"My surname is Xin, can Sabao take a step to speak?" Xin Er led Guo Yi to the side of his mount, unhurriedly untied the reins, and then took out the letter, handed it to him, and said, "This is my lord's letter to you, please read it here and give me an answer." ”

Guo Yi was full of suspicion, opened the letter and looked at it, saw that there were no two lines, his expression changed slightly, he raised his eyes and said, "You are?" ”

"Please read the letter."

Xin Er's eyes were bright and his tone was calm, which made Guo Yi involuntarily obey. Xin Er grabbed the reins and pressed the knife, his eyes did not leave him for a moment, paying close attention to the changes in his expression, and when he finished reading, he asked, "What my lord said, does Sabao think it is feasible?" ”

"Obey!"

He agreed too quickly, to the surprise of Xin Er, and the words he had conceived before were completely useless.

From his expression and movements, he didn't see anything wrong, so Xin Er said: "In this case, my lord will send someone to contact you beforehand, maybe it's not me, please set a code for communication." ”

Guo Yi said: "Come to my temple and tell Ma Ge the dawn of the day." I'll give you an account and tell him to inform me immediately. ”

"Dawn?"

"Don't you know what I teach?" Guo Yi explained to him and said, "It's very simple. The sun, the moon, and the five stars of fire, water, wood, metal, and earth are the seven days, and today is the day of the wood, and tomorrow is the day of the golden day, and the seven days are the week, and then they alternate. After a pause, he said, "No one will ever talk to my temple for no reason, this method is the most reliable." ”

Xin Er said in his heart: "Is the Qiyao Day from the Zoroastrian religion? He didn't know about it before, but it didn't matter, silently remembering the order of Qiyao, he nodded and said, "Then it's decided." ”

Seeing that he didn't know Qiyao, Guo Yi became worried and asked, "Do you know where to find Ma Ge?" ”

Mage is a Western Regions name, which is said to have been a follower of Zarathustra, the founder of Zoroastrianism, and later evolved into a priestly title for Zoroastrianism. Xin Er still knew this, and he said, "You're talking about the priests of your sect who take care of the holy fire and don't extinguish it, right?" ”

Guo Yi said: "Not bad. He was short, and he looked up at Xin Er from a close distance, retreated half a step, and invited, "Xin Jun has traveled all the way, the road is hard, don't leave tonight, come to the house for a few drinks." I've just got two bottles of fine wine, please try them. ”

Xin Er thought of the Sogdian of the Western Regions when his son became an adult, and said to himself: "This wine comes from him, right?" "The matter has been done, the king is in danger, of course he will not stay longer, he refuses to go, and bids farewell to Guo Yi.

Guo Yi stood under the tree and watched him go away. His retinue gathered together and asked, "Who is that man?" What's the matter with Sabao? These people are all Guo Yi's cronies, and he smiled: "Our opportunity has come!" ”

"What chance?"

Guo Yi saw that the entourage was all dazed, unhappy, and said: "Have you forgotten the divine seal that was fished out of the river a few months ago? ”

A few months ago, the Zoroastrian disciples of Dongyuan City were fishing by the river and fished out a stone as white as jade, on which there were several crimson textures that were crossed, faintly forming a flame shape, which the believers felt was rare and dedicated to Guo Yi. Guo Yi was ecstatic when he saw it, and said to the left and right: "This is the divine seal given by the supreme god!" "Both left and right thought it was right at the time.

At this time, I heard Guo Yi mention it again, and said left and right: "Although I have the divine seal, I am afraid that it will be difficult for the soldiers in the main city to rely on my disciples alone." ”

"That's why I said my chance." Guo Yi shook the letter in his hand and said with a smile, "Linghu Feng somehow coaxed a few Hu tribes, the thief is not dead, and he gathers the old department in a big way, and wants to usurp again, so he invites me to respond." ”

"Huh? Did Sabao agree? ”

"Why refuse? When Linghu Feng led the troops arrived, I opened the city gate to welcome him in, and when his uncle and nephew were both defeated, I mobilized my disciples in the palace, and we also went outside to kill them together. Isn't this Dingxi Kingdom the world of my Zoroastrianism? Guo Yi said triumphantly.

There was joy on both the left and right, and they all said: "Exactly!" "Bow to Guo Yi, "Sabao has the love and blessing of Ahuramazda, and he will definitely be able to lead my sect to defeat the evil of cannibalism between uncles and nephews, and make Dingxi a country of supreme goodness!" ”

They revered Hu Tianshen, were confused by Guo Yi's divine skills, and had always believed in his words and blindly obeyed.

Guo Yi's small stature stood proudly under the tree by the lake with his sword, and fell down in front of everyone, looking forward to it, quite staring.

Previously, he surrendered his identity and walked aggrievedly for Linghu Fengma, in order to expand the power of the Mazda Sect, and obtained the "Divine Seal" a few months ago, which gradually bred ambitions.

