The wind was howling, and the yellow sand was all over the sky.
The boy no longer remembered how many times he got up from the ground.
Severe dehydration made him dizzy, his knees and palms were bloody, and the soles of his feet were rubbed with hot sand to form large blood blisters. The endless sand dunes ahead were rolling with torrential heat waves, and further away on the horizon, a storm was rising from the ground, sweeping toward the center of the desert at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Master..." The young man staggered forward and screamed hoarsely.
"Wait for me, wait for me... Master!"
With a muffled bang, the boy fell to the ground again, and the severe pain almost made him lose consciousness.
After an unknown amount of time, the gust of wind became stronger and stronger, and a figure finally came from the front and stopped in front of him.
"...Master..." The young man tried his best to make a humble plea: "Don't leave me, please, Master..."
The figure was against the light, the face could not be seen clearly, only a thin and straight figure was vaguely seen wrapped in a coarse white linen cloak, after a while he finally said: "Who is your master."
—The voice was still very young, with a hint of familiarity, indifference and carelessness.
The young man shook his head in despair, panting like a wolf cub was driven to a desperate situation, and stretched out his hand to the figure for the last time.
However, the next moment his blood-stained hand was stepped on the ground, and the pain struck like lightning. The young man screamed and lost his voice. Immediately afterwards, the man opposite drew his sword out of its sheath, and with a clang, the sword edge pressed against the young man's face and stabbed heavily. Sand!
"what!"
The boy's cries of pain stopped abruptly, and immediately he saw the man bent down, and the light and shadow finally outlined a face that was as beautiful as a woman's, impeccably handsome.
The boy hoarsely said: "Master..."
But the man raised his index finger and interrupted him with a simple silencing motion, and then rotated the blade inch by inch, until the young man's face mixed with blood and tears was reflected on the edge of the cold sword.
"Jin people say that the bullfighting stars often have purple aura, which means the meaning of the two swords pierces through the sky. One is Tai Ah, and the other is Long Yuan..."
The man drew his sword out of the sand and pointed at the young man at his feet. Under the scorching sun, a mocking smile could be seen on the corner of his mouth: "The one who will kill you here today is Long Yuan."
The young man's pupils suddenly tightened, and the next moment he saw the sword's edge stabbing in the air, piercing his bones and murderous aura to his face, he couldn't help exclaiming: "Ah—"
"-what!"
Shan Chao turned over and sat up, his chest rose and fell rapidly, and the muscles that had been tense for a long time gradually relaxed.
The moonlight passed through the wooden window, reflecting his naked back and short sweat-soaked hair, and cast it on the blue-gray floor of the meditation room. The surrounding area was quiet, and the long and short chirping of insects at the end of summer was accompanied by the gurgling water coming from the backyard of the Buddhist hall; other than that, there was no other sound in the dead of night.
Had that dream again.
Panting, Shan Chao turned his head to look, and sure enough, the Longyuan sword leaning against the couch was buzzing and trembling, as if he couldn't wait to break free from the scabbard.
Since Shan Chao came to Ci'en Temple two years ago, he has often had dreams like this. In the dream, he was in the frontier desert, living with a young man whom he often couldn’t see clearly but called Master. Sometimes he practiced martial arts, sometimes he hunted, and sometimes he led camels for long treks in the yellow sand. Among them, the most repeated , is the scene where he knelt at the young man's feet, begged hard but to no avail, and was finally stabbed in the head with a sword.
Who are the young people
Shan Chao couldn't remember anyway.
His memory began when he was covered in blood at the back gate of Ci'en Temple two years ago, was rescued by Master Zhiyuan and accepted as a disciple. Later Master Zhiyuan said that when the monks found him, he was covered in yellow sand, bloody and bloody, and he was holding a sword with a white shark skin sheath tightly in his hand.
—Seven Star Ryongyon.
And all the past before that turned into broken fragments, haunting every night like a curse, and the cycle is endless.
Shan Chaochang heaved a sigh of relief, stretched out his hand to hold Long Yuan, and after a while, the mournful cry of the long sword finally subsided in his generous and powerful palm.
At this moment, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse outside the window, and the night was dark, and Shan Chao had no sleepiness at all, so he simply put on a black cloth monk robe, opened the door and walked out of the meditation room. The secluded path is shaded by flowers and trees, leading all the way to the majestic Buddhist hall in the moonlight; farther away, all the squares in Chang'an have long been closed, and there are louder and more distant sounds from the long street.
The Big Dipper in the night sky is like the sequence of seven stars on Longyuan Sword, emitting a faint faint light.
