Kyushu · Endless Nagato

Chapter 36 The Secret of the Millennium (5)
At this time, Xue Huaiqing looked not only confused, but also full of distress, which made An Xingmian realize something.After practicing in Nagato for so many years, he has a very strong ability to grasp people's psychological activities and spiritual world.In his opinion, a girl like Xue Huaiqing may indeed have true affection for her adoptive father, but she may not give the same affection to two people she has never met—she is not that kind of affection A flood of little women.And even if she was really full of filial piety and took it as her duty to avenge her adoptive father, all the Jinwu guards were executed by the emperor one by one, and they often died of torture. Xue Huaiqing herself may not be able to do better than officials. The eagle dogs at home are more professional, isn't this enough to make people angry?
He thought about it from another angle, and came to an uncertain conclusion: maybe Xue Huaiqing simply needed to find something to do.Rather than saying that she was doing her best for her adoptive father, it would be better to say that she was using the matter of her adoptive father as an excuse to avoid other things.It's like when An Xingmian was forced to do homework by his private school teacher when he was a child. He was talented and smart enough to complete his homework, but a friend who had a good relationship with him always had a headache. Dallying, grinding ink for a while, and going to the toilet for a while, in short, when there is nothing to procrastinate, I reluctantly open the textbook.

Now Xue Huaiqing, maybe she is such a child, maybe there is something that makes her infinitely afraid is waiting for her, making her desperately want to evade and delay.Although An Xingmian didn't know what it was, he could understand that feeling and was willing to find a way to help her.For example, pretend to give her a casual nudge.

"Actually, I think that if you are still confused in your heart, you might as well pursue it to the end," An Xingmian said, "The meaning of things is always hidden under the surface. I don’t understand its meaning, but as long as I do it, the result will exist. Our Nagato’s cultivation, in the final analysis, is to eliminate the confusion in the heart and seek inner peace.”

"Inner peace..." Xue Huaiqing repeated unconsciously, as if she was suddenly infected by these words.

"The origin of our name Nagato comes from the original classic "Nagato Sutra," An Xingmian continued, "The Enlightened One who wrote this book compared life to endless Nagato after another. We Ordinary beings want to pass through the long gates to obtain the ultimate peace and liberation. The practice of the long gate monks is to obtain this kind of peace, and you can also work hard for this kind of peace, that is, let go and do it , do what will bring you peace.”

"I understand. Thank you." Xue Huaiqing nodded.She turned around, thought for a while quietly, turned around, and suddenly smiled: "I've decided, even if it's just a trivial matter, I want to figure it out. I also want to get calm."

An Xingmian was dumbfounded.He had seen Xue Huaiqing's smile several times before, but it was just a habitual and polite expression, still indifferent and suppressed in his bones, there was no difference between smiling and not smiling, but now, An Xingmian really saw Her beautiful smile is a comfortable smile from the heart.He found that when Xue Huaiqing smiled, she seemed to be a completely different person, becoming so bright and brilliant, like the golden sunshine shining into the deepest part of the illusion forest.

"This is like a 19-year-old girl." An Xingmian murmured.

"What did you say?" Xue Huaiqing asked.

"I didn't say anything," An Xingmian quickly shook her head, "it's just talking to herself."

In the middle of the night, the two of them had already left Ten Thousand Snake Lake for several miles. They couldn't find a suitable camping place in the forest, so they had to clear out an open space in the forest and set up a tent.This was originally very dangerous, and it could be attacked by poisonous insects and ferocious beasts at any time, which violated the taboo of living in the forest, but with the sleepless corpse servants guarding it, the taboo became unnecessary.

After going through all kinds of dangerous experiences this day, coupled with the continuous rush, the sleepy An Xingmian was actually very sleepy, and fell asleep as soon as he lay down.But after two hours of sleep, it was dawn, and unknown birds in the forest began to sing loudly. The sound was like the last scream of a killed rooster. It was extremely shrill and woke him up. .

