Makeup Chapter 10
The night gradually fell silent. The patrolling disciples passed by in an orderly manner at all four seasons and walked around the side rooms for guests to rest according to the rules. They saw that each room had fallen into darkness, and only one room was still bright, but they had no intention of exploring.
Ke Congzhou was the last one to be chosen, and he and A Wu happened to share a room.
Just as he was about to lie down, he placed the other two daggers at his waist beside his pillow.
The lights were dim. Ah Wu moved the quilt at arm's length and caught a glimpse of the pattern on the dagger. He asked casually, "Brother Ke, what is the pattern on your dagger? What does it mean?"
He had been at Zhongyi Hall for a few days and had become particularly close to Ke Congzhou. Ke Congzhou was a good-tempered man, always patient with anyone he asked for advice on. Ah Wu followed him, never once receiving a single scolding, and smoothly assimilated into the rules of Zhongyi Hall.
When Ke Congzhou heard Ah Wu's question, he picked up a dagger and turned it over in front of Ah Wu's eyes. "It's not a pattern, it's words." He tilted the dagger to the light so Ah Wu could see it clearly, and gently traced the word "Ke" with his index finger. "It's 'Ke', that's my last name."
Ah Wu followed his movements with his eyes until he finished, then nodded, half understanding, and said, "I see. I can't read, so I thought it was a special pattern."
Ke Congzhou said, "When Hall Master Ruan forged these two swords for me, he wanted to engrave the totem of Sujian Mountain on them. But Master disagreed, saying that these were swords for me, not swords to be worshipped in the sect. When I grow up, I can decide on my own to engrave something else on them."
A Wu thought of the flag he saw when he entered the mountain gate. It had a few simple ripples on it, surging in the wind, and looked very majestic.
"The sect's totem uses ripples. What does that mean?"
In fact, he vaguely remembered that Master Ruan mentioned it when he was talking about old times, but he probably either dozed off or just ignored it and didn't remember it at all.
Ke Congzhou put down his dagger. "Our ancestors said, 'Water can cleanse all evil, returning us to our original nature.' It just so happened that the sect's treasured sword had a water wave pattern on it, so we named it the 'Su Jian,' and copied the water wave pattern on the sword's blade onto the flag."
But this totem is of little use.
Generally speaking, disciples' uniforms and swords were engraved. However, apart from the original plain sword and a flag made later, the others were never used. With the mountain's livelihood becoming increasingly difficult, there wasn't much money to be allocated for this.
Ke Congzhou wondered if this profound and magnificent totem might represent the aspirations of their ancestors and the sect's respectable status. When the sect was first established, the old leader enthusiastically commissioned someone to rename the mountain. He wondered if he'd imagined that decades later, the stone tablet would still droop, half-dead, as if the person named "Su Jian" were still an uninvited guest on the mountain.
He came back to his senses, thinking of Ah Wu's words, and continued, "Originally, there was a school for disciples on the mountain, located in the Qianji Hall, and the hall master taught. The previous Qianji Hall master was knowledgeable and well-informed. He was meticulous in explaining the mechanical art to his disciples, and his lectures were quite interesting. After he passed away, there was no one to take over, so the school was closed, and even the library was abandoned."
After Ke Congzhou said this, Ah Wu finally realized there was such a place as a "book collection pavilion" on the mountain. It seemed that when the sect was founded, it had all the necessary things for a "reputable and upright sect", but now it has developed into something that really seems to be raising bandits.
His eyes fell on the words engraved on Ke Congzhou's dagger.
Ke Congzhou looked at his expression under the light and couldn't help but ask, "Do you want to learn? I can teach you what I've learned. Recognizing some words won't be a problem."
A Wu opened his mouth but couldn't give an answer. He couldn't tell whether he wanted to learn or not.
The old beggar who raised him said his greatest strength was self-awareness, and he deeply agreed. So after going up the mountain, every time he thought of the indignation he felt when he wanted to avenge the old beggar, he felt incredible.
He knew himself best. He had a little cleverness, but he always used it for sneaky tricks. He had no greater ambition or ability. Although he had suffered a lot since going up the mountain, he was very content.
