In the quiet small room, Dongfang Tianma and Luo Yannan sat opposite each other, and under their buttocks there were not chairs, but one ancient book after another. There was also a stack of books among them www.biquge.info piled up to their knees, and at the top was a small oil lamp that emitted a dim glow.

"It's just the two of us here, can you give me the letter now?" Luo Yannan has a goatee trimmed to the width of a ruler, and there are extremely deep crow's feet on both sides of the corners of his eyes, and his gaze always reveals a kind of craftsmanship's tenacity, which brings a strong shock to Dongfang Tianma.

"No, you're mistaken, it's not a letter, it's just a message."

"Okay, tell me about it."

"The white dove landed on the bell tower, the dark clouds came from the sky, and a page of the calendar was torn off, the work of a clown hidden in the darkness."

After Luo Yannan heard this, his face immediately showed a look of consternation, his black and gray pupils seemed to be frozen there without blinking, and it took him a long time before he said to Dongfang Tianma: "Who told you this?" ”

Dongfang Tianma told the original story of what happened in Fengqi Village, and after finishing speaking, he said: "Since my message has been delivered, then I will go back." ”

"You wait! Do you know who asked you to send this message? ”

Dongfang Tianma had already stood up at this time, he was stunned by the question, lowered his head and met Luo Yannan's gaze, "I don't know who he is, I don't want to know, now I just want to go back to Fengqi Village." ”

"It seems that you have made up your mind to go, and I don't plan to force you to stay, but I have to explain the stakes before you leave. The person who asked you to send the message is named Yu Chong, and he is a specially trained intelligence agent of His Majesty the King today, who is responsible for investigating the things that the empire hides in the dark. And I am also one of them, responsible for connecting with Yu Chong, and then passing the news to the king. ”

"But aren't you wanted now?" Dongfang Tianma sat back in his place, and he changed his mind, wanting to understand Luo Yannan's words.

"I was also framed by someone who was wanted for the purpose of completely losing contact with the king and leaving both sides in complete isolation. In fact, I haven't gotten any useful information since I lost contact with Yu Chong, and I don't even have any clues as to who this person is hiding behind the scenes. Fortunately, you sent the message, otherwise I wouldn't even know about Yu Chong's death. ”

At first, he only thought it was to send an ordinary letter, and he never thought that he would be involved in disputes within the royal family, but now that he knows the truth, he has fallen into a state of confusion in his heart, because after all, this is a major matter related to the country, and in the cognition of a rural youth like him, there is no such concept at all.

Seeing that he was silent, Luo Yannan interjected: "I don't have any personal freedom now, as long as I am arrested as a traitorous rebel, that guy hiding behind the scenes will definitely find a way to kill me, so I want to ask you to help me do something, I hope you don't refuse." ”

Dongfang Tianma raised his eyes and looked at Luo Yannan, "I've already walked so far to deliver the message, I don't want to get involved in other things, besides, what you said is all about the royal family, I can't afford such a difficult task as a country boy, you better ask for another master!" With that, he got up again and walked towards the door.

As soon as the door opened, Yin Ao stood outside the door and waited, his eyes were full of expectation, and he seemed to hope that Dongfang Tianma could stay and help. However, Dongfang Tianma just glanced at him and left a sentence: "Goodbye." "Just leave.

The autumn wind was raging, and the fallen leaves fluttered on the side of the street, but in the hearts of the Eastern Pegasus, these became extremely cheerful scenes. A sense of relief filled his heart, and even if a dark cloud suddenly floated at this moment, and it rained heavily, he would think that the rain was sweet.

A gray-haired old lady sat under a street tree on the side of the road, and spread out a stall on the ground in front of her, on which were placed insoles of various sizes, both male and female, striped and patterned, all of which the old lady herself sewed. There weren't many passers-by on the street, but she still insisted on sitting there waiting for the buyer.

The coldness of the autumn wind seemed to appear in an instant, and Dongfang Tianma stood more than a hundred meters away from the old lady, looking at it blankly. His forehead and cheeks were covered with age spots the size of fingernails, his white hair was like frost and snow, and his rickety back was like a tool that had been badly worn out for a long time.

What kind of depressed family made this old lady forced to set up a stall on the street? What kind of life experience made her suffer such a thing in her later years? Where is her family? Questions like these kept repeating in Dongfang Pema's head, and he suddenly thought of himself, imagining what he would look like in old age. If you are old and have nothing to rely on in a few decades, will you be in the same situation as this old lady? Thinking about it, he couldn't help but come closer.

"Young man, do you want to buy insoles?" A gentle and kind smile appeared on the wrinkled face, which was a kind of gentleness unique to women, and it was also the attitude that the years superimposed on the old man, which would not make people feel strange, and even a little familiar.

