Kyushu · Endless Nagato

Chapter 38
一
Tang He did not expect that he would hear the news from An Xingmian and Zhang Haoge again on an unexpected occasion.She originally thought that she might never see these two people again in her life.

After the separation of Nanhuai City and An Xingmian, Tang He has been a little depressed, and he often can't cheer up during the performance, so he almost made mistakes several times.The head teacher also saw that she was not in the right condition, and let her rest for half a month. After all, Tang He was the top card of the Qiuyan class. If she accidentally messed up her performance, it would be a serious blow to the reputation of the Qiuyan class.Tang He didn't explain, and took a full month's rest. After that, her performance became normal.

She understood the reasons for her restlessness, and most of them were because of her righteous brother Zhang Haoge.In her mind, Zhang Haoge is almost a perfect person, a person without flaws.But in order to defend his belief, he chose to struggle like a moth to a flame, but Tang He didn't persuade him, because she knew that Zhang Haoge would not listen to her advice.Even so, she could not restrain her grief at the thought that she would never see her venerable brother again.

However, the remaining two achievements were unusual, because they were for An Xingmian.For a long time, Tang He didn't like An Xingmian. Although An Xingmian was good-looking and had a good personality, and he didn't have the arrogance of ordinary rich kids, Tang He always felt that he was not worthy of being Zhang Haoge's disciple. .Although An Xingmian is smart and eager to learn, he does not have that kind of deep-seated belief and firmness in Nagato. He is just an unlucky guy who was suppressed by his father's death and was forced to practice. All opponents, Tang He still felt that he was not a real Nagato monk.

But on that farewell night, Tang He discovered that deep down in An Xingmian's heart was a kind of strength and belief that she had never discovered before.This discovery confused her, and she began to keep thinking about An Xingmian's love for her in the past.She suddenly thought, if An Xingmian also died because of Nagato, would she feel as deeply sad as she did to Zhang Haoge?

Such a state of mind made her always feel a little dazed, and after a month of rest, she slowly began to concentrate.After that, the Qiuyan troupe traveled to many cities in Wanzhou. In order to make up for the loss of the previous month, Tang He performed extraordinarily hard and added some difficult tricks. Every performance won the applause of the whole house. Naturally, he also made a lot of money.

In November, the Qiuyan Squad came to Yunzhong City.This is a city famous for its developed handicraft industry, and there is not much entertainment. It is not comparable to the bustling cities like Nanhuai, which is full of money and money. The arrival of the autumn goose troupe has brought a lot of joy to the people here.As for the actors of the Qiuyan Class, especially the young and beautiful actresses, the audience here is not as impetuous as the wealthy people in places like Nanhuai, which allows them to maintain a relatively happy mood.

So Tang He's mood improved little by little. She had never practiced Nagato, but she was influenced by Zhang Haoge since she was a child, and she was more optimistic about life and death than ordinary people.In her opinion, since Zhang Haoge took the initiative to choose the way of dying generously, then respect his choice, at least that kind of death can make him benevolent.She put her body and mind into the performance, let her tired body anesthetize her mind, and gradually, the time to miss Zhang Haoge or An Xingmian has become less and less.

One night, the Qiuyan troupe performed another wonderful performance at the Chengnan Theater in Yunzhongcheng, which won endless applause from the audience.After the performance was over, Tang He was sitting in the background, removing her makeup wearily, when a servant boy came to her.

"Sister He, there is a person who wants to see you, and even wants to give you a gift." The boy said.

Tang He sighed.Rich people give money and gifts after performances, and take the opportunity to chat and try to date, which is what she often encounters.With her temperament, she would not talk to these people, but the class leader tried hard to persuade her not to offend powerful people, so as not to cause trouble for the Qiuyan class.So out of helplessness, Tang He can only meet with such enthusiastic audiences and say a few words indifferently.This is the so-called involuntary.

"Let him in." Tang He waved his hand.

The boy went out, and soon brought in a strange guest.At first glance, this man was only in his thirties, and his appearance could be called handsome, but if you looked closely, you could find the deep wrinkles on his forehead and the white hairs mixed with black hair.The most eye-catching feature of this person is that his legs are disabled, and he is holding a pair of metal crutches in his hand, which seem to be pure steel.

These days, even cripples will go to the troupe to seduce actresses?Tang He was thinking, but before he could force a smirk on his face, this strange visitor spoke, and the moment he opened his mouth, he showed that he was different.

"Miss Tang He, I'm a rough person, so forgive me for being blunt. I'm not here to pursue you, nor do I want to seduce you to bed." It's quite straightforward and vulgar.

Tang He didn't know how to answer for a while, but the strange guest's next low voice made her even more astonished: "I came to ask you, do you want to meet a man named An Xingmian?"

