Fifty miles northwest of Nanyang County, in the dense forest of Wollongong at the southern foot of Funiu Mountain, a house is magnificent, quietly wandering between the forest and the sea.

This is the private residence of the Deng family of the Nanyang family. Far away from the Deng family's house, the Wan family, which sits at the northern foot of Funiu Mountain, is also one of the famous families in Nanyang, and both of them are famous for their sword-casting skills. The technology of quarrying and ironmaking has its own merits and advantages, and it is not comparable.

Not only in Nanyang, but also in the entire Spring and Autumn Continent, the technology that can quench iron essence from iron and stone is only mastered by Deng and Wan, and the princes of various countries have private dealings with these two families, purchasing weapons from them and expanding armaments. After the Qin state occupied Nanyang two years ago, it did not allow the two families to sell weapons to other countries. All the swords, guns, swords, halberds forged by the Deng and Wan families were purchased by the Qin State at the same price.

The Deng and Wan families have been concentrating on forging swords since ancient times, and they have never been involved in wars between vassal states, as long as they sell the weapons they cast, it doesn't matter to them who the weapons are sold to.

Since the head of the Deng family in the previous generation, the Deng family no longer casts weapons on a large scale, but focuses on forging divine weapons. Perhaps it was the previous generation of the head of the Deng family who understood the way of heaven and had compassion, and since then he has set up a family motto, and the descendants of the Deng family cannot increase their sins.

Deng Yu came out of the sword pond and climbed Funiu Mountain.

The girl in the blue dress followed behind her grandfather with a sad face. What she is worried about at the moment is the baby kiss that her father and the Bian family set for herself.

In two years, when she is seventeen years old, she will marry the Bian family as a daughter-in-law, but she is not happy at all. It's not that she doesn't look down on the young master of the Bian family, it's just that this young lady of the Deng family, who has been pampered since childhood, is obsessed with cultivation. Especially five years ago, I met that Taoist celestial man in Fuzhong and was deeply attracted by his casual and free outlook on life.

In the past five years, she has secretly left her home several times to visit the Tao, and after seeing a lot, she is even more reluctant to be a deep lady, but is particularly interested in fighting and killing on the rivers and lakes.

Three years ago, when she left home for the third time, she met a fairy sister surnamed Qin in Xiangyang, and traveled with her for three months. also understood from the mouth of the fairy sister surnamed Qin that there is no good thing for men in the world, and if a woman is trapped by marriage, her life will be over, and since then, she has begun to oppose this family business without her consent, and asked her father several times to withdraw this family business, but was reprimanded by her father.

The girl in the blue dress sat down on the top of the mountain, looked at the free clouds in the sky, and sighed.

"Yao'er, what's so bothering you?" Deng Yu sat down beside his granddaughter and asked kindly.

The girl in the blue dress turned her head to look at her grandfather and asked softly, "Grandpa, does my daughter really have no choice?" ”

The old man just glanced at it, and then understood his granddaughter's thoughts, and thought for a moment and said: "Then it depends on whether you have the courage or not, born with all things, everyone has the right to choose, and the key is to rely on yourself."

The girl in the blue dress turned her head, looked at the trees swaying in the wind, and said leisurely: "If you really have the final say, it would be great!" However, many things are involuntarily self-conscious, take these trees as an example, who does not want to be closer to the sun, but the higher it stands, the deeper the roots have to be rooted, otherwise it will die of lack of water, and the most pitiful thing is the duckweed in the water, if you want to live, you have to listen to the water."

The old man smiled kindly and said, "It's not easy to live, but it's hard to live a good life." As long as you don't want to marry the son of the Bian family, I will help you talk to your father, but in this way, my Deng family and the Bian family will have a feud, and in the future, in Nanyang, my Deng family will not be so like a fish in water."

The old man saw his granddaughter's brows furrowed, his heart was struggling, and he said lightly: "If you think about it, tell me, grandpa must stand with you......" The old man paused for a moment and said with a smile: "As for the future of the Deng family, it depends on your father's stinky boy, I am already old and weak."

The girl in the blue dress stood up suddenly, and seemed to have made up her mind: "I'm going to quit this family business, even if my father doesn't recognize me, I'll quit, it's a big deal......

The old man smiled knowingly and said solemnly: "Have you thought about it?" ”

The girl in the blue dress nodded heavily, without hesitation.

The old man laughed and said loudly: "It is worthy of being my granddaughter Deng Yu, decisive and brave, you have this heart, why are you afraid of a Bian family, I will tell your father."

————

At the foot of Funiu Mountain, four people riding in four, plus a dog, are walking along the mountain road to the mountain.

In the spring of March, there is still a trace of coldness in the shade.

The sunlight shines through the treetops, casting a fine mottled light and shadow, and there are almost no pedestrians on the loess mountain road.

Occasionally, a woodcutter from a nearby village who passed by saw the strange four people and avoided them from a distance. This made the young man in white even more suspicious, when he went to the Deng Sword House five years ago, he also walked this road, and he saw many people during this period, although they were vigilant, they were still willing to talk to strange passers-by.

The young man in white said in a deep voice: "Let's go up the mountain as soon as possible."

After walking for about an hour, a luxurious manor appeared in front of me, and the tall archway read: Deng Family Sword House.

The four of them walked through the archway, along the bluestone trail, and continued to walk forward, there were a lot of dark stones piled up on both sides of the trail, and after about 100 steps, a small circular square appeared in the middle of the trail, and a natural boulder on the square was carved into the shape of a sword, and placed in the center of the square.

