Under the sky

Chapter 235 Darkness

He actually has a brother?Only then did Xie Yunjin vaguely recall that there seemed to be someone living with him in the Guigu Hall when he was very young. There were four beds in "Heguang Tongchen". Besides his father, there was another person who had slept there...

The memory was so vague that he himself was not sure whether there really was such a person.

"You said I have a brother?" Xie Yunjin stood up in excitement, feeling that his voice was trembling. He was not sure whether it was the cold or other reasons, "Why did dad never tell me?"

"Master, it's windy outside, come inside and take shelter." Jin Fuzi said. This time, he didn't wait for the master's permission and walked into the cave with the oil lamp.

The winding passages shield the cave from wind and rain, and also cover up the skylight shining in from outside.It's so dark here, it was the first time Xie Yunjin had this thought.

"Master Yun has read a lot of books, so he should know some customs. In some places, children are considered unlucky as soon as they are born." Jin Fuzi said.

Of course, Xie Yunjin knew that children born on certain days would be considered unlucky, children whose birth dates would fall under the B star would also be considered unlucky, and those whose parents would be punished by punishment would also be considered unlucky.But the day he was born was neither the Dragon Boat Festival nor the Star Festival. Could it be that his mother died in childbirth?
He asked: "Because I broke some taboos, dad doesn't let me practice martial arts and wants to lock me up?"

"You and the eldest young master are twins. Twins... are unlucky." Jin Fuzi said.

"Twins?" Xie Yunqi felt a strange feeling in his heart, "He... looks like me?"

"No..." Master Jin said, "Master said that you are different from ordinary twins. You look similar, but different. You will not admit your mistake, but I only found out that later."

Is that the reason?He had indeed heard that twins were unlucky, except for certain local customs, which were taboo especially among emperors and wealthy families.

Xie Yunjin found it difficult to accept: "Is it because of this?"

Jin Fuzi seemed to have difficulty answering this question. Although he couldn't see his face clearly, Xie Yunjin felt that he was in trouble.

"I have been thinking... how to explain to the young master." Jin Fuzi sighed, "I thought I was ready to say what to say, but when it came to my mouth... Young Master, I have taken care of you here for ten years, and you have never had a memory. I will take you with me then, madam..." He suddenly stopped talking.

mother?
Xie Yunjin had never heard about his mother, and his father never mentioned it to him. Master Jin only said that his mother died very early.

Master Jin turned around and said, "By the way, I should tell the young master his name. The eldest young master's name is Xie Fengzhen, and he was born a moment earlier than you."

"Why did you say half of what you said?" Xie Yunjin asked, "What's wrong with mother?"

"Let me think about what to say..."

They came to the center of Guigu Hall, and Master Jin placed the oil lamp on the desk.

"Maybe Mr. Yun thinks this is unreasonable. Why are the twins so unlucky? But some old rules are like this. It's just a word of faith. You have to believe it if you don't believe it."

"If you think I'm ominous, why don't you drown me?" Xie Yunjin asked, "That's the old rule."

"My wife is reluctant to part with you, so I beg you to keep me." Master Jin said, "I love you very much."

"So dad is going to keep me trapped in this life forever, destroying my Qi sea so that I can't learn martial arts and escape?" Xie Yunjin almost cried with anger, his eyes turned red.He felt aggrieved, very aggrieved, that he had to suffer such torture despite doing nothing.

"He doesn't want to kill me. He can give me away. Why should he lock me up?"

"There is another reason." Master Jin said, "The eldest young master wants to inherit the master's family business. At that time, I didn't know that you and the eldest master look alike. Twins usually look alike. So giving it away... the master is afraid in trouble……"

Xie Yunjin immediately understood what Jin Fuzi meant and raised his voice slightly: "Dad, are you worried that I will compete with my eldest brother for the family business?"

He had lived in a cave since he was a child. He didn't know what his father's family business was, and he didn't even know much about money.

"Why do you think I will compete with my eldest brother for the family business?" Xie Yunjin asked, "I don't want anything. I just want to go out and see the sun and the moon!"

