Chapter 015 Me and My Enemy Father and Brother
A gentle breeze blew, golden waves of wheat surged in the fields, and the air was filled with fragrance.
After dealing with the important matter, Ning Bufan finally remembered that he had "caught" a basket of fish for Ming Shaotu. He opened the basket and placed it in front of his brother, with a guilty look in his eyes that he could not hide.
"Look, when I left home this morning, I said I would definitely fill this fish basket. Do you believe me now?"
The fish basket was stuffed full with six big blue carps. Ming Shaotu couldn't help laughing when he took a glance at them. He coughed lightly under his brother's gaze, pretended not to notice the hole in the fish's body caused by the branch, and nodded.
"Yes, I believe it. Brother, your fishing skills are superb, and no one can compare to you."
Chen Yunli covered his face. This younger brother was so considerate. He could tell lies with his eyes open and sound sincere. No wonder Ning Bufan loved him so much.
Ning Bufan scratched his head in embarrassment at the praise.
"There's so much fish, it's more than the two of us can finish." Ming Shaotu closed the fish basket to block out the fishy smell. "I'll pickle some tonight and leave two for you two gentlemen. How about that?"
He naturally knew that the fish was not caught by Ming Shaotu, and sending the pickled fish was a subtle way of expressing gratitude.
Chen Wenjian had no objection, so Chen Yunli agreed immediately.
The two stayed in Cuiye Village for another half day. Seeing that it was getting late, they said goodbye.
As I left, I could faintly hear the two brothers chatting casually behind me.
"Shao Tu, I accidentally tore the fishing rod you made while fishing just now. Can you take a look and see if it can be repaired?"
"No problem, I'll make another one for you."
Chen Yunli felt that it was great to have a brother who was so skillful, but he didn't expect that this would be the last time he heard them have such an intimate conversation.
Today I returned to the mountain on time again. The setting sun was behind the Sword Sealing Tower, and the blood-red afterglow cast a cold and old metallic luster on the towering tower.
A murder occurred at Jiangnanchun Restaurant, and Shayan Restaurant was also closed for renovations. There was nowhere to buy food nearby, and even the vegetable stalls were closed. Chen Yunli and Chen Wenjian could only use local ingredients in the mountains and roast two rabbits to satisfy their hunger.
Of course, they did not forget to leave the half with the toughest meat and the one that was roasted over for the Lord of the Sealing Sword Tower.
Because of Chen Wenjian's injury two nights ago, Chen Yunli did not rest immediately after returning to his room tonight. Instead, he stood by the window to watch his movements - mainly to see where he went to practice.
Chen Wenjian first returned to his room. About a quarter of an hour later, he went out carrying a basket containing medicine, bandages, and a set of clothes, and walked straight towards the closed door of the Sealing Sword Tower.
Chen Yunli guessed his plan as soon as he saw the basket. He probably didn't want her to worry about him getting injured anymore, so he planned to deal with it himself as soon as he finished practicing.
This person looks cold, but in fact he is as considerate as Ming Shaotu.
Chen Yunli found it funny, but also felt inexplicably uncomfortable.
During his brief moment of distraction, Chen Wenjian had already disappeared through the tower gate. Whether intentionally or not, the gate had been left open, and the strong mountain wind blew it open, revealing a narrow, cramped space and a winding wooden staircase.
Chen Yunli suddenly had an impulsive idea in his mind - he wanted to go into the tower and take a look.
There must be something wrong with the training method that the Sword Sealing Tower Master arranged for Chen Wenjian, otherwise he wouldn't be injured every night. Perhaps Chen Wenjian's decision to kill his master was related to this training method.
But... he still didn't know what was sealed in the Sword Sealing Tower, and whether he would be in danger after entering.
After thinking for a moment, Chen Yunli nodded lightly: "System, what's in the Sword Sealing Tower?"
The system quickly and gently replied: "There is a sword."
“…”
Thank you. You could have kept silent about it, but you still took the time to give me a heads up.
Chen Yunli snorted, "Can I go in? Will I be killed as soon as I enter?"
This time the system was silent for a moment: "Auditors may enter. Chen Wenjian is currently inside the tower. You will not be in danger."
