The cold wind was biting, and the breath exhaled quickly condensed into layers of frost flowers.

The air seemed to freeze because of the cold, and when it was inhaled into the lungs, it was like a pinprick and pain, and it was breathless.

The team walked with difficulty, the snow was deep and there were no feet, and the sound of "clicking" on the snow reminded how difficult the road was.

Walking in the cold winter is a taboo on the march, let alone after the snow.

"Sir, in previous years, death row prisoners were escorted after the Qingming Festival, why is this year escorted in the harsh winter? Look at this weather, his grandmother's, still let people live?" said a sergeant.

"Boss Yan, do you miss your mother-in-law at home?"

"Yes. In the cold winter, the ghosts don't go out, let me wait for this sin, the county guard of the dog day, but he is happy in the arms of the girl......"

"Come on, who doesn't know that you are reluctant to let Xiangyuelou Xiao Taohong? Are you afraid that when you come back, Xiao Taohong will run away with someone. ”

"What is this? Our chief has just married a concubine, and he is hot, isn't he still in the sea of suffering?"

"Sir, are you willing to be a concubine?......?"

"Shut up, dare to joke with the chief, little white face, be careful that the chief leaves you in the sea of suffering. ”

"Hahahaha......"

Ma Shaoteng shook his head when he heard this, the road was difficult and long, and he had no intention of participating in these vulgar jokes, but he didn't stop it.

Beichuan west to the bitter sea, thousands of miles away. The distance is so long that even if you walk hundreds of miles a day, you still have to walk for months.

Along the way, high mountains, dense forests, wild slopes, rivers and lakes, swamps are full of dangers and obstacles, bandits, poisonous insects, fierce beasts, and poisonous miasma are difficult everywhere, and there is no way to go in many places.

Escorting prisoners in the harsh winter, walking in the snow, the vast snowfield, not knowing the direction, people who thought that walking in the harsh winter only need to overcome the severe cold, but they take it for granted, and not being able to find the road is the most deadly.

On this day, the team came to the foot of a mountain and lost its way.

All around was white, seemingly the same, and the team was forced to stop and go, looking for directions.

Looking ahead, there are mountains on both sides, pedestrians are extinct, birds and beasts are nowhere to be seen, only the hillside occasionally shows green pine trees, standing proudly in the cold wind.

Looking around, it seems that there are roads everywhere, but everywhere they are not feasible.

The leader is an errand who has walked the sea of bitterness many times, named Yu Zheng.

"Sir, this is the direction. Yu Zheng pointed in one direction and said.

Ma Shaoteng looked in the direction that Yu Zheng was pointing, and in the distance, there was a gap on the confused ridge, which seemed to be broken off from the ridge, revealing a valley.

"There are few horses, the snow is vast, and it is impossible to find the way, but the gap in the mountain beam is the only way to pass through this trip. In front of us is a lake, just cross it to get there. It has been nearly a month since the beginning of winter, and people can be sent to explore the road to find out whether the lake has been frozen, and if it is frozen, it can pass through the lake. ”

"Okay, it's up to you. ”

Ma Shaoteng led the team and followed the footprints of several pathfinders.

The cold wind was bitter, and from time to time it rolled lightly, making a thin whistling sound. The lake is vast and covered with dazzling snow, making people dizzy.

"Uncle De," looking at the dazzling snow in the sun, Lei Shaoxuan suddenly said, "The sun is just ahead, the sun is dazzling, and it is very easy to hurt your eyes, so don't look at the snow on the ground." ”

"How can a little bit of sunlight hurt people's eyes?" Hu Youde disagreed.

"Why do you say that?" Ma Shaoteng asked when he heard this.

