In the evening, on the mountain path, when the sun was setting and it was dusk, the afterglow of the sun was revealed through the clouds, making everything around it turn red, as if the sky was on fire.

Two figures walking side by side, pushing a wheelbarrow, walking on the mountain and forest path, with the sound of "crunch, crunch" from the wheels in front, their shadows were stretched extraordinarily long by the sunset at the moment.

"Old man, when you went out in the morning, did you buy the sugar gourd that Shan'er asked you to bring her?" spoke an old woman in her fifties with a wrinkled face and a kind face.

Standing beside the old woman, there was a burly old man with a straight body and a strong spirit.

The old man smiled knowingly, looked at a burden on the cart and said casually: "I bought it, can I forget the words of our little ancestor, I also deliberately went around the market and went to buy it from Old Man Zhang, his family is big, sweet and sour." ”

The old man still had a smile on his face, but there was a touch of sadness in his eyes He seemed to recall something and said to himself: "Xiao Nizi followed his father, and when he was a child, he liked to eat sugar gourds..."

The old man who had just said this was a little remorseful, now is not the time to mention about his son, the burly figure couldn't help but stop and look at his wife beside him.

Sure enough, when the old woman heard this, she suddenly choked up a little, "You said that Ling Fei and her daughter-in-law handed over Shan'er, who was less than three years old, to us, and said that they were going to complete an important matter, but they didn't elaborate, and left in a hurry." It's been two years, and there's been no news, so if there's a chance that Shan'er's child is still so young..."

The old man put down the cart, raised his hands, and gently wiped the wetness from the corners of his eyes with his somewhat rough hands, and comforted: "Okay, relax, don't forget that our family Ling Fei has been smart since he was a child, and he is a cultivator in the Immortal Gate, so he will definitely be fine." ”

At this moment, a sharp hissing sound suddenly sounded in one direction of the mountain forest, and a huge goshawk flew out of the woods on the side, quickly soaring above the path, its wings spread out a full two meters wide. At this time, as if it had been frightened, it flew high and low, one wing seemed to be injured, and the shadow could see a little red dripping from the sky.

The burly old man quickly protected his wife behind him, raised his head, and stared at the goshawk hovering in the air with a pair of deep eyes. Fortunately, the eagle, just circled back and forth a few times, then flew out of the old man's field of vision, the relieved old man still looked at the sky vigilantly, this mountain road I don't know how many times I walked back and forth, or the first time I encountered such a big goshawk.

The old woman frowned as the old man sighed, then looked in one direction and said, "Old man, do you hear any strange noises, as if they were coming from a short distance in the woods over there." ”

The burly old man stood there and listened carefully, his ears moved slightly, and he immediately determined what it was, took the old woman's hand, and trotted over, not caring about the cart in front of him.

The silent mountain forest is not deep, the trees are shady, the branches and leaves are dense, and a large tree stands out among the trees, because it is more than twice as tall as the surrounding trees, and the trunk of the tree may not be able to be hugged by three adults.

At this time, under the big tree, there were scattered leaves, and the thin, thick and broken branches were also scattered, and there were a few black-gray feathers, and there were bright red blood stains attached to them.

When the two old men approached, they saw a baby about one year old lying under the big tree, and an adult's clothes were scrawled over the baby. Three steps away from the baby's right side, there was a long sword that was as black as ink, and even the blade was black, under the fiery red sunlight, even if the sword body was black, it still emitted a cold and faint cold light. A closer look at the long sword will make people think that it is more like a straight knife, such a strangely shaped sword, only one side has a blade, if it is not only the width of three fingers, and the tip of the sword, it is not as curved and heavy as a knife, otherwise it is not an exaggeration to call it a knife.

The cry of "Woo woo woo woo woo" echoed in the forest, the old man squatted, gently picked up the baby in the clothes with both hands, and found that the little guy was wearing a silver-gray metal bracelet on his left wrist, and his whole body was naked, and he quickly picked up the clothes on the ground and wrapped the baby.

