Sword of Coming

The carriage presented by Gao Xuan arrived belatedly, and it was only in the twilight that it arrived very late at Chen Pingan's side. The coachman was the old man with a white face and no beard. He once followed the prince of the Sui Dynasty to the Lizhu Cave to meet Chen Pingan. There was a two-way relationship, but compared to Gao Xuan's warm and attentive attitude, the old man's expression was cold. After handing over the carriage, he returned to the capital on foot. The old eunuch turned around and glanced at Cui Han one more time. Cui Chan was busy looking at the beauty of the horse. , clicked his tongue in surprise, completely unaware of the old man's scrutinizing gaze.

Cui Zhang jumped on the carriage, took the initiative to assume the responsibility of the coachman, waved to Chen Ping'an and said: "Sir, the carriage has not been tampered with, let's go on the road in peace."

Cui Zhang slapped himself, "Why go on the road? It's too unlucky. Hurry and hurry."

Chen Pingan looked around. It was dark. Due to the night ban in the capital, the official roads that flowed continuously during the day seemed very deserted.

Chen Pingan shook his head and said: "I just happened to be practicing pile walking. You just drive. As long as you don't go too fast, I can keep up."

Cui Chang knew Chen Ping'an's stubborn character, so he stopped wasting his saliva, drove slowly forward, took a sip of wine, and said leisurely and loudly: "Everything is busy and there are many things to worry about. In the end, everything will be over. It's a cool autumn. Okay. Autumn!"

Chen Ping'an followed the carriage silently, repeating the six steps of walking and standing in the Shanshan Quan manual, and he was already familiar with them.

Cui Chan kept talking nonsense most of the night. He also read Confucian classics and recited poems and poems, all kinds of things, and his mouth was never idle.

Finally, he even recited "I have an old donkey, and I never ride it." After hearing this, Chen Pingan, who had persisted for nearly an hour, let out a breath, stopped walking, and said: "I'll get in the car." Take a rest."

After getting in the car and putting the backpack in the compartment, Chen Ping'an discovered that there were bottles and cans piled up in the corner, but the light was dim and he couldn't see what they were. Cui Chan, who was driving, smiled and said: "There are some jars of good wine. , there are Taoist qi refining and healing elixirs, and even rouge and gouache. This Gao Xuan is quite interesting. To be honest, regardless of the enemy and our camps, he is also the prince. Gao Xuan is the younger brother of your friend Song Jixin. He is my former disciple, you want to change... Corporal Lixian?"

Chen Ping'an sat behind Cui Zhang, sitting sideways with his legs hanging outside, shaking his head and saying: "Song Jixin has never been my friend."

Cui Chan broke the news and said: "Song Jixin, who has now been renamed Song Mu, will be sad. Before he left Mubo Lane, Qi Jingchun gave Zhao Yao a seal of 'The world welcomes spring' and gave him Song Jixin There are six books, three miscellaneous books, arithmetic "Jingwei", chess records "Peach and Plum", essay collection "Shan Hai Ce", three elementary school books selected by Qi Jingchun, "Ritual and Music", "Guanzhi", and "Primary School" , Song Jixin, your attitude towards Mr. You is very complicated. He probably left the last three books on the table in the room for peace of mind when he left. The original intention was to give them to you Chen Pingan, but people's hearts are complicated. , Song Jixin actually knows it well. Even if sir, you get the key to the house that was left in your yard, you will never take away the books without permission, but it will not delay his conscience. Song Jixin has passed a small hurdle, sir. , Is this guy very smart?"

Cui Chan told a lot of unknown secrets, but there was one thing he didn't say.

He guessed that Qi Jingchun had already planned the book matter, and Song Jixin would look down on the three elementary books and would choose to keep them for Chen Ping'an.

In matters such as playing chess, layout, and mental arithmetic, Cui Chan used to think that he was far superior to Qi Jingchun. Looking back now, of course he was completely wrong.

Chen Ping'an whispered: "Song Jixin has always been very smart."

