1

The night is darkest before dawn, and the little bit of firelight, no matter how hard you try, can only illuminate the distance. If there is anything that can replace the dawn, it is only a spark.

But it's not a spark here, it's a fire bolt in the sky. When the horses' hooves, fire, and shouts woke people up, only crimson light dotted the sky, and then came in a burst. Before he could tell the difference, the sound of horses' hooves clattered at his eardrums, and then black shadows flickered with cold light, and blood was thrown to the ground in parallel with a body.

"Who's coming?"

Only a lone shadow and a saber remained in the firelight. This question is very incongruous with the sound of horses' hooves and soldiers, but it is particularly clear.

Nearby, the sound of the horse's hooves gradually stopped, and the horse's even, rough breathing gasped as if it was deliberately trying to tear the silence. In front of him, a pair of pitch-black armor slowly moved forward, and a ring-headed knife carried the moonlight and firelight. Perhaps the sword and the armor were so little ornamental that the moon, the fire, and the part where they intersected could be clearly distinguished.

"Do you know the Xuanlong Army Zhong Li?"

"Sure enough, it's the Yingchuan Flying Snow Blade." Compared to the armor, the voice of a cloth coat sounded more concise and straightforward. "Can I fight?"

Without a moment's hesitation, Zhong Li jumped off the horse.

"General Zhong?"

"It's nothing more than adult beauty, it doesn't hurt." As he spoke, the white silk on the knife ring was already wrapped tightly around his hand.

"Teach!" The saber rose with a steady pace that clicked on the stone slabs in the courtyard. Seeing that the two collided together, the saber suddenly slashed at Zhong Li like an arrow off the string.

The blade of the ring head knife was towards the ground, Zhong Li only dodged with the momentum, and the saber turned from slashing to stabbing, and it was also dodged by the head. The sound of the wind-swept blade suddenly stopped, and before he could see clearly, the blade flipped to his neck with his wrist and wiped it away.

Zhong Li leaned forward, the cold light moved with the figure, and the saber suddenly knelt softly on the ground. When I turned around, I saw that a half-inch-deep cut on the side of my knee had been opened, and the tendons had been cut.

"Quick!" Although he was not as admirable, the saber did not stop swinging, and with the strength of his whole waist, he turned over and slashed backwards.

The sound of steel grinding against steel was clear and sharp, and Zhong Li didn't have time to dodge, so he took advantage of the situation to put the knife behind his back, leaned over and turned his waist to unload the blade from left to right. The knife was drawn, and the entire left side of the opposite body was exposed.

Seeing that the knife in his hand fell, Zhong Li suddenly stood in his left ear, subconsciously retreated, and a sharp arrow grazed the tip of his nose and shot into the stone steps on the right side of his body, submerging the entire arrowhead. Sweating behind his back, he hurriedly looked to the left, and a man in black with a short crossbow pointed to this side on the ridge of the wing.

"Let them go, or the next arrow will be in your head!"

"Girls?" Zhong Li's first reaction was not to point an arrow at him, but to distinguish from the sound that the girl was only twenty years old, and it was not like the voice of a herdsman girl who often rode horses on the grassland, which aroused his interest. "If you don't hit the cold arrow, why do you threaten it?"

"Why don't you try it?" The sound is still identified crisply.

Zhong Li hesitated but did not reply, and the woman in black did not say a word, as if even the horses felt the tense atmosphere, and they no longer gasped comfortably. In the distance, the sound of swords and soldiers was still there, and the flames were burning brighter and brighter, as if they wanted to invade the night alone, and tell the dawn that it was okay not to come.

Suddenly, Zhong Li raised his hand sideways, and the black scabbard and the silver-white arrow brush passed in the air. One scabbard struck the woman in black on the head, and the tiles tumbled down the roof, while the other cluster of arrows hit the shoulder, but was blocked by the pitch-black armor, sending out sparks and bouncing behind her.

At this time, the saber attacked from under him, piercing Zhong Li's abdomen, even a suit of armor, which could not block the blade of the hundred forgings.

"General Zhong!"

I saw Zhong Li's hand raised, and the steel knife in his abdomen was only connected by his hand, and blood splattered on the man's wrist. "Tie this man to the woman and leave it to me." He commanded.

