Chapter 1: There was a boy in Plum-Mist City

In the early morning of May, the temperature is still a little chilly! The eastern sky has already slightly turned white and yellow. Under the sky, in the alleys, the sounds of chickens crowing and dogs barking are quietly breaking the tranquility of the night!

After a night of silence, the alley is regaining its daytime bustle. The early-rising peasant women draw water from the bluestones by the river and slowly make their way back. Wisps of smoke are rising from the eaves of several houses.

the women passed by the peach tree in front of the alley, they saw the young man practicing his sword skills over and over again!

A middle-aged man and a teenager have been living in Red Clay Alley. The middle-aged man is a frivolous scholar with a bohemian character. His black hair is mixed with a few strands of white hair. Although it is tied up with a ribbon , it still looks messy.

A few strands of long hair often fall unconsciously in front of the cheek, covering one eye. Therefore, you need to flick and smooth it with your index finger from time to time .

His shabby clothes were washed white, but surprisingly clean. People in the neighborhood thought he was a drunkard because he did nothing all day and was often seen walking around the streets with a wine jug in his hand.

However, the middle-aged man is not completely useless, as he knows some medical skills.

If the residents in Red Clay Alley have any minor illnesses, they will come to him for treatment. There are not many doctors in the small town, and the medicine fees of reliable doctors are usually not cheap. However, the middle-aged man is an exception , and he does not charge a penny.

The wealthy families naturally looked down on the middle-aged man's medical skills, so only the residents of Red Clay Alley knew him. Therefore, every household usually helped him a lot, and most of them were for the sake of his apprentice, thinking that they would not let them starve to death!

Although the middle-aged man was a barefoot doctor, his medical skills were very reliable and he could basically cure most common diseases. However, his attitude of not striving for progress made others feel uncomfortable. He was an old man who was idle all day long and spent most of his few cents on buying wine. Poor his apprentice!

The apprentice is a young boy, and in the eyes of others, he is much more pleasing to the eye than the master.

A neat little boy, I heard he learned swordsmanship from his master. The people around him are ordinary people who don't understand swords, but they know that this is a diligent boy who practices swordsmanship every day without interruption.

The boy's name is Shen Kuang. He has been with his master since he can remember. He knows that his master is unreliable, but he is not as pitiful as others think. The master is very good to him, but he usually likes to cheat. It’s just him!

The master has no principles in many things, but he never gives Shen Kuang a chance to be lazy when it comes to swordsmanship. The master stipulates that Shen Kuang gets up at 10:00 every day and practices swordplay for no less than two hours every day.

When he was a child, he was a sleepy boy and would be woken up by his master every morning. After the master gave him instructions, he would usually go back and sleep again.

At that time, he was overly cautious and thought that he would not need to practice when the master fell asleep. However, the master seemed to never be able to sleep. As long as Shen Kuang was lazy at all, he would immediately feel pain in his buttocks. He knew that it was the master's fault. , so he didn’t dare to be lazy anymore!

Life in Red Clay Alley is comfortable, even though I have to practice swordsmanship and read and write every day. But these days are warm. Here, he not only has a master, a kind neighbor, but also his favorite sword. Everything is as he wishes!

Except, except for his own parents.

When he was a child, he asked his master the same question many times, and the master said he would tell him when he grew up. But after growing up, Shen Kuang never asked again.

He knew that it was probably because he was different from others, or maybe it was because the time was not ripe yet and he couldn't say it. In short, the master would not harm him!

In a small town, life goes by so fast, and it will be more than ten years in a blink of an eye. Spring is here again, and the peach tree at the entrance of the alley is blooming again!

······

"Waiter, bring me a pot of tea and a pound of beef!"

"Okay, sir! Please wait a moment!"

After traveling all morning, Shen Kuang's throat was so dry that it was smoking.

to reach Qiuluo City , and it was still early, so he planned to have something to eat and rest before entering the city after the noon sun! This is how it is in early spring. In the morning, you still need to wrap up in clothes to keep out the cold, but at noon it becomes too hot again.

The tea shop in the mountains and forests is simple and small. There are only a few tables and chairs lying around in front of the shop! Shen Kuang took off the baggage behind him and sat down. Speaking of this trip, he has to mention his unreliable master!

The master who had never been a serious person suddenly came over with a smile that day and asked him to go to Yunmeng Mountain to propose marriage, but the two of them, the master and the apprentice, couldn't get along with Yunmeng Mountain. Therefore, Shen Kuang, who was deeply aware of his master's unreliability, was keenly aware that this matter was not simple.

"Don't go!" Shen Kuang's tone was firm and decisive.

Shang still remembers that when he was a child, he went to steal chickens with his master, and the master asked him to keep watch at the door.

Later, when he was caught, the master immediately changed his face and said that he was a kid who was ignorant and thought about stealing things. He must fix it when he went back. God knows that when the master said this, he almost smiled .

The master told people that he was the one who wanted to do it, but secretly he had already plucked all the feathers out. It's just that the chicken feet exposed on the back of the master are too obvious.

So Shen Kuang had to endure the two men's lectures and at the same time help the master to cover up. His little hands inadvertently helped stuff the chicken feet into the master's pants.

Of course, he was not a good person, and deliberately pointed the tip of the chicken claw at the master's butt. The master felt a sudden pain in his butt, and immediately realized that it was his little brat who did it, but for the sake of the chicken, he endured it!

techniques and tacit cooperation of the master and apprentice are naturally due to their many hard trainings! The master doesn't steal chickens from just everyone, but mostly from neighbors who insist on giving money when they get sick. It's tradition for the master not to accept money, but stealing chickens is like the master's unique way of collecting soup and medicine fees.

