[Qin] Qin Shi

With a sullen face, Bai Shu walked slowly back to her yard.

On the way, I ran into the new butler who had been replaced since the original butler committed suicide: "Little general?" The middle-aged man noticed the seriousness on Bai Shu's face and his reddish left eye, "Are you okay?"

"It's good." After being brought back from his thoughts, Bai Shu subconsciously showed a happy smile, "You're busy."

"Well, yes, the previous one left too suddenly, and many things have not been handed over, and he is really busy recently." The housekeeper did not doubt him, "By the way, little general, Lao Peng in your yard asked for leave at noon and returned home. It’s Nancun. Because you are not here, little general, so Lao Peng asked Nu to apologize to you for him, and he said that if the light is on in your room at night, he will sit with you outside the door?”

The smile on Bai Shu's face froze: "Nancun?"

"Yes," the memory on the face of the middle-aged housekeeper has not yet faded, "It seems that tomorrow is his grandson's birthday, so he has to go back today—hey, little general? Little general, where are you going?"

He took a step forward, but the person he called the 'little general' had already disappeared without a trace.

hurry up -

The body is lowered close to the horse's back.

— faster!

The crimson horse felt the anxiety of its master, and its feet were like walking on the wind, turning into a red lightning and galloping away on the plain.

'It doesn't matter if the little general has anything to do, we old guys are still here. '

'Then this year, we will no longer defend the fringe villages in the pass, but only guard the main town. '

The veteran's voice intersected with the conversation he overheard, for a moment Bai Shu couldn't tell which sentence came from the veteran and which he overheard.

[This speed is already dangerous! 】The system had to remind Bai Shu, 【If you fall off the horse at this speed, then you will have to lie on the bed for the rest of your life even if you don't die. 】

'Shut up! Bai Shu wasn't in the mood to flatter the system, "Don't mess with me." 'He was burning with anger, and even though he knew it was the best decision under righteousness, he still couldn't help feeling resentful.

Resentful for Lian Po's departure, resentful for the decisions of those generals, resentful for his slow response, resentful for Handan's inaction, and even resentful for the system.

He never knew that he was resentful...

When he set off, the sky was already getting red, and the old general surnamed Peng was saying goodbye in the daytime, and the place where Yanbei only went back and forth for three days was not big, but Bai Shu felt that this area was so far away for the first time.

So far away that when the night was approaching, he saw the red flames dancing between the sky and the earth in the distance, and smelled the smoke and dust in the air.

After all, he was still late.

The fire was huge and burning fiercely, dispelling the cold of winter, leaving only heat.Zaoma, who has a human heart, gradually slowed down his pace, and finally stopped not far from the village, watching his master rolling and crawling off his back, and seeing him stunned, motionless.

Bai Shu looked at the burning flames in front of his eyes, felt the lingering blood and scorched air in his nostrils, and listened to the silence of the wind beside his ears except for the crackling of flames. It was as if a piece of his heart had been forcibly taken away, leaving only Pain and biting cold.

The chill and biting coldness climbed up like vines, layer after layer like the never-ending plum rain in the south, passed through the umbrella cover and skirt, stuck to his skin, and penetrated into his flesh and blood.

He stretched out his hand, as if he wanted to grab something, but only his fingers greeted the palm.

Zao Ma didn't understand why his master came all the way in such a hurry, but stood still when he arrived.Then he snorted, put his head on Bai Shu's neck and bumped it hard, trying to regain his master's sanity.

This indeed woke him up. The young man stepped forward, stepped on the unburned path, and rushed into the burning village without hesitation.

He has never been to this village, but all the villages are similar, the gate faces the main road, the four houses are side by side, and the backyard is connected to the main gate.

In the first household, an old man fell at the door, facing the sky, with anger and panic still remaining on his face.The knife edge pierced his chest, and the black blood paved the courtyard, which had already condensed.

Bai Shu just stamped his feet beside him, and rushed into the yard.

The door of the room was broken open violently, and a middle-aged woman with her body separated was lying at the door. She faced the room and opened her mouth as if shouting something before she died.On the couch was a young girl who had died long ago, with blood and tears on her face, scars and unknown marks all over her body, her hands drooping unnaturally.

Bai Shu stood at the door, looked at the small room where you could see the whole thing at a glance, turned around with lowered eyes, and walked over the wall.

Under the tree of the second family's house, a man was tied. Bai Shu went up and down, but saw the man glaring at the door with undisguised hatred on his face.

But his body was cold and he was already dead.

Bypassing the man, the scene in the room was exactly the same as that of the first family, which made Bai Shu feel even more uncomfortable.He looked at the woman lying on the bed, but he still couldn't hold back himself, causing the fire to burn the house that hadn't been set on fire.

Before leaving, he saw the little wooden doll in the room that was crushed to the ground and covered in mud.

Then the third, the fourth, the fifth...

Anyone is fine——

The man fell outside the room, and the woman died on the couch.

survive-

Livestock were missing, and food was looted.

As long as there is one person, anyone is fine, as long as there is one person——

The originally tidy courtyard was looted and burned, and the clean home was smashed without cherishing.

survive-

——and then remember my onlookers, my indifference, and my inaction.

