There are bandits in Zhongshan

Thousands of years ago, there was a young man who was good at swords and practiced Taoism with swords. After encountering an insurmountable obstacle, it was difficult to make a breakthrough. He simply left the place of cultivation and traveled around the world in search of a way to break through the obstacle.Traveling to the southwest, by chance, I strayed into the maze, and saw a flawless white jade wall in the depths of the maze, and someone danced a sword in front of the wall.

That person is just a mortal, and there is no sign of spiritual energy flowing in the sword move. The sword move was ordinary at first sight, but it became more and more exquisite when he saw it again. So he decided to worship that person as his teacher and practice swordsmanship. When he walked to the jade wall, he realized that what he saw was only the shadow on the jade wall.

There was once a person dancing a sword in a maze, throwing his body into the jade wall. The jade wall is a spiritual object, so although the sword dancer has long since left, the sword shadow has stayed.There was a wooden box in front of the jade wall. The sword repairman opened the wooden box and found a scroll of sword manuals inside.

That is the Great Wilderness Sword Manual known by later generations.

The sword cultivator stayed in the maze for thousands of years, watching the sword shadow on the jade wall every day, practicing the sword art of the wilderness, and did not leave until the sword shadow on the jade wall disappeared. After that, he suddenly realized that he had broken through two When entering the Lost Realm, he was in the stage of becoming a god, and when he left, he was already in the middle stage of Mahayana. After that, he continued to travel around and finally achieved great success.

He is the only sword cultivator who has broken through the boundary and ascended for tens of thousands of years. He once said: "I have been enlightened for many years, and I have only realized two or three sword shadows, but this meager insight can make my cultivation advance by leaps and bounds. The potential energy of the Heavenly Dao Sword has such power."

The Great Wilderness Sword Manual has appeared in other legends in Luoshu, and it is the sword technique practiced by the Emperor of Heaven.It is said that Haotian often turns into a mortal man and travels in the world of mortals, so many people in later generations guess that the scroll of swords is left by Haotian, and the mortal who dances the sword is his old friend in the mortal world.

The era in which the Sword Cultivator lived was not far from the ancient times, so although the current stories seem to be complete, they were actually pieced together from various legends after the establishment of the Huanglian Sword Sect.

Changli knew more about the deeds of that sword fairy than others because of his fellow sword practice.Besides, Heavenly Dao Sword Power is the pursuit of all sword cultivators, so when asked, she would say those four words.

"It turned out to be here." She had heard the story of the sword fairy more than once, but she never thought that one day she would come to that lost place in person. Isn't it very secretive?"

When I entered, I didn't encounter any obstacles, and even though the lake was hidden in the mountains, if you flew over it, you only need to lower your head, and you can see the mountains and lakes at a glance. ".

"At that time, this lake should have been isolated from the outside world, probably because the sword fairy removed the enchantment here when he left."

Chang Li said again: "In this way, this place should be an ancient relic, why is it so deserted?"

The ancient ruins are a dream opportunity for monks. If this is the place where the Sword Immortal enlightened, there should be a large number of people who come here admiringly.

"That was all tens of thousands of years ago." Zhong Mingzhu looked into the distance and said lightly, "It used to be like the Sea of ​​Sumeru, and everyone flocked to it. It's just that the shadow of the sword has disappeared, and the sword manual has been taken away , the jade wall is no longer clear, and the remaining mortal things such as peach blossoms and flowing water, those monks will naturally no longer be interested. Besides, the terrain here is easy to attack and difficult to defend, and it is too close to mortal towns, so it is not suitable for establishing a sect. And no one cares about it.”

It was already dawn at this time, and the sun slowly rose from behind the mountain. First, a few rays of light tore through the thick night and fell into the lake, washing away the darkness in the water and turning it back to a transparent blue color.Then suddenly a large piece of flame-like light burst out, dyeing the whole sky red, and dragged out a long fire light on the lake. In the water, a layer of crystal bright luster is added to the strong color.

