Knife splashing

Chapter 1 Young Swordsman

The sky was slightly bright and the morning mist was light.

This is just after Grain Full, and the proverb goes "Grain Full, Grain Full, the wheat grains are gradually becoming full." The winter wheat north of the Yangtze River begins to fill with grain and gradually becomes full, but is not yet fully mature, which is called "Grain Full."

In the Guanzhong Plain, thousands of years of wind, frost, blood, fire, and the sound of drums and horns have long been hidden in the loess gullies. At this moment, only the morning breeze blows the wheat waves, shaking off the dewdrops, making a soft rustling sound.

Bailuyuan, Lijiabao.

Two young men were walking slowly in the farmland outside the village.

The lean and capable man following behind was dressed in a coarse black shirt and leggings, with a wooden-handled spear on his shoulder.

The boy had dark skin and a smile that revealed a mouthful of white teeth.

This is a manifestation of years of field work.

Children from farming families have to follow adults to work in the fields since they were young. They go out in the wind and rain and sweat a lot under the sun. It is normal for them to be a little darker.

The one walking in front was obviously taller, with a straight back, fair skin, delicate features, and her hair tied in a casual bun.

He wore the same black cloth shirt and leggings, but he carried a bow and a sword.

The young man was not handsome, but he had delicate features and his eyes were particularly eye-catching.

The eyes are long and narrow, which are standard phoenix eyes, but the black pupils are like hanging beads. If you look into their eyes, you can feel the cold light burning you, and there is a hidden power.

This is called dragon eye, also known as dragon pupil. The "Observation of People Sutra" says: The spirit of dragon pupil is different from the world, its light is as still as a black pearl, and it is as quiet as the cold pond water in autumn. It is the wonder of the world.

Phoenix eyes with dragon eyes are an even rarer eye shape.

The young man's name is Li Yan, and he is not from this world.

Walking between the ridges of the field, he couldn't help but gently stroke the ears of wheat, feeling the fullness of each grain. His eyes narrowed slightly, the intimidating cold light disappeared, and a smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

The wheat in front of him was all planted by him.

Since coming to this world, Li Yan was a little uncomfortable at first, but when the bright lights of the previous life gradually faded from his memory, he had become accustomed to this kind of life.

The earth can accommodate everything.

Work at sunrise and rest at sunset. The anxiety and restlessness of the previous life have long been buried by the yellow earth in front of us, and dispersed by the joy of harvest again and again.

"Brother Yan."

The dark-skinned young man behind him interrupted his thoughts, looked around and said, "'Blind Third' may have already run away, let's go back."

Li Yan turned his head away and said, "You coward, why don't you avenge Erniu?"

"What are you talking about!"

The dark-skinned young man looked as if his tail had been stepped on. His face flushed red, and he twisted his neck and said, "Erniu is my sister. If I don't take revenge, I will pull out a feather from my ball and strangle myself to death!"

"It's just that the wolves eat the chickens on the sheds, and the wolves are happy. We didn't go out at night and didn't look around at noon. How can we find it so early in the morning?"

"You have such a lot of words to say, your child is going to take the imperial examination!"

Li Yan cursed, looked at the mountains in the distance and shook his head, "'Blind Third' is not an ordinary wolf..."

The wolves have been causing harm in Guanzhong since ancient times.

Especially in the past two years, something unknown happened in the Qinling Mountains. Evil wolves often emerged and came down the mountain to cause trouble on various plateaus.

These wolves are bigger, more ferocious and more cunning than before.

They not only harm livestock, but also like to eat children.

"Chicken on the shelf" means evening, and "ye duan lie" means noon.

"When a chicken is on a cage, the wolf eats the baby; when the grandfather is at the table, the wolf is happy" means that wolves like to appear at these two times.

Some people may be curious. It would be fine if it happened at night, but how could a wolf dare to enter the village and harm people in the middle of the day?

However, they don’t know that the common people work hard all day, getting up early and going to bed late to avoid the hottest time of the day at noon, which is also when wolves appear.

They are extremely cunning and will take advantage of the adults' deep sleep at noon to secretly pull out the children trapped in the room. This is called "pulling garlic sprouts".

They will even hide in the wheat fields, whimpering and crying like babies. If children curiously go into the wheat fields, they will be taken away.

"Blind Old Third" is a wolf that came down from the Qinling Mountains.

It is thicker than other wolves.

In the past two years, all the villages in Bailuyuan have set traps to prevent wolves. When "Blind Third" first arrived, he fell into the trap and was shot blind in one eye. He then held a grudge and came to cause trouble in Lijiabao.

He escaped every time after being encircled and suppressed.

Since then, the nickname "Blind Old Third" began to spread.

Some people say that this "Blind Third" is different from other wolves. He grew up in Zhong Nanshan and acquired the spiritual energy of the mountain and became a Taoist.

Some people were afraid of it and even wanted to build a temple to worship it so that it would no longer come to the village to cause harm. Fortunately, they were stopped by the patriarch of the Li family.

In short, "Blind Third Brother" has become a kind of fear in Lijiabao.

Around the time of summer harvest every year, wolf disasters are at their worst.

Erniu is Heidan’s sister, who is just two years old. When her parents went to the fields, they were afraid that it would be unsafe to leave the child at home, so they carried her on their backs.

Halfway through the work, I left it on the ground because it was inconvenient.

The field is close to the official road and there are many villagers coming and going, so it is considered relatively safe.

Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, "Blind Third Brother" jumped out, picked up Erniu and ran away.

The people of Lijiabao chased for several miles with sickles and hoes, but when they found him, all that was left was a circle of tattered bloody plates.

