Chapter 66 A letter from the mountain, a declaration of war from Minjiang
[Three years of silence, two years of traveling, returning to middle age. ]

[This year, Sun Er is already over 40 years old. ]

[This year, Chen Guzhou was fifty-seven years old, and his hair had turned gray early. ]

[This year, the construction of Huanglu'an also began to come to an end. Countless stones mixed with bones filled the deep mudflats on the shore, paved the vast harbor embankment of dozens of miles, and suppressed a certain destiny. ]

[This year, you suddenly feel that your vitality is fading. In your early years, you over-consumed your potential, and your crazy practice has completely overdrawn your body... The life span of a duck will eventually come to an end.]

[You have become an old duck, and can no longer wait for the next year to come. ]

[Over the years, you often hear the spirit of the clash and the bird-watching fate from time to time. However, you only think they are noisy. Over the years, you seem to have gained a lot of insights in silence. But the drowsy old age makes you more and more worried and powerless...]

【Over the years, you have all grown old. 】

【Finally in this year. 】

[You have returned to the original place, to the last stop of your life, and are preparing for the final battle. ]

[In February of this year.]

[You returned to Minjiang Prefecture incognito, found the ancient black street, and found an equally old blacksmith. You presented Black Lagoon Black Gold, Jellyfish Elite, Qinghe Purple Copper...]

【February 15th.】

[You and the foolish man Sun Er came to the bighead carp's nest, stood in front of the reverse spring at the bottom of the river, and began your last crazy adventure.]

[You watched him walk into the spring without looking back, and sat beside the spring, waiting silently.]

[Any living creature that approaches this place will be torn to pieces by the reverse spring white gas. Only the foolish man Sun Er, who has truly entered the heart silkworm calamity, is qualified to enter and explore.]

[You don’t know that more than 30 years ago, someone with extraordinary talent stepped into the mysterious place under the Niquan under the endless white mist.]

[You are old now, and now you just want to sleep a little longer and eat a little more every day. You no longer have the energy to care about these things. ]

【A day passed.】

【Five days passed.】

[Another seven days passed…]

【February 28th.】

[A figure finally emerged from the reverse spring. He was covered in blood, with countless cold air flowing through his body, and was wrapped in a thin layer of ice...]

【It took three days to recover.】

[Sun Er finally woke up from his deep sleep, and his eyes seemed to have a little more crystal white light. ]

【A knife appears in front of him.】

[Looking at the knife you held in your wings, he suddenly smiled happily. It was as if he had just woken up from a big dream, completely awakening from his closed mind world, and slowly grasped the knife that carried your lifelong goal - Jie Fool's Knife.]

【You looked at the happy fisherman and smiled happily too. 】

【This life is like a big dream. 】

【Now, the dream is finally coming to an end! 】

February 29th.

Minjiang Prefecture, a deserted courtyard.

A figure woke up quietly from the bed, with sweat all over his head and messy hair, as if he had woken up from a big dream.

In a dream.

He lost everything.

In a dream.

He was despised by all nations.

In a dream.

He saw a shattered landscape, the streets of Minjiang Prefecture were overturned, corpses were everywhere, the water of the Minjiang River fell into a bottomless abyss, and there had been no one living there for thousands of years...

He had been having this dream often since the last battle in Tengkong Tower.

It also started from that day.

From the moment he firmly implemented Huang Lu'an's proposal, his heart became confused.

"Ah~~"

A faint sigh.

Chen Guzhou put on his coat and walked into the courtyard covered with morning dew.

I watched it for a long time.

In the end, he only said, "The young man's long song faded away in the wind, and the spring scenery of his hometown is found in his dreams."

On this February morning.

The governor already has a lot of old age on his body.

Return to the study.

He began to reply to a letter from the 'mountain'.

[From Xian Yu himself——]

[It has been several years since we parted at Tengkong Tower. Brother Xianyu, are you doing well? ]

[I seek immortality on the mountain, gather the clouds in the morning, admire the immortal wind in the day, and enjoy a free and easy life, protecting the well-being of Donglin. After thinking about it for many years, I still want to ask, "Is Brother Xianyu coming?"]

