Tang Dynasty

The billowing black smoke in the sky gradually approached, and the flames rising from the flat ground became clearer in sight.Li Shimin kept waving his horsewhip, hating that the thousand-mile-long horse under his crotch could not go any faster.

He tried his best to control the thoughts in his head, not daring to think about anything.He knew that, as a general, there were many things wrong with leaving aside the war and retreating.But he couldn't take care of so many things anymore, at this moment, he only had one thought in his mind: If the eldest brother has some troubles, even if he captures Chang'an, what's the point?

Thinking of this, Li Shimin's heart became more and more urgent, and he went east like a lightning bolt.

Soon, a battlefield was in sight.On the plain where the camp was located, Li's army was fighting with the Sui army, and behind them was a raging fire.

Li Shimin rode his horse and rushed forward, and with a wave of his halberd, he easily overturned a Sui soldier.The trembling soldier of the Sui army looked up and saw that it was Li Shimin, he was stunned and said, "Second, Second Young Master?!"

Li Shimin held the rein, looked at him and said, "What's the situation here? Tell me quickly!"

"Back to the Second Young Master, I waited for more than a thousand people to come to rescue the camp under the order of the Duke." The soldier said, "However, when I came, the camp was on fire, but we couldn't get in anyway. .”

Li Shimin raised his eyes and looked around, but saw Ma Guo, a member of Li's family, surrounding the camp, fighting against the Sui army.However, the fire was raging and the smoke billowed, which actually covered up the situation in the camp.His heart tightened, and he frowned, "Where is the son?"

"A small guess..." The soldier's eyes suddenly became colder when he saw him talking, and for some reason, his voice lost a bit of confidence, "The prince and the thousand or so people who were guarding the camp should... be trapped in the fire." middle……"

But before he finished speaking, Li Shimin had already slapped his horse away, heading towards the direction of the sea of ​​flames.

----

Li Jiancheng was really regretful at this time.

At that time, when Li Yuan sent orders to dispatch troops, he handed over most of the troops in the battalion to Pei Ji to take to the front line in order to help the army take down Chang'an.There are only a thousand people left in the camp.

He knew that he had really miscalculated this time.I wanted to go all out, but in the end I taught the enemy an opportunity to take advantage of it.

Burning the camp will destroy food and grass and shake the morale of the army; secondly, if it induces the army to withdraw and rescue them, it will kill two birds with one stone.

In this way, although it was a desperate plan, it really hit his own weakness.

At this moment, I only hope that the army on the front line will not fall into the enemy's tricks, and that they will be able to take down the city in one go.In this way, I am here... I should still be able to hold on for a while.

Withdrawing the saber from the chest of a Sui soldier, Li Jiancheng took a step back and let out a breath slowly.

However, looking around, the billowing smoke and dust around him has become thicker and thicker, almost blinding his sight.Only the sound of swords colliding in his ears kept ringing, reminding him that this is a battlefield, no matter what, he must not slack off in the slightest.

At this moment, a burst of saber light stabbed towards him, Li Jiancheng swung his sword to resist, but there was already a person standing in front of him, cutting off the Sui army with a single blow.

The tall and aggressive figure stood in front of Li Jiancheng, he turned slightly sideways, looked at Li Jiancheng and asked, "Is Jiancheng still alright?"

Li Jiancheng wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand, nodded and said, "It's okay."

"Completed," Duo Bi led the man back, and said, "The camp has been encircled in the sea of ​​flames, we can't stay here for long, you and I have to break out quickly."

Li Jiancheng stood still with a corner of the dilapidated tent, and said: "The sea of ​​fire is easy to break out, but the outside is already surrounded by the Sui army. I'm afraid that for a while..." Before he finished speaking, he was choked by the smoke and coughed a few times, and he couldn't help He bent slightly.

Duobi stretched out his hand to press his shoulder, patted him lightly, and said, "If it's completed, why don't I protect you first."

Due to the prolonged melee, his voice was already hoarse.Li Jiancheng was about to answer, but when Fang raised his head, he saw a column of Sui soldiers who had already spotted the whereabouts of the two of them and were rushing towards them with swords.