"Just in case. I have read a book of "Taiping Travels", which was written by my predecessor Li Daozhi. This person's family is well-off, but his career is not smooth, so he simply fights the sword rivers and lakes and travels the world. The book is recorded as an interesting anecdote on the way, and the book writes: the scenery of the northern country, the snow and the pine, the lonely temple in the deep mountains, the strange rocks and flowing springs, the poetry and picturesqueness, and the love of the scholars. There are often scenery after snow, because the snow hurts the eyes, the light can not see for a few days, and the heavy ones cause blindness. ”

"You've read a lot of books. The march in the lake is covered with snow, and the light is like a mirror, but the dazzling places can hurt the eyes," Ma Shaoteng nodded and said, "I have heard about this before, but I don't care much about it, but now it seems that there is some truth, the road is long, and there is no big mistake in being careful." ”

Ma Shaoteng conveyed the order.

The crowd struggled forward.

You don't have to find a way in the lake, just walk in a straight line, but walking on the ice, smooth as a mirror, with nowhere to focus, if you are not careful, you will slip, and if one person slips, the locked chain will also drag others down, so the march is quite slow and difficult.

"Looking for death, can't walk? Lao Tzu beat you to death. ”

Lei Shaoxuan looked at it when he heard this.

A group of people were dragged by an old man, and the bearded man got up, punched and kicked the old man, and scolded and cursed angrily.

A sergeant swung out his leather whip, and with a crisp sound, he whipped on his beard, and his beard was unstable, and in a blink of an eye, the whole team was dragged to the ground again.

"Shut up!" the sergeant scolded.

The whole team dared to be angry but did not dare to speak, silently struggled to get up, and continued to move forward. Beard stared at the sergeant viciously, but stopped talking.

After walking for half a day, I gradually walked to the lake.

The sun is like a halo, the sun is faintly receding, the sky is gray, like a paper veil, like smoke and fog, and it seems that a breeze is gradually blowing again, and there is rain.

"It has to be accelerated, and it seems that it will snow again. Yu Zheng urged.

The cold wind gradually became fierce, and in order to protect against the cold and wind, the team approached very closely.

Lei Shaoxuan vaguely felt that it was inappropriate, but he couldn't say anything, just pulled Hu Youde to walk at the edge of the team.

Walking, walking, suddenly Lei Shaoxuan felt that the surface of the lake was faintly shaking, and there was a desire to sink under his feet, Lei Shaoxuan was suddenly shocked and shouted loudly.

"Spread out, spread out, ice collapse...... Ice Collapse ......"

Lei Shaoxuan practiced the body method for many days, pulled Hu Youde, rolled to both sides, and rolled far away.

Feeling the solid ice surface carefully, Lei Shaoxuan's face turned pale, and he slowly stood up, at this time, all kinds of panicked voices sounded in his ears.

"Ah......h

"Help......

"Not good...... The ice is cracking, be careful, don't move. ......”

“......”

"Spread out, dodge, don't get together. ...... Spread out......" Ma Shaoteng shouted sharply.

Everyone panicked and quickly dispersed around, but several death row inmates were chained together in groups, and the directions were inconsistent, but they dragged each other down. Many prisoners were dragged to the surface of the lake due to a conflict of direction.

The lake shook more and more, and the situation became more and more critical, and as I saw the ups and downs in all directions, some prisoners cried out: "Let us go......"

Lei Shaoxuan shouted: "Spread around, spread out in the direction of no one, run forward, run out......"

“......”

"Save Me ......"

The crowd scattered and ran wildly, the ice suddenly cracked, and the slowest group fell to the ground, the last man fell into the lake, and the remaining four fell to the ground, although they pulled him desperately, but the man still howled in despair and was dragged into the lake.

The surrounding sergeants and prisoners watched as this group of prisoners fell into trouble.

The person who fell into the water, shivering with cold, struggled in the water for a while, and soon did not move. The other four stopped sliding, but they still fell on the surface of the lake, not daring to move.

After a moment of silence, the four of them turned over and slowly crawled to drag the man in the lake, trying to drag him to the ice.

The surface of the lake had cracked, and a large block of ice had been raised, and no one dared to approach it as the people around looked at it.

The four of them finally dragged the man out of the water away from the crack in the ice.

Ma Shaoteng ran over, took a look, and shouted, "Quickly untie the iron rope." ”

The man who fell into the water was a middle-aged man named Sun Guowang, who was said to have been sentenced to death row for theft and murder. Lei Shaoxuan had seen him in Beichuan Cell, and he insisted that he had been tortured to extract a confession, which was really wronged.

