Chapter 229 Sword Hanging Butterfly Creek (1st update)
Halfway up Xiaogu Mountain.
A sword-making furnace was completely opened.
Beside the stove, there is an old man in sackcloth sitting on his back drinking wine, as if waiting.
Everything looks so ordinary.
But if you look thousands of miles away.
In the vast Jiangnan Road, sporadic silhouettes of people leap up from time to time.
Either a high building, a tree top, or a mountain peak, looking towards Yunmeng.
Where there is silence, there is thunder.
It can be said that when the raging tide comes on Butterfly Creek, the wind from thousands of miles away moves the mines.
Hundreds of miles away.
In the upper reaches of Butterfly Creek, there is a sluice dam lying across Yunmengze and Yuenv Gorge.
On the gate and dam, there were patrolling officials in groups, laughing and chatting, while the sky above their heads was clear and blue.
Under the dam, there is a newly erected Shui Ze stele, half of which is submerged in the water.
At a certain moment, the water level, which had been silent for a long time, suddenly rose.
…
Ouyang Rong saw a pillar of blue air rising straight into the sky.
Like a vertical line, connecting heaven and earth.
Majestic and majestic.
This is not a realistic image that deceives the eyes produced by some kind of technological head-mounted display that Ouyang Rong experienced in his previous life when he was shopping.
This was really happening before his eyes.
Is this what Qi practitioners like Junior Sister usually see?
Ouyang Rong, who considered himself a gentleman and a cultured man, swallowed the phrase "wocao".
He suddenly became curious.
Look left and right at the world around you.
These are... the Qi between heaven and earth.
What the junior sister said before was right.
Everything has energy.
Ouyang Rong was stunned.
He immediately lowered his eyes and looked at Xie Lingjiang, grabbing his arm.
A stream of crimson flame-like air, shaped like a long snake, surged out from the little junior sister's arm.
I saw this "Crimson Fire Snake" pouring into the meridians of his body through the Shaoyang Meridian of the Hand.
"Little junior sister, are you sending spiritual energy to me?"
"Well, senior brother hasn't cultivated his spiritual energy yet, so I'm helping you gain energy."
The sudden thanks made Jiang's pretty face tighten, and she stared at the vision of "anger filling the Big Dipper" in the distance.
After a pause, she looked steadily and continued to explain:
"The lower grade, Qi Blue; the middle grade, Qi Zhu; the upper grade, Qi Purple. Among them, the depth of a single color represents the purity of the aura, and the level of Qi cultivation of the same rank can be seen.
"Once most Qi practitioners take action, they can see the color of the aura and roughly know their cultivation level.
"These... Senior Brother will gradually become familiar with them in the future."
Ouyang Rong couldn't help but nodded in wonder, lowered his head curiously, and looked at himself.
He had no aura and was all gray.
Turn around and look.
Under this gaze, the appearance of the little junior sister next to her was the same as the red dress on her body.
Just like red beans from southern China, bright and beautiful.
Ouyang Rong couldn't help but look sideways and asked:
"The pill that my junior sister gave me just now was obtained from Longhu Mountain..."
Xie Lingjiang suddenly interrupted, pointed forward and said:
"Due to differences in qi training or qi refining techniques, different qi practitioners can see different things when looking at their qi.
"For example, the Yin Yang family's Qi watchers can see many more things than we can, such as Dragon Qi, King Qi and so on.
"What Senior Brother can see now is only the most basic."
Ouyang Rong swallowed his words silently, and after hearing the words, he pointed at the vision of Xiaogushan on the west bank of Butterfly Creek in the distance, speechless:
"The most basic thing, how can you see something so outrageous? Well, is this what I can see?"
Xie Lingjiang jumped off the eaves with Ouyang Rong. After landing, she sounded anxious:
"That's why I said we are in big trouble.
"My father said that making swords is like refining elixirs. It refines the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, extracts the purest energy from it, and achieves the 'unification' of some external object for the use of Qi practitioners.
"The spiritual energy condensed in this cauldron sword is so pure. Even the most powerful Taoist alchemist I have ever seen can't even practice a furnace of golden elixirs so exaggeratedly.
