Mountains and seas can be flat

The ferocious cheetahs couldn't help urging Zifeng to enter the tunnel, rubbing against him with their shiny fur.It seems that the smell in the beast ditch makes them very afraid.It must have been a terrifying slaughterhouse site for beasts.Fang Zheng asked Zifeng curiously: "You said that your master was already in his old age when he picked you up. How old was he then? Can he subdue so many beasts?"

Zifeng did the math, "When Master picked me up, he was already 72 years old. I grew up by his side until he was 6 years old, and he passed away."

Fang Zheng was a little shocked while admiring, this is really old Fuxi.It stands to reason that at that time, Arrow God's physical fitness had declined severely, and he was also suffering from illnesses. He was able to create such a ravine in Shoutong Mountain that all beasts dared not set foot on, and he even raised such a few big leopards.How powerful it must have been in its heyday.

The tunnel passage is not long, and the earth and rocks are compacted, it seems that it is only for bypassing the solid mountain rock above.The spot at the end expands.The leopard leading the way jumped out first.Zifeng took Fang Zheng's hand and pulled him up the slope.The sun suddenly pierced the darkness.The dense fog cleared away.Fang Zheng turned his head, and saw two high sloping walls in the rear, piled with countless boulders, and the dense roots of plants entangled them tightly.An undying fog drifted among the canopy clouds.

There are no trees and stone barriers on the back of the stone wall, presenting a spacious and sunny valley.Under the cliff at the end of the valley, there is a big house made of earth, wood and stone.There is a gurgling stream in front of the house.Vanilla orchids are planted all over the stream.On the east side of the stream, there are several fields for reclamation.Elm trees of mulberry wood are planted beside the fields.On the west side of the stream, there is a spacious archery field with countless arrow stacks of straw figures.

In addition, there is no trace of human interference, and the pitch is full of beautiful scenery of mountains, rocks, vegetation and trees in the valley.Fang Zheng walked forward with Zifeng, turned around and saw the upper reaches of the stream falling down from the waterfall beside the wooden house.The mountain springs come from high rocks, and there are many gymnoscaria pines on the mountain walls.

From time to time, birds came to fetch water, and the little cheetahs chased and bit those little flying things, jumping and playing by the stream.Several cheetahs with brilliant and smooth fur rolled into the golden haystack, lay down comfortably, and made a purring sound.They rest during the day and go hunting at night.

The ridges of the fields have been deserted for a long time, covered with green and yellow barnyard grass.The arrow stack straw man has also been used by cheetahs as a straw mat and golden silk quilt.The lush Anzhi Tinglan by the stream wafts a delicate fragrance, attracting many bees, butterflies and moths.

"This is the first time I've come back since I left at the age of 6." Zifeng looked around with emotion.

Fang Zheng asked curiously: "No one feeds these leopards, what do they eat?"

Zifeng pointed to the entrance of the cave where they walked up just now.There is a wooden trap and several large stones at the entrance.Cheetahs go out to forage at night and stay in the valley during the day, which is their territory.It is very difficult to find such a place with good scenery, water source, seclusion and safety.Their family has been staying here all these years.Do you also feel grateful for Yi Jun and guard the old house for him?It is also unknown.But from the current point of view, they still welcome Zifeng.Even if he is not welcome, with Zifeng's force value, it will be a matter of minutes to subdue him.

Zifeng walked to the arrow stack, there were still some old twigs on the ground, only half the length of normal arrows. "Master taught me to use this for archery when I was a child." Zifeng picked it up and dusted it, and put away the "souvenir".

Following the creek, Zifeng brought Fang Zheng to the wooden house.Fang Zheng observed carefully. This wooden house is a single-story house with two entrances and a small courtyard surrounded by three sides. At the front is a wide storage room with two floors and a dry fence below. Judging from the layout, dolphins (pigs) and horns should have been raised. Chicken, of course, has already been eaten by cheetahs.There is a gap between the upper planks, which must be a place for bleeding and skinning large game.Open and airy on all sides.The back few rooms are built on stone and mud foundations, and wooden houses are built, which is a place for people to live.

