The gurgling stream looked like a thin strip of light under the moonlight, and the night breeze was slightly cool. The man under the tree woke up, rubbed his sleepy eyes, and looked around at the darkness. He knew that he had slept too hard and overslept.
Squatting down by the stream, he picked up a handful of water. There was a moon in the water, round and scattered. It was smashed into pieces by the man on the face. After a while, it reappeared in the quiet stream.
The thin horse in white clothes appeared again on the long ancient road. The wild hooves of the horse seemed to break the silent night. From time to time, black geese flew out of the forest on both sides of the road. The man's body was always leaning forward, and he was in such danger that he might fall off the horse at any time. He was so impatient, just like the time he killed Wu Peixian at Fanke Mountain.
The horse's hooves finally woke up the night, the sky was bright and foggy.
One man and one horse, exhausted, arrived at a ferry.
Even in the early morning, there are still many people waiting for the transition, mostly farmers carrying burdens to prepare to enter the city. The reason why Guiliu chose to lead the horse to cross was because he could save several days by taking this waterway, but he was not sure whether the rickety old man punting in front of him could make it across, and whether the dilapidated small wooden boat could make the crossing. Carry.
They ferried one person after another to the other side, and only one person, Guiliu, was left at the ferry. The old man was obviously exhausted. He looked at Guiliu without saying a word, but just shook his head.
Guiliu hesitated and took out a couple of silver ingots to show him.
The old man shook his head even more, smiled sarcastically, and waved his hand to expel.
Guiliu simply sat cross-legged and said softly: "I can wait for the old gentleman to rest. I want to go to the Dafeng Dynasty to find someone. Time is tight, so this waterway is really important to me."
The old man put his hands on his waist, struggled to move his body, slowly sat down, shook his head and said: "You misunderstood, it's not that I don't want to ferry you, but that this ferry can only ferry people, other than that it cannot ferry any living creatures."
Guiliu was puzzled, "Why is this?"
The old man glanced at the rushing white water and said softly: "There is a river god in the water. He sets the rules. I can only abide by them."
Before Giliu could speak, the old man said again: "Don't think that I'm old and confused. When I was your age, I was ferrying people here in my twenties. Now half of my body is buried in the loess. I have been dealing with this river all my life, and I have seen too many people who did not listen to advice die here. If you believe me, don’t lead the boat, I can ferry you to the other side. If you don’t believe it, you have to ask me, an old man, to cross it. It’s not like you can’t do it, you just have to be responsible for your life and death.”
Ordinary people may still find this ridiculous after hearing these words, but people like Geiryu who have climbed high and seen far away know that this world is not limited to human beings, spirits, ghosts, walking corpses, immortals, and Shinto. There are still many unknowns. Moreover, the old man refused even if he refused to accept the cash, indicating that there must be something fishy about this matter.
But it is impossible to abandon the horse. After the transition, there will be more than a hundred miles before there is a small town. Let’s not talk about whether there is a horse seller in the town. It will take several days to walk more than one hundred miles. If this is the case, it will still take a few days. It is better to take the land route, as the water route will only delay more time.
At this moment, Geliu suddenly thought of his sister. If she were here, the transition would be just a small problem.
But he couldn't think like this. No brother in the world would take advantage of his sister and push his sister into danger.
I don’t know where Yao Tiao is taking her. She should be leaving Longzhou soon, right?
Guiliu retracted his thoughts, stood up, and looked at the river with burning eyes, "You are responsible for your life and death. Please ask the old gentleman to ferry me across the river."
The old man shook his head, nodded again, and looked at him pitifully, as if looking at a dying person.
Guiliu led his horse into the boat, and the old man was about to set sail when a clear voice suddenly sounded from the shore: "Wait a minute, there's me and me!"
I saw a woman running out of the woods at the end of the ferry.
Suddenly a strong wind blew, and the boat was pushed to the center of the river by the wind and current. No matter how hard the old man tried to push the boat, he could not stop it.
Guiliu thought to himself, what a coincidence, this girl can only wait for a while.
The woman ran all the way to the ferry. Logically, she should have stopped, but Guiliu watched helplessly as she stepped out of the ferry.
In an instant, ripples appeared on the water surface, and the woman was like a dragonfly touching the water, and she was on the boat in a few steps.
