The autumn breeze is bleak, and Qicheng does not have the scenery of small bridges and flowing water, there is no sunset afterglow of the long pavilion to say goodbye, and there is no elegance of folding willows and cherishing other literati. It's just a thin horse on the ancient road west wind. Caravans traveled back and forth from various countries, leaving deep ruts in the long trade routes. It tells the story of the untimely era of the Spring and Autumn period of businessman's life. The overwhelmed horses gasped and snorted from time to time. The sound of resentment echoed on the long ancient road, and the rickety figure of the traveler was also embarrassing.

"Sir, rest assured, the carpenter and the blacksmith will be sent to Yunmeng in the near future, for Mr. to send. As for kapok and wool, when the time comes, the first life man will come to fetch it. ”

"Thank you Lan Gongzi for your hospitality. He dreamed of meeting again, and he personally cooked, so that the son could satisfy his appetite. ”

After the beginning of spring, Ji Lan will go to Yunmeng Mountain with Lord Cao of Yizaifu to inspect the matter of controlling contempt. Wang Xu wanted to entertain the two while confusing the construction of the village wall. While stealing joy, he saw that the guards of Shao Sima Mansion brought a carriage. It was Ji Lan's car. In two strokes, several strong men untied the two horses from the ropes that bound them, and then led them aside.

"Yesterday, there was a saying under the next that the gentleman should give you a carriage and a horse, and Mr. should not refuse. For the people of David, sir... Well deserved. ”

Ji Lan bowed, then shook the sleeves of her robe and sprinkled away. She is always so self-assertive that she doesn't give others a choice. Wang Xu, who bent down to return the salute, sent the other party away. The thin figure, looking from a distance, seems to have an endless sense of sadness. I didn't have time to be moved, I just felt full of regret. If you know that the other party will really give away cars and horses, you will not be so entangled when purchasing in the morning market.

At this time, Ah Ji was tiptoeing, looking at the girl who was about to disappear into the crowd. She waved the short sword in her hand up and down, and reluctantly looked at the pale blue back.

"Brother! Lan Gongzi is so good to you. ”

In front of outsiders, Ah Ji will always be commensurate with the young master. And the title of Shaojun is never mentioned. At this moment, the girl was relieved, as if concealment and lying were a burden for her.

"Hey! What a man! It's just that there are too many thoughts. ”

The two men put the salute on their backs into the carriage. After a while, Wang Xu scratched his head and asked:

"Will Aji be able to capture a horse?"

The girl replied casually:

"No, it won't..."

What a straightforward answer. For a while, the two of them stared at each other. Standing on top of the carriage, I felt sad.

The six arts of gentlemen respected by the nobles of the Great Zhou Dynasty are etiquette, music, archery, royalty, calligraphy, and mathematics. Among them, the royal is not riding a horse, but the ability to drive a car. Not just horse-drawn carts, but also ox carts or donkey carts. It's like taking a driver's license in later generations, but you have to get all the three types of ABC driver's licenses to be considered qualified. In fact, there was not much difference between horses in the Zhou Dynasty and the cars of later generations, and the price of a horse was affordable for a family of five who struggled for two years without eating or drinking. And the horses bought are only inferior horses.

Obviously, Ji Lan is not a bad horse, but a BMW. In case of another encounter, the horse was accidentally raised to death by him. Wouldn't it be a disappointment to the friendship of the other party? Wang Xu reluctantly got out of the car and led the horse forward. He didn't want to accidentally hurt someone, so he stayed in a place where there were fewer people and tried how to drive it. Seeing this, Ah Ji also jumped out of the car and accompanied Wang Xu. Pedestrians on the road cast strange glances, they had never seen a long journey, there was no horse-drawn carriage, but they experienced the life of a common man.

Ji Lan, who returned to the house, withdrew from the men's clothes. Looking at a pair of short leather boots, he was silently in a daze.

