"Can you play cards?"
The man who opened the door was short and seemed to be younger than himself. He was holding a card in his hand. He stuck his head out of the door and looked at Nan Dao. His eyes should have focused on his black umbrella and the waistband. He glanced at the wine bottle, and before Nan Dao could express his intention, he asked this question.
Nan Dao glanced inside through the open door and saw a circle of people sitting in the concierge, playing mahjong around a table with a stove.
So he shook his head, and then the door slammed shut.
When I knocked on the door again, no one came, and I could only hear the sound of cards being pushed inside.
Nan Dao was so angry that he rubbed the mud from his soles on the steps of their door, and then left.
After only walking about ten meters, I walked back and picked up a locust branch to pry the mud off.
After all, you are here to ask for help, so you have to be humble.
Nan Dao calmed down for a while and knocked on the door again. Still no one responded. Nan Dao took a deep breath and stepped back on the mud.
Then he sat on the opposite bank of the river and looked at it for a long time with a sigh.
This is Nanyi City in the spring of Dafengli 103.
Nanyi City, named after a certain Mojian Cliff owner and located in the southernmost part of Huai'an, has never been a peaceful place. As an ancient city guarding the only important road from ancient Huangliang to ancient Huai'an, it has historically been I don’t know how many wars started here.
There is a very wide garden in the north city of Nanyi City. It was originally a bustling market place. Thousands of years ago, after a certain generation of four disciples from Mojian Cliff in the East China Sea came down the mountain and entered the city, they founded a sword sect in the market. After the hustle and bustle of the world, Practice swordsmanship.
The name of the Sword Sect is called Human Sword Sect, which may mean coming from the human world and going to the human world.
Coming for the human world, it is natural to appear in the most prosperous place in the human world.
It should be quite lively now - the sound of playing cards and shouting can still be heard.
Nan Dao sat on the guardrail by the river holding an umbrella, thinking about what had just happened.
"Is it possible that if you don't know how to play mahjong, you won't be allowed in?"
Nan Dao is puzzled
He is not from Nanyi City, but from a small town called Nanke Town ten miles away. The reason why he appears here is actually very simple.
Because he is dying.
Maybe ten years, maybe five years, maybe tomorrow.
His life was not very good since he was born. For some unknown reason, he could not see the rain, snow, or sky, so his father, who had been a hard worker all his life, gave him a black umbrella, and he lived under it all day long.
When he was five years old, an unnamed man came to the town and gave his father a peach blossom, asking him to take it back and plant it. After it bloomed, he would drink some peach blossom wine every day to transfer the pain to the peach tree.
After the peach blossoms bloomed, as the man said, Nandao lived very well and lived happily for ten years.
Until the peach tree began to wither, even though Nan Dao held an umbrella all day long, his body became weaker and weaker.
I heard from people in the town that there is a peach tree in Nanyi City that has been in bloom for more than a thousand years, and it is among the Human Sword Sect.
So Nan Dao came to Nanyi City for that glimmer of hope.
It's just that this weird sword sect gave him a straight rejection.
The spring rain in early March was falling softly, and river cruise boats passed by in twos and threes across the bridge. There were young men standing on the bow of the boat holding umbrellas, and there were also women sitting on the stern of the boat holding harps. The streets on both sides of the river are intricate and complex, with new green shoots of locust trees sprouting along the streets, and pedestrians passing by in a hurry.
Nan Dao sat with an umbrella and looked at it for a long time. He seemed a little sleepy. He took off the jug from his waist and took a sip of the self-made peach blossom wine. But when he put the jug down, he noticed a bright red color on the spout.
Nan Dao raised his hand and touched the corners of his mouth, and his fingers were also stained with some red.
"You, you will have a good life in just a few years!"
Nan Dao smiled mockingly and raised his hand to wipe away the blood.
When Nan Dao drank more than half of the bottle of wine, a small awning boat floated in the river and stopped on the river bank. There was a rag hanging outside the awning, which read, "Everywhere from south to north." It's life, there's no place in heaven or on earth but not in the world." These two lines are quite neat, but there is a crooked and erroneous sentence at the end, "I love money the most."
When the boat stopped, a thin girl wearing an old felt hat and rags came out, stood on the bow of the boat and stretched, then dug out a broken umbrella from a pile of debris on the side, and held it up He sat down on the bow of the boat and looked at Nandao with a smile without saying a word.
