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Chapter 83 Shuiyun Jiantan
April [-]th is the birthday of the Zhou family.

On the south side of Qingyun City, there is a mountain named "Chaolu". The Qingjiang River passes under the mountain, and its tributaries converge at the foot of the mountain to form Yingyue Lake. Wei's well-known sword school-Shuiyun Jiantan!
The buildings in the central area of ​​Zhoujiazhuang have a long history, and the people of the Zhou family live in them; while the surrounding buildings are [-]% to [-]% expanded in the past few decades. Because of the reputation of the "Sword Master" Zhou Chiyang, he came here to study art There are countless warriors, but there are only more than [-] people who can really worship under the Zhou family.

The Zhou family has lived here for generations, and their ancestors were the Jianjian Villa. Their main business is to help the Jianghu make various weapons. In the previous dynasty, it was just a little-known small door.

Because Mrs. Zhou is bold and loves to make friends, and when the Great Wei founded the country, he helped the rebel army build a lot of swords, so the Zhou family got on the right track, but it was only a second-rate family in the world.

It wasn't until the contemporary "Sword Master" was born that the Zhou family was able to soar into the sky, and the founding school was changed to "Shuiyun Jiantan", becoming a wealthy family in Zezhou, second only to Junshantai.

Old Grandpa Zhou is too old to care about world affairs. The current Patriarch of the Zhou family, head of Shuiyun Jiantan, is the eldest son of Old Grandpa Zhou, Zhou Huaili, and the elder brother of the contemporary Sword Master.

At noon, Chaolu Peak played and sang continuously. Famous people from all over the world came to celebrate their birthdays, drinking and chatting happily in the Shijian Hall beside Yingyue Lake.

Beside the water pool at the foot of the mountain, there is an old blacksmith's shop with a blackened signboard hanging on the door, and the word "Zhou's shop" can be seen vaguely, which is the place where the Zhou family's ancestors started.

The fire in the blacksmith shop, which has been passed down for hundreds of years, is still not extinguished, and there is a crisp sound of iron striking:

Ding--

Ding--

The white-haired Mrs. Zhou, with a stooped waist and a hammer in his hand, hit the iron block clamped on the tongs.

Because he is too old, the strength is not heavy, but the technique is extremely stable, and even has a unique rhythm when viewed from the sidelines.

The head of the sect, Zhou Huaili, stood outside the blacksmith's shop with sleeves in his hands, about fifty faces in face, with a three-foot Qingfeng sword hanging from his waist, his aura was quite impressive.

As the elder brother of the contemporary Juggernaut, and a genuine swordsman himself, Zhou Huaili's status in the world is definitely not low.

But facing his own father, no matter how old Zhou Huaili is, he can only stand quietly at the door like an ordinary son, listening to the elders' long-winded words:
"The rivers and lakes are the tides of the Qingjiang River. When there is a tide, there will be a tide and vice versa; if there is no wave, there will be a stagnant water... When Xuanyuan Chao was beaten, who would have thought that he would be kicked out of the house by the Xuanyuan family The Nizi, who was able to join the army at a young age and make great contributions, practiced a peerless sword technique, and became the champion of today's sword? When your grandfather gave Kuangyazi a sword, Kuangyazi was like the sun in the sky. , no matter how difficult it is to see half of the successor..."

Mrs. Zhou stayed in the blacksmith's shop with too much fireworks all the year round. Her voice was not very good, she spoke slowly and hoarsely, and she couldn't hear clearly unless she listened carefully.

After listening patiently for a long time, Zhou Huaili said:

"Father has told these old stories hundreds of times."

The old lady Zhou hit the iron in an orderly manner, as if she didn't hear what her son said, and continued to think:

"It's not easy to have a meal in Jianghu. Tell me, if Xuanyuan Chao came to invite me to fight with a knife, I refused the door. Now how many people are left in the Zhou family?"

