Xia Xun was woken up by the barbarians.
He slapped him hard on the face a few times, without any mercy.
Xia Xun felt the pain and opened her eyes abruptly.
He was still by the stream, sitting on the ground with his back against a big rock.
Qi Yan lay flat on the side, his shirt was stripped off, and all the wounds were treated again.
A little further away, there are the corpses of Baiyue people in disorder.
Xia Xun calmed down a bit.
The only ones who did these things were Hu people. He treated Qi Yan's wounds, so it was obvious that he didn't want him to die.
It was already dark, and the Hu man was sitting by the stream, eating a piece of Hu biscuit.
While eating, he asked Xia Xun:
"Now you should tell me, how do you know I'm around? I think I'm well hidden, how did you find out?"
"you-"
Xia Xun opened his mouth and had no strength to speak for a long time. He was dizzy and sweated all over his body.
The barbarians "tsk" in dissatisfaction:
"You are a big man and you are not injured? Why are you so weak?"
Xia Xun clutched her temples tightly, waiting for the dizziness to pass.
The barbarian broke off a piece of cake and threw it to him, but he didn't catch it and fell to the ground.
He picked it up from the ground and brought it directly to his mouth.
The biscuits were dry and hard, Xia Xun tore off a bite vigorously, chewed for a long time before swallowing with a stiff neck.
Unexpectedly, the pancake was stuck in his chest, and he couldn't get out for a long time, choking so much that his heart ached.
He slammed his chest hard, trying to knock the cake down.
He didn't need to look at the barbarian, he could imagine the other person's expression.
"It's really worthless!"
The Hu man muttered, took the water bottle from his waist, and threw it over.
Xia Xun grabbed it, took a big gulp, and choked on the hotness again.
Instead of water, it contained strong wine.
The barbarians snatched the flagon in disgust:
"Drink it if you want it, don't waste it, okay? This pot is very expensive!"
Lubricated by a few drops of wine, the choked cake slid down into her stomach, and Xia Xun finally stopped her dry cough.
He wiped the wine that leaked from his chin, leaned against the big rock, and gasped in embarrassment.
The barbarian stared at him closely:
"The bread has been eaten, and the wine has been drunk, should you speak?"
Xia Xun licked her lips:
"Don't worry, you are well concealed, even Qi Yan didn't find you, let alone me."
Hu Ren raised an eyebrow and said curiously:
"Then how do you know—?"
Xia Xun cut to the chase:
"You once said that you followed Qi Yan from the day he arrived in Lingnan. You could follow him all the way from Lingnan to Beijing, and you would definitely not let him escape your surveillance. Qingzhou is far from the capital. But for hundreds of miles, if you want to know his whereabouts clearly, you will definitely follow him secretly."
The Hu man curled his lips and said angrily, "Is it easy for me to guess?"
Xia Xun said again:
"I don't ask what your purpose is, I just trouble you with one thing, to send us to the county in front."
The barbarian shrugged, unwilling to help:
"I'm alone, but I don't have that much ability."
Xia Xun pointed to the scattered horses nearby.
These horses were ridden by Baiyue people. Hu people are very principled, they only kill people and don't hurt horses.
"Isn't there them? You don't need to lead the horse yourself, you just need to follow me. I'm worried that those Lingnan people will have their backs."
There was a flash of light in Hu Ren's light brown pupils. He sat up straight and said to Xia Xun:
"I gave you the bird whistle before because I wanted you to cooperate with me and kill Qi Yan, but who knew that you called me here to save Qi Yan? Don't do it, don't do it, I don't want to lose money! I killed those people for you just now, I didn’t take any money, I’ve already lost a lot of money, I can’t lose any more!”
Looking at the gurgling stream, Xia Xun said slowly:
"I didn't say I wouldn't cooperate with you, but it's not now, it's not the right time. Qi Yan and his entourage agreed to meet in Taichang County when it gets dark. Once he finds out that Qi Yan didn't arrive in time, he will definitely Take people back and search along this road, maybe they have already set off now, if you do it at this time, you will be discovered soon."
Cold sweat gradually oozes from Xia Xun's hands.
This set of rhetoric is made up by him now, and he never thought of cooperating with Hu people.
He is not that naive. He has learned a lot in Lingnan these years.
One of them is not to cooperate with people who don't know the details.
