Simulation becomes reality, have I ever looked down upon the eternity?

Chapter 376: The great master of the academy, the magic master, the monk, and the heavenly master, gathered together!

The water surface gradually calmed down!

The waves that had just "turned the world upside down" have now gone away.

The honest man's face was still a little pale and he was still frightened. Just now he thought that the giant creature in the river would open its bloody mouth.

It revealed a head larger than a waterwheel and swallowed them all in one gulp.

Unexpected!
This...water monster was like a frightened bird, and disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.

On the contrary, it didn't look like they were frightened.

Instead, the water monster was in a panic and had no idea where to go.

The honest man immediately turned around and supported his wife.

The woman was distracted and didn't pay attention to the waves in the lake. She almost stumbled and was held by the boatman, otherwise she would have fallen.

This middle-aged boatman, who looked to be in his forties or fifties, was strong and had bulging muscles in his arms.

Although the weather was cold, Zhouzi was only wearing a short shirt with his chest half exposed, revealing his strong muscles.

However, the only drawback was that Zhouzi's left leg was a little lame.

There was a black and gray scar on his leg, winding like a snake and particularly eye-catching.

The calf muscles have obviously atrophied, and the legs are thinner than normal, appearing skinny and weak.

Zhouzi had a shaved head, regular facial features, a bright smile, a mouthful of white teeth, and seemed very talkative.

"Ma'am, please be careful."

As Zhouzi spoke, he supported the woman steadily with his big hands.

The woman supported her tight muscles with her hands, looked up, and a blush appeared on her face.

My own five-foot-tall husband is not as strong and powerful as him.

She quickly lowered her head, looking a little embarrassed.

Seeing this, the honest man on the side quickly pulled the woman's hand out of Zhouzi's arms and held it tightly in his own hand.

With a hint of vigilance in his eyes, he looked at the boatman in front of him - this man was a head taller than him, about the same age as him, but much more robust.

The man was secretly on guard: these boatmen who sailed in the West Wing were usually the most unruly. As long as they had some money in their pockets, they would go straight to the brothels and restaurants with singing and dancing after getting off the boat, either getting drunk or having fun, and they were really not serious people.

He tightened his wife's hand and said, "Madam, stand steady, don't fall."

The woman didn't care either. She just watched the water control work on both sides.

Judging from its route, it was sent to the other side of the water control.

The boatman smiled and said, "This old gentleman wants to cross the river."

Only then did they notice the old man who was holding tightly onto the side of the boat with one hand.

It turned out that we were going to the West Wing.

To go to the Banquet of Flowers, one must cross the arch bridge, but to go to the West Wing, one only needs to cross the river.

Zhou Zi looked at the old man who was wearing a Confucian robe and said with a smile, "Old sir, you don't seem to be from Bianjing, right? Are you a foreigner?"

The old man's Bian Jing Mandarin was a little stiff, mixed with a strong local accent. It didn't seem to be from the Great Qi Dynasty, and it sounded a bit like the heavy nasal tone of the West.

Hearing this, the old man nodded and shook his head, saying, "I guess I am half a foreigner."

"I once lived in Bianjing, and later traveled far away, leaving my footprints all over the world."

“Although I am old, I still can’t sit still. I like to travel around and appreciate the beauty of mountains and rivers.”

The honest man couldn't help but laugh when he heard this. Looking at the old man's appearance, he was over 60 years old and should have been enjoying his retirement at home, but he preferred to run around.

As for the claim that my footprints are all over the world, I'm afraid it's just bragging.

The world is so vast. Not to mention the endless grasslands in the north, the unfathomable bays in the south, and the hundreds of thousands of mountains in the west.

How does one complete one's life?
The old man was shabby and looked a little timid. I'm afraid he must have been a miserable person who had experienced many hardships.

The old man continued, "I am alone, without any ties. Wherever I go, I am self-sufficient. If I am well fed, my whole family will not be hungry."

As the old man spoke, his originally strong foreign accent gradually turned into a pure Bianjing accent, and his tone was fluent and natural, as if he was a native of Bianjing.

The woman was stunned when she heard this, and a look of surprise appeared on her face. Changing an accent is not easy, especially when one has developed a pronunciation habit since childhood and accumulated over time, which is even more difficult to change easily.

She thought to herself that this old man was definitely not a simple person. He must be a veteran who had traveled all over the country.

Zhou Zi also joked, "Old man, you should take it easy now, you are old."

"It's saved. It's saved."

"Since you have been to so many places, where do you think the scenery is the best and the girls are the most beautiful? Is it our Bianjing?"

"Naturally, naturally, Bianjing is the best place in the world, and its reputation is well-deserved."

"Is Da Qi's academy the best in the world?"

"of course."

"Is our Great Qi army invincible?"

"Maybe."

