Looking to the Thirteen Rivers

Returning to the inn full of worries, Yin Qiu felt dizzy and tired. He planned to go to bed by himself, but Man Jiangxue said, "I'm not going to sleep anymore, I'm leaving now."

Yin Qiu was surprised: "Where are you going?"

I didn't bring much luggage at all, only two sets of new clothes bought for Yin Qiu. Man Jiangxue packed them up and said, "I didn't expect the news to spread so fast. Many people already know that the Ziwei Sect is looking for you. The distance from Jinhuai City It’s not far from here, and I’ve lived here for a few days, so I can’t stay longer.”

Perhaps after getting a clue, the Ziwei Church went to track down the peasant woman's family first, but Ji Wanshu alone shouldn't be able to resist for a long time. Once they found out that Yin Qiu was not in her hands, the Ziwei Cult would definitely search the surrounding states and cities immediately. .

Seriously ill girls who have just arrived here, at the age of ten, can know that they have been here once they ask around inns and pharmacies.

"Go back to Yunhua Palace as soon as possible," Man Jiangxue said, "It's half a month's journey, and you are still sick, so you can only bear with it, and feel at ease when you arrive early."

Yin Qiu naturally followed her arrangement. After the two of them cleaned up, Man Jiangxue jumped down from the window with Yin Qiu in his arms, found the horse in the backyard, and ran towards the city gate immediately.

Not long after the two left, a woman wearing a dark blue coarse cloth and a bamboo hat walked into the inn.

"Hey, is the guest officer a top player or a hotel?"

"Just a question," the woman leaned on the counter with a big knife on her waist, "Did a little girl around ten years old come here in the past two days?"

The boy thought about it, and gestured in front of him: "Is it so tall, dressed in rags, and sick?"

The woman stood up straight, raised her eyes under the bamboo hat, and asked, "Where is the man?"

The boy pointed to the second floor: "The room at the end on the left, I just came back."

The woman made a gesture to go upstairs, but her footsteps stopped: "Who is with her?"

The servant smiled and said, "That's a beauty, she's wearing a white dress, she's so pretty! I'll show you the way..."

Before she finished speaking, the woman had already stepped on the table and chairs and flew up to the second floor. She opened the door and saw that the room was deserted and deserted, with no one in sight.

Seeing a porcelain bowl with medicinal juice left on the table, the woman pressed down the bamboo hat, walked to the wide open window and jumped down.

At the same time, two guests, one tall and one short, ushered in at the gate of the inn.

The tall one is a young woman in Tsing Yi, holding a long sword in one hand and leading a black horse in the other, followed by a boy in gray clothes shrunken, his lips pale from the cold, the two of them looked travel-stained, as if they were driving It's been a long way.

The boy was about to go upstairs to check the situation, and when he saw someone coming, he sang again: "Oh, are you two top players or staying in the hotel?"

Ji Wanshu signaled the boy to wait, and walked in the door, saying: "I don't stay in the shop even if I'm not a top player, just ask me something."

The boy looked at her twice, suspiciously: "What's the matter?"

Ji Wan swept through the guests in the lobby and said, "In the past few days, has a woman in white brought a seriously ill little girl to your store?"

"Yes, why not?" The boy scratched his head with surprise, "You came to find them too? It's strange, a woman came here just now, and it was exactly the same as what you asked."

Ji Wanshu frowned: "Where's the person?"

"Go upstairs, the room at the end on the left is."

Ji Wanshu cast a look at the boy outside the door, then stepped on a wooden table with his strength, and immediately climbed up to the second floor.

The young man was dumbfounded, and couldn't help yelling: "Hey! I said you people, I'm afraid that others don't know that you know how to do light work or something!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Ji Wanshu returned the same way, landed lightly in front of him, and asked, "What does the woman you just mentioned look like?"

The boy wanted to teach her a few words, but seeing her serious expression, with an inexplicable coercion, he felt a little guilty for a moment, so he honestly described the woman's attire to her.

Dailan rough clothes, a bamboo hat on her head, and a big knife on her waist... It's her!

Ji Wanshu turned around immediately, holding the boy by the collar and was about to get on the horse. The two sat down firmly, but the boy suddenly whimpered and sprayed blood on the horse's back.

