Sword of Coming

If he had never been to Fulu Street or Taoye Alley, Chen Pingan might never realize the darkness and narrowness of Mud Bottle Alley in his life. However, instead of feeling lost, the boy in straw sandals finally felt at ease. The boy smiled and stretched out his hands, and his palms just touched the yellow mud walls on both sides. He remembered that about three or four years ago, Chen Pingan could only touch the mud with his fingertips. wall.

When he walked to his house, he found that the courtyard door was wide open. The young man who thought he had been robbed quickly ran into the courtyard, only to see a tall young man sitting on the threshold, leaning against the locked door, yawning boredly, and saw Chen After he was safe, he stood up as if his butt was on fire, ran to Chen Pingan, grabbed Chen Pingan's arm, pulled him fiercely towards the house, and said in a low voice: "Hurry up and open the door, I have something important to tell you!"

Chen Pingan was unable to break away from this guy, so he had to pull him to open the door. The strong young man, who was two years older than him, quickly threw Chen Pingan away, tiptoed to touch Chen Pingan's wooden bed, and pushed My ears were pressed against the wall and I heard the sound of the base of the wall next door.

Chen Pingan asked curiously: "Liu Xianyang, what are you doing?"

The tall young man turned a deaf ear to Chen Ping'an's questions. After about half a stick of incense, Liu Xianyang returned to normal and sat on the edge of the wooden bed with a complicated expression, a mixture of relief and regret.

Only then did Liu Xianyang realize that Chen Ping'an was doing something weird. He was squatting inside the door, leaning out, using a candle that was only about the size of his thumb to burn a piece of yellow paper, and the ashes fell outside the threshold. It seemed that Chen Ping'an was still mumbling something, but he was a little far away, so Liu Xianyang couldn't hear it clearly.

Liu Xianyang was a close disciple of old man Yao from a long-established dragon kiln. As for Chen Ping'an, who was dull and incompetent, the old man never really recognized this disciple from the beginning to the end. In the local area, the disciple did not worship the master's tea, or the master had not drunk the tea. A cup of tea means that there is no master-disciple status. Chen Pingan and Liu Xianyang were not neighbors, and their ancestral homes were quite far away from each other. The reason why Liu Xianyang introduced Chen Pingan to Old Man Yao at that time was because they had an old grudge when they were young. Liu Xianyang was once a well-known naughty boy in the town. Before his grandfather passed away, there was still an elder in charge of the family. After his grandfather died of illness, the boy who was as tall as a young man at the age of twelve or thirteen became a troubled devil in the neighborhood. Later, for some unknown reason, Liu Xianyang After angering a group of Lu family children, they blocked him in Mud Bottle Alley and gave them a sound beating. They were all young men in their prime, and they never considered the severity of their attacks. Liu Xianyang was beaten quickly. He was vomiting blood continuously. The more than ten families living in Mu Ping Alley were mostly low-level craftsmen from Xiaolong Kiln who were begging for food. How could they dare to get involved in this muddy water.

At that time, Song Jixin was not afraid at all. Instead, he happily squatted on the wall and watched the excitement, fearing that the world would not be in chaos.

In the end, there was only one skinny child who sneaked out of the yard and ran to the alley. He shouted heartbreakingly to the street: "Dead people, dead people..."

Hearing the word "dead man", the children of the Lu family woke up with horror. They saw Liu Xianyang covered in blood on the ground, and the tall young man was dying. The young men from the rich family finally felt frightened. After looking at each other in confusion, they ran away from the other end of the Mud Ping Lane. Lose.

