ninety thousand miles

Chapter 545 Before the Hero
Cen the blacksmith said, "But when things got suppressed here, things started to happen over there. In short, there was no peace. Five or six days later, when everything was sorted out, more than a dozen soldiers were poisoned. Fortunately, the poisoning was not serious, and the antidote pills from the Imperial Observatory worked. Later we found out that it was the Scorpion Demon from the Purple Cloud Cave who came."

Li Chuan felt it was difficult to listen to this. He said, "No wonder it took so long to defeat Lanshan Pavilion. When I was in Yashan County, I heard that Lanshan Pavilion had just been defeated, and I knew there must be a lot of inside information, but I didn't expect it to be so difficult."

"It was okay afterwards," said Cen the blacksmith. "At first I thought that Master Chang was arranged to take the credit, but without him, we really couldn't have taken the city. The general and his family did a good job in exterminating the monsters, but I'm afraid his later behavior won't end well." Then he added, "After taking the city, I planned to go back, but Master Chang asked me to stay, and I refused."

"Why?" Wukong asked.

"I also tried to learn the weapons you and I used," Blacksmith Cen said to Li Chuan. "I didn't learn them, but I did learn something else from them. Later, I tried to make some on my own. Although they are not as good as the ones you made, they are still much better than what I made before."

As he spoke, he took out a short knife and handed it to Li Chuan.
Li Chuan took it and took a look, and indeed felt somewhat familiar with it.

Blacksmith Cen said, "So I promised to give it to Master Chang. The Imperial Observatory will send a batch of such weapons every year. When I have some free time, I want to continue to study and see what kind of things I can make. There are too many chores to do in the military camp, and I want to take care of them when I see them. So I can only stay at home, where it is quiet and I can slowly explore."

"That's a good thing." Wukong said.

Tong Luo said: "Now the three big monsters in our Chao Bing County have been eliminated. It's really... This is something that I couldn't even think about in the past. No matter what will happen in ten or twenty years, at least we have gotten rid of this bad feeling now."

"Indeed, it's time to have a drink," said Li Chuan.

"Yes, yes, yes." Jiang Bai said.

After a round of drinking, the third person advised Li Chuan: "Brother, don't drink anymore today."

"I take medicine every day, don't worry." Li Chuan said.

After eating and drinking, they basked in the sun and drank tea.

“When the Great Demon Collection is published next year, I’m afraid that the number will be half less,” said Blacksmith Cen.

"Will you really continue to fight monsters?" Tong Luo asked.

"I listen to what Mr. Chang says, and I feel it will happen," said Blacksmith Cen.

"Of course." Gong Er said.

“Maybe there will be no “Great Demon Collection” in the future,” Wukong said.

"..."

Li Chuan didn't know whether he was drunk or tired. He felt that the figure in front of him and the voice in his ears gradually became blurred.

It’s okay to fall asleep at Brother Tong’s house.

Then he fell asleep.

When I woke up again, everything was quiet.

So thirsty.

He threw back his quilt, stood up, walked to the table, picked up the kettle and drank two sips. Then he looked out the window and saw Cen the blacksmith in the yard.

Li Chuan walked out and asked, "Where are the others?"

At this time, Li Chuan heard a burst of giggles, and he realized that Blacksmith Cen was holding a child in his arms, who was A Tu, the child of Tong Luo and Zhuo Er Niang.

Cen the blacksmith explained, "Just now, Granny Liu came to ask my sister-in-law to go shopping together. She wanted to refuse, but we let her go. There are so many people here, and they just want to take care of a child."

"Oh, then...what about the others?" Li Chuan asked again.

Blacksmith Cen said, "After my sister-in-law went out, we talked about hunting. Brother Tong said that there were many foxes and hares in the forest outside recently. He set a trap, so they went out together to see if they caught any prey. I was too lazy to move, so I stayed behind."

Blacksmith Cen said, "Look, how close is Ah Tu to me?"

"This child is not afraid of strangers," Li Chuan said as he walked over and said, "Give me a hug."

Blacksmith Cen handed Ah Tu over and Li Chuan picked him up carefully. Ah Tu seemed very happy being held by him and started giggling again.

"Two years ago, you said you would be faster than Brother Tong. Now his child is so big, he will be able to walk in a few months. What about you?" asked Cen the blacksmith. "I don't have time to think about this," Li Chuan held Ah Tu and sat down next to Cen the blacksmith, saying, "I have been running around or recovering from injuries in the past few years. I have no time to rest. I am recovering now."

"I see you are very happy." said Blacksmith Cen.

"Yes," Li Chuan admitted, "I'm happy if I can be of some use. And I can't sit idle."

"Then don't be afraid." said Blacksmith Cen.

"I'm not scared, really." Li Chuan denied it.

Blacksmith Cen did not press the issue any further. He said, "Come to my place in a few days and let your wife Zhu stew a big goose for you."

"Okay." Li Chuan agreed immediately.

"There's still some money owed for the weapons we made before. Will we still divide the profits according to the previous ones?" said Blacksmith Cen.

"Did you hit those yourself?" Li Chuan asked.

"That's right." said Blacksmith Cen.

"You figured it out on your own, why would you give me the money?" Li Chuan refused, saying, "That doesn't make sense. Don't be so hypocritical with me. Stew more chicken and goose for me."

"Okay." Blacksmith Cen agreed.

At this time, A Tu suddenly started crying.

Li Chuan panicked: "He's crying, what should I do?"

"Give it to me." said Blacksmith Cen.

Li Chuan hurriedly handed A Tu over. Blacksmith Cen held her in his arms and shook her a few times in a seemingly experienced manner, but A Tu cried even louder.

"Should we coax her while walking?" Li Chuan suggested. He remembered that this was how Zhuo Er Niang coaxed her last time.

"I'll try." Blacksmith Cen said, and started walking in circles, but Ah Tu cried even louder.

When Li Chuan and Cen the blacksmith were at their wits' end, Zhuo Er Niang finally came back.

She put the basket aside, took Ah Tu from the blacksmith Cen, and shook him twice, and he stopped crying. She said, "He's hungry, I'll go in first." Then she carried Ah Tu into the house.

Li Chuan let out a long sigh and then realized that he was sweating.

After a while, Tong Luo and his friends came back and indeed caught a fox and two hares.

Tong Luo put the hare into the cage and said, "The weather is getting cloudy. It might rain."

Hearing this, Li Chuan raised his head and saw that the clouds had indeed become thicker.

So after dinner, Li Chuan and his friends said goodbye and left. Sure enough, soon after they returned home, it started to rain. He listened to the sound of the rain and felt at peace.

He lit the lamp and wrote down what he was going to do on the paper. The more he wrote, the neater his handwriting became, and after writing the three words "Shenxia Temple", he suddenly stopped.

Luo Xueli said that the answer lies in what happened when the hero was born, the legend of the hero, and the story of the filial son who cut off his own head to save his father...

Are they going to cut off my head? That's too outrageous.

No, that's not right, maybe that's not the end. Li Chuan put down his pen, walked to the window and opened it.

It was raining heavily and the cold wind blew the rain into his face.

Five hundred years ago, more than a thousand years ago, Tiansu Cave was hidden in Xuanshui Mountain...

(End of this chapter)