"Are you injured?" Ji Wanshu hurriedly reached out to support him.

The boy moaned in pain, apparently too painful to speak.

Ji Wanshu was so annoyed that he took the boy off the horse and rushed into the inn again.

·

It was evening, the sky was dark, and in the rolling hills, a horse was carrying two people on a muddy path.

"Do I look like my parents?" Yin Qiu clutched the saddle tightly and leaned against Man Jiangxue's arms, yawning so sleepy and afraid of falling, he could only find something to say.

After going out of the city, the snow began to fall again. The two rode their horses and ran for more than an hour before slowing down.

Man Jiangxue looked down at Yin Qiu, thought for a while and said, "Turn around and let me have a look."

Yin Qiu turned his head away.

She is still young, with childish cheeks, ignoring the sickness, but she is actually pretty, especially her eyes are very good, black and white are distinct, long eyelashes are thick, the outer canthus is slightly raised, the eyes are slightly narrow and long, double eyelids The folds are deep, more rounded than Danfeng eyes, and slightly narrower than Peach Blossom eyes, between the two, it is very unique.

I didn't pay attention to it before, but now when I look at it carefully, Man Jiangxue realizes that her eyes are very similar to Yin Xuan's, but they are almost the same as Shen Mandong's in other places. A face that can never be forgotten.

Man Jiangxue frowned slightly.

The similar face brought back several memories of the past, and suddenly there was a mountain of red maple in front of my eyes. The autumn was lingering, and Liucang Mountain was crimson. Shen Mandong was wearing a gorgeous wedding dress, standing under the maple tree and smiling at her, asking He said, "Junior Sister, is it good-looking?"

Man Jiangxue stood in front of her, and said in a cold tone, "I'm going to worship in half an hour, so it's too late for you to regret it now."

The corners of Shen Mandong's eyes and brows were filled with joy: "Brother Xuan is a nice person, why do you always hate him?"

Man Jiangxue said: "He is not a kind person, no matter how well he pretends, his eyes can't deceive anyone."

Shen Mandong said: "But I still like his eyes, I have never seen any man with such clean eyes."

Man Jiangxue did not speak.

Shen Mandong said: "You know, my biggest wish is not to be a famous swordsman, but to get married and have children, and to be a good mother. You are hostile to Brother Xuan, and you are my most beloved junior sister. What will you do in the future? Get along?"

Man Jiangxue said: "I don't bother to discuss people behind their backs, but Yin Xuan is really not a good match for you."

Shen Mandong smiled and shook her head: "I am the only daughter of the Shen family and the successor of Ruyimen. I always want to get married. Brother Xuan is more suitable than others."

Man Jiangxue's words had come to this point, she couldn't be persuaded, and turned to leave.

The picture changed suddenly, and there was still a blinding red in front of my eyes, but it was no longer a red maple, but a river of blood and a fire all over the sky.

Shen Mandong also no longer wore wedding clothes, her plain clothes were stained with blood, her smile no longer was replaced by numbness and hatred.

She stood among the piles of dead people, looking at Man Jiangxue desperately, but this time, she didn't say anything.

·

"Why are you in a daze?" Yin Qiu's voice sounded.

Her thoughts were interrupted, Man Jiangxue quickly came back to her senses, and said with curved lips, "Except for eyes like your father, everything else looks like your mother."

Yin Qiu didn't notice the strangeness in her just now, but just spread out a blank sheet of paper in his heart, used his imagination to describe the appearance of his parents, and thought of what happened to them later, he asked a little seriously: "Does my father really like you?" My mother, does my mother really like my father?"

Man Jiangxue gave a "hmm": "It should be."

Yin Qiu said: "But she was deceived."

Man Jiangxue looked ahead, with Feixue and the mountains reflected in her eyes, and said slowly: "I reminded her countless times, but she didn't listen."

Yin Qiu reacted quickly: "Do you know that my father is a bad person?"

Man Jiangxue said: "It's just an intuition, and when I found out later, it was already too late."

Yin Qiu regained his energy, his sleepiness disappeared, and asked again: "How did they know each other?"

"Senior Sister traveled down the mountain and encountered Yin Xuan who was seriously injured and dying. She brought him back to Ruyimen to recuperate from his injuries, and fell in love with each other for a long time."

