The Southeast Province is the smallest among the five provinces of the Southern Tang Dynasty. However, because it is located near the East China Sea and is rich in products, the Southeast Province is not only not considered poor, but is also the largest Wenqu Province in the Southern Tang Dynasty except for Kyoto.
One of the richest regions outside of China.
This is evident from what Ergou and the others saw and heard along the way.
The Spring Equinox has passed, and now it's time for spring planting. If it were in other places, this would be a big deal, and it would affect whether the whole family can have enough food and clothing this year.
But it seems that the people in the Southeast Province don't take this matter too seriously. It was not obvious when they first entered the Southeast Province. Many farmers were still working hard in the fields, but after halfway through, almost no one was farming.
Well, even if some people still plant some, it is just enough to satisfy the family.
Being close to the East China Sea, the families here can no longer be called farmers, but should be called fishermen. Most families make a living by going out to sea to fish. This is probably the so-called living on the mountains and the water.
After entering the Southeast Province, Ergou and the others became slower and slower, as if everyone hoped to arrive at the East China Sea later, as if hoping that the depression would come later, but the Southeast Province is not big in the first place, and then
Slow speed will always arrive one day.
According to the solar terms of the ancients, Tomb-Sweeping Day will occur fifteen days after the Spring Equinox. Although Ergou and the others have been on the road for more than half a month, they saw the coast of the East China Sea on the last two days of the Qingming Festival.
There is a city on the coast of the East China Sea called Linyuan Ancient City. The dynasty and era in which this ancient city was built and the origin of its name cannot be verified to this day, because the name of this ancient city has been known since the beginning of written records.
It's happened countless times.
According to a historian who dedicated his life to this ancient city and wanted to research it, human ancestors had already settled here when they learned how to fish in ancient times. Later, as time went by and
As the wisdom of the ancients continued to improve, they gradually formed markets and small towns here, and finally the world-famous Linyuan Ancient City was established.
In fact, there are two things in Linyuan Ancient City that the world collectively calls "double wonders". The first wonder is pearls. For some reason, the sea clam pearls fished out near Linyuan Ancient City are larger than those found in other places.
There are quite a few pearls on them. It seems that it was not unreasonable for the ancients to choose this place to build the city. Even the noble ladies in the capital city of Da Chu liked the beads produced in Linyuan Ancient City.
The second best thing is the pearl divers, probably because they have been swimming underwater since childhood. Not only do these women have waists as slender, soft and flexible as water snakes, but their skin is also supple and fair.
, extremely smooth.
Just imagine, how wonderful it would be if you could move such a woman to the bed and have a lingering relationship! Therefore, men in the Southern Tang Dynasty regard being able to marry a pearl diver as a lifelong blessing!
Especially in the capital of the Southern Tang Dynasty, countless pearl divers were raised like canaries by the ministers and nobles.
But those pearl divers locked up in the capital are different from those in Linyuan Ancient City. Once the pearl divers are locked in the cage in the capital, they will naturally lose their agility in the sea, so
Only in Linyuan Ancient City, the pearl divers are called unique.
In the ancient city, the noise at night is as noisy as during the day, or even more so, because most of the men in the city go out to sea to fish during the day, but only at night can they go out to visit the brothels and relax.
Ergou and the others were resting in an inn that was a restaurant on the surface but also engaged in flesh-and-blood business secretly. Although they had arrived at the East China Sea, Linyuan Ancient City was not their final destination. They still had to go along the coastline.
Just walk up a bit.
In a slightly dark room, two figures were reflected under the dim oil lamp in the room. The master and apprentice, who had never really calmed down to talk, looked at each other in silence.
After a long silence, Ergou finally spoke first.
"Old man, didn't you say before that when you have a sword in your hand, you can
You are invincible in the world, but now why do I think you can't beat that Wang Jianqing?"
Wang Xuanlang looked at the oil lamp without any disturbance in his eyes, and his tone was as calm as ever.
