Legend of the Sword Immortal

chapter4

For two days, Yingqiong got up every night to watch. She repeatedly told her father that she wanted to learn sword. Li Ning was pestered by her and after Zhou Chun's persuasion, he was a little moved. He said to her: "Sword is the ancestor of military science, and it is very difficult to learn. The first thing is to practice it with perseverance; the second is to practice qi and concentrate the mind, and the mind is as calm as water. With these two, you also need a famous person to teach you. You have been spoiled since childhood and have never trained your physical strength, so it is really difficult to start. Since you insist on learning, when you get to the mountains, every morning, you should first learn the skills of nourishing qi and the procedures for internal strength. After two or three years, I can teach you sword skills. Don't bother me again with your rough temper." Yingqiong heard this because she saw that Yan'er was younger than her and had learned very well. Her father's words seemed to be deliberately making things difficult for her, so she felt a little dissatisfied. Just as she was about to speak, Zhou Chun said, "What your father said is very reasonable. If you want to learn the best sword skills, you must practice Qi and unify it as he said. You must think it is easy because you peeked at the sword I taught Yan'er all night. You don't know how hard Yan'er worked when she was learning sword. Because I saw how sincere you were when you peeked, I secretly persuaded your father many times before he agreed. Your father's sword skills are much better than mine, and what he said is absolutely true. My dear niece, don't misunderstand him." Li Ning said, "Qiong'er, don't think you are smart. Learning sword skills is not easy. You must concentrate and cultivate your Qi. After you succeed, you can tell what the sound is within ten feet. Even if you peeked every time, how could your uncle know? That's it. If you don't know what's happening right in front of you, then what's the point of talking about sword skills? Fortunately, it was you who peeked. If another person wanted to climb to the window to assassinate him, wouldn't he be ambushed by others while he was practicing with the sword?" After listening to what the two of them said, Ying Qiong admitted defeat, but she was still worried. I secretly asked Yan'er again, and it turned out that before he learned swordsmanship, he had suffered a lot of torture and worked hard before he was convinced.

Time passed quickly, and before I knew it, it was the day of departure. A group of students, their parents, and the new teacher Ma Xiang came to see them off. Yan'er saw them off alone for more than 20 miles, and only after Li and Zhou urged them several times did she bid farewell in tears.

It is said that Li Ning, his daughter, and Zhou Chun said goodbye to the villagers and went to the mountains. Except for Yingqiong who wanted to go to the mountains early so that she could learn swordsmanship earlier, the three of them were all free and unattached. They traveled along the way to enjoy the scenery and walked slowly. When the sun was setting in the west, they arrived at the foot of Mount Emei. There were many inns there, and there were many people who came to worship the mountain. It looked very lively. The three of them found an inn and prepared to buy some necessary items tomorrow morning before going up the mountain to stay for a long time. There was no conversation that night.

On the second day, the three men discussed and made a plan: Li Ning was responsible for buying daily necessities, such as oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, rice, noodles, wine, meat, etc.; Zhou Chun was responsible for buying books, writing brushes, pots, buckets and other kitchen supplies. Finally, he bought a hemp rope several feet long. Yingqiong asked, "What's the use of this?" Zhou Chun said, "You will know it later. It will be very useful." Although the three men had limited luggage, they still bought a lot of things. They hired porters and went up the mountain together. The pilgrims on the way to the mountain were surprised to see them. The three men ignored him and went up the mountain. Although they walked through several narrow paths at first, it was not difficult to walk. Later, the mountain paths became more and more dangerous, and the scenery became more and more strange. White clouds flew over their heads, and sometimes people could not be seen on the opposite side. Yingqiong kept shouting that it was interesting. Zhou Chun said, "It didn't rain when we went up the mountain, but now there are so many clouds and fogs, it must be raining down there. We have to be careful when we walk in the clouds and fog, otherwise we will be crushed to pieces if we make a mistake." After walking another half a mile, we arrived at Sheshen Rock. Looking back down the mountain, we saw only a dark area, with no houses to be seen; the Lianshan Temple was hidden in the fog. Above us, a red sun shone on the clouds and fog, reflecting the colorful rays of light, which was very beautiful. Yingqiong was looking at it in a trance, and the porter said, "Sir, we have reached Sheshen Rock now. If we go further, we will find the Ghost-Seeing Sorrow. There is no way to get through, and we can't go forward. With the cloud color today, it must be raining heavily in the middle of the mountain. If we can't go down the mountain today, we will lose another day of business tomorrow. Please be more lenient." Zhou Chun said, "We originally hired you only to this place. Please wait for a while while I climb to the top of the mountain and pull the luggage up the mountain with a rope. How about I give you some more wine money?" After saying that, he jumped onto a towering ancient cypress beside him, and then climbed up the cypress tree to the top of the mountain. He took out the hemp rope he brought and pulled the luggage up one by one. He put down the hemp rope and pulled Yingqiong up as well. Just when she was pulled to the middle, Yingqiong looked around and saw that this place was really steep, with a solitary peak and a deep pool below. Although she was brave, she was also dizzy and shaken. After Yingqiong went up, Li Ning took out another tael of silver to give to the porter as wine money, and then he went up in the same way. The three of them discussed how to carry the luggage. Zhou Chun said, "I have been here many times and am very familiar with this place. I will take you and your daughter to the cave first, and I will take the things." Li Ning was not polite because he was unfamiliar with the road. Everyone took some light things first, and then passed a few cliffs and walked about three miles before reaching the entrance of the cave. There were four big characters on the wall of the cave entrance, which were "Shushi Qiyun". The three of them went into the cave and saw that there were four stone rooms in the cave: three were used as bedrooms, and one with good light was used as a place for everyone to read and rest. Zhou Chun took out the things he needed one by one, and it took a total of three times before he finished taking them. After packing up, it was already sunset. Everyone ate some dry food and dried meat, sealed the entrance of the cave with stones, and went to sleep.