Twin Jades of Jiangdong

Chapter 5: Confrontation

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Zhou Yu walked very slowly, recalling in the misty autumn rain that when his father was in Luoyang, the high-ranking officials he knew might be able to write a letter... But in the chaotic situation when Dong Zhuo entered Beijing, everyone could not protect themselves. Free to do errands

Halfway up the mountain, the sky was getting dark, Zhou Yu hesitated for a while, and knocked on the door of a temple.

"Master Zhijing." Zhou Yu said, "Borrow me a lantern."

The chai gate opened with a squeak, and the little novice said, "Master invites Zhou Lang in for a cup of tea to warm himself up."

Zhou Yu laughed and said, "It's fine for others, why are you calling after Zhou Lang Zhou Lang?" As he spoke, he shaved the little monk's face, put the fishing rod by the door, took off the bamboo hat, and stepped into the temple.

An old monk was grinding tea cakes, with white eyebrows and beard, and downcast eyes. Zhou Yu went in without saying a word, just sitting in the corridor full of autumn wind and rain. Zhou Yu's father often came to Gushan to play chess with the old monk Zhijing in the Ya Temple halfway up the mountain. After Zhou Yi passed away, Zhou Yu still came to visit him from time to time. When he came, his hands were empty and he didn’t talk to each other. The old monk practiced dumb meditation, that is, talk less and do more. He almost never opened his mouth, and occasionally glanced at him to understand Understand, just miss it.

Hot tea was poured into the clay cup in front of Zhou Yu, the mountains were silent, only the rustling sound of green pines everywhere. Zhou Yu has always loved this place the most, because he can speak freely, and he can never speak. If you like to talk, talk, if you don't like to talk, just drink tea and be in a daze.

"Master, how did you prepare an extra cup when you knew I was coming today?" Zhou Yu thought for a while and replied, "Yes, most likely Lu Zijing passed the door once."

"You two never leave the scale, never leave the scale." The little novice stepped forward and said with a smile, "Mr. Lu also came to ask for a cup of tea earlier, Zhou Lang used the same cup he drank, just asked me to wash it less One, save a lot of effort."

Zhijing handed the cup to Zhou Yu, who took it with both hands. The little novice walked up to the corridor and closed the paper door with both hands. After the dull dragging sound, Zhou Yu and Zhijing formed two silhouettes in the warm yellow light.

"There is no news about the merchants who went to the Silk Road to do business." Zhou Yu sighed, "If my father was still an official in Luoyang, maybe Shu County would not be so panicked."

Zhijing just listened to what Zhou Yu said, and didn't express her opinion. She just carried the pot and filled Zhou Yu with water. Zhou Yu said again: "Yu feels that she is far behind her late father..."

When speaking, the figure was slightly low, and there was a sense of self-blame in the words, and he said: "I can't solve the worries of my mother and all the neighbors."

Thousands of pines and cypresses sway as the wind blows over the mountains and rivers. Zhijing poured the third cup, and Zhou Yu drank it. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Master, I'm wondering if it's a few days before I go to Luoyang in person."

Zhijing just glanced at Zhou Yu, and the little novice opened the paper door and said respectfully, "Young Master Zhou, it's time to go down the mountain, it's getting late."

Said that Bi Xiaoshami turned to get something, Zhou Yu put the empty cup on the table, pondered for a while, and said hesitantly: "But I am a commoner, I have no filial piety, and I have no power and power in Beijing. My old mother at home is afraid of the cold. It really made me... worry... Alas!"

The little novice came over, holding a pack of herbs in his left hand and a lantern in his right, and said: "This medicine is for the old lady, Mr. Zhou please."

Zhou Yu took the medicine and put it into his bosom, and said to the little monk, "I won't give it away, I'll go back right away."

Unexpectedly, Master Zhijing came down the corridor in person, put on clogs, took the lantern from the little novice, and made a gesture of invitation, indicating that he would personally send Zhou Yu down the mountain.

Zhou Yu thought about it, and suddenly realized that Zhijing might open his mouth today and tell himself something. After all, there are very few visitors to the Gushanya Temple, no matter you are high-ranking officials or wealthy local households, Zhijing refuses to enter. The world-renowned literati have never bothered this old man who practiced dumb Zen to send him out of the mountain gate in person. This is the first time in history.

"Master please." Zhou Yu hurriedly bowed.

So Zhijing, wearing a whitish monk's robe fluttering in the autumn wind, walked ahead with a lantern under the drizzle. Zhou Yu followed behind, walking silently.

The mountain road was pitch-black, only Zhijing's lantern was lit in front of her. Zhou Yu pondered for a long time, and finally couldn't help but asked, "Master, do you have something to say?"

