Thousands of miles away in Changzhou City, the spring sun is shining brightly, but in Qianzhou, located in the southwest of the Central Plains, it has been rainy for several consecutive months. People here have almost forgotten the feeling of the sun shining on their bodies. It is rainy in March.

It is true to say this in the land of Qianzhou.

Qianzhou has many high mountains and dense forests, the terrain is rugged and dangerous, the clouds are thick, and the drizzle is even colder to the bone. At this moment, on a muddy path among the high mountains and ridges in Qianzhou, there are two figures, a skinny horse, stumbling with difficulty.

And go.

The horse had become so thin that it was just skin and bones. It would be no exaggeration to say that it was skinny, but it was actually a good horse, at least that could be seen from its limbs and skeleton.

But the two people were one old and one young, both wearing bamboo hats and raincoats. However, their shoes and trouser legs had already been soaked with mud and water, and they were shivering from the cold.

"Master, how long do we have to walk before we can leave the mountain?" The young man suddenly spoke. He looked about fourteen or fifteen years old, with a skinny body. Although his face and eyebrows were well-shaped and had a hint of aura, he was still the same.

He was very skinny, with only two ounces of flesh, and looked malnourished. He took off his bamboo hat and looked up at the towering mountains, with helplessness and exhaustion written on his slightly childish face.

"Did you remember the wrong way? We have been walking for two days in a row and still haven't left these mountains. The weather is so wet and cold that my feet are almost broken." He muttered and added,

Deliberately showing his dissatisfaction.

"Mingchuan, I told you yesterday that when heaven assigns a great task to a person, he must first strain his mind, strain his muscles and bones, and starve his body. How much tiredness can you get before you can't bear it?"

The old man who spoke was about sixty years old, and he was also thin and thin. He wore a shabby Qingbu Confucian shirt under his raincoat. Although his face under the bamboo hat had long left traces of time, he had the quiet look of a scholar.

Judging from his bookish appearance, the old man must have been a handsome young man with considerable talent when he was young.

When the skinny young man named Mingchuan heard this, he immediately became angry. He turned around and glared at the old man angrily, and said loudly: "I have worked my bones and muscles, starved my body and skin, and depleted my body. What you taught me

I can recite these principles by heart while sleeping, but there is another sentence at the end, which is that everything is done in a chaotic manner. Look at what we are like now, it really corresponds to this sentence."

He stepped heavily on the muddy road and continued angrily: "I told you that you are old and have a bad memory, so you should not wander into the mountains casually. You don't believe me. If there is a clean road, don't you?

Let’s go, I’m fine now. I’ve been walking for two days without seeing a way out. I think we will starve to death in these deep mountains and wild forests even if we don’t die of cold.”

The more he talked, the angrier he became. Regardless of the muddy road, he simply sat down on the roadside and stared at the old man with a pair of bright eyes.

"Oh, you can still apply what you have learned. You have made great progress. From this point of view, the teacher's earnest teachings to you are not in vain." The old man stopped the skinny horse and looked at it with a smile.

Holding a young man.

Mingchuan rolled his eyes and looked helpless. He pointed at the skinny horse and shouted: "There is also this horse. I get angry when I see it. Do you think it is still a horse? It can't even walk on its own.

It's all a waste of effort. What's the use of it besides wasting our efforts? I've told you to sell it a long time ago, wouldn't it be better to get some money and keep it? You just don't listen. Just look at what it looks like and kill it.

It doesn’t even have a few kilograms of meat, so it’s just a burden.”

The old man seemed to have been accustomed to the young man's temper. He didn't care. He just patted the thin horse beside him and said with emotion: "This old man has been with us for several years. He has worked hard without credit. Don't do it."

You despise it. Last time you were sick, it carried you for several days. Don’t you have any feelings for it?"

Mingchuan couldn't help but rolled his eyelids again, sneered, and said: "Then why didn't you tell me about the last time you rode it and it almost threw you to the bottom of the mountain? If it weren't for my quick eyesight and quick hands, you would

It rolled down the mountain and died a long time ago. Didn’t you say you would kill it one day and eat its meat to replenish my body?”

The old man immediately laughed to cover up his embarrassed expression, and said: "I said those angry words, how can I take them seriously? Besides, we should not be like animals, we should be gentlemen who are magnanimous and have a mind that can hold a boat. Even that time I

If I was really thrown to death by it, that was also my destiny, so I can’t blame it.”

