Chapter 16 The Path of the Swordsman

Xia Daoyun entered the vast grassland.

The air in the grassland that had just fallen heavily after a heavy rain was very fresh. A gust of wind brought not only the smell of grass and earth, but also a chill.

She was still wearing the bamboo hat and raincoat given by the old woman. It was originally a raincoat to protect her from snow, but it was actually very good for protecting her from rain.

However, Xia Daoyun now has some new equipment.

A pair of straw sandals and a bamboo stick for finding the way.

The straw sandals were given to her by a herdsman she met on the road, saying that they were indispensable for walking on the grassland.

Xia Daoyun picked up the bamboo stick on the road. I don't know who lost it.

In the grassland where it has rained, there are often puddles of unknown depth, and bamboo sticks are needed to find the way.

Xia Daoyun refused the three-piece set of bamboo hats, coir raincoats and straw sandals at first, but he had no choice but to accept the offer.

She has always been a very indifferent person, and no one can force her to do anything she doesn't like, but for some reason, she can't refuse the enthusiastic old woman and the simple herdsmen.

But as time passed, Xia Daoyun inexplicably developed a deep affection for the three-piece suit.

Because wearing them and walking on this long road, she unconsciously abandoned her past identity. She was no longer Xia Daoyun, no longer the number one female sword cultivator in the sky, and she was no longer... as if I am really just a mortal on the road in the wind and rain. I have discarded all the smoke and dust, and my soul has become purer.

Boom!

At this moment, a dull thunder suddenly came from the sky.

Bolts of lightning arrived instantly, dancing in the sky like silver snakes.

Not long after, the heavy rain came again, pouring down.

Crash.

The raindrops fell on Xia Daoyun's coir raincoat and bamboo hat, and they immediately shattered and splashed everywhere, with crisp hitting sounds echoing continuously.

In the pouring rain, Xia Daoyun did not stop to find shelter from the rain, nor did she use her magic power to isolate the rain. Instead, she allowed the rain to fall continuously. Occasionally, raindrops fell sideways and wet her hair.

Not only did she not pay attention, she even closed her eyes in the end and walked forward in the heavy rain, as if she was one with heaven and earth.

Don't listen to the sound of beating leaves in the forest, why not scream and walk slowly.

Bamboo sticks and mango shoes are easier than horses, who is afraid?

A coop of mist and rain will last a lifetime.

One step at a time.

In the sound of rain, on this road that the most popular swordsman in Chang'an years walked, Xia Daoyun kept moving forward, and gradually a kind of understanding that he had never had before came into his heart.

After walking non-stop for a day and night, the sound of falling rain finally stopped. Xia Daoyun opened his eyes and felt a bright light.

In such a short period of time, she had already walked a path that would take ordinary people several months to complete, and finally walked out of this grassland and came to a high slope.

Ding ding dong dong.

A wide river flows beside Xia Daoyun, down the slope and winding on the plain below.

On the plain, next to the river, there is a human town. It is early morning, and there are early people working.

Somehow, it was clearly in front of him, but in Xia Daoyun's eyes, the town, the river, and the people seemed to have become a shrunken picture, hazy in the early morning mist, like a dream.

She looked back, that was the direction the light came from, and it was also the direction she came from.

A fiery red sun jumped up from the end of the grassland, dispersing the mist and bringing her back to reality.

In the blink of an eye, the rivers and mountains are red, everything is flourishing, and it is so green that it seems to be flowing with juice.

"Looking back at this desolate place, there was neither wind nor rain."

Xia Daoyun's heart suddenly surged with open-minded heroism, relief and spirituality, and all the distracting thoughts and noises were dispersed.

…

After standing quietly for a while facing the early sun, Xia Daoyun gathered up his coir raincoat and set off on the road again.

This time, she was not walking in the cold snowy mountains or vast grasslands, but striding towards the noisy towns and the noisy world.

The weather on Yangguan Avenue was pleasant and the journey was smooth. In just ten days, we had already passed two states and several countries, and entered and exited dozens of cities.

The roads have also changed from rugged mountain roads to spacious city roads or post roads. What they see and hear along the way are completely different, giving Xia Daoyun a completely different experience and state of mind from before.

Businessmen who drive horse-drawn carriages to meet merchants along the way, scholars who have studied hard for ten years and come to Beijing to take exams and are eager to win the gold medal, agricultural and sideline vendors who carry fruits and vegetables from outside the city into the city, officials who have been demoted... Bustling, dense but not chaotic, walking on the road, everyone wants something, everyone wants to go, and everyone has a direction.

So, where is my path?

Xia Daoyun asked himself.

Her face was cold and her expression remained unchanged, but the questions in her heart became deeper and deeper.

However, her will never wavered at all.

The heart is like a child and the mind is like steel.

Xie Qingyun's comment that Xia Daoyun is the best among flowers and the best among women in swordsmanship is no lie.

Although I have doubts, I am not confused.

She always knew her way.

A few days later, we crossed a mountain and saw blue sky and white clouds ahead.

Under the blue sky and white clouds, there is a more majestic and majestic city.

Xia Daoyun knew that he had entered the territory of Chujun. If nothing unexpected happened in front of him, he should be the city of Chujun.

There was a slight movement in her heart, with anticipation.

Because Xia Zhao told her that he had left some traces in Chujun City, traces that no one knew about.

Chujun City is a big city, with the air of a big city. There are no unnecessary cross-examinations, and there are no so-called entry fees.

Xia Daoyun entered the city leisurely. The roads in the city were clean and tidy, and the houses were also very exquisite.

She found a random pedestrian on the side of the road, asked for directions, and found the famous Swordsman Tower in Chu County City.

