Chapter 2 Incense Burner, Young Man in Brocade Clothes
The next morning, Wu Yan, who was sleeping soundly, was awakened by the noise from the foot of the mountain.
Wu Yan put the rag covering his body into his torn pocket, was stunned for a moment, then stood up, covered his mouth and yawned several times, stretched his body to relax his stiff body.
His stomach growled. He remembered that he had not eaten anything for a day and a night except for the bone residue and dry food crumbs he had eaten last night.
Wu Yan weakly carried the dog-beating stick and walked towards the temple gate. With a clang, something fell out of his arms and almost hit his feet.
He was startled and looked at the thing on the ground. It turned out to be the green rusty incense burner that he used to scoop water yesterday. Wu Yan picked up the incense burner curiously and looked at it in his hand.
This incense burner is very strange, only the size of a palm, and it feels heavy in his hand. The shape of the incense burner is peculiar, round outside and square inside, with three legs at the bottom and no ears on the top, but with a delicate lid that can just seal the mouth of the incense burner without any leakage. Wu Yan has also seen the incense burners used in ordinary temples. Those ordinary incense burners are generally made of copper, with round structures inside and outside, and generally have no lids on them. The incense burner in his hand looks like bronze, and the whole thing is covered with green copper rust.
After thinking about it, Wu Yan put it into his broken pocket. The guy who used to beg for food was scared by the young man in brocade clothes yesterday and broke into pieces. This incense burner is just a replacement. Moreover, there is a lid on this incense burner, which can keep warm after filling the rice, and it is difficult to break easily.
He stood in front of the gate of the mountain temple and looked down. On the road below the mountain, there were many carriages and pedestrians rushing towards Xiaogushan.
Wu Yan remembered the rumors he heard when he encountered a fight between two gangs at the border of Qing County a few days ago. The Iron Sword League, the largest gang in Gu County, with its headquarters in Xiaogushan, is opening its doors today to recruit young disciples.
It is said that as long as you can join the Iron Sword League and become a formal disciple of the Iron Sword League, not only will you have free food and accommodation, but you will also receive more than two taels of silver in pocket money every month.
After Wu Yan was separated from his family at the border between Qing County and Gu County, he heard this rumor and groped his way to Gushan Town. His purpose of coming here was to try his luck and see if he could join the Iron Sword League and make a living.
This time, the Iron Sword League is recruiting disciples. It is said that as long as they are eight to fourteen years old, whether they are disciples from rich families or poor families, they can participate in the selection and assessment.
Joining the Iron Sword League can provide free food and accommodation, and you can also learn some life-saving skills. With such good conditions, Wu Yan is naturally excited. To be honest, he is not very interested in the Jianghu gangs now. But the free food and accommodation is more tempting.
After being distracted for a while at the door of the mountain temple, he heard a gurgling sound from his stomach again. Wu Yan swallowed his saliva and turned to go into the yard. Wu Yan walked to the deserted well, took out the incense burner from his torn bag, and scooped a furnace of well water to drink to relieve his hunger.
Wu Yan drank several furnaces of water in a row until he could not take another sip, then stopped. After thinking for a while, Wu Yan filled another furnace with water, covered it with a lid, put it in the torn bag, and then walked towards the road down the mountain.
The Iron Sword League is located in the lonely mountain. There is only one way to enter the lonely mountain, that is, the Wild Wolf Valley. The entrance of the Wild Wolf Valley is a canyon with a narrow sky. At the entrance of the canyon, there is only a small path that can be walked side by side by side, including the inside and outside.
There are two huge stone towers built against the mountain at the entrance of the valley. There are masters of the Iron Sword League guarding the towers day and night. The terrain here is dangerous, and it can be regarded as a one-man defense.
There are all kinds of people who come to participate in the selection of disciples of the Iron Sword League, including rich sons and gentry, as well as farm boys and little beggars who are fleeing.
The entrance of the Wild Wolf Valley is an open plain with a radius of several dozen feet. At this time, the plain at the entrance of the valley is crowded with various vehicles and people.
Wu Yan hugged a torn bag and a dog-beating stick, huddled together, and carefully squeezed into the gap between the crowd at the edge of the cliff.
"Get out of the way!" A familiar and overbearing voice came from behind Wu Yan.
