flapping wings

Qi Ping turned around in shock, unable to believe what he heard.

He recalled the process of fighting with the old man, and there were indeed many similarities between the two's moves, "But I didn't hear my master mention my father or master?"

"Compared to this one, your swordsmanship is a bit more elegant and less fierce," Mu Xiaoque raised his chin: "It may be that your master has modified the original moves."

"Then what should we do?" Qi Ping looked at the bound old man in the cage, feeling a bit embarrassed for a moment.

Looking at this person's mental state, even if he is illegally imprisoned by the bad guys, he can't just let him go now. If he gets out, it will definitely cause harm to the world.

"For the time being," Mu Xiaoque shook her head and said, "There is no way ahead, we can only figure out how to get out now."

Qi Ping recounted his guess about the pool, and finally the two decided to rest for a while and then explore the waterway.

Although they already lack the concept of time, judging from their physical needs, it shouldn't be too long.

"Que'er," Qi Ping moved to sit next to Mu Xiaoque, looked at him affectionately, blushing, "You gave me such precious things, and I have nothing to repay you. Counting all the belongings, they are not as precious as me, or I will give myself to you."

"No" before Mu Xiaoque finished his refusal, Qi Ping hurriedly continued, "Don't you think about it? I can warm the bed, love people, have a good personality, good character, and a high moral standard. Besides, my body It's also... quite soft, and it can split."

"Shut up," Mu Xiaoque put his hands on Qi Ping's earnest and expectant face: "If you repay me like this again, you will be lucky for your life in the future."

"Hey," Qi Ping sighed, noticing Mu Xiaoque's faintly pale lips and voice out of breath, and stopped bothering him.

He reached out and untied the jug from Mu Xiaoque's waist, and shook it by his ear. There was still a large jug of wine in it, "I'll get you some water to drink."

The cork was opened, and the aroma of wine overflowed. In this not-so-big cave, one could feel drunk for an hour just by smelling it.

The chain in the cage moved suddenly, and Qi Ping looked up, only to see the slovenly old man staring intently at the flagon in his hand.

Even if the distance is not close, you can see that this person is trying to smell the smell in the air.

Qi Ping withdrew his original tilting movement, looked at the old man with interest, and took a tentative step forward, which happened to reach the critical point of the opponent's weapon range.

The chains did not strike again, a bony hand suddenly stretched out from the cage, and the hoarse voice of the old man kept repeating one word: "Mine, mine."

Qi Ping looked down at the jug in his hand, then turned his head and glanced at Mu Xiaoque, only to see that this person was also staring at the old man intently, "This... is this your old friend?"

"No," Mu Xiaoque shook her head, walked to Qi Ping, took back the jug and looked at it again.

Qi Ping wondered: "Is he greedy for wine or does he like your pot?"

"My old friend once said that this pot was snatched from someone else." Mu Xiaoque frowned, and asked in disbelief: "Do you think there is such a coincidence in the world?"

He looked towards the cage, and saw that the gully on the old man's face was covered with tears, and his cloudy eyes were bloodshot.

Mu Xiaoque's hand on the pot couldn't help tightening, like a child whose favorite toy has been robbed.

"We don't know this person before, how can there be such a coincidence in the world," Qi Ping couldn't bear to let Mu Xiaoque feel so tormented, he snatched the flagon and hung it back on his waist.

Then he suddenly stretched out his arms to hold Mu Xiaoque in his arms, and whispered: "No one can take away your things."

Mu Xiaoque reached for the wine jug at his waist, which was the only thing that person left him, and was always carried by the other party as a treasure.

He looked at the people in the cage again, no slack, no slack, no separation in this life. After struggling for a while, he still pulled down the wine pot, closed his eyes and threw it diagonally upwards into the air.

The iron chain flew out of the cage quickly, and gently rolled back into the cage like holding a beloved.

Hearing the movement, Qi Ping turned his head and looked back, only to see that the old man had already embraced the jug in his arms.

The old man lowered his head and rubbed the scratches on the body of the bottle, as well as the two words that had been smoothed, and forced a smile on his ugly face.

He opened the cork, and the familiar Xinghuacun wine smelled fragrant, and the bright spring of that day, the man's smile came back to him again.

"En Ming," the boy ran to him and snatched the empty jug hanging from his waist: "I want this."

"Can you call me Brother Sheng?" He stretched out his hand to snatch back the flagon, but the young man was like a slippery loach, escaping from his hands by rubbing his fingers.

"En Ming," the young man begged while holding the jug, "You're leaving Beijing soon, so just keep it in mind, okay?"

"You take it away now, let me go empty-handed on my birthday?" En Ming patted the young man's forehead lightly, "Boy, don't forget you Brother En Ming."

"I will never forget you, En Ming," the young man gently wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, "have a safe journey in the future."

Two years later

The blood in the capital flowed from early autumn to New Year's Eve, and all the way home through the wind and snow, the tired young man finally saved the life of the person he wanted to protect in the new year.

He touched the jug on his waist, walked to the side of the road and asked for the last bowl of wontons from the store.

Suddenly a shadow fell, the young man looked up, and the handsome man in the dream was standing in front of him.

He quickly touched his stubble-covered face, and smiled embarrassedly: "En Ming?"

boom!

A jar of apricot blossoms fell on the table, the young man was stunned, carefully put away his smile and watched as En Ming picked up the glass on the table and poured two full glasses of wine.

In the end, with tears streaming down his face, he raised a cup and drank it down, and said decisively: "Mu Heng, from today onwards, a cup of Xinghua Village will end the grace of the past."

