Volume 2: Forbidden City, Jianghu and Imperial Court Chapter 5: The First Swordsmith
Luoyang is the most flower-filled city in spring, with 100,000 houses in the shade of red and green. Who says that flowers are like brocade? People learn brocade from flowers.
Every year from Qingming Festival to Guyu Festival, the ancient capital of Luoyang holds a peony flower show.
The peony has won the reputation of "the king of flowers" and "the most beautiful flower in the world" for its graceful, enchanting and charming appearance. Luoyang is also known as the "Peony City" because of its long history of peony cultivation.
Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, more than 200 kinds of peonies have gathered in Luoyang. After being cultivated by skilled florists, peonies of various colors such as red, yellow, pink, white, purple, green, blue and black compete with each other in beauty, adding color to the ancient capital of Luoyang.
Fang Yunhan entered Luoyang City on the fifth day of March. At this time, the Luoyang Flower Festival had not yet reached its grand day, but walking through the streets, peonies could be seen everywhere.
The famous flowers sway in the sunlight, and even the sun's radiance becomes more gentle and graceful.
"It smells so good. Have we arrived in Luoyang yet?"
Lu Xiaofeng was lying on the horse next to Fang Yunhan. He had followed Fang Yunhan all the way and seemed to be sleeping soundly. When they entered the city, he woke up slowly and sat up steadily on the horse's back.
"It's really colorful. This year's Luoyang Flower Fair is more prosperous than the last time I came here." Lu Xiaofeng looked around and was in high spirits. He said to Yun Han, "Since we are in Luoyang, we have to go to Wanxiang Tower. I will lead the way."
This was also the first time Fang Yunhan had seen such an ancient flower show, so he couldn't help but take a few more glances and asked, "Is there anything special about Wanxiang Tower?"
"Wanxianglou's Baihua wine is famous throughout the country. It is often difficult to buy a bottle of aged wine at a high price. However, I know that the Baihua cake they make every year during the flower fair season has a more authentic flower flavor than the wine."
Lu Xiaofeng sniffed the air in Luoyang City, and the depression that had been lingering in his heart for days seemed to be thrown away. He smiled and said, "It's just that cakes are not easy to preserve, and the price is not as high as wine, so they have never become famous."
The two of them walked along the long street for a while and turned left. Suddenly, they were confronted by a completely different atmosphere of congestion and noise, which completely dissipated the fragrance of the flowers.
There was a high platform in front with sheds on three sides, where people of all kinds sat. The only side without a shed, facing the street, was also crowded with people of all kinds holding swords and knives, standing shoulder to shoulder, watching the fight on the stage.
At a quick glance, there are probably three or four hundred people here.
Two people were fighting with swords on the high platform. Their fighting was quite methodical and brutal.
Fang Yunhan asked in confusion: "What is this? The competition for the leader starts right now?"
"This is not a duel for position." Lu Xiaofeng is well-informed and said, "This time, all the big and small gangs in the world have gathered here for the martial arts conference, and naturally there are many disputes among them. It's a good opportunity to ask the old leader Qiao to mediate the dispute. However, after mediation, people in the martial arts world will always have to fight with swords and knives, so this arena is for them to fight."
Fang Yunhan snorted and laughed, "Is this the Wulin Alliance Leader's way of mediation?"
"That's already very good." Lu Xiaofeng pointed at the two people on the stage and said, "For a situation like this that can't be resolved verbally and has to be brought to the ring , it's usually because of a lot of hatred that has been accumulated. If there's no mediation by the martial arts leader, I'm afraid the two gangs will rise up and fight, and in the end more than half of both sides will be killed or injured."
"And such an arena will limit the number of people who can participate in the death fight. They will sign a life and death agreement, notarized by the leader of the martial arts world, the major sects and the government. After entering the arena, they will accept their fate and will not argue about it afterwards. Otherwise, they will be jointly held accountable by the government and the various sects."
At this point, Lu Xiaofeng sighed, "In fact, since they are seeking mediation, they naturally understand that it is not worth it to start a group fight because of their hatred. But if it weren't for the stepping stone of the martial arts leader, the government and other factions, which are more powerful forces to suppress them, they would still take a path that they know is impossible."
Lu Xiaofeng is not a sentimental person usually, but the reason he sighed like this now is probably because he was affected by what happened a few days ago.
"It seems that the leader of the Wulin is indeed very important." Fang Yunhan looked out and said, "Is the current leader of the Wulin also sitting in the shed over there?"
"That won't happen." Lu Xiaofeng put his right hand over his eyebrows to block out some of the sunlight. He looked at those people carefully and said, "The leader and the leaders of those first-rate gangs have to maintain their status . They are probably sitting in Wanxiang Tower. Their disciples will report what happened here and get their approval. Those sitting in that shed are only their disciples and people from Luoyang government office. Eh?"
Lu Xiaofeng exclaimed softly, pointed at the old man sitting on the far right side of the shed on the east side, and said to Fang Yunhan: "Look at that person."
Fang Yunhan looked as he was told and saw that the old man was unkempt, with dishevelled hair. He looked more like a drunkard on the street or a poor old craftsman.
However, the imposing martial artists sitting next to the old man would occasionally glance at him intentionally or unintentionally, with respect on their faces, and it was obvious that his identity was not simple.
Lu Xiaofeng clapped his hands beside Fang Yunhan and said, "That is the world's number one swordsmith, Gui You. He has many quirks, and even I don't know what he likes. But the swords made by him must be top-notch weapons in the martial arts world, and can even be used as heirlooms."
"Strange." Lu Xiaofeng said, gently rubbing his beard with his fingers. This was a small action he often made when thinking. "He never asks about the affairs of the martial arts world, so why is he here?"
"Haha!" A big man who was watching the fight in the ring suddenly turned around and smiled at Lu Xiaofeng, "Brother, I just listened for a long time, and you seem to know everything. It's really admirable. However, you must have just arrived in Luoyang today."
The material of the clothes on this big man was of medium grade. There was a low-quality sparrow-eye pearl embedded in the handle of the knife in his hand. There were also a few scratches and nicks on the blade. He was at most a third-rate gangster.
Lu Xiaofeng, however, did not show any contempt, and said with a cupped hand: "Thank you for the compliment, brother. I did just enter the city today. Do you have any advice for me?"
"Hehe." The big man couldn't hide his smugness on his face, but he pretended to be nonchalant and waved his hand and said, "It's not a big secret. The fellow martial artists who came here a few days ago know it all."
"Mr. Guiyou spent 9981 days to forge a Liangyi Sword, and was worried about how to find a hero worthy of the sword. When he heard that Luoyang was going to hold a martial arts conference and the position of the leader of the martial arts world would be handed over, he brought this sword with him as a gift for the new leader of the martial arts world when he took office."
When the big man said this, he lowered his voice and sounded extremely mysterious. He said, "In fact, I have a friend who is Mr. Guiyou's neighbor. According to him, this Liangyi Sword is Mr. Guiyou's masterpiece. He has put all his life's efforts into it. After it was forged, the sword often howled at night. If you get this sword, you will be invincible in the world."
After hearing this, Lu Xiaofeng just chuckled. Just as he was about to answer, he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves in the distance, and several people rode their horses galloping towards him.
Those people had white cloth tied on their heads and looked terrified and angry.
Fang Yunhan raised his eyes and saw clearly that the strips of white cloth had just been torn off.
