Encountering a Snake

Chapter 37: Volume Two · Five

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After Ji Jiu returned home, he ordered someone to pack his luggage, bid farewell to his family, and started on the road again. Although the journey is not far, it takes less than half a month to ride the horse non-stop. With two guards to protect him, Ji Jiu is not too anxious to rush on the road. He climbs mountains and ridges along the way, and when he encounters beautiful scenery, he also calls the guards to lead the horse. Walking together with my son, although the journey is not slow, it is not too fast. All the way down, the scenery gradually became barren, lonely mountains and ridges, human voices gradually faded, but birds and beasts increased, among which the voice of the ape was the loudest, sharp and high-pitched. Ji Jiu reined in the horse's reins, and when he heard the sound of the ape, a trace of melancholy slipped out of nowhere, and he sighed softly. The haze in my heart is always inseparable.

He couldn't help but look down at his hand holding the rein of the horse. The brown snake kiss mark on the wrist was still there, as if a flaw was missed in the creation of heaven. Ji Jiu felt more and more that this was not an ordinary birthmark. Perhaps, those imprints on everyone's body that last for many years are all related to past lives. Thinking of this, he felt ridiculous again. People who didn't believe in gods and demons before, but now they believe in ghosts, but these things did happen, although absurd, but it happened to me, no matter how absurd, I have to admit it.

Ji Jiu agrees. Acknowledging, but not the same as admitting fate. He had an enmity with that monster, even though he knew that this enmity was brought by his previous life, there is nothing wrong with him coming to seek revenge, but the method was too nasty, Ji Jiu disdains it!

He despised him.

If Tangtang came here to seek revenge, he would lose his wealth and life, and Ji Jiu also admitted it. As long as this is what you should suffer, accept it. But the demon is not. The monster used such methods and humiliated him so much, Ji Jiu hated him from the bottom of his heart.

The sound of the ape was still screaming, resounding across the universe. Ji Jiu came back to his senses, with a smile on his face, he greeted the two guards, continued to raise his horse and rushed back to the barracks.

Along the way, the smile on his face never let go.

The people around him have long been used to his smile, and they don't take it seriously. Everyone knows that General Ji has a good temper and a good temperament. The gentle smile makes people feel close at first glance.

But he didn't know that he was driving the horse at this time, but what he was thinking about was the Taoist priest whom he had ordered smart people to visit secretly in the city before he left home, and he didn't know when he would get the news. That Taoist with white hair and a childlike face must have magical powers, if he can be found, maybe he can figure out a lot of the strange things. Even... It is not impossible to take down the monster.

Some hatred can only be washed away by blood.

Thinking wildly all the way, he rushed for a few more days and returned to the army.

In the camp, the sky was full of yellow sand, horseshoes were galloping, and the drums were beating loudly. The soldiers were training in the school grounds. The scorching sun was shining overhead, and the raised dust covered the cheeks, and the gullies were washed out by sweat, and everyone looked unclear. On the face of every face that is not clear, there is a pair of proud eyes of a man with strong bones. Ji Jiu got off his horse and walked in front of them, the soldiers behind him greeted in low voices: The general is back. Ji Jiu responded, waving his hands to let them continue to practice, but a sincere smile appeared on his face, his eyes were bent into crescent moons, and there were faint fine lines at the corners of his eyes, adding a sense of maturity.

Back at the big tent of the Chinese army, General Ji was wearing armor and was writing a memorial in front of the case. Ji Jiu walked in in a light robe and casual clothes, and called his father.

"Xiao Jiu," the old general raised his face, his beard and hair were all white, he put down his pen and asked, "How is the family?"

"Everything is fine." Ji Jiu replied, "Nothing happened in the army? The drill is so tense, do you want to send troops?"

"Just two days ago, a small group of Xiongnu soldiers invaded and were driven back." The old general said, "What do you think?"

Ji Jiu frowned slightly: "It seems that the internal disputes of the Xiongnu royal court have been resolved. I don't know how many inmates came, but can you catch prisoners?"

"Two people have been caught, go and interrogate them." The old general got up and walked aside, and said again: "Here is a letter, please read it too." He took out a letter from his pocket.

Ji Jiu took it, but it was a secret letter, with a few words in it, it said that since he left Beijing, Long Wei was furious when the emperor was in the early court, alluding to someone slandering the court generals, although he didn't name them, he said a word about men. In the bloody battlefield, someone put him to death in the court, with ulterior motives, even a silverfish in the country!

