Makeup (Part 4)
Meng Shizhuang felt like she was split in two.
Half of him used up all his strength to rage helplessly in his heart, as if his soul had been destroyed in this anger, leaving his body numb and crying; the other half calmly controlled his legs to walk back to Keju.
Steal the sword tonight.
Meng is thinking about makeup.
Why throw yourself into the furnace holding a white sword?
Meng Shizhuang's thoughts became crazy: he should use this sword to kill as many people as he can on this mountain.
He walked faster and faster, the scene before him gradually blurring, stained with a red shadow. The red shadow lingered in his vision for a long time, and he thought his eyes had been burned by the scorching heat of his heart, and he stopped in front of the red shadow in a daze.
"Meng is makeup."
The other party called his name in a shrill voice.
Meng Shizhuang's rationality slowly withdrew from his intense emotions. He looked up. The man was dressed in a red robe, his hands casually tucked into his sleeves, his slender eyebrows filled with interest and dark calculation.
Now she is looking at him with a smile.
Meng Shizhuang put on all defenses.
Noticing Meng Shizhuang's vigilance, Luo Shun said, "Don't be nervous. I came here because I have something to tell you."
Behind Luo Shun, the sign "Keju" was hanging crookedly.
Meng Shizhuang didn't relax at all.
He knew Luo Shun, remembering the red shadow that always watched him from afar. Although he had never met Luo Shun face to face, he knew from a glance that the person who hated him and Lao Ju the most was Luo Shun.
Thinking that Lao Ju was still inside, Meng Shizhuang tensed up and wanted to rush in immediately.
Luo Shun knew what Meng Shizhuang was thinking and said in a considerate manner, "I haven't been to see Lao Ju yet."
He still had a smile on his face, as if he was talking to an acquaintance, and repeated patiently, "I came to see you today."
Meng Shizhuang couldn't guess his purpose and confronted him in silence.
Luo Shun didn't care about Meng Shizhuang's attitude at all. "I guess, given Lao Ju's personality, he won't tell you what happened back then. You probably still don't know who your parents are, and why the situation on the mountain is like this now."
He said this, but he had no intention of telling Meng Shizhuang everything. He only told the part he wanted to tell: "Thirteen years ago, you were just born. In this place -"
Luo Shun pointed to the ground below: "It seems to be where we are standing now, Lao Ju is holding you and standing in front of me."
Meng Shizhuang's hands hanging by her side clenched at this moment.
He was sure that he saw ill intentions in Luo Shun's eyes, but he couldn't move his toes and could only wait quietly for Luo Shun to finish his words.
Luo Shun studied Meng Shizhuang's gloomy features, as if seeing himself from more than a decade ago. His gaze drifted downward, tracing the lower half of his face, which bore a resemblance to his long-dead enemy, and his heart grew filled with joy.
After a pause, he continued, "I told Lao Ju that as long as he is willing to give up you, he can continue to be the head of Zhongyi Hall and the top leader of Sujian Mountain."
He knew how much of a shock his words were to Meng Shizhuang.
Sure enough, Meng Shizhuang immediately stared at him closely.
Luo Shun: "You should know how great Lao Hu's status is in the mountains and how famous he is below the mountains. When he first entered the mountains more than 30 years ago, it was Lao Ju who taught him how to wield a sword."
Meng Shizhuang couldn't think straight.
He could hear Lao Ju's heart-wrenching cough and his arms covered with scars again.
"I have a grudge against your father's generation, and Lao Ju is also from their faction, but he saved me before, so I gave him the opportunity to choose."
Luo Shun calmly passed over the word "hatred".
The word "choice" lightly hit Meng Shizhuang's heart.
"But he refused and insisted on taking you with him."
Luo Shun sighed with regret: "No matter how powerful he is, two fists cannot beat four hands, and he still has to protect you."
