The twenty-eighth day of the twenty-seventh year of Hongwu; A year and three months ago.

It's almost the New Year; A small cottage in the snowy mountains, but it has been particularly lively in the past two days. The uncle had just returned from outside the mountain, but this time he brought back two guests: a beautiful girl and a cute little brother. Both of them were rescued by the second brother from the wolf-like officers and soldiers outside the mountain. The girl worshipped her aunt as a teacher and read and wrote; The younger brother was accepted as an apprentice by his father because of the request of the second brother to learn martial arts. After the apprenticeship, the new sisters and brothers have names; Up and down the cottage, because there are two more relatives for the New Year, I am very happy these days.

The first rays of sunlight in the morning shone into the north courtyard, but not into the darkroom at all.

The cold made Shen Ruoyu shrink into a ball. He slept vaguely, and for a moment he only felt that his body was not uncomfortable, but he couldn't wake up. In the dream world, I just named my new brother and sister. Nervous, terrified. He didn't want to take it, he shouldn't have done it; His father's mountain-like figure was always pressing on his side, making him covered in cold sweat and his mind blank, and he couldn't breathe. He picked his name and looked up to see his father's expression. However, no matter how hard he tried, the mountain around him was always just a hazy black shadow, only a vague outline, he couldn't reach it, he couldn't see it clearly, as if he was separated by two worlds, the end of the world—but it was obviously close at hand, and the cold and ruthless gaze pierced down hard, and the tall black shadow overwhelmed the sky, and he became more and more frightened and trembled; It's breathless -- it's breathless.

The new clan sister raised her head at this time and glanced at him secretly. Just this glance, for a while, it seemed that he ignored the shadow and pressure of the mountain beside him. It was as if there was another world in that gaze, a world full of softness and kindness, shining through the sun, warm and intimate. She liked the name—it was the message he got from that gaze, and for the first time in the fifteen years of his birth, he had chosen to ignore his father's comments and seek information from the outside world to affirm himself.

He suddenly felt a thrill and woke up suddenly. The door of the darkroom made a thrilling clang, and the morning light burst into the dark room, making him instantly unable to see anything. In the stinging pain of his eyes, a handful of snow smeared his face, and he was so cold that he couldn't breathe. Instinctively, he raised his hand to wipe the snow off his face and raised his head. Shen Rufeng's majestic figure was carrying the morning light, and he was stuck in his field of vision like a knife, and he couldn't see it really.

"Get up, it's time to practice." Father whispered.

Shen Ruoyu stood up from the cold ground, feeling like a layer of ice shell on his body that had just broken down, crackling and falling to the ground. The limbs are stiff with cold; The nerves are still sensitive, and the whiplash wound on his body that fell late is still tingling. To make matters worse, as soon as he woke up, an uncontrollable hunger swept over him, making him almost unsteady on his feet.

The new brothers and sisters, together with the upcoming New Year, add joy to everyone in the cottage; But it didn't infect my father in the slightest. Perhaps, no matter what kind of joy in this world can never infect him, just as the snow on the mountain at night cannot melt even on the day of June; Here, the four seasons are cold and winter, and there is never spring.

Yet he was not a father; He longed for spring, rejoiced every March at the discovery of weak buds on the branches, excited at the breaking of the ice in the brook in the valley, and warmed the nests of the frozen chicks in the trees. The new siblings soon mingled with him, and it seemed as if he had never felt so happy when he had grown so old. But happiness never stayed in love with him for long; Every time he visited, he would never stay by his side for the night, and he would always leave in a hurry, ruthlessly throwing his hands away without looking back. Disasters, by contrast, always come and go, without any reason. A casual mistake, a slight oversight, or a question of his attitude toward his third uncle, which he had always preferred to die rather than repent, or, more often, for whom he could not think of an unknown reason, could not be recalled—would have made my father instantly furious; Last night's dinner was replaced by a stern whipping and a night of confinement in the darkroom. He could never say that he was used to such punishment, though he had been receiving it from time to time for as long as he could remember, and he could not count how many times it had been.

He also lost count of the number of times he fantasized about one day getting rid of them, and even put the escape into action, but ultimately failed. To this day, he still has to endure to go on.

That's his father.

Shen Rufeng led him to the platform. The morning sun in the eastern sky had already risen, but it blocked the other side of Cui Wei's mountain wall, smearing only the soft red light between the snowy sky and the earth. The platform is an outlet, but the wind is not very strong at the moment. Except for the sound of the wind, there was silence all around, as every morning.

Shen Rufeng walked to the bottom of the cliff, and a few swords cut countless hard gravels on the mountain wall, and then handed the sword to his son.

