Chapter 1977: Wealth and Poverty: Special Side Story (Part 1)
Chapter 1977: Wealth and Poverty: Special Side Story (Part 1)
In that part of the mountains that once bordered between Ying Country and Chen Country, there were many Martial World sects hidden within. Over the past few hundred years, the sects here enjoyed great glory.
“Back in the day, our sect was filled with all sorts of martial arts scrolls, various martial arts masters, and divine weapons. In the chaotic times, Rangers roamed the Four Seas, whether they were upholding justice or relying on martial arts to make their name, they always had a place to go.”
“After achieving fame and fortune, they would wash their hands of the affairs, retreat from the Martial World, and find a couple of disciples, living freely among the mountains and rivers. That indeed was carefree, wasn’t it?”
“But that was in the past.”
“Nowadays…”
“Things are not the same as they once were.”
On the evergreen mountain, in the pine forest, an old man leaned on his staff and sighed deeply.
Thinking of the glorious past, he could only let out another sigh. Now with the Unification of the World, laws are strict and order is stable. Rangers are no longer as glamorous as they once were, and combined with the complete training system for children in Great Qin, it’s difficult to find children willing to join their sects.
With the sword settled, the world is at peace.
Martial World?
There is no Martial World anymore.
One can’t be bold and aggressive, can’t roam with a sword. In the end, even recruiting a disciple is hard. In just a few years, although major sects seem to thrive, internally there are already signs of decline.
Only by lowering the threshold for advanced martial arts can they fight for disciples.
“Ah, for us, this peace in the world is really…”
“Is the Martial World about to disappear?”
His gaze lowered to the mountains among them, and the disciples around were silent. The wind blew against the cliffs, the forest swept past, the leaves swayed, and a leaf spun as it fell, landing in the stream and causing Ripples.
In the end, this stream’s ripples were shattered by iron hooves.
Boom!!!
The sound of hooves was not so dense, and the speed was not too fast, but it was heavy and steady. This was the war horse of the Great Qin army, a troop of a dozen men. The leader was a rough man with gray temples, some wrinkles on his forehead, seemingly often frowning in deep thought.
By rights, a mountainous road is rugged, filled with changes, with streams and Rocks, not suitable for army horses, but the riding skill of these people was superb, riding war horses through forests with ease.
Especially the middle-aged man leading.
His shoulders were relaxed, his demeanor calm, using just one hand casually holding the reins.
He didn’t make any grand movements, no whistling, no whip waving, and even the hand that held the reins barely moved, yet the horse was so smart it jumped or stopped as if it were one with his mind.
If one were to say a top swordsman is one with his sword, then this horsemanship can certainly be called being one with the horse. Moreover, while he guided the heavy war horse effortlessly through the mountains and rivers, he pointed with interest in all directions, saying:
“In that direction, go out thirty miles, and you’ll find one of the most stable iron mines in today’s Great Qin, the same one General Nangong found when he got lost years ago.”
“Here, haha, years ago when we were rushing with His Majesty, it was right in this place that General Nangong got lost, then jumped off a waterfall, scaring everyone half to death, running down in a panic to find him. But can you guess what happened?”
“Ha, we were in a frantic rush, but the guy was just fine.”
“And he even broke through a level.”
“It led to a period when all the brothers wanted to jump off the cliffs, only to be scolded by Master Tianxian, hahahaha, especially that Yuwen kid…”
This man laughed as he reminisced, but unconsciously brought up the past that was once talked about with relish, only belatedly realizing that those old friends were gone. So those stories once told for laughter, treasured like jewels, now seemed like they contained knives.
Lei Laomeng’s mouth outpaced his brain, and by the time he realized it, his heart felt a slight pain. Fan Qing had lost an arm, the master was killed, and Yuwen, who had had disagreements and even secret duels more than once, ultimately died under the sword of his former comrades.
Every time he brings up the past, this heart feels discomfort.
People say after facing adversity, one can see success, but no one mentioned when looking back, old friends are forever gone.
The smile on Lei Laomeng’s face was no longer like before, devoid of that carefree abandon. Back then, he was still young, bursting with muscle and sinew, and his laughter was louder than an old ox’s voice.
Now he was no longer the same.
He had become an Uncle.
In his youth, galloping with the young Emperor Qin across the Wan Li, crossing mountains with a strong and fit body, these past couple of years he had also gradually put on weight, with gray hair on both sides, but in his eyes, there was a bit more majesty.
Perhaps the only thing unchanged was the beast-taming skill he displayed while riding.
Since entering the mountain, circling around several Great Qin mines, he also visited the old brothers, then Lei Laomeng ran straight in a certain direction, checking the map from his waist several times during breaks for comparison.
“That’s almost it, this is the place.”
“Tsk, how did Nangong girl run away so quickly? Eh, don’t know what’s going on.”
Lei Laomeng murmured, leading this Reconnoitre Army through twists and turns, finally finding the place—it was in an area surrounded by a few mountains, dense forest, and a nearby river flowing by, indeed tranquil.
In this plain encircled by mountains, there was a Taoist Temple.
