In the Anxi Desert, there are flying sand and rocks everywhere in the Gobi Desert, there are no people for thousands of miles, there is almost no sign of life, some are just gusts of wind, the wind is mixed with gravel, in such a harsh environment, it is difficult to survive.

In the depths of the desert, a ruined earthen city came into view, and the broken city wall was ravaged by the merciless wind and sand, and every time after the storm, I was afraid that it would be buried by the wind and sand, and never see the light of day again.

However, there may always be some exceptions in the world, in order to survive, in order to hope to survive in this desert of flying sand and rocks. Tucheng once again withstood the test of the wind, and to the people who were still in Tucheng, such a wind had long been accustomed to, and compared to the desperate fighting of the enemy army again and again, this wind seemed nothing in their eyes.

In the earth city, people cleaned up the scene that was very chaotic by the strong wind, which seemed to be unaccustomed to seeing in the desert; this group of people were dressed in various ways, some even rags and furs, the only thing that was the same was that all of them were full of white hair without exception, the whole old city; but from their clothes it could be vaguely seen that most of them were soldiers; if it were not for a shabby Tang character banner on the high part of the city, it would be difficult to judge which country they were soldiers from the shabby military uniforms and armor alone.

It may be puzzling, how can there be a Tang Dynasty banner in the depths of this desert? I saw a white-headed and white-bearded man standing on the platform of the Tucheng Tower, looking at the east where the sun was rising, thinking and recalling.

It is said that eighteen years ago, the boundary of Anxi in the desert belonged to the land of the Tang Dynasty, and then there was turmoil in Zhongzhou, and the main force of the army stationed in Anxi was ordered to march eastward and return to the king of Tuqin, leaving only part of the defenders stationed in Anxi;

Xifan is the name of the Tang Dynasty for Xizhou, which is located in the Xizhou Highlands. It has been more than 600 years since the independent founding of the country, and the Western Fan Kingdom believes in the people's exclusive respect for Buddhism and serves Buddhism throughout the country. Seeing the civil strife in the Tang Dynasty in Middle-earth, he raised troops to attack.

Shuobei guard Guo Yi personally wrote, reported to the imperial court, narrating the Tang Dynasty's painstaking management of Anxi for more than a hundred years, it is not easy, the thirty-six towns must not be lost, and asked the imperial court to send troops to support, but Chang'an is reluctant to send troops to rescue Anxi on the grounds that it must first settle the internal and stabilize the rebellion in Zhongzhou, indicating that Anxi can be lost, and it is convenient for Xiliang to set up a western defense, and he is unwilling to send troops to rescue Anxi. He even secretly ordered the defenders of Anxi to abandon the land of Anxi and lead the whole army back to quell the rebellion. In order to save millions of soldiers and civilians in Anxi from being ravaged by the Xibo massacre, Helan Jingde, the guard general who stayed in Anxi at that time, learned that the imperial court insisted on abandoning Anxi and would not send troops to rescue, so he decided to lead the people and troops who were willing to return to the east. Almost a million people, stretching for more than dozens of miles on the desert hill peaks.

Besides, Shuobei Guo Yi only knew that the imperial court had no intention of sending troops to Anxi, but he didn't know that he had already ordered the troops left behind in Anxi to return east. Guo Yi, who knew that he couldn't let every inch of the country's land let go of the army, ordered his eldest son Guo Yuan to be the vanguard general of the western aid, and led the Shuobei Flying Cavalry Army to 30,000 aids, while his own army stayed in Shuobei to defend against the invasion of the northern Xinjiang demons.

It is said that after Guo Yuan received the order, he immediately led the Shuobei Flying Cavalry from Shuobei to Anxi non-stop, day and night, and the five-day journey took three days to arrive. Along the way, the flying cavalry saw dead corpses all over the field, thousands of miles of smoke, but the Anxi defenders were not seen.

When people were tired and tired, they encountered the Western Tibetan army that was advancing eastward, and the road was really narrow, and they couldn't care about being tired, and 30,000 flying cavalry rushed into the Western Tibetan army to fight. The Xifan army, which thought that it had fought many times with the Tang army and was already familiar with the other party's battles, was caught off guard in the face of this seemingly familiar and unfamiliar army. At this time, when Guo Yuan led the army as if entering a no-man's land, a sudden battle Xu Hongguang sword attacked directly from a distance, Guo Yuan also fought on the battlefield for a long time, and immediately turned around and waved the silver-tipped spear in his hand to block, and when he turned back, he saw a person above the enemy standing in the sky.

