Short Story: The Prodigal Son

Zeng Lang had been wandering for several days, and as he walked south from Wuling, three of his horses were exhausted.

He was determined to be the world's first knifeman, and the reason why he went south was because he heard that there were many knifemen in the south, and he had not encountered an enemy in Wuling for a long time.

At this time, he lay on the weed pile next to the path and recalled the past bits and pieces, when did he want to become the world's number one knifeman?

The first time the knife was in the cornfield of his hometown, the old mother was insulted by the villagers when she collected the grain, and her mother was often humiliated since her father left, and the elderly Zeng Lang this time the long knife that his father left in the world, and even cut off an arm that humiliated his mother's fellow villagers.

His father was also a knife maker, but a third-rate knife maker.

A large part of the reason why the mother will marry the father in the first place is because of the identity of the father's knife maker, although the name is not very loud, but the father's posture of drawing the knife is definitely heroic, since the mother first saw it, she quietly promised to be heartless.

My mother often talked to Zeng Lang about my father.

My father came from out of town, and he had a handsome appearance that attracted women, and when he first set foot here, he attracted the attention of many people. Of course, it also attracted the attention of my mother at that time. At that time, my mother's family was better off, the daughter of a merchant in the town, and she lived in a house on the street.

There were often butchers on that long street who bullied and insulted the peddlers, and his father let him meet him as soon as he came here, and with a chivalrous heart and the confidence of the sabre in his waist, he pulled out the long knife that had never seen blood before.

The mother said this and unconsciously covered her mouth and smiled. "I don't know where his courage came from." After saying this, she became momentarily lost, probably because the past with her father was too good, and she never saw him again.

"Where didn't you get the long-eyed stuff, do you know how many guys like you who like heroes have been killed with my pig-killing knife?" The butcher shouted disdainfully.

Her father did not pay attention to him, but according to her mother, she could see clearly on the second floor of the house on the street, and her father's hand holding the knife was shaking. Mother was at the age of flowers, and she would be curious about strange men, and the men of the town seemed too ordinary, when suddenly such a handsome and interesting man appeared, and her heart and eyes had to be occupied by him.

Although his father's knife had never seen blood, his time practicing the knife was not short at all, and a butcher was not his opponent, the guy shouted loudly, he raised the pig-killing knife and pounced viciously, and the father only made one knife, and the butcher's arm with the knife was cut off.

Zeng Lang's first knife and his father's first knife did not kill anyone, they only cut off one of each other's arms, which was pleasing to Zeng Lang, his days with his father were not long, and this made him feel that he and his father had the same fate, and he undoubtedly admired his father.

The later story is very old-fashioned, the mother's family does not agree to his relationship with this man who does not know the origin, but after the mother and father know each other, they resolutely leave the town with their father.

Zeng Lang's second knife was three days after the first knife.

The villagers gathered a group of and ran to Zeng Lang's house to say that they wanted to avenge the broken arm, Zeng Lang's personality was rigid, and he did not succumb to the other party's strength. This time the knife was inevitable, he had a higher talent than his father, perhaps just because he was young, the blood hit his head, and his knife was fast and fierce.

Thinking of this, Zeng Lang was no longer willing to continue to reminisce, he showed a look of pain, it was the second time he made a knife, from then on he was irretrievable, he went farther and farther on the road of killing people. It was also the second time that the knife was fired, and his mother was killed because of this.

So far Zeng Lang can't remember how many times the knife has been issued, there are countless people who died under his knife, there are those who should be killed and should not be killed, at first he will repent for the people who died under his knife, and over time his heart becomes cold-blooded and numb.

That night there was no moon, and the lonely heart was desolate alone.

Zeng Lang was guarding the spirit in the hall house, and the official officials had already found the door, and it was reasonable to arrest the murderer, but Zeng Lang did not tie his hands and capture it.

"The Law of Daming, the Murderer Pays for His Life!" The head of the servant shouted loudly.

A few days ago, I heard that everywhere was a disaster of war and banditry, and I didn't expect that the messenger would come so quickly.

Zeng Lang suddenly drew his sword, and the candle flame flickered half desolate and half weird. With a loud cry, the officials had rushed forward, the candles were extinguished, and only the sound of swords colliding and the wailing of people could be heard in the hall, and when the candles were lit, Zeng Lang's knife was already sheathed, and the ground was full of blood, and none of the officials were standing.

At this point, the name of the first knife in Wuling laid the foundation, and the fact that a grass people dared to fight with officials undoubtedly became the talk of most idle people.

Zeng Lang buried his mother and left the mountain village, and many people were famous for coming to seek advice, and there were seventy-two knifemen who died at his hands in Wuling City alone.

Zeng Lang's knife became colder and colder along with his heart, he even fell in love with the feeling of killing, no government dared to arrest him, he transformed from a murderer to become the first knifeman in Wuling, countless magnates wanted to include him under the door, he was fascinated by the feeling of being respected by thousands of people, and slowly no longer satisfied with Wuling first, he wanted to be the first in the world.