"Brother!" He drew his saber, and Du Bi exchanged a glance. The two of them had no time to speak, and they were immediately engaged in a fight.

After beheading several Sui soldiers with his sword, Li Jiancheng suddenly felt something strange.After taking a few steps back, he instinctively stretched out a hand and pressed it to his chest.

It happened suddenly, and I haven't used any medicine today.Knowing in the heart that if this continues... Even if the mind can still hold on, I'm afraid the body will collapse first.

What's more, this is his least known weakness.

Li Jiancheng gritted his teeth, turned around suddenly, opened a way, and ran towards his tent.

His own tent was surrounded by crowds, so Li Jiancheng hadn't been ravaged by the fire at this time. Li Jiancheng rushed towards the big tent, but at this moment, the big tent on his side suddenly caught fire, blocking the way ahead.Li Jiancheng dodged away, and when he turned around, he suddenly found that several camps around him had become a sea of ​​flames.As for himself, he was in the sea of ​​flames, unable to advance or retreat.

But at this moment, the fire is still spreading outwards and inwards, the flames are dazzling and the flames are overwhelming.Li Jiancheng could clearly hear the sound of close combat not far away, but all he could see was fire.

If you make a wrong step, you will make a wrong step like this.Li Jiancheng thought to himself mockingly, but when he looked up, there was no one around.

The raging fire quickly took away the surrounding air, replaced by billowing smoke and dust.Li Jiancheng simply threw away the saber in his hand, and tried several times to break through the sea of ​​flames, but in vain, his whole body lost even the strength to continue trying.

The temperature in the fire was horribly high, Li Jiancheng gasped for breath, and retreated helplessly to a tent in the middle that was not on fire.Holding the tent and slid to sit down bit by bit, he lowered his head and grabbed the hem of his clothes, breathing almost as if trying to survive.However, as his breath became more and more rapid, he clearly felt that the air had become thinner and thinner.

Sweat trickled down the cheeks to the ground, and was quickly sucked into the soil.

You can't breathe without air, and you can't think without breathing.After a while, Li Jiancheng raised his head and slowly leaned against the tent.The limbs hang down weakly, only the chest rises and falls with the rapid breathing.

The constantly jumping flames in front of him gradually became faint in sight.Li Jiancheng simply closed his eyes, but his mind was empty.After changing such a posture, the sweat had to slowly fall down the forehead and into the corners of the eyes, which seemed to be unusually salty and hot.

It is said that people who are about to die will quickly flash through their own life.However, at this moment, he couldn't even think about it.

All he could perceive was his instinctive breathing and his gradually blurred consciousness.However, the next moment, a puff of thick smoke entered his throat, and his whole body suddenly coughed violently.

Instinctively, Li Jiancheng arched his body, almost kneeling.With one hand propped on the scorching ground, the other tightly clutching the skirt of his chest, he coughed so hard that his whole body trembled, and sweat and tears fell down together.

Stimulated by the smoke and dust, his thoughts unexpectedly came back a little at this time.Li Jiancheng stared at the ground in front of him, and thought to himself that the arrow piercing the heart in front of Xuanwu Gate might not be a big deal.The pain of suffocation, it turned out that this is what happened.

It taught people to have a faint expectation in their hearts, hoping that the fire would come raging quickly, so that everything would end as soon as possible.

Gradually, the hands on the ground could no longer hold on. Li Jiancheng dug his five fingers into the hot soil in front of him, but his body softened little by little.

At this moment, a horse neighed suddenly.Li Jian instinctively wanted to raise his head to see if it was an illusion, but he found that he could not move.

----

Li Shimin flew into the fire circle, and was immediately hit by a wave of heat, almost blinding his eyes.

Instinctively, he swung his horse back and stretched out his arms to block his eyes, barely avoiding it.After a while, he turned around and scanned his surroundings.

