The next day, the two brothers didn't go to the blacksmith shop until three o'clock in the morning. It turned out that Yun Zhong's hands were numb from the cold last night and finally fell into a peaceful sleep. Liu Qing saw that he hadn't woken up yet, so he didn't want to wake up so early in the morning. He woke up his junior brother, so he waited for Yun Zhong to wake up naturally after sleeping well, and then put on some powder before heading towards the blacksmith shop.
Firstly, the money for making the sword had not been given, and secondly, Suicune had said that he would find a scabbard for the young man, so the two of them did not delay any longer, freshened up and tidied up, and then hurried to the blacksmith shop. When he was about to go out, he happened to see the innkeeper, holding a mallet that was wide at the front and narrow at the back, and knocked on the quilt hanging outside the head of the room, shaking the clean square quilt and sending smoke and dust everywhere. Seeing the two of them going out, this man The kind-looking shopkeeper quickly waved the fine smoke with his sleeves and said with a smile: "It seems that the two guests slept well last night. How could you go out for a walk after three o'clock in the morning? If there is a place you are not used to living in, please let us know as soon as possible." Just tell me and I will make arrangements for you two."
The scholar nodded, and naturally he needed to be polite, so he said softly, "This inn has a good location. Looking out from the corridor on the second floor, the scenery is very good, and the furnishings in the room are even more complete. I would like to make some comments here. , but I can’t find any shortcomings, please forgive me for bothering me for so many days.”
The shopkeeper is such a shrewd person. He sees the sky and interacts with travelers, so he naturally knows the meaning of the scholar's words, so he felt a little regretful and said, "So, you two will leave Qinshui Town soon. To be honest, In my opinion, it is better to stay a few more days, not because I want to earn two more days of money, but because it is indeed a pity to leave the town at this time."
Hearing this, Liu Qing was a little curious and asked, "Is there something special about this town? There are still some days before the winter solstice, and there doesn't seem to be any festival."
"It's not a folk festival," the shopkeeper put the mallet for beating mattresses on the wall and stood up, slapping his palms and said, "but it's a custom in Qinshui Town: every household in Qinshui Town has to make a fuss during heavy snowfalls. River lanterns, this floating river lantern is different from the ordinary river lanterns. The frame is made of hard bamboo and heavy candles are buried in it. At night, every household lights up the floating river lanterns and places them in the canals. It's not over until the running water carries the lamp into the surrounding rivers. The candle flame in the lamp burns brighter and brighter. After leaving Qinshui Town, it ascends to the sky. It's so majestic and beautiful to see."
Seeing that Liu Qingyun and Zhong seemed to be interested, the shopkeeper stopped trying to persuade them and just explained the origin of the floating river lantern to them.
It is said that the ancestor of Qinshui Town was widowed in his later years. When his wife was alive, the two were extremely affectionate. Because of the loss of his spouse, the ancestor of Qinshui Town was greatly saddened. He often lingered around the flowing water where they met, with a sad expression. It is often said that this place is dark. Boundless, if my wife comes back from Chongquan one day, she will definitely not be able to see the way home.
The people in Qinshui Town couldn't bear it, so they gathered countless skilled craftsmen and used the river lanterns as a guide to make such a floating river lantern. On the day when the ancestors of Qinshui Town lost their wives and had a heavy snowfall, hundreds of floating river lanterns were released. The lamp comes to guide the soul back home. Although time has passed and many of the details have been lost, only the heavy snow solar term Fengfu River has always remained.
"This ancestor of Qinshui Town seems to be an infatuated person." The scholar listened quietly and sighed after a while.
"There are many infatuated people in the world, but those who can achieve good results are still very few." The shopkeeper said helplessly, and then sighed, "I only hope that my little girl will never be like those who are old enough to leave the palace. A young man from a wrong family background gets involved, and in the end there will be no good results, and he will end up alone and exhausted, which is too much and not worth it."
Liu Qing also shook his head, "If you can control it, wouldn't it be too easy to be a parent? How many parents pave the way for their children, hoping that their children will not hit the same wall as they did? , but in the end, these juniors always have to hit their foreheads until blood oozes, and they are physically and mentally injured. When you are young and frivolous, it is not easy to listen to even half a word of advice. "
"Who says otherwise," the shopkeeper accidentally saw that the young man next to the scholar was still sleepy, so he smiled gently, "I think this young hero is young and mature, and his actions are quite polite. I think given time, he will definitely be able to make a career in the world. Make a name for yourself."
"The shopkeeper lifted it up." Although his palm was injured, the young man still endured the pain and clasped his fists slightly, but when he clasped his fists, his brows also twisted slightly.
"Today, the two of us are going to pick up items from the shop. As for whether to stay in the town for another two days, we can talk about it later. Seeing that we are going to Sangan today, my junior brother and I will do some things first, and then we will talk to the shopkeeper. Let’s chat.” The scholar winked, intending to tell the young man not to move his palms anymore, then informed the talkative shopkeeper and went straight to the blacksmith shop.