But after that, instead of being grateful to the child who saved his life, Liu Xianyang came here every now and then to tease and play. The orphan was also stubborn. No matter how much Liu Xianyang bullied him, he just refused to cry, which made the boy even more angry. But one year later, Liu Xianyang saw that the little orphan surnamed Chen was probably unable to withstand the winter. Finally, his conscience realized that the young man who had already studied under Long Kiln took the orphan to the village next to Baoxi River. After going to the Dragon Kiln on the way out of the town and heading west, Liu Xianyang still hasn't figured out the dozens of miles of mountain road in the snowy weather. The little guy who looks like charcoal has two legs as thin as a bamboo pole. How did you get to Longyao? However, although Old Yaotou still kept Chen Ping'an in the end, he treated the two very differently. He beat and scolded his close disciple Liu Xianyang, but the blind man could also feel the good intentions. For example, he struck hard once , it hit Liu Xianyang's forehead with blood. The thick-skinned young man didn't think anything was wrong, but the old Yaotou who was the master regretted it very much. This boring gourd old man who was used to being dignified in front of his apprentices couldn't say anything due to his face. What, I ended up walking around in circles in my house for most of the night, still worried about Liu Xianyang, so I finally had to call Chen Pingan and gave Liu Xianyang a bottle of ointment.

Chen Pingan has always envied Liu Xianyang for so many years.

It's not that I envy Liu Xianyang for his talent, strength, and popularity. I just envied Liu Xianyang for being fearless. He was careless wherever he went, and he never felt that living alone was a bad thing. No matter where Liu Xianyang went or who he got along with, he would soon be able to hook up with each other, call each other brothers, drink and fistfight. Because his grandfather was in poor health, Liu Xianyang became self-reliant at an early age and became a king-like existence. He was skillful in catching snakes, fish and digging out bird's nests. He used wooden bows, fishing rods and slingshots to catch birds in cages. Liu Xianyang seemed to be able to do everything, especially in the When it comes to catching loaches and eels in the countryside, the young man is undoubtedly the best in the town. In fact, when Liu Xianyang dropped out of the rural school, Mr. Qi went to Liu Xianyang's grandfather on the sickbed and said that he could not charge a penny, but Liu Xianyang refused to agree, saying that he only wanted to make money and did not want to study. He said that he could pay to hire Liu Xianyang to be his book boy, but Liu Xianyang still refused to nod. In fact, Liu Xianyang lived a good life, even though old man Yao died and the dragon kiln was banned. Within a few days, he was spotted by the blacksmith of Qilong Lane and started building huts and stoves in the south of the town. He was very busy.

Liu Xianyang watched Chen Pingan blow out the candle and put it on the table, and asked in a low voice: "Have you ever heard any weird noises in the morning, like..."

Chen Ping'an sat on the bench and waited quietly.

Liu Xianyang hesitated for a moment, then blushed slightly, "It's like a cat meowing in spring."

Chen Ping'an asked: "Is it Song Jixin who imitates a cat's meow, or Zhi Gui?"

Liu Xianyang rolled his eyes and stopped playing the piano to the cow. He placed his hands on the bed board, slowly bent his elbows, then straightened his arms, lifted his butt off the bed board, and lifted his feet off the ground. His butt was hanging in the air, and he curled his lips and said sarcastically: "What Zhigui? His name is clearly Wang Zhu. People named Song like to show off since they were young. I don't know where I saw the word 'Zhigui', so I used it randomly." It doesn’t matter whether the two words mean good or not. A young man like Wang Zhutan must have committed evil in his previous life, otherwise he wouldn’t have come to Song Jixin’s side to suffer the consequences.”

Chen Pingan did not agree with the tall boy's statement.

Liu Xianyang, who had been maintaining that posture, snorted coldly: "You really don't understand? Why did you help that girl Wang Zhu carry a bucket once, and then she never talked to you again? It must be that little guy from Song Jixin, If you knock over the vinegar bottle, I'll threaten Wang Zhu not to flirt with you, or else I'll have to deal with you, not only will her legs be broken, but I'll also throw her into the clay bottle alley..."

Chen Pingan couldn't stand listening anymore and interrupted Liu Xianyang, "Song Jixin is not bad to her."

Liu Xianyang became angry and said: "Do you know what is good and what is bad?"

Chen Ping'an's eyes were clear and he said softly: "Sometimes she works in the yard, and Song Jixin occasionally sits on the bench and reads his copy of the local county chronicle. She often laughs when she reads Song Jixin."

Liu Xianyang's eyes were dull.

Suddenly, the thin wooden bed could not support Liu Xianyang's weight and broke into two halves. The tall boy sat down on the ground.

Chen Pingan squatted on the ground, pressed his head with both hands, sighed, and had a headache.

