Zhui Xu

Chapter 1200 Chapter 1140 Snowy Night

the twelfth lunar month.

At noon, the sky was still gray. The bitter north wind blows the snowflakes all over the sky and howls between the mountains and fields, and the mountains are crushed by the heavy snow so many trees have been broken.

In the wind and snow that is no longer suitable for going out, there are still figures moving in the wilderness beside the unknown mountains. There are two lines in one line, and gradually become hundreds of lines as the field of vision gets closer.

The human image is half melted by the howling wind and snow, with blurred black and clear white washing in the wind and snow. In the distance of vision, we can only hear the sound of the wind. Only when we get close can we see those thin, hungry and cold The figure of the man fighting with a knife, heard the roar in the whistling wind and snow.

The blood spattered into insignificant embellishments in the blizzard, and after landing, it was gradually dissolved and buried by the white.

In the snowstorm, a desperate battlefield.

Even the center of the battlefield with generals sitting in command became blurred in the heavy snow. On the edge of the battlefield, figures were spreading out in different directions. Some of these half-black and half-white figures started to fight again after meeting In the wind and snow, they didn't have much strength for each other, but when they met, they killed hysterically. Some people fell down with bright red, some staggered away, and some searched for things in the pile of corpses, looking around in horror in the wind and snow.

On the edge of the battlefield, near the mountains, a deserted village had just experienced a battle. Several soldiers gathered in a pool of blood, searched for the things of the dead enemy, and took a rest by the collapsed earth wall. Before the wound was bandaged, the fight came again.

Someone rushed out with a knife, and someone took something and tried to escape. In the chaotic conflict, a white figure that almost merged with the heavy snow appeared from behind the earth wall, wriggled slowly, and searched for a moment among the piles of supplies that everyone had just collected. Most of the clothes here are still intact, rusty weapons, and there is no food to be found in the rummaging. The white infiltrator collected a few pieces of rags in disgust, and retreated into the wind and snow.

The chaos of the battle continued. This figure, who was not tall and dressed in white, sneaked around in the wind and snow, went to the pile of dead people, and stole other people's war. A's lone team was sapping and took away a small bag of dry food from the opponent's pocket. When he quietly returned to the mountain, his body was already bloated.

Can no longer wave.

He packed a bag of the dry food and rags he had stolen, carried it on his shoulders, and when he sneaked into the forest, he glanced in the direction of the battlefield.

There is only howling snow, where there are no traces of people fighting. Even the little bit of blood soaked out seemed to have never appeared before such a harsh winter day.

The boy sighed.

Walking through the mountains and forests, in the wind and snow, he was very careful in moving forward and pacing. As he walked, the branches he was dragging were still sweeping the snow on his footprints. I also expected to meet other deserters and have a fight, but this time I was lucky and didn't meet any extra people.

In the dilapidated house on the other side of the mountain, the figure with the burden on his back found the skinny jujube horse that had been tethered here before, and then rode it to the east through the wind and snow.

The gloomy heavy snow did not stop, and at dusk, he rode his horse into another barren mountain. The road in the mountain was rugged, and the branches overwhelmed by the heavy snow seemed to build a maze. Leading the horse, he went deep in a crooked way, passed the forest, the sky was already quite dark, and there was only a dark hillside in front of him, with no people around. The boy drew out his knife and slowed down his pace.

Crack, clap.

He tapped the blade on the trees in the snow beside him, making a rhythmic sound. After a while, at the other end of the darkness, he heard a voice: "You, you are back..."

Rushing footsteps sounded, and a figure ran over from the side of the wind, snow and darkness, and stopped only when it got close. The girl's face looked hazy in the darkness, but she could still see her happy smile: "Xiao Hua, and...Xiaolong..."

"You called it wrong, it's called a bald donkey." The boy corrected her name for the horse.

"You, are you okay..."

"...What a big deal." There was a step between the two, the young man snorted, and then said, "I brought food back."

"Um."

The girl nodded, looked him up and down in the dim light, and then saw the boy leading the horse walking forward, and followed behind him step by step.

The boy asked, "You didn't light a fire?"

"You, you're not here... I don't dare, I'm afraid of being seen..."

"Such a heavy snow, who can see it."

"…Um."

The girl followed him in the snow for two slow steps, then two quick steps: "How did they fight?"

"Crazy people fight in weather like this."

"…Um."

The two figures talked one after another in the dark wind and snow. They walked up the snow **** in front of them. After walking dozens of steps like this, they could vaguely see the small snow house in the corner of the mountain ahead.