Zifeng led Fang Zheng to continue walking inside.In the middle is a deserted courtyard, the wooden fence of the promenade has been entangled with ancient vines, and the vine waterfall is in full bloom with small purple flowers.Zifeng used a hundred renju sticks to push away the long vines lying in the middle of the road, and cut a path.Continue to go inside.The sound of the mountain waterfall is harsh, and there are steps leading to a deep pool by the terrace, and the stream is gurgling.

Going further in and closing the door of the terrace, the sound of the spring is reduced by half.There are several rooms in the inner corridor, and the ground has been quietly occupied by vines, which snaked into different rooms.Zifeng tore Chang Teng away.There is an empty bed and several long wooden frames in the outermost small room, which is empty. "This is Qixi's room. He collected everything."

Fang Zheng was puzzled: "The wooden house is so deserted, why doesn't he live here? And last time you were near the temple, he also appeared." Fang Zheng also asked other doubts, "I have something that has been going on for a long time. I don’t quite understand. After your master passed away, you were so young. He was not incompetent, he was very strong. Why didn’t he raise you up before sending you to the military camp?”

Zifeng shook his head and said, "Brother Zheng, 6 years old is the right age to go to the military camp for training. If it is later, you will miss a lot. Qixi was only in his twenties when he was harvested as a servant by the master. He can't be a disciple of the master because of this." The reason. He doesn't have a thorough grasp of many things, and Master hopes that I will have a good foundation from an early age. He also doesn't want me to hide in the mountains all the time and go to the capital to exert my strength."

Fang Zheng thought that people in this era generally have a short lifespan, and they can kill people at the age of 10. Isn't it just sending them to training at the age of six or seven?The age when children of later generations began to learn books was also six or seven years old.In ancient times, people did not study literature and only practiced martial arts. Of course, they had to train the rules of the army at the age of six or seven.

"As for why Qixi doesn't continue to live here, it may be because he is not used to staying with leopards. It may also be that he does not want to face the sadness of the old things of the master. He should build a residence by himself near the star platform of the temple to fulfill the instructions of the master back then. "

While talking, Zifeng took Fang Zheng to a small room inside, where there was a small wooden bed half a meter wide.There are several small wooden swords beside the bed.Several sets of small bows and arrows hung on the shelves, and many bone objects were scattered on the ground.

"This is my room." With a smile on his face, Zi Feng squatted down and picked up a small bone ball, and there was a bone ball inside that could shake. "Master made these for me with animal bones." He shook it by his ear, making a crisp sound.There is also a small wooden table next to it, with some bamboo slips and knots spread out, the handwriting is incomplete and illegible.There are also some pottery bowls and wooden basins.

Fang Zheng seemed to be able to see the baby Zifeng sitting on the ground full of interest, "Your master also taught you knotting and reading?"

"Otherwise I wouldn't have been taught the knowledge of herbal divination by ten witches in addition to receiving martial arts training in Yuqiang's camp." Zifeng shook his head and said, "It's a pity that I didn't like it very much when I was young. When I left, I was young. Master taught me a lot." Bamboo slips and tortoise shells, even if you haven’t read them, you won’t be able to recognize them all.”

While speaking, Zifeng had already opened the innermost room.The door of the house was locked, and only a few thin strands of vines got in through the gap.The dust that hasn't seen the sun for a long time hits the face and chokes people.This room is much larger than the two small rooms just now.Several huge bearskin and tiger blankets were draped over a spacious wooden bed.The walls are covered with various bows and arrows.On the other wall are some swords, halberds and spears, like a weapon shop.In the other two corners of the room, on one side is a huge medicine table with many clay pots and jade bottles piled up on it. There are bones, animal horns, roots and leaves on the table.On the other side is a five or six-story wooden frame, full of bamboo slips and tortoise shell jade carvings.In addition to the decoration in the room, there are several tiger head and antlers on the wall, and an old leather map is displayed below, which can still be recognized vaguely.

Fang Zheng first went to look at the map. Although he didn't recognize the text on it, judging from the borderline, the huge and complete piece in the middle must be the Yu Dynasty in its heyday, not the divided Four Borders Fangguo.There are some stones around the map, Zifeng pointed at the other party and said, "This map is the cowhide border map that my master was rewarded when he was 20 years old. The black spots on the edge are where several terrifying giant beasts were entrenched at that time." So. He removed them one by one later, and burned them with a scar." In the center of the map, there is also a line of black burns that splits from top to bottom.It must have been caused by Yijun's disappointment after the Yu Dynasty split.