"Is Da Qi the most powerful country in the world?"

"awesome."

Zhouzi was no longer trying to tease this easy-going old man.

The old man didn't have a bad temper and just nodded to everything.

Zhouzi was impressed by the old man's temper and reminded him with a smile: "Old man, you are traveling around the world, you can't always be so easy to talk to. You have to have some temper, otherwise others will look down on you. Especially some young people, they are not like us, who value respecting the elderly and loving the young."

"They are the most unethical."

The old man nodded with a smile, "It's saved, it's saved."

The honest man beside him couldn't help but be curious and asked, "Old sir, what are you doing here at the banquet at this time?"

He half-jokingly asked, "Are you here to see the Oiran as well?"

The old man waved his hands quickly and said with a smile: "I dare not do that. I am here to look for friends. Some of my friends are in Bianjing and have encountered some troubles. I have some reputation in Bianjing and should be able to help."

Zhou Zi deliberately showed a look of surprise when he heard this, and raised his voice and said, "Old sir, you must have been a well-known figure in your time, right?"

The old man straightened his back involuntarily, with a look of complacency on his face.

"I don't deserve it. I don't deserve it. I was second only to the emperor in Bianjing back then."

"There are just a few useless junior brothers."

The honest man couldn't help laughing after hearing this.

There is a hint of self-boasting in what the old gentleman said.

What does "under one person, there are several incompetent junior brothers" mean?
This doesn't sound very reliable and can't be taken seriously!

He knew in his heart that the old man loved to tell stories and talk about his past when he was young.

As for how much of it is true and how much is false, that depends on how much he has drunk and how high his spirits are.

The woman looked at the old man carefully at this time, and saw that his words and actions did not seem like the kind of person who would take advantage of others, and she couldn't help feeling a little apologetic.

She apologized and said, "I just misunderstood the old man."

The old man felt a little embarrassed when he saw the woman's attitude change. He quickly waved his hand and said with a smile: "It's okay, it's okay, it's just a small matter."

At this time, the boatman was getting closer and closer to the shore. He held the pole steadily, and the small boat moved forward steadily in the wind and waves, showing his skilled skills.

The water in this section is turbulent because of the passing of large ships, but the boatman is able to control the boat with ease. He is definitely not someone who has gained his fame in vain.

Going against the wind, the river is misty and vast, but also steady.

The boat was about to reach the shore.

The old man pulled a small package carefully wrapped in a handkerchief from his bosom and paid for the ferry.

He opened it carefully, and inside was some crushed silver and polished copper coins of different sizes, obviously the money he had accumulated for a long time.

The old man showed a trace of reluctance on his face, but finally he gritted his teeth, counted out thirty taels of silver from the box, and slowly handed it to Zhouzi.

When handing over the silver, the old man turned his face to one side, as if he was in great pain, and he didn't even dare to look at the silver.

Seeing this, Zhou Zi laughed, picked up only one silver coin from the old man's hand, weighed it in his hand, and said cheerfully:
"Since there was a disturbance in the river today, I will take five taels of silver. You can keep the rest, old man."

The old man suppressed his smile and coughed. "This... this is unacceptable!"

But she quickly wrapped the handkerchief again and put it back into her arms, as if she was afraid that Zhouzi would change his mind.

Zhou Zi did not point it out, but just reminded him with a smile: "Old man, you have to be careful when you go up to the West Wing. It is best not to say that you are a foreigner. The locals are the most 'taking advantage of the familiar'. When staying in a hotel, they will treat you according to your situation. You have to be extra careful and keep your mind on everything. Don't say that you are alone and come to Bianjing to look for relatives."

"There are also some restaurants that refuse all requests for drinking companionship or recommendation, otherwise the bill will be sky-high."

After he finished speaking, his eyes were sincere, and it was obvious that he was really thinking about the old man.

Although the old man had traveled far and wide and had a wide range of experience, he was old after all, childless and alone, so the boatman wanted to give him some convenience and charge him less money.

The boat slowly approached the shore. Seeing this, the woman also said, "Brother Zhouzi, please take us to the shore as well."

Upon hearing this, the honest man at the side hurriedly asked, "Our price is also five taels?"

Zhou Zi said readily, "Okay, the price is the same."

The honest man was immediately delighted.

I made a lot of money today. I saved a lot of money on this trip. It was really a pleasant surprise.

The boat has docked and is slowly moored on the wooden planks on the shore.

The woman and the honest man have already got off the boat.

The old man stood up, walked over and patted him on the shoulder.

Zhouzi was stunned. How did the old man put the thing on his shoulder without anyone noticing?

The old man in the Confucian robe said with a smile: "As a martial arts master of the second rank, why do you have to stay in the river paddling for a living? Your lame leg must have been stabbed by the disciples of the academy, right?"

