Under the sky

Chapter 238

In August, this was Xie Yunjin's first time to admire the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival. He didn't feel that the moon tonight was particularly round.Master Jin specially killed a goose as a tooth sacrifice. Life on the mountain was much more difficult than in Guigu Palace, but this was the young master's first Mid-Autumn Festival, so it didn't hurt to be a little more luxurious.

"Are we just waiting here?" Xie Yunjin asked.He has since recovered from his injuries but is still restricted to the area around the house and cannot go down the mountain.

"If dad doesn't come for one year, we'll have to wait for one year. If he doesn't come for three years, we'll have to wait for three years. What if he doesn't come for ten years?"

"The old slave will accompany the young master." Master Jin said, "You are not alone."

It's just a matter of changing from one prison to another. Xie Yunjin shook his head: "I don't want it, I want to leave here."

Master Jin frowned: "Master, be obedient. Besides, where are you going?"

Xie Yunjin was speechless for a moment, not knowing where to go.

"You don't know where the master and the eldest young master live. They are young and don't know martial arts. This is the territory of the Sa tribe and there is danger at any time." Master Jin said, "This is the safest place."

"You know where to find dad, right?" Xie Yunjin asked, "Don't you have a way to contact dad's men?"

"Then we must return to the pass first." Jin Fuzi said, "We have no way to go back."

"You have to find a way!" Xie Yunjin said anxiously, "There must be a way back!"

Master Jin said: "Kongtong has guarded the border gates tightly, and Sanlong Pass is full of defenders. As long as there is a way through, the Iron Sword and Silver Guards have already blocked it. How can it be so easy?"

"I don't believe it!" Xie Yunjin's tone was firm, and he was not shaken by Jin Fuzi's words at all, "I don't believe it! I believe there must be a way! I can find a way down to Guigu Palace, how can this place be more dangerous than Guigu Palace? "

"You almost died." Master Jin said, "Isn't this enough for the young master to learn a lesson?"

"Even if I can't go back, I can't live here. This room is smaller than Guigu Palace!" Xie Yunyan said, "You can't lock me up!"

"Master, actually I can." Master Jin paused, and then continued to say to Xie Yunjin in astonishment, "I will find a way tomorrow, you can rest first. This is the Sa tribe area, we don't understand anything, and when we meet people It’s easy to get into trouble.”

Xie Yunjin had no choice but to nod in agreement.

Early the next morning, Master Jin prepared the day's meals and went out.Xie Yunjin was not idle, learning to take care of himself, feeding the geese, and hoeing the fields, but he was not familiar with these things, that is, he was not familiar with them. Only then did he realize that the geese were so fierce that they could chase him and even peck him. His arm was bruised, and because of this, he didn't dare to get too close to the cow. God knew the monster could knock him back to bed and stay there for a few months.So he plowed the fields, and all he got was a big blister all afternoon. He squatted on the ground, feeling a little aggrieved.

This grievance is nothing, it is just that feeding the geese and hoeing the ground are not as satisfactory as expected.The sun was setting in the west, and the afterglow of the setting sun was right in front of him. This was the beautiful scenery he had been dreaming of in the past. His heart felt sour, his eyes became red, tears couldn't stop flowing, and he sat at the door sobbing.

Jin Fuzi hurried back just to see him crying, so he hurriedly stepped forward to ask. Xie Yunjin wiped away his tears and said he was fine.Master Jin's face changed when he saw the bruises on his hands: "Just let the old slave do these things, there is no need for the young master to do it."

"Have you found the way?" Xie Yunjin asked.

Master Jin shook his head.

In September, the weather was getting colder. Master Jin went out every day for more than ten days, but made no progress. Xie Yunjin said, "Go further and take a look."

"If we go too far, we won't be able to come back in time to cook for the young master." Jin Fuzi said.

"Should I go look for it with you?" Xie Yunjin asked.

Master Jin shook his head: "Young master doesn't know martial arts, so it's better for me to use light kung fu to move faster and further."

"Let's prepare more dry food, walk farther, and find a way up the mountain." Xie Yunyan said, "There must be a way back. Why don't we go to the barbarians to find out."

"Master!" Master Jin scolded him sternly, "You can't call me a barbarian anymore, or you'll die if someone hears you!"

"Where are the living people here?" Xie Yunjin said angrily, "No! Not one!"

Master Jin saw him losing his temper and said, "If you want to go far, you have to think long term. It's September now, and it's winter in a blink of an eye. It's too dangerous to enter the snow-capped mountains in winter. Let's take advantage of these months to prepare more food and wait until next spring for a trip." .”