[Ha~~ Of course you don't want to come. ]

[If you are willing to come, how can you be the lone goose swordsman that I admire. If you are willing to come, how can you be the master of the number one swordsman on the black list three thousand years ago? ]

[If you are willing to come... why would you abandon the inheritance of the supreme sword path and be willing to stay in the muddy world of the Minjiang River, turning your body into a sword and looking for your own path...]

【It would be great if you were willing to come! 】

[I suddenly wrote this letter to tell Brother Xianyu that I will become a Taoist. I will be like a dragon and elephant, and I will be able to see the world. When I wake up from this retreat, it may be a hundred years in the world. I will only have Brother Xian in my life, and I am afraid I will never see him again.]

【This farewell, I hope you take care! 】

Chen Guzhou looked at the words on the letter and remained silent for a long time.

There seems to be a warm feeling in my heart.

then.

He picked up his pen and wrote a reply, his handwriting was vigorous and completely different from his current state.

【Qingyuan personally——】

[Seeing the words is like seeing the person. I am doing well at the foot of the mountain, and all my plans are in my mind. A hundred years later, you and I may meet again.]

【Please rest assured! 】

[The Huanglu dike has been under construction for many years and is nearing completion. Although there are complaints from the people, it is still under control.]

[Three years ago... I had already been granted the title of Marquis of Wanhu, enjoying the incense of the Immortal Dynasty, and all I had to do was wait for the Minjiang River to be completed...]

[I know what Qingyuan is worried about, but neither the mountain nor the foot of the mountain is what I want.]

【Life is like the setting sun, wealth and honor are like frost on the grass. 】

[I am old in body, but still young in heart. Life is just a journey, why bother about the mountains or the bottom of the mountains...]

【What I have done in my life is for the country, for the people, and for myself.】

【I have no regrets in my heart! 】

【I hope you take care of yourself both on and off the mountain. 】

Crunch~~
The brush in his hand suddenly broke.

Chen Guzhou looked at the last sentence soaked in ink.

a long time.

"What if I feel guilty?" A low sigh.

The early morning sunlight shines through the windowsill onto the lonely figure.

He suddenly laughed.

I look at the wounded geese through the window, and the immortal outside the mountain asks about his happiness.

Qing Yuanzi envied himself.

Don't I envy him?

Chen Guzhou, 57 years old, is already old.

I am really old! Not only my body is old, but my heart is also old.

Faced with the greetings from his old friend of many years, he still had to muster up the courage to write this reply letter.

His heart is no longer as firm as it used to be.

Sometimes, in the dead of night, he would ask himself: "Am I doing this... for myself, or for the people of Minjiang?"

he does not know.

The governor of Minjiang River was a foolish hermit who was so old that he often fell into confusion.

Or maybe... both.

The only thing that is certain is that he has never regretted it.

He never regretted going to extremes and killing so many corvée laborers.

The crime has been committed.

It is better to let future generations judge right and wrong, merits and demerits.

three days later.

The second day of March.

The people on the mountain received this reply letter.

"Really... seeing the words is like seeing the person?"

Qing Yuanzi looked at the firm handwriting on the letter, with a hint of sadness in his eyes.

Can he really... succeed?
Can he really withstand the backlash of bad luck and public resentment?

In this world.

Perhaps he is the only one who knows best why Chen Guzhou did all this.

He does it for himself.

It is also for the Minjiang River to be passed down for generations to come.

He was atonement for his youthful recklessness.

He built the green willow embankment and the yellow reed bank, all for one purpose - to suppress a terrifying water eye under the Minjiang River that could swallow endless water vapor.

They discovered this thirty years ago.

That day, he watched Chen Guzhou walk into the Niquan alone and return seriously injured.

From that day on, they changed.

They couldn't let this matter out. Otherwise... all the cultivators would come together and the rivers would turn upside down. The Qingyuan Water Eye was truly a mysterious place beyond the ordinary, a place that made people fearful and coveted.

and so.

