The sky was completely overcast, with dark clouds gathering and the wind howling. The trees were swaying violently, indicating that a heavy downpour was imminent. Zhou Xuan and his two companions hastened their pace, eager to reach the entrance of Shaoyang Village before the rain started pouring down.

  Lai Fu looked up at the sky with concern and said: "Young master, Im afraid were going to get rained on. The rain is about to fall."

  Zhou Xuan walked with big strides, laughing: "Whats there to be afraid of? Taking a stroll in the rain is a kind of elegant interest. Even if I get sick, theres a female divine doctor at home, haha."

  Zhen and Lai Fu were infected with Zhou Xuans emotions and both laughed.

  The rain was like that sometimes, looking as if it would fall at any moment, but it just dragged on and didnt come down. When Zhou Xuan and the other two arrived at the entrance of Shaoyang Village, the sky still looked like it was about to rain.

  Tang Xiaosan and his father Tang Dabiao, as well as Hu Tongs father Old Hutou, had been waiting by the road for a long time. As soon as they saw Zhou Xuan, both old men humbly came forward to thank Young Master Zhou.

  Zhou Xuan said: "Two uncles, dont thank me, this is your sons ability. Xiao San and Hu Tong are very clever and helped me a lot."

  Tang Xiaosan puffed out his thin chest and said, "Dad, you can rest assured now. Your son is making a living with his skills, and following Master Zhou will bring him success."

  Zhou Xuan thanked the two uncles for their invitation to visit the village, and continued on his way with Tang Xiaosan. The driver drove an empty horse cart behind them. Before they left the mountainous area, a violent rainstorm suddenly poured down, and the canvas top of the horse cart sounded like firecrackers "bang bang".

  Zhou Xuan quickly helped the coachman down from the horse and into the carriage, while Tang Xiaosan and Lai Fu reacted swiftly, sitting on either side of the coachman. Only Zhou Xuan got rained on.

  "Brother-in-law, come into the carriage to avoid the rain."

  Zhou Xuan didnt have so many concerns, throwing the reins of Lao Mas horse to Tang Xiaosan, lifting his legs into the carriage, sitting cross-legged, looking out at the window, that rain getting heavier and heavier, a white mist rising from the mountain path, the cloud layer pressing down very low, all around darkening almost like night.

  The carriage was not spacious, and as the horse carriage jolted, Zhou Xuans leg touched the leg of the spinning wheel, making Zhou Xuan feel a little itchy.

  The needle shrunk to one side of the carriage and suddenly said: "Thank you, Master Zhou."

  Its raining heavily, Zhou Xuan didnt hear clearly, and loudly asked: "What did you say?"

  The sound of the rain emboldened her, and she leaned in closer to add in a louder voice: "Thank you, I dont want those villagers to think Im a helpless orphan girl, I dont want them to pity me."

  Zhou Xuan said: "Whats wrong with that? Youre not alone and helpless now, Dr. Qin and his wife are kind people, arent they treating you well?"

  "They are good to me, but they also have ulterior motives. However, I like this kind of ulterior motive."

  Zhou Xuan saw that the needle was silent, and comforted her by saying: "Sister Needle, dont be sad anymore. If your parents and brother knew about this in the afterlife, they wouldnt want to see you so sorrowful either. They would definitely hope for you to live happily."

  Zhen sat in the carriage compartment, Zhou Xuan leaned against the car door. Under the dim sky light, Zhen could see the outline of Zhou Xuans face clearly. Thinking that she was hiding in the dark, Zhen boldly stared at Zhou Xuan, and the more she looked, the more fascinated she became. She thought: "Since Sister Queer has her own brother-in-law, and even such a good husband is not wanted, then I, Zhen, must grasp it tightly. I remember hearing a rumor in the palace before that Empress Dowager Xiao once joked with the palace maids after getting drunk, saying that women should never give up on the men they love, but instead use every means to marry them... So, Empress Dowager Xiao married her own brother-in-law, Emperor Li Yu, and I, Zhen, will marry my own sisters husband. Is this fate?"

  The coachman called out, "Its tough, this rain is too heavy, the horses eyes are all blurry from the rainwater, we need to find a place to take shelter first and wait for the rain to let up before continuing on our journey."

  Tang Xiaosan shouted: "I know there is a mountain temple, just ahead not far away, after circling a patch of maple forest, the horse carriage can drive to the front door."

  "Is the Temple of the Mountain God on the left or right?"

  A cold voice suddenly asked.

  "On the left." Tiao Xiao San replied.

