Liang Tiehan ran back to his house with his fourth brother on his back; Mrs. Liang was taken aback, hurriedly boiled water, and found a medicinal wine bandage at home. The husband and wife bandaged the wounds of the fourth brother together.

When his wife left, and only his two brothers were left in the house, Liang Tiehan stretched out his hand, touched Shen Ruoliao from head to toe, and said again and again:

"Fourth brother, is it really you? It's so unexpected, I'm not dreaming, am I? You've grown so big, you're an adult. How did you end up here? ”

Shen Ruoyu blushed and said, "Second brother, I'm here to look for you in Kaifeng." ”

"Looking for me?" Liang Tiehan exclaimed.

Shen Ruoyu told Liang Tiehan that he was ordered by King Yan to send a letter to Kaifeng, and according to Yao Biao's arrangement, he must first find the head of the prince's army, Lu Jiaotou, and introduce King Zhou through Lu Jiaotou.

"Second brother, why did you change your surname to Lu? Master Yao is also really, knowing that you are the head of the Lu sect, and you want to sell me this pass, causing me to suffer this hardship. ”

Liang Tiehan explained: "I actually changed my surname to Lu eight years ago - that's a long story. Later, when I was looking for a livelihood, by chance, I was invited by the deceased to come to Kaifeng and introduced me to the palace to meet the king of Zhou; The prince liked my martial arts, so he asked me to be the head of the pro-army and helped me settle down in Kaifeng. But I have never told Uncle Yao about this, let alone Uncle Yao; They only know that I am on an errand in the Zhou Palace, how does he know who the head of the Lu sect is? Fourth brother, how did you start working for King Yan? Uncle asked you to come out and explore the world? ”

Shen Ruoyu hesitated slightly. "Second brother, are you still planning to go back to the mountains?"

Liang Tiehan hesitated. "I don't know. I've been planning to go back since the revenge, but to this day I'm still just planning; Unconsciously, it seems that there are more and more things that are entangled, and time is moving faster and faster, and nine years have passed in the blink of an eye. Uncle, are they all okay? How are the Mu siblings doing? ”

Shen Ruoyu didn't answer immediately. He didn't know how to answer.

"Fourth brother? What's wrong? Why don't you speak? ”

Liang Tiehan waited for a while, and his heart sank. I've been away for nine years; He has understood that in this world, changes are not accidental, but everywhere.

"Fourth brother, are they ...... Not so good? ”

Shen Ruoyu thought about it. "What do you mean by 'not very good'?"

"Fourth brother, I mean to say - are they all still there?"

Shen Ruoyu hesitated for a long time.

"Second brother, you sit."

Liang Tiehan sat down beside the fourth brother and listened to him slowly tell him all the things that had happened since the Mu family sisters and brothers entered the mountain four years ago: his father-in-law was poisoned at the third uncle's birthday banquet; A year later, the patriarch Uncle also fell victim to the poison of **incense.

"That night, Qing'er stole the key from the third uncle's side, and together with the swing, rescued me from the dark room; I had a broken leg and couldn't walk; Qing'er ran back to distract the third uncle, and Swing carried me down the mountain to escape for his life. As a result, we were still discovered by the third uncle. Swing fell off the cliff of the platform with me in order to save me......"

Shen Ruoyu stopped when he said this, burying his face with his hands; For a long time, he could not continue to narrate. Liang Tiehan sat aside, his heart was like a knife, but he didn't dare to reach out to touch his injured shoulder.

Shen Ruoyu finally regained some self-control, let go of his hand, and continued to speak, but his voice was much weaker.