A Wu sat cross-legged and looked up at Ke Congzhou.
Under the dim yellow light, Ke Congzhou's flamboyant and sharp features softened considerably. In Ah Wu's heart, it seemed as if even the unattainable light around him had been bent down and hung before his eyes.
A Wu's heart suddenly started beating violently.
He remembered that there were times when he wasn't content. The first time he saw the carefree Ke Congzhou at Lingyun Training Ground was the first time he felt that having enough to eat wasn't a big deal.
Ke Congzhou didn't wait for A Wu to answer him.
He had just groped around on the bed and found a dusty book in the crack between the bed and the wall. Since it happened to mention literacy, he decided to use it.
Ke Congzhou shook the pages of the book on Monday, and the accumulated dust and tattered pages fell to the ground. He patted it casually, raised the oil lamp on the table, and sat cross-legged beside Ah Wu.
A Wu looked at the book in his hand, and felt an inexplicable excitement and fear in his heart.
It's not a big deal to go from a beggar to a bandit. But what if you go from a bandit to someone like Ke Congzhou?
Ke Congzhou had already opened the book: "This is a storybook."
He secretly felt lucky. If it were a book like the "Governing the World" in the library, which was so heavy that it could smash someone's head and looked so dazzling, he would have a hard time recognizing all the characters, let alone teaching others.
Ah Wu leaned over.
Ke Congzhou pointed to the title page and said, "It's called 'Old Stories of Haicheng', which means it tells the stories of Haicheng." He broke the words apart and taught them to Awu. After confirming that Awu had memorized them, he turned to the back and asked Awu to find the words he had just memorized.
After saying several words in a row, A Wu yawned slowly, and Ke Congzhou stopped him.
He recalled what Master Ruan had said, and thought that when Master Ruan praised Awu for being "smart", it was indeed not just a casual remark.
Ah Wu saw the oil lamp growing dimmer and realized it was already late. He then looked at Ke Congzhou, who also looked tired. He said, "Brother, you should get some rest early. You still have a competition tomorrow."
Ke Congzhou nodded and blew out the oil lamp.
He placed the book at the side of his neck, resting his head on the two swords. The coolness of the swords against his skin made him slightly more alert. He reached for the daggers, and thinking of tomorrow's competition, his sleepiness faded a little.
Last month, he went down the mountain on some errands and, as usual, went to the city's pharmacy to buy some herbs. He couldn't find the right herbs, so he followed the shopkeeper's instructions and went to a cliff north of the city to look for them. The cliff was treacherous, needless to say. He found the herbs quickly, but it was his first time, and his hands and feet weren't very obedient. He had only pulled two plants and, as he was about to throw them into his backpack, they were blown away by a gust of wind.
The cliff was steep but climbable. However, he was so frightened that he drew out a dagger and was about to stab it into the cliff. After sliding down for about an incense stick of time, he finally used some skills and stopped in mid-air with the help of the dagger.
Ke Congzhou hung there, his cries for help but to no avail. He could start over from the beginning, or even from the tail upwards, but regrouping was the hardest part. Even a glance down made him dizzy.
So he held the dagger in both hands and swung like a swing for a whole day and night.
He had finally managed to suppress his panic with the help of hunger, and was just about to save himself when an extinguished sky lantern floated in from nowhere. The sky was gray and gloomy, and it rushed straight into his face.
How could he react? He instinctively pulled out the sword stuck in the cliff to chop it, but his hand and the sword were entangled, and he fell down with the broken lamp.
At the critical moment, he finally remembered that he had another dagger - he always used the "right sword" because he was right-handed. In addition to his lack of dual sword skills, another reason was that the "left sword" was not available.
When he touched the left sword, he suddenly calmed down. While falling down, he observed how to remove the lamp paper that was in the way.
After making up his mind, he unhesitatingly drew his left sword and struck his right sword, cleaving the lantern entangled with him in two. The lantern, without support, drifted away again, broken and broken. He struggled alone on the cliff edge, using both swords, when he suddenly grasped the key to the seventh level of the Su Jian Jue.
