Looking to the Thirteen Rivers

The wind and snow did not stop for several days. The city of Yaoding was completely covered with snow, and the snow on the streets was half a leg high. The people and officials shoveled the snow spontaneously, and there were figures coming and going everywhere.

In the past few days, except for solving necessary problems, Yin Qiu hardly ever got out of bed, and spent most of the time in a coma, always being picked up in the half-dream and half-awake state, eating, drinking medicine, and falling asleep again, without feeling the passage of time at all. .

In the afternoon of this day, she finally woke up from the sound of shovels shoveling snow, sat up on the bed, and found herself in a strange room, looking around blankly, there was no one except herself.

He vaguely remembered a warm and soft embrace, as if he had been with her for several nights, but he couldn't remember who it was. Yin Qiu's mouth was dry, he stepped on the ground with his bare feet, and staggered to the table to take a few sips of tea.

The tea was still hot, as if it had just been steeped.

This is where?

While thinking about it, he suddenly heard a burst of laughter from outside the room, which was quite noisy. Yin Qiu put down his teacup and approached the wooden door, and quietly opened a gap. He saw several men and women hugging each other, with intimate gestures, walking from the end of the corridor as if no one else was around. She was cursing and cursing, and said something that made people blush and heartbeat loudly.

Seeing this scene, Yin Qiu couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.

For an instant, she forgot the pain and discomfort in her body, and also ignored the coldness around her body and the coldness of her feet. She turned her head and looked at the layout of the room in a daze.

But it was not as gorgeous as expected, only some simple furnishings, not quite like the Qinlou Chu Pavilion she had stayed in, but rather like an ordinary inn.

"Squeak", the door opened.

A white shadow floated forward, carrying a forceful wind and frost, and stood in front of her.

Yin Qiu was startled, and unconsciously took two steps back, with a flustered expression.

"Are you awake?" The visitor was dressed in a white dress and a large brocade robe, and cast a scrutinizing gaze at her.

Seeing her face clearly, Yin Qiu recalled some fragmentary pictures, took another step back, stood there without saying a word, just looked at her in silence.

"Why don't you wear shoes?" Man Jiangxue said, reaching out to pick her up and put her back on the bed, and then pressed her forehead, "It's okay, the fever is gone."

Yin Qiu was still thinking about the group of men and women in the corridor just now, and asked her anxiously: "Did you buy me?"

Man Jiangxue was opening the food box she had brought, when she heard the words she smiled and said, "Forget it," she took out the food and laid it out, beckoning to Yin Qiu, "If you can walk around by yourself, put on your shoes and come over and eat."

Confused, Yin Qiu clutched the corner of his clothes, and asked after a long while, "Then how much money did you sell?"

After Man Jiangxue finished her work, she raised her head and looked at her: "How much money did you sell for?"

Yin Qiu shrank into the quilt, only two eyes were exposed, and said in a muffled voice, "You bought me for 500 taels that day, and now you sell me here, can you earn it back?" He continued, "The last time I was sold into a brothel, I was only twelve taels..."

Man Jiangxue didn't understand what she meant, and frowned slightly: "The brothel?"

She pondered for a moment, thinking about what caused the child to mistake this place for a brothel, but she saw Yin Qiu suddenly throw off the quilt, rush to the window like a gust of wind, then push the window hard, with hands and feet Use the land to climb up.

"What are you doing?" Man Jiangxue was surprised.

The cold wind outside the window "swished" and rushed over. Yin Qiu supported the window coffin, with tears in his eyes, and said: "If you sell me to other places, I can accept it, but if it is a brothel, I might as well... ..."

The little figure was thin and emaciated, wearing only a single piece of clothing, in the merciless beating of the cold wind, like a helpless green willow leaf, as if it could fall down at any time.

Seeing her actions, Man Jiangxue was surprised at first, but soon calmed down again.

"Why not?" she asked calmly.

Yin Qiu turned his head and glanced down, feeling terrified in his heart, but his mouth was very firm: "I'll just jump down and fall to my death."