"When I woke up, the swing was lying next to me; The snow was falling so fast that it had already buried her halfway. I shouted at her for a long time, shaking her desperately, but I couldn't wake her up. I want to take her back to the third uncle and beg the third uncle to save her; But I couldn't even stand up on my own. At this time, someone knocked me unconscious from behind. Who, why, I don't know. When I woke up again, I was already out of the Yexiao Mountain, in a small village in the mountain pass. The villagers told me that they found me alone unconscious lying by the well at the entrance of the village. ”

Liang Tiehan said: "It must be the eldest brother; It can only be the big brother. ”

Shen Ruoxiao smiled coldly. When Liang Tiehan saw that smile, his heart directly froze into ice; He had never seen such cruelty and coldness in the eyes of the fourth brother, let alone imagined it. He was terrified, and listened to the fourth brother sneering with trembling all over:

"It can't be big brother. Big brother has always done things above board, never sneaky, and he doesn't have to knock me unconscious. Besides, the eldest brother wholeheartedly believed the words of the third uncle and thought that I had poisoned the uncle. If the third uncle gives him a chance, he can't wait to kill me with his own hands and avenge the uncle; He told me all about it. ”

Liang Tiehan was dumbfounded and speechless.

Shen Ruoyu continued: "That's it, I escaped from Zhenshui Village; After my legs were able to walk, I didn't dare to stay in that village for a moment, for fear that the third uncle and the people in the village would find out. I left the village, entered Beiping, and found Master Yao, which led to today's incident. ”

Liang Tiehan was silent for a long time, unable to digest what the fourth brother said. He knew he had been gone for too long; However, the father-in-law at the time of separation, the cottage, the uncle - everything is as vivid as yesterday. It happened too quickly, too suddenly, too much......

Finally, he opened his mouth and asked, "Fourth brother, why didn't you resist at that time?" With your kung fu, there should be no problem in dealing with the third uncle, at least you shouldn't be so miserable by him. ”

Shen Ruoyu said: "I didn't have martial arts to resist at that time. Even now, it's nowhere near what it used to be. Second brother, my uncle abolished my martial arts at that time. ”

"Scrapped? Your martial arts? Liang Tiehan was inexplicably surprised. Why? ”

"I ...... I indulge in indulgence and self-inflicted ...... No wonder no one ......"

Shen Ruoyu lowered his head and buried his face in his arm. Liang Tiehan looked at him in horror from the side.

"Fourth brother?"

After a while, Shen Ruoyu raised his head and continued: "In short, I deserve it. Uncle was angry and abolished my martial arts. However, I don't know if it was because he was willing to show mercy to his subordinates, or if it was some other reason, but my martial arts skills were not lost. I didn't know at the time, so I was driven out of the mountain by He Yu. Later, I found out that I still have martial arts; But I've been deserted for a year and a half, and it's hard to recover. Now that most of the year has passed, this level ......" he sighed softly. "It's better to have than nothing; In short, that's how it is. ”

He paused for a moment and whispered, "Second brother, I don't understand. For two years, I've been thinking back to what happened at that time, and to this day, I still can't figure it out. He Yu told me that I was the one who really poisoned my uncle; It was I who chose the non-toxic wine glass and left the poisonous one to the uncle. He's right; The swing didn't give us a good glass; It was the glass I took and poured the wine myself. In the whole cottage, only Swing and Qing'er believe in my innocence, and even do not hesitate to pay for my life - even if I have a great grievance, I should never doubt her innocence. But—why did the non-poisonous one hold it in my hand? The two glasses looked the same, I didn't notice if there were any marks on them, and I couldn't even remember what they looked like. He Yu designed to frame me; But how did he do it, so he let me take the non-toxic wine glass? ”

Liang Tiehan sat silently on the side, listening silently, but he didn't think about it; Even if he thought about it, he couldn't figure it out, the fourth brother had been thinking about the mystery for two years and had not solved it. In his heart, there was only a sea of bitterness stirring at the moment. In the past nine years, he can experience the ups and downs of the world, the cold and warm of the world, and he can experience it calmly, without mind, because of the warmth that has always been retained in the depths of his heart, and all the good memories rooted in the depths of Yanshan since he was a child; It was as if a relentless downpour had fallen from the sky, instantly pouring the remaining warmth cold.

He once felt that his most cherished things had been left in Yexiao Mountain, and that he would go back one day. But now, the father-in-law is gone; Everything is gone, and his former home is no longer there. In Kaifeng, he is at least accompanied by A'Rao, husband and wife are loving, and blessings and misfortunes depend on each other; He hadn't returned to the Overnight Mountain; He didn't have to go back at all.

