"Old man, this pair of armor is pretty good. It looks like it fits me. Can you give me a price?"

"I have good taste, but not everyone can inquire about our things casually."

"Do I look like a poor boy? Alas, I really had no money in my early years, and I have acquired many habits of a poor family. It seems that I can't get rid of them. But I don't have to be afraid. The poor boy in the past is also lucky enough to make some money now.

Silver, I don’t dare to snatch you away empty-handed.”

"Humph, even if you have money, you may not be able to afford it."

"oh?"

"This is top quality. What kind of person will pay the price."

"Interesting. I dare to ask, old man, what price should I pay?"

"My country, Ju, will have ten years of peace."

The young man in front of the armor raised his head. Even after hearing such shocking words, his eyes were light and the corner of his mouth was smiling.

"The price is good, I bought it."

Since that day, there have been rumors in the city that the newly appointed general of Erwei used his power to bully the old man and robbed someone else's shop of a pair of armor without giving him any money.

——

The sky is floating and the water is far away, and the rain clouds bury the mountains.

The gloomy weather that has lasted for several days, with a light snow in the middle, is like the mood of people in the city, which is reflected in the sky. The old man who knows how to look at the weather said that looking at the stacked cloud towers today, it looks like it is going to be cloudy.

It's going to rain heavily.

"Little Ye Zi, please tell me, how did General Lian fight his last battle?"

"Why are you asking this again? The general let the big snake swallow him, cut the snake out, gave it to us, and then disappeared." Ye Ziqi said impatiently, while staring at the iron in his hand without blinking.

piece.

In the past two days, the old blacksmith taught him a new technique. Using a stylus to carve patterns on a piece of armor can create many beneficial effects.

It was just that he had to be meticulous when doing this work, but in the past two days, the old blacksmith began to like to chat with him, and asked him all about his military career. If he hadn't been about to fight, Ye Ziqi would have doubted whether the old man wanted to

Take a disciple to support yourself in old age.

"Oh -" the old blacksmith responded, and his hands began to move crookedly. Seeing this, Ye Ziqi was curious, finished his work, and leaned over to take a look, oh! This old man is drawing a snake on the iron piece!

"What does this pattern mean?"

"To overcome snake venom, rely on this piece of armor to protect the poison from attacking the heart."

Ye Ziqi smiled: "If I really fight against that big snake, it doesn't matter whether it's poisonous or not, it will swallow me up in one bite. Hurry up and replace it with a big clock, it's better than this one!"

As Ye Ziqi spoke, he wanted to grab his hand, but the old blacksmith stopped, arched his waist, knocked him away, and stubbornly carved the snake. Ye Ziqi had to grab a few more pieces of iron to carve a big bell.

This was to enhance the anti-shock effect. He thought that if the enemy's hands were numbed by the shock, he would be able to counterattack quickly and kill a few more if he was stabbed.

"Old man, don't keep asking me, why don't you tell me about you?" Ye Ziqi kept his eyes on the clock, but suddenly asked.

"The old man has nothing to say."

"You have lived to this old age and are still so energetic, don't you have some hope in your heart?"

"...Hope? The old man's hope is to make a piece of armor that is indestructible. Someone bought a piece of armor from the old man before, and the price was too high. The old man had to pay for the good piece."

"Hey, if you do business with such sincerity, the shops on this street have already been closed - who is that person?"

The old blacksmith didn't answer. The two of them just carved patterns quietly, with clouds and leaves flowing outside the window.

"As for people, the best thing is when you are a child, you are pampered by many people, but you just don't know what is good and think that everything is what you should have."

The old blacksmith suddenly began to talk nonsense, as if the old man was confused.

"As I grew older, I became even more arrogant. I thought that because I was different, this small family couldn't support me. If others coaxed me, I would imitate others and go out to work. One year, two years, if I don't come back, ten years

, twenty years later, if I haven’t come back, I just think that I will have climbed to a new level and be able to establish myself and start a career.”

"But, except for the folks in your hometown, even if people outside try to coax you, no one is really nice to you, no one really cares about you. You think you should light a fire by yourself in this life, but others only treat you as

firewood!"

"When you figure it out, it's too late. All that's left is a wisp of white on your head and a handful of ashes on your hands. Then you know it's time to go home, but when you come back, it's too late. All the folks are dead. Even if

I heard that someone’s child is still alive, do you dare to identify it?”

"Then what hope do you have? There is no hope. But you look at the land that gave birth to you and raised you, and you haven't repaid it yet. Those childhood playmates have children, and they are jumping around on you again.

They are jumping around on the ground, you have to give them a chance to grow up. Then what else can you do? You have to do it."

Ye Ziqi has been concentrating on carving his patterns without saying a word.

A dark cloud came over, and the shop became a little darker. Ye Ziqi suddenly made a scratch on the iron piece, like a knife wound.

He put down his armor, stood up, and walked towards the door.

"Little Ye Zi, do you know why the old man saw that you were a soldier when he first looked at you?" A voice came from behind.

"Because you have death written in your eyes, waiting for death, begging for death, but you are not very afraid..."

"But you are still young, and you still have time to grab something. You should fight for those things, not to die."

Ye Ziqi didn't turn around and replied: "Old man, I haven't told you yet. My hometown is not Hanye, but Beishan Town. All my folks are dead. They were killed by horse thieves."

He left, leaving the old blacksmith holding the armor in his hand.

——

Ye Ziqi went out because he heard the commotion in the city and the horse thieves were coming.

First, a group of sentry riders rushed into the city. Then, the civilians who were still digging the moat outside the city were summoned back urgently.

As soon as the city gates on all sides were closed, a piece of yellow sand rose up from the end of the northern wilderness. The sand and dust were like a wave rising from the sea, and they were pressed in together with the thundering sound of horse hooves.

The garrison at the top of the city were all horrified, with galloping horses, long bows on their backs, thick arms, and falcon tattoos. They were all neat and quiet. They just rushed forward at a speed that no one in Hanye City could match.

Heading towards the city tower, a gale force cavalry force of several hundred people rushed towards them!

The guard commander Baicheng Shuang and the commander Wang Zhong both climbed up to the north tower to supervise the battle. However, the barbarian cavalry rushed to the bottom of the city, divided into two teams, raised their sabers high, and walked around the city. Although there were arrows shot down from the city, they could not pursue them.

ponytail.

Wang Zhong looked at the strength of his army and secretly sighed in his heart. If they met on the plains, the less than three thousand soldiers he had trained in the city would not be enough to charge hundreds of barbarians face to face.

After circling the city, the barbarian cavalry gathered again in front of the north gate, and one of them stood out. He was a thick man, holding a short spear and a shield in his hand. He raised the tip of his spear and pointed it at the city head. He shouted in Song Chao dialect.

:
Chapter completed!