one
Xie Xiangcai woke up from the blur and found himself on a small hill outside Fengxue Village.
He sat up straight in a daze, twisted his stiff neck, and noticed two men roasting something in front of a fire on the hillside not far away.
The white man's ears were bright and he heard the movement not far away. He handed the wooden stick with meat in his hand to the black man beside him, brushed the withered yellow weeds on his clothes and stood up.
He stretched and walked towards Xie Xiangcai, with a particularly lazy look on his face.
Xie Xiangcai stood up with his hands on the ground and vaguely remembered that the white-faced man in front of him was the guy who took him out of the fireworks building.
After being silent for a moment, he bowed slightly and said, "Thank you sir for helping me."
The white man waved his hand casually, reached out and patted Xie Xiangcai's shoulder, and said with a faint smile, "Is your internal injury feeling better?"
Xie Xiangcai moved his hands and feet and nodded gently, "It's just that he's still a little weak. There's nothing painful."
The white man nodded slightly, turned around and looked into the distance. Above the sky, a row of wild geese were changing their formation and flying towards the south.
He suddenly said, "Xie Xiangcai, do you know where these birds are going to fly?"
Xie Xiangcai was startled. He was not surprised that the white-faced man knew his name. After pondering for a moment, he shook his head slightly and said, "I only know that they are flying to the warm south."
The white man smiled and said nothing, turned around and looked into the young man's eyes, "Do you want to go south?"
Xie Xiangcai was confused and shook his head slightly after a long time.
Not far away, the black man heard this and stamped his feet anxiously, shouting at the top of his voice.
The white man ignored the jumping black man and still looked at Xie Xiangcai with a smile. After a while, he nodded lightly and said, "It's nothing. You can go home."
Xie Xiangcai was thoughtful, and finally nodded slightly, still walking slowly towards the village behind him in a daze.
The young man dragged his torn red clothes and walked slowly on the street paved with bluestone bricks.
The originally noisy street immediately became quiet the moment the young man appeared.
Everyone's eyes stayed on Xie Xiangcai's torn red clothes. After a moment of silence, they all whispered to each other.
Prime Minister Xie closed his eyes lightly and followed the route in his memory, returning to the door of Xie's Mansion.
Xie Mansion.
The entire Xie Mansion was eerily quiet, except for the low sobs of the housekeeper, which echoed in the huge mansion.
Xie Xiangcai slowly opened his eyes. When he saw two white lanterns with the word "Dian" hanging in front of the gate, his whole body froze in place.
He became overwhelmed for a moment and searched desperately in his mind for who had died.
"thump--"
Xie Xiangcai opened his mouth and knelt heavily on his knees at the foot of the stone steps in front of the gate.
The closed door slowly opened, and a figure walked out from behind, holding a thorn stick.
Xie Xiangcai raised his head slightly and looked at the ugly young master on the steps with dull eyes.
The eldest young master walked step by step to Xie Xiangcai, lowered his head, slowly raised the thorn stick in his hand, and landed heavily on Xie Xiangcai's back with a "pop" sound.
"The master found out that you went to the Lin family to cause trouble, and he died like this without even taking a breath."
"The doctor said that the old man has at least five years left to live in peace and happiness!"
"It's all because of you, Xie Xiangcai, because of your willfulness!"
The thorn stick in the eldest young master's hand fell on Xie Xiangcai's back, leaving hideous blood marks on it.
Behind the gate of the mansion, the thin body of the fourth young master appeared in Xie Xiangcai's blurred vision.
The young man lowered his head and had no face to look into his father's eyes. He could only silently endure the punishment of the thorn in the young master's hand.
The amusement in the eldest young master's eyes became more intense.
Since you want to practice Taoism, then I will destroy your Taoism first and see how you practice Taoism?
After a long time, when Xie Xiangcai's back became a bloody mess, the young master slowly let go of the thorn stick in his hand, and his palms were also dripping with blood.
He turned around, looked at the Xie family young men behind him, and raised his blood-covered palm high.
"A family cannot be without an owner for a day. This is the master's will in my hand. The will appoints me as the new head of the Xie family. Does anyone have any objections?"
