Chapter 857 He went in in a flash
"Shh, keep your voice down. Don't talk nonsense when you're out and about."
"I know, we've arrived at our destination, we've been holding it in all this time."
Madam Li seemed not to hear, and continued with a stern face:
"Also, it was bad of you to reveal your name in the inn's lobby yesterday. What if someone with ulterior motives takes notice? This isn't Hebei; it's full of southern barbarians. They might not give face to the Lu family of Fanyang. You, you always act impulsively, just like your father..."
Lu Jinghong, holding the sword, turned his face away and said in a deep voice:
“If Mother just wanted to nag, why didn’t you say so earlier? I could have gone to Luoyang and let you nag to your heart’s content. Then I could have come here by myself, saving Mother the trouble of traveling all the way. Anyway, you always find fault with me, so it’s better to stay far apart like before. It’s better not to see each other all the time like we do now. It’ll be peaceful…”
Madam Li's eyebrows stood on end:
"You brat, what nonsense are you spouting? Aren't you afraid your ancestors in the afterlife will hear you?"
Lu Jinghong lowered his head and remained silent.
No one, including the person behind the tree not far away, could have imagined that the mother and son, who had come to visit their ancestors and burn incense, would start arguing in front of their ancestral graves in the middle of nowhere.
Madam Li was not as calm and composed as she was when outsiders were present.
There was a moment of silence.
Madam Li took a deep breath, reached out to straighten the hem of her tall son's clothes, and softened her tone slightly:
"Alright, Mother came with you not only because she wanted to spend more time with you, but also because she was afraid you would act impulsively. The ancestral graves are so far away, how could Mother feel at ease letting you come alone?"
Lu Jinghong looked up and immediately retorted:
"I heard that my aunt also traveled alone to the south to pay respects to our ancestors back then. Why can't I do the same?"
Mrs. Li remained silent for a while.
Lu Jinghong's tone was somewhat sharp:
"Moreover, the knife seller also said that this is my opportunity, not yours, Mother. You came along to worship our ancestors, treating me like a little kid who hasn't been weaned yet. You might even ruin my luck."
Madam Li pondered for a moment:
"Don't worry, it won't ruin your luck. There are some things your mother can't tell you right now, but your mother is coming with you, which will definitely be beneficial to you."
"Furthermore, Mother can actually guess some of the clues left by the knife seller, the so-called opportunity, but she doesn't know whether this opportunity will be a blessing or a curse for you."
The woman looked around, seemingly somewhat distracted.
Lu Jinghong turned his head in confusion:
"What do you mean? Didn't that knife seller leave a message saying that after I went south to pay respects to my ancestors and burned incense at their graves, I would receive a great opportunity, be reborn, witness the splendor of the world's swordsmanship, and be able to lead my Fanyang Lu family to prosperity after I returned?"
"Isn't this a blessing? Could it be that this knife seller is hiding something from us?"
Madam Li gazed at him intently for a while:
"The prosperity of the Lu family in Fanyang is not that simple. Your father failed to do it, and neither did your rebellious and willful aunt. She even nearly dragged the Lu family in Fanyang into utter ruin... Do you know how great the price was?"
Lu Jinghong nodded, looking confident:
"It's very simple. I, Lu Jinghong, will reach the pinnacle of swordsmanship. I will also learn swordsmanship like my aunt, and even surpass her. When we return to Hebei, let's see who dares to look down on us. I will go to their door with my sword and reason with them, but not in the way my father and uncle reason. They are too rigid in their thinking. Just reading the classics is useless. You still need to have a sword in your hand. That's the real truth."
Madam Li shook her head helplessly:
"True truth? Do you think you possess a cauldron and a sword, daring to claim that the sword in your hand is the true truth?"
"My mother is so old-fashioned and conservative because she stayed at my maternal grandfather's house in Luoyang for a long time. She still has those outdated ideas."
Lu Jinghong raised her chin somewhat arrogantly:
"And who says I have no chance to get the Ding Sword? Perhaps the great opportunity the knife seller mentioned is a Ding Sword!"
