Chapter 152, Head Ruochen
Qingshi walked out of Lingyun Pavilion and walked slowly along the stone staircase. There was a huge Immortal Sword Sect with hundreds of magnificent and exquisite buildings, but there were only more than a hundred people inside the sect.
At this time, most of the disciples went to Qizhi Hall to listen to the lecture, so Qingshi saw few people along the way. In fact, in addition to more than a hundred disciples of the Immortal Sword Sect, there were more than 200 servants on the top of the Juhua Summit. It's just that they generally don't dare to wander around and mostly do their own business everywhere, so Qingshi rarely sees them.
There were only a few servants responsible for sweeping the house scattered on the roads. When they saw Qingshi approaching, they quickly stood aside quietly and continued working until Qingshi walked far away.
Qingshi originally wanted to visit the main palace with three entrances and four floors, but he remembered that Qizhi Hall must be one of the four halls, so he didn't want to disturb it, so he came to the three stone archways.
In the rush yesterday, Qingshi didn't have time to take a closer look at the inscriptions on the archway, so now he naturally had to take a closer look.
Qingshi remembered that the four words "origin of kendo" on the last gatehouse had the most kendo connotations, but he was not in a hurry to read them first. Instead, he started with the outermost gatehouse. These gatehouses only had words engraved on the lintels, but on the doorposts There are no couplets.
The first gatehouse is engraved with the three characters "Xianjian Sect" in an ancient style. It is obviously very old, and I don't know who wrote it.
Qingshi looked at it for a while and found that although the calligraphy was good, there seemed to be no kendo connotation hidden in it, so he went to look at the second gate.
The words on the lintel of this gatehouse are "One Sword Flying Immortal". Qingshi was attracted at first sight. These four words are elegant and come out of the dust. Just by looking at the words, you can imagine a free and elegant swordsman who used his sword as a pen. Describe the scene of these four characters. The words are like the person, and the words are like the sword. Qingshi stopped for at least two hours, carefully comprehending the sword meaning contained in the lines. He seemed to have some feelings, but could not fully comprehend it.
Finally, Qingshi came to the third stone archway and looked up at the four characters "Origin of Kendo". These four characters were deeply embedded in the stone. They were obviously carved with swords as pens. The fonts were ancient and clumsy, calm and majestic, and the words revealed between the lines. The sword intent is very strong.
Qingshi felt the artistic conception, but couldn't grasp it. After experiencing it for a long time, he finally felt that he felt a hint of charm, but he couldn't chew it. He swallowed it whole, but couldn't digest it.
He really wanted to get enlightenment on the way of swordsmanship from it immediately, but he knew that the inscriptions contained the ways of swordsmanship, but he had no way of using it for his own use. He couldn't help but feel itchy and unbearable, feeling happy and sad at the same time.
Qingshi stared blankly at these four characters, stood there for a long time, and finally came to his senses with a long sigh. But seeing Jianyi standing quietly aside with a smile, Qingshi smiled to himself and said: "These four big characters clearly contain the meaning of swordsmanship, and they do not hide their artistic conception, but I just can't understand it. It's like entering the treasure mountain and returning empty-handed. I’m so upset!”
Jian Yi suppressed his smile and said coldly: "Master Ruohua of our sect once said that he spent more than ten years studying these four-character stone carvings, and only then could he get a little bit of it. Brother Qingshi is indeed a genius, I think he spent one or two Time is about to reap the rewards!"
Qingshi was stunned, knowing that his desire for quick success and quick gain was wrong, and he immediately said: "I'm ashamed! I'm desperate for quick success and quick gain, please give me some advice from Brother Jianyi!"
Jian Yi then laughed and said: "Brother Qingshi, don't be anxious. It is said that after ten years of hard training, you will have an epiphany. If you want to realize the Tao, you must first study hard. I don't have much understanding of this sword carving. If you have a chance, you can try to ask Master Ruochen for advice. Come on, I will take you to see Master Ruochen. Master has been in seclusion for the past ten years or so, and most of the daily affairs of the sect are left to a few other managers. Elder, today is a preaching day, and Master has gone out to give a lecture. This is the first time this year. I reported your worship to the mountain to Master, but I didn’t expect Master to see you right away. It’s not a shame!”
When Qingshi came to the Immortal Sword Sect, he naturally wanted to meet the leader, so he followed Jian and his party. He originally thought that Jianyi would take him to the third and fourth major halls, but unexpectedly Jianyi took Qingshi around to the back of the hall and climbed up nearly a hundred meters. After walking up the stone stairs, we arrived in front of a bungalow with blue bricks and gray tiles. The bungalow looked very ordinary, with only a thick wooden door that opened side by side, and no decorations such as inscriptions on the lintel.
Jian Yi stood in front of the door and bowed and said: "Master, Master, Qingshi is here."