The eldest young master's voice echoed throughout the Xie Mansion, and even Lao Cheng stopped sobbing softly.
He raised his head, his wet red eyes full of helplessness.
The fourth young master's body seemed to be getting more and more rickety at this moment, so rickety that he was almost touching the ground.
Xie Xiangcai seemed to have cut off the whole world from his mind. All he could see was the memory of his grandfather hugging him and laughing and saying, "There is hope for the Xie family."
two
It was late at night, but Xie Xiangcai still didn't fall asleep.
Firstly, it was because of the severe pain in my back, and secondly, it was because of the torment in my heart.
"Dong dong dong——"
There was a sudden knock on the door at some point, and Xie Xiang reluctantly raised his head and looked at the familiar short figure outside the door.
"Lao Cheng, come in."
The old man outside the door heard the whisper, gently opened the door and walked into the room.
Lao Cheng walked to Xie Xiangcai's bedside, picked up the plaster that fell on the ground, lifted the gauze on Xie Xiangcai's back, and applied another layer of medicine on the hideous wound.
Xie Xiangcai said nothing. He knew that among the entire Xie family, Lao Cheng was the one who cared most about his grandfather. If his grandfather died because of him, Lao Cheng would definitely blame himself in his heart!
As if he could hear Xie Xiangcai's thoughts, the old man sighed and put the medicine jar on the table aside. He stood up and walked to the window. He closed the open window gently and then whispered, "Young Master Xiangcai, my death, If I don’t blame you, I won’t blame you even if I’m mature.”
Xie Xiangcai buried his head in the quilt and said in a muffled voice, "Uncle said that grandpa was mad at me."
Lao Cheng returned to the bedside again and sat in the corner of the bed, "The master's death has nothing to do with anyone, it's his destiny... I think back then, when Mr. Xiangcai was not born yet, the doctor said he didn't have much time left. Well, it was your birth, young master, that gave me an extra fifteen years."
Xie Xiangcai trembled and lifted his tear-stained cheek from the quilt, feeling extremely aggrieved.
His lips trembled, and he reached out to grab Lao Cheng's arm without saying a word.
Lao Cheng was also silent. After a long time, he took out a letter from his arms and stuffed it into Xie Xiangcai's palm, "This is what the master gave me before he left. He said it was a letter left by the ancestor for the young master. "
Xie Xiangcai was slightly stunned, looking down at the slightly yellowed letter in his palm, his mouth moved for a long time, but he never said a word.
The night gradually faded, and a touch of fish belly white quietly appeared in the eastern sky.
As the early morning sunlight slanted into the window, Prime Minister Xie had just climbed out of bed. The injuries on his back had all healed overnight, leaving only a few shallow scars.
Xie Xiangcai used the sunlight to tear open the seal of the letter and opened the suicide note left by his ancestor during his lifetime.
"Xiao Xiangcai, our ancestor has passed away, don't miss him."
When he first saw these words, Xie Xiangcai's vision became blurry unconsciously.
Yesterday in the fireworks building, he just realized how uncomfortable it felt to have a fist that was not strong enough.
If the ancestor were still alive, he would blame himself for being a coward!
Xie Xiangcai then looked down.
"The decline of the Xie family is destiny. My ancestor violated God's will with his body, and his heart was so depressed that he became a demon twenty years ago. He was already living in this world with little hope, until he met you."
"My ancestor was so happy to see you that most of his inner demons dissipated. During the thunder tribulation fifteen years ago, my ancestor felt a very strong reincarnation of heaven. This should be the calamity of the calendar mentioned in the ancient books. It is a symbol of the birth of a genius. After surviving the thunder tribulation, the ancestor is glad that the Xie family is expected to revive!"
"However, the death of our ancestor has been determined, so I have to keep all the original power that has been condensed in the body for more than seventy years in your body. I hope that one day you can refine them all."
"There is nothing else in the back mountain. The most precious thing in the entire Xie family is the martial arts of the ancestor. The ancestor passed all these skills to you, and I hope that in the future, Prime Minister will practice diligently and carry my Xie family up again." Big flag.”
"The ancestors wrote the inner method of refining the original power behind the letter. I hope you will cherish it and understand it deeply."
