Shaw Bowen found that he was also different from ordinary people, starting at the age of five.

Before he reached the age of studying, his biggest hobby on weekdays was basking in the sun in the backyard.

His father was a peculiar man, and he began to burn incense early in the morning, and sat there without moving, and Shao Bowen ran around with his puppy in his arms, unable to understand what his father was thinking, and even if he yelled in front of his father, his father was unmoved, as if he was thinking about something deeper in origin.

I sat in silence until the afternoon, when my father woke up and the first thing he said was, "Bring me the wine!"

The father was not strong enough to drink, he was already slightly drunk after three or two glasses of wine, his slender and thin body was half-lying, he was full of the cool breeze of cicadas and frogs in summer and the cold wind of winter with snow particles caressing him and hitting the bridge of his nose, his half-open and half-closed narrow phoenix eyes blinked out of an intoxicating light, like a starry sky at night. My father knew how to be temperate, so he stopped drinking at this point - the time came to recite poetry and study the "great truth".

If at this time, his father's student, the respectful and innocent big brother, has not come, Shao Bowen will have to find a place to hide, because his father at this time is particularly nerve-wracking.

"Berwyn, come here. The father called, "Dad has set up a new formation according to the Fuxi gossip map, you can solve it!"

The father's tone was joyful, but such joy frightened Shao Bowen: the problem is about to be solved again!

It's not that it's incomprehensible Give him time and he can figure it out, but he hates the passage of time. My father studied these strange things when he had nothing to do, saying that he could connect ancient and modern China and foreign countries, understand more and learn more, and it would be of great benefit to him in the future. But it would take an afternoon, or even an evening, to solve it—if Shao Bowen couldn't solve the problem, he would not give up if he couldn't solve it! His father knew this, and he knew it himself, and in order not to waste his time with his head, he always looked for an opportunity to run away, or sneak into the room and pretend to take a nap, or ask the servants to take him outside to buy food, toys, and books—and if he refused, he would roll all over the floor and cry, and it would be much better to sell his dignity than to stay here to do the problem!

When his father found out, he did not allow the servant to take him away, but went directly into the room to drag him out of bed. The competition in the dark turned into resistance on the surface, Shao Bowen cried and resisted vigorously: "I don't want it!"

However, he was only a five-year-old child, and although his father was thin, it was more than enough to subdue him. His father picked him up, threw him on his shoulder, and carried him to ask him to solve the gossip array. Shao Bowen cried and beat his father's back, but his father was not in pain, and said with a smile: "Fight well, play comfortably, and work harder—ouch! You have a lot of strength!"

It seemed to be really painful, and my father's tone and face changed. At the same time, he let go of his arm, and Shao Bowen flew out of his father's arm at once, flew out of a rainbow-like arc, and fell to the ground, his head hitting the ground.

He didn't say a word, he didn't scream, and blood curled from his nostrils.

When Shao Bowen woke up, it was in his little bed, the curtains drawn, and it was as dark as night. He sat up, unharmed, and had no pain, but he clearly remembered that he had fallen, and that he had fallen very hard, and in the moment before he passed out, he was in so much pain that his soul had withdrawn from his body, and he lost consciousness for a moment, so he remembered it deeply.

But why, the surroundings were so quiet, and there were not even servants who stayed by his side to check on the situation—shouldn't it be an earth-shattering, joyful sentence "Master, the young master has finally woken up!"?

He got up and got out of bed, feeling his stomach full, just like he had just felt after lunch. It's a little sleepy, but not to the point where you need to fall asleep. Bubbles welled up his throat, and he let out a pumpkin-flavored burp.

It's strange, could it be that after he passed out, someone stuffed three mouthfuls of food into his mouth?

Shao Bowen walked to the bed, stood on tiptoe to the windowsill, and opened the curtains. The bright light pierced his eyes, burning him with tears. How did he get up at noon after fainting for so long? Could it be that he didn't faint at all?

Impossible.

Shao Bowen simply pulled the curtains open, allowing the light to soak the entire room, and in an instant, the vision was wide and unusually bright. He was about to go out when he heard his father's familiar footsteps outside the door, and he was about to push the door in.

It's my father who is coming to apologize.

But Shao Bowen couldn't control it, and shivered all over his body.

