the enlightener says

The God-inspired Says Author: Jiang Nan Nan

brief introduction:

Qin Ke, who survived the great famine, is destined to have an extraordinary life.

Ants in the Threshold Volume [-]

Chapter 1 The beef of quacks

Qin Ke rested his chin, stared straight at the round abacus beads in front of him, and fell into meditation again.

Of course, with his temperament, he is definitely not thinking about some unfathomable subject, it is just a daily habit of his. If you look closely, what he thinks is just—"Aunt Zhang's vulgar floral cloth There is another hole in the clothes today", "Uncle Niu's old rooster is stealing other people's crops all day long", "Recently Ruburt and his wife got into a fight again", these topics are really not nutritious.

Master once reprimanded him for this habit, he said that it is not called "meditation" at all, it should be called daze, and then he gave a long speech: It is embarrassing to waste a good boy's time on such meaningless things.

However, he has always muddled through the master's reprimand. After all, he is really not interested in the Four Books and Five Classics, Wenshan Shuhai, etc., and it is even more difficult for him to abide by the etiquette and shake his head while reciting the "The Way of the Great Dao Begins at the Beginning".

While the master was expressing regret, he was also slightly relieved. After all, he still learned some kung fu of messing around, and it can't be regarded as nothing.

However, as the waiter in the inn, he has been "in a daze" a lot of times throughout the day, but there are not many times when he can be "in a daze" to the point of "enjoyment". Three tall and big quacks stepped across the short threshold one after another, and the leader with a beard on his face shouted carelessly: "Xiao Er! Five catties of beef and a jug of good wine, quickly serve it to the uncle! "Afterwards, the three of them sat down at the table closest to the door, and placed the big knife and long sword in their hands heavily on the square old wooden table.

"Okay... okay!" Qin Ke suddenly came back to his senses, and glanced at the swords on the table. At this moment, they were quietly hidden in their sheaths, without showing a trace of sharpness.

Qin Ke looked at the almost full hall in the inn again, where countless people from all walks of life drank tea, drank tea, and ate food, wondering how long he had been in a daze.

Many of the people in the hall were full of wine and food, but they didn't intend to leave at all. What's more, they just sat around and whispered together, and they didn't even order him a pot of tea or a plate of beans.

Qin Ke lazily stood up, shook his head and headed towards the kitchen.

This Daoxiang village is located in the mountains. The whole village has only about twenty households, and the roads to the outside world are very dangerous. Every year, taxes and food have to be transported down the mountain by manpower. I don’t know when it started , there is such a bustling scene?

Not to mention, the noisy crowd in this room are all armed with swords, guns, swords and halberds, even if they don't have real kung fu, they can perform a few beautiful tricks.

On the eighth day of last month, there was a sudden influx of quacks from Daoxiang Village overnight. Many quacks have even occupied the guest rooms for half a month. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that these people are definitely not here for a stroll in the mountains. More like waiting for something, looking for something.

This is somewhat intriguing.

On the chopping board, Qin Ke lowered his knife slowly.

His hands are very steady, so that the blade of his kitchen knife does not tremble at all, but when his blade smoothly cuts into the cooked beef, he feels very idle, as if he is doing something as simple as tickling, quiet, It's relaxed, but it can make people feel the ease from his back.

In his knife work, each piece of overripe beef tendon is as thin as paper, and it will not be deformed or broken. With a little thought, it is placed on the plate, and it looks like a flower blooming at a glance.Even those self-proclaimed quacks who come to the kitchen at this moment will be amazed at Qin Ke's superb skills.

Qin Ke secretly smiled. He knew that Uncle Ji was looking at him with satisfaction behind him. Of course, the reason for this kind of looking was not because he cut the meat well, but because the beef he cut was as thin as a cicada's wing. , not only can fill a plate to the greatest extent, but also can make people not notice that it is actually short of catties.

Earlier, Qin Ke was worried that if those quacks saw that one or two would cause trouble, but later found that these quacks had no idea about Jin Liang, they only knew that they were scrambling to get money out of their pockets , fearing that he would not appear generous enough in front of his brothers, and then drank a few more glasses of wine. After getting on top, he couldn't even tell the difference between meat and tofu, so he felt at ease.

"Five catties of beef! A pot of wine! Come." Qin Ke carried the tray very familiarly, and put the beef on it and the home-brewed Tujia rice wine on the table.

Daoxiang Village did not have an inn before the eighth day of last month, but with the appearance of these quacks, there was a large demand for guest rooms and food overnight, which naturally gave birth to "business-minded" people like Uncle Ji. The villagers, and Qin Ke has been called as a waiter for more than half a month, and he is already familiar with these chores.

