A howling north wind swept across the frozen wasteland.

The extreme north of the pure world is also sunk in the bitter cold, and the light is difficult to reach. Perennial visitors, only biting snow and cold wind.

The grass was all withered, buried in layers of scattered hoarfrost, and there was no life at all. The sky is forever a dead silence of lead gray, without superfluous color.

Deep in the canyon.

The sound of flying arrows coming from the strings was heard suddenly, especially in the silent Siye. This was followed by the sound of hurried footsteps, creaking and crushing through the dead grass and snow and frost everywhere.

It was two men wrapped in black turbans.

Their prey, a stag not too far from them, slowly collapsed in the snow after being hit by an arrow. The red blood gushed out, and it was very dazzling.

The man who shoots the arrow whistles triumphantly, and seems to be very complacent about his archery skills.

Soon, they carried their harvest for the day and headed for a hidden cave deeper in the canyon.

............

The candle flame was lit, and a young boy walked into the cave with a torch. There is a cave inside, and it keeps going down, and the originally small space is getting bigger and bigger. Gradually, it was already in the shape of a hidden base.

On the stone walls on both sides, there are messy and treacherous human figures, which seem to be in the shape of wild beasts, which are so colorful that they are terrifying. The primitive mural style stretches all the way to the four corners of the rock wall, and the almost crazy depiction is like a nightmare of a magical beast.

Turning around, the boy seemed to be familiar with the terrain here. Finally, he walked across a suspension bridge made of debris, and he came to the end.

In fact, there was no need for him to carry a torch, because the high grease lamps were enough to illuminate here.

It's just that the flame, beating is a more terrifying purple-black luster.

In front of him is a towering scroll of animal skin, grand and as terrifying as a demon. The deeper interior was cut off, and the boy did not continue to enter, kneeling outside the scroll. His form was motionless, frozen like a sculpture.

He waited for a moment. There was a chaotic dead silence all around, and the purple flames danced viscously and eeriely.

After a while, there was an excited shout from behind him. With a murderous look on his brow, he glanced back at the two outsiders.

A strong killing intent appeared out of the corner of his eyes and spread in an instant. No matter how stupid those two people were, they knew how to observe words and expressions, and they were immediately frightened.

The boy glanced faintly at the dead deer they were carrying, and motioned for them to put them on the ground and get out of here. Seeing this, the two men immediately nodded like garlic, put down the dead deer, and ran away quickly.

The boy snorted and ignored them.

Today, the Shadow Lord summoned him, and it seems that he is determined to launch a plan. After all the years of planning, they had enough of this dark and rotten place. Next, it's time to appreciate the explosion of plans.

The boy was not nervous, nor was he excited, and the expression on his face was as flat as a cold pool. He thought about a lot of things, and a faint cloud of sorrow wandered between his brows.

A little more time passed. Suddenly, the boy caught a glimpse of the ghost fires on both sides and began to tremble, like a precursor before the tide of rage.

"Greetings to the Shadow Lord. He bowed his hand and congratulated.

With a "whew", the long scroll of animal skin hanging high was blown and flipped, and the powerful coercion swept in an instant. The boy still maintained his original posture, but his sleeves and hair were blown away.

The "Shadow Lord" has arrived.

The deep voice was like a skeleton crying a ghost, which made people shudder:

“...... You, flatten. ”

When the boy heard this, he slowly got up from the ground and tapped the dust on his clothes twice.

"The shadow master has been in retreat for a long time, and he will come out again today, and his subordinates are very happy, congratulations to the shadow master. He said in a more agitated tone, though there was still no expression on his face.

"Heh......" the actor smiled coldly behind the scenes.

"Lonely, not yet completed. But Lonely's big plan, it's time to start ......"

The boy breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, but it still didn't show the slightest hint.

Suddenly, an object was thrown out from behind the long scroll of the hide. The young man's eyes were quick, and he raised his luck, and the thing slowly fell into his hands.

When I looked down, it was a rolled-up paper scroll.

In the dim light, the boy had no way of knowing what was written inside. But as the henchman of the shadow master, he doesn't need to look at it to get a general idea of what's in it.

"Go ahead, what are you going to do, it's clear inside. ”

The boy groaned and glanced at the long scroll of hides, but saw nothing. He hesitated and clutched the scroll to his feet, ready to turn and leave.

The ghost fire swayed, slanting the young man's back. There was no more voice from the shadow lord behind the scenes, and there was silence in the cave.

It wasn't until the boy was gone that the shadow master's voice sounded again in the empty cave. The laughter of the owl reverberated low among the rock walls, like the howl of evil spirits in the abyss.

"In the lonely game, use these chess pieces first, and use the right as a little deterrent......"

