When the injury was almost healed, Xia Hou Lin took Chi Yan back to the house where Xia Hou Pei left. I haven't come back for a long time, and a layer of ash has fallen in the house. They cleaned the main room, pushed open the door, and the sun was shining in the yard. The warm sunlight climbed up the shelf of the melon shed, the turquoise vines were intertwined, and the light and shadow flickered on the ground. The red apricots of the neighbors poked over the wall, and the rouge-colored petals bloomed lively, trembling in the wind. Many plantains grew in the cracks of the earth wall, green and green, with a few unknown little yellow flowers dotted in the middle, like stars scattered in the grass.
Xia Houlin opened a jug of wine and sat under the porch. The sun shines on my eyes, so bright that I can't open my eyes. Xia Houlin suddenly remembered that the capital had not had such good weather for a long time.
Chi Yan is weaving rope and knotting flowers in his hand, and he has recently been learning silk threading skills from Xia Houlin. This kid looks dumb, but in fact, his brain is very smart, and he can learn as fast as Shen Jue.
Xia Houlin looked at him, his profile was quiet and peaceful, as if nothing could disturb his peace of mind. Xia Houlin didn't quite know what kind of feelings Chiyan had for Xiahou Pei, and he didn't even know if they had met. In short, Xiahou Pei seldom mentioned stubbornness in front of him. If it wasn't for the Xie family's extermination of the family, Mohou Luojia missed his mouth, he didn't know that he had a twin brother, and he lived on the top of the black-faced Buddha.
"Children," Xiahou hesitated and poked his arm, "Have you seen our mother?"
"I've seen it." Chi Yan said.
Xia Houlin's eyes lit up, "When? Did you know she was our mother at that time?"
"When she was eight years old. She was very strong. Before she died, I never defeated her." Chi Yan raised his head and looked at the sunlight leaking from the leaf gap. Gotta be a bit dazzling.
The first time he saw Xiahou Pei, it was the same weather. The woman in the black arrow jacket carried a black sheathed knife to the top of the mountain and raised her eyebrows at him with a smile: "First time meeting, I'm you..."
Her words were interrupted by his head-on blow, and she blocked his knife in astonishment and said, "Bounce so high!"
At that time, he was too short and not strong enough, so he was quickly subdued by Xiahou Pei. Xiahou Pei handed over his knife and hung him on the treetop. He had no limbs to rely on, so he could only stare at her with a blank face. Xiahou Pei smiled and said, "Now you can talk properly. Say it again, it's the first time we meet, I'm your mother and son."
She always chooses to kill her heart when she goes out, and she is always tired of it. Every time she sees her, she must fight her, and then she will be hanged back to the top of the tree. She was doing her best to make him laugh, and he looked at his toes and remembered which move he had just made wrong.
He remembered that for the "snake step" she used for the third move, he should have used "Yan Xie" instead of "Zan Yue".
"Hey, dear son, say something, please." Xiahou Pei said across from him.
He was silent.
With a "puff", a projectile-like thing hit the placket of his shirt, the pellet shell was torn apart, and some turbid and sticky things burst out from the inside, dripping onto his gray-white cotton clothes, creating a smudge.
He sniffed, smelled a stench, and finally had another expression—a frown.
"What is this? How can it still explode?" Xiahou Pei was also stunned, put down his slingshot, and ripped off a leaf and wiped it on him, "It looks like bird shit... I'm sorry, I thought it was normal. Mud balls and marbles. This is Xia Houlin's stuff, I'll take care of him when I go back to vent your anger."
"Who is Xia Houlin?"
"A second-hand thing."
Xia Houlin said gloomily: "No wonder my bird shit bombs have been missing for some reason. She took them away."
Chi Yan said: "She gave me a lot, but that thing would stink after a long time, so I had to throw it away."
The last time she went up the mountain to see him was at dusk. The red glow at the far end of the mountain was like a flame burning in the sky, and the red sun in the depths of the sky was like a drop of blood. The dense kudzu leaves and the elderberry on the mountain were dyed with a thin layer of red, as if they had been burned. She didn't enter the house, standing in the slightly reddish grass waving at him.
"A fight?" Chi Yan wiped it with a white cloth, and the sharp blade in his palm was as thin as a leaf.
"I'll be leaving in a while," Xiahou Pei said, "My dear, promise my mother something. If you meet someone who looks exactly like you in the future, you'll be a little less skilled. But you."
"Those who trespass on the Buddha's head will die," Chiyan said, "I cannot go against the abbot's words."
