That day, the clouds gradually began to rise.
Ling Ye walked silently on the long street, until he raised his head to see what the way ahead was. But looking ahead, the gate leading out of the town was already in sight and was not far away.
Compared with the West City where Ling Ye first entered and the Middle City that he just passed by, the street conditions in this section of the East City are deserted: there are not many birds, beasts and insects in the surrounding area, and few people are passing by, especially those further ahead. At the city gate, you can only see the two lazily holding javelin guards outside the city gate resting against the wall. Even the noise coming from behind seems to be distinct from this place, and they are not willing to patronize this place.
Looking at the past, in this huge corner, there are only two big willow trees facing each other across the bank, whispering in the wind. They use the street as the bank, the grass field as the circle, and their backs to each other. It can be seen that under the shade, there is a beggar on each side, lying on his back under the tree with his legs crossed.
Both of them had their hands crossed to rest their heads, and they each had a long wooden stick on their body. Each of them had a small broken bowl placed close to the shortcut. Looking at the two of them, although they have different looks and statures, their postures and auras are the same. Even the two broken bowls used for begging are the same size. Even the broken bowls are almost exactly the same. Even the insides are the same. It's just like the replica, with only the breeze and no copper plates. It's just as clean. However, such an embarrassing situation is of no concern to the two of them. Looking at the two of them dangling very comfortably with their legs and feet closed and dozing off, it is obvious that the peace and freedom they have now is more satisfying than the pitiful money they have yet to use. . In addition, if there is any difference, the clothes of the beggar on the left are sloppy, while the beggar on the right is clean enough, with fewer patches on his clothes.
Ling Ye saw this scene as soon as he walked to this area, but he did not choose to stop and watch or take a detour. He had already decided to leave here. Even if he had nowhere to go, he could not stay here. Moreover, the city gate was dozens of feet away in front of him. It could be said that the door was calling people away, so he walked straight towards it.
When Ling Ye silently walked towards the city gate, the two beggars also noticed someone approaching with the clear sound of footsteps. Then they saw the man on the left raised his eyebrows, and then lazily opened his left hand half-open. He glanced at the person, only to see that he was an unkempt wild boy... He curled his lips and closed his eyes, not bothering to pay attention to him.
As for the person on the right... Ling Ye was walking on the right. When he was about to reach this person, he stretched out very lazily, and then just sat on the ground, opening his eyes and looking at Ling Ye. Sometimes I also lack interest. And Ling Ye also looked over because she felt his gaze.
"..." He could clearly see the desolation on Ling Ye's body, so he was confident that he could make a guess about Ling Ye's experience, but he didn't take it seriously; he also saw the other person's numbness. It was so real that it even made him feel some empathy, but he didn't care. But there was something... that made him suddenly stiffen, and even made him choke on his breath. Then he slowly opened his eyes wide, and finally he was filled with panic.
Ling Ye, who had been looking at this man, naturally saw the change in this man, but he didn't know what the other man was thinking, so he looked away after frowning and walked faster towards the city gate. go.
"You..." The beggar brother watched Ling Ye take a few steps with a stiff expression. Then his pupils suddenly shrank and he jumped up from the ground. Then he grabbed the long stick, grabbed the broken bowl and ran away: "Old man Liu!"
Although the cry was soft, it was enough for Ling Ye and the beggar to hear.
"What's wrong?" Old Liu, the beggar here, just sat up in shock, and Ling Ye over there turned and walked directly behind the willow tree he was leaning on, which slightly hindered the other party's sight when he turned around.
"Where is the person?" The beggar Lao Liu was really confused by the shout. He asked himself this despite seeing his accomplice running into the alley in a hurry. Then he turned around, but the man who had not walked out for a long time was missing. Seeing the boy in the distance, he immediately felt blessed and hurriedly picked up the long stick and broken bowl and got up to look for him.
In fact, as soon as he stood up and turned around, Lao Liu saw Ling Ye diving into the passage between the side wall of another house and the city wall.