"Aren't you taking a fancy to that Wei Xu? Two horses! That's a lot of money. If my brother knew about this, he might not know what he would think. This Wei Xu... It's really cunning. With two pairs of broken leather boots, he hooked his sister's heart. ”

Ji Yuan kicked the leather boots on his feet, as if he was angry with the shoes. I saw my sister caressing her hair and sideburns, and said leisurely:

"What nonsense? He must have had a plan for him to come to me. If Yunmeng can be successful, it can benefit the people. For the Davidian family to be protected from bullying by the powerful... Make a difference. What's the point of just a chariot and a horse? ”

"Okay, okay, whatever my sister says, it's what it is. Isn't the Zhongxing clan a matter for women like us? Brother Fei and his brother are not in a hurry, but my sister is anxious. Huh..."

Ji Yuan stuck out her tongue, she didn't believe the nonsense her sister said. If you admire Wang Xu's talent, you can recruit him into the house and use it for his own use. Why bother recommending it to you? As a woman, my sister served as a junior uncle in the cousin Baisi Mansion, and she did her best to pay for the family, but she was still criticized. Now give the car to a small contemptible, if it is known by outsiders, she will definitely be counted out.

She didn't understand, what exactly was her sister doing this for? The interior of the Weiguo Sect is constantly consumed, the killing of kings and fathers, and the matter of brothers fighting the wall has happened from time to time, and it has lasted for a hundred years. Chinese people have long been accustomed to a simple life, how can it be changed overnight? The little girl continued:

"Yuan'er's opinion, the shoes made by Wei Xu are good. Maybe you can become a very powerful artist in the future, maybe what? ”

After speaking, Ji Yuan jumped out of the door. Presumably to play tricks on the people in the house again. Ji Lan shook her head and sighed leisurely, as if she was helpless for her sister. Then she reached into her boots, the soft rabbit fur tickling.

"Kapok... Wool... Hehe. ”

I believe that people who can make shoes so delicate will not be sloppy in their work, right? My sister's words and what Wang Xu asked for seemed to coincide. Could it be that the other party is planning to find a way out for the people of Yunmeng by selling shoes? Ji Lan was confused, and she didn't know if her decision was right or wrong. She chuckled self-deprecatingly.

Three days later, Wang Xu finally returned to Yunmeng Mountain. In order to bring the carriage back safely, the road was picked along the way. I thought that the slower way to let the horse run, at least faster than walking. Who knew that these two horses were so delicate that they would fall on each other at every turn. Wang Xu didn't dare to untie the noose, for fear that they would run away. I had to wield my sword, mow the grass in all directions, and feed Uncle Ma. It can be described as a good service, just a foot massage. The absurd behavior attracted ridicule from passers-by.

Who knew that it would take three days to leave. Before, I still cared about Ji Lan's gift of horses, and I didn't want to treat the horses badly. At this time, he had no psychological burden, he handed over the horses to Li Cang, and strictly ordered the other party to work on these two unruly horses and repair them. I'm getting ready to catch up on sleep and relieve the fatigue of the journey. Unbeknownst to them, the carpenters and blacksmiths sent by Ji Lan had arrived in the village the day before they returned. What's even worse is that two craftsmen came with their families, and a total of seven people came. The blacksmith looked to be at least forty years old, and he wasn't young at all. And with a little girl of seven or eight years old.

"Thank you, Lord Yin, for taking it in. You can have a tile to cover your body, and you can take care of the villain and your grandchildren's food. Adults need not worry, villains should serve with all their hearts. ”

The person who came was unceremonious and made his own request. In the Hereafter, this is too much to ask. After all, it is a family coming, and it is necessary to deliver the house and take care of the food. Food and clothing are the demands of all the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty. The rations for seven people were not a trivial matter, and Wang Xu collapsed in an instant. He wondered if these tattered clothes could be the outcasts from which Ji Lan had taken them captive. Those who pretended to be craftsmen came to cheat food and drink.

At this moment, I can only admit it. The village suddenly changed from 27 households to 29 households. Originally, I wanted to exchange the money for the sword to make some preparations in advance for the later business. For now, we can only think about getting through the winter first. So he wrote a list, took out 2,000 yuan and handed it to Li Cang, and asked him to organize some people to drive the chariots and horses to the small town near Chaoge to buy grain for the winter, as well as copper and ore. If you can't figure out the details of the blacksmith, take out the weapon parts in the cave and let them melt. It is estimated that he will most likely spend the rest of his life in the prison of Yi Zaifu.

