The old man who should be West Chu's Sage of Calligraphy, Qi Lianhua, laughed self-deprecatingly. "Spring and Autumn Saber Armor? Saber and brush officials, saber and brush officials. Saber and armor it is. "
For thousands of years, the world had always been proud of practicing the sword. Not to mention paladins, even scholars from all over the country often carried swords when they traveled to study, to show their spirit. In the competition for the head of a hundred weapons, sabers were always inferior to swords. In terms of numbers, sabers did not lose to famous swords. Moreover, most of them were legendary in Jianghu. For example, the Big Frost Saber in the hands of Hsu Fengnian's disciple, the stories of its previous owners could be said to be soul-stirring. However, ever since Lu Zu became famous for beheading people with flying swords, the way of the sword became the most outstanding branch in Jianghu, while the reputation of the saber man became worse and worse. There had never been a master who used the saber to reach the top of the way of the martial arts. In the last hundred years, there were Sword Armor Li Chungang and Peach Blossom Sword God Đồng Thái. Although they both lost to Wang Xianzhi, no one could deny that these two champions of the way of the sword were outstanding. On the other hand, the number one saber user, Gu Jiantang, had never been ranked high on the list of martial artists. His reputation in Jianghu was also mediocre. No one had ever heard of anyone practicing the saber because they admired Great General Gu's kung fu. There were some who picked up the saber because they envied Great General Gu's military achievements, but the world's men, even the devil Han Diaosi, said before his death that he had once thought of roaming Jianghu in green with a sword, let alone other young men. How many women had heard of Li Chungang's name and could not forget him?
Even Hsu Fengnian himself, who pretended to be a young swordsman in Beiliang before he practiced the saber in order to deceive women, wished that he could hang famous swords all over his body.
The 'Sage of Calligrapher' Qi Lianhua was actually the saber and armor that only Jianghu caught a glimpse of. This truth was really moving, and even more so, it made people envious of West Chu's flourishing scene in those days. It was indeed worthy of being the orthodox literary lineage of the Central Plains. There was Li Chungang wielding his sword across the Great River of Guangling, there was a literary hero who distributed small boats and drank wine, there was a hundred poems, there was a woman whose beauty could cause the downfall of a city or a state. There was also the State Preceptor Li Mi and the proud master and disciple of the Cao Family working together to 'stop a game of chess when the snow began'. It was no wonder that some people said that the destruction of West Chu was not the fault of the Emperor, the scholars and the common people. If they wanted to hate, they could only hate that the Heavenly Time was in Liyang and not Jiangchu.
The old man waved his hand at Hsu Fengnian. The old man was the first to crouch down. Looking at the tombstone of Princess Consort Wu Su, his attitude was no longer as spirited as before. There was only the bleakness and desolation of the most ordinary lonely old man in the world. In a low voice, he murmured, "What does Xu Xiao count for? He's just a crude martial artist. It's fine if he marries a woman of passable beauty."
Hsu Fengnian was furious. He laughed coldly and said, "Old Sir, do you really think that if you and I fight to the death, I, Hsu Fengnian, will definitely lose?"
Qi Lianhua dismissed it with a smile and asked, "You haven't gone to your hometown in Jinzhou to pay respects to your ancestors, have you?"
Hsu Fengnian didn't answer.