Xie Xiangcai rubbed his fingers over the rough letter paper and murmured the name of the ancestor of the Xie family in a low voice.
All the sunlight outside the window shone into the house and fell on the young man's shoulders.
Xie Xiangcai turned over the letter and found only ten large characters.
"There is no way in the world. If you can't do it, just follow your heart."
The young man was silent, obviously unable to understand the deeper meaning.
Perhaps many years later, after experiencing more changes, Prime Minister Xie was able to understand the deep meaning of the words "If you can't do it, just follow your heart."
three
Xie Xiangcai walked through the corridor and finally stopped in front of the fourth young master's door.
He stood outside the window and looked in through the gap. There were two familiar figures sitting at the table.
Xie Xiangcai pushed the door open and stood in front of the two of them.
The fourth young master sat up from the desk, looked at Xie Xiangcai and smiled softly, the corners of his eyes spread out, as weather-beaten as the texture of a dead tree.
"Two gentlemen, this is Quanzi, Xie Xiangcai, he is fifteen years old this year."
The fourth young master limped towards Xie Xiangcai, turned around and looked at the two men with different expressions in front of the table, and introduced them with a faint smile.
Xie Xiangcai looked at the black and white men with complicated eyes. He couldn't think of anything to say for a while and only said some polite words to the two men.
The fourth young master then looked at Xie Xiangcai and said, "Xiangcai, is the injury on your back feeling better?"
Xie Xiangcai grinned and twisted his arms and back, "Much better, dad!"
The fourth young master was not surprised. He thought it was because he had talked with the two men at the table before. He continued, "These two gentlemen are from the southern region. They are recruiting apprentices on behalf of teachers. They are visiting each house to find a suitable one." child."
After saying this, his eyes were full of smiles, and his eyes looking at Xie Xiangcai were full of expectation.
Xie Xiangcai understood what his father meant. He wanted to learn from his master.
But the young man still shook his head slightly, "After I leave, you will be alone in Xie's Mansion. Will uncle give you a peaceful life? With me by your side, you can at least have an extra guarantee. From today on, I will practice martial arts again and let my fists It’s so hard that no one can touch our father and son.”
The fourth young master was stunned. He subconsciously smoothed the white frost on his temples, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes widened due to the wider smile.
At this moment, the bitterness in his heart was finally washed away by relief.
The fourth young master thought that his son was still the child who never grew up and only complained about practicing martial arts and disliked studying.
In fact, Xie Xiangcai understood everything in his heart, he just didn't want to say it and just pretended to be stupid occasionally.
The fourth young master withdrew his thoughts, bowed slightly to the black and white men, and then pulled Xie Xiang behind the screen.
He turned around, his back facing Xie Xiangcai, and his voice was slightly hoarse, "Xiangcai, listen to what dad says, and just follow these two gentlemen."
"I dont go."
The fourth young master still did not face Xie Xiangcai, "If you stay in Xie's house, your uncle will always regard you as a serious problem. Everyone knows that he is headstrong and cold-blooded. Your grandfather will never make him the head of the family in his suicide note... ...With him being in trouble everywhere, can you still practice martial arts with peace of mind? Go ahead, dad will be fine alone in the house. As long as I stay out of the house and study with peace of mind, my life will be very comfortable..."
Xie Xiangcai's eyes gradually turned red.
The fourth young master said again, his body trembling slightly as he spoke, "Your father is useless to me. I have been studying all my life. Even if I feel grievances in my heart, I can't express them all. In the end, my fist is not strong enough. Dad doesn't want you to stay here." Fu, continue to be the frog in the well, but I hope you go out and truly travel thousands of miles. Dad, I am waiting for you here, waiting for you to return from your studies and bring Dad to enjoy happiness."
As soon as the words fell, two blasts of wind rang out. Before Xie Xiang could recover, he was carried away by two men towards the outside of the house.
"Let me go! Let me go!"
Xie Xiangcai struggled desperately, but the two men were so powerful that they didn't give him any chance to break free.
Finally, the young man gave up his struggle and looked down at the shrinking Xie Mansion on the ground.
"Dad, my son is gone, please take care of yourself..."
