On the winter solstice, outside Beichuan City, the snow is vast and endless.

A staggering procession, slowly marching in the bitter cold wind.

In the Ten Mile Pavilion, a teenager stood in the middle, sobbing with his head down.

The boy was about fourteen or fifteen years old, with chains on his wrists, his body shaking, and the sound of "ding" chains, and he was a prisoner.

A woman hugs the teenager tightly.

This woman is of medium stature, with a phoenix bun on her head, wearing a plain blue cotton cloak, and her appearance is dignified, with a round forehead and melon seed face, and a noble lady's appearance.

At this moment, the woman's eyes were full of tears.

"Don't blame the mother," the woman sobbed, "to the sea of suffering, to live well!"

"Why can't you save me?" the boy said hoarsely, roaring, trembling, and his eyes full of fear and despair.

The young woman's name is Gongsun Qian, the only daughter of Gongsun Lie, the former governor of Beichuan County, and the prisoner is her eldest son Lei Shaoxuan.

Fang Jie, the imperial court captain, "fornicated with the enemy country", and Gongsun Lie was involved in it and his home was raided. The male was sentenced to death, sent to the sea of suffering, and sent to the death camp, and the female dependents were able to be extrajudicial because of the old relationship between Gongsun Lie and the Queen Mother.

At this moment, Lei Shaoxuan was escorting the border with the death row team.

The Northern Wei Dynasty and Xihu fought for many years, and the number of men decreased sharply. The Northern Wei Dynasty issued an edict that death row prisoners would no longer be beheaded, exiled to the border passes, and entered death row camps to kill the enemy to atone for their crimes.

Those who are put on death row can be exempted from capital crimes by killing two enemies, and those who kill 10 enemies can be selected to join the barracks as non-commissioned soldiers, and they can return to their hometowns at the end of the conscription period.

The death row camp was full of death row inmates from all over the country, and they were driven to charge in front of the battle in every battle.

Because they are death row inmates, they are regarded as the most heinous and innocent people, so no one cares whether they live or die. Although they were required to participate in battles, they were guarded against the unexpected, so naturally no one trained or organized them to fight, but only treated them as consumables; after each battle, most of the condemned prisoners were killed and wounded, and few of them survived for more than a year.

Entering a death row camp is basically equivalent to death.

Gongsun Qian burst into tears, her heart-rending pain filled her chest, where could she still speak, holding her son tightly with both hands, she knew that as soon as she let go at this moment, it would be goodbye.

No one can leave the death row in the bitter sea alive, and what mother can endure life and death?

"Brother, when are you coming back?" said a voice timidly.

Behind Gongsun Qian, a little girl wearing a thick cotton jacket and a cotton hat flashed out. The little girl is carved in pink and jade, with willow eyebrows and starry eyes, very cute. At this moment, there are pear blossoms and rain on his face, and he is sobbing in his mouth. It is Lei Shaoxuan's sister Lei Tong.

Lei Tong had already come to the pavilion with her mother, but the pavilion was full of people, which made her feel scared and kept hiding behind her mother.

Lei Shaoxuan let go of his mother, and his sister threw herself into his arms, hugged Lei Shaoxuan's neck tightly with both hands, and cried whimperingly.

Lei Shaoxuan's helpless, hesitant, and cold heart seemed to ignite a little starlight, and he suddenly had warmth and strength;

"Ruyi," Lei Shaoxuan whimpered, "Brother will be back soon, you are waiting for brother!"

"Come back and tell me a story, or I won't sleep. Lei Tong shook Lei Shaoxuan's arm.

"Be obedient. Lei Shaoxuan choked up and unconsciously stopped his tears.

After a few months in prison, he has become a little numb, and his heart has become a little cold.

Lei Shaoxuan was just a teenager, and when he suddenly saw his relatives, he couldn't help but feel vulnerable. However, he was well aware of his situation, and this must be a farewell.

Since fate is destined to be unchangeable, I gradually accepted it, and I only felt helpless, hesitant, and frightened in my heart, and became a little self-defeating, and my heart became cold.

"Madame, it's time to go. A sergeant next to him said in a harmonious voice.

The sergeant was in his early thirties, with a saber in his hand, a gray cotton cloak, a sheepskin felt hat with a large brim, a round face and a high nose, and eyes like stars.

This person is Ma Shaoteng, the Beichuan County Military Patrol School, who is responsible for the escort of the prisoners.

"There's Rauma Patrol. Gongsun Qian calmed down and said politely.

"Don't dare. ”

Witnessing the parting of life and death in the world, Ma Shaoteng felt quite unbearable and secretly sighed.

Gongsun Qian's father, Gongsun Lie, and Ma Shaoteng's father were comrades in the army, and this time, Gongsun Qian entrusted Lei Shaoxuan to Ma Shaoteng's care.

"Hu Youde, along the way, take care of the young master carefully. Gongsun Qian endured her grief and turned to a servant next to her and commanded.

