"Listen." Bai Chun made a silent gesture to Li Hong, then tilted his ear to listen to the sounds coming from the mountains and forests in the distance.
"Listen to me. If you can't catch fish, you can't catch fish. Don't keep making excuses. Today you will gut the fish. It's been snowing for four nights and three days. There are many trees in the mountain forest, and there are not a few trees in the forest. The dead branches were broken by the snow?" Li Hong looked at Bai Chun, who was still listening attentively, and explained.
"But... it doesn't sound like it." The sky and earth covered with white snow began to refract dazzling light since the sun came out. Looking at the snow in front of you from a distance, you can't help but feel dazzling.
Therefore, Li Hong is very self-aware and never looks in the direction Bai Chun's finger points.
Bai Qi's arrival a few days ago made Bai Chun become sensitive. He was always looking forward to someone finding them under Bai Qi's leadership, but he also struggled with not wanting someone to find them as soon as possible and disturb their current situation. Life.
Her beautiful eyes narrowed and she looked at the white snow in the distance. The fishing rod in her hand hung weakly on the river, looking into the distance as if hoping to find something.
But someone who finally caught a fish put all his thoughts on fishing. There was a soft line hanging in the hole in the ice, looking forward to another fish biting the hook.
"Your Highness, look, is it Bai Qi? It seems so. There are people following behind him." Bai Chun screamed repeatedly, not caring about the fishing rod, and pointed into the distance with his slender finger.
"Are they stupid? Instead of taking this village's only road to the outside world, they went all the way over the mountains and ridges?" Li Hong said lazily, not bothering to look into the distance.
"But it seems..."
"Hey, it's probably them." Li Hong seemed to have remembered something, put down his fishing rod and set up an awning and began to look into the distance.
"Why did you believe it again?" Bai Chun turned around and asked strangely.
"Bai Qi's silly thing, it followed the residual smell and the smell of blood from the mountains and forests to find here, and found us. If it wanted to bring them to us, it would naturally follow the path Bai Qi took. It's impossible. He's taking the right path," Li Hong said, looking at the figures that emerged from the dense forest intermittently after Bai stood up.
"This... how many people are here?" Bai Chun asked in surprise.
Li Hong turned his head and looked at the straight snowy road along the stream. This was the only road leading to the outside world. At this time, the sound of horse hooves seemed to be heard in the distance.
After a while, the villagers in the small mountain village seemed to hear the faint sound of horse hooves in the distance. They walked out in twos and threes from their homes with their sleeves rolled up and their necks locked, looking in the direction of the sound of the cavalry.
What came out of the forest was a group of people from the Pagoda Camp led by Lawless. At this moment, under the leadership of Bai Qi, they rushed here one step at a time.
Where the sound of horse hoofbeats was heard, there were obviously more people. The soft snowy road was flattened by the hoofs of the horses in front, and the hoofs of the horses behind made a rumble sound, rolling towards this side.
Li Hong looked at the direction of the sound of horse hooves, and then at the many figures running from the mountains and forests in the distance. Fortunately, the mountains in the distance were not very steep, and there were no cliff-like faults.
Otherwise, the rumble of horse hooves might cause an avalanche in the distant mountains.
"Who brought people into the village? Why is there such a big fanfare?" Li Hong frowned. As the sound of horse hooves got closer and closer, he could naturally tell that the number of people was obviously not a few, or even a lot.
Just when he and Bai Chun were still wondering, they saw a few fast horses running into the village entrance. Then, to the surprise of Li Hong and Bai Chun, a commoner wearing civilian clothes rolled down from the horse. He stood tremblingly in front of the tall war horse, pointing to a farmhouse, and didn't know what he was saying.
Just as he was talking, the villager Li Hong had exchanged the earring for saw that his door was suddenly surrounded by soldiers. He was so frightened that he sat down on the ground. His face had long lost the color and turned pale. Incomparable.
What made the villager even more weak and felt a heat in his crotch was that he saw a dark mass of cavalry running behind the soldiers who surrounded his yard.
The black armor exudes a cold black light against the white snow all over the mountains and plains. The sunlight shines on the two bright colors, making people involuntarily feel a ruthless murderous intention that is as real as reality.
"It's just... that's him, sir. I really don't know where he got it from." The farmer got off his horse, pointed at the villagers sitting on the ground, and stammered.
The villagers who originally ran out of their homes to watch the fun, when they saw so many troops suddenly breaking into the small mountain village, they hurried back to their homes one by one, and the door bolts were pressed against the door immediately. , each one hid in the corner, shivering all over, and listening to the sounds outside.
