Jun Jiuling

On winter nights, the whole earth is covered with a layer of white light.

This is the heavy snow a few days ago.

Against the background of the vast white land, the stars in the night sky are brighter and clearer.

It seems that one can be picked off with one hand.

One hand was raised high, and it was grasped in the void.

He retracted his hand and put it in front of him, and let go. There were no bright stars, only clouds of white air floating.

This is the hot air exhaled from the mouth and nose, which turns into white mist when it is cold, and the white mist rises, condensing on the eyebrows and beard for a moment, and the mountain of stars is shattered and bright.

"This starry sky is so beautiful."

Said in a hoarse voice, the outstretched hands rested on the back of the head, and the snow creaked under the body.

Under the starlight, this man was wearing a white leather jacket, lying in the snow and blending with the earth. If it wasn't for those eyes that were as bright as stars, he wouldn't have noticed it for a while.

"yes."

Voices could be heard beside him, and the snow was undulating, showing scattered figures.

"It's rare to see such a starry sky."

"So the stars are so beautiful."

"At this time, I should chant a poem."

"You are naughty."

"If only there was wine."

"Another roast."

Talking and laughing sounded chaotically, making this frozen cold night a little more lively, just like enjoying the snow in spring, and enjoying the starry sky on a winter night is also an elegant thing.

Suddenly just now that hand was raised again, accompanied by this movement, the sound of speaking suddenly came, and the world fell into dead silence for an instant.

There was a sudden sound of deafening in this dead silence, as if appearing out of thin air, approaching instantly.

The horseshoes lifted up the snow, revealing the animal skin wrapped on it.

It was the hide that muffled the sound of the horse's hooves, which were not perceptible until up close.

This is a group of more than a dozen soldiers and horses, with armor and helmets under the starlight, and the swords, guns, swords, halberds, bows and crossbows behind their backs are shining with cold light. A straight long knife cut off the horse's front hoof.

The horse neighed and fell, the person on it also rolled down, before the person had time to get up, a long knife had already chopped off his head in two places.

Blood spurted out, instantly staining the snow red.

The whole team became chaotic, because people jumped up from the snow one after another, and slashed at these cavalrymen with long knives and short axes.

The shouts of Hu Yu, the roars of pain, and the neighing of horses, the originally cold land became noisy, but this noise was filled with flesh and blood.

A long spear pierced a cavalryman and tore him off the horse. The long spear followed the cavalry and threw it away. The attacking man had already picked up a broadsword that had fallen from the side, and whirled around to catch the attacking man behind him with a clatter. The scythe smashed away.

But in the end, because of a slight slip under his feet, he was hit in the neck by a throwing ax thrown by a cavalryman on the other side. He yelled and fell to the ground without moving. into one.

The battle was cruel and short, everything seemed to happen in an instant, and ended in a tragic instant. The horse was either killed or fled, and as a long knife stabbed into the wounded chest without hesitation, the wailing sound disappeared instantly. The world was once again quiet.

The starlight remains the same, but the ground is no longer as white as before, but bloody corpses are everywhere.

There are gold soldiers, and there are men in white robes.

The bearded man squatted in front of a white-robed man, reaching out to caress his open eyes.

"Boss."

A reminder sounded behind him.

The bearded man turned his head.

"Am I getting more sentimental now?" he asked.

The men behind him ignored him, or tore off the weapons, robes and boots from Jin Bing's corpse, or lay down on the dead horse and gulped blood.

"Boss, hurry up, take a few sips and leave." Someone said vaguely.

The bearded man shook his head.

"The meaning of life is not just eating and drinking." He said, with a wave of the knife in his hand, he cut off a piece of horse meat, and stuffed the bloody meat into his robe. "There are also poems and distant places."

He tilted his head and thought about it.

"That's what she should have said. It's been too long, and I'm about to forget it."

The other men had already got up and casually wiped the blood from the corners of their mouths.

"Boss, let alone whether you are sentimental, you talk more than before." A man said.

"Are you saying I'm a chatterbox?" the bearded man said displeasedly, "How can I be a chatterbox? We're getting farther and farther north, and we can't even see a person's hair. It's so easy to see, and I'll give you a bite." Hu Yu, I'm afraid I won't be able to speak our words after a long time."

The men all laughed.

"Boss, you are really far-sighted," they said.

The bearded man's eyes overflowed with a smile, and his face was full of pride.

"That's it." He said, and waved his hands after finishing speaking, "Tonight, I watched a good firewood and had a full meal. Let's go."

The group of people didn't stop, they ran northward in the snow under the starlight, and slowly their figures merged with the ground and disappeared.

When the sun illuminated the land, it became noisy again because more soldiers and horses galloped.

Their dark helmets, bright red tassels, and snow-like mercury armor on their bodies, with arrogant and hostile faces, are the most elite cavalry in the imperial city.

They roared angrily at the sight of the scattered dead bodies frozen in the snow.

"These woodcutters again."

