Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 329: Gathering at Zishan
As mentioned before, Wancheng is a bowl-shaped basin.

This terrain is very different from Luoyang.

Luoyang is protected by the Beimang and Funiu mountain ranges, which are connected vertically and horizontally.

This is not the case with Wancheng. Although it is surrounded by mountains, it stands abruptly and is not connected to each other. In ancient times, people called it Jiujiagushan.

They are Zhashan, Yangshan, Moshan, Tazishan, Zishan, Dushan, Pushan, Fengshan and Yinshan.

Among them, Dushan is rich in jade, which is the origin of what people call Dushan jade.

Compared with other mountains, Zishan is the farthest away. Although other mountains are not connected, they all have neighbors. Only Zishan stands there alone in the north.

This mountain is rich in the Chinese medicinal herb Bupleurum chinense, so it is called Purple Mountain. Nowadays, local people also call it Ziling Mountain.

Before it got dark, Xiao Ran and Dong Ruopu had already ridden their horses to the foot of the mountain and were waiting.

As for the guards, Xiao Ran didn't bring any of them.

Those guards are all good-for-nothings, and they are useless. Instead, they highlight Dong Ruopu's status as a rich man.

"Brother, who are we waiting for?"

As the sky gradually darkened, Dong Ruopu began to feel uneasy.

Xiao Ran just smiled and said nothing. He turned around and looked into the distance, where he saw a white horse walking towards him in small steps.

Before anyone arrived, Gao Yuting's joyful voice was heard: "Brother Xiao, I'm late."

Dong Ruopu's eyesight was far inferior to Xiao Ran's, but he heard the voice was a woman's and couldn't help but look up.

I saw a woman on horseback, wearing a red tight-fitting outfit, a red long skirt and a sword hanging around her waist.

The distance was getting closer and closer, and when Dong Ruopu saw the person clearly, he couldn't help but show a look of surprise.

The woman on the horse's back was wearing a long fluttering skirt and a thin tasseled belt around her waist, which brought a breeze. Her black and white eyes were as clear as stars, her long hair was draped over her shoulders, and the sound of pine trees around her made her look like a fairy from the mortal world, without a trace of dust.

As a nobleman from Jinling, it is understandable that he has never been to Yangzhou Skinny Horse, but he must have seen many beauties.

However, when he saw the face of the girl in front of him clearly, Dong Ruopu couldn't help but exclaim in his heart that she was beautiful.

"Brother, I saw a fairy."

Dong Ruopu's Adam's apple moved and he couldn't help but sigh.

Xiao Ran grinned and rode forward on his horse: "We just arrived not long ago too."

After saying that, he pointed at Dong Ruopu who was still in a daze and said, "I met this little brother on the road, so I wanted to join in the fun, so I brought him along."

"Oh." Gao Yuting looked at Dong Ruopu and bowed, "Sir, you are so polite. I cannot reveal my name in the martial arts world. Just call me Qingnv."

Dong Ruopu just woke up from his dream at this moment, and hurriedly bowed and said: "No, no, no, I am Dong Ruopu, greeting the young lady."

Seeing him so serious, Gao Yuting couldn't help but laugh: "No need to be so polite, let's go, since you are here today, we are not strangers, I will take you up the mountain."

Gao Yuting and Xiao Ran did not go up the mountain directly, but first found a hidden place, hid the horses, and then took out a mask and put it on their faces.

"When you go up, don't tell others your name. We should all use our honorific titles."

"Okay." Xiao Ran nodded, took out two [Hercules Masks] from the space, handed one to Dong Ruopu, and put the other on himself.

This [Hercules Mask] can increase strength by 15 points after being worn. For Xiao Ran, it is like adding wings to a tiger, and for Dong Ruopu, it is a life-saving asset.

After putting on the masks, the three of them walked up along the mountain path. Although it was night, the three of them walked very fast.

On the way, Dong Ruopu suddenly realized something and asked in surprise, "Are you Qingnv? Shuang Fei's disciple?"

Gao Yuting turned around and smiled, "He just relies on the master's reputation. In terms of strength, he is far inferior to my big brother Xiao."