Xie Yunjin felt weird. Although Master Jin was right, why hadn't he thought of these things earlier? Instead, it seemed like he was delaying them?

A few days later, Master Jin went out to explore the road.Just after noon, Xie Yunjin was sitting at the door. A middle-aged man came from a distance. This place was remote and sparsely populated. Xie Yunjin hurriedly hid in the house.

The man walked straight over, looked outside the door for a while, and shouted to the door: "Shired, Shired!" Is he an acquaintance of Shired and his daughter?The man knocked on the door a few times, then pushed it open and walked in. He was a middle-aged man with a gray and white headscarf, blue clothes and a beard. When he saw Xie Yunjin, he asked in surprise: "Who are you?" ?Where are Sired and Rika?"

Xie Yunjin stood up calmly: "They moved away."

The man looked suspicious: "Moved?"

Xie Yunjin asked: "Who are you? What do you want from Sired?"

"My name is Wufu. I am a wool merchant. Sired hasn't sent any wool for a long time. I'm here to take a look. Young man, who are you?" Wufu asked.

"My name is Xie Yunjin. I just moved here. Sired sold the house to us." Xie Yunjin tried his best to answer conservatively, "They moved to another tribe."

"Are you Han?" Wufu frowned, "Why didn't you tell me? Didn't he still bear the charge of contradicting the priest? Did he say which tribe he would move to?" Wufu walked to the door and looked around, "Both cows and geese are Didn’t you take it with you?”

"We bought this house, gave a lot of silver, and bought the goose and the cow together."

Wufu was walking leisurely in the yard, and Xie Yunjin was afraid that he would notice the clues, so he followed behind.Wufu asked again: "You said you, who else besides you?"

"Yes...I'll follow you..." He wanted to say servant, but he immediately realized something was wrong. Why would a young master with a servant move to the barren mountains?This inevitably aroused further questioning, so he said, "I am following my uncle."

"Where did you live originally? Why did you move here?" Wufu kept asking.

"That's my private matter." Questions and answers will only lead to constant questioning. You must answer politely and forcefully, "Xired doesn't live here anymore. This is my home." Xie Yunjin looked around as he spoke. Look for any weapons you can find to avoid being unable to resist when in danger.

Wufu heard his dissatisfaction and said, "I just wanted to ask." He walked towards the back of the courtyard.Xie Yunjin was startled and quickly followed.

Uf saw two small mounds of earth and asked, "What are these?"

"My uncle turned over the soil and wanted to plant something." Xie Yunjin replied without changing his expression.

Uf asked: "What can you plant to turn the soil into this?"

Xie Yunjin replied: "I don't know. I'll tell you when my uncle comes back."

Wufu became suspicious and stepped forward to grab Xie Yunjin's wrist: "Did you kill Sired?"

Xie Yunjin couldn't get away and said anxiously: "What are you doing! What evidence do you have? Are you a robber?"

Wufu didn't dare to act rashly and said, "Don't leave, wait until I dig up this mound of soil to see what's going on!" After saying that, he threw off Xie Yunjin's wrist and went straight to dig the soil with a hoe, but Xie Yunjin couldn't stop him.

Wufu had only dug a few times when a figure suddenly broke in and hit Wufu with a stick on the right side of his face.This move was so powerful that Wufu was an ordinary person who had never learned martial arts. His neck bones were broken, his head turned around half a circle, his eyes rolled up blankly, his tongue stuck out, and he put it softly on his neck. His body was still He took two steps forward in a daze before lying down on the mound.

As if he was afraid that he would not die, Jin Fuzi took a step forward and slapped the corpse all over the body, one stick after another, and kept cursing: "Fuck! What are you doing! What are you doing! My name is You’re looking for death, I’m telling you to be looking for death! Fuck, why are you coming, why are you coming! Damn it! Damn it! Fuck your mother, why are you looking for death? Fuck! Why are you coming! Fuck!”

He kept yelling and swearing, and struck him dozens of times with the stick in his hand without stopping. The blood stained the wooden stick red.The corpse was like a piece of meat, until the stick broke, Jin Fuzi was still beating him with half of the stick. Xie Yunjin saw him gnashing his teeth, his eyes covered with red threads, looking like crazy and with a ferocious expression. He was a little scared and couldn't help but retreat. He drove a few steps and turned his head, not daring to look.

Only then did Master Jin notice, thinking that Xie Yunjin's lingering fear had not gone away, so he dropped the stick and took a deep breath. He walked towards Xie Yunjin, put his arm around his shoulders and said, "Master, I told you not to build graves for them. Isn't this tempting?" Did you notice?"

Xie Yunjin asked: "Why did you come back so early?"