"Why let them succeed again!"

"Are our warriors so useless?"

"My lord, they don't have many people anymore. The mountains are covered by heavy snow, and they don't even have any fire twigs. They will definitely die."

"It's too cheap for them to die like that. They must die at our hands, skinned and boned, to avenge the Great Emperor."

"Warriors, kill a woodcutter, and you will be crowned an official and a noble."

Accompanied by this shout, the golden soldiers roared forward, and the snow was flying on the ground.

 …

.........

Everything in the world seems to be covered by snow, even the mountains, rocks and trees are no exception, the whole world is like freezing.

But a snow-white lotus blooms in this freezing place, as if it is a lake.

But in reality, it's a steep cliff.

A hand stretched out and took off the snow lotus.

Against the background of the snow lotus, this hand became more and more red and swollen, with chilblains all over it, which was unbearable to see.

This action of picking snow lotus is very difficult for such frostbitten hands, let alone grasping snow-covered stones with hands.

The man was stuck on the smooth cliff, his body tensed, his expression relaxed, and he slowly put the snow lotus under his nose and sniffed, his increasingly haggard expression showed a bit of satisfaction.

"It smells so good," he said.

After saying this, the whole person fell down suddenly, as if he could no longer support the fall, but in fact he dexterously clung to the cliff, and finally slipped safely to the bottom of the cliff.

"Look." He held up the snow lotus and shouted to the five men sitting around, "It's beautiful."

The five men looked over, and although each looked haggard and had chapped lips, they all smiled.

"Boss, why are you interested in flowers and plants again? Don't you really want to become a little girl?" They laughed.

"What do you know? This is a medicinal material." The bearded man said, carefully putting the snow lotus into his belt, "There is a guy who needs this, and when I go back, take it to her, and the debt I owe will be settled." Pay off."

He muttered about being in debt or something, but the others didn't pay attention to it, but a trace of sadness flashed in their eyes when they heard the word "go back".

Also, can I go back?

Although they all came here with the intention of dying, they still want to go back.

The eyes of several people looked at the bearded man, watching him carefully and joyfully inspecting the leather bag containing the snow lotus. In fact, there was no need to pick the flowers on the cliff. The people who are missed can bring spiritual comfort.

I think about it all the time, as if this person is by my side.

Their smiles became a little sour, but the next moment their expressions were serious again.

"The gold thief is coming." They said, and they jumped up from the ground.

There was no knife or ax in his hands, only sticks made from broken branches.

But there was no fear in their expressions, as if they were holding sophisticated weapons in their hands.

"Then pull on a few back pads." The bearded man said with a bit of idleness, moved his hands and feet, and made a creaking sound, "Go to work."

Following his words, the five of them hid behind the rocks.

The bearded man stood alone on the spot, his expression flashed with a sense of loss, and he looked down at the leather pocket in his waist.

"It's a pity, you unlucky woman, you won't be able to get such a good thing." He said in a low voice, then raised his head and returned to his unruly expression at the next moment, swung the long stick in his hand, and waited for the cavalry from the mountain pass to come .

The noise outside became louder and louder, but no soldiers and horses rushed in for a long time, which puzzled the expressions of the few people waiting for the ambush.

"Could it be that you don't plan to fight again, just waiting to trap us to death?" a man said.

"These grandchildren are so timid?" another frowned.

The bearded man listened with pricked ears, his expression suddenly changed.

"No, it seems that there are Zhouyu." He said.

However, it is not surprising that there are Zhouyu, these golden soldiers have also used Zhouyu to seduce them.

"No, this time, it's true, and there are many people." The bearded man said, his voice trembling slightly.

The trembling was not from fear, but from certain guesses.

Certain impossible guesses.

The expressions of the others also became complicated, as if they wanted to be excited but were afraid that their minds would be ruined because of the excitement.

They never give themselves hope, because once they have hope, when the hope is shattered, they completely lose their will and are hopeless.

They kept their guard and hid behind the rocks until there was a sudden bang in their ears, followed by the ground shaking.

"My god, this is not from the Qingshan Army..." the bearded man shouted.

But just as he was about to jump up, he heard a rattling sound above his head, followed by heavy snow mixed with rocks rolling down.

And the other people hiding behind the rocks didn't have time to move, and the falling snow buried them instantly.

With a crash, the valley fell into silence.

But outside the valley, the sound of fighting and fighting became even louder. After an unknown period of time, everything returned to calm, followed by the sound of horseshoes from far to near, filling the entire valley bit by bit.

"No one." A male voice said, with a bit of surprise, "Could it be that you can't hold it anymore?"

But the next moment, a hand suddenly stretched out from under the snow, and then a head came out shaking the snow.

"I go!"

The hoarse and angry voice overwhelmed the horseshoes and resounded through the valley.

"We didn't die at the hands of the golden man, but were crushed to death by the heavy snow. This is really a big joke!"

And following his movements, people from other places came out, spitting snow and shaking their heads, but their expressions were full of unbelievable ecstasy.

