Hidden Blade

In the seventeenth year of Thai Yuan, October.

At the beginning of winter, Qu Jing City, which was located at the border of You Zhou, welcomed the first snow since the beginning of winter.

It was a heavy snowfall. Ever since Emperor Taiyuan ascended to the throne, every winter was the hardest time for the people of You Prefecture to endure.

This year was no exception.

He Lao San looked at the heavy snow outside the house, his mood somewhat gloomy.

He was not young, in his early forties, with a son and two daughters under his knees, and the whole family pointed their mouths at the small inn he had opened to support himself.

It was just that the year was not good, so the natural disaster was fine. The Chen Kingdom, which had always been close to Great Zhou, had not lived peacefully these past few years. Occasionally, there would be friction with Great Zhou's defenders outside Tianshan Pass.

However, with Prince Zhao Chu of Zhao holding 100,000 halberds to guard Tianshan Pass, the people of Youzhou were not worried that they would be robbed of their homeland by the invaders of the Chen Kingdom one day. However, the friction between the Chen Kingdom and the Great Zhou Kingdom continued, and there were fewer traveling merchants between the two countries. In addition, the heavy snow had sealed the road, making the lives of these families who relied on traveling merchants to eat very difficult.

Thinking of this, He Laosan looked in the direction of the city gate again. He saw that the snow was like goose feathers. Not to mention the city gate, there were few pedestrians on the streets.

"Ah, looks like we won't be able to wait today."

He Lao San sighed and finally withdrew his gaze, slowly closing the wooden door of the inn.

He turned around and walked to a wooden table at the entrance of the inn.

An old man was sitting there. He was dressed in a long green robe, and his silver hair was snow white. However, his face was extremely red. As he moved, his temperament was extraordinary. He was obviously a wealthy family.

He was the only guest of He Laosan's inn. He had been staying here for an entire month, but he still had no intention of leaving.

He Lao San did not ask the old man why he came here. After all, it was good to have guests in this situation. How could he care about anything else? He only vaguely knew from some conversations that the old man seemed to be waiting for someone here.

"Have you cooled your tea? I'll heat it up for you." Old Third He walked up to the old man and asked with a smile.

He Lao San still had to take good care of his only customer. This old gentleman was quite generous. He Lao San was very satisfied to meet such a customer in this difficult winter.

"No need." The old man shook his head and smiled.

Old Third He nodded his head when he heard this. Although this old man looked extraordinary, he was extremely calm towards people and did not put on airs. Ignoring the relationship between customers and vendors, He Lao San liked to associate with such people from the bottom of his heart.

"I see you've been looking at the door at this hour every day for the past month, but what are you waiting for?" The old man took out a cup that was upside down on the table and filled it with tea. He handed it to Old Third He and signaled him to sit down. He asked.

Perhaps the old man's tone was amiable enough, or perhaps the matter had been held in Old Third He's mind for too long, causing him to feel really depressed. Old Third He hesitated for a moment before sitting down beside the old man.

Then he picked up the tea on the table and drank it all in one gulp, then said with a calm expression.

"To be honest, I still have a younger brother in my family. There are some abilities that aren't as useless as mine. Earlier, he was a centurion under the command of Prince Zhao. However…" He Lao San paused and looked around as if he was being careful. However, there were only him and the old man in this large inn. He didn't know why he was so nervous.

However, after confirming that there was no one around, He Lao San subconsciously lowered his voice and whispered in the old man's ear, "It's just that a few years ago, the Northwest Mu King rebelled. I heard that the Mu Clan army under the Sword Dragon Pass was purged by the Imperial Court, and those who had some connections with the Mu Clan were dismissed." "However, the Sword Dragon Pass is the gateway to the Great Xia Dynasty. The Imperial Court has recruited people from all over the country for this. My younger brother was transferred to the Sword Dragon Pass at that time. Now, it has been seven years since I've seen him."

Eight years had passed since the Northwest Jizhou Mu Palace was annihilated by Zhu Xian , the head of the Long Night Division, on the grounds of collaborating with the enemy and rebelling.

However, the Mu Clan was full of loyalty and earned the hearts of the people.

Back then, when the Mu Clan was annihilated overnight, the people's grievances were boiling, and there were even more people who had gathered to cause trouble on this ground. In order to prevent calamity, the Imperial Court had already imposed a ban. Anyone who reported this matter would receive a reward of one or two silver coins. Those who were reported would either be sent to the outskirts or be beheaded. Under the heavy ceremony, the matter of the Shepherd King had long since become a taboo in the hearts of the people. No wonder Third Brother He was so cautious when he talked about this matter.

However, when the old man heard this, his expression did not change at all. He picked up the teacup in front of him and gently pursed it. Then, he nodded his head and said, "At the beginning of this summer, Great Xia has often violated our Great Zhou border. That's different from the small fights outside the Tianshan Pass. It makes my younger brother take up his post in the Sword Dragon Pass. It is indeed worrying."