Qingshi quickly bowed and said: "Xuanmen disciple Qingshi, come to pay homage to our senior!"
"Qingshi is here! Come in!" A gentle voice sounded.
Jianyi pushed open half of the wooden door and made a gesture of invitation. Qingshi nodded slightly to Jianyi and walked into the door. Jianyi did not go in, but gently opened the door and walked away.
Qingshi walked in and found that the room was very spacious, with wide windows on both sides and plenty of light. There were no tables and chairs in the room, and the furnishings were extremely simple. The solid wood floor was smooth and clean. A middle-aged man with an easy-going face was sitting cross-legged on a large futon. He twitched his beard and smiled. This was naturally Jian Ruochen. He looked slightly younger than Ou Changzhi, with a medium build and ordinary appearance. His whole body was restrained, but his eyes were deep and unpredictable. A large low table was placed in front of Jian Ruochen, with an empty futon opposite.
Qingshi knelt down on one knee, cupped his fists and saluted: "Qingshi pays homage to senior!"
Jian Ruochen smiled and said: "My dear nephew, no need to be polite, please sit down!"
Qingshi respectfully took off his shoes and placed them by the door, then came over and sat on the futon.
Jian Ruochen looked at the blue stone, looked at it carefully for a long time before nodding and said: "My nephew is really blessed with great luck. From my point of view, my luck is deeper than that of my nephew in the world. What's even more rare is that you have good roots and wisdom." Everything is complete! Very good! Very good! By the way, he looks quite handsome, hahaha..."
Qingshi knew about luck, but he didn't understand what it was. He didn't know how these experts could see that luck was added to the body. As for the roots of good and wisdom, he didn't know much about them either. Hearing what Jian Ruochen said, he could only say: "Senior, you are so complimentary!"
Jian Ruochen asked Qingshi a few more questions about how he went up the mountain, how he had learned from Xiaozi generation disciples, etc. Qingshi answered them one by one. He felt that Master Ruochen cared about him very much, with kind words, kind attitude, and gentle and loving eyes. Qingshi felt as if he was the gaze of Master Ou Changzhi. The loving kindness came from the heart and was fully revealed. It could not be faked. Qingshi couldn't help but feel warm in his heart, but he was also a little surprised.
Jian Ruochen changed the subject and said, "My dear nephew, does he know the relationship between me and your master?"
"My master only said that he was originally a disciple of the Immortal Sword Sect, and he never mentioned anything else." Qingshi said, "Yesterday I heard Brother Jianyi talk about it, and I found out that my master was originally a senior's brother, right?"
"Yes," Jian Ruochen said, "but your knowledge is very limited. Your master and I are not just ordinary senior brothers."
Ou Changzhi never told Qingshi what happened in the Immortal Sword Sect in the past. Qingshi didn't know if there was any taboo in it, so it was difficult to ask.
Jian Ruochen picked up the teacup on the table and made a gesture of invitation to Qingshi. He took a sip and put down the cup and said slowly: "Back then, there were sixty-one disciples of the Ruo generation. Master Guangming has only two disciples, your master and me!"
"Ah!" Qingshi sighed slightly, secretly thinking that it turns out that the master and the head of Ruochen are so closely related.
Jian Ruochen continued: "Your master's name is Ruo Shi. I was still young when I started. Senior brother Ruo Shi is twenty-six years older than me. He loves me very much. Not only will he never allow other senior brothers to bully me, but he will also continue to teach me." He has taught me the way of swordsmanship, and he is half my teacher. The two of us are like brothers, and senior brother Ruoshi and I are closer than biological brothers!"
Upon hearing this, Qingshi knew from his expression that his words were true. He immediately stood up and knelt down to worship again: "Uncle Master, please accept my nephew's bow again."
Jian Ruochen said: "Okay! I'm telling you this just because I want you to call me uncle, and stop calling me senior like that." After saying that, he touched his long beard on his chin and laughed, looking very pleased.
"Yes, uncle!" Qingshi shouted in amusement.
"Well! It's okay for us to call it this in private, very good!" Jian Ruochen said with a satisfied smile, "You can reach Juhuading because of your strength. Among the eight great relics of our Immortal Sword Sect, except for the 'Jianfeng Immortal Relic' You can visit and gain insights at will. After seeing the seven great monuments, I will arrange an immortal test for you to see if you are destined to see the 'Sword Peak Immortal Site'."
"Yes!" Qingshi said excitedly, "I have already seen three of these eight great sites."
"Well, which three are they?"
"The first is the stone carvings of the 'Famous Mountain Immortal Sect' at the mountain gate, the second is the sword mark relics on Yubei Peak, and the third is the stone carvings on the three gates outside."