The hiding villagers huddled in the corner and stared. Some of the more courageous villagers, especially the women, were as scared as their own men at the moment, but their ability to have long tongues had not disappeared.
"You saw it, that earring must have caused the trouble. I knew those two people were not good people. A wealthy family must have come to catch them. Those earrings must have been stolen by the young couple." The woman looked at it. He looked at his man and rolled his eyes.
"Shut up, this is not our business." The man glared at the prodigal woman who spoke loudly, and scolded her in a low voice.
The other family was no different from this one. It was just a couple with their children and an old man. At this time, they had hid in the only cellar in the yard. The family was huddled together, shivering.
"That earring must be an ominous thing. Those young people, after this matter is over, we must drive them away to see how much disaster they have brought to the village."
"Oh, I thought I made a profit when I changed the earrings. Now I'm fine. I went to the city to sell the earrings. The good things I bought will be taken back before I can enjoy them."
"You have your life to take it, but you have no life to live it." The old man sat in the cellar and said as if to sum up.
Pei Xingjian looked at the villagers sitting on the ground, whose legs were too weak to stand up. He smiled helplessly, got off his horse with a gentle smile, and walked to the village where he was sitting on the ground. The crotch of his pants had melted a lot of snow on the ground. The villagers came forward and said harmoniously: "Don't be afraid, I won't hurt anyone here. We are soldiers of the Tang Dynasty. I just ask you, do you know the owner of this earring? Why is this earring..."
"Can you please be quieter? In this village, there are probably eleven out of ten people who think you are bandits coming to rob you." Li Hong's voice sounded in the distance.
Pei Xingjian, who was squatting in front of the villagers, looked happy. He quickly stood up and looked up. He saw His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Miss Bai Chun, each holding a simple fishing rod in their hands, slowly walking towards them.
"My lord..." Pei Xingjian took two quick steps and was about to salute.
"Forget it, I'm not afraid of scaring others, so I retreated five miles away from the village entrance. There are not so many people in this village as you brought, and why are those idiots running over from the mountain?" Li Hong pointed to the figure in the distance who was still running towards the village under the leadership of Bai Qi and said.
"Yes, Your Majesty... Young Master." Pei Xingjian saw Li Hong glare at him and quickly changed his words.
Pei Xingjian immediately began to order these soldiers to leave the village and camp five miles away from the village entrance. However, he and several Zhechong captains were left behind by Li Hong.
Still holding the fishing rod in one hand, Li Hong and Bai Chun led them to their "home". For the two villagers, Li Hong patted their shoulders comfortingly and told them not to be afraid.
As for the villager brought here by Pei Xingjian, he was probably the only literate man within fifty miles.
It was naturally up to Pei Xingjian to find someone to do the job of settling the husband and dispelling the villagers' fears. After many years in Tubo, if he didn't have the ability to do this, Pei Xingjian's right servant should be dismissed.
"How long have you been here, Master?" Pei Xingjian asked as he followed behind.
"It's been almost two months. How are things going in Xingyang?" Li Hong asked calmly as he declined the help of several officials behind him to bring him the fishing rod.
The low walls of the houses on both sides of the road were like cabbages stored by the people after winter. They were lined with neat black heads, each secretly looking at the group of people led by the new villagers. Go back.
"The matter in Xingyang has been dealt with. The county magistrate Zhang Da'an, the head of the Zheng family in Xingyang and other elders have been imprisoned in the prison and will be personally supervised by your Futu camp." Pei Xingjian and Li Hong walked to a simple wooden house. Stop.
Then they saw Li Hong and Bai Chun. They didn't invite them in. Instead, they opened the door calmly and walked in. After placing the fishing rods, they saw the prince and Bai Chun looking at each other and saying at the same time: "Bad." Yes, the fish basket is still by the stream."
After finishing speaking, Bai Chun was seen holding up the hem of her skirt and running to the stream not far ahead, and Li Hong's voice sounded behind him: "Remember to take mine, there are two fish in mine."
"I might have run away early at this time." When Bai Chun heard that His Highness was showing off the fish he caught again, he began to wonder whether he should just speak out later.
Looking at the two princes and Bai Chun, who were busy working on their own, Pei Xingjian was startled and asked, "Your Highness, are you... fishing in the snow?"
"Why don't you go? I am idle, and there are not many things I can do. I can only be like a wandering cloud and wild crane, traveling around the mountains and rivers, and fishing to cultivate my temperament." Li Hong watched Bai Chun go there with a fish basket in one hand. Go back.
Not far behind her, a wolf howl suddenly resounded throughout the world, and there seemed to be a trace of excitement in the aloof howl.
(End of chapter)