has become a demon

The wind and snow will rise again at noon.

The further north we went, the colder the weather became. After experiencing the ordeal of the previous night, Zhao Yuan developed a fever as expected.

He was hot in Xie Taichu's arms, his face was blushing, he was panting rapidly, his consciousness was no longer clear.

Although there was heavy snow blocking the pursuers behind them, no matter how fast the two men on one horse walked, they were finally chased up by a column of cavalry at noon.

At this time, the big black horse had already turned to the northwest with the two of them on its back.

At the very beginning, the sound of horseshoes was faintly heard.Soon, a few black dots appeared in a line from the horizon and galloped towards them accompanied by the sound of tinkling bells.

Xie Taichu rode his horse up a hill, reined in the horse and turned back, the bitter cold wind almost knocked him and the black horse down.

"Thirty cavalry, led by the General Banner [Note 1], with luxurious and excellent armor, but lacking some horse weapons. They should be the vanguard dispatched from Jinyiwei [Note 2]."

Zhao Yuan was in a daze.

No one responded to him in the snowstorm.

Xie Taichu didn't expect a response either. After saying this, he looked forward and carefully mapped the terrain ahead. Then he pulled the reins, and the big black horse jumped up and neighed, resounding throughout the world.

Sure enough, he was noticed by the cavalry of Jinyiwei, and they quickly locked on the target and came quickly.

The chasing soldiers were well-trained, and they held on tightly to the two of them in the snowstorm and refused to relax. Although they had longbows, they were of no use against the wind and snow, so they never used them.

After chasing for another five or six miles, he gradually became equal to the big black horse.

"Master Ningshan, don't leave! King Ning wants to call Zhao Yuan back to the camp." The leader, General Banner, shouted.

Xie Taichu only patted Zhao Yuan's back comfortingly, and said in a low voice, "Don't be afraid, Your Highness."

"Master Ningshan! Thank you Taichu!"

"Up the crossbow!" Zongqi gave up and said to his surroundings, "Force him to stop!"

The two cavalrymen with crossbows below raised their wrists, and the arrows flew out, buzzing in the air, and they had arrived at Taichu's vest.But Xie Taichu seemed to have eyes behind his back, without looking back, he stretched out his hand and drew his sword, and knocked the two crossbow arrows into the air.

"Shoot again!" Zongqi said.

"Yes!"

The crossbow arrows flew over again, this time it was counted as a volley of crossbows compared to the previous one, but the result was the same.

"Thank you Taichu! Stop! King Ning has an order to order you to return to the camp!" Zong Qi became furious and called his name directly.

Xie Taichu and the big black horse went their own way and ignored them.

"My lord, what should I do?" Someone behind him asked.

The general flag took a sip, and pulled out the long knife at his waist: "Kill, what should I do! If you want to see people, you need to see corpses. Didn't you listen to what Mr. Shu said just now? Or do you want to go back empty-handed and kill yourself?"

Who wants to take his life?

After hearing this, everyone formed a formation, and the first two had whipped their horses and charged forward, drawing their knives and slashing straight.

Xie Taichu held Zhao Yuan's back with one hand, and the long sword around his waist shot out like lightning, and hit the wrists of the two of them, and the cavalry attack was dispersed.

He didn't stop, the momentum of the sword rose sharply, and the sword pierced the throat of the nearest person, the blood mist sprayed away in the wind, and the big black horse jumped out of the blood mist, and it was two points faster than before. Can stagger a few positions.

On the big black horse, Xie Taichu, who had just decisively killed an enemy, had a calm and indifferent face, without any fear.

The chasing soldiers seemed to be enraged by his unexpected killing move, and the attack started again after coming around.

Blood splattered, and two more people were lost.

The general flag said angrily: "Brothers, there is a dense forest mountain road ahead, and the roads on both sides are narrow. Go in and surround them to force them to stop and kill them on the spot!"

