Song You passed by Yuanzhi City again. There were not many defenders in the city now, and he had no intention of entering the city. He just passed by from a distance, turned to look at it, and then walked towards Liaoxin Pass.
I randomly found a place to spend the night.
But when I woke up, the calico cat was no longer around.
"..."
Song You straightened up and looked around.
The grass not far away was rustling, and the withered grass sometimes fell down and sometimes trembled. It must have been the noise caused by the cat.
Song You ignored her and poured water to wipe his face and wash himself, and then started to pack his things.
As soon as I put the wool felt and wool blanket into the quilt bag, I heard a movement in the grass behind me. I turned around and saw a calico cat walking out of the lush grass, followed by a small stone figure. What attracted people's attention was that the cat was holding a thin yellow bamboo tube in its mouth. It walked straight over and placed the bamboo tube on the ground at his feet.
"What's this?"
"It's bamboo."
"..."
Song You bent down and picked up the bamboo tube.
The bamboo tube was thin, about the same thickness as a calico cat's calf. It had a cover on top and was wrapped with a hemp rope. The cat bit the hemp rope and took it over.
As soon as he got started, Song You knew it was a mailbox.
People these days like to use bamboo tubes to send letters. When I left Yizhou, I took letters to Lingbo for my father-in-law who worked at a roadside tea shop, and he used bamboo tubes to put them. Some literati are very particular and will carefully select different varieties of bamboo and select the bamboo joints close to the roots, and then carve exquisite patterns on them, making them as exquisite as works of art.
The mailbox in his hand is very simple, with almost no decoration. Only the address is carved on the surface with a knife.
"Chensi, the spear gate of Huangsha Mountain, Wu County, Yuezhou."
Song You murmured something, then looked at Empress Sanhua: "Where did you pick this up?"
The calico cat didn't speak, but turned its head and looked back.
It was the direction she walked out of the grassland.
"Any more?"
"..."
Mao'er thought for a while, and it seemed that this question was not easy to answer with eye expressions, so he spoke:
"There are so many!"
"That's it."
Song You held the bamboo tube in his hand and said, "Please, Miss Sanhua, please take me to see it."
When the cat heard this, he immediately turned around and ran back.
The crude stone figure followed closely behind her.
It's just that the grassland is not flat, and there are often small pits, large and small. It is not difficult for the calico cat and people, but it is a big disaster for the little mountain god she summoned.
Then I saw that the little stone man accidentally stepped on a pit about the size of an egg. He accidentally lost his balance and fell to the ground with a splat. The stone man immediately fell into a pile of rubble.
The calico cat heard the sound and immediately turned back, but only glanced at it before continuing to run forward.
Soon he took Song You to a place in the grassland.
As expected, there were many bamboo tubes scattered on the ground, all of them thin. The thickest ones were no more than the thickness of a baby's arm. Some were scattered randomly on the ground, while others were half-deep in the mud. Some are still in good condition, while others have been opened. If you are lucky, you can still find rotten paper inside, but if you are not lucky, there is no trace of it.
Song You glanced around and picked up a few without haste to check, and they all had different addresses engraved on them.
It looks like a letter sent home from the northern frontier army.
After searching around for a while, I found another scattered oil paper bag, which was casually thrown on the grassland and half-sinked in the mud.
But no bones were seen.
"..."
Song You picked them up one by one and looked at them one by one.
Just look at the address carved on the surface of the bamboo tube.
Available in every state.
Some are sent to Yizhou, some to Changjing, and some to Yanzhou. There are even some sent to the Western Regions. However, most of them are sent to Changqianmen in Huangshashan, Yuezhou.
Miraculously, Song You actually found a familiar address above——
It is addressed to Lin Chang of Duda in Yanzhou.
Song You knew that it came from Liaoxin Pass.
Perhaps because the army in the northern part of the country was about to press the border, or was preparing for a decisive battle, the defenders at Liaoxin Pass sent another letter home. Or the city has been infected with the disease, so the last letter home is sent out. However, the postman was only halfway through when he was intercepted and killed by Saibei's waiting cavalry or a small group of troops who circled behind. Afterwards, the Saibei people took away these things and found that they were just a pile of useless family letters, so they threw them on the roadside.
Thinking about it, it must have been a long time ago...
Liaoxin Pass was lost at the beginning of this year, and now it is late autumn. This pile of letters was sent at the beginning of the year at the latest. In the summer, there were several heavy rains in succession on the grassland. Even if the area was not flooded by the Saibei demon, water accumulated on the grassland and many bamboo tubes were washed away.
Some were even buried in the soil.
Until today, she was discovered by Sanhua Empress.
Song You turned to Empress Sanhua who was staring at him with doubtful eyes and said, "Empress Sanhua has made great achievements again..."
"What's this?"
"It's a letter."
"Is it valuable?"
"It's very precious."
"!"
The calico cat stared at him without blinking.
