In 906 AD, the Tang Dynasty in the Central Plains experienced the Huangchao Rebellion and crumbled to the eve of its imminent demise. On the land of Yunnan, which has the reputation of "the south of the colorful clouds", the original Nanzhao State has been replaced by the current Great Changhe State in 902, and after two or three years of the aftermath of the generational war, it has entered a period of relative peace.

In the autumn dusk of this year, two war horses slowly turned out of a hillside. The soldiers on horseback looked at the villages scattered in the mountain cols in the distance, and their heartstrings were touched in an instant by the curling smoke.

"In the past ten years, the mountains, the rivers, the roads, and the grass and trees here have not changed much!" A person said with a little loneliness in his affection.

"Yes, looking at those cooking smokes, I can't help but think of the pot at home when I was a child." The other said, pointing to the distant interface. Then he involuntarily sighed: "Spread a layer of lard on the hot pot, sprinkle some salt, and sprinkle with chopped green onions, it is really delicious in the world!" ”

"Even if there is a little bit of scum left between your teeth, it will make you have a lingering fragrance in your mouth all night!"

The two of them looked at each other in unison, their faces gradually appeared, and then they both swallowed their saliva and slapped their horses and walked away to the distant village. At this moment, if the two of them read a sentence in Tao Yuanming's poem, "Ambiguous and distant village, smoke in the ruins", they will sigh as confidants.

The dust spread like a long snake on the road, and the clouds of dust and smoke seemed to be racing with the two of them, quickly chasing the horse's hooves all the way. But no matter how fast it is, it will never be as fast as the return of a traveling son.

The two ran to a fork in the road next to a river, arched their hands towards each other, and said "See you on the market tomorrow" and galloped towards their horses.

This place is located at the junction of Yunchuan and Sichuan, and more than ten villages in the distance are combined into a township, named Qingwan. And a river called "Qing River" runs through the whole township from the mountains in the distance. The river water is abundant and clear, it bends a big bay in the township before running into the distance, so the name of the township is "Qingwan Township" is also appropriate. The villages in the township are built along the river, bearing the nourishment of the Qinghe River and living continuously.

Qingwan Township, located in a remnant vein of Baicaoling, Yunnan, belongs to Dragonfly County, Dongfu (Baozhou), Dachanghe, Guolongdong (now in Dayao County, Chuxiong, Yunnan). There is a big village surnamed Li at the head of the Qinghe, which is backed by the Niubutt Mountain, the Qinghe River on the left, the small hills on the right, and the fertile field in front of the village is thousands of acres. The cow's ass mountain is about seventy or eighty meters high, although it is not high, but the shape is as its name suggests, like a very high cow's butt. The sides are smooth and steep, and it is difficult for apes to climb, but there is a secluded path in the middle that leads to the top of the mountain like a gap in the heart. At the foot of the mountain, a flat land, such as the end of the ox's tail that a large handful of tail hair is spread on the ground, so the village built on this flat land was originally called the cow's tail village, but the descendants are tired of its name and customs, according to the village there is a water pool next to it and then renamed Qingtan Village.

The top of the cow's butt mountain is flat and there is a flying temple, this temple has a magical legend: in ancient times, a village people fished in the river between the floods, and suddenly felt that the net was heavy, and it was an incense burner when they picked it up. In a fit of rage, he threw it back into the river, and when he fished again, the incense burner went into the net pocket. It's been repeated several times, and it's amazing. Therefore, the ancestors of the village put the incense burner on the top of the back hill to build a temple, called Feilai Temple, in order to pray for the peace and prosperity of the water and soil in this area, and the wind and rain are smooth.

There are more than 10 Bodhisattva ghosts carved in the temple, the golden soup is painted on the body, some of the law is solemn, some of the fierce gods are evil, some of them are squeezing their eyebrows and making their eyes, the expressions are different and lifelike.

The Qinghe River is surging out of the cliff behind the Niumei Mountain, turning a big bend seven or eight miles from the village before flowing quietly into the distance, and the riverbed is full of large and small pebbles.

A military man named Li Xing lives in Qingtan Village, Qinghetou. The other is named Chen Chao, whose home is in Shenyun Village at the end of Qinghewei.

The Li family was born in a military family, after several years of war, the father and brother died in battle, and the horse leather shroud did not know where to die, and now only Li Xing is left in the family. During this period, the Han people in Yunnan were weak, and they were mostly excluded in the army, and no matter what their military exploits were, they could only be promoted to partial generals. Li Xing fought with his father and brother for seven or eight years, and although he had quite a lot of military achievements, he was only a centurion.

