The light rain made the weather a little cooler, and the old streets of Huangquan Town were as empty as water. Outside the old wine shop in the center, the old plaque of "Huangquan Knife Tomb" turned black and yellow under the influence of rain.
Under the eaves, a fit man sat on a small bench with a small table in front of him.
A little girl of five or six years old, wearing braids, sat opposite, holding a brush and writing seriously, muttering in a low voice:
"Dad, why is Grandpa Qiu missing?"
"My name is Uncle Qiu."
"But Grandpa Qiu is over fifty years old, and he asked me to call him that..."
"..."
Xuanyuan Tiangang took a breath, raised his hand and rubbed the little girl's head:
"Martial arts masters have a long life. It's okay to call him brother when he is over fifty. If we meet him again in the future, we will call him Brother Qiu..."
"Gangzi!"
In the restaurant, the proprietress Alan, who was cleaning the table, threw the rag on the table. The scared little girl quickly buried her head in writing. Xuanyuan Tiangang also sat up straighter:
"It's just a joke."
"Are you kidding me? My daughter is so old, she will listen to whatever you say. If you didn't teach her good rules when she was a child, what should I do if she grows up and goes astray?"
"well……"
The daughter-in-law lecturing her husband is undoubtedly the favorite drama of ordinary people in the city. When the sound came out, many neighbors looked at her, and even the little girl lowered her head and snickered.
After Xuanyuan Tiangang listened for a moment, he stood up on his knees and walked to the backyard:
"There's no business, I'm going to catch some fish..."
"Don't run away. It's almost dark and it's raining heavily. Why are you hunting for fish?"
Alan grabbed Xuanyuan Tiangang's sleeve and dragged him into the house:
"Do you want to go to Junshan Terrace to watch the excitement?"
Xuanyuan Tiangang came to the table and poured tea, shook his head and said:
"I retired more than 20 years ago and have long lost interest in the excitement of the world. Besides, Qiu Tianhe's sword skills are not worth mentioning."
Alan was dubious about this statement. After all, Xuanyuan Tiangang was born in the Jianghu and should live in the Jianghu. He was a fisherman living around the daily necessities of life, but the situation forced him to stay here as a prisoner.
But as a wife, even if Alan felt that her husband-in-law was very powerful and should not live such a mediocre life, she did not want him to wander around in the uncertain world of life and death.
Alan thought for a while and said softly: "When my father was the shopkeeper, he persuaded Zheng Feng and others after drinking together, saying that Zheng Feng was upright and not tactful enough, so he should travel outside for ten years before leaving the mountain. Zheng Feng didn't understand at the time.
He said, "This is how a chivalrous person should be," and he kept saying that Qiu Tian combined with righteousness and Bo Yuntian, and kept saying that he was too crooked to be a pure chivalrous person. What happened? Decades later, everyone knew that Qiu Tian combined with righteousness and Bo Yuntian, and how many people knew about Zheng Feng's
name?
"You have the same temperament as Zheng Feng. You are young and energetic, you can't rub the sand out of your eyes, and you are wandering around in the world. If nothing happens, you will be fine, but if something happens, you will regret it..."
Xuanyuan Tiangang shook his head and smiled: "I have been saying this for more than 20 years, and I am already fifty years old. I am not in my early twenties. I think I am young and energetic, but I don't have the energy anymore."
"Huh, I told you to listen...hey, a guest is coming..."
…
——
Hoof-clack, hoof-clack...
Under the drizzle, two horses that had been running for a long time stepped onto the old streets of the town.
Ye Jingtang was wearing a raincoat and a bamboo hat, and his eyes were scanning the gray town. After running around for a day, his eyes also showed a little tiredness.
Next to her, Xuanji, a real person wearing a long white dress, walked side by side. She was wearing a very delicate white cloak, and her sword was wrapped in cloth and hung on her waist. The two of them, one black and one white, looked like a couple walking side by side in the world.
