In the county seat of Ansai in the east of Baoan County, the rising sun has already illuminated this dilapidated city, but the county town lacking cooking smoke is a little lifeless. There were very few pedestrians on the street, and the few pedestrians who saw each other quickly avoided each other and quickly hid, as if they were running away from the plague god.

The figures dodging each other make the city more weird. There is nothing to worry about if the atmosphere in the city is not right, and in a wilderness outside the west of the city, there is a slow-moving figure at this time, which looks a little lively. In this overlap of light and shadow, only the sound of the wind decorates this silent space.

A thin woman with a baby in her arms is pacing slowly. It was difficult for her to see her expression with her head down at this time, but the droplets of water hanging from her chin might show her state of mind. The woman repeatedly looked at the sleeping baby in her arms, wandering around a dung pit. I don't know if it's because the stench is getting to the baby, or if the baby happens to be hungry. The baby suddenly began to cry loudly, and in this peaceful space, the baby's cry was particularly harsh.

The thin woman was startled by the cry, and while she kept coaxing the baby, she unbuttoned her clothes and put her shriveled ** into the baby's mouth. The baby sucked desperately, but couldn't suck it out, and cried again anxiously. The powerless mother could only keep coaxing her child, and her thin palm gently patted the baby's back, while gently humming a folk song.

After a while, the baby finally fell asleep again under the gentle care of his mother. Soon after the baby's crying stopped, the mother's humming continued for a while and finally stopped. The space around them was silent again, and after an unknown amount of time, the baby's loud cry sounded again, but this time it was not unappeased, and the gentle song did not sound again, only the more piercing cry drifted into the distance by the wind.

……

Guan Yuze followed his second uncle, and the two of them walked on the official road wordlessly. He turned his head to look at the figure slowly walking behind him, a woman desperately covering her mouth with one hand, trying to force herself not to cry. The other hand kept tapping under him, carrying one of his own men. The man let the woman beat him and did not say a word. Carrying the limp woman on her back, she walked step by step towards the city with heavy steps.

Guan Yuze likes the baked cakes of the couple very much, and every year when the second uncle comes back to give him pocket money, Guan Yuze will always hide a few copper plates to buy their baked cakes to eat before his mother collects the money. It's just that now, Guan Yuze doesn't know when the next time he will eat the baked cakes baked by the couple. As if remembering the fragrance of the baked cakes, Guan Yuze couldn't help but swallow his saliva, and under the urging of the second uncle, he quickened his pace and followed closely behind the second uncle.

Guan Zhiqing urged his nephew, and after seeing his nephew keep up with his footsteps, he turned around and continued to move forward, the food brought to the family this time should be able to last for a long time, and the money on his body was given to his sister-in-law, and with the support of his sister-in-law, his mother would never be hungry. The eldest brother's stubborn temper is unwilling to fall into the grass, and the sister-in-law secretly entrusted the eldest nephew to herself, afraid that the eldest brother would find out, so she packed up the burden early in the morning and pushed the eldest nephew out to leave quickly. But in fact, Guan Zhiqing knew that when his group left, the eldest brother hid in the house and peeked. Guan Zhiqing didn't say anything at the time, just asked his nephew to kneel in front of the house and kowtow a few times, and then left with his nephew.

The eldest nephew, Guan Yuze, is also almost fourteen years old, and there are few people in the family in this famine year, and the saved rations can be given to other nephews and nieces. The gifts given by the ninth uncle are not light, at least the ninth uncle is there, and the clan can still take care of the family. But this world is getting more and more chaotic, and I don't know when I will be back next time. Guan Zhiqing, who was packing up his thoughts, touched the guy wrapped around his waist again, although he was still on the official road, he was not too far from the city. But there are already many people in this world who are hungry and crazy, and they can do everything.

The two walked for a while, and Guan Zhiqing suddenly stopped his steps, pulled out his waist knife and told his nephew to pay attention.

Guan Yuze obeyed the second uncle's orders and looked around vigilantly.

At this moment, in the grass not far in front of them, three rough men with sloppy bodies suddenly jumped out, holding dung forks and sticks in their hands, staring at the uncle and nephew viciously.