Ji Jiu put down the letter paper, took the fire twister, and burned it in a copper basin without saying a word.

The old general watched the flames turn the letter paper into a pile of ashes, and sighed: "I wanted you to suppress the embezzlement of military pay, but you insisted on bringing it up. Now that you are on fire, General Zhang Lang is supported by Xiangguo..."

"Daddy scared?" Ji Jiu raised his face and asked back.

"I'm old for my father, and I don't know when I will pass away. You are still young, and there are a few more wolves around you for no reason. How can I feel at ease?"

"It's nothing." Ji Jiu said in a calm tone, "The emperor still needs the generals of the Ji family to fight bloody battles for him. The Xiongnu are still in peace, and the Ji family can still live in peace."

"What if the emperor wants you to quell the Huns for him?" the old general asked back.

"As a subject, it is natural to serve the king." Ji Jiu stood up, patted the ashes on his hands and said: "This is the fate of the descendants of the Ji family. If there is a chance in the future, they will die with the Huns, and the emperor will not be sorry." Don't worry. On that day, everyone from all over the world will surrender at the feet of the emperor, and the Ji family who holds the military power will also retire. The general will die in battle, leaving only the youngest son, and the emperor will treat him well."

Hearing this, Old General Ji stood there in a daze, as if he was holding his breath, only looking at his son, his young face was calm, with a kind of calmness. I feel relieved, but also sad.

There is nothing to say. It's just that I don't know when the innocent child became the man of today.

It seems that starting from entering the palace as a companion, getting along day and night with the downcast prince at that time, and now the Ninth Five-Year Lord, gradually see through the world.

But back then, Ji Jiu was the one who forcibly involved the honor and disgrace of the entire family in the battle for the throne with his hot-blooded spirit! It was he who disregarded the precepts of his ancestors, disregarded his wealth and life, fought for power for the downtrodden prince, and even hid it from his father's eyes and ears. In the end, the incident happened, which almost caused the disaster of Ji's family to be wiped out. If it weren't for the fact that Ji Jiayuan's tree has deep roots, such a catastrophe would have already been executed by the whole family.

General Ji remembered the past and couldn't help but sigh. At that time, he was a young man with a weak crown, so he did this cruelly, involving hundreds of members of Ji's family, and determined to support the prince who was studying with him to become the emperor. Ask him why, he just said, this will be a good emperor.

Just such a sentence almost ruined the loyalty and good reputation of the three generations of Ji family's famous generals.

He wants the fourth prince to be the emperor. But the emperor was ruthless. One year after he took the throne, he set fire to the emperor who burned the former prince and his brothers to death!

General Ji looked at his son for a long time, and finally couldn't help it, and asked softly: "You insisted on supporting him back then, but did you ever think about today?"

Ji Jiu didn't expect his father to ask such a question, he was taken aback for a moment, and quickly replied, "Of course."

"Then...why?"

Ji Jiu didn't answer. He just looked at the military map spread out on the case. After looking at it for a long time, he lowered his eyes and said in a low voice: "I am the son of a general. I have studied military books since I was a child. I am destined to fight the enemy. Other princes may They will all be good emperors... but only the fourth prince makes me feel... I can become a general who is famous all over the world and governs the country." After a short pause, he added: "Among the princes, he is the only one who can perfect me." As for the other princes, I just want to sit on the world in front of me, without that kind of ambition.

General Ji understood. Yes, which general does not want to be famous through the ages? Which emperor doesn't want to sweep the world? They are just sympathetic to each other.

So Ji Jiu, who was not as weak as the crown back then, was willing to lay down his life for him. So the current emperor is willing to fulfill his ideal. This is their common ideal.

Even knowing that once the ideal becomes reality, what awaits them will be the fate that is common in history. Also without hesitation.

The old general sat back in his chair, looked at the map again, and finally said: "I only hope that your wish will come true, and you will die with the Huns on the battlefield in the future, so that your family can still be safe."

"Father, don't worry," Ji Jiu smiled slightly: "The Xiongnu will sweep away the child, and the child will die."

Every word, every word is a thousand catties.

It seems that he has planned the territory of this world with his heart in mind, and only waits for the opportunity to come, and the wind will flourish!

