Blackwood Mountain, a hundred miles southwest of Bluestone City, is named because the mountain has many black trees.

Its mountain stretches for hundreds of miles, there are many dangerous peaks and steep mountains, the forest in the mountain is sparse and dense, there are many wild beasts, coupled with the thousand-year-old black wood, covering the sky and the sun, making the mountain dark all the year round, it is difficult to see the daylight, so it is also inaccessible, occasionally the hunter goes up the mountain, but only at the foot of the mountain forest edge, rarely deep.

Because of this, Blackwood Mountain has also become a natural barrier for Bluestone City, standing on the banks of this ancient city all year round, watching over the people who have survived under the mountain for generations.

South of Blackwood Mountain, where the two peaks meet.

A waterfall pours down from the mountain, splashing jade, pouring into the deep pool under the mountain, turning into a stream about ten zhang wide, and finally flowing into the vast river that has nourished the Qingshi City for thousands of years - Qinglan River.

The river is wider and more than 100 zhang, I don't know where it starts, it flows through the bluestone city from the east of Heimu Mountain, the river is gentle, it is the color of green and blue, there are many bluestones on both banks, the texture is hard, the local people take it for the purpose of building, and the bluestone city is also named after this.

Outside the confluence of the mountain stream and the Qinglan River, there is a village, by the mountains and rivers, take the waterfall that continues all the year round after the village as the meaning, it is called Mingquan Village, the villagers live with mixed surnames, mostly hunt and fish for a living, although the life is not very rich, but also enjoy themselves.

On this day, Su Mai and Wu You walked along the southwest according to the instructions of the gods, and when they arrived at this Mingquan Village, it was almost noon, and the two of them had left Qingshi City for eight days.

Looking from afar, I saw that Mingquan Village was built on the mountain, but there were dozens of people horizontally and vertically, most of them were thatched huts and wooden houses, and there were occasional chickens and dogs barking, a pleasant and comfortable pastoral scene.

Along the way, near the head of the village, suddenly smelled a strong aroma of baked cakes, the two of them couldn't help but have a great appetite, they had not eaten for many days, they fed on wild fruits and beasts, and suddenly smelled the smell of baked cakes, which was like a meat bun falling from the sky, which made people have a great appetite.

Su Mai greeted Wu You, and after a trot, he found an old man in the village, who was setting up a stall selling baked cakes, and the burnt rao cakes seemed to be steaming.

The two of them were moved, but they didn't move forward in front of the stall, smelling the tempting fragrance, which was quite hopeful of quenching their thirst.

The old man looked at the two strangely, his clothes were shabby, and his face was hungry, and he suddenly understood, so he smiled and said to the two: "Two little brothers, are you hungry?"

Wu You hurriedly said: "Exactly, but we don't have money."

"Don't worry, come and eat some, a few baked cakes are not worth much, who doesn't have a difficult time," the old man said, taking two baked cakes and motioning for the two to come and eat.

The two of them were not polite, rushed over to take the baked cakes and gnawed them up, and thanked them busily while eating, and the old man saw that the two seemed to be very hungry, and each handed one over, and so on, and finally ate five baked cakes each, and then stopped.

The old man looked at the embarrassment of the two of them, and asked with a kind face: "Where did the two little brothers come from, and why did they end up in our poor and remote place?"

Wu You was about to answer, but Su Mai hurriedly said: "Back to my father-in-law, we are from Ningzhou City, originally looking for relatives, but then we didn't meet each other, and we ran out of entanglements, so we wandered all the way here."

The old man sighed: "Poor, you two children, now that you are not entangled, where are you going?"

Su Mai said with a smile on his face: "We don't have anywhere to go."

"You two are still young, and wandering around is not a way, listen to my son Ergou said, this Heimu Mountain Iron Sword Gate is recruiting disciples recently, you can go and see, one has a place to stay, and the other is that if the opportunity is good, maybe you can be accepted as a disciple by the elders in the door, learn a skill, and have the ability to settle down in the future." ”

Su Mai's eyes lit up, and he turned to Wu You and said, "What is this Iron Sword Gate for?"

Wu You pondered for a moment and said: "I remember hearing my father say before, this Iron Sword Sect is a Xiuzhen sect that emerged thousands of years ago, and its sect is in the Black Wood Mountain, the world has been peaceful these years, this Iron Sword Gate has developed quite rapidly, and now its power has extended to Qingshi City, and there have been disputes with our Wu family." ”

"No matter, since we are recruiting apprentices, we might as well go and have a look, at least there is still a meal to eat. Wu You said.

"May I ask my uncle, how do you get this Iron Sword Gate?" Su Mai said.