He was already envious of the prestige of the Mazda religion in the countries of the Western Regions that Sogdian Hu Shang told him, many of the lords of the country believed in religion, Sabao called for Vanuo, and even the lord of the country himself was the head of the sect, so he watched the seal every night and pondered, why can't Longyu be like this? Become the country of ****? Why can't he be like Darius I, the "king of kings and king of nations" in the Western Regions, and rely on the blessing of Ahuramazda to become the king of Longyu? The Tang dynasty sowed eastward, and Hu Yi, who occupied the north and Guanzhong, could be called kings and emperors, why couldn't the people of the supreme gods!

The night was dark, Xin Er went out of the city, quickly whipped his horse, walked a way, found a hollow place covered by trees to rest for half a night, the sky just polished, he rode and followed. didn't go back to Mobei directly, he had to ask Old Man Liu and his granddaughter if they were willing to go with him.

Turning back the way I came, and shortly after noon, the lonely hut was near.

The sun is not hot, but gently reflects on the face, sprinkled on the trees and grass fields near and far, and I can see the smoke rising from the village in the distance, it is not cooking smoke, it has passed the morning food of the common people in two meals a day, and I think it is burning the fallen leaves.

The danger of giving Linghu Feng, the number one anti-party in China, and Guo Yi's attitude of agreeing and not hesitating at all, combined with Xin'er's feeling very contradictory, but under the circumstances at the time, he couldn't continue to inquire to resolve his doubts, who knows if Guo Yi was making a "delaying strategy", stabilize him for the time being, and then capture and sacrifice to the king of Dingxi? So he had to leave in a hurry. Looking back now, he still can't figure it out.

He had to say in his heart: "Either he is making a false relationship with me, or he is similar to Linghu Feng, bold, rich and dangerous." "It was decided to wait until he returned to the desert, objectively restore the truth to Ling Hufeng, and let him judge whether Guo Yi was credible or not. After all, he is more familiar with Guo Yi and may know this person's personality better.

The barking of dogs breaks the quiet atmosphere of the countryside under the winter sun.

Along with the barking of dogs, there were men's shouts, laughter, and cries of defiance. The sound came from the direction of the hut.

Xin Er looked back and saw several figures swaying in front of the hut.

His heart tightened, and he hurriedly urged the horse to gallop and gallop closer, and saw it clearly: a young girl was lying at the door, crying and pulling the door frame, two strong men in short robes and leather pants laughed and pulled her out, another person in the same dress carried a knife in his hand, scolded and slammed the old man Liu who was holding his legs with the back of the knife, and a yellow dog was tearing the old man's arm with its teeth and claws.

Xin Er beat his horse and galloped to the hut, and immediately judged that the situation in front of him could not be stopped with words, so there was no need to talk nonsense, and the bow and arrow had been taken out in his hand.

While he shrugged the horse around the field, coiling back and forth, he opened his bow and arrows, and calmly shot; The front arrow went to the side, and the back arrow followed, first shooting the vicious dog, and then before the three strong men could react, the arrow had already hit them, two in the body, and one in the neck.

The one in the middle of the neck fell to the ground and covered the wound, but the blood was gushing like a spring, how could he cover it, he screamed in horror. The remaining two, who were held by Old Man Liu's legs, stood unsteadily, and immediately fell to the ground, and Old Man Liu snatched his knife; The last man, who was not seriously injured, loosened the girl's hair, drew his knife and danced wildly, and rushed towards Xin Er with a shout. Xin Er struck him in the forehead with an arrow, and the man fell to the ground with a glare.

Xin Er didn't take the ride, put away the bow and arrow, took out the straight knife, and stepped on the left and right of the three of them, and asked Old Man Liu: "Which is the dock master?" ”

Don't think about it, these strong men must be the people from the dock wall that Old Man Liu said, who came to rob his granddaughter.

Old man Liu's left eye was black, the corners of his mouth were bleeding, and his body was covered with bloodshot and black blue that was beaten, he dropped the knife he snatched, rushed to the door with a rolling belt, hugged his granddaughter, and replied miserably: "I didn't come." ”

The lord of the dock is the lord of a village, and there are a few lackeys under him, and he doesn't need to go out personally to catch a girl.

Hearing that he was not there, Xin Er said: "Then spare his life first." ”

Looking around, the two arrows in the neck and forehead were dead, and the one who hit the old man Liu staggered to escape, Xin Er beat the horse over, waving a knife to be cut. The man fell to his knees and begged for mercy from the young man, who had no idea where he was coming from, and who drew his bow and arrows without saying a word.

Xin Er was not interested in listening to him, but hesitated slightly, after all, there is still a big difference between shooting arrows and killing him with a knife, but he only hesitated for a moment, and then the blade swept over and killed him.

Turning around, he said to the old man: "I told you the night before that my surname was Xin and I was going to Tangxing County, but it was not the truth. Old man, you guessed right, I am indeed a 'chaotic party', now that the matter has been completed, I want to go to the desert Inozawa, are you willing to go with me? ”

Old man Liu is not afraid of death, but he can't let his granddaughter fall into the fire pit after his daughter's back.

