Forbidden City of Heze + Dalufei

No matter when he started to think back, it always had a musty smell and a dark and cramped feeling at the beginning. He often crawled in and out of the sheds built from waste products, like a mouse crawling in the sewer, being overwhelmed by the world above. If the light is not careful, it will shrink back in a hurry.

Zilo stayed by her sister's bed, staring blankly at her who was exhausted from crying and quietly fell asleep. In the house and on the street outside, except for the wind that squeezed in between the dilapidated brick walls and the plastic roof, there was no sound. Nothing, like a cemetery with sleeping corpses.It has been a long time since the flames of war have spread to this point.

The mother's absence may be the reason for the quietness at home. She blamed her sister for not doing the housework well. She lost control and threw everything in the house that could be dropped, and rushed out of the house like a mad cow out of control.Until Zi Luo, who was playing outside, was hungry, and when he came home in the evening, he saw the woman who loved her most sitting on the ground in messy clothes.

"Xiao Luo, go find your mother, she's sick again..."

The boy looked at the bruises on his sister's face and arms, and at the various debris all over the place, and said, "Let her die."

My sister slapped him, but she didn't say anything, she just cried until the tears dried up, leaving only a heart-wrenching sob, like a severe asthma patient, the thin rags on her body rose and fell with her heavy breathing.

Zi Luo silently locked the crumbling door, and took the broom silently and began to clean the ruined house.

Since the two children were sensible, they have suffered from domestic violence.They knew that the mother was eating some dirty things of unknown origin.Medicine during the war is a luxury, and it will not be distributed to the slums. Therefore, the poor sanitary conditions here have become a hotbed of infectious diseases. In order to alleviate the mental and physical pain, she bought it with the money her daughter used to help people wash clothes. The side effects are very serious. Those terrible things made her physically confused, hallucinating, and finally mad.

Zillo often didn't go home, because he had an excuse to escape when he was young, and he played with the neighbor's children all day long. They liked to sneak into the more plentiful neighborhoods and scoured a lot of waste from the landfill there for toys.All the pressure of making a living naturally fell on her elder sister Qi Zi. She worked non-stop from morning to night, helping people with housework, and even working as a porter in the army to get more money, sewing and washing clothes for soldiers. Men also do work. After a winter, their hands are as rough as rotten bark, and their nails are too broken to cover their fingertips.

But even though she was living in extreme poverty, she still loved Ziluo very much. She would rather wear coarse cloth clothes with patches all the time, and secretly leave some odds and ends to buy candy and new clothes for her playful younger brother.

In this way, the elder sister played the role of mother instead of the mother who had almost become a disabled person, and depended on each other for life with her younger brother.Their only entertainment is to wait for the whole city to sleep, to climb up the low roofs here, and walk among the old wood panels and tiles, under the low clouds that can't even see the stars.

On a winter night, Ziluo pointed to the blurred lights in the distance and asked her, "What's in the outer zone, why does mom always run there?"

Qi Zi looked into the distance, with the flickering fire reflected in his eyes, and answered him like telling a fairy tale, "There is everything there, except that there is no hunger, pain and hatred. It is a paradise, and only those who are pure and honorable are qualified." Enter."

She didn't lie, for everyone here, the Outer Zone is a dream, a symbol of Elysium, a vision that supports their hope of survival in suffering, makes them believe that there is really a paradise in the world, that exists in different places. Far.

"Then... When I grow up, I will take you to live there, okay?" Zi Luo said without thinking, raising his little face that was blown cold by the night wind.

My sister stayed there for a long time, then smiled bitterly, held his face in her warm palms, coaxed him and said, "Okay, then you have to be obedient, grow up quickly, and work with me."

But after he really grew up, Zi Luo realized that it is more difficult to enter the outer zone of Dalufei than to go to heaven.That is the privilege of a few people in this country, inhabited by rulers, soldiers, and the rich and noble class, whose images on Argosta are too high to be seen by the naked eye.The poor with no background in the mezzanine area want to use money to buy the qualifications to enter the outer circle, even if they do not eat or drink, it is impossible to work for 100 years.

Zirro had sneaked to the far edge and watched from afar as the Outer Zone turned the night into the light of day.The outlines of the buildings well outline the night at the end of the horizon, like clusters of crystals.He was attracted by the light, but he couldn't get closer, because he would be shot by the border guards, so he stared blankly at the bright city all night, as if he was looking up at an unattainable dream, and this The powerlessness brought by the dream also made him despise himself countless times at dawn.

