Volume 1 | North Bird Does Not Return
Sometimes, it only takes a short moment for a young teenager to go from “believing that they have grown to maturity” to truly and truly growing into adulthood.
A figure taller than a person and his entire body made of iron stood at the door. There are two small round eyes under the helmet, flashing purple, the unique color of Ziliujin burning 一 that figure gives a frightening impression, enough to be the main character in a ghost story at night.
The iron figure looked straight ahead and from above Chang Geng’s head, staring aimlessly at his back, raised his bowl-sized hand. Resembling a woodpecker, the figure continued to knock on the door nonstop.
Chang Geng’s frightened soul came out of his body still doing a panic dance in the air. He could not gather himself. When he had met with this situation, the hairs that could not yet lie back stood up once more.
He took a deep breath then hurriedly stepped back, reaching for the sword hanging at the door.
At this moment, Gu Yun stepped out from behind the iron figure and asked enthusiastically, “Interesting, right?”
Chang Geng, “……..”
No!
“I know the family guards don’t dare to use weapons against you, and from what I hear from Uncle Wang, you always practice your sword skills alone in the yard every day, it can be very boring and tedious because you have no opponents.”
Gu Yun said as he twisted and twisted something on the back of the figure’s head, the terrifying iron monster was instantly silent, standing motionless at one point. Gu Yun raised his hand and patted the giant iron head. He smiled at Chang Geng and said, “Therefore I brought a ‘sword training doll’ to play with you, okay?”
Chang Geng’s gaze didn’t dare to continue to stare at him for too long, he looked towards the immovable iron monster that resembled the mountain.
After a while, he pointed to himself, “Me? Playing with him?”
Isn’t that iron doll who will play with it?
Gu Yun pushed the iron doll into the small courtyard where Chang Geng lived, Chang Geng tiredly followed behind.
The young man’s conscience still felt guilty by hiding inappropriate thoughts, even though he was able to maintain the calmness of his face, he only dared to secretly glance at Gu Yun every time the man turned in the other direction. After several peeks, Chang Geng discovered that Gu Yun did not wear much clothing on his body.
On the morning of early winter when someone’s breathing could turn to ice, Gu Yun only wore a set of clothes that were neither old nor new. When slightly bent to fit an iron doll, her waist seemed much slimmer than Chang Geng’s imagination.
Immediately, Chang Geng realized that he was looking at a place he should not have seen. He quickly turned his head in a panic and asked, “Are you not coming out today?”
Gu Yun, “Yes, I have a day off.”
Chang Geng was silent for a while, but couldn’t help himself, he asked, “Why are you dressed like this, isn’t the air so cold?”
“Don’t imitate Shen Yi and be fussy, come here.” Gu Yun gave him a signal to come closer, he pulled the iron monster again, then patted the hard material on his shoulder.
“This is a variant of an iron doll. It’s different from what is used as a house guard, this is also called a sword training doll. Many martial arts practitioners in the capital have these puppets as their first training mentors. I also used it when I was young.
“It has several sets of fixed martial arts movements for beginners. There are seven points on his body; head, neck, chest, abdomen, shoulders, arms and legs. If you can stab one of the first four, this doll will stop soon. But you have to be careful if you touch the last three. Even if you can hit the points on your shoulders and arms, his legs can still move and can kick you at any time.
“If you want to lock it, every point of both shoulders and legs must be hit, how about you try it?”
Gu Yun’s explanation was not even during bowel movements, finished in a few sentences. Right after that, he immediately entered a simple and crude training session, “Hold your sword firmly!”
The sentence wasn’t even finished, but the doll had moved, its eyes flickered with a bright purple color, stepped forward and raised its sword.
Chang Geng is not ready, not even the sword has been pulled out yet. He hurriedly took several steps back.
The doll did not give him room to breathe. Once started, he immediately started chasing Chang Geng endlessly, already cornering him in the blink of an eye.