As soon as he got rid of poverty and became rich, he returned to the pre-liberation period in a blink of an eye. He poured the remaining copper plates on several cases. Counting one by one, there are 825 coins. The silk cloth I bought was really too expensive. Ah Ji didn't seem to be able to understand Wang Xu's troubles, the girl had never seen so much money. I don't know how much better life is now than in the past. However, the young master sighed and was obviously not happy.

After settling in the craftsmen, Wang Xu did not stay in the village, but returned to the cave with Aji. He brought out all his precious tools. Then he asked Aji to take out a box of the bronze parts of the spears and move them out of the cave. Wang Xu took a large rock and began to smash the weapons. As simple as smashing a walnut, the bronze shards instantly fell to the ground. In this way, it will not be exposed. These tiny pieces are mixed together, and who can tell what they are.

With the lesson of the last time, Wang Xu asked Ah Ji to slowly collect the fragments with chopsticks. If the girl wasn't around, maybe he would have slashed it all with the sword left by his father. When I was complaining about this stupid and inefficient practice, I didn't pay attention, and my fingers tingled. Because he didn't calculate the location of the stone, a piece of bronze was struck in a corner and suddenly warped. It was an extremely sharp weapon part, and the moment it bounced, it slashed off a piece of the skin and flesh on Wang Xu's little finger.

He snorted, and without waiting for Ah Ji to ask, he took the ink sword beside him and ran back to the cave to bandage it. Since he was accustomed to using his right hand, he held the sword in his right hand at this time. The blood gushing from the wound fell down the fingertips onto the inky black scabbard. The long sword suddenly looked like a murder weapon, and the blood stained the strange words on the sword. The sword instantly seemed to come to life, and the powerful suction continued to devour the stained blood. Wang Xu suddenly felt that his fingers seemed to be glued together with the scabbard, and he couldn't get rid of the force.

His eyes suddenly darkened, and his consciousness seemed to be pulled by the powerful attraction of the sword. Suddenly, there was a feeling of being out of his body, and his body kept spinning, and the nausea caused by the vertigo made him want to vomit. However, it was pitch black in front of him, as if he was in a whirlpool, and he could only go with the flow.

At this point, Aji was terrified. When she heard Wang Xu's muffled snort, the girl realized that he was injured. So he followed, just a few steps away, but saw the other party suddenly collapse to the ground. Wounded hand, clutching the long sword. It was like crushing the scabbard. The green tendons on the back of his hand burst out, and the wound on his little finger was bleeding nonstop. She tried to break the young master's hand, but she couldn't. It was strange how a comatose person could keep his strength up, the girl had never seen such a strange thing. can only help the young master stop the bleeding first, and then find a way.

After the feeling of dizziness dissipated, Wang Xu faintly heard the woman's crying. It suddenly became dark, and it was no longer as dark as before. There were mottled points of light on the ground, and there was chaos in the distance, and nothing could be seen clearly. He looked up, only to realize that he was actually standing under a towering ancient tree. The dense foliage obscures the sky and the sun, as if everything around is shrouded in ancient trees. The folded bark on the branches, the cracks were an arm's width apart.

Wang Xu held on to the big tree and walked slowly, and the sound of the woman's crying was getting closer and closer. Not far from the field of vision, I saw a little girl with a disheveled hair sitting under a tree choking. The girl seemed to be holding something and sticking it to her cheeks, and her body twitched uncontrollably.

"Who are you? Why are you crying? ”

The other party didn't seem to hear him, just sobbed. Wang Xu was a little scared, walked a few steps slowly, and did not dare to approach the girl again. This thrilling scene feels like a ghost movie. After staying where he was for a long time, the child was still crying. No matter how much Wang Xu asked, he should not answer. He boldly took a few steps closer to the girl, and saw that the other party was wearing a long white dress, spread flat on the ground, and buried in it. Long black hair fell down the petite body to the ground.

