3

Returning to the inn, Zhong Li took the little blacksmith to the market to select sand mining utensils and gather workers. Sure enough, the tools for sand mining were good, but there were none of the workers who went into the water, and the two only hired two porters.

The next day, the two went to the middle reaches of Longyuan at the foot of Cishan Mountain to mine sand. Iron sand is produced in Ibarayama and mostly flows down the river and accumulates in the gentle flow of water.

The two used wooden basins and bamboo baskets to extract the silt, and then rinsed it in a place where the water flow was more rapid. The sediment swayed repeatedly in the bamboo basket, and the lighter silt was carried up by the current, turning into a yellowish mud soup and flowing down the water. The heavier sand is left in the container and comes in five colors: white, gray, yellow, red, and black, while iron sand is only one of the black ones. The little blacksmith told Zhong Li that there are a total of 27 Longyuan waterfalls up and down Cishan, and 12 rapids, each of which has a different flow speed. The old sandman is familiar with the habits of the water, so he will wash the sediment with a slow stream and then a rapid stream, removing different substances in turn. Local blacksmiths generally have to do three to seven washes of water, and some do nine for high-quality products, while the iron sand handed over by the seventh division to the furnace master is based on twelve courses.

At the end of the day, the two of them first got 200 catties of coarse sand, and in the past days, these were about 80 catties of fine iron sand after careful mining. The little blacksmith originally said that he worked with Zhong Li, which was regarded as a return of kindness, but in the next day, he fell ill due to the cold, so he could only reluctantly move his body to take Zhong Li to the place where he was pansha. Because he was missing one person and had to take care of the little blacksmith, Zhong Li only made two of the twelve water taos a day. Although the further back there is less sand, the faster it will be scooped, it is still too late.

In the evening, Zhong Li asked the little blacksmith to write down the order and location of the sand, and the next day he left the little blacksmith and went to the sandy panning early in the morning.

In late autumn, the sky is bright, and the mist in the mountains gradually turns from indigo to bean red from bottom to top, and the withered black branches all over the mountainside are soaked like ink in the painting. The cuckoo cries and the ethereal echoes of the mountain water all around, making the mountain road even longer. Although Longyuan is famous, it is an open stream in the mountains, the more clear it is to the mountain, the cobblestones in the water, the light brown sand bottom, you can see clearly by the stream.

The autumn is deep and cold, and although the stream is as beautiful as ice crystals, it is also intimidating. Even though Zhong Li's physique was stronger than ordinary people, it couldn't withstand the slightest trace of the cold in the water invading his body. The first two days were fine, but as soon as the water got out of the water today, he felt that the cold of the flowing water was like a knife cutting insects, eroding his knees and shins little by little. However, there were still one hundred and sixty pounds of coarse sand, and there were still ten channels of water left, so there was no time for him to think about fear.

At the end of the day, he completed six waters, scooped down sixty catties of sand, and the progress completely caught up. But in the middle of the night, Zhong Li's legs hurt as if they were about to crack open from them, and it seemed that thousands of catties of stones were pressed on them, and his muscles and bones were about to be broken. When it comes to the pain on the battlefield, he endures much more pain than this, but the continuous and radiating cold pain really makes it difficult for him to sit still, let alone sleep.

"Your legs are frozen, aren't you?" The little blacksmith could hear Zhong Li's discomfort from the tossing and turning.

"It's a small thing, but the arrow is much more powerful than this." Zhong Li replied strongly.

"I've tasted it. Although there is no such thing as a root cause here, it is really uncomfortable to be frozen for a while. I see that your sand is almost too much, so if you can't use it, you can make do with this. ”

"No, your master doesn't look like a person who can make do with it. Besides, this is the sword I want to use with very important people, and I can't be sloppy. After the night conversation, he forced himself to sleep.

At some point, he was dazed, and soon he began to dream. He dreamed that he was red-eyed on the battlefield of Yingchuan, and the corpses of his comrades and enemies were piled up half a person high. The snow was blowing and covering all the corpses, and he was half-buried by the snow and the corpses, stuck and unable to move, as if he was going to freeze to death on the battlefield.

This dream woke him up early, and he made up his mind to go to the sand.

At the beginning of winter, as soon as he went out in the morning, Zhong Li felt that the wind was cold again, and the yellow leaves and gray rocks on both sides of the mountain road were covered with shallow frost. But because he had to go into the water, Zhong Li couldn't wear heavy clothes, but just put a cloak made of sheepskin over the single clothes.

