At dusk, the setting sun dragged Lang Junxia's figure for a long, long time, and the setting sun cast a little peripheral light from outside the wall, like a beacon outside the fortress dyed on blue bricks.
"Lang Junxia! Lang Junxia!" Duan Ling rushed across the corridor, ran to Lang Junxia, and shouted, "My father is back!"
Lang Junxia smiled slightly, turned to Duan Ling, and nodded.
"He..." Duan Ling ran out of breath and stood panting.
"I see." Lang Junxia said.
"But he said his surname is Li, and my surname is Li too. His name is not Duan Sheng." Duan Ling frowned.
Lang Junxia said, "You have grown up, Duan Ling."
Duan Ling looked at Lang Junxia inexplicably, and Lang Junxia said, "I'm going out tonight to do something."
Duan Ling said, "Didn't you just come back? Are you going out again?"
Lang Junxia didn't explain, just stretched out his hand, Duan Ling looked blank, walked towards him, Lang Junxia hugged Duan Ling in front of him.
"That's good." Lang Junxia said.
He hugged Duan Ling, then separated from him, asked him to stand, lift up the front of his robe, and knelt on his knees in front of Duan Ling.
"Hey!" Duan Ling stepped forward to help him, but Lang Junxia motioned him not to move and bowed down.
"Don't let it go." Lang Junxia said.
"Wait a minute!" Duan Ling realized something and said, "You're leaving? Where are you going? Dad! Dad!"
"Yes." Lang Junxia knelt on the ground, raised his head, held Duan Ling's hand, and looked at him, "I went to Runan to find you, fortunately not to be disgraced, now that your father and son meet again, my mission It has also been completed, and the matter of going to Beijing can also come to an end.”
"You... don't leave! You promised to accompany me, didn't you?"
"Perhaps, at most a year and a half, at least a few months, we will see you again." Lang Junxia said, "But you have a palace... and your father takes care of you. Even if you want thousands of miles of the Central Plains, he can give it to you. I am right. You, have... I have more important things to do."
"Don't go, Lang Junxia!" Duan Ling's eyes suddenly turned red, but Lang Junxia smiled and got up.
"Duanling." Lang Junxia said, "I'm just a passerby for you. From now on, you have to listen to your father's words. In this world, if there is someone who will treat you wholeheartedly, they will not deceive you, and they will save their lives when they are in danger. You, do your best to plan for you in everything, and there is no one else but him."
Duan Ling clenched Lang Junxia's hand tightly, dragged him into the room, and said, "No! No way! You need to clarify where you are going first, and come back in a few days!"
Lang Junxia was like a mountain, motionless, but Li Jianhong's voice sounded behind the two of them.
"Dad sent him to investigate something." Li Jianhong said, "If this matter is not investigated clearly, Dad will not be at ease for a day."
Lang Junxia was busy and wanted to kneel on one knee again, and Li Jianhong made a gesture, indicating that there was no need to be more polite.
Duan Ling was very uncomfortable, and Lang Junxia said seriously: "Duan Ling, be obedient, I will come back."
Duan Ling had to slowly let go.
"After returning to the south, you don't need to mention me again." Li Jianhong said again.
"Yes." Lang Junxia replied.
Duan Ling still had something to say, but he didn't know how to exit, but Li Jianhong said, "Let's go now, before the city gate is closed."
Lang Junxia bowed and said, "I retire."
"Can't we leave tomorrow?" Duan Ling asked blankly, but Lang Junxia had already raised a gust of wind and disappeared at the end of the corridor.
"Wait!" Duan Ling said, "I'll bring you some..."
Duan Ling turned his head and went in. He was in a hurry. He was about to pack things for Lang Junxia, but he heard the sound of horses' hooves. Lang Junxia actually said that he would leave. Duan Ling ran out with the half-packed luggage that Lang Junxia had sorted out. fluttering in.
Duan Ling still didn't react, Lang Junxia just left, everything came too suddenly today, more than all the things he had accepted in five years combined, he chased after him and shouted in a panic : "Lang Junxia! Lang Junxia!"
There was no longer Lang Junxia in the distance, Duan Ling stared blankly. Li Jianhong came, but Lang Junxia left, like the sun and the moon, the tide rises and falls, and everything came so suddenly.
Li Jianhong frowned deeply, looked at Duan Ling, and wanted to hug him, but Duan Ling was extremely sad, just standing and gasping for breath, his face was flushed, and he almost cried. Li Jianhong could settle everything, only Unable to hold back his son's tears, he was in a hurry, not knowing what to do.
