Behind the mountain was a forest of steles.
Stone steles were everywhere, and there were even more under construction. Most of them were still wordless, but there were already several hundred stone steles in the periphery that already had owners. They were all made from calligraphy pills, and they were all from the Dragon-Elephant Cavalry who had died in the battle in Liuzhou at the end of the Auspicious Year. There was an ancient saying that one would be thin if they used ink, and fat if they obtained vermillion. Therefore, calligraphy pills were best made with strength and hard bones. The people who had drawn these stone steles were two renowned Beiliang calligraphers. Because Mi Qiang and Peng Henian lived in the north and south of Liangshan, there was a saying that "the south's muscle and the north's bone". Because of the conflict between the north and south, the two old calligraphers put on a stance that they would never interact with each other. Moreover, when Great General Xu Xiao was still alive, they did not think much of Beiliang's military and political affairs. However, when the Beiliang Palace announced that they were going to erect three hundred thousand stone steles, Mi Qiang was the first to go to Mount Qing Liang. He asked a few questions, and after getting the answers, he stayed there and then wrote a letter to Peng Henian. The general idea was, "Grandson Peng, do you dare to come face to face with your grandfather?"
Afterwards, Peng Henian took the set of four treasures of the study that he regarded as his life and ran to the back of Mount Qing Liang. He and Mi Qiang built a hut and lived next to each other. The two old enemies actually became neighbors. Then, in the midst of the two old men's sparring, or more accurately, quarreling with each other, the Deputy Administrator Song Dongming personally gave them a list. On the list were names and two simple things: when and where they were born, and when and where they died.
At the beginning of the calligraphy pill, the two old men still had the intention of competing. Later, when Mi Qiang wrote a name, he suddenly burst into tears. "Liu Hongyi, a young man from Chunshui County in Lingzhou. When he was young, he relied on his family background and was unbearably naughty. This Old Man even scolded him for wasting that name. This child was only 21 years old, how could he die just like that?"
After that, Mi Qiang Peng Henian became more and more silent. Other than communicating with the stonemasons who were responsible for carving the words on the back of the book, he did not like to talk much.
Today, when the Mi and Peng elders heard that someone had arrived at the Stele Forest, their hearts tightened. With complicated feelings, they took their luggage and ran over to take a look. To their surprise, it was the King of Beiliang who had come in person. The two elders were not used to bowing to anyone, so their actions were very unfamiliar. Hsu Fengnian hurriedly helped the two elders up, but did not exchange any pleasantries. After a moment of hesitation, he divided the pile of paper into four portions, one for him and one for Song Dongming, and the other half for Mi and Peng, the two calligraphy grandmasters. The four silently began to write on the stele. Behind the four of them, there were two to three skilled craftsmen who had already prepared the tools and were waiting for the carving. In the evening, the sound of metal and stone clanging could be heard. Xu Fengnian and Song Dongming finished half an hour earlier than the two old men. By the time they finished the last batch of rice, it was already dark. They didn't even have time to wipe their hands full of red rice. The old man walked to Xu Fengnian's side with a tired look and asked in a deep voice, "Why are there wars everywhere in the hinterland of Youzhou?"
Hsu Fengnian said softly, "The spies of Beimang have infiltrated and are wantonly assassinating the officials of Youzhou …"
Mi Qiang directly pointed at Xu Fengnian's nose, jumping up and down as he cursed, "Back then, when your father was still alive, Northern Mang also had assassins ambushing us. How could they have been stopped outside the pass?! How did you become the King of Beiliang?! Aren't you the best ace in the world, Hsu Fengnian? Do you only know how to stare all day long?! You watch people die in front of your eyes, and then you collect their corpses and pretend to write a few names?! "
Song Dongming was about to speak when Hsu Fengnian, wearing a thick fur coat, waved his hand and stopped the deputy administrator's explanation. He looked at the old man and said apologetically, "I didn't do a good job."
Peng Henian's personality was not as impatient as Mi Qiang's, but he was still angry. However, he still pulled on the latter's sleeve.
When Hsu Fengnian had walked far away, the gloomy-faced Mi Qiang spat heavily at the back of the figure. He threw the priceless green crab shell inkstone in his hand onto the ground and said, "I'm not writing anymore. I'm not staying in Beiliang anymore! I'm going to Jiangnan! I'll write the words' Hsu Fengnian is a bastard 'for as long as I can live in this life! "
Not long after, Song Dongming turned back and saw Mi Qiang standing in the same place with his eyes closed. Peng Henian squatted on the ground and sighed. Neither of them picked up the inkstone. Song Dongming bent down to pick up the inkstone. He was not in a hurry to return it to its owner. He looked at the top of Mount Qing Liang and said in a low voice, "The two of you probably haven't heard of Beimang's Sword Aura is close to Huang Qing and who the founder of the Chess and Sword Music School's Bronze Statue is. Neither of you have seen a real dragon. In fact, I, Song Dongming, have never seen one. But I know two things. First, Huang Qing died in Liuzhou. The real dragon raised by Beimang is also gone. Along with it, hundreds of Qi cultivators hiding in Beimang's Xijing are also dead. The second thing is that there are two tombstones here. They are almost engraved with two names. Coincidentally, both of them have the surname Xu, Xu Longxiang and Hsu Fengnian. "
Song Dongming turned around and returned the ancient inkstone to Mi Qiang. He smiled calmly and said, "If Beimang is really gone one day, Hsu Fengnian will definitely be included on the tombstone. Of course, I, Song Dongming, am an outsider. At that time, I hope that Old Mi will be willing to write it."
After saying that, Song Dongming slowly left.
Peng Henian deliberately did not look at Mi Qiang, whose face was flushed red. He counted with his fingers and seemed to be talking to himself. "Hsu Fengnian is a bastard. Eh? That's not right, Old Mi. You calculated wrongly. It's nine words, not eight words like you said. "
Mi Qiang carefully kept the ancient inkstone. He rolled his eyes and said, "Mi Qiang is a bastard, okay? It's exactly eight words! "
Peng Henian laughed out loud and said, "Sure, why not? Isn't your birthday in a few days? I'll write a piece of calligraphy for you. How about that?"
Mi Qiang did not care about being polite. He flew into a rage out of humiliation and said, "Write your head!"
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