It was now the middle of the night, Zeng Lang's eyes suddenly opened, it was not the weeds on the side of the road that caused him to suffer from the wind and cold, but he sensed a trace of killing qi, and the more skilled he was, the stronger the killing intent he felt.

Not far away, on the main road came a dancing boy, and the killing intent came from him.

He was getting closer and closer to Zeng Lang, and only stopped when he was ten steps away.

He looked at Zeng Lang coldly and did not say a word.

"So late at night, on the outskirts of the country, I don't know why you stopped?" Zeng Lang asked.

"Of course it's because of you."

"Your Excellency, you have come to kill me?"

"Of course."

Zeng Lang laughed softly, the long knife was only pulled out by him in an instant, the tip of the knife pointed at the flying boy, his eyes grew cold, it had been seven days since the last killing, and his knife had long been hungry for blood.

The Dancing Boy did not carry a knife, and only had a short knife in his hand.

"No hurry, let me tell you a story first."

Tonight was a long night, Zeng Lang was not in a hurry to shoot, he suddenly wanted to hear what kind of story was worth a person to die late at night.

"Thirty years ago, the Shanxi Zhengdao Hall was famous, the master of the hall was famous in the world, he had two sons, one was extremely talented, one was extremely stupid, one day this stupid son stole the first sword feiyan in the hall and disappeared, originally a knife was stolen, but recently I heard that some people in Wuling used this knife to kill people, and the knife came out of my hall, I can't sit idly by."

"Could it be that you also have the surname Zeng?" Zeng Lang asked.

"Of course." The dancing boy replied.

Zeng Lang has learned many things over the years, such as never easily believing anything a person says.

The dancing boy did not move, and seeing that Zeng Lang's expression was getting colder, he smiled indifferently.

"I came to Wuling from Shanxi, and it was hard to see the Ben family, how can you be so hostile to me?" Do you know that I followed you for four days, from Wuling to here, you ran really fast, I hope to lose you, but you are so angry, even half aware, until tonight my patience has been exhausted, I have to finish my work and go back to make an errand. ”

Zeng Lang frowned, he had two thoughts, one was that the person in front of him was talking big, and he was not sure that he could defeat himself, so he wanted to use this method to break his will. The second was that he was telling the truth, he followed him all the way, but he didn't half aware of it, which meant that the breath in front of him was extremely stable, and only a master of refining could hide his breath to such an extreme.

In a battle of equal strength, a small thing determines the outcome of the battle, which is a cliché, and the common scheme is nothing more than to break the opponent's will and affect the opponent's state of mind through words and behavior.

Thinking of this, Zeng Lang couldn't help but start sneering.

The prince took off his white robe, and the blue corset he wore inside, if he had said that he looked elegant, he would now say that he looked capable.

There was a short knife hidden in the xiaoli, and at this time it was already revealed.

Zeng Lang was laughing again, he had seen more over the years, and the more fancy the weapons, the more useless they were.

Suddenly a gust of wind blew, and the youth moved with the wind, and in the blink of an eye, he was close to Zeng Lang.

With just one blow, Zeng Lang broke out in a cold sweat behind his back, which was definitely an opponent he had never met before.

He seemed to be able to hear his own heartbeat, and the hand holding the knife unconsciously began to shake, and after four years of horizontal knife, he actually gave birth to fear.

Maybe he had seen too many people die, his heart was not so cold and so numb, and he had always overestimated himself.

Zeng Lang of course knew that in the duel of life and death, whoever was afraid of it first would have to die, and he squeezed out a twisted laugh, he wanted to turn fear into strength and fight.

The youth did not give him a chance, the short sword had already pierced into his arm, and the hand holding the knife had released the knife.

"I heard that you want to be the world's number one knifeman, and I think that the world's number one knifeman will never keep his knife on the ground at any time." The young man's words were calm, not like a mocking tone.

Zeng Lang knelt on one knee, his face was extremely vicious, what he insisted on all these years, whether he was really keen to become a knifeman and struggle, or just to enjoy the vanity of being a knifeman. A tear slipped from the corner of his eye, and he remembered his mother again.

The wind also stopped, Zeng Lang collapsed to the ground, his face was no longer vicious, it seemed calm, he closed his eyes slightly, waiting for the flying boy to give him a fatal blow.

There was no attachment or hatred at the moment, he felt tired, but the youth did not kill him, he just took the knife.

"It is not so simple to want to become the world's first knifeman, and the world's first knifeman does not have to care what knife he uses, and it is not enough for the world's first knifeman to be famous."

Zeng Lang slightly raised his body to look at him, and then lay down again, he felt that his confident appearance just now was really ridiculous, now the sword is gone, but people are still alive in the world, he does not know how to be good, maybe the world's first is not his way back, Wuling's first name is not very small.

He planned to buy another knife to return to Wuling.