As the sky darkened, some bonfires were lit in the open space of the barracks, and the sergeants sat cross-legged around the bonfire, holding large coarse porcelain bowls to satisfy their hunger. Ji Jiu came out of the dungeon. The air above the dungeon was filled with the smell of food, mixed with the smell of soil and the sweat of the soldiers, and the stench of livestock in the stables not far away. These chaotic smells were mixed together , covering the sky above the barracks.

But there is a feeling of being at home.

Ji Jiu also took a large coarse porcelain bowl, filled some soup and water, and took two dead dough pancakes, and sat beside the soldiers.

The soldiers were also used to it, and when they saw him coming, they consciously stepped aside, and when Ji Jiu sat down, the group of people still lowered their heads and ate and drank endlessly. After eating and drinking, the soldiers who were tired all day went back to the camp to rest, and the soldiers on duty stood back to their posts with their spears in hand, replacing the previous brothers to rest.

Everything is going on in an orderly and tacit manner. The life in the military camp has always been like this, there is no fun, no leisure, the string of vigilance in the mind is always tensed, and weapons are raised to meet the enemy at any time.

Although there has been no war for three years, the commander-in-chief governs the army strictly, and the troops have never been scattered. There is not a single incident of gathering people to eat, drink and gamble. Someone secretly rumored that there was another member of this team named Ji Jiajun.

Nor delirium. The commander-in-chief of the army is old general Ji, and most of the other generals except Ji Jiu are followers of Ji's family. It's just that the Ji family's three generations of famous generals have big roots and deep roots, and no one dares to say more. Some people in the court speculate that the emperor is supported by the Ji family, and they are afraid that the Ji family will become bigger and bigger and become a serious problem for the court in the future. Such rumors have never stopped for a day. Ji's family had no choice but to work more conscientiously and dare not slack off in military affairs. Ji Jiu once said with a smile that the more you walk on thin ice, the faster the ice will crack.

Although this was said with a smile, it was definitely not a joke. The two generals of the Ji family now know that the ice under their feet will shatter sooner or later. They also thought that this day was the day when the Huns were pacified.

It's just that no one expected that Ji Jiu had already made a decision in his heart - use this unparalleled time to change the safety and joy of Ji's family for the next few decades.

Therefore, Ji Jiu's eldest son only read poetry and books since he was a child, and did not teach martial arts.

Ji Jiu sometimes thinks of his son, and thinks that it is too far away. He is just an ordinary person, and he can only pave the way for his descendants for a few decades. He has no control over what to do in the future, and he doesn't want to. . At that time, he was gone—after I die, no matter how terrible the flood is!

After dinner, Ji Jiu went back to the tent to rest, lay on the bed but couldn't sleep, so she put on her robe, lit the oil lamp and got up to read a book. Just after reading a page, the candle on the desk flickered and then went out.

Ji Jiu's heart shuddered, and he maintained his previous posture, motionless. The candle was extinguished and never lit again. On the opposite side of the table, there was a shadowy figure, and there was a figure. That figure was so familiar, it was only for one night, but Ji Jiu remembered him deeply, and immediately his whole body became cold, like falling into an ice cave.

Ji Jiu wanted to speak, but he opened his mouth, but couldn't make a sound. Ji Jiu tried to stand up, but found that his hands and feet were no longer under his control, and he couldn't move.

Even though the light is so dark, Ji Jiu sees a pair of eyes, like a beast lurking in the depths of the jungle, with a light that cannot be ignored. The feeling of being stared at like a prey.

The man approached, leaned in front of him in the dark night, leaned down slightly, his cold but hot gaze patrolled his face, as if inspecting his own territory unscrupulously. The man looked at it for a long time, then approached his ear, and whispered: "You are afraid of me."

The man said: You are afraid of me. The voice is hoarse, and the tone has a cold metallic texture, hiding a sense of helpless sadness. Ji Jiu couldn't hear it.

Ji Jiu only heard the man say: You are afraid of me. To put it bluntly, it seemed to be provocative. Ji Jiu snorted coldly in his heart, knowing that he couldn't speak, so he simply shouldn't. Whether he is afraid or not, whether he admits it or not, it makes no difference to him. Now he is trapped by this monster, he can't move, he doesn't even have a chance to call someone. Sitting and waiting to die is probably the best way to describe the present.

Ji Jiu didn't answer, and the man maintained such a leaning posture, and the two sides were deadlocked quietly.

