Ancient Sword II Xie Lelianxin

Rain is rare in the desert, and every drop of rain is regarded as a blessing from Shennong by drug donors. However, this sudden heavy rain made the team's walking more difficult.

The prisoners are all drug donors, and most of them wear heavy shackles, like animals that are hung with bells to prevent them from escaping.After several days of walking under the scorching sun, even the middle-aged people who walk empty-handed will be exhausted, let alone the old and weak women and children.Even if the diet is not treated harshly, there are still people who are left in the sea of ​​sand forever every day.

The rain drenched the blood scabs on the hands and feet of the survivors, and the reddish blood seeped silently into the sand.

There was a seven or eight-year-old brown-haired boy in the prison team. His slender limbs had not yet grown, and his height was only around the waist of others. Perhaps he wanted him to walk faster, but the guards made an exception and took off his iron shackles.The boy followed closely beside a handsome woman, with a dirty silk dress covering his head, and rain-soaked tassels stuck to his pale cheeks.The silk clothing used as a cloak was light and thin, and the front of his front was quickly wet by the rain, and even the little warmth left on his chest gradually disappeared.

A sneeze!

Unable to find a handkerchief to wipe his face, the boy had to suck his snot and stretch his arms to support the staggering woman.He stared at her haggard face, and suddenly heard a childish voice——

"Mother, your eyes are frozen blue, put on your clothes quickly... I'm not cold."

The person who spoke just now—was it me?She is my mother?But why... I don't remember at all...

When he came back to his senses, he found that he had already taken off his silk clothes, and stood on tiptoe to put them on for the woman.

"Be obedient... If you catch a cold, there is no doctor there." The shackled hands put the clothes back on the boy's head.The sound of the rain almost covered the weak voice of the woman, but the boy clearly heard her calling his name, and couldn't help but follow along silently.Those few syllables meant wealth and honor, and he remembered that it was his father who named him——Wu Huo Luo.

His father was stationed in the frontier all the year round, and he and his mother stayed in the capital.The family gathers less and leaves more. The happiest thing is that every time my father returns to the city to meet King Hunxie, he will always take him to the palace to play.

But that time, my father went to the palace alone.

There was no news for several days, until late at night, a group of soldiers with decrees broke into the house, forcibly dismissed all the servants, and took him and his mother to the prison team of exile, only his elder brother Anival escaped the disaster.

"Did Dad do something wrong and angered the king?" He raised his head in the rain and asked the woman suspiciously.

"Year after year, the concubine does not heal, and the monarch's heart becomes more and more unpredictable. There are often rumors of harsh government torture, death row prisoners change medicines... My husband is an upright person, knowing that he offends the king, but he directly opposes it. I'm afraid this time... ..." The woman was sad for a long time, and touched the boy's head and said, "No matter what outsiders say, you must remember that your father has been a lifelong admirer of the world, worthy of our people and God Shennong, and even more worthy of...our king. "

"But," the boy looked at the woman's blood-stained wrist, "Mother used to be beautiful, and everyone said you were the most noble woman except the princess, but now... who are these people, how are they How dare you do this to you!"

The rain flowed down the corners of the woman's delicate eyes, like a drop of mourning tears.She touched her son's cheek affectionately: "Mother left her hometown and followed your father to the drug-donating country thousands of miles away. This is to respect and love him with a pure heart. If he is prosperous and rich, I will guard the one eaves behind him, for the sake of his mother." He shelters from the wind and rain; if he is like grass, I would also like to wander the world and serve him for the rest of my life... Mother doesn't care about honor or disgrace, and I don't want you to harbor resentment, I only hope that when you grow up, you will inherit his ambition and protect the common people."

She squatted down, took the iron piece hanging from the boy's neck, and stuffed it into his neckline: "This is a sacrificial utensil passed down from generation to generation in the husband's family, and it is protected by the God of Shennong. You and Annivar each hold one. Fortunately, the brothers meet again, and we can also recognize each other... don't lose it."

The fellow prisoners walked past them silently, and it wasn't long before the mother and son fell to the end of the line.The boy followed the woman to quicken his pace, turning his head and making faces at the man in green at the end of the line from time to time, but the woman stopped him in a low voice: "These aliens have no mercy in their eyes, don't offend them."

The boy still had a look of resentment on his face, so the woman softened her voice and said, "Just be patient for a few more days, and when you get there, mother will sing to you, okay?"

"Don't worry, mother, I just don't want to mess with them." The boy grabbed the woman's dirty sleeve and hugged her gently, "Mother sings very well, I want to hear you sing, the one that father gave you Song……"

The heavy rain blocked the way forward, and he followed step by step, but the figure of the woman was still gradually engulfed by the mist.He staggered to chase, and he couldn't even hear his own cries in the sound of rain.

He finally stopped, sat down on the ground, and stared blankly at the leaden helmet-like sky.

Suddenly, he felt an umbrella in his hand.

"No difference..."