"But am I not dead?"
"Because you are strong, I can't beat you. When I get stronger, you will die."
"Hey, your child is so straightforward, you won't be able to get a daughter-in-law in the future." Xiahou Pei smiled eloquently, "You won't kill him. Chian, you are brothers, he is another you."
Tired: "… "
Without waiting for Chian to answer, she turned around and waved, "Let's go!"
Xia Houlin said softly, "She is saying goodbye to you."
"Yeah." Chi Yan nodded and said, "Xiao Lian, I actually don't know what mother means. However, I know she likes me, and I like her too. I don't want her to die, but when the abbot told me , she is dead. Although even if I knew in advance, nothing could be saved."
Xia Houlin was stunned for a while, but he suddenly realized that Chi Yan was explaining what he had asked him when he was on top of the black-faced Buddha. He remembered the two of them staring at each other silently in the bleak sky, and he clenched his fists, his chest full of bitter grief. The wind fills the sleeves of the loathsome, fluttering like the wings of a moth.
"Did you already know the truth about my mother's death?"
"Know."
"If the abbot asked you to kill me, would you come?"
"Will do."
In the gust of wind, his voice was colder than the wind.
"Okay, that's good. I'll kill you too, you and I don't have to be merciful."
Xia Houlin pulled the corner of his mouth, smacked his shoulder, and said, "I don't blame you, I'm tired of it. There are many things that can't be done. We all don't want to get to this point."
"I'm stupid, Xiaolin." Chi Yan looked down at his palm, which was covered with rough calluses, "I'm not like you, I know a lot of things, I can only swing a knife. But I'm so stupid, I still get The care and concern of many people. The abbot, Xiahou Pei, you, and... Baili."
Xia Houlin was slightly startled, then reacted and asked in a low voice, "You also like Bailiyuan, right?"
"I don't know. They treat me very well, and I want to... repay their love." Chi Yan said in a low voice, "I hope in my heart that when everything is settled, everyone will be fine. But in the end, everyone is dead. All I can do is try my best to realize their unfulfilled wishes. In this way, they may be able to walk a little more safely on the way to Huangquan. "
The golden halo fell in the eyes of Jing Ruo Liuli who was tired of it, like molten gold. This extremely strong assassin has clear eyes that ordinary people do not have, and a heart as clear as water.
Xia Houlin took him by the shoulder and patted him hard, "Third, listen, everyone has their own wishes, and their wishes should be fulfilled by themselves. If you like them, you don't expect anything in return. Old bald donkey and Baili I don't know what that guy Yuan thinks, anyway, my mother and I must have the same thoughts." Xia Houlin looked into his eyes and said, "Chiyan, you must have your own wishes and live for yourself."
Chi Yan was stunned for a moment, then looked back at Xia Houlin silently.
"For example, do you have anything you want, money? Beauty?... I know you definitely don't like these, otherwise, the Peerless Knife Manual?" Xiahou scratched his head and said, "It's something like that anyway."
Shaking his head in disgust.
Xia Houlin understood that he had no desire for this world.
Xia Houlin pondered for a while, then suddenly turned his head and asked in a low voice, "Chiyan, you are still a boy. How about I take you to visit Bada Hutong? Rouge Hutong is too familiar, let's go to Lianzi Hutong." He After coughing a few times, he said, "I'll just drink tea and rest my feet, you can do what you want."
Chiyan vaguely felt that there was something in his words, but after thinking for a long time, he didn't understand, and looked at him in confusion.
"Hey, you, have you watched the "Jin Ping Mei" that I gave you?" Xia Hou said with a headache, "Pull the girl's little hands, lie down and chat for a while, then smack smack smack your mouth, love. In the depths, this, that, this... you understand."
"..." Chi Yan was silent for a while, then said, "Xiao Rong, stop talking."
"why?"
"I don't want to listen."
"… "
———
It was already dark when we got home. Xia Houlin changed his clothes and went to the study to find Shen Jue. Shen Jue was still approving, and there were almost endless memorials. Before the ones at hand had been approved, the palace sent new ones. There was a garlic bottle on the desk, and inside it was a twig of Tang Di that was broken off in the early morning. Shen Jue lowered her eyebrows behind the rouge-colored flowers.
Xia Houlin moved Zhang Tuzi and sat opposite Shen Jue, leaning on his hand and looking at him.
"Your old acquaintance sent a letter here." Shen Jue said without looking up.
Xia Houlin saw that the envelope beside Shen Jue had already torn the seal. Xia Houlin didn't take it and asked, "What did you say?"
