Chapter 6: Encounter

  Zi Lu was taken aback, and after a moment's thought, he composed himself and said: "Qingzi Gongzi, as a man of honor, one should have some accomplishments in life. You are a hero of the world, and if I can follow you, it would be a great joy for me. However, my mother is still at home, and this time I followed Confucius to travel between Qi and Lu, so I temporarily entrusted her to a friend. If I were to follow you to Wei State and then attack Wu State again, my mother would eventually not be able to rely on others for support. Although I am not afraid of death, I fear that my mother will have no one to care for her."

  This is probably the reason why his parents didn't travel far, and Xi Bin didn't expect that Zilu was a filial son who would stay by his mother's side to take care of her, putting aside his own career and future. Although he felt some regret in his heart, it was not unreasonable for a dutiful son to do so. Moreover, he vaguely felt that in this chaotic world, Confucius and his disciples always put morality first, which sometimes made them out of place. Xi Bin sighed and gave up the idea of recruiting Confucian disciples.

  The capital of Lu State, Qufu, was getting closer and closer. On this day, we arrived near Lucheng. In front of us, a mountain valley appeared, with dense forests in the valley, and a small river flowing out from the forest, winding like a jade belt, forming a crescent-shaped pool on the left side of the valley mouth, then flowing far away.

  Xī Bīn's body has recovered a lot and can be supported to walk slowly on the ground. He was originally a very clean person, but now he hasn't taken a bath or brushed his teeth for so long, and the weather is getting hotter and hotter. He couldn't stand it himself, and as soon as he saw the clear creek water, he couldn't bear it anymore. He hastily ordered the troops to stop and set up camp here, resting for a night.

  It was said that they were setting up camp, but there was neither a campsite nor a large tent. The soldiers tidied up an area on the grassy field by the water's edge for everyone to rest.

  Although Mr. Kong Qiu is a nine-foot-tall Shandong man, he is not a Jianghu good man, but rather emphasizes cleanliness. As long as the conditions permit, it is necessary to take two baths a day. Now that he has seen such a good water source, he is extremely delighted and also takes his sword and washing supplies along the river to find a more secluded place to bathe and cleanse himself.

  Xie Bin let Ah Qiu brothers support him, also to the riverbank to find a good place, loosen his clothes and belt, soak in the clear and calm river water, rub off the mud, suddenly feel refreshed and relaxed, whole body light.

  There was no one around and no guards were arranged, the atmosphere seemed unusually quiet.

  Xi Bin tied up his clean hair with a silk ribbon, forming a ponytail, and lay on a natural bluestone by the river, half of his body soaking in the water. The flowing water gently massaged his body, while small fish occasionally nibbled at his feet, giving him an ethereal feeling.

  Because they are currently within the borders of Lu and will soon arrive at the capital of Lu, they did not expect that the Wu State's army would pursue them. Moreover, they had walked to this place with a temporary intention to stop and rest, so the possibility of encountering an enemy was almost non-existent. It is also known that even if it were an assassin who deliberately targeted them, it would be impossible for him to keep following them like this.

  Assassins kill people, either by lying in ambush on the daily route of their opponents or by hiding their identities and waiting for an opportunity to strike. The scenario where one can encounter a killer anywhere is only possible in martial arts novels. Moreover, since all four sides of the valley are accessible, it would be difficult to set up defenses, so even if 200 soldiers were standing guard, they might not be able to prevent the assassination, which is why Xi Bin did not order them to be on high alert.

  Due to Du Bin occupying this place with relatively slow flowing water, some of the soldiers who wanted to fetch water or bathe would consciously avoid going to places downstream from him, and they kept a considerable distance from him.

  Superiors are superiors, although they may be kind and gentle to their subordinates, the latter will still instinctively keep a distance from them. This psychology is easy to understand, just like how many people consider having meals with their leaders as an unpleasant task, this mentality has remained unchanged throughout history.

  After waiting for the young master to finish his bath and rest for a while, he brought up a ceramic basin and a small bag of green salt, and also broke off several willow branches hanging over the water surface, peeled off the bark and handed them to Xi Bin.

  Xi Bin took the peeled willow branch and rinsed it with clear water, then put it in his mouth and gently bit it open with his teeth. The fibers of the willow branch spread out, forming a toothbrush. Normally, people would soak the willow branch overnight before using it, but this hastily made toothbrush was a bit prickly to use.

  Xie Bin was not used to using this thing, brushing his teeth with a scowl on his face, and after brushing his teeth twice, he had already bled from the gums. He suddenly remembered that toothbrushes didn't have much technical content, as long as you described it, craftsmen could make one, so he hastily called Ah Chou to get a piece of animal skin and pen and ink from the carriage.

  At that time, there was already a brush, Wu State called it "Bu Lv", Yan State called it "Fu", Chu State called it "Xing", and Qin State called it a pen. Later, after the unification of China by the Qin State, General Meng Tian made some improvements to the pen, fixed its style, and later generations uniformly referred to it as a brush.

  Xī Bīn put on his clothes, with both feet still soaking in the cool water. He spread out a piece of animal hide on his knees, picked up a brush and started painting. In order to make it clear for the craftsmen to see, he painted the toothbrush very large, about one foot long, with one end as the handle and the other end flat. On top, he drew two rows of eight small holes, each hole dotted with many fine lines to represent bristles.

  After finishing the painting, he took a closer look and found that the toothbrush painting was really ugly, like a washing stick for clothes, with some hair growing on one end. Xi Bin couldn't help but laugh at his own work.

  A'qiu and Zai'qiu, the two brothers, did not know what the young master was painting. Although they also thought the painting was a bit unbearable to look at, the young master himself could laugh about it, but they dared not join in, and could only pretend to be serious and hold back their laughter on the side.

  Xī Bīn chuckled and folded the animal hide, putting it in his bosom. He thought he would wait until they reached the next city to find a craftsman to make another one just like it. At this moment, a rustling sound suddenly came from the grass behind them, and ā Chóu and Zài Chóu immediately grabbed their Wu hooks and jumped up.

  Xī Bīn subconsciously turned his head to look, and was staring at the person who had crawled out of the grass with four eyes. The newcomer's hands parted the Artemisia scoparia, poking his head out, and when their eyes met, he too was greatly shocked.

  This person has a shallow and delicate complexion, with eyes like dots of lacquer. She is actually a lovely young girl with beautiful eyebrows and eyes that are as vivid as a painting. In this desolate wilderness, amidst the thickets of mugwort, the sudden appearance of such a pretty girl makes one suspect her to be a ghost or fox spirit.

  Xie Bin had been in this Spring and Autumn era for at least a month, every day he opened his eyes to see more than 200 masculine men, now it was the first time he saw a pure-blooded ancient Chinese beauty.

  At a glance, Xi Bin's eyes lit up, and he felt like the sun at 8 or 9 o'clock in the morning, instantly filled with masculine energy.

  What a pitiful sight!