It was dark and stormy. The forest was dark, the people and horses were all dark shadows, the branches were shaking like crazy, and the leaves were wrapped in the wind and slapped on the face. The hat was useless, and the cold raindrops cracked on his face. Xia Houlin could hardly open his eyes, and ran with his head sullen to the horses in front of him.
King Fu's carriage got stuck in the mud pit, everyone dismounted and pushed the carriage, Xia Houlin helped push the back wheel. In the pouring rain, everyone shouted their horns together, and King Fu in the carriage stretched out his fat white face from the curtain, and was smashed back by the rain. The chassis of King Fu's carriage was thick and extremely heavy, and it was difficult to push it a little bit. Xiahou Rin gritted his teeth and tried his best to send it forward. pit.
Before he could wipe his face, he hurriedly climbed onto the horse, and Situ Jin handed him a handkerchief as he passed by. There was really no way to catch up on the road. Fortunately, we arrived at a village. King Fu ordered to rest here. Shen Jue had no objection, and the group of forty people entered the village. The richest member of the village received them, but the house with three entrances and three exits was still not big enough, and Xiahou Lin and the fans were all laying on the ground in the ancestral hall. Only Shen Jue and King Fu had separate rooms.
The rain is getting heavier and heavier, and the mountains are dormant like beasts in the night. The tiles on the room were crackling and cracking, and the entire ancestral hall was shaking in the wind and rain. Xia Hou couldn't sleep peacefully. He opened his eyes and saw that everyone couldn't sleep, tossing and turning on the pavement. Xia Houlin felt uneasy, stood up and walked to the door, opened the door and saw that the water outside was already ankle-deep, and he could wash his feet by sitting on the threshold.
"I'm afraid there is going to be a flood, who of you will tell you to be in charge?" Xiahou Rin asked.
"No," someone said, "Chen Yuanwai said that his village is like this every year, and there has never been a flood. Maybe it will stop after a while, just wait."
"What's the terrain like here?" Xia Houlin asked again, "If the flood comes, the whole village will be flooded in half an hour. You have to know where to run."
"I don't know, it's too dark to see clearly." Another fan replied.
The night was very dark, and the surrounding area seemed to be covered with a layer of gauze. Only the shadows of the trees could be seen swaying on the ground, and the world was full of heavy rain. Xia Houlin hesitated for a while, but decided to put on his clothes and find Shen Jue.
As soon as he went out, he bumped into Situ Jin. Xia Houlin said sorry, Situ nodded slightly, entered the room and called someone, saying: "The boss has orders, the rain is too heavy, the terrain here is low and it seems to be rising. You take your horses up the mountain and go east. , where the terrain is high, find a safe place to camp, and be sure to protect the horses."
Fanzi replied yes, and Situ Jin said again: "The rest of the people follow me and help His Highness up the mountain."
"The mountain road is too narrow for a carriage to travel?" Xia Houlin asked after Situ Jin.
Situ Jin nodded, frowned and said, "The horse can't carry him, he can only be carried by people."
Eight people in front and back are carrying bamboo chairs, and King Fu sits on top with an umbrella. From a distance, the eight figures are carrying a mountain. Shen Jue was walking beside her in a mink robe, her face was very ugly. The cool raindrops flowed into the clothes through the gaps in the clothes, and Shen Jue felt restless, wishing to clean the flesh of King Fu before taking him up the mountain.
There was a sound of thunder from the mountain, like a huge roller driving in the sky. Shen Jue's expression changed suddenly, the surrounding houses were opened one after another, and the villagers ran out from inside, some even without clothes or shoes, and ran up the mountain as if they were dying. Someone banged on the gong and shouted loudly: "The water is coming! The water is coming! Everyone, run!"
Fanzi tried their best to rush forward, but they couldn't run fast with their things on their shoulders. Seeing that the eyesight was exhausted, a white line appeared in a trance among the fans, and the line was pressing aggressively, only to find that it was like a wall, overwhelming the mountains and the sea, rushing towards. The houses with thatched roofs and mud walls collapsed, and even the big mansion outside Chen Yuan was not spared. A tree fell, chickens, ducks, pigs and cattle were all rushed out, flung feathers and hooves into the crowd.