He feigned contemplation, and with a stinging smile, he described for Meng Shizhuang the scene of thirteen years ago: "It was raining the day he wanted to take you down the mountain. I didn't do anything. I sat in the pavilion in front of the mountain gate. Right there, the rain smelled like blood."
Meng Shizhuang spent the entire day walking in the mountains, sword in hand. He once tentatively reached the mountain gate, the nearest pavilion a hundred steps away.
His heart ached bitterly.
Meng Shizhuang looked at the face that had suddenly become a hundred times more hateful. It seemed as if it was spitting on her, and also as if it was warning Luo Shun: "You should just kill me."
Luo Shun didn't care.
"The hatred between me and your blood relatives cannot be resolved by the death of an innocent child."
As he spoke, the smile on his face changed.
From this smile, Meng Shizhuang keenly felt that he would step into an unavoidable trap today.
Luo Shun: "But after more than ten years, I'm tired of it."
"Thirteen years ago, I let Lao Ju choose; now, I let you choose."
Meng Shizhuang was waiting for his words.
Luo Shun met his eyes and said, "I know Lao Hu has been teaching you sword skills."
"In half a month, there will be a competition among disciples. As long as you can defeat Ke Congzhou with a plain sword, I will let you and Lao Ju go down the mountain together."
Meng Shizhuang didn't have time to think about the deeper meaning of his words, and just asked: "As long as I can beat Ke Congzhou?"
Luo Shun nodded: "Yes, as long as you beat him, you can take Lao Ju away."
When Meng Shizhuang heard Luo Shun's answer, her breathing stopped.
His heartbeat stopped for a moment along with his breathing, and a force surged from his spine all the way through his body. At this moment, he didn't know that this force, which he had never experienced before, was called willpower and courage, but he had already learned to explore the consequences without any teacher.
"What if I lose?"
Luo Shun narrowed his eyes and smiled: "If you lose, you and Lao Ju will choose one to die first."
Meng Shizhuang's shoulders were tensed into a sharp arc.
Luo Shun: "Of course, you don't have to choose. But as I said just now, I'm tired of this way of having fun, so from now on, you have to change your way of living."
His smile revealed a cruel tone: "It's not enough for you to hold the sword by yourself, how about dragging Lao Ju out with you later?"
Meng Shizhuang really wanted to hold the sword in his hand right now, and take a few steps to stab the person in front of him through.
Luo Shun saw Meng Shizhuang's face darken, her eyes filled with resentment. He looked into her eyes, as if he were looking in a mirror. Then, his mood brightened, and he laughed heartily as he left, leaving behind a leisurely sentence: "When you've made up your mind, you can come find me at Sushan Hall."
The sunlight gradually grew stronger, and the lush green leaves blocked most of the scorching light, leaving a few spots of light on Meng Shizhuang's shoulders. His heart was in turmoil, thinking about Lao Hu's words and the sudden choice Luo Shun had given him.
But he had no choice.
Meng Shizhuang walked through the habitable courtyard and into the inner room.
The window in the inner room was half open, and Lao Ju was sitting beside the bed.
He didn't notice Meng Shizhuang coming in. He was holding Meng Shizhuang's clothes that were torn yesterday and was about to sew them up. He coughed from time to time.
Meng Shizhuang remained silent.
Perhaps because he was too familiar with it, he had never looked at Lao Ju as carefully as he did now.
Lao Ju's face was thin, the lines of his jaw and cheeks forming a resolute and composed outline. A mole sat on the tip of his nose, and above that, eyes as deep as a pool of water. His eyebrows, half-gray like his hair, slanted into his temples, revealing a hint of his youthful grace.
For no reason, Meng Shizhuang thought of Lao Hu.
According to what Luo Shun said, Lao Ju might be a few years older than Lao Hu.
Old Hu's hair had turned completely white, and his brows were always furrowed, showing the traces of deep thought. Because of these traces, he looked even older than the old house he had lived in for many years.
And his person was just like the marks on his face, so majestic that it was frightening.
