Chapter 27

Pei Ye walked into Lin Jue's room.

The girl's boudoir was already very different from the appearance in his childhood memory.

This boudoir now appeared a bit "full." Small and exquisite flowers and plants, books of all sizes, all kinds of ingenious gadgets, and a wide variety of wall hangings showed a dazzling feeling of being both full of variety and orderly.

Because it was inconvenient to go out, the girl poured all her thoughts into this small world of hers.

The first thing he saw when he walked in was an exquisite small stove, and on the stove squatted that slightly crooked teapot, with a clumsy little puppy painted on the pot wall.

Pei Ye picked it up. The girl's white face, covered with mud spots, floated up from his memory. Pei Ye couldn't help but smile and put it on the table beside him.

He pulled open a drawer again and touched the yellow jade seal carved with a small rabbit.

Taking out the seal, there were more than a dozen rough jade scraps in the drawer. Pei Ye picked up a few and took a look, but was startled. They were engraved with dense, crooked small characters. Frowning, he saw that the characters "Virtue," "Hidden," and "Crane" were the most numerous.

Pei Ye suddenly understood.

This was the trace of the girl practicing word by word before carving that small green jade pillar for him.

The room was quiet for a while. Pei Ye originally thought that his state of mind had been cleared after cutting off that head, but at this moment he was hit again. Only then did he understand that hatred can be washed away by sword and blood, but sadness is a lasting and invisible lingering.

"Not falling into the blue clouds..." Pei Ye muttered to himself in the silent room.

In fact, in the many comforts before, although Pei Ye was warmed by the girl's encouragement, it was mostly because of the sincerity carried in it, not the encouragement itself.

Because he had never actually felt dejected.

Unlike what outsiders thought, Pei Ye never felt that he had suffered unbearable setbacks, nor did he feel that he had fallen into the bottom of his life.

Because practicing martial arts was his passion, not the sustenance of his entire life.

The damage to his dantian seed certainly made him annoyed and frustrated, but it didn't reach the point where the whole world collapsed. Working hard, making progress, and winning were things he enjoyed, but running in the mountains, fishing in the stream, and picking locust flowers were also full of joy.

The ten years that others sighed as wasted were just another way for Pei Ye to spend his time.

And in the depths of his heart, there had always been a pride that he had never spoken out, or even realized himself—even if I waste five, ten, fifteen years, so what?

From the moment I can practice again, as long as I still want to take the first place in those martial arts tests, who can stop me?

Even Yan Feiqing, who had won him much admiration, in Pei Ye's imagination of meeting him, was not in the identity of a shouter under the stage, but standing opposite him with a sword.

At this time, the young man's confidence had not weakened in the slightest. He still firmly believed that he could take countless first places, in Fenghuai, in Bowang Prefecture, and even in the Divine Capital city that attracted thousands of people, but the voice that had been shouting for his childish and crude fist moves from the beginning could no longer be heard.

The young man moved his throat, looked out the window unconsciously, lowered his head again, put the broken jade in his hand back, and closed the drawer.

Then he found the birdcage and hand-drawn pictures. Beside the hand-drawn book, a large stack of familiar papers was neatly bound, glued tightly with thread and paste. Pei Ye picked it up and flipped through it. It was the last few pages of the gazette from many issues ago. The front was wrapped in a cover, with the three regular script characters "Heroic Xia Gu Can" written on it, and the back was waiting to be bound.

This was truly a treasure. Pei Ye stuffed it into his arms without ceremony and laughed softly: "It's made so well, I'll borrow it to read."

Shoveling the last shovel of yellow soil onto the grave, Pei Ye returned the shovel and said goodbye to everyone before returning home.

Although the disaster was relieved, it was not a relief.

First, the origin of the ghostly blue substance on his body had not been figured out, and he had to wait for the special envoy from the Divine Capital;

Second, the situation of the black Chi, whose life was intertwined with his, was also between good and bad. He didn't know when it would suddenly soar or fall into the abyss;

Third, his dantian seed was still missing. Although there was no major problem at present, it concerned his lifelong future in the long run. The black Chi guessed that the Candle World Sect held the promised seed, but where could he go to find the traces of the Candle World Sect?