Fanzi was scattered, and King Fu disappeared. Shen Jue was also wrapped in the torrent, a mouthful of saliva poured in, unable to breathe. The water is dark, and between the light and the dark, there are shoe shells, wooden boards, and the shadow of people. Shen Jue stretched out his hands and grabbed at random, but he couldn't catch anything, so Zhang Huang could only sink in helpless.
A black figure rushed over, something was pulling on his clothes, Shen Jue was pulled up, his head was out of the water, he choked several sips of water, and finally caught his breath.
"Shen Jue! How are you!"
When I opened my eyes, it was the guy who was an eyesore. Shen Jue wiped her face, turned her head and plunged into the water.
The collar was grabbed by the man, Shen Jue turned around angrily and shouted, "What are you doing!"
Xia Houlin also shouted: "What the hell do I want to ask you for! Go east! How dare you go west!"
"Fu Wang! Fu Wang is still in the water!"
"That dead fat man is so heavy, how can you save it!" Xia Houlin was about to collapse, "Your brain is flooded!"
Shen Jue gritted her teeth and roared, "I must save me!"
After speaking, he turned his head and swam to the west regardless. Before he swam out, another burst of water rushed over, and he lost his balance again. In the rush, his waist was tightly hugged by one hand, his head and face were tightly pressed by the other hand, and the back of his head was tightly pressed against the chest behind him. In the water, all the sounds seemed to be far away, but he seemed to hear a heart beating beside his ear, and it was very stable and powerful.
Xia Houlin's back seemed to hit something, he heard Xia Houlin groan, and then they stopped drifting. Xia Houlin lifted him up, he wiped the water off his face, opened his eyes with difficulty, only to see that Xia Houlin's clothes were caught by a sticking out branch, which happened to save them.
Xia Houlin asked him to climb up the tree first, and followed him up. This is an ancient tree, withered, with only bare branches, but it is thick enough and strong enough not to be washed down by the flood. The trunk of the tree is rough and uneven, washed by the rain, like a layer of oil, shining brightly.
Xia Houlin squatted on the branch and twisted the water from his clothes. Underfoot is the gurgling water, and there are constantly broken wooden boards, extinguished lanterns, baskets, and even the corpses of humans and animals passing below. Looking up, in the dark night, the water covered everything, sparkling and sparkling. Occasionally, a few remaining tile roofs emerged, like a lonely boat, quivering in the desolate wind.
Shen Jue squatted beside him, his face was always gloomy, but he finally gave up the idea of going into the water to find that fat man.
"The King of Fortune is here." Xiahou Lin said suddenly.
Shen Jue was startled, and looked down in the direction Xia Houlin pointed to. A fat corpse passed by the water under the tree. The facial features on his face could not be seen clearly.
Shen Jue: "..."
King Fu died, and the most important part of his plan was broken.
He used a false imperial decree to slander King Fu to enter the capital in an open and fair manner, and the vassal king entered Beijing without an edict, and he would definitely be detained at that time. Although the old emperor gave him the tiger talisman and asked him to protect His Second Highness to ascend the throne, but King Fu was the eldest son after all, how could the old emperor be willing to abandon this son. But King Fu is not dead, how can the Second Highness sit on the dragon chair safely? As long as the accusation of treason is passed on, the old emperor will not be merciful even if he thinks of the father-son friendship, and King Fu will never turn over.
Moreover, when the old emperor kicked his legs and King Fu died again, Weide would no longer have a backer to rely on.
But now, all plans are in vain.
Shen Jue's face was so gloomy that water dripped from it. In the summer, although it was raining, it was still sultry, but squatting next to Shen Jue, Xia Houlin felt very cold.
"Master," Xia Houlin said, twisting the hem of his clothes, "If you want to escape, I can help you. I have experience, so I can make sure that you will have no problem going out of Daqi. When the time comes, go to Nanyang or go to Dongying, it's up to you. "
Shen Jue glanced at him and said, "Why help me? If I treat you like this, you should take the opportunity to kill me. Kill me and you will be free."
