C4

It was cold in the mountains, and the water in the kettle was cold. I don't know if it was due to psychological factors, but the more I walked, the more I felt uncomfortable from head to toe. He drank water nonstop along the way. Soon, the kettle on his back was empty. Soon, he was covered in sweat.

After passing through two more mountain valleys, he raised his hand to check the time. Although an hour and forty minutes had passed, there was still no sign of anyone. Not to mention me, even Zhao Qi Jiu was muttering in his heart.

I told him, "Ninth Brother, are you sure this is reliable? If it doesn't work out, we should hurry back. It's still not too late to remember the road."

Zhao Qi tightened his grip on the Chinese rhubarb umbrella under his armpit, and felt more confident. He said, "If we don't see any more people, we'll leave. We'll leave." Back then, we clearly said that we would find someone to welcome them outside. "

"That's fine too …"

After exiting the ravine, I was finally able to see the rays of the sun shine on the mountain on the right, allowing me to heave a sigh of relief. Because they knew the direction, as long as they had direction, they wouldn't fear the danger of getting lost.

Zhao QIu and I heaved a sigh of relief. Just as we were about to continue heading up the mountain, three young figures appeared on top of the hill in front of us.

"Hello ~ ~ ~ We are from Fan Jia Village, may I ask if that place is the Little Heavenly Master over there?"

One of the three shouted at us, and the sound echoed back and forth across the mountains, creating a lot of echoes.

Looking at the three people descending from the mountaintop, Zhao QIu also shouted, "It's me! It's me, Zhao QIu!"

"Qi Qiao, the person who came to pick us up is here. Now you can rest assured, let's go."

The three strong young men ran down, and Zhao QIu and I went up. When we got closer, we saw that it was three young men around the age of seventeen or eighteen who had come to receive us. They greeted us warmly and wanted to help us carry our things.

The reason he was not letting go of the Chinese rhubarb umbrella is probably because he did not want anything unexpected to happen to it. As for the small metal box at his waist, it was a taboo for Zhao Qiujiu. It was said that even his father could not touch it.

"No need, no need. This little thing isn't that heavy either. Let's hurry up and leave, we can't afford to miss an hour."

Hearing Zhao QIu's words, the three youngsters were no longer polite. They scratched their heads with silly smiles, and then quickly led us deeper into the mountain.

With the guide leading the way, I immediately felt a lot more at ease. One had to know that the deeper one went into the mountains, the more dangerous it would be. Apart from the impassable natural moats, there were also various poisonous creatures and ferocious beasts lingering within them.

A few days ago, a family of hunters entered the mountain to hunt. In the end, both father and son were buried within the mountain range. It was said that they went to the wrong place and met bear blind who went out to look for food. His body was torn to shreds and only his head was left behind, along with a pile of broken bones.

The Fan Jia Village was indeed very far away, hiding very deeply in the mountains. If there was no one to lead the way, even if thousands of people searched for three days and three nights, they wouldn't be able to find this small village in the cove on the back of the mountain.

There were sky-high trees covering the sky and shrubs and short grass growing in between. The natural camouflage here was perfect.

Of course, I also know that underneath this disguise is a hidden danger. Many of the surrounding plants, such as snakes and scorpions, can be glimpsed from the surrounding area.

Today, Fan Jia Village's entire village was set up in high spirits. Starting from early in the morning, some of the village's children and adults were gathered at the entrance of the village to make fun of us, causing a huge red drum to stop at the entrance. There were some kids who had not learned how to walk lying on the drum looking at the two strangers, Zhao Qi Jiu and I, with doubt.

The old elder's hair had already turned white. He was also wearing a red jubilant robe and was leaning on a walking stick. He looked very imposing. The other young men were all obediently following behind him, talking and laughing, exuding the simple and honest air unique to mountain people.

The three youths surnamed Fan respectfully greeted the Second Master, and then enthusiastically told us all the way to the village entrance. In fact, what was there to say? Those with eyes could see that a few steps ahead was a village with houses straggling about.

Zhao QIu told me in a low voice that it seemed that the one getting married today was the grandson of this Old Master. This is how it is with us. When a young person marries, the older generation will also have to wear bright red clothes to celebrate.

However, when the custom spread, it somehow changed. Until now, only places deep in the mountains where people rarely communicated with the outside world could maintain this unique culture.

When I thought about how I wouldn't be able to communicate with the outside world for half a year, I suddenly thought of Zhao Qijiu's salary. Once he became famous, he would definitely be accompanied by a high entrance fee. In Weicheng, as someone who could be called Little Heavenly Master Zhao, he naturally had quite a high entrance fee. It was said that he was only beneath that Old Heavenly Master Zhao of his family.

However, the old man was already old. Even his movements were rather slow, let alone helping others with the funeral procession. Thus, this generation of the Zhao Family was naturally inherited by Zhao Qiujiu and his father. However, Old Master Zhao had once said that his Little Seven and Nine's treatment of these matters was better than his. He could be at ease, and everyone could be at ease as well.

Since then, it had helped Zhao QIu achieve his reputation as a Little Heavenly Master. Outsiders also said that the Zhao Family had produced a Master for two days, and that was a foretelling sign that the sect would flourish.

So no matter how I look at it, I don't think this lonely little village can afford to pay that kind of high fee.

I whispered to Zhao QIu, "Old Ninth, how did you charge for the wedding fee?"

Zhao QIu pouted and whispered, "Collect my ass. It's said that this Old Village Chief has an old friendship with that old man of mine, and it's said that he has a close relationship with him. If the old man had a better body, he would probably have come himself.

