dusk.
The sun sets over the mountains.
The half-dried autumn grass looks like gold in the setting sun, gold everywhere; the official road made of stone slabs stretches forward, like strings of white jade in a pile of gold.
The wind is blowing, the birds are chirping, and the autumn insects are whispering, mixing into a sound that is more beautiful than music. It is as beautiful as a lover whispering in the ear.
The mountains are filled with the fragrance of flowers, grass and wind. Even the sunset seems to be dyed with fragrance, as fragrant as the soft hair on the temples of a lover.
"The world turns out to be so fragrant and wonderful!"
In this romantic atmosphere like poetry, an increasingly childish compliment suddenly came.
"Ah! Phew, where did you learn such nonsense? It makes me sick!" Before the praise could even subside, someone immediately became furious and shouted at the top of his voice!
"Oh! My young master..." The voice that was still sighing just now was obviously startled, and the tone was somewhat accusatory, but the next words became embarrassing again, and he continued speaking bravely.
"I overheard this when Lord Zhongcheng was talking to Nanshi at the top of Yongqiu City. Hehe..."
"Hey, are you spying on the military? Aren't you afraid that I will report you, have you arrested, and then hang you up and beat you?"
One hurriedly explained, the other reluctantly.
"Oh, they said it on the top of the city, and it happened to be my turn to stand guard. I thought the words were very nice and knowledgeable, so I secretly wrote them down. If I can survive in the future, I will teach them to my baby!"
"What are you thinking about? Look at this situation. Do you still want to go back alive? Do you still want to educate your child? Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk tsk, even Nanshi may not be able to survive, let alone the two of us... "
"That's right...there are so many thieves..."
The two voices talking stopped here, leaving only the setting sun spreading over the autumn grass. And the golden ground covered with autumn grass was littered with corpses, with broken limbs and arms, and bloody flesh everywhere. The corpses all looked horrified and refused to close their eyes. They were wearing uniform armor, but they had different appearances. Most of them were barbarians with obvious appearance, and only a few dozen were ordinary Han people. These soldiers who had turned into dead souls died in a miserable state, with an incomplete corpse lying three or five steps away. Most of these dead people were cut in two, with the left half of their bodies on one side and the right half of their bodies on the other side. Some people's hands were still holding the handle of the knife. Before the knife was unsheathed, the attacker was split into two pieces diagonally from the shoulder to the waist. Their internal organs were dripping all over the ground. The armor on their bodies felt like it was under the thunder bombardment of the attacker. It is generally papery and has a smooth cut surface. Some people had their weapons unsheathed, and even blocked and counterattacked, but with little success. Death was inevitable. The knife they blocked was even broken into pieces. In comparison, if the knife broke the person, it would not be possible. It wasn't that miserable, at least his body was still intact, but the bone-shattering wound on his neck was still shocking. The autumn grass for several miles was covered with fallen soldiers. The blackened blood was sprinkled on the golden ground, like enchanting flowers blooming, beautiful and enchanting.
On the contrary, not far away, on the official road that was as polished as white jade, there was a row of corpses of soldiers wearing bright armor neatly placed. Next to the corpse were a group of sergeants wearing the same black armor combat boots and carrying horizontal swords at their waists. These people sat on the ground in small groups, looking at their comrades lying on the official road, saying nothing with sadness or joy. The old sergeant smoked his pipe, puffing and puffing. The green smoke was forcefully drawn into his lungs along the pipe, and then he exhaled thick white smoke from his mouth and nose. The fully burned tobacco exudes a unique fragrance that permeates the air and penetrates everyone's nostrils, diluting the strong smell of blood mixed with the autumn fragrance of flowers and plants.
The two young sergeants who were bickering just now were two young sergeants of fifteen or sixteen years old. The one with a slightly shorter stature and a more generous body was called the young master by another young sergeant with dark skin. The young master was also silent at this time. The interest in teasing the dark boy just now has changed. It has become the depth of gazing at the setting sun. In this way, the two teenagers stopped talking like the others, leaned against the tree, bent their legs, and watched the sun go up little by little as they hid in the mountains.
Finally out of sight...
"Okay, let's send the brothers on their way!"
A tall middle-aged captain stood up and shouted. Everyone stood up quickly after the order, lined up in orderly rows, and followed the officer towards their comrades on the official road. Arriving in front of his comrades lying on the official road, the captain untied the burlap bag in his arms and took out two white candles, a small handful of incense, a dozen talismans, and some dried fruits. I lit the incense candle with a fire stick, inserted it into the soil, picked up the talisman, lit it one by one, and read:
"The Supreme Majesty has decreed that I will transcend your lonely soul, all ghosts and all ghosts, and be blessed by all the four lives. Those with heads will be transcended, and those without heads will be promoted. Kill with spears and knives, and jump into the water and hang on ropes. Die openly and secretly, die unjustly, creditors and enemies, A man begging for your life. Kneel down in front of my stage, the Eight Diagrams will shine, stand out, and be reborn in other places. As a man and a woman, you are responsible for yourself. Wealth and poverty are all your own. May you save others, be born in a hurry, save others. , urgently need to be reincarnated. Escape from the sea of suffering and reincarnate as an adult..."