Nan Dao looked at her strangely, not knowing what she wanted to do.
After a long while, the girl said with a smile: "If Shushu guessed correctly, you should be a little troubled."
Nan Dao took a sip of wine, sighed and said, "Yes."
"Zhushu, I like to help others the most. Even though I'm not that old, I've been wandering on the Nanyi River for many years. Maybe I can help you?" The girl held her chin. Looking at Nan Dao, he still said with a smile.
"Help me?" Nan Dao glanced at the girl and didn't understand what she meant. He just said that the people in Nanyi City were more enthusiastic. He smiled and shook his head and said, "I think you might not be able to do it."
The girl was not annoyed after being denied. She tilted her head and looked at Chun Yu, blinking her eyes and said, "I see you have been sitting outside the Jian Zong garden all morning. Do you want to join the Jian Zong to learn swordsmanship? I admit that this is indeed a bit It’s difficult, after all, this is one of the three major sword sects in the world, but it won’t be difficult for me, Shushu.”
Listening to the girl's confident tone, Nan Dao raised his eyebrows and said, "What if it's more difficult than this?"
The girl seemed to be interested after hearing this. She changed her position and sat down, stretched out her little hand and made a gesture of invitation.
Nan Dao took a sip of wine and said, "I need to go in and get a peach blossom. I can borrow it or steal it. If it doesn't work, just grab it and run away."
Listening to Nan Dao's whimsical words, the girl burst out laughing and said, "I suspect you are crazy, and you actually want to go there to rob something, hahaha..."
Nan Dao just looked at her quietly, so the girl sat down seriously and said, "So what are you going to do with the peach blossom?"
Nan Dao looked up at the hazy sky split by the black umbrella, and said seriously: "Because I might be dying, and the peach blossoms in Jian Zong might be able to save my life. If I can, I will really snatch it."
The girl looked at Nan Dao's serious look and asked with some confusion: "Then why can peach blossoms save your life?"
As he spoke, he suddenly smelled the aroma of wine in the spring rain and looked at Nandao eagerly.
"Your wine smells delicious. Is it peach blossom wine? Can you give me a sip?"
Nan Dao looked down at the jug in his hand, then reached out and handed it over. The girl took the jug, but she didn't mind it, and started drinking from the spout. Nan Dao looked at the girl who raised her head to drink, and whispered softly. smiled.
"This is a very bizarre story. I have told it to many people in the town, but they refused to believe it. I think you probably won't believe it either. If you want to hear it, maybe I will meet you again after I survive. I can talk to you when the time comes."
Listening to Nan Dao's calm tone, Shushu looked at him curiously and asked, "Okay, but seeing as you speak so calmly, aren't you afraid of death?"
Nan Dao smiled bitterly and said, "Of course I'm afraid. Sometimes I dream about myself dying while sleeping. But I've been here for so many years, so I'll get used to it."
The girl held the wine bottle and took two sips. She seemed to be a little drunk. She stood up and swayed twice. She leaned towards the shore with her feet on her feet. She handed the wine bottle back, patted Nan Dao on the shoulder and said sincerely. : "Zhushu is also afraid of death, so Shushu will definitely help you with this favor today."
Nan Dao took the wine bottle back, looked at her doubtfully and said, "Are you really able to do this?"
The girl's face was a little red, she nodded, patted her chest and said confidently: "Live in this world and do more good deeds. It's okay if you don't do it. What's more, this is really okay. You can get on the boat first and I will take you." Go somewhere.”
Nan Dao looked at him suspiciously, and jumped onto the boat while holding on to the guardrail. The boat almost turned over. Shushu exclaimed, jumped back into the cabin and hugged a jar in the corner. He waited until the boat stabilized. Then he breathed a sigh of relief and looked back at Nan Dao with some sulkiness.
Nan Dao held the umbrella and looked at the girl in the cabin, and said sorry awkwardly.
Seeing that the jar was fine, the girl didn't care too much. She bent down and rummaged around in the cabin to look for things.
Nan Dao looked at the words on the bow of the boat, "Mouse, I love money the most." He hesitated a little and asked, "Do you want to receive money for doing good deeds? You won't be a lion."
"One penny is enough." The girl's voice came from the cabin.
Nan Dao didn't quite believe it, and stood under the umbrella and looked at her suspiciously.
