Chapter 40: Blacksmith's Oath
Zhang Ziqian's blacksmith name is Zhang Ziqian, and he has been working in this place in Hexi all his life. His father was an ironworker, and his son was an ironworker. If it weren't for that man, most of his son's sons would still be striking iron. How good is his iron? The firewood knife and axe blow the hair and break the hair, sharpen the iron like mud, and the hoe and nail rake meet the stone and gravel, and the wood pierces the wood. It's not bragging, it's true, and everyone who bought it has tried it. However, only a few people know that he is best at forging swords.
People say that Zhang Blacksmith's father and son live well, only older people know that his Laozi's work is good at that time, and it is worse when it reaches Zhang Ziqian, and it is stronger to his son Zhang Tiehan, which is really strange.
The people who live there also know that this blacksmith's best skill is not to strike iron, but to sing, and he sings a good mountain song, better than his son and his son, but no one knows what he sings.
"Is this Zhang Tiehan's house?" Zhang Ziqian's father and son, who were striking iron, suddenly heard this question, and when they looked up, they saw four people standing in the courtyard, and Zhang's blacksmith's family had come to friends.
"Father, the handsome man is here." Zhang Tiehan, the son of Blacksmith Zhang, glanced at the person who led the way in, and hurriedly introduced himself to his father, who knew that his father had not seen this friend yet.
"I don't know if the handsome man is coming, Ziqian has missed the distance, and I hope to forgive my sins." Zhang Ziqian immediately stepped forward to bow down, while looking up with his eyes, trying to see clearly what kind of person he was worshipping, but he saw a man in black wearing a black hat, his face covered with black veil, and a black cloak. Looking at the people next to him, it seems that he is no stranger, a great monk, who is Huicheng in Guanghua Temple? There is also a young man, who seems to be the son of Xiao Shengren.
The man in black stepped forward to help Zhang Ziqian and said, "Uncle Zhang is serious, your ancestors and grandchildren have worked hard for three generations. Seeing a trace of doubt flashing in Zhang Ziqian's eyes, he smiled and said: "I have something here, I must have heard of Uncle Zhang as well", he took out a small box from his sleeve as he spoke, opened it and took out a thing from the box, but it was a small stone boat. He held up the stone boat for everyone to take a look at, only to see that it was engraved with several Yin inscriptions: "The stone boat set sail and I revolted".
Zhang Ziqian stared at the stone boat for a long time, excited, and let the four friends into the back room.
"Dashuai, why are you here in person?" Zhang Tiehan asked.
"Well, Brother Ming, you introduce everyone to each other." The handsome man said to a young man behind him.
Zhang Tiehan hurriedly said: "No need, this Ming Gongzi, Master Huicheng, and Xiao Gongzi, our father and son all recognize each other." ”
Huicheng was a little surprised, he was not a celebrity in Guanghua Temple, and due to professional reasons, there were not many times when he came out publicly, and these two people could actually know themselves.
Ming Zongxia bowed slightly, hugged his fists at Blacksmith Zhang's father and son, and said: "I offended a lot last time, and I hope that Uncle Zhang and Brother Tiehan will ignore their previous suspicions." ”
"Of course, of course, everyone is a brother, how can we account for it?" Zhang Ziqian didn't expect that this handsome man had already received the help of the Chongqing Ming family, and he was a little hesitant, but now he is more determined to follow the footsteps of the handsome.
"Well, okay, now that we are all of one mind, then for the sake of a common cause, there is something that needs to be discussed together." After the man in black said this, he looked back at Ming Zongxia: "Can Brother Ming call the shots?" ”
Ming Zongxia's throat moved: "I can call the shots, it's just ......"
"Just what?"
"It's just that this time tomorrow Mingliang will go out of Sichuan with me, and I will be sacrificed, and I will inevitably be punished by the third uncle when I go back, and I hope that the handsome man can speak for me." Regarding this matter, Ming Zongxia was indeed afraid of the third uncle's punishment, and on the other hand, he also wanted to show an attitude of conditional cooperation.
"Are you blaming Ben Shuai for not bringing them out?" The man in black was domineering, and through the black veil, it seemed that he could still see an undoubted light in his eyes, which couldn't help but make several people present tremble.
"No...... No, I want to ask the marshal to give me an instruction on how to explain this matter to the third uncle. ”
"You don't have to explain, he'll be here soon." The man in black was categorical.
Ming Zongxia is still skeptical, for so many years, Ming Xiang, the sect leader of the Tianxia Society, has not left Sichuan and Shu for half a step, will he really come east in person? It's just that he didn't have the courage to refute Dashuai's words anymore. After leaving Guanghua Temple, he gave the "Diamond Sutra Change" to the big marshal with interest. He knew that even if they had both of these things in hand, without a single clue from his Ming family, they would still not be able to find the Tianwan Treasure. Of course, it was only after entering the cave that he learned that the secret guarded by their Ming family might be related to the treasure of the end of the day. The third uncle must be notified as soon as possible and find a way to find the tomb of Emperor Xu.
"What? Don't believe in Ben Shuai? The man in black said angrily.
"No, no, I believe in the marshal, then I will first come to listen to the marshal on behalf of Tianxia."
So, in this room, the black-clothed man known as Dashuai, Zhang Blacksmith and his son, Ming Zongxia of Tianxia Society, Huicheng Monk of Guanghua Temple, and Xiao Wuyu of Sage Hall opened a secret meeting.
"Now, we have the "Golden Stone Sutra" and "Diamond Sutra Variation", the oath of the Xiao family, if we want to find the treasure, we also need the oath of your Zhang family and the Ming family." The man in black was unquestionably authentic.