The woman in white, with her cloak and hair, is the most terrifying. At this time, I can't get out, and I don't dare to get close. Wang Xu leaned down and lay on the ground trying to see the woman's face clearly. A familiar face immediately stunned him.

"Aji! Aji! What happened to you? ”

Girls are the same age as Aji. Unloading the concerns in his heart, Wang Xu slowly approached the other party. When he saw the things in the girl's hand, Wang Xu was frightened. She was holding a white bone. At this time, Wang Xu only felt that his mind was blank. As soon as his legs went limp, he fell beside the girl. There seems to be no better option than to tremble and beg the other person not to eat him.

"Spare your life! I'm not good at it. Don't scare me. ”

shouted for a long time, but the other party ignored him. It's like you can't hear what he's saying. Wang Xu swallowed a mouthful of saliva, so he boldly approached a little closer. Just as he was about to reach out and touch the girl, the other party jerked his head up. Wang Xu's outstretched hand instantly froze in the air, and his hair stood on end. This time it was really a death, and I felt that the clothes on my back were full of cold sweat.

However, the girl was not looking at him, but at the chaos in the distance. Suddenly, the girl's clear eyes emitted a golden glow, shooting straight into the chaotic sky in the distance. Wang Xu, who had been overly frightened, had no time to fear. I saw where the golden mangs were shooting, and the dark clouds were churning. The horizon seemed to have opened a door, and the colorful glow brightened everything around it. He had never seen such a picturesque scene. In the sky there are galloping white horses and winged angels. All kinds of rare birds and beasts on the endless meadow actually live in harmony. A sense of holy clarity suddenly made him feel that his soul was also sublimated. Could it be that this is heaven?

"Your Majesty! Waiting for Feng'er..."

Immersed in the shock of witnessing the miracle, he didn't even notice that the girl next to him had gotten up and walked away. The girl's words were like church bells, echoing in this heavenly sanctuary, and could not be dispersed for a long time. All the creatures seemed to hear her words at the same time, and instantly froze in place as they watched her leave.

Leaving a winding trail on the grass, Wang Xu looked in the direction the girl had walked. Lost his voice exclaimed:

"Youkai!"

The woman has a snake head. When they first met, the skirt and long hair covered the lower body. Wang Xu didn't notice it, and when he saw the grass being pressed out of the S-shaped trajectory, he felt a little weird in his heart. However, the next moment, it was as if he had been struck by lightning. The other party was clearly twisting his waist and winding forward.

When Wang Xu woke up from the illusion, his right hand was still tightly gripping the ink sword. Aj told him that he had been unconscious for two hours. The little girl is extremely sensible. During Wang Xu's coma, he completed all the sales of stolen goods alone. At this time, it was already ten in the evening, Ah Ji asked with concern, and repeatedly confirmed Wang Xu's injury, and then fell asleep with peace of mind.

By the dim light of the fire, Wang Xu wiped the herbs from his fingers. It was found that the wound was gone. I think of that day when Aji drank his own blood, he was miraculously resurrected. After the body is injured, it will always heal itself quickly, and all of this exudes the smell of weirdness and conspiracy. And what exactly is the text on this ink sword? Why does the girl you see in the illusion look so similar to Aji? What is the relationship between his wife Xia Yunnuo and the two? He seemed to understand something. I didn't die unexpectedly, and when I came to this strange world, is there some inevitable connection?

So Wang Xu cut his finger again and smeared the blood on the words on the sword. Sure enough, he came to that illusion again. The same towering ancient trees, the same girls crying with white bones, the same sacred heavenly things, as if everything is repeating. This time he witnessed the girl's snake body. It's just that he seems to be blocked by some kind of force, and he can't make contact with people or things in the illusion. He can clearly perceive the other party, but the other party does not feel his presence.

I pondered that sentence over and over again.

"Your Majesty! Waiting for Feng'er..."

