His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Hengshan Empire decreed: On August 15 of the twelfth year of Qianjia, all men who have reached the age of 14 and have Tongsheng Wenmu will go to various schools for assessment. The children's test is made, and the gong is sounded.

In August of this year, the cold post station of Qingluo was suddenly extremely lively and noisy.

After coming here a few times, Zhang Ran lost his initial strangeness, but became much calmer. He quickly selected a stagecoach, carefully took 300 silver coins from his bosom, and handed them to the bearded young coachman. The coachman was very happy, and grabbed it early in the morning, just to get a little tempting joy, and think about it, his own kid is also fast.

The corners of Zhang Ran's mouth curled slightly. Three years in a foreign land, countless days and nights, three years of countless dreams of home, when his hand touched the seemingly unreal door again, tears rolled down uncontrollably. A small and simple room, fragrant and hot meals. In the thatched hut that has been silent for many years, there are so many words that cannot be said at once. Grandpa looked at his grandson with pity, who he hadn't seen for many years, and his face was very relieved. Daddy and mother just looked at themselves stupidly, and they never took their eyes off for half a moment. The little brother and sister all threw themselves into the arms of the eldest brother, whining, like a kitten and a puppy.

The long official road, tossing and turning, can not see the end at a glance, and the sound of "da-da" horses' hooves is monotonous and lonely.

"Herod" neighed, followed by the snort of mules and horses. Zhang Ran was sleepy-eyed, rubbed vigorously, and leaned out of the car. The bearded man was already standing aside, looking at Zhang Ran with a smile.

Oh yes, Gushan Castle has arrived. Zhang Ran got out of the car, facing the tall city wall, there is a huge gap under the city wall, that is, the city gate, on both sides of the city gate are soldiers with spears and halberds, bronze armor, ochre cloak, very powerful. Whew, Zhang Ran's heart jumped up in an instant. After thanking the young coachman, Zhang Ran walked slowly but firmly towards the city gate with the package on his back.

A wide avenue, running from west to east, divides the huge Gushan Castle into two parts. To the north was the military administration of the empire, and to the south was a bustling commercial district.

For Zhang Ran, the most urgent thing is to find a cheap inn as soon as possible. The streets are crowded with people, and vendors selling all kinds of fresh fruit and pastries are in the middle of the road, making it difficult to walk. On both sides of the street, the high-rise shops with warped corners and cornices are antique. Countless stalls and countless small shops hug each other. "Hongbin Building", "Rich House", "Heaven and Earth"...... Huge red lanterns hung on both sides of the gate, and several well-dressed waiters kept smiling at the guests who came in. On the way, Zhang Ran saw groups of teenagers proudly walking by from time to time. An hour later, Zhang Ran found a satisfactory inn in the remote place in the southeast corner, the price was fair, fifty silver dollars a night, not including food and drink, it was a chase room for five or six people.

The name of the store is "Welcome Customers".

Zhang Ran was not interested in going to the street, and stayed in the guest room every day, reading the "Mountains and Rivers Shu" given to him by his husband with taste, chewing and thinking about it over and over again.

On August 15, the magpie that "welcomes the guests" is so lively.

Zhang Ran finally walked into the strict examination room, and when he came out, he felt good.

There was still a period of time before the list was released, so Zhang Ran waited patiently, and the owner of the inn complimented Zhang Ran from time to time, which made Zhang Ran quite embarrassed.

On August 22, Zhang Ran got up early in the morning, ate a bowl of noodles, and hurried to Xuefu Square.

People are crowded, and coincidentally, they will meet a group of teenagers from Qingluoji. Zhang Ran had to stand on the periphery, looking over the head of the people, looking at the huge board, the red paper was full of rows of high school names.

"Haha, I got it. ”

"Hey, my name is there. ”

"Hey, why didn't the examiner of my essay take a fancy to it. ”

"Time, life. ”

Zhang Ran opened his eyes wide and looked for his name one by one, his heart sank down suddenly, he thought he was dazzled, and carefully searched back and forth. Pain, heart-wrenching pain.

Mr. said that although he entered school late, his basic skills were very solid, and the articles he wrote were also mellow and transparent, and the children's examination should be difficult for him.

"Haha, Lao Tzu is in, Lao Tzu is fucking in, haha. A young man in brocade laughed wildly, seeing that he was extremely disappointed, as if he had the pleasure of revenge.

It turned out to be him, a person who couldn't even write a complete sentence, and he was also hit, Zhang Ran couldn't figure it out.

"Poor boy, don't think you're smarter than others, Lao Tzu's family has silver, and the child exam is a fart, 500 taels of silver will be done, hahaha. ”

"Call Lao Tzu a father, call quickly. "Bang", a piece of silver cake smashed at Zhang Ran's feet, causing the two servants of his family to laugh.

"Haha, I'm laughing to death, I want to come to the exam without money, call Lao Tzu Dad, Dad will feed you with silver. The brocade-clothed boy roared with great pleasure.

Zhang Ran only felt that the blood all over his body poured into his brain, and he snorted, pounced on the young man in brocade, and pinched his neck with both hands. The two servants panicked, one vigorously broke Zhang Ran's hand, and the other stretched out his fist like a bowl and hit Zhang Ran fiercely.

