Chapter 1 Chen Family Village

Chen Family Village, also known as Chen Family Hamlet, was where villagers made their living by fishing and farming.

At the village's small dock, a large group of locals had gathered. A stage had been set up, with cloth curtains shielding it on the left, right, top, and back. In the middle sat a middle-aged storyteller.

The storyteller's surname was Zhou. He was originally a merchant from the surrounding villages, but after his business failed, he simply started a storytelling business with his son.

He had a silver tongue and was well-traveled. He avoided towns and instead chose villages with larger populations and more prosperity.

He divided his stories into two sessions:

One after lunch and one after dinner. This covered meals for himself and his son. Before leaving, he would also receive a sum of money from the village elder as a token of appreciation.

The money wasn't much, but it was just a matter of using his mouth. In the eyes of outsiders, his words were worthless, so it could be considered a business with no capital.

Lunch was eaten at the village elder's house. After finishing, the villagers had already set up the stage.

Mr. Zhou sat down in the center of the stage with his erhu (a two-stringed bowed instrument), while his son sat behind him with a wooden fish (a percussion instrument).

Simple instruments were just to set the mood. With his son chiming in at the right moments, the story could begin.

Actually, after doing this for so long, he had already exhausted all the stories he knew. So, from time to time, he had to go to large teahouses in the towns to listen to new stories.

In Mr. Zhou's words, this was called replenishing.

After replenishing, he had to vividly process the stories himself.

The audience was different. Villagers were naturally less sensitive to outside affairs than people in the towns. As long as the story was exciting, they would cheer and applaud. It wasn't uncommon for them to want you to tell the same story for two or three days in a row.

"Halt!"

Mr. Zhou clapped his hands.

"Does everyone know what happened on the night when our Great Yan army conquered Yingdu, the capital of the Chu slaves?"

Son: "What happened?"

"Ha, that night, a fire phoenix spirit as large as a Kunpeng (a mythical bird) appeared in the sky above Yingdu. Its size was much larger than the entire Yingdu city."

Son: "Hiss!!!"

All the villagers listening to the story below also gasped in unison.

"Afterwards, Lord Pingxi rode his pixiu (a mythical beast) and galloped over. He flew up from outside the south gate of Yingdu and engaged in a shocking battle with the fire phoenix spirit!

That battle,

It can be said to have changed the color of the mountains and rivers, and made the sun and moon dim..."

Chen Xianba carried an old scholar on his back to the outer edge of the dock. The old scholar had roasted peanuts in his pocket, eating two himself and then peeling one and throwing it into Chen Xianba's mouth.

"Old man, I'm at a loss, you gave me this name, and I still have to serve you."

Chen Xianba had never been satisfied with his name because in the local dialect, Xianba Xianba was very similar to the local name for turtles.

Because of this name, Chen Xianba had been laughed at by children his age since he was a child. Now it was much better. He had grown up, was large, and could beat people up, so no one dared to laugh at his name anymore.

"Hey, you don't know anything. Some people have bad fates and are afraid that they won't be able to survive, so they take a humble name, hoping to get some luck from the earth to avoid dying young;

As for you,

Your boy has too good a fate, too much is as bad as too little, so you have to take this kind of unscrupulous name to vent some of it, otherwise, be careful of being stuffed to death."

"It would be great to be stuffed to death. I haven't had a decent full meal in my life!"

"Donkey, if you were really allowed to eat your fill every day, your parents would have to starve to death."

Chen Xianba's nickname was Donkey, which, like his given name, was given to him by the old scholar.

At this time,

Chen Xianba saw Chen Afei supporting his blind grandmother walking towards the outer edge of the crowd, probably also to listen to the story.

"Afei."

"Brother Donkey!"

"Get lost, go, go, go!"

Chen Xianba shouted with extreme disgust.

Afterwards,

The two young men each helped their elders to a seat, finding a wooden stump for them to sit on.

Chen Xianba tugged on Chen Afei's shoulder and said,

"Let's go catch two fish in the ditch."

Catching fish in the winter depended on skill, and Chen Xianba was undoubtedly a master at it.

"Aren't you going to listen to the storyteller? He's telling the story of Lord Pingxi, your favorite."

"I've heard it several times, I'm not listening anymore, it's better to catch two fish."

