"Of course, Master Mao is a fake crazy. ”

Aunt Gua said in half, which made the two of us tremble, and we were about to breathe a sigh of relief, but she deepened her tone and said more seriously: "Even so, Master Mao is indeed like a different person." In the past, he was generous and had a bright disposition. But since he was forced by the official family to fake madness and hide in Qingquan Mountain, he has rarely come out.

At first we went to the mountains to look for him, and when we found him, we saw that he would rather hide in a cave than show his face. Master Mao's words were extremely intense, and there was a hint of eccentricity and indifference in his tone, so let's never go up the mountain to look for him again, just as Qingquan Mountain has never had him. After that, he stayed in a cave and no longer cared about the affairs of the world. The craftsmen who went up the mountain to collect materials occasionally passed by the cave and heard the sound of tinkling irons inside, but they didn't see Master Mao himself, only that he should be alive and still forging swords.

Now that eighteen years have passed, everyone rarely mentions Master Mao, and the juniors who forge the sword are afraid that they have not even heard of his name. If Master Mao could still go down the mountain to give some guidance, the craftsmanship of this sword casting would not be inferior from generation to generation, and the sword market would not be so decaying. Do you two know what kind of business you have been doing in the sword market over the years?"

Hu Xiaoer and I shook our heads in confusion.

"Those spears and swords used by the Peking Opera troupe, the weapons assigned by the rich and noble families to the guards, and the swords of some gangs for the disciples who have just started, and occasionally a few young masters who sneak out will come here to play with a hidden weapon or something. These jobs are okay, if you want a peerless sword as soon as you come up, the masters today don't dare to take it. ”

After she let out a long sigh of great distress, I raised a long-standing question, "Aunt Gua, what about the imperial craftsmen who were invited to the capital before, and any of them have come back?"

"Nope. ”

"Not a single one. A rare sneer appeared on Aunt Gua's face, and she slowly clenched her fists and said, "When the new king moved, he had to go to a full half of the craftsmen in Qingquan Mountain. In order to prevent the leakage of secrets, not only was it allowed to drag the family with him, but all the sword forging books and secret books were also taken away. Most of the remaining poor ones are young masters who are not skilled enough or have learned half of them, and even if they work hard, it is difficult to reach the peak. Some people also went to the capital to investigate, but these more than 50 craftsmen seemed to have evaporated from the world, and no one knew their news. ”

"As everyone knows, in the past eighteen years, the new king has reorganized the three armies many times, and they are all elite weapons when they return, and those foreign races who have come to invade the surrounding areas of the four continents are not afraid of the cold weapons in the hands of the soldiers. So some people guessed," Aunt Gua paused, and her expression was calm to the extreme at this moment, but these words didn't look like she would say, but like someone told her.

She took a deep breath and said, "Some people guess that in order to prevent the secret of weapon casting from being leaked, once they become famous, those craftsmen will be buried in the grave and never be born again. ”

As soon as these words came out, the air that had been hot and dry cooled down suddenly.

The birds are gone, the good bow is hidden, the cunning rabbit is dead, and the lackeys are cooked.

It's not that there is no such possibility, the ruthless emperor family since ancient times......

Perhaps Master Mao had expected this a long time ago, so he pretended to be crazy and fled into the mountains and forests.

After a long time, Hu Xiaoer spit out quietly, "It seems that if we want to fight a good sword, we can only find the Master Mao hiding in the cave." ”

Aunt Gua nodded, and was very enthusiastic to give us an idea: "If you really want to find him to forge a sword, go to the lava river in Qingquan Mountain to find him." ”

"Lava River?" Hu Xiaoer and I exclaimed involuntarily.

"Oh! I almost forgot! The first time you came to Qingquan Mountain, I'm afraid you still don't know the channels here. She slapped her head and drank another cup of herbal tea and explained to us, "It is said outside that Qingquan gathers the qi of heaven and earth and gathers the light of the sun and the moon, but these are all false. What really cultivated it as a treasure land for forging swords was a culvert in the mountains. This stream of fire, hot and dry all year round, formed a lava river. Although the surrounding terrain is extremely dangerous, it has opened up many good materials for forging swords. ”

"Of course, this kind of dangerous place is not for everyone to take the risk of picking materials. Today's generation of sword-forging juniors are afraid that they are very willing to spare their lives, and they have no leader, so they dare not do it easily. But I believe," Aunt Gua said with a firm face, "Master Mao has regarded sword forging as his own responsibility all his life, and he will definitely go." ”

It's night again.

Hu Xiaoer and I finished chatting with Aunt Gua and rested in our respective rooms for eight hours. After a full meal, the two of us embarked on a journey to find Master Mao.

According to Aunt Gua, we should first find the lava river in the mountains. But although she had a good plan, she didn't know where the dark ditch was hidden. Aunt Gua said that she was a woman and had no ability to forge swords, so how could she know the specific location of the culvert. She vaguely described that if she heard a gurgling, rumbling sound here, it might be the entrance to the secret passage.

At this point, Hu Xiaoer and I have been wandering around the mountains a few times, and we haven't heard any strange sounds at all.

I sighed and said, "If we were still in that illusion of red wind and dust, and at this time we roared into the air, and the white mist swept in, maybe it would bring us to where we wanted." ”

Hu Xiaoer laughed at my life and happiness, but I thought about sorrow, if I was really still in that unknown illusion, I would not have such a state of mind.

He was right, but he couldn't find a clue to the culvert, and I was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot.

There was a cool breeze in the mountains and forests, blowing everywhere. Hu Xiaoer, who didn't want to be on one side, suddenly stopped, facing me, pointed his head back, and his two eyes were as wide as copper bells, "Woman, look, what's behind you?"

His trembling voice frightened me into a cold sweat, "You, you, you, don't scare me, what-" I shuddered and turned around, but saw that everything was normal except for the swaying shadows of the trees behind me, and I realized that I had been deceived by him.

"Hahahahahahahaha

As soon as I gritted my teeth, my hand fell heavily on his shoulder, "Scared me to death, Hu Xiaoer!

"Don't dare, don't dare! Woman, I know it's wrong!"

Hu Xiaoer was in pain, bent down, and begged me for mercy while laughing.

But before long, it was I who opened my eyes wide in front of him, and my hands trembled and stretched out, and my face became terrified.

"Hu, Hu Xiaoer, you, ...... behind you"

"Hey, Woman, why are you here too?

"No, it's not, look, there, there—"

Hu Xiaoer frowned and turned around in disbelief.

"Hey—"

Before he could scream, I quickly covered his mouth, crouched with him behind the grass, and shushed at him.

He patted his chest in horror and whispered, "Scared me to death, scared me to death." ”

At this moment, my face is also pale.

For not far from my finger stood a white solitary figure staggering.

I don't know how long that shadow has appeared in Qingquan Mountain in the dark night, and I don't know if it's a human or a ghost.