The father was angry and funny. The angry thing is that the son is unwilling to work hard and appreciate the charm of the gossip map; the laughing thing is that he is quite clever and knows how to deceive people with reasons that are not embarrassing, and takes a nap? However, he still saw through it, because his son usually doesn't take a nap.

He thought that when he pushed the door in, he would see Shao Bowen cowering under the covers, but he didn't. Shao Bowen was angry, stood directly at the door, and said to him: "-Dad, I forgive you, it's okay!"

The father was stunned: "Huh?"

Shao Bowen said: "Dad, it's not you who put me-" Halfway through the words, Shao Bowen suddenly stopped, covered his mouth and stared wide, as if he was thinking about something, and a confused emotion appeared on his face.

The two were relatively speechless for a moment, and Shao Bowen took the lead in speaking: "Dad, what time is it?" Knowing that it was noon, Shao Bowen became more and more puzzled, and with the sunlight projected on his face, he squinted his eyes and looked at his father.

"Your mother said you were taking a nap, but it didn't. Father's expression became soft, joyful, and full of anticipation, "Berwyn, come, Dad has set up a new formation according to the Fuxi gossip diagram, you can explain it!"

It was exactly the same line as Shaw Bowen's memory, and it slashed into his brain like lightning.

- It turns out that what he experienced just now has not happened at this moment!

"I, I'm ......" Shao Bowen's teeth trembled, his words were incoherent, but for a moment, the overwhelming fear and loneliness swept in from all directions, and the sunlight turned into an extremely cold storm, wrapping around his neck!

"What's wrong? Why are you so nervous, my son is so good, he will be able to figure it out, right?" the father smiled non-negotiably, meaning that if he refused, there would be no second consequence—

"Would you like to give it a try?"

Shao Bowen immediately said: "I want it!"

The moment he said these two words, he was relieved and sure that what had just happened was just a dream, an illusion, and a coincidence.

Father didn't expect him to be so positive, although he was surprised, he was naturally happy: "Good Bowen, you are too worry-free for your father, I will ask Abi to buy you candy to eat, come-hug one!"

——？！

Shao Bowen's face turned pale with fright.

"Don't. No. He excused himself and retreated, and his father smiled brightly at the moment, and said, "What's the matter, Berwyn, aren't you happy to hug it?"

Shao Bowen took a few steps back, unexpectedly a buffer, and quickly rushed forward in the opposite direction, trying to run outside from his father's side, but his father bent down, grabbed him, and helped him carry it on his shoulder: "Go, dad hug you over!"

In this terrifying rise, Shao Bowen only felt an invisible pressure, which overwhelmed him, so that he had a splitting headache, and there seemed to be a shadow in front of him gradually expanding, expanding to his father's back, and it was dark and gloomy. Caught off guard, Shao Bowen raised his head and saw a hand appear behind his father's back!

Gray, dirty, emaciated, lifeless, as if he had crawled out of a coffin, dug out of a grave, he was so frightened that he tried to look behind the hand—but he could not lift his head, only a mess of long hair, whose owner had blood-red eyes!

Shao Bowen hugged his father's neck and shouted, "Run to the right!"

The father was stunned, and immediately hugged him, and ran three steps straight to the right, and the hand was not directly pressed on his back, but on his shoulder—the father snorted in pain, and his body shook slightly, but—the arm was tightened.

The father looked at his son dumbfounded, then put him back on the ground and asked in a small but quick voice, "What do you see?"

Shao Bowen pointed behind him. The father turned his head and looked surprised, immediately picked up a branch from the ground, held the branch in his hand, drew a gossip array in the air, and then blocked his eyes with one hand, and walked straight over. My father didn't stop there. He drew a zigzag pattern out of the branches, and it became smaller and smaller in two steps around the ghost, and the wall seemed to tighten—Shaw saw its twist between his fingers.

Shaw Bowen heard the sound of something breaking. It was the owner of the terrible hand, the terrible ghost, who let out a piercing wail that made him cover his ears and could not bear to listen, but the sound seemed to reach his heart through the eardrums, and it burned fear into his heart, and he could not resist it no matter how much he resisted. The crackling sound seemed to turn into a prairie fire, and the cry was even more poignant, and it stopped abruptly in the sharpest moment, turning to ashes.

It's like time and space are staggered and split at this moment, and it has become a different possibility.

The feeling of oppression that lingered around Shao Bowen also reached its peak at this time, as if it was going to squeeze him out of this place, making him also an ethereal dust, making him disappear.