The bottom of the igloo is naturally tree branches and wood, but now it is covered with snow, blending with the mountain and vaguely becoming one. Only when you get close can you see the sliding door of the house in the heavy snow. Under the rocks of the mountain not far behind the snow house, there is also a cleverly arranged flue.

This is the house where Ning Ji and Qu Longjun live in seclusion now.

At the end of September of this year, with He Wen's insistence on going his own way, the prelude to the split of the Fair Party was set off, and Jiangnan fell into war. In October, Jiangnan began to enter the snowy winter, and the continuous war ended. It didn't stop, villages and cities everywhere were in the midst of fighting and fire one after another, as if swept by the mighty Foehn, the once prosperous and prosperous Jiangnan land, almost no place of peace.

Ning Ji and Qu Longjun, a couple of young men and women, searched for land in the barren mountains to cultivate themselves. After bidding farewell to the young monk in October, they were harassed by refugees and rebels several times, so they had no choice but to go deeper into the mountains.

At this time, Ning Ji's hidden wounds from the Jiangning chaos gradually improved, and he used the field skills he learned in the army to build a hidden house in the mountains. In November, he even went out to attack several scouts and snatched a A skinny jujube horse.

In these years, most people lack clothing and food, and horses also lack food and chewing. The jujube horse is pitifully thin, with sparse hair on its neck, so Ning Ji named it "Vald Donkey", but Qu Longjun felt sorry for it, and privately Li called it "Little Flower", and helped Ning Ji build a small shed beside the mountain wall for placement, and Li took good care of it every day.

In this way, the winter snow in the south of the Yangtze River fell slowly or quickly. The two built a small safe haven in this mountain. Be vigilant all around, and occasionally go out to ambush scouts and bandits in the army. In order to feed the horses, he even went to the barracks to secretly carry fodder a few times back. It's December 23rd.

He left here with the scouts he met the day before, got the supplies after the scuffle, and returned to the mountains at this time, it was completely dark. Amid the whistling snow and wind, the two settled the "bald donkey" in the shack, and then lit a fire in the stove in the room. When the light flickered, they could see the girl's face with messy hair and gray lips.

Today's Jiangnan has become a desperate place, and the winter of this year is also extremely cold. Several branches of the Fair Party outside have been beaten to death. In the mountains, the two met outsiders fleeing famine several times, and the results of their dealings were not good.

After the boy went out looking for traces of the army yesterday, Qu Longjun didn't dare to start a fire. He probably only ate a little raw food during the day. He was in a bad state at this time, but seeing that Ning Ji came back, there was a smile on his face. Come to the delicate face of melon seeds, and become relaxed.

Ning Ji didn't have much to say. After the fire was lit, a pot was put on the stove and the water started to boil. He then stretched out his hand to the other person's forehead. The girl who was adding firewood to the hearth knelt down beside the bed and settled down. It wasn't until the other party let go of his palm that he threw the firewood branch in, and then he was pulled by his hand to feel his pulse. She whispered: "It's okay."

"It doesn't matter if you say anything."

"…Um."

Between the two of them, Qu Longjun was two years older than Ning Ji, but Ning Ji took up the status of "benefactor" and was good at martial arts. Girls always have no temper when they are cold-faced. Of course, Ning Ji didn't show his spirit that much. After a while, he let go of her hand and didn't say anything about the diagnosis. Something stolen from outside. In the third month of living together, even this silence seemed quite natural.

But in fact, the two of them at this moment are in a complicated and delicate stage of getting along, and everything they feel is a strange experience.

Since the moment Jiang Ning reunited, each other's hearts are actually very kind. "Meeting an old acquaintance in a foreign land" in the troubled times, everyone's heart is full of joy.

They had known each other in the southwest. But for the understanding of that period of experience, they have different feelings from each other.

As far as Qu Longjun was concerned, she didn't know the fact that the young man had been monitoring her for a long time, and she didn't know why the other party rescued her after killing Wen Shoubin. Engong" is powerful, handsome but also a bit arrogant. Many times I feel that the other party is a bit difficult to get close to, and even - I don't know why - the other party seems to call her "little dog" several times.

Why she scolded her with such insulting words was beyond her comprehension, and why she still saved her after scolding her had always been a mystery to her.

That night in the small courtyard in the southwest, the decisiveness and coldness of the young man when he killed the man left an extremely deep impression on her heart. If such a person really had an opinion on her in her heart, it would not be unimaginable to kill herself. things.

After that incident, she was no longer under the control of Wen Shoubin, and then left the Huaxia Army because of her father's hatred. People who are more profound are nothing more than Aunt Gu of the Huaxia Army and this "little benefactor". After the fair party showed its ferocious face in September, she heard the name of this "little benefactor" and even reunited with him, and she felt like she had a home in her heart.