In fact, Liu Qing knew that the shopkeeper had already found out about the chat between his junior brother and the girl last night. It was probably because the girl was still young and was not thinking well, so she accidentally let it out. Only then did the shopkeeper, who was a scholar but did business, have some insights.
If you don't know the right family and don't say a word, you will definitely make a name for yourself in the world.
With just these two sentences, the shopkeeper slightly revealed his thoughts and attitudes, making it clear that he did not want his little girl to associate with Yun Zhong. Although he did not know what the girl meant, she probably would not disobey him in the short term. Father ordered me to run to Nangong Mountain.
Look at the young man who didn't notice any hidden meaning at all, and just wanted to rush to the blacksmith shop to get the scabbard, striding like lightning. Although the scholar was helpless, he didn't want to rush to tell the truth. His junior brother still knew a lot about the affairs between men and women. Young Master, even though he had the intention to raise something, in the end he could only swallow the words that barely reached his lips.
Suicune had been waiting in the blacksmith shop early in the morning. It happened that no business came to the door today, so he ordered Wu Zhao to make a pot of tea, while he picked up a tea cup with silver filigree and drank tea to relax his mind. Today, most of the other workers in the blacksmith shop were sent home by Suicune. They said they had no business recently, so they hurriedly made the floating river lanterns with their relatives. There will be heavy snow in two days, so don't worry about it at that time. We are busy making lanterns. Besides, there was heavy snowfall in the past, and soon autumn will really retreat, and winter snow will fall one after another. If we don’t take advantage of this time to spend more time with our family, the new year will be busy, and this year will be less gathering and more separation.
The sky in Yizhang is warmer, and during the Beginning of Winter solar term, autumn is still strong, so there is a saying that everything before the winter moon is autumn. Heavy snow is the last solar term before the winter moon. Once the heavy snow passes, it will really change from autumn to winter. The weather also became cooler day by day, and soon the scenery was covered with snow and silver.
Many of the men in the blacksmith shop have not settled down in Qinshui Town. If it is really snowed and frozen for hundreds of miles, it is really not easy to go back home. In this way It was not unreasonable for Suicune to urge the man to go home; if he had to wait until the first day of the New Year's Eve when the snow suddenly fell, he would have too many worries to hurry up. It would be better to return home in advance while the shop was deserted.
But they didn't want to wait until three o'clock in the morning, when the color of the tea in the pot was so pale that it was almost clear, did Liu Qingyun and Zhong rush to the shop. I thought it would make the old man furious, but the latter looked calm, waved slightly and asked the two of them to sit down, and then said, "Although I didn't set the time yesterday, you two came a little late. You were traveling around the world, watching the It is also a virtue at this time, so that’s it for this time, but you two must keep this moment in mind and never do it again in the future.”
Liu Qing paused, bowed and saluted, "Junior's behavior is not considerate, please forgive me, senior."
Suicune put the tea cup on the table beside him, waved his hand and said, "How can I be an irrational person? This young man's energy and spirit left his body yesterday. He could not bear the burning pain and scratched his palm to the bone. I also It’s obvious that it was probably not easy to practice or fall asleep last night. It’s excusable, so I won’t blame you for anything.”
Compared with the demeanor of the previous few days, the old man was quite majestic this time. Although his words were kind, his demeanor and overall aura were more like the first time he met in the ancestral hall that day.
Suicune still has the appearance of an old man, and does not show the appearance of a middle-aged man, but his whole body is full of aura, not even a trace of it is leaked.
"Young man, come closer," Suicune said, without blaming anything, he just took out a wooden stick like a flying needle from his sleeve and put it on the table, "This is the scabbard I promised you yesterday. "
Yun Zhong was also confused, but since the old man spoke, he had no choice but to move closer. From the young man's point of view, the old man in front of him seems to be more pleasing to the eye a few days ago. Although he is not as powerful as he is now, he is easier to get along with. It seems that the old man before was more like a man who laughed and cursed. An elder in the world spoke freely, but there was also a lot of truth in it. In contrast, today's old man is more like a wise man. His words and deeds are dignified and solemn even if they don't talk about being distant. , missing some fireworks.
Strange to say, when Yun Zhong stepped forward, the extremely slender wooden stick turned around and turned into a light peach-colored sword hilt that was more than three feet long. It was just right and put on the young man's waist. On the long sword, he then pulled out several wooden cores on his own and surrounded the swallowing mouth, covering it tightly.
"In the early years, I used Juelu wood as wood and carved it for several months before I got such a scabbard. However, I have never found a good sword with a suitable handle, so it has been kept in the mansion. Juelu is a very rare wood, so this sword Being both water and fire, and born with resistance to Milun, it is most appropriate to use the extreme wood between water and fire as a scabbard. Today I give this scabbard to you. I hope you will use it well in your future life and set off a road to the sky as soon as possible in the way of swordsmanship. It’s not like I wasted all my efforts in vain.”
Seeing the young man's eyes shining brightly, Suicune said calmly, "Although I haven't made swords for a long time, I still made many swords in my early years. I always miss the good swords I made with my own hands."
Even so, there are still a few people who know the deep meaning.
The sky outside is gray, clouds are rising, and heavy snow is coming.