The last few streams of water are in the depths of Cishan, and just rushing to make Zhong Li's legs a little unbearable. The iron sand that has passed through the nine rivers has tended to be all black, which is much more solid than the coarse sand, and there are about 20 catties in a shallow bamboo basket. This made Zhong Li endure the pain of his legs and feet while his waist and arms also reached the limit, and it was very difficult to carry things.

After almost knocking over the iron sand several times, Zhong Li finally only had the last water challenge, and at this time it was already twilight, and the scene in the mountains was gradually darkening, so he had to dismiss the hired workers, light the torches, and carry more than 80 catties of iron sand on his back to the deeper part of the mountain.

With the last touch of afterglow, Zhong Li found a waterfall several feet high according to the description of the little blacksmith. The waterfall rushes straight down from the cliff face, and the huge rocks under the cliff have been turned into a pool under the impact of the waterfall over the years, and there are about one person in the depths of the pool, and the diving area is not above the thigh. The round stones scattered around the big rock beach were also washed out of the large and small round pits by the splashing water.

"Qianlongtan, I guess you can't be wrong." Zhong Li lit a fire in the stone pile, and set up torches around him, and he could barely see the situation in Tan Zhong, so he jumped into the water with the iron sand.

The cold moonlight casts through the bare branches, and the warm red fire reflects on the damp and mottled rocky walls. The sound of the wind in early winter and the sound of the waterfall rolling down one after another, drowned out the wailing of the cold insects in the deep forest. Zhong Li stood in a dive near the beach, constantly washing the iron sand in the bamboo basket in the relatively gentle current. His eyes couldn't distinguish the changes in the iron sand, but he kept shaking according to what the little blacksmith said, "Each catty of iron sand is nine positive and nine is up and down, and the complex is nine positive and nine negative".

The cold numbness of his legs, the fatigue of his body, and the dreams he had before the morning reminded Zhong Li of the Battle of Yingchuan. He stood in the snow below his knees, and in the face of the repeated onslaughts of Yuan Xian's soldiers, he had to swing his hand and the long knife that was bent. The two sides dragged their bodies and charged in the snow, the horses slipped and fell in the snow, and the knives slashed against the iron armor and shattered like ice cubes...... The bright red blood stains formed red pits around Zhong Li, and people kept crawling through the pits, and then they were smashed into a blur of flesh and blood by his curved long knife, and they had to desperately kill the comrades around him. Most of the soldiers who survived the battlefield that day died of wounds and cold in the following days, and then there was that "drag knife plan".

The more Zhong Li thought about it, the more he felt cold, and the waterfall and flowing water were like charging soldiers impacting his body. He slowly retreated to the edge of the pool, leaning against the outer wall of the pool and continuing to shake the iron sand, in addition to counting in his mouth, he also silently recited from time to time: "There can be no more knife bends." ”

4

The rooster crow in the countryside was transmitted to the mountains long before dawn, and a line of whiteness could be faintly seen in the sky. The outline of the bluestone house was faintly visible in the white lines, and the candles in the room were lit, and after a few moments, the wooden door slowly opened with a long sound.

The old man who came out of the house saw a vague shadow outside the wall, as if someone was leaning against the wall. The shadow slowly got up when he heard the movement, carrying a basket of things behind him.

"It's early enough."

"If it's too late, I'm afraid I'll miss the hour." Zhong Li's voice reached Master Xu's ears.

Let him enter the house, Zhong Li unloaded the bamboo basket in front of Ah Xu, "The eighty catties of Longyuan Tieying sand you said." ”

Ah Xu lifted the cloth cover on the basket, put his thick fingers into the still wet iron sand, and gently grabbed a handful. The iron sand is delicate and dense, and if you look closely, each fine particle has a slightly cold luster. He put the iron sand back down, turned over his hand and lightly lined up the basket of iron sand. When he raised his head, he saw Zhong Li's face with a satisfied smile pale and purple, so he went back to the back room without saying a word, and hurriedly came out with a gourd after a while.

"Sit down."

Zhong Li was ordered to sit on the side of the carbon pool, and Ah Xu lifted his trouser leg, pulled out the gourd and poured it into the net. As soon as Zhong Li recognized from the smell that it was wine, he saw Ah Xu turning over the carbon pool, taking out a piece of charcoal fire that was about to burn out, burning it to his leg and throwing it back.

"Don't move." Zhong Li was held down by Ah Xu, and he saw a blue flame burning on his leg, and it crackled. He was startled, but immediately recognized that the fire was burning but not painful, and that it was still very comfortable in his knees and ankles.