The origin of the barbarian is mysterious, and Xia Xun doesn't even know his name, so he will never believe his nonsense easily.
But Xia Xun needs to use him, at least let him protect him and Qi Yan to the county ahead.
Xia Xun must have acted extremely sincerely. After listening to his words, the Hu people thought about it for a while, and finally believed it:
"Well, I agree with what you said, I can send you to the villages and counties ahead. But I also tell you clearly that my patience is limited, and I only give you one more chance. Next time, when you blow the bird whistle again, I will definitely come to take Qi Yan's life."
Xia Xun breathed a sigh of relief, he staggered to his feet, and brought back two horses from nearby.
The Hu man carried Qi Yan on the horse's back, Xia Xun took the reins, pulled the horse, and walked forward with one foot deep and one foot shallow.
The barbarian turned over and got on another horse.
He didn't urge Xia Xun either, so he let his horse walk slowly behind Xia Xun.
He sat on the horse, admiring the moonlight, drinking a few sips of wine from time to time.
When he walked to the government office in the county, he also ran out of wine.
And Qi Hui actually did what Xia Xun said, leading people all the way to find him.
The county government office was brightly lit, and Qi Hui stood in front of the gate with many officers and soldiers holding fire.
Seeing this, the barbarian got off his horse and said to Xia Xun:
"Send the Buddha to the west, and I will also send you to the west."
Xia Xun ignored his absurd words and thanked him.
The barbarians nodded in greeting, and disappeared into the night lightly like a puff of smoke, leaving no trace behind.
Before leaving, leave a sentence:
"My name is Fumeng Tanza, don't forget."
Xia Xun watched the direction in which he was leaving until Qi Hui found him and Qi Yan, and rushed forward excitedly with the officers and soldiers.
Qi Hui only had his master in his eyes.
He didn't even look at Xia Xun, ran to the horse, quickly carried Qi Yan down, and hurriedly asked the county magistrate to find a doctor.
In this way, it was another night of chicken and dog jumping.
Xia Xun was tired and hungry, and Qi Hui helped the doctor treat Qi Yan's wound, while he sat aside and ate up the dinner prepared by the county magistrate.
In fact, they were all porridge and side dishes, but he ate hard without saying a word, as if he hadn't seen refined grains for eight hundred years.
Zhi Gui waited on her side, she seemed a little nervous for some reason.
It wasn't until Xia Xun finished devouring her food that she made a sound and asked him what happened last night.
Xia Xun waved her hand, without saying a word, she shuffled to the bedside.
He threw himself heavily on the bed, closed his eyes, and immediately fell into a coma.
The first light of dawn jumped out of the horizon and shone on Xia Xun's face.
His consciousness gradually became clear, and he felt someone's eyes staring at him hotly, so he opened his eyes suddenly.
— It's Qi Yan.
He was leaning on the cushion at the head of the bed, looking at Xia Xun without blinking.
Xia Xun looked away.
The doctor was still there, sitting on the footrest beside the bed.
Qi Hui came in with a bowl of black concoction, the doctor took it and smelled it before handing it to Qi Yan.
Qi Yan drank it all in one gulp.
His lips were still bloodless, but his spirit was obviously much better, his eyes were bright and sharp, he didn't look like a wounded person at all.
He waved his hand, and everyone in the room went down.
Xia Xun was also about to leave, but was stopped by him.
Qi Yan's physique was much better than his, and he bled so much, but after a night's rest, he returned to his former radiant appearance.
Xia Xun only carried him for a few miles, but her back still hurts.
Qi Yan beckoned for Xia Xun to sit over.
Xia Xun reluctantly took a few steps and stopped at a place not too far away.
Qi Yan said softly:
"Yesterday... you saved me? The doctor said that all the wounds on my body have been treated, and the bleeding has stopped after applying the best wound medicine. Otherwise, I would have died on the road, and you saved my life." of."
He paused, then asked again: "Where did you find the wound medicine?"
Xia Xun's expression gradually turned cold.
Qi Yan didn't care about him, he was clearly probing.
Instead of asking Xia Xun directly what happened yesterday, he insisted on asking him where the medicine came from.
He was clearly talking sideways, and when he spoke, there was still a smile on the corner of his mouth, and he showed gentle eyes, as if Xia Xun was the person he trusted most in the world.
Many years ago, Xia Xun was bewitched by such an expression.