"The longest harsh winter has come to ......"

............

months later.

The grass grows and the warbler flies in the February sky, and the willows are drunk with spring smoke. The snow melts and the ice disappears, and in the early spring of the cold willows, the banks of the Liuzhi River are full of vitality and warmth.

There is a small stone bridge over the Liuzhi River, and the moss on the bridge wall is also dyed green with the return of spring. The spring water under the bridge is rippling, and the stream is like a soft satin, and the bridge is ...... But there is a young man with a depressed and sad face, as if he is specially here to spoil the scenery.

As if this charming spring color had nothing to do with him, the tightly knit brows were depressed, and the boy had been wandering around the bridge for a morning. An old fortune teller by the bridge has been paying attention to him for a long time, and has been trying to find an appropriate time to use shrewd hexagram skills to help him solve his problems, and then collect a reasonable fee for help...... But he never had a chance, and seeing that the sun was getting noon, he decided to try his luck.

The boy had been pacing back and forth on the bridge just now, probably tired from walking, and now he simply sat on the edge of the pier. The old man came to talk at this time.

"Yo, young man," said the old man, pacing him and greeting him kindly.

But the boy looked up at him, and there was a hint of irritability in his eyes.

Seeing him like this, the uncle looked at him seriously, touched his beard secretly, and said thoughtfully, "Young man, you ...... Haven't you had a setback in love?"

When the young man heard this, his eyes widened in surprise: "You...... How do you know?"

Seeing that he was in a word, the uncle laughed, obviously very proud.

He shook his sparsely haired head, twisted his white beard in one hand, and opened his mouth: "I have eaten more salt than you have walked......!" Married and lost a child!Oh no...... Middle-aged widow! Oh no, no, no......"

The old man seemed to be a little nervous, and the few wrong words had already made the anger on the face of the young man in front of him thicker and thicker.

The young man was cursed for no reason, and when he saw that he was still chattering, he became angry, and immediately became angry with the uncle: "You have just lost your son and wife! You are disrespectful to the old! What kind of service are you engaged in with this eloquence! Hurry up and go!"

After being scolded, the uncle fled stupidly. The young man leaned on the bridge pillar depressedly, looking at the bubbling water under the bridge and was stunned.

It's hard for Fu Yunge not to be depressed. He has lived for more than ten years, and he has not heard that he has been engaged to a baby until today.

And...... It would have been nice if he had a good look, but the prospective daughter-in-law almost scared him into a heart attack when she came to the door today.

What's more, the ancients said that good men were ambitious in all directions, and they were so tragically bound by feudal marriage at a young age and became a househusband, which was too far from the ideal life. Although Fu Yunge has not carefully considered what his ideal is, since he changed his name to himself, he is determined to fight for his ideal all his life.

In fact, I have been thinking about leaving home for a long time, and today's baby kissing incident is just a fuse and catalyst.

At home, his father and mother all hoped that he would inherit the mantle of the family tea house, and his relatives also praised him as a "rising star". Although his family was rich and his life was comfortable, these were not what he wanted.

Especially the "daughter-in-law" who only appeared today......

He doesn't need to worry about anything at home. The name of Yujia Tea House is not small, even if you pat your ass and leave, the industry in your family can still be carried out in an orderly manner. But the only thing that can't be relieved is his little sister Yu Rou......

Well...... Fu Yunge scratched his head.

He looked up at the clear blue sky, and relieved himself in his heart that Yu Rou had grown up, even if his eldest brother was not there, there would be no problem.

Sitting on the bridge for a while, Fu Yunge sorted out his thoughts. He walked quickly off the small bridge and headed straight for his friend, Dongfang Shiming's house.

Dongfang Shiming, a young name, is known to everyone around, and there are many people who know him well. It is said that he was very intelligent, and often gave advice to others to solve their worries and difficulties, and he was handsome and graceful, and many little girls used to quietly hand-paint his portrait and hang it in the boudoir. Fu Yunge has always had a great friendship with him, and this time he went to him in the hope of getting some useful advice.

It is not close from the Liuzhi River Bridge to the Shigu Ferry where Dongfang Shiming's house is located, and when Fu Yunge came to the door, it was already evening sunset.

"Oh, Yu Gongzi, what a ambition, a well-off family, a beautiful wife in the house can still be abandoned, it is really ambitious and admirable. ”

Dongfang Shiming lay on his Taishi chair instead, and after listening to Fu Yunge's brief explanation, he smirked and teased him.

Fu Yunge glared at him: "I've already changed my name, so don't call it childish and make people sick to their stomachs." And that delicate wife, to be honest, it's really flattering. ”

......Dongfang Shiming shook his head, held the teacup to his lips and took a sip, and said: "Your family came to me to look for you once, and told me that as long as I could return you home, he would give me fifty taels of silver as a reward." ”

"I also know they're going to find you. Fu Yunge sighed, and suddenly raised his head to look at Dongfang Shiming: "What?