"Hmm. Not bad." The Jianghu guest didn't pull his chopsticks, he just reached out and grabbed a thin piece of beef, threw it into his mouth, chewed it twice, his voice was as loud as if he was shouting in the mountains: "Xiaoer, look You are a child born and raised in the mountains, do you know if there is anything special in this mountain? For example... treasures or something?"

"Where is there any treasure, but stones are everywhere." These days, Qin Ke has almost formed a conditioned reflex for this kind of problem, "We are a small village, and the rice handed over to the government every year is only a few hundred stones, guest officer The beef you eat is bought from the towns outside, if there are any treasures, why are we still so poor?"

The Jianghu guest obviously didn't believe it, and showed a calm expression to the two fellows, and continued: "Then there must be something strange? Antiques or something? Or more magical antiquities, such as the kind... very Something ancient and very mysterious."

Qin Ke suddenly showed a look of enlightenment, but in fact, he felt that these quacks were simply inexplicable, and they asked the same questions when they came and went. It was really boring, so he said by the way: "There is a stone lion at the entrance of the village. Come into the village I should have seen it when I was half buried in the soil, and the head popped out. The old people here said that children can ward off evil spirits by touching the lion's head more..."

"That's it!" Jianghu Ke stretched out his hand and raised his thumb, his eyes sparkled, and the eyes of the two people who were walking with him also showed joy. All three of them regretted why they didn't pay more attention when they entered the village. The four of them Looking down, I tried my best to control the joyful expression on my face, pretending that the quacks around me were not as witty as they were, and they had already found out such "good" clues in a few words, and even didn't even bother to eat the beef, so I took a picture. After picking up a small piece of broken silver, they all picked up their swords and walked out, "Let's go! Go and see first!"

Only Qin Ke was left staring at the wine and meat on the table in a daze.

"What are you doing here?" Uncle Ji approached at some point, and whispered, "Put the beef back into the kitchen first, if those uncles don't come back, we'll have beef noodles tonight!"

Qin Ke nodded, and quickly started to clean up the table. The temptation of food made him not pay attention to the whereabouts of the three people at all. Anyway, the stone lion has been checked by many quacks these days. It is estimated that it was because of the crowd around there. There were too many people and they didn't care. If it wasn't for the fact that the stone lion was too big, how deep the base was buried, and the surrounding earth and rocks were rammed very hard, they might have been dug out by these people by now.

Qin Ke, who was fantasizing about beef noodles in the kitchen, didn't know at this time that there were two people walking slowly towards his inn amid the criss-crossing paths at the entrance of the village, riding the warm sunshine in the sky.

During this period of time, there was an endless stream of quacks coming to Daoxiang Village for the so-called "treasures". If only two more people came, it would not be surprising.It's just that in the eyes of many villagers, these two people really don't match the word "Jianghu".The person walking in front was wearing a green shirt, with steady steps, and although his brows were extraordinary, he had a pair of calm eyes, and his hair was simple without a crown. poet.

And behind him is a timid tall boy, dressed in rough linen, walking cautiously, his steps seem to be stepping on the beat, trying hard to keep the same way of walking as the man in the blue shirt, but without the man in the blue shirt It's a bit relaxed, but it's like learning to walk in Handan, which is a bit funny.

Chapter 2 At the entrance of the village, there is a fake stone lion

There is an ancient stone lion at the entrance of the village, which has already been spread. Although many people in the rivers and lakes have checked the lion and there is nothing special about it, it is the only clue that the villagers can provide, and most people in the rivers and lakes do not believe in evil. , even if some predecessors said that this stone lion is just a rotten stone, they will go and touch it for themselves.

Therefore, at the moment the entrance of the village is bustling with people, surrounded by many people holding swords, whispering and commenting.

"Hey, don't tell me, the pattern on the lion's body is really interesting. Ordinary people are really not qualified to use such patterns."

Hearing such an analysis, there was a reckless voice cursing: "Textures? What the hell, I will settle down someday, and I want to build a town house with two stone lions. I just draw flowers on it. Hey, I don't believe anyone dares to control it! "

The person who was analyzed before was so humiliated, so he naturally became angry from embarrassment: "No one really cares, who cares if you draw a flower on the stone lion. The problem is that you try to draw a royal pattern on the lion? If you let the imperial court know, you will have to raid your home the next day!"

"..."

Amid the din of voices, the man in the green shirt smiled slightly, turned his head and said to the young man, "Abu, we're here."

The boy called "Abu" was taken aback for a moment, then stopped in his tracks, and said awkwardly, "Sir."

