On the south side of Qingyun City, there is a mountain called "Chaolu". The Qingjiang River flows under the mountain, and its tributaries converge at the foot of the mountain to form Yingyue Lake. Along the lake is a scattered group of buildings. The market calls this place Zhoujiazhuang, and on the rivers and lakes, it is called "Dalu".
Wei's famous swordsmanship giant - Shuiyun Jiantan!
The buildings in the center of Zhoujiazhuang are old and are inhabited by members of the Zhou family; while 70% to 80% of the surrounding buildings were expanded in recent decades. Because of the fame of the 'Sword Master' Zhou Chiyang, he came here to learn skills.
There are countless warriors in the country, and there are only more than 300 people who can really become disciples of the Zhou family.
The Zhou family has lived here for generations. Their ancestors were the Sword Making Villa, and their main business was to help Jianghu build various weapons. In the previous dynasty, it was just a little-known small business.
Because Mrs. Zhou was generous and loved to make friends, when the Wei Dynasty was founded, he helped the rebels build many swords. As a result, the Zhou family got on the right track, but it was only a second-rate family in the world.
It was not until the emergence of the contemporary 'Sword Master' that the Zhou family was able to soar into the sky, and the founding sect was renamed 'Shuiyun Jiantan', becoming a powerful family in Zezhou second only to Junshantai.
Old Mrs. Zhou is too old and has long since stopped caring about worldly affairs. The current head of the Zhou family, the head of Shuiyun Jiantan, is Zhou Huaili, the eldest son of Mr. Zhou, and the elder brother of the contemporary sword master.
At noon, music and singing were going on at Chaolu Peak, and celebrities from all over the world came to celebrate their birthdays, drinking and chatting in the Shijian Hall on the bank of Yingyue Lake. The village was noisy, but the back of the ancestral house was quite quiet.
Next to the water pool at the foot of the mountain, there is an old blacksmith shop. There is still a blackened signboard on the door, with the four characters "Zhoujia Shop" vaguely visible. It is the place where the ancestors of the Zhou family started their business.
The fire in the blacksmith shop that has been passed down for hundreds of years has not been extinguished, and the crisp sound of forging can be heard:
Ding--
Ding--
Old Mrs. Zhou with white hair, stooped at the waist, holding a hammer in her hand, hitting the iron block clamped on the tongs.
Because he is too old, he is not very strong, but his technique is very stable, and even has a unique rhythm when looking at it from the side.
The leader, Zhou Huaili, stood outside the blacksmith shop with his hands in sleeves. He looked about fifty years old and had a three-foot green-edged sword hanging on his waist. He looked quite imposing.
As the elder brother of a contemporary swordsman and a genuine master of swordsmanship, Zhou Huaili's status in the world is definitely not low.
But facing his own father, no matter how old Zhou Huaili is, he can only stand quietly at the door like an ordinary son, listening to the verbose words of his elders:
"The rivers and lakes are the tides of the Qingjiang River. When there is a rising tide, there is a falling tide, and vice versa; if there are no waves, it becomes stagnant water... When he was cutting swords for Xuanyuan Chao, who would have thought that he would be expelled from the Xuanyuan family.
A rebellious son who joined the army at a young age and made great contributions, mastered peerless swordsmanship, and became the master swordsman he is today? When your grandfather was giving swordsmanship to Kuangyazi, Kuangyazi was at the top of the sword world. Who would have thought that he would be the master of swordsmanship today?
, it’s hard to see even half a descendant..."
Old Mrs. Zhou spent many years in the blacksmith's shop where there was too much smoke and smoke. His voice was not very good. He spoke slowly and hoarsely. He couldn't hear clearly even if he didn't listen carefully.
After Zhou Huaili listened patiently for a long time, he said:
"Dad has told these old stories hundreds of times."
Old Mrs. Zhou was hammering the iron in an orderly manner. He seemed not to have heard his son's words and continued to mutter:
"It's not easy to make a living in Jianghu. Tell me, if I had refused when Xuanyuan came to ask me for a swordplay, how many members of the Zhou family would be left in the world now?"
