When Nan Dao returned to Xuanxuyuan, it was already very late.
When the snow melted late at night, the temperature in the room was extremely low. Nan Dao coughed for a while, wiped the blood from the corners of his lips, walked over, closed the door, and lit the brazier.
As the flames crackled in the brazier, the temperature in the room gradually rose, and Nan Dao felt better.
Mainly because of the shock I received today.
Why does this door lead to the main street of Nanyi City?
Nan Dao thought about it over and over, but still couldn't figure it out, and then picked up the scabbard given by Taoist Li Shi.
Although Li Shi said nothing about the origin of this scabbard, judging from the previous rewards he gave to the other three people, it was obvious that this scabbard was not a mortal thing.
The sheath was completely dark, and even the firelight cast no light on it. It had no lines, just a rough sheath surface that felt a little soft, but Nan Dao didn't know what material it was made of. At the top of the scabbard, there are two extremely vague words.
Nan Dao looked at it for a long time before he realized that the two characters were "Zou Ma".
What does it mean?
Nan Dao frowned and studied for a long time, still a little confused.
After thinking for a long time, Nan Dao felt a little sleepy, so he inserted the sword Qiu Xi'er gave him into the scabbard and placed it on the bedside. Then he put out the brazier with ashes, opened a little window, and then lay on the bed and fell asleep.
The sword lay quietly on the bedside, as if there was no movement at all.
When I woke up the next day, it was still early in the morning, and there was a mist outside the window. There was not much white left, and only dots of snow remained in the corners.
Nan Dao yawned and sat up on the edge of the bed, looking inside the sea of gods as usual.
There is nothing strange there, the sword intention and the peach blossom are at peace with each other, and Qingniu Five Thousand Words is also quietly absorbing the vitality of heaven and earth.
Nan Dao picked up the scabbard on the side, pulled out the sword, and held it across his knees. According to Qiu Xi'er's instructions yesterday and what was said in the kendo introduction, he began to search for the idea in his divine sea.
His sword intention has not yet taken shape, so it is really difficult to find that little idea in the divine sea filled with tiny cyclones.
Nan Dao searched for it for a long time, but couldn't find it. He even began to wonder if at some time, the sword intention seeds were chopped into pieces by the sword intention on the peach blossom.
Seeing that it was getting late, Nan Dao tied the scabbard on his waist, then took the broom from behind the door and started to go out to clean.
It was a little late to go out today. Some students had already gotten up on the way, or some who lived outside Xuanshuyuan were walking into the yard along the path.
Some people who looked older said hello to Nan Dao who was sweeping the floor in a friendly manner, and then hurried away along the path.
As for the younger ones, most of them were recruited in the previous spring. Looking at Nandao, they inevitably felt a little weird and didn't say anything.
Nan Dao swept the floor calmly and didn't care about these things. He just muttered in his heart where his sword intention went.
On the way I met Mr.
"Come here, Nandao."
Nan Dao looked up at Mr. Xie, walked over with some confusion, hugged the broom and saluted.
"Is something wrong, sir?"
Mr. Xie looked at Nandao for a long time and said slowly: "You look much better. Have you started practicing?"
Nan Dao hesitated a little, originally wanting to say that he had already seen the truth. But remembering Qiu Xi'er's advice, she swallowed it back and just said, "Yes, sir, I can already feel the breath."
Mr. Xie nodded with satisfaction, looked at Nan Dao and said with a smile: "In this way, it is indeed a good thing. You should practice diligently and strive to pass the three major false realms of practice as soon as possible. Maybe you can solve your problem. question."
Nan Dao scratched his head and smiled: "Thank you for your concern, sir."
"It's okay. Although you are not a student of Xuanxu Academy, you can still be considered a member of Xuanxu Academy... By the way, where is Lao Mei?"
As Mr. Xie said this, he remembered something again and looked at Nan Dao and asked.
"Oh, he said he had something to do at home, so he might not come these days."
Mr. Xie nodded, indicating that he understood, and then said: "When he comes back, you can let him continue to come back and sweep the floor, and you can take some time to understand it."
"Um, that's not good."
Mr. Xie said with a smile: "It's okay, just say what I said. By the way, remember to tell him that you are about to embark on the path of spiritual practice. Make him angry, hahahaha."
Nan Dao also smiled and said, "Mr. Xie and Mr. Mei have such a good relationship."
Mr. Xie just smiled, patted Nan Dao on the shoulder, and then rushed to Qingniuyuan.
Nan Dao continued to sweep the floor, then boiled hot water, took it outside the classrooms in Wenhua Academy, poured it into a hot water bottle, and gently placed it at the door of each classroom, and then listened at the door for a while.
At the entrance of the Wenhua Academy classroom, there were actually quite a few people listening. Nan Dao didn't look out of place standing there, but the umbrella was really eye-catching.
Nan Dao watched for a while, then someone tapped him on the shoulder.
"Brother, can you close your umbrella? It blocks my view."
Nan Dao turned around and saw a young man in his twenties holding some pen and paper standing behind him, pointing to his umbrella and saying.
Nan Dao got out of the way with some embarrassment, said sorry, and then stood aside.
The man was not polite, said thank you, and walked forward.
After watching for a while, the man turned back, looked at Nan Dao and asked, "Are you here to listen too?"
Nan Dao shook his head, pointed to the thermos in his hand, and said, "I am the concierge of Xuanshuyuan, here to deliver hot water."