Guo Yuan couldn't help but be shocked in his heart, secretly wondering, knowing that this person was not ordinary, seeing him like this, he should be a cultivator like that sword cultivator. Then he returned to the horse, pointed at the silver-tipped spear and shouted: "Who is coming, leave your name quickly, don't be a nameless ghost under my Guo Yuan spear." ”

The person who crossed the sword was the general of Xifan, Xi Boda, that is, the leading commander of Xifan's invasion of Anxi. I saw that he was wearing a python robe, and sneered: "I am the Xifan Sword Saint Xi Bo replied, where is Helan Jingde? ”

Guo Yuan's heart was suddenly shocked: Xifan Sword Saint, I have already heard that there is a sword in Xifan State, known as Xizhou Sword Saint, and there is no sword in Xizhou that can be outstanding. Guo Yuan suddenly came back to his senses, thinking that the Anxi defenders had not been destroyed, and seeing that this Xifan Sword Saint had been born, he shook the silver spear in his hand, wanting to understand the teaching.

As soon as Xi Bo's answer fell, Guo Yuan jumped on his horse and swung his spear to attack, Xi Bo replied that he didn't say much, the sword came to block, Guo Yuan fought hard for dozens of rounds, and knew that he was invincible, so he turned around and retreated to the horse.

Xi Boda was secretly shocked when he put away his sword, this son is young, although he is not his opponent, but he also has an eight- or nine-grade martial rank, but unfortunately he can't use it. Xi Bo replied to Guo Yuan and said: "Anxi has now entered my Xifan, if you descend to me, you can ensure your rich future, why bother to lose your life for your ruthless Tang Dynasty, I see that you are a manufacturable material, cherish talents, and promise you, if you are obsessed, it is a pity to die here!"

Guo Yuan sneered: "My Guo family has been favored by the imperial court for three generations, how can I do things that turn my back on the imperial court, talk less nonsense, and take my life." After speaking, he killed the general and entered the ranks of the Western Tibetan army.

Xi Bo replied with a sigh of regret and waved his hand to signal the army to attack, perhaps he couldn't bear to kill the talent with his own hands or didn't take Guo Yuan to heart, knowing that the top priority was to chase the retreating Helan Jingde. After signaling the army, he personally led the army to the east, leaving several times the enemy's army to besiege and kill Guo Yuan.

Guo Yuan's 30,000 flying cavalry army fought against the demon army all year round, although the battle was brave, he had the courage to fight against the Tibetan army, and repeatedly defeated the enemy army. However, the tired division, with a small number of enemies, 30,000 flying horsemen were killed and wounded, and when he didn't know what to do, Guo Yuan saw Xi Boda divide his troops to the east. Without thinking too much, Guo Yuan raised his spear and ordered all the soldiers of the flying cavalry to break through to the west, the troops in the west were weak, and the chance of breaking through was greater, and at the same time, what it meant to go west, he couldn't be clearer in his heart.

In the face of an army several times their size, under the command of Guo Yuan, the flying cavalry army quickly broke through the gap in the western encirclement and escaped from the encirclement, and Guo Yuan and others went straight into the depths of the Anxi Desert......

The white-haired general was recalling affectionately, and suddenly a young man came running over, slapped him and said, "Uncle Guo, Uncle Guo, what's wrong, what are you thinking, everyone has been busy for most of the day, and they have already cleaned up ......"

The young man walked in and took a look: "Hey, Uncle Guo, what's wrong with you, why are your eyes wet, did the wind blow the sand into your eyes just now?" ”

The young man approached: "Come and I'll help you blow it." ”

The white-haired general rubbed his eyes, stroked the young man's head with his hand, and said with a smile: "It's okay, it's windy, let's go, go back to the house." ”

With that, he and the boy went into the earthen house.

This white-haired general is Guo Yuan after the breakthrough eighteen years ago, when he was still in the prime of his youth with this young man, he was trapped here because of the war in his family and country, eighteen years, Gu is full of white hair, Guo Yuan thought in his heart: his Shuobei father should not be as much as himself. Thinking of this, Guo Yuan couldn't help but show a wry smile, he might never see his father again in this life, and he couldn't help but lose that wry smile.

In the earthen house, Guo Yuan and the young man were together, except for the young man in the entire earth city, everyone was white-haired and sideburns.

Speaking of this young man, we have to start after Guo Yuan led the army to break through. At that time, Guo Yuan and his entourage led the army to wander all the way to the west, the future was uncertain, and from time to time they met some small units of Xibo troops on the road, and the flying cavalry army that once dominated the north of Shuo lived a guerrilla life of stragglers, and there were some displaced Anxi refugees along the way from time to time to join, Guo Yuan relied on the remnants of his weak generals to constantly harass some of the small groups of Xibo troops in the Anxi area, and raised soldiers by war, and the Xibo army called this elusive army the beggar army.

