Teammate

Anyway, the matter in Dengtao Village finally had a perfect resolution. That night, Zhang Jinya settled the score with the old village chief, and the problem was resolved. The old village chief was so generous with the money, and we didn't stay in the place for long. Early the next morning, Zhang Jinya drove us back to Yujiang County.

I was sitting next to Qingyi in the car. He didn't speak a word all the way, just kept wiping his sword with a piece of white cloth.

This was the first time I saw this sword that had beheaded the drought demon come out of its sheath. With just one glance, I was immediately drawn to it.

If I'm not mistaken, this sword should also be an ancient sword. The length of the blade was probably around fifty centimeters, with many patterns engraved on it. Its appearance resembled the swords of the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period.

Yue Jian refers to the swords forged during the period when the Yue Kingdom, led by King Goujian, dominated the south after the fall of Wu. During that time, Yue swords made significant advancements in craftsmanship. The length of the blade was generally more than fifty to sixty centimeters, while the swords produced by the Central Plains states during that period were mostly around thirty to forty centimeters. Undoubtedly, Yue swords were very advanced during that time. However, after King Goujian's death, there were no further improvements in Yue sword craftsmanship. They were gradually replaced by Qin swords, which were nearly one meter long. By the time of the Western Han Dynasty, China's sword-making technology had reached its peak. There were even battle swords used by cavalry that were two meters long, which were considered extraordinary!

In general, Yue swords are still very valuable today, especially when preserved as well as the one in Qingyi's hands. Its value is probably not inferior to my Baipidao!

Moreover, the sword in his hand displayed a reddish hue. I was a bit unsure about the material. It didn't look like a bronze sword, nor did it seem like an iron sword. It was likely similar to my Baipidao, also an ancient famous sword, because in ancient times, any famous sword was not made of ordinary iron or bronze; they were made of celestial meteorite iron, with a composition that modern technology cannot detect, extraordinarily sharp!

I was extremely curious about the sword in Qingyi's hand. Perhaps it was also due to professional habits. Whenever I saw valuable antiques, I couldn't help but want to hold them in my hands and appreciate them. So I couldn't help but ask Qingyi, "Can I take a look at your sword?"

Qingyi was taken aback, glanced at me, hesitated for a moment, and finally handed me the sword.

Zhang Jinya, driving in front, was squinting at me through the rearview mirror. When he saw Qingyi giving me the bronze sword, he grinned, "Xiaotian, Qingyi likes you. Haha, otherwise, you wouldn't be able to touch this sword. We've known each other for at least ten years, and he has never let me see this sword of his."

I was speechless.

This guy, why do all the good intentions sound so inappropriate when they come out of his mouth?

What does he mean by Qingyi likes me? It's like we're good buddies...

I stared at Zhang Jinya with some frustration, but I didn't doubt Qingyi's sexual orientation. I've been with this guy for a while now, and I understand his character to some extent. When he said "like," he probably meant Qingyi was more friendly to me. It's just that he has a naturally foul mouth, like a cesspit, turning good words into fart talk. I didn't bother to deal with him, and instead, I observed the red sword in my hand.

Sure enough, the material of this sword was indeed special. The blade felt warm to the touch!

This characteristic reminded me of a very rare sword-making material—cinnabar gold!

Cinnabar gold is also a type of celestial meteorite iron. Swords made from it are exceptionally sharp, definitely not inferior to my Baipidao.

On the front of the hilt, there were two lines of small characters—"Cultivate the noble spirit, subdue the evil spirits."

I was intrigued and carefully observed the sword for a moment before handing it back to Qingyi. "If I'm not mistaken, this should be the Evil Subduing Sword personally forged by King Goujian of Yue, right?"

If the characteristics of this sword didn't completely match the legendary Evil Subduing Sword, I wouldn't even believe such a sword existed in this world!

Legend has it that after King Goujian defeated King Fuchai, he personally supervised the forging of seven excellent swords, and the Evil Subduing Sword was one of them. It was made of cinnabar gold, extremely sharp, and could subdue evil spirits on sight.

I always thought it was just a legend. After all, King Goujian's tomb was excavated, and if he had really forged these seven swords, he would have taken them into the tomb for burial. However, when Goujian's tomb was excavated, these seven swords were not unearthed. So I always thought they didn't exist. Now it seems I was ignorant.

"You indeed recognize this sword!" Qingyi's eyes lit up, and he seemed to smile, but quickly returned to his usual calm appearance. After putting the Evil Subduing Sword back into its scabbard, he said slowly, "Since I got this sword, only three people in the world have recognized it! The first person is Ge Zhonghua, your grandfather; the second person, also surnamed Ge, is your father; the third person is you!"