Madam Li looked at her son for a while, then sighed softly:
"Do you know that everything comes at a price? If you take the opportunity, you will owe the sword seller a debt. The greater the opportunity, the greater the debt. If the opportunity is truly a cauldron and a sword, the sword seller will demand even more."
Lu Jinghong frowned and said unhappily:
"It's not like they're handing opportunities to you; they're just talking nonsense, spouting vague and ambiguous phrases, like fortune tellers or itinerant knife sellers. They're just merchants, like money-grubbing businessmen. Just give them whatever price they want."
Mrs. Li said calmly:
"Who says it's not a business transaction? Jinghong, in this world, seven parts are business transactions, two parts are forced acquisition, and the remaining one part is a complicated and tangled entanglement. That's roughly the three types."
Lu Jinghong seemed somewhat distracted.
Madam Li suddenly said:
"If you insist on getting close to that young maid at the inn yesterday, it will probably be a tragic fate."
"What do you mean, Mother? I don't understand."
Lu Jinghong shook her head, her tone seemingly indifferent:
"What do you mean by being willful? I only took a look; it's not like I was the only one who saw it."
Madam Li smiled faintly: "You are very much like your father, both stubborn. Your father was just like you when he met me."
Lu Jinghong was somewhat speechless. He bent down to take out the yellow paper, placed it in front of the grave, and lit it.
Madam Li also squatted down to help, and took out three incense sticks from the small bundle.
As she bowed her head to light incense, she casually uttered a sentence:
"Don't blame your mother for nagging about matters between men and women. You should know that barren land cannot produce beautiful flowers. Think about it carefully yourself."
Lu Jinghong didn't know if he heard it or not.
The mother and son fell silent as they burned incense and offered sacrifices to their ancestors.
Not far away, behind an inconspicuous tree, Ouyang Rong returned and listened quietly for a while.
He silently gazed at the backs of the mother and child standing before the grave, where incense smoke curled upwards.
They had no spiritual cultivation, but Lu Jinghong did have some alchemy skills, though he was no match for Ouyang Rong, a seventh-grade Qi cultivator.
After eavesdropping for a long time, Ouyang Rong still didn't quite understand what this "knife-selling man" was. He sounded like a fortune teller, but he could roughly understand the meaning behind the mother and son's words.
However, Ouyang Rong's gaze passed over the figures of Madam Li and her son, and landed on the three small mounds in front of them.
Ouyang Rong wasn't particularly interested in their supposed opportunities, unless it was truly a cauldron sword or a sword technique, or the thunder magic that Ouyang Rong currently needed.
In addition, the opportunity that the mother and son are looking for should not conflict with the relics of Cui Hao that he is looking for.
If it were anything else, Ouyang Rong wouldn't have much malice towards it.
The main reason was that Madam Li was indeed generous and fair in giving money, and there was also another reason that was a little embarrassing.
If it is confirmed that the tomb in front is indeed Lu Changgeng's, Ouyang Rong will most likely dig up his ancestral grave.
People had just burned incense to pay respects to their ancestors, and after they left, their ancestral graves were dug up and their coffins were opened. It's like something out of hell. What's more, their descendants led the way there themselves.
Ouyang Rong silently recited "Amitabha" twice in his heart.
At this moment, in front of the graves, Lu Jinghong changed his kneeling posture, took a pot of wine, and poured it on one of the tombstones.
The liquor washed away much of the dust from the tombstone, revealing the faded vermilion inscriptions.
Ouyang Rong tilted his head slightly, and with his sharp eyes, he noticed that the words "Lu Changgeng" were faintly engraved on the tombstone on the left, along with a whole bunch of epitaphs.
Even if descendants of such prominent families migrate to other places and their family falls into decline, the specifications of their tombstones after death are strictly in accordance with Confucian rites and regulations, with their names, titles, birth and death dates all inscribed on the tombstone.