It turns out that the old man's name is Shang Yixing.

If there are any other knowledgeable people present now, especially those in the martial arts world, they will definitely be shocked if they hear the name "Shang Yi Xing".

But the young Mingchuan only knew that the old man in blue and Confucian shirts was named Shang Yixing. As for what this name meant, he had no idea. In his eyes, his master was someone who always liked to use those unclear principles.

The old poor man who preached to him was really poor and sour, and he was also a liar.

"Master, why do I always feel that you are a bit hypocritical?" Mingchuan sighed, shook his head and said in disappointment: "When I first met you, you said that with you I would be able to live well and have a good life, and I would get three taels of silver every month. Who knew that if I followed you, I would

In the past few years, I have been either growing vegetables or carrying water every day on the mountain. I haven't even seen any oil or meat, let alone any money. I am so blinded by lard that I would worship you, an old and sour scholar, as my teacher. It is really unkind to meet people.

"

The old man in green shirt simply followed and sat next to Mingchuan. He reached out and gave the young man a slap on the head, pretending to be angry and said: "Those are external things, how can you be so young and greedy?

You must learn to be upright and cultivate virtue, and don't think about gains and losses. What's wrong with growing vegetables and carrying water? At least you won't starve to death by relying on your own efforts. Besides, didn't I teach you to learn the "Haoran Mingjuan"? Then

But I am too lazy to teach others who want to learn what I know as a teacher, so you can’t be ignorant."

Mingchuan let out an ouch when he knocked him, and stretched out his hands to hold his head. He bared his teeth and shouted: "Stop carrying books for me. I get a headache when I see those words. Besides, what's the use of those principles you taught me?"

, just the two of us, where can I go to quote and confirm those truths?”

"Reading thousands of books is not as good as traveling thousands of miles." Shang Yixing raised his head and looked at the gloomy sky, "Shouldn't I take you out to gain experience?"

"Is this what you call a long experience?" Mingchuan's eyes widened, and he made gestures with his hands from head to toe, making a gesture to show his whole body, and then spread his hands towards the old poor man, "I became this miserable after you.

Do you call this gaining knowledge? If I had known that this was knowledge, I would have preferred to stay in the mountains and grow vegetables. Speaking of which, when I left, the sprouts in the two fields at the door had just sprouted. Now that they have been out for a few months, they are still growing.

I wonder what they are like." He suddenly slapped his thigh and said suddenly: "Oh, why didn't you remind me to take care of those pesky birds on the mountain before I left? It's good now, my two pieces

The vegetable patch has definitely made them cheaper." He cursed as he spoke, looking very annoyed.

Seeing how anxious he was, Shang Yixing couldn't help but laugh. His eyes when he looked at Mingchuan became gentle, and he said softly: "You won't even forget the food at home, so how could you be willing to throw away this food?"

Where is the old horse? The so-called acquaintance between people is the most important thing, and the most important thing for people to know each other is knowing their hearts. Although you have sharp teeth and sharp mouth, how can you not know what kind of teacher you are in your heart? What I have taught you about how to behave in life

The truth is not for you to explain to others, but for you to understand it yourself. No matter how great or numerous the truths you explain to others, if you don’t understand and can’t do it yourself, then it becomes the most ridiculous and unreasonable thing.

He suddenly lowered his head and seemed to sigh secretly, saying: "I will take you out. This road is a bit harder, but it is not without its benefits. You don't understand much now, but when you are older, you will

You will understand naturally."

If he had to speak like a poor old man normally, Mingchuan would have jumped up and confronted him with all kinds of rogue excuses. But now Mingchuan could clearly feel the profound meaning in the old man's tone, so for the first time, he did not refute, only curled his lips.

Shang Yixing looked at the endless mountains in the distance and murmured: "Mingchuan, you can be lazy with the other books I asked you to read, but you must read "Haoran Mingjuan" with your heart every day, while I can still breathe.

If you are angry for a few days, I can give you some guidance if you don’t understand anything. You have a good talent, but don’t waste your talent carelessly.”

Mingchuan winked and said: "Master, there is a question I have wanted to ask for a long time, and I have to ask it today. You taught me how to read and read the books of sages and sages so that I could understand the principles of life. I understand this. But you said that "

"Haoran Mingjuan" is a martial arts mental method. I don't understand this. I'm not one of those martial arts people. What's the use of learning this kind of thing? You said "Haoran Mingjuan" is the most righteous martial arts in the world. How can you learn it?