At that time, he never doubted Qi Yan, he thought he really liked him.
Xia Xun slowly lowered her head, her mind spinning non-stop.
He can't tell Qi Yan about Fumeng Tancha, this barbarian is still useful to him.
He searched his brains and scratched his stomach, and improvised a set of rhetoric.
He told Qi Yan:
"I found the wound medicine on the Baiyue people. After you fainted, the pursuers quickly came after you. I took you and hid you behind the boulder by the stream. They didn't find you. The horse that carried you to the government office The horses are also them, after I escaped the pursuers, I carried you for a while, and happened to meet a single horse, put you on the horse’s back, and brought you to the yamen.”
Xia Xun deliberately said it lightly, as if saving Qi Yan was quite easy, and all the details were not worth mentioning.
After finishing speaking, he spoke first:
"Is there anything else? I'm going to rest. I've carried you for too long, and I'm still very tired."
Qi Yan lightly rubbed his fingers, lost in thought, neither looking at him nor making a sound.
Xia Xun no longer waited for his answer, turned around and left.
When he got to the door, Qi Yan called him back again:
"Xia Xun! I always forgot to ask, have you seen those Baiyue people before? I don't mean these two days, I mean... in Lingnan."
Xia Xun froze.
Qi Yan is really smart and sharp, and he can connect everything that happened during this period without any effort, and then quickly deduce the conclusion that is closest to the facts.
It was really hard to fool him.
Xia Xun sighed inaudibly.
After a long time, he said unwillingly:
"... seen."
Prisoners in exile are subject to hard labor.
Before Xia Xun arrived in Lingnan, she became seriously ill. When she arrived in Douzhou, where she was assigned, she feigned death within a few days.
But his elder brother Xia Wen couldn't do it.
It can't be that Xia Xun just died on the front foot, and his back foot followed.
In order to act more realistically, Xia Wen decided to serve a few months of hard labor, wait for the limelight to pass, and then find a chance to escape.
Most prisoners could not bear the hardships of hard labor, and not a few died after working for several months.
Xia Wen served in a mine.
This is a jade mine, which is rich in southern jade, and it is also the only place in Lingnan that produces jade.
Xia Wen served in the mine every day.
He Cong was still in Douzhou at that time, and he bought a broken thatched hut near the mine with money, and placed Xia Xun there.
Xia Xun's illness was very serious, and it took him a lot of time to recover. He Cong took care of him wholeheartedly.
Because he was afraid that Xia Xun's identity would be found out, he didn't dare to hire any servants, and he was the only one from the beginning to the end.
He had never been in a kitchen in his life. In order to make a bite for Xia Xun, he had to hold back in the kitchen for three hours. Without a teacher, he cooked a bowl of gruel with a burnt smell, which barely filled Xia Xun's stomach. .
After that, his culinary skills soared miraculously, and he was able to cook a table of dishes for Xia Xun.
Prisoners in the mine are not allowed to enter and exit, but guard officers and soldiers are allowed. They often go to the town outside the mine to eat, drink and have fun during their shifts.
Every time they come in and out, they will pass the path in front of Xia Xun's door.
During that time, Xia Xun was recuperating in bed, doing nothing, often looking out the window in a daze.
The window of his room was facing the path, and the group of officers and soldiers was the only living thing he could see besides He Cong.
Xia Xun relied on being in the room by himself, so people outside couldn't see him, and he always stared at the group of people unscrupulously.
Over time, he could remember the faces of all of them.
Later, Xia Xun's body gradually recovered, and she was able to get out of bed and walk slowly. Xia Wen also found an opportunity, repeated the same trick, and escaped by feigning death.
The two brothers left that hut and lived in a more remote place.
Since then, Xia Xun has never seen those officers and soldiers again.
After seven years, he almost forgot about it.
But just yesterday, his sealed memory was suddenly restarted, and he remembered those faces again.
—At least half of the Baiyue people who followed him and Qi Yan were officers and soldiers in the mine back then.
After Xia Xun finished speaking, Qi Yan didn't seem surprised, and just asked him:
"Why did the officers and soldiers guarding the prisoners in the mine travel thousands of miles to Binzhou to kill you?"
Xia Xun believes that Qi Yan can definitely think of the answer to the question.
He is asking knowingly.
Xia Xun looked straight into the depths of his eyes, and said in a deep voice:
"They killed me because of you."