"The clay Bodhisattva on the eight thousand mountains will live in peace for two hundred years outside the customs."
After traveling fifty miles, the convoy arrived at a pass. There were steep walls on both sides, leaving only a narrow path in the middle. A city gate wall made of mud and stone blocked the pass, and a letter was written: "Ansheng Pass".
A country cannot be a country, and a family cannot be a family. Behind this pass, there are fourteen self-governing small towns with no one to control them. Only in times of great danger can one seek help from the sect forces. Whether they help or not will be judged by each party. This faction raided for a while, so the people lived a difficult life.
Outside the pass, all people, good or bad, are called barbarians. The land outside the pass is barren for hundreds of miles and there is no food harvest. The barbarians rely entirely on wild herding for food. They are often full and hungry. Fortunately, there is a river inside the pass. It passes through fourteen cities and raises thousands of families, with sufficient food. Therefore, the interior of the pass is always coveted by the barbarians and has been plundered and invaded all year round. Moreover, they only rob but not occupy it. After taking away the property and food, they withdraw from the pass. When the harvest in the pass comes next year, they Then he came back and was very vicious.
The people of the fourteen cities couldn't bear it anymore, so they worked together to build "Ansheng Pass" at the pass, and selected wealthy people from each city to garrison it. All the needs in the pass were shared by the fourteen cities. Barbarians invaded year after year, and the gatekeepers had no rest all year round. In Japan, casualties were common. Every time ten people died, a mud Buddha was built with mud and stones on the dangerous peak near the pass.
The bald head led the convoy to "Ansheng Pass". Behind the city gate wall, a small village has been formed, where all the gatekeepers and their families live.
After the car stopped, Sun Zikai immediately jumped out of the car and observed the surrounding situation. The women were washing clothes and talking and laughing. One person saw Sun Zikai and shouted loudly: "Lao Yang, how can we bring back a child? Who?" child?"
The bald man replied: "I picked it up and will live here from now on."
The woman wiped her hands on the cloth, walked up to Sun Zikai, and shouted: "Oh my god, there is another one on his back. Why is it like this? Lao Yang, you picked it up from a heap of beggars. Wild boy, what’s your name?”
"Sun Zikai."
"What about her?"
Sun Zikai looked back at the girl, shook his head, and replied: "No name."
"Is it your sister?"
"No, I picked it up."
"What are you doing holding this piece of broken tile in your hand? It's bleeding. It's disgusting." He slapped the tile from Sun Zikai's hand, and the woman pulled the two of them towards the basin. The woman said, "Wash it clean now. taste."
Sun Zikai and the girl were stripped of their clothes and sat in a hot water basin. This was the first time they took a bath in such a long time. The clothes were thrown to the ground by the woman. The woman shouted: "Use them as rags. Wife of the Zhao family, take a piece of cloth and cut some clothes for them both."
Sun Zikai washed quickly, and after finishing, he sat in the basin and observed the people in the small village. The people here were very busy, as if everyone had their own work, but they were like a whole, cohesive together, and every household had their own daily routine. They chatted interchangeably, eating one piece of salt, using another piece of oil, and using a piece of cloth to make clothes for one family and trousers for another family. The integration process was almost effortless, and everyone happily accepted these two wild children.
That night, the men put the wine and food they bought from the city on the table. They had eaten enough in the city, so this time it was the women who served the table and drank freely, while the men enjoyed themselves outside the house making wine.
The girl was brought to the table by the women, while Sun Zikai sat next to the bald head. The bald head boiled a pot of wine and poured a bowl for Sun Zikai, "Drink. It's cold here in Guan, and it gets even colder after winter. This thing needs to be Just be prepared all the time.”
Sun Zikai took the wine, drank it in one gulp, and then put the bowl back very calmly. The men looked at the child and marveled at it, and said: "Boy, this is a big knife. You can endure the pain and let out your breath." come out!"
Only then did Sun Zikai's expression change. He opened his mouth quickly and sprayed out the alcohol that had hit his head. He closed his eyes tightly and almost fell to the ground. The men laughed. After Sun Zikai sat upright, his expression remained calm.