Chang Li looked at the burning crimson color in the distance until the whole sky was brightened, then he looked back, inadvertently caught a glimpse of Zhong Mingzhu's side face, saw the lazy smile on the corner of her mouth, and an inexplicable thought came to his mind: This is also very good. good.

I can't really say what's good about it, but it just feels good.

After a while, the buoy finally started to move again, bobbing up and down on the water surface, there should be fish testing the bait, Changli was holding the fishing rod, ready to take up the rod when the buoy sank.There was a sudden rattling sound of wood rubbing against the ear, which lasted for a long time, and the float quickly resurfaced, and the fish ran away.

Changli picked up the fishing rod and found that the bait was missing a small piece, presumably the fish was about to bite, but was scared away by the sound.She changed the bait again, glanced at Zhong Mingzhu by the way, and found that in just a short while, those bamboo strips had been spliced ​​together, showing a familiar outline.

It turned out that she made umbrellas.

The two-finger thick bamboo pole is the umbrella handle, and the long and short bamboo strips are thinned and polished for the umbrella frame. The ends of the short bamboo strips are punched to connect the various parts. There are a total of 28 umbrella ribs. Zhong Mingzhu is repeatedly stretching and closing. Are there any blemishes.Realizing that Chang Li was looking over, she raised the corner of her mouth and smiled back, as if she wasn't the one who scared the fish away just now.

Changli threw the fishing rod again, whether it was because the fish escaped twice or something else, she unknowingly relaxed a lot, no longer staring at the lake, but holding the fishing rod loosely, Turn to look at the umbrella bone carefully.

After looking at it for a while, she noticed that the structure of this umbrella was a bit more complicated than the red and black umbrellas she saw not long ago, so she asked, "Why is this umbrella different from the previous umbrella?"

There is a slightly thicker ring on the umbrella handle, which can move up and down, and 28 holes are punched on it to fix the inner umbrella ribs.There is also a sleeve at the top with 28 slots for the ribs to move up and down.However, the ribs of the two umbrellas before seem to be separated directly from the umbrella handle, and there are not so many parts.

"Different?" Zhong Mingzhu was brushing the oil. Hearing her question, he was taken aback for a moment, and then realized with a smile, "This is what the usual umbrella ribs look like. The monks have spells to help, and the umbrella ribs are directly fixed on the umbrella. The handle can also be stretched and folded, but if there is no spiritual power, the umbrella bone must be broken. With this support, the umbrella bone can be moved."

As she spoke, she pushed the ring up along the handle of the umbrella, and Chang Li watched as the inner umbrella stand supported the ribs with her movements. When the ring moved to the top, the 28 ribs had opened simultaneously.

Changli has been practicing since he was a child. When it rains, he just needs to recite the water-dispelling formula. He has never held an umbrella. After Zhong Mingzhu explained it, he suddenly felt that this ordinary umbrella was actually full of unprecedented Smell the mystery.

Zhong Mingzhu seemed to have seen through her thoughts, smiled again, and then sighed to the umbrella bone in his hand: "The craftsmanship of a mortal craftsman is no less than that of a craftsman in the cultivation world."

Chang Li thought for a while, then gave a soft "hmm", agreeing with this statement.She glanced at the float and saw that there was no movement, so she continued to watch what Zhong Mingzhu was going to do next.

Zhong Mingzhu propped up the umbrella bone and put it aside, and took out a roll of oilcloth and a jar of dye from the storage ring.Chang Li thought that the tarpaulin was mostly used as an umbrella surface, so he thought that Zhong Mingzhu would draw a formation on the umbrella surface.

Unexpectedly, Zhong Mingzhu picked up the can of dye, shook it, and poured the whole can on the oilcloth. It was indigo dye, and some soot was mixed in it, and the mixed color of blue and gray spread on the oilcloth. Zhong Mingzhu took a pen and daubed it casually a few times, then tapped the oilcloth to fix the color, then shook off the oilcloth, and proudly said: "This is called the map of misty rain in mountains and rivers."

