Shimmer Forest

Su Jin never thought that this reunion day of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new would be spent on the battlefield.

The killing spirit from yesterday has not dissipated, but today's camp is peaceful.Red lanterns were hung in front of everyone's tents, and people gathered around the campfire, chatting and joking, and the air was filled with the strong smell of alcohol.With the sound of firecrackers, golden sparks gradually emerged, flickering gently in the thick darkness.The red flames shone on everyone's faces, but they couldn't dispel the haze that seemed to exist in their eyes.

In this blood-stained battlefield, bitterness always outweighs sweetness, Su Jin did not understand.It's just that this red color is too heavy and dazzling.So much so that this seemingly noisy camp cannot reveal a trace of warmth.

I don't know when he started to be afraid of red.That is the color drawn by countless lives on the dry land.The red reflected in the lantern is more like a gushing blood mist, covering everyone's face carved out by the knife light, which is almost ferocious and makes people shudder.

Su Jin pushed away the toasts one after another, and walked to the lakeside alone.The lake is calm and waveless, like a smooth mirror.In the blue sky, thick purple clouds overlapped one after another, faintly revealing a silver light.Where the clouds did not cover, the stars of all colors twinkled.

Someone came pacing to the sound of singing.He turned his head and saw Fang Wuyi slowly approaching with a jug in hand. The man's figure was swaying, his footsteps were shaky, and he was already a little drunk.

"Why are you sighing at the moon alone?" Putting the jug on a protruding stone beside him, Fang Wuyi sat down beside him, and asked with a smile, "Why, do you miss home?"

"Homesick?" Su Jin was startled, then sneered and turned his eyes back to the sky.It suddenly occurred to him that it didn't matter where the New Year was spent, and he was also homeless.

"Ah, I made a slip of the tongue." Noticing the subtle change in his expression, Fang Wuyi kept his mouth shut in time, took a few sips from the jug, and looked at the sky in silence.

"It's nothing. In this war-torn era, I am not the only one who is homeless." Knowing that on this day of reunion, people who are wandering outside will not feel very happy.Su Jin didn't stop him from drinking heavily, just looked at the hazy moonlight shining through the clouds, smiled and sighed softly.

After being drunk, Fang Wuyi became very talkative. He began to talk about his hometown hidden in the deep mountains, his elderly parents who stayed at home, and the clear pond he used to visit when he was a child.Su Jin just listened quietly, the distant and yearning hometown gradually unfolded in front of Fang Wuyi's soft description, and gradually became real and clear.

Su Jin suddenly felt that Fang Wuyi's existence had a sense of reality.From a long time ago, he regarded this person as an unusual existence in the world, and never thought about it carefully. Once, this person also had a family, and like ordinary people, he was born in a happy life. In a warm family.

He was prejudiced against Wuyi from the very beginning, so he was unwilling to get to know and approach him.Fang Wuyi is a very strong person, whether it is when killing people or when soldiers die, he maintains a calm expression, as strong as if he has lost his feelings.But at this moment, Su Jin finally understood from his hazy narration and slightly drunken eyes that Fang Wuyi in front of him was not an emotionless god who ruled the village and commanded things from other worlds.It is a person who has the same feelings as him and is struggling against fate.

He could clearly see the yearning and pain in those eyes that were always calm and waveless.Those pretended strength gradually disintegrated in the strong smell of alcohol on this reunion day.Only the truest self is left, revealing the feelings buried deep in my heart one by one.

Vulnerable, sad, lonely.

Fang Wuyi took a few more sips of wine, and the originally full wine jar was mostly empty.After finishing what he wanted to say, he drunkenly asked Su Jin who had been silent all the time: "Do you know why we attacked here?"

Su Jin looked at his flushed cheeks due to drunkenness, and shook his head slightly.

Fang Wuyi took out a piece of fabric from his sleeve. It was a fine silk cloth, soft and light in texture, and bright in color. Wave-like patterns were entangled and interlaced on the golden silk cloth, and the workmanship was exquisite and meticulous.

"This is silkworm cloth. The material is rare and the craftsmanship is very complicated. Only here can it be made. The queen likes it very much, but the people here are unwilling to hand over the cloth, so the emperor sent us here to take it back." Fang Fang Wuyi smiled wryly, and threw the silk cloth on the ground: "We left our homes, sacrificed countless soldiers, and fought for this piece of cloth!"

"Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty once led tens of thousands of cavalry, marched thousands of kilometers, and sent troops to Dawan for the bloody BMW." Su Jin snatched the jug from his hand, swallowed a few mouthfuls, letting the spicy taste burn his throat : "Emperors are always like this, in order to get what they want, they will do whatever they want, live selfishly and do whatever they want. But in fact, they are also the same, carrying heavy things, struggling in the predetermined destiny."

