six months ago…
★Lou Ning’s perspective★
My name is Lou Ning and I am a general.
Now I am on my way back home with the young monk Shi Jingkong and the swordsman Xiao Qingfeng.
I can only regret that Wang Fu listened to the slander, and did not distinguish between loyalists and traitors. He imprisoned all my family members, young and old, and had no choice but to return home.
It's January now, we started walking last year, is it a month already?
Passing through a small forest, I ran in on horseback and found a tree-lined path. Xiao Qingfeng said: "It is relatively close to take this tree-lined path to the Yaoxin Capital City."
It’s strange, after working in Wang Fu for many years, why didn’t I know that this path is close?
There are still many mysteries about this Xiao Qingfeng.
Shi Jingkong seems to have been chanting Buddha's name. Judging from his nervous look, he must be confused about the future path.
This tree-lined path is not a winding path, but a straight road, just like a path carved with a samurai sword. The road is full of snow. In desperation, the three of us can only jump off the horse and walk slowly. .
I was huffing and puffing as I stepped on the snow, white air was blowing out of my mouth, my eyelashes were covered with water droplets, my face was already red from the cold, and I was unconscious.
Xiao Qingfeng seemed to have nothing to do with the cold and still had time to practice his sword.
A pure white forest! The tree was filled with large pieces of snow-white jadeite, which fell suddenly and shattered into pieces. After walking for so long, it seems like I am only in one place, in this world full of snow.
I didn't see even a single flower along the way, but I found a wintersweet in the last few sections of the road. The wintersweet that has withstood the snowy wind and frost blooms to its fullest in the dancing snow, emitting a faint fragrance that makes us forget the coldness of winter and feel relaxed and happy.
It’s not that I lost my way, but the winter scenery of the mountains and forests made me happy and never wanted to return.
However, after all, I had something to do and couldn't stay long. I asked the two of them to hurry up, but Xiao Qingfeng looked at the wintersweet reluctantly. This mysterious man, does he like this kind of flower?
Finally walking out of the forest, a few of us jumped on our horses. When I saw the solid city wall of Yaoxin, my heart felt like it was about to jump out of my chest.
"Look! We're here! We're here!" I shouted excitedly like a child, yes, I'm back!
Xiao Qingfeng clicked his tongue disdainfully and said secretly in a low voice that no one could hear: "I'm going to see that guy again... Zhu Yan..."
Of course I heard it, but I didn't pay much attention to it. These two people must have had some unpleasant experiences.
Shi Jingkong took a deep breath for himself. This guy was still a child who didn't understand the world. You must treat him to something when you have time.
The three of us walked into the crowd. The bridge on the moat was creaking. Shi Qingkong was afraid of falling off several times. Xiao Qingfeng jokingly pushed him with a smile. This Xiao Qingfeng really didn't look like someone in his thirties.
After the city guard checked the passers-by in front, he spotted us.
"I am General Lou Ning, and this is the token given to me by the king!" I took out the token, but I had to pretend to be majestic. After all, I didn't even bring the army back.
"General Lou, you are back!" He hugged me excitedly.
"Keep your voice down!" I warned him sternly, not wanting too many people to hear it. After all, before I could meet with Wang Fu, I still had to deal with the denunciation matter, otherwise it would be difficult for Xiao Qingfeng to do his best to help me.
We came to a tavern to rest. Really, we haven’t had a good rest in this month. Xiao Qingfeng went down to drink. Thinking that the wine he had promised him had not yet been fulfilled, he felt a stomachache, so he gave him a lot of money and went to drink by himself.
Shi Jingkong worships Buddha as always.
This hut is also very warm. There is an iron stove in the house. I get some firewood and light it up, making me sweat profusely.
What is the origin of this guy named Zhu Yan?
I didn't think much about it. After a day of exhaustion, I lay down on the blanket with Shi Jingkong and fell asleep.
In the early morning, a ray of sunshine shines through the window and hits my face enthusiastically. The weather has become a little warmer these days, and spring is coming soon.
I sat up tiredly and put on my clothes. When I turned around, I saw that Shi Jingkong was still sleeping soundly. Forget it, don't wake up the child yet. I'd better take Xiao Qingfeng to deal with the matter myself.
