Sword of Coming

Song Jixin took his maid Zhigui to the foot of the old locust tree and found that the shade was crowded with people. Nearly half a hundred people were sitting on the benches and chairs that he had brought from home. One after another, children were dragging their elders over to join in the fun.

Song Jixin stood side by side with her on the edge of the tree shade. He saw an old man standing under the tree, holding a big white bowl in one hand and holding the other behind his back. He looked excited and said loudly: "I just talked about the general direction of the dragon's veins. I'll talk about it again." Saying this is a real dragon, tsk tsk, this is really amazing. About three thousand years ago, there was an incredible immortal figure in the world. He first practiced with great concentration in a certain cave heaven and paradise, attained the great truth, and then traveled around the world alone with his sword. With three feet of strength in his hand, his sharp edge was clearly visible. For some reason, this man just couldn't deal with the dragon. For three hundred springs and autumns, he killed dragons wherever there were dragons, until there were no more real dragons in the world. Then he gave up, and finally disappeared. Some people say He went to the very high place where Taoism was spread, and sat down with the Taoist ancestors to discuss Taoism. Some say he went to the far western Pure Land Buddhist Kingdom, to debate scriptures with the Buddha. Some even say that he personally sat at the gate of the Fengdu underworld to prevent evil spirits and monsters from causing trouble. world……"

The old gentleman spoke so loudly that all the people in the town were indifferent and looked at a loss.

The maid asked curiously in a low voice: "What is the three-foot spirit?"

Song Jixin smiled and said, "It's just a sword."

The maid said angrily: "Master, this old man really likes to show off his knowledge, and he doesn't speak well."

Song Jixin glanced at the old man and gloated: "There are not many literate people in our town, so this storyteller is just showing his charming eyes to the blind man."

The maid asked again: "What is the Paradise of Cave Heaven? Is there really anyone in the world who can live three hundred years? And the Fengdu Underworld, isn't it a place where only the dead can go?"

Song Jixin was confused by the question, but he didn't want to show his timidity, so he said casually: "It's all nonsense. I guess I have read a few unpopular unofficial histories of officials and used them to fool the villagers."

At this moment, Song Jixin keenly noticed that the old man glanced at him intentionally or unintentionally. Although it was just a fleeting glance, it quickly passed by, but Song Jixin still caught it carefully, but the young man didn't pay attention. Just treat it as a coincidence.

The maid looked up at the old locust tree. Fragments of light fell through the gaps in the leaves. She subconsciously narrowed her eyes.

Song Jixin turned around and looked around, suddenly stunned.

Now, this maid of mine has a side face that has just begun to lose its baby fat. She seems to be very different from the skinny, small, shriveled little maid in her memory.

According to the custom of the small town, when a woman gets married, she will hire a lucky person whose parents and children are still alive, and ask her to remove the velvet on the bride's face and cut her forehead and sideburns neatly, which is called an open face, or face opening. Raise eyebrows.

Song Jixin also heard from books about a custom that did not exist in a small town, so when Zhigui was twelve years old, he bought the best newly brewed wine in the town and moved out the porcelain bottle he had secretly hidden. The glaze is very beautiful, like green plums. After pouring wine into it, it is carefully sealed with mud and finally buried in the ground.

Song Jixin suddenly said: "Zhigui, although the guy named Chen, according to our scholar ancestors, is 'a rotten tree cannot be carved, and a wall of dung cannot be built', but no matter what, he still does it in this life." Something meaningful.”

The maid did not answer, she lowered her eyebrows, and her eyelashes could be faintly trembled.

Song Jixin thought to himself and said: "Chen Pingan is not a bad person, but he is too rigid and only accepts death in everything he does. Therefore, becoming a potter means that no matter how hard he works, he is destined to be unable to make anything. Good things with spiritual energy come, so Liu Xianyang's master, that old man Yao, has a unique vision for Chen Pingan's life and death. He has his own unique vision. This is called rotten wood that cannot be carved. As for the wall of dung that cannot be carved, the general meaning is For a poor guy like Chen Pingan, even if you put a dragon robe on him, he will still be a rustic mud-legged guy..."

When Song Jixin said this, he laughed at himself: "I am actually worse off than Chen Pingan."

She didn't know how to comfort her young master.

Song Jixin and his maidservant have always been an important source of conversation for the wealthy people on Fulu Street and Taoye Lane in this small town. This is thanks to Song Jixin's "cheap dad", Song Jixin grown ups.

