Sword of Coming

The pale-faced old woman had a stooped figure and stared blankly at the four people outside the door.

The scholar who knocked on the door was very timid. When he saw the gloomy old woman, he didn't dare to look at himself. He hid behind his companions. He just felt that there was no way to go to heaven and no door to the earth. It was so miserable.

This scholar loved to read hundreds of classics when he was young. From the reading notes he sent occasionally, he could often read some strange ghosts and ghosts, and stories about old friends. There are generally two types, one is pretty and pretty, similar to the love of a fox. Scholars, and the ones in front of me, are so ghostly. Even if they move in at dark, the courtyard will look deep and carved, and if they are lucky enough to survive until dawn, they will turn into a deserted tomb infested by foxes and rabbits.

The wind and rain were swaying, the weather was cold, and the scholar holding a torch was bolder than his companions. He bumped the big book box behind him, rubbed his hands to keep warm, and said with a wry smile: "Auntie, can you let us stay for the night? The rain outside is really heavy. One of our friends couldn't stand the cold and has fainted. If there is no warm place, it's hard to say whether he can survive the night. I hope my aunt can help me, just think of it as a rescue. Life is better than building a seven-level pagoda."

The old woman had a straight face and spoke in an unintelligible local dialect, as if she was questioning something.

The scholar's face was full of bitterness, so he had to explain in the same dialect as the old woman.

The old woman turned her dead fish eyes slightly, stared at Chen Ping'an, and suddenly used the elegant words of Aquarius Island, "A person who practices martial arts?"

Chen Pingan nodded.

The old woman looked at the young Taoist priest Chen Ping'an was carrying, revealing the hilt of the mahogany sword. After falling asleep, Taoist Zhang Shan's breathing was longer and steady than when he was awake. This is probably the magic of Qi practitioners. He returns to his original nature everywhere. , unexpected. After discovering the peach wood sword, the old woman narrowed her eyes and asked, "Is your friend a Taoist?"

Chen Pingan continued to nod.

The old woman finally looked at the timid scholar holding an umbrella, "A scholar?"

The scholar with a mutton-fat jade pendant hanging around his waist shook his head and said, "You can't be considered a scholar if you don't have an imperial examination title."

The old woman twitched her lips and moved her shoulders to get out of the way, "Since we are all decent people, please come in. Remember to rest in your own room after entering. Don't wander around and disturb my master. You will be responsible for the consequences." . There is a charcoal pot and stove in the room. You gentlemen can do whatever you want without asking. You are a guest, so my master will not worry about it."

When the old woman closed the door, she looked around and then quickly closed the door. The heavy door seemed as light as a feather in the old woman's hands and slammed shut.

This house is really not small. It should be a courtyard with four entrances. The four of them, including Chen Pingan, were placed in the second courtyard and were told not to go to the courtyard at the back. The eaves of the house are carved with auspicious animals, flowers and birds, and landscape and cloud patterns, and the window grilles are exquisite. The ground in the courtyard is paved with blue and red stone bricks, and the primary and secondary roads are clearly defined and orderly.

The hand-chaoshou corridor connects the main room and the wing rooms, making it easier to walk freely on rainy days like this.

The figure of the old woman disappeared into the narrow corridor connecting the second and third entrances to the courtyard. It was pitch black, and suddenly there was a flash of lightning. Before the two scholars could look away, they happened to see the pale smiling face of the old woman. They were so frightened that they both went to the adjacent wing and asked each other. The two scholars, Chu and Liu, did not dare to sleep separately, so they had to temporarily gather in a room. After the scholar surnamed Liu put down his oil-paper umbrella, he read the books of sages at night to build up his courage.

The scholar surnamed Chu was a little more courageous, otherwise he would not have known that there was a house here. He put down the torch and started tinkering with the brazier. He took out the brazier wrapped tightly in oil paper from the book box, quickly lit the charcoal fire, and the house quickly warmed up. . He looked around and reached out to touch the bed. The quilt smelled faintly of dampness and mustiness. However, this was unavoidable. After the spring of this year in Caiyi Country, it was rainy and there was almost no sunshine. It was not good to be in this kind of environment. It is a blessing in misfortune to criticize the master harshly, not to mention having a place to rest.