Why is she so accommodating? Life is like this, why is she not depressed at all, no! This is not what a destitute person should look like at all, compared to the appearance of the old dragon clock, what really shines is the invisible inner world.

"That's right, I want to buy a pair, is there a size I can wear?" Dongfang Pegasus said as he took out the Silver Soul Stone from his backpack.

The old lady slowly raised her sallow eyelids, stared at Dongfang Tianma's shoes, and then stretched out her skinny palms to accurately pick up a pair of blue-striped insoles on the stall, "This is fine." ”

Dongfang Tianma sat on the ground, took off his shoes and stuffed the insoles in, put them on again, stood up, walked a few steps back and forth in front of the old lady's stall, and said in surprise: "It fits so well, thank you." ”

The old lady curled the corners of her mouth and smiled, her dry lips revealing missing teeth and uneven teeth.

"Isn't it cold that you sell insoles here?" Dongfang Tianma handed the Silver Soul Stone to the old lady.

"I'm used to it, I wear a lot, and I don't care about an old bone."

"What about your children? Won't they come to your aid? ”

"My son died on the battlefield, and my daughter-in-law remarried someone else, how can she care about me."

"Are there many people who come here to buy insoles?"

"Four or five a day."

"So little!? How do you live? ”

"Don't compare my wife with you young people, I'm used to eating bitter snacks."

Dongfang Tianma scratched the back of his head with his hand, he wanted to do something for the old lady, but found that he couldn't do it at all.

At this time, a group of soldiers from the Imperial Capital Guards came over, and the captain who took the lead kicked the old lady's stall indiscriminately, and the neatly placed insoles immediately became a mess, only to hear him shout menacingly: "How many times do you peddlers have to say it before you understand?" Now that the city is searching for traitorous rebels, you dare to do business in the streets, and be careful to arrest you as contacts for the traitorous party. ”

The old lady hung her head and apologized, stretched out her trembling hand to pick up the insoles one by one, and the captain of the Imperial Capital Guards picked up two pairs of insoles and distributed them to his subordinates, "Take two pairs, patrol back and forth these days, how can you do without padding." ”

The old lady didn't dare to say anything to stop it, but Dongfang Tianma, who was standing on the side, couldn't stand it anymore, walked up to the captain and said, "Why don't you give money for insoles?" ”

The captain tilted his head to look over, and his horse had small eyes squinting on his face, "Where did you come from?" Tell you, we didn't confiscate all of these insoles to be kind to her, what's wrong with taking two pairs of insoles? If it weren't for us patrolling back and forth to maintain law and order, it wouldn't have been so peaceful. ”

The old lady came over and grabbed Dongfang Tianma's sleeve, and said with a smile: "Don't be angry with this child, just take it and wear it, if it's not enough, I'll take it again." Although my wife is old, it is no problem to make two pairs of insoles for the military master to wear to defend the country. ”

The captain turned his anger into joy, "It's still the old man who understands things!" Then we'll take it unceremoniously. With that, he led his men down the other street.

At this time, it was getting late, and Dongfang Tianma helped the old lady pack up her things and asked, "Why did you accommodate them?" ”

The old lady smiled: "Silly boy, people have to bow their heads under the eaves, we are ordinary people, people are powerful soldiers, where to reason?" ”

Dongfang Tianma was speechless, he could only stand silently under the dim street lamp, watching the back of the old lady go away. Although where there is oppression, there is resistance, but these are only isolated phenomena, most people will choose to obey unconditionally in the face of power, and even sell their bodies and souls. Not everyone has a young and strong body like their own, and not everyone has a firm and unyielding belief, maturity and aging will change a person, and when you can't resist or even can't resist at all, you may have to choose to go against the grain.

The wooden door slowly opened a crack, and half of Yin Ao's face appeared in front of Dongfang Tianma's eyes through the faint light.

"Pegasus! It's great that you're back. Yin Ao looked happy and opened the door completely.

Dongfang Tianma walked slowly into the Yin porcelain house with his luggage on his back, although this was his second visit, but his heart was still full of strangeness to this place.

Luo Yannan was sitting by the fire to keep warm, and he was wearing a camel-colored woolen blanket on his body, looking drowsy.

Dongfang Pegasus sat down beside him, staring at the flickering flames in the stove.

After a long time, Luo Yannan spoke: "What? Changed your mind? ”

Dongfang Tianma nodded slightly, "Aunt Qing once told me that if you decide to do something, you have to finish it, and you can't give up halfway. Although my letter was delivered, the matter was not completely resolved, and it even fell into a more critical situation. Since I have the power to help you, go ahead and try! But I can't guarantee that I will complete the mission, and if it comes to a situation that threatens my life, I will quit immediately. ”

Luo Yannan didn't answer a word, his old face was illuminated by the firelight.

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