Now the great chief and the state affairs are gradually calming, and the military affairs have stopped. Li Xing's father and brother have died, and he is still a widow after twenty-six or seventeen, so it is time to go home to complete the responsibility of passing on the family and serving his old mother. Therefore, in the autumn of this year, he and Chen Chao, a fellow villager, unloaded their armor and returned to the field.

"Mother! The unfilial child is back, and the child will be by his mother's side in the future! In the lobby of the Li family's old house, Li Xing knelt and hugged his mother's knees, his eyes were red!

Nearly 30 years of vicissitudes of life, many years of blood-licking military career. Today, I have to see my mother who I haven't seen for many years, thinking that the family of five is now only left with my mother and my mother alone, how can this not make people sad and cry.

Feeling the wrinkled hands caressing his cheeks, and feeling the rough old tears of his mother splashing on his forehead, Li Xing, an iron-blooded man who has been licking blood from the knife for many years, has also cried silently and can't help himself.

After shedding those tears that were so thick that they couldn't be dissolved, and after recounting those words that couldn't be finished, Li Xing had already bathed and changed his clothes at this time, holding incense in both hands and bowing in front of the ancestral tablet.

Looking at the dozens of tablets on the case, Li Xing thought that most of the ancestors were horse leather shrouds who died in a foreign land, and he almost followed in the footsteps of his ancestors several times, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

Looking at the first three tablets on the case, Li Xingcai was sad, and set off a monstrous hatred, he only hated himself for chasing the enemy that day; I just hate that I can't immediately block my father and brother with a horizontal sword; I just hate that I can't accompany my father and brother to go to danger together; I can't kill all the stubborn enemies??????

"Second brother, remember to follow your father well on Huangquan Road, my father is most afraid of loneliness! You need to talk to him more, he loves to talk to our brother the most! I'll be at home with our mother, and one day we'll meet again, and I have a lot to say to you. ”

Li Xing stared at the two new tablets that had not been added for a long time, muttering that he couldn't help himself, tears were surging, his heart was stiff, like a boulder pressing his chest, and he was in pain.

As the Qinghe River dried up and overflowed, a year had passed, and before I knew it, Li Chen and the two had retired for more than ten years. Li Xing and Chen Chao have been well-informed outside for many years and have accumulated some contacts in the military, so they often shuttle between the ancient tea and horse roads and start a business of selling and selling. Today's world is not peaceful, and the profits of this entry and exit are naturally huge, and the families of the two are slowly becoming rich.

Chen Chao married a young lady in the city by chance, and according to the three or five shops that accompanied the marriage, with the goods in and out of the tea horse plank road, he had already firmly sat on the position of the richest man in Qingwan Township in less than ten years.

Li Xing is not bad, and he is also one of the richest families in Qingtan Village. But the fly in the ointment is that he has been married for eight or nine years, but he still has not had a child around his knees, and Chen Chao has long been the father of two children.

The Li family's wife was also pregnant twice, but for some reason she couldn't keep it in the end. The villagers secretly discussed behind their backs that the Li family was born in a military family and killed too many people, and the karmic retribution came to respond, so I am afraid it will be difficult to have a future. This made her mother Li Liu and her mother Wang Yuying secretly anxious, and her mother even set aside a room at home to worship the gods, eat fast and recite Buddha devoutly.

On this day, Chen Chao, who had just returned from a long trip, came to Li's house to drink wine as usual.

"I can finally have a good drink with Brother Xing today!" Chen Chao said to Li's wife Wang Yuying with a half-smile and a sigh.

Then, he excitedly touched the blue and white bowl in front of him that was overflowing with wine, and then said to Li Xing, who was still half-hugging the wine jar and pouring wine for himself: "You don't need that kind of childish wine glass, there is no fake in the business field, just let our brothers drink in a big bowl, and eat meat is happy!" Rejoice! ”

"Brother Xing, you are not allowed to fight those scholarly people today!"

"As you wish!" Li Xing stared at the wine in the bowl and replied casually.

Chen Chao slapped the desktop with his palm, and then pointed his index finger at Li Xing and said: "Look at you, after a few years of reading, you have changed from a rough soldier to a rancid scholar, and your mouth is exposed!" Ha! Ha! Ha! ”

Li Xing's resolute and easy-going old face smiled awkwardly, he suddenly put down the wine jar, and in the sound of the wine in the jar, he picked up the wine bowl and said boldly: "Come!" Fuck the etiquette, fuck the manners! Tonight, our brothers will drink ugly and not get drunk and go home! ”

The two toss drank freely, there was no staggered excitement, but more than thousands of words of intimate words. After a few bowls of sake, the heating rising in the abdomen made the cheeks of the two red, and the hot warmth that rose in the hearts of the two of them was more of the cause and effect of brotherhood in addition to the effect of alcohol.