"Your master started removing monsters at the age of 20?" Fang Zheng imagined the long years and how many legendary events he had experienced.

Zifeng told Fang Zheng: "When my master was 15 years old, he crossed the East China Sea and went to Guixu to find hibiscus wood. No one knew how he got there and how he escaped. Started to be famous."

"When my master was 20 years old, it happened to be the tenth year of Emperor Yao Yu's tenure. Emperor Yao Yu was the son-in-law of Emperor Tao Tang at first, and married Ehuang Nvying when he succeeded to the throne. But they have never had any heirs. Ten years ago, the Yu Dynasty decided to marry Zu Jiang. That year Zu Jiang's Dengbei family married, and the king held a martial arts competition. The master is already a young marksman with high prestige in the country. He showed his strength, and the military officer of the Yu Dynasty No one can defeat him. Emperor Yao Yu named him Si Wei and ordered him to go to various places to eliminate harm. Master also adopted Pang Meng at that time, and Pang Meng was still a baby at that time."

"Ten years later, when Master was in his thirties, those monsters were basically eliminated. But at this time, Danzhu, the eldest son of Emperor Tao Tang, rebelled in the fief and released Sassafras. My Master shot an arrow at it. But it couldn't die, and swallowed the master's Fusang bow. Emperor Yao Yu was busy with state affairs, and felt that time was running out, so he suppressed Danzhu with copper juice. Imitation of life and death. Sealed in the abyss of Cangwu. He abdicated Passed the throne to Emperor Chongyu. At this time, the abandoned emperor refused to accept and usurped the throne in rebellion. The master broke with him and shot him with an arrow. He thought the abandoned emperor died. The Dengbei family also brought their daughter back to Zujiang."

"More than ten years later, when the master was in his forties, he went to Zujiang. At that time, Qiongqi was rampant, and the master gave Fusang arrowheads to the Dengbei family. She built the mausoleum into a suppression sculpture and sealed Qiongqi.

"Ten years later, when Master was in his fifties. Pang Meng had grown up, and it was time to show his talents. Emperor Chongyu was vomiting blood from Tu Shanjiao's white jade palace, and when he was dying, he wanted to pass on the throne to Uncle Emperor Yi. His eldest son Qijun succeeded to the throne with the support of Tu Shanjiao. The Yu Dynasty split. Master supported Boyi, while Pang Meng supported Qijun, and the two broke up. In the first few years after the Yu Dynasty split, Master did He did some lobbying work to unify the dynasty. However, Emperor Boyi and Houji and other old ministers have very objections to the power that Tu Shanjiao passed on to Lord Qi. They said that the white jade palace in Xiazhu is a blood palace that sucks people's fat and people's anointing. Qi Jun was also annoyed, and sent Pang Meng, who was good at assassination, to kill Houji in a sneak attack. Master was also seriously injured by Pang Meng's sneak attack. In fact, he had a chance to shoot Pang Meng's deadly arrow, but he finally still Let off Pangmeng Yima. Master's lobbying desire was completely shattered. Emperor Boyi was even more angry. He selected outstanding clansmen from Houji and entrusted them to Master for guidance. Boyi told Master that he knew that he did not want to lead the army, so he would Cultivate a new excellent Zen heir for him, so as to continue the light tradition of the three-generation system. The master agreed. After the master was injured, his body began to decline. He recruited a young servant to take care of himself, that is Xixi. Xixi Followed him for over 20 years."

"Twenty years later, when Master was in his seventies, the new Zen heir, Zhihao, had grown up. But Zhihao and Prince Taikang of Xiazhu sneaked into Shoutong Mountain and died unfortunately. Master followed He found me, picked me up, and decided to live in seclusion here. After another six years, he died here. This is all I know of his experience. In my childhood memory, he hardly cared about foreign affairs, and dealt with them every day. Gather prey, plant land, tame those leopards, teach me to practice martial arts and read. When I stay alone in the room, I play with some herbs, or engrave some simple texts. Things about straw clothes and quilts." Zifeng said as he walked to the bookshelves, and picked up some bamboo slips and tortoise shells to read.

