Gongxi Yang and Bai Wuyi were escorted all the way north, and they walked out of Tianquan Prefecture, where Luochuan was located, and entered the northernmost territory of the Yiluo Empire, Kaiyang Prefecture.

As the four of them continued to travel north, Bai Wuyi saw that the scene along the way was slowly changing. From the beginning of their beautiful mountains and rivers in Tianquan Prefecture, to the magnificent mountains and rivers in the south of Kaiyang Prefecture, and then to the lonely smoke of the desert in the north of Kaiyang. Although Bai Wuyi was imprisoned by shackles and shackles along the way, his mood was not depressed, and when he went out for the first time, whenever he saw these magnificent mountain and river scenes, he couldn't help but be fascinated and intoxicated.

From childhood to adulthood, Bai Wuyi has left the Slope Valley Villa only a handful of times. Even on the few occasions he went out, he only went with Master to the nearby towns to buy some daily necessities. As for the Shangjia who was ordered by the master to kill Dimi last time, and went to Beiluo Mountain near the imperial capital, it was the farthest he had ever traveled.

Since childhood, it has been convenient for the ascetic sword fighting day after day in the Slope Valley Villa, and the skill of weapon forging has made Bai Wuyi accustomed to being taciturn and not good at talking. But this does not mean that he is at ease with the mountains and inches of land, he is always in his spare time, yearning for the distant world beyond the valley. And Bai Wuyi, who has always been yearning for thousands of splendid rivers and lakes, never imagined that the trip he had been looking forward to walking the great rivers and mountains of the empire was actually imprisoned by shackles and guarded by soldiers.

Two prisoners, two escorted soldiers. It wasn't until the four of them walked for nearly two months that they finally arrived in the area of Dingshuo County, Kaiyang Prefecture, from Luochuan, the imperial capital.

After passing through a pasture with cattle and sheep, it was not until he approached the fortress of Shuoding that Bai Wuyi saw the familiar green fields again. Looking at the endless fields, Bai Wuyi understood that the people who cultivated the fields here were no longer ordinary people. This is the military tuntian of the Shuoding border guards, and the people who are working in the fields are all border sergeants and the families of the soldiers.

When they were still a day's journey to Shuoding Fortress, the group stayed in a simple inn.

On that night, the four of them rested in the same house. Seeing Dafu, Erquan fell into a deep sleep, Gong Xiyang cautiously put his head close to Bai Wuyi, and asked him in a low voice, "Little brother, let me ask you something, do you say that the weapons in your Xiegu Villa are not only purchased by the government, but also sold to the common people?" ”

Bai Wuyi opened his eyes, and after he glanced at Gong Xiyang, he nodded slightly.

"What's the price?" Gong Xiyang asked in a curious whisper, "You said that if you buy some blades from your Xiegu Villa and sell them to this chaotic place in Dingshuo, will you be able to make some money?" ”

"High-grade horizontal knife, twenty taels of silver."

"Me!" Gong Xiyang was so surprised that he almost didn't scream, and after he shut up and saw Dafu snorting and turning around, he whispered again, "You guys are so dark, twenty taels!" A good horizontal knife is in Luochuan, and it only sells for two taels of silver. ”

Bai Wuyi looked at Gong Xiyang and closed his eyes again.

"Hey, little brother. Don't sleep. Gong Xiyang said, "Let me ask you, how much is your cheapest knife?" ”

"Inferior horizontal knife, five taels of silver."

"I~!" Gong Xiyang opened his mouth, he glanced at Dafu who was snoring beside him, and whispered, "Little brother, the things you have there are expensive enough, just tell me the cheapest things you have, how much is it?" ”

"One dart, three hundred wen."

Gong Xiyang tilted his head helplessly, then stretched it back again, and he continued to ask Bai Wuyi, "You set such a price, will anyone buy it?" ”

"Demand outstrips supply." Bai Wuyi closed his eyes and whispered.

"Okay, okay." Gong Xiyang said, "I understand. It seems that I was lonely and unheard of before, and I didn't know that there was such a black shop as you in this world. ”

Bai Wuyi didn't speak.

"After a few years, when my sentence here is over, I will go back to Luochuan to take out the silver and go to your valley to buy some famous blades and sell them. Hey. Gong Xiyang lay in the dark and whispered.

"By the way, little brother, what do you say is the most expensive weapon you have there? How much does that cost? Gong Xiyang was silent for a moment, and then asked Bai Wuyi curiously.

"Priceless."

"Priceless?" Gong Xiyang whispered, "Little brother, you take the weapons you built too seriously, let me tell you, there is nothing priceless in this world." Everything he has a price. As long as a person has enough money at the right time, or has something rare enough, in short, pays enough price, he will definitely be able to get what he wants. ”

Bai Wuyi suddenly opened his eyes, he looked at Gong Xiyang and whispered to him, "I want to ask for the golden stone, can you help me get it?" ”

Gong Xiyang was stunned for a moment, "Little brother, you are raising the bar, how can you change this kind of non-existent thing?" ”

Bai Wuyi closed his eyes again.

