If it were really your maid, wouldn't you have picked her out of the pile of dead bodies? Didn't you say that the two of you depended on each other? Even if you took 10,000 steps back and said that she was your maid, don't you think that she was too young to take on such heavy and hard work? Why can't the little boy do it himself?

Maybe it triggered the bad memories of childhood, or maybe the imagination of some beautiful emotions in my heart was too completely destroyed by a certain guy, the maid pushed the fence straight away and walked in, her eyes fell on the bamboo chaise longue, and fell on the old book that the young man had been reading carefully, and said lightly mockingly: "I thought that what I was watching was a masterpiece of sages that could make you forget the movements that happened around you, but I didn't expect that it was just a Taishang induction chapter that can be bought everywhere on the market, could it be that people like you also hope to step on the path of cultivation?"

Ning Que sat up, curiously glanced at this little lady who was dressed luxuriously and seemed to never appear in Weicheng, and then at the captain with an embarrassed expression, and after a pause, he explained: "I can only buy this book, so I have to look at it, that is, I am curious, where is there any luxury." ”

The maid obviously didn't expect this young man to answer so naturally and casually, so that she couldn't help but suffocate, and immediately looked at the little maid who was pouring ashes next to the door, and said unhappily: "I am a dignified man, how can there be a man like you." ”

Ning Que frowned suspiciously, followed the other party's gaze to Sang Sang, who was standing by the window with a rag, understood where the sharpness of the other party's words came from, dimples appeared in his left cheek, and said with a smile: "I see you should be older than me, otherwise...... You just think I'm not a man, I'm a boy. ”

The servant girl has probably never seen such a brazen person in her life, the fists in her sleeves are slowly clenched, and her expression is cold and about to attack, but her eyes fall on the muddy ground next to the bamboo chaise longue, and fall on the handwriting drawn by those branches, her mind can't help but move slightly, and a different color appears in her eyes, so that she completely forgets what she wants to say.

......

......

In the barracks with the best conditions in Weicheng, the old man in a torn robe was closing his eyes to recuperate, and the general Ma Shixiang was half-bowing down to talk to the nobles in the tent, with a look of surprise that could not be hidden in his humble attitude.

"Are you not happy with the guide?" he asked, confused, "Why?"

The voice of the nobleman in the tent was extremely dissatisfied, and reprimanded: "I want a shrewd and capable guide, not a lazy young man whose mind is full of cultivation dreams and can only carry roast chickens without the strength to restrain chickens." ”

Ma Shixiang coughed lightly twice, and explained in a low voice: "As the last general knows, although Ning Que is still young, he has also beheaded many barbarians on the grassland in the past two years...... Just tying up a few chickens, I don't think it's a big deal. ”

Datang established the country with martial arts, and the first priority was military merit, although the person behind the account was extremely noble, but since he touched the glory that the army valued most, Ma Shixiang chose to fight back without hesitation, which seemed to explain that it was actually a bit of a mockery and rebuttal.

The cold voice behind the tent stopped for a moment, and said unhappily: "If you can kill people, you can be a good guide?"

Ma Shixiang replied more and more humbly: "Of the three hundred subordinates in Weicheng, Ning Que is definitely not the one who kills the most enemies among them, but the last general dares to use his head as a guarantee, no matter what kind of tragic battlefield it is, among the last survivors...... There must be this teenager. ”

Then he raised his head and said with a smile: "Because of the accumulation of military merits, he has obtained a letter of recommendation from the military department, this kid is really angry, he passed the first core half a year ago, and this time he will go to the academy to report." ”

Hearing the word academy, the back of the tent suddenly fell silent, and the noble man never spoke again.

After Ma Shixiang left, the old man in the old robe slowly opened his eyes, and there was a rare hint of interest in his old and calm eyes, he looked at the curtain and said with a gentle smile: "In this small town, it is really surprising that there are soldiers who can be admitted to the academy. ”

"It's only been a year since I left the country, but I didn't expect that a sacred place like the academy would actually start recruiting such soldiers. ”

The tone was still cold and disdainful, but the actual attitude had changed, and the noble man at least no longer objected to Ning Que as the guide of his team - only a name was needed to make the big man change his mind, and the place simply called the academy must not be simple to think about.

The old man said another thing, and his expression was a little puzzled: "I went to see the words he wrote on the mud floor before, and copied the third section of the Taishang Induction Chapter, the font lines are concise, but they are extremely vivid...... I really don't know how he practiced it, and where his teacher is. ”

"The soldier is just empty strokes, before a few glances, fresh and inevitably shocked, at this time think about it, it is just some strange skills of the road to the pen, talk about the right way, in the future, about to touch is a word seller outside the capital Xiangfang. ”

The noble man replied coldly.

The old man shook his head and said, "The word "fresh" is the key. I don't know calligraphy, but looking at the tip of the soldier's branch, I can really faintly see the meaning of gold and stone, and the stroke bone in this kind of word is very rare, and it is really a bit like the means of those people in the Taoist altar. ”

"You mean runes?"

The nobleman behind the tent was stunned, and then mocked: "There are hundreds of millions of people in the world, but there are only a dozen people in Fu Dao. Those masters are either hidden in the palace, or sit quietly in the temple, and meditate and practice all their lives to condense the breath of heaven and earth between the golden hook and the silver stroke. That young man has no breath fluctuations on his body, he is just an ordinary mortal, even if he looks at the Taishang Induction Chapter for another fifty years, he is afraid that he will not even be able to step into the first realm, how can he dare to discuss it side by side with those everyone?"