Shan Chao closed his eyes, and the light gradually turned into yellow sand and scorching sun, snow-white blades, and that gentle and cruel smile like a girl in his mind.
—Who is that person in the dream
·
At the same time, Chang'an City, Zhongshu Shilang's Mansion.
The stunning singer finished her dance and fell to the ground. Her long water sleeves fell slowly like layers of petals, and applause immediately rang out from all around: "Good!"
Although it was almost three o'clock, the banquet was still full of delicacies and wines. The flowers and birds made of silk and satin were full of trees under the light, and the diva who stood up was like the most delicate and softest peony in the garden.
Zhongshu's servant Yu Zhongning got up with a smile, and signaled the maid to give a cup of fine wine in front of him to the singer, then turned to the head of the banquet, and said with a smile on his face: "Commander Xie—this girl's nickname is Lu Yao, and she was accepted by my clan." My goddaughter, although she has a rough appearance since she was a child, she has also learned dance and music for a few days."
After finishing speaking, he paused, only to see that the young man on the chief was still smiling lightly, as if his expression was not displeased, and he felt relieved: "This woman has always admired Commander Xie's young heroic name, so she volunteered to perform her skills. If you can If it catches your eye, I will make the decision today and ask her to offer the cup of daughter red that has been buried for eighteen years in her hand—I wonder if you would like to reward her with this face?"
Everyone at the table applauded and laughed, and the scene became more lively for a while.
The young man at the head seemed to find it very interesting, and said leisurely: "There are beautiful women in the southern country, dancing with a light green waist... It's rare."
His voice is very pleasant, in such a noisy environment, there is a penetrating and heart-touching charm.
Lu Yao's expression changed, only to hear him say again: "Look up."
The green waist raised his head slowly.
She should have a lot of thoughts in her mind, but the most intuitive feeling at that moment was: so handsome.
According to the rumors, Xie Yun, the commander of the Ouchi Imperial Guard with three heads and six arms and a blue face and fangs, was completely different from what everyone imagined.
He was dressed in a brocade robe embroidered with silver, with a jade belt around his waist and white boots on his feet. Although he leaned lazily behind the desk, he could still see his tall and straight waist, broad shoulders and long legs. different.
The only thing that was consistent with the rumors was that he was indeed wearing a beautifully carved silver mask, covering most of his face including eyebrows and eyes. However, even so, the thin lips with graceful lines and a warm smile under the nose, and the fair and slender face and neck, still make people unconsciously arouse infinite goodwill from the bottom of their hearts.
Green Waist's heart sank slightly. She has always known how beautiful she is. To her, that beauty is like the bow on the general's back and the sword in the hands of a hero.
But right now, she suddenly wasn't sure about everything that had been planned and planned tonight.
The moment she saw that smile, a sense of uneasiness came from nowhere and seized her heart.
"This girl is really stunning."
Xie Yun didn't seem to be aware of it, and turned his head to give Zhong Ning a compliment, and the latter hurriedly said that it was a blessing for this girl to be able to enter the Commander's Fayan. The two exchanged a few words, Xie Yun turned to Lu Yao again, this time he waved casually and said: "—Come here."
In just two words, there is no ambiguity or intimacy, not even the slightest attraction to women. If you listen carefully, the tone seems to be very casual.
The green waist bit her lip, stood up and moved forward with the wine cup in her hand, but her heart twitched countless times in an instant, and finally made up her mind.
On the way from the water pavilion to the banquet, she had to take three steps. In the first step, she made a slight mistake in her lotus steps, and the gauze, which was as thin as a cicada's wings, slipped from her shoulders, revealing a large area of snow-white skin from her neck to the back of her shoulders; the second step At that time, her gold hairpins were scattered, like clouds and black hair, and she seemed to be shining brightly in the lights; in the third step, she stopped in front of Xie Yun, bowed deeply amidst the admiration or envy of the guests around her, and her eyes were covered with greenery. The gold dance skirt woven on the chest further sets off the exquisite and delicate trace of preserved snow.
Her eyes looked at Xie Yun, charming, provocative and bold:
"My family has admired you for a long time, and I am lucky to meet you today."
"My lord, please show me the honor, and fill up this cup of my slave's house!"
Xie Yun's eyes behind the mask seemed to be staring at her with interest, and after a while, the smile on the corners of his beautiful lips deepened slightly.
