The old man closed his eyes and murmured, "Nianqing, now you're the one waiting for me."
— —
In Jiangnan's water town, there were many small bridges and flowing water.
The young man nicknamed Bamboo wandered the streets of the town for an entire day before returning home in the dusk. His mother had closed the cloth shop and was preparing food at home. The young man buried his head in eating. The woman who had brought her son to this town the year before last said softly, "Eat slowly. No one will steal from you."
The young man only cared about wolfing down the food.
The woman smiled, "Your brother Wen is already married. I don't expect you to find a good girl like the young lady of the Liu family. It's fine if you can just kidnap one back."
The young man's mouth was full of food as he mumbled, "I know, I know."
She sighed, "Don't just stay outside all day doing nothing. I don't want you to earn money. It's just that it's not good for a man to always be doing nothing. When a woman marries, she always likes to find a man who has work to do. Even if she's poor at the beginning, she'll have something to look forward to. Her days will be more comfortable … "
The young man suddenly slammed the bowl in his hand onto the table. His face was full of anger as he roared, "Yes, I'm not doing proper work. But even if I'm like my father, what's the use?! My father is famous for being an honest man, isn't he? Anyone who does farm work would give him a thumbs up, right? What's the result?! Didn't he leave us behind for so many years? We don't even know if he's dead or not! If he comes back one day, I won't recognize him as my father! Bastard! "
Her eyes were red. She was originally a gentle woman. Although her voice trembled, she said with an unquestionable attitude, "You're not allowed to talk about your father like that!"
The young man got up and left the stool. He squatted at the door and sulked.
The woman turned her head and secretly wiped her tears with her sleeve. After clearing away the bowls and chopsticks, she carried a small stool to the door and said softly, "I'll warm the food for you in the pot. When you want to eat, just let me know."
The young man lowered his head and choked out, "Mother, I don't want to get angry at you. I'm just complaining about my father. He let you down …"
The woman smiled and said, "How did your father let your mother down? Your father, ever since he knew me, has never said a harsh word to me, nor has he lost his temper once. For so many years, the crops have been taken care of by him alone. He has never allowed me to work in the fields, not even once. Every time he went to the market in town, he didn't forget to bring back some hairpins, rouge, and other small things. Back then, I complained that he was wasting money. Every time your father said he understood, he understood. But every time, your father would still buy them. Your mother, I, only complained about your father verbally, but I liked him in my heart. Which girl in the village doesn't envy your mother for marrying into a good family? "
The young man said angrily, "It's my father's fortune to be able to marry you. He should love my mother so much."
The woman smiled and stroked her son's head. "When you find a wife in the future, you have to treat her as well."
The young man was still resentful. "Anyway, he's definitely not like my father. Once he left, there was no news of him for several years. He didn't even know how to send a letter home."
The woman smiled gently and didn't say anything.
The young man suddenly said, "Mother, Brother Wen Hua said that I shouldn't mingle in the pugilistic world. He said that when he has saved enough money, he can buy that restaurant from the shopkeeper around this autumn. In the future, he wants me to help him do odd jobs, and I agree."
The woman said happily, "That's a good thing. You know so many friends, but only your Brother Wen Hua truly cares for you. In the future, when you help him with things, put in more effort. Don't think too much about money. Your father said that we humans can't climb out of money once we fall into it. That's the life of a lifetime of hard work. It looks like we don't have to worry about food and clothing, but it's actually not comfortable. "
The young man smiled. "Heh, my father can say such things?"
The woman pretended to hit him.
The young man suddenly asked, "My father's name is Wang Mingyin?"
The woman who was just pretending to give her son a chestnut, now really hit her son's forehead. She laughed angrily and said, "How can a son call his father's name directly?"
The young man smiled and said, "Mother, let me tell you, there used to be a man called Wang Mingyin in the Jianghu. He was very powerful. His brother was Wang Ming Yang, who guarded Xiangfan City for ten years. He was the only high-ranking official that even the Prince of Northern Liang couldn't do anything about. Wang Ming Yang himself was also very powerful. He was the eleventh martial arts master in the world. The Wang family of the two brothers was even more terrifying. I've heard of a scholarly saying, 'Generations of Zhan Ying'. It probably means that many generations of the family were high-ranking officials and dignitaries. Mother, do you want to hear about the Jianghu deeds of the guy with the same name as our father?"
The woman shook her head and smiled. "I don't want to hear about it."
The young man looked at the sky and stood up. "Brother Wen said yesterday that he asked me to find him for a drink when I have time. It seems that he heard something happy. I'll go now."
The woman hurriedly stood up. "Bring some cloth."
The young man rolled his eyes. "Brother Wen doesn't care about this."
The woman glared at him. "It's good that he doesn't care. Our Wang family has to put ourselves in his shoes."
The young man made a face. "That's what my father said too, right?"
The woman went to the inner room and brought back two pieces of cloth. She handed them to her son. "After drinking, walk slowly on the way home."
The young man took the cloth and left the house as fast as he could, saying that he knew.