Chang Geng had nowhere to run, so he clenched his teeth, gripped the sword with both hands, then swung it from the bottom up. The two iron swords collided 一 Chang Geng’s wrist twitched, his sword immediately fell to the ground, cold sweat began to break. He involuntarily leaned back 一 pedang the doll’s sword landed within one hand in front of his forehead.
There is a cold hue on the blade.
The small courtyard was quiet, only Chang Geng’s harsh gasping voice and the “rumbling” power inside the doll’s body could be heard.
Gu Yun did not make any comment, nor did he come forward to give any instructions. He sat beside a stone table in the yard, took a small cup, untied the wine jug on his waist, then watched Chang Geng be chased by an iron doll as a free meal for his drink.
When Chang Geng caught Gu Yun’s view, his mood became even more unstable.
On the one hand, he was like a small peacock who was immature, but had wanted to show off his wings and tail for others to see. On the other hand, his insides were filled with worry and frustration, just seeing Gu Yun made him dizzy.
The willpower in the young teen’s chest swung back and forth between exploding and dying. The doll did not understand the situation, white steam gushed beneath her feet, making her glide a few steps forward, once again using her starting position and jabbing her sword at Chang Geng.
Chang Geng put the sword on his shoulder and took the initiative to attack forward, desperately trying to remember the trick Gu Yun used to drop the sword from his hand with a single dagger while at Governor Guo’s previous home.
Gu Yun played with the small wine cup in his hand, clicked his tongue, and shook his head as he watched.
The edges of the two iron swords touched each other, sparks began to fly. The hilt of the sword once again created an irresistible wave of pressure. Chang Geng’s sword couldn’t reach its desired destination, but he was exhausted, his sword finally came loose again and flew as far as three feet.
The doll is used for sparring, it won’t hurt people. The purple light in his eyes went out several times. He pulled out the sword hanging above Chang Geng’s head then retreated once more, changing his standing posture.
Chang Geng’s forehead began to sweat, he was forced to shift his focus and peek again at Gu Yun. He thought irritably, ‘He won’t go today? What is so good to watch! ‘
Gu Yun saw Chang Geng’s sword that had been knocked out of his hand many times, draining the entire cold wine jug, his long legs had changed positions three times between up and down, very calm and patient. Only when the doll used a very heavy punch that made Chang Geng’s entire body thrown, he began to stand up relaxed.
Chang Geng’s skin was scratched when he fell to the ground, he could feel a little blood as he felt to touch the wound, but he did not bother to remove it now because Gu Yun had walked towards him, arms crossed in front of his chest, saw a tall iron puppet in front of him.
Chang Geng involuntarily lowered his head, completely defeated. He did not dare to see the man.
“When your heart panics, your feet will waver,” Gu Yun said. “If your feet are unstable, no matter how skilled your sword skills are, it will be no more than water without a source, trees without roots.”
Chang Geng was shocked then raised his head.
Gu Yun rarely spoke with such seriousness, “Wake up, I will teach you.”
Chang Geng was surprised at first, his eyes widened, and before he could react, Gu Yun had pulled him up again. He held the arm that Chang Geng used to hold the sword’s hilt and hugged him strongly from behind.
Chang Geng swallowed hard, his back tightened.
Gu Yun whispered, “Come on relax, don’t look at me, look at your sword.”
He had not finished speaking when the purple light in the eyes of the puppets on the opposite side of their daro had lit up once more, his body rumbling like a battle drum. The doll flew forward. His movements did not change, his sword slashed at their heads.
Although deep in Chang Geng’s blood flows a certain kind of wildness, that feeling can only be stimulated in life and death situations as well as situations filled with anger. But even so, this was just a battle and attack session.
At this moment, he could not think of the closeness that now made him self-conscious and ashamed. His first reaction was still backwards, it was a natural reaction for anyone who was forced to face the terrifying pressure of a giant monster like that.
But Gu Yun did not allow him to retreat.
