Rune

Chapter 21

The spring breeze is warm, and the season has entered summer. There is no harsh winter wind, only the sun is warm and the vegetation is flying. In this barren yellow sandy land, there are still many small trees that grow tenaciously, with mottled leaf shadows, like the day reversed. Little by little, in such a comfortable environment, time seems to pass faster.

In a blink of an eye, another month has passed. People in Yucheng live a simple life and have simple memories. The big talisman a few months ago and the female teacher who has been with him for more than five years have become people who are not frequented in their minds. The node, just think of it occasionally, chat a few words.

And the short-haired scholar who has never had a sense of presence has naturally been ignored by people for a long time. Few people noticed that he hadn't appeared in Yucheng for a long time.

Outside the Great Wall, at Yuxiakou, this small military fortress with only a dozen soldiers has maintained its appearance for many years. Every morning, the soldiers wear armor and go to patrol the commercial roads. It has been like this for many years.

During this time, there were fewer and fewer horse thieves, and they hadn't met face-to-face for almost several months. Occasionally, some figures missed their heads in the distance, and the other party quickly turned around and fled desperately towards the edge of sight.

The awareness of the horse thieves saved the people at Yuxiakou a lot of effort. Xu Baiyan didn't need to pay tuition fees, so he didn't have to worry about the lack of horse thieves.

Everything was scattered like this, and continued in a flat manner. Xu Baiyan was still writing talismans every day, but there were still only traces of pen and ink across the paper, but there were no symbols.

From time to time, he would think of his mysterious teacher, wonder who she was, and guess who she had provoked.And most of the time, people will feel deeply awed by the terrifying strength she displayed.

However, when she thought that she was in such a deadly environment, she still had the heart to come back to take away her beloved flagon, and she didn't say anything when she was done, and she felt helpless and angry for no reason!It seems that I am just a passer-by in her weird life.

And at her last moment, what did the phrase 'you are not a talisman, you are a talisman' mean.

Forget it, it's useless to think about it, all these questions have no clue.Xu Baiyan could only stay with Huang Sha in this fortress, waiting for when the caravan going to the imperial capital would pass by here.

Gradually, the summer heat dissipated a little and the weather turned cooler.
Today, a caravan came to Yuxiakou. A large caravan, looking from a distance, the queue of hundreds of people is long, and around the queue, you can see the guards following the escort, holding spears and round shields in their hands, Follow the road signs and walk in the direction of Yuxiakou.

At night, the caravan finally arrived at Yuxiakou, and the accompanying people took out the caravan's route documents, and the night shift soldiers in the middle of the fortress took it over, took a look, and then a complicated taste flashed in their eyes.

"Everyone, this military fortress is too small, there are only three rooms available, so the others can only pitch tents around."

People like this kind of businessmen have long been accustomed to the life of living in the wind, eating and sleeping in the open, and they bring enough tents and bedding with them, so that night, more than a hundred large tents were erected around the mouth of Yuxia, and a tent was set up between the tents. The stove was lit, the bonfire was lit, the rice and meat were put into the pot, and the smoke from the cooking was rising for a while, and it felt like a small village from a distance.

And in a hut in the Yuxia Military Village, a dozen or so soldiers didn't have the heart to eat, so they all got together.
"Is it really going to the capital?"

"Well, I've read it several times. It came around from the Great Barren Mountain. The inkstone, mahogany, wrought iron, and documents belonged to the Great Qin Military Department. There are talismans engraved on the wheels. It can't be wrong."

"." There was a long silence, and everyone looked at the boy sitting in the middle.

"You must be leaving, right?" Finally a person asked.

Xu Baiyan nodded without much hesitation: "That's natural."

The people around knew this was the result, so there were no sour words to hold back or melancholy. Qin Jun has this kind of temperament, kill if you want to kill, die if you want to die, and leave if you want to leave.

"How big is Chaodu?" A person suddenly asked.

"It's huge. It may take two days to walk from the east to the west."

"So big? There must be a lot of people. Didn't you fall into the crowd and never find it again?

"I'm sure I can't find it. I heard that a few years ago, when watching the lanterns, someone accidentally fell, lay on the ground and couldn't get up, and was trampled to death." Someone responded.

He gasped a few times: "It was very dangerous at that time, it's not like our place, the biggest thing is just to slaughter a horse thief's den, how leisurely it is"

The people in the house were chatting without saying a word, and the firewood in the house made crackling noises from time to time.

Xu Baiyan smiled: "I know you can't bear to part with me"

"." It was silent again, and there were a few disdainful hummings from around.

I have watched this child grow up since I was a child, how could I really not want to, don't read.

"I'll go to the imperial capital for the time being, pass the school exam, pay back the money, enter the way of talisman, and come back."

"Tsk." Someone pouted casually: "There's no need to be so hypocritical, don't think we really care about you, but you're gone, how do we get military achievements every year, how old are we, can we still be like you?" Chasing horse thieves?"

"Uh, but I did the math a few days ago, the military achievements that Lao Xu has accumulated are enough for us to spend a few years at leisure."

"Ah?" One person said in surprise, "Is that so? Then...then there shouldn't be any problem."

"Looking at it this way, it seems that there is no problem. If you want to leave, then go, and you can save some military rations."

Several people were counting on the sidelines.

Xu Baiyan pursed his lips, didn't thank him, and lowered his eyes, only grateful to these lovely veterans in his heart.

"Let's go, go drink. There must be good wine in the caravan. I need two jugs!"

"Yes, let's go drink!"

In this way, this nondescript farewell ended. In the eyes of these frontier soldiers, it seemed that the major event of life and death was nothing more than a meal of wine.

The night is still dark, the black and white moon hangs in the sky, the stars are like waterfalls, and the small frontier camp is full of wine.With the guards accompanying the caravan, there is no need for people from the Yuxia Pass to patrol at night, so after so many years, it is rare for the entire camp to get together.

Only drinking, only bragging, only fabricating those never-before-seen experiences of flowers, no one mentions that after the caravan leaves tomorrow, there will be a missing figure in this small frontier, and through the drunkenness, we will cry and laugh wantonly, anyway, in the end Can rely on wine, no one jokes.
Soon, the frontier men who had licked their blood turned into drunken bodies lying on the ground.

Xu Baiyan persisted to the end and won the greatest respect from everyone in Yuxiakou.

Staggering to his feet, he walked back to his single room, sat by the bed, took advantage of the light from the window, and began to tidy up the pens, inks, papers and inkstones he had used for many years, and counted the money that Xie Qingwan had left for him. Counting the days, I went to the imperial capital, and it seemed that I could just catch up with the school's recruitment exam.

Although Xu Baiyan was reluctant, he was also satisfied, smiled, put the packed salute beside his pillow, and closed his eyes.
He was a little fortunate that he drank a lot of wine today.

Otherwise, I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep at all this night.
(End of this chapter)