The three people sat down in the room. Feng Yao looked at Xu Qingchen with great interest, which made Xu Qingchen a little embarrassed.
After a while, Xu Qingchen coughed dryly and asked, "Isn't Master Shen here?"
Yang Fan replied: "The sect master has been out for a while. There are many things that need to be handled by her after she comes back. She has been very busy during this time. Mr. Xu... I will call you Brother Qingchen from now on. The sect master values you very much and has said it long ago. You will come to seek refuge."
Xu Qingchen smiled and said, "The reason why I came is because I know that Shen Men mainly deals with Ye Yu Xiaozhu."
Feng Yao made a stop gesture, which made Xu Qingchen puzzled.
Yang Fan explained with a smile: "Not many people in the Thorns Sect know about this at the moment, so it's better to say less."
Xu Qingchen was puzzled: "Why?"
"The new sect leader has just taken office. He was unknown in the world before, so his foundation is unstable. During this period, many people have left the sect, and the sect leader has not yet had time to win over people's hearts. Brother Qingchen, we can figure this out slowly. , don’t act too hastily.”
Xu Qingchen nodded and asked, "Then now..."
Feng Yao smiled and said: "Relax, life in the Thorn Sect is still very comfortable. Let Yang Fan find you a place to live later, and formally meet the master of the sect tomorrow. You are a very sincere child, and you are very to my liking. You can come and talk to me if you have anything to do in the future."
Xu Qingchen asked again: "I feel ashamed to say that I don't have much experience in traveling in the world. Thorny Sect...what do you usually do?"
Yang Fan smiled and said, "You will know later."
…
Chen Xiangzhi is indeed very busy. If Feng Yao hadn't handled a lot of things for her, she would have been exhausted.
In the doorkeeper's large study room, Agarwood sat behind the desk, adding the final touches to the case file at hand, and then let out a long sigh of relief. Finally finished.
Pushing the door open, I looked at a thorn gate in Nuoda, which was familiar yet unfamiliar.
Anyone who has stayed at Thorn Gate for more than twenty years will remember that one rainy night eighteen years ago, an old monk suddenly visited and the old gate owner secretly received the monk. As for what the two talked about, no one knows.
The Thorn Gate eighteen years ago was no different than it is now, except for a few more buildings.
Agarwood walked slowly in the corridor of the Thorn Gate, and the doormen passing by just nodded in greeting - the new rule she had established, no need to nod or bow when seeing her.
She was used to walking around the back mountain before nightfall. If she had enough time, she would also visit the tomb of the old sect owner. He just stood in front of the tomb for a long time, saying nothing and showing no expression.
Before I even got to the tomb today, I saw someone already standing there. Only when he got closer did he see the man's face clearly, it turned out to be Xu Qingchen.
Xu Qingchen heard the footsteps of Chen Xiangzhi, and when he saw the person coming, he hurriedly clasped his fists and raised his hands: "Master Shen, I haven't seen you for a long time."
Agarwood nodded lightly and asked, "Are you here today?" After saying that, she stood in front of the old sect master's tomb.
Xu Qingchen replied: "Yes."
"Why did you come here?"
"Master Feng said, let me wander around the mountain more and get familiar with it...Whose tomb belongs to it?"
"Qiao Fei, old master Qiao."
"I heard that Sect Leader Qiao is a hero."
"hero?"
"I heard from Master Feng and others that the old sect leader is very upright, very..."
"It's just other people's fallacies." Chen Xiangzhi interrupted Xu Qingchen's words, staring coldly at Qiao Fei's grave.
Xu Qingchen was surprised by these words. He had thought that the relationship between Chen Xiangzhi and Qiao Fei would be very good, but from her tone, it seemed... not that good.
Xu Qingchen quietly looked at the agarwood branch. Although he had met a few times before, the aura of this woman made him dare not look too closely. He didn't know where he got the courage to actually look at the agarwood branch from head to toe. Read it again.
"Does it look good?" Chen Xiangzhi suddenly spoke, with a flat voice and no tone.
"Hmm..." Xu Qingchen replied, "Master Shen, although I haven't seen much of the world, I seem to see people more deeply than others. This should be my talent."
"see
what? "
"You seem very anxious."
Agarwood turned to look at him, her eyes saying: continue talking.
Xu Qingchen swallowed: "It seems that there is not enough time, but you are obviously very young...you cannot be a person who can't hold his breath."
"Two people." Chen Xiangzhi suddenly said these three words for no reason.
"What's the meaning?"
"On this trip, I saw two people who surprised me. One is you, and the other is next to Li Fenglan, and his name seems to be Mu Yun."
"I know Mr. Muyun. Did we surprise you?"
"You two have little experience in the world of martial arts, but you can see the problems in me. I once suspected that there was a relationship between the two of you."
"Master Muyun really thinks that I have something to do with him."
"So, is there any?"
Xu Qingchen shook his head: "I am an orphan. I was picked up by my master and brought to the mountains since I was a child. I have little contact with the outside world. The master only has one disciple like me. I am sure that we have nothing to do with each other."
"Who is your master?"
"Sorry, the master won't let me talk."
After saying that, the two fell silent, staring at Qiao Fei's tombstone without saying a word.
After a long while, Xu Qingchen asked cautiously: "Master, can I ask a question?"
"Do not ask."
This answer is very unreasonable.
Agarwood explained: "All I have is this secret, so let me keep it."
Xu Qingchen felt surprised: This is the only secret? Then how do you calculate your martial arts skills?
Agarwood tree turned to face Xu Qingchen - she was obviously not tall, only at the height of Xu Qingchen's mouth, but she felt unusually tall and oppressive.