The Swordsman Tower is said to be famous, but in fact it is only limited to Chu County City. Looking at the entire Chu County and two states, it is just a rather inconspicuous "restaurant".

The Swordsman Building was really just a restaurant at first, with many peach blossoms planted around it.

Whenever the flowers bloom, there is a beautiful scene of peach blossoms smiling in the spring breeze. But what really makes it famous is not the beautiful scenery of peach blossoms, but the owner of the restaurant.

He was a swordsman from out of town. He was not too old and had just reached middle age. However, he did not know whether he failed in the sword competition or was plotted by his enemies. His right hand holding the sword was broken.

It is self-evident what it means for a swordsman to lose his right hand.

So, he came to Chujuncheng, where no one knew him, and built a restaurant with the savings from his wandering in the world when he was young.

In the entire city of Chu County, no one knew the name of this swordsman. They only knew that his surname was Li and that he liked crows, so some people called him Shopkeeper Li, and some people called him the Crow Swordsman.

Perhaps because the swordsman's dream was still lingering, perhaps because he was still thinking about something, or perhaps it was just a "publicity" method to open up business, shopkeeper Li set up a strange rule: he placed a huge stone tablet at the door of the restaurant to stipulate that diners enter the building. In the past, as long as the sword held in the left hand could leave a mark on the monument, all fees would be waived.

In short, because of this gimmick, Swordsman Lou suddenly became famous.

Whether they are really talented or want to cheat, many so-called "swordsmen" come to the Sword Apprentice Building every day with swords in hand.

Many people have failed and many have succeeded.

The Swordsman Tower has indeed become popular.

Seeing this, some restaurants followed suit one after another, but the effect was always unsatisfactory and tepid.

Ten years passed like this. One day, the Sword Apprentice Building suddenly closed. Someone saw Shopkeeper Li carrying a newly made iron sword made by the blacksmith in the city and heading straight out of the city. He didn't know where he was going.

A month later, Shopkeeper Li came back and the Swordsman Building reopened, but the rules remained the same.

However, people in the city discovered that many swordsmen from far away began to appear in the Swordsman Tower, which used to be a popular place in the city.

For some reason, these swordsmen squatted at the door and looked at the stone tablet covered with mottled sword marks. They often looked at it for a whole day, as if there was some mystery in it.

Later, everyone gradually knew the reason.

It turns out that Shopkeeper Li is really a very, very great swordsman. He comes from a humble background and has never studied under any famous teacher. He just made a name for himself by relying on sword moves that are regarded as the third level by martial arts masters, and he vaguely has the title of the first swordsman. .

But ten years ago, before an extremely important competition to compete for the title of the best swordsman, he was plotted by his opponent, broke his right arm, and quietly withdrew from the world.

No one thought that ten years later, he would make a comeback, with a left-handed sword that was so perfect that it was better than the right-handed sword of the past, and he would take revenge on the family of swordsmen who plotted against him.

How did he learn to wield the sword in his left hand?

Everyone is curious.

Shopkeeper Li didn't hide it, he told the truth: he learned it from the swordsman of Chujun City.

The sword manual is the stone tablet at the entrance of the Sword Apprentice Building, thus creating the scenic spot today.

It was at that time that Li Qiubei passed by Chu County City.

It seemed that he was interested in this mortal swordsman with the same surname as himself. He came to the sword apprentice building specially, handed out a sword, left his own mark on the stone tablet at the door, and then went up to the building to have a free meal.

Fortunately, Li Qiubei walked around the world in a low profile at that time and did not reveal his name, so no monks knew about it.

Otherwise, this Swordsman Building would not only be famous as it is today, but would have already become a holy land for swordsmen.

.......

The entrance to the swordsman building.

The stone tablet is old and mottled with dense sword marks.

There are no signatures on these sword marks. Who left them? Maybe after a few years, even the swordsman himself will not be able to recognize them.

But Xia Daoyun still recognized the traces left by Li Qiubei at a glance.

Some people are like gold in gravel and cannot be concealed.

Even if it's just the traces he left behind.

It was a slanting sword mark. It looked ordinary, but in fact it concealed all the other sword marks on the stone tablet. Apart from that, there was no other mystery.

All other sword marks were, to be honest, extremely mediocre in Xia Daoyun's opinion.

But it was the combination of these extremely mediocre sword marks that Li Qiubei's sword marks had a shocking power.

With his heart trembling, Xia Daoyun unconsciously reached out his hand and touched the sword mark.

Touching the sword mark that Li Qiubei left on the stone tablet, in an instant, an inexplicable spirit filled her heart.

This is...the human sword.

Xia Daoyun murmured, and after coming back to his senses, he put down his hand and looked away from the stone tablet, turning to look at this restaurant with a long history in the peach forest.

After looking around, her eyes finally fell on the plaque hanging in the restaurant.

Maybe the original sign was too old, so the restaurant recently made a new plaque, which looks brand new.

The sunlight falls on the plaque, making the three characters on the plaque shine with golden light.

The moment he saw those three big characters, Xia Daoyun was shocked.

She suddenly understood why Li Qiubei said that "if you want to take the road of invincibility, you must first walk through countless roads."

I understand why Li Qiubai wants to walk in the world like a mortal.

I also understood why Li Qiubei stopped at the Sword Disciple Tower and left traces behind.

Not because of the same "Lee" as this crow swordsman.

But because he and the crow swordsman share the same "reason".

Her mind suddenly became clear, and her long-standing doubts disappeared.

…………

The plaque is new, but the name is old.

It was the crow swordsman who got the name.

Swordsman Tower.

What is a swordsman?

Beginner to swordsmanship?

No.

A true master always has the heart of a disciple.