The leaves are falling and the wind is bleak.

Lu Sanchuan curled up in the corner of the alley and looked up, and there were red leaves falling on the branches of the maple trees sticking out of the wall, fluttering. He stretched out his hand and stared at the bright color falling into his palm, but he couldn't help but sigh and groan: "Since ancient times, autumn has been sad and lonely, and I say that autumn is better than spring... Liu Gong is really proud, and I am also a scholar, but in this Jinsu, I only see ruins and broken walls, and things are not people. ”

He flipped his hand and let the fallen leaves return to dust.

Three days ago, he was still the young master of Jinglongmen, with no worries about food and clothing, sitting in the study every day to read the scriptures, or walking in the backyard looking at the flowers and birds and chanting poems. Father Lu Benchi is still alive, and the "Dragon Yin Knife" is still a martial art that makes the rivers and lakes tremble.

That night, when he was asleep, Lu Benchi suddenly broke into the room and woke him up: "Chuan'er, an enemy has come to the door." The other party is menacing, I'm afraid that this time it will be more than lucky! You quickly escape through the back door, go to Uncle Yuan's place to take refuge, and when I get out of danger, I will go to find you!"

Before he could answer, he was picked up by Lu Benchi and sent out the back door.

It didn't take long for the flames and shouts of killing to come from inside the courtyard. He heard his father shouting, "I, Lu Benchi, have not used the sword for a long time, but fortunately you came to the door, otherwise, I am afraid that I will forget the martial arts of my ancestors!" Then, the screams came one after another.

How could he not know that although his father said, "When I am out of danger, I will go to you", in fact, he intends to die with the enemy, so as to save the life of his son.

Lu Sanchuan heard the screams mixed with his father's screams, and hated himself very much: If I can follow my father to practice the knife, I can help my father by his side at this time, even if he dies, it will be a happy ending for father and son to return together.

Suddenly, there was a terrible roar from Lu Ben in the courtyard.

"Let's go!"

He finally couldn't stop the grief in his heart, tears rolled down, gritted his teeth, and fled from the west of Jiangzhou City to the east of Jiangzhou City overnight.

Although Lu Benchi asked him to find Yuan Qiming, the distance between Wuchang and Jiangzhou was not short, and besides, he was reluctant to leave Jiangzhou, for fear that he would never come back before he stepped out of the city gate with his feet. He had no choice but to sit in the corner, staring at the ground in a daze.

Occasionally, a pedestrian passed by, and saw that his eyes were dull and lonely, and he couldn't bear it, so he took out a copper plate and put it lightly in front of him, and whispered: "What a poor baby." Take it and buy a few steamed buns, don't starve yourself. ”

Although Lu Benchi is quite famous in Jiangzhou, he never relies on his father's prestige to show off, but lives in the house for a long time and lives an ordinary life, occasionally going out for a walk, and he is also alone and has no pomp, so few people recognize him.

And so on for three days.

At noon on the fourth day, Lu Sanchuan finally found that he was still alive, although he had no heart or lungs, his body was hot. He sighed, felt some itching in his nose, and raised his hand to rub it, but he smelled a pungent smell. Only then did he remember that he hadn't changed his clothes for three days.

He raised his right arm, looked at the sleeves that were blackened by the dust and mud, thought for a while, and said to himself after a while: "Although the sleeves are dirty, the arms are hidden in the sleeves, and they must still be clean." If the lotus comes out of the mud but is not stained, the water is clear and the ripples are not demonic, so there is no red near Zhu, and there is no black near the ink. With that, the index finger hooked the cuff to pull it away, but saw that the slender white arm was also covered with a layer of gray.

With a wry smile, he lowered his sleeves, and then put his right hand on his knee, and was about to stand up, but there were a dozen or so copper plates lying on the ground in front of him.

He vaguely remembered that it was a charity from the villagers. Falling from a rich young master to a beggar on the street would be unacceptable to ordinary people, but it made no difference to him. After all, at home, what he eats is nothing more than coarse tea and light rice.

He picked up the ten copper plates one by one and placed them in the palm of his left hand.

Lu Sanchuan looked at the ten copper plates, remembered his father's death again, and blamed himself in every way: As a sword, he only appreciates Wenmo and doesn't understand swords!

Thinking of this, he sighed again, shook his head again and again, and said, "It's sad and pathetic, it's useless to be a scholar." ”

.

Lu Sanchuan didn't like reading so much when he was a child, and he still liked some novel things very much. For example, in a small peony ridge in the southeast of the backyard of the Lu house, a wooden stake wrapped in three layers of cotton clothes is erected. It is about three feet tall. Originally, there was no such a low stake, only a seven-foot-tall stake man. Lu Benchi often practiced martial arts here.

Lu Sanchuan watched from the sidelines, and after seeing too much, he felt itchy hands and feet, and learned Lu Benchi's appearance, waving two lotus-like arms, and shouting: "Hey, hey!"

Seeing that he was a little interested, Lu Benchi stopped and said to him, "Chuan'er, do you want to try it?"

When Lu Sanchuan heard this, he jumped up with his arms as much as he could, and shouted happily, "Daddy, I want to!" and rushed towards the stake man with his fist.

Lu Benchi squatted down in front of him, hugged him with open arms to meet him, and said with a smile: "Chuan'er, this stake man is too tall and not suitable for you." Let's go, dad will help you make a special one. ”

It wasn't long before the seven-foot-tall stake man had a three-foot stake wrapped in a cotton coat. Lu Sanchuan is young and has little strength, in addition to following Lu Benchi to drive wooden stakes on weekdays, he also followed Lu Benchi to cultivate internal strength.