After saying that, he looked towards Xiao Ran. When he found that Xiao Ran was looking at him, his heart suddenly skipped a beat and he quickly turned his head away.

The two didn't know what to say for a moment.

Fortunately, Dong Ruopu followed behind and asked, "Fairy Qingnv, I heard that the gathering will not start until three days later, how come we suddenly arrived at Zishan today?"

With Dong Ruopu talking, Gao Yuting finally found a topic to talk about, and explained to Xiao Ran: "The gathering in three days will be held by the Nuo Sect, which is different from ours. In fact, it was not our intention for the news to be spread this time."

"Nuomen!"

Xiao Ran was a little surprised, but after thinking about it carefully, Nuomen's move was not bad. They could use the opponent's force to their advantage and gather all these people from the martial arts world. Then they could become the backbone force to protect Wancheng.

"Well, but Nuomen's plan may not be as simple as this. When I have some free time, I will take a good look at the memory books of Li Shao and the others."

Because he came in a hurry, Xiao Ran hasn't had time to look through their memory books yet.

"who!!"

Just as the three were talking, someone shouted in the distance, and then six lights were lit in the forest.

There were several dark shadows standing under the lights, each holding a blade, sword or crossbow.

The three men paused, and Dong Ruopu felt as if he was facing a formidable enemy.

But when Xiao Ran looked carefully, he found that there was no living person behind the light, but a puppet.

Seeing this, Qingnv hurriedly said to Xiao Ran: "Don't worry, Brother Xiao, this person is Qianji Prodigy, and he is also one of us."

"Oh, it's him." Dong Ruopu suddenly realized: "The genius child who is said to be able to defeat an entire army. I know him."

Qingnv smiled and nodded: "It's an exaggeration to say that one man can defeat an entire army, but if the terrain is right, one man can guard the pass and ten thousand men cannot break through." As she spoke, she took out a whistle from her sleeve and blew twice towards the front.

As the whistle sounded, the surrounding lights gradually went out, followed by laughter coming from the bushes in the distance.

"You are too polite, Qingnv. My skills are not as powerful as your Qingnv Sword."

After saying that, a thin figure walked out from the bushes, his face covered with a veil, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed. He glanced at Xiao Ran and Dong Ruopu behind Qingnv.

"These two men are strangers standing shoulder to shoulder. May I ask whether you came here by water or by mountain road?" This is the jargon of the underworld. Those who come here by water are bandits, and those who come here by mountain road are people of the underworld with factional inheritance.

"People who come down from the mountains, travel by water, hold the wind, steer the boat and run errands."

Hearing Xiao Ran's words, the Qianji child prodigy could not help but calm down, his expression became serious, and he bowed to Xiao Ran: "If you go down the mountain, you are a tiger; if you go into the river, you are a dragon. The Dinghai Shenzhen has a thousand-mile vision. I am so disrespectful."

"Don't dare to take it seriously."

"please!"

Qianji Prodigy made a gesture to invite him to go up the mountain.

Xiao Ran and the other two bowed again before heading up the mountain.

After they walked away, Dong Ruopu dared to ask in a low voice: "Brother, what did you mean by that just now? Don't you understand?"

Xiao Ran was too embarrassed to explain, but Gao Yuting smiled and said, "Brother Xiao meant that although he has inherited a sect, he doesn't dare to claim it as his own now. He rows the boat and steers the rudder to set up his own sect, running errands in the martial arts world."

"Oh!" Dong Ruopu suddenly realized. Now there was no need to explain the meaning behind Qianji Prodigy.

It was nothing more than praising Xiao Ran according to his words.

Dong Ruopu changed the subject and asked curiously, "Then what sect do you belong to, Brother Xiao?"

If someone from the underworld asked this question, he would be prepared to get angry.

But Xiao Ran knew that Dong Ruopu was a generous man, so he didn't take it to heart. He just saw Gao Yuting looking at him curiously, and thought about it again and again, but didn't know how to introduce herself.

Fortunately, the lights ahead were getting brighter and brighter at this time, so Gao Yuting directly changed the subject.

"arrive."

As he spoke, he quickly stepped forward and said, "Brothers, how are you?"

