The wind blew gently.

Leaning on the gray old tree that had lost all its leaves, Hua Xiong looked at the front sluggishly, the old tree was piled up with stones to form a circle, on the ground around Hua Xiong, there were countless dead leaves, Hua Xiong sat on these dead leaves, stretched out his hand, took a dead leaf, the dead leaves were thin frost, put the dead leaves in the palm of his hand, and the palm gradually moistened, the gray dead leaves, is the only evidence that has proved the prosperity of the old tree in the past.

"This old tree can still come back to life..."

Hua Xiong whispered, Dong Bai, who was busy in the distance, didn't hear it very clearly, she raised her head in some shock, "Husband? ”

She asked, Hua Xiong didn't pay attention to her, just stared at the dead leaves in the palm of his hand, a gust of wind swept by, the dead leaves in his hands flew up, and disappeared in front of his eyes, Hua Xiong pursed his lips, looked solemn, watched the dead leaves disappear, and gradually leaned on the old tree again, closing his eyes slightly.

Dong Bai looked at him worriedly, since the last time, Hua Xiong went to chase the thief, the whole person seems to have changed, Dong Bai is very worried about him, Hua Xiong has become not very much like himself, he is sitting here all day long, in a daze, distracted, always talking to himself, saying words that others can't understand, there is almost no fluctuation in his emotions, and most importantly, he hasn't taken a sip of wine for six days, which is very abnormal, especially for Hua Xiong.

"Husband, let's find a doctor..."

"I'm fine, and my back doesn't hurt as much as it used to... It's okay... Back then, I..." Hua Xiong spoke, but paused, lowered his head, and did not continue to speak, Dong Bai had to sit beside him, hold his hand, and said with a smile: "Then get better early, I'll make you your favorite rice noodles tonight, how about it?" Hua Xiong raised his head and nodded with a smile.

Dong Bai didn't know what Hua Xiong was thinking in his heart, and she didn't know why he was sad, what she knew was that Hua Xiong was not happy, he seemed to have lost all his joy in one day, why did the man who stood up to the sky become like this?

At dusk, the two sat together, eating dinner, without words, and in great silence.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Dong Bai hurriedly got up and walked towards the gate, Hua Xiong didn't like to raise slaves, and there were no slaves at home, everything basically needed Dong Bai to do, however, Dong Bai didn't feel tired, nor was she dissatisfied with it, on the contrary, she enjoyed such a simple day, when Dong Bai opened the door, there were six people standing outside the door, all of them were headed by the young man in the middle, around him.

The young man in the middle, who looked very handsome and majestic, was not surprised when he saw Dong Bai, and said with a smile: "But aunt in person?" I'm looking for Uncle Hua, can he be in the house? ”

Dong Bai was very satisfied with this young man, especially the address to him, she opened the door with a smile, let everyone walk in, and shouted towards the mansion: "Husband, my nephew is here!" ”

Hua Xiong was stunned, slowly raised his head, and saw the person coming, Hua Xiong hurriedly stood up, but he felt a sharp pain in his back, he didn't show the pain, and bowed his hand and said, "Meet Your Majesty!" Hearing this, Dong Bai turned pale with fright, did she accept the worship of the Son of Heaven? Haven't returned the gift yet?? She hurriedly followed Hua Xiong and saluted, lowered her head, Liu Xi smiled, and hurriedly said: "Uncle is my elder, there is no need to be like this, my aunt is too... But still have rice? ”

Dong Bai nodded and hurriedly went in to serve the meal.

Liu Xi sat in front of Hua Xiong and asked, "A few days ago, I heard that my uncle was injured, and I was worried, so I came to visit, uncle, how is it?" ”

Hua Xiong shook his head and said, "It hurts a little, but I can bear it..."

"Uncle... It seems like you have something on your mind? Liu Xi asked suspiciously.

Hua Xiong frowned, pondered for a long time, and then said: "Your Majesty, I want to go back to my hometown, I am a little homesick, I want to go and have a look...", Liu Xi was silent for a moment, nodded and said: "Okay, I sent someone to send my uncle to Liangzhou... It's a holiday for my uncle, and my uncle can rest for a while..."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"Uncle don't want that."

The two chatted, Dong Bai served the meal, Hua Xiong and the Son of Heaven continued to eat, the two ate for a long time, it was Liu Xi who was talking, and Hua Xiong listened carefully, the two of them completely changed positions, looking at the loneliness on Hua Xiong's face, Liu Xi was also indescribably depressed in his heart, especially depressed.

Finally, the Son of Heaven was about to leave, Liu Xi said goodbye to Hua Xiong and his wife, turned around, and just walked to the door, suddenly, Hua Xiong shouted: "Your Majesty! ”

Liu Xi turned around and looked at Hua Xiong.

"The prince values talent but not morality... Maybe it's wrong. ”

Liu Xi was a little surprised, why did Hua Xiong suddenly talk about this?

At night, the sky is still gray, the night is very poor, there is no moonlight in sight, it is pitch black, darkness covers everything, people can't feel the slightest bit of light.

In the inner room, Dong Bai and Hua Xiong were lying on the bed, Hua Xiong was already asleep, Dong Bai was staring at Hua Xiong on the side, unable to rest, Hua Xiong turned sideways, lying on the side, his face was extremely hideous, his mouth was murmuring, his hands were sometimes clenched into fists, sometimes trembling, and he let out a burst of unknown roars, sweat rolled down his forehead, Dong Bai didn't know what he dreamed of, and he didn't dare to wake him up, his hand held Hua Xiong's hand tightly, even if it hurt to be pinched by him.