After a while, Tang He left the troupe and came to a secluded small pond with this man named Bai Qianyun.Bai Qianyun briefly introduced himself, and briefly described An Xingmian's whereabouts in the past few months, and then said: "I received a letter from Brother An a few days ago, and he will arrive in Yunzhong City within three days. But he didn't know that the Qiuyan class was here. So I took the liberty to come to visit you, hoping you could find time to meet him. Although he didn't mention you much, I could see that he had a lot of love for you. Dedicated to each other."

Tang He didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "So you came to me behind his back, do you want to be a matchmaker?"

"You don't dare to be a matchmaker," Bai Qianyun said solemnly, "If you don't like him, how can you force him? It's just that my brother has too many burdens on him. Although it is always easy on the surface, but I can see that he is very tired. I just ask you to meet him, talk to him, and make him feel a little better. "

Tang He didn't expect Bai Qianyun to say such a thing, he was stunned for a long time before saying: "But...he knows that I don't like him, so if I meet him, he won't be more uncomfortable ?"

Bai Qianyun was also startled, and scratched his scalp: "I really didn't think of this, then...wouldn't it be worse?"

Seeing his embarrassed appearance, Tang He couldn't help laughing, and his guard against him was greatly reduced.She traveled all over the world and met all kinds of people, so she could easily tell that the person in front of her was a straightforward and not very thoughtful person, and dealing with such a person was the most comfortable.She patted Bai Qianyun's shoulder like an old acquaintance: "Okay, it's not that bad. It's true that An Xingmian and I haven't seen each other for a long time. It's a good thing for us to drink and chat together."

Bai Qianyun felt relieved: "Then thank you very much. When he arrives in Yunzhong City, I will send someone to notify you... No, I will send a car to pick you up directly."

"No problem." Tang He pursed his lips and smiled.But when Bai Qianyun was about to turn around and leave, she stopped him again: "Please wait a moment. From your expression, you seem to be very worried. Is there any bad news?"

Bai Qianyun hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth suddenly: "It's fine to tell you, I hope you can persuade Brother An to give up and stop investigating Nagato's matter. I'm sure I can't say anything about him, but maybe he Will listen to you."

Tang He shook his head lightly: "I know this person well. What he has made up his mind to do is just like my brother, no one can persuade him. You don't have to tell me, I just hope to forget everything about Nagato as soon as possible , that's what I've been trying to do for the past few months."

"It's all for your brother, that long-door monk named Zhang Haoge, right?" Bai Qianyun asked.

"He has always been the person I respect the most," Tang He said with a sad expression, "Unfortunately, I will never have the chance to see him again."

Bai Qianyun looked at her: "If I tell you, do you still have a chance to see him again?"

Tang He's eyes widened in an instant: "What did you say?"

"What I want to say is that Zhang Haoge didn't die, and the governor of Wanzhou didn't kill him," Bai Qianyun said in a strange tone, "Not only is he not dead, but he is also doing something very serious about Nagato. important things."

Tang He became agitated all of a sudden, and grabbed Bai Qianyun's sleeve regardless of etiquette: "Is he not dead? Where is he? What the hell is he doing now? Tell me!"

Bai Qianyun sighed: "Don't be so excited, I'm afraid you will be disappointed."

"Why?" Tang He asked hastily.

What Bai Qianyun said next was like a sharp knife, piercing Tang He's heart fiercely: "He is now using his status as a long-door monk to help the emperor's spies to trap other long-door monks. Many people have already taken the bait gone."

"It's impossible!" Tang He almost screamed, "My brother is not that kind of person! He wouldn't do that, absolutely not!"

"Miss Tang, please keep your voice down," Bai Qianyun put his index finger on his lips, "It's not a good thing for people to know that you have an elder brother who is a long monk."

He added: "However, if they know that your brother is Zhang Haoge, they might let you go."

Tang He was very annoyed: "Did you come here specially to amuse me? I'm very tired and I don't have time to joke with you."

She turned around and walked angrily in the direction of the theater troupe.Bai Qianyun didn't stop her, but just sneered behind her back: "I thought the woman Brother An liked would be so clever, but now it looks like she's just a stupid girl with no brains."

Tang He snorted fiercely, but also realized that it was inappropriate for him to turn around and walk away like this, as if he was in a hurry to escape.She stopped slowly, and Bai Qianyun slammed the crutch in her hand on the ground: "How much do you think you know your brother? How much do you think you know Nagato? Why do you think so arbitrarily that I'm lying? Are you looking for fun, and you don't even want to put in a little effort to find out the truth? If you just turn around and walk away, can you sleep tonight? I'm afraid you'll have to come to me tomorrow. You stupid motherfuckers Why do you all like to lie to yourself like this?"

After hearing these words, Tang He really walked back.She came to Bai Qianyun, looked up at the burly man who was still much taller than her even though he was leaning on a cane, and said word by word: "I'm not a stupid girl, and I never lie to you." Myself, so I want you to take me to my brother to find out the truth of this matter. If you make a mistake, I will find a knife and castrate you with my own hands, making you lame on all three legs."