The scholar surnamed Chu wears a green square scarf on his head. He is slender and has a dignified appearance. There is an awe-inspiring righteousness between his eyebrows. He looked around and found that the window panes were changeable, exquisite in style and with beautiful meanings. They were carved with bats, carps, Ganoderma lucidum, etc. Generally only those from scholarly families would have this thought. He suddenly approached the window and looked intently, and found that there seemed to be some traces of red paint on the slightly wider wooden strip between the two windows. The writing was mottled and blurred, and he could vaguely see some talisman writing.

As the room gradually became warmer, the scholar surnamed Liu became more courageous, so he put down the book in his hand. Seeing that his companion seemed to be staring at the window, he followed his line of sight and looked up, only to see that the outside of the window was red. An old face was reflected, and he said hoarsely: "It's getting late, I hope you two young masters can rest early."

The old woman who was patrolling the night with a lantern suddenly appeared, scaring the two scholars almost to death.

The old woman just came from the wing across the yard. The boy with a backpack over there was also reading a book with a lamp on his back and looking at the window, but he was not so panicked. The old woman shook her head, staggered away, and laughed and said: "The courage of a scholar , it’s smaller after all.”

The wing opposite.

Chen Pingan stood sideways near the window and reminded softly: "The old lady is gone."

It turned out that the young Taoist priest had sobered up before entering the house, swallowed a Huiyang Pill, and drank Chen Pingan's strong liquor from the Jianghu, and he suddenly felt refreshed. Originally, he was unwilling to waste a pill, but he Suddenly I felt that the evil spirit had disappeared, and I didn't dare to be stingy with the elixirs. After all, a small amount of money was not worth my own life. Taoist priest Zhang Shan sat up from the bed, put on a brand new Taoist robe, bent down and sat next to the fire pot, stretched out his hands to warm himself, and lowered his voice: "Chen Pingan, let's take turns to keep vigil tonight, otherwise I'm really worried, I always feel that here Something’s not right.”

Chen Pingan smiled and said: "You just need to hang the peach wood sword with the demon bell attached to it near the window. I don't know much about monsters and spirits, so I still need the bell to help remind me. As for keeping vigil, I am very good at it, don't worry. Go to sleep, if something really happens, I won’t be unable to even notify you.”

Taoist priest Zhang Shan thought for a while and found a reason, "Hang up the peach wood sword and the bell to listen to the demon. Let's warm ourselves by the fire on the path. It's not too late to go to bed after my body and bones are warm."

When the young Taoist priest was hanging the wooden sword at an angle, Chen Pingan said: "Someone once drew a talisman on the other side of the window pane, but it has been a long time and I can't see it clearly anymore, but it should be your Taoist talisman. Do you recognize it?"

The young Taoist priest didn't pay attention at first. After Chen Pingan reminded him, he looked carefully and found clues. He couldn't help but admire Chen Pingan's boldness and carefulness. After careful inspection, his face became more and more serious, and finally he stretched out his fingers and gently He wiped the traces of red paint, sniffed it on the tip of his nose, and sat back in his chair in silence, "If it is as Xiaodao thought, there will be some trouble. The talisman painted on the window pane is the red book used to drive away ghosts. Look at its remnants , should be a kind of Shen Gao Zong Qing Ci talisman. The Immortal Qing Ci is written with special vermilion paint. It is very powerful. And since it is the handwriting of a senior Shen Gao Zong master, it even almost fills most of the windows, and the writing is rapid, but It is conceivable that the evil spirit that the senior needs to face must be of great virtue."

