In the middle of June, the sun is high.

"The rivers and lakes are full of dangers, and the strange things that can't be explained can only survive if you have the skills in your hands. ”

In a remote town, on the flat ground of the mountain, there was a group of young masters with wooden swords who wielded their swords weakly, and the sun above their heads was very scorching, and it was not long before sweat beads appeared on their foreheads, and their clothes were soaked with sweat.

Most of the young masters are the children of rich families in this town, they have been pampered since they were children, they have never done any heavy work, they can barely pick up the wooden sword, and they have to hold on to the sun for two hours, these tempered young masters have quit.

Even if the head of the sect keeps dissuading them with a look of helplessness, it will be useless, once the young master's rich and noble temperament comes up, it is useless for anyone to come, even if it is their father, they don't dare to say anything.

The head of the sect is a thin old man, with a huge scar on his face, running from the top of his head to his neck, looking very hideous and terrifying, and it is also because of this that among many people who have retreated, he has been selected as the head of the sect, hoping that he can use his face to suppress the rich children who do not obey discipline.

But even so, the rich kid was not afraid, he dropped the wooden sword in his hand, and the friends and friends left, and the place where there was a lot of noise just now was scattered in a blink of an eye, leaving only the troubled head and a young man in linen clothes.

The young man also held a wooden sword, and waved it up and down according to the instructions of the sect leader, even if the rich children asked him to go with him, he did not move his figure.

The head of the sect sighed a few times, reluctantly took out the money bag from his arms, opened it and took a closer look, and then carefully put it back, the wry smile on his face was even worse, the young masters were gone, so what else did he teach, this money was also hot.

"It's better to return this money to the mayor, the rich and noble people just can't stand it, and they still practice fart martial arts, go back to breastfeeding, damn it." ”

The head of the sect scolded a few words in a low voice, and when he raised his head, he saw the young man wielding the sword, and the bitterness dissipated a lot, and he said loudly: "Xu Baichuan, put down the sword first, I have something to tell you." ”

Xu Baichuan responded, retracted the last form, exhaled, walked to the head of the sect with somewhat weak feet, bowed and saluted, but did not speak.

The head of the sect nodded with satisfaction, compared to the stubborn rich children, Xu Baichuan, who was born in poverty, was more in line with his heart, just like himself when he was a child, he also learned swordsmanship when he was a poor teenager, and he was also surnamed Xu.

This is also the reason why Xu Baichuan can follow him to learn swords, you must know that he was invited to teach those young masters, Xu Baichuan can learn swords, which is his selfishness.

In the rivers and lakes, the inheritance pays attention to the bloodline master, and accepting the apprentice is the general of accepting the son, and he has to support his old age, and he inherits the Xu family's swordsmanship, the ancestral rules are on the top, and the younger disciples must have the surname Xu, and some people who wanted to learn their own swordsmanship in the past, but they refused to change their surname, until they returned to their hometown, and saw this Xu Baichuan who was very similar to themselves.

The head of the sect was a little hesitant, he provoked a lot of enemies outside, and he couldn't resist before he withdrew from the rivers and lakes, at first he was fearless, the big deal was that his head fell off a bowl and a big scar, but if he accepted Baichuan as a disciple, it would involve him, if the enemy found this place, I am afraid he would not let him go.

But thinking that he is already so old, he needs someone to support the elderly, the people of the rivers and lakes, he has been wandering all his life, and he has not achieved anything, so he hopes that the fallen leaves will return to his roots, and after he dies, someone will give him incense, which will be good.

Therefore, the head of the sect coughed and cleared his throat, and his tone was as gentle as possible: "Xiaochuan, how are things considered, we can't delay it any longer." ”

Xu Baichuan frowned, kept thinking, the head of the sect told him a long time ago about accepting him as a disciple, although he was also willing, but when he thought of the words left by his mother, he couldn't contact the people in the rivers and lakes at will, let alone apprentice, otherwise he would use thorns to whip him, Xu Baichuan was not afraid of thorns, but he respected his mother very much, and he always obeyed his mother's words.

What's more, this is the last word his mother left him.

Even if you learn swordsmanship because of some things, you can't apprentice, this is the bottom line.

Xu Baichuan shook his head and didn't speak, but the meaning was understood by both of them, this was a refusal.

The head of the sect had already guessed that this would be the case, since Xu Baichuan followed him to practice swords, he asked this question no less than three times, and every time he got a rejection, today is his last time, and he will not ask it again in the future.

The head of the sect touched his chin, pondered for a long time, and the look of struggle flashed on his face, and finally, as if he had made up his mind, he took out a book from the inner pocket of his clothes, a very thin one.

"These young masters have gone back, and my position as the head of the sect has also been achieved, you don't have to come here in the future, although you didn't worship me as a teacher, but this hard work has my demeanor back then, Xu Jiajian can't be passed on to you, this was originally what I killed a group of bandits when I was young, and it doesn't hurt to give it to you. The head of the sect looked at Xu Baichuan and admonished: "There is a piece of advice, it was told to me by the master back then, although you are not my disciple, I will pass it on to you, don't step into the rivers and lakes if you don't think about it, you will die." ”

The head of the sect sighed, and walked slowly along the path under the scorching sun, he wanted to return the money to the mayor of the town, and unload the position of the head of the sect, if ordinary people took it and walked away directly, it was okay, but the hometown of the head of the sect was here, and the rivers and lakes could not accommodate him, where else could he go.

