At the foot of Gushan Mountain in the early morning, there are few pedestrians and the scenery is pleasant. Zhu Qian painted a slow stroll around Gushan Mountain, which was one of her daily hobbies. It allowed her to enjoy the scenery and soothe her mind. In particular, Pipa Lake at the foot of the mountain, with mountains and rivers in perfect harmony, picturesque scenery, and long bridges with ancient charm, is his favorite place.
At the beginning, the old woman driving the carriage was still with me. The old woman never liked Wu Gen very much. She only knew that her surname was Zhao, and she was called Grandma Zhao on weekdays. After waiting for a long time, Zhu Qianhua probably felt too embarrassed to bother Aunt Zhao, so she often traveled alone.
Seeing an opportunity to take advantage of, Wu Gen imitated the opera, in which there was a bird singing in the willow branches and a man meeting by the green lake.
But after only a few trips, a pipe pot was placed in front of him, "Young disciple, stay away from my lady from now on. If you let me see you clinging to me like a dog again, I will interrupt you." Legs, I don’t care if you are Mr. Zhu’s student or not.”
The old woman who always accompanied Zhu Qianhua stood on tiptoes and waved her pipe and pot in front of Wu Gen, spraying Wu Gen's face with spittle. In desperation, Wu Gen had no choice but to give up the idea of traveling with his beautiful lady.
However, the inexplicable emotions between boys and girls are like the water of a river, the more they are blocked, the more turbulent they become.
Every day before dawn, Wu Gen would go to the lake and pretend to copy copybooks, which has become an unshakable habit.
The drunkard's intention is not the wine, but the mountains and rivers. Of course, it would be better if there are people in the mountains and rivers.
On this day, Wu Gen hurriedly walked by the lake, holding a bun in his mouth and looking around.
coming.
In the drizzle, a graceful figure walked out, it was Zhu Qianhua, holding a plain white oil paper umbrella, walking slowly by the embankment.
The green willows contain smoke, the ancient embankments are covered with moss, mist flows in clusters, and the smoke waves are vast. The girl walks among them, the scenery complements the beauty of people, and the people contrast with the scenery, which is extremely freehand.
Wu Gen's eyes followed his movements from afar, and the two of them would go out together at this time every day. However, they never walked together.
When he was about to reach the stone bridge, Zhu Qianhua stopped for a moment and looked back. Just as they were about to get on the bridge, there was a rapid sound of horse hooves in the distance.
A horse that was frightened for some reason ran wildly along the lake embankment. When it could be seen, it was not far from Zhu Qian's painting.
The girl was a little confused. She actually stood there and looked at the tall horse galloping towards her in amazement. He turned around and wanted to run away, but he was surrounded by a lake and there were tall trees on the shore. He could only lift up his skirt and run towards the bridge.
The sound of horse hooves behind him was getting closer and closer, and Zhu Qian's face showed panic.
Just when he was panicking, a person jumped out of the forest nearby and shouted: "Girl, don't panic, Qin is here..." Before the words could be spoken, a figure in the distance was seen rushing to Zhu Qianhua's side, and with a cold light. Suddenly, the frightened horse fell to the ground without saying a word.
Zhu Qianhua looked back and saw that the man who came was Wu Gen. The knife in his hand was broken and had already been sheathed. The frightened horse beside him had its head chopped off and fell to the ground, lifeless.
"Are you okay?" Wu Gen asked worriedly.
Zhu Qianhua was in shock. He stroked his chest to calm his breathing, and then said, "I'm fine, but why was the horse killed?"
Wu Gen understood what she was thinking and explained: "My sword is so fast that I can't hold it back as soon as I draw it."
At this moment, three or four people hurried over, led by a handsome young man, dressed in gorgeous clothes, and the smell of incense wafted over from a distance.
After looking at the fallen horse, the young man glanced at Wu Gen angrily, walked to Zhu Qian's painting, bowed and saluted, "The girl is frightened, Qin is late, please forgive me."
