So probably the dividing line between people in the book and people in the world is on the side you see.
The boy walked all the way to the alley where he was last night.
Xu Chunhua looked there for a long time, and the boy didn't leave. Just like last night, she didn't know what she was looking at there.
The story is actually similar to last night.
The small town girl walked slowly to the door, and then opened the courtyard door.
But when Xu Chunhua was about to enter, the young man suddenly turned around and looked at this place quietly in the dividing line of light and shadow, and Xu Chunhua's heart subconsciously rose again.
The young man looked at it for a while, and then asked the small town girl who was a little worried at the door a question.
"Do you have a grindstone here?"
Xu Chunhua was stunned for a moment.
What does it mean to grindstone?
There is indeed a grindstone in the yard, three fingers wide and half a foot long, used to sharpen kitchen knives.
After hesitating for a while, Xu Chunhua asked: "What do you want to grind the stone for?"
The young man calmly took out a certain sword from behind, stood at the entrance of the alley under the lights of the long street outside, pulled it out and looked at it.
There was no light on the sword, as if it was rusted to death, and it seemed that it was originally this dull blue-black color.
"My sword hasn't been used for too long and it's a little rusty, so I wanted to sharpen it."
Xu Chunhua stood there for a long time.
For such a small-town girl, she naturally had many concerns when faced with this request from a young swordsman who had only seen it in Chen He's random writings.
She is just an ordinary person in the world, and she is just a single woman.
Naturally, it is impossible to have enough confidence to face many things.
When Xu Chunhua was thinking like this, she suddenly remembered something - it seemed that it had been a long time since she had considered such a Qingtian Taoist in the consideration of her life.
The small town girl was silent for a long time, then looked at the young man and said softly: "How long are you going to grind for?"
The young man thought for a moment, and then said seriously: "One night."
Xu Chunhua hesitated for a long time, looking at the boy and the place where the boy stood, where the shadow of the alley met the lights outside the alley.
Sometimes a single thought, like the two sides of an alley, often determines the direction of an extremely long story.
But Xu Chunhua finally believed Chen He.
This small town girl opened the door, stood by the door, and said softly: "Then come in."
So the young man came back, looked at the small town girl seriously and said thank you.
...
The young man sat under the eaves of the courtyard, holding the small grindstone and sharpening the blue-black sword.
Xu Chunhua accepted some things calmly.
After all, whether it was the plate that suddenly slid to the side of the table or the boy who suddenly appeared, these were things beyond her control.
The small town girl moved a small bench and looked curiously at the young man who was not very old but was extremely dull.
There may have been times when the young man said to others unceremoniously what the dog was barking at.
It’s just that I probably wouldn’t say such a thing now.
The only sound in the yard was the rhythmic and rhythmic sound of sword sharpening - probably also influenced by someone who often played music in the wind.
Xu Chunhua stared at it for a long time, and then asked seriously: "Do you sword cultivators all have to sharpen their swords by themselves?"
There are large and small Taoist sects everywhere in the north, but sword sects are rare. With Mojianya Liuyun Sword Sect as the boundary, there are very few sword sects in the north, and only some sword cultivators appear occasionally.
Naturally, the small-town girl had never seen any sword cultivators, let alone those who were impressed by them.
The only person who left a deep and not a good impression on her was a sword cultivator who held a cup of wolfberry tea all day long.
It seems that their swords are often carried on their backs, just like scholars walking with full knowledge. Sword practitioners carry their swords with them, such as walking with virtue - after all, virtue convinces others.
This is the first sword cultivator that a small town girl has seen who sharpens his sword by himself, instead of being a swordsman.
The young man was silent for a while, and then said calmly: "No, most sword cultivators in the world do not sharpen their swords."
"how about you?"
"My first lesson is to sharpen my sword."
As the young man spoke, he paused for a moment, looked at the sword in his hand for a long time, and then continued to sharpen it under the puzzled gaze of the small town girl.
