For two people like Fang Jie and Xiang Qingniu, no matter how low-key they walk on the road, they will attract the attention of others. One is plump and handsome, and the other is fat and amiable. Some people will look ugly when they get fat. Xiang Qingniu belongs to the kind of fat, round and cute. With the black Taoist robe on his body, he looks like a cartoon character.
However, there were not many pedestrians on the road at this time, and the continuous attacks of Jin Shixiong's army made almost all the people within a radius of several hundred miles flee. Fang Jie still remembered that on the way from the northwest to Chang'an, especially after reaching the Jiangbei roads, the law and order was so good that it was like a legendary paradise. Don't close the door at night, don't pick up lost things, and don't even see a beggar in the cities and villages.
But now, the destructive power of the war has been fully manifested, the prosperity of the past has long since disappeared, and all that remains is devastation.
There were many checkpoints on the road, and Fang Jie and Xiang Qingniu quietly avoided them. They didn't want to cause any conflict, although it was impossible for the soldiers to stop them.
Xiang Qingniu's army camp is tens of miles north of the river, and because of the inferior number of people, the defense area of the imperial court has been continuously compressed. Jin Shixiong's rebels are like a group of beasts at the end of the road. They have already forgotten the military law of not looting and not killing civilians set before they came. So even when there is no war occasionally, the army will be released to burn, kill and loot.
It's as if what they killed and plundered was not their own folks at all.
Someone once said that money is the fastest thing to change a person, but in the face of war, the power of money seems so small. War is the fastest way to turn an ordinary person into a beast. The moment the knife is raised, humanity is forgotten. And when the knife was raised more times, those who held the butcher's knife were actually numb.
When they are at home, their joy may be due to the reunion of their families, or the love of their parents, but at this time, all their joy comes from plundering and killing.
Distorted humanity.
"It's so fast..."
Xiang Qingniu looked at the burned down villages on the road, and his eyes were full of fear: "When I left Chang'an City, although I saw the butcher's knife raised by Emperor Tianyou in Chang'an City, at least I was still alive. The people were not involved, and the place where they passed was still peaceful... Now, there is only a piece of scorched earth."
Seeing this scene, the original anticipation of finding friends and getting together has faded.
"It was bound to happen."
Fang Xie saw far more tragedy than Xiang Qingniu. Whether in the northwest or southwest, Fang Jie was the one who faced death on the battlefield. When there was no special need for help, Xiang Qingniu and the others had been resting in the rear. Fang Jie once said in a conversation that the breath in his nose still smelled of blood the day after the fight, but Xiang Qingniu had never experienced it.
Fang Jie glanced at the layer of tender green that had sprouted from the ground: "War is to the people what winter is to weeds. After a severe winter, there seems to be no grass growing. When the spring is warm, grass will emerge from the melted soil." . People, too, will get better."
The climate in Jiangbei is slightly later than that in Dongjiang. When Fang Jie and the others returned from Eastern Xinjiang, the grass had already emerged. After more than a month of trekking, the grass in the north of the river also emerged.
When the two saw an endless camp in the distance, they knew they couldn't go any further. As soon as they got close to the camp, the lookouts would immediately notice that what greeted them was not necessarily the black boy riding the old scalper, but a rain of arrows and thousands of horses and horses.
They are not afraid of this, but they are afraid of trouble.
"Are you going to look for him again tonight?"
Xiang Qingniu asked.
Fang Jie found a relatively clean place to sit down and looked at the camp in the distance: "If you disturb the vitality of the world, that guy might be able to perceive it."
"Why not you?"
Xiang Qingniu asked.
Fang Jie lay down on the grass comfortably: "Because I'm lazy."
Xiang Qingniu gave him a blank look, and used the technique of Da Zhou Tian to capture a rabbit from a hundred meters away, and said with a smile: "I won't eat it for you when it's cooked."
He suddenly thought of a question: "Puhu has lived to such an old age, according to the logic, how strong is his cultivation? I suddenly thought that when Zhang Yiyang came to kill Puhu in Yongzhou that day, did we do anything unnecessary? Could that guy hide his cultivation intentionally, even without our help, I'm afraid Zhang Yiyang might not be so easy to kill him."
Fang Jie smiled: "Whether he hides his cultivation or not, it was worth it for us to make a move that day. At least there is a friend who suddenly remembered that there is a friend who wants to meet and can meet again when passing by a certain place. Isn't that good?"
"Passing by a certain place and suddenly remembered that there is a friend who wants to meet and can meet again?"
Xiang Qingniu repeated it and thought it was very good.
"If you can go anywhere, you have a friend who you want to see and can meet again."
He looked at the hare in his hand, and after a long silence, he didn't make a move. Fang Jie glanced at him and asked, "What's the matter? After expressing my feelings, I suddenly had some kind thoughts. I don't want to eat this rabbit anymore?"
"Pooh."
Xiang Qingniu snorted: "It's just... how to clean up this rabbit? Although I am not a vegetarian, Daoist, I have never cleaned up wild things by myself."
Fang Jie sat up and took a look at Xiang Qingniu: "So you are really lazy."
At this moment, several figures suddenly rushed over from the camp, and the leader was... an old scalper. This old scalper ran faster than the masters behind him. Looking at its fat, clumsy and old appearance, who would have thought that this cow had already lived for two hundred years
"Huh?"
The boy Hei who was riding north on the old scalper saw those two people, his eyes lit up, he jumped off the back of the old scalper, waved his hands and ordered the people who came with him to go back: "It's okay, it's okay, you all go back first, you are my friends .”
He looked at Fang Jie and Xiang Qingniu, and smiled: "Did I get my permission to catch rabbits on my site? Don't you fucking know that this place is covered by me? Now that I'm so presumptuous You don't give me face!"
