Cloud of the Qing Dynasty

After they treated the wounded soldier and returned to the room, Mu Liuyun Yungong recuperated his internal injuries. Zhang Chi wanted to make up with Mu Liuyun, but when he went to ask for a hug, he was disgusted by Mu Liuyun. Push it away, and ruthlessly shut the door again.

Only then did Zhang Chi realize that he seemed to be so busy that he forgot to take a shower. His whole body was covered in sweat, dirt, and blood. It would be strange if Mu Liuyun didn't drive him out, but he also felt it somewhat. The refusal was not entirely because of his dirty body.

Why did Mu Liuyun clearly care about his safety, but repeatedly resisted his approach?

Zhang Chi couldn't figure it out.

He sat depressed on the bench in the corridor, sighed from time to time, grabbed the grass blades around him with his hands, and wove a few grass stalks into a small triangular cage.

In the back garden, Ye Hai was helping Ye Guichen to take a routine after-dinner walk.

It's not that Ye Guichen couldn't stand up at all, it's just that his meridians were hurt and he couldn't stand upright.In order to prevent his legs from shrinking after sitting or lying down for a long time, Ye Hai would help Ye Guichen walk around the garden a few times after dinner every day, chatting about some irrelevant gossip while walking.

Ye Guichen was indifferent to everyone, and he was not easy to get along with at first glance, but he didn't show any impatience with Ye Hai's trivial topics.

To say that Ye Hai himself is also a man of his age, but he always treats him kindly and gently, as if he has endless patience. Such a harmonious relationship makes Zhang Chi feel a little envious.

He can be sure that the relationship between Ye Hai and Ye Guichen is not an ordinary "cousin" relationship at all. It is difficult to say which detail reveals this point, it is a tacit understanding that only those who have experienced it can understand.

***

Mu Liuyun sat on a stone platform next to a big pine tree. This stone platform was a bit like the one he used to sit on when he was in Qingfeng Pavilion. It was flat and wide, and it was washed clean by the rain. There was a stone table not far behind him. The stone chairs and pavilions are quite elegant.

But this place is suitable for listening to the wind and enjoying the snow, but it is built on the steep cliff in the north of Tingquan Villa. There is no way up. Only people with good qinggong can come here. It was because of this cleanliness that he hid here and temporarily avoided listening to the noisy voices in the spring villa.

Seeing the sunset sinking into the horizon little by little, Mu Liuyun realized that he had been sitting here in a daze for a long time, he let out a breath slowly, put away his chaotic thoughts, meditated and adjusted his breath and began to exercise .

After a few days of exercise, someone flew up from the cliff and came behind him, Mu Liuyun withdrew his skills and turned to look at the person: "...Villager Ye."

Ye Hai smiled kindly: "Did you disturb the Daoist priest's practice?"

"It's okay." Mu Liuyun said lightly, "Is there something wrong?"

Ye Hai shook his head: "It's nothing, it's just that it's dark today and the Taoist priest didn't come back. That young man named Zhang Chi misses you very much, so he asked me to come out and help you find it. I heard that the Taoist priest likes to be quiet, so I guessed it The boss should be coming this way."

Mu Liuyun nodded to show that he understood: "I'll go back later."

"Okay, it's windy here at night, so be careful when the Taoist descends." Ye Hai was about to turn around and leave, but Mu Liuyun called him: "Master Ye."

"Huh?" Ye Hai stopped and looked back.

"I... have something to ask you." Mu Liuyun said with some hesitation in his tone.

Ye Hai smiled gently: "The Taoist priest has something to say, but it doesn't matter."

Mu Liuyun didn't know where to start. After a moment of silence, he opened his mouth: "The owner and Ye Guichen are brothers Qi?"

"...More or less." Ye Hai smiled kindly, and was not angry at his blunt and rude question.

"Then why can't you tell people clearly?" Mu Liuyun asked suspiciously, "What are you worried about?"

"It's not a matter of concern. Although gossip and gossip won't hurt people at all, it is annoying after all. If you can avoid it, you can avoid it." Ye Hai smiled, "I think there is also a relationship between you and little brother Zhang Chi. The relationship is close, and you don’t seem to have any plans to tell others?”

"Our relationship...is different after all." Mu Liuyun sighed softly.

"It seems that the Taoist priest is worried about this matter." Ye Hai sat down beside the stone table, "After all, I have been here, so I will rely on the old to sell the old, and see if I can answer the Taoist priest's questions. .”

"Then... I'm sorry." Mu Liuyun also sat down, and said with some embarrassment, "There are so many things going on here, and I don't know where to start."

Ye Hai guided him and said: "The Taoist priest said that your relationship is different from ours, so why not just talk about it, and the Taoist priest thinks what is the difference?"

Mu Liuyun frowned and said, "At first I thought that the relationship between us should be the simplest. If we are happy, we will stay together and if we are unhappy, we will separate, but later I found out that things are actually not that simple."

"Oh? So." Ye Hai patiently encouraged him to continue.

Mu Liuyun organized his words: "I care more and more about him now. I get angry when I see him getting too close to others, but even if I get angry, I still don't want to break it off with him. This makes me feel very...uneasy."

"It's not surprising, it should be like this." Ye Hai said with a smile, "Emotion is an extremely difficult thing to grasp, and it is precisely because it is so fragile and changeable. The easier it is to worry about gains and losses, and wish that the other party only sees me alone. When I was young, I also experienced this kind of mood."

