In the summer of the fifth year of Zhengde (1510), Suzhou Wei.

Eighty miles northwest of the border wall, north of the West Long River in the south of the North Sichuan, the gravel fort three feet high three feet high adobe brick wall, guarding this military tun thousand households of the city. Late at night, under the clear starry sky at the end of summer, the stars are dotted, and the night is as silent as water.

In a small courtyard on the northwest edge of the fort wall, the hall was dark and silent, and only the sparks of sandalwood for the incense burner on the table were faintly visible.

An emaciated figure was sitting on the steps at the door of the east wing room in a daze, and under the starlight, the originally delicate and jerky and immature face appeared faintly old and mature that should not have been. In some empty eyes, a trace of confusion flashed from time to time.

Ximen Xiaoye, who was dressed in a clean cloth with a pulp and a loose sheepskin jacket, and a white filial piety cloth tied around his waist, held a cold Ming army-style waist knife in his arms, and on the one-inch-wide scabbard copper clamp, the big tears that fell quietly had long since dried up, but the flame of hatred in his eyes burned his heartache.

His father, Ximen Gale Wind, as a hundred households of the guard, was on the way to Suzhou a month ago to escort the grain tax, and died tragically on the spot when he encountered a horse bandit robbery, and his mother was ill under the bad news, and died suddenly the day before yesterday; This sudden change made Simon Xiaoye, who was only sixteen years old, grief and dazed.

The sudden death of his parents and the broken door of his house made Ximen Xiaoye, a teenager who likes to play over the wall and catch rabbits on weekdays, grow up a lot overnight.

However, this afternoon, his younger brother Ximen Zuoshi, on the way out to collect firewood with his little sister, according to the personal guard of Hu Shibiao of Baihu, fell and hit the stone, and injured the back of his head, but it made Xiao Ye, who was dazed, couldn't help but shake his heart and almost gritted his teeth.

My father, as a master of arrows and pharaohs in the Thousand Households, was suddenly attacked, so he would not be caught off guard, and he didn't even have a chance to escape, where were the guards? In an instant, he was hit by more than a dozen arrows, and hundreds of people and horses in the escort team escaped and came back seventy or eighty?

My younger brother, who has always been clever and smooth, went to the foot of the back mountain to collect firewood, how could he accidentally fall? You must know that he and his younger brother have been fighting martial arts since they were ten years old, and the horsewhip in his father's hand cannot be faked.

Pile by pile, normal people can see the problems inside, can Xiao Yeyan not be suspicious? What especially chilled him was that the neighbors who used to laugh at his family suddenly lost their enthusiasm, and they looked at him like strangers, or even strangers.

The family knows that the world is warm and cold, and now that the rice jar in the stove is almost empty, Ximen Xiaoye's heart is cold.

Thinking of his mother's death before he died, holding his hand, in that reluctant gaze, there was a faint sorrow, and the fingers of Ximen Xiaoye holding the scabbard were already white.

Qianhu Jiang Jie, if you want to say that he and his father's death and his younger brother's suffering, even if they are not directly related, they are inseparable, everything seems to have been caused by that letter at the beginning of the year; As for the content of the letter, in view of the majesty of his father, Ximen Xiao did not know at night.

But just after his father and mother had told him that letter, Ximen Xiao Ye met Baihu Luo Yufei's personal soldiers again, and he could faintly see obvious hostility in his flickering eyes.

Hu Shibiao, Xu Hai, Luo Yufei and other six hundred households in the headquarters of the fort are all henchmen of Jiang Jie, and they are also the top 100 households with the most and best fields in the health office, except for the 100 households in the West Gate Gale Wind, and the other three hundred households, although they are stationed outside the gravel fort and manage some small tunbao and fire piers, they are not favored by thousands of households, but they are also around the largest blue brick compound on the fort all day long, trying to hug the thighs of thousands of households.

The arrogant and arrogant Ximen Gale Hundred Households, although they were hereditary from 100 households, did not see the situation clearly, and finally ended up in ruins. Xiao Ye was faintly aware of this, but when he woke up in shock, it was already too late.

Mr. Baoli Private School, the mantra that he praises from time to time is that Xiao Ye is smart and must have a future, but no one could have imagined that the hurdle encountered by the Ximen family was put on the knife handle early.

In the wing room, the seriously injured and comatose younger brother, the young sister, has his own Uncle Kun waiting to take care of him, and now in front of Ximen Xiaoye, it is tomorrow, he should go to the master of a thousand households, replace his father's vacancy, and get the paperwork, if there is no food, this family will never be able to live.

The funeral of his parents spent all his family savings, and even the 100 acres of medium-sized land were pawned to Hu Shibiao, and the military families who originally rented the family's fields were also scattered in a hurry, and even the father's guards could no longer see the shadow of the door-to-door comfort; Only Uncle Kun, who was rescued by his father five years ago, was brainlessly guarding the small courtyard.

The arrow pierced Uncle Kun's cheek, leaving behind the sequelae, it was an old man who had injured the root of his tongue, and he was also whining when he spoke, and the old man who couldn't say a word could live in Suzhou Mansion right now.

Ximen Xiaoye, who was trying to figure out the ins and outs, sat in a daze for most of the night, unable to think of a reason.

Looking at the shining morning star in the sky, the quietly brightening sky, for a long time, I sighed in despair, even if I want to find out the facts and take revenge, I have to wait until I have the strength to have a chance; Besides, I have to go to the thousands of households tomorrow, and I will go through the formalities first, otherwise the family will run out of food tomorrow.