"What a world. ”

"Yes, there is money to buy off the school officials. ”

"It's better to be rich than to suffer hard. ”

"I said you, what a sour thing. ”

"Okay, okay, stop fighting, I'm going to die. ”

Duanmu Jin on the side couldn't bear it, and his face turned to the side. There was a bearded man in a blue shirt, looking at Zhang Ran, who was lying on the ground like white paper, bleeding from the corners of his mouth, and couldn't help thinking, this kid is so strong and bloody, there is a kind.

A headhunter came running from afar, shouting loudly and making trouble, believe it or not, Lao Tzu will arrest you. The crowd dispersed in all directions. Poor Zhang Ran was unconscious and fainted on the ground. The head catcher muttered that his mother was unlucky, did he watch Lao Tzu be idle and panic.

The blue-shirted man hesitated for a moment, bent down and picked up Zhang Ran, and said to the head catcher, this big brother, I will take this little brother to the pharmacy for treatment, you see-go it, go ahead, the head catcher is too annoying.

Zhang Ran opened his eyes, and his eyeballs slowly turned, where is this, it seems that he has never been here before. He moved, and a piercing pain permeated him. There is a good smell of medicine on his body, it turns out that he was saved by a kind person, where can he go to pay back other people's medicine money and diagnosis money, hey, forget it, let's take a step at a time. Because of the effect of the medicine, the pain in the body gradually decreased over the next few days, but the torn heart was afraid that it would be difficult to heal for a long time.

It turns out that I am wrong, I am right to read and read, and what is wrong is that I want to change something with this little bit of Taoism, which is really naïve and ridiculous. Zhang Ran was confused.

With a "squeak", the door opened, and a ray of light shone into the dimly lit room.

"Haha, how is the little brother recovering. The man in the blue shirt placed a packet of medicine next to Zhang Ran's bed.

"Thank you uncle for saving your life, the kid Zhang Ran doesn't know how to repay him. Zhang Ran propped himself up and looked gratefully at the man in front of him who was as strong as an iron tower.

"Needless to say, I just ask what the little brother plans to do after he recovers from his injury. Dahan's eyes flashed with a fine light, and Zhang Ran caught it.

"Uncle, I'm penniless now, and I'm afraid I can't afford to pay the medicine for the time being, but don't worry......"

"Forget about the medicine money, don't think about it, just say what you want, just keep it well. The big man narrowed his eyes, this kid doesn't look very old, but he is very smart, let's take a look.

If you want to talk about your plan, Zhang Ran is not without it, but now she can't even find the money to go back, and she still owes others a great favor, so Zhang Ran is sad to death. didn't know the man's intention, Zhang Ran was very distressed.

After recuperating from the injury for a period of time, Zhang Ran has basically healed, it's time to go, and he can't help the old troublemakers.

Zhang Ran found the outhouse, and the blue-shirted man was looking at the ledger intently. Zhang Ran glanced around, there was a counter in front of him, and groceries were stacked on the left and right. It turned out to be a small shop.

"Little brother, there is a shortage of people here, do you want to stay? ”

"Uncle, what can I do. ”

The blue-shirted man's gaze sharpened sharply, "Little brother, to tell you the truth, this is a den of the Vortegal Mountain Cottage. Now that you know, I can't help you. ”

Zhang Ran was horrified, and there were two big men in black clothes standing at the door, and there was no escape.

Seeing the horror on Zhang Ran's face, the blue-shirted Chinese voice gradually slowed down, and said: "Can you go back now, empty-handed, what do others think of you, don't say it first, can you bear to make your family desperate?"

yes, how can I bear to let my family despair.

In a word, there is nothing more than that.

"I will personally go to your house and tell your family that you are working in a big shop in Gushan City, so that the family will be at ease. Judging from Zhang Ran's changing expression, he felt that his words had an effect.

"Okay, I'll send you some silver to your home in a few days, and you can rest assured, so let's take you back to the cottage in a few days when I'm done." ”

Is there any other choice, Zhang Ran thought sadly.

If there is an accident in the family because of himself, then Zhang Ran will die without redemption. People are swordsmen, I am fish and meat, Zhang Ran couldn't help shouting in his heart.

He confessed to it.

Seeing that Zhang Ran didn't resist anymore, the man in the blue shirt became happy and said, "Meet me, my name is Wang Yuan." The cottage does not raise idlers, fights all day long, and it is not possible to defend oneself without a skill. With that, he took out a booklet from his arms and threw it to Zhang Ran casually.

"This is a remnant of the book, only three swordsmanship memorized, you ponder and practice, if you don't understand, you can ask me, turn around and ask someone to send you an iron sword. "Martial arts secrets are a rare thing, especially those profound martial arts secrets, which are only available in the hidden martial arts families and the emperor's ** team. The high-rollers in the rivers and lakes are all some unpopular garbage, of course, there are also some natural talents, practiced to the extreme, and they can also do the reckless man with fists and embroidered legs.

Zhang Ran opened the black booklet, not much, a total of three pages.

Since then, Zhang Ran has embarked on a completely different path from what he had previously envisioned, on this road, between life and death, he can no longer help himself.