The other sergeants behind him stared at the burning incense candles with sharp eyes, and their thin faces sunk deeper because of their clenched gums.
The middle-aged officer finally finished burning the yellow paper talismans, took a deep breath, and shouted:
"kneel......"
Dozens of sergeants behind him listened to the order and stood in unison, with their legs kneeling on the ground and their waists straight. Even though they were kneeling, they still stood tall and straight like the giant peak that poked into the sky. There was no whimpering in the silent air, only the sounds of clenched teeth and clenched fists, and the autumn wind did not dare to blow.
After a long time, the captain took out the wine bag from his waist, poured it in front of the dried fruits, and shouted:
"deliver......"
The sergeant behind him put his fists on the ground and knocked his head heavily into the soil in front of him. A group of people knocked their heads three times, then lowered their heads and never raised them again.
After another long time, the captain shouted:
"rise......"
The sergeant behind him slowly raised his head when he heard this, and then looked at the comrades lying in front of him. With tears in his eyes, he stood up.
The two of them came to a corpse in groups, put away the Mo Dao beside the corpse, took off their armor and helmets, arranged the clothes inside, wiped the military boots on their feet, and stuffed a copper coin into each person's mouth after cleaning them. , covered his face with a piece of white cloth, carefully lifted it to the firewood piled early, poured kerosene on it, lit the firewood, and watched coldly as the flames engulfed the bodies of his comrades...
People decide.
Total darkness.
A team of dozens of people drove two ox carts, pulled armors and weapons, arranged their front and rear formations, and walked silently to the giant city not far away. Most of them were carrying a cloth bag, which contained the still-warm ashes of their comrades.
The officer and a few people were hanging at the back of the team. The swords were unsheathed and the arrows were cocked. The three of them formed a small team back to back, with each team more than ten feet apart, moving forward quickly.
It was late at night, and the autumn insects no longer rustled. There was only the rustling sound of military boots scratching across the tips of the grass.
The swarthy boy formed a battle circle with his young boss and another veteran in his forties, and were distributed at the right rear of the team. Shaodongjia holds a horizontal sword in his right hand, with the blade attached to the outside of his left chest. The blade never leaves the midline of the body, with his head slightly lowered, bending down and lunging forward like a wolf, with his eyes staring at the dark night like a hawk. Although he moved quickly, his heart was as calm as water, and circles of invisible air currents flowed all over his body, rippling in all directions.
The old soldier also performs the same movements, except that drawing the sword is replaced by holding a crossbow. Holding the crossbow arm with his left hand, his right fingers are clasped on the hanging knife. The arrows on the crossbow arm swing in synchronization with the swing of the body in the arrow trough. The veteran's left eye is slightly closed, his right eye is facing Wangshan, and the arrows on the bow string are Amazing elasticity, ready for a powerful attack at any time.
The dark boy held the shield in his left hand and hid his right hand in front of his chest. He secretly held a stone as sharp as an arrow in his hand. His lips were tightly closed and his ears were forward, always catching the sounds coming from around him. His whole body had a large spiritual aperture. Open, the same invisible cyclone is lingering around, from the ground to the feet, from the feet to the Dantian, from the Dantian to the Tianling, and then from the Tianling back to the surrounding ground, repeating this to form a field less than half a foot in radius. Radiating all the disturbances around it.
The three people were back to back, spinning forward rapidly. It was as if their eyes were opened. In this pitch-black ink, foreign objects such as rocks, wood branches, etc. seemed to be seen. They passed over lightly and moved forward quickly and closely. .
Suddenly, a crow's deep call came out in the silent night.
The entire team of people instantly shot out like arrows several feet away. Everyone immediately squatted down, keeping their hands on the ground, and slowly took out their sabers. The cattle herder quickly hugged the cow's neck and patted it gently, putting his mouth on the cow. Breathing regularly on the ears, soothing the advancing cattle, the entire team merged into the night like the still air in a dozen breaths. The tall captain moved forward quickly and silently to the first bullock cart. At this time, a man happened to be squatting beside the carriage. The captain reached out and patted the man's back, twice lightly and twice hard. This man received the inquiry signal from his superior, adjusted his breathing, and actually made a crow-like sound from his mouth.
After a few breaths, two short wild boar grunts came from the distance. The man next to the captain adjusted his breathing again, and the sound came from his throat, making a long deer cry. Soon, the owl cooed in the distance, and the man in the team echoed it with his first crow call. The captain patted the man's back again, the first time hard, and the last two times hard and soft. The man adjusted his breathing and shouted:
"Tiangang is impermanent"
The person opposite replied: "Spring, summer, autumn and winter"
The man asked again: "Which mountain has more immortals?"