Xia Houlin said: "I killed too many people in the early years, and I was afraid of going to hell after death. Now I accumulate some virtue and save a few. It's lucky that you happened to meet."
"There is no hell in this world."
"There is a letter." Xia Houlin finished twisting the hem of his clothes and twisting his trouser legs, "How can there be no? If there is no hell, there will be no underworld, and there will be no underworld. Once we and our loved ones are separated forever, we will never see each other again. Ah. So it's better to have some." Xia Hou smiled lonely, "Are you right?"
Shen Jue looked at him silently.
"Your name is Shangjirou, isn't it?"
Xia Houlin nodded.
"Shang Erlang," Shen Jue sat down with the trunk of a tree and asked, "How was Xia Houlin's life when he was still alive these years?"
Xia Houlin looked at the dark water and thought for a while, and said, "It's very difficult. His father killed his mother, he killed his father, the brother is gone, the master is dead, the whole is a tragedy for one person."
Shen Jue's fist on his side tightened. Just like the tips he received, Xia Houlin really had been suffering in the sea of misery, but he couldn't do anything about it.
"Does he blame me?" Shen Jue said, "Even though he became the admiral of Dongchang, he didn't save him."
Xia Houlin glanced at Shen Jue in surprise and said, "Why are you blaming me? What's the matter with you? He should have told you that he couldn't be sorry. Exactly."
Xiahou Lian paused and said in a low voice, "I'm sorry."
Shen Jue's heart trembled, when the man said "I'm sorry", he seemed to really hear Xia Houlin apologizing. Such a similar tone, such a similar breath, he almost couldn't tell the difference. His hand was pinching the tree trunk, and his fingertips were broken and he didn't feel anything. The place in my heart was stuffy, as if I couldn't breathe. He felt the pain and stood up, as if that would make him feel better.
Lowering his head, he saw Xia Houlin's back, a ferocious wound on his back, still bleeding, but this man just smiled calmly, as if he had no injuries.
"You are injured." Shen Jue frowned.
"Small injury, it's fine." Xia Houlin didn't care.
"Take off your clothes. Wet clothes don't wrap well."
Xia Houlin refused. Shen Jue persuaded a few words, but he insisted on taking it off. Shen Jue frowned and said no more.
He didn't want to take it off, Shen Jue couldn't tear his clothes, he didn't want to die, that's all.
After waiting for a long time, the water gradually lowered a lot, and someone rowing a boat in the distance, "Student! Squad! Where are you!" The shouts came along the wind. Xia Houlin shouted and waved his hands, and when people got close, they realized that they were not rowing a boat, but a large wooden board, and the pulp in their hands was a long piece of wood.
Xia Houlin and Shen Jue were saved. Situ carefully used the money to let them temporarily stay in the homes of a few hunters on the mountain. The village below became a vast ocean, and under the gray sky, the water was shining. In the desolate world, there are only a few faint lights on the mountain. The villagers were crying, and many lost relatives and friends overnight.
As soon as his feet landed on the ground, Shen Jue turned his face and refused to recognize him, forcing Xiahou Lin to disguise him as a man, to make him look like the King of Fortune.
"It's a big crime to pretend to be a prince! How long can Yi Rong hide it? Besides, he's a fat man, he's a skinny man, and when he takes off his clothes at night, the cotton is exposed, and all the stuffing is exposed!" Xia Houlu persuaded bitterly, "Think before you act, This is no joke."
Holding the hot tea, Shen Jue said lightly, "I naturally know. You don't need to bother, just help him disguise."
"I won't do it."
Shen Jue sneered: "Why, when you come back from a dead end in the flood, you won't be afraid to wash the broken cone?"
"Master Chief, I saved your life." Xiahou laughed angrily.
"Oh?" Shen Jue glanced at him, "Our family was frightened and cold. We almost forgot what happened yesterday."