The bald man said: "Just call me Lao Yang. We are all gatekeepers. I am the boss here."
The men had a great time drinking and eating meat. Sun Zikai asked Xiang Lao Yang directly: "Why are there no children here?"
Lao Yang replied: "The children have been sent to the city. We are living a life of licking blood on the tip of a knife. At any time, the barbarians will rush in and send the children away to leave a seed for themselves." Well, when you settle down, I will also pick a place for you and send you to the city to do a small errand, so that you can at least make a living."
Sun Zikai replied: "No, I can guard the pass here." He is from the city, so naturally he has heard his parents talk about Ansheng Pass. The people in the city respect the gatekeepers very much, because no gatekeeper can guard the pass here. Chu escaped unscathed, and when they accepted that identity, the outcome was already doomed.
"Do you want to be a gatekeeper?" a man asked.
"Yeah." Sun Zikai nodded.
The men laughed again, and one man said: "My child, you are lucky to be alive in the city. We are responsible for this life-threatening job."
Sun Zikai lowered his head. He no longer had any thoughts about that city. Then he raised his head and said, "Just stay here. I won't wait in vain. I know some medical skills, and I can also kill barbarians."
"Boy, you can still kill. How many people have you killed?" the men joked.
Sun Zikai recalled it seriously, and then said calmly: "There are twenty-three people in total, sixteen young ones and seven older ones."
The men laughed again, but gradually, the laughter became lower, because they found that Sun Zikai didn't look like he was joking. This reminded them of the scene they saw outside the city this morning. Not even an adult man. The hungry wolf who dared to deal with it so easily was stabbed to death by the five-year-old child.
Lao Yang's expression became serious, and he asked Sun Zikai, "Why did you kill people?"
"They deserve to die." Sun Zikai's calm attitude made everyone sober.
Lao Yang said coldly: "Why should you die?"
Sun Zikai replied: "They beat me, and I endured it for four months without fighting back. I fled from the East City to the West City, and they followed me to the West City."
"What did you do? That's why they want to beat you."
"I asked them, and they said they just like to beat me. There is no reason." Sun Zikai seemed to be narrating someone else's story. "The life in the city was too hard. The barbarians came in and looted half of the city. The wandering There were more people, and they all gathered together. I was alone. What could a homeless person do? Seeing that I was alone, I thought it was a fun thing to chase and beat me every day."
Lao Yang looked at the five-year-old child in front of him as if he were looking at a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old person. The child's tone and mentality had nothing to do with the word immature.
A man asked: "So you...how did you do it."
Sun Zikai said calmly: "I finally checked and found that the truth does not make sense to them. Weakness and seeking perfection are the most happy reactions for them. They will continue to beat me and bully me until I die. So, I opened up that guy’s chest, and then I killed them all.”
"You...you won't kill anyone." The man said, "You kid...why are you so angry? How can you kill someone?"
Sun Zikai glanced at the man indifferently, but the man felt deep disdain. Sun Zikai explained: "I am only five years old and only know medical skills. I only have one chance to resist, when they think I am just a rabbit with no temper. , and when they want to trample me to death, this is the only chance. I have to kill people. They will be afraid because the rabbit has fangs, and they will lose their minds and become only able to escape. But I want to do it in the shortest time. Within the time limit, kill everyone who hit me. If I don’t do this, when they react, I will have no chance of living."
The men were speechless. Lao Yang was also shocked by the child's words. He calmly analyzed another person's story. In the men's minds, how could a child kill someone? But when they came back to their senses and put themselves into that role, they found that their ending was just like the child's analysis. They couldn't survive at all. They would be bullied to death, and they didn't have the courage or brains to act calmly. He made the decision to kill and was able to implement it successfully because he was only five years old and a ten-year-old child was enough to completely suppress him.
And Sun Zikai did not ask the adults whether what he did was right or wrong, because the judgment of killing in the world is based on selfishness, and there is no absolute sense of good and evil. From his own perspective, the way to survive is There is only one kind, then this one is the most right choice.
The men were silent for a long time, and they could only hear the sound of soju fireworks. Then, Lao Yang said, "You stay, you belong here."