Having confirmed that Lu Changgeng's tomb was among them, Ouyang Rong pursed his lips, turned to the side, and prepared to leave to wait for someone at the fishing boat at the wild ferry.
Anyway, the item must be in the tomb. This mother and son wouldn't dig up their own ancestral grave to look for a fortune, would they? That would be too filial.
Since Cui Hao's keepsake is irretrievable and the location of the grave has been determined, there's no need to linger.
Just then, Ouyang Rong caught a glimpse of Madam Li standing up and solemnly handing three sticks of incense to Lu Jinghong.
The latter's expression also turned serious. After accepting the incense, he knelt down respectfully in front of the tomb and kowtowed repeatedly.
It is a grand ancestral worship ceremony involving three bows and nine kowtows.
Ouyang Rong recalled the proverb about the itinerant knife seller that the mother and son had spoken of, and he paused slightly to observe.
After bowing and paying respects, Lu Jinghong placed three incense sticks in front of the tomb and finished his prayers.
He looked around expectantly.
The woods were empty, and a cold wind was blowing gently.
The old locust tree behind the grave cast its shade, enveloping Lu Jinghong and her son, while its leaves rustled in the cold wind.
The atmosphere was quiet.
Lu Jinghong licked his lips and looked at his mother.
Compared to his somewhat impatient manner, Madam Li was gracefully squatting down, tidying up the scattered yellow papers and other items, and stuffing them back into her bundle.
Upon seeing this scene, Ouyang Rong was reminded of his own experience when he first discovered the Merit Pagoda and redeemed the first few blessings.
They also have such high expectations.
However, he did possess a mysterious and wondrous merit pagoda, and as it turned out, the blessings were indeed effective, often manifesting in unexpected places. In retrospect, the results were both unexpected and reasonable, leaving him no choice but to admit his admiration.
But why did Lu Jinghong and her son so firmly believe in the proverbs of that knife-selling man?
Coming from a prestigious family like the Lu clan of Fanyang, he doesn't seem like a naive person. Although Lu Jinghong seems a bit immature, he shouldn't be stupid.
Does this knife-selling man have some kind of background?
After secretly peeking for a while, and still seeing no movement from the other side, Ouyang Rong withdrew his gaze.
Before leaving, he looked inward at the Merit Pagoda, but the Blessing Bell did not move.
So we can roughly deduce that either Lu Jinghong's chance was too small for the Pagoda of Merit to accept, or he couldn't intercept it, or they simply weren't meant to be.
"It's a pity about the three thousand merits he accumulated," Ouyang Rong muttered. He turned around and lifted his foot, but suddenly froze in place, tilting his head back to look at the valley above.
It was a familiar, cold, and fierce sword aura.
Ouyang Rong's first reaction was to escape. He quickly left the valley, intending not to even go to the fishing boats, but to hide first.
But just as he was about to hide, he seemed to remember something, glanced at the valley, slowly stopped, and changed his mind...
Meanwhile, under the locust tree ahead, the mother and son did not notice anyone coming or going.
Standing before the burning incense at the tombstone, Lu Jinghong looked around, then frowned and turned back to ask:
"Mother, now that we've finished the worship, where are we going? Did the knife seller leave any more messages?"
Madam Li shook her head, slung her small bundle over her arm, and lowered her eyes to straighten her clothes.
Lu Jinghong hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped:
"Mother..."
Halfway through his sentence, he widened his eyes slightly and looked towards the cliff in the valley behind Madam Li.
A snow-white figure stood atop it.
Upon closer inspection, they saw a tall, blonde woman dressed in ancient Wu-style clothing, coldly looking down at them.
Noticing the change in her son's expression, Mrs. Li turned around and took a step back.
The candle in the snow fell as lightly as a leaf.
Madam Li and Lu Jinghong showed expressions of surprise.
"You are..." Lu Jinghong seemed to remember something, and became somewhat excited: "You are the Yue Maiden of Yunmeng?"