"This is not the imperial court, so don't be too cautious." The man in the green shirt looked casual, but looking closely at his eyes, he could feel a heroic spirit that is inclusive of all rivers and rivers, and he patted the young man's face. Shoulders, "Don't slow me down, let's walk together side by side."

"Yes..." Abu said in a low voice. Although he hesitated, he still moved some steps forward. This step seemed to span the distance of his life. He breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at the man in the blue shirt, Puzzled, "Sir, what's going on here?"

The man in green shirt looked at the crowd at the entrance of the village from a distance, but he didn't intend to get close. Instead, the corners of his mouth slightly turned up, and he said, "The bait has been released. It depends on whether the fish will take the bait."

From Abu's expression, it could be seen that he didn't understand the meaning of the man in blue shirt, but he still nodded respectfully.Many times, it's not that he doesn't want to understand the thoughts of the man in green shirt, it's just that after experiencing countless failures, he feels a little bit self-defeating.After all, even in the eyes of his classmates or teachers, the man in green shirt is a very elusive existence. How can he understand that he is a baby who herded cattle since he was a child and only followed his husband when he was 13 years old?

The man in the green shirt could hear Abu's obedience and knew what Abu was thinking, but he just smiled gently and said, "Do you know what the lines on the stone lion mean?"

Although Abu is still young, he is much taller than the man in green shirt. Even standing among the group of pretentious quacks, he stands out from the crowd. He stretched his neck and observed for a while with his good eyesight. While thinking about it, he said: "It seems...the dragon pattern that only the royal princes of the previous dynasty can use?"

The man in the green shirt nodded, and was satisfied with Abu's study: "Although it has been more than a hundred years since the fall of the previous dynasty, many etiquette details have been handed down to this day, such as the Kui pattern, the Taotie pattern, etc., which represent things. You should know too."

"Yes." Abu only felt that the man in the blue shirt was going to test his own homework, and said respectfully, "Kui Wen represents the ancient mythical beast Kui Niu, but Kui Niu has not appeared in the world for a long time. And the Taotie pattern... naturally represents It's the beasts beyond the Great Wall."

At this point, he cupped his hands clumsily, "Sir, Abu doesn't understand. Why do dragon patterns appear on stone lions? Although the princes of the previous dynasty used dragons as totems, engraved on bronze ware, or displayed on clothing, but if Engraving a dragon pattern on a stone lion is tantamount to blasphemy against a mythical beast like a dragon, who would do such a thing?"

"Of course no one would do such a thing." The man in green shirt looked at the green mountains and white clouds in the distance, and suddenly sighed, his eyes full of memories, "Because it's not a stone lion. It's... a 狻猊."

As he spoke, the man in the green shirt lifted his feet and walked away, the jade pendant around his waist swayed with his footsteps, but anyone with discerning eyes could see how extraordinary the jade pendant he was wearing was.However, in this motley crowd, even if someone recognized where his jade pendant belonged, who would really dare to talk nonsense?

And Abu stood there, muttering: "狻猊...狻猊..." For a moment, a spiritual light flashed through his mind, and he exclaimed, "Ah...the dragon gave birth to nine sons...then...then... ..."

Turning his head, he realized that the man in green shirt didn't look at the stone lion at all, and had already gone straight to the village.

"Guest officer, please come inside." Just after clearing the messy table, Qin Ke looked at the door, wiped his hands with a rag, and went forward, "There is only the last room left in this store. I don't know if you are eating Or stay in a hotel?"

Qin Ke just raised his head, facing the peaceful eyes of the man in green shirt, he couldn't help but froze.

In fact, the eyes of the man in the blue shirt did not give people a feeling of magnificence, only peace, the ultimate peace, has become a kind of authority, or in other words - control over everything.

Qin Ke is not afraid of this kind of control, he just thinks this person's eyes remind him of a person.Someone he thinks about a lot, but actually he doesn't want to think about at all.

"Master...?" Qin Ke couldn't help blurting out, even though he knew that the person he called had passed away for more than three years, how could he not feel sad and sad when he saw such a pair of very similar eyes again?

The man in the green shirt didn't seem to hear his whisper, and smiled slightly: "Little brother, can two people fit in that room?"

"Ah?" Qin Ke immediately came to his senses, patted his chaotic head and replied, "Yeah! Can... oh, can't..." In order to hide the embarrassment and the eyes that were almost filled with tears just now, he hurriedly lowered his head , secretly cursing himself for being dizzy, this must be a treasure hunter just like those people, not to mention that strange face, what was he thinking about?

"Can it, or can't it?" The green-clothed man looked at him peacefully, still smiling.

