The carriage left Xunshui and got onto the bridge. In the world of human conflict, there were beacon fumes everywhere. The border between Ying and Zheng in the south is already thousands of miles of scorched earth. In the north, the two kingdoms of Zheng and Liang are separated by rolling mountains. In the Laoshan Mountains, there are bandits and thieves raging in the mountains. After years of famine and drought, the common people have changed their sons for food. Only the end of the grass is a pirate.
Geng Shu has come all the way from Anyang, and the suffering in the world has long been no surprise, but this is the first time Jiang Heng has seen this painful world with his own eyes.
The victims who escaped from the Liang Kingdom wanted to go to the Zheng Kingdom, but the whole world looked the same. Often people who could not walk died on the side of the road, and their corpses were exposed in the wilderness and turned into food for hyenas. Among the weeds, the rotten corpses that were not torn apart were accompanied by the white bones, and the pitch-black and discolored heads were abandoned in the ditch.
Geng Shu wanted to block Jiang Heng's eyes, but this scene was everywhere along the way. Even when he went to the stream to fetch water, he could see dead bodies frozen in ice. How could he stop it? In the end, you have to let it go.
"Just go to Luoyang." Geng Shu said to Jiang Heng, "In this world, human life is like grass, and death is a relief."
Jiang Heng could only nod his head numbly and said, "Is it because of the war?"
"Famine," Geng Shu said, "I went south by the way more than a year ago, and this is the situation."
The two brothers were gathering firewood behind the abandoned ridge. Jiang Heng thought about it and said, "Until the world is unified for a day, the wars in the world will not stop. That's it."
Geng Shu was holding a branch, Jiang Heng picked one up and put it on top of the branch he was holding.
"Let's go, you can't do anything." Before leaving, Geng Shu glanced at the frozen corpse in the glacier. It was a young man with his eyes open and his clothes stripped off. Encountered mountain bandits blocked the road and robbed and died.
I just don't know if the deceased still carried hard-earned money with him before he died, and in a far away country, there are still his wife and children waiting for him to return home
The road was safe and sound, as if no one had bothered them. Jiang Heng was vaguely aware of a certain tension under the calm.
Only Geng Shu knew that the journey seemed peaceful, but in fact it was full of crises. Because every evening, Xiangzhou would leave the carriage for about an hour and come back on time before dark.
After that, they passed through many wastelands and abandoned villages. Geng Shu could always find people dressed as mountain bandits and road bandits from the back of houses or wells. The newly-dead corpses and the fatal wounds were all a neat sword in the throat - no need to ask. I also know that it was naturally Xiangzhou who went on the road ahead of time and took care of the villains.
Geng Shu didn't ask any further questions, and everyone maintained a high and unanimous tacit understanding: try not to let Jiang Heng see any corpses.
"What's your relationship with my family?"
One day, when Geng Shu and Xiang Zhou were free to practice swordsmanship, they suddenly stopped and asked him a little hesitantly.
Along the way, Xiangzhou was both a driver and a handyman, chopping firewood and burning fire, foraging for food and driving cars.
"It doesn't have anything to do with it." Xiang Zhou said casually, "Your sword is good, but unfortunately you can't, and the foundation is not solid. Your father was in the world back then, and no one could match him, and he didn't pass on his martial arts to you at all."
Geng Shu turned a deaf ear to Xiang Zhou's evaluation, and only asked, "What are your plans?"
Xiang Zhou covered his face, but his eyes narrowed slightly, and he could see that he was smiling. At a quick glance that day, he had a face that was only 20 years old, but Geng Shu could see that the assassin was over his thirties. Can't practice either.
Just like Xiangzhou's work of flying flowers and picking leaves.
Geng Shu took a hidden weapon from him, which was a piece of Zheng money that could no longer be ordinary. When it hit the sword, Geng Shu was shocked and his arms were numb, and he couldn't even lift his arms the next day.
"I'll teach you how to use hidden weapons," Xiang Zhou said. "Smashing flowers and beating people, do you want to learn?"
Saying that, Xiang Zhou picked a peach blossom and taught Geng Shu the formula for flying flowers to hit acupoints. The flowers are light and fluttering, and the petals will fly off with a little force, but the flower bones are tangible things, and they can be hurt by focusing on internal energy. people.
At this time, Jiang Zhao and Jiang Heng left the broken house, and Xiang Zhou put away the sword in his hand.
"Using you to meddle in your own business?" Jiang Zhao said coldly to Xiangzhou, full of majesty.
Xiang Zhou didn't say anything, just nodded slightly, but Jiang Zhao said, "Teach another blind man, and who do you want him to harm?"
Xiang Zhou had to pretend that he didn't hear it, but Jiang Heng was very happy. He had just made medicine for his mother in the house. His mother rarely gave him a second look, and she didn't think he was annoying.