"… "
In the end, Shen Jue threatened Xiahou Lin with Zhu Shunzi's life, and asked Xiahou Lin to help that Fanzi change his face. Xia Houlin didn't know what Shen Jue's idea was, but looking at it like this, Zuo just let this son pretend to be King Fortune to go to Beijing to win the heirloom. This person, Shen Jue, is really desperate!
He has always been like this. Once he fights hard and fights hard, no one can compare to him. Xia Houlin still remembered how he studied hard when he was a child, and how he practiced swords in the palace. That frost-like youth, the starry night never stops, and the cold winter never stops. Of course time can change a person, but some things have long been engraved into his bones and will never die.
The frailty hasn't changed at all. Even after pouring many cups of hot tea, Shen Jue fell ill and lay in bed for a day. Situ Jin and Fanzi went to each house to ask for herbs, and boiled them into bowls of bitter tea for him to drink. Xia Houlin looked in through the window, a tomb-like bag was bulging up on the simple canopy bed, and Shen Jue was sleeping in it, her face burning red.
Shen Jue nestled in the quilt, it was summer, and he was still wrapped in the quilt, but he still felt cold. The thatched hut of the hunter's house on the mountain smelled of hay everywhere. There were boxes and cages against the wall, and a wooden table full of holes was gnawed by insects. The small room was crowded with miscellaneous things. He slept in Inside, it also looks like a random discarded object. The quilt was covered by others, and he felt uncomfortable with an indescribable odor.
The night is not over, the windows are dimly lit, and there are shadows of trees outside the screened windows. Occasionally, there are villagers whining and howling, like ghosts wandering and howling.
He felt thirsty and wanted water. But there was no one to serve him. Situ Jin and the others were all his subordinates, not his servants. They thought it was over after they had given him the medicine, and waited until dawn when he woke up and continued to give orders.
He had to endure. Time passed little by little, and the night seemed to be stretched out without end. Someone lifted his back and fed him water. It was sweet and clear, like the taste of well water. The towel on his forehead was also changed, and the coolness covered the hot forehead, and he felt the temperature of his cheeks receded.
He opened his eyes in a daze, and caught a glimpse of a figure at the head of the bed, sitting on the ground with his back against the bed frame.
Is that Alan? he thinks.
His mind seemed to be confused, he seemed to be back when he was in the Xie Mansion many years ago. He was Xie Jinglan and Xia Houlin was his book boy. He slept under his bunk bed. If he wanted water, Xia Houlin gave it to him. Bring it over.
After two days, the water receded and the ruined village was exposed. Few houses survived, and they all collapsed. The road was full of dead pigs, and the black body froze there. Fallen trees stretched across it, and beneath the dead branches were a few drowned pale corpses.
Shen Jue ordered to set off. His illness has not recovered, the fever has subsided a little, but it is still slightly hot to the touch. But time waits for no one, he must rush back to the capital before the death of the old emperor. He ordered the fans to feed the horses and bring them out, pack the tents and luggage, arrange everything, and set off on time in an hour.
Xia Hou came over with a frown and said, "You haven't recovered from your illness. Do you want to die halfway through the wind while riding a horse?"
Shen Jue didn't answer and asked, "Was that you last night?"
Xia Houlin was stunned for a moment and said, "You don't need to thank me, I saw that you were not taken care of, so I just poured a few glasses of water for you on my own initiative."
Shen Jue squeezed the kettle tightly, and said sternly, "You don't need to worry about our family's affairs. In the future, if you dare to approach our house for half a step, our family will kill you!"
Xia Houlin: "..."
This man is mentally ill.
He ignored Shen Jue, confirmed to Situ Jin an hour later and set off, turned around and left, not forgetting to drag Zhu Shunzi away before leaving.
Situ Jin looked at Shen Jue and asked, "Aren't you sending someone to follow him?"
Shen Jue closed his eyes and said, "That's it. Let's hurry back to Beijing, he won't have a chance to get ahead of us. Since it's harmless, let him go."