Heidan's mother cried bitterly, and his father was even more angry. He took his brothers and searched all over the mountains for several days and nights, but unfortunately found nothing.

Later, someone advised that since she was a girl after all and it was the busy farming season, the search was stopped.

But Heidan couldn't forget and asked Li Yan for help.

Li Yan also wanted to get rid of this scourge, so he thought about it.

He guessed that this "blind third brother" was really cunning, and might appear like the army's sneak attack, not at night or at noon, but before dawn when people were most asleep, so he got up two hours early in the past few days with Heidan to search. However, after several consecutive days, not even a single wolf hair was found.

This made Li Yan start to doubt his own judgment.

As the two were talking, the sky in the distance had turned pale, casting a dark shadow on the winding mountain range, and smoke was rising from Lijiabao.

"Let's go."

Li Yan pressed the hilt of the knife at his waist and shook his head, saying, "Continue tomorrow."

Although Heidan was disappointed, he nodded.

The kid from Guanzhong is very stubborn. He has already made a plan. When he kills "Blind Third Brother", the matter will be over.

The two did not take the main road, but instead headed towards the village along the hillside.

Heidan came out secretly. He wanted to climb over the back wall of the village back home before his parents noticed. Otherwise, if he was discovered, he would never be able to get out again.

The closer they got to the village, the more depressed Heidan became, and he became quieter.

Li Yan glanced at it and asked, "What's going on?"

Heidan muttered, "After a while, Dad will take me to work as a wheat picker."

Li Yan frowned when he heard this, "If you don't want to collect your own land, why go out?"

Heidan said, "My father told me that many factories opened in Tianjin and Jiangnan last year, and many young people went there to make money. Now there is not enough manpower in every plateau."

"This year, several big employers have already announced that they will pay me a lot of wages. My father wants to take me around and save some money for me to marry a wife."

Wheat harvesting is an ancient profession.

Due to climate differences in Guanzhong, wheat generally matures from south to north and from west to east.

As the saying goes, "Three harvests of wheat are not as good as one long autumn, and three autumns are not as busy as one wheat harvest." Whenever the sickle is harvested during the Grain in Ear season and the summer wheat harvest begins, it is not much different from fighting a war.

Although drought, heat and scarce rain are the norm in Guanzhong at this time, the Dragon King might sneeze.

Wheat is most afraid of rain. Once it gets wet, it is easy to sprout or mold.

There is a folk saying: Harvesting wheat is like putting out a fire, snatching the grain from the dragon's mouth.

Therefore, at this time of year, there are people everywhere in Guanzhong who help others harvest wheat to earn a living. They are called wheat pickers.

In the past, the wheat pickers did not earn much money, but if the employer was kind, he would treat them with white flour buns, which made the wheat pickers grateful.

When the years were bad, they couldn’t even afford much multi-grain cake, let alone wages.

Even so, there is still an endless stream of wheat pickers.

The reason is simple. By eating other people's food, you can save your own food.

People's lives are difficult, so what's the point of selling one's strength?

Li Yan knew that Heidan was not afraid of being tired, but was afraid that after the summer harvest, "Blind Old Third" would run away to another place or go into the Qinling Mountains, and the matter would be left unresolved.

Thinking of this, he patted Heidan on the shoulder and said seriously, "Don't worry, eating one of your chickens will count as the deposit. I will definitely do what Blind Third wants!"

"Brother Yan, I believe you!"

Heidan nodded seriously.

The 800-li Qinchuan area in Guanzhong has been home to a strong culture of chivalry since ancient times.

Now there is also a swordsman in Guanzhong who keeps his promise.

Li Yan's father was once a famous swordsman in Guanzhong.

Many people in the village believe that Li Yan will follow his father's path in the future.

As if he had let go of his worries, Heidan looked towards the mountains in the distance again, with a glimmer of longing in his eyes, "I heard that the young men who went out to be apprentices last year all sent money back home before the New Year..."

"Brother Yan, what do you think the other side of the mountain looks like?"

Li Yan sneered, "What can it be? It's still a mountain and a human after all."

Before he finished speaking, his expression changed slightly. He held Heidan down, sniffed the air, and lowered his voice to ask, "Heidan, do you smell anything?"

Heidan also sniffed and said in confusion: "No."

Li Yan didn't say much, his expression gradually becoming solemn.

In the fields and farmlands, there are some mysterious stories, such as "ghost covering the eyes", "encountering a guest", "tiger aunt", etc.

There was not much entertainment in the village. Only during festivals or temple fairs would the clan invite opera troupes from Chang'an City, and then people from all the surrounding villages would gather.

On weekdays, the stories told by the village elders under the old trees in the evening became the entertainment of the children and were passed down from generation to generation.

Among those stories, there are those about kings, princes, generals and ministers, but most of them are absurd and bizarre.

Some people believe it without a doubt and keep saying that such a thing has happened in a certain village, but they have never seen it with their own eyes.

Some people sneered and thought it was a joke.

But Li Yan vaguely felt that some of these things might be true.

The reason is simple. A year ago, his sense of smell began to change. Not only was it extremely sensitive, but he could also smell some smells that others could not.

For example, at the village land temple, even if there was no incense burning, he could still smell a faint scent of burning incense...

For example, every time I passed by the widow Wang's house in the village, I could smell some kind of incense, but it also had a fishy smell...

Now, he smelled another scent.

It smells fishy, ​​cold, and bloody.

He had smelled this fishy smell when he found the remains of Erniu...

　New book is on the shelf, please collect it, please vote for it, please give me a sharp review

　　
　
(End of this chapter)