In the early morning, the fog is thick and the mountain peaks are graceful.

Two figures, one tall and one short, walk on the winding mountain path, disappearing from time to time.

The crisp voice of "Brother Muzhi ......" is like the chirping of a yellow oriole in the mountains, breaking the silence in the mountains and making the cold fog in the morning a little more brisk.

The tall and thin figure walking in front stopped, turned to look at the little girl who was trotting behind and catching up, and a smile curled into the corner of his mouth.

"Is it good-looking?" Qingguo, whose cheeks were flushed, reached out and put a small yellow hairpin picked from nowhere to his sideburns, blinking his eyes, and asked shyly but playfully.

Shen Muzhi smiled and nodded.

Qingguo narrowed his eyes, raised his left hand, and sent another small yellow flower to Shen Muzhi: "Send you." ”

Shen Muzhi stretched out his hand to take it, a little at a loss, but also a little emotion, which spread in his heart.

"Brother Muzhi, is the Baishui Temple we are going to?" Qingguo asked as he jumped forward.

Shen Muzhi hurriedly put away the faint feelings in his heart, carefully put the little yellow flower into the shape of a green fruit, and after holding it in his ear, he replied while stepping to follow: "It's a little far." ”

The little girl, who was obviously very cheerful, didn't seem to hear Shen Muzhi's answer, because she had already walked away, and in the breeze blowing in her face, her pleasant voice came: "Brother Muzhi, the leaves of this tree are so strange......"

She is curious about everything, and any new discovery can make her happy. Even if it's just a small yellow flower on the side of the road, or a strangely shaped cloud floating in the sky......

Yesterday, after Old Man Ye left, they took it for a long time by Aunt Shen's grave, and it was not until it was getting dark that they returned to Qishi Town. During the night, he thought a lot.

Finally, before dawn, he decided to give up his original idea and prepare to go back to Kongshan to find Xuan Cheng.

Now that the eldest brother has been rescued, it's time for him to go back and meet Xuancheng.

As for whether he will stay on the empty mountain and concentrate on cultivation with Xuan Cheng in the end, he hasn't thought about it for the time being, and he is going to see Xuan Cheng when the time comes.

The two of them went south this way, and they didn't plan to go too fast. Shen Muzhi planned to play along the way, Qingguo had basically never left the mountain forest before meeting him, so he wanted to take her to visit more.

Moreover, she really likes all the novelty that the world has to offer her. Seeing her happy, he also felt happy. Whenever she squinted and smiled, it was as if the sun was shining brightly and the whole world was warm and bright.

This feeling is influencing him little by little and soaking him in Shen Muzhi's unconscious way. Perhaps, he hasn't discovered yet, in fact, now he can't do without this little girl who is always easy to be happy.

Just like at this moment, he looked at the slender figure in the dense fog in front of him, listening to the crisp sound in the wind, and his whole heart was satisfied, as if he already had the whole world. All the negative emotions suppressed in the depths of my heart were expelled by the sunlight that penetrated into the far corners, and hibernated deeply.

I don't know how long it took, but the sunlight gradually dispelled the thick fog, passed the scattered branches, and cast dappled light and shadow on the road covered with dead leaves. The dust undulates on the path of light, and there is a kind of dreamlike vision.

The slender figure staggered in this dreamy light and shadow, like a forest elf.

Shen Muzhi has been behind, watching silently, the doting at the corners of his mouth gradually turned into obsession, and then quietly hid in his eyes.

......

"Ah, Brother Muzhi, there are so many people in front!" The figure in front suddenly stopped, looked curiously for a while, turned around and shouted to Shen Muzhi who was left behind.

Shen Muzhi suddenly came back to his senses, put away the thoughts that made his heart beat a little faster, walked over quickly, and looked in the direction pointed by Qingguo, on the official road not far from the slope, there was a group of people riding horses, slowly walking south.

The group, twenty or thirty in number, rode tall horses. Immediately, the men were all sturdy, with knives on their waists, even if they were separated by a short distance, Shen Muzhi could still feel the iron-blooded aura transmitted from these people.

Among these people walked a carriage, unusually wide, drawn by four large horses, and walked very slowly, or rather, very carefully.

After Shen Muzhi glanced at it, he frowned.

The identities of these people are not difficult to guess, just from the iron-blooded breath on their bodies, you can guess that these people must be people in the army. And at this time, they appeared here, and they went south, so it is basically certain that these people should be from the military camp in Qishi Valley.

Shen Muzhi's gaze fell on the carriage that was guarded in the middle.

Is it the eldest brother sitting inside? Shen Muzhi thought in a daze.

Suddenly, I don't know if the man who was driving the car noticed something, suddenly looked up, and looked up at the hillside beside the road. At that moment, his eyes were shining and murderous.

Shen Mu's heart was slightly startled, and he hurriedly withdrew his gaze.

These men in the army may not be the strongest in force, but their alertness is definitely top-notch.

"Brother Muzhi, do you know these people?" Qingguo seemed to notice the slight abnormality he had just now, and asked softly.