Man Jiangxue looked at her for a while, but didn't step forward to stop her, but sat down at the table with a short body, and said after a long time: "Still jumping?"

Unexpectedly, she would have such a reaction, Yin Qiu couldn't help being stunned, and then glanced sideways, his head immediately became dizzy, and his body trembled uncontrollably.

"This is the second floor," Man Jiangxue's voice came again, "Did you see the thick snow at the bottom? You can't die if you fall, at most, you will break your arms and legs. If you can't cure it, you will be disabled for the rest of your life. Think it through."

·

Impulsively, he fell into a dilemma, and Yin Qiu was at a loss for what to do.

Hearing Man Jiangxue's indifferent tone and calm demeanor, Yin Qiu guessed that her careful care these days was just to save her and sell her to make money, no different from those unscrupulous human traffickers she met in the past. , The blood in the chest surged.

But she is not too young anymore. She will be 11 years old after this winter. She was sold to a brothel before, just doing some low-level menial work, such as washing dishes and mopping the floor, helping the kitchen to choose vegetables, but she is young. You Liwei, often clumsy and making mistakes, was always taught a lesson, suffered a lot of beatings, and often added new injuries to old injuries, and lived a very miserable life.

For a while, the popular girl in the building took pity on her and called her to serve her, but not long after, the girl died. She said something wrong while accompanying the guests, and was cut by a drunk man with a sword and wrapped in a broken straw mat. , Throw it to the barren hills to feed the wild dogs.

She has seen many similar things in the building, and she knows very well that after a certain age, she will not do those errands when she enters the brothel. It is not uncommon for a girl to have a child at the age of 12, and she will definitely Like those women who have fallen into prostitution, they dress up beautifully, accompany them to drink and sleep, greet them and see them off, maybe they will die one day, and they will end up in the same fate as that girl.

Thoughts were going back and forth, Yin Qiu had a blank face, seeing Man Jiangxue pouring tea by herself with a leisurely expression, obviously not wanting to care about her, Yin Qiu couldn't help but feel agitated, closed his eyes, and let go of his tight grip The hand holding the window coffin.

The body fell outwards, and Yin Qiu had already imagined the appearance of her head being bleeding, at that moment she was unusually calm, instead she was not afraid, thinking that it would be a relief to die like this, unexpectedly, her upper body only moved, Suddenly there was a hand around her waist, and that hand gently pushed her back, and pulled her back along the way.

"Really dancing?" Man Jiangxue's spring-like voice sounded above her head.

The clamoring wind in her ears went away in an instant, Yin Qiu bumped into her warm arms, pressed against her chest, and heard the steady and powerful heartbeat of the other party.

And her own heart was pounding like a drum, about to pop out of her throat.

"He has a strong temper." Man Jiangxue waved one hand, and the two windows and doors closed immediately, "It's exactly the same as your mother."

Yin Qiu was quiet for a moment, and then started to get scared when she looked at the window again, but after hearing Man Jiangxue's words, she cheered up again, and quickly raised her eyes to look at her: "My mother...do you know my mother?"

Man Jiangxue didn't reply, she just put her on the stool, handed over a pair of bowls and chopsticks, and said, "Eat."

Where is Yin Qiu in the mood to eat?Follow up: "You mentioned my mother just now..."

"Eat first," Man Jiangxue interrupted her, "Don't talk if you don't eat."

Yin Qiu hurriedly picked up the bowl, hurriedly planed a few big mouthfuls of white rice, stuffed a few more mouthfuls of vegetables, and swallowed it hastily before chewing too much, in a hurry: "I'm eating, I'm eating, and you can say okay?" ?”

Man Jiangxue played with her dagger again, and asked Yin Qiu first: "What do you know about your parents?"

He almost choked on eating too quickly, Yin Qiu hurriedly drank a cup of tea, cleared his throat and said, "Not too much, I only know my name, but many people told me that they are all dead."