Zhu Qianhua recognized the person in front of him who was shouting just now, and bowed his head and gave a gentle salute, "Thank you, sir, for helping me." Then he walked up to Wu Gen, "It's getting late, let's go back to school."
After taking two steps, he turned around and said to the young man named Qin: "That horse died in vain. Please handle it properly and don't let it be exposed here." After that, he left with Wu Gen.
"Girl, aunt..." Looking at Zhu Qian's paintings that were drifting away, the young man stretched out a hand with a look of disappointment on his face. He stamped his feet, turned to the other person and said, "It's all your bad idea. You can't even talk to Miss Zhu even if you sacrifice the horse."
The person who was scolded hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Son, please calm down. Today's events were planned very well. I even asked Lin Ruoshi to rehearse the route and time many times. However, that stupid young man appeared on the way and messed things up." Don’t worry, young master, Miss Zhu is still in Dingyuan City, and there will definitely be a chance to meet her again."
The surname of the young master mentioned by this person is Qin, and he is Qin Guan, the third son of Qin Zhili, the governor of the county. This son is the youngest in the family and has been pampered since childhood. He usually behaves absurdly. Although he has a good skin, he is drunk and lustful. He is very capable of teasing women and playing dog and cockfights.
The governor's family also lived in the south of the city. After encountering Zhu Qian's paintings, Qin Guan was shocked and wanted to get close to him.
Normally, he would just bully common people and middle-class people, but Zhu Buzhan was also from a noble family. If he used force, he would not cause unnecessary trouble.
Moreover, my family members said that although this man was noble, he had many connections in the capital, so everyone kept silent about Zhu Buzhan teaching ordinary people and middle-class children in the south of the city.
In this case, Mr. Qin could only stop thinking about him. A group of buddies who were hanging out around him saw his thoughts and came up with the idea of a hero to save the beauty. They also asked Lin Ruoshi, who was close to the county governor's house, to survey the route many times.
This horse was originally Qin Guan's mount, and he was deliberately frightened. At that time, Qin Guan came out to control the horse and rescued Zhu Qianhua, hoping to gain favor and get closer.
But he didn't expect Wu Gen to be so agile. Before Qin Guan could react, he beheaded the horse with three strokes, five divided by two, and the plan failed.
Qin Guan frowned and said: "Go and find out the details of that boy. He dares to ruin my good deeds."
Next to him, a young man wearing silk clothes and holding a whisk in his hand approached Qin Guan, "Don't worry, sir. I'm a warrior. Why don't you let me use some means to get rid of him."
Qin Guan's eyes lit up, then darkened quickly, "Dad has reprimanded me several times, not to kill anyone again. If it happens again, I will be grounded. Forget it, let's think of other ways. That Lin Ruoshi, it's not his intention Is he quite flexible? Let him think of a solution."
The few people discussed it and left angrily, but they didn't even look at the horse corpse on the ground.
But Qin Guan and others didn't know that after she left, Aunt Zhao's figure appeared from the forest, and she glanced expressionlessly in the direction Wu Gen and Zhu Qianhua left.
Wu Gen accompanied Zhu Qianhua towards the school, and the two of them were silent along the way. When he reached the door, Zhu Qianhua stopped and said slightly, "You have hidden a lot of skills. But," the girl's brows and eyes were filled with smiles, "you do look like a man."
Wu Gen rubbed his hands, speechless and a little at a loss.
Zhu Qianhua opened the door and walked into the courtyard. Before closing the door, he looked back at Wu Gen and smiled, his eyes bent like crescent moons, "What a silly quail."
Looking at the closed door, Wu Gen slapped himself. Well, it wasn't a dream.
On the long street, Wu Gen looked solemn and hurried to the north of the city to discuss something with Qingmu. When I thought about the incident that shocked the horse a few days ago, I felt that there was something wrong with it. How could it be such a coincidence? The horse was frightened. People were coming, and there were three or four of them as soon as they came.
Afterwards, I found out more clearly that he was the governor's son. It's just that if you dare to touch my daughter... if you dare to touch my senior sister, Master Wu Village, even if the King of Heaven comes, I will deal with you.