Liu Xianyang scratched his head, stood up, and didn't say any words of guilt. He just lightly kicked Chen Ping'an and said with a grin: "Okay, it's just a small broken bed. I'm here today to bring you one." The great news is worth more than your shabby bed!"

Chen Pingan raised his head.

Liu Xianyang said proudly: "After my Master Ruan left the town, by the stream in the south, he suddenly said that he wanted to dig a few wells. It turned out that there was not enough manpower and he needed to call for help, so I mentioned you casually and said There is a short winter melon with decent strength. Master Ruan also agreed to let you go there by yourself in the next two days."

Chen Pingan stood up suddenly and was about to say thank you.

Liu Xianyang raised a palm and said, "Stop it, stop it! I can't thank you enough! Just keep it in your heart!"

Chen Pingan bared his teeth.

Liu Xianyang looked around. There was a fishing rod leaning against the wall, a pair of slingshots lying by the window, and wooden bows hanging on the wall. The tall young man hesitated to speak, but finally held back his words.

He strode across the threshold, his boots clearly deliberately skirting around the ashes of the talisman.

Chen Pingan looked at the tall figure from behind.

Liu Xianyang suddenly turned around and faced Chen Ping'an who was on the threshold. The tall young man sat down on his waist without leaving his feet off the ground. After a few steps, he punched hard, then drew back his fist and straightened his waist, laughing loudly: "Master Ruan's private Tell me below, I only need to practice this boxing technique for one year before I can kill someone!"

Liu Xianyang seemed to feel that it was not enough. He made a weird kicking action and said with a smile: "This is called a good leg that will go into the crotch. The donkey will be kicked to death and suffocated!"

Finally, Liu Xianyang stretched out his thumb, pointed at his chest, and said arrogantly: "When Master Ruan taught me the boxing skills, I had some thoughts and ideas, so I chatted with him, such as my unique knowledge of Old Man Yao's porcelain making." Master Ruan praised me as a once-in-a-century martial arts prodigy. From now on, you just follow me, and you will be a popular and spicy drinker!"

From the corner of his eye, Liu Xianyang saw that the maid next door had entered the house, and he suddenly lost interest in playing the hero.

He casually said to Chen Ping'an: "By the way, when I passed the old locust tree just now, there was an old man who called himself 'storyteller' and was setting up a stall there. He also said that he had accumulated a lot of interesting people and interesting things. If you want to chat with us, you can go and take a look when you have time."

Chen Pingan nodded.

Liu Xianyang strode away from Mubo Alley.

There are many theories circulating in the town about this lonely and unruly young man, but the young man likes to claim that his ancestors were generals who led troops in wars, so his family has the treasured armor that has been passed down from generation to generation.

Chen Ping'an had seen it once with his own eyes. It was said to be Baojia. In fact, it looked ugly, resembling a wart on a human body or a scar on an old tree.

However, Liu Xianyang's contemporaries did not say that. They only said that Liu Xianyang's ancestors were deserters. They fled to the small town and became a son-in-law. They were lucky enough to escape the government's pursuit. It was said with certainty, as if he had seen with his own eyes how Liu Xianyang's ancestors escaped from the battlefield and how they wandered all the way to this small town.

Chen Pingan thought for a while, squatted next to the threshold, lowered his head and blew away the ashes.

Song Jixin didn't know when he was standing on the side of the courtyard wall, followed by his maid Zhigui. He shouted: "Would you like to play with us at the locust tree?"

Chen Pingan raised his head and said, "I'm not going."

Song Jixin twitched his lips and said, "It's boring."

He turned to his maid and smiled: "Zhigui, let's go! I'll buy you a whole can of peach blossom powder from the general's stomach."

She said shyly: "A small cricket jar is enough."

Song Jixin clasped his hands behind his back, held his head high, and strode forward, "I, the Song family, have been eating and drinking, and wearing hairpins for generations. How can we be petty and petty? Isn't it an insult to the family tradition?!"

Chen Ping'an sat on the threshold and rubbed his forehead. This Song Jixin actually didn't feel bad when he didn't say those weird words and nonsense. But at times like this, if Liu Xianyang was present, he would definitely say that he really wanted to Chao Song Ji Xin was knocked on the back of his head with a brick.