Most of the big tents in front of me were burnt to pieces, only sporadic fire spots remained.As far as the eye can see, there is nothing but a ruined scene.Li Shimin picked up the reins and walked to one side, only sighed that he couldn't tell the difference between east, west, north and south, and he lost his direction for a while, and rushed into the flames here.At this moment, it seems that there is no one there.

However, at this moment, he saw a white figure curled up in front of the big tent not far away.

Even if what I saw was just a shadow, my heart was cruel, but it was a pain.

big brother...

Brother!

big brother? !

Before he could think of this thought in his mind, Li Shimin got off his horse and almost staggered over.

"Big brother! Big brother!" Kneeling on the ground and helping him sit up, Li Shimin gently shook his shoulder, "Big brother, I'm Li Shimin!"

Li Jiancheng lowered his head and swayed feebly with his movements.The hair on the forehead hangs down a little messily, covering the face, and the expression is blurred.Only the sound of rapid breathing, and it was very clear between the two.The next moment, he coughed and trembled all over again.

Feeling the smoke blowing towards his face, Li Shimin covered his mouth and nose with his hands, and soon realized that he could not stay here for long.He didn't speak anymore, he just picked up the man suddenly and got on the horse.

In any case, leaving this place is the top priority.

Li Shimin held the rein in one hand and Li Jiancheng's waist in the other, hugging him tightly in his arms.The other party was sitting sideways on the horse, and under his great strength, it was a gesture of hugging each other face to face.Li Shimin could feel the opponent's whole body leaning weakly in his arms, he could feel the opponent's head gently resting on his shoulder, and he could even feel the rush of breath from the opponent's mouth and nose, gushing between his neck.

Big brother's breath... To me, it was a temperature far better than the sea of ​​fire.

Li Shimin let out a long breath and calmed down.He looked around and saw a fire that seemed to be relatively small, so he didn't dare to hesitate, so he galloped over immediately.

When he got closer, Li Shimin raised the rein with one hand, and the horse under his crotch seemed to feel a sense, and raised its front hooves high.With one leap, he jumped over the wall of fire several feet high, and landed firmly on the ground.

However, Fang stood still, and a row of Sui troops flashed in front of him, staring intently at him.Only then did Li Shimin realize that in his desperation, the long halberd had already been left in the sea of ​​flames.

He looked at the men and horses slowly approaching in front of him, his eyes became extremely cold.The hand holding the rein was loosened little by little, and he put the sword on his waist, but he also knew in his heart that at this moment, he might be defeated by two fists and four hands.What's more, Li Jiancheng was still in his arms.

A moment later, he flashed his saber with a "swish", pointed at the people in front of him and said, "If you want to go, go together, I don't have time to spend time with you!" rushed over.

Although Sui Jun didn't know who this was, he was taken aback at first when he saw that he was so powerful alone.However, the next moment, he also greeted him.

Li Shimin swung his sword and beheaded several people. When he turned around, he saw that a person had come out from the other side, and pointed his spear directly at the person in his arms.In desperation, he swung the sword in his hand, lifted the rein of the horse and turned sideways abruptly, receiving the shot with the back of his shoulder.

The spear passed through his left shoulder vigorously, Li Shimin grunted, turned his horse's head, and quickly kicked the man over.He pulled out the spear on his back and threw it aside, knowing that he had no weapons in his hands at this time, and he couldn't stay here for a moment longer.

"Drive!" He simply bent down, covering the person in his arms as much as possible, and then kicked the horse's belly violently, intending to rush out like this.

No matter how many swords and swords are around, just come to yourself.

However, I don't know how far I rushed, and then I heard a noisy sound ahead.Li Shimin took a closer look, but saw a group of people coming towards him.The leader saw himself clearly and was clearly taken aback for a moment, but he quickly stepped aside and taught the people behind him to get out of the way.

Li Shimin stared at the man fixedly, but his horseshoes did not stop, and he passed the man quickly in just a moment.

He already understood the meaning in aggressive eyes: I'm blocking this place, you lead people away quickly.

Li Shimin didn't hesitate anymore, he rushed out of the camp and galloped on his horse, until the sound of swords and soldiers behind him became inaudible, then he slowed down his horse, found a dense forest, and walked in slowly.