He stretched out his hand to take the luminous cup—that hand was also long, thin and white, and the knuckles protruded slightly due to martial arts practice, but it did not hinder its elegant and beautiful shape; When he took the wine cup in his palm, his movements were soothing and relaxed, but his fingertips didn't touch her skin at all.
That pair of young and graceful hands couldn't be seen to have any connection with "holding the murder sword when awake, lying on the lap of a beautiful woman drunk".
"My daughter is red," Xie Yun carefully looked at the clear liquid in the precious luminous cup, but he didn't have any intention to drink it for a long time. He didn't seem to notice the slight change in the color of Tang Xia Yu Zhongning, Lu Yao and others, and suddenly turned his head and told his subordinates: "Bring the silver needle."
Lu Yao's expression changed dramatically.
She glanced at Yu Zhongning, only to see him nodding almost invisible—
At this point, there is no other way to do it, but to see it poorly.
Lu Yao's heart fluttered, he drew a short dagger from his arms, and shouted sharply: "Take your life!"
All the changes happened in the blink of an eye, before the words landed, the light of the knife pierced the chest, and the sharp edge flashed the poisonous blue!
No one could react at that moment, not even the subordinates behind Xie Yun had time to make a move. In the nick of time, the tip of the knife had reached the skirt of the clothes, and it could easily penetrate into the body with only half a minute of advance—but at this moment, everything froze.
Xie Yun pinched his green-waisted jade-like wrist with three fingers, looking so relaxed that he didn't even have the slightest effort.
Immediately afterwards, Lu Yao felt that the other party's internal power was overwhelming like a mountain torrent, her brain exploded, blood spurted from the corner of her mouth, and she flew out of the air for more than ten feet!
bang!
The green waist fell down suddenly, knocking over several small tables, and the cups, plates and chopsticks were overturned all over the ground!
"What's the matter?" "Assassin!" "Ah, come, come, come!"
All the guests panicked, Yu Zhongning gritted his teeth, pointed at the green waist and yelled, "This girl actually hurt someone! Someone! Grab her!"
The servants who had been prepared for a long time rushed out from the back hall, each holding a wooden stick, and rushed towards the green waist. This is obviously going to kill people, but no one can detect or stop it in the chaos; when the servant who rushed to the front raised his stick high and was about to beat him down, Xie Yun, the chief on the other side, casually The poisonous wine in the luminous cup was splashed—the movement was also unhurried, and then he lifted the white satin cloak on himself, and threw it with his hands.
The cloak whistled and passed over the crowd, with extremely domineering vigor, and everyone who touched it was pushed back again and again, and the servants in front even threw their sticks on the ground by mistake.
Immediately afterwards, the cloak fell head first, and fell on the flustered green waist, just covering her naked body when she fell down.
There was a moment of silence during the banquet, only to hear Xie Yun's subordinates draw their knives out of their sheaths and shout angrily, "Come on!"
There were chaotic footsteps around the water pavilion, and immediately the doors and windows on all sides were smashed open, dozens of guards were heavily guarded with swords and guns, and in a blink of an eye, the banquet was completely surrounded.
Everyone at the banquet turned pale with fright, and some timid ones even knelt down as soon as their feet softened. At this time, Yu Zhongning knew that the big thing was not good, but he was worthy of being the backbone of the princeling party, and he could barely maintain his composure: "Be quiet! Be safe and don't be impatient! Commander Xie, is everything okay? Quickly help the distinguished guests down to rest, and put this Girl grab it..."
Xie Yun interrupted him with a smile: "Master Yu, don't worry."
He stood up from behind the table, walked around the banquet, walked down the jade steps in full view, and stopped in front of Lu Yao.
The atmosphere in the audience was tense, only everyone gasping in panic and panting one after another, only to hear Xie Yun asking from above: "Why did you kill me?"
Luyao coughed up a mouthful of blood intermittently, and said with hatred: "I want to kill you, what reason do I have? I hate shameless people like you who bully the weak—"
Xie Yun said calmly, "Nonsense."
The disdain in that tone was like a steel needle piercing her heart.
"You..." Lv Yao's ten fingers twitched, scratching the ground angrily, and finally couldn't help but curse after a long while: "You treacherous minister still ask why?! Empress Wu came to power, and it was treacherous ministers like you who acted as minions between the court and the opposition." How many Zhongliang people have been persecuted! My family was originally full of loyal people—”
That's almost clear.
Xie Yun walked out without turning his head, and said, "Take her down to interrogate her comrades, be careful not to let her seek death. Seal the house, and no one is allowed to enter or leave. I will report to the queen tomorrow and then search."
The guards behind shouted in unison: "Yes!"