Dongfang Shiming frowned, pretending to be serious: "Although I have thought about it, I still think that the friendship between the two of us must at least give me another ten taels of silver." ”

"You ......" Fu Yunge made a bared teeth and wanted to be angry.

"Okay, okay, no nonsense. Dongfang Shiming restrained the smile on his face slightly, slowly pulled out of the chair and stood up, twisted his neck and asked, "Since you escaped, what are you going to do after that?"

This question is also something that Fu Yunge has been considering. He frowned, lowered his head and pondered. After a while, he suddenly slapped the table and announced to Dongfang Shiming: "It's decided, I'm going to go to the upper floor to have a look." ”

"Upper?" Dongfang Shiming narrowed his eyes.

At this moment, several low, rapid knocks were heard. Dongfang Shiming and Fu Yunge glanced at each other, Fu Yunge nodded at him, and then got under the bed with a bone. Dongfang Shiming felt helpless and amused, got up and walked to the door.

opened the door, and the person standing at the door was indeed the family member of the Fuyun Song family. Fu Yunge listened to Dongfang Shiming and Jiading vaguely say something under the bed, and Jiading leaned into the house twice before leaving. He let out a sigh and slowly crawled out from under the bed.

Dongfang Shiming came back and said with a smile: "You see how good your family is to you." ”

Fu Yunge pursed his lips, speechless.

"Let's move on. Are you going to the upper floor—the pure world?" Dongfang Shiming stopped smiling, his expression a little surprised. "I've only heard my family mention that place, and it's said that it's not easy to get to the upper floors. ”

The room was getting darker and darker, Dongfang Shiming said, and lit the candle on the table. The lights flickered, shaking the blurred shadows of two people.

Fu Yunge lay on the table, staring directly at the dancing flames, and whispered, "It's okay, it's okay to go to the middle level first." There's always a way. ”

"Middle level, is Tai Shisheng Pingtian......" Dongfang Shiming thought for a moment, and the expression on his face was a little complicated, "I haven't been there for a long time." ”

Fu Yunge knew the origin of Dongfang Shiming, and his home was in the middle layer, the continent called [Tai Shi Sheng Pingtian]. It is said that the middle layer is rich in products, pleasant in all seasons, and the wonders are dizzying, which can be described as a paradise for outstanding people.

According to the living environment, the middle layer is much better than this bottom continent [Mortal Desolate Heaven in the Next World]. As for why Dongfang Shiming came to live alone in the lower class, he has never received a clear explanation, but Fu Yunge has always admired the fact that Dongfang Shiming does not object to Dongfang Shiming leaving home alone.

He pressed his face against the table and frowned gloomily: "You have enjoyed the scenery of the middle level, I have grown up to be so big but I have never left the bottom level. ”

It was completely dark outside the window, and the dim starlight loomed in the dark sky. Seeing this, Dongfang Shiming got up with a light smile and went to the stove room, while greeting Fu Yunge: "Have you had dinner?" ”

Fu Yunge lazily dragged over to help, and took a radish and vegetable washing basin handed over by Dongfang Shiming. He stooped down to scoop a scoop of water from a wooden bucket of washed vegetables, the cold spring water was crystal clear.

"Oh yes, I guess I'll have to spend the night with you tonight. Suddenly, Fu Yunge raised his head and said.

Dongfang Shiming tilted his head and smiled: "I won't let you sleep on the streets, don't worry." ”

The woods outside the house rustled by the night breeze. The return bird perched, and a broken bright moon was half-hidden behind the clouds, emitting a hazy light like a veil. From time to time, there were a few dogs barking in the alleys, the gurgling water of the ferry port was moored in the night, the people who had worked all day had rested, and the silence was accompanied by the slightest snoring, enveloping this corner of the ordinary smoke and moon.

In the early morning of the next day, Fu Yunge, who had not slept enough, was awakened by the continuous sound of busy footsteps back and forth. He sat up from the floor supporting his sleepy body, and looked at Dongfang Shiming with sleepy eyes: "...... What? Are you moving?"

Dongfang Shiming had already packed a few packages at this time, and there was a layer of fine sweat on his forehead, looking brilliant: "Did you make a noise? I'll clean it up, and you can rest for a while." ”

Fu Yunge was just about to lie back again, but the corner of his eye swept to those few packages, and he suddenly came to his senses, and he was completely sleepy. He got dressed, followed Dongfang Shiming, and asked suspiciously, "Look at your posture...... You don't want to go with me, do you?"