Sun Guowang's whole body was frozen, his hair, cheeks, and clothes were covered with a thin layer of ice, his face was pale, showing desperate eyes, trembling, and trying to open his mouth.

"Help me, help me undress...... Help me. ......”

"Save ...... Give me a change of dry clothes......"

"Save ......"

“......”

The chains were untied, but no one answered, and everyone turned their faces.

Lei Shaoxuan was anxious, grabbed the prisoners beside him, and shouted: "Everyone out of a piece of clothing, hurry, hurry...... Change his clothes......"

The prisoners who were pulled by Lei Shaoxuan all looked at him expressionlessly, like looking at a fool.

A big man said angrily: "Get out of ......"

Lei Shaoxuan pulled the nearest sergeant and begged: "Quickly give the order, give him a change of clothes, one piece of clothing per person can save him." ”

The sergeant pushed Lei Shaoxuan down and shouted, "You are a death row prisoner, you are actually making trouble, looking for death?"

Lei Shaoxuan cried, looked at Hu Youde, and said, "Uncle De, save him......"

Hu Youde looked at the anxious Lei Shaoxuan, speechless, stomped his feet, turned his head and walked forward, as if he didn't see Lei Shaoxuan.

Lei Shaoxuan propped himself on the ground and looked at Ma Shaoteng.

Ma Shaoteng's face turned pale, he walked straight to Lei Shaoxuan, dragged Lei Shaoxuan up, and shouted: "This person is already hopeless, what are you pestering unreasonably?

"He's not dead yet, why don't you save him?"

"The wind is cold, there is nowhere to make a fire, there is no medical treatment and medicine, this person will definitely die, who can save him? Everyone takes off a piece of clothing, and more people will die! The distance is far away......

"One piece of clothing per person, taking turns on a stretcher, can save a life!" Human lives ......," Lei Shaoxuan cried.

"He's a death row inmate, and if he dies, he's dead!" a sergeant next to him said coldly.

"He's innocent. Lei Shaoxuan muttered.

"Innocent? Who is not innocent? He fell into the lake since he was unlucky, does he need others to accompany him to be unlucky? What about being innocent? There are so many unlucky people in the world. ”

Ma Shaoteng endured his anger and said, "Since God let him fall, it is his life." If he can't save himself, no one will save him, and he can only be considered unlucky. Aren't birds, beasts, insects, and fish unlucky? How innocent is it to be hunted by people?"

Lei Shaoxuan looked back and saw that Sun Guowang was lying on the ground, already motionless, like a pile of stones and a piece of wood.

Maybe life is like this, losing life is like stone and wood.

Lei Shaoxuan was silent and walked indifferently.

Shocked, painful, and sorrowful, a living person froze to death in front of his eyes.

No, this person is not dead, but alive and abandoned by his companions, discarded by his own kind.

A kind of grief and indignation of the dead rabbit and the fox suppressed Lei Shaoxuan's heart.

Mole ants, everyone is an ant.

For the first time, Lei Shaoxuan felt the weakness of life and the indifference of human beings.

Although Lei Shaoxuan has seen the story of indifference and the meaning of weakness in books, he has never experienced it so deeply. This feeling went deep into the bone marrow, pierced the heart, and subverted Lei Shaoxuan's belief in saving the dead and helping the weak.

The road is difficult, and the heart will be cold!

Hu Youde slowly walked to Lei Shaoxuan's side and said apologetically: "Young Master!"

"Huh?"

"Young master, please don't blame me. Hu Youde looked at Lei Shaoxuan and said seriously, "We have few clothes with us, and I must ensure that the young master uses them." Even if I fall into the lake, if I can't save it, I can't force it, I don't blame you; if something happens to the young master, I will die and can't be redeemed!"

"Isn't a life more precious than a piece of clothing?"

"For me, someone else's life is not as good as a young master's hair!"

"You ......" Lei Shaoxuan was speechless.