Whenever the snow falls, winter is coming.
In summer, I have never seen pedestrians, nor have I seen ordinary people shaking fans to avoid the cold. I always feel that there is little taste. Autumn is approaching, but I have never seen a bleak cool breeze. I have never seen anyone lighting up river lanterns to welcome autumn. Even though it is autumn. It's time, but I still don't feel autumn, and the snow in winter is still reluctant to fall, which makes it difficult for people to feel at ease.
However, the people outside Qiling border have no such thoughts. In the eyes of the people, the elegance of literati is just a sign of comfort after they have no worries about food and clothing. If they have that kind of spare money, I am afraid that even if they are in the sky If there is no snow, you can hire hundreds of strong men and prepare enough salt and catkins to prepare the snow for falling on the ground. Therefore, most of them ignore it and put most of their efforts on how to make up for the household income and avoid the intrusion of rogue bandits.
It is precisely because they are outside the pass and have not moved into the city. There is no obstruction from the city pass. If the bandits are short of money and food recently, they will most likely take desperate measures. Even if they want to fight with the soldiers in the city, they will still be forced to come and rob them. Secondly, without the protection of the city gate, the mighty west wind and the cold north wind will mostly take advantage of the opportunity to come in and sweep away the heat of the charcoal fire in the house. Don't say that it is a poor family with a thatch roof. If there is no time to add charcoal firewood and firewood, , coupled with the fact that there is no meat in the belly to withstand the cold, in the end, not to mention living comfortably all winter, even whether it can protect one's life and not be exposed to the cold is just a luxury.
Today, the north wind is at its strongest. The swords are lifting up the yellow sand, shaking up all the remaining snow in front of the houses outside the pass, and chipping away at the faces of others. The walls of many old houses around are being swept away by the wind and sand. The tiny holes made by the pressure are like those of a warrior who has been a horse thief in the yellow sand for many years. The same is true for the skin, just like a clay pot that has been corroded by years of old wine. The appearance is ugly and the appearance is weird.
There is only one tavern in the more than ten miles outside the pass where ordinary people live. The business is very poor on weekdays. It is rare to see ordinary people come here and hand over their life-saving money in exchange for a pot of wine. Most of them can't afford that. I have spare money, except for the caravan travelers from Xia Song, who have never been in danger, or who have watched my brothers for many years die at the hands of thieves and bandits, and whose lifespan is endless. The strong wine that was melted by the knife was drank hard. But even though the business was extremely poor, and at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year, the number of visitors was less than the number of guests in the palm of a hand, this remote tavern never closed. In the first few years, the waiter could not bear the wind and silence, and it lasted for six or seven years. , I have never met a girl with a beautiful appearance and a broad mind. I really can't bear such hardships. I didn't even ask the shopkeeper for money and monthly salary, so I escaped from here and went to Qiling.
But the tavern is still standing here. The yellow sand and loose Gobi gravel are like hard hail and flying snow all day long. The window lattice is knocked, and even the neat and neat wine flag has been smashed into pieces. Only a corner is left hanging on the dead wood, which can barely be seen. Say the word "wine".
Many old people who have lived outside Qiling Pass for a long time said that the tavern here has probably been around for a long time. God knows how the taciturn and fierce-looking old man Zhangtou in the tavern makes a living. If he only sells drinks, The income is enough to starve to death a hundred times.
The owner of the tavern is the old man surnamed Zhang. Over the years, except for the waiter who has spent several years here, the old man is the only one in the tavern. Although he is a man of few words, he is often willing to go to places where people gather outside the customs. Walking around the boundary, silently lifting up fallen firewood, or helping others to help others insert wooden fences firmly, there were few openings from beginning to end. Even if others thanked him, the old man would not pay attention. After finishing everything, he would bow his back and leave. This happened every time. Many people outside the customs even thought for a long time that this man was born deaf and mute. However, I couldn't remember exactly what happened, and I realized that this old Zhangtou was not speechless, but indeed had very few words.
Someone came out of customs today.
Bad horses and old carriages, strolling in the courtyard.
Many people outside the customs were puzzled. Many people stepped out of their houses, wrapped their clothes tightly, and looked at the man driving the horse in front of the old carriage tent in confusion, as if he was looking at something rare, but they still did not dare to come near. , for fear that this pedestrian, who was suspected of being crazy, would go crazy.
After all, if there is no madness, who would come out alone at this juncture.
The carriage slowly arrived in front of the very old tavern. Even after it stopped, the man driving the carriage was quite brisk. He jumped out of the carriage, tied the horse, and smoothly pulled out a gun from behind the carriage tent and put it on his shoulder. , lifted the tattered curtain, pushed the door open and entered.
The furnishings in the tavern seem to have not been changed in many years, especially the tables and chairs, which are very old and tight. You can tell before you sit down that after you sit down, there will be dust and gravel falling down; the oil lamp is dusty, and you don’t know how many layers it has accumulated. No one was wiping it, and when the wind blew outside, the top of the loose roof trembled, and sand and dust often fell to the ground.
Just looking at this scene, I am afraid that no one has lived in it for many years, and it seems to be a place where business is open. This man had seen many shabby and humble Wei Mo realms. Looking at them now, he frowned slightly, muttered that it was a waste of time, and then wanted to get up and leave.
