(a)

Spring 1017, Western Regions.

The day is over, but the night is not yet there. The desert is lonely, and the sun sets over the long river.

On the vast Gobi Desert, there is a small wine shop standing alone, like a lonely boat in the sea. This is the last place for people from all walks of life in the black and white roads to stop and drink before entering the desert.

This kind of place has always been mixed, and legal principles are useless. If you want to save your life, one is to bow your head and be less troublesome, and the other is to sharpen the guy on your waist and hide it.

In this realm, whoever has thick shoulders is the master.

This evening, the liquor was taken over by a gang of thieves. Dozens of horses were tied to the house, and inside the house were dozens of rough men with unshaven beards and disheveled clothes, drinking heavily and eating large pieces of meat, stinking of sweat and foul language.

According to them, the thieves have just robbed a caravan today, and they are here to celebrate. From dusk to dawn, all the wine and meat in the wine hall are enjoyed by them, and other drinkers can only eat with the aroma of wine, dare not speak angrily.

After all, in terms of thick shoulders and not afraid of death, who can compare to this gang of hob meat?

"Look at this!"

When the thieves were drunk, one of the red-faced men knocked the jug on the table with a "bang", pointed to a woman sitting next to him, and shouted:

"This yellow-haired and golden-eyed one looks like a monster!"

After his little bit, the nearby thieves turned their heads and followed his fingers, and immediately made an uproar.

"Not really!"

"This golden retriever is a beautiful fox, I've heard of it in the city, and it sucks the essence of men!"

"We haven't seen a woman in the past few months, and the most important thing we lack is his mother's spirit! Brothers go together, can't you feed this vixen?"

"That's right!"

The woman had bright golden curly hair, her eyes were a rare amber color in the world, and her white skin and three-dimensional facial features were not Oriental characteristics, but they were extraordinarily beautiful, and even the palace maids in the capital were jealous when they saw her appearance. The sand-proof robe draped over her body, not only could not hide her beautiful figure, but also provoked this group of thieves to think and move.

These thieves were so drunk that their faces were red and their necks were thick, and they were worried that they were not having enough fun, and when they saw such a beautiful woman, just as a hungry wolf met a fat and beautiful lamb, they naturally rushed up and surrounded them.

"I heard that you Hu people have a ...... wife"

A rickety, dark and thin guy in the crowd, showing a mouthful of uneven yellow teeth, looked the woman's body up and down, smiled obscenely, and said:

"The brothers have made a lot of money, and they will not be stingy, one person will give you a husband tonight, if you don't want it?"

As soon as these words came out, the men in the circle around them laughed maliciously, and even more good, shouted loudly:

"I'm one!"

When an ordinary woman encounters this kind of thing, she is afraid that her soul will be scared away. But this Hu woman, not only bold, but also surprisingly well-cultivated, did not get angry, did not flinch, but covered her mouth and smiled cleverly:

"The officials gave each other a generous gift, and the little woman didn't dare not accept it. I'm afraid that your lives are too thin to survive this candle night. ”

When the thieves heard this, they were stunned for a moment, and then they laughed wildly:

"Ha-ha!"

"Haha, what are these girls talking about?

"The mouth on the top is quite hard, and the mouth on the bottom also makes me see and understand!"

Seeing this scene, the surrounding drinkers lowered their heads and kept silent, and those who were a little kind could only shake their heads, sigh, and whisper a "silly girl".

In this extralegal place, such a drama is played out every day, and veterans who have been with it for a long time are no longer surprised. If a woman is alone, if she has no ability to protect herself and is humiliated, she can only admit it. I'm afraid that she, who doesn't know what to do, provokes these tigers and wolves, and it's okay to be chopped off with a knife, and when the time comes, she will fall into a situation where she can't die, but it's too late to regret it.

"Bang!"

At this time, the door of the wine shop was kicked open. The loud bang caught the attention of everyone in the room, including the thieves. They all let go of the dirty hands that were stretched out to the blonde woman, and turned their heads to look at the door, all wanting to see what was so bold as to disturb their good deeds.

"Shopkeeper, serve the wine!"

The neutral voice has three points of childishness and seven points of pride, which is not only like a heroine of the rivers and lakes, but also like a young warrior.

Walking in was a boy of seventeen or eighteen years old, whose delicate face was both white and delicate, very different from the inhabitants of this wilderness. He wore a muslin robe worn only by the nobles of the Central Plains, with gold patterns embroidered on the black fabric, a long sword wrapped in a snakeskin scabbard encrusted with jewels pinned to his waist, and a desert-style windproof cloak in his hand. His long, jet-black hair was tied into a three-strand hemp braid that slung over his right shoulder.

The young man entered, glanced at the thieves with disdain, pulled a stool, and sat down. The shopkeeper hurriedly ran over, smiled again, and bowed to him again:

"I'm sorry, this guest officer, the wine and meat in this store have been bought, and there are only vegetarian dishes and tea tonight. ”

When the young man heard him say this, he glanced at it, and happened to see the pile of wine, meat, and vegetables on the big table that the thieves had put together, so he frowned, deliberately raised his voice, and said loudly:

"Which short-lived person has such a big face? Eat a bowl for the living, and sacrifice a bowl for the dead?"