When she said this, Changli found that the colors on the oilcloth really looked a bit like mountains in the rain. The blue and gray colors were intertwined, and it was the shadows of mountains and trees in the distance, which were blended into one place by the color of water, so that no clear outline could be discerned. , exactly what it looks like in the rain.

Zhong Mingzhu cut the tarpaulin and fixed it on the umbrella bone. She held the umbrella handle and turned the umbrella a few times, squinted her eyes and smiled, and painted it with a pen a few times, then put it away, and handed the umbrella to the chief Li: "It's done."

Changli took the umbrella, she was still holding the fishing rod, so she put the umbrella on the table, but Zhong Mingzhu asked, "Would you like to open it and have a look?"

"I've seen it."

"You've only seen the umbrella when it was in my hand, so how can you say you've seen it?"

"Want to watch it now?" Chang Li looked at the fishing rod in his hand hesitantly.

"Of course it is now."

Perhaps it was because Zhong Mingzhu's gaze was too eager, Changli always felt that if he didn't follow her advice, he might not be able to catch fish.He also wanted to open it to see if there would be no delay, so he agreed.

She put the fishing rod on her lap, held the handle of the umbrella with one hand and leaned forward slightly, and slowly opened the umbrella with the other hand, and found that the inside was also stained with some dye, like rainwater seeping in from the outside.

Then she saw a smear of white, right back, and she turned the umbrella handle to bring that white to the front.

In an instant, Zhong Mingzhu saw the starlight blooming in the darkness, she raised the corners of her mouth, leaned forward, took the glass of wine and drank it down in one gulp, then put her elbows on the table, propped her chin lazily, and quietly Staring at Chang Li intently.

The green leaves protrude from the blue-gray of the umbrella ribs and the edges, just like the few weeds grown in the corner of the wall that Changli saw a few days ago, and one of them bloomed, a small white flower.

Zhong Mingzhu drew a small white flower under the umbrella.

Five pure white petals with light yellow stamens bloom quietly in the misty rain.

"Do you like it?" Zhong Mingzhu asked softly.

Changli looked at the lifelike wild flower outlined with a few simple strokes. For a moment, there seemed to be countless fragmented pictures flashing through her mind. There were too many, and she didn't even have time to identify what it was. It quickly returned to calm, leaving only a cluster of small dawn fires trembling slightly in my heart.

She nodded and said, "I like it."

As soon as the words fell, Zhong Mingzhu suddenly stretched out his hand, and the sleeve lightly swept over the back of her hand, like a feather, Chang Li was startled, but saw Zhong Mingzhu's hand holding the fishing rod on her knee When it was mentioned above, a smiling voice came from very close, carrying traces of heat: "I'm hooked."

The perch, which was more than a foot long, was pulled out of the water and jumped on the other end of the fishing rod.

It was approaching noon, at the end of spring and the beginning of summer, the sun at noon was already quite scorching hot, and large swathes of golden light were cast on the water, dazzling.

Zhong Mingzhu went to deal with the perch. Changli looked at the halo on the edge of the celadon jug, and reached out to touch it. The jug was engraved with runes and kept cold.

"Hantanxiang..." She softly read the name of the wine, hesitated for a moment, found a slightly larger container from the storage ring, condensed a few pieces of ice into the container, and then put the wine pot went in.

Maybe it would be better this way, she thought.

Not long after putting it away, Zhong Mingzhu came back holding a plate. The plate was made of celadon like the wine utensils. The time was too short. Chang Li thought she was coming back to pick up something, but saw that she put the plate down and sat down When it came down, it looked like it was done.

Chang Li glanced at the celadon plate and found that the fish was still raw.

The head and tail, fish bones and fish skin are all removed, and the fish meat is sliced ​​into thin slices like a cicada's wings. The flesh color is white and almost transparent, and the center is stained with a little red, which is the red muscle close to the fish bones.The three pieces on the plate are rolled into flower buds, and the rest are spread out with the flower buds as the center, slightly stacked, like stretched petals.The whole plate of fish fillets looks like a flower, and the celadon plate underneath is the supporting green leaves.