Chen Pingan leaned against the door of the room, thinking that tomorrow's situation would probably be like today, and the day after tomorrow, the situation would be like tomorrow, and so on. So Chen Pingan would keep going like this for the rest of his life, until in the end he would be almost like Old Man Yao. .

A man eats earth for his whole life, and earth eats a man once.

When you finally close your eyes and open them again, it may be the next life.

The young man looked down at the straw sandals on his feet and suddenly laughed.

The feeling of stepping on the bluestone is different from stepping on the muddy beach.

Liu Xianyang left the alley and passed by the fortune-telling stall. The young Taoist said: "Come on, come on. I see that your complexion is like burning fire cooking oil. It is definitely not a good sign. But don't be afraid. I have a way to help you." You eliminate disaster..."

Liu Xianyang was a little surprised. He remembered that this Taoist priest used to tell people's fortunes, not to mention whether they were accurate or not, but this person had never actively solicited business, and almost all of them were willing to take the bait. Is it possible that now that the Dragon Kiln is closed by the imperial government, the Taoist priest will also be unlucky and unable to uncover the pot, so he would rather kill than misplace it? Liu Xianyang smiled and scolded: "Your method is to destroy money and eliminate disasters, right? Get out of here, you want to swindle money out of my pocket, in the next life!"

The young Taoist was not angry and shouted loudly to the tall boy: "I hope everything will be prosperous this year, but who knows that there will be disaster in my life. If there is no disaster, I will not recite the gods. If you want to be safe, you should burn incense... you should burn incense..."

Liu Xianyang suddenly turned around and ran towards the fortune-telling stall as fast as he could. He was gearing up and shouting: "Let's burn incense, right? I'll burn your stall first!"

The Taoist was obviously very frightened. After he stood up, he didn't care about the stall and ran away with his head in his hands.

Liu Xianyang stood next to the stall, looked at the Taoist's embarrassed figure, laughed loudly, caught a glimpse of the bamboo stick tube on the table, casually stretched out his hand to push it down, and the bamboo sticks slid out of the tube with a clatter, and finally formed a fan shape on the table.

Liu Xianyang pointed at the Taoist who stopped in the distance, "I'll beat you every time I see you in the future!"

The young Taoist clasped his fists and bowed, begging for mercy.

Only then did Liu Xianyang give up.

The young Taoist waited until the tall boy had walked away before he dared to sit down again and sighed, "The world is hard and people's hearts are old, which makes it difficult for even a poor Taoist to make ends meet."

At this moment, the Taoist's eyes lit up, he quickly closed his eyes and said loudly: "The pond is full of frogs, which makes people's hearts pierce their stomachs. The place is famous for its water ducks, and it is only suitable to travel in all directions if the wind blows!"

The boy and girl obviously heard what the Taoist said, but unfortunately they had no intention of stopping.

The Taoist opened his eyes slightly, and seeing that he was about to miss the business again, he had no choice but to slap his hand on the table and raise his voice, "The number one scholar is a son of the human world, and the prime minister is just a human being. Learning from heaven and being famous moves the city, and you are proud of your spirit." god!"

Song Jixin and his maid Zhigui just moved on.

The Taoist was discouraged and muttered in a low voice: "I can't live this life."

The young man turned his head without warning, threw a copper coin from a distance to the young Taoist, and said with a bright smile: "I'll lend you some good words!"

The Taoist hurriedly caught the copper coin, opened his palm and looked at it with a frown on his face. It was the smallest penny.

but.

The young Taoist gently placed the copper coin on the table.

In the blink of an eye, a yellow bird quickly dropped to the table, lowered its head, and pecked at the copper coin. Then it held it in its mouth and looked up at the young Taoist. The yellow bird's eyes were lively and connected with the coin. People are no different.

The Taoist said softly: "Go, it is not suitable to stay here for a long time."

The oriole disappeared in a flash.

The young Taoist looked around, and finally his eyes rested on the tall archway in the distance. He happened to be facing the four-character plaque with the words "Angry Bullfighting" and said with emotion: "What a pity."

Finally, the Taoist added, "If you can sell it outside, how can you get 1,800 taels of silver?"