The Jinyi guards from behind responded, and the fast horse rushed forward, overtaking the big black horse, in an attempt to slow down the big black horse.The general banner finally caught up and was at the same level as Xie Taichu: "Xie Taichu, you dare to kill the court officials, now you can catch them quickly, and there is still a way to survive. Otherwise, don't blame us for attacking the monks."

Xie Taichu heard this and finally glanced sideways at him.

Those eyes were cold.

Zongqi trembled all over, feeling bad, and before he had time to think about it, a group of more than a dozen riders surrounded the big black horse and rushed into the snow-covered dense forest in front of him.

Silence returned to the wilderness.

After a while, the big black horse rushed out from the dense forest, Xie Taichu pulled the rein and turned to look at the forest.He held the long sword in his hand and pointed at the ground, and someone's blood dripped down the tip of the sword onto the snow and melted instantly.

The big black horse snored impatiently and moved its hooves. There were also blood stains all over its body, even the imprints of the horse's hooves were covered with blood.

After a while, the forest was dead silent, and no one appeared.

Daoist Ningshan finally kicked the horse's belly, and concentrated on rummaging in the snow to find the grass roots, and the panting big black horse finally got the order and left with small steps.

In the second half of the day, he dealt with the two teams of Jinyiwei, thanking Taichu's ability to escape from danger.

After going on for more than an hour, when the sky began to sink to the west, there were no more Jin Yiwei chasing soldiers.At this time, the black horse under its crotch faltered a little, gasping for a string of white smoke, which drifted away with the cold wind.

Xie Taichu took out the animal skin, wrapped it around Zhao Yuan's back, and wrapped it around Zhao Yuan's arm with a soft leather belt. When he moved Zhao Yuan's wrist, he saw the wound he had left the night before - because he was in a hurry to leave the camp , the wrist and ankle wounds were only sloppily bandaged, and now the blood seeped into the gauze and condensed into crystal bright red ice flowers.

Xie Taichu went to look at the time when he came, and it has gradually dimmed.

Today's chase should be over, and both man and horse need rest.

"Find a shelter from the wind at night, and I will help His Highness re-bandage." Xie Taichu said.

How could Zhao Yuan hear his words, no one answered in the cold wind.

Walk in camp.

Standing in the wind and snow, Shu Liang had a gloomy face, and he waved away the umbrella of Jin Yiwei behind him, and waited for a while to see Han Chuanjun coming on horseback before turning around and sitting down.

Soon, Han Chuanjun was accounted for.

"Mr. Shu, I'm here." Han Chuanjun said, "Why did Mr. Chang call me so urgently?"

"Your Excellency Han should have heard that none of the pursuers sent by Jinyiwei has returned so far." Shu Liang stood beside the wall chart of Shuntian Mansion and spoke slowly.

"Jinyiwei has lost nearly 70 soldiers. Jinyiwei has been pampered in the capital all year round. Now the snowstorm is really beyond our capabilities, but this matter has to be done. You have been in charge of the army for many years, and your cavalry is even more equipped. Jingliang... After thinking about it, our family can only come to Mr. Han."

"The reason is Zhao Yuan?"

"Exactly."

Han Chuanjun looked at the engraving on the hanging picture, stroked his beard and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Factory. It's snowing today. Xie Taichu took Zhao Yuan on a fast trip. At most, he could only go for sixty miles. Now he has just passed Yanshou Temple, and there are only two ways to go. One To the east, go to Kaiping Mansion to pay homage to the ancestors. However, Kaiping Mansion is guarded by heavy soldiers, and they will never face difficulties. Therefore, they have to take the second road, going west according to the imperial decree, bypassing Juyong Pass, and walking along the Enter Ningxia Wei along the Great Wall, and once you arrive in Ningxia, enter the restricted area... After all, there is a decree first, and we will not be able to embarrass Zhao Yuan anymore."

"Master Han is right." Shu Liang nodded in relief.

"The subordinates of the Weifu army brought here from the Xuanfu this time, there is a hundred households named Xue who have fought against the Tatar cavalry outside the border checkpoint several times without losing. Bring [-] elite soldiers to stand by in the camp. As long as the factory official gives orders, they will go to pursue them. One person and two riders, take turns to move quickly, and we can stop them near Juyongguan in the early morning of tomorrow."