When Changli looked at the plate of fish, Zhong Mingzhu took out two small celadon dishes, which contained something like seasoning, which had been ground into fine powder and turned golden yellow.

Do you want to cook directly here?Chang Li was puzzled, but saw Zhong Mingzhu put a small plate and a pair of chopsticks in front of her, and refilled the two glasses with wine—seeing that the jug was put into the ice bowl, she let out a "huh" , took a quick look at Chang Li, then let out a short laugh, and said "very good".

Chang Li didn't ask her what she thought was good, but instead asked about the plate of fish: "Does it not need to be cooked?"

The seasoning plate, chopsticks and wine are all ready. Obviously, the next step is to use the chopsticks, but she has never eaten raw meat in her impression. Although eating is optional for her, but at this time Gradually, she has a lot of feelings about the outside world, and she no longer abandons everything outside as before, so whenever she encounters a situation that is different from before, she will have doubts in her heart, and then she will ask out.

"Cooking it is also possible, but I think this sea bass is very delicious and has no fishy smell. I think it will spoil the original taste if it is cooked." Zhong Mingzhu took the lead in picking up a piece of fish, dipped some of the seasoning on the plate, and put it in his mouth , chewed it carefully, swallowed it, and then took a sip of the wine, with a very happy look on his brows and eyes, "Perch perch, with this Hantan incense, it can't be better."

Following her example, Changli picked up a piece of fish and put it into a small dish. The white fish fillet was quickly covered with golden yellow powder. She looked at it and asked, "What is this golden seasoning?" ?”

"Garlic, ginger, salt, white plum, orange peel, cooked chestnut meat, and japonica rice." Zhong Mingzhu counted them one by one, "Boss Li said that he happened to have a prepared one on hand, so he gave me a can."

When she counted the ingredients carefully, Changli had already put the fish fillet into her mouth, and there was no fishy smell at all. The fish meat was light, and it seemed bland at first, but soon the fresh fragrance spread from the bottom of her tongue, and the sweet, sour and salty taste in the seasoning was delicious. The few flavors are richly embellished with fish. She wanted to calculate how many layers of flavors there were, but found that she couldn't count them for a while, only knowing that they were all excellent.

After swallowing the fish, she took another sip of the wine. The temperature of the wine was lower than before, which immediately wiped off the remaining taste on the tip of her tongue. After a while, the faint aroma of the wine mixed with the aftertaste of the fish, and it was another tasty.

The name of the wine is Hantanxiang, because the water is taken from the cold lake in the high mountains, and it is best when it is chilled. Because the temperature is low, the aroma of the wine is relatively light at the beginning of the mouth, and the mouth is clear, which is very suitable for drinking in hot weather.Although it is not summer at this time, it is very late spring and the sun at noon can be regarded as scorching.The body of the long-distance Yuanying will not be exhausted due to the strength after drinking, but the fragrance will become more mellow as it goes on.

"How?" Zhong Mingzhu asked with a smile.

Changli raised his eyes, looked straight at her, and said: "Very good." After eating another slice, she asked, "Is this called sea bass?"

"Well, but there is another name, Jin Yuyu." Zhong Mingzhu shook the wine glass lightly, tapped a few times on the table with one hand, and the four words floated on the table over there.

"Golden jade and jade." Chang Li read it out, as if he wanted to keep this in his heart, he nodded slightly after reading it twice, "I see."

"It's a pity that the flowering period has passed." Zhong Mingzhu's words were full of regret, "Compared to the Lost Realm, the Sword Immortal Jade Wall, I prefer to call this Taoyuan. It will be so beautiful when the peach blossoms are in full bloom in March next year." , This is the prosperity of the world, the so-called—” She tapped her knuckles on the table, “When drunk, she only sits in front of the flowers, and when drunk, she comes to sleep with the flowers; half awake and half drunk day after day, the flowers fall Year after year."

Hearing her soft singing, Chang Li was suddenly in a trance, as if he really saw the peach blossoms in the sky, flying like snow.

It's a pity that she also let out a sigh in her heart.