Once Guo Yuan got information that a Tibetan army would pass by where they were stationed, so he led his troops out to harass and fight against the Tibetan army, and on the way back, he met a group of Tibetan troops who were slaughtering and plundering the displaced people. Guo Yuan immediately killed this group of Tibetan troops, but those displaced people were still dead, Guo Yuan ordered the burial of the corpse when he found a baby boy, in the troubled times, adults can not protect themselves, let alone infant children.

Just when everyone decided to abandon him, the child, perhaps hungry, suddenly began to cry, and everyone present was immediately calmed, and a group of soldiers who had fought and died in a hundred battles were wet eyes. Is this life, for which they gave their lives to protect, and now they are to abandon it?

Guo Yuan picked up the child and said: "It's not your fault that you're in troubled times, it's our fault to abandon you." ”

As he spoke, he raised the child and said: "I, Guo Yuan, am a soldier of the Tang Dynasty, it is my duty to protect the people of the Tang Dynasty, this child is our hope, the enemy calls us a beggar army, yes, we are not just begging, we are also a Tang soldier, guarding the territory of the Tang Dynasty." Anxi is the territory of the Tang Dynasty, and the Tang people in Anxi are also our compatriots, even if there is only one person, it is also our mission. From today onwards, I swear here: I Guo Yuan in this life, here, I will guard the Anxi side, until the last drop of blood is shed, I Guo Yuan is dead, and I will also become a ghost to protect Anxi, and Anxi will always belong to my Tang Dynasty. ”

The soldiers present wept one after another, all moved, and swore that at that moment, they were extremely tragic, but they were incomparably tall.

Later, Guo Yuan found a jade plate engraved with the word Liu on the child's body, which should have been left by his father and mother, and it was also the child's surname, so he named the child Liu Guang, meaning the light of hope.

Guo Yuan took out a hairpin, his eyes showed a trace of warmth, and he couldn't help but say, "I don't know if she's okay?"

The speaker has no intention, but the listener has the intention. Liu Guang turned his head and said, "Uncle Guo, what is this?"

Guo Yuan came back to his senses and hurriedly put away the hairpin and said, "It's nothing, Uncle Guo is just homesick!"

Liu Guang couldn't understand why Uncle Guo always said he was homesick with that short hairpin, and he didn't understand what Uncle Guo's house was like; although they had to change places often for safety, in his eyes, Anxi was their home.

How did he know what the Tang Dynasty in the east that Uncle Guo and others would mention, the home and the magnificent country that only existed in their mouths, maybe there were just endless cattle and sheep, and the kind of water that they often said was very clear but they had never seen before, or the clothes they said were made of excellent and excellent satin......

In short, it should be a paradise, Liu Guang tried his best imagination to imagine everything he could think of in his head.

Guo Yuan looked at the young man, who was dressed in sackcloth animal skin, thin and thin, he was fifteen or sixteen years old, but he was only as tall as thirteen or fourteen years old. At this time, I don't know what he was thinking, sometimes smirking, sometimes nodding seriously, Guo Yuan was a little puzzled: "Xiaoguang, what are you thinking?"

Liu Guang smiled and said to Guo Yuan: "Uncle Guo, you and everyone always say that our hometown is in the east, the country called Datang, I always see everyone is always very happy every time they talk about it, and everyone always wants to go back, so when can we go back, I also want to meet Datang, the place you often say." ”

Guo Yuan smiled: "Yes, we will see you one day, I believe Uncle Guo, we will see you soon, and we will go home soon." ”

Liu Guang knew that Uncle Guo had said this many times, but he still believed what Uncle Guo said.

The young man nodded and said, "Uncle Guo, remember to take me to see Chang'an when the time comes, I also want to see it, is it really that beautiful?"

The white-haired Guo Yuan smiled and said: "Okay, I'll take you there then, that's good, in short, you've seen it, you've never seen it, it's fun, it doesn't matter if you eat enough and play, you must be happy." ”

Although the boy hadn't seen it, he still nodded vigorously, full of hopeful anticipation.

"Let's go, let's go see how everyone is!" Guo Yuan said to the young man.

The two walked out of the earthen house, Liu Guangtian walked in front innocently, Guo Yuan followed closely behind, looking at the young man, Guo Yuan secretly said in his heart: It will definitely be.