Chapter 24 Shijie

The armsmith Jin Dajian hadn't finished engraving half a word, and suddenly laughed again, looking up at his partner in secret work. "Second brother Jin, laugh again, what's the matter?" Xiao Rang, a sage scholar leaning on the grand teacher's chair and slowly stroking his beard, said softly.Originally, there were only a few sparse beards, and they were very short, but as long as his left hand was free, Xiao Rang always had to touch them. This was consistent with his way of speaking softly, slowly, and in twos and threes. These are all recent habits. "Brother Xiao, you really look like Zhi Duoxing Wu Yong! In a few days, I will call you Zhi Duoxing!"

As an answer to Xiao Rang's question, Jin Dajian, the jade-arm craftsman, simply put down the carving knife, pressed his hands on the stone tablet and laughed loudly. Xiao Rang shook his head triumphantly, then made his face more solemn: "I said, Second Brother Jin, don't complain, Master Wu, tell me to come like that. You just speak your mind!" The jade-arm craftsman was stunned for a moment, as if he had come to his senses suddenly, he put away his smile, took the carving knife, lowered his head, and started working on his little by little work again. "Wait, Brother Jin, just now, you laughed again, what is the reason?"

"I'm laughing at the thought of you and I hiding here doing this." "You really are!" Xiao Rang paused. "Oh, second brother Jin, you shouldn't laugh. Ours is a big deal, a secret in the water: all of you, one hundred and eight brothers, only you, me, and Wu Junshi will participate in this event." Confidential; even Song Gongming, Big Brother Song himself, is still sleeping in the drum!" Jin Dajian, who raised his head again from work, already had a sentence rushing to his mouth: just because of this, more funny people have to laugh!But seeing Xiao Rang's solemn face, he couldn't say anything, he just pursed his lips and made a weird face, which was a few percent protest.

This can't be hidden from the shrewd Xiao Rang.Anticipating that the jade-arm craftsman still had some ignorance——some ignorance of the mystery of Wu Junshi's "strategy", Xiao Rang suddenly became worried.He was an old friend with the jade-arm craftsman, and he knew that this friend's mouth was as reliable as the carving knife in his hand—he never relaxed a bit, but the matter of the "Shijie" in front of him was too serious, and he Xiao Let him feel that it is necessary to give a more earnest exhortation. However, it is quite difficult to explain Wu Yong's "strategy".Drinking in large bowls, eating meat in large pieces, and dividing gold and silver in large scales, originally relied on the word "fairness" to convince everyone;If you lose "fairness", you are not worthy of being a hero in the forest.They are both leaders and tiger-skin chairs in the Loyalty Hall. It is true that there is still a distinction between first and second, but this is discipline!There is no green forest that does not abide by "discipline", and whoever the "chief seat" belongs to should also be discussed publicly, and there should be no selfishness or deceit.Unfortunately, military adviser Wu Yong's "strategy" this time looks too much like a trick.

Thinking of this, Xiao Rang's courage to persuade Jin Dajian was disgracefully cut in half.He peeked at his partner.The tip of the knife fell on the stone and made a sound of "zila, zila", which seemed to be Jin Dajian's secret smile; but Jin Dajian really didn't smile, he was working seriously there. This made Xiao Rang feel a little more at ease.After all, this old friend is still reliable.Touching the sparse short beards, Xiao Rang thought again about the words that military advisor Wu Yong had instructed, and then said softly and slowly: "Second Brother Jin, look, how does Yu Qilin compare to Brother Song?"

"They are all well-known heroes in the world!" The jade-armed craftsman replied without raising his head. "Oh—Second Brother Jin; at any rate, there must be someone, who is better or worse?" Only the sound of the sharp knife point falling on the stone surface peeled off instead of answering. "Many brothers have said that Yu Qilin is generous and donates money. He is good at martial arts and has a straightforward heart. Brother Song admires it. Brother Jin, it seems that Yu Qilin is stronger." This time, however, the jade-arm craftsman's head was lifted.Jin Dajian was deeply surprised by Xiao Rang's sudden discussion of Song Lu's shortcomings.Didn't I have been repeatedly reminded by him not to criticize the big boss in the water park?Did he himself commit a foul today?Jin Dajian's heart, which was as simple as his lettering skills, couldn't help laughing secretly; he blurted out a few words that he had never had a chance to vent:

"People always fight in groups. Those who are close to Yuanwai Lu naturally say that Yuanwai Lu is good." "No, no, no! Brother Jin, he is a person who is similar to Lu Yuanwai, so everyone says that Lu Yuanwai is good." The jade arm craftsman looked at Xiao Rang with precious eyes as if he didn't understand. "Second brother Jin, you always know that there are one hundred and eight of us, and we all come from different backgrounds. For example, Brother Bai Sheng, he was originally a shabby rogue; the three brothers of the Ruan family are fishermen in Shijie Village; The military advisers are wandering Taoist priests, Li Jun and Zhang Heng, who do things on the water: this is a group. Guan Sheng and Hu Yanchuo of the Five Tiger Generals, they were originally ordered by the imperial court, and they were sent to fight Liangshan; Myself, did you not oppose us before? So this is another group. Brother Jin, now, should you understand Wu Junshi's ingenious plan?"

no answer.Xiao Rang stroked his beard leisurely, looked up to the sky and smiled, proud of the words he picked up from Wu Junshi just now. With this stone tablet, will the two groups become one?This kind of meaning also moved in Jin Dajian's heart.But without losing his self-knowledge, he always knew that his mouth was useless, so he still kept silent, only closed his eyes and smiled with half his face. Suddenly Xiao Rang stood up, went to the door of the room, looked in the crack for a while, and then returned to Jin Dajian's side, with a solemn face, and whispered into Jin Dajian's ear hastily and softly:

"Second brother, the two groups of people in my water pond have different thoughts. One group is trying to secure themselves when things come to an end; the other group is determined to do justice for the heavens here. Second brother, according to you, Who should be the master of the cottage?" "Oh! It turned out to be the place! Why didn't you follow Hei Xuanfeng's advice and reserve seats quickly, but then came this trick again, Niao Shijie, which made me seem to have done a private matter, in front of all the brothers, My heart feels so bad!" The jade-arm craftsman couldn't bear it anymore, and suddenly, he threw the carving knife on the stone tablet and screamed loudly.This outbreak was really unexpected by the sage scholar Xiao Rang.He took a step back, imitating military adviser Wu Yong's air, just stroking his beard.

"Second brother, that being said, things can't be done like this. Everyone needs to be convinced. It's not enough just to put the word 'Heaven' on the apricot-yellow flag for the sky; we have to find some more 'God's will'." Come on. This is Wu Junshi's ingenious plan!" "God's will! God's will is vague, so you ask us to do it for 'Heaven'?" Xiao Rang paced around ponderingly.He kept his eyes on Jin Dajian from time to time.Military strategist Wu Yong's insight is good, and jade-arm craftsman Jin Dajian would never understand the role of this "strategy".But what was it that I tried to protect in front of Wu Junshi?Jin Dajian's mouth is reliable.Xiao Rang dared to make such a guarantee based on his old friendship of more than ten years, but now, it seems a little unstable.He peeked at his partner again, nothing unusual.Squeezing and engraving there again, the muscles on a good arm protrude like some scorpions.

At last half of his mind was relieved, when Xiao Rang returned to the grand teacher's chair, Jin Dajian suddenly heard another strange question: "I don't care about the others, but, Brother Xiao, which group are we?" Xiao Rang was stunned.Military adviser Wu Yong never talked to him about this.In a hurry, he couldn't use Wu Yong's words to deal with it.I really want to say that I belong to Brother Song's group, but I feel that it's in the way. Seeing that Xiao Rang also couldn't answer, Jin Dajian laughed.This smile was like a ladle of cold water, which made the sage's hair stand on end. "We, I, are neither Zhao Guaner's generals, coaches, instructors, nor have I ever groped, opened a black shop, and Da Jiangxin treated guest officials to eat noodles. We make a living by hand. I carved the stele of Dongyue Temple, and I also Engraving this bird tablet that acts on behalf of the heavens. That’s what they are all about. It’s shameful to mention the heavens, the roads, and the earth!” As if shaking off a bag of money, Jin Dajian himself didn't really believe that he would talk like this.His right hand holding the carving knife suddenly drew a circle in the air, and added a few words excitedly: "It seems that the most powerful guy in our water pool is each person's personal relationship-you call it each person's origin; this is the 'way' that we walk for 'heaven'!" Xiao Rang stared blankly and could only touch his beard.It wasn't until the sound of Jin Dajian's knife touching the stone that his eardrums were agitated again that he woke up and asked bluntly: "It's a secret! Brother Jin?" "I'll take it as the same as I used to engrave guards privately for others, and I will never leak a word!"