As soon as the door was opened, the biting cold wind suddenly blew into the house. Did these guys not even close the door? Beside the door, Xiao Qingfeng was sitting impatiently on the ground against the wall, fiddling with his sword with his left hand.
"Good morning!" I greeted him warmly.
"I've been sleeping for several hours, why is it so early? It's already noon!" Xiao Qingfeng yelled angrily.
Oh! I really do! He actually overslept. I apologized to him, but Xiao Qingfeng replied with a nonchalant expression: "Compared to that, you'd better take me to Zhu Yan quickly!"
It is said that they have been stable at Xie Tianmen in the south of Yao New City recently. No matter what, let's take him there first.
Yao Xincheng is definitely not a big city, but it is qualified as a royal capital. Like other places in the country, the food here is unstable, and the things vendors sell are very limited, because few people can afford it, so For traders, bumping into a rich man who needs their items is a lucky day.
Most of the houses here are made of stone bricks, as are the countries bordering the Great Wall. There is also the Xinzhuang Empire in the north of us, which is several times colder than here!
The imperial palace in Yaoxin Capital City is one of the largest palaces in the country. Almost 3/5 of the buildings are made of stone bricks. It is large in scale. It can basically be said to be an inner city, a large-scale palace. It can be seen in every corner of Yaoxin City. Can see clearly.
Of course, poor people cannot afford stone bricks, so they can at most use adobe bricks. As expected, there is a saying that goes: "Prosperity means people suffer; death means people suffer." In order to build this palace, Wang Fu had no idea that he would die of exhaustion or starvation. How many people froze to death? Generally, a family has two or three children, two of whom build palaces for the king, and one who serves in the king's army.
If it were Wang Baping, he would never agree to spend huge amounts of manpower and financial resources to build the palace.
It is well-known as the "Palace of Ten Thousand People", but who would have thought that in this so-called Palace of Ten Thousand People, civilians are not allowed to pass by within a three-mile radius, let alone inside the palace. It is really ironic.
The moment we thought of this, we finally arrived - Xie Tianmen.
As soon as Xiao Qingfeng walked to the door, he angrily pulled out his sword from its scabbard. With a gust of wind, he chopped down the two guards and then slashed the door open with another vertical chop.
"Execute Yan! Get out!" Xiao Qingfeng was furious. Several people came to stop them, but Xiao Qingfeng cut them all down like a sharp knife cutting through a mess.
"Ho ho ho, you're finally here!" An evil smile frightened me, but Xiao Qingfeng didn't move, letting his hair get messy in the wind.
★Xiao Qingfeng’s perspective★
This voice, this is a voice I am familiar with!
For his own sake, he betrayed the sect master and the guy from Huai Tian Sect!
My parents died when I was young, and I was abducted by a philanderer. I was a double lowly slave. Just when I thought my life was hopeless, it was the master who saved me.
The sect leader raised his long black sword and slashed the traffickers in a few blows. He looked at me coldly and said lightly: "Do you want to live?"
I was too scared to move, so I replied with a slight cry: "I think..."
"Follow!" The door owner turned around and walked away. I got up and quickly chased after him. I was covered in injuries, and it was extremely difficult to walk these few steps. But in order to survive, I could only follow that person at all costs. At that time, I seemed to be a very strange and cold person.
I gritted my teeth and covered my bleeding knees with my hands. My hands were sticky and painful. He didn't even turn his head and just walked on by himself.
Later I found out that it was called Xiao Lan, and he was the sect leader of Huai Tianmen, the leader of the five sects. I didn’t know my own name, so he gave me my current name.
"From now on, your name will be Xiao Qingfeng. Do you understand human speech?" the sect leader said coldly.
I nodded desperately, and he took me to the top of Huaitian Tower, where there were children as old as me.
"Here, if you can survive, I will teach you what I have learned throughout my life." He handed over a sword. I, who was only seven years old at the time, held this sinking sword.
Sword, I don’t know what will happen next.
After a while, a servant brought a small bowl with red jade-like pills.
He ordered us to eat it, but it tasted bitter in our mouths and tasted a little like blood. It was not delicious at all.
Then he and the servant went down, and then they brought up a cage.