"Dad really has something for him to do..." Li Jianhong said blankly, "How many days later? That's all..."
"No need." Duan Ling choked while wiping tears: "I understand."
"Don't cry." Li Jianhong said, "Your tears make Dad's head hurt."
Duan Ling couldn't laugh or cry, Li Jianhong picked him up and carried him home.
In the end, Duan Ling was sullen in his heart, so Li Jianhong had no choice but to coax him and talk to him. After a while, Duan Ling's mind slowly drifted away - just because during dinner, Li Jianhong promised him that after finishing the work Let Lang Junxia come back and serve him specially.
Duan Ling asked, "Really?"
Li Jianhong said: "If you want it, of course you have the final say."
Duan Ling always felt that something was wrong, as if the word "serving" was too heavy, and he should not have such a relationship with Lang Junxia.
Duan Ling was accustomed to the bossy manners of the aristocratic families in the famous hall. They had one or more servants for them to call and drink. Although Lang Junxia said that he was a "keep", their relationship was not the same as those people after all. .
"Although let him pick you up and take care of you." Li Jianhong said, "but I don't want to see my son become a handsome boy."
Duan Ling said: "Lang Junxia is a very good person."
"Yeah." Li Jianhong said casually, "A very, very good person, except that he almost put your father and my white knife in and out of the red knife over and over again, in general, it's not bad."
Duan Ling: "..."
"In addition to him, you will know many people in your life." Li Jianhong said, "You have to learn how to distinguish whether other people's intentions for you are sincere or flattering."
Duan Ling replied: "I don't understand, but I know he is sincere."
"Look at a person's eyes." Li Jianhong replied, "The people you are truly friends with often speak to you without thinking, and they always reveal their true nature in front of you, without any shrewdness."
"To know a person, you can't just look at the present." Li Jianhong said, "He has a past and a background."
Duan Ling said, "But the Master said that family background doesn't decide anything."
Li Jianhong said: "It's not about family background. No matter where a hero comes from, the family background doesn't matter. It's the background. What kind of person your friend is, his background accounts for half of it."
Duan Ling was told this by Li Jianhong, and suddenly he remembered, what kind of person Lang Junxia was in the past, never told him. Duan Ling often asks him, but Lang Junxia is tight-lipped and never mentions it.
"But Lang Junxia treats me very well." Duan Ling finally said, "His background should not be bad, he is a... um, to me, a good person."
Although it was sad to leave Lang Junxia, he quickly got used to Li Jianhong's arrival. In the past, Lang Junxia only let him study and take care of his daily life and diet, but he never taught others about the world. Instead, Li Jianhong said too much. During dinner, he told Duan Ling not to speak when he was chewing the food in his mouth, but to swallow it; if he asked Duan Ling any questions, he would answer patiently, and he would think about it from the beginning, and would not say "No." Ask, you'll understand later" to stop his question.
After the meal, Li Jianhong took Lang Junxia's place and sat by the well to draw water and wash dishes, and also washed Duan Ling's clothes, as if it was justified and natural. Duan Ling rested for a while and made tea for Li Jianhong. He suddenly thought that he might need to take a bath, so he took acacia and other items, pulled out the new robe that Lang Junxia had never worn, and waited for Li Jianhong to go to the bathhouse together.
The bathhouse in Shangjing was lit all night, and it was inconvenient to take a bath in winter. Lang Junxia often brought Duan Ling here to eat dried fruit, drink sweet mash, and listen to stories downstairs. Duan Ling was familiar with the road, took Li Jianhong's hand and walked into the bathroom, tiptoe counted silver taels in front of the counter, and instructed the bath worker, Li Jianhong just looked back, with a smile in his eyes.
Li Jianhong looked up at the brightly lit hall and said, "Dad doesn't have to take a shower, so there's no need to order people to come in."
Duan Ling thought that maybe Li Jianhong was not used to being served, so he had to give him a bath by himself. Duan Ling was startled when Li Jianhong undressed and showed a naked male body.
His body is full of scars, scars and arrow wounds, a horizontal sword mark on his strong and distinct abdominal muscles, an arrow scar on his chest, and a small burn mark on his broad back.
Li Jianhong let out a sigh of relief and lay down in the warm water pool. There were only the two of them in the pool. Duan Ling was holding a rough towel. , I don't have to be afraid."
"This is... how did you get it?" Duan Ling asked.
Duan Ling put his hand under Li Jianhong's rib, and Li Jianhong said, "This knife was left by Na Yantuo's stab."
"Who is Yantuo?" Duan Ling asked.
