The prince is very fierce

Liaodong County, Qinghe County.

The territory of Dayue is almost at the end when we reach this point. Although there is a name for the county, but looking at the desolate surroundings, even if you walk for two days, you may not encounter a village with smoke coming from the kitchen. It seems that you have stepped out of the world. To the edge of the world.

The world is a big chessboard. Emperors, princes, merchants and pawns are just chess pieces on it. They move with the general trend. No one can escape. Only the stronger ones can slightly change their route and occupy the chessboard. A more favorable location.

The location of Qingshui County may be in the far corner of the chessboard, or it may have been outside the chessboard. The emperors and princes on the chessboard are scheming over a stone, and the heroes of the rivers and lakes are fighting bloody battles for all forces. They have nothing to do with this place anymore, it is just a small place.

The New Year is approaching, and in a small village deep in the mountains, there are more than a dozen families scattered along the mountain col. The door frames of the old mud houses have been cleaned neatly, and it seems that they are preparing to post couplets on New Year's Eve. The half-grown child, wearing old clothes passed down from his elder brother, squatted at the door, looking curiously at the outsider who was probably the first outsider to enter the village since he was born.

On the path at the entrance of the village, there is a large locust tree, as thick as a full arm. It has been standing at the entrance of the village for unknown years. For all the villagers here, it is where they were born and raised.

Eunuch Jia, who was wearing an ordinary cloth robe and a felt hat on his head, carefully looked at the big locust tree in front of him with his hands behind his back. He was probably recalling when this tree appeared. After all, he was less than ten years old when he left the village to escape famine.

Years passed by in a blink of an eye, and nothing seemed to have changed except that the trees had grown taller.

Eunuch Jia grinned, showing some big teeth. I walked slowly through the narrow country road with my hands behind my back. After taking a few steps, I stopped to look, thought about it for a moment, and then continued walking.

The village is not big, and outsiders will soon notice when they arrive. Farmers and women who are at home during their leisure time stand at the door and look at it. Because the outsiders who come are very neatly dressed and may be the lords of the town, they do not dare to come forward and be polite.

Eunuch Jia just walked and walked. When he passed by the courtyard of a house, he raised his head and looked at the half-grown child squatting on the edge of the courtyard. His voice was slightly normal, just like an old man in his twilight years:

"Little boy, do the Liu family still live in the village?"

The little kid's face was so dark that he just stared blankly at the white jade pendant around Eunuch Jia's waist, as if he had never seen such a beautiful stone.

Eunuch Jia followed his gaze and chuckled: "I forgot about it. Why do I still carry it with me after leaving the palace..." He raised his withered fingers, took off the palace sign, and threw it to the half-grown child: "Let's play with it."

The little kid held the white jade plate, chuckled, and said a few words. Judging from his expression, he should be asking and thanking him.

Eunuch Jia listened carefully, but he couldn't understand. Then he remembered that the small village must not understand the elegant dialect, and he couldn't remember the dialect of his hometown.

"well……"

Eunuch Jia looked a little disappointed. According to the little kid's expression, he and the duck chatted for a few words about home affairs, and then continued walking two miles further. In a ravine, they found a dilapidated earthen house. The roof collapsed ten years ago, leaving only a pile of earthen walls.

Grandpa Jia stood in the courtyard of the old house that had been turned into a vegetable field. He looked around and followed his childhood memories to find the ancestral grave behind the house. He rolled up his sleeves and removed the weeds and small grass that were already taller than a person. The trees were cleared away, revealing a few small dirt bags. There were no tombstones in the remote mountain villages. The elders passed down word of mouth, saying, "This is grandpa, this is grandma." After so many years, it is still difficult to tell who is who.

In the quiet mountains and fields, a gray-haired, rickety old man stood in front of several old tombs and bowed seriously. Then he used a wooden stick to dig a hole in the ground for one person to lie in. He lay in it with his pillow on the soil, watching the snowflakes falling from his head and covering him, his eyes looking a little dazed.

He has been at the core of the world all his life and knows more than all the princes and princes in the world put together. I can't remember how many people I killed, but my martial arts reached the top of the world as early as the age of three. I have been invincible and lonely my whole life.

The old servant must have been used to it. Without a child to protect him, he suddenly became free. Instead, he felt a little at a loss. He had nothing to do except wait for death.

From daybreak to sunset.

Eunuch Jia looked at the sky and muttered in confusion:

"Why don't you die yet... Could it be that the matter is not finished yet..."

Eunuch Jia carefully recalled his life to see if there was anything he had missed.

First, he followed the army and traveled all over the country. He washed his clothes and groomed his horses in the army without making any mistakes.

When he arrived at Chang'an City, he served Emperor Xiaozong for half his life, and then served the late emperor and Song Ji without making any mistakes.

That's not a business matter.

Eunuch Jia turned his thoughts to himself again.