"I just grinded it a little bit at that point."
The boy's voice slowly deepened.
"I was only fifteen years old then."
The young man's voice gradually took on many complex and emotional meanings.
"My husband asked me to sharpen my sword first. My talent is very good, so I thought I just need to sharpen it a little bit."
Xu Chunhua listened quietly. In fact, the young man's words were a bit confusing, as if he was not talking to others, but just talking to himself.
“But it wasn’t until later that I realized the meaning of sharpening my sword by the lake on that spring day.”
The young man raised the sword in his hand and looked at the stone, mud and iron filings on it.
Xu Chunhua fetched a basin of water from the side and placed it next to the millstone.
"what is that?"
The young man stretched out his hand to scoop water from the basin and washed the dirt on the sword.
"It's not about my talent, it's about leaving enough time for me to think carefully and make some choices."
The young man continued to sharpen his sword under the umbrella.
"It will probably take a long time for people to suddenly realize that a certain decision they made lightly in one spring will mean what it will mean in the rest of their lives."
The young man told his story very quietly.
But the small town girl beside him fell silent and said nothing more.
Xu Chunhua sat on the small bench nearby, probably thinking of the young man driving a Tianyan car on a spring morning with drizzle, and drove her through the rain and dew of the green mountains and left the small town.
There was some silence in the yard.
Xu Chunhua probably realized that this was not a good topic, so she talked about the weird things today.
"It's a little strange today. I put a plate on the counter, and for some reason it suddenly slipped to the edge and was about to fall."
The young man sharpened his sword quietly and said calmly: "Because the locust trees are all crooked."
Xu Chunhua was suddenly startled. The small town girl stood up and stood in the small yard, looking seriously at the tall buildings and long streets hanging high in the sky at night.
After looking at it for a long time, this woman still didn't see anything askew.
The young man behind him said very calmly: "This magnitude is not big, and it is difficult for the world to see it."
Xu Chunhua looked back at the young man behind her.
"Can you tell?"
The young man said softly: "I can't see it either, but I can feel it."
"How do you feel?"
The young man paused for a moment and looked at the umbrella in his hand, looking very serious, probably thinking about how to explain something.
After a long time, the young man slowly said: "What do you think of my umbrella?"
When Xu Chunhua was about to say that it looked okay, she suddenly remembered that in Chen He's book, there seemed to be such an umbrella that only this young man could hold.
"Is it heavy?"
Probably because he didn't have to waste time explaining, the young man breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Yes."
"When you hold something very light, you won't feel the ups and downs sometimes, but when you hold something extremely heavy in your hand and your body is slightly unbalanced, you will feel it. It brings about a very strong reaction, and as a sword cultivator whose sword follows the movement of his eyes and his heart, he is naturally even more sensitive."
The young man said softly: "When I was walking on the road last night, I almost fell down like an unlucky guy."
Although Xu Chunhua didn't know who the unlucky boy was talking about, she understood what he meant. She turned around again and looked at such a prosperous place on earth in disbelief and confusion.
But he also suddenly understood why he suddenly had such a collapsed reverie when he came back today.
People's subconscious intuition may sometimes be more sensitive.
"So the Sophora japonica trees are really crooked?"
"Yes."
The young man said calmly.
Xu Chunhua suddenly remembered the person she saw earlier this morning who looked ordinary but had an unusual demeanor.
At first glance, that person was the master of Huaido City.
So in fact Huaidu was also aware of such a situation.
It's just fine, why is it crooked?
For Xu Chunhua, this is something beyond recognition.
"But you don't have to worry."
The young man said softly.
Xu Chunhua turned around. The young man lowered his head and sharpened his sword. The umbrella covered his head like a piece of night sky.
"Sometimes such vacillation is far less tragic than the turmoil in the world."
