Volume 1 Chushan Bandits Chapter 28 A Good Sword is Like a Beauty
Liu Qiong'er took out the silver, and after Xu Wuliang left, she stared at Xu Huai with her beautiful eyes, complaining unhappily:
"Look, Xu Wuliang is the responsible person. Zhou Jianxiong and the other two had nothing to do with this matter, but he was unwilling to involve them. He even gave the blacksmith shop to them to make a living. How can you be so vicious at such a young age?"
Xu Huai ignored Liu Qiong'er's complaints.
He peeked out from the crack in the door and could only see a very narrow alleyway opposite the courtyard gate. He thought that if he could install two Feng Shui bronze mirrors on the courtyard wall opposite, and tilt them to the left and right, he would be able to hide behind the courtyard gate and see what was happening in the alleyways on both sides.
Xu Huai told Liu Qiong'er about this, and Liu Qiong'er leaned over to look through the crack in the door. She thought it made sense and said, "When Madam Zhou and Madam Xu come back, I'll ask them to buy two more bronze mirrors."
Xu Huai was walking in circles in the yard, thinking about how he could use the terrain in the yard to deal with the assassin who broke in. Liu Qiong'er also followed him in circles.
Xu Huai told her all his ideas and arrangements, and also told her how to hide and deal with the assassins who broke in.
Liu Qiong'er asked curiously, "If you say you are not stupid, I can barely believe it, but you are really only sixteen years old, how do you know these things?"
"I was confused when I was young, but after I gradually understood some things, I knew many things for granted; I had to ask something, maybe this is what I am born with!" Xu Huai said lightly.
"Hmph!" Liu Qiong'er couldn't stand Xu Huai's attitude. She snorted twice in disdain and then said, "Xu Wuliang is responsible and doesn't want to involve Zhou Jianxiong and the other two. But I think these three people are not bad at fighting. They have received many favors from Xu Wuliang and are brave. You still have to find a way to drag them in. We will have enough manpower."
"Who said I was vicious just now?" Xu Huai asked Liu Qiong'er.
Xu Huai naturally noticed that Zhou Jianxiong and the other three were young and strong, but if he was in a hurry to bring Zhou Jianxiong and the others in now, the effect would probably be the same as , which would only make him unable to take charge of the subsequent arrangements.
If the situation wasn't so treacherous and dangerous, Xu Huai really wouldn't have intended to rush to take the lead in everything. With Xu Wujiang, Xu Wuliang and others taking care of things in front of him, he would be happy and leisurely. What's wrong with that?
But for now, he would rather trust his own judgment.
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The situation was critical, but Xu Wuliang did not delay.
He took the silver and rushed to Tang's warehouse to pay off his debts, then called Zhou Jianxiong and others to hand over the blacksmith shop. At noon, he hired an ox cart, took some necessary belongings, and rushed to Tieshi Lane with his wife and daughter.
The matter of assassination was extremely confidential and could not be leaked out. Xu Wuliang only told his wife and daughter that he sold himself to Qinzhai to work for ten years in exchange for 200 silver coins to pay off the debt owed to the Tang family.
The previous debts have been weighing down his family for two or three years. Xu Wuliang's wife has no objection to selling herself to work; this may be their best option at the moment, not to mention that food and accommodation are provided here.
Xu Wuliang's wife felt that her husband was still useful after all, so she pulled her daughter Xiaohuan over and stood in front of Liu Qiong'er and said stammeringly: "Xiaohuan is staying here and can help with some things. Please give her orders, young lady, but it is not considered selling her body. If she finds a husband in two years, please be merciful and let her marry off..."
"That's for sure." Liu Qiong'er responded.
Xu Huai pretended to be stupid and stood aside without saying a word. He saw that Xiao Huan was younger than Wang Xuan and skinny, but her facial features were regular.
However, Xiaohuan was malnourished and her eyes were full of fear, as if she was worried that a bad fate was waiting for her. She certainly did not have the beauty of Wang Xuan, let alone the charming and beautiful Liu Qiong'er.
"Why are you talking so much? Go help clean up the backyard!"
Xu Wuliang urged his wife to take his daughter to the back room to settle down first. When there were no idle people around, he untied a large bundle wrapped in burlap in the house.
In addition to two straight-backed long swords, two short blades, a longbow with the bowstring unstrung, there were also some scraps of leather.
"Hey, how can there be such good things?"
Xu Huai picked up a piece of leather that was about a foot wide. It turned out to be a piece of armor that was a bit old. As long as he used cowhide ropes and rivets to put it together again, it would become a half-body leather armor.
"This leather armor only protects half of my body. I brought this longbow back from the Jingsheng Army. Over the years, no matter how carefully it has been preserved, the bow has deteriorated. With a new string, it will only be slightly better than a hunting bow in the mountains," Xu Wuliang said with deep emotion. "These long and short swords were made with the fine iron I have saved up over the years. They should be handy!"
The production of bows and crossbows in modern times was complicated. It was inevitable that the bakelite winding wire of the longbow, which had been privately collected for more than ten years, would age and crack. The fact that it was slightly stronger than a hunting bow was because Xu Wuliang knew some methods of repairing and maintaining bows and crossbows. Otherwise, this bow would have been scrapped long ago.