Xia Houlin and Zhu Shunzi picked up a pile of junk and brought it back. Among them was the chassis of King Fu's carriage. The perimeter and roof of the car had been washed away by the water, leaving only the chassis with four wheels. Fanzi looked at him curiously, Xia Houlin and Zhu Shunzi began to cut the wood and reconnect the wood and the chassis. There was a fan who understood what he was doing, and came to help spontaneously.
Xia Houlin found four bamboo poles and a large tarpaulin, and built a flat-roofed shed on top of the chassis. Fanzi wiped off the water stains, the wood was soaked in water, and it was still damp. Xia Houlin went to Orion's house to buy two quilts to spread on them, and then brought two horses to yoke them, and an extremely simple carriage was ready to go.
Shen Jue didn't even look at it, and when the time came, he climbed onto the horse. The disease is not cured, the hands and feet are weak, and it took a lot of effort to climb up and sit up.
Xia Houlin called him down and asked him to take a carriage.
Shen Jue turned to look at the "carriage" with a flat-top tarpaulin canopy. The quilt was a newly made wedding quilt, and the quilt covered with red peony flowers all over the place, and the soil was falling off. Shen Jue's face was full of disgust, and he said, "Let's set off immediately, all get on the horse!"
Fanzi glanced at Xia Houlin, did not dare to disobey Shen Jue's order, and mounted their horses one after another. Xia Houlin took a few deep breaths, so that he would not have the same knowledge as the sick patient with water in his head. After he finished breathing, Xia Houlin walked over and pulled Shen Jue down from the horse under the shocked eyes of the fans, and hugged him horizontally.
A tall and tall man with a straight waist and long legs holds another equally tall man in his arms, and there is a strange harmony.
"Let go of me!" Shen Jue gritted her teeth.
"If you want to fall to the ground, I'll let you go." Xia Houlin looked down at him.
Shen Jue laughed in anger, and said, "Let's see if you don't want to live anymore."
Xia Houlin smiled disdainfully, "I don't want to live for a long time. I don't care what you do with grooming and belly, you can do whatever you want. I want to understand, Ye Dao has passed through mountains and seas of fire, I'm afraid of a fart. It's a big deal to bite your tongue and kill yourself, look Is it faster for you to be punished or my teeth to mesh quickly. How about it, do you take a carriage or not?"
"I don't!" Shen Jue yelled, "Are you all dead? Take this lunatic down soon!"
Who the fuck is crazy
Shen Jue was so stubborn that it hurt his brain, and Xia Hou was so angry that he wanted to press his head to the ground.
"Shen Jue, if you don't think about yourself, you have to think about your brothers! If you have three strengths and two weaknesses, you can just let go. Your brothers follow you to death, what do you let them do?"
The fans got off their horses, knelt on the ground in unison, and said, "Please take care of yourselves in charge!"
Even Situ Jin didn't move. Shen Jue finally fell silent, and turned his head resignedly, letting Xia Houlin look at his cold and white profile.
Xia Houtong put Shen Jue into the quilt, and Shen Jue squatted in the big red quilt, revealing a pale face like white porcelain that robbed the moon.
The heavy rain has passed, and the sky is as blue as a brocade made of Hang silk, and occasionally a few very pale clouds are dark flowers embroidered on the satin. The faint light of the sky shone down, and the water droplets on the awning were reflected brightly. The carriage was bumpy, and Shen Jue fell into a drowsy state. Xia Houlin sat on his head driving the carriage, a shadow covering his head.
This man has the same eyes as Xia Houlin, the same character as Xia Houlin, the same rudeness, the same arrogance.
It's been ten years. Xia Houlin was no longer supposed to be fourteen years old. When Shen Jue met him in Liuzhou at least three years ago, he had already become an assassin who killed gods and Buddhas. It is a peerless killer, invincible and unstoppable.
But this person is like the Xiahou Lin who was wearing a cloak and draining the rain ten years ago, who has crossed the river of time and returned to his side.
Whether it's true or not, he can't tell. Qian Zhengde was right. Even if it is the shadow of the mirror, as long as it is not pierced, it is real. The lips under the quilt drew a mocking and desolate arc, Shen Jue said to herself, go to sleep, go to sleep. In a dream, everything is real.