But even if he inherits the position of a hundred households, the consequences are still unpredictable, and Ximen Xiaoye, who heard some rumors, was full of entanglement.

This small courtyard of the family, in the fort, in addition to being inferior to the thousand-household houses and attached official offices on the main street, is also the same as those hundred-family houses, which are built of blue bricks and black tiles.

In the bare courtyard, Ximen Xiao Ye let go of the waist knife he was holding, rubbed his numb knees, and was about to get up with a cold stomp, when a figure crossed the courtyard wall, "Ximen Gale, you also have this day," In a hoarse voice like a broken gong, a big man in black crossed into the small courtyard, "Peng," The thick-soled cowhide boots stepped steadily in front of Xiao Ye.

"Drink, rabbit cub, stay outside at night, aren't you waiting for me to come to the door? Hahahaha, I think my Mei boss is famous in Suzhou, and there is also a day when he climbs over the wall to kill the young, it's really unlucky," the big man who was full of wine looked at Ximen Xiaoye absently, this little cub who seemed to have been frightened, he really couldn't arouse the slightest interest, "No way, take people's money, work hard for others, little cub, I will suffer from your life,"

Boss Mei with the knife in his hand, Ximen Xiao Ye has seen it during the day, he is with Luo Yufei's personal guards, sent the injured brother back to the door of the house, under the light starlight, Ximen Xiao Ye, who saw the face of Boss Mei clearly, suddenly, everything understood.

looked at the strong man in front of him in a daze, and let out a long turbid breath, "pop", Ximen Xiaoye threw the waist knife in his hand on the ground and gave up resistance, "I can't beat you," in his voice, with unwillingness and helplessness.

"Kill me, my brother is seriously injured, my little sister is still young and doesn't remember, can you let them go?" The boy sheds blood, sweat and tears, his father's teachings in the past, tonight, he broke the vows more than once, and now, he still wants to intercede with the person who came to kill him, Ximen Xiao's heart is like ashes.

"At dawn, the Ximen family was destroyed, little cub, remember, on Huangquan Road, you still have two companions," the robber Boss Mei who was rampant in Suzhou, the blood in his hands, he really couldn't count it, and he still had a good impression of the target who could stand calmly on the opposite side, "My promise, unfortunately, can't be taken back," "Lord Yama, you have to make it clear, your enemy is Lord Qianhu, not my Suzhou Mei boss,"

"Canglang," the sharp blade came out of the sheath, the blade flashed under the starlight, and the corners of Boss Mei's mouth twitched slightly, "What rabbit is dead, he also kicks the eagle, a hundred taels of silver, and it is easy to earn no more,"

After drinking the ale wine all night, and having a few more with the woman in the secret door, Boss Mei was very relaxed, with a smile on the corner of his mouth, and stepped forward with a horizontal knife. The boy on the other side had his eyes closed.

Killing people is like slaughtering chickens, Boss Mei suddenly had a strong pleasure, and the figure approached in a hideous sneer.

In the wing, Uncle Kun, who was looking at the courtyard from the window, had already let go of the wooden stick he was holding when he heard that it was Boss Mei, and looked at the two children on the bed in a dull manner, and he knelt on the ground with a pale face.

Suzhou Mei Boss, a single horse bandit who has been rampant on the ground of Suzhou Weifu for many years, has strong martial arts and is ruthless, and has fought against hundreds of Jinyi guards, killing the other party's ghosts and wolves, and retreating with his whole body, how can it be a young man and an old man who can resist.

"Woo," muttered vaguely, Uncle Kun crawled to the door, leaning against the door frame and leaning his upper body, since he couldn't protect the two children of Ximen Baihu in the house, then, just die in front of them. After a night of worrying, it's finally time to end.

In the small courtyard, when Boss Mei shouted and slashed at Xiao Ye at Ximen, Xiao Ye's trembling eyelashes twitched with the curtains, the cold wind on his neck had arrived, and the feeling of death was so cold.

The small courtyard of Simon's house is in the northwest of the fort, separated from the neighboring military households by a small vegetable field, and outside the courtyard is the wall of the fort, and even the patrolling sergeants will not pass by in the early morning; What's more, with Xu Baihu's hint, no matter how big a disturbance Boss Mei makes here, no one will show up, and he won't dare to show up.

Just as Boss Mei's blade fell, there was a fluctuation in the air above the small courtyard, and an oval object the size of a carriage appeared above his head and quietly fell down.

"Bump," there was a tremor under his feet, and Simon Xiao Ye didn't wait for the sharp blade to slaughter the head, but was splashed with a large cloud of dirt, and an impact knocked him back a few steps and fell on the steps. The blood stains covered his face, "Bah, bah," wiped the dirt off his face, Xiao Ye frowned and opened his eyes.

The black oval object fell on the position where Mei Laoda was standing, and the originally flat and solid dirt floor was directly smashed out of a large pit half a foot square and one person deep, and between his nose, Ximen Xiao Ye could smell a strong smell of burning. At his feet, a cold-glittering broad-bladed sword fell.

Boss Mei, who didn't even let out a scream, was simply smashed into powder by the sudden falling object, which also made him famous for coming and going without a trace.

And the object that appeared in Ximen Xiaoye, in the big pit, with a scorching heat, under the stunned gaze of the young man, "Click," a long crack cracked on the object, and then it scattered and cracked, like a collapsed earthen kiln, collapsing into a pair of fragments.

"What's going on?"