Cui Chan asked curiously: "The relationship between you and him is so tense, is it because he lied to you, sir, to break your oath?"

Chen Pingan said nothing.

Cui Chan said with a smile: "Don't blame me for talking too much. I don't mean to excuse Song Jixin. I'm just telling you a fact. Whether it's right or wrong, Song Jixin has its roots in this matter. In fact, it makes sense. Simple, Song Jixin was well-fed, well-clothed and well-housed. He was better than you, sir, in everything. Later, he even had a maid to take care of his daily life. He was proficient in reading, playing chess, and calligraphy. But the more he became like this, something in his mind The knot will get bigger.”

Chen Ping'an finally spoke, "At that time, he was misunderstood as the illegitimate son of the inspector. He had been poked in the spine by neighbors since he was a child, and many people scolded him unpleasantly behind his back."

Cui Zhang nodded and said: "So, when Song Jixin looks at a guy like you, sir, every day, he will think, 'How come you, Chen Ping'an, a poor man who almost starved to death, can at least have a father and mother, and I, Song Jixin, can have a father and mother?" But you don’t have a salary? You don’t even know your mother’s last name?’”

Cui Han shook his head, "The thing that makes Song Jixin unbearable the most is that your life experience is so miserable, sir, but in the eyes of Song Jixin, his neighbor, you seem to live a happier life than him every day, and you have to eat Falling down to sleep when he is full, and getting up to do things when he is full will simply make Song Jixin scratch his head and make him feel unhappy all over. So, if he is unhappy, he wants to make you unhappy. He knows what you care about most. It’s up to you to lose something.”

Chen Ping'an remembered that rainy night in Mud Bottle Lane. It was the first time he wanted to kill someone. At that time, Song Jixin was almost strangled to death by him on the wall.

Liu Xianyang, who had sneaked out from the kiln factory with him, might have been hiding far away and accidentally saw that scene. So for the next month, Liu Xianyang didn't dare to talk to him, which made Chen Pingan depressed for a long time.

Cui Chan sighed to himself: "The nature of some children, and the things involved in it, are both terrifying, ridiculous, and pitiful. This is because children are not the only ones with the nature of children. Many high-ranking figures will also be involved in some major events. It’s unreasonably childish.”

Chen Ping'an held up the sword stove with both hands. He didn't practice it. He did it purely naturally. He said calmly: "Of course I hate Song Jixin for this matter, but the thing that really makes me dislike Song Jixin is not this."

Cui Chan was so surprised that he couldn't help but turned around and asked, "How do you say that?"

Chen Pingan said slowly: "The time Liu Xianyang was almost beaten to death, Song Jixin squatted on the wall and fanned the flames, wishing Liu Xianyang was beaten to death. Such a person is... terrifying."

Cui Chan was silent.

Chen Pingan raised his head and looked into the distance, "There is a dialect in our hometown that says to see if the person carrying the burden is tired. I think this is nothing, but if you add stones to someone's burden just because you think it's fun, then that's How can we be friends with people of this species?"

Cui Chen joked: "Song Jixin didn't put any more weight on your shoulders. In fact, Song Jixin may have wanted to be friends with you deep down in his heart, because he was smart enough and knew very well who he should be with." As a friend, for example, he sincerely looks down on Zhao Yao, who is not as smart as him, but he can still build relationships and get closer."

Chen Pingan shook his head and said, "I don't like people like this."

Cui Chen said something sincere and conscientious for no reason, "For people like you, many people will dislike you in the future."

Chen Ping'an smiled and said: "Why do I want so many people to like me? I can feed the whole family without worrying about it. I don't care about others."

Cui Zhang turned around and extended his thumb to Chen Pingan, "Sir, you are standing on the wall and standing for a thousand years. If you have no desire, you will be strong! I admire you, student!"

Chen Pingan said softly: "I know you are trying to trick me because you want to explore something I don't know, but it doesn't matter. After saying this, I feel much better."

Cui Chen chuckled and said: "Sir, you are as wise as a fool, and I, my student, are as wise as a fool. We will learn from each other's knowledge. From now on, if we join forces, we will be invincible in the world."