The Su Jian Jue, revised by the first headmaster, was supposed to be memorized by every disciple, both in terms of mental skills and sword techniques. However, people have different talents, and the "elders" who founded the sect on the mountain have not all passed away yet, so the sect's unique skills have become the "unique skills" of Zhongyi Hall.
Of course, according to the old stories that Master Ruan kept telling and the secrets he occasionally revealed unconsciously, Ke Congzhou guessed that the "decline" of the Su Jian Jue was also related to the attitude of the head of the mountain.
But he is not a gossip, has no intention of being a "clairaudient", and has no intention of exploring.
Under Lao Hu's consistent instruction for several years, Ke Congzhou diligently mastered the fifth level. However, for the past year or so, no matter how hard he practiced, even reciting the sword techniques over and over again, he was unable to integrate the two elements of the sixth level.
After dangling for his life on the edge of a cliff, he successfully broke open the door to the seventh floor and was able to use the sixth floor completely.
Ke Congzhou originally planned to consult Lao Hu about this matter.
Before he could even say it, news came that there was a competition coming to Fanli Village.
Ke Congzhou turned over gently, the cold moonlight flowed before his eyes, but his heart was not at peace.
He still wanted his master's approval.
Ke Congzhou put his hand on the dagger again, forcing himself to fall asleep, but in his mind he kept imagining himself wielding the two swords.
-
On the second day, Su Jianshan's team finally looked like a team.
Perhaps the hall masters also noticed that compared with Fanli Village, they looked like a circus troupe without a leader, funny and unruly. They pulled their disciples' ears and scolded them in private, but they just put on a good show.
The hall masters and elders were invited to sit down. Luo Shun and Fan Ji were at the very top, one on each side, both with smiles on their faces.
Haike stood at the head of the team, cautiously observing the people above him out of the corner of his eye.
Luo Shun was still wearing a red robe. The disciples of Fanli Village were quite well-behaved and would not look beyond the boundaries when seeing such a dazzling color. The old disciples of Sujian Mountain were afraid of this moody leader, and besides, they had been in the sect for so long that they were tired of seeing anything beautiful, so they all looked at Fan Ji.
The owner of Manor Fan wore a calm purple robe and a beard of moderate length. Luo Shun, leaning swaying against the back of his chair beside him, only accentuated his refined manners and graceful demeanor. He wore an approachable yet apologetic smile, and bowed to the Sujian Mountain attendants. "I am truly grateful to you all for accepting my invitation and visiting my Fanli Manor!"
Haike looked at him and could actually see tears of tangled guilt in his eyes.
"Everything that Fanli Village did to offend Sujian Mountain was my fault! I apologize here!"
As he said this, he bowed deeply.
Now, the originally quiet team of Sujian Mountain began to whisper again.
Fan Ji didn't feel the slightest bit of loss of status, and continued with genuine emotion, "Although our Fanli Village is not too big and can be considered a sect, it can never compare to your Sujian Mountain! We only managed to gain a foothold in Daohai City by luck, and we haven't even developed a proper swordsmanship and martial arts. I, Fan... took over this team from my late father with trepidation, and after thinking about it, I have always admired your Sujian Mountain."
"But everyone knows the current situation. The rebels are ruining the country, and the king is only concerned with fighting the powerful in the capital. The world is in chaos! Naturally, I am also afraid of inviting a wolf into the house through sincere friendship, so I can only make some harmless probing attempts back and forth."
"Now that I think about it, I was too narrow-minded! Fortunately, you are willing to put aside your prejudices. We in Fanli Village will also treat you with sincerity!"
His tone was sincere, without any showmanship.
At least Yao Qinian was frightened, and he poked Haike stupidly: "Brother, Fanli Village is quite pitiful from this perspective..." Without any martial arts of his own, it would be difficult to find an ally.
Hai Ke turned around and looked at him speechlessly.