The girl Shushu took out a poncho from the cabin and tied it on her body. She picked up the pennies from the bottom of the cabin and started to turn the boat around. She thought about it and sighed and said: "I know you don't believe it, but my story It’s also quite bizarre. Many years ago, when I was a free-spirited rat, I liked to steal things. Later, I accidentally stole it from the owner of Queyimen who liked to talk nonsense. After he caught me, he He started talking nonsense, saying that I would have a big disaster in my life, that I would do 100,000 good deeds, and charge one penny for each good deed. If I saved enough 100,000 pence, he would help me change my life."
Nan Dao was silent for a while, and did not ask her why she believed it so much. He looked at her and asked another question: "Then how much have you saved?"
The girl Shushu became happy when she heard this. She held the boat pole and said with a smile: "Fifteen thousand three hundred and sixty-six, no, sixty-seven."
"Are there so many?"
"Yes, I have been floating on the river for twenty years."
"You look younger than me."
"I am a demon. I will live for many years."
"It's great to live for many years. Are you a rat demon?"
"Yes."
The two chatted all the way while the boat sailed slowly in the river.
Not long after, we stopped at a ferry.
The girl held her bamboo pen and looked at the streets and alleys on the shore to confirm that the location was correct. Then she extended her hand to Nandao and said, "Okay, you can give me money."
Nan Dao looked at this place with confusion. There was a long street up from the ferry. People were coming and going on the street. At the end of the drizzle long street, there was a large wall made of bluestones. He didn't know what was inside.
"You go up here, go to the end of this street, follow the wall to the left, there is a small alley, there is an old man selling sugar and oil cakes, you tell him, it was Shushu who asked you to come, and he will I’ll tell you what to do.”
Nan Dao tilted his head and looked at the girl for a long time. After thinking about it, he only had one penny anyway, so he took a penny from his arms and handed it to him. The girl took the money, entered the cabin with a smile, and put the money into the big In the pottery jar, he happily leaned on the jar and said: "I have saved another penny, hehe."
"If it doesn't work, I'll come back to you."
Nan Dao landed ashore and looked at the girl in the cabin and said worriedly.
The girl waved her hand without looking back, indicating that it was no problem at all, and the boat slowly left.
Nandao walked along the long street to the end, and there was indeed an alley to the left. So I walked into the alley, and soon I saw the old man selling sugar and oil cakes, and several children standing around with umbrellas standing on tiptoes. looked at the oil pan.
Nan Dao walked over and said politely: "Hello, uncle, it was Shushu who asked me to come here."
The old man glanced at him and stretched out his hand.
Nan Dao was stunned there. After a long time, he heard the old man say: "Didn't she ask you to pay back the money you owe?"
"..." Nan Dao was silent for a while and said, "She said you can teach me how to enter the Human Sword Sect."
The old man seemed to understand, grinned and said, "I understand, but you have to give the money first."
Nan Dao was silent for a long time, sighed, stretched out his hand to his arms, and said, "How much is it."
"One hundred and nine cents."
Nan Dao took a deep breath and said, "Okay."
The old man collected the money, raised his hand and pointed towards the end of the alley, and said, "There is a door there, and behind the door is the Human Sword Sect."
Nan Dao stared blankly at the small door hidden in the crack at the end, and asked in confusion: "Why is there a door here?"
After receiving the money, the old man's attitude became much better. While taking food from the pot for the children, he said: "Hey, because the disciples of Jianzong sometimes sneak out to play mahjong, so they secretly opened the door there. If If I win money, I will buy some sugar and oil cakes to eat."
Nan Dao was speechless for a long time.
As expected of the Sword Sect with 'human world' in its name.
After bidding farewell to the old man, Nan Dao walked toward the end of the alley until he came to the small door. The door was unlocked. After a little hesitation, he raised his hand to push the door open, stretched his head and looked inside.
What comes into view is a lush green bush. Farther away there are many trees that are unknown to the South Island. The tree crowns are lush and block most of the view. There is a trodden path leading further inside. There is a vague sound of running water in the distance. While Nan Dao was observing, he heard a lazy voice coming from the path on the right.
"Spring is so nice, but it's a pity that we are short of money."
Nan Dao turned his head and looked directly at the man.
It was a young man wearing an umbrella and wearing white clothes, holding a sword in his hand and waving it around randomly. He was a little surprised when he saw Nan Dao - or pleasantly surprised.
"Hello, young man, can you play cards?"