"Your father is indeed dead," Man Jiangxue picked up the chopsticks to pick up vegetables for her, "As for your mother, she was still alive earlier, but almost ten years have passed, and there has been no news of her, and no one has seen her. Now she is dead or not. Nobody knows."

Even though she has always heard about the death of her parents, Yin Qiu has always had a little fantasy. Hearing what she said now, it is inevitable to feel a burst of melancholy.

Dad is dead, and mother has been missing for ten years, so what is the difference between being dead?

Thinking of his lonely and helpless days, Yin Qiu's eyes were slightly red, tears were rolling, and he fell silent.

"Also, this is not a brothel." Man Jiangxue said again.

Yin Qiu held his chopsticks and sat in a daze.

Get up to add a coat for her, Man Jiang Xuefu sat back again, looked at her and said: "Relax, I will not sell you, when you recover from illness, I will take you to Yunhua Palace, that is you The place where my mother used to live."

Yin Qiu held back the tears that were about to fall, and asked hoarsely, "Where is Yunhua Palace?"

"Jianghu sect," Man Jiangxue said, "in the past, your mother worshiped under the previous head teacher, and she was the first female disciple to defeat the four elders. She is very skilled in swordsmanship and has infinite scenery. No one knows her name."

It was the first time I heard about my mother, Yin Qiu finally came back to his senses, wiped his eyes and said, "What's her name?"

"Shen Mandong."

"Where's my father?"

"Yin Xuan."

Yin Qiu secretly recited these two names in her heart, only feeling that they were both strange and kind, and after knowing that this place was not a brothel, she was reluctantly relieved and her mood stabilized a bit.

"Then who are you?"

There was no bright light in the snowy day. Although it was afternoon, there were still a few candles lit in the room. Man Jiangxue held the wick with a dagger, and her face looked very soft under the light of the fire.

"Your mother and I are both disciples of Yunhua. She is my senior sister by how many years older than me, and she started before me."

Knowing her identity, Yin Qiu's eyes were surprised, and then he came to his senses.

No wonder she spent so much money to buy herself, asked a doctor to see her, and fed her food and medicine with her own hands. It turned out that it was because of this layer of reason.

She wondered a little anxiously: After that, would she no longer need to be bought and bought, and would no longer have to suffer?

But what kind of Yunhua Palace would welcome her?After she went, who would she be sent to serve?

Xu Shi could see what she was thinking, and Man Jiangxue shifted her gaze to her face, with a soothing voice: "Don't worry, the current headmaster in the palace also made good friends with your mother back then. Over the years, we I have been tracking down your whereabouts, and I am looking forward to taking you back, the senior sister is gone, and we should take care of her child."

Ordinarily it was good news, and one should be happy to hear it, but Yin Qiu was in a daze, not surprised, and asked after a while, "Then how did my parents die?"

"I'll tell you about these things later," Man Jiangxue didn't answer directly, "There's no rush right now, the most important thing right now is your body, and it won't be too late after you recover from your illness."

Yin Qiu is indeed in a state of mind right now, suddenly knowing the news of his parents' death and knowing where he will go in the future, his heart is very complicated, and if he wants to hear more about his parents, it may be difficult to digest.

She nodded, lost her appetite to eat again, fell asleep again after drinking the medicine, and fell asleep on the bed.

·

The night was dark and windy, the snow was dense, and a carriage was speeding along the rugged mountain road.

The road was slippery in a snowy day, and it was almost dark at night, but the woman in Tsing Yi on the horseback kept waving her whip to urge her to go, ignoring the fact that the family of three who had been dumped in the carriage was in a blurred vision. In the middle of the rampage, advance at full speed.

"Girl! Miss Ji!" Unable to bear the turbulence, the peasant woman took the risk of being thrown out and stood at the door, "Can you make it slowly? Those people have been thrown away long ago, and my son is still sick ..."

His hands were bloodstained by the reins, and the overflowing blood quickly solidified into ice scum. Ji Wanshu turned his head in his busy schedule, and said coldly, "Shut up!"