"What are you doing..." Old Liu still felt a little confused, so he couldn't help but raised his hand and scratched his forehead, and then mumbled and followed him: "Don't take the nearest door alley on the left, it's just the right way. Running around the corner on the right...it's so fucking outrageous..."
This statement makes sense, but it is also not true.
Lao Liu did not chase Ling Ye along the corner of the wall. Instead, he stepped onto the alley in a leisurely manner, raised his hand, yawned loudly, and then swaggered inside. He was in no hurry to chase Ling Ye, and according to his understanding, his friend Lao Zhao didn't say he wanted to catch him, so he just followed him. And he knew very well how deep and wide the corners were. In addition, there is a city wall blocking it. No matter how many sections the road is divided into or the geometry of the way out, the place where it can be used as an exit will eventually converge on the path under his feet, so no matter which section of the road Ling Ye chooses to come out from in front of him. , he can see it at a glance. Unless the opponent can walk quickly in that narrow wall passage and can reach the end of the wall passage at the North City Gate before he can, otherwise...
As Lao Liu was thinking about it, he suddenly stopped with a frown on his face, then hurriedly turned around, but turned back the same way and ran back: "Damn it! This kid is slippery! Could it be that he seduced me to chase over there, and then turned around? Come back and leave from the same place?!"
As he spoke, he was furious. Fortunately, he hadn't gone far, and it only took him a few big breaths to rush back.
"Ha! This kid is not very smart." He stopped in the middle of the road and took a look. He saw that the two guards were still as lazy as before and there was no dust flying outside the city, so he concluded that Ling Ye had not left the city yet. . Ever since, it was just that he planned to find the original path to chase Ling Ye, but he stopped before taking two steps.
"This little thief..." He glanced up and down at the corner passage over there, but the more he looked, the stranger and stranger he became, and the more he looked, the more certain he became, so he walked straight to the willow tree and sat down, hugging him He stared at the passage with his arms, originally because he was worried that after he chased after him, Ling Ye would sneak back around...
In this case, instead of trying hard to find it and not necessarily finding it, it is better to wait here and save all the time in vain. And he expected that even if Ling Ye had gone to the north of the city, he would never leave here easily. Because he expected that Ling Ye, who had the habit of turning around and running away immediately when the wind was bad, would never choose a way to escape before he was sure that he had successfully got rid of the tail. After all, there is a vast expanse of land outside the city. If you don't escape ten miles and eight slopes in one breath, you won't be able to escape the sight of others.
"The more cunning this person is, the easier it is to be exposed." Old Liu, who knew the truth clearly, was sure that he had guessed Ling Ye's thoughts, so he couldn't help but feel proud, and finally began to shake his legs slowly. Shake your knees...
On the other side of the hut, behind the wall.
"Your grandma's..." Although Ling Ye only poked out one eye, he could clearly see Lao Liu over there, especially the other party's appearance of being confident but actually arrogant. She hated him even more. I cursed in my heart: These two beggars look like human beings, but one is not asking for money and the other is lazy. The bearded dog just now changed color when he saw me. He probably guessed my identity. !
"This bitch!" Ling Ye still felt angry after withdrawing, and then knelt there and thought for a moment, then quietly crawled to the passage, planning to follow it to the north of the city, and then leave the city directly.
However, by chance, just as I climbed to the door of another house, the door of this room opened: "Squeak——!"
Ling Ye's expression immediately changed and his heartbeat stopped.
The owner of the house was an old man on crutches. He had just opened the door. Before he could let go of the door, Ling Ye, who was lying in front of him, suddenly raised his head and raised his finger to silence him: "Shh—— !”
"鞥?" The old man on a cane looked at Ling Ye's forehead when he heard the sound, and Ling Ye's ugly face was instantly squeezed into the eyes of the old man on a cane. But unfortunately... this old man's old eyes were cloudy, and he had long been I can no longer see clearly, and my hearing also deteriorates as I grow older.
