Early in the morning, the morning gathering that spontaneously formed in this sword shop should have been very lively.

Today, the atmosphere is strangely deserted.

However, there were quite a few people arriving, and there were also many new faces in the sword shop.

Xie Lingjiang, Shen Xisheng, Yan Liulang and other uninvited guests.

Liu Zian, Liu Zilin and other people from the Liu family.

They were all standing in front of an ordinary breakfast shop.

The former looked curiously at an old man and a young man sitting at a greasy dining table in front of them.

The latter stood behind, Liu Zian's face was silent, and Liu Zilin's eyes were solemn.

In front of the dining table, the young magistrate and the old craftsman sat face to face. The young magistrate chuckled and said hello to the kitchen.

After a while, the cook with a cautious smile put a rag on her hands and brought a bowl of steaming noodle soup to the table.

"Sir, please use it slowly."

The young county magistrate stretched out his hand to take out his chopsticks, turned around and said with a smile:

"Excuse me, is this Sister Cheng? Ah Qing told me about you and said that she has been working in the breakfast shop for the past two years, thanks to your care. She had something at home a few days ago and left without saying goodbye. I am very sorry."

"It's okay, it's okay. As long as sister A Qing is okay, she hasn't been seen in the past few days. The sisters are a little worried about her. Just live a good life outside."

Sister Cheng's smile broadened, she wiped her hands on her apron, looked at the noodle soup that was served in a hurry, and asked, "Sir, would you like some chopped green onions?"

He is a warm-hearted person and doesn't care about outsiders.

And someone who came to Liu's house early in the morning to bring warmth was more warm-hearted than her.

"Green onion? This must be arranged." Ouyang Rongyan smiled at Yan Yan.

Sister Cheng quickly ran to the kitchen, scooped up a spoonful of chopped green onions, returned, shook them and sprinkled them into the bowl.

Ouyang Rong skillfully mixed the scallion noodle soup and smiled. He looked away from Sister Cheng's happily leaving figure and said directly to the silent old craftsman opposite:

"Sir, your surname is Wu? Does he have a famous name?"

The old swordsmith shook his head.

I didn't know whether to answer or ignore him, I lowered my head and continued to eat the noodles.

Ouyang Rong took a few glances at the old man's messy beard and his fingers that looked like burnt, dead wood.

They were dressed similarly to the old craftsmen he had seen along the way into the sword shop.

Ouyang Rong smiled, raised his palms and hooked them behind his shoulders. He lowered his head, drank soup and cooked noodles.

Boom——!

Accompanied by a soft sound.

There is something else next to the pot of rice wine on the table.

It was Xie Lingjiang who stepped forward and placed a long sword with a simple sheath horizontally on the dining table.

The old swordsmith raised his bark-like eyelids.

Ouyang Rong asked without raising his head:

"Excuse me, is this made by Mr. Wu? I heard from my junior sister that this is a good sword, one that all Qi practitioners will covet."

The old swordsmith lowered his head to eat noodles and remained silent for a long time.

The two brothers Liu Zian and Liu Zilin, who were still wearing mourning clothes, saw the familiar long sword on the table that seemed to be called "Yue Niang", and their expressions changed slightly to varying degrees.

Xie Lingjiang looked at the two of them coldly.

At the table, the old swordsmith drank up the chopped green onion noodle soup. Before he put the bowl down and stood up, he suddenly spoke.

"Did you give her the origami blue butterfly flower?"

The old man's voice was a little hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken for a long time and was a little unfamiliar.

Ouyang Rong seemed not to have expected that he would suddenly ask this question, so he nodded and said, "It's a birthday gift for her."

The old swordsmith turned around and, as usual, dropped a few coins on the table, got up and left.

The wine jar is not on the table, nor is the long sword.

Yan Liulang and others held their knives and silently took a step forward.

The young county magistrate, who was still drinking soup slowly with his head down at the table, raised his hand and waved it slightly behind him.

Yan Liulang and other detectives stepped aside to get out of the way. The old swordsmith, with his hands behind his back, passed through the crowd as if there was no one around and left the morning market.

Xie Lingjiang and the others watched the old man's back go away, then looked back curiously at the back of Ouyang Rong who continued to eat noodles at the table.

Ouyang Rong raised his head to drink the noodle soup and made a soft "bang" sound. In the quiet breakfast shop, the sound seemed very loud.

He also put down the bowl and placed a few coins on the table.

He stood up silently again, picked up the wine bottle and held the long sword in his hand.

The young magistrate also passed by the crowd gathered in front of the breakfast shop and followed the direction in which the old swordsmith left.

The old man and the young man were silent the whole time.

The whole place was eerily quiet.

Immediately, Xie Lingjiang, Shen Xisheng, Yan Liulang and other companions who came together, as well as Liu Zian, Liu Zilin and other Liu family members, all subconsciously followed Ouyang Rong.

Liu Zian glanced at Ouyang Rong's back and somewhere in the distance on Xiaogushan.

He looked complicated and wanted to take a step forward to get closer to Ouyang Rong, but was stopped by Xie Lingjiang.

Xie Lingjiang's eyes were cold.

Liu Zi'an paused and laughed, and Liu Zilin's forehead was sweating.

Ouyang Rong seemed not to pay attention to the movement behind him and continued to move forward, following the old swordsmith.

And the old swordsmith did not stop the visitor behind him at all.

Ever since, on the road from the morning market to the middle of Xiaogu Mountain, there was such a strange scene.

The old swordsmith walked in the front.

Ouyang Rong followed.

And further behind are other people.

The surprisingly quiet group arrived in front of an old sword furnace halfway up Xiaogu Mountain.

The old swordsmith enters the sword furnace.

Ouyang Rong and others looked up curiously at the seemingly abandoned sword furnace, and immediately followed it inside.

Inside the sword furnace.

Yan Liulang looked around, and it seemed to be no different from other sword furnaces he had led people to search for before.

It just looks messier and older.

The black smoke from the past blackened the bricks and tiles on the ceiling of the sword furnace.

besides.

Just one person and one furnace.

The old swordsmith was lying on a rocking chair, with a sword-making furnace that seemed to be unlit behind him.

The old swordsmith took out a piece of blue origami paper from the cabinet at hand and handed it back to Ouyang Rong, who was looking around the room.

"What is this?"

Ouyang Rong took the blue origami paper, looked down, and couldn't help but ask.

Of course he recognized the blue butterfly flower he had folded before, and it was not surprising that the old swordsmith brought him over to get the blue butterfly flower back without hesitation.

The only surprise is that the graphics on the blue origami paper have changed.

It is no longer the pansies he made out of blue Pythagorean paper pieces before. These blue Pythagorean paper pieces seem to have been taken down and reassembled into a new pattern.

arc.

Or a curved surface.

On blue origami paper.

It's a strange arc.

An indescribable arc.

Just when Ouyang Rong frowned slightly and took a closer look, the old swordsmith stared at him for a while and suddenly asked:

"Is this paper art called iris folding?"

Ouyang Rong was startled, looked at him, and nodded:

"What A Qing said to you? Yes, it is a folded iris. This one... was old sir, did you fold it again? Well, you are quite good at drawing inferences..."
To be continued...