The last one was the only one he could control, which was the Golden Autumn Martial Competition at the end of the month. This was a martial arts test without age restrictions where everyone went all out. People who broke the seed and gave birth to veins were everywhere. Although he killed a Seven-Vein warrior, if they met head-on in the ring, Three-Vein and Four-Vein were extremely threatening opponents. He had to practice more during this time.

Pei Ye practiced sword for an hour as usual, and supplemented it with half an hour of boxing, planning to return to the martial arts school to practice with the masters starting tomorrow.

Seeing the sun becoming more and more poisonous, Pei Ye picked up the kitten, lay in the shade of the tree, and opened the gazette book he had taken from Lin Jue's room.

"Heroic Xia Gu Can."

Opening the first page, at the head was a set-the-scene poem.

It is said:

Right and wrong have always been sought in the sword, not believing that Heaven judges grace and hatred.

Fighting ghosts in the cracks, borrowing life several times, buying wine in the pavilion, changing furs several times.

Just because of hearing wailing at the banquet, putting down the cup and untying the reins, willing to stay a little.

Heroes may not be able to save the world, how can villains be allowed to be happy without worry!

Pei Ye got some spirit, adjusted his lying posture, and read carefully.

This "Green Phoenix in the Mirror" story was about a talented scholar from a poor family and a beautiful woman from a high family. Although Pei Ye didn't miss it, the thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy at that time couldn't understand the essence of it.

And this article was obviously about chivalry, which was exactly the subject the young man loved to read most.

The first chapter says that there was a scholar in the border state, diligent and studious, filial and fraternal, loyal and upright, but his family was poor, only half-farming and half-studying, and life was very difficult. Fortunately, Heaven was beautiful. One day, while plowing the fields, he dug up a miraculous pearl. Placed in a dark room, the light was brilliant, and the scholar was surprised and happy, so he quickly took it home.

The youngest daughter of the tailor shop in the west of the town, named Wanxiu, was very beautiful, and she grew up with the scholar, and the two gradually developed feelings. However, the scholar's family was poor, and this marriage was difficult to conclude.

Now that he had dug up this pearl, the scholar discussed with Wanxiu, intending to sell it as a betrothal gift, set up a house, and marry her in style. However, Wanxiu glared at him and said:

"I fancy you because I love your resilient character and lofty ambitions. With this character, even if I don't have a penny, I will elope with you; if I don't have this character, I wouldn't say a word to you even if I had a fortune. Now that it is not easy to have money, you don't go to study and take the exam, but want to use it all to marry me. Where is your character now?"

The scholar broke into a cold sweat, hurriedly reflected on himself, found a pawnshop to pawn the treasure, and studied hard every day. Half a year later, he became a scholar. At this time, the father-in-law had long since loosened his mouth, but the scholar intended to take the provincial examination and come back to handle it in style. Wanxiu also supported the scholar and said to her father: "No matter how many years he takes the exam, I will wait for him. If he doesn't dislike me for being old, I won't be afraid of being old."

Finally, the provincial examination was approaching. The scholar bought a pearl flower for his sweetheart, and the two agreed to get married after winning. The scholar set off with full ambition.

Three days of hard work turned into a ghost. The scorching sun of August steamed, the stove fire roasted, and finally he waited for the card to be released. The scholar walked out of the examination room in a long gown that was soaked and dried many times, his expression full of expectation and a little bit of anxiety.

He couldn't wait to share his feelings of the three days with his sweetheart. He packed his things, rode a small donkey, and rushed to the town.

The first chapter ends here.

Pei Ye was about to turn to the second chapter when the courtyard gate was suddenly knocked: "Little Brother Pei, a team of knights from the county office has arrived. Magistrate Chang asks you to go over quickly."