The boy's prayers day after day should have been submerged forever in the countless follies of the slums. In the sky of history, he couldn't even become a meteor that flickered on and off, but at best he was just a speck of dust.But on that ordinary night when his mother disappeared, the pointer of his fate started to move in a direction that deviated from the track.

After his sister fell asleep, he gently closed the iron door of the shed, sat outside the door and pressed the old TV that was brought back from the garbage dump.Under normal circumstances, the slum area is not powered at night, but obviously there will be some important program tonight, and most of it is related to the war. Since Dalufei joined the Allied front, the mezzanine area is the main source of soldiers, and the most effective publicity It must be through the radio station, no wonder even the power supply has also become generous.

On the black and white screen that kept flickering and jumping, and the intermittent sound, it was full of battle reports, military information and speeches of politicians.This is a period of indignation, an extreme, hot-headed period. Standing under the spotlight, the head of a certain Eastern Alliance generously called on the people to resist aggression and defend the country. Cheers and applause, the pale and indifferent expressions on the faces of the officers with live ammunition on the side, through the live TV broadcast, made Qi Luo, who was thousands of miles away, almost shiver.

Even though he was facing an invader who was described as vicious, Zi Luo still thought, the mysterious and powerful imperial capital, which has been prosperous and prosperous for hundreds of years and dominates one side, is it not true justice?Maybe if a country like Darufi is captured and becomes a colony, the people in the mezzanine area and the central area will live more like humans, right?Maybe there will never be a madman like my mother again.

While thinking about it, the long-lost conscription notice appeared on the screen.It is claimed that Dalufei has officially joined the Five-Nation Alliance of the Eastern Continent and has become a new member of the united front against aggression. The next step is to abide by the agreement and send more main forces to He Ze for support. scale conscription.

Zillo gave a hutch and didn't pay much attention, because he was underage and not included in the call-up scope, and, although the current life was bad enough, he couldn't think of anything worse than selling his life.

Just as he was about to move over to change the channel, his hands stopped when the following content occurred. He sat straight on the spot, his eyes widening involuntarily.

The world outside the house is still occupied by silence and darkness at the same time. In this desolate wilderness of night, only the faint light of the small screen flickers, illuminating his childish face.At that moment, he clearly heard the sound of the old clock in the house swinging the pointer, tick, tick, like the footsteps of fate, gradually approaching until his whole body trembled uncontrollably.

"...All soldiers who enroll in the army and are lucky enough to go to the front line of Heze, their families will be supported by the government until they are discharged from the army. If they have made outstanding achievements in the war, they will be eligible to live in the outer zone as a reward after returning from the army."

A week later, Zilo's mother was found dead in a ditch not far away. The cause of death was a drug allergy.The police helped salvage the body and left impatiently. The siblings had to drag the stenchy body to the barren hill behind their house and bury it by themselves. After digging, Qi Zi sat down on the ground, covering her face and crying bitterly. The mud on his hands had smeared his delicate features black.Zilo paused only for a moment, then continued digging without saying a word.He's grown up and should look like a man.

On the second day after burying his mother, Zi Luo couldn't wait to pack his luggage, ate the last dinner made by his sister, took all the dry food in the house, and walked quietly through the narrow alleyway full of rats. up.Before leaving, she said to her sister whose eyes were redder than rabbits from crying, "Wait for me, come back and live a good life for you."

The knock on the door slightly awakened Yi Xu, who was leaning on the chair and sleeping lightly. He rubbed his eyes that were not yet in focus. hot.The half-read book on the desk was turned by the warm wind that sneaked in, and there were crisp birdsong on the lush treetops.From time to time on the playground in the distance, the slogans of high morale lined up, and the echoes were prolonged and then gradually disappeared.

There were a lot of knocks on the door, he sat up quickly, straightened his wrinkled uniform, quickly lifted his spirits, and said loudly, "Come in."

The door opened with a click, and the figure of a middle-aged man appeared in front of him. His right hand was still in plaster, tightly bound by bandages, his legs were lame, and every step seemed to be strenuous. "Your Excellency, long time no see." Alright," he said with a relaxed smile on his chiseled face, "I wonder if I have to salute with my left hand."

"Longfei?" Yi Xu was stunned, couldn't help standing up from the chair, quickly went up to meet him, and helped him to the sofa to sit down, "My God, when did you come back? Let me pick you up! I only heard that you were injured and retreated, but I didn't expect to see you so soon."