"Young hero, I'm here. I don't know what advice I can give you." In the middle of the house, the curtain of a small door was raised, and an old man with a stooped back walked out. His body was extremely withered, and just taking these two steps caused a burst of coughing and wheezing. , his figure became shorter and shorter, and he stepped into the house.
"The store owner was joking. Since I came to the tavern, I must have come here to drink." The man had not been there for many days, and he looked like he was not a young man. When he heard the word "young hero" from the old man's mouth, he burst into laughter and looked for a seat everywhere to sit down. With the gun in his hand lying across the table, he seemed to ask casually, "My father-in-law is here alone. It is extremely difficult to do business. There are many merchants in Qiling now, and there are many restaurants. Why not do business in another area? Shumomo You should think more about moving the dead back to life."
The old man didn't seem to want to say too much. He glanced at the man who sat down by himself, took a bamboo ladle, then struggled to pick up the square wine jar, opened the wine seal and scooped out the wine, and then spoke hoarsely.
"I'm used to eating yellow sand here. If I go to a place where the streets are neat and tidy, it might be difficult to get used to it. I'm asking you to wait for these people from the world to move to the temple to work as errands. It's the same reason."
The house is dilapidated and old, but the wine jar is clean, and the wine in it is clear. You can still smell the strong smell of wine from a distance of more than ten steps.
"Besides, I don't have that spare money. I have to worry about food and clothing, so how can I have any spare money?"
"It's better than being here and encountering thieves all the time." The man squinted his eyes slightly and watched the old man's bamboo ladle as the wine slowly fell into the pot like a silver thread. Trembling, the slender wine slowly flowed into it, trickling.
In this way, not a drop of wine was spilled. The old man still had the heart to answer the conversation and hummed twice, "My lord, do you think there is anything valuable in this tavern? Even if the bandit wants to kill me, it will not be worth the loss. The blade of the knife will be blunted in vain." Those thieves are really good at doing business, how can they lose their money?"
The man picked up the flask, raised his head and took a sip. He immediately felt a heat rising up from his organs. The coldness in his body disappeared in an instant. For a moment, he felt a little admiration, but when he looked at the old man's cold face, his words When it comes to his mouth, there is a sudden change.
"Old man, I know that bandits have been around recently. If there are groups of bandits near the city gates that are constantly harassing us, I might be able to help."
The old man was speechless, but looked at the package in front of the man. He then raised his head and looked directly at the man in front of him, who was clearly practicing martial arts for a long time. No words were needed.
The man smiled, took out some scattered silver coins from the package, but it was still a good price, put it on the table, and then took a sip of wine, "When you first enter the world, you don't follow the rules, so you can only make a rough guess. If there are still deficiencies, the elderly need to give some advice, and the seller must not suffer a loss."
The old man didn't hesitate, he put away the scattered silver coins on the table, turned around and walked away, entering the back room.
The man was not suspicious, so he picked up the jug alone and poured it into his mouth. The wine was already very good, but it was very hot as soon as it entered the throat. Afterwards, it became much sweeter and smoother, like drinking honey from a sweet spring, which was quite comfortable. Outside the window, yellow sand and light snow are swaying, and there is a sparse sound when tapping on the window lattice. It sounds pleasant and light, not too noisy.
The old man returned and handed a picture scroll to the man. It turned out to be a picture of the outside of Zhang Qiling Pass. There were dozens of densely packed red seals outlined with ink pens, which were clearly visible at a glance. However, after handing the scroll to the man, the old man did not put away the money in a hurry. Instead, he sat down opposite the former, raised his eyes and smiled sarcastically.
"Young hero wants to find bandits and make a name for himself, but have you ever thought that bandits outside the customs are not something ordinary people can provoke? Maybe the bandits you are looking for are also looking for you now, how can you defeat them?"
"In the alighting tent, there are hundreds of guns. It's hard to imagine that everyone in the world can get there, but with such a narrow border, one should have the courage to break through." The man drank all the wine and grinned, "When the master meets Two or three big mountains are crowded in front of the gate, and the apprentice may not be able to open the mountain, but after all, he must have the mind to pick up the hoe. If you don't even have the slightest idea of trying, it is better to stick a gun on your own and never enter the martial arts."
The old man raised his eyebrows slightly.
"In the Gobi desert here, there are strange insects that are born with two ends, so it is quite laborious to move around. But that's why they are much smarter than ordinary insects, and it is extremely difficult to find traces." The old man stood up and looked for it from the top of the wall. He then staggered over to the wine jar, filled a gourd with wine, and placed it in front of the man. "It is said that people become mature with age, and they are probably similar to the two-headed worm. It is difficult to keep warm in a small tavern." Please, but no one comes to buy wine on weekdays, so I gave the young hero a gourd as a token of concern."
"The yellow sand is huge, don't forget to walk slowly." After saying this, the old man didn't say another word, and went back to the inner room by himself as if there was no one around.
The man thought about it for two or three moments, but it was a bit funny. He raised the corners of his mouth, wiped away the stains of sand and wine, put down two pieces of broken silver, picked up the gun, walked out of the tavern, took off the leash, and drove on the road again.
On the high slope behind the tavern, there is a red flag fluttering in the wind. It can be seen clearly even from a distance of more than ten miles.