Looking back on most of his life, he farmed in his hometown steadily, although he was often bullied by the wealthy surname and the Rong people of the country, he relied on honesty and honesty, did not make trouble, and tightened his belt to barely survive, but as a result, the Qin State came to fight, and the pond fish was affected, so he had to flee to Long. In Long's more than 20 years, he gave birth to a daughter, married his son, and got a granddaughter, he originally thought that he was finally stable, maybe he was going to take root here, but only because of the idea of the little dock master, the family was ruined, and several people died tragically one after another, but now only the granddaughter remains.

He said in his heart: "When I was a child, my father taught me that if we dig food in the soil, we must thank God if we can have a mouthful of food, and we will not let me and Ah Huang go out to make trouble, and I will be bullied on the head, and my teeth will be broken and swallowed in my stomach." I listened to my father's words, I was honest for decades, I was bullied in my hometown, I was bullied in Dingxi, I endured it, what did I get in exchange? ”

He said sadly, "What did I get in exchange? ”

He lived according to his father's teachings for most of his life, and after hearing that Ah Huang's rebel army was suppressed and slaughtered, he was secretly glad that he was not so dead thanks to his father's words, so after his father died of exhaustion and his mother died of illness due to lack of money to buy medicine, he continued to live according to this principle of life and taught it to his son, but what did he get in the end? The wife died of grief, and the daughter, son, and daughter-in-law died tragically. He wanted to ask him if he obeyed his father and thanked God day and night because he was not sincere enough. Why don't you even give them this bite of food they just want now?

The officials bullied him, the soldiers bullied him, and the dock masters bullied him. The rebels saved him.

He said to Xin Er: "I'll go with you!" ”

If the party is in chaos, it will be in chaos. It's a big deal, if Ah Huang and their fate are just death.

He still remembers that in the spring of that year, Ah Huang, who participated in the begging army, secretly ran back to the village and asked him to go out to talk, the sun that day was not like today, warm and beautiful, shining on Ah Huang's young face, how happy he was! The eyes are shining.

The old man's hut was empty, so he didn't need to take anything with him, just take the dry food that Xin Er left for him yesterday and leave.

Xin Er took the hand and let the girl get on the horse, sat in his arms, and pulled the old man to sit behind him, and finally, examined the results of the battle, although compared to his first personal engagement a few days ago, whether it was his psychological state or the accuracy of the arrows, today's small battle was already much stronger, but he was not satisfied, and thought: "Seven arrows, two empty, far worse than Cao Fei, still need to be practiced." ”

The three were all killed, there was no room left, there was no village near the hut, and there were no peasants in the field in the current season, so no one would find out about the situation here in a short time, so although there were three horses and three people, they could not run fast, and Xin Er was not worried about the pursuers.

Walking until night, out of the actual control range of Guyin County, to the oasis where Xin Er stored camels and small tents. With two more men, the mounts were not sold, and the camels and the contents were taken out, and they stayed here for the night. The next day, the three of them left the continent early and entered the desert.

The old man had been to the edge of the desert, but the maiden had never been.

She knew that she was out of danger, and she would no longer have to fear the bad guys coming to catch her, and she was full of ease from fear, and she didn't care about where she was going, unlike a seasoned old man.

Like a bird out of the cage, sitting on a camel, monotonous and boring indifference, she looked fresh everywhere, and didn't dare to talk to Xin Er, whispering to the old man who was holding him behind her. Sometimes she pointed to the dunes and marveled at their endless undulations, and sometimes she pointed into the distance, wondering why the sun was not so red and round as she used to see.

Xin Er gave the camel to the old man and his granddaughter, rode on the side, noticed the change of the girl, saw that she no longer looked like a frightened deer, her expression was colorful, her heart was happy, she felt that she had helped them, she felt a sense of accomplishment, she felt kind to them, and asked with a smile: "Old man, I only know that your surname is Liu, but I don't know the names of you and your granddaughter, can you tell me?" ”

Xin Er had already reported his real name to them, and he had been calling the old man an old man on the road, and he had not asked their names yet.

The old man said: "Hey, untouchables, how dare you call them ridiculous. My name is Zhuang. In the rural farmhouse, my granddaughter doesn't have a big name, she was wrinkled when she was born, and if she didn't order one, she called her Xiaoxiao. As he spoke, he lovingly stroked his granddaughter's hair.

Her granddaughter was unhappy, and said in her heart: "Such a shameful thing is also said to the general!" She didn't know what Xin Er did, but when she saw that he was calm and resolute when he rode and archery, and was very heroic, she guessed that he must be a great general, so she called him so in her heart.

Xin Er laughed and said, "Xiaoxiao, it's a good name." But when she grows up, she has to have a big name, so can I help her pick one? ”

The old man said happily: "Okay! ”

"I hope she will be happy every day from now on, let's be happy!"

"Liu Le, Liu Le." The old man Liu Zhuang said happily, "Okay, it's called Liu Le." ”

The girl broke away from her grandfather's hand stroking her bun, and said in her heart: "In the future, I won't be called Xiaoxiao, I will be called Liu Le!" She didn't know the meaning of the name, so she looked at Xin Er quietly, rubbed the placket of her clothes and thought, "The name given by the general must be good." "Beaming with joy and smiling.

Facing the magnificent morning sun, Xin Er urged the horse to gallop forward.