"I have just appeared in this world, and washing my sword for the first time can cause such a spectacular scene that even senior brother can clearly see it."
"..."
Ouyang Rong was speechless for a moment and asked curiously:
"Cleaning the sword? What about cleaning the sword?"
"It is said in the Confucian classics that when a new tripod sword is released, it will arouse the aura of heaven and earth, clean the sword for the first time, and adapt to this world...I am not sure, the first sword cleansing should be the scene we see now."
Ouyang Rong interrupted:
"Junior sister, just tell me directly, what stage is this tripod sword in now?"
Xie Lingjiang sighed:
"Elder brother understands this. This tripod sword whose real name is unknown has just left the 'small' sword furnace where it was brewed for many years, and now it has entered this world.
"It's like a baby trying to leave the mother's womb, adapting to the outside of the womb, and waiting for the final umbilical cord to be cut.
"This is the process of washing a sword for the first time.
"The radius of a hundred miles downstream of Butterfly Creek, including the entire Dragon City, is now locked up by it, turning it into a big sword furnace. The earth and water veins are affected by it, and it madly absorbs the luck and uses it to wash the sword."
Ouyang Rong curiously asked:
"Baby maternal fetus? Umbilical cord? What kind of strange metaphor is this? What is Dingjian's umbilical cord?"
Xie Lingjiang glanced at him and simply said:
"The swordsmith is the umbilical cord. Don't forget that he is also a Qi practitioner, and right now, the swordsmith is the final bridge connecting the sword furnace and the tripod sword.
"Actually, the moment the furnace door is opened and the tripod sword leaves the sword furnace, the swordsmith's fate is already decided..."
It was a bit abstract. Ouyang Rong pondered for a moment, nodded, and asked a more abstract question:
"It's better to protect the elder or the younger, right? One has to go? Then it must be the elder."
Xie Lingjiang was stunned for a moment, nodded, and then shook his head: "What do you mean, senior brother? You want to save the swordsmith?"
Ouyang Rong held the knife with one hand, took off his felt hat and threw it away with the other hand. He watched the sword energy rising in the distance with cold eyes and asked sonorously:
"It's just incidental to save the swordsmith. It doesn't matter whether we can save him or not. After all, you will not survive if you do it yourself.
"But this cauldron sword actually treats the entire territory of Longcheng County as its mother's womb, absorbing water and air to cleanse the sword.
"Who gave it the power? I don't agree, and neither do the folks in Longcheng County, so I don't want to be its wild father!
"So what I want to ask is, if you haven't completely left the mother's womb and cut the umbilical cord, does that mean that you can still kill the fetus, just like protecting the fetus but not the young, protecting the mother and fetus, little junior sister, is this a description, right?
?”
He turned his head towards Xie Lingjiang who was stunned for a moment, squinted his eyes and said:
"In other words, this tripod sword is in the process of being cleaned for the first time. If we rush over now, for example by blowing up the sword-making furnace, will we still have a chance to destroy it?"
Xie Lingjiang's face was astonished when he heard his senior brother's strange thoughts:
"I...I don't know, maybe...it should be okay, can I interrupt?"
She asked back without confidence. She looked at the serious Ouyang Rong twice and couldn't help but say:
"Senior Brother, I have never heard of this idea, and I have no past experience to refer to.
"In the past, rulers of all dynasties made swords, and everyone hoped that the tripod sword would be born and supported it.
"Even the enemy who snatched the Ding Sword, no one studied how to interrupt the first sword-washing ceremony of the Ding Sword, and no one cared whether the Ding Sword affected the surrounding people..."
Having said this, Xie Lingjiang slowly stopped talking.
Ouyang Rong suddenly pointed at the face with his hands, leaned forward while holding the knife, and said word by word:
"Junior sister, don't stare at this mythical tripod sword for now. Go and look over there. The water at Digong Sluice is rising again!"
Xie Lingjiang immediately turned his head and looked south.
From a distance, it can be seen that among the mountains in the upper reaches of Butterfly Creek, there are several peaks at the same interval, and green smoke is rising one after another.
At this moment, the two of them were standing near the top of Dagushan Mountain, looking really clearly.
It's just that Xie Lingjiang had been nervously watching the vision of the tripod sword coming out of the furnace and cleaning it, so he didn't notice it for a while.
