Eternal Sword

Chapter 3 Knife
Outside the county government office.

"Chen Daan died of illness in prison. You came just in time. Get rid of the body quickly. It's an eyesore."

The two yamen runners threw the corpse down with disgust on their faces, turned around and went into the yamen.

Chen Tang looked at the bloody corpse in front of him, his face as gloomy as water, frowning and saying nothing.

No explanation.

No chance to ask.

When someone dies, collect the body, that's it.

Anyone who is not blind can see that Chen Daan suffered inhuman torture before his death and could not have died of illness.

Chen Tang traveled through time and this was the first time he met Chen Daan.

I didn't expect it to be this way.

It’s not like he has deep feelings for Chen Daan.

But even if he had not been reborn as Chen Tang and just stayed out of it, it would be difficult to remain calm after seeing this scene.

Chen Tang was very calm.

At least, that's what it seems on the surface.

After standing quietly for a long time, Chen Tang silently bent down, picked up Chen Daan's body, put it on his back, and walked towards home.

After traveling through time, he has been practicing on the snowy mountains.

It was not until this moment that he truly felt the coldness around him!
The lives of Chen father and son were lost just like that.

No one cares, there is no place to reason, and no one will give them justice.

It was like two ants being stepped on to death at will.

When the passers-by in Changze County saw Chen Tang carrying a corpse, they all frowned and stayed away from him, fearing that they would not be able to avoid him.

Chen Tang finally understood the meaning of Shanzhongke's words.

"Old Sun, it's time to pay the monthly fee!"

"Master Chai, why has the monthly allowance increased again?"

"Don't waste your time, just pay as much as you are told. Without the protection of our Wolf Gang, your blacksmith shop would have been smashed to pieces long ago!"

In the blacksmith shop not far away, several members of the Evil Wolf Gang were collecting money nearby.

There are two gangs entrenched in Changze County. One is the branch of the Black Water Gang set up here, and the other is the local Evil Wolf Gang.

The two major gangs each dominated one side, and they had a tacit understanding and did not invade each other, so the country was relatively peaceful.

The Blackwater Gang has business dealings with government offices in all major counties and prefectures, while the Evil Wolf Gang earns most of its income from collecting fees from nearby merchants.

In fact, it is protection money. If you don’t pay it, this group of people will come to cause trouble.

The two gangs have business dealings with the Changze County government, so naturally the officials turned a blind eye.

For small business owners, in addition to heavy taxes and levies, they also have to deal with these underworld gangs, which is naturally a miserable task.

"There's not much business this month, and I only have this little extra money. I hope Master Chai can be flexible..."

The old man Sun held two hundred copper coins in both hands, with a big smile on his face.

"Fuck you, you want to get rid of me with just this little money?"

Uncle Chai waved his hand and slapped Old Sun on the face, cursing loudly.

He raised his arm and was about to continue hitting, but he caught a glimpse of Chen Tang not far away and couldn't help but frown.

"Fuck, there's a dead body outside!"

Master Chai cursed, snatched the copper coin from Old Sun's hand, stuffed it into his arms, and waved his hand, saying, "Let's go, let's get out of the way and avoid being tainted by bad luck!"

"Get out of here, little brat! If I see you again, I'll fucking kill you!"

Before leaving, Master Chai glared at Chen Tang, cursed at him, and quickly left with a few of his fellow Wolf Gang members.

Chen Tang had no expression on his face.

He has no mood to deal with this kind of people now.

"Chen Tang."

Old Sun from the blacksmith shop waved at Chen Tang and called out.

Chen Tang paused and hesitated for a moment, but still walked towards the blacksmith shop with Chen Daan on his back.

Chen Daan had some dealings with this old man Sun during his lifetime. The two bows and arrows were all made here.

"Chen Tang, thank you so much for what you did just now."

One side of Old Sun's cheek was red and swollen, and his smile was bitter.

Chen Tang shook his head.

He didn't help much.

"Brother Chen..."

Old Sun looked at Chen Daan's body, hesitated to speak, and sighed.

Chen Tang was silent.

After a moment, he asked, "Uncle Sun, is there anything else?"

"Yes, yes."

Old Sun seemed to have thought of something. He turned back to the shop and soon came out holding a black long sword with a sheath.

"This is……"

Chen Tang frowned.

Old Sun said, "After you got into trouble, Brother Chen left me some money so that I could make a good sword."

"He said that when you were little, he asked you what kind of person you wanted to be in the future. You said you wanted to be a chivalrous swordsman and travel the world. He has always remembered this, but his family was poor, so he was reluctant to do so."

"Brother Chen said that he has never bought you any gifts since you were a child. When you recover from your injury this time, I will give you this knife as a surprise."