However, Zhijing kept on stepping, and with the lamp and the figures of the two of them, they illuminated mountains and rivers, pine forests, and the pitch-black earth, and brought Zhou Yu to the foot of the mountain, where the noisy Shu County was not far away.

Zhijing handed the lantern to Zhou Yu, who stood there in a daze. Immediately afterwards, Zhijing clasped her hands together and saluted Zhou Yu.

"Grandmaster… "

However, Zhijing made another move that was beyond Zhou Yu's expectation. He bowed to Zhou Yu with the etiquette of Zen worship.

"Master!" Zhou Yu was a little flustered and wanted to kneel down to return the salute. But Zhijing got up, turned around, the sleeves of the monk's robe fluttered, and left without even looking at Zhou Yu.

Zhou Yu stood in front of the mountain gate with a lantern in his hand, filled with emotion for a moment. What does Zhijing mean... let yourself travel far, or do you have other deep meanings

Standing until the chill started to rise, Zhou Yu carried the lantern and walked home. As soon as they entered the house, they were immediately greeted by servants. They all waited anxiously for the young master in the middle of the night, those who lit the fire, those who made ginger tea, the mansion was in a hurry.

Zhou Yu just turned a deaf ear to it, and waited until she changed into clean clothes and sat in the hall before Zhou's mother came out and scolded, "Where did you go? It's been a long time, and the family is dying of anxiety."

Zhou Yu broke open the crumbs and fed them to Bai Falcon, saying, "Walk up the mountain once."

"Go to see the old monk Zhijing?" Zhou's mother asked.

Zhou Yu nodded hurriedly, and Zhou's mother sat down opposite her son, who were separated by a short table. Zhou Yu said again: "Bo Fu's letter has also come."

Zhou's mother read a round of letters and said: "This is troublesome for him. It's too heartless to give you saddles all day long."

Zhou Yu said: "Bo Fu checked, but he didn't find any news. Most likely, he can't do anything about it."

Mother Zhou sighed again, with a worried expression on her brows. Zhou Yu took out the package of medicine and said, "I chatted with Master Zhijing for a while."

"When your father was there," Zhou's mother sighed, "he treated you very well. Before he practiced dumb meditation, he said that your achievements will not be inferior to your father's in the future."

Zhou Yu's heart skipped a beat, but she didn't dare to meet her mother's gaze. Zhou's mother saw the medicine and asked again: "What is this?"

"Master Zhijing prescribed the medicine for you." Zhou Yu opened the package. Zhou's mother took a look and said, "Is it the medicine for you? Mother is not sick."

Zhou Yu was also a little strange. Seeing that there were only a few herbs in the small bag, he inspected it with the light. Zhou's mother said: "Isn't this Wang Buliuxing?"

Zhou Yu was silent, and at that moment, he understood what Master Zhijing meant.

A piece of kraft paper, with three herbs: Anemarrhena, Polygala, and Wangbuliuxing.

"Wang Buliuxing..." Zhou Yu murmured.

Zhou's mother didn't understand the meaning of the medicine, and she didn't know that Zhijing's big gift in front of the mountain gate was to bid farewell to Zhou Yu and invite him to Luoyang to govern the world and the people, so as to save the world. Mother Zhou looked out of the corridor and said, "Yu'er."

"Yes... yes." Zhou Yu looked up at her mother.

Zhou's mother said: "How long do you plan to stay at home with your old lady?"

Zhou Yu said: "Mom, I'm always worried about you..."

"In these days," Zhou's mother interrupted Zhou Yu's words, "Mother often thinks, should I tell you about a marriage, let you settle in Shu County from now on, take care of the silk shop, marry a wife and have children? Or do you follow your father's advice?" Your last will, urge you to do your best for the world?"

Zhou Yu's eyes turned red instantly.

"That year," Zhou's mother said, "Mother asked you if you wanted to go to Changsha with Bofu. You said that you couldn't let go of family matters, and you didn't travel far after three years of mourning. Actually, Mother knew what you were thinking."

Zhou Yu fell silent, and Zhou's mother said again: "Now the business is also closed. In my opinion, the shop should also be closed. If you wait like this, your years will be wasted in such a place."

"Your father didn't let you study in Shu County when he was alive." Mother Zhou got up and said, "Don't worry about other mothers, you can figure it out."

Zhou Yu raised his head and watched his mother go back.

In the middle of the night, Zhou Yu knelt in the courtyard and solemnly kowtowed three times to her mother's room.

The shadow of Zhou's mother was reflected on the window, and after Zhou Yu got up and left, the window opened with a "squeak".