Xu Chunhua's thoughts were put aside again. She didn't know what she thought of. She looked at the young man and said hesitantly: "Chen He wrote in the book that you later went to Lingnan Sword Sect?"
The young man paused while sharpening his sword, then continued to sharpen it. Without raising his head, he said calmly: "Yes."
Xu Chunhua thought of some things she had heard, such as the news that almost all the Lingnan Sword Sect had died in battle, and suddenly took a deep breath, but said nothing.
Naturally, a girl from a northern town doesn't know what she can say when facing a war in the spiritual world or in the human world.
She just looked at the young man and thought, no wonder you know that the locust trees are crooked and the building is about to collapse, but you still remain so calm.
Xu Chunhua said nothing more, but the boy raised his head with a smile.
It's just that smile, no matter how you look at it, it's very ironic.
"Huaidu is omnipotent, of course they will find a way."
Xu Chunhua stared blankly at the smile on the young man's face, wondering what it meant.
After a long time, Xu Chunhua silently walked back to the eaves.
"when are you leaving?"
The young man said calmly: "Tomorrow morning."
Xu Chunhua didn't ask any more questions.
The previous topics were not brought up again.
...
When Xu Chunhua woke up the next day, the boy was gone.
The courtyard door is still locked from the inside.
The young man probably didn't go out through the courtyard gate.
This is certainly not to prove the identity of the sword cultivator.
Just because of going out from the courtyard gate, this small town girl's courtyard can only be kept open.
The rustling sounds of sword sharpening that had been heard all night long disappeared.
Xu Chunhua was in a daze for a long time in the yard, then turned back to get a basin of water, carefully placed it flat in the yard, and then looked at it carefully for a long time.
It's just like what the young man said, it's hard to see.
Because the person is in Sophora Capital, the basin of water is also in Sophora Capital. Even if it is really crooked, it is difficult to distinguish what it is.
Xu Chunhua looked at it for a long time, then washed herself in the basin of water, and then walked out of the door.
Huaidu may indeed have some problems.
Xu Chunhua thought silently all the way.
It's just that this problem is probably not big.
After all, that was the case with that young man, and so was the mysterious adult he saw yesterday.
When passing by the inn, Xu Chunhua glanced there again subconsciously, but probably the scholar would not appear here.
So naturally you won't see anything.
...
Zhu Congwen came to the noodle shop as usual today.
This surprised his old buddies.
"Didn't your boy be taken away by people from the Siwu Demon Mansion yesterday?"
Everyone was dumbfounded as they looked at the scholar who opened the curtain and walked in early in the morning, with expressions of disbelief.
Zhu Congwen just smiled, and then rolled up his sleeves as usual - the scholar's arms were still fair and without any bruises.
Everyone was surrounded by Zhu Congwen in confusion.
This student from Xuanxu Academy walked towards the kitchen and said something calmly.
"They got the wrong guy."
People probably didn’t quite believe it.
Although I didn't see when Siwuwei came yesterday.
But they also heard the words "Xuanxuyuan Zhu Congwen" from behind.
It was just that they didn't know that they were from Siwuwei at first, so everyone didn't pay attention. It wasn't until Zhu Congwen was arrested that they realized it.
Although the scholar is poor, he is still a good person.
Everyone was worried all night.
As a result, this kid came back unscathed the next day, which was naturally a bizarre thing.
Several people opened the curtain and looked into the back kitchen. The scholar acted as if nothing happened yesterday, squatting there quietly and washing the dishes.
However, the business of the noodle shop today was much better than yesterday, so no one had any free time to ask what happened.
It was late in the afternoon and the shop gradually became quiet.
Zhu Congwen was sitting quietly on the steps of the backyard, staring blankly at the baskets of cabbage not far away.
The sky is naturally bright in May.
The rain the day before yesterday also washed away some accumulated dust, so under the clear sun, everything was illuminated with a sense of purity.
The eldest waiter came over at some point, and sat next to Zhu Congwen. He didn't speak, but just looked at the sky cut by the flying eaves.
