On the wide official road in Bianzhou, there was a carriage pulling a cart full of withered grass walking alone. Not far in front of it was a fork in the road, and the two roads went to different places.
One is heading to Yuzhou, while the other is heading to Suzhou and Hangzhou, which are known as the misty Jiangnan.
The horse seemed a bit old, and it was wandering on the road and couldn't move fast. But even so, the old man with the whip in the carriage was still not willing to beat it.
It is very honest, unlike other horses that occasionally have fun. It has made a lot of contributions to the old man's family diligently throughout his life. Therefore, even the old man has a deep affection for it.
, treat it as a family member rather than an animal. It could have retired, and the old man's family could afford the little fodder it needs every day.
But it is always restless and likes to run outside, probably because it feels that it has to work after eating.
After eating the forage in the morning, it would go to the old man and nudge his arm with its nose. The old man had no choice but to take it out to do some less strenuous work.
Suddenly, there was movement in the haystack on the carriage, and a sneaky young man leaned out.
"Old man, we're here, get off the car!"
Immediately afterwards, an old man with white beard and hair also stuck out his head.
He glanced at the two roads ahead, made sure to get off here, and then jumped out of the carriage, and the young man jumped out soon after.
"Grandpa, thank you for taking us on this journey."
After the boy stood firm, he shouted loudly to the old man driving the carriage.
The old man did not respond, but flicked the whip upwards.
"Snapped!"
The whip struck in the air, making a crisp sound.
Watching the carriage gradually go away, the young man withdrew his gaze and set foot on the road to Jiangnan with the old man.
The beginning of autumn has passed, and the summer heat has begun to subside. Now walking on the road is no longer as unbearable as the summer heat. Occasionally, a gust of wind blows, which makes people feel cool and comfortable.
The old man and the young boy walking on the road were naturally Ergou and Wang Xuanlang who came from the capital. After these days of traveling, they finally arrived at the border of Bianzhou, and they would probably be able to enter Suzhou tomorrow.
"Old man, what are we going to do in the south? You don't even know how to give me a right word, but you just lead me on our way."
The old man walked ahead and never looked back.
"Walking along this way, passing through Suzhou and Hangzhou, we reached the boundary of Youzhou. Further south, we left the territory of our Da Chu and reached the Southern Tang Dynasty. In fact, about four hundred years ago, the Southern Tang Dynasty and our Da Chu
Chu is a family, both belonging to the Zhou Dynasty at that time. Later, the world was in chaos. The Wang family of the previous dynasty and the Li family of the Southern Tang Dynasty both took advantage of the situation. In the end, no one could do anything to the other. This formed a situation of confrontation between the north and the south of the two dynasties. Later, Chu
The Wang family overthrew the Wang family, but there was still nothing they could do against the Southern Tang Dynasty, so until now, Dachu and the Southern Tang Dynasty are still in opposition and have not merged."
After hearing this, Ergou thought it was very awesome, but he immediately came back to his senses.
"Old man, aren't you talking nonsense? After talking for so long, you still haven't said why you want to take me to the south!"
The old man walked leisurely and still didn't look back.
"The Southern Tang Dynasty is not as good as Da Chu. In recent years, the literary style of Da Chu has become better and better day by day. On the other hand, the martial arts style is gradually weakening. But over there in the Southern Tang Dynasty, everyone practices martial arts and the martial arts is a forest. I want to take you there
I'd like to see some people over there so you can take a look."
"oh."
Ergou replied feebly. It was easy to see that he was not very interested in going south.
"Rumble..."
Suddenly, it was quite sunny
The sky suddenly darkened, and many dark clouds gathered above the heads of the master and the apprentice.
In the dark clouds, thick lightning was gestating, and from time to time a low thunder sounded.
"Damn! Old man, it's going to rain. What should I do?"
Faced with the problem of the two dogs, the old man walking in front suddenly started running unkindly.
"What should I do? It's cold! You really treat me like a god. What can I do? You idiot, why don't you quickly find a place to hide from the rain."
The old man still had some conscience, and he didn't forget to remind his idiot apprentice while he was running.
Ergou, who was still stunned at first, finally reacted when he saw the old man's actions.
"Damn! You old man are being unkind again!"
Jiang Ergou, who was originally planning to leisurely find a place to hide from the rain, took off his baggage and ran away, even picking up dust on the official road.
But his speed couldn't compare with the speed of heavy rain. Even with his sixth-grade internal strength, he still couldn't run. In less than a while, the downpour of rain turned Jiang Ergou into a drowned rat.
After running about a mile, Ergou was about to give up his struggle and let the rain and wind blow. He was panting and finally saw the old man waving to him at the entrance of a cave.
Without daring to stop, he rushed straight into the cave with a few strides.
In the cave, the old man's clothes showed no signs of getting wet, and he didn't know how fast he ran. Even the dark clouds couldn't catch up with him.
"Old man, you are so good at Qinggong, why don't you take me with you? You are really stingy."