Sun Zikai nodded and said: "I know some medical skills, but I just need herbal medicine. Take me with you when you go outside the customs, and I can learn your skills by the way."
"No," Lao Yang refused, "The barbarians outside the customs are not the beggars in the city. They will not only resist, but will also take the initiative to put a knife on your neck. You should be a child first, and then a gatekeeper." .”
"Okay, but I see you have a training ground here. Starting tomorrow, I will start to learn from you how to kill barbarians." Sun Zikai's attitude was always very indifferent when he spoke, which made everyone feel very strange and wondered whether he was child.
After taking another bowl of wine, a man touched the wine bowl with him and suddenly smiled: "Welcome to join, little gatekeeper, just call me Brother Gou, everyone calls me Gouzi."
Sun Zikai called Brother Dog and then asked: "Why did barbarians rush into the city a few days ago?"
After hearing this, the men clenched their fists one after another. Lao Yang also showed a fierce look in his eyes and said with hatred: "Someone helped them cross the dangerous peak that day. We didn't know anything at all. When the city was captured, We are still guarding 'Ansheng Pass'."
Sun Zikai was silent for a moment, and then said: "Oh, I originally thought you put it in on purpose. Only barbarians can continue to enter, so the gatekeepers will be enshrined."
"Why do you think so?" the men said angrily, "We brought the whole family here. When we came, we pledged our lives to this miserable place. No one wants to retreat, and no one can retreat. People We don't even want to come here to see. How many times have we wanted to give up this job for the sake of our family, but we can't. Once we leave, the barbarians come in again, how many people have to die, put their heads in the waistband, we I endure it every day, hoping to survive until death, but in reality, no one will survive, they will all be hacked to death by barbarians."
Sun Zikai nodded and said, "I understand, you are all heroes, and I have wronged you."
The man laughed again and said: "You are so handsome, you are a bitch."
The men laughed, but Lao Yang still looked angry. He grabbed the wine bottle and drank loudly. Sun Zikai touched Lao Yang's leg and said, "It's my fault, I'm sorry."
Lao Yang said: "I'm not angry with you." Lao Yang stretched out his hand and touched Sun Zikai's head, "Hey, our brothers are working hard here to guard the gate, but some people don't let the people in the city live. The people in the city can live comfortably. If they don’t, they won’t feel comfortable.”
Sun Zikai said: "I understand, whoever gets the most after the barbarians come will be the one who helps the barbarians cross the dangerous peak."
Lao Yang was shocked by Sun Zikai again. He turned around and looked at him calmly and said, "You...you really think so?"
"yes."
"But, what can you do? We have no choice at all."
Sun Zikai replied: "I'm too young and can't do anything. Please teach me how to kill people."
Lao Yang was stunned. After a long time, he replied: "You live in Youmai's house. I have cleaned it up for you. Go ahead and take Hou Girl to bed."
"Okay." Sun Zikai stood up and left without any entanglement. Everyone understood that his calmness was probably his way of self-preservation and restraint.
After he left, beside Lao Yang, a man with a scar on his face said: "'Anshengguan' never leaves children. This is our rule. He is just a child. Let him go back to the city and live a good life." .”
Lao Yang looked at the fire of soju, his eyes became more and more determined, and he said: "This child belongs here."
Scar Man said: "No child is born to be a gatekeeper and should die. He just wants to live. We cannot decide that he will be killed when he is five years old."
Lao Yang kept looking at the flames. After a long time, he replied: "No, he will not be killed. Just wait and see, how many years later, he will grow up." Turning his head and looking into the scarred man's eyes, Lao Yang said firmly: "His name will make all the barbarians outside the pass feel frightened!"
The fire in Ansheng Pass has never been extinguished. When the men finished drinking and the women finished eating the meat, they held the flame in an iron basin and sent it to the wall of the pass. The fire could not shine very far. Under the dark night, it was just a Star point, but this immortal star point is always announcing to the darkness outside that there is someone here - the gatekeeper, the clay Buddha on the eight thousand mountains, who has lived outside the gate for two hundred years.