A few days later, in front of the misty mountain stream, Zhou Yu carried a sword on his back, tied a bundle, and rode a horse with Lu Su along the side of Chaohu Lake and entered the lonely mountain.

"Zijing! You don't need to send it off!" Zhou Yu reined in his horse, turned around and shouted at Lu Su, "I'll go to Luoyang to check the situation first, you can go back!"

Lu Su said: "That's all, I'd better go back and report and accompany you on the road. I don't think you look like a wild dog, it doesn't feel right."

Zhou Yu smiled and said, "When I'm not around, my mother will ask you to take care of me."

Lu Su frowned slightly, and asked, "Can you do it?"

Zhou Yu smiled and waved his hands, Lu Su laughed and said, "I'm going to see your Bofu, you're so happy."

Zhou Yu realized that his performance was too obvious, so his face darkened, and he said seriously: "To be serious, I went to Luoyang just to find out..."

"Let's go." Lu Su said, "Don't explain, the sun is going down."

Zhou Yu: "..."

Lu Su threw a heavy bag over and said, "Take it with you!" After saying that, he urged the horse to turn around, and when he was parting, he remembered something, and said, "When you see Sun Bofu, please say hello for me."

Zhou Yu said again: "Zijing!"

Lu Su turned his back to Zhou Yu and tilted his head slightly. Zhou Yu said again: "Tell the family members of the caravan to rest assured that I'm going."

Lu Su said seriously: "When you come back safely, you must be well."

"drive!"

"drive!"

The two riders left separately, one returned to Shu County, and the other threw themselves into the lonely mountain. In the vast mist, they were far away from each other.

"Drive!" Zhou Yu's voice was full of uncontrollable excitement as he passed through the lonely mountain.

"Drive!" The sky is full of autumn colors and yellow leaves are everywhere. The fallen leaves on both sides of the official road were overwhelming in the strong wind, and you could see it as far as the eye could see. The field is golden, as if a Luanming carpet has been laid on the chessboard between the sky and the earth.

"Drive—" Thousands of mountains pass away, and the stream is rushing, leaving Yangzhou and passing through Lujiang River. A few days later, in the early morning, Zhou Yu waited for the first ferry boat in front of the surging river. After landing, he didn't stay any longer and went northward via Xiapi County all the way westward. As the distance from Sili got closer, the roadside was overgrown with weeds and more and more barren fields.

A few days later, Zhou Yu, who was sleeping in the wild, bent down to wash his face and mouth with water in front of the stream, and saw a corpse floating down the stream with a sword wound on his body.

Zhou Yu was silent for a moment, only to see another corpse going down the river.

He poured the water filled in his water bag back into the stream, held the hilt of his sword, and led the horse forward. After several miles away, he saw gluttonous dogs gnawing on the starving people on both sides of the official road, all of them were skinny.

"Study medicine? Hanging the pot to help the world?"

Father's words echoed in his ears.

"I'm afraid that if you can save people, you won't be able to save the world."

"Study literature and become a scribe."

"You govern the world and save the people."

Zhou Yu was puzzled when he was a child, and turned his head to look at the bustling Luoyang, Yangzhou is full of flowers, silk and bamboo, and thousands of lanterns.

"I see these, these, and those... aren't they all good?" Little Zhou Yu said.

"When you grow up, you will understand." Zhou Yi sighed, stroked his beard, and shook his head helplessly.

In the year when Dong Zhuo entered Beijing, there was a famine all over the world, people died of starvation everywhere, and abandoned corpses filled the streets. On the desolate land, Zhou Yu no longer had the excitement and comfort he had when he first left home, and felt heavy and depressed, with an inexplicable feeling in his heart. I still remember that when I was young and went to Beijing with my father, Sili Hongnong was clearly not like this.

It's only been less than ten years, how could it be like this? Zhou Yu rode alone on the official road, feeling a little hesitant in his heart. This strange world was clearly not the Hongnong he knew. Passing through the villages and towns where I had rested with my father when I went to Beijing eight years ago, they have long been scorched and empty.

Sun Ce's army had to be found as soon as possible. Zhou Yu finally realized the seriousness of the matter, so he urged Ma Xi to go west, and must find Sun Ce before dark. However, as soon as they turned the hill, they heard the sound of fighting coming from a distance.

At dusk, blood flowed into rivers by the stream, shaking heaven and earth. Zhou Yu was startled, the water in the stream was all dyed purple-black, it was obvious that they had been fighting for nearly a day.