"Be careful all the way," the young man looked at En Ming's increasingly blurred back in the wind and snow, and finally raised another glass of wine and swallowed it in one gulp.

The strong wine entered the stomach, burning away countless lovesickness, and rekindled more lovesickness.

From then on, every cup of Xinghuacun he drank was somewhat bitter.

The old man raised the jug and took a sip reluctantly. It was the taste of that spring day.

Even though he never touched Xinghua Village after that winter night, the smell at that time will always remain in his memory, as beautiful as a spring day.

You gone?Thought I could see you again.

Qi Ping looked at the old man in the cage who was holding the jug tightly and closed his eyes forever, "Juttle, do you want to take it back?"

"Stay here," Mu Xiaoque shook her head: "Compared to being in my hands, he must want to stay here more. Let's find a way out."

The pool here is indeed a running water, connected to a canal in an unknown suburb.

Qi Ping got out of the water wetly with Mu Xiaoque in his arms, and was pushed away by Mu Xiaoque before he could catch his breath.

He quickly swam back again, Xuxu held Mu Xiaoque's arm and swam towards the side of the canal: "Que'er, you were poisoned just now, it's normal for you to be weak."

"Fake concern," Mu Xiaoque slapped his hand away: "It's really dirty."

After speaking, he wiped his mouth in disgust.

"I said, why are you such an idiot?" Qi Ping was a little annoyed by his anger, blood vessels in his neck jumped out, "If I didn't give you a breath, would you be able to hold on until now?"

"You still need to stick out your tongue to cross the qi!" Mu Xiaoque swam forward at a faster speed, obviously not wanting to stay with this rascal.

Qi Ping's eyes flickered, and the arguing momentum just now disappeared without a trace.

He took a few breaths and swam to the side of the canal, stretched out his hand to support the wood sparrow and pushed him ashore, then climbed up by himself, bent over and vomited a stream of water.

"I really didn't do it on purpose," Qi Ping put on a bitter face, begging for mercy, and moved to Mu Xiaoque's side and patted his back: "Can you stop being angry? My tongue really doesn't belong to itself. He was obedient and stretched out."

"If you don't listen to your tongue, I'll cut it off!" Mu Xiaoque stood up and looked up at the sky. It was still dark at this time, but it should be early in the morning, and the waning moon hung in the sky, looking like it was about to dissipate.

This place is remote, and Mu Xiaoque walked forward according to the direction, leaving Qi Ping with an innocent face behind.

After walking for more than 100 meters, an abandoned house suddenly appeared in front of him.

I saw that the plaque on the gate of the abandoned house was already in tatters, swaying in the wind, making unpleasant creaking sounds from time to time.

Looking down, the gate hangs crookedly on the door frame, as if it can't fall off halfway. Looking in from the gate, the yard is overgrown with weeds and spider webs are everywhere.

Qi Ping followed Mu Xiaoque closely and walked towards the courtyard. When he passed the gate, he stopped to look. The wooden gate was covered with scratches after being cut by knives, and there were holes in some places.

He squatted down and squinted his eyes to observe for a while, the black and red dots on the wooden board did not know if they were old bloodstains.

Qi Ping ran to the front of Mu Xiaoque, and graciously brushed away the cobwebs and weeds that were half a person's height, "Wouldn't there be a massacre here?"

He didn't hear Mu Xiaoque's answer, so he began to talk about his discovery with a flattering face.

Mu Xiaoque glanced at him, uninterestedly thought that the other party was farting, then skipped him and went straight to the hall.

When you get closer, you can see that the windows are full of holes caused by blunt objects, and the original color of the log is covered, with patches of black spots oozing.

After sweeping at the door, the situation in the hall was even more serious than outside. The tables and chairs were overturned, and they were covered with cut marks as thick as fingers.

Sawdust is spread on the ground and has been covered by thick dust for many years. Stepping on it will stir up a cloud of fly ash.

It is conceivable what kind of battle took place here at that time, the battle spread from the hall to the door, during which time it is unknown how many innocent lives were lost.

Mu Xiaoque raised her head and saw a picture of mountains and rivers hanging in the center of the hall, but half of the mountains and rivers had been covered with blood, and she couldn't tell what it used to be.

He suddenly tilted his head and squinted his eyes. There was still a piece of yellowed paper stuck to the layers of upside-down spider webs, probably blown up by the wind.

When Qi Ping saw that Mu Xiaoque's eyes caught the piece of paper, he quickly trotted over and carefully took it off, put it near his mouth and blew the ashes, and then respectfully presented it in front of Mu Xiaoque, not even daring to shake his hands.

Mu Xiaoque looked at his posture, there were burrs on the inside of the paper, it looked like it had been torn off.

This should be a family tree, but the other parts of the family tree are missing. It says: "Li Mingen, the second generation patriarch of the Li family, father Li Yu."

After reading this, some fluctuations finally appeared in his eyes. He reached out to take the paper and read the following content carefully, but nothing of value came out. It was nothing more than an introduction to Li Mingen's life.

"What's the matter?" Qi Ping went over to have a look, stopped at Li Yu's place, repeated the name several times, and muttered, "Li Yu's name is so familiar."

"The first patriarch of the Li family of the four major families." Mu Xiaoque looked up again and scanned the dilapidated and tragic courtyard of the Li family in the night. "The Li family disappeared without a trace. Maybe it's another tragedy."

The author says:

Qi Ping: My whole body is full of treasures! (Wooden Sparrow turns and walks away)