Chen Pingan suddenly asked: "Do you know A Liang? The old donkey part, A Liang has hummed before."

Cui Han's face changed slightly and he hummed, "We have known each other for a long time, even earlier than Qi Jingchun, even earlier than Ma Zhan, Mao Xiaodong and others. When I was drinking with the old man, they might still be there. Where are you playing in the mud?"

The moon and stars are sparse, and the breeze blows on my face.

The young man in white with a mole between his eyebrows had a hint of sadness on his handsome and flawless face. He smiled bitterly and said: "After I left my hometown, I also traveled far away to study like you, but I went much further than you. Because I was arrogant and arrogant, I finally suffered a lot of humiliation. In the last moment, I became a disciple of the old scholar. At that time, the reputation of the old scholar was not good, and his knowledge was on the verge of being regarded as heresy, so I was his first disciple. "

"The surname is Zuo, Qi Jingchun. These people have entered the old man's door one after another. There are not many disciples in the house. The old scholar is a person who wants to explain everything clearly. He teaches knowledge and can explain a simple principle in a few words. Yes, he could talk all day long, but he really didn’t have the energy to recruit too many close disciples. There were relatively more registered disciples, but as for those who did not hesitate to call themselves lackeys of Wen Sheng’s sect, they were as vast as a crucian carp crossing a river. ,countless."

"As for A-Liang, he got to know the old scholar earlier than me. At first, A-Liang came to beat the old scholar. Who is the old scholar? He is so talkative and powerful. He is a Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist scholar who has held the title of sixty years. Teaching debate is the most dangerous thing in the world! How many Buddhist disciples have fallen into heretical ways and become pitiful heretics in their respective Taoist traditions. The glory before was miserable after, and the world is miserable. Before I rebelled against the disciples, He put forward his opinion with confidence, but he wanted to help... If you don't talk about this, a good man would not mention his courage. The fact is that the old scholar has participated in two debates in history. The key is still I won two arguments with him, forget it, sir, you don’t need to know this for the time being, anyway, the old scholar at that time, tsk tsk, it is not an exaggeration to say that he is the only one in the world, the kind that is known as 'a family' Those who are not scholars will never be able to appreciate the peerless elegance of "the study of science and the bright moon in the sky". Otherwise, do you think that the old man is just a pitiful scholar who can be invited to the Confucian Temple to offer sacrifices? He keeps moving up and down. ? The small country where the old scholar lived was almost eager to call him the 'ancestor of the number one scholar'. The old scholar refused to accept him, but he was holding back his energy. What do you think? "

"Anyway, the old guy confused A-Liang as soon as he came and went. The two enemies became the best drinking buddies. The old scholar's status became higher and higher, and A-Liang's cultivation level became higher and higher. The two of them complemented each other. The relationship has always been very good. A-Liang and I, Qi Jingchun, and the guy named Zuo have the best relationship. A-Liang went to great lengths for the three of us, especially for Qi Jingchun and the guy named Zuo. It’s heart-wrenching!”

At this point, Cui Han smiled knowingly and said: "Every time A Liang comes back to us, he will start to brag, what about 'I wiped the butts of you three bastards so hard, I, A Liang, am really fierce', what about 'you guys I don’t know that today I am going to kill all the sects in all directions. Those fairies all just hate that their cultivation level is not high enough, otherwise they will eat me alive, A Liang. Alas, it is the hardest to bear the kindness of a beauty. You are young, so you can’t. I'll understand'."

Cui Chan took a sip of wine and said, "A-Liang is good at one thing. He never brags when he speaks, unlike us scholars."

Cui Chan said so much in one breath, and finally turned his back to Chen Ping'an and smiled: "Okay, just like you, I feel much happier."

Chen Ping'an had already closed his eyes and silently practiced the sword and furnace stakes, but it was obvious that the young man listened carefully to all the words and missed every word.

Cui Han's face was calm, "Let's talk openly. If there is no delay, I will still be a bad person and you will still be a good person."