Xu Huai wrapped the longbow with a piece of rough linen and said, "I'll take this bow to the military camp and see if I can perform a magic trick and turn it into a good bow!"
There are more than a hundred soldiers in the Inspection Office, and some of them have good bows.
The provincial military inspectorate would count the armor and weapons of the county inspection offices every once in a while, with bows and armor being the focus of the count.
However, if you can take an old bow that looks similar and add a few coins, it is not difficult to exchange it for a good bow; many of the hard bows in Tongbai Mountain were obtained in this way.
What Xu Huai is most coveting now are the two straight-backed long swords.
The knife in his hand was borrowed from Xu Sihu and never returned, but it was a very ordinary standard-issue horizontal sword.
Not to mention that this kind of knife is easy to curl, the blade spine is brittle and not tough enough, which is a bigger disadvantage.
However, the Fumang Blade is most powerful for chopping and slashing, and there are a few sword moves that require heavy weapons such as the Mo Dao and the Zhanma Dao to unleash their ultimate power.
Without a good sword, if Xu Huai got into a murderous mood when encountering an enemy and chopped twice with great force, and the sword broke into two pieces with a "snap", who could he cry to?
The two straight-spine long swords have blades that are slightly longer than standard horizontal swords. They have thick spines and sharp blades. It is obvious that they were tailor-made by Xu Wuliang for military sword techniques such as the Fumang Sword, which is used for heavy chopping and splitting. The blades are clear and bright, and the fine forged scale pattern on the blades is full of magical beauty.
Xu Huai picked up one of the long swords, and felt that it was twice as heavy as the broken sword that felt like a piece of iron. He casually swung the sword and a chilling chill was forced out. He felt that with this good sword in his hand, the same Fu Mang sword technique was much more powerful than the inferior sword he had before.
During this period, Xu Huai used the Fu Mang Fist as a foundation and spent more time immersing himself in swordsmanship. Seeing this fine sword was like seeing a beauty. How could he not be excited?
"The collar of your scabbard is a little shallow and narrow. Just modify it a little and it will fit this knife!" Xu Wuliang handed over the blacksmith shop to Zhou Jianxiong and others, but he brought a set of tools for repairing knives with him. They immediately helped Xu Huai modify the collar of the scabbard so that the new knife could fit.
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Xu Wuliang's wife rushed back to the blacksmith shop in the afternoon. There were still some odds and ends that needed to be packed up. When she returned to Tieshi Lane, she asked Zhou Jianxiong and others to help put the odds and ends into bamboo baskets and carry them over on a shoulder pole, saving the money of hiring an ox cart.
Zhou Jianxiong said that at noon, two people ran to the blacksmith shop to look around. They should be sent by Tang's Warehouse, so they were sent away.
Xu Wuliang didn't want to involve Zhou Jianxiong and the others, and blamed his wife for ordering people around inappropriately. He asked Zhou Jianxiong and the others to put down their things and urged them to go back and clean up the blacksmith shop so as not to disrupt their livelihood.
Xu Wuliang's wife's surname was Ge, and Xu Huai had called her Aunt Ying since childhood. After being scolded by Xu Wuliang, Xu Huai packed up his things and went to the backyard with an unhappy face.
Xu Huai closed the courtyard door and said to Xu Wuliang and Liu Qiong'er:
"Others think I'm stupid, but I've never tried to defend myself. Look, this is the reason - I was the one who slapped Ge Laitou in the face, but the Tang family won't suspect me."
Xu Huai said this not to show off, but because Xu Wuliang had a disagreement with him when they were discussing the follow-up arrangements just now.
Xu Huai dragged Liu Qiong'er out of Yuehonglou in order to lure the assassin to Huaiyuan Town to spy on the situation, so that they could ambush and kill him.
The disagreement between Xu Wuliang and Xu Huai is that Xu Wuliang insisted on him being the "oriole" and letting Xu Huai stay with Liu Qiong'er just in case.
Xu Wuliang insisted so much because he didn't want Xu Huai to take the most dangerous role, but Xu Huai knew in his heart that he was the one that the assassin would easily overlook and would be more likely to succeed by catching the enemy off guard.
"Uncle Wuliang, you have to believe me. If the timing is not right and I am not absolutely sure, I will not act rashly. Instead, I will stay in this yard and be ready to deal with assassins who force their way in at any time. It will be even more dangerous if I have no way to retreat." Xu Huai could only patiently persuade Xu Wuliang.
"If Xu Huai wants to run between Tieshi Lane and the military camp, Xu Jieji may be able to accept it. But if Xu Huai has to stay in Tieshi Lane day and night, Xu Jieji may stop him for the sake of his face..." Liu Qionger chimed in.
Selling oneself into slavery, even if it is a living contract that can redeem oneself, is different from hiring a lackey.
Many things cannot be made clear now. It is impossible for Xu Wujiang and Su Di to accept Xu Huai "selling himself" to Liu Qiong'er.
Xu Wuliang pondered for a long time, and finally accepted the arrangement that he and Liu Qiong'er would be in the open, while Xu Huai would be the "yellow bird" in the dark...