"The rest was drunk." As soon as Ah Xu handed over the wine gourd, Zhong Li could only pour it down. Although there is only a bottom of the wine left in the gourd, the lower stomach feels that the body seems to be covered from the inside out, and the sweat of the nose and head can be seen to bubble out.

"What's, what is this?" Zhong Li's throat seemed to swallow carbon, and his words were hoarse.

"Tiger bone wine." Ah Xu looked at Zhong Li's reaction and said, "Don't ask more, you can't delay any more time." ”

5

Zhong Li followed Ah Xu with iron sand on his back, and went up along the rugged mountain road. The higher he walked, the narrower it became, so that Zhong Li had to face the rock wall and walk through. The peak loop turned between the two of them to a peak platform, and they saw the sun rising, and they were suddenly swept away in a dark state.

This platform is more than ten zhang wide, surrounded by chaotic stones, there is a door in the stone, there are seven or eight buildings behind the door, the highest one stands in the middle of the back, there are five or six zhang high and five or six zhang wide, like a big hall.

Ah Xu led Zhong Li to enter through the stone gate, walked through the winding paths, staggered platforms, and finally came to the bottom of the main hall. Up close, the forehead of the main hall is supported by six bare wooden columns, each with five layers of bucket arches. The bucket arch is thick and strong like an elephant's leg, the beam fang is wide and solid and not decorated, and a wooden plaque is hung in the middle, and there are two words of "sword furnace" on it.

In front of the hall is a courtyard several feet wide, and some people have gathered in the courtyard at this time. It can be seen from the dress, position, etc., plus Ah Xu, the seventh division has reached its sixth at this time, and Ah Xu is the least of the six people.

However, to Zhong Li's surprise, one of the disciples was actually the troublemaker he saw in the market that day, and that person also saw Zhong Li at a glance. At this time, there were many people in his division, so he took the initiative to find him.

"Master Xu, I haven't seen you for a while, and the apprentice has changed?"

"He's not my disciple, he's just asking for a sword."

The man walked to the side again and looked at Zhong Li for a while. "Oh...... Who should I be, it turned out to be the boy who made trouble in the market that day, called Zhong He Li? We haven't settled the previous accounts yet, but today you came to the door by yourself. ”

"Don't make trouble." Ah Xu stopped Zhong Li, who was talking to him, with one hand, and said to this person.

"I don't want to, but this person hurt our Ling Yimen earlier, and he had a holiday with me Ling Yimen. Today, Master Ah Xu brought him in front of everyone and claimed to forge a sword for him, I don't know if he intentionally or unintentionally went against my door. ”

"Hmph, when did Ling Yimen fall to rely on your junior to speak?" Ah Xu reprimanded with his seniority.

"Master Xu, if you don't look at me, you have to look at my master's face, right? His old man was now in the temple talking to the furnace master. ”

Ah Xu glanced at the main hall, and then at the dozens of disciples of Ling Yimen outside. Zhong Li saw his embarrassment, so he took a step forward and said, "I'm afraid that your master's face will be lost by you, right?" I couldn't have imagined that the No. 1 sword-forging sect in Longyuan would raise such a bastard. If your master can't tell the difference, I'm afraid this Ling Yiyi won't be long. ”

"You!" Zhong Li's words provoked everyone in Ling Yimen to look at him angrily, and the rest of the people also paid attention.

"You insulted my master today, aren't you afraid that you won't be able to eat and walk around?"

"Afraid? What's so scary? Saying that, Zhong Li had already unloaded the iron sand on the ground, "My Yingchuan Flying Snow Blade is going to destroy you today, so what's the difficulty?" After saying that, both sides showed their swords one after another, and the rest of the sects flashed back.

"Stop!" Just when the tension was tense, the door of the main hall suddenly opened, and two people walked out of the door, one of them was slender and sturdy, the same age as Ah Xu, and wearing a brocade jacket. The other man looked like he was in the prime of life, his hair was weak but snow-white, his eyes were covered by a white cloth, he was wearing a gray robe, and he held a black feather fan in his hand.

When Ling Yimen saw that the two of them came out and hurriedly collected the weapons in their hands, they saw the brocade jacket walking quickly in front of Zhong Li and the others, and kicked his troublemaker to the ground in front of everyone.

"Why can't you make trouble, choose this place, in front of everyone and the furnace master?" After he finished yelling, he turned back to the gray-robed man and Ah Xu Shili, "The disciples have no way, and the master cannot escape his responsibility, so I apologize to the two of you in my place, and I have offended." ”

After Ah Xu nodded, the gray-robed man said to everyone: "Now that you have arrived, let's start." ”