Chen Xiangzhi said: "Mu Yun saw the skin and flesh, and you saw the bones. If possible, please keep what you saw about me a secret."
What Xu Qingchen wanted to ask was: Are you from the Li family or the Shangguan family back then?
…
The Thorn Sect is very large, but currently it doesn’t have many people, only a hundred or so people at full capacity.
Sect Master Qiao and Master Feng are good at running the business. The Thorns Sect has been running well in recent years, and the lowest level members have no worries about food and drink. There are all kinds of medicine shops and blacksmith shops inside the door. After getting familiar with the Thorn Gate facilities, Xu Qingchen went to the blacksmith shop immediately.
The steward of the blacksmith shop is a capable man, a swordsmith hired by Qiao Fei from Xuzhou. Nowadays, in Jianghu sects, those who have the ability to forge their own swords are all big and respectable gangs. The Songshan Sect has become famous in the past two years, but they have never considered building a blacksmith shop within the sect. Read the book
"The young man who came two days ago?" Liu Wei, the manager of the blacksmith shop, was shirtless and sweaty, holding a hammer in his hand.
Xu Qingchen nodded: "My surname is Xu, my superior is Qing Qing and Xiachen. I just joined a few days ago."
Liu Wei is a very generous person: "What? Do you want to make a handy weapon? It's agreed that you can only fight once in two years, but you can repair it indefinitely. In the past few years, there were a few boys who didn't care about weapons when fighting. It caused a lot of damage to the door."
Xu Qingchen replied: "I want to make a weapon, but... it's not for me."
"Who is that for?"
"a friend."
"Well, originally it wasn't allowed, but I think you're a cute boy, so I might as well give you one. Tell me what you want."
"Two swords, about two feet long, as thin as possible."
Liu Wei touched his chin and asked, "For little girls?"
"right."
"Hey, I understand, sweetheart, right?"
"No……"
"What's wrong with admitting it, young man? I'll pick it up in a month."
"Then, thank you very much, Brother Liu."
As Feng Yao said, life in Thorny Gate is indeed very comfortable. Thorn Gate has its own property. There are several pieces of land at the foot of the mountain, and the annual rent alone is very high. Now that there are not many people in the sect, the amount of money that can be distributed to individuals is even more. Xu Qingchen did the math. It seemed that this was better than what he earned in the Yao family.
More.
He was assigned by Agarwood to work under Yang Fan. Yang Fan has a high status in the Thorns Sect. He is in charge of Chengjing Hall and has more than 20 subordinates. Although Chen Xiangzhi valued Xu Qingchen, he couldn't just entrust him with important tasks. He had to do it step by step.
Yang Fan has a good temper and no airs, and he also has a natural liking for Xu Qingchen. The two had the same temperament, and within a few days they were talking about everything.
Of course, Thorny Sect doesn’t support idlers, and if something goes wrong, someone has to step up to the plate.
During this period, Xu Qingchen accompanied Yang Fan to deal with two disputes in the rivers and lakes. Once, bandits in Bujishan, fifty miles away, killed several passers-by, and the two of them cleared the bandit's village. They weren't big bandits, just about ten people. Another time there was a conflict between two small gangs at the foot of the mountain, and they went to mediate.
The work is quite challenging and not boring.
Xu Qingchen liked days like this very much, after all, he did good things that were not against his will. And when you go out, if you say that you are from the Thorn Sect, others will look at you in a high regard. It felt good, and it made Xu Qingchen's "hero's heart" deeply gratified.
He had an illusion: it seemed that if he had joined the Thorn Sect from the beginning, his life would have been smooth and smooth.
"The new disciples are pretty good, especially Xu Qingchen, the young man is quite capable."
In the main hall of Thorns Gate, agarwood branches were leaning against the throne of the gate master. The backbone of Thorns Gate in the lobby stood upright, listening carefully to Master Feng's report.
Chen Xiangzhi asked: "Yang Fan, does Xu Qingchen have the ability to handle things on his own?"
Yang Fan nodded: "People are very smart, and they can tell everything at once."
Chen Xiangzhi nodded: "In Luzhou, let Xu Qingchen take over."
Feng Yao frowned and thought for a while, then said, "Is it too early? He doesn't have much experience yet."
"How many people are there in Luzhou now?"
"When Xiong San left, he took twelve people with him."
"There aren't many people, let him practice. Send a message to Xiong San. From now on, Luzhou will listen to Xu Qingchen."
Yang Fan smiled bitterly.
Chen Xiangzhi asked: "Master Yang, what's wrong?"
Yang Fan shook his head and replied: "I thought you wanted him to take my place."
There was nothing wrong with Yang Fan's words. Everyone here understood what he meant: Yang Fan has become more seriously ill in the past few years and can't get out of bed when the weather gets cold. When Qiao Fei was still alive, he said that he wanted to resign from his position in the sect and go home to recuperate. But Qiao Fei said that he was short of manpower and asked him to support for a few days. Who knew that this support would last for two years.
Agarwood gave a rare smile and said, "Master Yang, please work hard for a few more days."
After saying that, Agarwood stood up and walked down from the seat, walked to Yang Fan, took out a small medicine bottle from her arms and handed it to him.
Yang Fan asked: "What is this?"
"I went to Yaoxian Valley a few days ago to ask for the medicine for you. Doctor Han specially told me not to take it until it's cold, so I'll leave it to you now."
When Yang Fan took the medicine bottle, she accidentally touched the fingertips of the agarwood branch, and felt a bone-chilling chill coming from her fingertips, even colder than her own hands.
Yang Fan felt warm in his heart and said, "Thank you very much, Master, for your concern."