But unlike Lao Hu who was always harsh and stern, Lao Ju spoke very little.
The heavier Meng Shi's makeup, the less he spoke.
Whether it was those long-ago events or Meng Shizhuang's parents whom she had never met, Lao Ju had never explained them clearly to Meng Shizhuang.
When Meng Shizhuang asked him about it, he only had one reply: "Talking too much about a dead person will only make you sad."
Perhaps Lao Ju's method worked. No matter how Meng Shizhuang imagined his parents, whether they were good or bad, or how they died, he couldn't feel sad.
In his life, there is only Lao Ju and Lao Hu who occasionally "visits".
Meng Shizhuang's eyes became darker.
At this time, Lao Ju finally noticed him: "Why are you standing there?"
Lao Ju caught a glimpse of Meng Shizhuang's troubled eyes, and while finishing the last stitch, he asked him, "What are you thinking about?"
The inner room was slightly brighter due to the light outside. Meng Shizhuang and Lao Ju were facing each other. He looked at Lao Ju's calm face and half of his body shrouded in warm light, and his heart also became strangely calm, as if falling into a soft pool of water.
Meng Shizhuang said truthfully: "I want to take you down the mountain."
Lao Ju was stunned at first, then put the clothes in his hand aside and waved to Meng Shizhuang.
Meng Shizhuang walked over and was pulled by him to sit cross-legged.
Lao Ju covered his mouth and gasped twice before reaching out to untie Meng Shizhuang's hair. The hair in his palm was small, slightly yellow, and not smooth. He combed it patiently, meticulously wrapping it tightly with an old hairband.
Feeling that Lao Ju stopped, Meng Shizhuang touched the hair on the back of her head.
His face was half turned to the side, and his thin left shoulder was held down by Lao Ju's hand.
Lao Ju lowered his head.
"Ah, you are still young. You won't stay in the mountains forever."
He looked at the child he had raised, his body so thin it made his heart ache. Guilt and powerlessness washed over him like a tide, and the old injuries on his arms began to ache again.
Lao Ju unconsciously looked at the words on the wall again.
Meng Shizhuang didn't notice Lao Ju's expression.
He tilted his head back, his eyes shining brightly.
"You won't either."
Lao Ju smiled.
Meng Shizhuang found another excuse and hurried out of Keju.
It was a rare opportunity for him to have unimpeded travel on the mountain. He arrived at Sushan Hall without seeing many people along the way.
There are large patches of white flowers planted in the courtyard of Sushan Hall, stretching lazily in the wind and sunshine.
Meng Shizhuang had no interest in watching and was about to enter the main hall. The disciple guarding the door did not look away, obviously having been instructed to do so.
Luo Shun had his back to him, staring blankly at the portrait in the hall.
Hearing the noise, he turned around: "You figured it out so quickly? It's not even a cup of tea."
Although he said this, there was an expectant look on his face.
As he turned around, the portrait revealed its full appearance. From Meng Shizhuang's perspective, he seemed to be standing shoulder to shoulder with the person in the portrait.
Meng Shizhuang's eyes were unconsciously drawn to the portrait.
The man in the portrait looked to be in his thirties, with delicate features and a gentle demeanor, a faint smile on his lips. He was dressed in clean white and hung brightly in the center of the wall. Beside the painting, Luo Shun was a stark contrast to the other figure, standing there eerily like a ghost in red.
The Sushan Hall seemed to be affected by these two auras, with half of the hall being bright and half being dark.
Meng Shizhuang suppressed the awkward feeling of seeing this scene.
"What are the conditions for the competition you mentioned?"
Luo Shun immediately understood what Meng Shizhuang meant. He raised his eyebrows and thought for a moment: "No conditions, as long as you can win - with a plain sword."
He casually threw out a few possibilities: "Whether it's you or Ke Congzhou who loses his hands and feet. If you have the ability, you can kill him on the fighting stage."
As he imagined these scenes, he actually felt happy: "As long as you can win, you can leave."
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