There are some weeds growing in some places in the backyard, but the grass blades are clean - the scholar always cleans everything carefully when he leaves.
Kitchen waste is always a mess.
Perhaps the scholar feels that he has encountered such a period. It is already bad enough that he has been studying for many years but has been left alone, so he does not want to make it any more troublesome.
The older waiter's surname was Gu. He probably didn't bother to give him a name, so he called him Gu Xiaoer.
Gu Xiaoer looked at the sky in the backyard for a long time, and then looked at Zhu Congwen beside him.
"Nothing really happened yesterday?"
Zhu Congwen was silent for a while, and then said softly: "It's really nothing."
Gu Xiaoer just looked at the scholar without saying anything.
After a long time, Zhu Congwen hesitated a little and said softly: "They took me into the Siwu Demon Mansion..."
"Then what?"
Zhu Congwen sighed and said, "Then no one paid attention to me and just let me stay in the yard all afternoon. It wasn't until it was getting dark that someone took me out."
Gu Xiaoer looked at Zhu Congwen quietly for a long time, and then patted him on the shoulder.
"Actually, I still don't believe it, but since the person is fine, that's good."
Zhu Congwen turned to look at Gu Xiaoer. Although calling him Gu Xiaoer would make him sound very young, in fact he was almost forty.
A waiter who is almost forty is naturally different from a young waiter like Zhu Congwen.
If you are still here at forty, then maybe you will still be here in the future.
Naturally, Zhu Congwen cannot always be here.
This is a student who passed the Dafengchun examination. If everything goes well, he will eventually join the officialdom. However, due to various reasons, he was forced to stop here.
Gu Xiaoer naturally knew about such things, so he sighed and smiled.
"Perhaps the adults in the Siwu Demon Mansion also think it's a pity that you are lingering here like this, so they have asked you to familiarize yourself with the situation in Huaidu."
This is probably a very beautiful thing to say.
But Zhu Congwen fell silent for some unknown reason.
After a long time, the scholar seemed to have made some decision. He looked at Gu Xiaoer seriously and said, "If I say something very outrageous, will you believe it, Brother Gu?"
Gu Xiaoer turned to look at Zhu Congwen, thought for a while and said, "Can you tell me first?"
So the scholar turned his head and looked seriously at the grass blades in the yard that were blown by the wind.
It took a long time for the scholar's somewhat dull voice to be heard in the backyard of a noodle shop that had been idle.
"Actually, I met Mr. Zhongshui, the servant of the Siwu Demon Mansion."
Gu Xiaoer looked at the scholar blankly.
For most people in the world, the title of servant is probably a very strange title.
Just in the Gale Dynasty of Demon Emperor Shenhe.
Such a position actually represents the prime minister in the world.
Just like Zuo Cheng, who was extremely famous in Huangliang.
Zhu Congwen looked at the grass blades protruding from a certain stone slab, squinting his eyes, as if he was seriously thinking about it.
"When I was taken there, the Lord Attendant was looking at flowers in the corridor."
"I didn't know why I was suddenly taken there, so I stood outside the corridor in fear."
"It took a long time before the attendant asked me a question very calmly..."
When the scholar said this, he stopped.
Gu Xiaoer came back to his senses, looked at Zhu Congwen nervously and asked, "What question did he ask you?"
Zhu Congwen was silent for a long time, and probably still hasn't recovered from the shock.
Just like what the scholar said, "It's been a long time."
It really took a long time for the scholar to say softly: "He asked me——"
"What do you think of the Minister of War?"
Gu Xiaoer sat there in a daze.
This is probably extremely ridiculous.
The scholar stood up, took a long breath, then smiled softly, looked at Gu Xiaoer and said, "I was joking."
"......real or fake?"
"real."
But which one was true, the scholar didn't say, he just ran to wash the dishes and wipe the table.