I was stunned. I thought to myself, this world is really mystical, to think that Old Man Zhao, who is used to seeing big waves outside, would actually have such an old friend deep in the mountains.

"Second Master, we received the Little Heavenly Shi Master and his friend."

After he walked a bit closer, Fan Cunlong happily shouted at the happily dressed old man, and his expression became even more respectful and cautious.

From the conversation that we had while we were walking over here, I understood that the three youths that came to pick us up were called Fan Cunlong, Fan Cunhu and Fan Cunxiong.

Especially this Fan Cunlong, according to what Fan Cunhu and Fan Cunxiong had said, he was extremely accurate with his bow and arrow, in the last 100 years, in the entire Fan Jia Village, other than the Seventh Uncle who died from falling off a cliff a few years ago, there was no one else besides him who could win against their big brother.

Most importantly, Fan Cunlong was the only person in the entire village who could make that Wyrm Bow work. A year ago, he had killed that four-hundred-pound wild beast with an arrow from a fine bow.

These words made me speechless. Although Fan Cunlong was a bit embarrassed and humble, he didn't deny the words of the two brothers.

I know that the wild beast they are talking about is a wild boar, but what does this four hundred pound wild boar mean? With its sharp fangs and thick skin, if it went crazy, even the bear blind would have to avoid it.

It was just that Fan Cunlong's size didn't even look like his two brothers' feet, yet, he didn't expect that this young man's body would actually contain such a huge amount of energy.

"Alright, alright. I saw it. This must be a kid from the Zhao Family, right? He really looks like that old thing Zhao Changsheng." Although the village chief was an old man, his eyes were not dim like the other old men's. In fact, they were even brighter. If they were simply looking at his eyes, no one would have thought that the owner of those clear eyes was over eighty years old.

There were not many people who knew of his great name, and everyone was used to calling him the Old Heavenly Master. Over time, Zhao Changsheng's reputation became illustrious, but his true name gradually drowned out everyone's hearts.

If I hadn't mentioned this to Zhao QIu during a casual chat, I wouldn't have known the old man's real name.

The Fan Jia Village's Old Village Chief dared to call him by her name, and even called him an old thing. It was clear that she was very familiar with the Old Man Zhao.

"Hello Grandpa Fan, my old man wants me to greet you." He said that if you ever came out of the mountains, you must go and have a drink with him. "

As he walked closer, the expression on Zhao QIu's face became respectful. How could one tell from his face that he was displeased when he said that he had no money to pay? This guy had great control over his emotions, just like a cunning old fox who had gone through many trials and tribulations.

Who would have thought that when Master Fan heard these words, he would actually viciously knock the cane on the ground. His expression carried a bit of resentment as he said, "Good Zhao Changsheng, you're bullying my old man to the point that he can't leave the mountain!" In the past when I was nimble, didn't he just slip away while drinking? "

"…"

The old Village Head's angry words made Zhao QIu gape in surprise. I was stunned for a moment before also reacting.

Zhao QIu told me before, that according to his family's old man, when he was young, he was addicted to alcohol, and it was a huge amount. Ever since the age of 30, he had never been drunk again, and was called Immortal Wine by his friends.

The reason why he mentioned this at the time was because the two of us were discussing the issue of drinking wine. Thus, even though Zhao Qijiu was ill, he still wanted to uncover a legacy on this matter, as if his family's old man was awesome, which made him shine with light.

The old Village Chief didn't bother too much about it. He looked at me, who was standing beside Zhao QIu, and asked, "This child looks a little pretty. What's his name?" When the old man started to speak, all the clamoring voices stopped. Everyone was consciously defending the old Village Head's dignity.

I cupped my hands in respect and bowed towards the old man, then said: "Greetings Grandpa Fan, this boy is called Zheng Qiqiao."

"Zheng Qiqiao?" The old elder was stunned and he unexpectedly stared at me for a long time. Just as I was about to inquire, a look of understanding appeared on his face. Qi Qiao, did you start from the dark morning mist, and you started from the Qi Qiao who travelled through a bridge that was difficult to return to? "

Hearing this, it was my turn to be stunned. The reason was simple, I never thought that the old village chief of Fan Jia Village would understand the meaning of my name. My name is pretty much the same as Zhao QIu's, it's all given to me by my family's old man. This kind of way of giving a name is very popular in my hometown, it's usually the older generation giving a name to their grandchildren. Simply put, your father doesn't have the qualifications to give a name to his son, only your father has the right to give him a name.

I don't know if my grandfather found it in that lost ancient book. Anyway, according to what my father said, if the old man didn't tell him, he would never be able to guess what my name really means.

The old elder seemed to be able to see through my thoughts. He smiled and said, "There's no need for that expression. I've met your grandfather a few times in the past. He's a rare person."

I nodded my head in understanding. However, I didn't expect that there would be such a connection. I couldn't help but sigh in my heart. This world was really too small.

This was his grandfather's calligraphy. The calligraphy that his great-grandfather had originally given him was not this. He had changed this calligraphy himself later on. The meaning was that I would allow his life to go on a rampage, and I would lose myself in the raging waves.

This represented the insistence that Grandfather wanted to preserve the Zheng Clan's ancient path in that chaotic world all those years ago. But in the end, he was still unable to stop the fate match before it completely vanished. It made him clench his fists and make him depressed for the rest of his life.

Sometimes, being too stubborn wasn't necessarily a good thing. What a person really wants is to be able to take things easy, I thought. There were many times when saying this, but putting it down was easier said than done.

Everyone understood this logic, but not everyone could do it. This was probably the most pathetic and laughable part of life.