"Er Gou, although your master and I don't have much potential, I still have the ability to be invincible in the world, but that Wang Jianqing is different. When I met him about twenty years ago, he was already a first-class master.
, as for now...I always have a hunch that he has half of his feet in the sky!"
Ergou's lips trembled and he wanted to say something, but after he opened his mouth, he whimpered and didn't know what to say. During these days, what he heard the most was about transcendence, which is the so-called step into heaven.
Although he didn't understand how powerful he would be after stepping into the sky, he also understood that his master was still some distance away from that realm.
Wang Xuanlang saw the worry in his apprentice's heart and reached out to touch his head as before.
"Er Gou, you don't have to worry about me. Since you are out to travel around the world, how can you only allow yourself to win and not lose in a fight? What's more, I have been preparing for this battle for twenty years, so...
It’s not that easy to lose!”
But the more Wang Xuanlang said this, the more Ergou felt that the old man was comforting him. It was probably because the oil lamp was too smoky. Ergou's eyes gradually turned red, and he said to Wang Xuanlang in a trembling voice.
"Master! I will never call you dead old man again. Just promise me not to lose this battle. If that doesn't work, let's go back to Dachu now. We'll stay in that broken mountain gorge and never come out again."
Wang Xuanlang did not directly reject Jiang Ergou, but looked at him with a gentler look.
"Ergou, listen to me telling you a story. The story starts three hundred years ago. Do you still remember that I told you that the great world comes around in three hundred years, but the first hundred years after the great age
It’s the time when the world is at its most inaccessible, when first-level masters remain hidden from the world, and second-level masters are enough to be called great masters.”
Speaking of this, the memory in Wang Xuanlang's eyes gradually became more intense.
"But in such an environment, a guy named Wang Feng suddenly reached the second-level realm by practicing swordsmanship in white clothes. In that era when first-level masters were rare, he was considered one of the few masters in the world. But he became a second-level master.
After becoming a grandmaster, Wang Feng no longer indulged in martial arts, but took his time to build a Wang family."
"The Wang family actually developed well in his hands, especially as the influence of the Great Age gradually weakened. Many geniuses emerged in the Wang family one after another. Especially two hundred years ago, the Wang family gave birth to two peerless geniuses, among whom
One was named Wang Shijie and the other was named Wang Shiqiu. The two of them broke through to the first-level realm at almost the same moment, which brought a huge surprise to the Wang family at that time. Everyone in the Wang family thought that this was a sign of their upcoming rise, but later on
Only then did I realize that this was a huge disaster!”
Speaking of this sad past event, even if his mood was as strong as that of Wang Xuanlang, he still couldn't help but express grief.
"The two of them embarked on two completely different paths after entering the first-level realm. One pursued the ultimate breakthrough in mental state, and the other pursued the one-hit kill with sword moves! At that time, both of them were not very old, and they were still very young.
They are young, so they don’t obey anyone in the way of swordsmanship, but under their influence, the Wang family gradually split into two branches, one is the heart swordsmanship, and the other is the skill swordsmanship."
"Led by the two peerless geniuses of the Wang family at that time, these two lines fought openly and secretly for decades, and in the end they even evolved to the point of being incompatible with each other. By the time the two peerless geniuses came to their senses, they were already old.
When they tried to eliminate this influence, it was already too late, and in the last dozen years of their lives, they were unable to resolve the grudges between the two branches of the Wang family's swordsmanship."
Having said this, Wang Xuanlang let out a long sigh, and his voice began to tremble when he spoke.
"Twenty years after the death of the two peerless geniuses of the Wang family, both the Heart Sword and the Shujian can barely suppress the hatred in their hearts, but after a long time, the hatred still broke out. The two
A shocking battle broke out between the pulses. The masters of the Heart Sword were almost dead, and most of the family's elites were withered.
! But in the end, it was the Heart Sword lineage that won the battle. The Shu Sword advanced quickly, and the Heart Sword was practiced again. But after more than a hundred years of accumulation, the Heart Sword is naturally one point stronger than the Shu Sword.
of."