The woman saw that her son didn't close the door. She shook her head helplessly and went to close it. When she was about to bolt the door, she paused. In the end, she didn't completely close the door. She turned and walked into the house.
"Mingyin, your son has grown up. He's like you. "
— —
On the Great Snow Plateau of Mount Hui, the Xuanyuan family's reputation couldn't reach the top of Jianghu even in the hands of Xuanyuan Great Plate. Now, not only had it suppressed the Taoist Master's Mansion of Longhu Mountain, it could even look down on the Dongyue Sword Pool. In the whole world, perhaps only the Wu family's Sword Tomb could be on par with it. All of this was attributed to the woman in purple who was in charge of the Moonless Tower. Countless Jianghu heroes willingly prostrated themselves under her purple clothes. When she had a place in the Martial Arts Review, the Great Snow Plateau, which had become the newest holy land in Jianghu, was even more crowded. There were so many mountaineers that it was impossible for people to go down the mountain. When her name didn't appear in the Rouge Review, countless young chivalrous men in purple who admired her felt injustice. They clamored that they would teach Nalan Youci and Xie Guanying a lesson.
The former Fourth Prince, who was now the Emperor, had come to visit but was refused at the door. In addition, the King of Beiliang had asked the Fish-dragon Gang to escort the books in the Tide-listening Pavilion Martial Library to Mount Hui. These two things undoubtedly had great influence on the Jianghu people who liked to make groundless accusations. Many people speculated that the reason why the Emperor didn't like Hsu Fengnian so much was not only because of the old grudge between the previous Emperor and the vassal kings of Beiliang, but also because of jealousy. This kind of wild speculation, which was originally sneered at by the Liyang officialdom, began to gain a firm foothold after the Emperor personally sent people to the Moonless Tower of Mount Hui with the inscription "Invincible in the World". The whole Jianghu had a better impression of the new Emperor, who was famous for his various literary and administrative actions after ascending the throne. After all, the two previous Emperors of Liyang were both iron-fisted monarchs who liked to "pass on the Jianghu". The current Emperor didn't treat the Jianghu people kindly, but at the very least, he didn't have any deep hatred for them. This was worth celebrating even if it wasn't the New Year.
Xuanyuan Qingfeng stood under an old cassia tree. After Mount Hui's chief guest, Huang Fangfo, left the mountain, and the purple-clothed woman, who was the Mount Hui Mountain Master and the Wulin Alliance Leader, was obsessed with martial arts, Huang Fangfo, who had reached the Finger Mystery Realm, became more and more powerful.
However, even though he was second only to one person and above tens of thousands of people in Mount Hui, Huang Fangfo was more cautious than before. He didn't dare to cross the line. In the past, in order to increase her realm, she had absorbed the internal energy of countless Jianghu masters. Her cruel methods were even worse than those so-called Jianghu devils. The latter would at least pay attention to the fact that a rabbit doesn't eat the grass near its burrow. She had started from killing the retainers of Mount Hui from the very beginning. Only when no one was worthy of her attention did she target the masters outside the mountain. Now, after the battle with Wang Xianzhi, her martial arts attainment and realm had improved by leaps and bounds. Some of the secret manuals sent by the Tide-listening Pavilion made her even more powerful.
Xuanyuan Qingfeng asked calmly, "How many Second Grade Master masters are there on the mountain?"
Huang Fangfo replied respectfully, "There are six people willing to serve Mount Hui. There are eleven people who are only willing to add flowers to the brocade."
Xuanyuan Qingfeng sneered, "Flowers to the brocade."
Huang Fangfo felt a chill all over his body.
Xuanyuan Qingfeng kept her hands behind her back. She raised her head and looked at the leaves of the cassia tree. Her tone turned gentle, "Flowers to the brocade, charcoal in the snow, frost in the snow, oil in the fire, cotton in the wind, and a knife in the heart."
Then, she mocked herself, "What kind of woman do you think I am?"
Of course, Huang Fangfo wasn't naive enough to think that she was talking to him. He left silently.
She waited until Huang Fangfo was far away. "At that time, you used the luck of the imperial jade seal to help me stabilize my realm. I didn't accompany you to Shenwu City to deal with Han Shengxuan. But later, Wang Xianzhi went to find trouble with you … We don't owe each other anything anymore. Now, I have Zhao Huangchao and Useless Monk's martial arts experience. I don't need those boxes of secret manuals at all! Do you want to do a big deal with me again? "
Xuanyuan Qingfeng was silent for a moment. "Or do you think we're even?"
— —
Dunhuang City.
In a hidden house that no one cared about, a plump woman bent down to protect a toddler who had just learned to walk. The toddler wobbled as he reached out to grab the bead curtain hanging at the door.
As the child's mother, her eyes were filled with doting, love, guilt, and regret.
She crouched down and hugged the child.
The adult's cheek touched the child's cheek.
She said softly, "Xu Nianliang, my little sweet potato, when you grow up, you must find your father."
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