The Western Regions are vast, and you have to walk for three days from Anz to Tongcheng, and you have to pass through the desert Gobi, and the camels are many, and the food and drink are still useful, and there are a lot of complete preparations. A group of people rode camels out of Anzi, walked the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, crossed the forest, walked the board city, and then walked more than 100 miles north after reaching the city, in order to reach the clothed mound.

The first night was spent in the desert, the night in the desert was extremely cold, their group lit a few fires, sat by the fire to roast the fire, Zhao Zhongming and Liao Qiu sat together, and the rest of the people waited to find a good one to sit together, they talked and laughed there, drank a few sips of wine and opened their mouths to come, said meat jokes, sang wild songs, very lively, in comparison, this side is much more lonely, for a long time, Zhao Zhongming raised his head and said to the sky: "More than two years, the world is finally peaceful." ”

More than two years have passed, the Qing Dynasty has destroyed the Agubai bandits, cleaned up Jing Feiran, and subdued Silla. At this time, it is not too much to describe the Qing Dynasty as "the four seas are peaceful". But what does this have to do with him Liao Qiuli? The biggest correlation is that when you are wandering in or around the Western Regions, you don't have to worry about not knowing who is hiding in a corner, whether these people will suddenly outflank from behind, kill people and oversell goods, and those who are robbed and lose their goods do not count, and they will not die well. He is no longer afraid of death, and a peaceful world really doesn't mean much to him.

"Hmm." In this world that has been peaceful, how many people will remember those who took their lives in exchange for peace?

"Wine, two sips?" The desert night is cold, and you have a problem with qi and blood coagulation, so it's better to drink two sips to warm up.

"No, I eat sugar. Do you want two too? Liao Qiuli didn't take the pot of wine handed to him, but reached out and took out a few pieces of sugar from his purse and handed them to Zhao Zhongming.

"Your sugar is so sweet that it can kill people, I can't get used to eating it, you can keep it for yourself."

Speaking of which, Liao Qiuli didn't eat sugar before, after Zhao Zhongming had a bright talk with him, he started to eat sugar, at first he ate rock sugar, then changed to brown sugar, and then changed to honey, and finally this kind of honey cake, refined with honey, and mixed with sugar crystals from a kind of beet from the Western Regions, so sweet that he cut his throat, and others used it to break it up and hydrate it, a small piece was very sweet, he actually chewed it dry, and stuffed a few pieces at once. I can't see him grow two taels of meat like this, and he is always such a person who is not much better than a mast.

The Liao family has been frequently moving around the Western Regions for more than two years, the eldest few Yunwen have come, the second Liao Yunwu has come, the fourth Liao Yunneng has also come, and the third Liao Yungong just left some time ago. Liao Shixiang originally wanted to bring his wife to come to see this child, but was persuaded by the third child to go back, saying that he would go to the Western Regions again at the end of the year and bring the fifth child back for the second elder to see. What the third child said to his brother, others don't know, only that he didn't persuade the fifth child at that time, and at the end of this year, the fifth child may still have to stay in the Western Regions and not return to the imperial capital for the New Year. At this time and that time, maybe after going back to that clothed mound, he would be able to recognize the fact that it was already a fact?

The mound of King Su in the north of Tongcheng is quite magnificent, completely according to the regulations of the general king, the tombstone is tall, the tomb is open, the stone horses, stone tigers and stone soldiers of the two columns of boulders on the left and right, such a water-scarce place is also planted with pines and cypresses that are not good to live, and it is very good to serve, although it has not yet reached the Cheng dù that grows to the sky, but it is also pavilion and pavilion, verdant and dripping. Obviously, someone is taking care of it every day, and it takes a little trouble to get in, Zhao Zhongming communicated with the government office of Tongcheng in advance, and he agreed there, and he was not stingy with the people guarding the tomb, and gave some silver for these people to drink and drink. On the way from Tongcheng to this clothed mound, a qiē is quite smooth.

Zhao Zhongming helped set up the candle paper money, left a pot of wine and two small wine cups, and an instruction: "I know how much I can drink, and I can grasp it a little." The living always have something to say to the dead who are particularly concerned, and whether the dead can hear or not is another matter, and it is inconvenient for an outsider like him to listen, so he has to go away and wait for him outside the forest.

The day was very good, there was no strong wind rarely, and occasionally there was a particularly gentle one, almost catching up with the willow wind that was blowing in the south of the Yangtze River, and the sun was not strong, looking at the sky through the branches of the pines and cypresses, the sky was so blue that it was not adulterated. It's such a good day, but it's a pity that the man who didn't even have a skeleton left can no longer be seen.

Liao Qiuli poured two full glasses of wine, one poured to the grave, and one poured by himself. What he came for was to wake up from a dream. The most direct way to deal with a person who has refused to wake up from a nightmare for more than two years is to let him see the facts. The reality is lying here, even if he doesn't recognize it, the entire Qing Dynasty also recognizes it. Even if he didn't want to admit it until the day he died, the reality was already lying here.

He drank cup by cup, the amount was shallow, and when he drank the third cup, he was dizzy, and he took out a painting from his arms, a silk cloth painting, and I don't know how long he had been close to his body. Others are sad and can't draw, but he can still draw, stroke by stroke, as if the person lives on the painting, sticking to his heart all day long, and after a long time on the chest, the person on the painting is also warm. After more than two years of such self-deception, he still can't beat a bowl of mushroom and shrimp stuffed wonton sprinkled with millet and red pepper. He held the painting in front of him and looked at it a few more times, the residual warmth on the painting gradually dissipated, it was cold, and what he held in his hand was actually an old cloth, flat, and his expressions and movements were fixed.

Let's see it clearly

See clearly. He raised his grubbing fire sickle to lean against the painting. Burned it.

A hand came over and gently took his right hand holding the fire sickle, and the owner of the hand smiled and asked him, "What are you burning me for?" ”

Liao Qiuli shook, his right hand suddenly lost strength, the fire sickle fell, falling on his right thigh, a small flame burned through the shirt and pants he was wearing, scalding to the flesh, sharp pain tore him out of one nightmare, and then stuffed into another nightmare, he lost his voice and shouted: "Uncle Zhao!!! ”

Zhao Zhongming had never heard anyone call him like this - that throat didn't know if it had allowed too much sugar to erode out of the hole, otherwise how could there be such a terrible movement, like an ice cube breaking through the air and piercing straight into the ears and eyes, and the listener was terrified for a moment! Almost instinctively, he picked up an iron rod and rushed towards the forest, and when he arrived at the tomb, he saw a scene that even he was terrified: the man who had been crushed and dusted was fixing Liao Qiuli's right leg, and opened it to see the wound burned by the fire sickle just now, Liao Qiuli made him unable to move, his face was buried in the palms of a pair of hands, and there was only one action left on the thin thin body like a mast - trembling. Trembling as if it was not a "person" holding him now, but a bucket of cold ice.

Who is really wrong, is it him, Zhao Zhongming or Liao Qiuli, or the "person" who doesn't know if it's a human or a ghost?

He has lived for more than 50 years, and for the first time, he can't decide whether to advance or retreat - if this is a living person, then it is undoubtedly the best ending for Liao Qiuli, who has been living like a lonely goose, but what if this is a fake who doesn't know what his intentions are? Even the dead have to pretend to be dead, even a person who can only suppress heartache and nightmares by eating sweet dead people's candy, don't want this kind of ending!

Liao Qiuli was still shouting with his sugar-eroded throat, more and more afraid of people, "Uncle Zhao!" Fast!! Take me away!! ”

It seems that if he doesn't make a move, he will freeze to death!