As time passed by slowly, Ji Jiu's mind gradually calmed down, and he looked straight into the eyes of the man, showing a kind of rigid uncompromising. He has experienced the worst encounters, nothing more than shame and pain, there is no difference between once and twice, Ji Jiu understands this very well. He was powerless to change the status quo, at least not at this time. He is a sober Ji Jiu, who can distinguish between pros and cons, and never let himself fall into chaos, so if you can't turn the situation over, then just grit your teeth and endure it. Such a thing cannot be escaped, so he has to endure humiliation, but he can't let him compromise. He never compromises!

Ji Jiu's eyes were angry, with undisguised hatred, and the flames of resentment rose in his eyes, burning the eyes of the other person.

The man stretched out his hand and caressed his face, and when his fingers passed coldly across the face, there was an unknown shiver.

Unable to bear the humiliation, Ji Jiu gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. Never visit him again. In his previous life, he would only stare at him obsessively, but in this life, he didn't even bother to give him a look.

The reason is that Shen Qingxuan, who was willing to give up everything in his previous life, became the ambitious Ji Jiu in this life.

Yi Mo thinks that he is a man of mortals who is rich and noble. In his previous life, he gave up everything for himself and did not seek fame and career. In this life, he should be General Ji who abandoned love and only pursued ambition. He couldn't help but wonder, if Shen Qingxuan in the previous life hadn't been obsessed with him, would he be able to accompany him with all his charms in this life? Emma doesn't know.

Those fate numbers are too mysterious, and he has only practiced for a thousand years, so he can't see through them.

Yimo stopped her stroking hand.

After waiting for a while, Ji Jiu opened his eyes again.

The candle was lit again.

The man had retracted his body, only standing in front of him. Ji Jiu still didn't move, just watching the changes.

Yi Mo looked down at him for a long time before saying: "The karma of killing is too heavy, life is expensive but life is short."

Ji Jiu didn't expect him to say such words suddenly, he froze for a moment, then sneered. He naturally knows that his life is short, if his life is long, it will really ruin Ji's family. In order to protect his descendants, he thinks his life is short. Yi Mo saw his disdain, and knew what he was thinking. He couldn't help but think of the search for more than 150 years. In this life, even if he watched it from a distance, how long can he see it? But only ten years. When the time limit is up, this person has so much killing karma, who knows if he will be reincarnated as an adult, maybe even a beast. At that time, where will he look for him, where can he be found? He was silent for a moment, then said, "I want to hug you."

Ji Jiu was even more disdainful and remained silent. He didn't know that the technique had been solved, but he didn't want to have a word with him.

Then he was picked up and walked to the bed.

His face was already pale, and his body was as stiff as a puppet.

Yi Mo hugged that stiff limb in his arms, hugging him tightly, as if he was still in his arms Shen Qingxuan who loved him but dared not speak out; Shen Qingxuan who was reluctant to let go; Shen Qingxuan who hid even a word of liking all his life before he dared to say it... for fear that he would look for him in the next life, for fear that he would really like him and suffer in the search.

There are some things that he can only see clearly after a hundred years have passed. Gradually, she understood how Shen Qingxuan lived every day with fear and involuntary emotion during those years.

Yi Mo hugged Ji Jiu tightly in his arms, the breathing of the person in his arms was patient and heavy, and his limbs were stiff and dry.

Late at night.

Ji Jiu was lying on the couch without a strand of cotton, and the person beside him held him in his arms, also naked. The limbs in the thin quilt were forcibly entangled, and Ji Jiu's forehead dripped with sweat, moistening the forehead.

From the beginning to the end, Yi Mo used his arms to lock him tightly in his arms, as if he was holding a rare treasure, carefully but firmly, as if he was afraid of being snatched away. Occasionally, he lowered his head and licked the wet forehead, and the sweat he tasted had a salty taste, so salty that it made the root of his tongue bitter. In the movement, there were scattered strands of hair brushing his lips, and Yi Mo kissed gently on it, with a gesture of piety that neither he nor Ji Jiu could see.

Ji Jiu's eyes are always closed, he can't see him, and he can't see himself in his eyes. He has only experienced this kind of thing twice including tonight, and he has no way to distinguish good from bad, no way to distinguish serious from serious, and he has no such thoughts.

But he didn't know that the person on his body was moving carefully and gently from the beginning to the end, like a tiger sniffing a rose.