Several people were ordered to step forward, and a black-armored guard rushed to Zhong Li's approach, wanting to help him lie on the ground and rest.

"Looks like it's fine." Zhong Li speculated.

"And I'll draw my sword?"

Zhong Li smiled, and before he could reply, he pulled out the knife, and the screeching sound of the back of the knife rubbing against the armor drew everyone's eyes to this side.

Seeing that everyone was looking forward to this, Zhong Li suddenly laughed, then picked up the knife, showed the half-inch of blood stuck on the tip of the knife to everyone, and said, "Is it just such a small movement to alarm you veterans who have been through a hundred battles?" ”

"It's fine."

"Remove your armor!"

"General Zhong!" As soon as everyone relaxed, someone suddenly nervously reported: "The woman in black took the opportunity to escape!" ”

"Chase!" The black-armored guards were a little flustered.

"It doesn't matter." Zhong Li stopped, the corners of his mouth rising slightly. "Run, run, after the siege of the city, there are more and more important things than this, and there is no need to worry about small things." After a pause, he said: "The overall situation is set, and the left and right armies are ordered to quickly clean up the battlefield and count the battle losses; The reserve army hurried to the left and right of the walled city, chasing the defeated; The former army was reorganized on the spot, and sentry posts were arranged, and they were handed over one by one. Password......"

Speaking of the password, Zhong Li raised his head, and the black clouds were enveloping the moon. However, no matter how much the smoke of war obscured the moonlight, the moonlight still took care of itself with a faint white light, unless the sun went out. So unless the sun goes out, someone will be able to see the moonlight in a certain place and at a certain time.

"White Moon, Guihong."

"Get the order, ask 'Baiyue', and return to 'Guihong'."

2

The armor was removed in the room, and the military doctor treated Zhong Li's wounds. This kind of kung fu, Zhong Li asked people to find pen and ink, and as soon as he bandaged it, he hurriedly picked up the pen and wrote on a piece of white silk:

"Liucheng has been defeated, and Jun quickly sent troops. In addition, please prepare a few jars of wine and drink it quickly on the day of the meeting. ”

After writing, Zhong Li read it silently, and the handwriting was a little crooked because of the wound on his abdomen, which made him somewhat awkward. "Qin Lang?"

Qin Lang is the black-armored guard, Zhong Li's adjutant, who has been following Zhong Li since he was a partial general six years ago. Because of his slow heart, in addition to guarding, he is also responsible for daily clerical and miscellaneous items. Although he now has the rank of captain and governs an army, he still always guards Zhong Li's side. is also because Zhong Li often taught him civil and military skills, so there is also an additional layer of master-apprentice relationship.

Although Zhong Li was shirtless, Qin Lang was still wearing armor. Hearing the greeting, Qin Lang approached with a square wooden-bottomed copper-edged birdcage of more than a foot, placed it on the bookcase, took off the gray arrowroot cloth, and then knocked open the birdcage. Zhong Li took out a white dove like snow in both hands, and removed the iron hoop wrapped in red silk from the bird's feet like a rose branch. After checking that the ink was dry, he wrapped the white silk around the bird's feet, then wrapped an iron hoop, and double-checked that the lock was locked.

"Go see her." Zhong Li tapped the pigeon's head, which was like a winter magnolia bud, and when he raised his hand, he saw it flying over the eaves like a flowing wind blowing snow.

3

In September, there are not a few days when the moon and stars are scarce, and you can often see the scene of grass and the moon forming a sea. Deep blue, dark blue, slightly white like sand, perhaps the illusion that the grass tips began to dry up in this season. The gusts of wind continued, and the grass waves surged from the north to the south over and over again, and the wind felt slightly cold after looking at it for a long time.

"Is our world real enough, you say?"

"What do you really mean?"

"It's a hundred years after we found out that it was a wake-up."

"Isn't this the romance that books are used to."

"Well, I'm still more serious, if I die, it turns out that I just ended an experience that I chose or was imposed by others, and the real life is only a little bit over."

"It's possible, but what proof do you have?"

"It's not easy, because the common sense we know is summed up in this world. Unless it is found that there is something very serious about the paradox of real existence. ”

"yes, then you found out?"

"I don't have that yet. Well...... Or maybe I can't find out that I seriously doubt it? ”

"Suspect what?"