.
Niaoniao just woke up and saw the town with people, and became energetic. He poked his head out from under the raincoat in the Night Terror Hall, looked around, first went to the wonton stall in the distance, and then looked at the grilled fish shop on the street.
He looked like he was so hungry.
After receiving the news in the early morning, Ye Jingtang set off from Jianyang and galloped towards Zezhou. Along the way, he kept changing horses along the post road. He spent nearly 800 miles running in one day and arrived in the northern part of Yunmeng Zezhou.
Junshan Terrace is on the east bank of Yunmengze, and Shuiyun Jiantan is on the west side of Zezhou. They face each other across the lake, but the actual distance is nearly a thousand miles. This town is close to the Wuxi Canal, which is considered a ferry on the lake. You have to do a long journey to get to Junshan Terrace.
Evening boat.
Ye Jingtang didn't know if Qiu Tianhe came to challenge him. In order to rush for time, he didn't get any water along the way. Seeing that there was no ferry at the pier, he stopped in the old town and found a place to eat to replenish his strength.
Master Xuanji travels around all year round and must have been to Yunmengze. At this time, he was walking beside him and said:
"Night Terror Hall, do you know where the name 'Toad Palace Goddess' comes from?"
"I've never heard Ning'er talk about it. How did it come about?"
"In the past, Luo Ning just came out of the mountain and wanted to go to Junshan Terrace, but the ferry was approaching, so she relied on Qinggong to walk on the water to catch up. Dressed in green clothes and gliding under the moonlight, her figure looked like a fairy from heaven, which amazed countless people in the world.
, and gradually she became known as the most beautiful woman in the world."
Master Xuanji said this, looking around at the upright Ye Jingtang:
"It's a pity that such a good cabbage was lost to that thing in the end."
?
Ye Jingtang blinked his eyes, a little unhappy:
"Fairy Lu, what you said is a bit..."
"I said that Xue Baijin, the dignified leader of Pingtian, the best person in the world, is actually as good as Long Yang. He doesn't like beauties but loves heroes, which blinds Ning'er's appearance. You still know the goods, and you are thick-skinned..."
Ye Jingtang knew that because of Ning'er and his stupid things, the Imperial Master next to him had a strong opinion on him, so he could only shake his head and sigh.
The two walked side by side through the street, looking for a place to eat. When they reached the middle of the street, Ye Jingtang was suddenly attracted by a plaque on the street:
"Yellow Spring Sword Tomb..."
Although it has been a long time, the calligraphy is still sharp with silver hooks and iron paintings, as if it were carved with a knife.
Ye Jingtang stopped his horse and looked towards the old wine shop. He could see a little girl with braids lying on a stool and writing.
There were four tables in the restaurant. The proprietress dressed as a market girl was cleaning the tables. When she saw the two people stopping, she said hello:
"Two guests, please come in."
After Ye Jingtang glanced at the plaque again, he got off his horse and asked:
"Madam boss, what does this plaque mean?"
"The old grave where the knife is buried is written by my old man before, and it doesn't mean anything."
Alan came to the door, asked the girl to go inside to write, and took a look at the dress of Ye Jingtang:
"Young Master is also a swordsman?"
"My knowledge is relatively complicated, and I can't even speak of it as a swordsman. The old shopkeeper's swordsmanship looks extraordinary, and ordinary people can't even describe it."
"oh?"
A flash of surprise flashed in Alan's eyes: "Young Master seems to be quite skilled in martial arts. The old man used to have some skills when he was traveling in the martial arts world, but after seeing Kuang Yazi, he stopped practicing and spent his whole life selling wine here."
"Really?" After Ye Jingtang heard this, he knew that the owner of the shop was an elder in the world, at least half a military leader, so he asked:
"I wonder if the old shopkeeper is in the shop?"
"Oh~ I left more than ten years ago. Now my husband and I are running the shop. We don't care about political affairs. You two guests are sitting here. What do you want to eat?"
