Indissoluble bond

Chapter 36

My name is Shen You, and I am 72 years old this year.I was born in 300. It is said that in that year, there was a severe drought in He Province, and the next year, there was another severe locust plague. This natural disaster led to a great famine in the entire He Province, which devoured the lives of at least 300 million people. lives, forcing [-] million people to flee their homes.

This all happened after I was born, but because I was young, I didn’t live in He Province, and my family was rich, so I didn’t experience such a tragic disaster.

My father is a landlord, and my family lives in Shen Village, Ning City, Jiangxi Province. The house is at the foot of Lianhua Mountain on the edge of Shen Village.There are many wild animals in the mountains, so my family won't let me into the mountains, so I have never been to the mountains.At the foot of the mountain, around my house, there are many lotus ponds. Every summer, pink and white lotus flowers bloom in groups, which is very beautiful.Lianhua Mountain got its name from this.

My father didn't read much and had no culture, so when he named me, he simply added my mother's surname to his surname.

Although my father is not an educated person, my grandfather is well-read poetry and books.It should be said that my ancestors were all scholars, and our Shen family has countless officials, but most of them are not well-known, but this is already very remarkable.

In my father's generation, I don't know if it was because he didn't have the talent for reading, or because of the times. After he could read, his grandfather didn't let him continue learning.Later, he switched to business, perhaps because he was really talented, so he quickly earned a large fortune.

Later, because of his rich family background, he married my mother, and within a few years he had me.

Later, when I grew up, my grandfather let me read books, and even taught me personally. Forgot to mention, my grandfather was a Jinshi.

If the Qing Dynasty had not subjugated the country, maybe he had already become a high official.

Because of years of wars, he taught me swordsmanship while I was studying.The swordsmanship he taught has no tricks, the purpose is to kill and hurt people.

At that time, my swordsmanship was different from what it is now, and my movements and so on were well done, but it was still empty-handed.

Grandfather said: "What you lack is murderous intent, but you have no hatred, and you have never killed anyone, so you have no murderous intent, and it is impossible to have murderous intent."

I don't understand, murderous?An aura?Why do you have to have hatred to have murderous intent?

At that time, I was young and energetic, and I was not convinced by his statement, so I went into the mountain alone.I thought, as long as you have killed a beast, you will have a murderous look.

I was carrying a long knife, carrying a bow and arrow, and wearing dusty clothes.I took no sword, which I was good at, because it was obviously unwise to use a sword against those beasts.

As soon as I entered the mountain, I was lucky enough to track the wild boar.

It is said that there are tigers on the Lianhua Mountain and the nearby mountains, and they will wander in the two mountains from time to time. I didn't set the target as a tiger because I knew I couldn't catch it.

I settled for the next best thing and found a wild boar.

Following the imprint, I lightened my steps, slowed down my breathing, and my heart was beating non-stop.

I swallowed, and licked my lips again. I found that I was very nervous, and the palms of the hands holding the knife were sweaty.

"there?"

I looked at the footprints on the soil, looked at the place where the footprints disappeared, and looked up in that direction again, feeling a little puzzled.

The footprints ended here, but he didn't see the wild boar he was thinking of.

As soon as I turned around, I broke out in a cold sweat, my eyes were wide open, and my feet were too weak to move.A pair of cold eyes are behind the grass not far ahead.

It's the wild boar! !

Only at this time did I realize that no matter how well I practiced my sword at home, I might not even have the courage to hold a sword in front of me.

Grandfather, perhaps the first thing I lacked, was courage.

The wild boar started howling at me, loud and harsh, circling me with its eyeballs as it hoofed.

I was taken aback and fell to the ground. There were grass, fallen leaves, soft soil, branches and stones on the ground.

Soon, the wild boar rushed towards me aggressively, but I seemed to be nailed in place, motionless.

dying!

Seeing that it was about to rush in front of me, I couldn't help closing my eyes, not daring to look any further.

"boom!"

The imaginary pain did not come for a long time, but there was a muffled sound in my ear, and a gust of wind blew my forehead hair.

I quietly opened my eyes a crack, and the sight in front of me surprised and delighted me.

"Grandpa!" I yelled, feeling like a survivor.

Grandfather ignored me, the wild boar was a little dizzy from his sudden blow with a stick, it shook its head, and its feet were unsteady. Grandpa took this opportunity to pick up the knife I dropped on the ground, and sent it into the wild boar's mouth inside.