Master Jin said: "Even after a hundred years, the lineage of King Nu is still the descendant of King Nu who once dominated the world."

"Are we still afraid of seizing the legitimate son?" Xie Yunjin asked, "Do I still have the throne to seize? Master, didn't you say that we no longer want revenge or fight for the world? The blood oath has been damaged like this, why do we care about the legitimate son?"

Master Jin was silent for a while, then he picked up the oil lamp and came to the blood oath. He shook the lamp and said, "The young master has read this blood oath many times."

Yes, he had seen it many times, but the story above was too far away for him.

"That was more than a hundred years ago." Jin Fuzi placed the oil lamp next to the desk. The light from the fire illuminated the small fireproof water channel on the ground from a distance, reflecting the light like stars.

"The young master is familiar with the story of the angry king, so let me tell you something that the young master doesn't know."

Master Jin pointed to the golden seal on the blood oath and began to talk about some trivial matters.

"The uprising of King Nu was not smooth sailing. He was defeated many times and was forced into danger several times. He was popular and was captured when Guidi was defeated. The head of Emei led five hundred dead men into the execution ground to save people. The two sons of the clan died trying to cover the Nu King's escape. Jiangxi was in poverty, and the leader of the Beggar Clan scattered all his property to support the army. In the Yangtze River water battle, the rebels were at a disadvantage, and the head of Wudang led the navy to clear the way for the Nu King, and was struck by a knife and an arrow. He was injured in dozens of places and was finally rescued... After more than ten years of hard fighting and many hardships, he finally overthrew the previous dynasty."

Xie Yunjin had never heard of these anecdotes, they were too trivial, but why did Master Jin tell them now?
"In the end, they all put a gold seal on the blood oath to murder the man they once supported and even sacrificed their lives for."

Xie Yunjin seemed to be hit hard. He saw many similar stories in books. We can share the hardships but not the blessings.

"Power and wealth are like an abyss, always attracting people to fall." Master Jin said, "If you know how difficult it is to send things up from the mountain, you can understand how capable I am. I don't want to compete for the world, but everyone in the world dreams of having you. power and wealth.”

"What exactly does dad have?" Xie Yunjin asked, "He is not the head of the Nine Families, and the Nine Families cannot tolerate him. What power and wealth does he have?"

"Although he is not the head of the Nine Families, he has wealth and power that can rival the Nine Families." When Jin Fuzi said this, his chest puffed up slightly, looking proud, and fire burned in his pupils.

"At the beginning, no one knew that King Nu died unjustly. Even if someone was suspicious, there was no evidence. However, it was finally revealed that Shi Tai killed Li Shuliang. Following this line, we found the truth. This blood The affidavit is evidence that was stolen at that time.”

"The bloody men who followed the angry king in the uprising were not worth the death of the angry king. They tried every possible means to find the whereabouts of the angry king's son, and waited for an opportunity to avenge the angry king. After going through all the hardships, they finally found the angry king's son. However, this name is no longer trustworthy in the world. Who will fight for it? Under the banner of the son of the angry king, whoever among the six major sects will be destroyed first, the blood oath cannot redress injustice in front of the six major sects."

"If you can't do it openly, then you can do it secretly. The son of the angry king did not raise the flag of justice, but secretly planned to stir up disputes while the world was in chaos, and secretly assassinated him to avenge his father. The leader of the Beggar Clan, Ye Zhenxiu, and his whole family died, leaving no descendants. Next. Who was responsible for the decline of Emei? As soon as Li Shuliang died, his descendants suffered. These people were indispensable for the Yan family's ability to seize Huashan from the Li family so quickly. Dian Cang and Wudang were also indispensable for their direct deaths. "

"Every one of the Nu King's old men has special skills, and they hide in the dark, assassinating important people, blaming others, and secretly weakening whoever has the most power. Therefore, after more than thirty years of war, the world is still undecided. Who is the master? They originally wanted the major factions to fight each other, weaken each other, and then they can decide in one fell swoop. Unfortunately, Emei declined, and the Tang Sect took over. Hengshan fought with each other, and Qingcheng took advantage of the situation to rise. Until Gu Langya advocated Kunlun consensus, King Nu’s old tribe never found an opportunity." "Seeing that these old tribes are gradually withering, they must recruit people, which requires money and food, which is not easy, so The Sons of the Furious King built an organization around this group of old minions."