He sat for a long time and said, "Fourth brother, what are you going to do now?" Have you been doing it in Yanwangfu? ”

Shen Ruoyu said: "I'm not from King Yan's Mansion, I just bumped into shit luck, was picked up by King Yan, and sent him a letter home." On weekdays, I'm just a shop guy in a small hotel, and it's also because I bumped into shit luck and ran into a bodhisattva-hearted shopkeeper. ”

Liang Tiehan said: "You have such a good talent, you should do some big things." The shopkeeper is too wronged by you. ”

Shen Ruoyu replied lazily: "It's hard to say to what extent my martial arts function has recovered, where can I have that kind of dream." I just want to live honestly and take good care of my aunt so that she doesn't have to work so hard anymore. This life passes in the blink of an eye, and there are a few things that can really be done. - Second brother, just talk about me, let's talk about you. How have you spent the past nine years? I married a beautiful sister-in-law, and I forgot about us and never came back to see us. Or is King Zhou better than my father to you? Why did you change your surname to Lu? ”

Liang Tiehan blushed and said with a smile:

"Fourth brother, do you remember why I followed my father-in-law into the mountain in the first place, and why I went out of the mountain later?"

Shen Ruoxiao was slightly stunned.

Liang Tiehan said: "You were too young at the time; You were only ten years old when I left, so of course you can't remember. Back then, if it weren't for my father-in-law, I would have been killed by an adulterer and buried in the fire with my biological parents. My father-in-law saved me, raised me, and taught me martial arts; Growing up, I had only one goal in life, which was to find the traitor who killed my parents and avenge them. When I was eighteen years old, my father-in-law finally agreed to let me go out of the mountains to seek revenge, and lent me the Autumn Wind Sword when he left. It took me a year to find the enemy and get revenge. Fourth brother, can you imagine what happened later? ”

Shen Ruoxiao looked at the second brother in confusion and shook his head.

Liang Tiehan sighed slightly.

"I lost my purpose. I have fulfilled my only wish for more than ten years, but I never imagined that after this goal was achieved, my life would not be fulfilled because of it. I used to be full of fantasies, thinking that one day I would be able to avenge my parents' enmity, and I would be able to start a real life, travel the world, visit celebrities, read poetry and books, and even make great achievements. The truth is that I spend my days doing nothing, bored, and not interested in anything. And martial arts was the first thing that made me lose interest. I stopped practicing and slept until noon every day. I don't want to study, I don't want to go out, I don't want to see people, I don't even bother to eat, I'm so hungry that I would rather just eat some leftover dry food to make do with it, and all the food becomes boring and boring in my mouth. Later, as you can imagine, I was only attracted by some extremely boring and depraved things, spending my time in taverns and casinos, either getting drunk, getting into trouble, or both. - Fourth brother, I used to live in a sense of crisis all day long, and I longed to go out of the mountains to seek revenge from head to toe; But when I finally stabbed the enemy and was happy, the sense of crisis that I had felt for many years suddenly disappeared, and the real crisis came at this moment - and that was the first danger and the first difficulty I really faced in my life; That was the biggest crisis I've ever experienced in my 20 years of life. ”

Shen Ruoyu listened quietly, did not make a sound, held his chin, and looked at the second brother intently, his eyes were foggy, as if he was in deep thought.

Liang Tiehan continued: "Later, Ah Rao appeared--if it weren't for her, I don't know how long I would continue to degenerate in that chaotic state. She brought me out of my depression and loss, she woke me up and saw myself clearly. I was terrified of my state. I'm sorry for myself, I'm sorry for my dead parents, I'm even more sorry for the autumn wind in my hands, and I'm sorry for my father. Fourth brother, at that moment, I understood one thing. I have been practicing hard in retreat for more than ten years, and I have practiced a good martial arts, but I have not learned any real skills. I don't even have the most basic self-control, I don't even know what I want in life. What has this martial arts helped and achieved for me? If there is no purpose of fighting and killing, how much is the ultimate value of martial arts?