Yu Zhongning finally couldn't hold it any longer, and collapsed on the ground trembling, as if he had aged ten years in an instant, and couldn't even utter a word.
·
Xie Yun strode out of the mansion, the lights outside the door were brightly lit, and the whole mansion was already surrounded by the inner iron guards. Several confidant guards were waiting by the car, and seeing him coming out, one of them immediately handed over the brocade box in his hand: "Commander, I got it."
The brocade box was about the size of a palm, and it was exquisitely woven with gold and silver embroidery, and a small "Liu" character was stamped on the corner - it was the imprint of a rich family on the precious furniture. Xie Yun opened it and glanced at it, only to see that inside was a pure white flower, and the box lid gave off a refreshing and strange fragrance as soon as it was opened.
The guard said in a low voice: "It is this flower that claims to be able to cure all poisons, and it has a miraculous effect on life and death. The Liu family hid it in a secret room, and I sneaked in with a few brothers..."
Xie Yun raised his hand to silence him, then put away the brocade box, and stepped into the carriage without saying a word.
At this time, it was past the third watch, and Chang'an City had already had a curfew, and there was no one in the inner circle. The doors and windows of each household are closed, and everything is silent, only a crescent moon is reflected on the Qingshiban Street, reflecting a cold gleam.
The horseshoe had to cross the street, Xie Yun closed his eyes slightly in the car, not only dozed off, but also thinking about something silently. After a while, the carriage turned a corner, and suddenly he opened his eyes and asked, "Where are you?"
The guard Ma Xin said from the outside of the car: "Return to Commander, we have already passed Zhongzheng Street, and it is Ci'en Temple in front of us."
Charity Temple.
Xie Yun raised the car curtain and glanced out habitually.
Suddenly his movements stopped.
The tall mountain gate of Ci'en Temple stands majestically in front of it, with carved beams and painted red wooden pillars in the night, and seven steps leading all the way to the wide avenue. A black-clothed monk was originally sitting under the steps, probably seeing a carriage approaching, he got up and retreated into the mountain gate.
At that moment, the eyes of the two intersected.
Shan Chao's handsome face flashed a little stunned—and Xie Yun lowered his gaze, and dropped his fingertips on the car curtain.
The carriage continued to creak and move forward, but this time it stopped suddenly after not taking a few steps. I only heard the restless footsteps in front of the car, and there seemed to be a slight dispute. After a while, the coachman yelled angrily: "Who! Why are you blocking the way in the middle of the night? Why don't you back away quickly?!"
The neighing of the horses broke the night, and there were several arguments outside, followed by the footsteps of the guards outside the car window approaching quickly. Ma Xin stopped outside the carriage, stuck behind the curtain and asked in a low voice: "Commander, there is a monk in front of you who suddenly came up to block the horse with a sword, what should I do?"
— What he didn't hear was that Xie Yun let out a slight breath.
The voice was almost inaudible, and it disappeared into the long and quiet long street in the middle of the night as soon as it left the mouth.
The sound outside the car became quieter, but it was not because of the resolution of the situation, but because the two sides had entered into a more serious and weird stalemate, and even the tense atmosphere could be felt inside the car—Xie Yun looked at the dim light and shadow jumping under the candlelight, and suddenly heard the sound in front of the carriage. A male voice with clear enunciation, handsome and calm sounded: "The little monk's dharma name is Xinchao. I ran into you in the middle of the night. I seem to be familiar with you like an old friend."
"Meeting is fate, I wonder if you can show me your honor by getting out of the car?"
This is really, really bold. Several guards in the inner circle were furious. Ma Xin just wanted to say goodbye to this reckless monk when he heard Xie Yun's leisurely voice from inside the car: "Xin Chao..."
As soon as the word came out, the surrounding guards looked solemn, and even Shan Chao, who was standing in the middle of the road not far away, felt terrified.
"I am in the law, and the road is hidden. All monks who encounter officials above the fifth rank must avoid it, otherwise they will be punished with serious crimes."
Xie Yun looked at the closed car door in front of him, and there seemed to be a very gentle and even soft smile in his tone: "Monk, do you know who I am and dare to say that you are destined for me?"
The author has something to say:
The unofficial history of the early Tang Dynasty, between the last years of Zhenguan and the rise of Empress Wu, is mostly empty. Please don't get entangled. This article is under the master-apprentice years, growth-type Gong, currently Gong is a monk for the time being, maybe he will return to the vulgar in the future and become famous and kill the Quartet #$%^&*^*%#@! ￥%￥…