But is such an idea real? Is it her wishful thinking, that cold face in the southwest, that "little dog" address, how the other party treats her, these things are hard to think about.

As for Ning Ji, the reunion with the little cheap dog is the most unimaginable thing in this trip away from home. He doesn't know whether this feeling is warmth or joy. As a straight man of steel, especially a man of steel who was hurt by a **** woman in the Southwest not long ago, it is unwilling to feel warm towards a certain opposite **** in his heart. Think about it, let alone say it.

Just like Zhang Cun's reaction after hearing that the little cheap dog left alone, she was going to die, but he couldn't do anything about it, so what could he say? Don't want her to die? He saved her only out of simple humanitarianism and a moment of kindness. She learned that "women hold up half the sky" and made a decision to be self-reliant and self-reliant. If she was extremely worried, what would it be.

"He Wenai Gao Chang" is so shameful, let alone "Long Aotian is worried about the little dog".

And after leaving from the southwest, he actually didn't think too much about the reason for his obsession to make Long Aotian's reputation great. Zhang Cun's evaluation is certainly one aspect, but in fact, after Long Aotian's name was slandered as a "five-foot obscene demon", he can completely change his name to East Undefeated, West Failed, etc. and start all over again. .

In order to chase Yu Xiao'er, he left the southwest and swaggered all the way to three thousand miles away. The moment the little cheap dog found him, he suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

These words were not easy to say, and he didn't even realize it himself. At the beginning of the reunion, all they could talk about was a series of experiences after coming out of the Southwest. After a while, there were actually fewer things that could be communicated.

Ning Ji's background, family background, including many specific things in the Huaxia Army, he couldn't discuss too much with the other party; on the other hand, Qu Longjun's father died at the hands of the Huaxia Army, and she was subsequently sold as a skinny girl. Ma, take it to the Southwest to cause destruction, these materials are not suitable for talking about openly. It's hard to mention the past, a fifteen-year-old and a sixteen-year-old boy and girl can't talk much.

In the first month of their relationship, Ning Ji was injured, and Qu Longjun took care of his little benefactor, which was his due duty. The cohabitation after reunion was not too strange.

When the little bald donkey came, their hands were still held together, and they seemed quite natural to each other.

Since then, wars broke out everywhere, and people and bandits fled. The two went into the mountains to build small shacks. Occasionally, they talked more naturally while working. Once he was free, Ning Ji didn't know what to say. He was very proud, and his expression was as calm as that of the little doctor in the southwest. How restrained, when Ning Ji snatched back the "little bald donkey", the two talked a lot more about the jujube horse. Qu Longjun took good care of this little pet, and Ning Ji went out because of it. He grabbed a few batches of forage, and occasionally he would scold the little "bald donkey" in disgust, and Qu Longjun would correct him cutely.

The troubled times continued, the surrounding world was horrible, inexplicable wars, fighting, and the exchange of children among refugees had already appeared. The mutual dependence of well-meaning acquaintances in this environment seems to be an undoubted choice. This is the part of their mutual dependence in the mountains that need not be said.

However, when they calm down, the two of them will inevitably think in their hearts that after all, they are boys and girls of this age. It seems that there is no need to talk about such a gathering, but what will happen next?

If these thoughts seem to disappear, appear and disappear, just like many people feel quietly at a certain age, because of getting along with a certain person, warmth, affection, ambiguity, heartbeat, anxiety... These thoughts will seem to be Nothing emerges and falls, sometimes like branches and shadows intertwined on the wall of a wooden house, sometimes like tides and fireworks. Many years later, they will become the best memories in their hearts. People occasionally mention them or never tell them, but at this moment, they support them to get along quietly and nervously.

The small hut that was hastily built in October is not spacious. There is a stove and two narrow beds on both sides, which are almost all the "furniture" in the room. The beds are just chopped wood covered with leaves, The dry grass is then made up of some improvised pieces of pieced together cloth. The stove provides some warmth for this small bed. In order to avoid suffocation by smoke at night, there is a special flue beside the stove, which is covered with mud. It is the most thoughtful place in this room.

In the quiet silence, Qu Longjun boiled hot water, twisted a small piece of coarse cloth to wipe Ning Ji's face, and Ning Ji had already classified today's spoils: some scattered food, it seems Usable blades, goggles, various pieces of cloth, and even a beautifully embroidered apron in the middle - Ning Ji snatched it from a soldier, as for where the other party got it from, it is unclear. category of thought.