When I heard this, I suddenly felt something was wrong.

Qingyi looked young, right? At most, he was not yet thirty years old, right?

But he said he knew my grandfather and even recognized my father!

This... doesn't seem quite right, does it? My grandfather passed away when I was five or six years old. How old was Qingyi then?

Qingyi glanced at me, as if he had seen what I was thinking, but he didn't answer. He just patted my shoulder. "Apart from this, just by recognizing this sword, I promise you'll be safe when we go to the Qinling Mountains. I'll also help you resolve the matters on your body!"

"Hahaha!"

Zhang Jinya, who was driving, burst into laughter. "Xiaotian, what are you dazed about? Hurry up and thank Qingyi! Since Qingyi promised to keep you safe, even if your soul gets taken away by the Yin, he'll have to go to the underworld to bring you back!"

Hearing Zhang Jinya say this, I knew Qingyi must be a man of his word. I quickly thanked Qingyi, but he didn't even respond to me, just closed his eyes and leaned against the side to rest. He seemed quite aloof. Seeing this, I didn't bother to seek further interaction, just played with Hei Zi beside me, while contemplating this series of events.

Zhang Jinya or Qingyi, are they the "Heaven" that Uncle Zhou mentioned? What kind of people are they? And what's the relationship between our Ge family and them?

...

I spent most of the journey lost in thought. By the time we arrived at Zhang Jinya's house in Yujiang County, it was already evening. Surprisingly, the house was brightly lit, and there were two SUVs in the yard.

Seeing this scene, I couldn't help but ask Zhang Jinya, "Are there visitors at home?"

"Two friends who are going to the Qinling Mountains with us," Zhang Jinya said. "But they live quite far away, so they only arrived today, and I asked them to wait for us here."

I nodded, and at this point, Zhang Jinya found a place to park the car. As soon as we got out of the car, two people came out of the main house.

One was a man in his thirties, white and fat, with small eyes and a smiling face, like a Maitreya Buddha. He seemed to have a good relationship with Zhang Jinya and gave him a big bear hug as soon as he approached. The two of them chatted happily, one fat and one thin, both smiling somewhat obscenely.

Well, I guess this fatty isn't a good person either.

Seeing this scene, I immediately had a sense of understanding about this fatty. After all, like father, like son. Anyone who can get along with Zhang Jinya must have something fishy about them.

The other person was a woman in her mid-twenties, wearing a leather jacket in the middle of summer, not minding the heat at all. But she looked quite cool and could be considered a beauty. However, such beauties are generally not easy to approach—because this woman was carrying a gun, still holstered at her waist!

Zhang Jinya and the fat man chatted for quite a while before finally pulling me and Zhou Jing over to introduce us to the two.

The fat man was called Wu De, nicknamed "Fat Wu." It is said that he is a descendant of the Imperial Thief Officer, one of our lineages, and engaged in the tomb-robbing business, but all of them belong to official tomb-robbing. Zhang Jinya said that this time, we would rely on me and Fat Wu when we went to the Qinling Mountains. When Fat Wu heard that I was the descendant of a high-ranking officer of Faqiu, he was so excited that his eyes almost popped out. He kept pulling me aside, saying that he wanted to find a time to exchange skills with me.

How could I dare to exchange skills with him? I know my stuff, but I'm clear that I'm still at a theoretical level. Although I've read the "Faqiu Secret Arts" from cover to cover, I'm still stuck in the realm of theoretical knowledge. When it comes to tomb-robbing, I basically have no hope. So I quickly said that I dare not, and when we go to the Qinling Mountains, we'll have to rely on big brother.

Fat Wu thought I was modest and kept praising me for being brave and not arrogant.

At last, it was obvious that this Fat Wu wasn't a decent person. No wonder his name is "De-less."

As for the woman, her name was Rosa, from Guizhou. I didn't know anything else about her, and she was cold and unapproachable. I didn't have the desire to greet her, and naturally, I couldn't bring myself to approach her with my warm face against her cold butt. I could only ask Zhang Jinya, but unfortunately, Zhang Jinya didn't tell me much, just mysteriously telling me that when we went to the Qinling Mountains, we would have to rely on this woman on the road. When I had nothing to do, I should cling to her more often. Once we entered the mountains, this woman would take better care of me.

In this way, I basically greeted these "teammates" and got to know them briefly. Then Zhang Jinya asked us to rest in our rooms. We would set off for the Qinling Mountains early tomorrow morning. I knew that once we went, regardless of life or death, the matters on my body should come to a conclusion.