Liu Heng sat in the carriage and dined with the middle-aged man who accompanied him to Zhongyi County, and after getting along for most of the day, the two became a little familiar.

This middle-aged man was the one who stunned Li Zheng in the martial arts arena before, and now he was ordered by the old owner who left first to go to the gladiatorial arena with Liu Heng. said to be accompanied, but in fact it was obviously an escort, after Liu Heng revealed his extraordinary archery skills, the old owner was obviously not at ease that others would escort Liu Heng, and only this middle-aged man who was in the martial arts realm and trusted by the old owner could take on such a heavy responsibility.

The middle-aged man's surname is Lu Mingshang, although he doesn't seem to be a person who talks a lot, but he seems to appreciate Liu Heng's righteous act of dying for others, so he didn't feel too embarrassed along the way, but took care of him very much.

For example, when dining, Liu Heng will be called to join him and eat the best deliciousness.

Liu Heng is also not a person who talks a lot, so he doesn't have much communication when he travels in the same car, and the two of them seem to be eating slowly and quickly, and they don't feel embarrassed.

"With tea. The two of them ate half a cart of meat before they stopped, and Lu Shang served a cup of fragrant tea, concisely and authentically.

Liu Heng thanked him, was not polite, tasted it gently, and praised: "Good tea." ”

This is not purely polite, the tea fragrance is not pungent, as if the fragrance of the mountains and fields is naturally fluttering, the tea leaves are like petals, rotating and floating in the golden tea soup, drinking in the mouth, sweet and warm, a little aura permeates the whole body, and the slightest immersion into the soul and the sea of knowledge, Shutai is very.

Lu Shang smiled, "This is Yuhua Jinhai Tea, which is a specialty of my Dahongmen, specially supplied to Confucianism, and it is difficult for Brother Bai to drink it in other places." Those of us who practice martial arts, especially those like us, lack the most is the soul, so the spiritual things that can nourish our minds are even more precious. When I was a child, I wanted to take a sip of tea, and I used to fight for the errand of serving customers, so I could secretly drink the tea left by the guests, and now I think about it, which is also very interesting. ”

Liu Heng smiled, suddenly showed a different color, and hesitated: "Dahongmen?"

"Yes. Lu Shang nodded, and did not shy away from his background, "It is the true biography of Dahongmen, Brother Bai won't look down on him because of this, right?"

Liu Heng blurted out, "How come?"

He was really a little surprised, because if he remembered correctly, he had crossed paths with Dahongmen when he was in Baiwu. At that time, the Southwest Rookie Dabi had just opened, and as the next sect of the first-class sect Zhou Tianzong, Liu Heng came to Zhou Tianzong as one of the ten representatives selected by the Butterfly Flower Sect to participate in the re-selection.

In his impression, Dahongmen is a first-class sect!

And according to what Lu Shang said, he is a true disciple of the first-class sect Dahongmen, and his status is already extremely high. This made Liu Heng puzzled, why did Lu Shang, who is the true legend of the Great Hongmen, become a henchman of a subordinate of the Confucian Chen family?

Especially Lu Shang's question, Liu Heng was even more surprised, because Lu Shang looked down on him because he was the true legend of Dahongmen, what is the reason?

Unpredictable, Liu Heng simply asked directly, making Lu Shang squint slightly.

"Brother Bai isn't from Lingyuan, right?"

Liu Heng frowned and said, "How did Brother Lu see it?"

Lu Shang smiled, "Because only people from outside Middle-earth will not understand the truth." ”

He didn't wait for Liu Heng to ask, and said to himself: "In my Lingyuan, Confucianism and Taoism are respected, and then in a wide range, soul cultivation is respect, and martial arts are humble." ”

Although Liu Heng had heard of this for a long time, he didn't interrupt him and listened quietly.

"Peers in the same realm, when the soul cultivator and the martial artist meet, the martial artist will inevitably bow first. And the same sect, soul cultivation is the upper sect, and martial arts is the lower sect. Then Lu Shang pointed to himself, "For example, I, because I am a martial artist, was appointed to assist Master Li Fang and be his subordinate, because I am the true lineage of the Great Hongmen, otherwise it is common sense to be accepted as a protector, a wrestler, and a loyal servant by the soul cultivators of the same realm." ”

Compared with Lu Shang's calmness, Liu Heng's mind was greatly impacted, he had heard similar words countless times, but it was the first time he heard the person concerned talk about it, and it was also the first time he really realized the cruelty behind these words.

It is also a practice, but because of the difference in the Tao, it is naturally divided into high and low, where is the fairness?

is like Lu Shang, who has cultivated to the realm of martial arts in middle age, and can be a model for others in martial arts, which shows that he must have experienced countless trials and pains. However, with such hard work, the result is to be a subordinate of a family member, or because of the blessing of the background, otherwise it will only be worse, so Liu Heng really doesn't understand, what else does martial arts practice mean?