"Heh, now that I'm useless, I don't have a good place all over my body. Naturally, I won't be of much use. I should retire to receive a pension."

"Stop talking nonsense, the military department is willing to let you retire just because of your injury?" Although it has been many years since we left, Yixuan can still joke with him, "How is the situation on the front line? There are too many domestic news blocked , we don’t know anything at all.” He asked impatiently, making a cup of fresh black tea and handing it to him.

"Thank you," Long Fei calmly picked up his cup and took a sip, showing nostalgic expression instantly, "It's really... It's been a long time since I drank your tea, it still tastes old. Let alone drinking tea on the front line, even Clean water is in short supply. At the beginning, I really should have listened to you, An An stayed in school, took some wrong medicine and went to beat her with missing arms and legs."

"Stop making fun of me in other ways," Yixu sat across from him, and said with a little confidence, "Besides, you couldn't help yourself at that time..."

He suddenly stopped the following words and couldn't continue.Seeing the vicissitudes accumulated between the brows of the other party, as well as the war-torn body, he couldn't walk as smoothly as an ordinary person.The tall and strong young man who left here angrily back then has been shattered to pieces, and his eyes are slightly swollen and painful. "Sorry."

"What's there to apologize for?" Long Fei looked at him amusedly, playing with the delicate teacup in his hand, "Finally admitting that I was greedy for life and afraid of death?"

"It's been almost ten years," Yi Xu didn't play along with his tone, but sighed deeply, as if he hadn't woken up from the long smoke of gunpowder, "I often regret that I quarreled with you in the end. Every time I think of it, I don’t know if I will have the chance to see you alive again in this life. I often even dream about the days when I went to school with you here... In fact, I have always imagined it like this, sitting quietly drinking tea and chatting with you, just like never Never stopped."

Long Fei smiled again, as if infected by his emotions, and was silent for a while.After drinking a few sips of tea, he raised his head and took a deep breath, then changed the topic, "Now the defense line in the north is already in jeopardy. When I retreated, the enemy army had already advanced more than 100 kilometers. If we don't strengthen our forces, it will be a breakthrough." Sooner or later."

Yixuan raised his spirits, "Didn't the situation not be reversed after mobilizing reinforcements from various allied countries?"

"It's as strong as ghosts and gods. Dalufei, who has the best military force in the Eastern Continent, has joined the United Front for two full years, right? The result is still a drop in the bucket, and the headquarters should order more conscription recently," Long Fei said. He raised his head and smiled bitterly and said to his friend, "You are going to contribute your own students."

"There is no way to do this. They are originally a reserve force trained for war."

So Long Fei's smile changed a bit, "So, what about our ace weapon? It has been hidden for so long, will it come in handy this time?"

When Yixu finally realized that the other party was talking about his troublesome little nephew, he immediately seemed a little uneasy, "He is not yet of age, besides,... after the last mistake, my brother is very firm and will not Allow him to go to the front again."

"Didn't he perform very well before, helping us fight several beautiful battles?" Long Fei said his tone slowed down, his eyes flickered for a moment, and he subconsciously ignored the topic of the last fiasco, "Besides He has been staying at the rear, not knowing what worries Yizheng."

"You don't understand, he's different from you." Yi Xu stood up while speaking, avoiding the other party's usual inquisitive gaze, and slowly walked to the French window.The chaos I witnessed when I returned to my home in the capital a few days ago came to my mind.The child refused to communicate with anyone, and hadn't eaten or drank for a few days, which made his brother, who was always moody and angry, also show anxiety.This has to teach the teachings to also realize that it is quite a hasty decision to send him to the battlefield prematurely because he is blinded by the child's talent, thinking that the other party has enough endurance, regardless of his immature mind. , and lead to the worst results.

"He can't make a single mistake, he's someone we can't lose, he's someone this country can't lose."

"...Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to appreciate it." Long Fei couldn't help pouring cold water on him, and the corner of his mouth curled up a little appreciatively because of the figure of the young man in his mind. "I know his personality very well."

"Hehe," Yi Xu also laughed, as if he didn't want to make the atmosphere of the first meeting after a long absence too impersonal, he stopped arguing with the other party, turned to look at him and said, "It's like you in the past. "

"Hmph, isn't it? Your family likes to hoard resources. I have long disliked it. It is a waste to use you to manage the school. If you went to war with me, you might have gone back to your hometown."