"I made a decision to completely change my mind and break with my past self; It's not just a waste of life in the two years after revenge; But it includes revenge itself, and even the hatred that has accumulated for more than ten years must be completely broken. The past is gone, and I have personally disemboweled out the enemy's heart, but I still can't get back the lives of my parents, and I can't get back all the happiness I lost because of it. It has poisoned me for more than ten years, and I am still willing to carry this old and rusty shackle, and it is only by escaping and refusing to face my true future and responsibilities that I have fallen later.

"I married Aroo and began to take her to travel the world together, hoping to find a proper livelihood, really learn some skills, live with my own hands, and live a real life. And since the revenge thing, I changed my name in order to avoid the right and wrong of the government, and over the years, I have only used the name Liang Tiehan once, that is, when I went to the capital to rob the Dharma field and rescue the sisters and brothers of the Mu family, I used my real name that I had disappeared for many years and was no longer known to the world for safety. - Fourth brother, alas - you are still too young, I say this, you may not be able to understand and imagine, think that I am talking nonsense. ”

Shen Ruoyu smiled faintly, but there was no surprise or freshness on his face.

"Second brother, I used to be a person whose martial arts were abolished; Once, before that, my only goal in life was to become an invincible master like my father. I've actually felt and thought about all of these things you've said. The only difference is that when I was at my worst, I didn't even have the ability to enter the tavern and casino, so I could only steal from people everywhere, and when I couldn't steal, I knelt on the street all day and begged passers-by. ”

Liang Tiehan looked at him in surprise: "When have you ever been so depressed?" ”

Shen Ruoyu shook his head: "When you do your own evil, but, second brother, speaking of which, your pro-army apprentices are really enough." If I hadn't happened to pass by, they would have beaten that hapless beggar to death; If you hadn't come at the critical moment, I would have been beaten to death by your apprentices. You can't stare at them on the street every day without being black and white, can you? Second brother, freezing three feet is not a day's cold; Don't blame me for saying this, I'm afraid the reason why such a thing happened is the result of their sect leader's overindulgence on weekdays. ”

Liang Tiehan was slightly stunned, but lowered his head and didn't speak for a long time. Shen Ruoyu began to regret it a little; I reunited with my second brother after a long absence, so why bother mentioning this.

Liang Tiehan was silent for a long time, as if he didn't know how to speak. Finally, he sighed, shook his head, and said with some gloom:

"Fourth brother, your criticism is not bad at all. The reason why such a thing can happen is that I, the head of the sect, can't get rid of it. It's just that I don't have the ability, I can't do what I should do, I can't manage what I should do; Although it is clear in my heart, I am clear in my actions—"

He stopped. Shen Ruoyu looked at him a little blankly.

"I don't understand ......"

Liang Tiehan raised his head and smiled with relief.

"The second brother is stupid and can't understand. Fourth brother, didn't you happen to have an errand with King Yan and want to see King Zhou? I will go and report to the prince early tomorrow morning; King Zhou and King Yan were born to the same mother, and they have always been brothers, and he will be happy to see you. I guess tomorrow afternoon at the latest, he will send someone to summon you to the palace. At that time, you may have the opportunity to learn a little bit about the situation of the Zhou Palace. ”

Shen Ruoyu was distracted by him, touched the letter in his arms, and asked with some anxiety:

"Second brother, what kind of person is Lord Zhou? I...... Do I need a change of clothes? ”

Liang Tiehan thought for a moment.

"Since you are here on the orders of King Yan, it doesn't matter what you wear. However, the fourth brother, when he entered the Zhou Palace, only said that you and I were both old people of Lord Yao at the same time, and were introduced by Lord Yao, and before that, we did not know each other; The real connection between you and me and my real name, especially the name of my father, must not be missed. ”

"Second brother, don't worry, I'm not that stupid." Shen Ruoyu smiled helplessly, nodded, sighed again, and teased sourly: "Second brother looks down on us." ”

Liang Tiehan's face turned red, and he was about to explain, but he hesitated for a moment, and stopped talking.

He was silent for a long time, and finally simply said, "One day, you will understand." ”