1

Speaking of Yuan Xian's sharp Tang horizontal knife, it is called "Dieli", which is a pair of Zhong Li's slender ring hand knife "Chang Xun". In October 31, after pacifying Xuzhou, due to the loss of weapons, Zhong Li resigned from everyone and went to Yangzhou to ask for a good sword. Legend has it that Longyuan is a generation of sword trading resorts, eight days, sure enough, see the city of swords and swords, the cold light shines on the eyes, the people who come and go are shoulder to shoulder, there are both fledgling teenagers, but also veterans with gorgeous hair and silver armor.

Zhong Li did not rush into the market, but first found an ordinary tea shop outside the market, and asked for a big bowl of tea to sit down. The tea shop is open on three sides, and the people who enter and exit the market have a panoramic view, and those who come here to ask for tea, except for Zhong Li, who are looking for swords, are more merchants who come and go and help short-term workers.

said that he was drinking tea, Zhong Li was actually looking at the guys brought by merchants and customers, and if he ventured into the huge bazaar, most of them would have to eat old oil or lose money. However, after sitting for half an hour, all I saw were ordinary goods, some of which were no better than those made by the blacksmiths in the surrounding countryside. Seeing the sun go down, Zhong Li was wondering whether to find a place to live first, when he saw someone arguing.

Because he was an outsider, Zhong Li didn't want to care about it, but he heard one side say, "I want this sword today", which caused him to continue to wait and see.

"Why do you want to force it if you don't sell it? You can use everything else in the store to pay off your debts. "One of the parties to the dispute was a small blacksmith who made and sold himself, and he looked like he was only eighteen or nineteen.

"You think I'm stupid? Which of your miscellaneous little blacksmith things can you like? Only this one in your waist can pay the debt of eighty taels of silver! "The other party should probably be a ruffian, and he should be collecting debts for himself or some of his owners.

"No, this is what Master gave me."

"It's okay or not, but it's not up to you!"

Seeing that several strong men behind the fierce man went up to rob him, the little blacksmith had no choice but to stretch out his hand and open his sword. However, before the sword was fully drawn, the strong man knocked it to the ground as soon as he came up with a stick, and the sword flew far away.

Zhong Li's eyes were attracted by the flying sword, and he could see from afar that the sword body was black but not turbid, and the luster was cold but not shining, like the first ink jade, which would freeze the cold water. Just as the sword flew towards him, he leaped up and flew to catch the sword.

Seeing that the sword was in Zhong Li's hand, several people couldn't help but say that they came up and raised the stick to fight. Zhong Li blocked with his sword, and the white ash hexagonal stick wrapped in sheepskin broke in two. Seeing that the matter had come to this, he had no choice but to strike his sword on the skull, and then he heard a few bangs, and several strong men staggered and sat on the ground.

"You, who are you? Okay, so bold! When the wicked man saw this, he was so frightened that he stuttered.

Zhong Li almost laughed when he saw this person's reaction. "Yingchuan Zhongli." He replied casually, recalling the feeling he had just felt when he had just used his sword. Although there is some weight in the hand, the force is very uniform and smooth when swinging. A person who can make a sword so easily, if he can see it because of this, Zhong Li feels that it is not in vain for him to meddle in this matter.

Yingchuan Zhongli ...... Is it the current Shuoguo Xuanlong General, Yingchuan Flying Snow Blade? ”

"You know? Exactly, exactly. ”

"What if you know? It doesn't matter if you are a flying snow blade, a red lotus spear, a meteorite hammer or an archery bow, what kind of majesty do you have when your Shuoguo general comes to our Yangzhou territory? ”

"I didn't want to play majestic, I just did my friend a favor." As he spoke, he took out four silver ingots of twenty taels from his waist bag and smashed them on the ground.

was so embarrassed that this fierce god was ruthless for a while, and he drew his knife and slashed it according to Zhong Li. Zhong Li didn't want to make a big fuss, so he saw the right time, led the sword and slashed at the blade, he shook his wrist hard, only to see the sword pass through the blade, and the knife was cut in two.

The sword fell to the ground with a clatter, and the fierce god was so frightened that he grabbed the silver with both hands and turned around and ran.

"I'll pay the money back first. If you still want to introduce you to Yangzhou's Ninghai Chasing Wind Spear, the East China Sea Water Knife or something, I am waiting for you at any time. After saying that, Zhong Li thought of the sword again, so he picked it up and looked at it carefully, and there was not a trace of scar in the place where the two blades were slashed just now. After a second look, Zhong Li was deeply attracted by the diamond-shaped swirling pattern that was coiled like the thumb texture of the sword body, and such a smooth and powerful texture was hidden in the sword body, as if looking at the sea of clouds in the quiet lake.