Will it be possible to get twice the result with half the effort when planting vegetables in the future?”

Hearing the words, Shang Yixing couldn't help but smile bitterly. He stretched out his hand again, ready to give the young man a crack, but stopped midway. He sighed slightly, put his palm on the young man's shoulder, and said softly: "I will teach you the sages' calligraphy.

, I want you to be sensible and moral and upright in your spirit; I want you to practice martial arts to strengthen your body and build up the courage to face unknown difficulties alone in the future. As the saying goes, a gentleman keeps improving himself." He paused, his expression

Gradually becoming more serious, he continued: "For martial arts, it is not exclusive to people in the martial arts world. In ancient times, the sage masters used the courage of a gentleman to teach the six arts of a gentleman, including the way of 'control' and 'shooting'

.So it is normal for even scholars to practice martial arts."

He looked at Mingchuan again and said: "Although I am indeed a poor and poor scholar, my mind is not pedantic. I don't want my apprentice to be a powerless nerd in the future."

Suddenly a gust of cold wind came from the mountains, making Mingchuan's skinny body shiver. Mingchuan wiped his nose, shrank back, and said: "We are living a good life farming in the mountains. As long as we don't travel around the world, there will be no life."

Trouble. If there is no trouble, then there is no need to practice martial arts. Master, don’t you often say that you should convince others with virtue?"

"To convince people with virtue, you are right." Shang Yixing murmured: "Who doesn't hope that everyone can be virtuous and reasonable? But in this world, there are too many things that cannot be solved with reason, and discord

There are too many people you reason with. That’s why we have this chaotic world today.” He smiled bitterly at Mingchuan and said, “You are too naive, you think there will be no trouble in the mountains? In fact, as long as we still

As long as you are alive, you are already in the world."

He lowered his head, looked at the muddy road under his feet, and sighed in a low voice with a rather helpless tone: "And some troubles are not the troubles of one person."

He seemed to fall into silence suddenly, and seemed to be remembering something.

Mingchuan looked at the old poor man with strange eyes, sniffed and said, "Master, you seem to be a little abnormal today."

Shang Yixing came to his senses and said something without any beginning or end: "This world is not normal, let alone a human being?"

Mingchuan was too lazy to think about these inexplicable things anymore. He touched his belly and said with a bitter face: "Master, no matter how many principles you have, you still need to be strong and have a full stomach. Look, there is no village or shop here.

I will starve to death if I go down any further."

As soon as he finished speaking, his stomach really growled.

Shang Yixing also frowned and said: "You are hungry, and I am empty too. Didn't there be a few steamed buns yesterday? "

Mingchuan reached out and groped in his arms for a while, and took out a steamed bun that was already hard and cold.

"This is the only one left." Mingchuan suddenly rolled his eyes. He handed the steamed bun to Shang Yixing and said, "I am your apprentice, so I respect the old and love the young, so I give it to you."

Shang Yixing chuckled and reached out to take the bun. He was secretly happy and said casually that you have a good conscience.

But before he finished speaking, Mingchuan stared at his face and said, "I already respect the elderly. Master, will you love the young?"

Shang Yi Xing almost lost his temper immediately.

He rolled his eyes, pushed the bun into Mingchuan's hand, and looked at the skinny boy with contempt, "Okay, let's eat it for you, I love children, right? Anyway, I won't starve to death if I don't take this bite."

When he said this, he didn't have the elegance of a scholar at all.

Mingchuan chuckled, then split the steamed bun into two halves and gave half of it to Lao Qiongsu.

He gnawed on the cold steamed buns and said to Shang Yixing: "Master, when you give me all the money you owe me, I will definitely treat you to a nice meal. Let me calculate, I followed you four times

Years, four years are forty-eight months. If you get three taels of silver per month, then you will have one hundred and forty-four taels in four years. Then you can give me one hundred and fifty taels to make up the whole number, and the extra five taels will be treated as this.

It’s been four years of interest. After all, we are just masters and apprentices, so we don’t need much interest.” He squinted his eyes, chewed the steamed bun in his mouth, and said with a strange smile: “Look, I’m not nice to you at all.

To rip you off..."

"puff……"
To be continued...