"You come in." Jiang Zhao said to Geng Shu.
Geng Shu also put away his sword and followed Jiang Zhao into the broken house.
The broken roof tiles do not cover the head, it is a sunny day, the spring is blazing, the house is covered with wisteria flowers, covering the four walls, and the sun shines directly from the top of the head.
Jiang Zhao sat down in front of the broken couch, behind a wall of wisteria flowers, Geng Shu stood still in the sunlight, looking at her puzzled.
"Kneel down." Jiang Zhaozhu lightly parted his lips and said these two words in a low voice, but he did not have the slightest sense of boredom in the past. Looking at Geng Shu's eyes, he was even more puzzled.
slkslk.com
Geng Shu was silent for a moment, then Jiang Zhao asked again, "Are you kneeling?"
Geng Shu knelt down, and Jiang Zhao said again: "Kow nine heads to me, your mother owes me."
Geng Shu didn't ask more, just knocked nine times in a row.
Time seemed to freeze, Geng Shu knelt on the ground and looked down at the moss that covered the ground. After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Zhao finally spoke again.
"Now pass on your Black Sword Heart Art and Tianyue Sword Art, listen clearly."
Geng Shu was shocked, and suddenly raised his head, looking at Jiang Zhao in disbelief.
Jiang Heng was behind the house and found a wooden case to cut medicine for his mother. In the days of fleeing, Geng Shu practiced martial arts every day, but Jiang Heng didn't have a book to read, but he didn't know what to do for a while. It was rare for his mother to ignore him, which made him even more uncomfortable.
According to the daily practice at home, Jiang Heng asked her what she should do after asking her to be safe. The result was a scolding:
"Such a big man? You don't even know what you want to do? You are born with the temperament of mules and horses! Waste!"
So Jiang Heng started looking for something to do by himself, but he couldn't find a job in the wilderness, so he had to collect and boil medicine for his mother. .
Xiang Zhou held the flying knife with his slender fingers, cut out a two-finger-wide wooden cart, placed it on the wooden case, put his fingers against it, pushed Jiang Heng in front of him, and teased him.
Jiang Heng only glanced at it, and then said seriously: "I don't like these anymore. You should play with younger children. Only two or three-year-old children like it."
Xiang Zhou narrowed his eyes again and replied, "Then what do you like at your age?"
Jiang Heng said, "I don't know."
"Do you like studying?" Xiang Zhou asked, "I guess you don't like it either."
Xiang Zhou was wearing an assassin's close-fitting military uniform. Even in this chaotic world, he was washed clean and flat, and the ironing fit perfectly, showing off his slender legs and waistline.
With his long legs crossed, he sat at Jiang Heng's desk where he was cutting the medicine. He glanced at him again and said, "Don't be so busy, I'll take you to catch monkeys? There's a nest of monkeys at the foot of the mountain. I'll grab a small one and bring it to you. play."
Jiang Heng said, "What's wrong with the monkeys? You can't let them go? You've already killed so many people, why should you separate people from flesh and blood just for fun?"
Xiang Zhou didn't laugh this time and said, "The lesson is right, you shouldn't do this. Do you know that I murdered again?"
Jiang Heng said, "You killed those in the well, behind the house, and in the cellar."
"They are evil people." Xiang Zhou said solemnly.
They passed through many occupied bandit dens along the way. Xiangzhou, in order to avoid trouble, made the first move. Of course, he felt that he didn't need to teach Jiang Heng these things now. After all, as he grew up, he would always know.
Jiang Heng smiled reluctantly, and Xiang Zhou suddenly stretched out his finger to press the dimple at the corner of Jiang Heng's mouth. Jiang Heng was puzzled and looked up at Xiangzhou.
"Have you ever seen your mother smile?" Xiang Zhou suddenly asked, "Your dimples look very much like her."
When Jiang Heng was asked this, he was suddenly a little confused. In his memory, he seemed to have never seen his mother smile.
"Did she laugh often before?" Jiang Heng asked curiously.
"Not often, just once or twice." Xiang Zhou was also restless, he took a small piece of wood and began to cut it, and cut out some shapes like a trick, which attracted Jiang Heng's attention.
"But your aunt laughs a lot," Xiang Zhou said solemnly. "She is just like your mother. She has this dimple when she smiles, which is very intoxicating."
Jiang Heng: "???"
Jiang Heng heard a strange thing.
"Auntie?" Jiang Heng asked, "Do I still have an auntie? I don't remember mother saying..."
When it was too late, a wooden table crashed through the side wall and flew towards Xiang Zhou. Xiang Zhou immediately got up and took out his palm.
Jiang Heng screamed in fright. He didn't know what happened until he saw his angry mother and Geng Shu who was standing beside him, holding a black sword.