"This ...... Checkmate? ”

Zhong Li came back to his senses when he was called. "Call me Zhong Li."

"Thank you Zhong Shaoxia for your help, and he will repay this kindness one day. It's just that this sword ......"

"Ah, yes." Zhong Li's gaze remained for a moment more when he returned the sword. "You don't care more about any help, I just need to know who forged this sword."

"This sword was forged by Master Nai, and it is called 'Dragon Diving'."

"'Dragon Diving', what a sword. Dare to ask where is the Venerable Master first? If it can be introduced, it is a great favor. ”

"That's a good thing to say, uh, it's just ......," said the little blacksmith, and his face suddenly became embarrassed. You see we've just gotten into trouble, so it's not appropriate to talk here for a long time, right? ”

2

Zhong Li and the little blacksmith went out of Longyuan City and found a rural inn to rest. At dusk, Zhong Li ordered a catty of boiled beef, and three taels of turbid wine, and talked with him at the table, knowing that it was not easy to find a sword like this.

The master of the little blacksmith is called "Ah Xu", one of the seven masters of Longyuan sword-casting, and the good swords of "Longqian" that we see today must only come from the hands of the seven masters, and the swords forged by the seven divisions will never circulate in the Longyuan market. The annual output of the Seven Division's swords is only a handful, and most of them are entrusted by people to all parties to search for them, and they were booked the year before, and this year's volume has already been booked. The swords of the disciples of the Seven Masters are of the highest quality, but they cannot be sold in the bazaar without the permission of the Master. Today's little blacksmith ran out of his master alone because of a dispute with his master and sold swords in the bazaar.

At dawn the next day, Zhong Li, according to the description and sketch drawn by the little blacksmith yesterday, went to the mountains outside Longyuan City to look for Ah Xu. It is the time when the solar term is approaching the beginning of winter, and the green leaves that are still seen in the countryside will be withered and yellow at the foot of the mountain. The mountain breeze is slowly descending, not as cold as the north, and the yellow leaves are falling one after another, covering the road, and the more you enter the mountain, the more difficult it is to find the road from it.

By noon, Zhong Li had been surrounded by layers of fallen leaves. Because the shape of the mountain tends to be gentle, he can barely distinguish the ridge, and then follow the sketch as he goes. When the road is roughly right, the dead leaves have no foot surface, and the poor road will gradually reach the legs and shins. Because the weather is fine, I can't walk a little sweat and soak my clothes, but if I stop for a while, I feel that the mountain breeze penetrates the body, and it is too cold.

Walking further into the mountains, the road gradually became clear again, but because the non-road places were steep, there were not many fallen leaves. Following the yellow and blackened leaves in this way, Zhong Li soon found the crooked-necked half-dead tree that the little blacksmith had repeatedly admonished.

Zhong Li was originally a little confused, but when he saw this tree, he knew that it was not something else. It was an old cypress tree, but the trunk was hollow, and the seeds of the vine that sprouted after falling into it were forced into two petals. The trunk of the tree, which was originally thick, needed dozens of people to hug after being stretched out, and the vines in the middle also grew to the thickness of human legs, but they could not withstand the years, and they had died in the trunk, leaving behind tall and disordered, intertwined dry vines. Half of the old tree that was propped up must have died first, and the half of the corpse outside the mountain has now been weathered to the point that only the main branches remain, and the other half died a little later, and you can see the dead branches with the thickness of your fingers, which are estimated to be similar to the years of the vines. And on a side branch that was half high, and it seemed that a person could reach it when he jumped up, there were seven or eight clusters of tiny twigs that were still green, and the direction they were facing was where Zhong Li needed to go.

Half a quarter of the mountain road to see the mountain stream, tracing the stream, along the shade of the moss and rocks not far away, Zhong Li finally saw a hut when he was open. The hut is surrounded by stones compatible with the mountain stones, there is a courtyard of several zhang square behind the low door of the withered rattan plate, a three-bay stone grass-roofed house in the middle, a stone chimney is very eye-catching, the wings on both sides are a lot smaller, and the stones have grown moss on the waist.

