Ambush from all sides

Luoyang traveled more than 800 miles to Changzhou, and Dead Ye rode Nie Qi's horse for more than four days.That horse is a good horse, can run, and has little time to rest.Along the way, Dead Leaf hardly slept, not because she didn't sleep, but because she couldn't sleep.As soon as you close your eyes, it's the way Zhan Hao used to smile at him, tease him unhurriedly, smoke a cigarette and think about things with his eyes down... The more I think about it, the more flustered I feel.He was afraid, he was really afraid, afraid that when he arrived in Changzhou, what he saw was not a person, but a cold tombstone.

At first he suspected that Nie Qi was lying to him, but when he got on the road, he began to hope that those words were really lies.

Zhan Hao didn't activate the poison of Yagi Running Water, he was still alive and well, he didn't suffer from any illness, and he wasn't tortured to death.He was still laughing leisurely, or, he survived, he broke the poison, and he was fine.

But these are only expectations after all.

Walking all the way to the south, there is a lively New Year atmosphere along the way, full of joy.The dead leaves don't care about so much, they have no time to care about it at all, the crowds they see are empty, and the voices they hear have no content.It's just that when he was eating and resting in the restaurant, some unexpected market words slipped into his ears quietly.

So what Changzhou Zhanjia is about to collapse!The young master hadn't gone out for a long time, and he was seriously ill. The current business can only be supported by the old master, and his time is probably numbered.Hey, so many girls are thinking about it, young talents, good family background, and connections... What's the use?Bad body, bad life, everything is empty!

Hearing every word and sentence, the dead leaves trembled with fear, and their limbs were cold.During the past three months nestled in the mountains, I was completely unaware of these things and had no way of knowing them.Zhan Hao was seriously ill, he was the one who started it, but he was the last to know about it.

Thinking of Zhan Hao's tortured appearance, Dead Leaf's eyes were sour, and the pain in his chest gradually made it difficult to breathe.

On the morning of the fifth day of the first lunar month, he rode a horse into the east gate of Changzhou Prefecture.

It was too early, there were few pedestrians on the street, and the street was deserted.It just fell a lot of snow at night, and it has not been stepped on by pedestrians, and it is piled up on the side of the road.Withered Leaf got off the horse, holding the rein of the horse, the more she walked, the more nervous she felt.I don't know if it's because he's afraid of seeing certain facts, or because he's just too timid—he wants to know Zhan Hao's current situation, but he doesn't want to see him, and dare not go to his side.

He clearly thought that Zhan Hao would be fine.

Walking along the familiar streets, passing shops under the name of the Zhan family... Withered Ye remembered that Zhan Hao took him through all of them, but now those shops are tightly closed.Withered Ye looked over one by one, the more she looked, the colder her heart became, and the more flustered she became—is the Zhan family really collapsed, is Zhan Hao really collapsed?Why, the couplets pasted on the door of these stores are all old?

He didn't dare to think about it anymore, he couldn't think about it anymore, he had to see Zhan Hao now, see him in real life.This must be Zhan Hao's method to confuse the enemy, and there must be someone who wants to deal with him, so he is pretending to be sick and tricking the enemy.He's actually fine, he's actually fine.

……right?

Dead Leaf really didn't dare to think about it anymore. At this moment, his mind was already in chaos, and his heart was tightly clenched in his chest by an invisible hand, and he was almost out of breath.He suppressed his breath and walked slowly to the Zhan Zhai.The closed door was like a silent wall, silently rejecting his visit.

For a moment, he was afraid again.

He can't go in so openly and make Zhan Hao like this, he must be unwelcome.Withered Ye let go of the rein in a daze, and sat down on the steps in front of Zhan's house.The snow was very cold, and the air was also very cold. The horse stood beside him, planing hoofs leisurely, then turned and walked to the side of the tree to start nibbling leaves.Withered Ye looked at it in disappointment. After a long time, he slowly remembered that Zhan Hao's room was connected to the back garden.Go around from the back mountain, climb over the wall, and you should be able to see him from the window.

Thinking of this, Dead Leaf stood up quickly, and hurriedly ran to the back of the mountain.

When turning over the courtyard wall to develop the house, the dead leaves looked at the sky, the sun hadn't fully risen yet, and there was only a little light behind the clouds.The exhibition house was very quiet, there was no sound of the wind, nor the sound of the little maid cleaning and cooking.The dead leaves quietly touched the back garden, and the heart in the chest was beating wildly, which could not be suppressed at all.

From a distance, he saw Zhan Hao's room, the window was open, which made Dead Ye even more nervous.With his eyes wide open, he didn't dare to blink at all. He touched the wall all the way under the cover of the trees, and walked quietly along the base of the wall to the window.There was no sound inside. He put his ears against the wall, gathered his internal strength and listened intently, but he didn't even hear the sound of breathing.

Withered Leaf frowned in panic, and quietly glanced into the window—it was empty.Zhan Hao's room is empty.

There was no one and no clothes, it was clean and quiet, and the quilts on the bed were neatly folded.Zhan Hao is not there.

His heart suddenly became empty.

If Zhan Hao is not in the room at such an early hour, where else would he go?Isn't he very ill? Doesn't he sleep?Withered Ye opened his eyes blankly, leaning his back against the wall, his heart was in a mess.The exhibition house is big or small, the west courtyard is the kitchen, the stables, and the maids live there too... Could it be that he is in the east courtyard?

Withered Leaf's mind became tense, and it became more and more possible.If Zhan Hao has been missing him, it would not be unexpected to live in the east courtyard... Thinking about it, Dead Leaf hurriedly ran over there from the back garden.

