Jiang Qing

It's cold in winter, and people who don't have to get up early to do things to make a living hope to stay in bed for a while, but there is early smoke from a lonely thatched hut along the Shunjiang River.

With difficulty, Cheng Nian half-supported Zhang Huailiu, who was already unconscious, and walked to the bank. He caught a glimpse of the thatched hut with a stove, thought for a moment, and then walked towards the small yard.

The fence surrounding the yard was very loose, Cheng Nian pushed it aside with a little effort, and walked inside.

Just as she was about to ask if there was anyone in the room, an epee came straight to her face.

In a hurry, she was ashamed, and pulled out the red umbrella from her waist to block it, and saw a middle-aged face from the edge of the umbrella tip.

Half of his face was covered with a half-shaven beard. Cheng Nian only thought he knew a little bit of fisting and kicking. He turned his hands slightly, and the handle of the umbrella was pulled away, revealing a short thorn, which was laid across his chest in self-defense. , said: "Passers-by. Let me heal this old man and leave."

Wang Poppi glanced down at the old man lying on the ground, and with the tip of his sword drooping slightly, he asked, "Did you come here by water?"

"Yes."

"Hmph." Wang Poppi snorted coldly, disbelief: "Half a month ago, Pingdong was sealed off and merchants were not allowed to enter. Even the water transportation was stopped. The only people who can go along the river are official ships. How do you do that?" From the water."

"Others can't walk by water, but I can walk alone." Cheng Nian chuckled lightly, as if laughing at his ignorance, "Let's not talk about sealed cities, there is no place in this world that I can't go to. way."

Wang Poppi was stunned for a moment, his eyes fell on the red umbrella in her hand again, he looked at her attire again, and murmured: "You are a member of Feixianmen."

Just as Cheng Nian was about to speak, a young male voice suddenly sounded from the room.

"Brother Wang, there is only enough rice for one meal at home..." A young man in gray clothes came out, saw the tense scene in the courtyard, opened his mouth in surprise, and didn't close it for a long time .

"Go back to the house." Wang Poppi shouted.

Cheng Nian followed his gaze, and felt that this young man looked familiar, but she was raised on Feixian Mountain since she was a child, and rarely saw people outside the mountain, so how could she feel familiar with such a young man from a remote village? Woolen cloth?

In such a daze, Cheng Nian turned his head for two more seconds. After seeing her face, Xie Huaide couldn't close his mouth even more. Two steps forward on the ground.

"Didn't you hear what I said!" Wang Popi was anxious.

"You are...you are that female ghost?" Xie Huaide said incoherently.

Cheng Nian glanced at him coolly, and looked at him like a fool.

"I...I!" Xie Huaide was a little excited, and said: "Outside the city of Pingdu, that ruined temple... the demon pestle..."

"You haven't woken up, have you had a nightmare?" Poppi Wang listened to the strange words that popped out of his mouth, and also wondered if he was preparing for the spring these few days, and his mind was dumbfounded by reading.

Cheng Nian turned his gaze over, looked him up and down, the doubts in his eyes gradually faded, and a little bit of enlightenment surfaced.

"It's you?"

This time, Wang Popi was stunned. It was not right to put down the heavy sword he was holding for a while, and it seemed a little inappropriate to hold it still.

His suspicious eyes turned round and round between the two of them, and he still didn't remember why Xie Huaide knew such a person, and he was still a girl.

Receiving a little kindness from the old scholar Xie back then, Wang Poppi stayed by Xie Huaide's side to protect his safety after his death. It can be said that he has been inseparable every step of the way these years, but he has never seen such a person in his memory.

Cheng Nian had already retracted the short stab, and helped Zhang Huailiu on the side again, as if he didn't see the sword that Wang Poppi was still holding, he called Xie Huaide to help him, and asked, "Is there a doctor here?"

Confused, Xie Huaide stepped forward to help her help her into the house, and asked subconsciously, "Is this your elder?"

"No, I fished it along the river." Cheng Nian shook his hands proudly, and said magnanimously, "You do a good job every day. But you, I haven't seen you for a few years, and you have grown a lot. Have you passed the exam?"

Hearing this, Xie Huaide was a little ashamed, and lowered his head slightly, "Not yet...but soon, if Chun Wei can be selected this time, I can fulfill my father's wish during his lifetime."

"It's fine, it's fine." Cheng Nian carelessly took Zhang Huailiu's pulse and checked whether he had any other injuries, while Xie Huaide sat aside and secretly watched her.

In the early two years, Xie Huaide failed many times, and felt a little retreat in his heart. He followed the people who had passed the exam in the village to Pingdu in a daze, and accompanied them to see the grand scene of Chunwei.

His family was not very rich, and this trip to Pingdu was an extra expense. It was close to Pingdu, and in order to save some accommodation costs, Xie Huaide found a ruined temple in the suburbs to rest for the night.

It was at that place that he met Cheng Nian, and she lay quietly in the hands of the Vajra Buddha statue, with black hair and green clothes, and a blood-red umbrella pinned to her waist, making no sound, not even the sound of her breathing. .

Xie Huaide got up in the middle of the night, looked up, saw such a scene, remembered the ghost talk in the book, felt trembling in his heart, screamed, and woke up Cheng Nian.

In a panic, he didn't know where he got the strength to pull out the bodyguard of the subduing magic pestle next to the Vajra Buddha statue, but Cheng Nian sneered and twisted his wrist, carried it behind his back, and snatched the weapon.

She half-opened her sleepy eyes, looked Xie Huaide up and down, shook his slender wrist with a sneer, raised her eyebrows, and said, "Little scholar, do you want to fight with me?"