"That's not true! He used to send letters every three months. I wonder if he's busy this time or if it's snowing heavily. It's been almost five months since I've received any letters from him." Old Third He echoed. Perhaps because he was worried about his own brothers, his voice couldn't help but be a little louder.

The reasons he listed were naturally possible, but this book had not arrived for a long time, and the frontier fortress was extremely unpeaceful. If these things were to be linked together, what else was possible? He Lao San did not think about it, nor did he dare to think about it.

The old man naturally understood what he was thinking, so he didn't break anything.

"I want to wait for the weather to clear up. If I can't get my letters, I'll set off to Jizhou to look for them. It's just that the journey is long. It'll take at least three to four months to come and return. I'm worried about leaving the orphans and widows at home." He Lao San seemed to have opened his chatter box and kept on chatting by himself. "Sigh, this world is so tough … Old sir, do you really think it's the karmic retribution of His Majesty who killed his father to ascend to the throne, as the rumors say?"

However, the old man did not answer. Instead, he just comforted Old Three He.

The two chatted for a long time, and the night gradually darkened. He Lao San estimated that no more guests would come today, so he wanted to get up and close up.

However, just as he stood up, a burst of footsteps suddenly came from outside the room.

The footsteps were heavy and messy, as if more than one person had come.

Although he was puzzled as to why there would be visitors at this point, it was still a good thing. He Lao San was still looking forward to it.

As he thought about this, the entrance of the inn was pushed open from the outside. Two figures, one old and one young, accompanied by the raging snow outside, came into sight of He Laosan.

It was a very strange combination.

One was an old man in his late twenties, and the other was a young man in his twenties and eighties.

The old man's appearance was sloppy, his hair messy, and his linen clothes were stained with some unknown stain. It was a stark contrast to the guest who had stayed here before.

As for the youth, his appearance was not unusual. He carried a long sword on his back, and his black clothes were washed until they were a little pale. The thing that made people tremble the most was that his right arm was empty, and it was obvious that one of his arms was broken.

"Miao!"

He Lao San looked at the two of them who had suddenly arrived in a daze. However, at this moment, a slightly dissatisfied cat cry suddenly sounded. He Lao San finally regained his senses. Only then did he discover that there was a black cat squatting on the youth's shoulder. At this moment, he was staring at him with his amber eyes wide open and puzzled.

Third Brother He felt his scalp go numb from the sight of the black cat. He hurriedly walked forward, wanting to greet the two of them.

"How long have you been here?" But just as he walked up to the two of them, the sloppy-looking old man suddenly asked.

He Lao San was stunned, but he still didn't understand what he meant. The green-robed old man, who had lived here for a whole month, raised the teacup in his hand and smiled, "Not long, just a month."

"Oh." The visitor nodded in response. Then, he directly passed He Lao San and went straight to the green-robed old man. He sat down impolitely, poured himself a cup of tea and drank it on his back.

He Lao San was stunned for a while before he came to his senses. He realized that this old man who looked like Lu Bu Fan seemed to know this old man who was so sloppy that he almost looked like a beggar.

He then looked at the young man who had come with the sloppy old man. The young man's gaze also circled around the two old men who were in great contrast. His eyes were filled with doubt, as if he did not know that the two of them had met before.

"Is this the child you mentioned in your letter?" However, the two old men did not have the slightest intention of explaining to others. The old man in green poured himself another cup of tea, looked up at the youth, and turned around to ask. 𝙛𝘳𝘦e𝓌e𝗯n𝗼ѵ𝙚l.𝒄𝚘𝑚

"Yes." The sloppy old man nodded in response.

Then he patted his stomach and said somewhat unhappily, "I came all the way here, and you plan to let this old man catch up with you on an empty stomach?"

Hearing this, the old man in green smiled and turned to look at He Lao San, who was slightly stunned. His voice was gentle as he said, "May I trouble the shopkeeper to prepare some food for my friend? Oh, and that little brother. En, there's also that cat."

"Ah! Let's go now. Sit down, gentlemen." He Lao San was also a wise master. Since these two guests knew the old man in green, then he had nothing to worry about. Moreover, he observed that these people were acting strangely. They were probably not on the same path as him. There was a saying that it was better to do one more thing than one less thing. Therefore, he decided to take this opportunity to leave. It would be less troublesome for him. Thinking like this, He Lao San nodded his head repeatedly, turned around, and walked towards the chef.

Seeing Old Third He walk into the kitchen, the old man in green turned his head to look at the visitor and said with some envy, "This child is very good."

"How could the person I, Canghai Liu, have taken a fancy to be wrong?" When the sloppy old man heard this, he grinned. It seemed that he was very used to the words of the green-robed old man.

"Tell me, what do you want me to do?" The green-robed old man had some understanding of his temperament. He angrily rolled his eyes at the sloppy old man and asked.

"This child is indeed not bad. Unfortunately, he has lost an arm." The sloppy old man's voice suddenly lowered, but at that moment, he looked straight at the blue-robed old man.

"After all, he is half a disciple of my Vastsea Stream."

"So, I would like to ask you to help me…"

"Attach an arm."