"Use your sword to block my stones," Shen Rufeng ordered, his voice was very ordinary, but it made Shen Ruoyu shudder from the bottom of his heart. Without allowing him to think too much, the first stone roared and rushed straight to the door. He didn't get his sword out of its sheath, and used the hilt of his sword to block the blow. A second stone followed; He dodged the blow and drew his sword to block the third.

Father's stones are connected one after another, as if there is no pause; The speed is so fast, if one of them hits, it will be difficult for Shen Ruoyu to bear. But he was on the verge of being beaten; If he could fill his stomach and warm up and come back to attack, it would be much better. He was stiff, weak and weak, and he was a little powerless to deal with the stray bullets that were approaching in the blink of an eye.

Shen Ruoyu began to hope that it wouldn't take long for his father's stones to run out, as long as he held on for a while, it would be a while.

However, instead of showing the slightest sign of exhaustion, Shen Rufeng's stones became more fierce and ferocious than before, and even began to come at the same time, each hitting the vital point.

Shen Ruoyu was about to go crazy in despair. "Do you really want to kill me; It is better to let me die a happy death, why torture people like this. He silently resisted in his heart, but the sword in his hand became faster and more meticulous, and his limbs gradually became more comfortable and agile.

Shen Rufeng nodded secretly. The stones in his hand popped out one by one, and seeing that his son's sword path had been completely released, he was splashing water at this moment, and he couldn't get close to him. He couldn't expect his son to be much quicker, he was already catching up with him. The only thing that will test him right now is endurance. For this reason, he prepared an abundance of stones.

Shen Ruoyu felt that he was on the verge of collapse again. He has often been caught in this spiritual crisis throughout his life, but it has never occurred to him that after surviving a crisis, his tolerance limit will expand upwards so that he can survive the next more serious disaster.

He's still holding on; The sword is still holding on. Even though he was exhausted, even though the elastic impact of the stone made his mouth and arm hurt, the sword still held on.

Suddenly, the flying stone stopped silently. Shen Ruoyu stopped his sword and carefully guarded the door, only to find that his father no longer had flying stone stray bullets to throw. He breathed a sigh of relief, feeling dizzy and dizzy, and subconsciously stabbed his sword on the snow to support himself from falling.

Shen Rufeng saw his pale face and understood that his son was already physically exhausted. He stepped forward, took the sword in Shen Ruoliao's hand, and asked coldly:

"Today's show, do you think about it?"

Shen Ruoyu's heart tightened, as if the wound that had fallen at night began to seep cold into his body. He hesitated for a moment, and finally replied honestly:

"Nope."

Shen Rufeng had already expected such an answer. He felt that, in fact, Shen Ruoliao was becoming more and more like himself, especially this stubborn temper, which reminded him vividly of his youth. His martial arts, like his own, became more and more refined and almost perfect. It won't be long before he can no longer mentor his son, but can only "learn" from him. In this way, as a father, he is proud enough.

"You look up and look at me." He ordered coldly.

This command he gave it often. Shen Ruoyu obediently looked up at his father's cold and stern face. His dark and handsome eyebrows startled Shen Rufeng, as if his deceased wife was right in front of him, and raised his head to gaze at him. He had inherited so much from his mother; Shen Rufeng involuntarily took a deep breath, feeling that he had once again fallen into the abyss of fire and water. This powerful contradiction made him at a loss, and it became more intense than ever. He had to do everything in his power to restrain himself; Otherwise, he would have held his son tightly in his arms, kissed him frantically, and then drew his sword and stabbed him to death.

He's not like himself at all. But he is not like Yunjun; Yun Jun's eyes are always affectionate, unlike these eyes, all he sees is fear and rejection.

Shen Rufeng no longer looked at his son, and still said in a cold voice: "It seems that the beating you last night was in vain." It's pretty comfortable in the darkroom, haven't you enjoyed it yet, have you? ”

Shen Ruoyu's heart trembled. He didn't say a word.

Shen Rufeng said: "Today is your third uncle's birthday; If I slap you in the face, how can you go to celebrate his birthday? If you can't think of a show, forget it, I'll think of one for you, you just have to do it. Do a good job, even if this matter is in the past, no longer care; If you don't do it well, you can only blame yourself for the punishment. ”

"What?" Shen Ruoyu asked.

Shen Rufeng did not answer immediately; He looked at his son sternly and critically for a long time. Then he wrote two words on the snow with his sword, saying, "Remember these two words." I'll tell you what to do when the time comes. You'll be able to do a good job of this as soon as you get out of my way. If you don't do it well, it's a bad attitude. This is your only chance. ”