"It is said that he is the number one swordsman in the Western Regions, but now he is just a dead man." Li Jianhong said casually, "One sword for another, he stabbed me in the ribs, I stabbed him in the throat, it's fair."
Duan Ling asked, "What about here?"
Li Jianhong turned sideways and said, "Father met with Yuan people at Jade Bi Pass, and Zhebie shot through my armor with an arrow, leaving this scar."
"Where's Zhebie?" Duan Ling asked again.
"I escaped, I'm still alive." Li Jianhong replied, "But it won't last long. The back is burned by kerosene. You can try your best to rub it with your hands, so as not to be afraid of breaking the skin."
While rubbing Li Jianhong's body, Duan Ling silently counted the large and small scars on his body. Li Jianhong's naked body seemed to have a lot of patches, but it didn't make him feel scared at all, as if every scar With his vigorous and masculine naked body, there is a different kind of power and beauty.
"Have I seen this place?" Li Jianhong turned his face sideways and asked Duan Ling to look out of the corner of his eyes. Li Jianhong's nose is high and straight, his nose is very beautiful, his complexion is a healthy bronze color, but there is an inconspicuous scar at the corner of his eye, as if he had been bumped.
Duan Ling touched the corner of Li Jianhong's eyes and asked, "How did this come about?"
"Your mother has done a good deed." Li Jianhong said with a smile, he picked up a piece of cheese from the tea tray next to the bathtub and fed it to Duan Ling's mouth. Down.
Duan Ling felt very comfortable, Li Jianhong hugged him in front of him, and the two soaked in the water, their skins against each other.
"Why?" Duan Ling asked.
"Dad let her go, but she didn't want to." Li Jianhong said, "that night she slapped Dad on the face with a vase from Kelsu's tent, king of the Huns, and she was really cruel. Are you and your mother a bit similar? Humans and animals are harmless, and they can do anything if they are anxious."
Duan Ling: "..."
"What happened later?" Duan Ling asked, "Did you fight back?"
"Of course not." Li Jianhong said, "How can you be willing?"
Li Jianhong sighed and hugged Duan Ling, as if he was holding his entire world in his arms.
"Have I seen her?" Li Jianhong asked.
"No." Duan Ling turned sideways and rested on Li Jianhong's chest.
After taking a bath, Li Jianhong was dressed in a green robe, and Lang Junxia's new clothes still looked a little small on him. The father and son went home in the spring breeze along the alley. Li Jianhong carried his son on his back and walked slowly along the bluestone road. In this bright, late spring, Shangjing is like a young girl who wakes up, stretching out lazily.
The pear blossoms fluttered, shuttled under the moonlight, and landed on the empty path.
"Father." Duan Ling was a little sleepy, lying on Li Jianhong's back.
"Well." Li Jianhong seemed to be thinking.
Today is the first day that Duan Ling saw Li Jianhong and knew him, but Duan Ling found strangely that they seemed to have known each other for a long time. It was a kind of familiarity that was born without any greetings, and the tacit understanding seemed to be deep. The earth is imprinted in their souls, and there is no need to introduce themselves or ask each other questions. It seems that Li Jianhong has been by Duan Ling's side for the past ten years. came back.
All the troubles are gone away from him, just because of the current sense of security - that is a feeling that as long as he finds himself, he will never leave, just like in this vast world, Duan Ling has been born from birth, Follow him and live in his world.
"Father, how old are you?" Duan Ling asked casually.
"Twenty-nine years old." Li Jianhong said, "When I met your mother, my father was not much older than you, and just turned sixteen."
"Is my mother beautiful?" Duan Ling asked.
Li Jianhong replied leisurely: "Nature is very beautiful. When she laughs, the snow on the permafrost will melt; there is no place in the south of the Yangtze River in the vast desert. That year, under the fountain of crying blood, my father saw it for the first time. I fell in love with her when she was young, otherwise how could I have you?"
"That… "
"Ok?"
Duan Ling didn't ask any more questions, he felt that he shouldn't ask any more, and his father might be sad.
"Did the Duan family treat you badly when you were in Runan?" Li Jianhong asked.
Duan Ling was silent for a moment, then lied and said, "No, they know you're coming, so treat me well."
Li Jianhong said with an "um", "Lang Junxia betrayed me three times and indirectly killed tens of thousands of people. In his life, he was burdened by his temperament and acted recklessly. In the final analysis, if he hadn't thought of it for a while, Father and your mother, and you, will not be separated for so many years."
Duan Ling: "..."