At least Liu Heng felt that if cultivation could not change his fate and could not transcend the inherent barriers, the meaning of cultivation would be lost.

"How can it be meaningless?" Lu Shang was surprised, "After practicing, we will stand out from the crowd of sentient beings and become extraordinary, it can be said that there is no peak except for soul cultivation, and we can overlook all sentient beings from here, isn't this enough?"

Is that enough?

Liu Heng was suddenly stunned, because he had never thought about this problem.

Why, exactly, do you practice?

From the beginning to the present, his pursuit of spiritual practice has undergone countless changes. Now that he has become like this, he has jumped out of the original barrier and has the opportunity to review the matter with a different mentality.

"Initially, I just wanted to meet Uncle Ho's expectations and inherit the family title, and then I went against the trend and regained a title for the family. Then, it was to save He Bo, then to extend his life, and then he only hoped to see the scenery of a higher realm. ”

The experience of "before death" reappeared in his mind one by one, and the things that he once felt extremely important were now indescribably strange, "I have died in the past, and I am no longer tied to the new, so ...... Why should I still practice?"

He was suddenly at a loss.

Before he died, he had done his best to do his best, and many of his pursuits ended up with proper results, leaving at most some small regrets, and then the curtain came down because of his "death". It can be said that when he woke up again, he was refreshed and refreshed, and he no longer had any desires, but even he couldn't understand why he didn't think much about it after waking up, and began to think about the matter of cultivation again, and put it into action.

"Are you used to it?" Liu Heng muttered, looking down at the old hands that were stretched out and still trembling, he only felt that for him, cultivation was probably so accustomed to becoming capable that he would never forget it. But after thinking about it, he felt that it was wrong, "I should have experienced the power that fate is all in my own hands, and even if I lose it, I still want to get it back." ”

This feeling is not about strength or weakness, but only about the heart.

"That's the fundamental reason for my practice. Liu Heng's eyes were completely confused, and he said in his heart: "If I am Lu Shang, if I succeed in cultivation and my fate is still not in my hands, then I will never practice!"

At this time, Lu Shang took a sip of tea and looked out the window, "Compared to this, Brother Bai still cares about the gladiatorial arena." ”

"Huh?"

Lu Shang's eyes were far away, "Brother Bai is an outsider, he must not be as easy to fool as those villagers, there are some things that should be known in his heart, right? I will first tell Brother Bai about the Confucian Chen family, so that Brother Bai can have a score in his heart." ”

mentioned the gladiatorial arena but didn't say it, but turned to the Chen family, it stands to reason that the topic is too out-of-the-box, but Liu Heng understands the intention very well, and said gratefully: "Please Brother Lu teach me." ”

Lu Shang waved his hand, "If you are not from Lingyuan, it may be difficult to know what kind of power Confucianism has in Lingyuan, so let me tell you, there is a folk saying that it is not easy for dynasties to change, and it is not easy to say that the sky is not easy, you should understand what it means, right?"

Liu Heng was terrified, and secretly said a common saying in his heart!

No matter how the dynasty changes, the "heaven" shrouded in Confucianism above the heads of the Lingyuan people is eternal, and a common saying exhausts the sorrow and helplessness of the Lingyuan sentient beings who "resign themselves to fate".

"For example," Lu Shang looked at the houses that gradually appeared on the side of the road, "Zhongyi County, which we are about to go to, has county orders, garrison troops, and canonized nobles, but when we received the imperial court's order, we did not implement it at the first time, but went to seek the Chen family's opinion, and then acted according to the Chen family's opinion." As for the canonized nobles, the past dynasties have only been drunk and dreamed of death in Kyoto, but they have never set foot in Zhongyi County, which is canonized by their own families. The people only know the Confucian Chen family, and they don't know who the county marquis is, and all dynasties have been like this. ”

He said it plainly, but Liu Heng was slightly shocked.

"A small clan like the Li He tribe, with only a few thousand mouths, is only in charge of one process in the B13 Fang. To achieve a vessel, it takes the tacit cooperation of several small clans to forge it. If it is a workshop, there are nearly 100 in Zhongyi County alone, which can be said to be a workshop in the whole county. Lu Shang said calmly: "And under the rule of the Chen family, there are eight counties such as Zhong Yi County, and the family property accounts for eighty or ninety percent, and millions of Li people have been working for the Chen family all their lives. ”

"As for the Chen family, the ancestor is a sub-sage disciple, passed down for thousands of years, although there has been no prominent figure except for the ancestor, but the in-laws are all over the Confucian family, and it has created a second-rate family under the sage family. Lu Shang finally mentioned the Chen family, "Such a family, in the Confucian sect, does not know how many, each according to one side, and the Taoist family divided the entire Lingyuan. These families seem to be nothing, but in fact, for us and the people under their rule, they represent Confucianism, the sky above our heads, the wind, thunder, rain and dew, all of which are the grace of heaven. ”

Liu Heng was silent, and from Lu Shang's indifferent statement, he finally realized the depression and heaviness.