Chen Xianba wanted to listen. He never got tired of hearing the story of Lord Pingxi.

But the problem was that he knew that Afei had pawned some things again a few days ago to get medicine for his grandmother. Pottery jars were worthless, but Afei's family was poor to begin with.

Having grown up together, he felt he should help at this time.

Chen Afei glanced at Mr. Zhou, who was still spitting and gesticulating on the stage with some regret. He also liked to listen to stories, but he could only nod and say,

"Okay, we can have fish soup."

Chen Xianba walked in front,

Chen Afei followed behind,

Afei's right leg was lame, and he walked with a wobble, but he was young and could still keep up.

After the two boys left,

The two old people sitting on the wooden stumps,

The old scholar first took out a jade pendant from his pocket and handed it to the old woman:

"I redeemed it, it was pawned a few days ago to get medicine."

The old woman shook her head and didn't accept it,

She just said indifferently,

"It's just a worthless piece of jade. If you like it, keep it and play with it. If you don't like it, throw it away."

"You really don't want it?" the old scholar asked again.

"You should understand the principle of not accepting food that comes with contempt."

The old scholar sighed and said,

"I understand, but in my life, I have rarely seen someone who deliberately came to suffer. I don't know what Afei's identity is, but I know that with your ability, you wouldn't let him wear ragged clothes all year round and have problems with food and drink."

The old woman closed her eyes,

And said,

"In this world, there are too many things that you don't understand, and I don't understand. Since we can't understand everything, then let's not understand it."

"Hey, okay."

The old scholar took back the jade and stretched out his hand, placing it on the old woman's wrist.

The old woman didn't resist, letting him take her pulse.

"The pulse is stable and normal," the old scholar said.

"Most scholars in this world have a problem, that is, after reading a few books on war, they think they are Confucian generals, and after reading a few books on medicine, they think they are famous doctors.

My illness is not in my body, but in my heart.

Physical injuries are actually easy to heal, but the illness in the heart is the most debilitating."

"That sounds like something a qi refiner would say."

The old woman stopped talking, as if she was listening attentively to Mr. Zhou telling the story on the stage in front.

But the old scholar couldn't help but continue:

"Thank you."

The old woman narrowed her eyes and looked at the old scholar.

The old scholar stretched and then continued to peel peanuts, slowly saying;

"Just now, Donkey asked me why I gave him this name. I said he had to use this name to vent;

But in reality,

It's just a name, after all, how much effect can it have?

Donkey,

Staying here will delay him, he has to follow a noble."

Saying that,

The old scholar looked at the old woman, "I thought you would stop him."

"It's fine as long as the children can play together, why should we interfere?"

"That's true." The old scholar sniffed, "Afei is actually quite smart."

The old woman opened her mouth and said;

"It can be quiet, listen to the storyteller."

"Hey, what's so good about the mystical things he's talking about? Do you like to listen?"

"Like."

"Well, let's listen together."

...

On the ice, Chen Xianba, ignoring the cold, lay there carefully observing.

Young men were naturally energetic, and Chen Xianba seemed to contain a fire within him. He dared to roll around on the ice in just a single layer of clothing, repeatedly observing.

On the other side, Afei, who was holding a rattan preparing to weave a fish basket, was also squatting there, fully alert.

After a while,

Chen Xianba picked up the pickaxe and quickly chiseled the ice beneath him. Then, he suddenly lunged forward, falling to the ice hole he had dug earlier, threw away the pickaxe, and directly put his hands into the water.

"Smack!"

Chen Xianba grabbed a very large fish.

This kind of fish-catching skill hardly used too many complicated tools, it could be said to be miraculous.

Chen Afei held down the fish and began to thread the rattan.

Chen Xianba then smiled and prepared to walk back from the ice, but suddenly froze, his eyes narrowed, and he looked around;

Winter was a season of decline for all things, but even on the snowy plains, the cold could not make all living things extinct.

But now,

The surrounding forest suddenly became eerily quiet.

Chen Xianba slowly lowered his body, like a leopard, ready to sprint.

Afei continued to string the fish,

Until,

A pair of boots appeared behind him.

"Afei, be careful!"

Chen Xianba rushed over like an arrow, holding the pickaxe he had used to break the ice in his hand.