Li Jianhong said: "Fortunately, he has not lost his humanity, and finally brought you out of Runan, which is also a fateful cause and effect. I promise him to protect you well, and it will be regarded as atonement for his sin, otherwise he will be under the sword. , will hunt him down to the ends of the earth, and he will never be able to show his face in this life."
Duan Ling seemed to have heard a Lang Junxia whom he had never known and asked, "What did he do?"
"It's a long story." Li Jianhong thought about it and said, "Let's talk about it slowly when you come to Rikong. After you know his background, if you consider him as a close friend again, your father will naturally not be reluctant. You. Do you want to hear it now?"
Duan Ling couldn't believe it, but he believed that his father would not lie to him, so he nodded.
"You must be very tired today." Li Jianhong said, "Go to sleep."
Back at home, Li Jianhong let him lie down on the couch, Duan Ling still pulled his sleeves and looked at Li Jianhong intently.
Li Jianhong thought for a while, and realized what Duan Ling had not said, he smiled, took off his robe, and slept beside Duan Ling with his chest bare and wearing only a pair of knee-length panties.
Duan Ling hugged his waist, rested on his arm, and fell asleep in a daze.
The wind passed through the pine forest, as if the slaughter of thousands of troops was rampant. In the middle of the night, the distant battlefield, the splash of blood, and the grief roar of comrades before they died, once again turned into a boundless nightmare and struck in an instant.
Li Jianhong shouted, suddenly woke up, and sat up.
"Father!" Duan Ling was startled, his heart was beating wildly, he got up in a hurry, and saw Li Jianhong's body soaked in sweat, sitting on the bed, gasping for breath.
"Father?" Duan Ling asked worriedly, "Are you all right?"
"I had a nightmare." Li Jianhong said with lingering fears, "It's okay, did I scare you?"
"What did you dream about?" Duan Ling often had nightmares when he was a child, dreaming that he was beaten, but as he got older, the shadow of Runan in the past has faded.
"Murder." Li Jianhong closed his eyes and replied, "I also dreamed of my dead subordinates."
Duan Ling pressed his hand on Shaoyang Sanjiao to help him soothe his nerves, and Li Jianhong gradually lay down with his eyes wide open.
Duan Ling curled up in his arms, pillowed in front of his chest, and played with the jade Huang tied under his neck.
"Just take it slow." Duan Ling said.
"My son often has nightmares too?" Li Jianhong asked after recovering his energy.
"Before." Duan Ling played with Jade Huang, his eyes fixed.
"What did you dream about?" Li Jianhong asked.
Duan Ling hesitated a bit, and did not dare to tell Li Jianhong that he was beaten in Runan, after all, it was all over.
"Dream of Mother." Duan Ling finally said.
Li Jianhong said: "You haven't seen your mother's face. You should have dreamed of the pain you suffered during your life, birth, old age, sickness and death, all of which are calamities and will gradually get better."
Duan Ling said, "I won't do it now. Tomorrow I'll buy you some soothing herbs and decoct them."
"I can't believe that someone in my Li family is good at the art of Qi and Huang." Li Jianhong laughed, turned to his side, put Duan Ling in his arms, and pressed it against the bridge of his nose, saying, "What do you want to do in the future? You want to practice medicine. ?"
Duan Ling said: "I don't know, Lang Junxia said..."
Duan Ling wanted to say that what Lang Junxia taught him was to study hard, to achieve a great career in the future, and not to disappoint your father, but Li Jianhong said: "I don't need to care what others say, what do you want to do in the future? , just do what."
This is the first time Duan Ling has heard such words. In the former famous hall, up to the master, down to the servant, they all think that people go to high places and water flows to low places. , is to strive for the upper reaches.
Li Jianhong stroked his son's forehead, looked into his eyes, and said, "My son wants to practice medicine, practice martial arts, even if he wants to become a monk, as long as you are happy."
Duan Ling laughed. No one had ever told him that he could become a monk if he wanted to.
Li Jianhong said solemnly, "I saw you speak so eloquently this afternoon, I think you still love to play, are you not happy to read?"
"I can't talk about whether I'm happy or not." Duan Ling thought for a while and replied, "I want to read books, but I prefer to grow flowers."
Li Jianhong nodded and said, "It would be good to be a gardener in the future."
Duan Ling said: "The Master said that all things are inferior, only reading is high."
"Reading is good." Li Jianhong sighed and said, "But if you really don't like it, Dad won't force you. Dad just wants you to be happy."
"Then I'll switch to planting flowers tomorrow." Duan Ling closed his eyes with a smile, and put the jade Huang tied around his father's neck on his eyelids, with Li Jianhong's body temperature on it.