After being disappointed by the unknown number of households, Bai Shu saw a familiar figure in the thick smoke.

—Don't be dead, forgotten, something no one can remember anymore.

It was the veteran who guarded the door of his room that day, told him stories, and fell asleep with him.

— Please, survive.

In the veteran's hand was a bloody sickle, the rusty edge of which was evidently the result of a fierce collision.There are scattered bloodstains in the garden, the number of which is so large and scattered, it is obvious that it does not belong to only one person.

Bai Shu ran over almost staggeringly and knelt beside him, reaching out tremblingly to touch his neck.

But this time, it was still cold.

——Just one person is fine.

Bai Shu's fingers curled back into his palms, and he just knelt beside the veteran, clenched his fists, and buried his head on the opponent's still soft body.

——It’s fine if there’s only one person, let’s survive.

"I'm sorry..." Tears flowed from the eyes, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Like a repeater, it can only repeat these words mechanically, over and over again, under the sound of crackling flames In the middle, I don't know who to listen to, and I don't know who it is for, "I'm sorry."

Regret lingers in his heart, helplessness fills his brain, and for the first time in his life, Bai Shu knows what 'regret' is.

But no one could respond to him, and no one listened to his apology.

——Even if you grit your teeth, please live

As if responding to his begging, the system's voice came suddenly: [There are signs of life activity in this room. 】

Never before had Bai Shu been so grateful for the existence of the system, he stood up in embarrassment, staggered into the room with more and more dense smoke, followed the system's instructions and lifted the iron pot on the sink and the stove "You are, Mr. Peng's son, Xiao Yue, right?" He looked at the dark passage from the stove to the bed, and didn't realize the pleading and trembling in his voice: "I don't know if he asked you Speaking of me, I am Shu, the apprentice of General Lian Po, Shu."

Responding to him was a child slowly crawling out from the darkness.

His eyes were full of fear: "Where's your father?" He didn't ask about his mother, but about the veteran.

This made Bai Shu unable to answer, because he had already seen the legs of a woman hanging from the bed in the room through the curtain that was cut open by a knife, and the old woman lying on the ground: "He went to hunt down those barbarians , "He took half a step outside, blocking the position of the stove and the door, "He asked me to pick you up first."

There were still dried tears on the child's face, and on his dusty and dirty face, there were exceptionally clear marks: "Will daddy bring my brother back?"

"Yes." Bai Shu thought of the scene along the way, and his heart sank, "Your brother will come back."

He stretched out his hand and wrapped the child in his arms with the cloak: "I'll take you out first." He took a last look at the mess in the room, "The fire is almost here."

'system? 'Since breaking into this village, Bai Shu asked the system for the first time.

【Except for him, I can no longer feel any signs of life. ] The system's voice was full of frustration. He knew that Bai Shu had already guessed this from the very beginning, but he was stubborn and didn't want to admit it, didn't want to face it, so he didn't make a sound to remind him.

But now that Bai Shu asked this question, he didn't know whether it was good or bad: [I'm sorry. 】

I don't know if this apology is to Bai Shu or to those lost lives.

The flames soaring into the sky are like karmic fire blooming from the heaven and the earth, burning the sins of winter and burning the filth between the heaven and the earth.It seems that after this flame, the vitality and greenness of spring will come.

Bai Shu knelt on the ground, with the stars above his head and the Milky Way hanging high.

Like all peaceful days, tomorrow will surely be another fine sunny day, with the sun, blue sky and white clouds, and flocks of birds flying across the sky.

But what about these hundreds of lives?

The pain tore at his heart, and even breathing felt like a needle piercing his chest. He knelt on the ground, hugged the dirty child in his arms tightly, and looked at the karmic fire in front of him, feeling as if he was going to die in the next second. up.

When the child in his arms uttered an inexplicable squeak, he woke up again.

The arms around him slowly turned inward without any effort, like a child embracing an adult, just wanting to show his reluctance and care.

Handan's tomorrow must still be singing and dancing, and those barbarians who killed people will still sing and dance with smiles on their faces.

Tomorrow there may be people suffering, some people will be lost, but after another cycle of spring and autumn, not many people will remember this village, those who died, and those who were abandoned.

This is the way things are.

For many years to come, Bai Shu would dream of this day, of the blood-stained village, of the fire-swallowed village, of the wailing and crying that did not exist that day, and of the child in his arms. Looking up at him with the gnawing hatred in his eyes.

He once thought that the world was unimportant, he once thought that everything around him was false, he was naive and conceited that everything could be viewed in the past tense, but he only forgot that conscience cannot be measured And speculation, all the arrogance will be paid for one day.

'Tonight, the old man guards the door for the little general. 'The old general and the voice in the night are next to his ear,'Little general, sleep at ease. '

This world is full of illusions, only pain never lies.

Sleep in peace, from now on, I will guard the door.

The author has something to say: This world is full of illusions, only pain never lies.

This sentence came from the Internet, but I didn’t remember where it was at first, I just felt that it was very heart-wrenching after seeing it.

By the way, the rescued child is Peng Yue from the private setting of this article.