"He still has the nerve. If I were him, I would have gotten out of Chang'an City long ago," the young man next to him snorted coldly.
"After all, my legs are broken, how can I live outside Chang'an?" someone said in a strange tone.
However, the beggar in the corner remained unmoved.
He just turned his back to everyone, looked out the window quietly, and drank the wine in his hand quietly.
"Stinky beggar, I'm talking to you, don't you hear me?" The leading young man stepped forward, smashed the wine glass in front of the beggar with a slap, and said calmly.
"Is Linjian Academy in Dazhou so difficult to recruit people now?" The beggar slowly raised his head and said calmly.
His voice was hoarse and not angry, as if his state of mind was like a pool of stagnant water.
"You dare to mock me, Linjian Academy?" the young man said coldly.
"Look at the useless look you have now. If it weren't for Master's order, you wouldn't be allowed to die.
Do you think you can survive until now?
A dog-like thing, do you still think that you are still the sword madman you were back then?"
"Sword Madness is just a title given to me by others. I stopped caring about it a long time ago."
The beggar said calmly: "Now I am just an ordinary person holding a sword."
"Holding a sword, can you still hold it now?" the young man mocked.
"If you have a sword in your heart, the sword will last forever," the beggar replied.
The young men snorted coldly, unable to refute the beggar's words.
After all, they are all swordsmen.
I heard one of the young men say again: "Li Zi, the Zhou Dynasty has reached its peak, and remnants of the previous dynasty like you will one day be tolerated.
It is better to commit suicide than to be killed by someone else, and it will live up to your reputation as a sword madman."
After the young man finished speaking, the beggar didn't reply. He only heard the sound of chopsticks falling from the side.
Xie Changliu slowly raised his head and looked at the beggar sitting in the corner with concentration.
The disheveled hair covered the beggar's entire face. He couldn't see the beggar's face clearly, but he just said softly: "Keep a piece of moon forever and hang it on the Dongxi pine."
After the voice fell, the beggar also raised his head and looked at him.
"Master?" Xie Changliu asked tentatively.
"You, are you back?" The beggar finally spoke, with the hair on his face scattered on both sides, and he finally saw his face clearly.
It was a face that was too old to look directly at.
His face was full of wrinkles and ravines, dense wrinkles covered the entire face, his eyes were cloudy, and there was no trace of energy.
His lips were chapped and he was as thin as a zombie.
————
"Master, how could you become like this?" Xie Changliu asked in disbelief.
He stepped forward, but was stopped by those young girls.
"Do you know him?" The leading young man looked at Xie Changliu and asked.
"Get out of the way," Xie Changliu said in a cold tone.
"Hey, your temper looks bad," the young man said with a smile, unmoved.
"If you know him, then you must be a remnant of the former dynasty. Now come with us."
As soon as the young man finished speaking, there was a loud "boom".
Xie Changliu had not yet drawn his sword, but a small amount of sword intent burst out from the scabbard, directly knocking the young man away from the second floor.
The window bars were shattered, and the young man fell heavily onto the street.
"You dare to hurt Senior Brother Ming, do you know who we are?" The other young men quickly distanced themselves, pulled out the long swords at their waists, and looked at Xie Changliu warily.
"I don't know, and I don't need to know," Xie Changliu said calmly.
"I only know that whoever blocks me will end up like him."
"You, just wait, our Linjian Academy will not give up on this matter," a young man said harshly, and the others hurriedly left the inn.
……………
Xie Changliu brought the old man to Xu Zimo.
"This is my master. During the three hundred years I have been practicing in the Ming Empire, he has always taught me the way of swordsmanship.
Lead me to get started," Xie Changliu introduced.
"Let's all sit down," Xu Zimo waved his hand and said with a smile, "You master and disciple haven't seen each other for a long time, so you don't have to worry about me to catch up on old times."
Xie Changliu nodded and asked: "Master, how did you end up like this?
And who are those people just now?"
"I'm Li Zi, an unknown person," the old man first introduced himself to Xu Zimo.
Then he replied: "When the Ming Empire was destroyed, you knew you were powerless, so you left here and prepared to travel around.
But I still chose to stay.”
"I know this," Xie Changliu nodded.
"The Great Zhou Dynasty was established faster than we imagined, and the prosperous age came earlier.
I have lived here for thousands of years, and have gradually become accustomed to the change of new dynasties."
Li Zi sighed and said: "In the past thousand years, my swordsmanship has become more and more powerful. I often compete with others in swordsmanship, and I was called a sword madman by others.
About thirteen years ago, the new emperor of the Zhou Dynasty came to power. He invited two swordsmen from nowhere and said that they would establish a school.
The two unknown swordsmen were the principal and deputy masters of the Academy. This proposal was opposed by many people.
Everyone can forget the three thousand swordsmen of Chang'an, but they can't avoid me, the Sword Maniac."
Speaking of this, Li Zi sighed again, "At that time, I had not meditated and could not see through the glory of the world.
So he volunteered to have a duel with the two swordsmen.
The pulse gate was destroyed, several moves failed, and even this leg was interrupted in that battle."
"How could this happen?" Xie Changliu took a deep breath.
"Then why don't you leave Chang'an?"
"They didn't allow me to leave Chang'an, and they didn't allow me to die," Li Zi said with a smile.
"Why?" Xie Changliu was puzzled.
"Do you still remember the sword code?" Li Zi asked.
"Of course," Xie Changliu nodded.
"Regardless of the time, letting the wind sing is both arrogant and true."
Speaking of this, Xie Changliu also reacted.
"They come for the sword code."
"As long as they don't get the sword code, I will never die," Li Zi replied.
"Look carefully, there are countless eyes watching us now."
Xie Changliu looked around and saw that there were a few people moving strangely below the inn.
Although it is very secretive, it cannot be hidden from the eyes of the sword god.
"Can we stay here for how many days?" Xie Changliu looked at Xu Zimo and asked.
"How many days?"
"Three days," Xie Changliu said, "I can handle this matter within three days."
"Okay," Xu Zimo nodded.
"Changliu, you don't have to worry about this matter," Li Zi said quickly.
"You should leave Chang'an as soon as possible. This is their world, and the master doesn't want to harm you."
"When the Ming Empire was destroyed, there was nothing I could do.
The person I love the most dies, and there is nothing I can do about it," Xie Changliu said after being silent for a while.
"Master, you are half a father to me.
Don’t leave me powerless this time.”
Li Zi nodded deeply. As a swordsman, he knew that Xie Changliu's swordsmanship had been suppressed for too long.
It needs to be released, and the sword's heart also needs to be sharpened.
The three of them were chatting when there were footsteps coming up from the second floor.