Chen Pingan opened his eyes, "I'll go down and continue practicing walking."

Cui Chen laughed and said, "Okay."

After Chen Pingan jumped off the carriage, he continued walking quickly in silence.

Cui Chan suppressed his smile little by little, freed up his hand to drink the last sip of wine from the flask, and for the first time, he was a little absent-minded, and murmured: "Chen Pingan, do you think people like you are not scary?"

A voice from behind the carriage said, "I heard it."

Cui Han laughed loudly, "Sir, you have a good ear. He is indeed a martial arts wizard who is only seen once in a lifetime. From now on, he will dominate the world and become invincible. It is just around the corner!"

The straw-shoe boy replied angrily, "Thank you."

On the way back home, I still walked through mountains and water.

The carriage and horses had been sold together. Cui Zhang sold it for a high price of 1,500 taels, and then bought himself a beautiful book box and put all the valuables in the carriage into it.

Compared with his previous studies and travels, Chen Ping'an can spend more free time practicing Shanshanquan and using water grinding skills to hone his luck skills.

As long as it's not raining heavily, Chen Ping'an's movements will be extremely slow twice a day in the morning and evening, as if he is still practicing boxing with Li Baoping and Li Huai.

There will be a young man in white standing next to him, boxing with him, and his boxing will be more smooth and graceful than Chen Ping'an.

Whenever there are high mountains and floods, Cui Chan will recite the sages' classics loudly. Although Chen Ping'an does not speak aloud, he will subconsciously follow and recite silently in his heart.

The two of them no longer talked about what was really in their hearts like they did on the official road outside the Sui capital that night. More often, they were in silence all day long. Cui Chang would occasionally quietly leave Chen Pingan's sight and come back. Sometimes his mood is good or bad, but Chen Pingan never pursues it.

In this way, amidst the slow and unhurried sound of the wheels, the two nominal masters and apprentices walked from autumn to winter in an ordinary manner.

The route was very different from what it was when we came here. It was Cui Han's choice, and Chen Pingan had no objection.

The two of them also happened to have seen some bizarre and interesting anecdotes, either watching from a distance or being there personally. Chen Ping'an, who had traveled from Da Li to Sui Dynasty, still found it strange.

In a large lake east of Sui Dynasty, two people were walking at night. Under the moonlight, they saw a group of elegant immortals flying in the sky from a distance, each holding a huge iron chain. Finally, the lake shook violently, setting off huge waves. , the immortals actually lifted a huge boulder from the bottom of the lake, as big as a mountain peak, pulled it up from the lake, and carried it to their sect in the air.

Cui Chen explained that there are many spiritual and beautiful objects in the mountains and rivers. Once the immortal forces on the mountain are discovered, they always like to use magical powers to seize them and move them back to the sect gang, treating them as forbidden treasures. To help suppress landscape luck. Cui Han also said with a smile that the Immortal Family forces are somewhat conscientious. They chose to act at night and were willing to spend money to buy fine iron chains at a high price. If it were an ordinary Immortal Family, they would not care about this and just buy a large amount of cheap iron. Chain, as for whether the mountain crashed to the ground on the way and whether any mortals suffered, the local government would not dare to care. Unless it hit a big city, there is really no way to hide it. In the end, most of the Immortal Family will pay symbolic compensation.

Among the majestic mountains at the junction of Sui Dynasty and Huangting Kingdom, Chen Pingan saw a large group of crucian carp-like fish migrating along the mountain road in a mighty way, even though they were covered in mud.

Cui Chang said that those are mountain crucian carp that can stay out of the water for half a month without dying. Mountain crucian carp have extremely high requirements for the water quality of lakes. Once the water quality of their old habitat deteriorates and they cannot survive, they will immediately take the initiative to move. The more spiritual energy they have, the more abundant it will be. The better the water source, the better the reproduction of mountain crucian carp, and a golden spiritual object will be born out of every ten thousand. Therefore, the general forces on the mountain are willing to raise this animal to detect subtle effects and accurately determine the dispersion of spiritual energy in the sect's mansion. Condition.