Xiang Zhou accidentally slipped his tongue, and immediately dodged behind the woods, only to hear Jiang Zhao solemnly say, "If you talk nonsense like that again, get out of here!"
Xiang Zhou's face immediately became a little unnatural, and he sighed softly.
"Let's go," Xiang Zhou waited for Jiang Zhao to sit back, and then said to Jiang Heng, "I'll take you to fish and eat fish at night."
Jiang Heng did not refuse this time. Killing is always inevitable, but he must be respectful when killing. This is what the books taught him. In front of the golden stream, he sat side by side with Xiang Zhou, one big and one small. Start fishing.
"Do you recognize my father?" Jiang Heng suddenly asked Xiangzhou.
Xiang Zhou was in a trance, took back a fish he caught, and said casually, "I know."
Jiang Heng asked in a low voice, "What kind of person is he? Don't be afraid, my mother can't hear you from such a distance."
Xiang Zhou was startled, then laughed. Jiang Heng was a little skeptical at first if Xiang Zhou was his father, but looking at Geng Shu's performance, he couldn't admit the wrong father.
"He's an amazing person," Xiang Zhou said to Jiang Heng, "I want to know, otherwise, with your mother's temperament, how would you marry your father?"
"That's it." Although Jiang Heng didn't understand the love between men and women in the world, he always understood Mrs. Zhao. With the attitude of a mother to people, it is not easy for ordinary people to say the first half of a sentence to her. married
"Is it like Geng Shu?" Jiang Heng asked.
Xiang Zhou threw the hook out: "A little bit. If he is still alive, I don't have anything to do with him."
"Can I take a look at your appearance?" Jiang Heng asked, "Why do you cover your face, it's just me and you here, and you don't kill people now."
"I'm an abandoned disciple of the sect," Xiang Zhou said with a calm expression, he lifted half of the mask and let Jiang Heng look at the word "abandoned" on his side face, and explained, "I have no face to see in this life, so I masked my face. It's not that people are masked because they want to kill."
Jiang Heng asked again, "What should I call you? Are you and my father senior brothers?"
"No," Xiang Zhou said in a trance, "if we meet by chance, you can just call me 'hello' and I'll come over."
Jiang Heng smiled again, and Xiang Zhou's gaze moved to the corner of his mouth, his eyes narrowed slightly. The two spent the afternoon on the riverbank, catching a lot of fish, and before leaving, Xiang Zhou reached out to Jiang Heng.
Jiang Heng then held hands with him, Xiang Zhou put the fishing rod on his shoulders, bowed, wrapped his arms around Jiang Heng's waist, and picked him up.
Jiang Heng is already nine years old, but Xiang Zhou is tall and he is not burdensome when he picks him up. Instead, Jiang Heng is a little uncomfortable and smiles, "I can walk by myself."
"I hugged you when you were two years old," Xiang Zhou said, "Is it embarrassing now?"
Jiang Heng was startled and said, "I don't remember, have you been to my house before?"
"Come here often," Xiang Zhou replied, "it's just that you don't know."
Ten steps away from the house, Xiang Zhou took the initiative to put Jiang Heng down on the ground.
"Brother!" Jiang Heng shouted, "We caught a lot of fish! There are fish to eat at night! Come and see!"
Xiang Zhou made a "shush" gesture towards Jiang Heng, signalling not to disturb them.
As the sun went down, Geng Shu finished practicing a set of black swordsmanship and a set of Tianyue swordsmanship, both of which Jiang Zhao had learned throughout his life.
"Have you learned?" Jiang Zhao asked softly.
"I don't know," Geng Shu said, "I barely remember it all."
Jiang Zhao looked at Geng Shu in a trance.
Geng Shu suddenly asked, "What's next? Who to kill?"
Jiang Zhao was stunned for a moment, but then he understood and replied, "No, no murder."
Geng Shu was silent for a moment, only to hear Jiang Zhao say again: "From now on, Heng'er will be handed over to you."
From the moment Jiang Zhao began to dictate the Tianyue Sword Art, Geng Shu had already guessed a few points. At this moment, he simply nodded and said, "Got it."
Jiang Zhao is like a sculpture in the sunset.
Knowing that she was still worried, Geng Shu said without hesitation, "I swear."
"No need." Jiang Zhao said lightly.
"I swear," Geng Shu insisted, "I swear in the name of my father, Geng Yuan, the number one assassin in the world, and I swear in the name of my mother, even if I am torn to pieces, I will protect Heng'er. My son is my life, don't worry."
At that moment, Jiang Zhao moved his lips, as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't say it.
"Good boy," Jiang Zhao finally said after a while, "I handed over Heng'er to you, and you two will depend on each other from now on. After today, wherever you want to go, you can go together; do whatever you want. Just go. , don't be separated in this life, or you will regret it, just like me and Qing'er."