"Then they got married?"

"Ah."

"And then... my father died, where were you at that time?"

Man Jiangxue's tone was flat: "Yunhua Palace, when I arrived, Yin Xuan had already died."

Yin Qiu was quiet for a moment: "Then why did my mother disappear?"

Man Jiangxue did not answer for a long time.

Yin Qiu looked at her sideways, and was about to ask, but Man Jiangxue suddenly tightened the reins and stopped.

Seeing her eyes darken, Yin Qiu turned around without knowing why, and saw a person standing quietly on the path that was empty before.

A woman wearing a hat and holding a sword.

The wind and snow suddenly intensified, and the mountains and forests were full of birds. The woman lifted the hat, revealing a heroic face with profound features, with the corners of her mouth slightly raised: "It's you."

Man Jiangxue put her arms around Yin Qiu, sat upright on the horse's back, and said the same thing: "It's you."

The woman laughed: "The beauty in the white dress... I was careless for a while, I should have thought that you came in person."

Man Jiangxue watched her from afar.

"Even if you come, I can't make this trip in vain," the woman said, "give me this child, everything is easy to talk about."

Man Jiangxue sneered softly: "You have no chance of winning against me."

The woman also laughed: "I couldn't beat you before, but I have to complete the task so that I can go back to work."

Man Jiangxue asked in a moderate voice: "What are you looking for her for?"

The big knife was dragged on the ground, it looked very heavy, but it was as light as a feather in the woman's hand.

"Of course it's what you think," the woman smiled evilly, "Compared to Yunhua Palace, Ziwei Cult is her home, don't worry, no one will cut her flesh, and no one will drink her blood , Our leader said, take it back, you will be a golden young lady, raise her as your own daughter, and enjoy inexhaustible blessings."

After she finished speaking, she raised her eyebrows and smiled at Yin Qiu with her lips bent, so unfriendly, Yin Qiu looked at her, but felt a chill down her back, and immediately turned around and hugged Man Jiangxue tightly.

strange woman.

"I won't hand her over to you," Man Jiangxue looked indifferent, but her tone sank, "If you want to grab her hard, I won't show mercy,"

The woman spread her hands: "At least we got to know each other. We're old friends. How can I save face?"

Man Jiangxue looked at her expressionlessly, and suddenly laughed again: "If you want to die in front of Wan Shu, I have no objection."

The woman fell silent.

After a while, she smiled again, dragging the knife and sideways out of the way: "Please."

Man Jiangxue looked away from her, stretched the reins, and took Yin Qiujuechen away.

·

The woman's lazy figure gradually disappeared from sight, Yin Qiu turned her head frequently, wondering: "Who is she?"

Man Jiangxue didn't relax, and started to run faster, saying: "One of the four guardians of the Ziwei Sect, Wen Chaoyu."

The name is pleasant, fresh and graceful, but it doesn't match people very well.

"What are they looking for from me?" Yin Qiu was terrified.

"I don't know for now," Man Jiangxue said, "She just obeys orders."

Yin Qiu immediately rejoiced that he met Man Jiangxue, if she hadn't been rescued and brought with her, she might have been caught by the people taught by Ziwei a long time ago.

"She let us go, she is afraid of you." Yin Qiu's eyes showed admiration.

"She's not afraid of me," Man Jiangxue said, "I don't want to kill her, but I can't take it lightly. If she doesn't do anything, it doesn't mean she will keep our tracks secret."

The night fell quickly, the mountains were cold and silent, and the horses drove to the opposite bank through the shallow river, and the horseshoes galloped, splashing waves of flying water.

Barren mountains and wild ridges, far away from human settlements, no villages on the way, only a ruined temple in the mountains, but it can escape the wind and snow, Man Jiangxue tied up his horse, carried Yin Qiu into the temple gate, saw scattered piles With some dry firewood, which should have been left by passers-by in the past, a fire was lit, and the ground was covered with straw, and the two of them rested by the fire.

Running all the way so far without stopping, Man Jiangxue was even more cautious when she met that woman. She changed the road several times on the way and walked around. .

"Take off your coat, put it on after it's warmed up." Man Jiangxue washed her hands in the yard, and when she came back, she saw Yin Qiu curled up in a ball.

Yin Qiu obeyed obediently, took off his coat and sneezed three times in a row.