With difficulty, he opened his mouth and swallowed air. Pain.

Years later, Shaw realized that such an experience was only one of countless painful times, but each time it reminded him of an afternoon when even the light was squeezed to a boiling surface. And, the hell in broad daylight.

The father walked up to him, squatted down, and pinched his cheek: "How do you know?"

Shao Bowen only showed a frightened look at this time, and said as if he had exhausted all his strength: "I saw it." ”

"See that?"

Shao Bowen shook his head, and finally began to cry: "I saw me dead. ”

The next day, my father's students came. His father gave him a lesson in the clothes of the previous day. The student noticed that there was a black handprint on the back of his father's changed clothes, and reminded him, and the father checked it himself and found a bruise on his shoulder, so he asked what was wrong. The father downplayed it and casually said that he accidentally fell while fighting with his son. This reason is much more far-fetched than the reason why Shaw Bowen did not solve the problem. The student said mercilessly, Teacher, Berwyn is only five years old, how can there be such a big handprint. The father smiled awkwardly.

The students do not give up, they have to find out. He walked around the house and saw the servants of the Shao family growing vegetables in the backyard. He frowned, immediately shouted to stop, and pointed to a place in the distance, it seems that someone has moved here, and you start digging down from here.

The servant dug up a corpse, which was still crawling out before he died, probably buried alive here, and as for his death, it was probably a month ago.

Shao Bowen was uncomfortable that day. He came here to see. The moment he saw his arm being dug out, he spun around, his stomach seemed to be wrapped in a towel, and his eyes were full of gold stars for a while. The student turned his head, and there was a fierce look in his diamond-shaped beautiful eyes. When he saw Shao Bowen coming, he hurriedly said, "Children can't watch it." ”

Shao Bowen saw his eyes, and suddenly there was a thunder in his mind, and snow and lightning fell from the sky, and his soul was about to be shattered. In his eyes is the devil, the rakshasas, the death, and the evil is beyond measure. He saw a vague future, his gray hair, his hands covered in crimson blood, and a strange young man with equally terrifying eyes beside him.

Shao Bowen's eyes darkened and he fainted.

His father's name is Shao Yong, and he is a strange person who the emperor can't invite when he goes to invite.

"Hey, I forgot. When Shao Bowen woke up, his father touched his head and said with a smile, "You are my son, of course it is not strange that such a thing happened." Maybe this ability can save your life. Why are you so daring? That thing is gone, and the rest of the shell is no different from a dead fish or a dead pig, why are you scared like this?"

"No, I'm not afraid of that ......"

"Oh? What are you afraid of?"

Shao Bowen saw the subtle wrinkles in the corners of his father's eyes. Only the wrinkles made him look a little old. The rest of the parts are young, without signs of age, and the white and neat teeth show his pure heart and regular routine.

Shao Bowen was hesitating to say it, when his father's student suddenly pushed the door in, carrying a box of delicate snacks in his hand, and said with a smile: "Is Berwyn awake? Great, I bought some dim sum, which are Berwyn's favorite food." ”

Shao Bowen's pale lips and teeth trembled together, and he heard his own twisted, broken, desperate moans: "You get out!"

Father was stunned for a moment, and his face sank and said, "Berwyn, don't be so rude, how did your father teach you?"

A confused and polite smile hung on the student's face: "Ah, it's okay, I'll get out right away." I caused this incident, and it's normal for him to hate me. Still, the pastries are delicious, Berwyn. ”

Schobwen screamed hysterically. The father tried to hold him down, and he scratched and bit like crazy. My father had never seen him so scared, and he felt that something was wrong. The student was a smart man, and immediately put down the pastry and walked out without saying a word. It took a while for Shao Bowen to return to normal.

His father asked him, "Big brother is so good, why are you like this? Is he bullying you?"

Shao Bowen said in a trembling voice: "His hands and face are full of blood...... Moreover, he can live for a long, long time......"

When my father heard this, he was silent for a while, and then suddenly smiled: "It's a matter of the future." Don't be afraid, it's just that you're exposed to too few people. ”

Shao Bowen looked up at his father.