"Is this... a beacon fire?" She suddenly realized.
In response to previous floods, Xie Lingjiang remembered that his senior brother had set up an early warning mechanism, including a water monument set up along the upper reaches of Butterfly Creek, and seven fire towers in the mountains upstream to facilitate the immediate notification of news.
Green smoke means that the water level has risen sharply and it is urgent to prepare for evacuation.
The black smoke means that the Dickong Gate has collapsed and floods are about to come.
Ouyang Rong said calmly:
"It's green smoke, the water level in Yunmengze has skyrocketed, and the Digong Gate is already in a panic, asking the Longcheng County Government for assistance.
He took a deep breath and said:
"The rainy season has passed, and on a hot summer day, the water level has risen sharply. What is the strange phenomenon caused by this cauldron sword touching the water veins?
"Looking at it now, it was also responsible for the two floods last time. What happened before, let's just tolerate it. Today, we see, it is going to cause another bigger one. After all the hard work in the past few months,
Isn’t all the hard work in vain?
"I, Ouyang Lianghan, disagree! Neither do the folks in Longcheng County!"
After saying that, Ouyang Rong turned around and rushed out of the temple.
Xie Lingjiang stared blankly at the familiar back of his senior brother.
"Elder brother, wait for me, I will go with you!"
She dodged and caught up with Ouyang Rong, who was running forward with his head bent.
The latter didn't look back and said: "How long will it take until the first sword cleaning of Dingjian is successful?"
Xie Lingjiang looked at Qi from afar, looked at the sword Qi light beam in his field of vision for a while, counted it with his fingers, and turned around:
"It's expected to be around two quarters to noon."
"It's half past twelve noon. We should have time to rush to the county government to organize an evacuation, and then mobilize manpower to stop the Liu family."
Ouyang Rong murmured and did some mental calculations.
At this moment, the two of them had already reached the gate of Donglin Temple and were preparing to go down the mountain along the road.
While Ouyang Rong was running and panting, he suddenly turned his head and ordered:
"Little junior sister, you are faster than me. Go ahead and go to the county government office to report the news and calm the situation for me.
"Just say that the county magistrate is back and ask them not to mess up their positions and stick to their posts.
"First ask Yan Liulang and others to issue a county magistrate's handwriting for me, summoning the people in the city to take refuge on Dagushan Mountain, just like the last time the water rose.
“This is a top priority, the first priority!
"Then, let them mobilize official ships and supplies, and wait until I return to the county office to make other arrangements!"
Regardless of looking down the mountain from Donglin Temple, Longcheng County and Butterfly Creek are all in sight, and they seem not far away.
But in fact, Wangshan is a dead horse.
Dagushan is located on the outskirts of Longcheng County, more than a hundred miles away. Without water, it would take an hour or two to travel by horse-drawn carriage.
Xie Lingjiang didn't even take a breath. She shook her head and said:
"It's okay, senior brother, I'll take you on the road with me."
She stretched her bare hands towards Ouyang Rong's shoulders.
Ouyang Rong frowned: "It's too troublesome to take me."
Xie Lingjiang stretched out his hand without turning back: "It doesn't matter, I can stop for a breath of air."
Ouyang Rong turned sideways to avoid:
"But it will affect your speed. You listen to me. You go and report the direction immediately. I'll be right behind you. I'll be there soon. Don't worry about me."
After a pause, he said seriously:
"Junior sister, I'm mainly worried that without me here, the county government would be in chaos.
"Besides, I have to take a detour and go to the new ferry crossing of Zheyi Canal first!
"It's the morning of the 15th now. If nothing else, a ceremony to celebrate the opening of the canal is being held there. Diao County Magistrate and the others are all there. I went over to summon them and asked them to organize people nearby to take refuge in Dagushan. This is the first time right now.
One priority,
"Then, I will borrow another boat, take the waterway of Zheyi Canal, and return to Longcheng County Yamen with a favorable wind. This road is much faster than riding a horse on land! We will be there soon."
Xie Lingjiang bowed his head and sleeved his sleeves.
There are several fingers in the sleeves of the red dress that are indistinguishable from each other.