To her surprise, Bai Qianyun was neither angry because she ridiculed her disability, nor retorted because of her vicious threats, but actually burst out laughing.After laughing, he showed a satisfied expression on his face: "Spicy enough! This is the woman my brother An likes! I apologize to you, and I will never call you a stupid bitch again. Tomorrow during the day, you come to The Qianyuntang blacksmith shop in the east of the city came to me, and I will find a way to take you to meet Zhang Haoge."

After speaking, he turned around and walked away. Although he used crutches to assist him in walking, he walked like the wind and quickly disappeared into the night.Tang He could not laugh or laugh for a while, but he also vaguely felt that this man was very interesting, even when he was rude and called himself a "stupid bitch" "stupid bitch", he was not annoying.In contrast, An Xingmian always behaved and behaved around her, which seemed rather boring.

But this thought just flashed by, and her mind was immediately occupied by the unexpected news of her righteous brother Zhang Haoge.In any case, she couldn't believe that Zhang Haoge would transform from a fearless defender into a traitor in such a short period of time. Not only was it unreasonable, but it was also far from the image of her brother in her mind.

But Bai Qianyun is right, everything is possible, and arbitrarily denouncing this statement as a lie can only reflect the cowardice in his heart.For some reason, even though she just met Bai Qianyun and only said a few words, she held her breath in her heart, and she must not let this guy underestimate her.So she made up her mind to go to Qianyun Hall in the east of the city at dawn, and she must find out the truth.

"Are you satisfied now, brother?" Tang He couldn't help talking to himself, "You dragged everyone into trouble."

two

An Xingmian absolutely believed in his eyes, he would not be wrong, the person in the carriage was Zhang Haoge, his teacher Zhang Haoge.For several months, he had always thought that Zhang Haoge was dead, but he never expected that not only was the teacher still alive, but he was doing an evil thing that completely ran counter to his ideals.He even wanted to pinch himself, as in those novels, to make sure he wasn't stuck in a nightmare and didn't wake up.

"What are you going to do? Do you want to track down your teacher first, and delay going to Yunzhong City?" Xue Huaiqing asked, "If you follow him, you may be able to find those long-door monks who are imprisoned, and you can find a way to rescue them." come out"

An Xingmian hesitated, thought for a long time, and finally shook his head: "It's useless to track him now. My teacher will never say anything he doesn't want to say, let alone judging by his posture, there must be many people behind him." Good hands, it's a bit risky to challenge this group of people with the two of us alone. Let's go to Yunzhong City first, maybe Bai Qianyun will have the answer we want."

"Alright then." Xue Huaiqing nodded.After a while, she suddenly said: "You don't have to...don't be too sad. Maybe there is a reason for the teacher to do that. It's not too late to draw a conclusion after the investigation."

Even she felt strange when she said this, because she didn't expect that she would comfort others.Even when her adoptive father passed away, she only promised to find out the truth for him, and didn't say any words of comfort.She was sensitively aware that during the days she spent with An Xingmian, some subtle changes seemed to have taken place in her heart.Xue Huaiqing frowned.

And An Xingmian didn't notice the change in Xue Huaiqing's expression.As if he was insane, he kept looking at the direction where Zhang Haoge was leaving.

For the rest of the day, An Xingmian lay in the carriage without saying a word.Xue Huaiqing knew that he was feeling uncomfortable, so she didn't talk to him.

Due to the delay during the day, the carriage did not arrive at the next market before dark as originally planned. Fortunately, the coachman was familiar with the route and turned a corner to find a small village.With An Xingmian's Jin Zhu leading the way, the three of them easily found a farmhouse to stay overnight.The other villagers were very envious, and wished that this rich man would stay here and live in each family in the village for a day in turn, so that everyone could have a chance to make money.

After dinner, An Xingmian curled up on the bed with her head covered and fell asleep.Although he had been lying down all the way, the carriage was bumpy after all, so it couldn't be compared with a comfortable bed.This sleep lasted until noon the next day. In order to save time, he could only find a few dry noodles from the farmhouse where he stayed overnight and eat them on the road.

"What's the value of a few bread, you just take it away." The head of the family is a simple and honest young farmer, seeing that An Xingmian is about to pay again, he waved his hands again and again, "The money you tipped me last night is enough. I’ve earned half a year’s worth of money, and I still need to pay for a few pancakes, so I’m really shameless. There are still some fresh dates here, which were just harvested yesterday, and you can take them with you on the road to try them out.”

An Xingmian didn't force it, and after thanking her, she got into the carriage with Xue Huaiqing.The carriage drove far away, and when I looked back, the farmer was still waving from a distance.

"The people in this village are really nice," Xue Huaiqing said, "I seem to often meet thugs who charge sky-high prices for eggs."

(End of this chapter)