The person on the other side replied: "Tiger hunting tonight!"
The man turned to the officer and said, "Boss, it's my third division brother and his friends who are coming to meet us." Upon hearing this, the captain stood up and whispered to the surroundings:
"The response person is here, give the order to move forward as fast as possible!"
After hearing the captain's order, the people in the team returned to their original positions, put away their knives, drove the cattle and carts and moved forward quickly. The school captain returned to the back of the team and led three small teams to escort the team forward. After advancing so quickly for several miles, the person responding heard the noise and whistled, and responded:
"Third Senior Brother?"
The third senior brother crouched, jumped out of hiding with a short blade in his hand, and quickly came to his junior brother's side.
"Lao Liu, is everything going well?"
"It went well. The barbarians didn't come, and we were behind."
"That's good......"
As I spoke, I could already faintly hear the sound of the oxcart pressing through the leaves. At this time, the burly captain had come to the front of the team. The third senior brother who was responding also called out the leading officer in their group. The officer asked:
"Lao Guo, is it done?"
The burly captain came up to him: "That's it, one of them is dead!"
"That's good, Master Zhongcheng is still waiting for you and your brothers."
As he spoke, the two teams of men and horses had merged into one, and without any pause, they quickly headed towards the defensive city ahead.
Not long after, the light from the torches on the west city gate could be vaguely seen.
When they arrived at the city, the scouts had already reported. The soldiers guarding the city saw familiar faces. They lowered the drawbridge, opened the city gate, and welcomed the team into the city. When the three-person team responsible for the escort also entered Wengcheng, the soldiers on the city quickly pulled up the drawbridge, closed the city gate tightly, and were on full alert.
On the top of the city gate illuminated by the firelight, there are two large characters engraved on the knife:
"Suiyang"
When the hard pine city gate, which was several inches thick and wrapped with iron leaves, was raised, and their feet stepped on the uneven bluestone pavement with axles that had been pressed down by the city gate for a long time, all the people in the team grew taller. The tone, the highly tense nerves and the body that was holding its breath really relaxed at this moment. Everyone couldn't help but move their joints to adapt to the sudden feeling of pain and sorrow. Everyone was silently chanting " This trip to hell has finally come to an end!" Although it was his turn to do this kind of action every ten days or so, so he was already familiar with the road and knew the way, but after all, it was a life-threatening job. They were just cleaning the battlefield, and they were not Fighting head-on with those barbarian thieves, they have already narrowly escaped death. Thinking about the brothers in the charge battalion led by Nanshi, they are really in danger of death!
After all the troops passed through Wengcheng and entered the main city campus, the burly captain said to all the sergeants:
"All sergeants listen to the order. Those who bear the bones will go to the record office and deliver them. Those who bear the swords will go to Modao Camp. The rest of the carriages, horses and military equipment will be delivered to the baggage office. The scouts will return to their bases. There must be no mistakes!"
All the sergeants gathered:
"promise"!
After everyone went to their respective places, the swarthy boy and his young boss also followed several other scouts towards their residence. The torches on the city wall swayed in the wind, and the guards patrolling the city were walking back and forth in an orderly manner. As they walked back, the swarthy boy and the young master began to unbutton their leather armor, took off their helmets, and talked in a low voice with a little ease:
"Did your kid get anything good today?"
"No, those barbarians didn't kill any rich people today, they were just poor thieves. They turned over everything and couldn't get anything good?"
"Huh? It's true. You're a Pixiu kid. He hugs everything in his arms. But this time he got away with nothing? Why don't I believe it? Honestly, do you? I don't care about your three melons. Two jujubes, why don’t you let the young master’s family actually recruit them!”
The dark-skinned boy was teased to the point of being a little anxious. He held his voice while speaking while digging into his arms.
"No, those thieves are getting more and more evil now. I just fished out some mutton jerky, stuffed my stomach, and hid some. Do you want it?"
Seeing his companions who were so embarrassed and nervous, the so-called young master waved his hand.
"Don't take it, I don't want it. When I was cleaning at noon, I also seized some stuff to fill my stomach. Now it has been put into the warehouse and taken into my arms!"
"Young master, you are now learning to use those educated words like Mr. Zhongcheng. I will also use "capture" in the future. It sounds noble!"
That swarthy young man is evil-hearted and knows how to flatter others.
"Hammer, that's called toughness! If you like Master Cheng and Master Lei, that's called noble spirit. In the future, I will be like Master Zhongcheng and become a well-known big shot!"
"I don't want to be Lord Zhongcheng. I want to be like Nanshi in the future, and be the most powerful general!"