In reality, it wasn't just him. Xu Xiao hadn't gone to Jinzhou since he was made empress. Hsu Fengnian's grandfather had passed away very early. At the time, Xu Xiao had just left Liaodong and was fighting fiercely with the powers of the vassal towns in the south of Liyang. After Hsu Fengnian was born, he had never seen his grandparents. Xu Xiao was the only child, so he didn't have any relatives from the Xu family. In the early years, some distant relatives from Jinzhou had run to Beiliang to claim kinship with Xu Xiao. Xu Xiao, who had been looked down upon in his youth, could be considered extremely benevolent and gave them a share of wealth and glory. As for the elders on his mother's side, Wang Fei Wu Su almost never mentioned them. When Hsu Fengnian was young, he would occasionally hear his mother mention that his maternal grandmother was a good person who got along well with others. It was a pity that she had passed away early. As for who his maternal grandfather was, his mother had never said a word. Xu Xiao also wasn't willing to say much. Only once, when he was drunk, did he angrily say that the old man had died a long time ago. Hsu Fengnian guessed that Xu Xiao must have been rejected outside the Wu family's sword tomb when he had asked for marriage. He had been beaten by his father-in-law with a sword until he pissed his pants. From then on, they had formed a grudge and never had any contact with each other again. Hsu Fengnian also had resentment towards that maternal grandfather. Later on, his aunt at Mount Qingcheng always wore armor and covered her face. It was the Wu family who had made things difficult for his mother that caused his aunt, a sword attendant, to have her face cut beyond recognition by the sharp sword qi. Although it wasn't his maternal grandfather who had done it, Hsu Fengnian felt that if that maternal grandfather had said a few words of justice and treated his mother's running away from home, the Wu family's sword tomb wouldn't have been so cruel and vicious. Especially after learning that his own uncle, Wu Qi, purposely met in Beimang but didn't acknowledge him. In the end, he went to Xishu to assist Chen Zhibao. Hsu Fengnian really didn't have any good feelings towards relatives and elders with the surname Wu. Even though the current head of the Wu family, who he should have called great-grandfather, had taken the initiative to make up for it once on the Beiliang border, Hsu Fengnian couldn't help but feel a knot in his heart.
The old man let out a long breath and said ruefully, "I once helped Da Chu compile the history books of the previous dynasty and read them all. At the time, although my bladesmanship didn't have the name of a grandmaster, it had the strength of a grandmaster. However, when I was compiling the history books, I often felt terrified at night. There was no other reason than the three words' people eat each other 'everywhere in the books! "
"Although it is normal for the world to rise and fall, every time there is a turmoil, the suffering of the people is really unspeakable. On the road outside the outskirts, dawn and dusk are like sheep herding. The clamor of eating and choosing the fat part, the swift blade descends to strive for victory. What kind of tragic scene is this? The road is full of the dead, and the living are ghost neighbors. The common people of the world are half wandering ghosts. This isn't a poet in troubled times moaning about nothing! I saw with my own eyes that at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, boys were sold for a few copper coins, and girls were only worth a handful of corn. Later on, some parents couldn't bear it and exchanged children for food with others. In the end, people in the world were no longer human, but worse than ghosts! How can I not hate Li Yang? How can I not hate Xu Xiao, who went all the way south to destroy cities and countries?! "
"In the old days, the nobility's house was a place where foxes and rabbits roamed. In fact, it wasn't just the nobility's house that was like this. "
Hsu Fengnian grabbed a handful of snow from the ground and held it in his palm. He couldn't help but interrupt the old man's speech. "Xu Xiao said that a person should know their place. The first-class scholar Qi Zhiping, the second-class scholar can also complain for the common people. As a warrior who carries a blade, he only knows how to fight and only fight. If you give him a few thousand people, he will conquer a city. If tens of thousands of people, he will conquer a country. When he has hundreds of thousands of cavalry, what else can he fight if not the world? So later on, when so many people scolded him, he never talked back. He also didn't think that what he did was right. In the Beiliang army, the older generation like Yan Wenluan, Zhong Hongwu, He Zhonghu, and the younger generation like Chu Lushan, Li Mofan, and Cao Xiaojiao, which one of them isn't a notorious veteran ruffian in the eyes of the world? "
Hsu Fengnian's expression was firm as he said in a deep voice, "But it can't be denied that if someone has to be the butcher who helps Li Yang unify the world, then Xu Xiao is definitely the best result."
Qi Lianhua sighed. "I really haven't thought about this."