Han Chuanjun tapped on the wall map where Juyongguan is located, "At that time, he will surely be unable to escape."

When Zhao Yuan woke up, the surroundings were warm.

As if lying on his own bed in a trance, he called out vaguely: "Feng An."

The moment he shouted out, he was sober.

Feng An is gone.

Father and brother are gone...

home, too.

He focused his blurred vision, and found himself lying in a warm and narrow snow cave. One side of the snow cave was next to a mound of soil, the surroundings were covered with animal skins, and the top of his head was built with dead branches. It seemed to be layers of white snow outside.There is charcoal burning at the entrance of the cave, but there is no open flame, but the warmth slowly enters the cave from the stone tunnel built at the entrance.

Xie Taichu was leaning cross-legged on the entrance of the cave with his long sword in his arms, closing his eyes and feigning sleep.

The charcoal firelight outlined the clear outline of his side face in the darkness, and the drooping eyelids were trembling slightly, carrying a hazy... but untouchable beauty.

The life of Kaipingwei and Beijing is as far away as the previous life.

Even the friendship towards Xie Taichu from the bottom of my heart is the same.

Like a flame swallowed by a dark wind and snow, it was blurry and crumbling.

Zhao Yuan stared at him blankly for a while, until Xie Taichu opened his eyes in the darkness.

"His Highness is awake?" Xie Taichu said.

Zhao Yuan lowered his head habitually.

"Where are we?" He asked hoarsely. He was in so much grief last night, his throat was red and swollen, his voice was hoarse, and the pain was unbearable.

"We have passed Yanshou Temple and are going to go north. The inner Great Wall has been in disrepair for a long time. After finding the gap, we can bypass Juyongguan and go to Ningxia along the defense line of the side wall." Xie Taichu helped him gather the animal skin on his body, " Here is a heath in the lee of the wind, away from the road. I have tied the horse elsewhere. It should be safe."

"It's not that easy. King Ning won't let me go." Zhao Yuan said.

"Your Highness."

Zhao Yuan looked up at him, Xie Taichu came closer and looked directly into his eyes: "I will do my best to escort His Highness away."

Xie Taichu's promise is as reliable and powerful as every previous one...it is more reassuring than any previous one...he would have been extremely happy in the past.

Just now, does it still make sense?

All the things from the day before flooded into Zhao Yuan's mind like a dream, but this dream was torn into two halves abruptly.

Half of it is the hope that the sky suddenly breaks, and the other half of the dark sky has ghosts and monsters dancing wildly.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Xie Taichu took warm shochu and soft roasted bacon from the campfire and fed him.Zhao Yuan didn't resist either, he ate as soon as he was fed, but vomited after eating, he could spit out bile in one breath.

However, this seemed to make him more conscious, and when the dry biscuits were handed to him again, he covered his mouth and shook his head.

"Your Highness needs to eat something." Xie Taichu said, "If you don't eat something, how can you resist the extremely cold weather?"

"No..." He spoke in a low voice, his voice was hoarse and weak, "No more."

Xie Taichu also stopped persuading.

After chewing the bacon, he drank strong wine, squeezed Zhao Yuan's chin and fed it into his mouth.Zhao Yuan was caught off guard and couldn't help struggling, but Xie Taichu didn't let go, until he was forced to swallow the wine and meat, and then slowly retreated.

Zhao Yuan was forced to drink soju, his face was already flushed, he coughed violently, and even tears fell down his face.

Although his high fever subsided, he was still weak, and because he had just experienced a heart-wrenching catastrophe in his life, he couldn't even control his body and began to convulse slightly, especially his injured left hand, which was trembling slightly.

Embarrassed, weak, useless... Zhao Yuan stared blankly at his hand, filled with self-loathing... But at this moment, Xie Taichu slowly held his hand.

Soothes cramps and tremors.