Qin Ke raised his head slowly, tried his best to meet those eyes, and said embarrassingly: "Our inn is originally small, and there were no outsiders in the mountain before, and the beds were made by the carpenter. It’s okay to squeeze it down, but if the guest is a friend...” He looked at the tall and burly Abu, although Abu’s eyes were a little evasive and unconfident, which didn’t look like a burly man should have, but his strong eyes His arms and thick back still show that he has practiced martial arts all year round.

"It's okay." Abu said hurriedly, "I can sleep on the floor."

"Two more bowls...well, three bowls of plain noodles." The man in the green shirt said, turned around and walked away.

Qin Ke didn't send the two of them to the guest room, watching the man in green shirt and Abu slowly go upstairs, he turned his eyes back with some sense of loss.How could it be the master? Qin Ke laughed at himself. Three years ago, the master suffered from a stubborn illness, and the medicine and stones were useless. After being lingering in the sick bed for several months, he passed away peacefully beside him. The master who was buried by himself would go up the mountain to clean it every month Sorting, is it possible that a dead person can really jump out of the grave?

If it really popped up, I'm afraid it won't be a comedy of reunion, but the "Ghost Chronicle" that I found in Master's collection a few days ago.

But Qin Ke always felt that this person not only his eyes, but also his tone of voice, and even the frequency of breathing, all resembled his dead master.if we assume……

For some reason, Qin Ke trotted all the way into the kitchen, and began to chop vegetables.

"What's the matter? I'm frizzy." Uncle Ji seems to like to stay in the kitchen all the time. Qin Ke guessed that he must be hiding here to drink because Aunt Ji didn't let him drink at home.But Qin Ke didn't have the leisure to laugh at him at the moment, but heated up the stove, put in hot oil and fried it, made three bowls of delicious green vegetables and mushroom noodles, and carried them upstairs.

Obviously knowing that this is not right at all, but Qin Ke still can't help but want to find out the details of this man in green shirt. Even if it is not Master, maybe it is Master or some relative or friend?

He remembered that his master had said that he was from a noble family. Although he didn't say which noble family he was from, it proved that his master was not alone in a thatched hut. After worshiping with a glass of wine, I think I will feel a little comforted by coming to the master's spring, right?With some anticipation, Qin Ke knocked on the door, and it was still the peaceful voice of the man in blue: "Come in."

"Guest officer, your noodles." Qin Ke put three bowls of noodles on the table and asked curiously, "Do you have any friends coming?"

The man in the green shirt smiled and shook his head: "No." Turning to Abu, he said, "Abu, your face is here."

Abu nodded cautiously, looked at the table full of noodles, licked his lips, and apologized, just holding his chopsticks, half a bowl of noodles went into his stomach within a few breaths!

The hot noodles brought heat to Abu's stomach, and a few pea-sized beads of sweat oozed from his head, and he reached out and poured some vinegar into the sea bowl, and with a few chopsticks, he ate the remaining half bowl of noodles It's over.

And Qin Ke watched him stretch out his hand to take the second bowl of noodles, and finally understood why these two people ordered three bowls of noodles.

Unexpectedly, this shy young follower would have a magnificent feeling when eating. Qin Ke couldn't help laughing, and then held back. Thinking of the problem in his mind, he pretended to look at the room and stretched out his hand to use it. Wiping the ornaments on the table with a rag, he asked casually: "Guest officer, you don't look like you are from the Jianghu. You are also here to hunt for treasure?"

Chapter 3 Thunderous Hooves

The person in the green shirt seemed to be very calm, and didn't care about Qin Ke's seemingly unintentional but somewhat offensive question. He smiled lightly and said, "Xiaoer feels, what are we here for?"

Qin Ke frowned, this was clearly his own problem, why was he kicked back lightly like a ball, but at this moment, he didn't dare to show any desire for knowledge, but just pretended to be curious and chatted: "Guest officer It looks more like... a teacher who studied abroad? Did he come here to collect materials and write a book? Or a painter? A scholar who traveled here also came to our village the year before last, but he held a guqin all day long and played it all day long. .”

"Almost." The man in the green shirt looked out the window, seemingly lost in thought, "I'm a map drawer."

"Draw a map?"

"It's just... look at the shape of the mountains and rivers, the direction of the water flow, and then draw these things into blueprints, so that future generations can look up these blueprints to know where they have come and how they should walk here." The man in the green shirt He said softly, "It's almost what you said...a painter, but he doesn't paint people, let alone landscapes."

Abu ate the noodles, the corners of his mouth couldn't help twitching a few times, holding back a smile.

