After many inquiries, Lu Jian finally sat opposite the old man.

The old man was dressed in sackcloth, and his eyes were covered with thick white puffs, hollow and godless, like a blind eye. Wind and frost were written into his thick wrinkles, and half of his gray hair was peeled off.

He sat so quietly, the wind swirling around him, at this moment Lu Jian seemed to see the dilapidated mud puppets in the temple, a posture, from birth to death, through thousands of years.

"I'm here for a knife." He thought about it for a long time and decided to break the silence.

No one responded. The old man didn't seem to hear.

Lu Jian was not in a hurry, and the two of them sat quietly and silently opposite each other, as if they were competing for patience.

The surrounding bamboo forest rattled, and the old man spoke slowly, "I've been waiting for this day for half my life. ”

His voice was hoarse, as if he had swallowed a piece of red-hot charcoal.

"Decades ago, I was young. I was approached and asked to get a knife," he added, "and I asked for his name, and he said he was nameless, and others called him ......."

Lu Jian had a hunch, and the old man's white eyes seemed to be firmly nailed to him.

"Lu Jian."

Lu Jianxin said sure enough, but his face remained unchanged, and he still looked at the old man with a smile.

The old white eyes swept around him, and the old man sighed, "You don't look like him." The thin finger pointed at Lu Jian, "Only the eyes are exactly the same." Are you father and son? ”

"It's not. That's my teacher. Lu Jian expressed his respect for the teacher.

"It's a master and apprentice...... In that case, come with me. The old man trembled and got up, Lu Jian hurriedly stepped forward to help, and the old man looked up at him again and sighed.

They walked through the bamboo forest, Lu Jian didn't know how long they walked, it seemed like a quarter of an hour, it seemed like an hour, just when the old man couldn't hold on, they finally arrived at their destination.

The bamboo tree is encircled, hugging a grass house in the middle like an arm. It seems that the wind and rain of the night before were too raging, and the grass house looked tattered at this time, Lu Jian was puzzled, but the old man broke free from his support and walked two steps tremblingly, I don't know if he could see it, but he stood in front of the grass house like this, and Lu Jian found that his hands were trembling.

It is not the trembling caused by old age, but the excitement and nostalgia that is difficult to suppress when seeing familiar scenery is like a young man who has left home and is the eldest child.

Looking at the grass house, Lu Jian squinted, the bamboo forest in his field of vision turned from verdant to yellow in an instant, the young bamboo shoots pierced the ground in an instant, and the green leaves decayed, as if decades of time had been compressed into this moment.

The dilapidated thatched hut, on which a satin horse hung as a curtain decades ago, was churning in the heat waves, a firelight, shirtless men entering and leaving, and a figure standing silently in the bamboo forest.

He was inexplicably familiar, but he was sure he had never seen it.

"Is that the case again?" He shook his head with a wry smile.

"It's been three hundred years, and you're still refusing to stop?" The old man suddenly spoke.

"Lord Yan is immortal for ten thousand years." Lu Jian took a step back and saluted.

The old man let out a long sigh and sighed as if he had wings and tails, dragging a heavy breath, and making noise around the head.

"Come in."

Lu Jian followed the old man to the grass house.

The first thing I saw when I entered the door was the huge casting furnace placed in the center, which was covered with a thick layer of dust, like a thick white puff in the eyes of an old man.

They're all still here, but they're not the same anymore.

The old man knocked on the wall, and with a muffled sound, Lu Jian looked over.

There were several grooves in the wall, and in each of them hung a knife, except for the three on the far right.

"This is Xuelu." The old man reached out and took the knife from the first groove, staring at the scabbard with a heavy and sentimental gaze, "When it was cast, it snowed heavily and crushed this sword house, hence the name." ”

It turned out that this was a sword house.

The old man reluctantly reinserted Xue Lu into the groove and pulled out the next knife, "This is Yuanxing, a knife used to kill people." ”

The knife was three feet six inches long, the blade was narrow and long, and the old man pulled it out of the sheath with great force, and although decades had passed, Lu Jian still felt a stinging pain in front of his eyes.

"The emperor's sword, the mountains and rivers are the blades, the thunderclouds are the swords, the demon spirits are killed and the demon gods are eliminated, and the peace of the world is exchanged for killing; The knife of the phase is the edge, the virtue is the handle, the treacherous and the evil are killed, and the people are blessed. The old man said heavily, "And this knife is just a knife of the common people, the steel is tempered with a sharp edge, the cooked copper is forged as a handle, three steps of bleeding, ten miles of chasing the murderer, thousands of miles and incompetent, thousands of miles and withered branches, so it is just a murderous knife." ”

"Like the abyss of the stars, darkness leads to light." Lu Jian muttered softly. This is the inscription of Yuanxing, engraved on the scabbard with a swallow body, which is so small that it is absolutely impossible to see without care.

If there is a spirit in the knife, he may be extremely annoyed at this moment, and he has been sealed for thousands of years to see the light of day again, but he didn't expect that this is only a moment, and then he will fall into boundless darkness, until someone wakes them up again and uses them to kill..... Or nursing.

"This is the sword of the small country." After the old man finished talking about all the swords, he stopped and looked at Lu Jian, "Every few decades, you come to ask for knives and knives, sometimes you take several swords, and sometimes no one cares when you die." But this is also the last time, and the person who can find the knife will never appear again. ”

"How much this time?" The old man sighed slightly.

He was born with this mission. For as long as I can remember, my father and brother have told me again and again: You must guard this forest and this sword house, and you must be familiar with every sword in it, as if you know your own brothers and sisters. Sooner or later, someone will come, and that will be your relief. After decades of study, he did it, he regarded the swords inside as children, he accompanied them, understood the pain of them as the world's famous blades but had to be reduced to the world's hidden objects, obviously they were all the same sharp, those three swords enjoyed all the reputation, and they were only called "small country swords", the real difference, has always been in people's hearts. Every year, the flowers bloom, he is determined to stay here, black hair to frost sideburns, he has been waiting for the so-called relief. I had given up hope, but relief came.

Before I die, I really waited for it.

"It's all this time." Lu Jian paused, and his tone became heavier, "I'm going to take all the knives away." ”

"Looks like it's really relieved." The old man smiled bitterly, and brushed every groove and sword with his hand, "But I'm a little unwilling." ”

"Troubled times...... Is it there? He asked.

"It's coming. Just as I take these swords, troubled times will come. Do you need to hide? This troubled time may be a little different. ”

"No need. The Tao family has lost its sword, and we are no different. ”

"It's going to be over soon. Perhaps this is the last troubled time. ”

After Lu Jian finished answering, he pulled out a pocket from the placket, took down all the swords hanging on the wall, and put them into the bag together. He didn't have as much respect for these swords as the old man, he just seemed to see them as swords.

"I hope so." After seeing everything in front of him, the old man got up and slowly walked out of the sword house. Lu Jian followed closely behind.

"Aren't you going to die?" He suddenly turned his head and asked with a tight stare at Lu Jian.

A longing light suddenly shot out from under the thick white feathers, but he seemed to have understood the answer early, and the light was only the last unwilling inquiry.

"Will die. But I live forever. ”

"Same as he said."

The light went out.

The old man stepped out of the door, and his figure gradually disappeared into the bamboo forest.

Lu Jian took out the fire sickle and flint from his coat pocket, and threw a little spark into the sword house, and in an instant, the tongue of fire swallowed out, and a red light burned.

That scene appeared in front of me again.

Jianlu ...... Swords embraced each other in the firelight......

He felt the bag in his hand heavily, as if each sword was groaning in its sheath.

He lifted the bag and walked away without looking back.