Start with a red name

Chapter 35: Nine Provinces
Geng Xuan did not stay long, and said goodbye and left Lao Shacai's courtyard before lunch.

After getting his promise to teach him the other two "archery techniques", Geng Xuan was no longer in a hurry and had no urgency to learn the featherless arrow and the chain tracing arrow right away.

According to the priorities he had set in his mind, he had no plans to practice these two "archery techniques" for the time being.

On the way home, Geng Xuan's mind was not on the blowgun that had just achieved minor success, nor on the other two "archery techniques" promised by Master Chai. Instead, he was still immersed in Emperor Yuan and the nine secret arts that were circulated throughout the Kyushu region and whose authenticity was unknown.

Then I thought that although more than five hundred years have passed, Jiuzhou is still struggling in the shadow of the aftermath of the huge waves caused by Emperor Yuan.

The name of the Nine Provinces on earth comes from the sky.

The ancient sages of this world divided the sky into nine areas, namely the central Juntian, the eastern Cangtian, the northeastern Mintian, the northern Xuantian, the northwest Youtian, the western Haotian, the southwest Zhutian, the southern Yantian and the southeast Yangtian.

In the minds of ancient sages, as heaven corresponds to earth, the earth should naturally be distributed in the shape of a "well" like the sky, with three vertical and three horizontal lines.

In the real world, we can always find some suitable rivers and mountains to divide the world into this ideal "well" shape, which in turn proves the correctness of the correspondence between heaven and earth.

The theory of Nine Provinces has continued to this day and has become a consensus in the world.

The so-called central Junzhou, eastern Cangzhou, northeastern Minzhou, northern Xuanzhou, northwestern Youzhou, western Haozhou, southwestern Zhuzhou, southern Yanzhou, and southeastern Yangzhou.

The most special one is Junzhou, which is located in the center of the Chinese character "井". Since legends and written records, this place has been regarded as the center of the world.

All dynasties have established their capitals here.

Conversely, only the dynasty with its capital here would be considered to have the true and complete mandate of heaven.

Later, Emperor Yuan changed the name of Junzhou to Yuanzhou, which was somewhat intended to privatize this "center of the world" and claim it for himself forever.

It’s like a child seeing something fun and declaring, “This thing is mine from now on.”

From a broad geographical perspective, Changpingfang, where Geng Xuan is currently located, is within Yuanzhou.

It is also the state that has suffered the most disasters, the most wars, and the longest-lasting unrest in the past 500 years.

The other eight states were fine, and from time to time a strong man would emerge and take one or even several states into his possession, earning a period of peace for the people under his jurisdiction for at least one or two generations, and at most three or five generations.

But Yuanzhou is different, because of its special geographical location, unique innate endowments, and a special destiny bonus that is deeply rooted in the concepts of every Kyushu person.

Whenever there is a force within Yuanzhou that shows the potential to unify the entire state, or an individual who displays extraordinary heroism or charisma, he will immediately be met with endless storms, open attacks and hidden attacks.

Without exception, they all eventually fall before they grow into towering trees.

If a strong man from another state wants to bring Yuanzhou into his territory, he will immediately enjoy the ultimate gift package -

Heroes from all over the world will attack together!
Over the past five hundred years, there have been many heroes who looked down upon the world at their peak and had their troops spread across several states, but they all ultimately failed at the last hurdle of "taking control of Yuanzhou".

No matter which situation it was, it was a catastrophe for the people of Yuanzhou.

It is also precisely because it has suffered too many "beatings" that in the past one or two hundred years, Yuanzhou as a whole has tended to lie down and let things rot.

There has never been a particularly outstanding force, a force that stands out from the crowd, or a force that is far superior to others, nor has there ever been a man or a great man with extraordinary heroism or ambition.

Besides, no other strongman from other states would dare to take control of this place despite the resistance from the whole world.

But this does not mean that Yuanzhou has become stable and peaceful.

On the contrary, Yuanzhou has become a real cesspool.

It is filthy and full of good and bad people.

Not only did all the unbearable things brewing within Yuanzhou multiply and thrive in this unique environment.

The other eight states are also continuously discharging pollutants and poisons here intentionally or unintentionally.

Now Yuanzhou, the "center of the world", is like a cesspool shared by all nine provinces. All kinds of flies, mosquitoes, rats, cockroaches, poisonous snakes... have gathered here.

The large-scale accumulation of these filth, in turn, made the environment of Yuanzhou more and more suitable for their survival, and it became more and more foul-smelling.

In such an environment, Geng Xuan felt very lucky to have a place like Changpingfang to live in.

But it was precisely this kind of environment that made Geng Xuan dare not relax for a moment.

This is why he attaches so much importance to underground engineering.

Only when you are in such an environment can you understand how important it is to have a home that completely belongs to you and where your heart can feel truly safe.

……

After returning home, Geng Xuan saw the familiar little figure at the gate of the courtyard again, with the same familiar look of him carrying a food box in his hands.

"Chen Xiaoyu, you know I'll be back at noon?"

Faced with Geng Xuan's bad behavior of casually adding the word "Xiao" in the middle of her name, the little girl's behavior this time was very different. She stood there and listened quietly, then replied seriously:
"Aunt Zhang said that you have been at Grandpa Chai's place these mornings and will be back at noon."

Geng Xuan paused and looked at the little girl twice.

He goes out early and comes back late every day, and basically never stays at home during the day - of course, the actual situation is that he is underground in his house.

So, this was the first time the two met after the incident that night.

Only then did Geng Xuan notice that the person was still the same person and at first glance there seemed to be no major changes.

But if you observe carefully, you can find that Chen Xiaoyu now seems much quieter than before.

From a "lively and naughty child" to a "quiet and sensible little girl".

In the eyes of others, this may be considered a kind of growth, becoming much more sensible all of a sudden. After all, it is impossible for people to be heartless forever.

But Geng Xuan couldn't help but feel a slight pang in his heart.

While eating, Chen Xiaoyu sat quietly beside him, with her hands on the table and her chin resting on her hands. She didn't say a word, just watched him eat with big mouthfuls of food.

"What's the matter? Why are you looking at it so seriously?"

"You look so delicious when you eat. It makes me a little hungry."

"Then let's eat together."

Chen Xiaoyu seemed a little tempted, but quickly shook her head: "I'll eat with my mother later."

Geng Xuan had already placed a set of bowls and chopsticks in front of her and said, "You are just a little kid, why are you thinking so much... I want to have another meal later, so why don't you just eat less this time!"

"All right."

After dinner, Chen Xiaoyu went home with the lunch box.

Seeing her steps becoming noticeably lighter, Geng Xuan felt delighted.

"Do one good deed a day, that's good."

After Chen Xiaoyu left, Geng Xuan did not stay at home for long either. He left immediately and began his practice in the mountains, which others considered to be austere and hard.

In fact, Geng Xuan just took a walk outside and came to the basement of his house.

(End of this chapter)