"Come on, I don't want to be like you, a ruined flower."

Just as he was about to reply again, Long Feixiang suddenly remembered something, patted his forehead and said, "I almost forgot, I have to give you an errand today."

After speaking, he stood up slowly, went to the door, twisted the handle, and shouted outside, "Hey, come in."

Yi Xu was confused and saw a young man enter the door gently. His body was thin but his frame was tall and straight. His short warm brown hair covered the top of his head energetically. It was obviously just trimmed and his feet were still new.A pair of dove-gray eyes clearly reflected the microcosm of this strange environment, although somewhat restrained, they were very firm.He is like a piece of pure white paper, with a flexible texture and a simple background. He has not been painted with any color, and he can be recognized at a glance as the embryo of an excellent soldier.

Long Fei put his hand on the young man's shoulder, showing a very rare intimacy, and said, "This boy is called Zi Luo, and he is hiding in the long-distance supply vehicle of the reinforcements that Da Rufei came over. When he was about to arrive at our army camp He was intercepted by enemy bombers and nearly burned to death in it, and was rescued by our soldiers who came to meet him. When I saw him, he had burns all over his body and hadn't eaten for at least four days , you can see that my first sentence was, 'I'm going to war'."

"I have contacted the conscription family at Dalufei's side. It is said that because he is not old enough to join the army, he stayed at the local garrison base for training and planned to let him come after he became an adult. I didn't expect this kid to be so Can't wait, I ran out a year earlier." After finishing speaking, Long Fei patted the young man's back vigorously, his tone full of reproaches full of approval.Soldiers who have been trained strictly by the school tend to have a pedantic air of following the rules, but this young man has the same aggressiveness as he did when he was young, which is really commendable.

"...In short, please, let him stay here temporarily. Now that the situation is in such a mess, it is impossible to send him back. Let him learn more things. Don't be used as cannon fodder as soon as you go to the battlefield."

Then, regardless of Yixu's answer or not, Long Fei bent down slightly and said, "This uncle is the principal of this school. From now on, you will follow him. If anyone bullies you, please report his name. His name is Shangguan Yixu. But you can’t just call him by his first name, he’s of a very high rank, and when you meet him at school, you’ll be called Chief, and on special formal occasions, you’ll be called Your Excellency…”

"All right, all right," Yixu couldn't help but stop, "He keeps making trouble for me. You think entering this school is as easy as entering a shelter. Where's his file? And his family background? It’s going to be reviewed by the military.”

Long Fei was stunned, and after meeting Qi Luo's eyes for a moment, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well then, you tell those old antiques that he is my illegitimate son when I was fighting at the front."

"Long Fei!"

Facing his friend's unreasonable stop, he frowned impatiently, "Please, you are the principal, right? You don't have any power at all? I'll take responsibility for what happens."

In this way, Zi Luo was handed over to Yixu by this man with a stern face.As if he hadn't recovered from the bumpy ride from the turbulent battlefield just now, he stood blankly under the opponent's sight.He hadn't completely got rid of Darufi's nightmare left in his mind, so the tranquility of this brightly lit office made him a little uneasy.Now where he is standing is the famous Royal Military Academy in He Ze, the most powerful rear support and spiritual leader of the entire Allied Forces. Almost all the brave and skilled commanders on the front line are its students. Similarly, they have excellent military scientific research technology, It also undertakes the development projects of a large number of new weapons every year.

Yixuan couldn't bear to keep staring at him like that without avoiding it, it seemed like a strong request.He rubbed his temples and said, "Well, come here and fill out a form."

As he spoke, he handed a pen to the young man who came forward, and watched him hold it with bony fingers and finish writing carefully stroke by stroke. The crooked font revealed his low level of education. Fortunately, This doesn't make Yoshinori prejudiced.Then he made a phone call, and 3 minutes later a man with the rank of lieutenant came, and Yixuan ordered, "Take him to get his uniform and daily necessities, first find a dormitory with vacancies for him to live in, and I'll deal with it later." Re-arrange."

After sending the boy away, he immediately rolled his eyes at Long Fei, "Are you satisfied with this?"

"Don't worry," Long Fei was still cheerful. He went back to the sofa and sat down on the sofa as if he didn't take it seriously. He picked up the unfinished cup of black tea and gently leaned it to his mouth. "I guarantee you found the treasure."