The trail is divided into two in the square, the middle of the two trails is an artificial lake, the lotus leaves in the lake are tiled, the water vapor in the lake is dense, and the red and yellow koi fish swim freely among the lotus leaves, everyone moves forward along the trail on the left, about fifty steps later, is an octagonal pavilion, the right trail and the left are symmetrical, and fifty steps, the two trails are reunited into one on a square platform, and a copper tripod is placed on the platform.

Crossing nine stone steps from the platform, an arch appears, and the two sides extend out of the high blue brick wall that is more than ten feet long.

Entering the archway, there were ten houses on the left and right, and there were people in them striking iron, and when they saw four people, they just looked up, and continued to lower their heads, and the bells began to strike iron.

Directly opposite is the front hall that is transparent from east to west, and through the front hall, there is a small courtyard for craftsmen to rest.

Continuing on, a tall and luxurious gatehouse appeared.

The young man in white stepped forward and knocked on the door, and after a while, a thin middle-aged man opened the door and asked vigilantly, "Who are you looking for?" ”

The young man in white arched his hand and said: "We are looking for Mr. Deng, the owner of the village, please report it, and say that the old man of Nanhua is visiting......"

The middle-aged man whispered, "Please wait, I'll go and report ......" and then closed the door again.

After another moment, the door was opened, Deng Yu and the girl in the blue dress walked out of the door with a smile, Deng Yu laughed loudly: "Mr. Zhou, there is a long way to welcome......"

The girl in the blue dress said happily: "Sir, it's been a long time!" ”

The young man in white arched his hand and smiled: "The old owner is in good health, congratulations, and I will bother you again in the future, you are old" said and glanced at the girl in the blue dress, and said with a smile: "Miss has grown taller again......"

The four of them entered the gate under the leadership of Deng Yu and went straight to the last hall from the corridor on the right. Chen Zhenyi roughly counted, there are at least seven courtyards on this road, this building area seems to be larger than Wutian Zhufeng, and the workmanship is extremely exquisite, that is, the wood used in the corridor is more than 100 years old.

Chen Zhen was shocked, where is this private manor, this is clearly the emperor of the earth!

Everyone took their seats, and Deng Yu instructed the family to serve tea.

"Mr. Zhou, I haven't seen you for five years, where are you wandering?" Old Master Deng asked loudly. Chen Zhenyi found that the old farmer had a tiger's back and a bear's waist, a body of tendon meat, a dark and tight face, and a silver robe made of unknown materials, faintly feeling cold.

The young man in white answered the old owner's question with a smile, and they said some inconsequential things to each other, and from time to time they let out hearty laughter.

Chen Zhenyi found that the girl in the blue dress standing next to the silver-robed old man had been staring at Yu Xuanji, and her eyes were full of envy. Chen Zhenyi secretly glanced at the girl in the blue skirt a few times, and found that she was extremely good-looking, with a melon seed face, two eyes and strange elves, a small mouth bulging from time to time under the bridge of her tall nose, and her whole body exuded the liveliness of a girl.

The eyes of the girl in the blue dress fell on Chen Zhenyi, who was sitting in a precarious position, and she looked at it with some curiosity, especially when she saw the black dog lying at Chen Zhenyi's feet, her eyes showed a look of joy. If it weren't for the presence of grandpa, maybe he would have run over and touch this cute big black dog.

The young man in white said a lot of irrelevant things to the old owner of the village, and then he returned to the topic.

The young man in white introduced the three people present, and when he heard that it was a disciple of Wudang, the old owner couldn't help but feel respect, and arched his hand and said: "It turns out that they are all Wudang disciples, no wonder they have extraordinary bearing......

Bai He was as indifferent as ever, Chen Zhenyi and Yu Xuanji stood up and bowed their hands.

After the introduction, the girl in the blue dress ran over and said to Yu Xuanji: "Sister, are you from Wudang?" ”

Yu Xuanji smiled and nodded.

"Then do you know a sister named Qin Ruoxue?" The girl in the blue dress asked excitedly.

Yu Xuanji smiled implicitly and said in a low voice: "She is my senior sister......"

The girl in the blue dress danced happily, grabbed Yu Xuanji's arm and was about to go out to chat, but under the hospitality, Yu Xuanji followed her out of the hall.

"This girl, I have spoiled her, no big or small," the old owner smiled embarrassedly, picked up the teacup and took a sip ......of tea.

The young man in white laughed and asked, "Old owner, what happened in Nanyang?" ”

A trace of doubt flashed on the old man's face, and he was puzzled: "Mr. Zhou's words made the old man a little confused, isn't Nanyang still Nanyang?" ”

The young man in white said: "I entered Nanyang today and found that Nanyang is very cold, there are few pedestrians, even on the way here, I didn't see a few people, which is very strange."

Only then did the old owner hear the meaning of the young man in white, and said: "The Qin State has a heavy garrison, and issued a strict order that the people are not allowed to go to the streets for no reason, and the merchants who come and go are also heavily investigated, so it is a lot colder."

The young man in white was thoughtful, and was silent for a moment and said: "I heard earlier that the Qin State included Nanyang in its territory, but I didn't expect that the Qin State would send heavy troops to garrison it, no wonder the people didn't dare to go to the streets."

"Sir doesn't know, Nanyang is the center of the Spring and Autumn Continent, its military status can be imagined, the ambition of the wolf son of Qin is already obvious, Nanyang is afraid that there will be no peace from now on" The old farmer's face was solemn.

The field suddenly fell silent, and Chen Zhen couldn't interject. Bai He was unusually indifferent to everyone in everything, and at this time, he asked for a wine gourd from the young man in white, and drank rice wine one by one.

The young man in white was not interested in the belonging of Nanyang, he was just worried about the safety of the people of Nanyang.