There was a bonfire in front of us, with tables, chairs and benches already placed on it. Several people were sitting around it. When they saw Qingnv, they all stood up to greet her. It seemed that Qingnv was quite popular here.

However, Xiao Ran even felt the black swan brooch on his chest giving him a cold warning as he followed the other person.

"These two are..."

A bearded man holding a pot of wine, not wearing a mask, glanced sideways at Xiao Ran and Dong Ruopu.

"I know him. He is the drunken bull and the drunken King Kong."

Dong Ruopu immediately spoke in a low voice upon seeing this, but no matter how low his voice was, it could not be hidden from the eyes and ears of others.

"Get lost, I need you to sign up for me!"

Upon hearing this, Zui Jin Gang became furious and threw the wine jar in his hand at Dong Ruopu.

However, before the wine jar was thrown over, Xiao Ran grabbed it, took a look at the amber-colored wine in the jar, and threw it on the ground: "Bad wine is hard to drink, and it's hard to control your temper. It's better not to drink this wine."

"Um!!"

The Drunken King Kong's eyes widened, he stood up and walked quickly to Xiao Ran. With a height of nearly two meters and a body full of flesh, he really lived up to the name Drunken King Kong.

"My wine is not good, you have some good wine, give it to me to taste!"

As he said this, he patted Xiao Ran on the shoulder.

This slap made Gao Yuting's face change. "Be careful!" she said and was about to raise her sword to help Xiao Ran block it.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Ran just turned sideways to block Gao Yuting, and smiled as he pushed his shoulder upwards to meet the slap from Zui Jingang. The bulging muscles on his shoulders actually pushed away Zui Jingang's slap.

"Um!!"

Just this one move made everyone present change their expressions slightly. Zui Jin Gang even took two steps back before he could stand firm. He blinked at Xiao Ran and praised, "What a great skill!"

Drunk King Kong's strength is not small, but Xiao Ran's strength has exceeded 50 points, and at this moment he is wearing a [Hercules Mask] on his face.

A full 65 points of strength, plus the control over his own muscles, is not something that a ruffian like Drunken King Kong can shake.

To be frank, even if we look at the Changchun Club, with Xiao Ran's current strength, apart from the four leaders, it is difficult to find anyone who can surpass Xiao Ran.

Facing Zui Jin Gang's praise, Xiao Ran did not hesitate. He took out a bottle of white wine from the space and threw it over.

Xiao Ran didn’t know what kind of wine it was, but it was all sponsored by kind-hearted people.

Drunk King Kong took it, but he didn't know how to open the bottle, so he smashed the mouth of the bottle with his backhand. He took two sips from the bottle, and his eyes lit up: "Good, good, good wine."

Then he sat back holding the bottle of wine. Xiao Ran immediately felt that the original hostility was much less.

In fact, this is how the world is. If you have strength, people will talk to you about morality. If you don’t have strength, they will see if you have loyalty. If you have neither morality nor loyalty, hehe, kid, you can't leave tonight.

So when Xiao Ran showed sufficiently strong measures, these people recognized Xiao Ran.

"Brother Xiao, are you okay?"

Gao Yuting didn't care about that and immediately stepped forward and asked with concern.

"It's okay. This slap wasn't meant to hurt me." Xiao Ran said with a smile.

Hearing this, Gao Yuting stared at Zui Jin Gang angrily and said, "You silly cow, I won't buy you any more wine in the future."

Everyone couldn't help but laugh when they heard that. Drunk King Kong's lips twitched a few times, but he didn't dare to get angry. He turned around with a whimper, looking as aggrieved as a 300-pound baby.

But at this moment, Xiao Ran felt a sudden strong alarm from the [Black Swan Brooch] on his chest.

Xiao Ran's heart trembled, and he looked sideways. On his left, he saw a young man holding a sword, frowning and staring at him with gloomy eyes. There was a strong murderous intent in his eyes without any concealment.

His eyes would occasionally look at Gao Yuting, with an even more complicated expression.

Xiao Ran was a man of character. He immediately understood what he was thinking. He looked at the sword in his hand and suddenly thought, "It seems like practicing sword skills is a good idea..."

(End of this chapter)