"There is a residual sword force in the wound that has not subsided for a long time, causing blood circulation to be blocked. If this continues for a long time, I am afraid that this leg will not be able to be saved."

"Fortunately, I have only learned a little bit of this sword skill from my junior brother, otherwise you would have died here long ago."

"In order to heal this injury, you lived in this river, hoping to use the force of the rapids to disperse this sword intent. Unfortunately, this method only treats the symptoms and not the root cause. If you delay it any longer, within two years, this sword intent will explode. By then, I'm afraid you will have no choice but to die."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zi's face turned pale instantly, and his whole body became stiff. He was unable to move at all, and even raising his hands became extremely difficult.

The old man smiled and continued, "I don't like to owe favors to others. You waived my ferry fee, and I helped you get rid of this sword intent. We are even now."

Finished!

Zhouzi only felt a mighty stream of Qi rushing in from his shoulders, rushing down along his meridians, and instantly penetrating the withered blood vessels in his calves.

The burning sword intent that had been lingering in the body for many years seemed to be forced out of the body by an invisible force.

"puff!"

A ball of white sword energy burst out from under Zhou Zi's feet, directly shattering his boots. The sword energy chopped on the cabin like an axe, leaving a deep scratch.

Zhouzi's whole body relaxed, as if a heavy burden had been lifted off him. He spat out a mouthful of black blood and felt a lot more relaxed in an instant.

He opened his mouth and wanted to speak, but found that his body was still stiff, as if suppressed by an invisible force. He could not utter a word. He could only stare with wide eyes and watch the old man slowly get off the boat and his back gradually walked away.

The boatman was able to move again only after the old man came ashore.

He quickly knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times in the direction the old man left, his face full of gratitude and his voice extremely respectful.

"Farewell, Mr. Great!"

This sword wound was caused by a disciple from the academy when he challenged him and was injured by the opponent using Mr. Er's sword technique.

The sword intent was like a cancer attached to the bone, tormenting me for nine whole years, and it could never be resolved.

Even if someone among the nine surnames could solve the problem, they would not dare to intervene because they were afraid of Mr. Er.

And today!
Not only did the old man see through his injuries at a glance, he also dispelled the sword intent with ease.

What is even more shocking is that he actually called the second gentleman "junior brother" and called himself "a man who travels around the world."

Zhouzi already understood in his mind that this old man was probably the legendary great master of the academy!

The great scholar in the academy who loved mountains and rivers.

He knelt on the ground for a long time without getting up, his heart filled with emotion.

"Madam, I just looked back at that boatman and he seemed to be kneeling towards us. Am I dazzled?"

The honest man scratched his head and said with some doubt in his tone, "That old man has also caught up."

When the woman heard this, she looked back and saw the old man in Confucian robes coming ashore.

She was about to speak when she suddenly noticed three people standing on the deck at the shore, seemingly waiting for something.

On the left is an old monk in cloth clothes with a kind face, meditating silently with his eyes closed.

In the middle is a woman in Taoist robes wearing a conical hat. Her figure is hidden by the wide robe and her face is also concealed under the hat.

On the right is a mature middle-aged man standing with his hands behind his back, with slightly graying hair on his temples, an elegant temperament and a deep gaze.

The woman's eyes narrowed. Wasn't the man on the right the elegant middle-aged man who had been eating mutton soup at his own stall at Naiqiaotou before?
She was extremely delighted. She didn't expect that after going through so much trouble to come to the Banquet of Beauties, she would actually meet him!

These three people are Lu Hua, magician Xu Jiangxian and Master Lianchi.

Lu Hua was persuaded by Xu Jiangxian and decided to go to the academy to find out what was going on.

However, there is still an important person who has not arrived at the banquet as promised.

This person was the reason why Lu Hua dared to enter Bianliang alone.

Formerly a great teacher in the academy, now the imperial teacher of the Sui Dynasty.

Since the three of them had decided to join forces and belong to the same camp, Lu Hua no longer concealed it and took Xu Jiangxian and Master Lianchi to wait at the agreed place.

When the three men saw the old man walking slowly towards them, they hurried forward to greet him, passing the couple and walking in front of him.

Master Lianchi clasped his hands together and said softly, "Donor Xu."

The great master's name was Xu Xian. He nodded slightly when he heard this.

The magician also showed respect on his face and said, "Greetings, sir."

Lu Hua also laughed loudly: "Greetings to the Grand Master."

Master Xu Xian nodded gently to Lu Hua, then looked at Xu Jiangxian and his wife with a smile, and said, "I didn't expect to meet you two friends here again."

Considering his age, Xu Jiangxian and the others are his juniors.

On the side, the honest man also recognized Xu Jiangxian.

The couple were slightly surprised that the old man they met on the road was actually an acquaintance of the middle-aged man and seemed to be waiting for this specifically.

(End of this chapter)