Chang Geng felt that his whole body had been lifted by Gu Yun, hurrying forward like a cordless doll that had no fear. His wrists were firmly attached to Gu Yun’s strong hand as if forged with iron, he involuntarily moved his sword under Gu Yun’s control, and in a short time his weapon was connected with his opponent’s sword, Chang Geng could feel that the hilt of his sword had been tilted by Gu Yun by smooth in different angles, and the sword that was released down by the doll was immediately pushed back.
The cold iron sword passed through him, almost cutting his temple. Chang Geng instinctively closed his eyes tightly, thinking that he would crash into the doll.
Gu Yun sighed and thought, ‘This kid is a bit lacking, I’m afraid that he might not be the type of person who can lift a sword.’
The smell of cold metal passed through Chang Geng’s nose, and the doll’s elbows stopped slightly. Gu Yun raised his leg, kicked Chang Geng’s knee and shouted, “Open your eyes! Watch your hands!”
Chang Geng’s knees softened, his legs bounced up due to external forces, the tips of his feet hit the points on the doll’s arms in front of him with complete precision.
The machine made a creaking noise, its upper arms locked in place. Chang Geng only managed to let out a half breath, but in the next moment, his back was suddenly bent down by Gu Yun.
Strong winds passed through his ears 一 The doll’s feet swept through the air.
Gu Yun, “Look carefully.”
He grabbed Chang Geng’s hand firmly and dragged the boy into a clear semicircular cut on the ground. The tip of the sword swept past the point at the doll’s ankle.
Another creaking sound could be heard, the doll was completely locked.
The doll maintains the same posture, standing still in the same place. The purple light in his eyes blinked several times then gradually dimmed.
Chang Geng’s palms were covered in sweat, his chest raised up and down roughly, he did not even notice when Gu Yun let him go.
In just this short moment, he could immediately feel the wide gap in skills between himself and his little Yifu.
Gu Yun casually wiped the dust from his body, “Retreating is human nature. Even if your opponent is a person, there is no problem in stepping back and back.
“But remember, if you face an iron doll or a Heavy Armor unit while you are not equipped with armor yourself 一 don’t ever retreat. These units have a Ziliujin-powered mechanism at their feet, they will chase you when you retreat. When you do that, both your mind and the focal point of your body will fall backwards, it will be difficult to regain strength in a short amount of time to fight, but instead, your arms and legs will become clumsy, and you will end up falling into your opponent’s hands. “
Chang Geng thought for a long time, and suddenly asked, “What Yifu wants to say is, if facing an enemy that is far stronger than yourself, direct confrontation will really increase your chances of winning?”
Gu Yun raised his eyebrows, because this seems rather strange, “Huh? How can you call ‘Yifu’ today?”
Chang Geng is very good in all fields, the only problem is that his mouth doesn’t seem to understand manners, and always refers to it as “Shiliu”. Very annoying.
Gu Yun was born on the sixteenth of the first month 一 The nickname ‘Shiliu’ also came from the First Princess. Except for the Princess and the previous Emperor, even the Old Marquis did not call her by this name. Even though he doesn’t care much about it, having a child who refers to him as ‘Shiliu’s Shiliu’ day after day can also be very frustrating.
According to his experience, Gu Yun felt that there were only two situations where he could be called “Yifu”. One is if ‘a blind cat encounters a dead mouse’ 一 he accidentally makes this little kid happy. The other is if ‘the cat stepped on the dog’s tail’ 一 he inadvertently provoked the boy.
Chang Geng looked at him deeply for a while, his expression looked complicated, then he said, “I was stupid and didn’t know, I won’t be like this again in the future.”
He finally realized his own lack of experience and incompetence, how could he possibly dare to act as he pleased again.
Sometimes, it only takes a short moment for a young teenager to go from “believing that they have grown to maturity” to truly and truly growing into adulthood.
Even for someone as careless as Gu Yun, he also vaguely sensed that there was something about Chang Geng that seemed to have changed.
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