"The little baby is really good, yo! It's still a handle, but little guy, how can you be in this place where there is no village in front of you and no shop in the back? ”

Strange to say, the baby was still crying, but the moment the old man picked him up, he stopped, a pair of big black eyes looked at the old man with a curious look on his face, and his mouth made a "babbling" sound. When he heard the old man say that he was a charmer, his two little hands with baby fat were raised upwards and waved left and right towards the old man, not afraid of life at all, as if he was being held by his relatives.

"What a lovely child, this little face is white and pure, very similar to Ling Fei's childhood, how ruthless a person is, he would abandon such a big child in this kind of place, in case he encounters a beast in the mountains, or poisonous insects, snakes and scorpions, he will not survive. The old woman came over, and with an angry face, she took the baby from the old man's hand into her bosom.

"Maybe there was some unexpected incident, and for some general reason, I left the child here. Two days ago, I heard some young men in the town say that in the nearby mountains, they encountered a big snake with a thick water tank, which turned red all over its body, which was extremely demonic, and scared a few of them into trembling, and they didn't dare to move, but fortunately, the big snake just disappeared in a flash, and there was no intention to hurt people. ”

After saying this, the old man himself was a little unconvinced, but he had heard people say that on the road where there are often pedestrians, or in the dilapidated temple, encountering abandoned babies is not too surprising in this world, and it is very likely to be found by others, so as not to starve to death. can be abandoned in this rare mountain forest, and I really didn't want to give this child a way to live.

I and my wife were able to pass by here this time, because they needed to buy some medicinal materials, and by the way, they bought some items that the town did not have, otherwise they might not be able to see a person on this mountain road for four or five days.

"It's not early, there's still a long way to go, let's go back early, it's not a matter to keep here, this little doll is also fated with us, let's take it home first, our family doesn't have to worry about having an extra mouth." ”

"It's okay, now Zi Shan'er is going to have an extra brother, I don't know if she will be happy, I guess if she doesn't go back, Xiao Nizi will have to cry. ”

"Old man, you clean up all the scattered objects on the ground, these are the only ones related to this child at the moment, don't leave them behind, maybe you can use them in the future. ”

The old man replied, and leaned down to pick up the objects on the ground, and looked at the messy ground, there were not many things that belonged to people, just a few clothes that looked brand new, but some places were torn, and a sword not far away.

Picking up the clothes in his arms and wrapping them into a "sphere" at will, a pendant fell to the ground in the process, and seemed to emit a touch of emerald green light in the process of falling. Picked it up in his hand, and suddenly there was a cool feeling in his palm, I don't know if it was an illusion, the old man felt that the fatigue brought by his hurry, it seemed that most of it disappeared at once.

It was a piece that was shaped like a full moon, but a small piece had been bitten off, and it was crystal clear and untextured, with an emerald green scratch in the center, somewhat blurry, looking like a candle burning. A small hole was carved into the edge of the jade, and a thin black rope was encircled inside, and on the other side of the jade, two inconspicuous characters were engraved, "Jiang Ning".

"Jiang Ning, this should be the child's name, but I have never heard of a family with the surname "Jiang" in the vicinity. ”

The old man thought for a while, then shook his head, turned to look at the baby in his wife's arms, and said while looking at the half-moon-shaped jade in his hand: "Jade is a good jade, I will keep it for you first." ”

When the old man walked to the black long sword, he thought it was just a leaning over and picking it up, but it almost didn't flash his old waist, and he stumbled and almost fell to the ground, and then the old man found that no matter how hard he tried, the sword did not move on the ground at all!

"It's really weird and evil, it's possible that you can still meet ghosts in broad daylight. ”

It's sunset now, and the sun has disappeared for half of the west, and it will really be dark to get back to the town if you can't do it anymore. There are no gods, demons, ghosts, and strange old people in this world to believe, because their sons and daughters-in-law are all immortals who practice in the legendary fairy family.

