Chapter 11 The tenth chapter: the sword is in the person

So he goes. As the night darkened, Xie Wangsun slowly walked through the dark courtyard and walked up to the small building in the backyard. The lights in the small building were bleak, and an old and haggard woman sat silently by the solitary lamp, as if waiting. Who is she waiting for? When Xie Wangsun saw her, his eyes were filled with pity immediately, anyone should be able to see his emotion. They are a dependent couple who have gone through all the joys and sorrows in the world. She suddenly asked, "Aji hasn't come back yet?" Xie Wangsun shook his head silently. There were tears in her aging and tired eyes, but her voice was full of confidence.

She said: "I know he will come back sooner or later, don't you think?" Xie Wangsun said: "Yes." As long as a person has a little hope, life is precious. Hope is always in the world. The night was dark.By the dark lake, there is only a little light. The light came from under the window of a fast boat, and shopkeeper Xie was sitting under the light drinking alone. Yan Shisan walked onto the boat silently, sat down opposite him silently, and poured a glass of wine. Shopkeeper Xie saw him, and there was a smile in his eyes. The boat left the shore and slowly sailed into the bleak night, the quiet lake.

Yan Shisan had already drank three cups, and suddenly asked, "You know I'll be back?" Shopkeeper Xie smiled and said, "Otherwise why would I wait for you!" Yan Shisan raised his head, stared at him, and said, "What else do you know?" Shopkeeper Xie raised his glass and said: "I also know that this wine is very good, so why not drink more." Yan Shisan also smiled, and said, "That makes sense." The light boat is already in the middle of the lake. Shopkeeper Xie seemed to be drinking, and suddenly asked: "Did you see that sword?"

Yan Shisan nodded. Shopkeeper Xie said: "As long as that sword is still there, Excalibur Villa will exist forever." He sighed softly, and continued slowly: "Even if the person is gone, the sword will always exist." Yan Shisan also had a sword in his palm.He was staring at the sword in his hand, and suddenly walked out, out of the cabin, and onto the bow. It was dark on the lake.He suddenly pulled out his sword, carved a "ten" on the boat, and then threw the sword that had been with him for twenty years and killed countless people into the center of the lake.

A burst of water splashed, and the lake returned to calm.The sword has sunk. Shopkeeper Xie looked at him in surprise, and couldn't help asking, "Why don't you want this sword?" Yan Shisan said: "Maybe I will ask for it again. I will come again at that time." Shopkeeper Xie said, "So you carved a 'ten' on the bow of the boat as a sign?" Yan Shisan said: "This is called carving a boat and seeking a sword." Shopkeeper Xie said, "Do you know how stupid this is?" Yan Shisan said: "I know!" Shopkeeper Xie said, "Since you know it, why do you do it?"

Yan Shisan smiled and said, "Because I suddenly realized that in a person's life, he should do a few stupid things more or less, not to mention..." There was a deep meaning in his smile: "Are some things done stupidly? Or wisely? Often no one can judge." The quiet lake, the quiet night, people are still there, but the famous sword has sunk. The man is still there, but where is the man? Where are you sober tonight? Willow bank, dawn wind and waning moon. Autumn remnants, winter solstice, severe cold. The cold wind is like a knife, the land is deserted, and the sky is merciless.

The prodigal son has no tears. Facing the cold wind, Aji tightened his thin skirt and walked out of Hanjiaxiang.He simply has nowhere to go. He has only twenty-three copper coins left on him.But he must leave this place, and leave those who had treated him kindly at last. He didn't cry. The prodigal son has no tears, only blood, and now even the blood is almost freezing. The most famous person in Hanjiaxiang is Grandma Han, who lives in Hanjialou. Hanjialou is a brothel.The first time he saw Grandma Han was on a cold and damp bed. The cold wooden bed was full of traces of his vomiting, dirty and smelly.

His own situation was not much better than this bed.He had been drunk for five days, and when he woke up he felt his throat was parched and his headache was splitting. Grandma Han was standing in front of the bed with her hands on her hips, looking at him. She is more than seven feet tall, her waist is as thick as a water tank, and her stubby fingers are covered with gold and jade rings. The skin on her round face is very tight, making her look younger than her actual age. Occasionally reveals a child-like mischievous smile.There was not even a hint of a smile in her eyes now. Aji rubbed his eyes vigorously, then opened them again, as if he wanted to see whether the person standing in front of his bed was a man or a woman.