One side of the battlefield is a legion wearing black armor, and the other side is white helmets and red tassels. However, under the fierce battle, the white armor has become a dirty color. The army pushed to the stream. Zhou Yu wanted to go forward several times, but he was concerned about the opponent's strength, and it might be dangerous to enter the battle alone.

But he couldn't see the opponent's battle flag, so Zhou Yu urged his horse to roam around, looking for the flags of both sides. The white army was killed until the blood flowed like a river, and had been driven into the stream. The Black Armored Army changed again, neat and uniform, really well-trained, observing the entire battle formation, it seemed that there was an invisible thread leading thousands of people to charge in different directions.

There is no general flag, but everyone knows where the coach is. The fighting power of this army was the best Zhou Yu had ever seen in his life. Without hesitation, Zhou Yu charged forward.

However, at that moment, the white army fought back again, and some soldiers came to kill, shouting to kill. Hearing the accent, Zhou Yu seemed to be from the north, but seeing that his war horse did not look like a south horse, he withdrew and retreated. The other party obviously didn't intend to let him go, and immediately mobilized dozens of people to pursue him.

Zhou Yu complained endlessly, what are you chasing me for! Immediately turned the horse's head and rushed towards the black armored army. The two sides were fighting in full swing. Unexpectedly, without warning, a man came out halfway. The sky was dark and the scene was chaotic.

"Who is that person?" The commander of the black armor army is tall and tall, with his feet clamped on the belly of the horse, and he is fighting with a long halberd. He turned his head inadvertently, and found the stupefied man who had accidentally hit and entered the battle formation. green. The subordinate shouted: "My lord! I don't know the origin of that man!"

"Back—" the commander shouted.

The black armored army immediately retreated like a tide, but the white army was like a winding snake, biting Zhou Yu and relentlessly chasing Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu had no choice but to draw out his long sword while galloping at high speed. The rubbing sound of the sheath became clearer and more vibrating, resounding through the valley, like a dragon chant in the twilight!

"Good sword!" the Commander-in-Chief shouted.

Zhou Yu didn't care to answer for a while, but the soldiers of the Baikai Army had already chased after him and swung a gun! Zhou Yu leaned over, turned over from the horse's back, hung upside down on the horse's belly, and quickly turned up from the other side, the ancient sword swayed with a cold light, and with a "ding", the spear head was cut in half!

"Okay!" The black armored army applauded thunderously, and Zhou Yu's forehead was covered with sweat. Seeing that several white army soldiers had caught up, their spears blocked all his way. Zhou Yu jumped up, his martial robe flying, swung his long sword, turned over in mid-air, spun around, faced his back, made a beautiful circle with his long sword, flew backwards in the air, stepped on the horse's head, and came again neatly backflip.

The war horse neighed and galloped non-stop. Zhou Yu's figure swept away and landed on the horse again.

At this moment Zhou Yu had escaped from the encirclement and appeared dozens of steps away.

The tall and thin commander of the Black Armored Army pushed up his helmet, showing sharp eyes, then hung the halberd behind his back, took the arrow, strung the string, and shouted: "Fuck!"

In an instant, the soldiers of the Black Armored Army backed away like a swarm of ants with a "shua", Zhou Yu's eyes reflected the figure of the tall commander under the crimson sunset, and the tip of the arrow flashed.

At the same time, the soldiers of the White Army rushed forward again, with arrows rushing towards them like locusts. Even if Zhou Yu had tens of thousands of body parts, he was determined not to be able to avoid the rain of arrows.

In an instant, the two sides shot arrows at the same time. The commander in black armor shot arrows in succession, drew arrows, and set them up like a phantom. With the sound of arrows, the pursuers behind Zhou Yu fell off their horses. The third and fourth arrows flew away like a rain of flowers. In an instant, the white soldiers turned on their backs and fell into one piece.

The Black Armored Army let out a cry and killed like mountains and seas. The White Army's defeat has been revealed, unable to resist, the two sides began the last round of charge. Zhou Yu bumped back and forth in the battle formation, trying to control the horse, but his collar tightened behind him, and he was lifted up by a strong arm.

"What are the scholars doing here?" The indifferent tone made it vaguely recognizable as the commander's voice, and then Zhou Yu struggled hard and shouted: "General, please be merciful! I am..."

Before the words were finished, the commander palmed everything on Zhou Yu's neck. Zhou Yu's eyes suddenly went dark, and he threw himself behind the horse and passed out. The commander-in-chief of the Black Armored Army put Zhou Yu behind his horse and shouted, "Boys, retreat!"

Calling gold, withdrawing troops, the white army has retreated into the mountains, unable to fight anymore, the black armored army is still chasing behind, cursing and cursing, archery.