After listening to this, Chen Tang was silent for a long time before he gently put Chen Daan down, leaned against the blacksmith shop, and reached out to take the long knife.

He just traveled through time and space, and he had never lived with Chen Daan, so there was no relationship between them. He was afraid of trouble.

Even before going down the mountain, he felt it was troublesome to think about meeting with Chen Daan and acting out the father-son love scene.

Chen Tang also didn't like the pressure of this blood feud.

But for some reason, looking at the knife in his hand, he suddenly felt an inexplicable emotion in his heart, and felt a little uncomfortable.

The knife was ready, but the man was gone.

In the end, Chen Daan was unable to hand the knife to Chen Tang personally.

The relationship between the two as father and son in this life ended just like that.

I didn't get to see him for the last time.

"Brother Chen came that day and talked to me a lot."

Old Sun continued, "After you got into trouble, you were often laughed at by people here, saying that you were a tiger-captor or something like that... When Brother Chen mentioned this, his face was full of pride."

"He said you are a good kid, a man of blood. If you can hold on, you will definitely be a world-famous swordsman in the future."

Chen Tang lowered his head and looked at Chen Daan who was leaning against the blacksmith shop. He felt like there was an unknown anger in his chest with nowhere to vent.

"Child, I know you are unwilling."

Old Sun patted Chen Tang on the shoulder and advised earnestly: "But you have to think about it. We are just an ordinary family. When we encounter such a thing, there is really nothing we can do. This person is fate. If it happens, we can only accept it."

Should ordinary people just accept their fate?
Canglang!

Chen Tang suddenly drew out his long knife.

The blade is smooth and sharp, and the blade is bright and shining. It is indeed a good knife.

Chen Tang looked closely and saw two lines of small characters engraved on the end of the blade.

"A wild man gets angry when he sees injustice, and sharpens the eternal sword in his chest!"

Chen Tang said softly.

Old Sun said, "Brother Chen asked me to carve this. He said he often heard your grandfather mention it, so I gave it to you."

Chen Tang sheathed the knife, closed his eyes, and let out a long breath.

He is afraid of trouble.

But he was more afraid of having a guilty conscience.

Because of Chen Daan, he had the opportunity to practice martial arts on the snowy mountains and return after recovering from his injuries.

Now that he has come to this world and lived again as Chen Tang, he has to take on all the grudges and hatreds from his previous life.

This is Jianghu.

A moment later, when Chen Tang opened his eyes again, his expression had returned to calm, as still as an ancient well.

He doesn't want to accept his fate if he lives his life over again.

If he had to recognize someone, he would only recognize the knife in his hand!

Armed with sharp weapons, murderous intent arises!
"Uncle Sun, why would my father hurt government officials for no reason? Who did he hurt?" Chen Tang asked.

"It's not your father's fault."

Old Sun said: "I heard it was Cui Yong..."

Before he finished speaking, Old Sun glanced around and saw a few white servants who had just drunk some wine and were staggering towards him.

Old Sun's heart tightened, and he kept silent. He smiled awkwardly and said, "I just heard it from others, so I can't be sure. You should leave now."

"Good work."

Chen Tang did not ask any more questions. He said thank you, hung the knife on his waist, carried Chen Daan's body on his back again, and walked towards home.

Old Sun saw that Chen Tang had regained his composure and didn't think too much about it. He felt relieved and thought to himself, "After this ordeal, Chen Tang has become much calmer."

Chen Tang temporarily placed Chen Daan's body at home. It was only the first month of the lunar year and the weather was cold, so the body would not rot if left outside.

The information revealed by Old Sun was not much different from what he had guessed before.

If you want to know what happened between Chen Daan and the government, Cui Yong is a key figure.

Cui Yong, dozens of households nearby are under his jurisdiction.

No matter what happens in anyone's family, he can tell the truth.

Even if there is no news about Old Sun, Chen Tang will be the first one to find him!

Chen Tang did not take action immediately.

These days, he hid during the day and moved at night, secretly observing Cui Yong's movements and habits, and writing down the time, place and pattern of the night patrols of the Changze County government officials.

Cui Yong was accompanied by two white servants, and they often went in and out together.

Chen Tang is very patient.

It was late at night and the north wind was biting.

He sat quietly in the yard, wiping the long sword in his hand over and over again, constantly deducing the next actions in his mind, pondering the details, and thinking about possible variables and countermeasures.

He is waiting for an opportunity.

The night grew darker and dark clouds covered the sky.

A crystal clear snowflake slowly fell on the cold knife.

Snowing.

And it gets denser as it goes down.

The wind was getting stronger and stronger.

The snow is falling just right.

The wind and snow not only block the view, but also cover all traces.

Chen Tang stood up, sheathed his knife, and walked out.

(End of this chapter)