"Huh, luckily I caught up." The woman took a long breath, patted her chest, and was somewhat out of breath.
"This light skill can be said to be excellent. Even if you look at the guests and warriors in the palace, not many people can do it." Geiliu thought silently and glanced at her subconsciously.
What a coincidence, we bumped into each other at a glance. The woman was not shy, she immediately smiled and said: "Didn't it scare you?"
Guiliu nodded and said with a smile: "The heroine is good at martial arts."
The woman was a little surprised to see the man in front of her looking so normal, "A gangster?"
"That's right." Guiliu thought for a while and added: "I used to be a prostitute, but I don't do it anymore."
The woman curled her lips, obviously looking a little arrogant, and glanced at the tall horse behind Guiliu.
"Lead the horse to the boat. This is the first time I've seen him."
Guiliu said nothing and looked down at the water. Now the boat has slowly reached the center of the river.
Suddenly, the ferry seemed to be caught by some huge suction force, and it suddenly fell and fell again.
"There is evil spirit here." Guiliu said softly; "This is not some river god."
It seemed like a remark that was outrageous in the world, and for a moment the water mist became hazy, and nothing could be seen in the vast expanse of white.
It seemed like something was desperately attacking the bottom of the boat. The ferry was shaking violently and could be shattered to pieces at any time. Geiliu clung to the bow of the boat. After another huge impact on the bottom of the boat, the frightened horse fell into the water. Blood was instantly smeared and spread across the river. Within a few seconds, a complete skeleton emerged. water surface.
"There is a demon spirit here." The woman said the same thing. She looked at the embarrassed man and said with a smile, "Yes, I am here to kill the demon."
With a sword coming from the west, the hazy mist in the entire small world was split into two, leaking out of the road to the ferry ahead.
"I'm here to kill the demon, you just paddle the boat and go forward."
The woman jumped high out of the bow of the boat, her feet touching the water without sinking, and she thrust out one sword after another towards the river. In the blink of an eye, she fired eighteen swords in a row.
Guiliu suddenly remembered what his mother had said. The Xian family's monks practiced swords the most, and the swordsmanship sect was dominated by Bai Huizong. Most of the monks from Bai Huizong were chivalrous and spirited. They liked to hide in the wilderness and act chivalrously. From then on, Temper the spirit in your heart and make your sword more pure and free of impurities.
The woman in front of her was obviously a Qi practitioner. She could deliver eighteen swords one after another in one breath. Her background was profound and unfathomable. She could not be a casual cultivator in the world, but must come from an immortal family on the mountain. Except for Bai Huizong, all the immortal monks regard the rivers and lakes as stinky places. Who would come here to practice? Moreover, the clothes of the woman in front of me, especially the cloud pattern on her clothes, really look like a monk of Bai Huizong.
The ferry arrived at the other side successfully, but the horses were missing. This was undoubtedly the worst news for Guiliu. He looked at the battlefield gradually becoming clearer on the river in the distance, and a bold idea suddenly came to his mind.
The old man suddenly patted him on the shoulder and said with emotion: "The future life is terrible."
Guiliu frowned, always feeling that this sentence was a bit strange.
Aren't people who say this generally a pioneer on a certain path?
"When I was twenty years old, I came to this ferry. Like you, I noticed that there was a monster here. At that time, I wanted to get rid of the evil for the people. After several trials, I finally found the monster at the bottom of the river. I and it The fight was so dark that both sides lost. So I planned to ferry people here by boat. On the one hand, I was afraid of the evil spirits, and on the other hand, I raised money to pour iron lions to suppress the bottom of the river. But I didn't expect that the crossing would last a lifetime."
Gui Liu wanted to speak but stopped.