"Why are you struggling?" Putting down the jug, the acrid smell made his vision blurry: "Struggling will only make you more anxious and painful. Since you can't change it, then follow your fate and go with the flow."

Fang Wuyi rested his chin, stared at him blankly for a long time, then smiled suddenly: "I think you should have lived a long time."

"Why do you say that?"

"It's because of your indifference and detachment... It seems that you can see through everything, and it seems that you don't see through anything."

Fang Wuyi's blushing and swaying look was particularly interesting, he couldn't help but sneered: "Actually, I didn't live as long as you."

"Eh?" Fang Wuyi paused for a moment while holding the flagon, looked at him suspiciously, and soon laughed again: "That's right, I'm indeed older than you."

Su Jin only responded with a smile, then ignored his words, picked up the cloth on the ground and rubbed it: "What kind of silkworm cloth is it? In my opinion, it's just an ordinary cloth."

"Ordinary?" Fang Wuyi's eyes widened in surprise: "This is the silk cloth that the emperor sent millions of soldiers and killed countless casualties. How dare you call it ordinary?"

"I've seen better fabrics than this..." Su Jin narrowed his eyes, as if remembering something, frowned slightly, and soon smiled with ease, and said to himself: "It's just with Just don’t come back.”

Looking up, I saw Fang Wuyi's unbelievable expression, and the smile in the corner of his eyes deepened: "Why, don't you believe it?"

Fang Wuyi knew that Su Jin was a person who never spoke big words, but the effect of alcohol made his thoughts a little confused, so that he forgot what the second half was after he said the first half of the sentence, so he could only think in a daze.

"Then, why don't I take you to see it." Su Jin suddenly stood up, smiled and extended his hand to him.Behind Su Jin, the thick purple clouds slowly and orderly spread out, revealing the huge moon like a silver hook hidden behind it.Behind the clouds, there are dense stars, colorful; the silver light penetrates the clouds, gently sprinkles, and the fine light, like the Milky Way composed of stars, winds above the lake, spreading the road from the lake shore to the Moon Palace.

The flashing road gradually became clear in Fang Wuyi's eyes. He stared at this incredible scene intently. After a long time, he held Su Jin's hand and whispered softly: "I must... be too drunk Is it great?"

"Yeah, you're drunk, so this is just a dream." The moonlight shook slightly, reflecting the mysterious and weird smile on Su Jin's lips.He pulled Fang Wuyi up, held his hand, and walked slowly towards the lake.

"You... do you want to die for love with me?" Fang Wuyi's footsteps were a little swaying, looking at the walking figure in front of him, and asked half-jokingly.

"What? Are you afraid?" Su Jin didn't even turn his head, and there was a smile in his questioning voice.

"I'm not afraid." The drunken Fang Wuyi shook his hands exaggeratedly like a child.His feet were weak, and he almost fell.

When he lowered his head, he realized that he had reached the middle of the lake at some point.The stars twinkled on the mirror-like lake, and the places where the footsteps walked caused circles of ripples.The shadows of the stars flicker and shatter in the clear water, the water and the sky are the same color, as if you are in the stars.

There are stars slowly rising from the water, suspended in mid-air, crystal clear, twinkling, dancing like fireflies.The calm lake slowly rippled, and red lanterns emerged from the waves and rose into the air.

It was the unlit Kongming Lantern, rising at a gentle speed, unhurriedly, and regularly.The suspended stars surround these Kongming lanterns, as if they are looking for their own lamp, and when they find it, they will fly into the lantern and light it up.Fires were lit in the originally empty lanterns, one after another.The red light danced in it, taking the lantern to fly deeper into the sky.

"This is people's 'wish'." Sensing Fang Wuyi's shock, Su Jin explained calmly.He raised his head and watched the red lanterns flying all over the sky, and the smile on his lips never faded: "Every year today, the wishes made by people will follow the Tianhe River and drift to the Tiangong. When the wishes come true, they will be released." Will become real stars, eternal, twinkling in the night."

At that time, Su Jin's side face looked extraordinarily beautiful and soft in the blurred light, easily diluting the gorgeous scenery.Fang Wuyi looked at him for a long time, and finally couldn't help curling the corners of his lips.He held Su Jin's hand tightly, looked at the sky side by side with him, and murmured, "Will there be my wish here...?"

"There will be." Su Jin turned his gaze back to him, with unshakable determination in his eyes.He took Fang Wuyi's hand, and the warm breath came through the skin.The unspeakable longing buried in the deepest part of my heart slowly poured out from my chest, and merged into crystal, shining stars in my palm.Stars radiated golden brilliance, spinning slowly up from his palm, flying to an empty lantern at the top of the sky, lighting it up.

"Come on, let's see where it will fly." Su Jin's voice with a smile sounded in his ears, and he turned his gaze away, only to find that the other party had already sat on the huge, bright crescent moon , smiling and reaching out to him.