After being yelled at by her, the peasant woman had no choice but to roll back into the car angrily. The couple tightly guarded the young child. The whole family was bumped into each other in the car, and their bones were about to fall apart.

After running for a while, the road will end, and then turn to the official road, and you will be able to reach Liaoping County in an hour or so. If you send people into the city before the curfew, there is still a chance of survival.

Ji Wanshu half-covered her face against the wind and snow, her brows and eyes exposed outside were serious, she had to multitask, not only to watch the road conditions, but also to ride a horse and drive, and to pay attention to the movements in all directions, a hole in her mind collapsed The strings are pulled tight.

Amidst the sound of horseshoes and wheels intersecting, the mountain road finally came to an end, which meant that Ji Wanshu could increase his speed a little more, and he didn't have to be restrained by the road conditions.

Suddenly, there was a "rumbling" thunder from the mountains on both sides.

Hearing the deafening noise, Ji Wanshu looked sideways, and saw countless boulders rolling down from the mountain wall. The battle was comparable to the rushing of thousands of horses, and a thick cloud of dust was stirred up.

The shouts of the couple soon sounded behind him, Ji Wanshu secretly thought something was wrong, and lashed the horse's butt with a whip, but no matter how fast the horse's hooves ran, it was useless at this moment, and the way was blocked by falling rocks in an instant.

With a sound of "Boom!", the carriage was torn apart, and there were several screams, and Ji Wanshu flew up, looking for a foothold in the chaos.

Huge boulders followed one after another, crushing the carriage to pieces, and even the horse was not spared. The person who was hit by the stone on the spot vomited blood and fell to the ground.

The sudden situation inevitably made Ji Wanshu flustered, but she had no chance to save anyone, so she gritted her teeth and flew out, landing in a safer place.

The boulder came and went quickly, and it fell silent after a while. Hearing the child's hoarse cry, Ji Wanshu had time to return, strode back to the position of the carriage, and tried his best to look for someone with his eyes wide open.

"Help, help..."

Under the overlapping piles of boulders, the couple supported the falling rocks with their fleshy bodies, forcing out a small space. The little boy fell on his back, his face covered with blood, and he cried earth-shatteringly.

Seeing this scene, Ji Wanshu's heart was shaken.

"Girl...my son..." The peasant woman was speechless, and only the man held his breath, "Son, just, just please..."

Ji Wanshu didn't dare to hesitate, and immediately stretched out his hand to pull the child out. The next moment, the couple couldn't hold on any longer, and both of them threw themselves towards the ground, and heavy boulders fell down, burying the two of them in the blink of an eye.

"Father! Mother!"

Ji Wanshu quickly checked the boy's injuries and found that he was completely unharmed, only some inevitable scratches and bruises, and the blood on his face was not his.

In an ambush, if you don't leave quickly, you will only wait for the killer, Ji Wanshu suppressed the agitation in his heart, and immediately flew towards the official road with the boy in his arms.

A group of black shadows stood quietly in front of them.

"Hand over the child."

Killing intent flashed in his eyes, Ji Wanshu drew out his long sword, protected the boy behind him, and said coldly: "Come and grab it if you have the ability."

There were no extra words, only the flashes of sword light intertwined suddenly, the man in black jumped up and stabbed the long sword at the head, several people attacked Ji Wanshu, and the others went straight to the boy, with a division of labor and a clear purpose.

After all, there were so many people, Ji Wanshu couldn't guard against it. During the fight, he won the opponent's hand, but one person said in surprise: "It's a boy? Where is that seriously ill girl!"

Ji Wanshu sneered, and simply killed several people around him, and then moved behind the man like a ghost, and directly chopped off his arm holding the boy with a sword.

The man in black screamed, and before he could escape, his chest was pierced by the long sword.

"go!"

Shaking off the blood on the sword casually, Ji Wanshu didn't stop, carried the boy on his back, performed lightness kung fu repeatedly and rushed into the forest, and quickly disappeared into the night.