Although he is no longer in the prime of life, he is a practitioner from a family, and it is still easy to lift a forty or fifty pound object with one hand, and seeing that he can't hold this sword, the old man is not making much effort, so he directly lifted a big stone on the side and covered it towards the black long sword. I thought to myself, "If you can't take it, you can keep it, for the sake of safety, cover it with stones, it doesn't matter if someone finds it, it doesn't matter, it is the ability to take it away, and there will be a chance in the future, and when his son comes back, he said, maybe he will know what is going on." ”

After doing these things, the old man left the place with the old woman who was teasing the baby, and the two of them slowly walked out of the forest, and the babbling sound of the baby gradually faded away.

Half an hour after the old man left, the black long sword that was originally covered under the stone shook slightly, and the large stone that was pressed on the sword shattered and splashed with a "bang". Then the long sword slowly rose into the air, the blade of the sword pointed upward, and it was suspended in mid-air, and after a while, the sword body rotated, and in the direction where the old man disappeared, it broke through the air like a bolt of lightning.

When I returned to the boundary of the town, the sky had already darkened, and the name of the town was "Jinyi Town", which meant that I hoped that the people living in this land could live a good life. There are only about 300 households in the whole town, which is neither big nor small, and it belongs to Pingyuan City, one of the 24 cities of the "Ming Dynasty", an inconspicuous town.

A few people walked in front of him, all holding burning torches in their hands, and a middle-aged man with a somewhat thin body and bronzed skin shouted loudly to this side: "Second Master Li, you are back, in the evening, Da Xiong took Miss Shanshan, and came back and forth here several times, seeing that you have not returned for a long time, I am not at ease. I told them to go home and wait, this is not just called Erniu and Tiezhu to pick you up on the way out of town to Pingyuan City Road. ”

"Shi Feng, I'm sorry for you this time, next time I go to my shop to grab medicine, I'll give you a 20% discount, I encountered some things on the way today, and it was delayed for some time, which made everyone worried. ”

The old man's name is Li Erliu, and his wife is called Wang Mei, Li Erliu is a famous pharmacist in Jinyi Town, and he is also the shopkeeper of the largest pharmacy in the town, "Li Er Pharmacy". The people in the town call him Li Erye, or directly the second master, for decades, can save many people in the town, old and young, almost every family has been favored by the elderly, especially those poor families, after the old man is cured, he will only mean to receive some remuneration, or not to charge a cent, so he is very loved and respected by the people in the town.

The middle-aged man named Shi Feng shook his hand again and again and said: "No trouble, no trouble, everyone has been grateful to you for your old favor over the years, we should do this little thing, hey? Aunt Mei is still holding a baby." ”

Li Erliu didn't say that it was a poor child picked up in the mountains and forests on the side of the road, "A grandson of an old man, something happened to his family, and he was forced to entrust the child to me to take care of." ”

The houses in the town are not far apart, some are still connected, a three-story wooden house in the south, it looks inconspicuous in the whole town, but it is a little prominent compared to the surrounding buildings, the door plaque on the first floor of the wooden house reads "Li Er Pharmacy", and two red lanterns are hung on each side.

At this time, a very cute little girl with two small pigtails and a pink face was sitting on the stone steps at the door. A pair of small hands supported the cheeks, looking absent-mindedly at the deep and dark alley, looking up at the end of the alley from time to time, and then pouting, looking like he was about to cry, but he endured it fiercely.

Footsteps sounded behind her, and a fat man who was taller than the average adult, a little taller, walked to the door, and said to the little girl with a little slurred speech: "Little... Sister.. Ground.. Cool, don't.. Make move.. Caught a cold. ”

"It's not going to catch a cold, I'm waiting here for a while. ”

The little girl shook her head and continued to sit still.

The fat man suddenly seemed a little overwhelmed, so he also learned from the little girl, squatting on the same row of stone steps with his cheeks in his hands, and accompanied the little girl quietly.