Ignoring the candle in the snow, he turned his gaze to the Lu family tomb where incense was lit.
Madam Li glanced at Xue Zhongzhu, then looked around at the valley. Several Yue women's figures flashed by, seemingly surrounding the area.
She looked frightened and lowered her head slightly.
A cold candle in the snow asks indifferently:
"What is your relationship with the Lu family of Fanyang?"
Lu Jinghong stood in front of his mother, his mouth dry, and said:
"I am Lu Jinghong, a member of the Lu family of Fanyang. I have come to pay homage to my ancestors. I have long admired the name of the Goddess of Yunmeng, and I have heard that your clan is the leader in the world of swordsmanship..."
Madam Li, however, pushed her innocent and naive son aside and spoke first:
"Blonde hair...you must be Her Majesty the First Lady?"
The candle in the snow stared coldly at her.
Madam Li lowered her head timidly, but her hand kept pulling something out of her sleeve, revealing a corner of what appeared to be a piece of jewelry.
Upon seeing this, Xuezhongzhu suddenly spoke in a cold voice:
"She sent you?"
Madam Li looked around.
The candle in the snow immediately turned around:
"Come with me."
Lu Jinghong asked instinctively, "Where to?"
The candle in the snow remained silent, walking deeper into the white mist.
Upon seeing this, Lu Jinghong seemed to realize something and suddenly turned around to look at the ancestral grave from which the blue smoke was rising.
The young man's face flushed red as he clutched the longsword tightly to his chest.
At that moment, he finally understood what kind of opportunity this was.
Lu Jinghong gripped Madam Li's sleeve, lowering his voice but unable to hide his excitement: "Mother, your son is really going to learn unparalleled swordsmanship."
After putting away the jewelry, Madam Li glanced at her son, a slight smile appearing on her lips.
"Look at you grinning like an idiot, let's go."
Just then, a young Yue woman appeared and made a gesture toward Xuezhongzhu.
Xuezhongzhu stopped and tilted his head to look towards the valley exit.
At the exit, a Yue woman stood guard, behind whom stood a young man in monk's robes, head bowed, appearing dull and reserved.
In the snow, the candle frowned slightly, as if recalling a name:
"Your name is..."
The young man in monk's robes answered in a muffled voice, "Liu Aliang."
Xuezhongzhu slightly raised his eyes, scrutinizing him somewhat.
Before she could ask, Madam Li explained apologetically:
"Your Majesty, you flatter me. This is the boatman I invited. I didn't know Your Majesty would show up. If I had known, I would have sent him back. I don't know if I've harmed him."
Having said that, her expression changed, and she sternly waved her hand at Ouyang Rong to shoo him away:
"Hurry up and leave. Don't tell anyone about what happened today, or I won't spare you even if the goddess doesn't intervene."
Suddenly, Xuezhongzhu turned around and led Yue Nu deeper into the valley, leaving behind the words:
Let's go.
Madam Li and Lu Jinghong immediately followed obediently.
However, after walking a few steps, they discovered that the taciturn boatman had also caught up.
Upon seeing this, Lu Jinghong smiled speechlessly.
He couldn't be bothered to even speak to such a simple-minded country bumpkin.
Madam Li turned around and scolded her with some displeasure:
"Didn't I already give you the money? How can you be so insensible? I'm so generous, I'm helping you, and you don't even appreciate it..."
But then, Xue Zhongzhu's calm voice came from ahead, leaving the mother and son speechless:
"He came too."
Lu Jinghong's eyes held a look of disbelief.
Madam Li was taken aback.
They fell silent.
Ouyang Rong ignored him and walked forward with his head down. Midway, he glanced at Lu Changgeng's grave, which was getting further and further away. Then he quietly looked up ahead, his gaze passing over Lu Jinghong and her son, who were facing each other, and landing on the back of the young lady Zhishuang with her golden hair reaching her waist.
Which one is truly a blessing, or is it a combination of both?
So what he calls...
He just rubbed against it and got in?
(End of this chapter)
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