"At that time, I made this expedient measure out of desperation." Xie Taichu said, "Don't worry, Your Highness, it's just to cover people's eyes and ears, it will be fine."

Zhao Yuan turned his head away and asked: "...Where are the dead bodies of my father and brother?" Xie Taichu took out a soft silk handkerchief from his bosom and handed it over.Zhao Yuan opened it, and inside were two hairpins and two strands of black hair.

"Fleeing all the way, we can only bury the corpses of King Su and the prince on the spot. There are still these left for His Highness to think about. It is difficult to be thorough in a hurry. Don't blame Your Highness."

Zhao Yuan stared at the two strands of hair, hesitated for a moment, then slowly gathered them together and pinched them in the palm of his hand.

"King Ning..." He tried his best to keep himself from crying, "King Ning Zhao Ji bears the mandate of heaven and is the image of the Son of Heaven... What do you mean by what you said to Zhao Ji?"

"King Ning thought that I could see through the past and see the present. There are rumors that—"

"I didn't think so." Zhao Yuan hurriedly interrupted him, "Xie Taichu, I just want you to tell the truth. Can you figure it out? You can really figure out where this fate is going. The golden mouth and jade words of Qingxing Pavilion can really break the world ?”

Xie Taichu was silent for a moment, and looked up at the mountains in the darkness outside the cave.

"It's like the endless mountains that go out from Kunlun in the west, and it's like the rivers and rivers flowing eastward...Through the past and the present, one or two major trends in the future can also be deduced." Xie Taichu said, "I can figure it out, and I can judge the world. .”

"That's why it's not a lie to say that King Ning is the future ruler of the world?"

Xie Taichu was silent for another moment and said: "Yes."

"When did you figure this out?"

"When I was in the Qingxing Pavilion." Xie Taichu said, "When I came to the capital...when I saw King Ning, I was sure."

"What about the prince? What about my father and brother?" Zhao Yuan's eyes were filled with tears, and his chest was sore and tingling. He pressed his only right hand on his chest and asked hurriedly, "And the grandson! And Everyone who died in the Yeling Rebellion!"

"King Ning's order is fixed, and everyone's life is fixed." Xie Taichu said.

King Ning ordered...

All life is determined.

Does it take countless lives to become an emperor?

Zhao Yuan was stunned for a moment, and finally wept.

"One year..." He choked up, "The first time you met King Ning was at the Holy Hour a year ago. For a whole year... How can you do things as usual when you know that these people are going to die? How can people be cold-blooded? To Si?"

Xie Taichu still sat cross-legged at the entrance of the cave, motionless like a mountain.The blood-stained long sword rested on his left shoulder, and the black robe was stained with the blood of the enemy.

The burning flames were slowly extinguished, leaving only a star and a half of fire.

The temperature in the snow cave also slowly drifted away, and the biting cold feeling seemed to fill the entire cave.

"Heaven and earth are not benevolent, and all things are treated as dogs. Your Highness forgot, Qingxing Pavilion respects the great way of heaven and earth..." He looked at the dimmed sparks, and then turned to look at Zhao Yuan, "Heavenly Taoists have no relatives."

There are too many notes, the author has something to say and can’t write it down, so I will write it here

[Note 1] General banner: 50 people under the command.In addition: Xiaoqi, commanding ten people.One hundred households, commanding 100 people.A thousand households commanded 1000 people.The size of the power is simply:

One thousand households, ten hundred households

One hundred households, two banners

One general flag and five small flags

[Note 2] The setting of this article is based on the Ming Dynasty.The army of the Ming Dynasty was composed of "Beijing Army + Local Guard Army".The Beijing Army includes the garrison troops stationed in Shuntian Prefecture (the Fifth Army Battalion), the Three Thousand Battalion (the Cavalry Battalion), and the Shenji Battalion (the Gunpowder Battalion).In addition, there are the emperor's twelve personal guards: Jinyiwei, Yulinwei, Jinwuwei, Hubenwei and so on.The four-guard battalion under the command of the Yumajian: Wuxiang has two guards on the left and right, and Tengxiang has two guards on the left and right.