The old man looked at the battlefield in the distance with some sarcasm: "Evils are easy to kill, evil are easy to get rid of, but the human heart is the most terrifying thing. The river in front of you now has drowned hundreds of abandoned babies, and some so-called women who did not keep their wives' morals will also drown. According to the clan rules, sacrifices were made to the river gods mentioned by those men. It only said that at the beginning of this year, three more women were locked in iron cages and drowned in the river. Of course, these women would not drown, but would all become food for monsters. This one The monster has kept a low profile for decades and has become even more powerful. If it were not suppressed by the iron lion that the Great Heavenly Master of Longhu Mountain had personally fired, he would have come out to cause harm to the world. But even with the iron lion suppressing him, he can still pull living creatures to the ground. Go eat it in the river. So is the most terrifying thing in the world monsters? It is the human heart, the foolish and ignorant human heart, the vicious and sinister human heart. If you were young and you said you wanted to lead a horse across the boat, I would never agree to anything. . But now, I am old and have seen the world thoroughly, and my chivalry and courage have long been gone. You said you wanted to lead the horse across the river. I just gave you a symbolic persuasion so that I don’t have too much burden in my heart. You want to die. Just die, it’s none of my business.”
The old man stopped talking and looked towards the center of the majestic misty river.
The woman was fighting something wrapped in black energy, and she was obviously a little more powerless than before.
And when she drew her sword again, not only was the woman unable to defeat the black energy, she was almost enveloped in it.
"This female doll is in the Sixth Realm of Dzogchen. Every move she makes is obviously that of an Immortal monk. This monster's strength has not yet fully recovered and is equivalent to a Seventh Realm monk. Although the two are only one step apart, they are like a chasm and insurmountable."
Geiliu said in surprise: "How dare you ask me, senior...when you were young..."
The old man looked quite arrogant, "It's not too high, it's just the eighth level, otherwise we wouldn't have fought with that monster and both sides would suffer."
In his early twenties, he reached the Eighth Realm. Isn’t this high?
Guiliu held it in for a long time, and really didn't know how to answer. He could only say: "It's really... not high."
"Boy, can you guess the identity of this female doll?"
"Brother Bai Huizong?"
The old man hummed and said: "It's almost like ten. He has reached the sixth level of Dzogchen at a young age. He should be one of the ten people in the world among the younger generation."
Guiliu groaned, "I was still in the top ten in the world's martial arts evaluation."
The old man obviously didn't believe it. He picked his ears and said disdainfully: "What does the top ten in martial arts evaluation mean? Back then, even if the top ten and bottom nine in martial arts evaluation were all together, the worst thing would be for me to exchange one life for nine."
Gui Liuxin? Of course I don’t believe it, and I wouldn’t believe it even to death.
Do you think you are Zhao Bingnie, the Nine Realm Sword God?
"I don't know if I can still lift the sword." The old man said to himself: "How about one of us?"
The phosphorus stone cliff suddenly opened, and a rusty iron sword turned sharply and was held by the old man in his hand.
If you touch it with two fingers, the three-foot green peak is as cool as water.
The old man's hair was flying at the temples, and he murmured: "The world only knows Zhao Bingnie, but they don't know Zhao Huaiyu. Zhao Huaiyu is willing to paint the ground to imprison him for the rest of his life. How can he be worse than Zhao Bingnie?"
Gei Liu was sluggish on the spot.
The old man did not turn around and said: "Kid, remember, I am Zhao Huaiyu, Zhao Bingnie's senior brother, and also his Taoist priest and protector."
He raised the sword high, even though his arms were shaking slightly.
Now that I am really old, I can no longer see the high-spiritedness I had when I was young, and I cannot see the amazing talent of being the number one martial artist.
The preacher who couldn't see that he was actually the most invincible person in the world seemed to be unable to see anything except that he was old.
Bai Huizong's female sword cultivator seemed to have a clear understanding, her sword power suddenly surged, and she used the killing move without hesitation.
There is a sword energy like a rainbow piercing the sun, coming from the west sky and slamming down.
The monster had no choice but to avoid the sharp edge temporarily and dive into the water.
"The last time I drew my sword, I was still unhappy."
There was no overwhelming momentum, the old man just threw the iron sword into the river.
The big monster exploded into pieces.
The last bit of energy in his heart dissipated, and the old man was really old.
The setting sun was shining slantingly, and the old man was sitting hunched over on the ferry, his shadow stretching long and slantingly.
He struggled to open his eyes, and seemed to see a young man running towards him, and in a daze he smelled the fragrance of Lingnan plum blossoms.
The young man smiled and said, "How about Lingnan?" "
The old man's last words in this life were: "This place of peace is my hometown."