"Hidden in Youyan, redressing the injustice, like a long night without seeing the light of day, this organization is called - Night List."

Night list?Xie Yunjin heard this name for the first time. The eight characters "Quietunyouyan, redressing the injustice" comes from "Ling Ying Zhuan", but it fits the experience of King Nu's family, and the word "list" is not a list or a ranking, but an verb to reveal the truth. Righteousness, the desire to redress the injustice of the angry king to the world is hidden in these two words.

"The son of the angry king was still aggrieved by the evil world until his death. After his death, he handed the night list to his son, the young master's great-great-grandfather, Xie Gong Yuanting."

"What Ye Bang does is to buy and kill people. That's on the surface. In the mainland, they hope that the Nine Families will hate each other and take advantage of the opportunity to rise. But 90 years have passed. After Kunlun's joint discussion, except for the Shaosong dispute, the Nine Families Everyone was as calm as water, and when it came to Grandpa’s generation, they finally stopped thinking about it.”

Jin Fuzi shook his head and sighed: "Although I have given up this thought, the night list has been managed for several generations. In addition to being invisible, it has long become a man of its own. The master is not the Nine Families, but he is the real one hidden under the noses of the Nine Families." The tenth family. The secrets in martial arts are known to Ye Bang, who knows about them, but the nine people who know about Ye Bang may not know them. Shaolin disciples can only guard the territory under Shaolin jurisdiction. If Ye Bang wants to kill someone, there are people everywhere in the world. People on the night list. Where the master wants to go, even the heavily guarded Kunlun Palace, he can come and go freely. Rare treasures can be found at his fingertips, and all the common people and dignitaries are bidding for them. Master, do you understand? This is the master's power, even if it is not The emperor, he is also one of the most powerful people in the world.”

Jin Fuzi became more and more passionate as he spoke, and even his neck turned red, but Xie Yunjin didn't notice it at all. He had no interest in those powers.

He just wanted to see the sun and know why his father did this to him.

"Dad thought I would fight with my brother for this power and wealth, so he destroyed me?" He said, "I don't even recognize my brother, and I don't know what the night list is, so how can I compete with him?"

Master Jin shook his head: "That's because the young master doesn't know how tempting power and wealth are."

"Where are my father's brothers? Where are my grandfather's brothers? Is there only one descendant of the Nu King's lineage? Are they trapped here too?"

"Every descendant of King Nu, both male and female, has lived here to avoid being hunted and could not leave until he was 15 years old. If the prince dies young, he can be prepared. But the young master is different from them. You are a twin, an ominous son. I hope You...can stay as the eldest young master's support. If something happens to the eldest young master before he gets married and has a son, you will inherit the legacy of your ancestors."

Even though Xie Yunjin was accustomed to living in this extremely cold place, Master Jin's words still made him tremble all over.

"Young master, if you bear with me, maybe in less than ten years, the eldest young master will get married and have children." Master Jin said, "You have lived here for 13 years, so you should bear with me for another ten years."

In the final analysis, just because he is a twin, he has to endure a longer imprisonment than his ancestors. Just because he is a twin, he must abandon the sea of ​​qi and cannot learn martial arts for the rest of his life... just because he is a twin!

He even looks different from his eldest brother!
"Dad...when will he come again? I want to ask him personally if this is fair..."

"Wait, one day, the master will come."

After the twelfth lunar month, it is the New Year. Master Jin specially sent a letter asking people to send Spring Festival couplets and firecrackers to add some joy.

"Master, you haven't seen it before. These are firecrackers. Don't be frightened." Master Jin lit up the firecrackers on the edge of the cliff. The flames and the loud crackling noise made people upset. He didn't know if it would attract the attention of the Kunlun Palace above. .

"Kunlun Palace also sets off firecrackers during the New Year. As long as we can't hear their voices, they can't hear us."