However, the bearded man from before still looked angrily at the people surrounding him.

"Which one of you belongs to me? Why are you so stupid?"

He raised his head, shook off the snow on his face, and saw the people and horses in front of him clearly, and then his voice stopped abruptly.

The people in front of him dispersed, and a woman appeared in sight.

She wasn't wearing armor, but was wrapped in a thick red cloak, and a white fluffy hat almost covered her small face.

She was also looking at the bearded man who was half buried in the snow. She looked at him seriously, scanning his head and face inch by inch, and then frowned slightly.

"Zhu Zan." She said, "Why are you so ugly?"

Zhu Zan was furious and jumped out of the snow immediately.

"There's something wrong with your woman's eyes," he yelled. "There is no one in this world who is better looking than me."

He jumped out, reached out to pat the snow on his body, and wiped his face carelessly.

"Come on, take a good look, I'm like a tree facing the wind..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Miss Jun had already jumped off the horse and rushed over, spreading her arms and wrapping her arms around his neck.

Her movement was so sudden that Zhu Zan staggered and nearly fell.

"Hey, don't think you're like this, forget what you said just now." He shouted, "Get up and take a good look, how ugly am I?"

Even though he said that, he didn't push away the person in front of him at all, but stretched out his arms to hug him.

"Look carefully," he said again.

Miss Jun hugged his neck tightly and nodded heavily on his shoulder.

"I'll take a good look," she said.

Zhu Zan didn't speak any more, but hugged her tightly. I don't know if it was because his body was frozen stiff or because he was not proficient, but his movements were still a little stiff.

He should have hugged him a few more times to practice, he thought to himself.

.........

.........

When the flowers bloom in spring, the valley becomes even more beautiful, but at this time the atmosphere is a little tense.

A group of men looked at the girl in front of them with sad and worried expressions.

The girl was being led by a woman to a tomb.

The girl seemed frightened and stood there motionless.

"History." Aunt Xiao caressed her shoulder, and said softly, "I told Jiu Ling to keep the matter of your father from you, you..."

Zhao Hanqing held up Aunt Xiao's hand.

"Mom, I want to stay here alone for a while."

Aunt Xiao hesitated for a moment, but nodded in agreement.

She turned around and waved for everyone to leave.

"Sister-in-law, is this okay?" Xia Yong whispered worriedly, "Niu Niu was so happy all the way, she just waited to see her elder brother, but in the end..."

Aunt Xiao sighed lightly.

"I'm sure she understands," she said.

Suddenly, Mrs. Xia let out a low cry.

"Oh, Niuniu picked up the knife." She said.

These words startled everyone, they stopped and looked over, and they saw Zhao Hanqing holding up a long knife in front of the tomb.

Before everyone could react, they saw her wielding a long knife, dancing with a flash of light.

Everyone was stunned for a moment, this... seems not to hurt themselves, but...

Zhao Hanqing quickly put away the long knife, picked up the bow and crossbow from the side, and fired ten arrows in succession at the big tree trunk not far away without saying a word.

This is not over yet, under the dumbfounded gaze of the crowd, she showed the spear and sickle in turn.

"So she wanted to show her father how powerful she is." Aunt Xiao had tears in her eyes.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and Zhao Hanqing in front of the tomb also breathed out, threw the shield and spear aside, squatted down in front of the tomb, and looked at the word Zhao Zhiyi on the tombstone.

"Hey, dad, did you see that I didn't embarrass you?" She said, raising her eyebrows with a bit of interest, but there was no trace of sadness, "I'm good enough? Is there any blue that is better than blue?" ?”

The words on the tombstone couldn't answer her. She looked at it quietly for a moment, and then took out three incense-like things wrapped in paper from her bosom.

"This, sister Jiuling asked me to bring it to you." She looked at the thing in her hand and lit it with a fire twig.

A puff of smoke came out, and the strange fragrance spread out.

Zhao Hanqing looked at the three short incense sticks in his hand with a strange expression, obviously she was also curious.

"Sister Jiuling said, this is the cigarette you mentioned in your letter." She said, "She said that you didn't write too much detail. She tried to do it, and I don't know if it is right."

The more she smelled it, the more curious she became, so she tentatively put it to her mouth, sucked it hard, coughed repeatedly, and squatted on the ground, sticking out her tongue and tears came out.

"It's terrible," she said. "No wonder you say you'll die if you take another breath."

As she spoke, she inserted the three short incense sticks in front of the tomb, and looked at them quietly for a moment.

"Father, you are very powerful, but sister Jiuling is even more powerful than you." She said suddenly.

After saying these words, he jumped up and backed away as if he was afraid of being beaten by the person in front of him.

With a little pride in her eyes, she slowly backed away step by step, and finally turned around and ran towards Aunt Xiao with a smile on her face.

Behind her, the three short sticks of incense in front of the tombstone were emitting curling smoke and dancing with the wind.

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