Master Jin said: "The old slave couldn't find his way for a while. He wanted to try another direction. When he was returning, he happened to pass by and saw him digging a grave. He hurriedly helped the young master out of the siege."

Is there such a coincidence?Xie Yunjin was suspicious.When he was in danger, Master Jin just rushed back?Looking back on the past few months after falling off the cliff, Jin Fuzi seemed to be finding reasons at every turn not to let him leave...

He wanted to ask again, but saw that Master Jin's face, eyebrows, and clothes were all splattered with blood. He remembered his ferocious demeanor just now, and felt uneasy and a bit frightened, so he said, "You should clean up first."

Master Jin dragged Wufu's body to the mountain to find a ravine and threw it away. It was already night when he came back.He put on clean clothes and served the dinner with goat's milk and roasted barley cakes. Xie Yunjin saw that he was well-organized and respectful, so he was a little bit alarmed and stopped.

"I scared the young master this afternoon. Don't panic, young master." Jin Fuzi explained, "I saw him rushing into the young master, and I was angry and struck hard."

Xie Yunjin nodded: "It doesn't matter, Master takes care of me like this, I'm very happy."

Master Jin said happily: "Master, aren't you angry?"

Xie Yunjin forced a smile: "Master, you are all doing this for me, so there is nothing for me to be angry about."

Master Jin said happily: "Young master, it's good if you don't get angry."

Master Jin helped Xie Yunjin go to bed again, with a loving and caring face on his face, and made the floor beside the bed as usual.Xie Yunjin could not sleep peacefully, thinking about what happened today and what would happen next.

He felt that Master Jin didn't want him to leave here, even more than when he didn't want him to leave Guigu Palace. Master Jin might not have even tried to find a way out.But he cannot live without Master Jin to take care of him. He knows very well that he knows nothing. In such a place, it is difficult for him to survive without Master Jin.

He couldn't just sit there and wait for death, he had to get out of this predicament.

Early the next morning, Master Jin was fetching water to serve him. Xie Yunjin shook his head and said, "Master Jin, don't serve me anymore." Master Jin was puzzled and frowned and asked, "What do you mean, Master?"

Xie Yunjin looked directly at Master Jin: "Actually, you never found a way out, right?"

Master Jin was exposed to his face and was speechless for a moment. Xie Yunjin observed the teacher's face and continued: "I know you are doing it for my own good and don't want to disappoint me too much, so you lied to me. Master Jin, is it really impossible to go back?"

Master Jin sighed: "No matter whether the young master cries or makes trouble, we can't go back."

"Then let's go down the mountain." Xie Yunyan said, "If we can't go back, we have to live in the territory of the Sa tribe, and we will become Sa tribe people."

Master Jin was shocked and said: "People from the Sa tribe? Master, what are you talking about?"

"We can't continue to live here." Xie Yunyan said, "The wool merchant who died yesterday did not come home. His family will come soon, maybe in a few days. You can't kill them all. , they will find the body, and they will find us."

Master Jin was silent for a long time. He knew that the young master was right, but he looked hesitant.Xie Yunjin saw that Master Jin did not want to move out of the hut, otherwise Jin Master would have thought of this when he committed the murder yesterday, but he delayed, as if he was still lucky.

After leaving Guigu Palace, Master Jin revealed something unusual. In other words, Master Jin had been particularly "concerned" about Xie Yunjin since he was rescued by Master Jin at the bottom of the valley.It's not that Master Jin didn't care about him before, it was just a vague change, but Xie Yunjin couldn't tell what kind of change it was.

"What I said doesn't make sense?" Xie Yunjin asked.

"The young master is right," Master Jin said, "We have to move to a safe place as soon as possible."

"It's September now, and the mountain is deserted. We saw it when we went down the mountain." Xie Yunyan said, "We can only go down the mountain. We will meet more people when we go down the mountain. We have to find out the customs of the Sacred religion and find a place to live. Down."

He stepped forward and took Jin Fuzi's hand: "Don't call me young master in the future, which will arouse suspicion. Call me Yun'er. I am your stepson. I will call you 'dad' in front of outsiders."

Master Jin trembled and asked in a trembling voice: "Master, you...what did you say?"

Xie Yunjin smiled and said: "I call you dad, and you call me Yun'er. You can pretend to be father and son so that no one will find out."

"Old... I can't afford this." Master Jin's eyes were already red, "I... my son is a rebellious child."

Xie Yunjin smiled and said, "Dad, your son will not be disobedient and will be filial to you."

Jin Fuzi wiped away his tears: "Young Master Yun'er, dad is going to pack his luggage right now."