The Taoist patiently explained to her: "It's just like Sanhua Empress and I haven't seen each other for a long time. At this time, Sanhua Empress wants to tell me something, tell me how Sanhua Empress is doing, and also tell me how Sanhua Empress is doing. The things that the empress often said to me on weekdays were all told to me, so she wrote them on paper and put them in a bamboo tube. When I see the letter, I can hear it, but if I can’t see it, I don’t know anything..."
"!"
The calico cat blinked and his eyes went from thinking to understanding.
Sanhua Empress is used to getting along with Taoist priests. Sanhua Empress has many things to say to Taoist priests every day and has many questions to ask. She has to meet and talk to Taoist priests. If you really haven't met and spoken to a Taoist priest for a long time, put the words on paper and ask someone to bring them to the Taoist. It must be very precious and must not be lost.
"Now what?"
"Since we met, we are destined." Song You said, "It's time to find them for those people."
"Are we going to deliver again?"
"That's too far."
"What should we do?"
"It doesn't matter. The imperial court has a special post office to deliver letters to sergeants, officials and candidates. We can deliver them to the nearest military town."
"Liaoxin Pass!"
"Miss Sanhua is so smart."
"Miss Sanhua, let's go find her now!"
The calico cat turned its head, then took a bamboo tube in its mouth, dragged it out of the mud, and put it aside.
The Taoist smiled and started looking.
Military mailboxes like this one may have a simple shape, but they actually have good functions. In addition to having a cover and hemp rope to ensure privacy, the bamboo tube also has a certain degree of waterproofing. However, the bamboo tube itself is hollow, and if it is scattered on the ground and is washed away by heavy rain, it is likely to scatter everywhere. Moreover, it is blocked by weeds similar in color to the bamboo tube, making it difficult to find.
Fortunately, the Taoist and the cat were not short of time.
So I searched around with the oil paper bag as the center, and found more than a hundred complete bamboo tubes as far as ten feet away. I found more than a hundred complete bamboo tubes and put them all back next to the horse.
Empress Sanhua was very active in this process.
It wasn't because of how noble her moral character was, or because of any great principles. It was just that when the Taoist said that, she always felt that this thing was very remarkable. I always feel that if I miss one, the missing one is the one that the Three Flower Lady told the Taoist priests.
That must not be missed.
It wasn't until she couldn't find it after searching for a long time, and the Taoist told her that she didn't need to look anymore, that she reluctantly went back and guarded the Taoist and the bamboo tube.
Song You thought for a moment and read it again.
This time, I picked out all the people with spears. Since I had to go there anyway, I went to deliver them in person, which was faster and safer. I stuffed the rest into the quilt bag in various ways, and then continued my journey.
It should be only twenty or thirty miles away from Liaoxin Pass. It usually takes more than an hour to walk. However, it took half a day to find the bamboo tube, and it was already dusk when we arrived at Liaoxin Pass.
There are only a few thousand generals guarding Liaoxin Pass now, and most of Dayan's troops are currently outside the northern border.
Song You brought General Chen's handwriting. The guard took a look and knew that Song You was the Taoist they had heard of who killed countless demons in Yuanzhi City and went out with the army to kill demons. Just like Master Fuyang, who slayed demons and gods in the lower world in Taizu's army, he naturally treated him with respect.
Although he had known what happened to Liaoxin Pass before, Song You still asked Zheng Lin, the cavalry team under the general's command. He only heard that no one survived at Liaoxin Pass and that all the news of the death of the defenders had been reported home. Sighed.
Immediately, he left most of the letters home and asked him to hand them over to the post office for further delivery. He stayed overnight and replenished some dry food supplies before continuing out of the city.
But this time we were heading west and back.
A few days later, we entered the Doda Grassland again, and met the rovers from Zhaoye City again, but they were not the same team as before.
Walking into the famous Zhaoye City, I didn't think there was anything strange at all. It was just a loess military town full of scars. At this moment, the defensive battle has been won. Like Liaoxin Pass, there are not many troops left in Zhaoye City. In the eyes of the Taoist, it is like an old man sitting on the threshold in the summer evening with his chest and belly exposed, calm and vicissitudes of life, full of vicissitudes of life. The wrinkles on the body even cover the scars, so that it is difficult for an outsider visiting for the first time to imagine the magnificent years he experienced in his youth.
Song You stayed in the city for one night before leaving.
But when he was leaving the city, the Taoist suddenly stopped and raised his head to look up at the sky.
The calico cat was puzzled and looked up at the sky.
There is a bird in the sky.
Although it was late autumn, it was not unusual to see birds in the sky over the grassland, but this bird was unusual.
This is a swallow...
I don’t know if there are any swallows on the grassland, but this season, the northern grasslands are already very cold, so there should never be any swallows.
I saw this swallow flapping its wings and turning in circles in the sky, sometimes left, sometimes right, up and down, just like when I first saw it in Anqing, but I don't know if his heart is as entangled as before.
(End of chapter)