At this point in the story, Ergou finally understood the grudge between Wang Xuanlang and Wang Jianqing. Now it seems that Wang Xuanlang is a descendant of the Heart Sword lineage, and I am afraid that Wang Jianqing is a new genius from the Shujian lineage.
"After the civil war that destroyed the family's century-old achievements, the Shujian lineage was driven out like a lost dog. They came to the Southern Tang Dynasty to survive. Since then, there has been no news. The Xinjian lineage thought
This matter will be over, and there will no longer be any connection between the Heart Sword and the Sword. After decades of development, the Heart Sword lineage once again has four second-grade masters, including my father. But just fifty years ago
A while ago, a young man named Wang Jianqing claimed to be a descendant of the Shujian lineage and came to the Xinjian lineage to ask for advice!"
Perhaps because the story has already told about Wang Xuanlang and his generation, Wang Xuanlang has become more and more emotionally invested in it. This old man who was smashed into the mountain by the Xinyi Sect's Youquan without even saying a word of pain actually shed tears at this moment.
Emerging from the corner of the eye.
"I was playful when I was young, so when Wang Jianqing came into contact with my Heart Sword lineage, I was only at the third level, but Wang Jianqing had already reached the peak of the second level. He created four sword techniques of his own, each named after Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.
If he hands out a sword, he will take away the life of a second-grade master of my Heart Sword lineage. After that, he even said that anyone in the Heart Sword lineage who can reach the same level to take his move will kill himself to apologize."
"But in the end, no one in my Xinjian family could take his move at that time, including me! Even Lin Cangsheng, who was a guest of the Wang family at the time, escaped because he was not a member of the Wang family.
After a calamity, just like this, all the sword practitioners in my Heart Sword lineage except me died in the hands of Wang Jianqing!"
When Wang Xuanlang said this, his face was already filled with tears. There was no one in the world who would not shed tears. When he could express this great hatred that had been buried deep in his heart for thirty years, the pent-up feeling disappeared.
Thirty years of deep grief were released at this moment.
"Actually, I also saved my life. He said that I am the most promising genius of the Heart Sword lineage, so he wants to keep me. I can seek revenge from him at any time. He wants to prove to his ancestors that the Heart Sword is not as good as skill.
sword!"
The story should have ended here, but Wang Xuanlang did not.
"Later on, I was blinded by hatred. I couldn't sleep all night long and wanted to kill Wang Jianqing to avenge my Heart Sword lineage. But the more I wanted revenge, the less I could get a breakthrough. In the end, I fought hard to get back the first-class sword.
The realm was still defeated by him with one sword."
Wang Xuanlang swallowed hard, suppressed the grief on his face, and looked at Jiang Ergou with kind eyes.
"Er Gou, I met you later. After living with you in that mountain stream, my desire for revenge gradually faded away, especially as I watched you grow up little by little. But on the contrary, my
The realm of swordsmanship has advanced by leaps and bounds, and finally reached the current state."
Wang Xuanlang pushed a strand of hair behind Ergou's ear and stroked his cheek with his hand.
"Ergou, what I want to tell you is that I came to the East China Sea not for revenge. I just wanted to take up the responsibility for the destruction of my heart lineage. For this reason, I have to come even if I don't want to.
The two veins of the Wang Family's swordsmanship have been fighting for hundreds of years and it's hard to tell who is right and who is wrong, but in the end, you have to swallow the bitter fruit you sow."
"Ergou, I'm not saying this to stop you from taking revenge in the future. After you know everything, it's up to you to choose whether to take revenge or not. I just hope that you won't be blinded by hatred, because like this
, you will no longer be able to see the way forward clearly!"
Jiang Ergou, who had been listening to the story with peace of mind, had made up his mind not to persuade his master to go back after hearing the whole story.
Under the weak oil lamp, tears flowed from the eyes of both the master and the disciple. Ergou's trembling voice never stopped. He stretched out his hand to wipe his nose and choked.
"Master, if you lose this fight, I will not give you a pension until the end of your life."