Unable to breathe out of the house, Zhong Li pushed the door and entered the hospital, and went straight to the middle house, where there was a table of carbon pools the size of a high bathtub on the left hand side, and the charcoal fire in the pool was scarlet. Half of the old man sat on the edge of the pool, staring at the charcoal fire in the pool with his bare upper body, and the solid muscles on his body were reflected by the firelight like freshly fired brick-red glazed porcelain.

"Excuse me, but Master Xu?"

The old man suddenly raised his head when he was asked, and the wrinkles on his eyebrows and forehead were lined up like water waves, almost reaching the top of his bald head. The gray hair on both sides was fluffy and spread out like a broomstick, covering both ears. The drooping eyelids half-cover the eyeballs, and it seems that it is not easy for people to look directly into his eyes.

"Next year is already full, please come back!"

Although it was only a glance at each other, Zhong Li already felt that this person's eyes were extraordinarily bright, more like steel cooled after a hundred forgings than charcoal fire.

"And what about the year after next?"

"I'll make an appointment next year after next year." The old man picked up the shirt from the side, put it on and was about to leave.

"But I've heard that you won't have an appointment next year?"

"Who said that?" The old man smiled disdainfully at first, but suddenly came back to his senses, "Didn't you see that unscrupulous criminal?" ”

Seeing that he cared so much, Zhongli briefly passed through the way of the way. The old man was shocked at first, and then the atmosphere was more annoyed in the end. "He made such a fuss for eighty taels of silver. Don't go with the way of a thousand gold and a sword, so ask for hardship. Where is he now? ”

"Arranged in the country, sheltered from the limelight. Do you need me to teach him to come back? ”

"Hmph, it's better to get away with such a criminal." The old man who originally cared about was angry for a while, "Why are you meddling?" ”

"It's just that I saw that he had a good sword in his waist, and I didn't want to take care of things easily."

"Such a good sword, it is just for him to show off." The old man took off the shirt he had just worn and sat back by the carbon pool angrily. "Who are you?"

Hearing Zhong Li report his home, the old man was taken aback. "The general of Shuoguo, I didn't expect to see it here."

Zhong Li didn't know why, so he just replied: "Come and find the sword." ”

But at this time, the old man unexpectedly asked: "How is Old Yuan An?" ”

As soon as Zhong Li heard this, he knew that there was a mystery hidden in this matter, so he asked rhetorically: "The master knows our leader?" ”

"It's just a matter of working together."

"I haven't heard him mention it, and I haven't seen anything like a 'hidden dragon' in the army."

The old man tugged at the corners of his loose mouth, "He, like me, has been burdened by utensils all his life, how can he worry about such human feelings?" ”

"In that case, you and I are half an old man, and it is not too nosy to help you as an apprentice." Zhong Li climbed along the pole.

"Hmph, unfortunately, even so, I can't do anything about the sword."

Zhong Li was a little annoyed when he heard this, and his answer was in vain. "You, Master Axu, I should call you Uncle Axu according to your seniority, and the reason for this should be explained to your nephew." He asked patiently.

"All the materials have been used, what do I use to forge a sword?"

"Material, iron? I'll go to the city and look for it. ”

"Not available." Ah Xu showed a slight smug smile at this time, "If you forge an authentic Longyuan sword, you can only use 'jade iron'." ”

"'Jade Iron'?" Zhong Li often heard of meteoric iron and black iron, but it was the first time he had heard of "jade iron".

"Haven't heard of it? This thing is only circulated in the Seven Divisions of Longyuan. ”

"Then you're not the Seventh Division?"

"Hmph, what if it's the Seventh Division? The furnace master gave only these. ”

The more Zhong Li listened, the more confused he became, what is this furnace master, and what is jade and iron. "Master Xu, can your old man explain the words clearly at one time?"

Ah Xu looked quite bored, but still explained: "The furnace master is a person who specializes in refining jade and iron. However, every year I meet in the sword furnace, pray for a day and a night at the furnace sacrifice, and when the iron sand is turned into jade and iron, and each person obtains the portion and returns, only then can there be a year of forging the foundation of the sword. This year, there's nothing left for you. Master Ah Xu said, his eyes seemed to have flashed the fire in the carbon pool during the furnace sacrifice.

"And what day is the 'furnace festival' you are talking about?"

"The next day of the beginning of winter."

"Isn't there five days left?"

"How about five days, where did you find this iron sand? The market sells all the inferior products around, only the iron sand in Longyuan can be made of jade iron. Now the sand miners have rested early due to the cold. ”

"Dare to ask how much iron sand do you need for two straight knives?"

"Eighty pounds less."

"Then I'll give it a try."