Shao Xi and Lao Wu took the little girl all the way forward, and when they passed through a village, they finally found out the origin of the little girl. It turned out that this family was a small merchant in Stone Town not far ahead, and the people in the village often went to their shop in the town to buy some daily necessities, so they were still familiar with each other. This time, the family went out to visit relatives in another town, and they had passed through their village before, but they didn't expect that it would not be long before the family had an accident.

Knowing that the child still had relatives in Stone Town, Shao Xi and Lao Wu hurried to Stone Town. When he arrived in the town, he didn't even have time to eat, so he began to look around for the location of the child's relatives. After inquiring along the way, they learned that the girl's relatives lived in the west end of the town, and the two finally returned the child to her family.

The girl's relatives were also grief-stricken when they learned the cause of the incident, and wept and rushed to find someone to go to the place of the incident to transport the body back. He was also very grateful to Shao Xi and Lao Wu, kowtowed, and took out some money to show his gratitude, but Shao Xi resigned. is a chivalrous and righteous act, if you accept the other party's reward, won't the taste change?

The toss along the way was dark, and the two of them were very tired. However, Shao Xi was relieved that he had finally sent back this little ancestor named Ah Zi, if he stayed by his side, the name alone would have made him wake up from a nightmare in the middle of the night.

Hungry! You have to find a place to eat. So, the two came to the only inn in the town called "Shunxing". Seeing that they were two distinguished guests on horseback, the shopkeeper hurriedly trotted out to greet them, led them into the store and sat down, and beckoned the handyman to pull the horses to the backyard to feed.

Entering the store, the two sat down against a wall. After Xiao Er enthusiastically poured hot tea for the two, he asked earnestly: "Second master, is this a top-notch child or a hotel?" ”

Shao Xi replied, "I'm hungry, let's get something to eat first." ”

Xiao Er smiled and asked, "I don't know what the two masters want to use?" ”

"Cut two catties of beef, put two pots of hot wine on it, it's too cold this day."

As soon as Shao Xi finished saying this, he saw Xiao Er's face embarrassed, but he wanted to stop talking.

Lao Wu took over the conversation on the side, "Cut two catties of mutton and serve two pots of hot wine." ”

"Gotcha! Wait a minute, the food and drinks will arrive soon. After speaking, Xiao Er ran to the back hall with a smoke.

Shao Xi asked a little puzzled, "Why do you want to change it to mutton?" Wouldn't beef be more satisfying? ”

Lao Wu smiled and explained to Shao Xi: "The young master left the Central Plains and grew up in the grassland since he was a child, so it's not unusual to not know. In the Central Plains, it is a criminal offense to slaughter and sell cattle. Wouldn't it be embarrassing for you to go to someone's store and get some beef? ”

Shao Xi then remembered that when he was in history class, he seemed to have mentioned it. So he asked, "Then we will have some beef jerky left, won't we be able to eat them all?" ”

Lao Wu waved his hand, "That's okay, you're not eating cattle from the Central Plains." ”

While the two were talking, another person walked in through the doorway. Shao Xi looked up, it was none other than the nameless swordsman he had met before. I saw that he was carrying the tattered iron sword in his hand, and the previous package was gone, thinking that he had exchanged the pawn for silver money.

No one went to the door to greet him, so he walked to the table by the window and sat down. At this time, Xiao Er ran over and asked, "What does the guest officer want to eat?" ”

"A pound of mutton, a pot of old roast. I also want a chicken and ten steamed buns to take away. ”

The shopkeeper didn't serve the food immediately like he did with Shao Xi and Lao Wu, but calculated the account for the man.

"A pound of mutton is six Wen, a pot of old roast is five Wen, a chicken is ten Wen, ten steamed buns are two Wen, a total of 23 Wen. Do you want to pay now, or do you pay after eating? ”

In these welcoming and sending lines, the stores are very powerful, and they talk completely according to the pomp and circumstance of the customers. Of course, it can't be said that it is wrong, after all, if you meet a white eater, the day will be in vain.

The man was not annoyed, took out a handful of copper coins from his waist and counted them one by one. After counting enough, he put the copper coins on the table, still without saying a word as before.

"Wait a minute, the guest officer will serve you food right away." Xiao Er accompanied the smiling face to receive the money on the table in his hand, and ran to the counter to hand over the money to the account room.

At this time, Shao Xi's table of wine and food had already been served. The two of them were hungry and cold, so they ate in a hurry. Because it was already dark, there were only a few customers in the store at this time, and it felt a little deserted.

Shao Xi ordered two more pots of hot wine, and asked Xiao Er by the way: "Little brother, is there a neat and clean room in the store?" ”

"Yes, yes, the best rooms we have here are still empty, how many do you two want?"

"Two rooms, you go back to my horse in the back and deliver my package to the room."

"Gotcha! The small one will give you two to clean up the room, and the two masters will eat slowly, not in a hurry. ”

The little second runner ran down, and Shao Xi turned his head to look at the nameless swordsman again.

The man had just asked Xiao Er to serve himself another pot of old roast, and he was drinking unhurriedly, while his other hand was gently stroking the iron sword on the table. I don't know why such a dilapidated sword makes him cherish it so much?