"Ahh

Hua Xiong sat up suddenly, exclaimed, and then, he was like a child, crying, this is the first time Dong Bai has seen Hua Xiong so sad, she has never seen Hua Xiong's face with a little sadness, or a little bit of loneliness, she hurriedly hugged Hua Xiong, Hua Xiong cowered in her arms, cried with a headache, and kept muttering in his mouth: "I want to go back to Liangzhou... Back to Liangzhou..."

"I'll go back tomorrow, and I'll go back with you tomorrow..."

Under Dong Bai's persuasion, Hua Xiong calmed down again and fell asleep.

The next day, just after dawn, a carriage slowly drove out of the city gate of Luoyang, and on this day, the officials of the Dibao Mansion also learned the news that Huaxiong was going to rest for a while, and Chen Lin was temporarily in charge of everything.

The climate of Liangzhou is not too good at this time, the wind often rags through, and occasionally you can see the yellow sand in the distant sky, which is particularly bleak and chilling, which makes Dong Bai feel surprised that Huaxiong did not take her back to his home, Huaxiong has no home in Liangzhou, he just took his wife and rode a carriage to some remote wilderness in Liangzhou, on these wildernesses, there is only a lonely wind, and nothing else.

Hua Xiong stood here, smiling, lost in his own memories.

Dong Bai gradually understood Huaxiong's intention to come here, on the ground, you can always see some broken and rotten swords, or arrows that have been discarded there, there are also some ruins, a few bare woods are nailed there, the years have left countless traces on its body, it is said that this was once the camp of the Xiliang garrison of the Han Dynasty, but it has long been abandoned, because there are no enemies outside the fortress, and the border line has also been advanced a lot.

At the end of the trip, they returned to Huaxiong's hometown, which is also the closest to the former camp.

"I want to go around by myself... You're just waiting for me at the inn... Also, I sent someone to inform Changsheng... If he comes, tell him to come to my old place and he will know where to find me..."

Hua Xiong gave an order, ignoring Dong Bai's dissuasion, walking on crutches and limping on the streets of Zhangye.

Zhangye is not as bleak as it was back then, and there are people coming and going on the streets, but these people are walking so fast that they don't stop to watch a little free time around.

Hua Xiong walked alone on the streets here, watching everyone come and go, the center of the county, is an extremely luxurious wine shop, and at the same time it is also a post station for the merchants, the merchants rest here, drink and eat here, and then later, even some rangers, scholars also began to come to this place, drinking and having fun, of course, it is a felony to gather and drink in the Han Dynasty, so they sell fruit wine brought from outside the Saiwai here, which is not illegal.

Countless young people flock to this area, especially at night, and after the curfew is lifted, it has become the area where they can have the most joy.

Hua Xiong gasped, slowly walked here, a group of young rangers appeared in front of him, they shouted, their faces were full of excitement, walked past Hua Xiong's side, but one of them unintentionally hit Hua Xiong's shoulder, the crutch in Hua Xiong's hand fell to the ground, the young man turned his head suddenly, looked at the old man in front of him, his face was not good, but he didn't say anything cruel, just glanced at the crutch that fell on the ground, turned to leave.

Hua Xiong watched him leave, pursed his lips, and said nothing.

I lowered my body and tried to pick up the crutches on the ground, but there was a sharp pain in my back, an unbearable pain.

Hua Xiong realized that he couldn't even pick up a cane on the ground.

He looked blankly ahead, and in front of him was the most prosperous wine shop in Zhangye.

The young man of Fang Cai walked into the brewery excitedly, and soon, he went upstairs and sat on the position by the window, there were all kinds of noise in the brewery, and there were musicians singing, singing about the prosperity of today, praising the beauty of the maiko, and the young people raised their wine glasses excitedly, holding the girl who came from the side, and raised their heads to drink, and people came and went, extremely noisy.

Hua Xiong stood on the side of the street, staring blankly at the scene in front of him.

The young people were still partying, and no one turned their heads to glance at the poor old man in the street.

In front of Hua Xiong, there were countless noises,

"Drink hard! Come on, I'm going to punish you three more times!! ”

"Beauty, where are you from? Yo, what a coincidence, my wife is also from you! ”

"Hahaha, I went to Xizhou yesterday, changed some goods, and sold them for tens of thousands of dollars, hahaha, today, I please!"

"Heh, look at the old man outside the door, he is stunned, he is old and a thief!"

"Hahahaha!"

Hua Xiong stood here silently, he was like a dividing line, in front of him was all this noise, but behind him, there was a different world, that was a world of iron and blood.

"Captain!! The enemy is coming!! ”

"Immortal!! You take the knights to protect Zhangye!! Don't let the Qiang people kill you!! ”

"Hua Manzi! Kill with me!! Behind them are the people! They want to go over and step on our corpses first!! ”

"Kill, !!"

"Hua... Elder brother... I... No more... Bury it with your own hands..."

"Ahh Dog thief!! Come on!!! ”

Hua Xiong looked blankly in front of him, bursts of noise, once again broke his memories, disrupted the world behind him, everything disappeared, in front of him, all he could see was those who were partying, the spilled wine, and the debauched laughter of the singer.

"Captain... We.. What exactly is being guarded? ”

"Is this the world we're trying to protect?"