The Taoist Temple was serene, and at the courtyard entrance, a few little girls in Taoist robes were practicing swordplay, and a few others were making medicine. On the rooftop of the temple’s inner hall, a woman in a Taoist robe lay sideways, propping her chin with one hand, yawning and flipping through a Taoist Scripture.
Beside her was a plate with cut apples.
They were even cut into little rabbits.
This woman lazily used a toothpick to put little rabbits into her mouth.
Chew, chew.
Beside her, a little girl was obediently giving her master a shoulder massage.
This is comfortable, this is lazy!
The woman stretched comfortably and murmured, “So this is how relaxing it is to be a master!”
Lei Laomeng’s mouth twitched.
Even though that guy over there had put on a disguise and covered up that face, still the most beautiful under the heavens, and learned astrology to confuse his own fate, even if he turned to ashes, Lei Laomeng would still recognize him by that lazy, cat-like demeanor.
He ordered the war horse to halt, looked over there, and took a deep breath.
With a surge of Inner Qi, he shouted, “Lady Nangong!!!”
“It’s been a long time, are you still well?!”
“Hahahahaha!”
The woman basking lazily in the sun over there almost jumped up immediately, her eyes wide open, the plate of apples beside her nearly slid off, but the expressionless little girl shot her hand out and caught the plate.
Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta.
The remaining five apples were caught steadily.
As for the last one—
An apple slice spinning in the air fell.
The girl in the Taoist robe leaned back, opened her mouth, caught it precisely with her white teeth, then tossed it, swallowed, chewed, chewed, flipped off the Taoist temple roof, spun in mid-air, and landed gracefully, with unparalleled elegance.
“Phew, that was close, almost wasted it.”
The girl in the Taoist robe swallowed the apple, clapped her hands, and raised her eyebrows, and even though she was in disguise, her eyes, though losing seventy percent of their original brilliance, had a ten-out-of-ten mesmerizing presence with just one menacing glare.
The little girls inside the Taoist temple looked at the newcomer; the Martial World and the court seemed so clearly divided. More than a dozen big men on war horses approached their little sect, and they were naturally a bit frightened.
However, their sect leader master was unfazed, rolled up her sleeves, angrily charged over, and kicked the big man’s shin upfront, causing him to grimace in pain and growl, “I say, General Nangong, we’ve been through thick and thin together, haven’t seen each other in such a long time, why start hitting people right away?”
“Lady Nangong, Lady Nangong, I’ll call you Lady Nangong.”
“Lei Laomeng, do you have no filter on your mouth?”
Nangong Wumeng gritted her teeth.
Lei Laomeng saw Nangong Wumeng’s usual face and marveled:
“The Gongsun Family’s disguise mask is indeed excellent!”
It even conceals Nangong’s blushing face!!!
Nangong Wumeng’s right hand pressed on the sword hilt, her eyes annoyed, “What did you say?”
Lei Laomeng quickly responded, “I said, General Nangong, your recent self-cultivation has indeed made your temperament formidable!”
Only then did Nangong Wumeng move her hand away from the sword hilt and said, “That’s better, Boss Lei. You’ve come, so why bring along these dozen Reconnoitre Army soldiers?”
Lei Laomeng laughed, “Hey, after all these years of friendship, would I harm you? It’s Lord Right Minister who said, how are the things Lady Nangong mentioned coming along? I’m here to take a look.”
Right Minister Yan Daiqing, once a young strategist handling the Qilin Army’s internal logistics, is now a renowned scholar of the era, gentle and elegant, praised nationwide. Of course, there are also some anecdotes saying that the contemporary Right Minister is best at viciously strange tactics.
For example, the great fire that burned away the Western Regions’ ambitions to advance east and the Wolf King’s strategy was ignited by the Right Minister.
Nangong Wumeng seemed a bit disappointed, fiddling with her hair, said, “Oh, that matter, it’s all good. We prepared all the items early as we traveled the world back then.”
“Come over.”
Lei Laomeng laughed as he walked down, asked the accompanying Reconnoitre Army to distribute candies and fruits to the children, and went with Nangong Wumeng to the inner hall, where she casually took out a scroll, twiddled it, and tossed it to Lei Laomeng.
The scroll was heavy and thick.
Lei Laomeng slowly unrolled the scroll and saw it depicted the mountains and rivers across the Nine Provinces and Four Seas, with very clear scales, and frighteningly, it almost encompassed all the world’s mineral deposits and resources within.
Very detailed.
Imagine the person who drew this scroll, how he measured the entire world with his footsteps over six to seven years, with a smile and serious thought, imagining how happy the recipient of this gift would be.
Every brush, every stroke, depicts the world they traveled together.
Clumsy, earnest, yet painstakingly hard-working.
She has been watching His Majesty’s figure running all along.
Nangong Wumeng sat in her master’s chair, pouring tea for herself.
Even someone as rough as Lei Laomeng gently touched the scroll, which must have consumed countless efforts, feeling the sentiment in every brush and stroke, even he felt a kind of sentiment, knowing the hardships of this journey, said:
“So, this world you personally traversed, painted for His Majesty by your own hand.”
“Is it your dowry for yourself?”
“Nangong.”