After a few more glasses of wine, Shao Xi only felt red in his face and hot ears. I don't know what kind of interest I was here, I got up and walked to the door of the inn, looked at the heavy snow that was still falling outside, and chanted softly:

The snow and frost in the sky are like flowers,

The sun reflects the blue edge and the moon shines on the yarn.

When the night is cold, the cold light returns late,

Fu Jian chanted softly in the restaurant.

The man's hand stroking the iron sword paused. With a tilt of his head, he drank the wine in the glass, and then resumed his movement of stroking the iron sword.

"This poem is for you." Shao Xi said it, but he didn't turn his head to look at the man.

"Thank you." The man's accosting was a bit of a surprise.

"This sword is precious?"

The man shook his head slightly.

"Then why don't you change to a better sword after the killing?"

"Weapons are the last dignity of Jianghu people."

"You killed them, and you still have to think about giving them dignity?"

"Leave dignity for myself."

"I don't quite understand what you mean."

"No one will want my sword."

This answer made Shao Xi cry and laugh, but he didn't know how to refute it. He's right, no one wants his sword.

"You know you're going to die at someone else's hands?"

The man nodded.

"When?"

The man shook his head again.

"You're going to go on like this forever? With your skills, there should be a better choice. ”

"I only kill for myself."

"Oh? On this point, we do have some consensus. ”

Although this person has fallen so far, he still does not want to be a tool at the mercy of others. At this point, Shao Xi admired him a little. People live in the world, how many people can really do this?

Shao Xi walked up to the man and raised the wine glass in his hand.

"I salute you for this cup."

The man responded to Shao Xi rarely, and also raised the wine glass in his hand, and the two of them drank the wine in the cup.

The man put down his glass, put the second pot of wine on the table, picked up the iron sword and walked straight out of the inn, and soon disappeared into the snowy night.

Shao Xi sat back at the table and asked Lao Wu, "Are there many such people in the rivers and lakes?" ”

Lao Wu nodded and shook his head again, "A lot, and a few." ”

Shao Xi rolled his eyes, "Can you not talk like that guy?" ”

"There are many people in the rivers and lakes who make a living like him, but there are very few people who stick to their hearts like him. This man may act strangely, but he has his own principles for what he does. Just ask how many people in this river and lake can not become the eagle dog minions of others for the sake of profit? ”

"So do you think he's a good guy or a wicked man?" Shao Xi asked casually.

"Good guys? Villain? Don't ask me such childish questions in the future. Go upstairs and sleep! ”

After Lao Wu finished speaking, he turned around and stepped on the wooden staircase of "chirp" and went upstairs. Shao Xi also felt that what he had just asked was a bit naïve, shook his head with a wry smile, and walked upstairs with him.

The next day, the two of them got up a little late. After all, all the way over, most of them are sleeping in the open air, and it is rare to stay in the hotel for a good night.

The two of them washed up briefly, packed their bags, and paid for the first night's room. By this time, the innkeeper had led their horses to the door. The two got on their horses and left Stone Town and continued south.

At this time, although the snow has stopped, the road is still muddy and difficult to walk. The two of them marched unhurriedly in the direction of Qingshan City.

"Old Wu, why don't we go back to Yingzhou first?"

"Although many years have passed, it is difficult to guarantee that Yingzhou has not been planted with hidden piles (secret agents) over the years, so I am not in a hurry to go back first."

"I'd love to go back and see."

"Let's talk about it when we have a chance! It's better to go to the girder first and get down to business. ”

Shao Xi turned his head to look at Lao Wu and asked, "Since you said that you wanted to go back to the Central Plains, you haven't told me what you want to do when you come back, can you say it now?" ”

Lao Wu took a sip of wine and replied lazily: "You'll know when the time comes, why do you ask so much now?" ”

"Mysterious." Shao Xi muttered dissatisfiedly.

Before they knew it, they saw a ruined temple in front of them, and they drove their horses over to rest there.

This dilapidated temple seems to have been abandoned for a long time. There weren't a few tiles left on the roof, and the walls had collapsed in several places, but I was lucky enough to pick up a few pieces of wood nearby to make a fire.

When I walked into the ruined temple, I found that there were people in the temple.

The man sat against the wall, covered in blood and looking badly wounded. There were a few more gaps on the already shabby clothes, the old hat covered his face because he lowered his head, and a tattered iron sword lay on the ground beside him.

Shao Xi recognized this person at a glance as the nameless swordsman who had been drinking with him in the inn the night before.

Lao Wu walked over and squatted down to check. As soon as he took off the man's hat, he saw that there was an obvious wound on his face, and several wounds on his body were more serious, some of which were already deep into the bones. After some inspection, Lao Wu turned around and shook his head at Shao Xi.

"It's a knife wound, it has hurt my heart, I'm afraid I won't survive."

Shao Xi hurriedly took out a bottle of blood clotting powder from the cowhide satchel, sprinkled it on the man's wound, and took a red blood pill and stuffed it into the man's mouth, and used wine to help him go down.

Lao Wu watched Shao Xi use such a precious medicine on a stranger, and his heart was distressed! But I'm embarrassed to say.

After a while, the man slowly regained some consciousness. looked at Shao Xi in front of him, and a rare smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"When will I be killed, you ask? At this time. ”

After speaking, he took out a small and delicate silver lock from his arms with difficulty.

"Give it back to the kid......"