I figured it out very well. I had never done anything for myself in my life. Just over ten years ago, I felt that no one would inherit my legacy, so I chose two young eunuchs with good foundations as my adopted sons to teach them martial arts.

One is now staying with Song Ji and continues to be the patron saint of Da Nei, and the other one died in Taiye Pond for some reason.

Jia Yi...

Eunuch Jia thought about it for a while and realized that he was still a father, and his adopted son was also a son. If the son could not sleep forever, the father would definitely get his wish.

I had never thought about this before, no wonder I couldn't sleep.

"Oh...the life of running around..."

Eunuch Jia sighed, stood up with his hands on his knees, glanced at the small village that was no longer his hometown, and disappeared into the mountains and fields...

-----

Night fell quietly, and the horses galloped without stopping, missing the towns where they were supposed to stay. Xu Buling stopped by the Xiang River, found a small forest beside the official road, rested for half a night, and continued on his way at dawn.

The horse that chased the wind had a simple marching tent, but it was just a large rolled-up oilcloth, tied to a tree with four corners, which could only block rain and snow, and could not even block the wind.

The cold wind blew on the snowy night, and there was no village or store in the wilderness, and there was not even a light.

Xu Buling picked up the large oilcloth and found hay to feed the four horses. Little Nightingale and Ning Qingye chopped some dry branches in the woods with swords and came back to build a bonfire on the ground.

Zhongli Jiujiu was in the bridal chamber last night, and was made to cry by Xu Buling. In the morning, she did not even have a moment of rest, and rode all day again. After all, she was a virgin girl, not a veteran young woman, so she couldn't stand it. She felt her legs were numb and sore, and she didn't want to get up from the campfire.

Ning Qingye put down the dry branches and took a small copper kettle from the side of the horse to boil some hot water. Seeing that Zhongli Jiujiu and the young lady were sitting there, and didn't know how to get up and help, she was unhappy:

"Do you think Xu Buling is a servant? You took the silver and let the sponsor serve you?"

The relationship between Zhongli Jiujiu and Xu Buling was naturally not open in front of the younger generation, and there was really no way to refute this. Her face flushed slightly, and she wanted to support herself to get up and help.

Seeing this, Xu Buling put down the hay and let the wind-chasing horse feed itself. He came to sit down in front of Zhongli Jiujiu and smiled:

"We were very tired on Bodhi Island the past two days. It's okay to rest for a while. Come and sit down. Take a rest. We have to travel again when it's light."

Ning Qingye saw Xu Buling protecting Zhongli Jiujiu, and her clear eyes showed some suspicion. However, Zhongli Jiujiu did look very tired. She didn't want to get up from the bed last night. She didn't say anything more and continued to boil hot water.

Zhongli Jiujiu's eyes were obviously warm, but she heard Chuchu say that Ning Qingye had slept with Xu Buling a long time ago. If she had to say it, she was still a foxy woman who seduced other people's men in front of others, and she was embarrassed to be spoiled; she raised her hand to take out dry food from the bag and distributed it to the three people around the campfire.

After the lesson in the underground palace, Xu Buling has learned his lesson. He carries seven days of rations with him. It is enough to replenish his physical strength and resist hunger. He no longer cares whether it is good to eat or not. Dry food is made of grease and flour. It is hard like a stone. Four people gathered together to gnaw it, which is not a pleasure. After slightly eliminating hunger, they all stopped eating.

The long journey is very boring, and there is no interest in chatting around the fire. Ning Qingye took the blanket from the side of the horse, spread it under the oilcloth, and rested with his eyes closed on the wood. Zhongli Jiujiu also lay down beside him, the nightingale lay between the two, and the little sparrow huddled in Zhongli Jiujiu's clothes, only sticking out a small head from under his neck, silly.

Although the wind and snow were continuous, the scene was obviously very warm.

As a contemporary martial arts champion and a man, Xu Buling should not think about getting in to rest at this time. He sat under the tree next to him with a sword, watching the bonfire in a daze.

The night was very quiet, with only a few faint breathing sounds echoing in his ears.

Xu Buling sat for a while, maybe a little bored, and tilted his head to look at the three beautiful faces under the firelight. Each of them had its own temperament, some were as cold as ice and some were as bright as fire, which was pleasing to the eye.

Ning Qingye lay flat on her back in a proper manner, and she must have been unable to sleep. After noticing that Xu Buling was looking at her, she took a breath, endured it for a moment, and then turned over, facing away from Xu Buling, not letting him look.

Zhongli Jiujiu heard the sound, took a peek, then stretched out her hand from under the blanket and secretly held her husband's hand.

Newly married girls are always clingy. Xu Buling raised the corner of his mouth, warmed his little hand, and turned his eyes away.

He sat in the grove for an unknown period of time, guarding the three beauties. When the sky was about to light up, the sound of horse hooves suddenly sounded on the road...