There is a red willow canal in the west of Fuyuan City, which is said to be a canal but is dry all year round. It is only in early spring, when the snow in Nanshan melts, or after the heavy rain in late autumn, that the muddy water is rushed for a few days.

Because on both sides of the canal, there are clusters of clusters, clusters, elegant red willows and get the name.

In the middle of summer, pink and bright red willow flowers bloom and meander on both sides of the canal. For this already lonely town, it is also a good scenery.

In the middle of the canal, on a flat stretch of sand. A young girl, purifying her face with sand, is sincerely confessing and praying to the Lord. The sincere and sad appearance moved the heavens, the earth, the ghosts and gods.

After a heart-wrenching cry, she suppressed the surging in her heart and choked up, "O our Lord! You are all-encompassing in terms of grace and in terms of perception. Forgive, repent, and walk in your way. Protect them from the punishment of Hellfire. ”

She fell to the ground and sobbed for a while. The voice was bitter and he continued, "O merciful Lord! Forgive me, I failed to convert a foreign man to Allah Almighty.

Instead, he gave him a woman, a holy body. It is I who have defiled the teachings of the Lord and tarnished the reputation of the Mumin. Please renege the Lord on me, and wash my unclean heart with the holy rain like a needle.

Please descend the mana and eradicate the shadow of that man from my mind forever. Keep me away from emotional torment......"

That heartbreaking woman is none other than Shuzhen.

The white horse, along the edge of the ditch, was leisurely grazing.

The ditch that is more than one person deep, and the red willow flowing like a girl's hair, hides it deeply.

The sun, having forced the bottom of the canal, removed half of the shade. The clean yellow sand quietly glows with a faint warmth.

Shuzhen put the saddle away, spread the blanket, and poured her sleepy body softly on it. I wanted to sleep quietly to relieve the fatigue after a long night of pleasure and excitement.

But as soon as her eyes were closed, Shoko's figure entered her mind like a spell and lingered.

Shuzhen sighed helplessly, thinking: If there is no religious belief, perhaps, we will have a beautiful world. But it is difficult to say where the future will go.

If you're attached to Buddhism, you're not that attached. Converted*, we must be a loving couple and an excellent* family.

If you force me and restrict my freedom. Perhaps, I will live happily with you. But you are a righteous gentleman, and you never have evil thoughts about me.

I know you like me, but you don't want to wronged me. That's why I tried my best to get you to ask for me. I can't repay you for your kindness, but I can only give you the girl's body.

As *, I have repented to the Lord, as a woman, you have given me a taste of the sweetness of being loved, and it will be a memory for my whole life. I owe you a life, and I owe you a love. When we see each other in the next life, I will be with you desperately. I'm sorry! Brother Xiangzi.

Xiangzi hurriedly settled things for Liu Chao, and then flew out of the city.

He knew that Shuzhen had nowhere to go, so he must have gone to Zimud Springs to find the traces of the eldest sister. Because, these days, she always mentions the defeat of the mud springs.

said that on that day, it was the eldest sister who saved her life, but the eldest sister never came back. I don't know where the corpse fell, so I said I had to take the time to go there.

Xiangzi knows that Shuzhen is a person who values love and righteousness, and will not let the body of the eldest sister be abandoned in the wilderness. Therefore, after some consideration, it was concluded that it was very likely that Shuzhen would pass through Santai Town from Liushu Hezi and arrive at Ziniquanzi.

So, he whipped his horse and pursued it all the way.

As soon as the sun was in the west, Xiangzi arrived in Santai Town.

Where the breeze rises, a wisp of wine aroma is smoked in the face without saying anything. Somehow, Shoko felt an inexplicable disgust.

Along the way, I didn't inquire about Shuzhen's letter. In addition to being bored and anxious, he suddenly remembered his brother Chen Tiedan. During these days, since Ma Zhongying called, he has not stopped idle.

I haven't come to see Tiedan, and I don't know how their lives are. He hurried to Tiedan's house, and saw that the gate of the fence courtyard was tied with straw ropes, and looking at the situation in the courtyard, it seemed that there were no people living in the courtyard for some days. Xiangzi was in a hurry, so he turned around and came to Tiezhu's house.