He stopped in front of an ancient tree, and the silence in the forest made him realize that the breathing in his arms had calmed down at some point.

"Brother?" He couldn't see the other person's face, so he just tried to call out in a low voice.

After a while, Li Jiancheng gave a low "um" in a very calm voice, but did not continue to say anything.

Seeing that the other party seemed to have regained his sanity, Li Shimin immediately breathed a sigh of relief.He turned over and got off the horse, stretched his hand up to support Li Jiancheng's arm and said, "Here is all right, brother come down and rest for a while."

Li Jiancheng lowered his head, put one hand on the saddle, and turned around after a long time.He stretched out his hand very slowly, as if intending to catch Li Shimin with his backhand.However, the next moment, the person has fallen off the horse.

Li Shimin was caught off guard, rushed over to catch him, and said anxiously, "Brother!"

Li Jiancheng stood up with difficulty, but just shook his head lightly, and said in a low voice, "...it's okay."

However, Li Shimin didn't seem to understand what he said, and just looked at him fixedly.It wasn't until he touched the opponent's palm that he realized that Li Jiancheng's palm was covered with cold sweat.

As if sensing something, Li Jiancheng suddenly withdrew his hand and staggered towards Gumu.Then, he sat down with difficulty.

His movements are so slow, but every movement seems to have exhausted his strength.

Li Shimin suddenly understood something.He rushed over suddenly, brushing away the loose hair on the other side's forehead.

Then he saw clearly, Li Jiancheng's frowning eyebrows.He had seen such an expression of enduring pain before.

Only this time, Li Jiancheng endured it so quietly that he didn't even teach him to notice it all the way.

"Brother..." He stretched out his hand to support the other person's shoulder, and asked himself, "Where is the medicine?"

"It's okay..." Li Jiancheng shook his head and said in a hoarse voice, "It's okay to endure this for a while."

However, Li Shimin looked at him and asked word by word: "The medicine is still in the camp, but that's it?"

Li Jiancheng shook his head, just shook his head.In fact, he also understands that the medicine is only effective for pain relief.Even if you don't have it for a while, it's okay, but... it's just a living crime.This pain, for him, is still unbearable.

He stopped talking, looked up at the other party's left arm that was almost soaked in blood, tried his best to calm down his voice, and said slowly: "Shimin, just bandage the wound."

When Li Shimin heard the words, he really stopped talking.He just turned his back and sat down, took off his shirt, tore off a hem and silently wrapped up the wound.Li Jiancheng looked at him silently, his eyes slowly skipping the blood-stained back, the large and small sword wounds, and the bloody wound on his shoulder...

He watched quietly until the throbbing pain in his heart became unbearable any longer.Li Jiancheng closed his eyes, shrank his body subconsciously, and clasped his five fingers on the skirt of his clothes.As if this is the case, the pain can be reduced by a few points.

I just hate that I have experienced this pain thousands of times, but I still can't get used to it.

However, after an unknown amount of time, he heard a horse neighing.That voice was as piercing and high-spirited as the one that sounded in the sea of ​​flames just now.

He opened his eyes slightly, but was surprised to see Li Shimin sitting high on the horse.He lowered his eyes and fixed himself, his eyes were deep and unusual.I don't know if it was a momentary hallucination, but Li Jiancheng only felt that the other party's expression was so stern, that he was a completely different person than usual.

"Shimin, you..." Li Jiancheng struggled to sit up, and was about to say something, but was interrupted by the other party.

"Brother..." Li Shimin lifted the reins of the horse, and the horse under him raised its front hoofs high, but his words were extremely calm, "Be patient for a while, Shimin will return soon!"

After all, before Li Jiancheng could open his mouth, he lifted the rein and galloped away.

Li Jiancheng stared blankly at the dust flying behind him, gradually drifting away, pointing to the sea of ​​fire and the battlefield where the two escaped from death not long ago.

Suddenly, I felt as if a piece of my heart had been gouged out, an unspeakable pain.