The sound of "crunch" came from the alley, and the little girl ran over when she heard the sound of "whoosh", looking at the two figures walking towards her, and tears suddenly appeared in her eyes, and she quickly pounced on the two.

Since the height of the little girl was only to the thigh of the old man, she hugged one of Li Erliu's legs who was walking in front, her eyes were watery, and she cried loudly.

"Grandpa, you're back, I'm so worried, I'm so worried about you. "Tears can't stop flowing.

Li Erliu hurriedly squatted down, touched his granddaughter's head and comforted: "Grandpa is not coming back, don't cry, don't cry, it's all a little cat, grandpa can't see Shan'er shed tears." Come and see, this is the sugar gourd you asked your grandfather to bring you in the morning, and grandpa chose the biggest skewer! But now it's evening, and only one is allowed. ”

The old man took out a string of sugar gourds wrapped in butter paper from the baggage on the cart and handed it to his granddaughter, his face full of love.

When Li Erliu was comforting her granddaughter, the old woman walked into the house quickly with the baby who had fallen asleep, and said to the tall fat man who was standing in front of the door and smirking: "Big bear, you go to prepare some rice paddles, and go to Lao Huai's house to ask for some milk, hurry up." ”

The old man was afraid that the child would be hungry when he woke up, after all, when he found the little one, it was already dusk, and he didn't know how long he hadn't eaten, so he was ready to wait for the baby to wake up.

"Okay.. Husband.. people, you, etc.. While. ”

The fat man had a smile on his face, didn't ask anything, and trotted to prepare the things that his wife had arranged for him, and his shopkeeper and his wife finally returned, and his hanging heart also landed.

He broke his head when he was a child, resulting in lower intelligence than his peers, and although he was an adult, his IQ was only about eleven or twelve years old, and he stammered a little when he spoke. His father and mother gave birth to several children, so they let him go, as long as he didn't starve to death, Li Erliu saw that he was pitiful and took him in and became the only guy in the pharmacy.

Outside the house, Li Erye pulled Li Shanshan, who was licking the sugar gourd and had tears on her little face, and walked over, the little girl was busy crying her nose before, and then she noticed that her grandmother was still holding a child in her arms.

She looked curious, and asked in a milky voice, "Grandma, who is this little brother?" ”

"He may live with us in the future, Shan'er, would you like to be his sister?"

"Grandma, where did he come from, why did I want to be his sister? Could it be that my father and mother came back and gave birth to a younger brother to me? Where are they? I can't even remember what they looked like, but I miss them. ”

The little girl looked at her grandmother with some sadness and expectation.

The old woman reached out to help her granddaughter wipe the residue of the sugar gourd on the corner of her mouth, and said softly: "Shan'er, good, your father and mother must miss you very much, they love you the most, and they will be back soon." ”

Li Shanshan pouted, she had heard these words many times, although she was still sad, but she quickly shifted her attention to the baby.

"Grandma, you haven't answered me yet, where he's from. ”

The old woman had a moment of deliberation and made up a little story to answer her granddaughter, to the effect that she had met him on the way back, and that there were many big bad wolves around him. The grandparents couldn't bear to let him be eaten by the big bad wolf, and after driving the big bad wolf away, they couldn't leave him where he was, so they brought him back.

"Can Shan'er bear to let him be eaten by the big bad wolf, will you take care of him?"

Li Shanshan listened very seriously, and when she heard her grandmother's question, she blinked her big black eyes and said, "You can't let the big bad wolf eat him... I'll protect him well in the future. ”

The little girl ran to get a small bench and sat opposite her obediently, still holding the sugar gourd in her hand and eating it with relish, looking straight at it, a little guy who was drooling in her grandmother's arms at this time, and her small mouth was still up and down, and he seemed to be eating sugar gourd in a dream.

It was already dark outside the house, and the night sky was dotted with stars, and occasionally shooting stars crossed the sky, looking down on the town from the air, the faint flickering candle light added a bit of vitality to the silent night. A black shadow flashed over the wooden house and disappeared into the vast darkness.