There are no big names in the town, and there are no disturbances. Therefore, the kiln supervisor who was sent here by the imperial court is undoubtedly the kind of Qingtian Grand Master in the play. Among the dozens of supervisors in history, he has been appointed as the supervisor. Mr. Song was the most popular among the people when he became an official. Mr. Song was not like those high-ranking officials before. Not only did Mr. Song not hide in the official office to cultivate his moral integrity, nor did he thank guests behind closed doors, he concentrated on studying in his study, but on the burning of official kiln porcelain. He is very hands-on in everything he does, and he is more like a countryman than a craftsman or a kiln worker. For more than ten years, the originally bookish Master Song's skin has been tanned and shiny, and his usual attire is no different from that of a farmer. There is no airs in dealing with people. It is a pity that the royal porcelain fired from Long Kiln in the small town is always not satisfactory in terms of glaze color and appearance, or the shape of large and small pieces. To be precise, compared with the previous level, even It's even a little bit worse, which makes the old kilns puzzled.

In the end, the imperial court probably felt that Mr. Song, who worked conscientiously, had no merit but hard work, so he was transferred back to the capital and received a good evaluation in the official document. Before Mr. Song returned to Beijing, he spent all his money to build a covered bridge. Later, when it was discovered that Mr. Song left the convoy without a child, several prominent families in the town suddenly realized. It can be said that Master Song has accumulated a good relationship with the town, and with the careful care of the current superintendent, the young Song Jixin has been living in the town for many years, with no worries about food and clothing, and is free and easy. There are different opinions about the origin of the maid who is now named Zhigui. The locals living in Mubo Alley said that in the winter of heavy snow, a girl from out of town came begging along the road and died in a coma in the courtyard of Song Jixin's house. At the door, if someone hadn't discovered it early, he would have gone to the Lord of Hell to be reincarnated. The old man doing chores at the government office had another theory. He swore that he was an orphan that Lord Song had bought from somewhere else in his early years, in order to find a considerate person for his illegitimate son Song Jixin to make up for the incompetence of father and son. Recognize the debt.

In any case, after the maid was named Zhigui by the boy, the father-son relationship between the two was completely confirmed, because all the wealthy gentry in the town knew that Mr. Song was most fond of an inkstone, which was engraved with the word "Zhigui".

Song Jixin came back to his senses and smiled brightly, "I don't know why, but I remembered that shameless four-legged snake. Zhigui, think about it. I even threw it into Chen Pingan's yard, and it still wants to go to our house." , do you think Chen Ping'an's kennel must be so unwelcome that it would be so shabby that even a little snake wouldn't want to go in?"

The maid thought carefully and replied: "Some things are also related to fate, right?"

Song Jixin stretched out his thumb and said cheerfully: "That's exactly the truth! He Chen Ping'an is a person with little luck and luck. Just be content as long as he can live."

She said nothing.

Song Jixin said to himself: "After we leave the town, the things in the house will be taken care of by Chen Ping'an. Will this guy guard and steal?"

The maid said softly: "Master, it's not that big of a deal, is it?"

Song Jixin smiled and said: "Hey, Zhigui, do you understand the meaning of guarding and stealing?"

The maid blinked her long autumn eyes, "Isn't it literal?"

Song Jixin smiled and looked towards the south, showing a hint of yearning, "I heard that there are more books in that place in the capital than there are flowers, plants and trees in our town!"

At this moment, the storyteller was saying: "Although there are no real dragons in the world, the dragon's subordinates, such as Jiao, Qiu, Chi, etc., are still truly and truly living in the world. Maybe... "

The old man deliberately sold it off, but when he saw that the audience was indifferent and didn't know how to support him at all, he had to continue: "Maybe it is hiding among us. Taoist gods call it a hidden dragon in the abyss!"

Song Jixin yawned.

Suddenly, a locust leaf fell from the top of the head. It was so green that it just fell on the young man's forehead.

Song Jixin stretched out his hand to grab the leaf and twisted the leaf stem with his fingers.

The young man who thought it was better to go to the east gate of the city to collect debts once, when he was approaching the old locust tree, he also saw locust leaves falling in front of him, but he quickened his pace and wanted to reach out to catch them.

Just a breeze blew by, and the leaves slipped from his hands.

The boy in straw sandals had a strong body and quickly moved sideways to intercept the leaf.

However, the leaves swirled in the air again.

The young man did not believe in evil and moved around several times, but in the end he still failed to catch the locust leaf.

The young man Chen Pingan was helpless.

A young man in green shirt who played truant from a rural school passed Chen Pingan.

The young man in green shirt didn't even know when a locust leaf rested on his shoulder.

Chen Ping'an continued to the east gate of the city. Even if he couldn't get the money, it would be good to urge him.

At the fortune-telling stall in the distance, the young Taoist closed his eyes and meditated, and said to himself: "Who said that the cycle of fortune is not thick or thin?"