She hadn't recovered from her illness, and today she was blowing cold wind outside almost all the time, so she couldn't sleep, and now she started to have a headache and fever, and her body was weak.

"Come here," Man Jiangxue hugged her shoulders, "I'll hug you."

Yin Qiu retracted into Man Jiangxue's arms, hugged her waist with both hands, felt the warmth of her body, couldn't help but exhaled a long breath, and said, "You are so warm, won't you be cold?"

Man Jiangxue took out some pastries from the bundle beside him, broke them into small pieces and fed them to her, saying: "People who practice martial arts have the protection of true energy, so they won't be too cold."

Being hugged by Man Jiangxue like this, and with a fire to keep him warm, Yin Qiu gradually felt better, his breathing became steady, and he said enviously, "That's great, can I learn martial arts in the future?"

"If you want to learn, there's no problem." After eating the cakes, Man Jiangxue brought a water bag to feed Yin Qiu, "Have you ever studied?"

Yin Qiu shook his head: "No, I don't even know how to write my own name."

The two sat on the pile of straw, clinging to each other, Man Jiangxue said: "Then you have to learn Chinese and hyphenation first. When you arrive at Yunhua Palace, there will be a teacher who will teach you."

Yin Qiu was drowsy, and his eyes lit up when he heard this: "Really? When I was in Su's house, I would occasionally pass by the eldest young master's room, and I could always hear him reciting the book, which read very well."

Because Yin Qiu always fell asleep when he was in the inn, and he seldom woke up, Man Jiangxue never had a chance to ask her about it, so he asked, "How long have you been in Su's house?"

Yin Qiu tilted his head and buried it in her chest, calculating: "A year and a half? I don't remember clearly."

"Besides the Su family, where else have you stayed?"

"A lot of them are sold here and there. They stay here for two days and there for two days."

Man Jiangxue lowered her eyes and looked at Yin Qiu's slightly closed eyes: "Before in the inn, you mistakenly thought it was a brothel."

Yin Qiu nodded: "In the Xunchunyuan in Yanghua City, I help the kitchen and sometimes help with the laundry. I can do a little bit of everything."

Unexpectedly, she was still in the brothel, Man Jiangxue was silent for a moment, with a little pity on her face: "Who sold you in?"

Yin Qiu trembled for a moment, with fear on his face: "It was the last person who bought me... He originally wanted a boy, but when he found out that I was a girl, he was very angry, beat me up, and then sold me into a brothel. It was exchanged for ten taels of silver."

Man Jiangxue recalled the scars and old wounds on her body when she took a bath in the inn, and frowned: "Did the people in the brothel beat you too?"

Yin Qiu said: "Beatings, you will be beaten if you make a mistake, and you will be beaten if you don't make a mistake. If you meet a customer with a bad temper, you will be kicked if you don't like it. There are many girls like me in the building. We all They were starved and beaten."

Man Jiangxue hugged her tightly, and asked after being quiet for a while, "How did you go to Su's house after that?"

Yin Qiu said: "One night the government came to raid the building and sealed the Xunchun Courtyard. I and a few girls I knew could only live on the streets. Later, someone took us in, and within a few days, we were sent to the Su's family to be kept. Maid."

Man Jiangxue knew what happened after that.

The temple has no door, the walls are dilapidated, the wind and snow outside the house keep pouring into the hall, and the pile of firewood is blown flickeringly.

"You have suffered a lot." Man Jiangxue said.

"Actually, the Su family is very kind to me. I have food and clothes to wear, and I don't get beaten often." Yin Qiu said.

Man Jiangxue hugged her and lay down, wrapped her in a brocade robe and stuffed her into her arms, and said softly: "In the future, I will have food and clothes to wear, and no one will beat you."

Yin Qiu looked up at her, and said softly, "Then I went to Yunhua Palace, can I still be with you?"

Man Jiangxue stroked her back and said, "I will ask the senior sister in charge to accept you as an apprentice. Not only me, you will have a master, and there will be many senior brothers and sisters. We will take care of you."

"Can't you be my master?" Yin Qiu still looked at her.

"Me?" Man Jiangxue smiled, "I don't accept apprentices."

Yin Qiu suddenly asked again: "Then can you be my mother?"