The young Taoist lamented and said remorsefully: "If I had known this, Xiaodao should not have saved the Yang Huiyang Pill and taken it early, so that he would not have been unconscious when he approached the house. Otherwise, Xiaodao would have been in trouble with Kanyu Feng Shui. I have learned that if you look at it from a distance, you can roughly tell what kind of school the house's feng shui is, and the fundamental method of gathering feng shui. Whether it is yang or yin, and whether it deviates from the right path, as long as you identify A lot of things can be deduced from the general context... Chen Ping'an, I'm sorry, it was the trail that put you in danger..."

Chen Ping'an listened to the young Taoist priest's words of self-blame. He didn't say anything to comfort him. He just joked: "Master Zhang, exterminating demons and defending Taoism, isn't it your specialty?"

The young Taoist priest hurriedly waved his hand, "No, no, no, no, no, no, the little Taoist cannot bear the title of 'Heavenly Master'."

Speaking of this, Zhang Shan felt a little longing and said softly: "The real Celestial Master is the direct descendant of the Zhang family of the Celestial Master's Mansion in Longhu Mountain. They all wear yellow and purple. They are the prime ministers of the mountain who have been hereditary for thousands of years. In addition to In addition, Celestial Masters with other surnames who have reached the middle five realms are also eligible to receive the title of "Celestial Master", but they are also Longhu Mountain Celestial Masters, and there are many types. The first-class Celestial Masters are those who enter the Longhu Mountain Ancestral Master Hall. The old immortals of the upper five realms enjoying the incense, and further down are the direct descendants of the Zhang family who were born as yellow and purple nobles. One of them will be in charge of the 'Tianshi Seal' and an immortal sword in the future, and further down are the people who are in the dragon and tiger. There are many Celestial Masters with other surnames practicing in Shanjiemao. Longhu Mountain is a natural blessed place and is open to the outside world. As long as those Qi practitioners agree to go down the mountain to slay demons and eliminate demons after they succeed in practicing Taoism, then Longhu Mountain will give A wooden sword made of peach wood, this is where the power of Longhu Mountain lies, making us Taoist priests from other continents extremely fascinated by it."

Chen Pingan listened carefully and felt that Longhushan and Zhang Tianshi were indeed good.

It rained heavily.

The two small stone lions at the entrance of the house made a slight cracking sound from time to time.

The old woman stood outside the main room at the third entrance to the courtyard, stepping on a small bench and hanging the lantern on the frame of the corridor pillar. The light was dim and swaying in the wind.

With a pop, the lights went out. It turned out that the candles inside had burned out.

The old woman coughed and stood up on the bench again, took off the lantern, and took out a brand new candle that was as red as blood from her sleeve. If you look closely, you can see that there is no wick. The old woman turned her back to the yard and pulled out a white candle from her head. Hair, suddenly inserted into the center of the candle, as if using it as a wick material, and then the old woman breathed lightly at the candle flame, and the candle was instantly lit. After being placed in the lantern, it was hung on the corridor pillar again.

This lantern swayed slightly, and the light shone in the mansion.

If it's a clear night, it will definitely attract moths to the flames, but I don't know what the meaning of its existence is in this rainy night in the wilderness.

The young Taoist priest was not sleepy. Chen Pingan sipped the strong wine from the vermilion wine gourd. Listening to Zhang Shan talk about his thrilling experiences of encountering demons several times before, Chen Pingan made a silent gesture. The young Taoist priest subconsciously looked at the window. The peach wood sword and the bell are quiet, nothing unusual.

Soon there was a knock on the door. It turned out that it was the two scholars who were visiting together. Chen Pingan, carrying a wine gourd, went over to open the door. The heavy rain outside was still scary, and the wind and rain were so skewed that there was no water on the corridor floor. In a dry place, a slender scholar surnamed Chu held an umbrella and a wine bottle in one hand, smiling. A scholar surnamed Liu put his hands to his mouth, breathed to keep warm, and said with a smile: "Brother Chu, I brought a few with me when I went out this time." A jug of good wine, and now there is only one jug left. I am not afraid of your jokes if I tell you. I didn’t dare to fall asleep tonight, so I was thinking about whether I could use the strength of the wine to fall asleep when I got home. Brother Chu said that it would be better to have fun alone. Everyone, Lele, if you two would like to have a few sips, let's have a drink together? I've agreed in advance that I can drink at least half a catty of wine, so you can only drink a little, please forgive me."