"Oh, I thought you were here to prepare for the spring exam too."
Nan Dao was stunned and asked, "What is the Spring Examination?"
The man turned back and looked inside. While memorizing something, he said: "It's the Dafeng Spring Exam. Once you pass the exam, you can take the Autumn Exam. If you pass the Autumn Exam, someone will pick you up and take you to Huaidu to take the exam." Test in strong winds."
"What is Gale Du Kao?"
The man turned back, looked at Nandao up and down for a long time, and said: "Dafeng Dukao is to bring together scholars from all over the world, select some people, give them titles, and then they can become officials. You don't even know this. ?"
Nan Dao nodded in shame and said, "I used to live in the small town of Nanke outside the city and have never been exposed to these things."
"That's true."
"Then why don't you participate in this year's spring recruitment?"
The young man scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed, and said: "I used to be a student of Wenhua College, but I didn't pass the exam, so I went to work in the city. In recent years, I heard that there is a shortage of officials in Huangliang, it seems. I will relax some of the assessment, so I want to continue to try."
Nan Dao said: "So that's it. I thought those people under His Majesty were all practitioners."
"That's not the case. Officials in Dafeng Dynasty are basically ordinary people. Of course, if a practitioner wants to be an official, he can do it. His Majesty heard that although he is a great demon who has lived for a thousand years, he is still very important to the world. Kind and tolerant. Hey, what did Mr. just say?"
As the young man spoke, he ran to read the notes of the person next to him.
Nan Dao didn't bother him any more, and returned the same way with the thermos in hand.
But while walking on the road, Nan Dao suddenly remembered what the gentlemen told him, that the world is governed by culture.
Is that what it meant?
After thinking wildly for a while, Nan Dao went to the Wenhuayuan cafeteria to eat something, and then rushed to the library.
First, I went to Xiaozhuyuan, which Yunhu didn't know, but I didn't see anyone. He must have gone to Qingniuyuan to preach. Nan Dao originally wanted to ask about Qingniu Five Thousand Words, but since he was not here, he had to talk about it next time.
I walked along the path through the bamboo forest and entered the library. There was a counter at the entrance. There was only a young man sitting there, dozing off with a book on his face. There were not many people inside, but he could occasionally be seen near some bookshelves. One or two teenagers were flipping through books, or just sitting and watching.
This was Nan Dao's first visit to the Xuansheyuan Library, so looking at the circles of bookshelves, he felt a little confused for a moment. He stood in the aisle with an umbrella, not knowing what to look at.
After standing for a while, the young man woke up, yawned and came over with a book. He stood behind Nan Dao and said, "What kind of book do you want to read? Literary classics, mathematics and mechanics, or practice exercises. Or something else?"
Nan Dao thought for a while and said, "It should be something like spiritual practice."
The young man yawned and glanced at Nandao for a few times. He raised his hand and pointed behind him and said, "Go over there. The Taoist witches and ghosts are on the second floor. If there is anything you don't understand, you can come down to me with the book."
Nan Dao looked at the young man strangely and said, "Can you explain it to me?"
The young man waved his hands and said, "I don't know how, but it can make me happy."
"..."
After the young man finished speaking, he returned to the door and sat there and continued to sleep.
Nan Dao followed his words and went up to the second floor. The layout of the second floor was similar to that of the first floor, with circles of bookshelves filled with various classics. Something like "Basics of the Sword Intent of the Tianya Sword Sect" and "Overview of the Lingnan Sword Sect's Skills".
Nan Dao had never heard of the Tianya Sword Sect. It was probably a small sword sect in the Lingnan Mountains. Nan Dao picked it up, opened it, looked at it, and then put it back. Continue searching through the circles of bookshelves.
After looking at Nandao for a long time, he realized that the books here looked very messy, but they were actually classified. For example, the large circle of bookshelves on the outermost edge often contained books from small sects. Walking around the inner circle, you can see some names that you have heard of. Approaching the second circle inside, Nan Dao saw the name of the Human Sword Sect.
It's just that the name of the book is a little weird.
"Peach Blossom Aesthetics".
Nan Dao picked it up and looked at it strangely for a while, and found that he was really just talking about peach blossoms, and even how to plant them. Do you call this practice?
I glanced at the name, the author, and laughed.
Oh, it turns out he is the former leader of the Human Sword Sect, so that’s okay.
Nan Dao stuffed the book back.
He continued to look, and then he glanced at "The First Interpretation of the Sword of Cause and Effect". This time he looked at the name, Cong Ren.
Nan Dao was a little shocked when he looked at this book. Did Xuanxuyuan really reveal the secret skills of the human sword sect?
But considering that the original copies of Hangu Temple's secret scripture "Five Thousand Words of the Green Ox" are in the courtyard, it doesn't seem too outrageous.
Nan Dao took out the book "The Preliminary Explanation of the Sword of Cause and Effect" and flipped through it. He found that this thing was of no use. The Sword of Cause and Effect involves Buddhist practice. The Ami Temple in Luming in the West has disappeared from the world for nearly a thousand years. Now, now The only people in the world who know how to practice Buddhism are Cong Ren and Shen He.
It is tasteless to eat and a pity to throw away.
Nan Dao still put it back.
Nan Dao looked at the second floor for a long time and still had no clue.
Could it be that Cong Ren really didn't mean what he said to himself back then?
Nan Dao fell into deep thought.
Then he looked at the stairs on the third floor that the young man had not mentioned before.