"The Iron Sword Gate is the first major faction in our Black Wood Mountain, it is easy to find, you follow the road under your feet, along the Qinghe River all the way forward, about thirty miles or so, you can see a large area of green reeds, through the green reed thicket, there is a valley on the right side, there is a huge sword erected at the mouth of the valley, it says Iron Sword Gate, go straight to the inside, my son and two dogs are in the Tiejian Gate room as a buddy, you want to get there, you can go to find him, after all, he has been there for five years, the door is more familiar, and there can also be a response. ”

The old man said and looked into the distance, his eyes showed a bit of admiration, and he seemed to have a lot of respect for this iron sword gate, especially when he talked about his son, his face flashed, and he could obviously see a look of relief.

The two discussed for a moment, but decided to touch the iron sword gate.

Before leaving, Wu You old man bowed deeply and said: "I don't know the old man's surname, how to call it, today's gift of cakes, the feeling of guidance, the two of us remember it in our hearts, and we don't thank you for your kindness.

"Hehe, little brother doesn't have to be polite, what's not gracious, just a few pieces of baked cakes, it's not a big deal. ”

The old man shook his hand, and then said: "My surname is Li, the old man, the third in the family, and the people in the village call me Li San."

"Thank you, Uncle Li, let's leave", the two thanked each other, and turned around and walked in the direction of the Iron Sword Gate.

The two of them followed Li San's guidance, left Mingquan Village, and walked towards the Qinghe, where the mighty Qinghe slowly flowed in front of them, as if it had not changed for thousands of years, and how many years had precipitated and died here.

Su Mai stood by the river, looking at the quiet river, and suddenly sighed in his heart, I don't know how many years this river has been flowing, and how many people are standing here like me in the middle, a hundred years later, when the descendants stand here again, who still remembers me?

Wu You grew up on the bank of this Qinghe since he was a child, but he didn't feel much emotion, and when he saw Su Mai staring at the river with blank eyes, he shook his head and approached the river.

Bending down to pick up a piece of bluestone the size of a goose egg, holding it in his hand and stroking it carefully, the warm and delicate texture came from the palm of his hand, Wu You was in a trance in front of his eyes, vaguely back to his childhood, his father carried him to the edge of the Qinghe River to pick up the bluestone, and told him that this stone was the treasure in the bluestone city.

The familiar and vague figure floated in front of him, gradually moving away, and he couldn't help but burst into tears.

Su Mai turned around, saw Wu You with tears on his face, and asked inexplicably, "Good manner, what are you crying about?"

"Why cry, my eyes are uncomfortable," Wu You said a little embarrassedly, and raised his sleeve to wipe it.

"Let's go," Sumai said, turning and walking forward.

The two of them walked along the green river, turned a hill, and what appeared in front of them was a large area of verdant reeds, so lush that there was no end in sight.

The breeze came slowly, the reed branches moved with the wind, and the green waves rushed towards them, with a green breath, which suddenly lifted the spirits of the two.

Wu You took a deep breath and said to Su Mai: "This should be the famous 'Baili Green Reed' in Qinghe", I have read it in a book, saying that this place is rich in a kind of cyan plant, the shape is like a reed, the stem is blue, its height is more than one zhang, the four seasons are evergreen, and the ordinary reed is different, it will not bloom, nor do not change color, but will bear a kind of green fruit, hidden in the branches and leaves, it is difficult for ordinary people to find. The local people call this plant green reed, its fruit is called green spirit fruit, slightly sweet, has the effect of nourishing blood and replenishing qi, it is said that this thing grows for more than 30 years, its color turns red, more than 50 years and is purple, more than 100 years is golden, has the effect of resurrecting the dead. However, the fruit that can grow up to 100 years is extremely rare, because there is a magical animal growing here, called the purple golden marten, which is short in size and purple all over, and the most conspicuous thing is a gold mark on the abdomen. This purple gold sable action like electricity, a keen sense of smell, very spiritual, its blood can detoxify, ordinary is rare, the nature of the most like to eat the green spirit fruit, although this hundred miles of green reeds are big, but also can't help this purple gold sable long-term eat it, I look at the hundred years of fruit, I'm afraid it can only be seen in the book."

Hearing Wu You say this, Su Mai said: "I didn't expect you to know so much, even the reeds in this remote place are so clear."

Wu You smiled and said: "I also read it from a book, when I am fine, I like to read some rumors of old history, and my father used to often scold me for not doing my job."

"You are well-read, and reading more rumors of old history is quite good for us to walk outside, much better than those things in the Ancestral Academy. ”

Su Mai has been learning literacy with Tiansuizi since he was a child, and he has learned a lot of miscellaneous things, in addition to the classics of history and history, divination formations, etc., but he has never sought to understand much, and he is not refined, but he is very interested in the slang of local customs.

Everywhere he went, Tian Suizi also gave a lot of guidance, and sometimes Su Mai even wondered what this old man had done before, and he seemed to know everything.

But thinking of the situation of the two, Su Mai only thought that he was bragging, and he didn't pay attention to many things, but he was quite interested in some side methods, and sometimes he could even discuss one or two, but most of the time it was a question and an answer.

Now I see that Wu You also likes to delve into some rumors of old history, and the mountains and rivers are victorious, but there is a sense of joy in seeing the hunt.