"Oh, these three scenic spots are called 'Famous Mountain Immortal Sect', 'Fishback Sword Mark' and 'Huading Sword Carving'."
"Yes, my nephew has seen these three scenic spots and gained some insights, but I don't know what the other places are like?"
"The three places you have seen, plus the 'Sword Edge Immortal Traces', are the kendo relics left by our ancestors. Of course, there are many such relics, but the meaning of the kendo is much worse than these four places. Okay. These four places are cultural sites. The other four places refer to the four places with beautiful natural scenery within the scope of Jianshan. Come back and let Jianyi accompany you to see them all."
"Yes, thank you, uncle!"
...
After chatting with Jian Ruochen for an hour, Qingshi said goodbye and came out, only to see Jianyi sitting cross-legged on a big rock waiting for him.
Qingshi walked over and said, "Thank you, Brother Jian, I've been waiting for a long time."
Jianyi stood up and said with a smile: "There is no need to be polite about trivial matters. Let's go. Master ordered me to accompany you to visit the remaining scenic spots."
Qingshi knew that Jian Ruochen had already ordered Jian Yi through some unknown method of communication, so he stopped being polite and said, "Brother Jian Yi, please take me to visit!"
The two walked side by side, but Jianyi first took Qingshi to visit the four major palaces with three entrances and four floors. From the outside to the inside, they are the Yingbin Hall, the Qizhi Hall, the Meeting Hall and the Patriarch Hall, which are used to welcome guests, Preach, discuss affairs and worship ancestors of all generations. The four major palaces are majestic and simple, and the three courtyards among them are wide and flat. The overall structural layout is quite ingenious and impressive.
After visiting the palace, Jianyi took Qingshi and walked to the foot of Juhuading Mountain. After passing the three-layer stone archway, Jianyi said: "Actually, Brother Qingshi has already seen one of the four scenic spots."
Qingshi asked: "I have indeed seen many beautiful and unique scenery along the way up the mountain, but I don't know where they came from."
Jianyi turned around and said with a smile: "Look back!"
Qingshi turned around and saw only the clumsy gatehouse in front of him, the majestic buildings in the distance, and the celestial sword behind the top of the mountain pointed abruptly at the blue sky.
Jian Yi said: "Didn't you see it here yesterday evening? The scene in front of you is called 'Jianzong Xiyan'."
Qingshi recalled the scene under the sunset yesterday. It was indeed a wonderful scene with all kinds of scenery, and he immediately nodded in approval.
Next, Jianyi took Qingshi to see three other scenic spots. These three places were not on the way up the mountain, but on the back mountain. They were quite far away from Juhuading, and the roads were not easy to navigate with stone slabs and stone stairs. They were all made of mud and rocks in the mountains. The two of them were not in a hurry on the trail. They stopped and looked around. In fact, there were a lot of scenery to see in the mountains. There were also some stone carvings and bluestones of the previous generations of literati and swordsmen. They visited them one by one. Sometimes they would play on the territory when they felt like it. For a few hours, they drank and swordplayed with Jianyi from time to time. However, it took them seven days to see these three scenic spots. In the evening, they did not go back to Juhuading. They only slept on the top of the ancient pines or on the boulders. Or sit and rest.
The other three scenic spots are the "Galaxy Flying Hanging", which is a huge waterfall hundreds of feet high and very majestic; and the other scenic spot is called "The Immortal Points to the Sky", which is a strange waterfall that looks like it points to the sky with its two fingers. The solitary peak of stone is a natural interest; there is also the solitary peak of "Sea of Clouds", but it is a solitary peak far away from the surrounding peaks, and it is not very high. When the two climbed to the top of the peak, they could not see the sea of clouds. It seemed that it was too small compared to other peaks. Not much special. Jianyi said that this sea of clouds does not often appear, and can only be seen in the early morning on a clear day after rain. The two waited on the top of the mountain for three full days, until early in the morning on the fourth day, Qingshi woke up and found that the sky was dim, and the top of the mountain was surrounded by a vast sea of clouds. The clouds and mist were only rolling and undulating under their feet. The lonely peak is indeed like a lonely sail in the sea. The mountain is not very high, and only protrudes from the sea of clouds for about ten feet. Therefore, the top of the mountain is quite close to the sea of clouds, and there are no other peaks around. The line of sight is not blocked, and you can see very far in all directions. You can enjoy the sea of clouds and bluestones at such a close distance in the mountains. It was also my first experience, and I was extremely shocked.
Not long after, a red sun rose from under the clouds in the east. In an instant, the entire sea of clouds was dyed golden red, and the golden waves rolled and surged, making it a spectacular sight.
Qingshi and Jianyi faced the rising sun and admired the sea of clouds, feeling the majestic beauty of this boundless scenery. They both stood quietly without speaking, but their hearts were full of emotions.