After getting the answer he wanted, Chen Yunli immediately grasped another key point: "Chen Wenjian is here, so I'm not in danger. Does that mean I'll be in danger when he's not around?"
System: “…Yes.”
"Then I really have to go in and take a look." Chen Yunli said, turning around to rummage through the wardrobe, pulling out a black coat and putting it on. "I hope I don't see anything embarrassing."
The system is silent.
Chen Yunli had made sufficient psychological preparations before entering the tower, but it was completely useless after entering the tower.
Most of the space in the Sword Sealing Tower is made up of narrow squares and spiral wooden stairs. The ladders are slightly damaged due to years of disrepair. If he steps a little harder, the whole room will echo with a sharp and stagnant "crack" sound, as if it will break and collapse in the next second, killing him.
Chen Yunli was a little scared at first, but by the time he reached the tenth floor, he was numb. The long steps twisted upwards like an endless tunnel, extending in the dim candlelight, as if there would never be an end.
"System, how long will it take to reach the top of the tower?" Chen Yunli suddenly had the illusion that he had been wandering here aimlessly for his entire life, and couldn't help asking.
He did not expect to get an answer from the system, he just wanted to hear the system respond, to let him know that he was still alive, that the present was reality, and to relieve his inner uneasiness and anxiety.
"Almost there," the system said. Its voice actually echoed, forming a strange and consistent echo with the "crunching" sound beside Chen Yunli's ears. "There are still two more floors."
The Sword Sealing Tower has a total of twelve floors.
Chen Yunli breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had drawn tremendous strength from these few short words from the system. His originally slowed pace immediately quickened, and the stairs began to shake slightly, and the sound became louder.
After almost running across the last two flights of stairs, Chen Yunli saw the half-open wooden door at the end of the stairs and couldn't wait to reach out and push it open.
There was a loud "bang" and the moment the door opened, a rusty wind blew up his long hair and clothes, and his wide sleeves fluttered in the wind, hitting his face and shielding him from the sparks and scarlet dust flying in the wind.
Chen Yunli stepped on the rough, solid ground. The small tower had vanished into the distance the moment the door opened. He raised his head against the wind. The sky was high and vast, and dark clouds seemed like cracks, crisscrossing the mirror-like blue sky, looking hideous and ugly.
Beneath the vast sky lies a desolate tomb where countless long swords are buried.
The broken blade of a sword sat at an angle on a dark red mound of earth, its tattered tassel fluttering in the wind. In the ground lay even more swords, their entire appearance unclear. Some were long, some were short, and they were made of various materials. Buried in the fine red sand, they seemed to be sleeping silently in the flames of a sword forge.
Chen Wenjian stood in the center of the sword tomb, clutching the slender, seedling-like blade he'd used that day. The blade's aura transformed into a golden glow that swirled around him, drawing all the remaining swords within the tomb to them. Like awakened evil spirits, they wailed mournfully in the wind, then rose from the ground, their sword tips pointed at him, piercing the air like meteors.
So many broken swords, overwhelming, formed an iron wall the moment they approached, completely covering him, and the sharp blades rubbed and collided, making a teeth-grinding clanging sound.
There are thousands of swords here, but Chen Wenjian only has a pair of hands and a knife.
His sword energy moved left and right in the steel cage, and after a brief breakout, it was sealed back forcefully, without a trace leaking out. Only blood could spill out, pouring hotly onto the ground, dyeing the gravel on the ground even redder.
Chen Yunli watched this scene in silence.
"Auditor, you are angry." The system said, "He is just a virtual character in a virtual world, but you are angry about his situation. Why?"
"When I play games, watch TV shows, movies, or read novels, I get angry about the characters' experiences," Chen Yunli said. "He's closer to me than those characters."
The system was honest: "I don't understand. For Chen Wenjian, this is a crucial step in his growth and it also forms the foundation for his future. Without today's hardships, he wouldn't be strong in the future, and his life would be even harder."
"People always say that hardship makes people strong, and that's often true. But does that conflict with my hatred for this fucked-up world and fate?"
