Here is a mountain stream with extremely beautiful scenery, in this vast dense forest, it is quite rare. There is a small waterfall cascading down from the sky, forming a pool.

There is a dilapidated thatched house next to the waterhole, in fact, it is a bit untrue to say that it is a thatched house, but it seems appropriate to say that it is a kennel, and at first glance it seems to have been abandoned for a long time.

But outside the dilapidated kennel there was a rocking chair that was just as dilapidated as the kennel, and there was an old man of about sixty years old who was nestled in it with his whole body.

The old man seemed to be still dreaming, and saliva would flow from the corners of his mouth from time to time. Occasionally, there was a strange scream. Listening to this voice, it's time for a spring dream.

"Hehehe, don't run! Stop, stop. Where are you going?

The old man was still immersed in his dreams, and from time to time he scratched at the air with his hands.

"Old man, I've cut down the ninety-ninth tree. ”

In the distance, in the dense forest, there was a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy with a wooden knife in his hand, and beside him was a tree that he had cut down.

The old man suddenly woke up from his dream when he heard the child's cry. Sit up.

"Ergou, didn't I tell you that your master has the habit of taking a nap, what is it called, howling and mourning! ”

The old man scolded as soon as he woke up, not caring at all about his nearly sixty years old, and he was not ashamed at all.

"Old man, I am just one of your relatives, and you are not dead, who should I mourn?"

This young man also looks like a scoundrel, and seems to have completely inherited the old man's shamelessness.

"Dog, curse your master to death? Lao Tzu raised you so big, your conscience was taken away by the dog. Today, run the sword trick for me ten more times. ”

The old man's angry voice echoed in the mountain stream.

This young man is naturally the child who was rescued on a rainy night that year, and this old man is naturally the one who saved people.

After the two of them left, they came to such a place, and almost never went out. Even if the old man goes out occasionally, he never takes the child with him.

......

Jiang Ergou is the name of this child. Ever since the child was sensible, he had hated the name, but his master was reluctant to change his name. So, he didn't call him master anymore, just the old man and the old man. As for the old man, he doesn't care, he just always calls himself in the name of his master.

In fact, the old man is not reluctant to change his name sometimes, but every time he sees Ergou uncomfortable because of his name, the old man will feel very comfortable.

"Two dogs, two dogs, is the rice cooked? ”

The old man was still lying in the rocking chair, his nose twitching, as if he had smelled something.

"Cooked, cooked. Get up and eat, why don't you wake up when you have a spring dream. When it comes to meals, the nose is smarter than a dog's. ”

"Hey, hey, how can you be smarter than a dog, Ergou, don't you look down on yourself. ”

The old man smiled cheaply.

"Do you want to eat yet? ”

The second dog lifted the bowl of vegetables and made a gesture to throw it out.

"Eat, eat, eat, how can you not eat. People are iron, rice is steel, and if you don't eat a meal, you will be hungry and panic. Hey, hey, hey. ”

The old man softened at once, and he didn't look like a master at all.

"I have a question for you, old man. ”

"You say, you say, I'll listen!"

The old man replied vaguely as he wiped out the unpleasant food.

"You say, at present, I am your only disciple, and I haven't heard you say anything about my senior brother or anything. Why were you able to come up with a name for Ergou in the first place? No matter how bad it is, I'm also a big dog, and if I have a little junior brother in the future, he should be Ergou. ”

Once again, the boy was depressed by his name, and although it was not the first time in so many years, it would not be the last.

The old man's chopsticks paused inadvertently, and then he started eating again.

"What's wrong with the second dog, I still wronged you. Just you fool, calling you two dogs is lifting you up. ”

"Then I'm not ......"

"Okay, okay, haven't you read the military book, can't you eat, don't eat and read. ”

When Ergou heard this, what he wanted to say was also pressed back to the bottom of his heart, and he lowered his head to pick up rice.

......

The moonlight is slightly cool, shining into the mountain stream, making the scenery in the mountain stream even more wonderful. But the two people living in the mountain stream don't look like gentlemen who can enjoy this scenery at all.

Syllable.

"Damn, why are there so many mosquitoes in this broken mountain stream? Believe it or not, the old man used my sixty years of internal strength to shock you to death. ”

"Old man, you have been practicing martial arts since you were in your mother's womb. Sixty years of internal force, blow you. ”

"Hey, boy, don't believe it, there is a saying in this world called washing the scriptures and cutting the marrow, but it starts from the mother's womb. Medicinal diet nourishes the child's meridians through the mother's body, you say, this is not considered to start practicing martial arts from the mother's womb. ”

"Hey, come on, don't say I don't believe it, even if there is such a thing, it has nothing to do with you. ”

Ergou naturally didn't believe it, and looked at the old man with a mocking expression.

"You kid, you know a fart. Back then, your master also grew up in a honey pot. ”

"I don't believe it anyway"

Ergou said, turning his face to the side, and began to concentrate on dealing with the mosquitoes that sucked his blood on him.

"I don't believe you're a ghost, today's twenty times, no, thirty times the sword trick is working, why don't you give Lao Tzu a practice"

"Cut, practice, practice. ”

Although the young man pouted his lips disdainfully, he still seriously put on a posture for practice. After all, everything can be sloppy, but the matter of practicing must be serious.

......

"Old man, tell me, I obviously practice swordsmanship, why don't you teach me to use swords, but you want me to practice swords?"

The young man's mood is always calm, but after half an hour, he can't stop asking.

