It was late at night when Ying Tianchang landed, and the ground under his feet was still a little muddy, so it should have just rained overnight.

Ying Tianchang looked around at his location, surrounded by green trees, and a small stream flowing slowly.

Baozi jumped from Ying Tianchang's arms and trotted to the stream to drink.

Ying Tianchang couldn't help it, followed the bun to the stream, he leaned over and picked up the water and splashed it on his face, although his head was dizzy, he didn't feel sleepy, and he was still agitated.

This should be the academy, but I don't know where it is. Ying Tianchang believed in Chen Lin'an, but he didn't know where to go. And when he got up and turned around, he hit a man in the chest.

The man watched Ying Tianchang fall to the ground, squinting and yawning.

"Senior Brother Xu. Ying Tianchang, who fell to the ground, saw the person clearly, and his heart was finally a little steady.

"Follow me. Xu Lu stared at the buns where people were drinking by the stream, grinning, but still didn't say anything. For Xu Lu, it is already unbelievable to be able to come out of his own small courtyard to pick up people, and it is better to hope that he will explain the various things of this academy to others endlessly, it is better to look forward to the sun not coming out tomorrow morning. Xu Lu patted Ying Tianchang's head, but he was his junior brother after all.

Ying Tianchang took the bun away from the stream and followed behind Xu Lu.

Xu Lu didn't speak, Ying Tianchang also wanted to be at ease, there was nothing more enjoyable than quiet.

Ying Tianchang looked at every tree along the way, and in the past, he heard that Jiangnan was mostly a water town, and basically no one had mentioned the trees and peaks in Jiangnan to him. However, Ying Tianchang is not a person who focuses on the joy of mountains and rivers after all, and he can't say something.

"What's in the academy?" asked Ying Tianchang tentatively. In fact, he didn't really care about what was in the academy, in this silent and dark night, in this mountain forest where the cool breeze blew the leaves but there was no sound, he just wanted to talk to people.

"A lifeless teacher, a stupid student who doesn't learn anything. Xu Lu didn't have that kind of chatter.

Ying Tianchang couldn't accept this sentence, but his tense heartstrings loosened slightly.

Going around the mountains and forests, Ying Tianchang saw an archway standing between heaven and earth from a distance, he glanced at Xu Lu, Xu Lu did not pay attention to Ying Tianchang or the meaning of the explanation, rubbed his neck and continued to move forward. Ying Tianchang had to follow silently, and when he got closer, Ying Tianchang saw clearly the archway and the four characters carved on the archway, "gentleman does not apparatus", and the four words "gentleman unveiled" were crossed out by two ink stains.

Ying Tianchang was very puzzled.

"That's what I crossed out. Xu Lu said.

Ying Tianchang wanted to find a trace of pride or sarcasm in Xu Lu's eyes, but to Ying Tianchang's disappointment, he couldn't see anything in Xu Lu's eyes, but this was not the kind of empty and godless. Xu Lu's eyes are like the night sky at this moment. It's dark, but it's also deep.

But Ying Tianchang found that what he saw the most was the laziness that overflowed Xu Lu's face.

Turning his head, Ying Tianchang looked at the four words "gentleman is not a weapon" that was crossed off by the ink, thoughtful.

"That's. Xu Lu said the reason why he did it, "It's a that makes some sense, but it's still." ”

Ying Tianchang didn't respond and followed behind Xu Lu.

And after the archway, Ying Tianchang saw that there was a thatched house. A middle-aged man was standing in front of the door, looking at himself.

When the man's gaze moved to Xu Lu, he clasped his hands into fists and saluted.

Xu Lu turned a blind eye.

"Is he the master of the academy?" asked Ying Tianchang.

The corners of Xu Lu's mouth grinned in an arc, which was considered a smile, but there was no sound. Ying Tianchang could understand this expression.

Xu Lu stretched out his big hand, pressed it on Ying Tianchang's head and rubbed it vigorously, and said, "Although the teaching craftsmen of our academy really have no skills, they are not everyone's ability. That man was a gatekeeper from the rivers and lakes. ”

Xu Lu paused for a moment and continued: "This is not the entrance to the main entrance of the academy, it is one of the side gates. ”

Ying Tianchang didn't care that his hair was messed up by Xu Lu's big hands, and continued to ask, "What should I do in the academy?"