Li Jianhong smiled, hugged Duan Ling, closed his eyes, and lowered his head to smell the fresh acacia smell on his hair.
Duan Ling fell asleep again unconsciously, and it was morning when he opened his eyes again. Li Jianhong was naked and practicing martial arts in the courtyard. He played with a long stick so loudly that it rolled up peach blossoms all over the ground, and then swayed it in an instant. go out.
Duan Ling came out yawning. Seeing Li Jianhong retracting his stick, he switched to a set of palm techniques, making wrong cuts, and pushing, turning palms, and covering his hands, with an extremely handsome expression of concentration.
Duan Ling watched for a while, before Li Jianhong closed his palms and asked, "Do you want to learn?"
Duan Ling nodded, and Li Jianhong began to teach him every move. Duan Ling said, "But I haven't practiced the horse stance, so I can't do it in the next set."
Li Jianhong replied, "No matter what, as long as you are happy, it will be fine."
Duan Ling: "..."
Duan Ling imitated Li Jianhong and played the palm technique for a round. Li Jianhong didn't say whether he was playing right or not, but just taught him a little bit, and said: "It's done, learn a little first, if you are interested, turn back Practice again, this is called 'exploring the simple'."
Duan Ling laughed, this temper was too much to his liking, he was getting a little tired from the fight, and Li Jianhong knew it was time to have breakfast. After breakfast, Duan Ling habitually waited for the phrase "go to study", but Li Jianhong didn't mean to urge him at all.
"Dad, I want to plant flowers." Duan Ling said.
Li Jianhong signaled him to go, and Duan Ling went to the flowerbed to play with his plants, while Li Jianhong chopped some bamboo and prepared to make a bamboo canal for him to water the flowers.
With no one to supervise, Duan Ling was still a little uneasy, and after busying himself for a while, he went to study again.
"Is your conscience going?" Li Jianhong sat outside the study with a tea bowl, looking up at the white clouds floating in the sky.
Duan Ling had to say: "Well, I always feel uneasy."
Li Jianhong said: "It seems that I still want to study."
Duan Ling was a little embarrassed. For a few days, Li Jianhong stayed in the mansion and never forced Duan Ling to do this or that. He could do whatever he wanted, even if he didn't do anything, he could just sit and drink tea in a daze. But Duan Ling's temper was always like that. He was not happy to press his head. No one urged him. Instead, he became bored. Therefore, without Li Jianhong's urging, he read books on his own every day, and sometimes pretended to follow Li Jianhong to learn a few lessons. Palm down.
Li Jianhong seemed to be inseparable from Duan Ling for a moment. Even if he went to the street to buy vegetables, he would take him with him. He would never let him out of his sight. .
And Li Jianhong was always thinking, and one day Duan Ling finally couldn't help asking him.
"Father." Duan Ling said, "What are you thinking?"
"I miss my son." Li Jianhong said.
Duan Ling laughed, put down the book, and went to pester him, Li Jianhong seemed to have troubles that could not be solved, and looked at Duan Ling, but his eyes were very gentle.
"You're not happy." Duan Ling put his hands on Li Jianhong's face on both sides, shook his head, and asked, "Anything on your mind?"
He felt that, except for the first few days of meeting, Li Jianhong always seemed to have something on his mind.
"Yes." Li Jianhong said, "Dad has been worrying about what he can give you."
Duan Ling said with a smile, "I want to eat jasper dumplings from Wuhe Tinghai."
"Of course I'm going." Li Jianhong set off to take Duan Ling out to eat something good, and held Duan Ling's hand, saying, "But it's not all about snacks."
Duan Ling looked at Li Jianhong in confusion.
"Do I want to go home?" Li Jianhong asked Duan Ling.
Duan Ling understood, just like what he heard in Mingtang, the Han people wanted to go home.
"Father wants to give you something that you deserve." Li Jianhong said.
"I'm very satisfied." Duan Ling said, "Human, you have to be content and happy. Lang..."
Duan Ling almost called out to the yard for Lang Junxia, but remembered that he had already left, and had to say "Oh, he hasn't come back yet".
It has been a long time since Lang Junxia left, but Duan Ling is used to thinking that he is still at home. What has he been sent to do? Why haven't you been back for so long? He felt that his father didn't like him talking about Lang Junxia very much.
Every time Duan Ling mentioned him, Li Jianhong was not without jealousy.
"When will Lang Junxia come back?" Duan Ling's daily question has been changed from "When will my father come back?" Li Jianhong replied, "He is preparing a new home to welcome you back."