Chen Ping'an raised the vermilion wine gourd in his hand and said with a smile: "I brought the wine myself, you can share a pot between three of you."

At that time, the scholar surnamed Liu, who was holding an umbrella for Chen Pingan and the young Taoist, strode into the room and laughed heartily, "This is very good, this is very good."

The scholar surnamed Chu followed him with a smile and placed his umbrella at the foot of the wall. The four of them sat around the brazier and simmered the wine for a while. The scholar surnamed Liu patted his head and said, "I forgot the wine glass."

Then he looked at his companion with a wry smile, "Brother Chu, I don't dare to get it."

The scholar surnamed Chu stood up with a smile and said helplessly: "If there are ghosts and gods in the world, wouldn't we not have to be afraid of death? That is a good thing. Besides, scholars have great righteousness in their hearts, so ghosts and gods must also have some respect. What are you afraid of? .”

As soon as there were more people, the scholar surnamed Liu sitting on the chair became angry and joked: "I can't even pass the exam, which shows that I don't have much righteousness in my belly. Of course I am afraid, but Brother Chu is one of the Jinshi." The talent is far better than mine, so of course you don’t need to be afraid.”

The scholar surnamed Chu shook his head with a smile and strode away. His figure soon appeared in the opposite wing. Then he pushed the door closed and walked back quickly. He brought four wine glasses. On the inner wall of the wine glasses, there were two majestic figures painted on them. Taoist Zhang Shan took a wine cup and asked tentatively: "Brother Chu, Brother Liu, is this the unique cockfighting cup of Caiyi Kingdom?"

The scholar surnamed Liu's eyes lit up, "Taoist Master, have you heard of our Caiyi Country's Cockfighting Cup?"

The lights on the table were not bright enough, so the young Taoist held the wine glass with his fingers, tilted it, and carefully observed the two colorful roosters by the light of the brazier fire. He said with emotion: "It's famous, it's famous. Of course I've heard about it for a long time. The trail comes from In Ju Luzhou in the north, when I was walking around the world, I once saw two martial arts tycoons spending a lot of money on this and borrowing fighting cocks for gambling. It was very magical. I heard that as long as half of the wine glass was filled with wine, and a ray of spiritual energy was injected into the wall of the glass, the two would be able to win. Roosters will fight on their own to the death, and even the tenth realm saints among the middle and fifth realm gods may not be able to predict the outcome, so as long as the cockfighting cup comes out of your Aquarius continent, the price will be a hundred times a thousand times. It skyrockets upwards, and the ferry from Nanjian Country and the cockfighting cup from Caiyi Country are among the important cargoes to be boarded."

The scholar surnamed Liu had a rather complacent expression on his face, nodded and smiled: "I don't know what's wrong with spiritual energy. I only know that the masters of the martial arts in Caiyi Country like to have fun with this. After pouring wine into the cup, they only need to drink wine with both hands." With a pinch of your fingers, the cockfighting cup can come to life, and then they will fight endlessly until the winner is determined. As for why it is so mysterious, I have seen some records in the county records of various places, saying that the five-colored soil used to make the cockfighting cup, It is the only interesting thing in the world, and it is said that once the soil leaves the Caiyi Kingdom, its smell will change in a short time, and it will be no different from ordinary soil. That is why the cockfighting cup has become our unique porcelain. .”

Taoist priest Zhang Shan was amazed and thought that if someone could monopolize the clay for the cockfighting cup, wouldn't it be possible to earn a lot of money every day and become rich overnight?

Chen Pingan believes in this statement, because Chen Pingan has a deep contact with the properties of soil due to his porcelain making. Longquan kiln workers have been kiln workers for generations, and making porcelain requires dealing with soil, so Chen Pingan has heard of many gods and ways. For example, old man Yao once said that when the soil leaves the ground, it will be molded into a clay Bodhisattva to eat incense; or it will be burned into porcelain and sent to the emperor's home; or it will become broken bottles and jars in ordinary people's homes. Escape from fire, be roasted by water, and be immersed in water. They all have their own roots, and each has its own destiny, similar to human beings.