The old man who was deep in thought suddenly laughed. "Huang Longshi has a poem that is widely circulated, 'The country is broken, the mountains and rivers are still there, the city is in spring and the trees are deep'. This Old Man of the Song family in Li Yang commented that the word 'deep' is not as good as the word 'life'. If we use the word 'life', we can combine movement and stillness. The scholars of Li Yang's literary circle all applauded. What do you think? "
Hsu Fengnian said calmly, "My second sister once said in Shangyin Academy that This Old Man of the Song family changed a dog's fart."
Qi Lianhua asked, "Then aren't you curious about which family Xu Weixiong is the daughter of?"
Hsu Fengnian was touched and couldn't hide his anger. "It's none of your business!"
Qi Lianhua narrowed his eyes and smiled. "Hsu Fengnian, oh Hsu Fengnian, you really are similar to your father, Xu Xiao."
Hsu Fengnian took a deep breath. "I respect Sir's loyalty to West Chu and your many years of hiding in Beiliang Palace to protect the fallen princess Jiang Ni. But Sir shouldn't think that you can really do whatever you want in the Xu family. "
The old man didn't think much of it and sneered. "Oh?"
At some point, the two of them were standing in a position where Qi Lianhua's back was facing the entrance of the mausoleum and Hsu Fengnian's back was facing the two tombstones.
Then, the two of them took a step forward at almost the same time, but the back of their feet was stepped on by the other's other foot. Hsu Fengnian used his two fingers as a sword and stabbed the old man between his eyebrows. The old man raised his palm and slapped Hsu Fengnian's chest.
The old man's body spun like a top. At the same time he removed the finger sword, his large sleeves fluttered, stirring up a snowstorm and creating the scene of an earth dragon drinking water. Hsu Fengnian was pushed to the tombstone by the palm strike. He stuck one hand to the back of the tombstone and pushed lightly, borrowing the force to charge forward.
Hsu Fengnian, who was in the air, kept his two fingers together and swiped them across the top of the old man's head. Boundless Sword Qi immediately poured down from the sky.
The old man sneered. His footwork was completely different from the martial artists of the world. His two feet were slightly tilted inward, one hand behind his back and the other clenched into a fist. He stepped forward in a straight line and avoided the Sword Qi. His fist just happened to land on Hsu Fengnian's stomach. The fist was as heavy as a drum. Borrowing the force from the rebound, his five fingers immediately loosened and he pushed out with his palm. Hsu Fengnian's body flew backwards, exploding with ear-piercing sounds like firecrackers in the snowy night. Qi Lianhua's fist, palm, and footwork were all very simple and straightforward. It was easy to associate him with the conceited Wang Xianzhi, who had once regarded himself as an enemy of the world. He was as fast as lightning and as powerful as a thunderclap. He only used his bare hands to face his enemies and disdained all the divine weapons in the world.
Hsu Fengnian was actually not that heavily injured. He had only been pushed back by the old man's single move. His heart was in turmoil, and the Qi in his body that was already in a mess became even more unrestrained, like adding oil to boiling water. This gave him a new understanding of the Spring and Autumn Saber Armor. He originally thought that Qi Lianhua was at most on the same level as Sui Xie Gu, but it seemed that he was at least a little bit higher.
If it was before the [Zhan Long] in Liuzhou, Hsu Fengnian was confident that even if Saber Armor went all out and he was careless, he would not be in such a difficult situation.
After Hsu Fengnian landed, a trace of blood seeped out of the corner of his mouth. However, he did not wipe it away. He did not care, nor did it matter.
Hsu Fengnian had experienced many life and death battles, and this was not the first time he had experienced them.
The old man clicked his tongue and said, "With your current terrible situation, you would have at most used three moves to put your life on the line. Against a normal Vajra or Mysterious Finger expert, three moves would have been enough. Unfortunately, you met me. "
Hsu Fengnian calmly said, "There was no need for three moves. One move was enough."
The old man asked, "Even if you die, you still want to protect the two tablets behind you? If you die, what's the point of the tablets? Aren't you, Hsu Fengnian, the King of Beiliang? Don't you know how to choose? "
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