"So everyone is like this..." Mu Liuyun frowned, "So, what about the future?"

"future?"

"I don't know what we should do in the future."

Ye Hai shook his head: "No one can say for sure what will happen in the future, it's good to be able to grasp the present."

"I understand, but at least there should be a goal." Mu Liuyun said, "If ordinary men and women are in love, the ultimate goal is nothing more than to become husband and wife, have children, and become a family. Goal. I don’t know what should happen between men, can being brothers be regarded as marriage?”

Actually, instead of asking this question to an outsider, it would be better to directly ask Zhang Chi who knows everything, but Mu Liuyun always felt that Zhang Chi might not be able to tell him the truth on this matter.

"Fame is actually not that important, and Brother Qi is not a good word in the eyes of many people." Ye Hai wondered, "I don't know why the elders are so obsessed with getting married?"

Mu Liuyun said truthfully: "I've never heard of such a thing before, so I don't know what other people will do if they have a man they like."

"So that's it." Ye Hai nodded and said, "As far as I know, other people like us, some became brothers and went out in public, some married wives and had children, and continued to communicate in private, like us. Living your own life like this, there should be a lot of people who don’t let outsiders know, the key is to see what the Taoist priest wants.”

"I don't know either." Mu Liuyun looked blankly at the stone table illuminated by the moonlight, "Usually if I have any doubts, I would probably follow my heart, but I have been thinking about this for many days. , and I can’t figure out what I really want. I don’t want to leave him, and I worry that even if we can be together well now, we will inevitably go our separate ways in the future. We have no name and no children. It will be broken if it is broken, I am afraid that the deeper it is now, the more embarrassing it will be in the future."

"Young people are always prone to feel confused about an illusory future." Ye Hai smiled and shook his head, "But in fact, a person's life may not be as long as you imagine."

Mu Liuyun looked at him in surprise.

Ye Hai said slowly: "When Guichen and I were together at first, I thought too much, thinking about things like whether we should be together, how long this fragile relationship can last, whether he will get tired of me in the future, Whether my own mind will change or not, I always feel that there are many difficulties and the future is bleak. And you also know that the era was full of chaos, and it was not as stable as it is now. We were almost separated by yin and yang. I just realized that instead of thinking about the distant future, it is better to cherish the present day, because whether you are willing or not, ready or not, every day may be our last day."

"...Is every day the last day?" Mu Liuyun repeated as if realizing something.

"Yeah, just like last night, if little brother Zhang Chi's reaction was a little slower for a moment, maybe when you leave the customs, you will only see his body. What's the point?"

Seeing Mu Liuyun's thoughtful expression, Ye Hai smiled gently, and continued: "Since I figured this out, I no longer care about what may happen to us in the future, and just treat every day as the last. One day has passed, and before you know it, you have already reached the year of knowing your destiny, and we are still together, still in such a nondescript, nameless relationship, but the love is still the same. If the Taoist priest is confused about what will happen to you in the future, Perhaps this is the answer the Taoist priest wants."

"...I understand." Mu Liuyun said sincerely, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Ye Hai smiled and said, "We have gone through too many unbearable twists and turns to get together. If my old experiences can save you young people from detours, that would be great gone."

***

Mu Liuyun didn't come back until late at night, and Zhang Chi had already fallen asleep, so Mu Liuyun didn't wake him up, thinking about many things alone.

The next day, Zhang Chi went to the back mountain early, and when Mu Liuyun found him there, he was sitting in front of a pile of new graves in a daze.

Ye Hai also admired the bravery of these soldiers, and set aside a sloping land on the back mountain as a cemetery for them, so that these soldiers could be buried in the ground. He didn't choose a good time during the special period. The dead had already been buried in the back mountain yesterday evening. up.

"Liuyun, you're up." It was Zhang Chi who saw him first and greeted him, "Have you had breakfast yet?"

Mu Liuyun nodded: "What are you doing here?"

"Come to see my brothers for the last time." Zhang Chi is still wearing the armor of a colleague. It may not be appropriate for him to do so in his current status, but he still hopes that at least at this moment, he can look Like one of these people.

Mu Liuyun didn't speak, just stood beside him and accompanied him. Zhang Chi started talking about some trivial matters: "General Lu woke up this morning, and he said that he would thank you personally later. He is very easy-going, and you don’t have to be cautious about etiquette and impoliteness with him. The military adviser also woke up, and Ye Guichen said that he was treated too late, and he would have sequelae of weakness in limbs, but at least his life was saved. The military camp in the nearby state capital I have sent a letter back, and I will send a large team to meet the general in two days. The military adviser hopes that you can stay and go to southern Xinjiang with the army. This way the speed will be slower and noisy. I'm afraid you won't like it, but the general Now the Red Lotus Sect has a thorn in its side, and it cannot be separated from the protection of martial arts masters, Qin Chu is gone, and more than half of the personal guards have been killed or injured, now we can only count on you."

"En." Mu Liuyun responded.

"I knew you were a good person, and I would definitely agree. With your words, Qin Chu can leave with peace of mind." Zhang Chi looked at the tombstone in front of him with emotion, while Mu Liuyun observed his expression closely: "You...don't be sad."