"Chi chi chi..."
The bird jumped on the stool and pointed at the most expensive garlic-grilled saury with its wings.
After Ye Jingtang invited Master Xuanji to sit down across the table, he looked at the menu on the wall:
"A piece of grilled fish, a few home-cooked dishes, a bowl of rice, and a pound of good wine, the strongest one."
Alan looked at the quiet girl in white wearing a curtain hat and said with a smile:
"My wine is not ordinary. It's the strongest kind. When the master comes, he has to drink three glasses. If he pours five glasses, are you sure you want one pound?"
Ye Jingtang took off his bamboo hat and sat down on the table:
"I don't drink, but she drinks. She eats it hard... hiss -"
Before he finished speaking, Master Xuanji was under the table, stepped on Ye Jingtang's toes, and slowly twisted them.
The landlady smiled lightly with crooked eyebrows, and without asking any questions, she told the name of the dish to the backyard and went to get a drink nearby.
Ye Jingtang picked up the teapot and got two glasses of water, and got another cup for Birdie, and asked casually:
"I heard that the heroes Qiu Tian and Qiu are going to Junshan Terrace to fight for the title of swordsman recently. We are also coming to watch the fun. Does the boss lady know the news? Is the fight going on over there?"
Alan guessed that these two heroes came here for this, and responded:
"The fight hasn't started yet. What the Jianghu people want is nothing more than fame. Fighting for the top sword is only once in a lifetime for ordinary people. If the battle is not big enough, it will be like the No. 1 scholar walking at night. There are still boats to pick up people, which means Junshan Terrace is not overcrowded yet.
, when the place is full, people in the world have to wait eagerly for it to be like a top grandmaster..."
"hehe……"
Ye Jingtang smiled and nodded, feeling a little more relaxed. He did not disturb the proprietress anymore, and drank tea with Master Xuanji while waiting.
————
Bah la la~~
Soon, the sound of stir-frying could be heard in the backyard, and the appetizing aroma came from the backyard.
The bird seemed to be so greedy that it jumped down and crawled through the curtain into the backyard. It seemed that it wanted to look at the food.
Night Terror Hall was afraid that the birds would disturb the little girl who was reading and writing, so she stood up and jumped open the curtain:
"return."
"grumble……"
The backyard of the wine shop is not big. There is an old well inside and a clothesline next to it.
The kitchen is on the left, with rows of Yunmengze specialty swordfish hanging outside, and an old wine jar below. There is a shed next to it with a grill inside, and the proprietress is grilling fish in the back.
The bird was very obediently squatting in front of the grill, looking up at the golden, sizzling and oily big fish. It couldn't move its claws at all, and even opened its beak to let the boss lady feed it a taste first.
In the kitchen, a middle-aged man in civilian clothes was cooking in front of the stove. He was tall and well-proportioned, and his appearance was quite heroic. After looking at the birds begging for food, he saw Ye Jingtang coming in and said:
"Young Master, this is a good bird."
Ye Jingtang gestured with a smile and was about to call the greedy bird back when his peripheral vision was attracted to the main room.
In a blink of an eye, he looked around and saw a knife hanging under the nave of the main room.
The knife is very long, about 1.6 meters by visual inspection, which is a little longer than the Junshan knife, but the blade is thinner and slightly curved. After the knife is put into the sheath, if there is not a guard on the handle, it looks like an eyebrow-level stick.
The knife didn't look like it had been held often. It had been hung for too long and had accumulated some dust.
Ye Jingtang felt that this knife was similar to the Miao knife. This style had never been seen in the world, so he couldn't help but take a few more glances:
"The shopkeeper's knife is quite special."
Xuanyuan Tiangang turned around and looked at it: "It's just that the straight blade has been lengthened by two feet. What's so special about it?"
“Not only is it long, but it feels like it takes a lot of effort.”