In order to atone their sins, one of them chose to go up the mountain, and the other chose to become an official.

now.

Qing Yuanzi is still wasting time in the mountains without making any progress.

Chen Guzhou seemed to be about to succeed.

Maybe...but he will also face the most difficult time.

It is better to drain than to block, and the best method is to block and drain at the same time. He built the green willow embankment to accumulate a Qingyuan Lake, and built the yellow reed bank at the same time, trying to suppress the possible backlash of luck with his foundation for a hundred generations.

And the price... will inevitably be backfired by endless public resentment.

He must make a choice between 'now' and 'future'.

Just do this one thing.

With destiny connected, he can break free from the shackles of fate, break the limits with the power of heaven and earth, and see the mountain top... the scenery that mortals can never see.

But if you fail...

pity.

No one can understand Chen Guzhou.

and so.

Although he was granted a fief of 10,000 households, he was still the governor of Minjiang River. Because of the people's resentment, he probably had no hope of promotion in his lifetime.

and so.

A few years ago, fishermen and ducks came into being, and people from the fishing village appeared one after another, representing the backlash of public grievances.

and so.

Chen Guzhou, who was already seriously injured thirty years ago, set up a triple boundary seal in his body. Just to retain the last bit of strength and resist the voice of opposition. Just for the last moment...

Connect to the destiny of Minjiang Prefecture, transcend the mundane, and break free from fate!
"If... you had followed me back to the mountain and asked the teacher to treat me, it would have been great!"

Qing Yuanzi sat upright on the Donglinxian Cliff, looking at the orange sunset gradually setting over the sea.

Is it so easy to go against the will of heaven?
That time thirty years ago, he was hurt too badly, too seriously.

That is on this day.

Chen Guzhou received another letter, a letter from Wangyu Village on the banks of the Minjiang River.

Open the envelope.

The crooked handwriting contained a letter of war.

[On March 3, on the green willow embankment, a life-and-death battle is fought.]

this moment.

A bright smile suddenly appeared on his face.

The already aging face suddenly showed a hint of relaxation and relief, and became less gloomy.

this moment.

The governor of Minjiang, who was already over fifty-seven, seemed to have suddenly become much younger. The past flashed back to him, and he seemed to have returned to the time more than thirty years ago when he was wandering the world with only a sword.

There was a soft 'click' sound in the chest.

this moment.

He was like a sword that had been freed from all restraints, just as Qing Yuanzi wished - regaining its former sharpness.

The former lone goose swordsman seems to have returned!

　The foreshadowing that had been buried for so long was finally revealed through Qing Yuanzi's mouth.

　　Some readers may feel that the governor's reversal is abrupt, but in fact the problem has been hinted at least ten times before.

　　The strange terrain around Minjiang Prefecture is even more obvious.

　　Of course, this is not to whitewash the governor, and he himself has never denied the blood on his hands.

　　He is also an ordinary person, a somewhat complicated person, a villain in the book, a person who is difficult to describe as good or bad.

　　He knew it was wrong, but he never regretted it.

　　He was decisive and good at utilizing the forces from all over Minjiang.

　　He was cruel and would do anything to achieve his goals, resulting in the deaths of countless civilians.

　　But he was also small, and the power of one person could not fight against the power of the entire Minjiang River.

　　He is also selfish, trying to turn the tide alone and transcend the mundane.

　　He is just doing what he wants to do. He is not great, he is even despicable.

　　He was also on his way home, and he was also trapped in the catastrophe of his heart and couldn't extricate himself.

　　So, his name is Chen Guzhou.

　　Therefore, in his later years, he often called himself the True Foolish Layman.

　　So, he really deserves to be criticized!
　　Therefore, his fate was doomed from the very beginning. He was destined to be opposed and despised by countless people at that time.

　　Therefore, although he and Qing Yuanzi are similar to Sun Er and Shuiya, they part ways.

　　So, this is the allegorical martial arts novel I want to write.

　　This is my definition of "stupid". It's up to you to judge who is the real fool!

　　next chapter.

　　Start playing!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)