Guan Yuze looked at the three of them uneasily, and found that their faces seemed to be a little swollen, and Guan Yuze had heard a lot of robberies and murders, and even cannibalism. I heard that many people who eat people have a little swollen faces, thinking of this, Guan Yuze looked at the three of them again, and seemed to find a trace of red light in their hideous eyes, Guan Yuze couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.

"Less twisting porcelain, four far. (Dialect: Don't cause trouble, die far away)" Guan Zhiqing held the bright steel knife, facing the three people with bad intentions, but in the direction where the three people were, he took a step forward and threatened in a deep voice.

The three of them seemed to be restrained by Guan Zhiqing's momentum, afraid of the steel knife in Guan Zhiqing's hand, and did not dare to step forward for a while. Just after the two sides confronted each other for a while, the three people who suddenly appeared finally began to act. The three of them slowly dispersed, faintly surrounding Guan Zhiqing.

After Guan Zhiqing noticed that the situation was different, he immediately rushed forward with an arrow step, forcing a robber on his right side to retreat with a knife, and then immediately retreated and returned to Guan Yuze. Guan Yuze, who was not yet fourteen years old, didn't seem to have reacted to the situation in front of him, standing behind his second uncle with a dry throat and a pale face, not knowing what to do.

Because he wanted to protect his nephew, Guan Zhiqing failed to pursue in the raid just now, so he returned in vain. Now that the three of them are prepared, I'm afraid it won't be so easy to deal with in the future. didn't have time for Guan Zhiqing to think about it, a dung fork was inserted into him, Guan Yuze used a knife to make a gear, and before he could return the knife, another stick smashed into Guan Zhiqing's head.

Guan Zhiqing turned his body to the side and let go of the stick. Before the rest of the third person could attack, he took a step forward, knocked the man with the stick to the ground with an elbow blow, and then backstabbed the third person's stick with a backhand, and then swung a knife in the air, forcing back the attack of the man with the dung fork, and immediately retreated.

After the three robbers saw that Guan Zhiqing was forced to retreat, they did not immediately pursue, and retreated together to recuperate. The two sides were again locked in a standoff. Guan Zhiqing said to Guan Yuze without looking back: "Monkey baby, what are you doing standing stupidly, pick up stones and hit them far away." When they get close, you run. ”

Guan Yuze, who was still stunned, immediately reacted after hearing the second uncle's order, threw down the burden in his hand, and ran out into the distance. Where were the three of them willing to follow Guan Zhiqing's wishes, and after hearing Guan Zhiqing's words, they immediately launched a new round of attacks. After Guan Zhiqing was sure that his nephew had run away, he had no scruples and started a fight with the three of them.

For a while, on the empty official road, several different shouts sounded at the same time. The stones that Guan Yuze threw over from time to time, although their accuracy was limited, still created a certain amount of confusion for the attacks of the three of them. In the shadow of a knife, Guan Zhiqing received a stick on his shoulder, but at the same time, he also slashed the enemy holding a dung fork.

Just after Guan Zhiqing endured the pain and forced one person back with one sword, a loud shout suddenly sounded: "Where did you come from, bastard, you dare to go wild here so unexpectedly, let's be the second master." ”

Guan Zhiqing stared at the enemy's field of vision, and several rapidly approaching figures suddenly appeared in the distance of the official road. Yu Baocheng, who was also an old man selling smuggled salt in Zhang's Villa, led several cavalrymen with a saber at this time, and suddenly rushed over quickly. When the three robbers saw a cavalry attacking, their fighting spirit was immediately discharged, and they hurriedly left Guan Zhiqing and were about to escape.

Guan Zhiqing, who was viciously angered by a stick, was willing to give in and blocked one of them. After a while, the new force that appeared in the distance had already rushed up, and after cutting down one person who was fighting with Guan Zhiqing to the ground, he went to chase the other two who fled. Guan Zhiqing shouted at the pursuers: "The monkey baby over there is my eldest nephew, don't mess around, catch up with those two turtle cubs and try to catch me alive." ”

It didn't take much effort, and the two robbers who were covered in blood and kept begging for mercy were dragged in front of Guan Zhiqing. Guan Zhiqing, who was waiting for his subordinates to take medicine, called Guan Yuze to his side. At the same time, he motioned to Yu Baocheng, took out a knife and handed it to Guan Yuze, and said: "Monkey baby, in the future, I will live with the second uncle to lick the blood from the knife edge. ”

Guan Yuze's heart was shocked, although he knew that this kind of thing would be a matter of time after he followed his second uncle. But it's only been less than an hour since I went out, and I have to do this bloody deed. Naturally, he didn't have the slightest psychological preparation, so he could only look at the head knife in his hand in a daze.