Jin Fuzi quickly packed his luggage, and Xie Yunjin was not idle, helping him.The two of them spent the whole morning tidying up. Cows, geese, and sheep were all valuable things. Jin Master couldn't deal with them in a day or two, so he packed up the wool, killed a goose and smoked it, took the cow out to carry the luggage, and opened the rest. Release from prison.

"We have to go further," Master Jin said. "When they find a dead person, they will search nearby."

The trail in front of the hut turned out to be a rugged and difficult mountain road. It was the first time for Xie Yunjin to walk such a long distance, and several big blisters appeared on the soles of her feet before she even reached the foot of the mountain.

He endured it because he knew he was about to see a wider world.

■

They walked for nearly a month. On the way, Xie Yunjin saw more things that he had never seen before.He is a greedy child, using his eyes to catch the toys he wants, every tree, every grass, every flower, every rabbit, fox, wild dog and wolf.

Sometimes he couldn't walk anymore so he would ride on the bull.When he met a rare traveler along the way, Xie Yunjin would ask Mr. Jin to stop and find a way to talk to him, asking about customs outside the customs, such as knife and scale trading, refugees, small sacrifices, big sacrifices, and the five major Batu.They later learned that not everyone is protected by the Sa religion. Villages without small sacrifices and people without villages do not have to pay the tithe tax, but they are also not protected by the Sa god and are not subject to control. Sired and his daughter are like this Even if Nodo was killed, no one would hold him accountable.

Xie Yunjin spoke to people very carefully and watched their words carefully. He didn't want another accident to happen. When he noticed something was wrong, he immediately made an excuse and left in a hurry. He aroused suspicion several times and almost exposed his secret, so he had to run away in a hurry.Fortunately, no one would think that they were from Guan Nei. At most, they would mistake them for the Liu clan who did not understand the rules and had no tattoos. In the end, the two simply claimed to be businessmen from the barbarians in the west. They wanted to return to their roots and were not familiar with the rules of the Sa clan.

All the way to the north, I passed two tribes without stopping.It was already October, and the first snow had just arrived. There was a thin layer of frost on the path. The two of them wore felt hats to protect themselves from the snow. Xie Yunjin buried his hands in his fur coat to keep warm. Master Jin led the way with the cow, and suddenly stopped .

Xie Yunjin raised his head. In the distance on the right side of the wasteland, there was a team of more than thirty people riding on horseback. They had swords and guns with them, looking at them from a distance.Master Jin pulled Xie Yunjin to his side and hugged him: "It's the Liu clan! Don't panic, don't look at them, keep walking!"

Jin Fuzi's body was very warm, and Xie Yunjin felt at ease.They led the cattle and continued walking. When they passed the group of people, they couldn't help but glance at it.The leading strong man had his hair tied into dozens of neat long braids and had a goatee. His eyes were pierced with hexagonal snowflakes, which were the symbol of the Liu tribe. He was wrapped in a thick rabbit fur coat, and the fur coat could be seen through the gaps. The armor underneath.

This was the first time he saw the Liu clan, and he couldn't help but feel uneasy.The leader watched them pass by and suddenly let out a scream. Xie Yunjin suddenly became nervous, but when he saw the leader riding away without any intention of attacking them, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Those Liu people want to trade swords and scales." Jin Fuzi reached out and touched the bark of the tree.It was a short tree, surrounded by two or three circles of striking stones. On the bark was carved a small dagger pointing upward, but no scales.

"It seems they are going to be disappointed." Xie Yunyan said.

The rule of the knife-scale transaction is that one party carves the knife or scale first - usually the Liu tribe carves the knife first. When the other party carves the corresponding pattern, it means the transaction is established.It seems that there is a village nearby, and it is a small village.

As Xie Yunjin expected, there was a small village about two miles away.

"We have to spend the winter in this village this year, otherwise we will freeze to death in the snowstorm." Jin Fuzi said, he was really worried about the weather after winter. They finally got a tent, but it couldn't withstand the snowstorm.

Xie Yunjin nodded, hoping everything goes well.

After the light snow cleared, the women in the village pulled up benches, spread furs on the ground and started busy, rubbing ropes, tanning skins, and drying clothes, and naturally looked at strangers when they saw them.A young strong man with a machete hanging on his waist came forward to ask. Master Jin took off his felt hat and said: "Sa Shen is above, and my surname is Jin. My name is Jin Yinyan. This is my child. We are from the northwest. In a wild land, I want to take shelter in the village for the winter, can I ask if Xiaoji will accommodate me?"

The strong man looked at Master Jin suspiciously: "Where did you come from?"