Xu Baichuan stood in place and was silent for a long time, the book in his hand was also soaked with sweat, he carefully took the book into his arms, turned around and picked up the wooden sword that was thrown messily on the ground, he was very proficient, took out a rope from his pocket and tied it, put it on his back, and walked in the direction of home.

It was still noon, much earlier than he usually came back, so when he put the wooden sword on his body in the wood shop, the boss looked at it in amazement.

The two didn't talk too much, the boss took a scale and weighed it, took off the abacus he carried with him from his waist, crackled and calculated, and quoted a price.

"Seven cents, how's that?"

Xu Baichuan nodded, took the seven copper coins arranged on the table by the shopkeeper, counted them again, and then stepped out of the firewood shop.

The wooden swords are all well-made, and the materials are also good, so those rich young masters are willing to hold them in their hands, and it is extremely worthless to sell them to the firewood shop, but Xu Baichuan is just a helpless teenager, and the only sales channel that can be found is only the firewood shop, even if it makes less money, it doesn't matter, the wooden sword was originally picked up by him, and it is not a loss.

Walking to his dilapidated wooden house, Xu Baichuan didn't go in, went straight to a tree planted in the yard, took the hoe placed next to him and dug out the soil, a small jar appeared in the soil, Xu Baichuan took the jar out, and a lot of copper coins were densely piled up inside, all of which were saved by Xu Baichuan.

I took out three of the seven copper coins and put them in, and when I wanted to re-bury them, I hesitated and finally put another one in.

Covering the soil again on the jar and pressing it with his feet, Xu Baichuan nodded with satisfaction.

"Save some more, and you can go to Sun Ji and exchange the pawned things back. Xu Baichuan said to himself: "Mother, you don't let me take revenge, don't let me step in, but now, I have to go in if I don't go in." ”

walked into the house and closed the door, took out the thin book given by the head of the church, calmed his mind, and then opened it to read.

This book has no name, but it records a basic swordsmanship that is widely spread in the rivers and lakes, and it is this trick that the head of the sect gave them, but after teaching the first half of the young masters, they coaxed away, and it also affected Xu Baichuan, but fortunately, the head of the sect was kind and gave him the swordsmanship together.

Xu Baichuan and his mother have learned calligraphy and read several books, all of which are Confucian classics, and it is the first time to read swordsmanship, and therefore, even if there are many pictures in the book, Xu Baichuan also knows a little about it, and barely relies on the first half of his own learning, guessing how to move later.

Exhaled, rubbed his somewhat tired eyes, withdrew the sword technique into his arms, picked up a wooden sword from the corner of the wall, and swung it slowly.

At first, there was a sense of obscurity, but after continuous practice, it has become quite disciplined.

Xu Baichuan stabbed out the last sword, and a slight sword whistle sounded in the room, which was undetectable.

Putting down the wooden sword and panting, Xu Baichuan rested for a while and took the leftover food from the morning to eat.

By this time, it was already dark outside, and it was time for him to go to work.

The wages are quite good, but some are not so glamorous.

There was no lantern, and with the remaining light of the day, he walked out, and the door was only roughly closed.

Everyone in the town knows that he Xu Baichuan is a poor ghost, and he doesn't even have a mouse at home, unless he is full and has nothing to do, he deliberately goes to make trouble, otherwise he is safe and sound, which is also Xu Baichuan's way of survival.

It's not just the rivers and lakes that are chaotic, but also the red world, and it's not easy to live.

Xu Baichuan turned around and walked into a dilapidated alley, with cat meows in his ears one after another, and rats passing through quickly, ordinary people would be startled when they saw it, which was no surprise to Xu Baichuan.

The alley is a taboo for other people, so there are no other people living nearby, only a fairly large Yizhuang stands here, and what Xu Baichuan wants to do is also related to this.

He is a night watchman, he can do his own things during the day, and he will go to Yizhuang at night to patrol to prevent wild beasts from devouring corpses, near the town near the mountains, there are often tigers, bears and wolves haunted, after losing a few corpses, Xu Baichuan and another person were selected to be the night watchman.

Why?

Most people feel unlucky and unwilling to do it, no matter how high the salary is, only Xu Baichuan is helpless and has done everything to survive.

The night watchmen of Yizhuang change every day, and if they go every night, even the iron-clad man can't hold on.

There is also an old Taoist priest in Yizhuang, according to the town, it is to prevent corpses from defrauding corpses, Xu Baichuan has been in Yizhuang for a long time, and he has not seen a single corpse defrauding corpses, thinking that it is just an old Taoist priest talking big.

As usual, I went to the lobby to get a white lantern, and took a sword and hung it on my waist on the weapon rack on the side.

As soon as Xu Baichuan took a step, the old Taoist priest opened his mouth unprecedentedly.

"It's not peaceful tonight, you better go back early, just have me here." ”