What was in the cage shocked everyone - it was five hungry tigers! They stared at our group of children fiercely, drooling from the corners of their mouths.
The five tigers moved together and pounced on the group of children crazily. Because my knee was injured and the smell of blood was too strong, two tigers came straight towards me.
I was so frightened that I sat down on the ground, raised the sword that was heavier than me, and struck it with a blinding move. One tiger escaped nimbly, but the other one was not so lucky. I cut off his head - strange, why did I feel a force rising in my body?
On the other hand, the other children were clearly not harmed, but in the process of evading, they suddenly spurted blood and fell to the ground and were eaten by hungry tigers.
My legs are so scared that I just want to escape from here! But it’s hard to survive without killing them.
"Stay alive!"
The voice echoed in his mind, and then he lost consciousness.
When I woke up again, I found myself lying on the door owner's bed. He looked at me in surprise: "You... after killing those tigers... you actually came back to life..."
"What's wrong?" I asked in confusion.
"That kind of medicine can only be taken by people with special physiques. It is a small pill made from the blood of more than 800 wolves. After taking it, it can stimulate the animal nature in the human body and the eyes will turn red. Known as 'Blood Eyes', a very small number of people with wolf blood will appear automatically in times of crisis. However, if you don't have this blood, you must take this little pill, but..."
"What's wrong?" I became more and more puzzled.
"People who don't have wolf blood have almost a 98% chance of vomiting blood and dying due to damage to their devouring power after taking the pill. But you survived. It seems that I saved the right person."
"Am I going to have to eat that kind of bitter food again?"
"No need. Since you have survived once, don't be greedy for power and take the second pill. Otherwise, you will vomit blood and die because your body cannot bear the energy."
Since then, I have practiced swordsmanship with the sect master.
"The soul of swordsmanship is in the heart. It is not an iron weapon. If there are no distracting thoughts in the heart, the swordsmanship is refined!" The sect master always teaches us this.
Of course, I am not the only person who can survive after taking that pill, there is another person, and that is Zhu Yan.
I have to say that he is my senior brother. He taught me many practical sword skills. I heard that he took three pills in a row and survived!
"The sect master will only choose one of us to teach the final secret. That must be me who is the strongest!" At that time, Zhu Yan and I were extremely good partners.
One day, Zhu Yan woke me up and told me something: "There is a girl in the small house in the south courtyard. She is the daughter of the owner!"
"Huh? Why haven't I seen it?"
"That's because Qingfeng, you are too stupid!" Zhu Yan slapped me on the back.
The two of us decided to climb over the wall and secretly see the girl.
At that time, the wintersweet was in full bloom, and a melancholy girl lay beside the window, picking the petals bit by bit.
That girl is Wintersweet...
I know that from the first moment I saw the girl from Wintersweet, I fell deeply in love with her.
Zhu Yan ran away with a bored look on his face. I jumped down deftly and used the sword in my hand to split the lock on the door.
"Ah, how did you split it open!" She ran over nervously.
"Don't worry, I rescued you and you are free!"
"No, run away, otherwise you will die!" Lamei chased me away nervously.
"Don't worry!" Although I said that, I was still a little scared.
In the end, I was beaten by the doorkeeper...
The memory of wintersweet is such a wonderful time, and I don’t want to recall it any more.
Just like that, I thought it would pass peacefully.
However, I was wrong.
When I was twenty years old, the sect master finally agreed, betrothed wintersweet to me, and told me that the ceremony would be held in a month.
At the same time, tomorrow the sect master will teach the final swordsmanship to one of them, and the other person will be kicked out of the Huaitian sect as a loser.
That day, the weather was fine. Zhu Yan and I stood in front of the door owner. The door owner took out two precious swords.
"The first one is called 'Qingtian Yuanyang Sword'. This sword is handed over to Xiao Qingfeng!"
I put away the shining white sword.
"The other one is called the 'Holy Sword of the Valley'. This sword will be handed over to Zhu Yan!"
Zhu Yan replied with some dissatisfaction: "Master, why can't you hand over the nine-layer Tianyuan Sword on your waist to me?"
"You're not worthy yet!" the door owner replied angrily.
Next, it is time to reveal who will teach the final swordsmanship.
To be continued…