Sighs turned into the flapping of birds' wings across the sky.The boy got up and looked around in a daze, suddenly he felt someone standing behind him with an umbrella, and the red sleeves of white clothes gently brushed his cheek.He suddenly turned around, but there was no one in front of him, and there was an extra bamboo umbrella in his hand out of thin air.

He held up his umbrella, and the raindrops fell on top of his head.The umbrella surface turned like a wheel, and the hand-painted blue butterflies were about to fly out of the yellowed oil paper and linger among the fine ribs.

……This is?

Yaodie.

-

He seemed to smell the sweet aroma of sea buckthorn berries floating in the sun.Yao Die folded its wings, and stopped timidly at the fingertips of the young man with black hair and green clothes.It was the first time he saw such a good-looking person, he even forgot to blink his eyes, he just stared blankly at him bowing slightly to himself——Xie Yi.

He heard himself say seriously, then let's pull Gougou, big brother must come next year.

The young man nodded and smiled, agreeing.

When the man left, he didn't look back, his back was framed by the light of the setting sun, as if he was about to melt into the blood-colored sky.The boy touched the sachet at his waist and held it tightly in his hands...

The sudden gust of wind rolled the umbrella into the air, and the boy ran after him, but wooden pillars as thick as arms rose up out of nowhere around him, forming a cage that couldn't see the sky.He looked around in a panic, but when he turned around, he saw his mother sitting against the wall behind him.There were a few prisoners on the same road beside her. An old man gave him a sympathetic look, and then looked away indifferently the next moment.

"Mother, are you uncomfortable?" He ran to his mother and carefully touched her sunken cheek.

"It's okay. Someone was taken away and never came back... Don't go over, sit closer." The woman motioned the boy to sit on the other side of her, and then changed positions with difficulty, using her body to separate him from the prison The door was separated, as if this would hide her child.

"You and I were sentenced to exile, but were brought here for no reason to be detained. Don't be afraid, Mother will protect you... When those people walk away, Mother will sing a song for you."

"No, mother, you need to rest first...don't sing."

"Mother still has a little strength, so listen carefully and write down the tune... In the future, when you miss your mother, you can play the tune, and my mother will hear it."

The gentle singing echoed in the cold and damp cell.The boy was afraid that the smell in the prison would make her more uncomfortable, so he tore off the stitches of the sachet and applied the powder on her neckline.The pleasant woody fragrance rose faintly, and the boy reluctantly took a few breaths, buried in the woman's arms and yawned.

……

"No difference..."

"Wake up quickly..."

……

The cell has no sunshine all year round, and after staying for a long time, the boy can no longer smell any musty smell, and the dim candlelight of the ever-burning lamp allows him to see his surroundings clearly.The huge dungeon was originally a hexagonal underground palace, like a hollow pagoda turned upside down, with densely packed cells built on each floor.He and his mother lived on the upper floor closer to the ground, but he didn't know what it would be like to go down.

Occasionally, there would be the booming sound of the opening and closing of the entrance of the underground palace from above, and the fleeting faint sunlight fell down, making him squint his eyes uncomfortably.The men in green clothes brought food and water every few days, cleaned them up, and took away a few sick or healthy people. If they resisted, they would be knocked unconscious and dragged away.All those who left were never sent back. Over time, the strong and strong prisoners learned to scramble to the side of the cell when the man in green passed by, while the slow-moving old and weak women and children were left outside. , day after day, less and less.

One day, the boy and his mother were sent to a strange man in green.The man looked at it and said: "People are too weak, I'm afraid they will die immediately if they take it to test the medicine." He also said, "Recently, there are fewer new prisoners than before, why don't you let them take the ghost butterfly eggs for a try, about It can take a few more days."

Someone brought two bowls of bitter medicinal soup.The boy stood in front of the frail mother, clenched his fists and waved at anyone who dared to offend her.He was dragged to the corner by the guards who swarmed up, and heard the mother who never shed tears crying silently a few steps away, begging those men in green to let her child go.Her crying soon became weaker. He screamed desperately, bit the hand that was holding him down, and rushed into the opposite crowd when the person let go. Before he could find his mother, he was grabbed by the back of his collar and thrown away. go back.Someone slapped him so hard that he hit the wall and fell to the ground, his mouth full of blood.

He was pulled against the wall by his hair, and he caught a glimpse of a golden pattern on the cuff of the person holding the medicine bowl.

"Thank you... big brother, he... Could it be that he and you... are together..."

The bright gilt leaf patterns stung his eyes, he clenched his teeth, but his jaw was squeezed hard, and he had to open his mouth...

No, I don't want to die...

"No difference, open your eyes. This is a dream..."

It was... the voice of big brother.

The boy desperately opened his eyes wide, and the candlelight in front of him spread out like a firefly, and thousands of light spots converged into a huge vortex, absorbing everything in the world.

In an instant, all the pictures faded away, the indifferent man in green disappeared, the pleading cries of the mother disappeared, and the familiar golden leaf patterns also disappeared.

In front of his eyes, there was only a man in white with red sleeves left.

The sound of rain filled the room.