An Xingmian rubbed her eyes, got out of the tent, and found that the corpse servant was still guarding outside like an iron tower, and there was an animal with colorful fur lying under her feet. She didn't know if it was a fox or something else, but Xue Huaiqing's tent had been closed. empty.Considering the effective range of Corpse Dance, she should not have gone too far.He walked dozens of steps along the footprints on the ground, and saw Xue Huaiqing leaning against a tree, looking up at the sky, as if watching the rising sun.But in fact, the trunks of the trees in this forest are very tall, and when you look up, you can only see thick branches and leaves.

"What are you looking at?" An Xingmian asked.

"I didn't read anything, I was just thinking about those old things," Xue Huaiqing said, "I am afraid that the Jinwu Guards were all killed by the emperor back then. How can we find out what their missions were at that time?"

"Probably we can look through the old records in the past," An Xingmian said, "but it has been more than [-] years, so it's hard to say whether such records can be found."

"It seems that I have to go to the palace to look for it." Xue Huaiqing said, without too much worry on her face, it seems that places like the palace are like a vegetable market to her, and she can come in and out freely.

"You may not be able to find it in the palace," An Xingmian thought for a while. "Under normal circumstances, if the Jinwu Guards go out of the palace to handle cases, they must have the emperor's permission. There is no need to pretend. But those people are disguised as ordinary market scumbags." Han, it can be seen that the mission is classified and may not leave a written record. Only by finding the officials who handled it at the time may they be able to ask in person."

"This is difficult," Xue Huaiqing frowned slightly, "Maybe I can only trouble the ranger in Tianqi City again."

"Ordinary rangers may not be able to handle this kind of thing well, let alone you are not worried about being betrayed again?" An Xingmian said.He hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Actually, I know a friend who may be able to help you."

He roughly described Bai Qianyun's identity: "This brother Bai has been selling underground Heluo weapons all year round, and has contacts with people from all walks of life. Just tell him that I asked you to find him, and he will definitely help .”

"Are you so sure that he is willing to help?" Xue Huaiqing asked, "I have nothing to repay him."

"I can see people right, don't worry." An Xingmian said confidently.

"Then I have no choice but to trouble him, but why don't you go to Yunzhong City with me?" Xue Huaiqing said, "Don't you have something to ask him to investigate? Now that Xu Mizi has seen it, you can go back Let's see how he turns out."

"I... have other things to do, I'm afraid I can't go with you." An Xingmian hesitated again.

"Oh? Actually, you hate traveling with me?" Xue Huaiqing said suddenly.

An Xingmian didn't expect such words to come out of Xue Huaiqing's mouth. She didn't know how to answer for a while, Xue Huaiqing smiled again: "Actually, I know what you are thinking. You were going to Yunzhong City, but After telling me to go to Cloud City, you don’t want to go with me, lest I misunderstand you, thinking that you are looking for an excuse to go with me, and then take the opportunity to have some unreasonable thoughts. Don’t worry, I know You are a gentleman, and I am not a self-indulgent person."

"Then let's go together, and I don't need to waste any more time," An Xingmian felt relieved, "It's a pleasure talking to you, and I don't have to go around in any circles."

Leaving the Illusion Forest and heading northeast all the way, it was already the beginning of November when it was about two days away from Cloud City, and the weather was obviously getting cooler.An Xingmian worked hard for several months, and contracted a cold due to exhaustion.Fortunately, he was a rich man, so he directly rented a carriage, recuperated while lying in the carriage while on his way.What flattered him was that Xue Huaiqing took the initiative to take care of him, and the tea and food arrangements were very appropriate.

"I always thought I had to die and become a corpse to be cared for by a corpse dancer," he joked.

"I always thought that you long-door monks would be very happy when you got sick, and you took this as a 'door to cross'." Xue Huaiqing responded.After getting along with An Xingmian these days, she also slowly said some jokes.

"Ordinary long monks might really think that way," An Xingmian lazily leaned on the pillow, "but I'm not the same as them. I still think that life should be happy, and you should enjoy it when you should enjoy it." Enjoy, you don’t have to stretch yourself anytime, anywhere.”

"This is not like what a Nagato monk should say," Xue Huaiqing was a little surprised, "Since you are not interested in penance, why did you join Nagato?"

(End of this chapter)