After entering the cave, Ergou didn't have time to look at his soaked clothes. Instead, he questioned the old man who didn't care about his life or death.
"Why should I take you with me? If your martial arts are good enough, then the dark clouds will not be able to catch up with you! You are a rookie and you blame others. Do you have any sense of shame anymore?"
"you……"
Ergou was scolded by the old man until he had nothing to say.
"Okay, old man, you have a way and you have the skills. Don't drink a drop of wine on this journey! Do you know that all this money is in my pocket!"
The old man replied nonchalantly.
"Okay! Then none of us will want to drink it. You must not buy it. If I take the opportunity to take a few sips, don't blame me!"
"Hmph! You are the only one with more crooked ideas!"
Ergou knew that he had been caught in a weak point by the old man. He did not continue to speak harshly, because he knew very well how capable the old man's mouth was. If the argument continued, he would still lose.
So, he turned around and took off his jacket and trousers, wrung out the water and put them aside to dry.
…
"Chirp chirp... chirp chirp."
This sudden heavy rain has driven away the last trace of heat in the summer. It is estimated that the weather will gradually become colder after tonight.
The air after the rain was a little more moist and became much fresher. The crickets outside the cave kept chirping for some reason.
In the cave, Jiang Ergou, who was only wearing underwear, was tearing into pieces with a sesame seed cake in his hand.
"Damn it, this cake tastes bad, and my teeth have become soft from chewing it. It's really unlucky. How could I have suffered such sins when I was in the capital!"
The two dogs puffed out their cheeks and bit them from side to side, while venting out their inner grievances.
Opposite Ergou, the old man who was also gnawing on a piece of sesame seed cake looked at him sideways.
"What? After a few good days, you can't figure out what your last name is? What about when you were in the capital! You were born to eat sesame pancakes, but you were just lucky enough to get through that.
Such a comfortable life for a few days, and just because of this, you really regard yourself as a destiny of wealth and honor!"
Facing the old man's sarcasm, Ergou frowned slightly.
"Old man, you've become more and more sarcastic recently. I just complained a few times that this cake tastes bad. Why did you make it so unpleasant?"
At the end, Ergou reluctantly took another bite of the sesame cake in his hand. Although the cake was unpalatable, he was also very hungry. Besides, the cake was also made of grain, even if he had a lot of money recently.
, then I don’t dare to waste the food dug out of the ground with sweat.
"I just can't stand the vulgar behavior of some people who feel great after eating a few good meals and drinking two glasses of good wine."
The old man also deliberately pretended to be pretentious when he spoke, looking exactly like the Ergou who just disliked the sesame cakes.
"Old man!! You are really verbose, do you know that?"
There was some impatience in Ergou's tone.
"What, you don't like hearing this? Then listen to your master tell you a truth that took him half a lifetime to understand."
As he said that, the old man stuffed the last bite of sesame seed cake in his hand into his mouth.
"This man! He has to know two things in his life, one is to be able to take it, and the other is to be able to let it go."
The old man stretched out his hand, first made a gesture with one finger, and then extended a second finger.
"Human greed is always endless, but people only have two hands! There are so few things that can be taken, and some even want to grab something from other people's hands."
"But no matter what, you have to put down as much as you pick up. If you are greedy and want to hold on without letting go, you will definitely end up with your hands and feet cut off in the end. Since you have chosen to eat the rice bowl of Jianghu,
Then you must let go of your comfortable life."
"It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality. It is indeed easy for people to lose their ambition during these days in the capital, but don't forget that you boasted about your awesomeness in front of your friends and brothers.
, you said you wanted to become the best swordsman in the world! What’s wrong, it’s only been a few days and you’ve forgotten everything you said?”
The two dogs jumped up as if their tails were caught.
"How is that possible? I, Jiang Ergou, always speak with spit and nail, and there is never a time when I don't mean what I say!"
The old man clapped his hands vigorously.
"That's right. Since you don't want to lose face, let's train ourselves to become a peerless swordsman!"
"good!"
Ergou was full of fighting spirit and answered with full temperament.
"But it's not like you can become a swordsman! I'm not boasting, old man. I think my sword training qualifications are pretty good. But even so, I only entered the first level when I was nearly forty years old.
What people call the Sword Immortal realm, how long do you think it will take based on your qualifications?"
Ergou lowered his head and thought for a long time. He probably didn't have the confidence to surpass the sloppy old man in front of him, but he was a real swordsman.
"Then tell me, what should I do?"
"Will you listen to me?"
There was a hint of suspicion in the old man's tone, which seemed to be a smile but not a smile.
"Listen to you!"
Ergou answered categorically.
"Well, starting from today, practice your sword well."
Jiang Ergou, who had been prepared and thought he could abandon his sword and pick up his sword, suddenly lost his temper.
Where is the swordsman you promised? You promised to teach me the peerless swordsmanship? What is this sword training all about? Can you become a swordsman just by doing this?
Ergou's eyes were full of depression, and he reached out and patted the Kunwu knife on his waist.
"Old guy, it seems that I still have to depend on you!"