After hearing the proud words of his companion, the young master squinted at the follower next to him whom he had known for more than ten years. He was dark and stocky, with a dull face and an unattractive appearance. He still wanted to be the majestic and world-famous general.
"Hmph, you're making me laugh so hard. You still want to be like Master Nan. Master Nan is the best in the world. With your temper, it's better to be a rich man like Prefect Xu!"
"Although Prefect Xu is too stingy, he is such a wealthy official."
After hearing what the black boy said, the young master got angry out of habit.
"Stingy? Can you be a rich man without being stingy? Have you never heard that saying? The poorer you are, the more generous you are, and the richer you are, the more stingy you are!"
This obviously nonsense theory can be used to fool this black boy from a poor background. Naturally, it is more than enough. Look at this stupid boy, isn't he stunned by it?
"Then why don't you dig it, Young Master? Your family's property is so big, but I haven't seen you dig it too much?"
"Oh, you don't understand this even more. As for money, you have to know how to spend it to earn it. The more you spend, the more you earn!"
At this time, the black boy was completely convinced. As expected, the clouds were filled with fog and mud.
"Young master, if you are still smart, I won't be able to spend money, let alone make money."
"Stop flattering me, otherwise I will be your kid's boss!"
The two of them just chatted in vain and walked towards their barracks while taking off their armor and hats. As they spoke, the two of them had returned to their residence, washed themselves casually in the courtyard, opened and closed the door, without turning on the light, and climbed onto the kang in the dark. Soon they were snoring like thunder.
The burly captain here has already walked to the inner city alone. After passing the city gate, a row of double-story pavilions stood in the middle. There were soldiers patrolling around with torches. The burly captain stepped heavily and made a thumping sound. The patrolling soldiers heard the sound and quickly stepped forward to see who it was. After seeing clearly, they put down the unsheathed sword in their hands, raised their hands and saluted:
"General Guo!"
The burly captain responded and asked:
"Master Zhongcheng, why don't you take a rest?"
The soldier quickly replied:
"Master Zhongcheng has an order saying that he is waiting for you in the study!"
The burly captain nodded when he heard this and walked towards the attic. The easternmost hall on the first floor of the attic was as usual, brightly lit, and there were faint sounds of conversation. The burly captain walked quickly to the door of the hall, straightened his clothes and armor, held the hilt of the knife at his waist, and then moved towards There was a voice inside:
"Lord Zhongcheng, the general will come and return."
The person inside the door heard the sound, and someone quickly came to open the door. When he opened the door, the candlelight in the room reflected the bright eyes of the burly captain. The person who came looked at the captain's resolute face, took a step forward, and raised his hand. Take the captain's arm:
"Yuan Zhen is back, come in quickly."
The burly captain followed the man into the hall. The main hall is very spacious. Against the back wall is a row of bookshelves several feet long. The bookshelves are filled with all kinds of books, including silk books bound with gold threads, ordinary blue paper books, and some bamboo slips. They are densely packed and spotless. In front of the bookshelf is a two-foot-long desk. There are only pens, inks, paper, inkstones and other common utensils on the table. There is a huge map hanging on the wall opposite the window. There are two pairs of dish-shaped lamps on the east and west sides of the map. There are several hanging chairs on both sides of the lamps. Several armored generals are sitting on the chairs, looking at the map and talking. The visitor invited the burly general into the house, comforted him and sat down. While getting a cup and pouring water, he asked:
"Did Yuan Zhen's trip go smoothly?"
The burly captain quickly stood up, cupped his hands and replied:
"I am reporting to Master Zhongcheng that the barbarians were too timid and did not send troops and horses. We collected the fallen sergeants and captured some of the enemy's armaments and baggage. After packing them up, we followed General Lei's instructions and gave the brothers talismans. We brought them all back. They should be back to their respective places now, and there is probably nothing wrong with them."
"Okay, thank you for your hard work, General Guo. Drink a glass of water and rest early!"
The man praised and handed a glass of water with both hands. The burly captain took the teacup handed over by the man and drank the water in the cup in one gulp.
"I will retire at the end!"
The man smiled and patted the burly captain on the shoulder. Without saying a word, he walked the burly captain outside the palace gate and watched him go away. At this time, the rest of the people in the palace were still talking, and the light from the torches in the hands of the patrolling soldiers outside the palace shone on this person. The metal of the armor and helmet shined brightly in the firelight. The sword hanging on his waist was just like its owner, thin but tall, and the eyes sunk deep in the eye sockets were bright, like a fire burning in the thorn bushes.
Lord Zhongcheng looked at the night sky for a while, took a deep breath, walked into the hall, and closed the door.
The weak lights in the main hall were dim but tenacious in this deathly silent night. Occasionally there would be a crackling spark, and that moment of light seemed to burn the entire hall and burn through the entire sky.