He took the rough cloth handed over by the other party and wiped his face casually. He pointed to a small leather bag beside Qu Longjun's bed, and asked her to put hot water in it and put it in her bosom—this is Qu Longjun in November. When menstruation came, he went outside to steal a bag—Qu Longjun said, "I'm fine." Kneeling by the stove, he filled the leather bag with water, stuffed it into his clothes, and then used hot After washing the cloth with water, he turned to one side and wiped his cheeks.

Distributing things, putting them away, continuing to light the fire, and cooking... The originally cold room has gradually warmed up. While cooking, Qu Longjun knelt and sat by the bed, and put it aside because he thought the leather bag was in the way. Yes, she pursed her lips and pointed, Qu Longjun stuck out her tongue and stuffed it in again, the fire flickered, her complexion gradually became less ugly.

Soon after, the two had dinner.

After dinner, Qu Longjun tidied up a bit, started sewing in the firelight, took out Ning Ji's rags, sat there and began to mend. As a martial arts practitioner, Ning Ji made a lot of moves on weekdays. After leaving the Southwest for more than half a year, he encountered heavy snow that he had never experienced when he was a child. Only then did he realize that what he spends the most on weekdays is clothes. Breaking the hole, in the recent period, it is thanks to Qu Longjun who took care of him time and time again.

The wind and snow were howling outside the room, and occasionally such and such topics would arise.

"Tomorrow will be a new year, and there will be so much snow." Qu Longjun mended his clothes, "Why did they fight in this weather, they are freezing to death."

"Because it's not for war, it's for the dead..."

"…Um?"

"In the southwest, the Huaxia Army fought for the sake of victory and defeat, and the Jurchens also fought for the sake of victory and defeat. But sometimes, the granary was bottomed out, and there was not enough food. No matter whether they fought or not, ten million people would not There is only food for five million people, no matter what, at least five million people will die anyway. Instead of sitting at home and starving to death, it is better to go out and kill them. The dead should not complain, and the living can at least have some food. Rations... When I was in the southwest, some people in the army said this truth, and it was the first time I saw this when I came here..."

Although he is only fifteen years old and has a rather out-of-the-ordinary temperament, but in the Huaxia Army, he was in contact with high-level people with insight. Many words he didn't understand at the time, but this journey along the way, he saw a lot of complicated things, which makes sense It was confirmed one by one. At this time, the young man was leaning on the stove, and when he talked about this matter, his emotions were not high, but he had an air of worrying about the country and the people, which was quite different from the temperament he had when he was with the real little bald donkey.

"Before in Jiangning, He Wen was high-sounding, saying that he wanted to take power and purge, but in fact there was no such reason. The Fair Party smashed, smashed and looted in Jiangnan. After two years of mixing, the water towns, granaries and various savings in Jiangnan have been wiped out. At the end of the day, if a meeting is held to purge a group of idiots, by the end of the year, many people will starve to death. Instead of being scolded by others, it is better for everyone to make it clear that they will fight with horses and kill those who cannot support them. Heap, he has more food on hand, so he can draw the surviving elite into his side... It was originally something he caused, and he couldn't clean it up, so he simply put the blame on others and let Xu Zhaonan, Shi Baofeng , Zhou Shang, and others will be blamed to death, hum, he is too smart... he is not a good thing..."

"My father was also the general who led the army back then, but I never heard him say these things..."

"My father..."

Ning Ji continued casually, and then paused for a while, "...my father... was in Hedeng back then, and he swept the floor in Mr. Ning's office."

"...Ah?" Qu Longjun blinked.

"So he won't talk about this, but the children of the Huaxia Army have to go to school, and there are many children in the army, so everyone will understand after talking about it."

"Well, it is said that the Huaxia Army reformed the method of papermaking, and all the children below can study. They are sensible, and even girls are treated equally. This is a great virtue of enlightenment...Mr. Ning is really amazing..."

"That's not true. I think reading depends on the person. I can't learn it. My brother is also the same. I don't want to learn. My brother wants to learn but he just can't learn well. When it comes to reading and literacy, the people I know , maybe you are better."

During the three months of getting along, the two of them didn't have many topics, but in the occasional speculative chat, Qu Longjun could often quote the classics and speak out those allusions vividly. In the conversation with the straight man, he was quite able to adjust Some atmosphere, and as a scumbag, Ning Ji has always been yearning for such a scholar. If he got to the bottom of it, he would have been seduced by Yu Xiao'er in the Southwest before, and he had followed the other party's way, more or less due to the fact that the other party was a teacher.

The snow wind howled outside the snow house, and the fire in the room was beeping. Qu Longjun mended the clothes and bit off the end of the thread, perhaps because the year was approaching, the two whispered a lot of words to each other. Qu Longjun sat on the bed over there, with her arms around her knees—she often sat in this posture, and sometimes buried her chin in her folded arms—speaking softly, while Ning Ji was already lying down on the bed over here .