It's true that women like this don't come around all the time. Aggie struggled to sit up, and the hangover immediately pierced his bone marrow like a needle. He sighed and murmured: "I must have drunk like a drunk cat these two days." Grandma Han said, "It's not like a drunk cat, it's like a dead dog." She looked at him coldly: "You have been drunk for five whole days." Aji pressed his head hard, desperately trying to find out from his memory what he had done in the past five days, but he immediately gave up. Grandma Han said, "Are you from another place?"

Aggie nodded. It's true, he came from another place, a distant place, so far away that he couldn't remember it at all. Grandma Han said, "Are you rich?" Aggie shook his head.He remembered this, and his last coin had also been spent on wine.But where was he drunk that time? He forgot too. Grandma Han said: "I also know you haven't, we have searched your whole body, you are poorer than a dead dog!" Aggie closed his eyes.He still wants to sleep. The alcohol in his bones had completely drained his energy, and he just wanted to know: "Is there anything else you want to ask me?"

Grandma Han said: "There is only one sentence." Aji said, "I'm listening." Grandma Han said: "People who have no money, what will they use to pay the bill?" Aji said: "Pay the bill?" Grandma Han said: "In the past five days, you have owed seventy-nine taels of silver for the wine here." Aji took a deep breath and said, "That's not much." Grandma Han said, "It's a pity you don't even have one or two." She continued coldly: "There are usually only two ways to deal with people who have no money to pay." Aggie is listening. Grandma Han asked, "Do you want to have one leg broken, or three ribs?" Aji said: "Whatever." Grandma Han said, "You don't care?" Aji said: "I just want to ask you to hurry up and let me go after the fight." Grandma Han looked at him with curiosity in her eyes.Who is this young man? Why have you become so depressed?Is there any unresolved knot in his heart?Unforgettable sad events? Grandma Han couldn't help asking: "You are in a hurry to leave, where do you want to go?" Aji said: "I don't know." Grandma Han said: "Even you don't know?" Aji said: "Wherever you go, that's where you are." Grandma Han stared at him for a long time, and suddenly said: "You are still young and have strength, why don't you work to pay off the debt?" Her eyes gradually softened: "I happen to have an errand for you here, five cents a day, are you willing to do it?" Aji said: "Whatever." Grandma Han said: "You don't even ask what is this place? What do you want to do?" Aji said: "I will do whatever I want." Grandma Han smiled, and patted him on the shoulder vigorously: "Go to the back kitchen and wash yourself in a basin of hot water. Now you look like a dead dog, but smell like a dead fish." There was a smile in her eyes too. "Those who work here, even if they are not human, must look like human beings." The kitchen is filled with the aroma of rice and broth, and anyone who walks in from the cold wind from the small courtyard will feel warm and comfortable. There was a couple working in the kitchen. The man was tall and strong, but dumb like a piece of wood, and the woman was thin and small, but fierce like an awl.Besides the couple, there were five other people in the kitchen. Five women with disheveled clothes and disheveled hair, the face of last night's makeup, and an indescribable disgust and tiredness.They range in age from twenty to thirty-five, the oldest with a protruding breast and swollen eyes full of depraved and sinful sensuality. Later Aji knew that she was the eldest sister of these girls, and the guests liked to call her "Elephant". The youngest seemed to be a child, with a slender waist and a flat chest, but the best-selling one— Is it because men have a beastly desire? Seeing Aji walking in, they all looked curious and surprised. Fortunately, Grandma Han also followed.The girls immediately lowered their heads. Grandma Han said: "There are many things that only men can do. The men here are either wood or tortoises. Now I finally found someone who looks more like a man." She patted Aji's shoulder hard again: "Tell these bitches, what's your name?" Aji said: "My name is Aji." Grandma Han said, "You don't have a last name?" Aji said: "My name is Aji." Grandma Han patted his head hard, and laughed loudly: "Although this kid has no surname, he has some advantages." She smiled happily: "He doesn't talk much." The mouth is for eating and drinking, not for talking.Aggie never talks too much. He silently poured a basin of hot water, squatted down to wash his face, and suddenly stretched out a foot and kicked his basin over. A very fat foot, wearing red satin embroidered shoes. Aggie stood up and looked at the round face with taut skin.He could hear the women giggling, but the voice seemed far away. He also heard the elephant say loudly, "You've wet my feet, wipe them dry." Aggie said nothing.He squatted down silently, and dried her fat feet with the foot-washing cloth given to him by the mute. The elephant also smiled: "You are a good boy, if there are no guests in my room at night, you can sneak in, and I will be free." Aji said: "I dare not." The elephant said, "You don't even have the guts?" Aji said: "I'm a useless man, I need this job to make money and pay off my debts." So he got a