"Ah Miao? - Let's go, go inside, I'll find you a taro to eat." The old man thought that the tabby cat lying in front of him was Ah Miao, so he turned around and walked back into the house without stopping. Talk to Amiao: "Amiao, Amiao, come in quickly. You haven't come to see me for several days. Have you gone out to hang out with some young master again and plan to have a baby?"
Ling Ye froze there for a moment, then froze very slowly and looked back... If Lao Liu appeared here and looked at him at this time, he would be frightened to death. But fortunately, old Liu Shicai is still there, and he is still the same as before. However, even so, his eyelids twitched when he saw it, and then he slowly retracted his body, but he couldn't help but glance sideways into the dim room, and heard the old man in the room say: "Amiao is almost three years old this year, right? Why don’t you see those two dolls of yours coming over to play last year? Were they scared away by those little ghosts again and didn’t dare to come back?”
Ling Ye was silent for a moment, then breathed a deep sigh of relief. After adjusting for a while, he quietly stood up and walked towards the aisle over there. Looking at his cautious and cautious manner, it is not difficult to imagine the nervousness in his heart.
When Ling Ye on the other side stepped sideways into the passage, he saw Lao Liu on the other side suddenly frowned: "鞥?"
Before the voice fell, he looked sideways at the door of the old man's house, and saw a tabby cat suddenly jumping out from the wall of another house and landing firmly on the wall. The cat came from, or that yard, next to the old man's house, on the left side of the old man's house, and there was an alleyway between the two.
Seeing the cat's appearance, Old Liu frowned slightly. From his perspective, the tabby cat tilted its head after appearing, but first looked at the door of the old man's house motionlessly for a while, and then very gently moved towards it. There was a 'meow' sound.
"What's wrong, A-Miao? Don't come in yet." He couldn't hear the old man's voice clearly, but he could see the tabby cat responding to the old man, and then he saw it jump off the wall and walk towards the door. It was at this glance that he saw Amiao's round and swollen belly, which indeed seemed to be pregnant.
"We are born as humans, but we are no more free than cats and dogs..." Old Liu couldn't help but shook his head and looked at Jia Dao again.
…
…
Not long after, the old beggar Liu Shang was lying down and waiting, and there was a burst of chaotic footsteps from the other side, accompanied by the urgent words of the visitor who deliberately lowered his voice.
"Where is he?" The questioner was a tall and sturdy man named He Zhongsheng. He was walking quickly in front of several people. Seeing him loosening his coat and exposing his chest, he seems to be used to rolling up his sleeves to reveal his thick arms. His appearance also looks more like a butcher, but instead of a butcher knife hanging on his waist, he has a hammer.
"It's just ahead." The beggar brother Lao Zhao followed closely behind him and explained the matter clearly in just a few words: "I left in a hurry, so I just asked Lao Liu to stay here. If that kid ran away, he would follow him carefully and follow him carefully. Leave markers along the way to guide me."
"It's best." He Zhongsheng glanced sideways at Old Zhao, and without waiting for Old Zhao to blush, one of the two beggars following the two men sneered and taunted: "Hey, that Liu Pi is so lazy, he's a but Master, who will never work if he can be lazy, if you leave such things to a lazy guy like him who lacks intelligence, you might as well keep him yourself and let him report back to the kitchen."
"This..." Old Zhao looked back at the other party but was speechless. At the same time, another beggar suddenly looked surprised, and then pointed to the willow tree in front of him where Old Liu was living and said: "Then where Could it be that the person with the horse's legs exposed behind the tree is Lao Liu?"
After hearing this, everyone looked around and saw a left foot exposed from behind the tree, swinging rhythmically.
"This..." Old Zhao was speechless, and He Zhongsheng frowned even more angrily, then he suddenly turned and rushed over gloomily: "Liu Pisan! Where are you damn people!"