There is a book in the Lu Mansion Library, called "Hui Xin", which has nothing to do with Buddhism, but a copy that Lu Benchi asked for from a person in the Taoist sect. In his spare time, Lu Sanchuan followed Lu Benchi to meditate in the Chaoxing Pavilion in the backyard garden and meditate on his internal strength.

By the time Lu Sanchuan was seven years old, he had already achieved something. The cotton clothes wrapped in wooden stakes also increased from one layer to three layers. Lu Sanchuan smashed it with a punch, but he heard a muffled sound of "bang", put away his fist, and saw that where the fist went, the cotton clothes were deeply concave, and it took a long time to bulge again.

Lu Benchi was very happy, trembling with excitement, and praised again and again: "Chuan'er, good ability! You can reach such a level at the age of seven, and in time, you will definitely be able to surpass your father! The Youlong Yin Knife left by your ancestors is all up to you to carry it forward!"

Lu Sanchuan was praised, he held his head high and felt proud, and said proudly: "I am my father's child, and the tiger father has no dogs!"

"Hahahaha. Lu Benchi was very happy in his heart, picked up Lu Sanchuan, kissed his white and tender face for a long time, and then said, "Chuan'er, your strength is not small, let's practice with my father from tomorrow." ”

Lu Sanchuan nodded and responded, "Yes, Daddy!"

Lu Benchi put him down. The father and son walked along the outer edge of the peony ridge towards the atrium.

The backyard garden is the activity place of Lu Benchi's father and son, and the servant maid does not dare to come without an order. A yellow earth dog raised in the Lu house does not take care of it from time to time. The earth dog understands human nature and never tramples on the flowers and plants planted on the land. Lu Benchi also secretly agreed.

Lu Sanchuan and the earth dog have always been good friends, and when he saw the earth dog running, he smiled and stepped forward, shouting: "Rhubarb, rhubarb!"

When the earth dog heard his shout, a long tongue with a spit star flung out of his mouth, and his four paws quickly swept across the earth, and he jumped up and pounced on him.

"Hey, hey. Lu Sanchuan cracked his mouth and laughed, and was about to hug it, when suddenly a thought flashed in his mind, and his unfolded hands turned into fists, hitting the earth dog's head, and shouted, "Rhubarb, look at how my boxing skills are!"

He didn't know that he was no longer the original, and as soon as he punched over, the earth dog immediately rolled his eyes, his body spun half a circle in mid-air, and fell to the ground with his back down.

"Rhubarb!" Lu Sanchuan screamed, knelt on the ground to the left, grabbed the earth dog with both hands and shook it vigorously, and cried, "Rhubarb!"

The left side of the dog's brain was deeply sunken, his eyes were closed, and blood was flowing from the corners of his eyes.

Lu Benchi knew at a glance that the earth dog was dead, and when he saw Lu Sanchuan crying so much, he couldn't bear to tell the truth, so he quietly walked behind him and squatted down, raised his hand on his shoulder, and comforted: "Chuan'er, rhubarb is not the same as our fate, so don't be sad." ”

Lu Sanchuan turned his head and kept sobbing, his snot mixed with tears, and he dripped down, "Daddy... Daddy... I. ”

Lu Benchi sighed lightly, took out a handkerchief from his arms, carefully wiped his cheeks, and then put it back in his arms, not avoiding filth at all. He grabbed Lu Sanchuan's shoulders with both hands, helped Lu Sanchuan up, held him in his arms, patted him on the back with one hand, and said warmly: "You are no longer the child who couldn't even hold the bowl steadily. Rhubarb is also old and half in the Yellow Spring. Everything is destined, and you don't need to blame yourself too much. ”

Lu Sanchuan shook his shoulders and twitched three times, turned his head to look at the earth dog lying motionless on the ground, and said after a while: "Daddy, I want to bury the rhubarb with my own hands." ”

Lu Benchi nodded in agreement.

Although Lu Sanchuan killed the earth dog with one punch, because of the deep internal strength and the old age of the earth dog, if you talk about strength alone, although it is much older than the same age, it is only the level of a teenager. With great difficulty, he picked up the dog, staggered to the tree where the dog used to cool off, and placed the dog's body under the tree.

Lu Benchi had ordered someone to bring a shovel while he was walking.

Lu Sanchuan took the shovel that was taller than others from Lu Benchi's hand, dug a small dirt pit with a shovel, and pushed the earth dog into the dirt pit. He gave the dog one last last look, and covered it tightly with earth.

Lu Benchi stood aside from the beginning, never helped a hand, never said a word, and waited for Lu Sanchuan to put down the shovel before saying: "Chuan'er, let's go, I know a blacksmith who is very skilled." We went to him to get a knife and after a few days we started learning how to use a knife. ”

"Dad!" Lu Sanchuan shouted, his voice was short and muffled, but after he called, there was a long silence. The wind is silent, and the trees are silent. After a long time, he said, "I don't want to learn." ”

Lu Ben was stunned for a moment, then reacted, although he was a little lost, nodded and said, "It's okay, you rest first, and then learn another day." ”

Lu Sanchuan said, "I won't learn anymore." ”

Lu Benchi looked at the back of Lu Sanchuan's head who was kneeling on the ground, and a blazing heart quickly sank into the ice cave. Although he was unwilling, he was helpless, he smiled bitterly and said, "Okay, Dad, depend on you." ”

Since that day, Lu Sanchuan has never practiced martial arts, the book "Hui Xin", although he did not read it again, but the content of it remembers clearly, when reading in the study, the heart in "Hui Xin" is often inserted, he does not feel strange, and sometimes simply puts down the book and crosses his legs to close his eyes and meditate.

.

Lu Sanchuan smiled bitterly and stood up with difficulty on his knees. He had been hungry for a long time, weak, and had the illusion that the house in front of him was in the fairy mist, ethereal and empty. He shook his head, leaned against the wall with one hand, and walked slowly down the street.