There are silly people every year, and there are especially many of them this year.

More than 100 people in the entire wine field heard his words. Those who were afraid of things all gasped and shrank their heads, not daring to take a second look. The bolder ones glanced sideways to see how the little old man had killed himself.

The thieves blushed, ignoring the blonde woman, and instead gathered around the young man's table, a large black shard, like a human wall. When the shopkeeper saw this posture, he was so frightened that he couldn't run in a straight line when he ran away.

"Hey, boy!"

The seven-foot man at the head sat down opposite the young man, and the difference between the two figures was so great that it was like a bear facing a cat. By the way, this guy is the man who first noticed the blonde woman, and judging by his momentum, he should be the leader of this gang of robbers.

The man picked up the wine bowl in his hand, drank it cleanly, and then burped the young man with a foul smell, so that he couldn't open his eyes, and laughed again:

"Heha! I see that you are born white, like a girl, you can sell it for a good price by chopping off your hands and feet!"

"I see that you are born thick and strong, like an ape. The young man replied, "If you chop off your head, it's also good meat." ”

"Look for death!"

The leader of the thieves was furious, and kicked the table over, and drew the machete pinned to his waist. At the same time, the boy silently pressed his hand to the hilt of the sword at his waist.

A flash of silver.

The machete that was raised did not fall, and the stout leader of the thieves, who had become a severed head, shook twice, and fell to the ground, bleeding like an overturned vat. His head rolled to the side, dead and dead.

The young knight with the sword stood up, shook his hand and waved it in the air, which was a muffled sound of "buzz". The sound of the blade sliding through the air made the eardrums hurt. In his eyes, there was only a piece of blood red without any variegation, and there was not even a drop of blood on the steel long sword.

The thieves were shocked, such swords, such swordsmanship, were by no means something that people like them could easily see. After a brief moment of consternation, there was a rage that broke through reason. In an instant, the thieves turned into a herd of fierce beasts, and pounced on them with their teeth and claws, screaming......

Then, they were cut down by the boy one by one.

The people present were all old oilmen who had been crawling in this lawless place all the year round, and they could be said to be well-informed, but none of them could see the young man's swordsmanship, and none of them could see how those thieves died. When he came back to his senses, there was no longer a living person around the boy.

Dozens of corpses fell around him in the shape of stars and moons, all of them sealed their throats with a sword, clean and neat. Until the moment the last thief died and turned to flee, not a single drop of blood was on the young man's face, clothes, or even the blade of his sword.

This childish young man is a real master, who "kills without blood".

"Good!"

At this time, I don't know who got up, and the onlookers clapped their hands and cheered.

"Good swordsmanship!"

"Well killed!"

Unmoved by the cheers around him, the young man put away his sword without changing his face, and went straight to the big table where the thieves were drinking and eating meat, picked up a small unopened wine jar, pulled out the stopper, and poured it into his mouth. He drank the wine in the applause, then smashed the wine vat to the ground, wiped his mouth, and said:

"Since there is no alcohol sold here, you don't have to stay for a long time, say goodbye!"

Leaving these words, he flicked his sleeves and left the wine shop without looking back, and walked into the afterglow of the setting sun.

(b)

The young man came out of the drinking field, put on his cloak, and within a hundred steps, he was overtaken by the people behind him.

"Thank you Shaoxia for coming to the rescue, I'm really grateful!"

It was the blonde woman who was entangled by thieves.

The young man glanced back at her and said:

"It's a trivial matter, it's not a big deal. ”

"The slave family's surname is Yakumo, and the single name is purple, dare to ask this chivalrous man with a big name?" the woman said.

"Nameless. The boy said lightly, "Dead people, no name. ”

"Then, is it offensive to call you nameless?"

"Whatever you want. ”

"The slaves came from the country of the east where the sun rises, and they will go all the way west to the place where the sun sets. The woman named Yakumo Zi said, "I wonder if this nameless knight is on the same road?"

The nameless boy didn't answer her question right away, he silently stepped on the sand under his feet, and looked up at the orange sky and the flaming clouds. After a while, he spoke:

"Same way. ”

"Since we are on the same road, can we go together?"

"Needless to say, just keep up. "However, I will rest at sunrise and walk at dusk, and the road ahead will be rough and bitterly cold, so you must be prepared." ”

"Walking with the Son is enough. Yakumo Zi said with a smile, "The slave family is going to the West to get a life-saving medicine, where is this unknown hero going to the West, and what is he going to do?"

"Go to the land of the night, where the white sun sets, and take the life of the man who is about to die......"

The footsteps of the two gradually disappeared into the wind and sand, just like their figures, swallowed by the night. In the west, ahead, the glow of the remnant sun finally dissipated, and the long night descended on the earth. The nameless chivalrous man and the mysterious woman of the East Country, the journey towards the sunset, which is as long as 10,000 miles, has just begun.