Of course, these things are only done occasionally. Simple people don't want to be owed favors all the time. If the master accepts a chicken from someone, it's considered that they have paid the consultation fee.

After hearing Shen Kuang's rejection, the master didn't seem worried at all and looked confident!

Seeing the strange look on his master's face, he muttered in his mind, "Yunmeng Mountain?"

He knew that Yunmeng Mountain was where the famous Yunmeng Sword Sect was located.

Shen Kuang also uses swords and likes swords. His swordsmanship was also taught to him by his master. However, the master never allowed him to fight with others, and he could not use the sword even if there was friction. The master said that the sword moves he learned were too powerful and could not be used freely until he had achieved a certain level of success.

The great chivalrous person serves the country and the people!

The master said that people who practice martial arts do not use force to bully others, but use force to save others. The person who can be called a hero cannot be someone who is not a noble-minded person.

Shen Kuang also hopes that one day he can be called a hero, but he understands that this road ahead is long and he still has a long way to go.

He has always been suspicious of his master's character, but he has never doubted his master's swordsmanship because he has seen his master wield a sword. When he was very young, a man came to his door and said he wanted to compete with his master in a sword show.

That time, the master put away his unreliable smile for the first time and competed with the man seriously. When he was a boy, Shen Kuang could not understand the moves of the two of them, but it was only in recent years that he gradually became more capable .

The contest between the two was very short, and Shen Kuang had forgotten how many moves they made. He only remembered that the master won, but since then, the master had never used a sword except to teach him how to practice swords.

For this reason, Shen Kuang always obeyed his master's instructions and never drew his sword unless absolutely necessary.

Although he has never fought against anyone from the Yunmeng Sword Sect, he has heard a lot about the Yunmeng Sword Sect over the years, but he has never heard of any relationship between his master and the Yunmeng Sword Sect.

Therefore, he rejected the master simply and neatly.

However, after the master took out a one hundred tael silver note, time seemed to pause and the air suddenly solidified.

Shen Kuang accepted this arduous and difficult task. Money and other things were as unimportant in his eyes as floating clouds. What was important was that he liked to face difficulties and do challenging things.

Um! That's it!

"Master, even if I have to go to the Mountain of Swords or the Sea of Fire, my disciple, I will definitely go to Yunmeng Mountain to propose marriage!" Shen Kuang grabbed the one hundred taels of silver and stared at it intently. This was the first time he had seen this since he was a child. So much money. Although he was curious about how the master could come up with so much money at once, his intuition told him not to ask questions that shouldn't be asked.

"You brat, I knew you wouldn't do it without giving me some benefits!" the master said with a bitter smile. His disciple not only learned his swordsmanship, but also his idle temperament.

"Hey! Didn't I learn this from you! Master, tell me, who do you like? I will report your name directly after I arrive at their mountain gate. With your tall and majestic image, master, I will definitely be able to bring back a master's wife! "

Shen Kuang's horse was getting ready to pat when suddenly his master slapped him on the head. "You brat, I'm asking you to marry me!" the master said angrily.

"Ask me to marry you?" Shen Kuang asked, rubbing the back of his head.

He originally thought that his master had taken a liking to an elder from the Yunmengjian sect and was too embarrassed to come forward, so he asked him to go, but he never expected that his master would have his mind set on him.

"Why, you can't do it?" Seeing his hesitation, the master asked and smacked the banknote in his hand.

Shen Kuang held his hands and said seriously, "Of course it's no problem, it's just a marriage proposal! It's a trivial matter!"

But after he was angry, his tone immediately softened, "Master, is this okay? I won't be taken down as a gangster! I heard that the Yunmeng Sword Sect is full of female disciples!"

Hearing Shen Kuang's worries, the master just waved his hands and raised the corners of his mouth slightly, as if he had everything under control. When it comes to cheating one's own apprentices, the master is still the best at it.

"Of course I don't want you to go empty-handed! Take this." He threw a jade pendant to Shen Kuang.

"In addition to asking you to propose marriage on this trip, you are also asked to send this jade pendant. With this jade pendant, you will not be knocked down the mountain, and the people of Yunmeng Mountain will entertain you!"

Shen Kuang took the jade pendant and took a look at it doubtfully. It was a piece of exquisite white jade with cloud patterns engraved on it and a cloud character engraved on the front.

"Is it true that you won't be knocked down the mountain?"

The master nodded, "Really!"

The more determined the master was, the more uneasy Shen Kuang felt.

"To whom?" Shen Kuang asked again.

"Yun Qingyou!"

Hearing that it was a girl's name, Shen Kuang said with a gossipy smile, "Is she my future master's wife?"

The master smiled when he heard this and was about to answer when he suddenly noticed something was wrong. He patted Shen Kuang 's head angrily and rolled his eyes, "Do you want another hundred taels?"

"Yes, yes, of course!"

"Then who should I propose to marry? Master!"

"Her apprentice!"

"Does it look good?"

"Good-looking! Even prettier than the butcher's daughter in front of the alley!" The master raised his eyebrows and chuckled.

Shen Kuang trembled when he heard the master's words.

Speaking of Zhu Butcher's daughter, he immediately had an impression in his mind. The woman was very strong, and her figure was even bigger than their master and apprentice combined.

"Eh~!" Shen Kuang quickly shook his head and drove that terrible scene out of his mind.

Although he knew what kind of person he was about to marry, he still had an unknown premonition about the matter, and this uneasiness came from his master's certainty.

However, although the master is unreliable, he is also his only apprentice, so he will never push him into a pit of fire.

Fight for one hundred taels of silver!