Xie Yunjin looked around while Master Jin was talking. This was his first time entering the village, and he couldn't help but be curious.

A girl caught his attention.

She was a fair-skinned girl, about seventeen or eighteen years old, sitting in front of the big house rubbing the straw rope.The house was huge, almost three times the size of the other cabins.The girl moved neatly, reached out and picked up a handful of dead grass, and in a few clicks, she turned the dead grass into a thin rope.

What caught Xie Yunjin's attention was not the big house behind her, nor her neat movements, but her uncoordinated head and neck.She stared blankly ahead, and Xie Yunjin couldn't help but step forward and stand in front of her.

The girl seemed to notice someone and looked up slightly.She had big eyes, but unfortunately there was no sparkle in them. She hesitated for a while and asked: "Who? Why don't you say anything? Is it Liz? Are you trying to tease me again?"

Her voice was very gentle. If Lika's voice was like a jumping bird, this girl's voice was like goose feathers sliding across her arms.

"Can't you see?" Xie Yunjin asked, thinking this was nonsense.

The girl smiled: "Who are you, a merchant from afar? If you want to buy furs, you have to go to my father. There are only two sheepskins left at home."

"My name is Jin Yunjin, what's your name?"

"What are you doing!" The strong man who was talking to Jin Fuzi stood between the two of them, turned around and asked, "Tuya, did he offend you?"

"He just talked to me." The girl replied.

Master Jin walked over quickly, took Xie Yunjin's hand, apologized repeatedly, and led Xie Yunjin to a large house with a torch at the door.This house is larger than the one behind Tuya. After asking around, he learned more or less about the rules of the Sa tribe. Xie Yunjin knew that this was the residence of the local priest. As for Tuya, he was probably someone related to the chief of the village.

The village priest is a middle-aged man named Vala, wearing neat priest robes. "Are you from the Western Barbarians?" Vala Xiaoji was very interested in their origins.

Master Jin said respectfully: "Yes, my ancestors were Han Chinese. They went to the west with the barbarian caravans 80 years ago and settled in Hatans. I am old and have returned to my roots. I want to return to the hometown of my ancestors with my children."

"Where is your hometown?" Vala asked.

"Father said it was somewhere where you could see the tall city wall." Master Jin replied.Xie Yunjin wanted to go back to the pass. In addition to finding a way along the mountain, he also wanted to see if there were any opportunities near Sanlong Pass. It was said that Kongtong would occasionally send his dead body to investigate the barbarian news outside the pass. There might be some secret passage.

"Hongxia Pass? That is Walter Batu's territory, very, very far away from here." Vala Xiaoji asked, "Please take off your clothes and expose your shoulders."

Jin Fuzi and Xie Yunjin took off their shirts to expose their shoulders. Xie Yunjin said, "Your Majesty, God Sa, please take us in for the winter. As it is said in the Sabha Sutra, be kind to guests from far away."

Vala Xiaoji nodded: "You are not slaves. There are empty houses in the village, and we are willing to take in guests, but this small village cannot afford to support idlers."

Master Jin said: "If I can work, I will also pay the tithe."

"I still want that cow as rent." Vala said, "Are you willing?"

This cow was their most valuable property, and Jin Fuzi did not refuse. After all, it was dangerous to stay out in the winter, and the next village might not take them in.

"Wala Xiaoji, I have another request." Xie Yunjin noticed the bookshelf behind Xiaoji. There are many books in Guigu Palace, but they are rare outside the customs. "I want to borrow the books behind you."

"It's a good thing to be studious," Valla said, "but you must not damage or dirty it, otherwise you will have to pay compensation, especially the holy scriptures."

The strong man who stopped Jin Fuzi at the entrance of the village was called Qaboos, the son of the patriarch, and the blind girl was his sister, named Tuya.Qaboos led the two of them to a low house: "You live here."

The roof is very low, and Xie Yunjin can touch it with his hand, but it is not small. There is a kang inside, and there are two rooms. They only need to be covered with a piece of cloth to form two rooms.

Jin Fuzi unpacked his luggage: "I'll clean it. Be careful what you say, we have to live here until spring." Xie Yunjin rolled up his sleeves to help clean, although he was really not good at it.

At dusk, the villagers gathered in the square in front of the small sacrificial house and prayed on the ground. Jin Fuzi and Xie Yunjin also put down their work and prayed along. They did not want to be treated as blind men - in the territory of the Sa tribe, those who do not believe in God are like animals.

Xie Yunjin saw the blind girl again. She was led to the square by her mother and brother. She chose an open space, laid out a sheep blanket, and knelt down to pray, looking pious.

(End of this chapter)