"It's just that the world is too organized. You think, the universe also came into being from nothing, so where did these rules, laws, and the relationship between cause and effect come from? If the world is chaotic now, and you talk to me on the front foot, the people on the back foot will be gone, and this will make me feel real. Could it really be that the Pangu God went down with an axe, and he split everything in the chaotic world in an orderly manner? ”

"Then you're really afraid that the world won't be chaotic."

"Eh, can you please be serious?"

"And where do you think these rules come from?"

"It's possible that the people who made this world slowly revised it."

"That's a real hard time for these people. The emergence of each new thing must be accompanied by some rules, and then there will be conflicts between rules and rules, and it will definitely be troublesome to modify. ”

"Why is it that it took so long for us to start with the universe?"

"That's right. So what if you prove that the world is fictional? ”

"No, because you first need to explain what 'fiction' means. In other words, if we really discover an outside world, then our created world is meaningless? Of course, some people may feel that they are not good here, and then there will be a chance to choose again, but they have to find out what the other world is like first, otherwise they will become adventurers. ”

"So I still have to live the same, at most, I don't think death is so terrible."

"Forget it, you can't die clean. Death is not terrible, the unknown is terrible. ”

4

Zhong Li led the Xuanlong Army to attack Liucheng at night for 8,000 nights, and the fourth watch fought, and at this time, it was just the fifth watch. Although Liucheng is called a city, it is just a large settlement where nomads live more steadily, and there are many residential areas in the city, as well as artisan workshops and markets, and the city defense is limited to low earthen walls and a few guard towers. Except for a small number of guards, the army was mostly stationed in the east and west battalions of the city, the terrain was open, easy to attack and difficult to defend, and there was also no decent defense system. Although the garrison was nearly 10,000, Zhong Li led troops to attack at night, and besieged the city to send reinforcements, and set up thistles, bows, crossbows, and tripping horses on the road of the east and west two battalions to aid Liucheng. 1,000 people from the front army set fire to break the city, and Zhong Li led 2,000 Chinese troops to kill the remnants of the enemy in the city; There were 2,000 troops on the left and right, and in addition to those who stayed behind to block the attack, each had nearly 1,000 light cavalry to attack the two empty camps in the east and west; The rear army of 1,000 followed the Chinese army in case of emergency. By the darkness of the night and the fire in the city, the reinforcements were thrown into disarray when they were blocked, so that the battle simply became a surprise attack and a pursuit.

The sky is getting white, and the sound of chariots and horses is just ceased. As if forgetting the chaos just now, the distant call of the cuckoo shuttles through the autumn dawn from time to time. In the courtyard where the soldiers were disturbed just now, Zhong Li's snoring was already bright and subtle, and in the courtyard, Qin Lang held a gun in one hand and a knife in the other, standing straight like a terracotta warrior, but his eyelids were already affectionate.

It's just eyelids coming together.

The cuckoo calls one, two, three, five...... There was a slight tremor that disturbed the cold breath of the autumn morning, and the sound was not unlike the wind tugging at the flag or the birds flying off the branches. After a moment of hesitation, Qin Lang deliberately yawned, and then the footsteps stopped. Then he loosened his grip on the gun and continued to feign sleep.

There was another breath disturbing the clear stream, and a slight but definite grinding sound began to come rhythmically, although slight, but it should have vibrated to the ears that I didn't know a certain structure.

Qin Lang guessed that this person was in front of him, less than three zhang, and then two zhang behind...... It was as if he could feel the man's gaze burning his skin, and his breath disturbing the air around him. He wanted to hold the handle of the knife tightly, but he was afraid that this subtle movement would attract the attention of the other party. In a moment of hesitation, he suddenly had an idea, and his grip on the gun was completely released, and his ears were once again determined to the position of the other party. Before the gun hit the ground, he opened his eyes and pulled out the knife, and sure enough, it was the woman in black.

"Wait!"

Qin Lang was stunned for a moment, it was Zhong Li's voice, and he hurriedly stopped the knife in front of the woman's neck. Looking at the voice, Zhong Li bowed down and sat up, holding the handle of the knife in his hand, and a fierce light was hidden in the scabbard, wanting to come out.

"You're coming!"