"My lord, how can I compensate you?"
Fang Xie pointed to Xiang Qingniu: "Is it okay to let this fat man make a promise?"
Puhu spat: "Get out..."
…
…
From time to time, Puhu's eyes fell on the old scalper who was eating fresh grass not far away, his eyes were full of tenderness. Both Fang Jie and Xiang Qingniu could see how important this old scalper was in Puhu's heart. In such a dark and lonely environment, only it has been with Puhu. And precisely because of this, Puhu spent half of his cultivation base to make the old scalper a false name.
"This guy has been looking more and more like a cow lately."
When Puhu laughed, there was a fleeting sadness in his eyes. Although it was very fast, Fang Jie still caught it keenly. So Fang Jie subconsciously glanced at the old scalper, his heart tightened, and he suddenly understood something.
"Ever since this old beast started eating meat, it hasn't eaten grass. But since the beginning of spring, it actually doesn't like meat anymore. No matter how tender the meat is, it won't smell it, and it's particularly disgusting... On the contrary, I have returned to my nature more and more, every day I would gnaw on the grass on the ground with great relish."
Pu Hu poured a sip of wine into his mouth, his eyes were a little blurred.
Fang Jie wanted to comfort him, but he couldn't say anything.
"Maybe it's tired of eating meat?"
No matter how stupid Xiang Qingniu was, he could guess what Puhu said. Perhaps for ordinary farmers, a cow represents a good harvest in the coming year. For the butcher, a cow represents how much money it can sell, but for Pu Hu, the meaning of the cow is really different.
It's friends.
Pu Hu smiled gratefully at Xiang Qingniu's consolation: "What should come will always come... Because of this, I suddenly want to understand something."
He looked at the old scalper gnawing on the grass and said: "At the beginning I tried my best to make it live longer, and I did not hesitate to pour half of my cultivation into its body. It was a miracle that it could carry it at that time, but then it changed its temper and started eating. Most of the meat is caused by my internal strength. I was very happy with this change at first, and I always felt happy when I saw a cow eating meat. However, a cow is a cow after all. die in a posture."
"Why are people different? Even if you try your best to do something, it seems that you have succeeded, but in the end, where do you go back and forth?"
Fang Jie knew who he was talking about, and after a moment of silence, he said: "People pursue different things. Some people want the result, while others like the process."
Puhu smiled: "This old bastard, I don't know if he will hate me, dragging him to the last breath. It should have died a long time ago, and I don't know whether I like it or have to eat the meat after eating for so long. Eat. If I have to eat, I have made it so painful for so many years."
The conversation between the two seems to have nothing to do with each other.
Xiang Qingniu turned over the hare, as if wanting to confirm something, raised it up and shook it towards the old scalper. The old scalper looked back and snorted coldly from his nose. That meaning seems to be mocking Xiang Qingniu... That idiot, actually tempted a cow with meat!
Xiang Qingniu smiled awkwardly, then stopped smiling suddenly, with a lonely expression on his face: "It... seems to have forgotten that I once ate meat."
Puhu beckoned, and the old scalper walked over slowly and lay down next to Puhu's body. Puhu stroked its neck and smiled bitterly: "It forgot that it used to eat meat because it is too old and no one can stop death. But fortunately, it has not forgotten me after all."
"Recently... it always asks me to ride for a while. If I am busy with military affairs and forget to look at it, it will go outside the big tent to call me, and then rub my legs, which means that it wants to carry me and go out for another run." Circle... I know it already has a premonition that the day is coming, and it is also reluctant."
Tears flowed down Puhu's face, a little muddy.
"This guy… "
His hand stroking the old scalper was a little stiff, but his movements were still so gentle.
Fang Xie let out a long breath, not knowing what to say. Xiang Qingniu forgot to continue roasting the hare, one side was already blackened.
"I used to think, pour some cultivation into it..."
Puhu glanced at Fang Jie: "Could this be a little selfish? It seems to be fine, but I don't know if it is already suffering some pain. If it is, I will continue its life. Its pain It's heavier."
Fang Jie wanted to say let it go, but found that this was a bit cruel.
"I've already thought about it."
Puhu wiped away his tears: "I was a bit regretful at first. If I took it away, I might never see the two of you again, so you two came here. It's good...I don't want to take care of military affairs anymore , I don’t want to get involved in the affairs of the world, I stole Lao Huang from outside the imperial tomb, and I took him back before he died. Then I went back to the ancient tomb, that’s where I should go.”
"This time I left the ancient tomb, the biggest gain is... I have friends."
Puhu stood up, and the old scalper also stood up immediately, rubbing his body against his legs.
Pu Hu turned over and patted the old scalper's buttocks: "If you have finished your work and there are no more disputes in the world, you can visit me in the ancient tomb. If I am not dead, I will drink with you again."
He rode on the old scalper and yelled a few times, as if he was venting or declaring something.
Fang Jie and Xiang Qingniu looked at each other, watching the back of the man and the cow going away for a long time without speaking.
"Take care of yourself."
Xiang Qingniu clasped his fists away.
"Congratulations."
Fang explained these two words, even Xiang Qingniu didn't understand what to congratulate.
"My old friend is dying, do you say congratulations?"
Xiang Qingniu stared at Fang Jie and asked.
"Both of them were relieved."
Fang Jie left behind a word, turned around and left.
It is a relief for the cow to return to the life of the cow. Isn't it a kind of relief for people to return to the ancient tomb? Pu Hu was dragged back to the world by Yang Jian, I'm afraid there will never be a happy day. He did too many things that he didn't want to do. On the surface, he seemed to be so in tune with Yang Jian, with a deep brotherhood. In fact, it might be like that old scalper, it looks like it eats meat and it tastes sweet, how do others know if it is really sweet