Just in time for the iron pillar girl, she came out of the courtyard. When he looked up and saw Xiangzi, he was stunned for a moment, and then shouted happily: "It's Brother Guo!" What's the wind blowing you? ”

Xiangzi smiled indifferently at her and said, "What about the Tie Dan family? ”

When the iron pillar girl asked, her pink face immediately became gloomy. muttered in a sad tone: "My eldest son is dead, and Brother Tie Dan is gone." ”

Xiangzi looked anxious and asked, "Daddy is fine, why do you say that you will die?" Where did the iron egg go? ”

The Tiezhu girl sighed lightly, her eyes were red and she said, "Two months ago, my sister-in-law accompanied my eldest son to the street to grab medicine. When I arrived at the pharmacy, I met Pan Lao Wu, and when he came up, he pulled and played with my sister-in-law. I really couldn't get used to it, so I stepped forward to block it.

Unexpectedly, he was pushed down by Pan Lao Wu, and he never recovered. When I was going to bury my eldest son, Tie Dan made an appointment with my brother and the skinny monkey to go to the wheat field in the west of the town early in the morning to sum up the matter.

When my brother came back, he packed up a few clothes in a panic, saying that he was going out with Brother Tiedan, and asked him where he was going, but he didn't say.

A few days later, at night, I heard that Pan's family was robbed by a group of people with guns, swept away a lot of property, and cut off Pan Lao Wu's one. ”

Shoko asked casually, "What are you going to cut off?" ”

The iron pillar girl blushed, lowered her head and whispered, "Is it the man's thing?" ”

Shoko hurriedly split the conversation and said; "Did they do it?"

The Tiezhu girl raised her head and said, "The people of the Pan family suspect that they did it." But the gang covered their faces with black cloths and didn't see clearly. The police also came to the house twice to ask questions, but then they were silent.

Brother Tie Dan and they left for two days, and my sister-in-law also said that she was going to go out, and she and her brother drove the carriage, and they never came back. ”

Xiangzi pondered for a while, and was about to turn around and walk back, when the iron pillar girl hurriedly stopped her and said, "Let's go to the house and have a cup of tea, big brother." ”

Xiangzi smiled at her and said, "No, I still have urgent matters today, so I'll go to your house another day." ”

So saying, he turned around and straddled his horse.

Zi Ni Quanzi is a flat and barren saline-alkali flat, only next to a nest of elm trees to the north, and a few families are sparsely located.

Although there is no smell of gunsmoke, the trenches and craters left behind in the fierce battle are vivid.

From the traces of chariot clamping, and the scattered and mushy horseshoe prints, one can imagine the intensity of the battle. Shoko seems to be so shocked by the scene in front of her that she has forgotten the purpose of her visit.

Whenever he encountered a place with a dense number of craters, or a trench stained with smoke and fire, he had to watch for a long time.

Coming to a patch of overgrown weeds, Shoko was blocked by a herd of grazing sheep before coming back to her senses.

Not far away, there was a middle-aged man herding sheep, standing on tiptoe, looking at him. Benel turned his horse's head, went round the flock, and ran straight toward the man.

Approaching, Xiangzi turned over and dismounted, and said with a smile to the sheep herder who was full of suspicion and even a little nervousness: "Ask my brother about something." ”

The man smiled stiffly and said, "What's the matter?" ”

Xiangzi leaned forward and said, "Today, did you see a girl on a white horse, coming here?" ”

The man, shaking his head like a rattle, said, "There have been no people in this place for two or three months."

Since the people who fought Sheng Shicai and Ma Zhongying have fought, many people have died. The sheep herders all thought that this place was heavy and did not want to come. I was born with courage, and I'm not afraid of anything. ”

Xiangzi nodded thoughtfully and said, "What about the people who died in Ma Zhongying?" ”

The man sighed and said, "Pick them all up on the car and pull them to the alkali ditch in front of them." ”

As he spoke, he pointed in a southwestern direction.

Shoko then asked, "Is there a woman inside?" ”

The man smiled and said, "How can I know that the dead man has been picking up for two days, and there is smoke everywhere, who dares to move forward." ”

Shoko thanked the sheep herder and rode his horse southwest.

After a while, a deep naturally formed ditch came into view.

On both sides of the ditch, there are sparse and unequal grasses, and the bottom of the ditch is the wet soil with alkali, and some low-lying pits are also collecting yellow saline-alkali water.

Walking along the trench, at the bend, the new earth blocked both ends of the ditch. The heaves of earth were all higher than the edge of the ditch.

In the air, there was a faint smell of rotting corpses. Shoko shook her head with a sigh and reined in her horse and headed east.

At this time, the sun in the west has begun to turn red.

In the bleak battlefield, there are only a few sparrows, flying back and forth without knowing sorrow.

As far as the eye can see, under the sunset, the roofs of several houses are rising with curling smoke. It adds a touch of life to this bleak land.