Seeing that the shopkeeper didn't mind, Ye Jingtang walked into the backyard and looked carefully:
"I estimate that this knife is not made of ordinary iron. It weighs about sixteen kilograms. Is that correct?"
"..."
Alan paused while playing with the grilled fish, then raised his eyes to look at the Nightmare Hall.
Master Xuanji also put down her teacup, opened the curtain and watched.
Xuanyuan Tiangang looked at Ye Jingtang and asked, "How did the young master see it?"
Ye Jingtang observed the long sword and said straight to the point:
"The dragon-slaying order has the advantages of long blade and high strength. Fighting head-on with a three-foot light sword is not much different from using a single sword to close up with a gun. It is basically difficult to break the move at the same level. I have thought of many tricks in the past, but recently I found this
The road is difficult to navigate. If you want to break the move, it's best to change weapons and use a gun to break it; but you can't win the 'Knife Chief' with a gun, so the easiest way is to work on the style of the 'Knife'."
Ye Jingtang walked to the main house, looked at it carefully, and continued:
"If you want to take over the Dragon Slaying Order, you can just switch to a heavier sword and go head-to-head. But if you want to surpass the Dragon Slaying Order in terms of knife skills, you have to consider every aspect to the extreme.
"The sword of the Dragon Slaying Order is very powerful, but its disadvantage is that it relies on inertia and has traces to follow. It is extremely difficult to flexibly change the moves. It is considered an extreme. When using the strong against the weak, it is wrong. But against the strong, there is basically no backhand.
.
"The Eight-Step Crazy Sword is the fastest in the world, but its shortcoming is that it pursues too much speed, and the interlocking moves are fatal. If you change the move, it will no longer be the Eight-Step Crazy Sword. It is also considered to be extreme, and the moves will be targeted or the rhythm will be interrupted.
Afterwards, it is difficult to turn over.
“Both of these two sword techniques are the pinnacle of excellence, but both have gone too far in the pursuit of perfection and have obvious flaws.
"In my opinion, if you want to be better than these two sword techniques, you should follow the 'golden mean' approach. Have the unstoppable power of the Dragon Slaying Order, but also have the lightning speed of the Eight-Step Crazy Sword. You can attack and retreat, and you can defend without a crown."
It has an absolute advantage in the world, but there are no obvious shortcomings.
“Following this line of thinking, the knife must be neither heavy nor light, neither long nor short, neither fast nor slow.
"This sword is five feet long, with a slender blade that can be used with one or both hands. It has the characteristics of both a knife and a gun. Depending on its length and speed, it will not be unable to get close when encountering a dragon-slaying order. Its heavy slashing power is astonishing, and its eight-step madness
The knife is also difficult to parry. I had imagined this kind of knife shape before, but I didn't expect that someone had already made it."
Shashasha~~
With the rain falling, the small courtyard became a little quieter.
Master Xuanji half leaned on the threshold, took out the wine gourd and took a sip.
Xuanyuan Tiangang stared at Ye Jingtang for a moment, showed a smile, put down the spatula, wiped his hands on his apron, went out and picked up the long knife in the main room:
"With only a sword and no matching sword skills, how can you break the moves?"
Ye Jingtang felt that this shopkeeper was a powerful person who was hidden in the city, so he smiled and said:
"Now that we have all the knives, we have to find out the most reasonable way to use them, which is the sword technique. This knife is compatible with stick techniques and some spear techniques. It takes into account the power of the heavy knife and the agility of the light knife. As long as you have learned enough moves from hundreds of schools of thought,
It shouldn't be difficult to figure out the most suitable knife skills. Has the shopkeeper already figured it out?"
Xuanyuan Tiangang walked out of the kitchen with a long knife and threw it to Ye Jingtang:
"I can't teach you, kid, and you don't seem to need to. I can't use this knife either. Since you know how to do it, I gave it to you. I just hope that your hands, kid, don't get this knife dirty."