"The Zhang family's oath? I want to ask, how does the marshal know that our Zhang family has an oath? Zhang Ziqian's face was confused and surprised.
"Don't you wonder why I found Brother Tiehan?"
"Please also make it clear."
"Well, today, I'm going to tell you about this treasure. In that year, my emperor's grandfather rose up in the cloudy mountains of Luotian, and called the emperor in Qishui, and then was encircled and suppressed by the Yuan army, and then turned into the mountains to guerrilla. The emperor's grandfather inevitably had no resources to revive after another defeat, so he took the opportunity to return to his hometown to hide the treasure in the cloudy mountains, and distributed the treasure hunting clues to many of his subordinates, leaving a "Golden Stone Classic" on his body. Later, the "Golden Stone Classic" was obtained by me, and I knew that its content was a poem, and the poem said: "Shandong has no field to grow swords, and there are Han people selling swords in Zhongyuan." If the hero knows the opposite, the saint will help him to go to heaven. Under the comprehension of Master Huicheng, I knew that the last sentence might be related to the Sage Xiao of the Sage Hall. Originally, this 'saint' should refer to the saint's business that the Xiao family guarded, but it happened that Xiao Wuxuan ordered Xiao Yuanfu to be called 'Xiao Saint'. Under the visit, the Sage Xiao refused to obey the order, saying that there was no such thing, but Brother Wu was quite knowledgeable, told me the secret, and handed over the "Diamond Sutra Diagram". After discussing with Brother Wuyu, I understood that the third sentence is a pun, which not only refers to the righteousness, but also refers to the first sentence should be interpreted as an antisense, which only came to the conclusion that "Shandong Wutian" may be "Hexi Youjia", that is, Hexi Yuan, as for the sword, it should be related to the knife, so I thought of your mansion. So we visited your house at night, and when we saw the upside-down big knife in your shed, we understood that planting a sword is a knife, and this big knife is a token, and it has become the safest token in the most conspicuous place. At this time, I bumped into Brother Tie Han, and you all know about it. ”
This black-clothed man turned out to be Xu Hao, the grandson of Xu Shouhui, the emperor of the Tianwan regime at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, he did not say that the "Golden Stone Sutra" was stolen by Huicheng from Duzun Temple, nor did he say his true identity, the previous time he deceived Xiao Shengren that the eldest brother had passed away, and he held his token on behalf of him, he didn't believe it, and this time he simply showed it directly as the eldest grandson.
"I see. Yes, I saw someone sneaking in at the time, thinking it was a gangster, and went out to chase after him, but the fight was over. The next day, I received an anonymous appointment letter, and then I met Dashuai. After I came back and told my father, my father told me about our family's mission to guard the secrets of His Majesty Emperor Xu, and knew that the handsome man was the son of Emperor Xu, so he ordered me to actively contact him. Zhang Tiehan said.
"Okay, let's say, what is your family's vow?"
"The sword is the letter, the cast iron is the industry, the song is the trumpet, the ancestral tomb is guarded, and the hard work is practiced to help the monarch."
"Haha...... Well, a good diligent practice to help the king. Xu Hao was overjoyed and stroked his palms and laughed.
Suddenly, he stopped laughing and continued to ask, "You mentioned protecting the ancestral tomb in this oath, I don't know which ancestral tomb you are talking about?" ”
Zhang Ziqian replied: "Oh...... This is talking about the ancestral tomb of Emperor Xu near Xu Huangchong, after being explored by this Ming brother last time, we went to investigate, it was an empty mound, nothing. ”
Xu Hao snorted, obviously knowing this, and then turned his head to Ming Zongxia and said, "What about your Ming family?" Are there any tokens or oaths? ”
"Our family? We've never heard of an oath! Ming Zongxia was surprised.
Xu Hao glanced at Ming Zongxia, and also felt that when his grandfather was in trouble, Ming Yuzhen had already led the army deep into Sichuan and Shu, and he should not get any clues to hunt for treasures, so he turned his back and said to Xiao Wuyu: "Are you sure that your old man went to Zhongyuan?" ”
"I'm sure." Xiao Wuyu really wanted to win the favor of the handsome, so it was natural for him to betray his father, and he even felt that his mother supported him. However, he is still very envious of Zhang Tiehan, if he can be like him, it would be great if Lao Tzu and his son could support Xu Dashuai with one heart, and he didn't have to be so embarrassed.
"In the view of the "Golden Stone Sutra", we should need the participation of three families to find the treasure, at present, the Xiao and Zhang families are already listed, the token of the Xiao family is the "Diamond Sutra Diagram", I guess it should be a treasure hunting map, the token of the Zhang family is the big knife, I don't know what it does yet, but whether there are other tokens and how to use these tokens, may also need the participation of other families." Hui Cheng suddenly interjected.
"This knife? Da Shuai...... To tell you the truth, no one seems to be able to lift this knife, and my father never told me how to lift it. Zhang Ziqian said distressedly.
Everyone was curious, so they turned to the big knife and took turns to fight, but they couldn't pull out the big knife and couldn't damage it, and they didn't know what to do for a while.
"Since this knife can't even be pulled out, no one should be able to pull it out for a while, so it's better to put it here first, and try it again when there is a way." Xiao Wuyu's words resonated with everyone.
"Didn't the marshal just say that there is another one, I don't know which one?" Huicheng's question also represents everyone's question.
"It should be the Ming family in Zhongyuan, and our two families have been friends for generations." Xiao Wuwu said.
Ming Zongxia was taken aback, which one is in the middle? There is actually a surname Ming here, I don't know what it has to do with my family? I must talk to the third uncle about this matter.
"Yes, our two families have been friends for generations, and I am already the third generation."
After several people finished discussing, they immediately set off and headed west.