Li Liangshen reached out,

Grabbed forward,

Directly grabbed the oncoming pickaxe in Chen Xianba's hand,

And then, lifted Chen Xianba up with the pickaxe, then with a wave of his arm, the whole of Chen Xianba was thrown out.

"Bang!"

He slammed on the ice and slid along it.

But Chen Xianba quickly got up again, on all fours, and launched a second charge.

Li Liangshen was slightly surprised by the young man's innate physique.

When the young man rushed over,

He raised his foot,

And kicked.

"Bang!"

Chen Xianba was kicked away again.

Then,

He got up from the ground again, but this time, he staggered, and the soreness all over his body made it difficult for him to continue.

However,

He still gritted his teeth and managed to stand up for the third time.

Yan Feizi had said that if this child was properly trained, given time, he might become another Tian Wujing.

Now it seemed,

That this was true.

Chen Xianba charged over for the third time, his speed was much slower, but just before he was about to touch him, his speed suddenly increased, revealing his cunning.

The sword at Li Liangshen's waist moved.

The sword flew out and slapped downwards.

"Bang!"

Chen Xianba was knocked to the ground, the ancient greatsword was pressed against his body, and he could no longer get up, he could only lift his head with difficulty, his face covered in blood.

At the same time,

From the surrounding forest,

A group of soldiers wearing black armor came out, and they had long been surrounded here.

The big fish that had been caught from the river was still wriggling its body, and Chen Afei was stunned by the scene, squatting there, motionless.

Li Liangshen walked to Chen Afei again,

Looked down,

Looking at him,

Chen Afei's body began to tremble.

Li Liangshen shook his head slightly helplessly,

But just as he was about to make the next move,

He suddenly discovered that

The young man squatting in front of him had actually taken out a dagger without anyone noticing, and stabbed it into his boot.

The dagger was very sharp, and the young man's movements were also very secretive;

Most importantly, Li Liangshen was not prepared.

Blood,

Oozed from Li Liangshen's boots, he was injured.

The young man looked up,

The previous fear had disappeared, replaced by a fierce look,

He pointed to the dagger,

Said:

"The dagger is poisoned, let him go, and I'll give you the antidote."

Li Liangshen smiled,

Okay,

It was alright,

It was really alright,

The young man who had been knocked down three times in a row made his eyes light up, but it was just that his eyes lit up.

Because for some people,

For some positions,

It didn't matter much if he didn't know martial arts.

After all, there were countless warriors willing to die for him.

Even that Lord Pingxi, Zheng Fan, no matter how much the storyteller on the dock exaggerated him, and said that he fought fiercely with the fire phoenix spirit, others didn't know, but Li Liangshen knew that the Great Yan's Lord Pingxi's martial arts were just ordinary.

Li Liangshen smiled and bent down, pulling out the dagger stuck in his boot.

Then,

Slowly kneeling down on one knee,

Said:

"Li Liangshen, the general of the Zhenbei Royal Mansion, pays respects to the young master, pays respects to... Little Marquis!"

Just as Zheng Fan sometimes called Tian Wujing Marquis instead of Prince, some titles had been used for most of his life, and it was difficult to change, especially for those who were originally close to him. Continuing to call him Marquis was a sign of affection.

Immediately afterwards,

All the black-armored soldiers around him knelt down,

And said in unison:

"Greetings, Little Marquis!"

There was no look of astonishment or joy on Afei's face. Instead, he slowly stood up, not looking at Li Liangshen kneeling there, nor at the soldiers who were almost all over the mountains.

He walked over,

And helped Chen Xianba up.

Chen Xianba's face was bruised and swollen, and his body was black and blue. Although Li Liangshen hadn't made a killing blow earlier, being beaten three times in a row by one of the four great swordsmen wouldn't be easy.

"I said, Afei, hehehe..."

Chen Xianba laughed despite the pain in his body,

"This is just like those stories about private visits that the storyteller used to tell, what are you, Little Marquis?"

Afei ignored Chen Xianba and continued to help him walk towards the village.

Li Liangshen, who was kneeling there on one knee, opened his mouth and said;

"Did Little Marquis already know his identity?"

Afei stopped,

Smiled,

And said:

"Yes, also, I know one more thing,

That is,

My father back then,

Wanted to kill me."