"But don't say it, if it's really a bit of gold and stone, and can turn stones into gold, then this thing is really hard to change. What kind of hair change is that..."Gong Xiyang put his outstretched head back, and he fell asleep silently.

In the early morning of the next day, led by Daifuku, the four of them crossed a section of rolling hills along the post road.

Walking to the top of the hill, Bai Wuyi looked up and looked north, and he saw a huge black and heavy wall in the distance, which was like a black dragon lying across the intersection of heaven and earth, and it rode on a mountain, dividing heaven and earth. Bai Wuyi saw that between the endless huge walls, there were also countless tall beacon fortresses.

"God, this is us, the Great Wall of our Yiluo, right?" Gong Xiyang also looked at the thick city wall in the distance, and he asked stupidly.

"It's the first time you've seen the Great Wall, right?" Daifuku said, "I'm scared." But don't be afraid, you'll be up there in no time. ”

"Can I go up too?" Gong Xiyang asked in surprise.

"That's not it, when you carry the stones to build the Great Wall, you will be high." Daifuku said with a smile.

Moving on, the two were escorted to a barracks not far from the Great Wall, where they could clearly see the Shuoding Fortress, where a dignified officer of Kong Wu took their escort signatures from Daifuku, and after examining Bai Wuyi and Gongxiyang, he stamped them and received them.

Bai Wuyi saw that at the same time that Daifuku handed over the escort signature to the school officer, he secretly stuffed a piece of broken silver to the school officer.

Holding the stamped escort slip in their hands, Daifuku and Erquan looked at the vermilion seal together, and they breathed a sigh of relief. After completing the escort task, they were relieved, and after saying a few kind words of goodbye to Bai Wuyi and Gong Xiyang, the two left. They talked and laughed all the way out of the barracks, but they were not in a hurry to return to Luochuan, they came to a small market not far from the barracks, where they found a simple little wine shop, asked for side dishes, and drank a few glasses.

Daifuku took a bite of the dish and said, "This Gong Xiyang is a businessman after all, and he also knows how to give us and the head of the distribution here to plug some benefits." ”

Erquan took a sip of wine and said, "It's also thanks to his ability to come out, and there is still a gold leaf hidden in the crotch of his pants." ”

"Hey, don't mention it, when I took the gold leaf to exchange it for broken silver, I almost couldn't hold back my laughter when I saw the money shopkeeper biting the gold leaf with his teeth." Daifuku said with a smile.

"We've made a lot of money this time." Erquan said, "That kid named Bai Wuyi also followed Gong Xiyang to get wiped out." ”

"No, anyway, the two of them can't share the drudgery here."

While the two were drinking, Gong Xiyang and Bai Wuyi were questioned by the school officer who signed to receive them.

"You, what's your name?" The officer unscrupulously unshackled Gong Xiyang and asked him.

"Sinner, Gong Xiyang."

"Surname?"

"The surname is Gongxi, and the name is Yang. Haruto's clan. ”

"I didn't ask where you're from." The school officer glanced at Gong Xiyang, then turned to untie Bai Wuyi's shackles, and asked him, "You, what's your name?" ”

"None of them."

"Surname Bai Wu?"

"The surname is Bai."

"Oh, tell me first, what you're going to do." The school officer turned back to Gong Xiyang and asked.

"My lord, sinners will, they can stir-fry vegetables and stew soup. They also kill sheep and cut meat, and they can train camels.." Gong Xiyang said flatteringly to the school official.

"Don't talk nonsense, it's not your turn to cook here." The school officer interrupted Gong Xiyang's words and said, "You still train camels, do you see camels here?" Let me tell you, if you don't have any special skills, you can only arrange for you to burn bricks. ”

"My lord, sinner, I'll count, I've been in a private school for two years." Gong Xiyang hurriedly changed his words and said.

"Really?"

"Really, my lord, I know how to count. I'm going to plan for the plate as well. Gong Xiyang said.

"Well, you'll report to the quartermaster camp with that soldier later." The officer casually pointed to a soldier with a knife and said to Gong Xiyang, "I tell you, if you lie and don't know what to count, and you don't plan to plate it, you will be whipped thirty and you will be changed to carry horse manure." ”

"Yes, yes, sinners dare not lie, dare not lie."

"You, Bai Wuyi, what will you do?" The school officer turned to look at Bai Wuyi and asked.

"Forging blades, fighting assassination." Bai Wuyi said.

The school officer was stunned for a moment, "Fighting assassination, you will too?" ”

Bai Wuyi nodded.

"As a prisoner, you can't use these skills in fighting and assassination. Tell me what blades you can forge. The school official Chong Bai Wuyi said.

"All blades. You Shan sword. He is most proficient in horizontal knives. ”

"Okay, come with me in a moment." The officer said, "I'm going to put your craft to the test." ”

After Gong Xiyang was taken to the quartermaster camp by a soldier, Bai Wuyi followed the officer and walked towards Shuoding Fortress.