Dongfang Shiming tilted his head, with a faint smile on his face: "Actually, I have been planning this idea for a long time. Since you've decided to go up now, let's hit it off and let's go. ”

Fu Yunge was still a little incredulous, he didn't expect Dongfang Shiming to make such a decision, and he would move so fast. But it's not a bad thing, after all, many friends are good companions, not to mention that Dongfang Shiming is also more familiar with the upward route than himself.

According to his plan, he would go back to Yu's house first and then inquire about the way up. In fact, he still pretends to be the Yu family in his heart, and he is also concerned about his father and mother, as well as his little sister Yu Rou. I don't know if Dongfang Shiming's arrangements are compact, and if he can find time to let himself go home and have a look.

Thinking of this, Fu Yunge couldn't help but sneak a glance at Dongfang Shiming.

Dongfang Shiming guessed his thoughts, and he could roughly think of his concerns. So he pretended to be casual and proposed: "Go to the Yu Family Tea House first, and you go and say goodbye to your family." Then we went to an acquaintance of mine, and I thought he would be able to help us. ”

Hearing him say this, Fu Yunge dispelled his worries in his heart, and at the same time, he couldn't help but secretly admire Dongfang Shiming's thoughtfulness. After there was no problem, he also stepped forward to help clean up, and the two of them were busy cleaning up at home.

After about half an hour, all the items were counted. Most of the large items were left at home, and the only packages they carried with them were entangled and a few indispensable items.

"Alright. Dongfang Shiming clapped his hands. The two of them tied their packages and went out in the direction of the Liuzhi River.

There was still a little mist in the streets and alleys in the early morning. People who were on the morning were bustling, and the small grooves on the stone pavement were still a little slippery. Walking on the road, Fu Yunge felt a lot more comfortable, and yesterday's unhappiness also disappeared.

"That acquaintance you know, can you tell me about it?" On the way, he suddenly remembered this, so he asked Dongfang Shiming for advice.

After all, since he is a capable friend in Dongfang Shiming's mouth, if he is still very unfamiliar with him or even has no knowledge of him, I am afraid that the scene when they meet will be somewhat embarrassing.

"Oh, he. Dongfang Shiming touched his chin and thought for a while, "He is a high-ranking person, and he is currently living in seclusion between the markets. once left a prestige in the upper echelons, using a wine gourd as a weapon, and likes to drink, but the ancient way is warm and trustworthy. ”

"That's it!" Fu Yunge's eyes widened unconsciously when he heard this, and then asked, "What's his name?"

Dongfang Shiming scratched his head and said, "He...... It's called Drunken Dust Country. It's not his real name, though, but I don't know what it is. ”

"Oh......" Fu Yunge asked, and began to think carefully about how to get along with this master.

It didn't take long to think about it, and Dongfang Shiming's voice came from his ears. Fu Yunge came back from his contemplation and looked in the direction of Dongfang Shiming's finger, and understood that he was about to get home.

The Yu family has a huge tea garden property under its name, and in front of it is one of the tea planting mountains. The stone road that went straight turned a corner, and a little more to the left was Yu's house.

The outline of the home came into view, and Fu Yunge's heart was a little complicated, and he was uneasy. Originally, I always wanted to leave here to spread my wings, but I didn't expect that I was still a little reluctant when it came to parting.

From a distance, the two of them could already see the Yu family's black gold plaque, and it sounded like there was some noise inside. Dongfang Shiming stopped, patted Fu Yunge's shoulder, and had a smile on his face: "Hurry up and come back as soon as possible." ”

"Then ......" Fu Yunge just wanted to open his mouth and ask him to come in and sit for a while, but after thinking about it again, it would be better to go back quickly by himself and not delay the trip of the two.

He changed his "um" and clenched his fists and walked towards the gate of Yu's house.

Suddenly, there was a wail from the courtyard of Yu's house, followed by a burst of vibrating sound of chaotic sticks hitting into Fu Yunge's eardrums! Fu Yunge was shocked, and quickly ran to the door and crashed into Yu's house, and then the scene that appeared in front of him made him even more dumbfounded!

"You...... Who are you?!"

The courtyard of the Yu Mansion in front of him was in chaos. It was my father who stood at the door of the hall, but there were also a few fierce men standing in the courtyard, all of them with blackened linen wrapped in their heads, and all of them holding big sticks and the like.

Three or five family members seemed to be fighting with them, but they were obviously not opponents, and at this time there were several lying on the ground, all curled up and struggling in pain, and blood stained the white ash of the compound.

When the father saw Fu Yunge coming back, he didn't like it, and shouted at his son in a trembling voice: "Boy, ...... Come on, wow, they're going to kill your ......!"