The sound of firecrackers echoed in the valley. Xie Yunjin's eyes widened. Jin Fuzi thought he was finally attracted by the firecrackers. Following his gaze, he discovered that the thick layer of snow on the opposite mountain wall seemed to be sliding, then peeling off, and the wind There was a sound of "sand-sand-sand", and the snow quickly slid down the mountain, shocking Jin Fuzi.

The avalanche opened Xie Yunjin's horizons.

Is the outside world interesting?No, he hasn't even thought about whether the outside world is interesting.

He just wants to see the sun, just take a look. Once he takes a look, he will come back and wait obediently in this cave until his father is willing to let him go.There are books here, and he likes to read. There is only Master Jin here, and he likes to be quiet. Master Jin said that there are no worries here, and it is a paradise.

But there is no sun here, the round, warm sun written in the book.

On April 29, Xie Yunjin turned 14 years old.

His father had not visited him for more than a year, and he suddenly remembered that his father had never come on his birthday, or even on any festival he had heard of.My father would come after the snow melted in April and May, and in September and October before the winter snow started. But he had never been seen on New Year's Eve, Dragon Boat Festival, Zhongyuan Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival.

Things that I didn't take seriously before are now gradually becoming clear. Dad wants to save these holidays to accompany his eldest brother.

He felt that his father would never come again.

After knowing the truth, Master Jin treated him even better and asked Yamashita to send him some paint and some strings.Xie Yunjin studied the piano when he was a child and was very good at it. He was good at everything except martial arts. Later he lost interest. After two years of idleness, he remembered that he accidentally broke the strings while tuning, and he never played the piano again.

Master Jin wanted to teach him how to paint, but Xie Yunjin said: "To paint the landscape in the cave, all you need is ink."

He longed for the sun more and more.

■

It was the fifteenth day of leap April in the year 74 of Kunlun. Many years later, Xie Yunjin would remember this day. It was the first full-moon night after he turned 14. Although he had never seen the full moon, there was a perpetual calendar in the Guigu Palace to compare with. day.

When Master Jin woke up from the cave of "contentment with honor and disgrace", it must be Yinshi. He would go into the dark - it was really dark and couldn't see his fingers - find fire folds from the bedside, light an oil lamp next to the bed, and then Thinking about how to arrange food for the young master today.

He ate two eggs on the young master's birthday. It was not easy to find fresh food in the Guigu Palace. He had been worrying these days that he should be more luxurious and kill a chicken to moisten the young master's mouth.

The master will not come back. He knows very well that the master has been impatient with Master Yun for a long time and will not come to see him again. The last time he saw him was not even a farewell.

If you endure it for another ten years, or at most ten years, the young master will be able to go out. Perhaps he will participate in the night list affairs like other descendants of the Xie family. At the worst, he will be able to get a huge sum of money that ordinary people can't even dream of. When he was a kid from a wealthy family, he married a wife and had children, and he had nothing to do with the Xie family from then on.

This kid doesn't know anything, so that's better, it will make him less sad.

He decided to cook a pot of meat porridge, and next month would be the Dragon Boat Festival. When the food was delivered on the [-]th, he would have to ask the third grader to bring some bamboo leaves, glutinous rice, and bacon so that he could make rice dumplings for the young master.

He cares about the young master as he cares for his own son. In the past, because the master was still there, he did not dare to overstep the bounds as a servant. Now he must make up for the shortcomings of the young master who has lost his father.

"Master!" Master Jin came to Guigu Hall with meat porridge, but he didn't see the young master who always got up early.

Could it be that you feel uncomfortable?Master Jin put the hot meat porridge on the table, but the young master was still nowhere to be seen in the cave of "He Guang Tong Chen".His heart tightened, and he used Qinggong to quickly walk around the Guigu Palace, calling for the young master in the sea of ​​books, but still couldn't find Xie Yunjin.

Master Jin ran to the entrance of the cave, and a gust of wild wind almost blew him down. He whizzed away among the cliffs of the solitary mountain. When he looked up again, he saw that the sky and the earth were completely white, and there was no trace of a human being.
(End of this chapter)