Then, in a bustling city in Huang Tingguo, in the bustling city, two young sword cultivators actually controlled flying swords, less than half a foot off the ground, and shuttled quickly among the crowd, as if they were competing to see whose sword-wielding skills were better. They didn't care at all. Pedestrians on the street were in a panic, and some ordinary people who could not avoid being stabbed directly by sharp flying swords fell to the ground groaning.

When the sword cultivator passed by Chen Pingan, an old woman was so frightened that she stumbled and fell down. She dodged twice and happened to collide with the sword cultivator who had deviated from her route. The young sword cultivator, Not wanting to lose to the companion who was so close behind him, seeing that he would be overtaken if he stopped suddenly, he was so angry that he simply accelerated forward.

If Chen Pingan hadn't pulled an old woman over, she would have been stabbed to death on the spot with a sword.

Instead of being grateful, the sword cultivator turned his head and glared at Chen Pingan.

The two high-ranking sword cultivators, one behind the other, disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Although the people in the city were terrified about this, no one had any intention of pursuing it. Even when they cursed, they only dared to lower their voices.

Cui Han, who was watching with nothing, said in an understatement that other qi practitioners who had not yet reached the middle five realms would still not dare to act so arrogantly in the city of a country, because among the qi practitioners in the world, sword cultivation is the most valuable and rarest thing. .

After the grateful old woman left in a panic, Chen Pingan turned around and looked in the direction where the two sword cultivators left, and did not look back for a long time.

Cui Chan said calmly: "If you can't control it, how can you control it? Chase them down and kill the two sword cultivators? But they didn't kill anyone from the beginning to the end. You should still reason with them and warn them with sincerity. Don't be so ridiculous? Take a step back and say, your fists are strong enough to force people to agree to you. When you leave, it will be the same afterwards. What can you do? Isn't it terrible? I think it is terrible. "

Chen Pingan shook his head and said, "That's all I have, I won't catch up."

"I hope that my husband will join in the fun. As a student, I am eating and drinking all the time, and I feel guilty. At least let me help my husband solve his problems."

Cui Chan said some sarcastic remarks that were not pleasant to the ears. Seeing that his husband did not answer him, he asked with a smile and asked inquiringly: "When will I be able to do it in the future?"

Chen Ping'an continued on his way carrying the big bamboo basket, "Then let's wait until that day."

Cui Chen quickly followed and asked with a smile: "Sir, what day is that?"

Chen Pingan replied, "It's not tomorrow anyway."

Cui Zhang followed behind, "It would be better if it was the day after tomorrow. I will be proud of you, student."

Chen Ping'an raised his head and glanced at the sky, and suddenly remembered that it would be almost Chinese New Year when he returned to his hometown, so he thought about buying a few Spring Festival couplets as soon as possible. They didn't seem to have many of these things in Dali Hongzhu Town.

At this moment, Cui Chan raised his head, but he was looking at a tall building. He said, "Hey, that's interesting."

Following Cui Han's line of sight, Chen Ping'an saw a towering pavilion that stood out in the city. The wind and clouds nearby were dark, and in the dark clouds higher up, there were faint flashes of lightning. It was very different from the sunny scenery elsewhere, as if it was just a towering pavilion. The way it rains in this small area.

Cui Chan turned around and said with a smile: "Sir, we must join in the fun! We have agreed in advance that if you don't want to go, I will go by myself. You will just wait for me at the gate of the city."

Chen Ping'an walked towards the city gate without saying a word, and said, "If you haven't come out before the night ban, I will go on my own." ""

Cui Chan said with a sad expression: "Sir, you are so heartless."

Chen Ping'an turned his back to Cui Han, raised his arm and extended a middle finger.

Cui Chang immediately changed his face and waved goodbye to Chen Pingan, "Sir, you are becoming more and more interesting. I have done a lot for you as a student!"

Chen Pingan put away his middle finger and clenched his fist.

Cui Chan quickly bowed and said, "Sir, go slow!"