Ying Tianchang cares more about what he should maintain in the academy than what the academy looks like.

Xu Lu stopped, and Ying Tianchang could only stop.

The night breeze suddenly rose, stirring Xu Lu's long hair and black robe. Ying Tianchang suddenly felt a little weak.

Xu Lu stretched out his hand and patted his cheek fiercely, saying, "You can do what you want, otherwise what else will you do?"

Then he moved on, albeit at a much faster pace. Ying Tianchang felt that his Senior Brother Xu seemed to be angry with himself. But he still didn't dare to make a conclusion, Xu Lu's temper was strange, and Ying Tianchang saw some of it in Chang'an.

Ying Tianchang thought for a while, and felt that he should not mention the topic of the academy and himself again, so he asked, "I heard Senior Brother Chen say that there are some Confucian masters who have always looked down on you, Senior Brother Xu?"

"It's mediocre not to be envied. I, Xu Lu, am a genius, and they can't help themselves, so they can only blame me. Xu Lu yawned and said, "Complaining about the heavens and finding people to take the blame is what literati love to do, so it's not surprising." ”

Xu Lu seems to have forgotten that he is also a scholar.

Ying Tianchang didn't know if he couldn't speak or Xu Lu couldn't chat, it should be both, in short, he didn't know how to speak. But from Xu Lu's words, Ying Tianchang more or less understood a little bit of the reason why those masters wanted to teach him a lesson.

In front of Ying Tianchang, there was finally a light light, and by the light, Ying Tianchang was surprised by the size of the academy.

The lights were like beans, densely spread throughout the valley.

However, Xu Lu told him that this was just a place for students to stay, called "Quiet Heart Valley".

"Although you are my junior disciple of Mr., but Xinzhai is a academy after all, and there are still rules, and you can choose one of the vacant rooms by yourself. Xu Lu said, "Of course, if you are not happy to live here and go to my yard to live with me, the courtyard of the eldest and third or the residence of the bad old man, no one can stop you if you want to go." Now, even if the old man is the master of the academy, he can't give you a small courtyard due to the rules and traditions of the academy. Teaching without distinction and treating everyone equally, this is the foundation of the academy. ”

"Well, the old man is not me after all, he is timid. ”

Ying Tianchang was not dissatisfied, and in his consciousness, he hoped that this would be good. He walked around under the leadership of Xu Lu, did not alarm any of the students who were studying hard in his room, and finally chose a house.

At the right corner of the highest part of the valley, it has deviated from the living area, as if it were a separate hut of its own.

"This?" asked Xu Lu.

Ying Tianchang looked at this hut, it was simply made of wood, and the part of the roof had been rotten, but it had been covered with an extra layer of thatch. The walls outside are covered in moss, and there are even a few weeds swaying in the wind.

Ying Tianchang walked a few steps, and he could still smell the freshness of the grass. Touching the moss on the wooden wall with his fingers, Ying Tianchang felt the corroded part of the wood. Looking at this cottage, it is like seeing the countless dilapidated gazebos that used to stay with buns. He said, "Yes. ”

Living here, Ying Tianchang felt that he could live with peace of mind.

For him, thatch, rotting wood, moss, it doesn't matter.

Xu Lu nodded, and with a wave of his big sleeves, the dilapidated wooden house was as new as ever when Ying Tianchang raised his eyes.

But it's still not a good place to live.

"Go to bed, you'll see the old man tomorrow morning." After Xu Lu finished speaking, he disappeared without a trace.

Ying Tianchang was not surprised by Xu Lu's methods at all, after all, the weak Chen Lin'an was still able to suppress the five people of the Demon Gate with his own strength and couldn't get up, and Xu Lu's magical powers were nothing.

Ying Tianchang, whose vision is still too small, naturally doesn't know the gate between Xu Lu's sleeves now.

He leaned down, touched the head of the bun, and pushed open the wooden door in front of him.