The father said, "I can see it all." ”

In the year of his father's death, he met many people who only existed in rumors and in his father's mouth, survivors of countless ups and downs, and elites who were more sensitive and resolute than ordinary people. Shao Bowen looked at the past, his eyes were full of bright red and blood, and when he looked at it again, the mountains and rivers were broken, and the people were struggling to make a living. He pressed his temples and closed his eyes in pain and breathed heavily.

And my father's students were among them. He walked up to him and smiled politely at him, "Berwyn, you've grown so big." ”

Shao Bowen often thought that maybe his choice was wrong at that time. When the premonition appeared, he should not fight against fate, he should just die. The struggle was too hard, too desperate.

Moreover, growing up is a process of increasing boredom - accompanied by I Ching gossip, digital astronomy, and a life that has to be lived twice for every major event. When he was at home, he listened to his father's teachings, and while he was away from home, he studied with his teacher, and his father's friend Sima Guang, a university scholar, was very happy to see him and formed a friendship with him.

My father laughed when he found out. Although he is getting older, he is still in good spirits and still handsome: "You can really do it, you can be a brother with this old man, his temper is not something ordinary people can bear!"

Shao Bowen said lightly: "Knowing his intentions, there is no one who cannot be communicated." ”

Intentions need to be speculated, but deadlines are inevitable.

In his old age, his friend was ill, but he would not die until the new law was completely repealed. He entrusted his body to the doctor, his family affairs to his son, and state affairs to Lu Gongshu. His suggestions were all taken up by the imperial court. So even he felt that he didn't have to follow the doctor's wishes anymore. When the doctor asked him to pay attention to his body, Sima Guang disdained it and snorted: "People's life and death are fate, not something I can decide. ”

When Shao Bowen heard this, he laughed instead of being angry: "What a strange old man." ”

This idea is also surprisingly consistent with his own.

One night, Shao Bowen woke up in a cold sweat, got up without hesitation, rode the fastest horse to Sima Guang's residence, and knocked on the door loudly.

As soon as Sima Guang's son Sima Kang opened the door, he was about to walk inside, when suddenly his cold hair stood on end, and his whole body was cold, as if a film without temperature was wrapped around his entire body, like an illusory hug, he froze in place, paused for a second, turned his head to look out of the door, the night was as dark as ink, and a meteor crossed by.

So Sima Kang saw Shao Bowen bow deeply outside the door, and sighed, "I'm late." ”

In the first year of Yuanyou, Sima Guang died at the age of sixty-eight. Hearing the news, the Empress Dowager personally took the young Emperor Zhezong to mourn, posthumously presented as the Taishi, Wen Guogong, the nickname "Wenzheng", and the monument "Zhongqing Cuide". The whole Bianjing also seems to have fallen into a kind of deep sorrow, the people have stopped work to mourn, and the fathers and villagers in his hometown are preparing to worship their ancestors, and hang his portraits at home. The whole country was overwhelmed with grief, and it seemed that with his passing, an era of tenderness had come to an end.

Although his father did not serve for life, Shao Bowen could not repeat the mistakes of the past, otherwise he was likely to face the fate of the decline of the family business. So he naturally studied and became an official, climbing up step by step. When Sima Guang was alive, he once wanted to recommend Shao Bowen, but he failed to do so, but Shao Bowen was not very sorry. Soon, due to the recommendation of other officials, Shao Bowen was specially appointed as an assistant teacher in the Daimyo Mansion and transferred to the county lieutenant of Changzi County in Luzhou.

You can't avoid what you should have come, it's just a matter of delaying time. What can be changed is never the general direction, what cannot be changed is fate. He understood this when he was five years old. He tried his best to avoid it, and he has been hiding for half his life.

Eight years later, he received the appointment of prime minister. Ah Bi was very excited about this, and his young master finally came out and was appreciated. The young master is good anywhere, but his luck is not good, otherwise he would have become a big official at this time.

However, such a proposal was rejected by Shao Bowen, and he first went to the ministry to listen to the dispatch, released a big pigeon from the prime minister, and stayed for a long time before he reluctantly went to see the prime minister.

Although Abi was so angry that he was going to die, the prime minister didn't seem to abandon Shao Bowen or give up, and still recommended him to the imperial court. Abi was grateful, and kowtowed to the prime minister without leaving the door of the house.

Shao Bowen passed by her and said coldly, "You don't have to be so inflammatory, Sister Abi." I have already decided to be an official in the county and supervise the Yongxing Army. ”

I heard that the Prime Minister was very upset about this.