Guan Zhiqing has seen a lot of the market, and he doesn't want to waste more time on his nephew's hypocrisy. Like a cat, he carried Guan Yuze and threw it in front of the robbers who were tied up. After the two robbers knew their fate, one cried and begged for mercy, and the other scolded Guan Zhiqing and his party.

Guan Zhiqing turned a deaf ear, directly grabbed Guan Yuze's hand holding the knife, and slashed the neck of one of the robbers who was constantly struggling and scolding. Suddenly blood splattered and sprayed all on Guan Yuze's face.

The robber, who had not yet lost his breath, fell to the ground, constantly struggling as if he had something to say. But no matter how hard he tried, he still couldn't say anything. He could only stare at Guan Yuze with a pair of eyes, and finally his eyes gradually lost focus.

"Ahhh......h I, I'm ......" Guan Yuze was taken aback by his second uncle's resoluteness, he quickly threw away the head knife in his hand, and shouted incoherently with a crying voice, while desperately wiping the blood on his face.

But Guan Zhiqing still asked his nephew to continue, and said in a very tough tone: "Shut up, I helped you just now, and you can solve him by yourself for the rest, don't be embarrassed here." But Guan Yuze didn't seem to hear it, just kept wiping the blood on his face, and kept screaming.

Seeing Guan Yuze's frightened appearance, Guan Zhiqing, who had already hardened his heart, couldn't help but soften in his heart, and didn't continue to force it, just waited slowly. After a stalemate like this for a while, seeing that his nephew had not come back to his senses, Guan Zhiqing hardened his heart and gave Guan Yuze a slap, pulling his nephew back to his senses.

He urged his nephew again, Guan Yuze, who was not yet fourteen years old, to be forced to pick up the head knife that had fallen to the ground. He dragged Guan Yuze to the remaining robbers, and fiercely ordered his nephew to kill the robber who had peed his pants and was lying on the ground and begging for mercy. "If you don't kill him, you can go home by yourself, and there will be these crazy turtle sons who eat people and eat you on the way." As soon as he finished speaking, he kicked Guan Yuze again.

Children in northern Shaanxi know a lot of things that people in the mainland don't understand until they are adults, and the harsh environment not only exercises their bodies, but also hones their strong will. Under Guan Zhiqing's constant urging and scolding, Guan Yuze gradually stabilized his emotions, stared at the limp robber in front of him, his breathing became heavier and heavier, and after screaming, he stabbed the robber who intended to attack himself and his second uncle with a knife just now.

Looking at his nephew, he mechanically stabbed the robber who had lost his breath one after another. Guan Zhiqing felt a faint pain in his heart, he planned to let Guan Yuze calm down first, turned to Yu Baocheng, who came to meet, and asked if there was any special situation.

Yu Baocheng, who had been silent on the side, finally spoke at this time. Yu Baocheng said that he began to wait early in the morning, and after seeing the figure of the second master, he immediately came to escort him. There are no other suspicious people around at the moment, but to be on the safe side, it's best for them to get up and leave immediately.

Yu Baocheng and others originally planned to enter the city with the second master, but the city gate guard who Guan Zhiqing was familiar with was starved to death some time ago, and Guan Zhiqing didn't want to make any extraneous branches, so he made an appointment with Yu Baocheng and asked him to take a few of his men to meet outside the city. He bribed the guards at the city gate and entered the city alone. Unexpectedly, he was robbed and beaten with a stick, but fortunately, his subordinates who looked at the situation informed Yu Baocheng, and Yu Baocheng set up a horse to lead people to arrive in time.

After a brief exchange with Yu Baocheng, who answered, Guan Zhiqing took a felt hat from the horse he brought from his subordinates and buckled it on Guan Yuze's head, and stopped Guan Yuze, who was already stained with blood.

Guan Zhiqing carried his nephew onto the horse with both hands, and at the same time ordered his subordinates to cut off the heads of several corpses. Then Guan Zhiqing turned over and looked back at his hometown behind him. He could only sigh helplessly, and then rode away with his nephew, who was still whispering.