Ning Ji talked about the hustle and bustle of the Huaxia Army during the festival, also talked about the embarrassing things about having fun with a bunch of friends, and even talked about the bombing of the latrine and his experience of being bombed in the latrine. I don't mind, I just talked a little bit about family affairs.

"In my family... there are several aunts, elder brothers and sisters-in-law, and younger brothers and sisters. When I come out this time, the younger sisters will probably miss me, and the elder brothers and sisters-in-law will also miss me, father and mother..."

"Mother will cry..."

"My father... I don't know if he will think about it, he probably won't cry, but if something happens to me outside, he will be very sad too..."

"Ruthless is not necessarily a real hero, how can Lianzi not be a husband." When the two of them said this, they didn't know what time of the night it was, Qu Longjun listened to this, his eyes were complicated, "You are so good, they will definitely think about it .”

Hearing the words "You are so kind", Ning Ji's face burned slightly, and then said: "... Ruthless may not be a real hero, Lianzi... what... well, your poems are good..."

"Isn't this a poem written by Mr. Ning..."

"Ah, Ning...my dad only sweeps the floor, he didn't teach it...you read a lot."

He glanced at Qu Longjun, and didn't know what he thought of, but the girl's eyes lowered slightly, she hugged her knees, leaned back slightly, and her complicated eyes hid in the darkness.

There was a moment of silence in the room.

Then there was continued silence.

Ning Ji wanted to find some topics naturally, but he couldn't find them for a while.

At a certain moment when the silence seemed to last forever, he heard Qu Longjun speak from the opposite side.

"Xiao, Brother Xiaolong..."

"…Um?"

The other party's words were also as calm as possible, but there was a slight trembling in the subtleties:

"...You... You came out from the southwest, do you have any mission?"

"Well…"

"I know it might be inconvenient for you to say, but..."

…

"But... if next spring starts and the snow melts, can you... can you..."

…

"Can you…"

…

"...Take me with you?"

…

The sound of the wind and snow seemed to get louder, whistling in the ears, in the stove, the warm yellow fire light flickered across the bodies and cheeks of the two of them, Ning Ji opened his mouth, and his voice froze.

"Well, uh... cough, yes... there is a mission... um..."

He paused and looked over there.

"It's fine."

The meaning of this sentence is not clear, but due to the firmness of the tone, the girl seemed to understand, relaxed her body, nodded, and she sat there with her legs straightened.

This movement is very beautiful, Ning Ji moved his eyes away, his heart was pounding, and his mood was relieved.

In the warm snowy night, the two then talked a lot of nonsense in this relaxed mood. The girl talked about the things in the book and told him stories, and then told him that Wen Shoubin forced her to study, play the piano, and dance Things like this seemed to explain to him the origin of these skills.

Ning Ji is not stupid, she can hear the meaning in her words at this time, and can also hear the caution in her tone, she imitated her father's poems, although Wen Shoubin and others had impure intentions back then, but at this moment Grass grew on Wen Shoubin's grave, and even the grass in the south of the Yangtze River was almost burned away. What did these things matter?

What's more, he doesn't want to go back to the southwest at all. Yu Xiao'er hadn't been killed yet, and the stigma of "five-foot obscene demon" hadn't been washed away to become "No. 1 in the world."

After a while, during the conversation between the two, when Qu Longjun asked about his future direction, UU read www.uukanshu. com He thought about it carefully and made a decision.

"I want to go to Fuzhou first."

he said.

"Look at what the little emperor and the little princess... look like."

The fair party was in chaos, Jiangnan began to eat people, the little monk went to Jin, Zou Xu and Liu Guangshi played their brains in the Central Plains, the only peaceful place nearby had to go to Fuzhou, Yu Xiaoer might have gone there too .

Moreover, if you go to a peaceful place, you can settle down with your "little dog"—or it's not easy to call her a little dog now, so what should you call it? Little cheap dragon? — After all, my martial arts are not invincible, so don't take too many risks if you have someone by your side.

He thought about it, and he was not that adventurous. Now he has a little dog by his side, and a little "bald donkey" who can carry things. When the spring is warm and the flowers bloom, pots and pans can also be brought with him. , You can also bring two extra bags, which is no different from a spring outing.

Going to see the sea, really happy...

The fire in the stove gradually dimmed, blocking the partition, but still exuding heat. Ning Ji muttered about making plans, talked about the legendary sea, and fell asleep in a daze...

(end of this chapter)