In the wooden door, there is a fairly large space, a bed, a chair, a desk and bookshelves, and daily utensils in the wardrobe.

A candle flickered on the desk, and next to the candle flame was a bunch of keys.

Baozi rushed into the room first, climbed into bed, and jumped on the futon.

After Ying Tianchang entered the room, he did not remove his bag and peach blossoms, but came to the desk and sat down.

Ying Tianchang didn't think about anything, he didn't think about whether he was a scholar or not, he didn't want to wrap Chen Lin'an's big net woven by heaven, earth and earth, and he didn't think about what to do when he saw the old bookworm tomorrow. He just sat on the stool and chair, looking at the empty and desolate desk, not wandering too much, and taking care of his own breathing.

It wasn't until Baozi got out of bed and licked Ying Tianchang's fingers that the boy came back to his senses. He put away the set of keys, got up and put down his bags, put the clothes inside in the closet, and put the books that Chen Lin'an gave him on the hanger. The peach blossom sword that Li Qinglian gave him was hung by him at the head of the bed.

After doing this, Ying Tianchang closed the door, blew out the candle, and returned to the stool and chair, he pushed open the window, and the night wind hit, swallowing the cold air of the night, like a big gulp of water, sip after sip.

The coldness permeates the whole body from the chest.

Ying Tianchang shuddered fiercely, raised his head, and saw the night sky and stars reversed, and his heart was at a loss.

On the other side of the mountain, the old man sat cross-legged, exhaling and breathing, and the silence was also gentle.

The old man liked to be late at night, probably because it was the most quiet and peaceful time of the day. When the night falls, the hustle and bustle of the day is gradually withdrawn from this world with the departure of daylight, if you are alone, everyone will fall into an inexplicable quiet atmosphere, the darkness is like a futon to wrap everyone tightly, leaving no gaps. This is the heaviest and most numerous of human thoughts, but it is also the clearest.

Many things that he couldn't figure out and couldn't understand, the old man would stay at night and ponder again.

When the mind is calm, you can feel some order. The old man thinks this is a very smart method, but he does not respect it, young people are not good at staying up late, and they are easy to go bald. Confucian protégés don't all end up looking like Buddhist donkeys.

Xu Lu quietly appeared beside the old man and sat down with the old man.

"That's how you behave?" said the old man.

Chen Linan also said this to Li Qinglian, and the old man knew it. Therefore, no matter who says that Chen Linan is the most similar to himself. But when I thought of Chen Lin'an's temper again, the corners of the old man's mouth twitched, like a basket, and I am not a mud bodhisattva.

Xu Lu seemed to feel uncomfortable sitting, so he simply lay back and said, "That's how I became a senior brother, the third and fourth didn't say anything, do you have an opinion?"

"I'm your husband!" The old man slapped Xu Lu's exposed belly, and he wasn't really angry, the old man always thought that such a gag between master and apprentice could be regarded as a real friendship, even if it was the kind of affection that his third disciple's sword could not cut through.

The old man withdrew his gaze from the countless stars, and saw the boredom mixed between Xu Lu's eyebrows in front of him.

Say. The old man said only one word.

Xu Lu snorted, and still said honestly: "The fourth child you collected for me, this temper and personality, is more difficult than me." It's really good to understand what is the root bone state of mind, but ......"

Xu Lu rubbed his forehead and didn't want to speak anymore.

The old man laughed.

"You're his husband. Xu Lu was right.

"You're his brother. "The old man is even more righteous than Xu Lu.

"What do you say then?" Xu Lu was out of line.

The old man patted Xu Lu on the shoulder, smiling silently, he felt that Xu Lu could understand what he meant.

And when he saw his two apprentices raise his eyebrows, he knew that he had understood what he meant. The old man was comforted at the moment, except for Chen Lin'an, his students were not stupid.

"The old villain, all he wants to do is. Xu Lu said.

also complained that his words became prophecies, and Xu Lu was helpless.

The next morning, there was a gentle knock on the wooden door of Ying Tianchang's hut, and it didn't take long for Ying Tianchang to open the door.

In front of him is an old man who should be extremely familiar with him, but at this moment he finds that he is a little strange.