The scholar surnamed Liu had drunk three ounces of wine, his face was red, he was slightly drunk, and he was in the best mental state. He shook his head slightly and asked with a smile: "The Taoist Master is carrying a peach wood sword. He looks like a man among the gods at first sight. Can you let me Is this cockfighting cup 'alive'? If possible, we might as well make a bet and have some fun. What should we bet on?"

There was a strange look on this scholar's face. It was obvious that whether he had drank or not, he was completely the same person, and he was somewhat of a gambler.

The scholar surnamed Chu sighed and advised softly: "Brother Liu, after drinking half a catty of wine, you should rest quickly."

Taoist Zhang Shan also quickly said: "A cockfighting cup can be worth a lot of money, so why waste it."

The scholar surnamed Liu drank the wine in the glass in one gulp, and with a wave of his hand, he smashed the wine glass in his hand against the wall and smashed it into pieces. He laughed and said: "Since ancient times, the sages have been lonely. Only the drinkers leave their names and their names behind." All the famous people have died, and only this thing has existed for thousands of years. It's really ridiculous. How much is a cockfighting cup worth in Caiyi? It's only two taels of silver. How much is a Jinshi worth? That's expensive. Anyway, I, Liu Zhen, can’t afford it..."

The scholar surnamed Chu looked embarrassed and explained: "Brother Liu likes to talk nonsense after he is drunk. Please forgive me, Taoist priest and young master."

Chen Pingan smiled and drank silently.

Finally, Liu Zhen, who was drunk and talking a lot, was helped back by his companions, and Zhang Shan was sent to the door.

Chen Pingan glanced at the door, but never got up and moved.

In the heavy rain, a bearded swordsman walked through the heavy rain curtain, strode towards the house, and knocked on the door.

The old woman stood on the threshold and asked hoarsely: "What are you doing?"

The man shouted: "Take shelter from the rain!"

The old woman said sadly: "You are a man who speaks with great energy. You are not someone who needs shelter from the rain."

The man said angrily: "Why, your mansion doesn't even have a place to stay?!"

The old woman chuckled and said: "There is still some place to stay, but I'm afraid my master won't like you because of your strong temper. If you annoy the bad-tempered master, not to mention a place to stay, just a place to put a hundred There will be enough land for seven or eight kilograms of fine meat."

The swordsman's beard was as hard as a spear and halberd. He pressed the handle of the sword with one hand and stared at the door with wide eyes. "What nonsense! Open the door quickly. The rain is so evil. How can I not hide from the rain?" How can I go to a brothel in the future? Isn’t that just a joke to those annoying little goblins?”

The door opened slowly, and the old woman sighed softly: "It is better to die as a joke to others than to die for real."

The bearded swordsman was slightly awe-inspiring, but then he laughed loudly and said: "I have the body of a boy, and I have accumulated more than thirty years of yang energy. I'm afraid of nothing! Not to mention monsters, but their ancestors." If you hit me, you have to take the initiative to avoid me."

The rough man walked into the courtyard and frowned when he saw the screen wall.

The old woman slammed the door again.

There was a click of a stone lion outside the door. It turned out that its head fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.

But this little movement had already been covered up by the sound of heavy rain.

Among the wealthy families in some countries in the south of Aquarius Continent, most of the women lived in exclusive boudoirs and embroidered buildings. Some noble families with harsh family traditions would even dismantle the stairs leading up and down, and shelv the waiting women in the boudoir like books. ", waiting for the day of marriage.

As soon as we finally entered the courtyard, there was an embroidery building. On the second floor, the beauty was leaning. It was dark, but there was a man drawing eyebrows for a woman. The eyebrow pencil in his hand fell lightly on the woman's face. The woman was bloody and rotten, with many exposed parts. There were even white bones rolling around, but her smile was vaguely visible.