There were few pedestrians on the streets in the early morning, and mist enveloped the city, making everything appear shadowy. Nearing the north of the city, Wu Gen turned into an alley and held on to the slightly crooked scabbard.
Suddenly, there was a sound of rattles in the mist, distant and near, a bit ethereal. Being in such a dark alley is really unsettling.
Wu Gen put his hand on the handle of the knife, his mind slowly began to circulate, and he walked forward step by step.
In the mist ahead, a figure appeared, seemingly carrying something and looking very awkward. When the figure came closer, Wu Gen smiled a little. It turned out to be a master sharpening knife. It seemed that he had become a bit weak in the past two days.
This man's hair is withered and white, his face is extremely long, wrinkled and pockmarked, and his lower jaw protrudes abruptly. He is exactly the legendary shoehorn face. The old man was carrying a long bench with a bag on it, shaking the rattle in his hand as he walked.
When the two of them passed by each other, the old man glanced at Wu Gen with yellow eyes. After walking more than a dozen steps, Wu Gen breathed a sigh of relief. After all, meeting such a strange old man in such a dark place was a bit depressing.
"Young men need to sharpen their knives." came a hoarse voice.
Wu Gen was startled suddenly, and his body stiffened for a moment. After a while, he turned around and asked with a smile: "Are you asking me, father-in-law?"
"Exactly." The old man was carrying a pole, his eyes seemed to be staring at Wu Gen, but also seemed to be looking away, which made people feel very uncomfortable.
"Haha." Wu Gen smiled dryly: "My knife is very dull, I'm afraid I can't sharpen it."
"Oh, there are knives in the world that a sharpener can't sharpen. In this case, I want to see what kind of knife is so dull and hard." The old man became interested, put down the bench on his shoulder, and faced Wu Gen waved.
A gust of cold wind blew through the alley, and Wu Gen broke out in cold sweat on his back. His body was tense, and his mind started to run wildly. It's so evil. This is the first time Wu Gen has encountered such a situation. Even if he faces life and death in the ghost world, he can deal with it calmly. I don't know what happened today.
After gathering his composure and forcing himself to suppress all the energy in his body, Wu Gen smiled uglier than crying, "Old man, I have something to do this morning. How about another day."
"It's better to choose a day than to hit it. Young man, I think today is the best." The old man simply sat on the bench, reached out and took out a strip-shaped whetstone from his bag, and lowered his head to play with it. The stone is dark red in color, which is very different from the black or cyan whetstones you usually see.
After swallowing hard, Wu Gen looked around and suddenly found that the surroundings were completely silent. Even the constant noise of birds chirping and cicadas had disappeared, and the space seemed to be isolated.
His instinct told him that he couldn't leave.
He walked towards the old man with heavy steps, like a prisoner on death row walking towards the execution ground. Every step he took seemed to have a huge force pressing on him. Wu Gen knew that he met a master today.
Getting closer and closer to the old man, and finally there was only one step between them. The broken knife suddenly let out a low trembling sound, as if even it felt threatened.
Wu Gen hesitated in his heart, whether to use his sword or not. At such a close distance, with his own strength, he should be able to split the opponent in two.
The old man raised his head, Wu Gen's pupils shrank, and a spring breeze swept across his face, and he suddenly smiled: "Old man, you can get paid to sharpen your knife."
"Then it depends on whether the knife is worth the money." The old man grinned, showing his yellow teeth, and stretched out his hand, "Bring it here."
Wu Gen took off the broken knife from its scabbard, put the handle forward and the tip backward, and carefully handed it over.
With a cry, the broken knife was unsheathed, and the trembling sound suddenly stopped. "It's a good knife, it's worth the money." The old man tapped the blade with his finger and nodded with satisfaction.
Wu Gen smiled stiffly, "I don't know how much the price is and how to collect it."
When the old man raised his eyes just now, Wu Gen quickly changed his mind and resolutely surrendered. This humble-looking knife sharpener suddenly had two pupils in his eyes, one black and one red. It feels like everything about me is seen through, which is really weird.