"You've asked me this question a few times. Tell me about yourself"

"It should have been a thousand times. ”

The boy tilted his head seriously and thought for a while.

"Then you still ask Lao Tzu, I don't know if it's in vain, I'll tell you when you should know. Now, practice your knives honestly. ”

When the boy heard this, he smiled knowingly. Every time he asked this question, the old man would give the same answer. But he would still ask. It's like, it's become a habit. If the boy didn't ask, he wouldn't be able to sleep.

"Old man, you said that when I cut down a hundred trees with a wooden knife, you will take me out of the mountains to travel the rivers and lakes, but is it true?"

"Why, I'm in a hurry, don't you have a tree? Take your time, and when it's time to take you out, I won't forget. ”

"Then who is not in a hurry, every time you go out and come back, you will deliberately tease me. ”

The young man scratched his ears and cheeks, and fidgeted.

"Hahaha, you don't want to meet those fairy heroines on the rivers and lakes. Rest assured, there will be a time for you to see you. When the time comes, you will know that those fairy heroines are just mortals who also want to fart and eat. Anyway, you kid, are you looking for a daughter-in-law? ”

Every time the old man came back, he would tell the young man about the heroines and fairies he saw along the way, and how graceful his figure was. How delicate the face is. The place that should be upright is upright, and the place that should be warped is also high.

"No, no, no, I didn't go down the mountain to meet those fairy sisters, Ben Shaoxia has been waiting for a long time for the day of chivalry. ”

The young man crossed his hands on his hips and tilted his head with a righteous expression. But his slightly red little face had already betrayed his little bit of caution.

"Old man, you said that I was about to cut down a hundred big trees, so I am not a master in the rivers and lakes. ”

Finally, the boy broke free from the dream of the fairy girl's sister, put down his hands, and supported his little face. Full of longing fantasies.

"Come on, what do you think? When you cut down a hundred trees, you're barely in the product. ”

"Old man, what is the product, you didn't let me go down the mountain before, you didn't tell me, but now, I'm about to go walking the rivers and lakes, tell me. Otherwise, it won't be me who will be slapped in the face, but you. ”

"Okay, your master, I'll tell you about it. ”

The old man brushed his thoughts and spoke slowly.

"In fact, before the previous dynasty, there was no specific hierarchy of rivers and lakes. Everyone practiced their own until Emperor Taizu of the previous dynasty adopted the official position of the nine-grade system. In the past hundreds of years, the rivers and lakes have barely used this nine-grade system. ”

"That old man, now I'm not talking about the first or second grade. It's not a three-grade thing, but it should have a four-grade strength."

"Didn't I tell you, when you cut down a hundred trees, you can barely count it as a product, that is, nine products. ”

The old man was very impatient to answer the young man's words, and continued without waiting for the young man to speak

"Actually, the division from seven to nine grades on the current rivers and lakes is still not very careful, and it is probably my own feeling. Only by entering the strength of the six grades can he be regarded as a small master at the bottom of the rivers and lakes. This kind of character can barely achieve the point of internal force release. ”

"Old man, that's not right, I can also release my internal strength, how can it be the ninth grade, I should be the sixth grade. ”

"Hmph, what kind of internal force are you exacting externally, at most, it is just a layer of negligible meager internal force attached to the knife, if the internal force can be released, it is just a big tree of two people's thickness, and it will be split with one knife. ”

In fact, the strength of the teenager is still good, the ninety-ninth tree only took three days, the boy has been cutting the tree for about ten years, when he first cut the first tree, the boy took half a year.

When the first tree was cut down, the little boy dragged the wooden knife, which was not much shorter than him at the time, and was excited for several days.

His strength should be between eight and seven grades. It's just that these two masters and apprentices who depend on each other have always looked at each other unpleasantly. The little ones are always reluctant to believe what the old ones say, and the old ones don't want to tell the truth to the little ones.

After a pause, the old man continued.

"As for going up, the gap between the fifth grade and the sixth grade is not too big, if the level of the mental method is higher, it is not impossible for the sixth grade to kill the fifth grade. ”

"As for the fourth grade, you can be regarded as a little grandmaster. The small sects on the rivers and lakes generally have one or two four-grade masters to support the portal. Even in those slightly larger sects, they can be regarded as mainstays."

"And the three products above the four grades to the first grade, that is the character who really stands in the clouds. Fortunately, the third product is okay, in this mixed rivers and lakes, you can occasionally see it, and the second product is mostly supported by the gate and the royal family. As for Yipin, hehe, it's really rare. And on top of that product, you don't even think about it. ”

The old man finished the words that were stuffed in his stomach in one go, as if he wanted to pour the experience of the rivers and lakes that this kid lacked for ten years into his brain.

"Old man, you are a master of several products!"

"Your master, I am naturally above the top of the class. ”

"Hmph, you stinky old man, you lied to me again. ”

"Hahaha, alright, alright. That's all for today, you read me the books, you haven't read the military books that Lao Tzu prepared for you, you haven't seen them a few times. ”

"Old man, aren't we people from the rivers and lakes, what kind of military books do you read, is it possible that you still want me to be a general?"

"That's a soldier who doesn't get tired of cheating, you know, who said that the art of war is not needed on the rivers and lakes. Let me tell you, there are no fewer flowers and intestines in the rivers and lakes than temples and battlefields. ”

"The rivers and lakes are wide, the rivers and lakes are wide, and the people who drowned in them have gone to the sea. ”

The old man finally muttered softly.