The warmth from the wrist silently indicated that the girl behind her was not a country spirit, but her slightly disdainful voice fell on his ears, and Xie Huaide suddenly felt that she was no different from those ghosts who dig out their hearts in the mountains.

"Rushing for the exam?" Cheng Nian let go of his hand, walked out, and said, "Then you should take a good rest."

Xie Huaide was stunned for a while, and when he came to his senses, he ran to the gate of the temple, and Cheng Nian had long since disappeared.

He regretted a little belatedly, thinking how he could let a girl give him a place to rest in the middle of the night, but his regrets were his regrets, and he never saw Cheng Nian again.

Xie Huaide sneaked a few glances at her, Wang Poppi who walked in couldn't stand it anymore, poked his arm, and said with hesitation, "You really know each other?"

"I know." Xie Huaide pursed his lips and replied.

After checking Zhang Huailiu's body, Cheng Nian glanced at the two of them, and said, "He looks fine, but at this age, it's better to find a serious doctor to take a look."

"Brother Wang, you go..."

"No money." Wang Poppi raised his chin and replied confidently: "Didn't you see that our family can't even open the pot?"

Cheng Nian was not annoyed, he untied a purse from his waist, handed it to Wang Poppi, and said, "Please."

Her eyes paused for a moment on the calluses on Wang Poppi's hands, and she said, "Your martial arts are good, where did you learn from?"

Wang Poppi snorted coldly, took the purse, brushed the hair hanging down to his eyelashes, and said: "No family, no sect, no teacher and no friends, just a rough man."

Xie Huaide looked at Cheng Nian's eyes following Wang Poppi's departure, and said embarrassingly, "Brother Wang has such a temper, and he didn't mean to target girls."

"He really has no family or sect?" Cheng Nian recalled his epee, the pattern was strange, and the structure of the sword body was the first time he had seen it. It seemed that he was definitely not a disciple of any Jianghu sect.

"Actually, I don't know." Xie Huaide touched his earlobe and said: "Brother Wang came to my house on a snowy day. He was seriously injured when my father was still alive. My father took him in for a while. Later he said that he He is a ranger, and he stayed here to repay my father for saving his life."

Cheng Nian raised his eyebrows quite unexpectedly. Seeing the embarrassment of Xie Huaide's family, Wang Popi didn't seem to have any specific actions to repay.

Xie Huaide saw what she was thinking, and continued: "A small bodyguard agency in the town saw that he had a little kung fu, and wanted to keep him as a bodyguard. He made two trips, and each time he had to leave home for several months. Once he went out not long ago, The small private school opened by my father was caused by a few scoundrels. After he came back, I don’t know where he heard about it. He went to those scoundrels’ houses to make a fuss, and almost killed someone. After that, he was no longer in the escort agency. After I finished, I took up some loose jobs in the town. My father and I were soft-tempered, so he was tougher, and he looked a bit fierce, so he was nicknamed Wang Poppi outside. Later, my father When I passed away, I thought it was time for him to repay his favor, but he said that he had promised my father that he would continue to take care of me and leave after I became famous."

"Speaking of it... I'm quite embarrassed." Xie Huaide's eyes darkened, and he said, "I haven't had any skills these years, and I have dragged him in the house for nothing."

"Hmm—" Cheng Nian sighed rather sighingly, "I only heard about this kind of thing from my mother, but I didn't expect to meet the truth after I went down the mountain."

"Huh?" Xie Huaide didn't understand.

"My mother said that the rivers and lakes pay attention to the distinction between grievances and grievances. This kind of kindness is not clear, and the hatred is also cut off constantly. Those who repay life-saving grace, and those who are rewarded for knowing each other, are disturbing and disturbing. It's too complicated. It's better to practice in the mountains. If you don't ask about the world of mortals, if you don't enter the world of mortals, you will have no worries in your life."

Xie Huaide opened his eyes wide, looked at her black hair, and said softly, "Are you a nun?"

Cheng Nian was stunned for a moment, then chuckled, and said, "Are nuns and monks the only ones who practice seclusion in this world? Have you never heard of Feixianmen?"

As soon as she finished speaking, she also felt a little conflicted, "That's right, our sect has been hiding from the world for so long, and we can't compare to a sect like Xuantian Union, so there are naturally many people who don't know about it."

"Then what do you think?" Xie Huaide hesitated for a while and asked, "As for the escape from the world and the world of mortals..."

"I don't know." Cheng Nian stuck out his tongue, showing a bit of coquettishness, "Sometimes I think what mother said is right, after all, daddy is always outside, just to repay the kindness of knowing you, and rarely comes back. But Sometimes, I feel that life is in the world of mortals, how can I avoid the world of mortals? So, I don’t know yet.”

"Then you ran down the mountain secretly?" Xie Huaide had a little understanding of the concept of Feixianmen, and felt that it was very unlikely that Cheng Nian would be allowed to go down the mountain.

Sure enough, Cheng Nian nodded, and Yingying's eyes dimmed, "Although my father has not returned home for a long time, there are always letters in the mail. I haven't received a letter from my father for a long time, so I secretly went down the mountain to find him." I read his last letter saying that he was going to Cangzhou, and I was going to go along the river to Cangzhou, but I saved an old man on the way, so I had to stop temporarily."

She explained in detail, and Xie Huaide listened intently, but no one noticed that the old man on the bed moved slightly and opened his eyes.

Zhang Huailiu stretched out his hand with difficulty, grabbed Cheng Nian's sleeve, tugged it, and said weakly, "Miss, can you take me to Cangzhou?"

The author says:

Happy New Year's Eve! !The new year is coming soon!