How could he be pitiful? Was it pitiful for him to go to great lengths to launch a night raid on Sujian Mountain? Was it pitiful for him to repeatedly rob their rations? Should he blame his ancestors for not having a foundation in martial arts? Or should he start striving from this generation onwards instead of going to other mountains to cause trouble?
He turned around to observe the expressions of the hall masters. Old Hu had his brows tightly furrowed, and his face was still serious as usual; the others had blank expressions and vague eyes, and it seemed that they didn't hear anything at all.
Luo Shun's smile widened, and he didn't know if he believed it or not. "Now that we're allies, there's no need to talk about the past. With a wise and dedicated owner like Brother Fan, Fanli Village has no worries about future prospects. My Sujian Mountain is also benefiting from this."
As he spoke, the faces of the other hall masters, except Lao Hu, twitched.
The two leaders' polite words were flawless, as if the two sects had been in harmony for more than ten years. After the hall masters and elders finished their cups of tea, Fan Ji got to the point of the day: "We are all from the martial arts world. If we don't make friends through martial arts, then we should drink and chat happily. Only then can we have a good time!"
"Fan has instructed his disciples to prepare a banquet, just waiting for today's competition to be over."
Luo Shun nodded: "When two factions clash, it's better to stop at a certain point."
Fan Ji certainly wouldn't object. He said, "Let's use one stick of incense as the duration. Whoever steps down during the competition loses. If no one falls down before the stick of incense burns out, it's a draw."
He pointed to the open arena.
The circular arena for martial arts competition is half a person's height, unlike the Lingyun training ground which is an uneven water bowl, and it is formal and grand.
Luo Shun continued, "I wonder how many disciples Brother Fan would like to select for the competition?"
Fan Ji stroked his beard and said, "Twenty people are just the right number. They are all the best in our sect and will not let down the elites under your command."
The number of disciples brought by Su Jianshan is about the same.
Luo Shun: "The competition will start soon. If everyone wants to go on stage, wouldn't it be a mess? Why not divide them into numbers and have them compete on stage with the same number?"
Looking at the already distorted formations on Sujian Mountain and the sound of others discussing things, Fan Ji's eyelids twitched and he said, "Brother Luo is really thoughtful."
Luo Shun gave a wink to the disciples of Sushan Hall in the team, and Fan Ji also called two disciples to help.
A moment later, the disciple from Sushan Hall came with old pieces of cloth that had been scratched with a sharp tool. The pieces were numbered based on the number of scratches and were to be distributed directly.
Fan Ji saw this and stopped him, saying, "If we pass it on like this, won't there be a possibility of competition among fellow disciples?"
Luo Shun smiled and said, "Why bother with this? Comparing from many angles will make things more valuable."
Fan Ji gave a fake smile. Su Jian Shan was playing such a trick on him, perhaps because he was afraid he'd learn some ridiculous sword technique that his own disciples wouldn't practice, so he expected others to get jealous. If Su Jian Shan hadn't had something he wanted more, he would have slaughtered you all last night.
But he did intend to test Su Jianshan's strength again. It would be better if his fellow disciples were furious, so they would know best how to break the situation.
So he stopped persuading her and just responded with a smile.
After the cloth pieces were distributed, disciples from Fanli Village carried incense and sang on the stage, "Please invite the first group of contestants to come on stage."
Ke Congzhou walked out of the team and showed the piece of cloth in his hand, which had a scratch on it.
When everyone at Sujian Mountain saw that it was him, they wanted to see who would compete with him and how many moves he could win.
The troops from Fanli Village remained motionless, and the disciples there began to ask each other which of their own had been lucky.
Lao Hu had no interest in today's competition. He simply wanted to wrap up the matter at Fanli Village and bring Meng Shizhuang back as soon as possible. Or, he could just leave Meng Shizhuang at the foot of the mountain while he went up to escort Lao Ju down, saving a lot of trouble.
As he was thinking, he noticed that the smile on Luo Shun's face had deepened.
With the pleasure of catharsis.
Lao Hu's spirit tensed instantly, and he followed Luo Shun's gaze.
Meng Shizhuang came out from the silent team, holding a piece of cloth with a scratch on it in her hand.
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