Shao Xi and Lao Wu took the little girl forward. When passing a village, they finally found out the little girl's origin. It turns out that this family is a small merchant in Stone Town not far away. People in the village often go to their shop in the town to buy some daily necessities, so they are relatively familiar with each other. This time, the family planned to go to another town to visit relatives. They had passed by their village before. Unexpectedly, not long after, something happened to the family.
Knowing that the child had relatives in Stone Town, Shao Xi and Lao Wu rushed to Stone Town. When they arrived in the town, they didn't even have time to eat, so they started looking around for the whereabouts of the children's relatives. After asking around along the way, they learned that the girl's relatives lived in the west end of the town, and the two finally returned the child to her family.
When the girl's relatives learned the cause of the incident, they were also extremely sad. They cried and scrambled to find someone to go to the scene of the incident to transport the body back. He also thanked Shao Xi and Lao Wu profusely, bowed and kowtowed, and even gave some money to express his gratitude, but Shao Xi declined. This is a chivalrous and righteous act, but wouldn’t it change the taste if he accepted the reward from the other party?
It was already dark after all the hard work, and the two of them were very tired. But Shao Xi was relieved that he finally sent back the little ancestor named Azi. If he had kept him by his side, the name alone would wake him up from nightmares in the middle of the night.
hungry! Gotta find a place to eat. So, the two came to the only inn in the town called "Shunxing". The waiter in the store saw two distinguished guests on horseback from a distance. He hurriedly trotted out to greet them, led them into the store and sat down, and asked the handyman to take the horses to the backyard for feeding.
Entering the store, the two sat down against the wall. After the waiter enthusiastically poured hot tea for the two of them, he asked diligently: "Gentlemen, are you doing a job here, or are you staying in a hotel?"
Shao Xi replied, "I'm hungry, let me get you something to eat first."
The waiter smiled and asked, "I wonder what you two would like to use?"
"Cut two pounds of beef and serve two pots of hot wine. It's too cold today."
As soon as Shao Xi finished speaking, he saw that the waiter had a troubled look on his face, but he hesitated to speak.
Old Wu took over the conversation from the side, "Cut two pounds of mutton and serve two pots of hot wine."
"Okay! You two gentlemen, wait a moment, the food and wine will be here soon." After saying that, the waiter quickly ran to the back hall.
Shao Xi asked with some confusion: "Why should we change it to mutton? Isn't beef more filling?"
Old Wu smiled and explained to Shao Xi: "The young master left the Central Plains and grew up on the grasslands since he was a child, so it is normal not to know. In the Central Plains, slaughtering cattle and selling beef is against criminal law. You go to other people's shops. Wouldn't it be difficult for others to put some beef in it?"
Shao Xi then remembered that he seemed to have mentioned it in history class back then. So he asked: "Then we have some leftover beef jerky soon, shouldn't we all be able to eat it?"
Old Wu waved his hand, "That's okay, the cattle you eat are not from the Central Plains."
While the two were talking, another person walked in from the door. Shao Xi looked up and saw that it was none other than the unknown swordsman he met before. I saw that he was holding the broken iron sword in his hand. The previous package was gone. He must have pawned the items and exchanged them for money.
With his desolate look, no one came to greet him at the door, so he went straight to the table by the window and sat down. At this time, the waiter ran over and asked, "What would you like to eat, sir?"
"A pound of mutton, a pot of roasted meat. I also want a chicken and ten steamed buns to take away."
The waiter did not serve the food immediately like he did with Shao Xi and Lao Wu, but settled the account for the man.
"A pound of mutton is six cents, a pot of roasted meat is five cents, a chicken is ten cents, and ten steamed buns are two cents, a total of twenty-three cents. Do you want to pay now, or after you finish eating?"
In these businesses that welcome guests and send them off, the store owners are very powerful, and they all speak based on the dress and appearance of the customers. Of course, you can't say it's wrong. After all, if you meet a freeloader, your whole day will be in vain.
The man was not upset at all. He took out a handful of copper coins from his waist and counted them one by one. After counting enough, he placed the copper coins on the table without saying a word as before.
"Please wait a moment, sir. Your food will be served immediately." The waiter took the money on the table with a smile and ran to the counter to hand it over to the cashier.
At this time, Shao Xi's table of wine and food had been served. The two of them were hungry and cold, so they started eating in a hurry. Because it was already dark, there were only a few customers in the store at this time, and it felt a little deserted.
Shao Xi ordered two more pots of hot wine and asked the waiter: "Brother, is there a neat and clean room in the store?"
"Yes, yes, yes, the best rooms here are still vacant. How many do you two want?"
"Two rooms, please go back to my horse and deliver my package to the room."
"Okay! I'll let you two clean up the room right now. You two can eat slowly, don't be in a hurry."
The boy ran down happily, and Shao Xi turned to look at the unknown swordsman again.
The man had just asked the waiter to serve him another pot of old roast, and he was drinking it leisurely while his other hand was gently stroking the iron sword placed on the table. I wonder why he cherishes such a worn-out sword so much?