Ye Jingtang was quite surprised. He took the long knife with both hands, looked at it, and asked:
"May I ask your senior's surname?"
Xuanyuan Tiangang returned to the kitchen and continued cooking:
"We meet each other by chance. If we have similar interests, we are close friends. Why bother asking each other's names? Let's go after dinner. If we talk any more, my mother-in-law will get angry."
Ye Jingtang saw that the landlady was indeed unhappy and kept glaring at the shopkeeper, so he raised his knife and saluted:
"Liangzhou Night Terror Hall, my master Qiu Tianhe. I borrowed this sword today and will return it to my senior when I figure out how to use it."
??
Xuanyuan Tiangang paused while cooking. He raised his eyes, and the meaning in his eyes was probably - are you lying? Qiu Tianhe can teach a disciple like you, I will twist off his head and use it as a urinal for him.
However, Xuanyuan Tiangang still guessed a thing or two after Ye Jingtang announced his family name, and waved his hand slightly:
"There's a lot of fumes in the kitchen. Go out and wait. The food will be fried later."
Seeing this, Ye Jingtang said nothing more and lifted the bird that was still looking at his beak out of the curtain...
——
In the blink of an eye, night fell, and the lights in Huangquan Town lit up.
In the wine shop, Ye Jingtang, who had eaten a full meal, settled the bill with the proprietress, and then picked up a long knife.
At the wine table, a satiated bird, probably too full to eat, lay sprawled on the stool and refused to move, posing as if he wanted a hug.
The real Xuanji, who was originally dressed in white clothes with an air of fairy-like fluttering like snow, took off his bamboo hat, his stunning cheeks were stained with a hint of blush, and he lay drunkenly on the table and gasped softly, looking as if he had just been tortured.
The landlady looked at the side, picked up the wine bottle, shook it, and marveled:
"This girl's drinking capacity is really scary. This is the first time I've seen a guest who can drink two bottles. You are the same, a man's family, just get the girl drunk. Why is it not light or heavy and let people drink like this? What should I do if something happens...
…”
Ye Jingtang felt the suspicion in the eyes of the landlady and looked a little helpless:
"The wine is so good, I asked her to drink less, but I couldn't persuade her to stop."
"Why don't you rest here for the night? I'll make some hangover soup..."
"No need~"
When Master Xuanji heard this, he stood up unsteadily and put the curtain hat on his head:
"I still have something important to do, so I won't bother you and go away."
"grumble……"
Seeing that this girl could still stand up, the landlady secretly sighed and glanced at the dock outside the town:
"The boat hasn't arrived yet, I guess we have to wait until tomorrow morning. If you are in a hurry, I will go next door to say hello and you can borrow a boat. You should take good care of her at night and don't let this girl accidentally fall into the lake...
"
Ye Jingtang smiled and nodded. Seeing that the shopkeeper never showed up, he thanked the proprietress and went next door to borrow a boat. He put the horses in the inn in the town and headed to the dock with long and short weapons.
Soon, the two of them disappeared into the night of the old street.
Alan stopped and stared at the door of the wine shop for a long time, then the cloth behind his back was opened. Xuanyuan Tiangang walked out from the backyard, stood beside him, and looked at the rain curtain outside the eaves.
"Gangzi, who is this young man?"
"I guess he is Zheng Feng's apprentice. His talent is amazing."
"Oh... he seems to be much smarter than Zheng Feng. If it were Zheng Feng, he would definitely drink with him. I would be embarrassed to let the girl get drunk alone..."
"Ah……"
…
——
(The words added after the following words do not count the points)
Thank you to the leader of [Love of Life Ju Yunxiu] for the reward!
Thank you to the boss [my summoned fist is in attack position] for the 10,000 reward!
I recommend a book called "I Don't Want to Do Multiple Choice Questions After Rebirth". If you are interested, you can read it~