The back garden is connected to the small courtyard of the east courtyard, which is where he used to live.Passing through a grove, he saw the back window of his original room.At this time, the window was closed tightly, and the dead leaves held their breath nervously, leaning against the wall, but still did not hear the sound of breathing.In a hurry, he gritted his teeth and flew up to the roof.

On the other side of the front yard, you can see a piece of snow covered in plain snow, white snow piled up on the lotus and magnolia trees, and the ground is also silvery white.Maybe it was a little warmer in the south of the Yangtze River for the past two days, so there seems to be a little bright yellow under the snow.On the top of the courtyard wall, a bunch of winter jasmine has sprouted green and yellow buds.The dead branches of wisteria also seem to be beginning to plump up, which means spring.

Withered Ye stared blankly at the familiar scene, took a few steps forward unconsciously, and jumped off the roof in a daze.

The yard was also silent, without any sound.Dead Leaf stood on the steps in front of the door, looking around in a daze——no one, all snow, all trees, no one.He took two steps out in a daze, and gradually approached the round stone table under the tree, stepping on the soft snow under his feet, making a slight "creaking" sound.Withered Leaf held her breath, looking around expectantly and fearfully.Suddenly, he heard a meow coming from behind the lotus magnolia tree on the left.Dead Leaf was startled, then tensed her temples, turned her face nervously, walked over quietly with her footsteps as light as possible.

Behind the bushes, he remembered a long stone bench leaning against the wall, with a cluster of winter jasmine on the top of the wall.Walking slowly, he saw the tail of the stone bench, covered with snow, and then——

is a person.

A man wrapped in a white cloak was lying on a stone bench with long black hair hanging down from the stone bench to the ground.His shoulders and his body were covered with a thin layer of white snow, as if he had slept here since last night.The dead leaves could see his face clearly, the familiar nose, the familiar chin, the familiar lips... A few months ago, at the end of summer, this lip pressed against her own, and said she liked it to herself.

At that time, those slightly red, rabbit-like eyes were now wrapped under a circle of gauze.

He is blind.

Dead Leaves stared blankly at the sleeping person in front of him, suddenly, he didn't know how to breathe, and his whole body was dead silent.Joints, muscles, and organs all failed and all stopped.The person he was looking at, his appearance, his state, could not be converted into information and passed to his brain at all——he just stared at him blankly.

A slender white cat crouched in the man's arms, with a triangular black spot over its left eye.She was staring at him with her golden eyes fixedly open without blinking.Dead Leaf stared at her in a daze, and he saw the disdainful, probing, and proud expression on the cat's face, so familiar.Her long tail is wagging slowly, as if she has a well-thought-out plan.

"Meow..." the cat cried out quietly, her eyes kept looking at the dead leaves, not alienated or unfamiliar - she still recognized him.

At this time, the person who was sleeping quietly on the stone bench was swept across the face by the cat's tail, and the corner of his mouth was slightly pursed.Dead Leaf saw his body move, his head moved, and then he reached out and pulled the cat into his arms.At this time, the cat let out a little unhappy cry, and wanted to move away.The man hugged her and laughed softly. He stroked the cat's round head and said in a hoarse voice, "Don't be angry, let me hug you." As he said, he sat up slowly, removing the hair and clothes. There were bits and pieces of snow on the ground, and the whole body was messed up, but he didn't care.

He hugged the cat tightly in his arms, lowered his head and kissed her forehead, and comforted her in a low voice: "Hey, let me hug you."

Looking at the person and the cat in front of him, looking at his calm but thin face, his pale lips, his lonely appearance hugging the cat... Withered leaves choked his throat, subconsciously took a step back.The snow under the feet made a "creaking" sound, and the person in front of him heard it and raised his head quietly.

Facing the direction of the dead leaves, he turned his ears sideways and listened carefully.Then, Dead Leaf heard him call out in an uncertain tone: "Ji Tang?" While speaking, he stood up and slowly walked towards him, asking as he walked, "Is it time for breakfast?" ? So early, what time is it?"

Seeing him getting closer and closer to her, Dead Leaf felt her heart ache and her voice was sore.With sore eyes open, he couldn't help biting his lips, staggered back a few steps, and escaped within a foot of the man.Hearing such a movement, the other party couldn't help being startled, then stopped, and stood quietly holding the cat.

Facing the dead leaves, he quietly listened to the movement around him.After a long while, Dead Leaf saw him frowning, and then, his breathing became short of breath.His tightly pursed lips slowly opened, and he spit out two words with some uncertainty: "...Cen Farewell?"

Just two words made the dead leaves tremble instantly.He felt his breathing tightened suddenly, and his blunt body suddenly woke up at that moment.The heart began to beat wildly, the blood flowed rapidly in the body, the joints ached, and the muscles tensed.Looking at the expectant person in front of him, he couldn't help but take two steps back, then turned around and jumped onto the roof, biting his lip and ran away in embarrassment.

The uplifted air rolled up snowflakes, caught in the wind, and fluttered on Zhan Hao's pale face, making him feel a little wet and cold.He hugged the cat in a daze, the sound of the wind gradually receding in his ears, his heart that had been silent for a long time was slowly excited.He could hear the sound of his own breathing, getting heavier and faster, his body began to heat up, and his limbs began to ache.

Xiao Jiao quietly raised his head, his golden eyes fixedly stared at a certain direction of the roof.Zhan Hao hugged her tightly, and slowly stroked the cat's ears with his slender fingers.He tried his best to suppress his excited heartbeat and control his rapid breathing... After a long while, the corners of his light-colored lips were firmly pursed and hooked slightly.

The eldest young master of the Zhan family, who had been blind for a long time, stood in the snow with the cat in his arms, showing a faint smile calmly.