Shao Bowen's behavior simply challenged the patience of the Prime Minister. He met Fan Zuyu in Xianping and Fan Chunren in Yingchang. Ah Bi was so scared that he was going to die, so he pulled him and said, "Who dares to visit these Yuanyou people, you really don't want to die, young master!"

Shao Bowen smiled and said: "Sister Abi, life and death are fateful, damn people, even if you don't visit, you may not die." ”

Shao Bowen survived until the expiration of the term of the Yongxing Army Cast Iron Prison, but he still did not survive to the next appointment of the prime minister. His escape continued, and the Prime Minister repeatedly invited him to go to Beijing to be an official, but he chose to be a staff member of the Marshal Mansion on Huanqing Road. On the day he left, the Prime Minister himself came to see him off.

Shao Bowen was about to get into the carriage when he suddenly heard someone shouting behind him: "Your Excellency Prime Minister has arrived—"

He hurriedly got into the car, leaned in halfway, and asked the coachman to drive faster, but the coachman didn't dare, because the prime minister shouted from behind: "Wait, my old body is bones, I can't run——"

Shao Bowen had no choice but to retreat, turn around, and look at the Prime Minister who was walking towards him.

He was an old man, with deep wrinkles on his neck and mottled brown marks on his cheeks, which spread down from the sides of his face and disappeared into the court clothes that covered his neck. When he was young, he had jet-black hair, but at this time it was already covered with severe frost in autumn, like snow all over the ground in winter, like wrinkles on his face and wrinkled into the back of his head, which was three thousand troubles.

However, when he raised his eyes, his eyes were still full of swords and swords, and blood was dripping with blood.

Shao Bowen knelt down and said, "Lord Zhang came from afar, and the small one was not welcomed. ”

Zhang Dian smiled: "Berwyn, what are you afraid of me?"

Shao Bowen smiled: "I don't understand what you mean. ”

Zhang Dian raised his eyebrows and said, "You won't tell me, and your father, my teacher Shao Yong, won't tell me either." Every time I try to find you, you just hide. Seeing that you are leaving today, I am really curious, so I will ask in person. Berwyn, what do you say, if you think I'm doing something wrong, I'll take criticism, listen to your advice, and I'll definitely - fully cooperate. ”

When Shao Bowen heard this, he smiled dumbly: If there is no basic relationship, how can there be a possibility of doing something wrong. He had no reason, he was just afraid of him as a person.

It's just that I don't know if he compensated for it out of favors, or if he had a plan.

So, Shao Bowen said: "Master Zhang, thank you for your care and love all the time, but Berwyn's ambition is far away, out of personal preference. So, you think too much, there is no such thing. ”

"Really?" said Zhangdun gently, "you are not too young, and it is time to find a place to settle down." What other place in the world is better than Bianjing? You are a native of Bianjing, and if you don't stay in such a good place, you have to run outside, and a good talent will be lost like this, isn't it a pity?"

Shao Bowen respectfully rejected him: "A good man has ambitions in all directions, and Bianjing is a good place, but I want to take the good of Bianjing to a farther place, be a good official, and let the people of the whole world know that the imperial court has never made a mistake in selecting people." ”

Zhang Dian said: "But Berwyn, your talent should not be wasted in a barren land, can it? And if you want to change something, you can't get down in ten or eight years, you should also have some experience. You shouldn't be obscure. Your father was my teacher, and I know how good his son will be. No one is better suited to be at the court than you. I work with you sincerely. It's not like your father who doesn't want to be an official, do you? I heard that on your first day in office, you were worried that you would not be able to complete your tasks, and the night before you worked all night to study for fear of making mistakes. I know you all know, you have passion. So Berwyn, stay. ”

"Master Zhang—" Shao Bowen forcibly held back the sudden feeling of suffocation and said, "Your kindness, Berwyn understands it." However, I was no longer convinced. ”

Shao Bowen felt sick. Maybe the Prime Minister didn't say anything out of bounds, but he sounded sick. Maybe it was the reason for his hunch. Every time he looked at a person, Shao Bowen could see the turn he was about to face recently, and with every choice he made, there would be a slight change every time, but every time he saw the Prime Minister, he could only see blood and horror, as if his mind was always unwavering, and even no one could defeat him.

As for the result of this choice, it is chaotic and invisible.