Approaching the fortress, Bai Wuyi looked up at the towering and majestic city, and he felt that the dark and straight city wall gave a strong sense of oppression to those who approached it, as if the person standing on the city wall would smash the person standing here and looking up as long as he spit on it.

The south gate of Shuoding Castle, facing Yiluo, was open. After passing through the dark and deep gate of the fortress, Bai Wuyi came to the urn city in the fortress, the inner gate of the urn city was closed, and the small city was empty, only a group of soldiers with long knives passed through the small gate in the east wall and went towards the west gate.

Under the leadership of the school officer, Bai Wuyi followed him into the small gate on the east side. After entering the small door and walking for a while, Bai Wuyi found that inside this door was a secret passage that led in all directions.

The secret passages are dark and narrow, crisscrossing each other, and every few steps are a fork in the road. Bai Wuyi thought that if people who were not familiar with the road easily walked into it, they would definitely be dizzy and didn't know where to go.

After taking Bai Wuyi through several secret passages in a row, the school officer came to a room that was not too large.

"Come here, stand here." The school officer said to Bai Wuyi.

Bai Wuyi saw that at this moment, the school officer was standing in a wooden cage inside the wall, although he didn't understand what the school officer meant, but he still stood inside. At the same time as Bai Wuyi entered the wooden cage and stood beside the school officer, he saw the school officer pull the wooden pole on the side. As the wooden pole was pulled, the entire wooden cage slowly rose upwards after a creak and the sound of iron chains colliding.

The cage slowly ascended for some distance and came to a halt after reaching another room at the top. Bai Wuyi walked out of the wooden cage in surprise, and then he kept turning around to look at it. He didn't see anyone pulling the wooden cage, and he couldn't figure out how it could carry a person up easily.

"Haven't you seen it?" Seeing that Bai Wuyi was constantly watching the elevator in surprise, the school official whispered to him, "This is designed by the people of our Imperial Capital Gongzao Mansion personally, you can come up, it all depends on the counterweight of the stone over there." Take you to sit on this, and it won't be in vain that little silver tael you sent. ”

Bai Wuyi thought for a moment and nodded slightly. Only then did Bai Wuyi understand why this school official was willing to ask him what he would do, and wanted to arrange him a job that he was good at. It turned out that when Dafu stuffed him with silver taels, he didn't say which prisoner sent the silver taels, he took those silver taels as if they were sent by him and Gong Xiyang.

"This way." As he spoke, the officer walked to one side of the wall, and he pushed open a heavy wooden door, and the sun and wind poured in together.

When he came to the door, Bai Wuyi saw that this was a wide platform on the top of the city. On this platform, there are several large tents, and under each tent are several skilled craftsmen.

At this moment, the craftsmen are either restringing the loose armor, or repolishing the blunt knives and guns, or knocking back the prototype of the deflated helmet. Each craftsman was busy with the work in hand, and no one of them noticed Bai Wuyi's arrival.

When the school officer walked to a camp tent, he casually picked up a rusty knife and said to Bai Wuyi, "The blades here are all distributed and shipped by the state government, and we rarely need to forge them. Since you said that you can forge blades, I guess this repair work is no problem for you. This knife, you can watch him repair it. ”

Bai Wuyi looked at the knife in the school officer's hand and nodded. At this time, some of the craftsmen suspended their work, and they looked at the newcomer curiously, and they knew that the task of repolishing a rusty knife was a seemingly simple task, but it was extremely testing the polishing skills of the restorer.

Armed with a knife, he found a grinding stone, grease, and a piece of cork in the tent, and then he borrowed a soft wiping cloth from a craftsman.

Just when people thought that he was going to take the whetstone and sharpen the blade carefully, they didn't want to suddenly jam the whetstone on a wooden frame, and then he danced the rusty knife towards the whetstone.

The rusty knife quickly formed a rust-colored flying belt under Bai Wuyi's dance, and the flying belt repeatedly swept over the grinding stone under Bai Wuyi's swing, and sparks sparked on the grinding stone. As Bai Wuyi's dancing speed increased, the firelight began to become more and more intense.

People were surprised to see Bai Wuyi constantly speeding up and swinging the rusty knife, the faster he swung it, the more people looked back, and gradually found that even the flying ribbon of the knife shadow he swung began to change color, and the flying ribbon formed by the shadow of the knife began to slowly change from rust red to red. In the end, people couldn't even see the shadow of the knife clearly, all they could see was a shining silver flower of the fire tree.

The wooden frame with the grinding stone scorched smelled, and Bai Wuyi stopped waving. After taking a deep breath, he allowed the red-sharpened blade to cool for a moment, then he picked up the piece of cork, dipped it in grease, and began to wipe the blade.

After wiping the grease off the blade with a soft wiping cloth at the end, Bai Wuyi returned the shiny knife to the officer.

At this time, all the craftsmen in the camp tent on the top of the city had already gathered around the school officer, and they all stretched out their heads to look at the shiny sword, all of them were amazed and looked at Bai Wuyi with admiration.

The officer looked at the cold-glowing knife in his hand and was stunned for a while, before he swallowed and said to Bai Wuyi, "You... You come with me to see General Lin. ”