjia is always unavoidable.

  After all, it's an official road, so this time there should be a town where we can stay.

  Shenmu Town is not big, there is only a simple small inn in the north of the town, with more than ten small rooms. It looks like it's not as big as the row of houses that Dashi built himself on Wudang Mountain. The musty smell inside suggests that no one has lived here for many days.

  The owner of the inn was a bit embarrassed, as this kind of place really couldn't make much money. Among the people coming and going, apart from mountain guests and merchants, it was rare to see young men with such stylish temperament like Qin Yu and Zhang Ren.

  The boss glanced at the white jade ring on Qin Yu's left index finger, secretly guessing that the identities and backgrounds of these people were probably not ordinary.

  They took two rooms, Wen Shou was busy starting the kang fire, tidying up the beds and furniture. Tan Yu put on a crane cloak, pulled Zhang Ren, and strolled around in the town.

  Zhang Ren didn't know what was so great about this "Snow Town", except for the white color, there wasn't any other scenery to look at. From strolling slowly from the north of the town to the south, it took less than half a moment, and he was already getting impatient.

  "Second brother, on such a cold day, what are we doing wandering around? Let's go back and warm up by the fire?"

  Qin Yu smiled: "Little brother, you go back first, I'll take a look over there." He pointed to the vast forest visible in the distance on his left.

  "On a day like today, it's a bit dangerous, isn't it?" Zhang Ren was younger than Qin Yu, but having grown up in the mountains and forests, his experience as a hunter was much richer. With just one glance, he instinctively felt that this forest was extremely large, and there must be fierce birds and beasts inside. Although fewer came out on snowy days, if they were to encounter one or two, it would certainly be difficult to deal with."

  "To be honest with you, brother, I'm preparing to hunt some rare beasts and pick some flowers."

  Zhang Ren burst out laughing: "Since Second Brother has the intention, I will naturally accompany him to the end." When it comes to hunting, he is always interested at any time, especially this forest looks very special at first glance, and maybe he can hunt some strange and rare birds.

  "Since it's like this, then let's go take a look."

  "Wait, Brother, I'll go get some hunting gear."

  The two of them went out for a stroll, each only carrying a hunting knife and a short crossbow. They wanted to enter the dense forest, but it was a bit too much to take in.

  Zhang Ren took three steps and made two strides, sliding all the way back to the guest house.

  Qin Yu smiled and wandered aimlessly outside the town, silently reciting the Jade Sword Heart Sutra in his mind.

  These three days, he familiarized himself with riding skills. During the day, whenever he had time on the road, he would repeatedly review and recite books to deepen his understanding of the sect's swordsmanship. In the dead of night, at midnight, he would get out of bed alone and practice diligently.

  Suddenly felt a coolness on his face, looked up and saw several small snowflakes quietly falling.

  "Snow again!" someone sighed in the distance behind him.

  Qin Yu furrowed his brow, this voice seemed somewhat familiar.

  His right hand involuntarily stroked the hilt of the knife at his waist before he turned his head to look.

  His eyes suddenly widened, but his pupils quickly contracted.

  Under a purple cloak, in black clothes, with a short sword hanging from the waist, under a pair of lively eyes, a beautiful face that is to die for.

  "Is it you?" Qin Yu lightly spat out two words, her right foot lightly drawing a semicircle, her body silently and expressionlessly turning back.

  His body muscles relaxed as much as possible, but his heart was unconsciously slightly tense.

  That girl is precisely Xi Zilan.