Fang Zheng asked again: "Yijun was 15 years old when he crossed the ruins, so capable, where did he come from?"

"He didn't say that." Zifeng shook his head, "A lot of people should have inquired about it, but no one knew about it." He flipped through the bamboo slips and tortoise shells, and suddenly frowned, "Brother Zheng, my master seems to have recorded a lot of private matters on it. .I've never heard of it."

Presumably this should be Yi's "diary". Of course Zifeng didn't know how to read it when he was a child.Yijun put them here at random, because he felt that this place was secret and safe. There are very few literate people in this era, so he thought it would be okay for Zifeng to see it.

So Fang Zheng asked: "What did you write? It would be great if he picked you up at that time, or something happened in the first copper mountain." He had a flash of inspiration, "Or what about the records about the abandoned king? Can you look for it? clue?"

Zifeng quickly flipped through the pages.There are three kinds of records on the bookshelf. The bamboo slips are written with some personal affairs of Lord Yi, and the tortoise shell seems to be words of divination.The jade carving plate is one or two relics of the Huaxu people obtained through twists and turns.What Zifeng could understand were the bamboo slips and the shallower inscriptions on tortoise shells.

Zifeng quickly flipped through the pages, "It seems that Master recalled the past and wrote some important parts. But it is not written in chronological order, interspersed with various memories, so you have to find it slowly." Zifeng flipped through for a while, picked If it doesn't matter, tell Fang Zheng.

"The master was waiting for the emperor to summon him outside the palace. Abandoned Jun came over and said to the master, "Yi, you are dressed so tightly that the sun is scorching your face. You have made great achievements. Why don't you sit under the awning over there and wear your clothes?" How about wearing a silk coat and drinking water?"

"Yi said, 'That's not my position. Qi, the thin silk you're wearing is only for the empress. Have you forgotten the hard times we used to have?'

"Qi said: 'I have never been in good health, so I asked the king to allow me to wear such cool clothes all the time. When I was young, you took care of me when I was weak and sick. Why are you demanding of me now?'

"Yi said: 'Qi, I regard you as my younger brother, but I thought you were recovering. Are you sick again?'

"Qi said: 'You are busy with state affairs now, so you don't come to visit me often. You know my physical condition, how can there be no problems. I am currently making a kind of elixir. The dose is just enough for two doses. If it succeeds, we One person, one can live forever.'

"Yi said: 'Abandonment, it is a good thing to make people live longer, but your medical talents should save more people. If only the two of us can use it, it is better not to use it. Since you are not in good health, the cost You should do less about energy matters, how about saying goodbye to the monarch? I heard many officials complain that they can't get your medicinal materials.'

"Qi said, 'Those people are not worth my medicine. Only you are worth it. I want to stay, those monsters hurt you, I can heal them. I don't want to heal others. Unless the king orders me.'

"Yi said: 'There are many things that the monarch can't take care of when he is in his position. If you can't take the initiative to take the responsibility, you should let the virtuous talents take care of you.'"

In this record, Fang Zheng heard a lot of useful information, and he and Zifeng analyzed: "Looking at it this way, Jun Yi and Jun Qi met when they were young, and they must have had a deep relationship when they were young. From the point of view, Qijun’s virtue is not enough, and Yijun didn’t persuade him to be good, so the disagreement began. Did Qijun start to develop the medicine of immortality so early? Maybe people with poor health have an extra obsession with longevity Read it."

Fang Zheng found that the bamboo slips that Zifeng read just now were only a few volumes, and there were dozens of engraved characters at most, so he asked, "You told me so much just now, but I don't think there are so many characters on this bamboo slip."

Zifeng said: "Brother Zheng, lettering is very troublesome. Master has free time to carve slowly. This is already a lot. It can connect many meanings with one word. You must not understand it if you read it. I'll tell you later."

Fang Zheng resentfully thought about the words that Zifeng taught him to pronounce, but he hadn't finished learning them.When later generations researched oracle bone inscriptions, they often exhausted their efforts to study a word, and indeed proposed a writing system that expresses multiple meanings.Gai Yinfeng said that it is very troublesome to engrave characters in this era, and the words are simple and meaningful.Only when Zifeng was familiar with Yijun's thinking habits could he recognize it fluently, and no one could interpret it correctly.