"Dad has been known to everyone in the world for his generosity. If it weren't for this, there wouldn't be so many friends from the world coming to congratulate him on his 100th birthday..."
"This is not generosity. A handful of rice when others are in poverty is far better than a thousand gold in salary when they are prosperous; a cold look when others are in poverty may result in the whole family being wiped out in the future. This is the case in the world..."
"Dad, I'm past the age where I know my destiny. I'm not young anymore. It's your birthday today, so you should take a day off."
Old Mrs. Zhou paused in his hammering action. After a moment of silence, he continued to lift the hammer.
Ding--
Ding--
The area inside and outside the blacksmith shop became quiet, with only the sound of forging iron remaining.
Zhou Huaili waited for a while. Seeing that Old Master Zhou was not in the mood to go out to meet guests, he stopped trying to persuade him and walked out of the ancestral house to the Shijian Hall on the bank of Yingyue Lake.
"Shijian" means to understand the way of swordsmanship. The sword master Zhou Chiyang realized the way of swordsmanship by the lake and soared to the sky. He became the most powerful swordsman in the world from a small swordsmith.
For this reason, the Shijian Hall is regarded as the holy land of Shuiyun Jiantan. No one is allowed to enter on weekdays. It is only opened when a celebration banquet is held. The people who can enter are all well-known celebrities in the world.
Zhou Huaili and his servants entered from the back of Shijian Hall. It can be seen that the large hall was full of guests, and outside the door was the blue-blue Yingyue Lake. There was a huge stone beside the lake with the word "Xia" written on it, which was carved by the sword master Zhou Chiyang himself.
, the handwriting is like a silver hook and iron painting, sharp and sharp, and many people are watching under the big sword.
Seeing the word "Xia", Zhou Huaili's eyes flashed with a hint of displeasure.
As the saying goes, "Every family has its own scriptures that are difficult to recite." This is also true for the Zhou family.
Zhou Huaili became the head of the family at an early age, and because of the family's wealth, he was not very polite to his younger brother, who was much loved by his father. Although they did not draw swords against each other, they had many quarrels with each other.
After his brother's sword struck the twelve states of frost, he did not teach his elder brother a lesson. After carving a word, he picked up his sword and left, and began to travel across the mountains, rivers, and swamps, never returning to his hometown.
Zhou Huaili knew that his younger brother was teaching him a lesson, and like his father, he hoped that he would "return from his lost ways", but he never felt that there was anything wrong with his behavior.
His younger brother, Zhou Chiyang, was obsessed with swordsmanship and had no interest in worldly family business. He even looked down on his brother, who was a philistine and utilitarian. He was a hero respected by everyone in the world, but such a person could only be a 'face', not a family member.
The world's powerful forces all talk about "chivalry" on the stage, but they only care about these things. No matter how great your ability is, you can't accumulate a family fortune.
He, Zhou Huaili, is indeed a philistine, not noble and chivalrous enough, but without his philistine, where would the Zhou family have such a large number of guests today, and where would they have the vast tracts of fertile land outside?
If he hadn't devoted half his life to running the business, no matter how famous the Sword Master was, the Zhou family would still be just a small aristocratic family, still relying on blacksmithing to make a living today.
Between his personal fame and the prosperity and wealth of his clan, what's wrong with him choosing the latter?
The distracting thoughts disappeared in a flash. Zhou Huaili came to Shijian Hall. When he saw the guests present, he put on a smile and cupped his hands and said:
"Mrs. Xue, Brother Xuanyuan, you've been waiting for a long time. My father is old and has been working as an ironworker all his life. He feels uncomfortable if he doesn't stand by the fire every day. He will come out later..."
The guests in the lobby are all celebrities from around Zezhou, and the seven or eight people sitting at the head table are all famous masters in the world, the Sanjue Immortal of Wuzhou Sanjue Valley, and the head of Junshan Terrace, Xuanyuan Hongzhi.
And so on, it can be said that all the wealthy families near Zezhou sent people here.
But the ones with the highest status here are the two women sitting at the top!