"She said that Bailiyuan appeared in Yunxian Tower the day before yesterday."
Xia Houlin was stunned for a moment and said, "Bai Liyuan has not left the capital!"
"That's right, this little dwarf is very cunning. What the factory guard saw in Kaipingwei a few days ago was just one of her stand-ins. There are so many stand-ins for her, and they went to Shuobei in different ways, and only three were searched on Lulu Road. "Shen Jue sneered, "I'm afraid that old acquaintance of yours was fascinated by Bailiyuan. Bailiyuan appeared in Yunxian Tower the other day, and she only came to deliver the letter today. I sent someone to look for her, but she had already left. Beijing."
"Don't say that... It's human nature to say that Bailiyuan is nice to them both." Xiahou Lin sighed, Shen Jue said with a sullen face. Xia Houlin asked again: "A-chu is a prostitute of the Jiaofang official, how can she leave the capital? Did Bailiyuan help her change her nationality?"
"Yeah." Shen Jue said while criticizing her, "I have already sent people to watch her, maybe Bailiyuan will come to find her. But I don't see much hope, that girl Bailiyuan has some scheming, Shouldn't take such a big risk."
The clue was broken again, and both fell into silence. The difficulty in intercepting Bailiyuan is not only her stand-in, but also the secret help of the underground underworld. Once those snakes and rats hidden in the shadow of Daqi gather into a group, it will be a disaster.
The wind chimes were ringing outside the window, and in the distance, I could hear the meowing of cats in Chiyan's courtyard, scattered in the wind. Xiahou Rong rubbed Shen Jue's ruler, and the Xingyue Bodhi seed on his wrist hit it with a crisp sound.
"Chiyan said that we will leave in ten days." Xiahou Lin suddenly said.
The tip of Shen Jue's pen stopped and hung in the air, a drop of red ink dripped on the paper along the tip of the pen, bright red and dazzling.
The room was so quiet that you could hear two people breathing. The wind chimes were still ringing, the moon shadow was barely visible on the window paper, and the Tangdi flowers in the garlic vase seemed to have faded under the moon.
"Seven months." Shen Jue said, "You came back in August last year, and now it's seven months in total."
Xiahou Rin pinched Shen Jue's face, "Young master, smile. It's so ugly to have a sullen face."
Shen Jue grabbed his hand and stroked his rough palm. Shen Jue lowered her eyelashes and said, "I always feel that we are together, and it seems like we are going to be separated all the time, and we always stay together for a short time. You slept together the night before, and when you open your eyes the next day, you are already gone. gone."
Xia Houlin called out in a low voice, "Young master..."
"I played tricks to deceive you and lied to you, I caught assassins as medicine men to formulate recipes, I searched for medicine and practiced qigong, I also worshipped Buddha, prayed to God, and did everything. But..." A tear slid over Shen Jue's eyes. The cheek fell on Xia Houlin's palm, "I can't keep you after all."
The icy grief filled Xia Houlin's heart, he bypassed the desk and hugged Shen Jue into his arms. Shen Jue hugged him back and closed his eyes. Eleven years have been like a huge cycle. Twelve-year-old Xiahou Lin stepped out of the alley and left him in a decaying old house. At the age of fourteen, Xiahou Lin was taken away by Xiahou Pei on the moonlit autumn night, and he was left alone in the crisis-ridden palace.
Now Xia Houlin was leaving again, and he was alone again after all.
"Master, in my next life, I will be reborn as a daughter. Would you like to be your daughter-in-law?" Xia Houlin patted Shen Jue's back, looked at the moon outside the window and smiled lightly, "You are the eldest young master of the landlord's family, I am A black girl from a dilapidated small peasant family. One day I was counting ants at the entrance of the village. You hit a horse and passed under the archway, and you fell in love with me at a glance, took me home, and gave you a fat baby."
Shen Jue remained silent, and Xia Hourong felt dissatisfied as he spoke, and said, "No, no, change another one. You are the young master of a family outside the chief, and you are weak and weak. A female knight who robbed the rich and helped the poor, one day I went to your house to steal money, and I happened to meet you who was reading a book under the moon. At the moment, I was so fascinated by you that I knocked you out and carried you away as a husband-in-law. Okay? Okay, eh?"
"I don't like black girls, and I don't like female knights." Shen Jue said dully.
"Then what do you like?"
Shen Jue hugged him tightly, and said hoarsely, "I only like Xiahoulin, the one and only Xiahoulin in the world, the only one, Xiahoulin."