"What's the price? It's simple. Just do one thing for me in the future." The old man slid his fingers across the blade of the knife and wrote lightly.
"No." Wu Gen refused without hesitation. Are you talking nonsense? If you do something, you will have to do it if you wipe your neck.
"Oh." The old man was a little surprised, and immediately understood what Wu Gen was thinking, "Don't worry, this matter won't embarrass you, it's just a matter of following the trend within your ability.
If I can't use it, I won't look for you forever. Moreover, after making this deal, if you have any difficulties, I can also provide some help. "
Wu Gen shook his head repeatedly, "How can there be such a good thing in the world? I won't do this kind of thing that seems to be a gain but is actually a loss." He grew up in a bandit village since he was a child. The door is clear.
The old man turned his head and smiled evilly, his eyes reappeared, "Are you really not going to do it?"
"Do it." Wu Gen replied simply: "Please sharpen your knife quickly." I never do anything that will cost me the immediate loss. As for the future, huh, it's not certain who will let whom do the work.
The old man's hand shook and he almost dropped the knife in his hand. The attitude of the young man in front of him changed so quickly and without any hesitation that he suddenly doubted his decision. Could such a shameless person really be able to control it in the future?
"Come on, let's take a gamble." After sucking his teeth, the old man took out water and sprinkled it on the whetstone. He placed the broken knife on a smooth stone surface and sharpened it vigorously.
Wu Gen looked at it with evil intentions and secretly expected it in his heart. This broken knife is very hard and will break after just a few grinds with an ordinary whetstone. Even the sandworm golden horn is only a thin strip after being used for this period of time.
Wu Gen's eyes gradually widened as the squeaking sound was heard. The red whetstone was made of an unknown material. It seemed unscathed, but the surface of the broken knife became brighter.
As the rust on the surface was removed, a frightening cold air came out of the knife. The original material of the blade was revealed, and it turned out to be a black blade.
The old man sharpened it seven times. Beads of sweat broke out on his forehead. He looked at the half-sharpened blade and sighed: "What a good knife. Unfortunately, I can only do so much with my strength."
"Then our deal has not been completed?" Wu Gen asked carefully and tentatively.
The old man naturally understood what he was thinking. He wanted to default on the debt, and he grunted, "It's true that it's not done, but I give you this piece of red obsidian, which can be regarded as a settlement of the transaction."
"Is this possible?" Wu Gen's eyes widened, but when he saw the cold expression on the old man's face, he obediently took the red whetstone. As soon as he got the stone, "Ouch!" Wu Gen screamed in surprise. The whetstone, which was more than a foot long, was so heavy that he almost missed it.
"Boy, remember, my name is Otosan."
"Oh." Wu Gen agreed, keeping an eye on him and not telling the other party his name. He just hoped that the other party would never find him.
The old man didn't care, and waved his hand gently. The surroundings suddenly became noisy, and the chirping of insects and birds began again.
"Then, am I leaving?" Wu Gen asked carefully.
"Let's go, let's go." The old man waved his hand impatiently. Today's business is a bit of a loss.
Wu Gen stood up and left, but after walking more than a dozen steps, he turned back and looked at the old man with a smile, "Old man, what I just said is true."
"Of course it counts." The old man was a little confused. He was so resistant just now, why would he take the initiative to send it to his door now?
"I'm in some difficulties right now. I wonder if my husband might be able to help. Don't worry, it's definitely within my ability." Wu Gen returned what the old man had just said.
"You don't have to be so anxious about collecting interest. Tell me, what's the matter?" The old man seriously doubted whether today's transaction was right or wrong, and even wanted to break the contract.
Wu Gen carefully approached his ear and muttered for a long time.
"You come to me for such a trivial matter?" Yisan's eyes stood up, and his beard was trembling with anger.
"Well, it's easy for you, but it's hard for me. When doing business, you should respect your faith and hope that my father-in-law will fulfill your promise."
"Okay, okay, I understand." The old man picked up the bench impatiently and walked out of the alley quickly, fearing that Wu Gen would do something wrong again.
