late snow

It was the beginning of winter on the day of the martial arts league meeting, and Songyang City was in the north, so it was getting colder and colder.

Charcoal was burning in the carriage, and Ji Huai was holding a copper stove in his hands. He was still wearing a thick fox fur, half of his face was sunken in the soft and fluffy down, leaning against the wall of the carriage, drowsy.

Zhao Yue read the book for a long time, raised his head dizzily, saw Ji Huai's sleeping face, and suddenly felt his eyes and ears clear.

"My lord, Songyang City is ahead!" shouted the driver outside the door.

Zhao Yue poked his head out and reprimanded in a low voice: "Be quiet, Qilang is sleeping."

The man dared not speak louder again, "Yes."

Zhao Yue put down the heavy curtain, and as soon as he sat down, he saw Ji Huai looking at him sleepily, "Brother Zhao, are you here?"

"We're here, and we're going to enter the city soon." Zhao Yue instructed, "Dragon and snakes are mixed in Songyang City, and there are many people in the dark staring at you, and you have to be wronged and try not to go out."

"No problem." Ji Huai nodded.

The two of them didn't say a few words before the carriage entered Songyang City.

It was very lively to hear people's voices outside the carriage. Although Ji Huai was curious, he held back and half-closed his eyes calmly.

About half an hour later, the carriage finally stopped, the door curtain was lifted from the outside, a gust of cold wind came in, and Ji Huai shrank his neck.

"My lord, Young Master Ji, we're here." The driver said humanely.

Zhao Yue went out first, the man helped Zhao Yue off the carriage and talked to him, Ji Huai looked outside in front of the car door, it looked like a remote house, there was an osmanthus tree in front of the door, seven or eight people with empty warehouses Accept here.

Someone held out a hand to him.

Ji Huai was dressed heavily, so he put his hand on it.

That hand was thin and cold, actually a bit cooler than this cold day.

Ji Huai couldn't help but look at him more, but the other party was completely covered by a black robe, and after helping him down, he even retracted his hands into the black robe.

"Qilang, it's cold outside, hurry up and get warm in the house." Zhao Yue said to him, "I'm going to visit the City Lord's Mansion, you can tell them to cook what you want for dinner, I may not come back until very late."

"Okay." Ji Huai nodded, and then heard Zhao Yue say to the man in black standing next to him: "Feng Zuo, protect Mr. Ji, and don't make any mistakes."

"Yes." Feng Zuo responded, and said to Ji Huai: "Young Master Ji, please follow me."

Ji Huai came into this secluded house with the wind left. The house is not big. After entering the house for the third time, Ji Huai was assigned to the east wing, where charcoal was burned, but I don't know if it was because the room was too big or it had not been lived in for too long. Ji Huai Once inside, it feels very cold.

"What would you like to eat tonight?" Feng Zuo asked.

Ji Huai's appetite has not been very high in the past few days on the bumpy carriage, and he is not hungry at the moment, so he said, "Just make some light porridge."

Feng Zuo led the order, and Ji Huai sat by the charcoal stove to warm himself up, thinking about the last words Ji Ming left for him.

Contain the word jade.

Went to Shiyuan City in the northwest to pick up Ji Yu's body and returned to Wanlai City—but didn't tell him where Ji Yu was in Shiyuan City.

And that paradoxical verse...

Those people wanted to find the picture through him. The word "Hanyu" was not so much the key Ji Ming left for the picture, but in Ji Huai's view, it was more like a decoy——

Let the various factions of the martial arts come to find him and take him away.

Ji Huai frowned.

Ji Ming was a very thoughtful person before his death. If most of what Zhao Yue said was true, then people in the martial arts have been looking for Gongsunzhi for more than 40 years but failed to find him, but they found Wan Laicheng when he was about to die.

If Zhan Hua hadn't encountered this unexpected situation, at most he would have been scrambled by various forces, and his life would definitely not be in danger. Ji Ming seemed to have already calculated this point——

Ji Ming deliberately released the news, and told everyone with great fanfare that the key was with Ji Huai, and he had to find him first to find the picture.

What exactly does Jimin want to do?

Ji Huai is not good at reading, he is not good at doing business, and he is not very smart. In the eyes of others, he has a good appearance, even he himself thinks so.

But when he was being pushed and shoved by many forces and walked forward in a daze, he suddenly felt unwilling.

He was a pawn played by Ji Ming before his death. Everyone was using him to find the benefits of that day. Now the truth is covered by a cloud of fog. He only has a few words left by Jiming in his hand. Last words, but the only thing that is certain is—Ji Ming has something to do.

The little things he knows more than others may be what Ji Ming left for him to save his life.

Thinking of this, Ji Huai just felt ironic.

But before he could laugh, he sneezed from the cold.

He fiddled with the charcoal in the stove until it was almost gone, he got up and wrapped himself in the fox fur, pushed open the door and bumped into the man in black, who was still holding a bowl of porridge and a stack of side dishes.

The people in Cangkongmen were all mysterious, all wearing black robes and masks, Ji Huai couldn't tell who was who.

"Master Ji is going out?" Feng Zuo's voice was low and hoarse, which sounded a bit strange.

"The charcoal stove is about to go out—" Ji Huai said with some embarrassment, "I'll go find some charcoal."

"I'll go." Feng Zuo entered the door and put all the food on the table, "Young Master Ji, eat while it's hot."

It was freezing cold, and Ji Huai didn't want to go out, so he thanked him and sat down at the table to eat.