  Suddenly a figure flashed by the side of the carriage, vanished in an instant at the front of the mountain road, and splashed rainwater onto Zhou Xuans face.

  "What the...? Who is this person? Hes running so fast! His 100m speed has broken 8 seconds already!"

  Zhou Xuan asked Tang Xiaosan if he had seen clearly what kind of person it was. Xiaosan said: "Didnt see, only saw a glimpse of the back, wearing a wide-brimmed bamboo hat, and seemed to be carrying a broadsword on his back, disappeared in an instant, like a ghost."

  "With a sword on his back, isnt he a swordsman? Are there really swordsmen in this world? Running so fast, he must have light kung fu."

  Zhou Xuan became excited and urged the coachman to hurry up to the Mountain God Temple, where the Sword Knight was taking shelter from the rain. He must go and get acquainted with him.

  The red and yellow leaves of the maple forest by the mountain road were like a flame burning without heat under the heavy rain, and when the carriage passed by the left side of the forest, a small temple was seen built on the hillside. The temple had been renovated in recent years, with its yellow walls and black tiles showing no signs of decay.

  The horse carriage stopped in front of the temple gate, a group of people got off the carriage and rushed into the temple gate at the fastest speed. They were exposed to the rain for only a few seconds, but their clothes were already half wet, showing how heavy the rain was.

  In the temple, a statue of a mountain god over one zhang tall is enshrined, grasping a giant snake in his hand. On the incense table in front of the statue sits a man with his legs crossed, his bamboo hat placed to one side dripping with water.

  He carefully looked at the man, with a straight nose bridge, cold and arrogant eyebrows, about 35 or 36 years old, slightly shorter than him, around 1.72 meters tall, although he was of medium build, but when he sat on the incense case, his waist and back were straight, giving people an inexplicable feeling of grandeur, and on his back, he indeed had a broadsword slung obliquely, with ancient and simple patterns on the scabbard, the silk-wrapped hilt exposed at the shoulder and ear, able to be drawn out and used to slash people with a reverse grip.

  Zhou Xuan walked over and bowed his hands saying: "This older brother is invited, brothers——"

  "Dont bother me." Jian Xia interrupted Zhou Xuans words, giving him no face at all, and lowered his head to look at the incense case.

  Jian Xias temper was a bit big, and he was proud of his martial arts skills. Zhou Xuan felt very disgusted with this impolite person, and his curiosity about Jian Xia decreased. He glanced at the incense table in front of him and found that Jian Xia was playing chess alone. A small, foldable ebony chessboard, delicate black and white pieces, and exquisite workmanship.

  Zhou Xuans view of the swordsmen changed again. A person who is playing chess indeed does not like to be disturbed by others.

  Zhou Xuan glanced at the chessboard twice and was delighted to find that this cold and proud swordsman was, like Xiao Di, working on a dead-end problem. Zhou Xuan had a thick book called "The Complete Collection of Go Endgames", which covered all sorts of endgame problems from ancient China. He had read it many times and was familiar with various endgames. The endgame problem the swordsman was struggling with was an intermediate to advanced level one, called "Sun Bins Trap for Pang Juan". It required black to find a way to kill white, and was much more complicated than Xiao Dis "Pig Mouth Formation" from the other day.

  Zhou Xuan whispered: "Dafei cant be killed."

  The swordsman suddenly lifted his head and stared at Zhou Xuan for a moment before asking: "Do you know how to play chess?"

  Zhou Xuan didnt respond, and instead walked over to the spinning wheel, concernedly asking if the Spinning Wheel Sister was hungry. He rushed into the carriage in the rain and brought out pears and jujubes, distributing them for everyone to eat. Of course, Jian Xia didnt get any.

  Jian Xia heard Zhou Xuan say "Da Fei Bi Huo", his heart shook, shouldnt the first step to solve this difficult problem be Da Fei? What other better way is there?

  Jian Xia waited for a while and saw that Zhou Xuan was ignoring him. Unable to hold back his temper, he asked again: "Can you solve this puzzle?"

  Zhou Xuan ate pears with a "crunch crunch" sound, and said absent-mindedly: "Its too simple, its laughable that some people think about it for half a day and still cant figure it out!"

  The swordsman didnt get extremely angry, he just stood up and said: "Then you come and try to solve it."

  Zhou Xuan said: "Why should I teach you how to solve it!"

  The swordsman sneered with a smile: "So it was just bragging."

  Zhou Xuan sneered: "Fine, consider me a braggart. If you, Da Fei, can solve this problem, Ill be your grandson."