"Father is generous in his life, and everyone in the world knows it. If it weren't for this, there wouldn't be so many friends from the world who came to congratulate Dad on his [-]th birthday..."

"This is not generosity. A handful of rice when someone is down is far better than a thousand gold when they are prosperous; a cold look when someone is down, may be exchanged for being wiped out in the future. This is the case in the world..."

"Father, I have already passed the age of knowing the fate, not too young. Today is your birthday, so take a day off."

Old Mrs. Zhou paused when she hit the iron, and after a moment of silence, she continued to lift the hammer.

Ding--

Ding--

It was quiet inside and outside the blacksmith shop, only the sound of iron striking remained.

Zhou Huaili waited for a while, seeing that Mrs. Zhou was not in the mood to go out to meet guests, she stopped persuading her, turned around and walked out of the ancestral house, and came to the Shijian Hall by the Yingyue Lake.

'Shi Jian' means to understand the way of swordsmanship. The sword master Zhou Chiyang realized Taoism by the lake, and he soared to the sky. From a young swordsmith, he became the most powerful swordsman in the world.

For this reason, Shijiantang is regarded as the holy place of Shuiyunjiantan, and idlers are not allowed to enter it on weekdays, and it is only opened when ceremonies and banquets are held, and the people who can enter it are all well-known people in the world.

Zhou Huaili took his servants and entered from the back of Shijian Hall. It can be seen that the hall is full of guests, and outside the door is the blue-green Yingyue Lake. There is a huge stone standing beside the lake with the word "Xia" written on it by the sword master Zhou Chiyang. , the handwriting is like silver hooks and iron paintings, showing sharp edges, and many people are watching under the big sword.

Seeing the word 'Xia', a slight displeasure flashed in Zhou Huaili's eyes.

As the saying goes, 'every family has scriptures that are difficult to recite', and the same is true of the Zhou family.

Zhou Huaili was in charge of the family early on. Because of the family business and wealth, he was not very polite to his younger brother who was loved by his father. Although he would not draw swords at each other, there were many quarrels with each other.

The younger brother did not teach his elder brother a lesson after a sword of Frost and Cold Twelve States. After engraving a word, he took up the sword and left, and began to travel the mountains and rivers, and never returned to his hometown.

Zhou Huaili knew that his younger brother was teaching him a lesson, and hoped that he would "get back from the wrong way" just like his father, but he never felt that there was anything wrong with his behavior.

His younger brother, Zhou Chiyang, is obsessed with swordsmanship and has no interest in secular family business. He even looks down on his philistine and utilitarian brother. He is a hero admired by everyone in the world.

The powers in the rivers and lakes talk about 'chivalry' on the surface, but they only care about these, and no matter how great their skills are, they can't accumulate a family fortune.

He, Zhou Huaili, is indeed a philistine, not lofty enough or chivalrous enough, but without his philistine, where would the Zhou family be full of guests today, and where would the fertile land outside come from?
If he hadn't devoted half his life to running the business, no matter how famous the Sword Master was, the Zhou family would be nothing more than a small aristocratic family, which still makes a living by blacksmithing.

Between personal fame in the world and the prosperity and wealth of his clan, what's wrong with him choosing the latter?

Distracting thoughts disappeared in a flash, Zhou Huaili came to Shijian Hall, saw the guests present, put on a smile, cupped his hands and said:
"Mrs. Xue, brother Xuanyuan, I've been waiting for a long time. My father is old and has been working iron all his life. He doesn't stand by the stove every day. He feels uncomfortable. He will come out later..."

The guests in the lobby are all famous figures in the surrounding areas of Zezhou, and the seven or eight people sitting in the chief seat are all famous masters in the rivers and lakes, the Sanjue Immortal of Wuzhou Sanjue Valley, and Xuanyuan Hongzhi, the head of Junshantai. And so on. It can be said that the rich and powerful factions near Zezhou have all sent people over.

But to say that the ones with the highest status are the two women sitting at the top!
(End of this chapter)