Zifeng continued to read, and found another paragraph, "Master recalled the eve when he came to the king's capital to participate in the martial arts competition at the age of 20. At that time, he and Qi Jun picked up a starving child on the side of the road, so they had to rush to a farm to find Give him something to eat."

"Yi said: 'The farmers here can put clay pots in their homes, and the hostess also has cloth to wear. It really looks like a king's capital. Now that I have been treated well, I will go out and help them make a living. I will give this child some soft food. and food.'

"Qi said: 'This child has a protruding head, which is considered unknown among some clans, so he was kicked out. Why should you care about his life or death. You should concentrate on preparing for the martial arts competition. Once you are sealed, you You don’t have to take me around to find medicine.’

"Yi said: 'When I was five years old, I was taken into the mountains by the people. The cicadas made a loud noise, and the people were frightened by it, so they left me there. I was hungry for three days and three nights. I met you and your family. , was rescued. Now I want to save this child. He can talk, and he said that his name is Peng Meng, four years old, from the Fengshan family. His bones are very good. I can take care of him.'

"Qi said: 'I've already dragged you down, how can you still take care of a child.'

"Yi said: 'The mountain fire burned your family and people, and made you near death. Although I found medicinal materials from Guixu to save your life, your legs are still unable to walk, but your medicinal herbs are always Can help me. I never feel that you are a drag. If I win the tournament this time, I will be able to ask Mr. Gao Tao, who is in charge of herbal divination, to accept you as his disciple. Maybe he can heal your leg. That way I can rest assured. The child is very obedient and easy to care for.'

"Qi said: 'But I heard that the tournament is to select warriors to get rid of the monsters around the border, and go to many very dangerous places. Master Gaotao's divination and medicinal herbs also need to be developed in places where no one is there. Are we right? Will separate? Then I would rather just follow you like this. It doesn’t matter if it’s hard.’

"Yi said: 'Qi, we are not young now. If you are not cured, how can you marry a wife. You see, Emperor Yao Yu has two imperial concubines, Ehuang and Nvying. Because he has no offspring, he will now marry the third concubine. It's the Dengbei family."

"Qi said: 'I don't want to marry a daughter-in-law. So you still want to send me away. Do you think I have influenced you to marry a wife? There are many women who like you. But they know that you spend time and energy taking care of my daughter-in-law every day. Food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, I don’t want to marry you.”

"Yi said: 'I didn't agree to them. You are like my younger brother, my family, and I will take care of you for the rest of my life. If they can't accept me taking care of you, why should I marry them.'

"Qi said: 'You are just a little bit older than me, I don't want to treat you as an older brother. You take care of me, you just feel that you owe our family. You have taken care of me for many years and saved my life. Nothing owed.'

Fang Zheng thought to himself when he heard this, but he didn't expect that Jun Yi crossed back to the ruins to treat the abandoned king.Everyone said that Yi Jun went to the ruins for the power of Fusang wood.Presumably the hibiscus wood is a windfall, but the real reason is something else.This also makes sense, if it is purely for the pursuit of power, it is unreasonable for a 15-year-old boy to drift alone on the sea for ten months to go to a place full of monsters.If it's for saving lives, it's another story.Willing to take such a big risk, it can be seen that they had a deep affection when they were young.

Zifeng continued to review and read:

"Master wrote here, and wrote a paragraph of his own thoughts and what happened later: 'At that time, I felt very sad, why did Qi not want to continue to be my family? Later, I really won the winner of the martial arts competition, I also went to see Master Gao Tao. He also praised Qi's talent and accepted him as a disciple."

"Since then, I have rarely seen Qi. I have many tasks to go back and forth. Qi also lives in seclusion and learns advanced divination and herbal medicine. His legs are finally healed. It is said that he relied on herbal medicine and Yan method I was so happy when I saw that he was able to move around. He even compared with me the other day to try different ways to tame the beast. I have taken care of him for so many years, and that was the first time I felt that he could provoke me to be competitive. Moment. He made a lot of medicine, and he actually brought in a white luan that day. He was smart since he was a child, and we were both officials in the Yu Dynasty. Many things went smoothly. I am very touched and admire him for his hard work. .It's the best time ever.