"Madame, rest assured. His voice was hoarse and low, and a big man with a fierce look stepped forward.

The big man's face was full of scars, his nose and eyes were huddled together, his head was like a dough, his face was full of flesh, and he looked fierce and vicious, and he carried a huge burden and a wooden stick as tall as a human in his hand.

"Brother, come back quickly, I'll leave you something to eat." Sensing something, Lei Tong's voice suddenly became anxious.

"Brother, this necklace is for you, take it and you won't be afraid that you won't find your way home. ”

The younger sister took off the chain around her neck, held it high, and tried to hand it to her brother.

This wooden hanging chain was carved by Lei Shaoxuan for his sister, and Lei Tong's name was engraved on it.

Once, Lei Tong accidentally got lost on the street, and his family found it for a long time, and then Lei Tong didn't dare to go out, so Lei Shaoxuan deliberately made a chain out of wood and engraved Lei Tong's name.

Lei Shaoxuan coaxed Lei Tong and said that he was not afraid of getting lost with a wooden sign, so Lei Tong wore it all day and refused to take it off when he slept.

Lei Shaoxuan grabbed his sister's hand tightly, refused to let go, whimpered, and finally let go of his hand in reluctance, with tears in his eyes, turned around and didn't look back.

In the Shili Pavilion, the figure of his mother holding Lei Tong standing still will always be engraved in Lei Shaoxuan's mind.

Behind Lei Shaoxuan, the howling voice rose up, spreading out in the open field, mixed with strong winds and patches of snow, and finally became weaker and weaker, and finally it was inaudible.

In Lei Shaoxuan's heart, this voice did not disappear for a long time, and in his empty heart, it set off a wave of turmoil, making his heart full of an inexplicable anger and unwillingness, but he was suppressed by a trace of reason and did not let him roar.

"Why?"

Lei Shaoxuan's mind was full of this thought.

The thought almost crushed him, drove him mad, and burst out with infinite power, driving him forward, following closely the marching procession.

The prisoners were held in groups of five and chained to prevent escape.

In addition, prisoners wore wooden shackles around their necks and shackles around their wrists, which were originally worn by death row inmates, but were removed to facilitate walking.

Lei Shaoxuan did not wear a wooden flail, although he wore an iron chain on his hand, but the iron chain was very thin and long, and it could be hung on his shoulder.

Compared with other prisoners, such shackles are simply treated to the extreme. Despite this, after walking for less than half a day, Lei Shaoxuan felt that his steps were getting heavier and heavier, almost dragging his body, moving step by step, and scurrying behind the team.

Lei Shaoxuan walked hard forward, and he clearly knew that this was another road of life that he had embarked on, perhaps the road of death.

Every year, death row inmates die on the way to the escort, mostly because they are old and infirm, and if they can't keep up with the team, the final result is death.

The fear of death always tormented him, spurred him on, and made him struggle to move forward.

The wilderness is vast, and the mountains in the distance are majestic and continuous, and there is a majestic and open scene of its own.

The scenery after the snow is extremely monotonous.

Thousands of mountains and birds fly away, thousands of paths and people disappear, and everywhere is white.

The snow obscured everything, and it was impossible to distinguish between the southeast and the northwest, and it was impossible to see the road.

Lei Shaoxuan dragged his body with difficulty and moved his steps, and there was silence all around, only the sound of iron chains crashing.

I don't know when, the sergeants in the team took the lead and gradually began to sing.

The wind rises and the clouds fly.

The strong man cries, don't go home.

Go today, when will you return?

Buried in a foreign land.

The Qiang flute whimpered and dispersed with the soul,

The smoke is constantly drifting.

But when he saw the death of a strong man on the battlefield,

Who sees the monument erects in the mountains.

The weather was getting colder, the exhalation turned to ice, the thick layer of snow spread on the road, and every step was difficult, and in the evening, the team finally came to a ruined temple to rest.

In the west wing, a fire was lit by the prisoners, and the light of the fire reflected the figures on the windows.

The sergeant removed the prisoner's wooden shackles and remained chained in groups of five.

"In a group of five, sit together. If one escapes, the rest will draw lots to behead one, and if two escape, draw lots to cut off two. If you don't have to die, you can run. ”

After the sergeants finished explaining one after another, they went to rest, and only two sergeants guarded the temple gate.

Lei Shaoxuan was not locked with other prisoners, needless to say, this was naturally Ma Shaoteng's explanation. Most of the sergeants also got the benefits of Gongsun Qian, and basically did not embarrass Lei Shaoxuan, and let Lei Shaoxuan do his own thing.

Lei Shaoxuan was exhausted, full of worries, and lay in the corner of the room. Hu Youde wanted to talk to Lei Shaoxuan several times, but Lei Shaoxuan didn't care, and his heart was full of resentment towards his mother and fate.

He kept blaming his mother for not being able to save him.