The porridge was so rotten that he could barely eat it. Ji Huai only drank half a bowl and put it aside. He still felt cold. Now that it was dark outside, he simply went to bed with his clothes and covered them with two quilts.

When Feng Zuo entered the door, he saw half a bowl of porridge left, and when he turned his head to look again, he saw Ji Huai lying on the bed shrunk into a big ball.

"Master Ji is not feeling well?" Feng Zuo just came to the door, went to the charcoal stove and put the charcoal on, and picked it up more vigorously.

"It's just a little cold." Ji Huai replied dizzily with his eyes closed.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, a cold hand took his wrist out of the quilt. ,

Ji Huai was startled, and opened his eyes suddenly, there was no lamp in the room, he could only see a dark figure, the cold wind howled outside, the atmosphere was particularly creepy.

"I have a little knowledge of medicine." Feng Zuo said so, and he took his pulse.

"I'm fine, but I've been afraid of the cold since I was a child—" Ji Huai said halfway, when a cold hand suddenly covered his forehead, and he sat up from the bed in fright.

"Sorry, I just want to test the temperature." Feng Zuo also seemed to realize that it was not appropriate to do so, stood up and kept a polite distance from him.

Ji Huai touched his nose in embarrassment, "It's okay."

"Young Master Ji must be suffering from the wind and cold, I'm going to decoct the medicine." Feng Zuo turned around and wanted to leave.

"No need." Ji Huai called him, because he was not used to bothering others, he said, "I'll just drink more water, don't bother."

Feng Zuo stood on the spot and stared at him, but he was completely dark, and Ji Huai couldn't see the other's expression.

The other party was silent for a while, then turned and left.

Ji Huai felt that this person was a bit strange, frowned, and felt that it was cold outside, so he lay down and wrapped himself in a quilt, and fell asleep without knowing it.

-

Ji Huai was awakened by the cold touch on his neck.

He opened his eyes suddenly, only to find that his eyes were pitch black, as if covered with a layer of cloth.

Cold fingers caressed his neck, causing a fine shiver, with an ambiguous coldness.

Ji Huai found that he couldn't move, swallowed nervously, and had an unreliable guess in his heart, "...Zhan Hua?"

The cool hand rested on the warm skin, and the familiar voice was very clear in the silence and darkness, "I agreed to the conditions you proposed, why do you still have to run?"

The strength on the neck suddenly tightened, and Ji Huai was slightly suffocated for breathing, but he didn't speak.

The hand pinching his neck did not continue to exert force, Zhan Hua's voice sounded close to his ears, "Ji Huai, you lied to me."

Ji Huai twitched the corners of his mouth, not to be outdone, and said: "You lied to me first."

Zhan Hua was silent for a moment, then said coldly: "No matter who you are attached to, I can kill you at any time."

Ji Huai chuckled: "I don't believe you haven't been half-distracted—"

Zhan Hua tightened his fingers suddenly, Ji Huai was forced to raise his chin, his breathing became thinner, but there was still a smile in his voice, "So many people are grabbing this picture..."

The strength on the neck suddenly loosened, as if he was annoyed, but also as if he was angry, he clamped his chin heavily, "Then Zhao Yue is your old acquaintance, and you trust him so much?"

Naturally, Ji Huai didn't dare to fully trust Zhao Yue, but now he seemed to deliberately oppose Zhan Hua, "Brother Zhao and I have known each other since we were young, so I naturally trust him. At least he won't kill me at any time."

"First Quan Ning and then Zhao Yue, Ji Huai, can you think a little bit more?" Zhan Hua's voice was a little annoyed.

Ji Huai was furious at what he said, "At least it's better than following you!"

"Better than following me?" Zhan Hua sneered, "Believe it or not, if you are tricked out by them, you will be useless, and you will only die worse!"

"I'm happy!" Ji Huai said angrily, "I'd rather die by their hands!"

"Ji Huai." Zhan Hua lowered his voice to threaten, and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his mouth.

Ji Huai clung to his hand tightly, bloody smell filled his lips and teeth, as if he wanted to vent all his anger.

Zhan Hua frowned in pain, and tried to remove his chin with his hands, but his thumb touched the warm moisture, and his whole body froze.

Ji Huai's breathing was a little unsteady, and the lips covering his palm trembled slightly.

The irritating pain seemed to have changed under the stimulation of the warmth and trembling, which made Zhan Hua upset.

He even wanted to hurt more, so as to suppress the weird impulse in his heart.

"...Ji Huai, let go." Zhan Hua's voice became hoarse in the darkness.

Embarrassment and anger were mixed together, Ji Huai bit his teeth, and suddenly his jaw hurt, and he subconsciously let go of his mouth. There was Zhan Hua's blood between his teeth. The source of his body was suddenly covered, and his eyes widened in astonishment in the darkness.

The blood between the teeth was roughly and hastily licked away, and the chin was clamped tightly by the cold hands, forcing him to raise his head, his slender neck was half hidden under the wide sleeve of the robe.

There was darkness in front of him, he couldn't move his whole body, all his senses were gathered between his lips and teeth, Ji Huai gasped heavily, but still felt that he was about to suffocate.

"... Zhan Hua!" Ji Huai took advantage of the gap between the other party's breathing, and shouted angrily, but because of lack of strength, the shout had no momentum no matter how it sounded.

Zhan Hua's cold nose brushed against the side of his face, his unsteady breathing sprayed on his face, and he even froze in place because of his lackluster questioning.

In the dark night, the hot breaths of the two people were intertwined, as if they could not be untied no matter what.

The mood is chaotic.