The wild boar was still struggling, and the grandfather used the other hand to hold the stick and beat it non-stop.After a while, the wild boar's struggle became much weaker, and the grandfather drew out the knife again and stabbed it several times.

It wasn't until the wild boar died completely that the grandfather threw away the stick and knife as thick as a human thigh.

Grandpa's forehead was covered with sweat, and a large area of ​​his clothes was wet.

His face was full of displeasure: "Go back!"

After all, he carried me down the mountain.

When I got home, I looked at him timidly. He was glaring, pacing back and forth in the main hall without saying a word.

Such a grandfather scares me even more.

My grandfather was originally a scholar who had no power to restrain his chickens, but his parents, wives, concubines, children, and relatives were all killed by the invaders, and only my father was left as a son.Then he learned martial arts and learned to kill.

"Why are you disobedient?" After a long time, he spoke in a deep voice.

"I..." I couldn't defend myself, "because you said... I have no murderous intent."

He laughed angrily: "Because of this? Do you know what will happen if I don't go?"

I bowed my head, ashamed.If my grandfather hadn't gone, I would have died there, maybe even the corpse would have been eaten by wild animals.

"If I had known this, I shouldn't have taught you how to practice swords!"

After saying these words, the grandfather threw up his sleeves and walked away.I suddenly looked up at the back of his leaving, feeling at a loss in my heart.

I wanted to stop him, but nothing came out of my mouth.

I didn't dare to get up, so I kept kneeling in the main hall, before the statue of Sanqing.At my feet are the knives, bows and arrows I brought up the mountain today.There were still bright red blood stains on the blade, clearly showing what would happen if my grandfather didn't save me, I didn't dare to look at it after one glance.

I started to reflect on my mistakes.

I knelt for three days until I passed out.During this period, my grandfather ignored me all the time, and pretended not to see me when he saw me. Fortunately, my mother would quietly bring me water and food every night, otherwise I thought I would die of starvation or thirst.

My father is still in other provinces to discuss business, the family is in charge of my grandfather, he wants to punish me, no one can stop him.

When I woke up, I was still a little dazed, as if I heard the voice of my grandfather.

"How is he?"

Someone replied: "He is just too tired, and his knee is injured. If he kneels down again, his leg will be useless. I have two prescriptions. I take the medicine according to the prescription and drink it three times a day for a month. It’s almost enough to take care of.”

I turned my head and looked to the side, only to see the silhouette of my grandfather nodding.

Then the two went out.

I blinked, and after a while, I finally woke up.When I got up, I found that when I moved my feet, there was a stabbing pain in my knees and calves. I remembered what the man said just now, and I just stared in a daze.

"Wake up." After an unknown amount of time, I saw my grandfather standing by the bed, with his hands behind his back, and said in a low voice.

I stared at him blankly.

He frowned, with a slightly impatient look on his face: "What? If you are injured, you should take a good rest."

I lowered my head again without answering.Grandpa waited for a long time, then left impatiently. Before leaving, he only said repeatedly: "Have a good rest."

After less than a month, I recovered from my injury and was able to practice sword again.

But for a long time, as soon as I picked up the sword, I would recall the scene of that day. Before I could swing the sword, it fell to the ground.My grandfather was very disappointed. He told me not to practice sword, so he did not let me practice sword again, but tutored me in reading.

My sword was covered in dust like this.

until that day.

That day, a group of people rushed into my house, took my father away, and took them to the open field beside the fields in the village to hold a criticism meeting.

The next day, my father died. When he died, his body was covered with scars, and his forehead was covered with congealed blood.His clothes and face were also stained black and red.

Upon hearing the news, my mother hanged herself in the house at noon that day.

And that night, a group of people broke into our house and looted everywhere.Maybe my dad had expected this day long ago, and he had already hidden the gold and silver separately from the valuables.

But those people didn't find anything worthwhile, so they took everything they could. Overnight, my house became empty.

I know, this is just an appearance, although I don't know where my father hid the things, but my grandfather knows.

When those people came to take away things at night, my grandfather tried to rush out many times to stop them with the sword, but he held the sword loose and grasped, grasped and loosened, and still couldn't make up his mind.

I heard my grandfather whispering a word all the time: "They are Chinese."

After they ransacked the house completely, I looked at the looted house and the corpses of my parents with tearing eyes, grabbed the sword as quickly as lightning, and was about to chase them out.