Chen Yunli said coldly: "Fuck."
system:"……"
This was the first time it had seen an auditor speak so frankly.
The reason why Chen Yunli was so angry was that when he saw Chen Wenjian being besieged by thousands of swords, he realized what kind of training plan the Lord of the Sword Sealing Tower had made for him. He also finally understood why he was obviously a genius in swordsmanship, but his weapon was a knife.
The broken swords here have an almost crazy hostility and desire to destroy the knife. Once Chen Wenjian enters the sword tomb with the knife, he will be attacked by them.
If Chen Wenjian fought back with a knife, Broken Sword's attack would become even more fierce. If he did not fight back, it would be equivalent to waiting to be killed.
The former is a life-or-death situation, while the latter is certain death. He cannot just sit there and wait for death, so he can only choose the former.
Then, in the Sword Sealing Tower Master's self-proclaimed ingenious arrangement, he would hone himself between life and death, eliminate all useless moves, and develop an almost instinctive sense of crisis and counterattack ability, just like a sharp blade whose rust is gradually worn away by a whetstone, bringing his talent and edge to the extreme.
The Lord of the Sword Sealing Tower didn't care about his life or death. The only insurance he gave Chen Wenjian was that this training had a time limit, so the attacks of these broken swords were merciless.
Chen Wenjian must endure it until the end of the training period, until one day he can destroy the broken sword and even the entire sword tomb, only then can he be free.
It is a very efficient and effective training method.
It’s time to let that old man, the master of the Sealing Sword Tower, taste it himself.
Chen Yunli did not step forward. His appearance would disrupt Chen Wenjian's rhythm, not only hurting himself, but also causing him to suffer more injuries.
He stood there quietly, even his breathing slowed down, like a sculpture that had stood there from time immemorial, looking at the metal cage in the distance with concentration and compassion.
Until the wind stops.
Until all the broken swords suddenly shrank and fell back into the bloody earth, their graves.
Today's training time is over.
Chen Wenjian fell from mid-air, his body covered with wounds, with not a single piece of healthy flesh on his body. He was wrapped in a bloody shirt and lying on the sand, like a bloody shadow.
His weak breathing and heartbeat were his last signs of life. He suffered through fire and water again and again before his body's self-healing ability took effect - broken bones began to piece together, torn flesh slowly closed together, and lighter wounds healed bit by bit.
Afterward, he began coughing up blood.
Chunks of blood gushed out of his throat and splashed onto the ground. The hidden injuries in his meridians turned into a dark blue liquid, seeping out from his orifices, nails, and bone joints.
Chen Wenjian's body was repairing itself in a brutal manner, without considering whether the host could endure the pain - if not, death would be a good thing.
Chen Wenjian held on. He lay there quietly, without a trace of pain on his face, as if he was asleep and still having a sweet dream.
Chen Yunli watched this bloody scene in silence.
Not until most of his injuries had healed, leaving only some particularly severe ones stubbornly clinging to his muscles and bones, just as Chen Yunli had seen two nights ago, did Chen Yunli move his stiff legs and feet and slowly walk forward.
The bloodstains on his clothes had dried completely. Chen Yunli used his sleeve to wipe away the bloodstains on Chen Wenjian's face, revealing his handsome face as light as ink and landscape.
The dried blood was difficult to wipe off, and Chen Wenjian was woken up by him. His eyelashes, which were sticky with blood, opened up, and his scattered vision gradually focused on his face.
The mottled and cracked sky unfolded above Dust Cloud's head. He was the only intact, clean and beautiful existence in this broken world.
"dust……"
"I'm here to pick you up." Chen Yunli said. He held Chen Wenjian's arm and helped him up. "Let's go. I'll take you away from this damn place."
Chen Wenjian blinked slowly. His brain, which had just awakened, was a little sluggish. He didn't react to Chen Yunli's meaning for a long time. He just instinctively tilted his head and leaned on Chen Yunli.
The crisp soapberry scent on Chen Yunli's clothes was softened by his body temperature, and Chen Wenjian rubbed it with his nose.
For the first time, after coming out of the near-death state, he didn't smell the pungent smell of blood.
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