Wu Yan was about to dodge to the side, when he suddenly felt something hit his back hard, and it hurt like fire. His body was also knocked away, and he rushed forward four or five steps and hit a rock.
Wu Yan was hit so hard that he saw stars and was extremely angry. He was about to turn his head and yell, but he saw that the person who kicked him behind him was the young man in brocade clothes from the rich family who kicked him once yesterday.
The young man in brocade clothes raised his eyebrows arrogantly, and there was a young man with thick eyebrows and big eyes standing beside him. The young man frowned and whispered to the slightly fat young man in brocade clothes: "Xiao Feng, what are you doing?"
"Brother, this beggar is blocking my way, didn't you see it? Bah, what a thing, a stinky beggar, also wants to join in the fun, do you really think that the Iron Sword Alliance will accept anyone?" The young man in brocade clothes curled his lips at Wu Yan with disdain, and said to the young man nonchalantly.
The young man glanced at Wu Yan, shook his head and curled his lips, dragged the young man in brocade clothes into the crowd, and squeezed towards the entrance of Wild Wolf Valley.
Wu Yan staggered and stood up with the help of the mountain wall, and his hand holding the torn pocket was pinched white because of the force. This young man in brocade clothes humiliated him twice, which made him feel extremely angry. But he was angry, but he had no way. The difference in strength and status made him choose to endure.
Wu Yan stared at the back of the young man in brocade clothes angrily and spat a few times fiercely. Many people around him looked at him with sarcasm, so he quickly lowered his head, holding the torn bag and walked forward with the crowd.
Four young men with indifferent expressions carrying swords guarded the entrance of the valley, staring coldly at the crowd at the entrance of the valley. Behind them, on the watchtowers on both sides, stood four young men with stern expressions and carrying swords.
Among the young people below, a young man with a black face and severed eyebrows stepped out. The young man raised his hands upward, and then pressed them down. The noisy crowd knew that he had something to say, and gradually became quiet.
"Fellow fellow countrymen, since you have taken the trouble to send your son and son here, this is a great support for our alliance. Lu Mou here thanks all the fellow countrymen for our alliance. According to the rules of our alliance, only members of our alliance and those who participated in the selection Only young people can enter the Wild Wolf Valley. The young people participating in this selection should line up and come in one by one to receive their identity cards. The rest of the people are waiting here. Please don't make any noise here. "The black-faced man with broken eyebrows! The young man said loudly to the crowd.
There was another loud noise from everyone, and they all asked their sons to participate in the selection. It's nothing more than saying things like be careful, don't cause trouble, and do your best.
After a while, the teenagers lined up one after another under the command of two young disciples of the Iron Sword Alliance, began to receive wooden tokens, and entered the Wild Wolf Valley. The people who saw him off took dozens of steps back, leaving the valley entrance empty.
Wu Yan stood at the end of the queue, looking at the long queue in front of him with concern. There were actually hundreds of young people participating in the selection this time.
"Brother Lu, Junior Brother Wang Bai has met Senior Brother Lu. This is my younger brother Wang Feng, who is also here to join this alliance. I still have a mission to do. Senior Brother Lu, do you think you can let me take him into the valley first?"
At the entrance of the Wild Wolf Valley, Wang Bai led the young man named Wang Feng, who was dressed in brocade, to the front and spoke affectionately to the young man with a black face and severed eyebrows who was responsible for handing out wooden signs.
"Little brother Wang Feng, meet Brother Lu." The fat face of the young man in brocade was full of smile, and he bowed his hand to the young man with broken eyebrows.
The young man with black eyebrows and black face glanced at the two of them in surprise. When he saw the bronze medal of the Disciple of the Law Enforcement Hall in Wang Bai's hand, he nodded and said, "It turns out to be Junior Brother Wang of the Deacon Hall. Okay, this is the entry wood." You've got the card. You need to exchange it for a disciple token after entering."
The Wang brothers hurriedly thanked them, and Wang Feng stepped forward to take the wooden sign respectfully, and followed Wang Bai into the Wild Wolf Valley through the gate of the watchtower.
The teenagers in the queue started whispering with envy on their faces. Wu Yan took a deep look at the backs of the Wang brothers who were leaving, followed the crowd as if nothing had happened, and walked forward slowly.