"Sometimes he would quietly ask me if I want to be a king, and he said that if I was a candidate for the Zen seat, I would definitely be the greatest king in the future. Undecided. I think Emperor Yao Yu prefers Xia Gaomi, and I myself want to be an official under such a person. He disdainfully said that Xia Gaomi is a country bumpkin with muddy trouser legs, so why should he compare with me? Emperor Yao Yu's Jedi Xia Gaomi didn’t learn much, he knew how to pretend to be a good person to gain popularity. I warned him not to speak rudely again, and almost quarreled with him. Later, he didn’t mention it again, and we reconciled. But since then From the beginning, he felt that his mind had gradually become deeper.

"Later, Lord Gao Tao passed away, and he abandoned the title of Da Siyan and 'Bu'. Some of his actions were inappropriate. I heard many officials complained about him, so I decided to talk to him. But he was very cold and didn't talk to me. Said those things, and said that if I still cared about my childhood friendship, I would only talk about the past with him. I agreed. We slept in the same bed as we did when we were young, and it was the same way many years ago.

"There was a noise in the middle of the night. I was in a daze thinking that he wanted to make it convenient, so I habitually hugged his legs. Then he pushed me. I woke up. It turned out that his legs had been healed a long time ago. He I got out of bed and brought a jade jar, and poured out two. He said, this is the medicine of immortality, and asked me to take one. I refused. He suddenly swallowed two, then pinched my face and kissed me, and put the medicine on my face. The medicine was delivered to my mouth. My mind went blank. I just tasted a bit bitter, so I quickly pushed it back to him. He coughed and swallowed it all. When he came to his senses, I had already pushed him away. He was facing I laughed so hard. I leaned in and tried to kiss me again and said 'that's why I don't want you as a brother'. But I pushed him away again. I ran to the door and shook my head and said, 'You just I have lived alone for a long time, and I have been lonely since I was a child. You haven’t met many people, and you don’t understand many things.” He suddenly threw the empty jar at me, cried loudly, and cursed that he never wanted to see me again. I I don't know how to comfort him, he will only be sad if he stays there. My heart is very confused, I never thought... I need time to calm down, so I had to leave.

"It just so happens that Emperor Yao Yu wants to take the Zen position. There are a lot of things that I have no time to distract. The matter of Yuyu has just come to an end. I just wanted to go to him to have a serious talk, but I heard that he was not convinced that Emperor Chongyu would succeed him. A rebellion was set off. The army and horses were far away, and I couldn't hear his voice. At first I just wanted to push him back, but I didn't expect his poison to be poured into the water, and a large number of soldiers died. Every day Countless casualties will be added. He has become too powerful, and he is familiar with my arrow path, so powerful that I can't catch him alive. But I can't die anymore. I really wanted to kill, and he did not avoid that moment Arrow. I know I hit it. He fell to the bottom of the cliff in a bloody mess. I think he is really dead... Inexplicable feelings are also dead, I don't have to think about anything...

"Now I am over 70 years old. I have spent more than 40 years alone after killing him, which is longer than the years I have been with him. It is strange why I always think of him recently. The place where Zhihao happened I found the green pine jade finger ring, which was given to Zhihao by Boyi. I hastily engraved the word "Bu" and five dots. Is it a message left by Zhihao before his death? Is it implying that he abandoned it? Or does it refer to the technique of divination? What do the five points mean? It should be impossible, since Qi has been dead for so many years... What is the meaning of the clues left by Zhihao? It’s Zhihao, the disciple’s matter, I’m sadder every time. I picked up a baby near the place where Zhihao’s accident happened, and I brought it back. I named it Lian Zifeng. I hope this time, he will send me away...

"When people are old, it is easy to think of things when they were young. When I was 15 years old, I came back from the ruins and finally saved him. When he woke up, he cried and said: 'Brother Yi, I can't walk anymore'. I said to him "Don't be afraid, I will take care of you for the rest of your life." I asked for medicine from village to village with his back on my back. He lay on my back and said, "Brother Yi, you will definitely be an unparalleled hero." I said: "I don't want to be a hero, I just want to heal your leg." He said sadly: "I'm a burden like this. People don't believe that you have been to Guixu, and they don't believe that you can be a hero." I turned my head and said:' It doesn't matter, you just believe it.' And he laughed. I'll remember him laughing all my life."