"Hmm..." Qin Ke nodded. He heard his master mention such people, but the master said that most of these people travel around in "Ji Li Drum Chariots" because of this kind of vehicles. The wheels make it easy for them to record dimensions.

However, these two people obviously did not drive in a vehicle, but came on foot, so how should they explain it?Qin Ke felt a little doubtful at first, but was disappointed after a while. Although drum cars are important, how can vehicles easily drive in such a mountain village with impassable roads?Presumably such a person has another set of map-drawing skills, and will never be restricted by vehicles.

But Qin Ke's youthful mind, this low mood didn't last long, but he was a little yearning and said: "Will it be interesting to travel around the world?"

The man in the blue shirt turned his eyes and carefully looked at Qin Ke's young and immature face. The pair of eyes on it were as bright as stars in the dark night.He smiled: "I can see a lot of things, but there are also many difficulties and obstacles along the way."

The man in Qingshan was willing to talk to him, so naturally Qin Ke listened attentively and enjoyed it.After all, he was adopted by his master when he was young, and he hasn't traveled far for nearly ten years now.

After the war, the four kingdoms of the world stand together, and the Mohism where Daoxiang Village is located is considered to be the most powerful among the four kingdoms. It has accumulated thousands of years and produced a large number of talents. Perhaps only the Tang Kingdom with the same profound heritage can compare.

In addition to these two countries, what is unexpected is the two countries of Canghai and Jingwu. One was originally unknown, and the other was originally weak, but they have been improving at an extremely rapid speed in the past two years. Perhaps the foundations of these two countries are not as good as Tang and Mohism, but their every move still affects the situation in the world.

The world has entered a temporary period of stability because of the four kingdoms, and countless refugees who were displaced by the war have gradually found a place to live. Although there are still many people who are still poor and living in poverty, the terrible tide of refugees like back then has disappeared. no longer.

The two chatted for a long time, Qin Ke seemed to be obsessed, and his eyes showed a bit of confusion, but every question he asked was very clear: "Then guest officer, why did you enter the mountain at this time?"

Abu finished eating the noodles and was about to put down his chopsticks, when he heard this question, he couldn't help but tighten his hands.

The man in the green shirt remained calm, but instead asked: "Since you've been traveling around the world, you have to come and see something interesting, don't you?"

Qin Ke, who was pinning his hopes on a sudden attack, found that this trick was useless to the man in green shirt, and he didn't know where to start to ask the following questions. After finding nothing, he finally left the guest room helplessly under the urging voice of Uncle Ji downstairs. Before leaving, he still asked a little stubbornly: "Guest officer, can I tell you your name? Someone like you must be very famous, right?"

The man in the green shirt smiled, took a sip of the tea in front of him, and in the wisps of heat from the warm tea, he said, "What's the name? He's just a wandering man who doesn't know his way back."

After Qin Ke left, the entire room became much quieter.

A Bu looked at the bowls and chopsticks on the table that Qin Ke didn't take away because of his haste, he was silent for a moment, and couldn't help asking: "Sir, this little girl seems very weird."

The man in the blue shirt didn't nod or shake his head, he just looked out the window and shook his fan: "It's okay, he just can't let it go."

Abu heard the hidden meaning in the man's words, and asked cautiously, "This... is Xiao Er old with you?"

The man in the green shirt lowered his head and breathed out lightly: "Forget it, it doesn't count." Looking at Abu, his eyes changed slightly: "Abu, your energy-raising skills are still far behind."

"Yes...I, I see." Abu didn't dare to ask any more, just stood up, looking out of the window in a daze: "I don't know when the news of the general will come, he went in there alone, always It makes people a little uneasy.”

The man in the green shirt said calmly: "There is nothing to worry about. There may be a place in this world where he can stay, but it will never be there. Right now, we need to wait for another person besides his signal."

At dusk, after Qin Ke was busy serving those Jiang Hu guests sitting in the inn and eating and drinking, he finally had a space to carry a delicious beef noodle. , squatted down casually.

In the countryside, cattle are mostly precious. In the early years, in order to promote the recovery of the withered people's livelihood, the government even issued a decree requiring the people not to kill cattle.

In recent years, the government has canceled the relevant laws and changed it to prohibit the killing of healthy cattle, but after all, the number of cattle is not too much, and every household has to keep them to farm and open up wasteland. Who would be willing to give away their own cattle? Killed and put on the dining table?

The noodles are very strong, and the aroma of the beef is blended into the soup during the stew. After taking a sip, Qin Ke can only feel the meaty sweetness dancing on his taste buds, which makes him unable to bear it. swallow them up.

After a while, fine sweat appeared on his forehead.