"Who is the Emperor? The girl called herself Feng'er. Phoenix... Could it be Nuwa? ”

He vaguely remembered that he had seen in ancient books that Nuwa's descendants were the Feng family. At that time, she also laughed at Nuwa Niangniang for being a rebellious girl. suddenly recalled that Ah Ji once said that Yunmeng Mountain is called Nuwa Mountain. All the seemingly coincidental things are put together, and there are many hidden connections. Wang Xu is sure that this is no coincidence. Someone must have hinted at him or revealed some information to guide him step by step to solve the final mystery. And the people behind the scenes must not be simple. Maybe it's the Thai emperor in Nuwa's mouth.

Suddenly, there was a feeling of being manipulated and fooled. At this moment, what he can be sure of is that Aji must be hiding an unknown secret. If his accidental death was the cause, then his wife Xia Yunnuo sent him to this world as a result. And Aji, who has a similar face, is definitely the key to the next cause and effect. Thinking of this, Wang Xu's heart became uneasy. Waiting for a fourth, identical-looking woman to show up is the key to solving the puzzle.

Tossing and turning all night, thinking about messy questions. Savor what you see in the illusion. Nuwa appeared in heaven and was watched by all things. Chinese and Western myths and stories are suddenly intertwined, and I always feel that this style of painting is a bit weird.

"God is a girl?"

Isn't the mythical story about Nuwa Niangniang the Mother Earth and the creator of all things in the world? Wang Xu only felt that he was extremely stupid, and he had never noticed that Nuwa in the East was surprisingly similar to the God in the West. There will be no two creators. At this moment, he was extremely sure that God was Nuwa, and Nuwa was a girl.

Before Ah Ji woke up, Wang Xu got up and prepared breakfast. When he left the village yesterday, he took some rice. I was preparing to eat rice in the morning, but I ran into difficulties. Remember that when steaming rice in a rice cooker, as long as the water used for steaming does not pass the back of your hand, the rice will be soft and delicious. At this time, cooking rice in a clay pot is the first time I have tried it. I don't know how much water to add to suit. In order not to waste food, the clay pot was filled with clean water. In his opinion, drinking gruel is better than burning it and not having to eat it.

Today, Ah Ji's appetite is particularly good, and he drank three bowls of rice porridge. kept asking Wang Xu how he cooked such a delicious meal. Wang Xu's old face turned red, and he just buried his head in eating. At this time, people living in the Central Plains rarely ate rice. More rice is used to make rice wine. Since it is extremely difficult to transport rice from Vietnam, rice is regarded as a precious thing. After brewing, the value can increase several times. Imagine that the people can't even eat enough, where will they use grain to make wine? Therefore, drinking alcohol is a very luxurious thing. This bad habit also existed only among the nobility.

After breakfast, the two of them carried the bamboo basket on their backs and walked down the mountain together. A large box of bronze, it is estimated that the two of them need to go back and forth at least three times before they can be transported all. In order to prevent the craftsmen from disturbing the people, Wang Xu deliberately moved the place where he worked to the valley. Walking a short distance, I saw enthusiastic villagers helping the blacksmith build a hut. The place where they worked was a little more rudimentary, nothing more than shelter from the wind and rain, and even the stables where the two horses lived were much higher than where they worked.

A furnace made of clay and stone, with rock instead of iron felt, allowed a simple blacksmith to operate. Some of the enthusiastic villagers even came to celebrate with congratulatory gifts. A few eggs, a piece of bacon, and a basket of wild vegetables, this is the simple friendship of the mountain people. Apparently the blacksmith got along well with the crowd. I saw that Wang Xu was a little jealous, and he had never seen everyone eat pot pulp against him. Even some of them were saved twice by him. But he didn't know how honorable it was for a small mountain village to have a blacksmith, even in a wild-level town. Such craftsmen are strictly controlled, otherwise blades and counterfeit money will fly everywhere, and the ruling class will not collapse immediately? Of course, the mountain people of Yunmeng think more simply. They can show off or brag to the people of their neighboring villages. In the future, if you need to change some bronze objects at home, you don't need to go to a city hundreds of miles away.