The old man smiled and said nothing more. Although he is a cultivator, he has won the respect of the other party along the way, but the difference in status between the two sides is too great, and the so-called respect is actually just pity for the old and cherishing talents.

Of course, he didn't agree with the words of the noble man behind the tent, about the soldier named Ning Que, the old man had his own judgment: all mortals in the world, people who can realize the breath of heaven and earth and step into the initial realm can really be said to be one in ten thousand, and the initial induction level is the most difficult, and it is not easy, but if Ning Que can really enter the academy to study, in case one day he will go to the legendary second floor by fate and embark on the path of cultivation, and the strange and extremely powerful calligraphy will definitely be of great help to him.

Even if that guy can't get his senses straight, that handwriting alone can make the masters in the academy and the Taoist altar look at each other differently, and at the worst, it can also shock those scribes and calligraphers.

......

......

Ning Que put down the book in his hand, shook his head and walked out the door, with a faint sense of loss and unwillingness on his face.

This Taishang induction chapter that I bought with the grain transportation team in Kaiping when I was a child, as the noble maid said, is a big road commodity that can be seen everywhere. He knew this very well, but he still never forgot to read and study, as if this book was the legendary Seven Volumes of Heavenly Books enshrined in the unknowable land of Haotian Dao.

If it weren't for the tightly sewn spine of the book with cotton thread by Sangsang, I was afraid that it would turn into a few puffs of paper money and go to the wind to sacrifice the poor sages. It's a pity that after so many years, the pages of the book have been turned over, and the words on it are deep in his mind, but he still can't enter the door, not to mention the initial realm of cultivation, and even the simplest induction mentioned in the book can't do it.

He was disappointed and even desperate, and later learned that the vast majority of normal people in this world could not comprehend the qi of heaven and earth, and his mood became a lot calmer - yes, those legendary masters outside the world are not normal people, they are all perverts, because only extremely rare perverts can perceive the breath of heaven and earth, otherwise so many Taishang induction chapters are circulating in the world, why haven't you heard that the night sky of the capital Chang'an is full of flying swords flashing around, and the masters are floating around?

And it's normal for him to be lacking, or rather ordinary. It's just that you suddenly find that there is a wonderful treasure mountain in front of you, but you can only go back empty-handed, and suddenly find that the heaven and earth are full of that kind of wonderful thing called vitality like invisible white clouds, but you can't catch a cloud, after all, you will still be a little unwilling, right?

......

......

"Weicheng is so poor, the barbarians on the grassland have long made the emperor afraid of him, and he has not dared to come over for many years, so there is no way to accumulate military merits too quickly, of course it is good to be able to return to the capital, where will I have anything unwilling. ”

In the dimly lit barracks, Ning Que saluted respectfully to the general in front of him, and explained earnestly: "It's just that there is still some time before the day of registration for the academy, and I think there is no need to leave so early. Although I have not made rapid progress under the command of the general over the years, I have always been taught by you like a person, otherwise I would not have been so lucky to be admitted to the academy. I really want to stay with you for a few more days in Weicheng and listen to your teachings...... Even if it's just a little bit of doing it for a while, it's good to gossip a lot. ”

Ma Shixiang looked at the young man in front of him, the beard on his chin swayed slightly, I don't know if it was the result of being blown by the night breeze or being very angry, he said angrily: "Ning Que, Ning Que, once upon a time you became such a shameless guy?"

Ning Que replied seriously: "As long as the general needs it, I can do without this face at any time." ”

"Let's be honest. Ma Shixiang's expression became cold, and he asked with a stern expression, "Why don't you want to be this guide?"

Ning Que was silent for a long time, and then said in a low voice: "General, that noble man should not like me very much. ”

"The noble doesn't like you?" Ma Shixiang reprimanded sharply: "You seem to have forgotten your identity, you must know that you are not a student of the academy now, as an emperor, you must obey the military orders of your superiors, and obey Lao Tzu's orders! Whether the noble person likes you or not, it is not something you should worry about! As for whether you like that noble person or not, it is something that no one cares about! You only need to accept the order and then complete the order!"

Ning Que didn't answer, looked down at a stubborn grass growing out of the mud in the middle of the military boots, and silently objected.

Ma Shixiang took the young man helplessly, sighed and said, "What are you trying to do, why don't you go back to the capital with them?"

Ning Que raised his head and said with an extremely serious expression: "I have seen their convoy outside, they have been attacked on the grassland, there has been a spring drought over there recently, and last year Shan Yu of the Zuo Golden Horde died, and the nobleman's maidservant had a little dark skin, so ...... I didn't dare go with them. ”

The convoy was attacked, the grassland was in a spring drought, Shan Yu died, and the maid's face was black, these seemingly unrelated words were trivially combined by him, and they became the reason for his silence and stubbornness against his refusal to leave Weicheng.

Ma Shixiang looked at him, sighed and asked, "You guessed it a long time ago?"

"Who else in Weicheng hasn't guessed who they are now?"

Ning Que spread his hands helplessly, looked at the side of the military camp under the night, and said: "Only Her Royal Highness the idiot princess who grew up in the Chang'an Palace and married to the grassland to be a powerful and prosperous man and didn't even find out that her man was dead, would be stupid enough to think that this is always a big secret." ”