"Having said so much, it's not for anything else, it's just that Brother Bai is grateful for his kindness, and he is a man. ”

Lu Shang said with a smile: "It's also to let Brother Bai know that offending the old owner is not a big deal, so don't worry too much." The old owner is powerful in his own one-third of an acre of land, but when he arrives in Zhong Yixian, it is nothing, and he has no ability to manage the affairs of the gladiatorial arena. ”

Liu Heng couldn't help but smile, "It's rare to hear good news." ”

In fact, he didn't worry about it at all, just because he thought about it. Don't look at the old owner covering the sky with one hand in the Spring Festival celebration of the Li He people, but in fact, he is out of his territory, and after all, he is just an obedient old servant of the Chen family. Even Liu Heng is not very worried about how he will retaliate against the Li He clan afterwards, because he is just taking charge of the Li He clan on behalf of the Chen family, and he is not really in power, if you want to say that it is difficult to suppress it, it is inevitable to say that it is inevitable to suppress it, but if you want to say that he wants to hit the Li He clan hard, forgive him and don't have the courage!

"But in this gladiatorial arena, Brother Bai still pays more attention. Speaking of the gladiatorial arena, Lu Shang put away his smile and said solemnly: "Brother Bai should have heard what the villagers said about the gladiatorial arena, some of them are not fake, this is indeed a place where Brother Bai needs to use his life to win the smile of the powerful." After entering, Brother Bai should beware of everyone, don't trust anyone easily, pay more attention to food, clothing, housing and transportation, and never relax a little. ”

For Lu Shang's sincere reminder, Liu Heng also sincerely thanked him, but he didn't expect Lu Shang to change his words and said: "But the gladiatorial arena is not exactly the Shura field, it can be said that it is the place where strength and victory are most admired, as long as Brother Bai knows how to win and know how to lose, then I believe that even in the gladiatorial arena, Brother Bai will gain something." ”

Facing Lu Shang's meaningful gaze, Liu Heng raised his eyebrows, and suddenly smiled: "In this way, this seems to be the fairest place, maybe it suits me." ”

Lu Shang opened his mouth and glared, his face was stunned, he didn't expect Liu Heng to say such a thing at all. He has escorted many people to the gladiatorial arena, and has seen fear, crying, regret, begging, evasion, gloom and many other performances, but he has never seen Liu Heng like this, knowing that he will go to the gladiatorial arena, he still talks and laughs freely.

However, then, he gradually lost his mind, smacked Liu Heng's words, especially the word "fairness", I didn't know what he thought, and fell silent.

I don't know how long it has been, the number of houses on the roadside has gradually increased, and the number of pedestrians and horses on the road has also increased.

"I'm going to grieve Brother Bai one or two later. Lu Shang whispered, revealing an apologetic look.

Liu Heng smiled and signaled that he understood, and then sat upright.

After a while, the carriage gradually stopped, presumably at the gate of the city, and there was an answer from outside the carriage, and then the curtain was lifted and a helmeted head poked in.

"So Brother Qi is on duty today?" Lu Shang smiled and saluted the person, said hello, and after a few words of greeting, the carriage continued to move forward, and entered the city like this.

"This is the sergeant of Lingyuan?"

Liu Heng had to work hard to resist the urge to take another look at the probe, thinking back to the sergeant he had just seen, he couldn't believe it.

It's just a loose inspection, the key is that I just saw this sergeant surnamed Qi, and I still heard that he was a centurion, but the fat face with sleepy eyes, the mixed breath of qi and blood like he hadn't practiced for a long time, as well as the crumbling armor, and the casual and lazy posture, not to mention that it was very different from the appearance of the Lingyuan Middle Earth sergeant in Liu Heng's heart, and it couldn't even be compared to Great Xia!

But this is Lingyuan, right?

This is the middle earth of the world, the most powerful place in the world?

"Brother White. Lu Shang didn't know what Liu Heng was thinking, so he smiled at him and spread his hand, "Welcome to Lingyuan." ”

"This is Lingyuan. ”

Liu Heng muttered, he never thought that one day, there would be such an opportunity to see Lingyuan's truest appearance, which was completely unexpected.

However, no matter how strange he felt, he finally really integrated into it.

"This is Lingyuan. ”

So, he whispered again.