Shen Muzhi didn't hide it from her, nodded and said, "If you guess correctly, they should all be people in the army." ”

After hearing this, Qingguo's eyes blinked slightly, and suddenly asked again: "The eldest brother of Brother Muzhi, is it in that carriage?"

Shen Muzhi glanced at her in surprise, Qingguo's spiritual sensitivity caught him a little off guard.

After hesitating for a moment, he turned his head, avoided Qingguo's gaze, and replied, "Maybe." ”

Qingguo looked at his evasive eyes, blinked his eyes, and didn't ask anything more.

The two continued along the mountain road, all the way south.

On the official road, the group of men and horses also continued to move slowly south.

Time passed slowly, and the two teams walked on different paths, but they always maintained the same pace. Occasionally, when he turned his head, Shen Muzhi could see that the team of men and horses was either in front or behind.

His mood has also been up and down with the front and back of this team, complicated.

Slowly, it was evening.

Shen Muzhi, who had been 'walking' with the team of people on the official road for most of the day, was a little upset, so when the sunset was still in the sky, he took Qingguo and stopped by a stream to prepare for the night. And on the official road not far from the forest, the team of people and horses is still moving forward.

He wanted to stagger the distance from them.

It doesn't matter if the eldest brother is sitting in the carriage or not.

In the stream, the stream is murmuring. Down the stream, not far away, there is a small lake. The lake is not big, but it is quite deep, and there are small swimming fish, which flash by in the darkness of the bottom of the lake.

Shen Muzhi glanced at it and dispelled the idea of catching fish for dinner. I looked for some firewood next to it, and when I was about to make a fire and bake a cake to eat, I suddenly saw Qingguo turn into a sparrow and fly up the branch.

Shen Muzhi didn't stop her, and with her in the sky above the mountains and forests, she soared freely.

The sky in the forest always gets darker faster.

The flames jumped in front of Shen Muzhi's body, and the golden cake gradually softened on the stone next to it, and then a faint fragrance emerged. When the fragrance grew stronger and the golden color began to darken, he picked up the flatbread, tore a piece of it, and stuffed it into his mouth.

There was a sound of flapping wings overhead, and then the golden light flashed in the darkness behind him, and then a green fruit in green clothes walked out of the darkness behind him, walked to him and sat down, looked at the flames jumping in front of him, and suddenly whispered: "There is a village not far ahead, and those people seem to be planning to spend the night over there." ”

Shen Muzhi was about to tear the second piece off the cake, and when he heard this, he couldn't help but hesitate slightly, and then continued to stuff it into his mouth. The stuffed mouth, while chewing, muffled in response, "Oh." ”

Qingguo next to him turned his head to look at him, a little hesitation flashed in his eyes, as if there was something to do, and he was thinking about whether to say it.

Shen Muzhi quickly finished eating a flatbread, walked to the lake to wash his hands, wiped his face again, squatted by the lake for a while, and then got up and started boxing around the fire.

After a set of punches, it was completely dark outside. Above the night sky, there are no stars and no moon, dark and dreary, and there is an inexplicable sense of depression.

Shen Muzhi looked up at the night sky and frowned, is it going to rain?

The night was silent without the slightest sound.

I couldn't even hear a bird's call, so I don't know if it was because the weather was too cold.

Not far from the forest is a small village of less than twenty families. On a cold winter night, the villagers had already fallen asleep, and in the darkness, there were no lights in this small village.

Not far outside the village, there are several fires lit.

Four large fires enclosed a relatively bright area, in which first twenty or thirty large horses were enclosed, and then in a circle, and then four small tents, and in the very center was the carriage.

Inside the carriage, the space is spacious, and there are oil lamps hanging on both corners of the doorway. The dim light illuminates the space in this carriage a little warmly.

A man with gray temples sat in the doorway, in the light of an oil lamp, flipping through some papers. Inside, a thin figure, covered with a large quilt, half-leaned against the wall of the carriage, with his eyes closed, not knowing whether he was asleep or just closed his eyes to recuperate.

The night breeze blew outside the car, and there was a whining sound from the window, and the icy cold wind rushed in, and the thin figure half-leaning on the wall of the carriage suddenly coughed.

The man leaning at the door immediately put down his Chinese pieces, hurriedly stepped forward to wrap the thin man in a big quilt, and then went to check the window, squeezed the cloth strip stuffed in the window crack again, and after confirming that no wind would continue to blow in, he turned his head and asked the thin man next to him: "How are you?"

The thin man was silent with his eyes still closed, and shook his head slightly, indicating that it was okay.

The man looked at it with some confusion, then retreated to the door, took the papers that were sitting aside, and continued to flip through them.

After a long time, the thin man who was half leaning against the wall of the carriage suddenly said, "Go to sleep." I'm fine. ”

The man raised his gaze from the file, turned his head to look at him, and found that his eyes were still closed, and a trace of loneliness flashed in his eyes, and immediately replied: "It's okay, I can't sleep anyway, just accompany you." ”

The thin man stopped talking.