nickname from then on, "Useless Aggie", but he didn't care at all. When the lanterns first came on, the women put on shiny plaid clothes and put thick makeup on their faces. "Useless Aji, pour tea for the guests." "Useless Aji, go to the street and fetch a few catties of wine." He had to wait until late at night before he could hide in the corner of the kitchen to rest for a while. At this time, the mute would always fill a big bowl of white rice covered with braised pork, and watch him eat with sympathy in his eyes. Aggie never went to see him.Some people never seem to want to express gratitude to others, and Aggie is such a person. Because he has neither courage nor use.It wasn't until that day when two young men with knives wanted to eat and whore for nothing that everyone discovered that he had another side, that he was not afraid of pain. When the young man with the knife wanted to walk away, only this useless Aji stopped them. The boys sneered: "Do you want to die?" Aji said: "I don't want to die, and I don't want to be starved to death. If you leave without paying the bill, it will break my job." As soon as this sentence was finished, two knives pierced his body. He didn't even move, and didn't even frown. He just stood there like this and was stabbed seven or eight times. The boys looked at him in surprise, and suddenly obediently took out the money and paid the bill. Everyone was looking at him in surprise, and wanted to come over to help him, but he left without saying a word. He didn't fall down until he walked back to the hut in the backyard, and fell on the cold and hard bed, gritting his teeth. , Rolling on the bed in cold sweat. He doesn't want others to see him as a hero, and he doesn't want others to see his pain. But the door cloth of the hut had been quietly pushed away, and a person walked in quietly, covered the door with his backhand, leaned against the door, and looked at him with pity in his eyes. She has big eyes and slender hands.Her name is Xiaoli, and the guests like to call her "little fairy". She is wiping his sweat with her little hands. "Why are you doing this?" "Because that's what I'm supposed to do." His answer was simple: "I need this job." "But you are still young, and there are many other things you can do." She appeared concerned and sympathetic. Aji didn't even look at her, and said coldly: "You have your own things to do, why don't you go?" Xiaoli still refused to let it go, and said: "I know you must have a lot of sad things in your heart." Aji said: "I haven't." Xiaoli said: "There must have been a woman who broke your heart before." Aji said: "You have seen a ghost." Xiaoli said: "If you have never been sad, how could you become like this?" Aji said: "Because I'm lazy and I'm an alcoholic." Xiaoli said: "Are you lustful too?" Aji didn't deny it, he didn't bother to deny it. Xiaoli said: "But now you haven't touched a woman for a long time, I know..." Her voice suddenly became strange and gentle, she suddenly took his hand and pressed it on her lower abdomen. Her body under the thin silk clothes was completely naked, and he could immediately feel the heat in her lower abdomen. Looking at his bloody knife wound, her eyes were shining. "I know that your injury is serious, but as long as you and I... I promise I will forget the pain." As she spoke, she took his hand and caressed all over her body.Her breasts were small and firm on a flat chest. Aji's answer was only one word: "Get out!" One word plus a slap. She fell on her back with a triumphant look on her face, as if expecting him to do so. "You are so strong." she says. Aji closed his mouth, the knife wound on his body was painful like a flame, and there seemed to be a flame in his heart. He must try to control himself. But she also seemed to have made up her mind that she would never let him go, suddenly she grabbed his leg with one hand, and lifted the hem of her clothes with the other. She moaned softly, twisting her waist.She is wet. At this moment, a hand reached out, grabbed her hair, and pulled her out. His fat and stout hands were covered with all kinds of rings. Grandma Han was already drunk when she walked in, but she still had the wine in her hand. "That little bitch was a born bitch." She looked at Aji with drunken eyes: "She likes men to beat her, the harder the beating, the happier she is." Aggie closed his eyes.He suddenly found that this half-old and fat woman also had the same desire as Xiaoli in her eyes.He couldn't bear to look any further. "Come on, have a drink, I know the wine bug must be itching in your throat." She giggled and stuffed the bottle into his mouth. "You did a good thing for me today, and I want to reward you well." Aggie didn't move, didn't respond. Grandma Han frowned: "Are you really a useless man?" Aji said: "I am." When Aji opened his eyes, Grandma Han had already left, and she still left an ingot of silver by the bed when she left. "This is what you should earn. No matter who gets seven or eight knives, it can't be in vain." After all, she was no longer a little girl. "I know you will forget what happened just now." Aggie vomited when she heard her footsteps walking out the door.He can't forget this kind of thing. When the vomiting stopped, he went out, left the silver in the mute's rice pot, faced the cold wind, and walked out of Hanjiaxiang, knowing that he could no longer stay.