After a few more glasses of wine, Shao Xi felt flushed and hot. Not knowing what kind of mood he was in, he got up and walked to the door of the inn, looking at the heavy snow that was still falling outside, and chanted softly:
The snow and frost in the sky are like flowers,
The sun reflects on the green front and the moon shines on the veil.
The night is cold and the lamp is cold, and it’s late when I return home.
Touching the sword and chanting softly in the restaurant.
The man's hand stroking the iron sword stopped for a moment. He raised his head, drank all the wine in the glass, and then resumed stroking the iron sword.
"This poem is for you." Shao Xi said, but did not turn to look at the man.
"Thank you." The man's greeting was a bit surprising.
"Is this sword very precious?"
The man shook his head gently.
"Then why don't you change to a better sword after killing someone?"
"Weapons are the last dignity of Jianghu people."
"You kill them, but you still want to consider leaving them dignity?"
"Leave some dignity for myself."
"I don't quite understand what you mean."
"No one wants my sword."
This answer made Shao Xi dumbfounded, but he didn't know how to refute it. He was right, no one would want his sword.
"Do you know you will die at the hands of others?"
The man nodded.
"when?"
The man shook his head again.
"Do you plan to keep doing this? With your skills, there should be a better choice."
"I only kill for myself."
"Oh? We have a bit of consensus on this point."
Although this person is in such a state of desperation, he still does not want to be a tool at the mercy of others. At this point, Shao Xi had some admiration for him. How many people in the world can really do this?
Shao Xi walked up to the man and raised the wine glass in his hand.
"I toast you this drink."
The man gave a rare response to Shao Xi and raised the wine glass in his hand. The two of them drank the wine in one gulp.
The man put down the wine glass, put the five cents for the second pot of wine on the table, picked up the iron sword and walked out of the inn, and soon disappeared into the vast night with falling snow.
Shao Xi sat back at the table and asked Lao Wu: "Are there many people like this in the world?"
Old Wu nodded, then shook his head, "A lot, but also very little."
Shao Xi rolled his eyes, "Can you not talk like that guy?"
"There are many people in the world who make a living like him, but there are very few people who stick to their true intentions like him. Although this person acts strangely, he has his own principles for what he does. How many people in this world are there? Is it possible for people not to become the pawns of others for the sake of profit?”
"Then do you think he is a good person or an evil person?" Shao Xi asked casually.
"Good guy? Evil guy? Don't ask me such childish questions again in the future. Go upstairs and sleep!"
After Lao Wu finished speaking, he turned around and climbed up the stairs on the creaking wooden stairs. Shao Xi also felt that what he had just asked was a bit childish. He shook his head with a wry smile and followed him upstairs.
The two of them got up a little late the next day. After all, most of the time we came here were eating and sleeping in the open, so it was rare to stay in a hotel for a good night's rest.
The two simply washed up, packed their bags, and paid for the first night's room. At this time, the busboy of the inn had led the two horses to the door. The two got on their horses and left Stone Town, continuing south.
At this time, although the snow had stopped, the road was still muddy and difficult to walk on. The two of them walked leisurely towards Qingshan City.
"Old Wu, why don't we go back to Yingzhou first and take a look?"
"Although many years have passed since the incident, there is no guarantee that Yingzhou has not been planted with secret agents over the years, so there is no rush to go back."
"I really want to go back and have a look."
"Let's talk about it when we have a chance! It's better to go to Daliang first and get down to business."
Shao Xi turned to look at Lao Wu and asked: "Since you said you were going back to the Central Plains, you haven't told me what you want to do when you come back. Can you tell me now?"
Old Wu took a sip of wine and replied lazily: "You will know by then. Why are you asking so many questions now?"
"Mysterious." Shao Xi muttered with dissatisfaction.
Unconsciously, it was already noon. When they saw a ruined temple ahead, they drove their horses there, intending to rest there.
This ruined temple looks like it has been abandoned for a long time. There were not even a few tiles left on the roof, and the walls had collapsed in several places, but fortunately, there were a few pieces of wood nearby to make a fire.
When I walked into the ruined temple, I realized that there was someone in the temple.
The man was sitting against the wall, covered in blood, and looked seriously injured. There were a few big holes in the already shabby cloak, the old hat covered his face because he lowered his head, and a broken iron sword lay on the ground beside him.
Shao Xi recognized this person at a glance. He was the unknown swordsman with whom he had a drink in the inn the night before.
Old Wu walked over and knelt down to check. As soon as I took off the man's bamboo hat, I saw an obvious wound on his face. Several wounds on his body were more serious, and some were so deep that the bones were visible. After some inspection, Old Wu turned back to Shao Xi and shook his head.
"It's a stab wound. It's hurt my heart. I'm afraid I won't survive."
Shao Xi quickly took out a bottle of coagulation powder from his leather satchel, sprinkled it on the man's wound, took another red blood pill and stuffed it into the man's mouth, and drank it down with wine.
Old Wu felt distressed when he saw Shao Xi using such precious medicine on a stranger! But I’m embarrassed to say it.
After a while, the man slowly regained some consciousness. Looking at Shao Xi in front of him, a rare smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"You ask when I will be killed? At this time."
After saying that, he took out a small and exquisite silver lock from his arms with difficulty.
"Give that child back for me..."