This is the first time I have picked up a sword again since that time I entered the mountain.

But for such a sad reason.

I was so angry that I hated them so much.But my grandfather stopped me, and said to me with the reason he convinced himself: "They are Chinese people, our compatriots! You can't kill them!"

I have been dazzled by what happened in the past two days, lost my mind, and naturally couldn't listen.

Seeing that I had been refusing to listen, my grandfather grabbed my sword-holding hand and stabbed himself. I was so frightened that I immediately threw the sword away.

"grandfather!"

I was stunned and hurried forward to cover his wound.

The place where my grandfather was injured was not critical, but the wound was very deep, and blood continued to flow from there.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," my grandfather comforted me indifferently, "Promise me not to kill them."

How dare I say no, I nodded hurriedly.

Grandpa breathed a sigh of relief, and a relaxed smile appeared on his face. This was the first time I saw a smile on his face.

"Okay then, go and invite the doctor."

After hearing this, I hurried to the village and invited the doctor over.The doctor was not very old, but he was kind-hearted. He knew what happened to me and felt the indignation. He didn't even charge a penny for seeing a doctor or prescribing medicine.

After healing my grandfather's wound, I finally felt relieved.

He also obeyed his grandfather's instructions and didn't bother those people.

But in my heart, I deeply hated them, and I also hated the damn Cultural Revolution.Since then, I have practiced swords again, because without the teaching of my grandfather, I only practiced basic chopping, chopping, picking, stabbing, etc.

Every day when I fall asleep, I will dream about what happened in those two days. Every time I dream about it, I hate them even more, which makes my hostility deepen day by day.

Then once, my grandfather said, "Your sword is too extreme."

But he didn't persuade me, nor told me to stop practicing, but he didn't guide me in more advanced sword moves.

My sword has murderous aura, but it is in this way.Then I would rather not, and only wish to exchange my parents.

As I got older, I left the village to go to university, join the party, and then work in the provincial government.There, I met my future wife, Jiang Liu.

Her father was the secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, a high position and authority, but she was never proud of it.She only worked as a small clerk in the government, and few people knew her identity.

She is very beautiful and has a good temper, and she has won the envy of many people.

Whenever she smiles shyly, the two dimples on her cheeks are revealed, which is extraordinarily intoxicating. That's why I fell in love with her.

Later, due to various coincidences, she also fell in love with me. After some trials, her family also approved of me. After that, we became close... er, married.

Because of her company, I gradually forgot the hatred in the past and lived happily every day.

When I was 30, I had my first child, a boy, and my grandfather and I were ecstatic.I'm not a patriarchal person, but because this is my first child at the age of 30, it's a bit more important.Grandfather is because he values ​​boys and incense.I named him Shen Qingnian.

A few years later, at the age of 35, I had my second child, a girl this time, and I was still very happy because I had both children.As early as when my son was born, I thought about her name, and without hesitation, I named her Shen Biliu.

The combination of their last two characters is Nianliu.

After that, I never had any children.

My grandfather's health also went from bad to worse, getting worse every year.While I was in a hurry, there was nothing I could do.

When I was 40, my grandfather died, and I cried a lot and resigned from my government job.

Grandfather has guarded the old house in Shencun for most of his life and never left. I think, I will guard here for him in the future.

Within a few months, Jiang Liu became seriously ill and went with her, leaving only me and a pair of young children.

At that time, I really wished I could just go with her.

But when I thought of my young children, I couldn't bear to leave them behind, so I managed to get through this most difficult period.

Because of the past, my relationship with the people in the village is not very good.But I hope that Qing Nian and Bi Liu can integrate into them and live a happy childhood, so when teaching them, I didn't teach Qing Nian how to learn martial arts.

During the teaching, I found that Qing Nian seemed to have inherited my father's business talent, and his personality was very similar to my father, as if he had reincarnated as Qing Nian. I couldn't help hugging him and weeping.

Then, I handed over the wealth my father hid to Qing Nian, and let him manage it.

Qing Nian did not disappoint me.

But when they grew up, I gradually realized that something was wrong.What happened later made me understand what was wrong.

Therefore, Qing Nian has never been married, and even though Bi Liu's children are older, he is still stubborn.

I persuaded him, scolded him, beat him, but I couldn't make him change his mind. I had no choice but to realize that I was getting old.

And no longer oppose him.

But what is lost is lost and will never come back.