Jiangxi Province, Shicheng County, Yangjiapai Village Wild.

In the middle of a dark jungle, there is a huge mound with no grass on it, and even the leaves that fall on it are sparse, in stark contrast to the surrounding green grass, which seems to have been artificially piled up recently. At the junction between the mound and the ground, there is a pile of withered branches mixed with yellow-green and yellow-green leaves, which clings to the mound very unnaturally.

At this moment, the pile of dead branches and leaves shook abruptly, and slowly spread outward, revealing a cavern under the mound. There was a moment of silence, and a hand reached out from the cave to support the ground, and then an unkempt teenager slowly crawled out.

Although he is not as dirty as a human being, his appearance can still be distinguished from his facial features, which is the young king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom that the Qing court is pursuing-Hong Tianguifu.

Hong Tianguifu crawled out of the cave, looked around in fright, saw that there was no one in the visible range, so he didn't care much, and began to look around for food, not long after, his eyes stayed on a few mushrooms under a tree, and suddenly his face was flushed with a happy look, he walked over quickly and squatted, picked a few large and small mushrooms and sent them to his mouth.

When he was hungry, two lines of hot tears had merged into a stream on his emaciated face, but he didn't have time to feel sad, and continued to look around—besides food, water was his more desperate life-saving thing at the moment.

In order to avoid the Qing army's large-scale hunt, he has been hiding in the cave for four whole days, waiting in the dark in this secret world that even the remnants of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom do not know, relying only on Su Sanniang's water supply to survive. Now that Su Sanniang has not returned overnight, Hong Tianguifu has long been hungry and thirsty, and finally took a risk and climbed out of the hole.

There was no water source nearby, and Hong Tianguifu didn't dare to go too far, and when he was in a dilemma, he suddenly saw an old man in white walking towards this side in the distance.

If it was in a normal state of body, Hong Tianguifu would naturally avoid it as soon as he saw the living, but when he saw that the old man was holding a wooden pot in his hand, and there was no one else around, he didn't care about his safety at this time, and stepped forward to pray: "Old man, can you give me some water?" ”

The old man was stunned for a moment, frowned, stared at Hong Tianguifu and looked at it, and then asked, "Child, have you encountered anything?" ”

Hong Tianguifu stroked his unkempt hair and made it up: "The family was robbed by robbers, both parents died, I fled here alone, I haven't eaten a full meal for four days, and I hope that the old man will do well and give saliva to drink." After speaking, his eyes fell on the wooden pot in the old man's hand and swallowed.

"I see, what a poor child." After the old man finished speaking, he handed the wooden pot in his hand to Hong Tianguifu, and took out a tea bowl-sized dough cake from his arms and handed it to Hong Tianguifu, "Eat." Where are you from? What's your name? ”

"Ah...... I am from Hubei, my name is Zhang Qingxiang. Hong Tiangui reported a pseudonym designed by Su Sanniang, and poured the water in the pot into his mouth desperately, and then took the bread and feasted on it, as if he had lost the glory of the former true son of heaven, and he was called Huazi.

After drinking the water, Hong Tianguifu handed the wooden pot back to the old man, and while the old man took the wooden pot, he touched Hong Tianguifu's right hand, and his eyes stayed on his palm for a moment.

At this moment, a hurried female voice came from behind Hong Tianguifu: "Hey, Qingxiang, what are you doing?" ”

Hong Tianguifu looked behind him, and saw Su Sanniang walking quickly to this side, and when he came to the two of them, he stared at the old man fiercely, took Hong Tianguifu's hand and said, "Didn't I say, don't eat anyone's things?" ”

The old man said happily: "It's okay, it's okay, it's just a gesture." Dare to ask who this girl is? ”

Su Sanniang didn't know about the previous conversation between the two, and responded perfunctorily: "I'm sorry, old man, I am the child's mother, the child doesn't know how to be polite, and he is offended, so he quit." ”

"Mother?" The old man obviously heard the flaw in the words of the two, and was stunned for a moment, and then said with a pleasant face, "Hehe, okay, I will be relieved that the child has found his relatives." Now the world is in chaos, don't let your children run around. After saying that, the old man gave a salute and walked into the distance.

The two watched the old man walk away vigilantly, and only withdrew their gaze when they were sure that there was nothing unusual. Hong Tianguifu immediately reminded Su Sanniang: "Sanniang, I told him just now that my parents are dead." ”

"Alas, Your Majesty, I have repeatedly reminded you that I will definitely come back when I go out, why did Your Majesty come out to act? Fortunately, this time I just met an old man, and if I met a demon, I would be in trouble. Su Sanniang reproached, and said sincerely, "Also, before you find the large army, you can no longer call yourself 'I', and I will no longer call you 'Your Majesty', everything must be made safety the first priority." ”

"Yes, if I have never been a 'me', how good would it be to be an ordinary person and spend my life frankly......" Hong Tianguifu sighed and tried to ask, "You say, if I surrender to the imperial court and swear allegiance to the Manchus, will they give me a way to live?" ”

When Su Sanniang heard this, her heart really felt like a basin of cold water had been poured on her, and she shook her head and said, "Don't be naïve!" Not to mention that you shouldn't have this idea, even if you have, do you think the demons will let you go? No, they won't let you go, they will tie you to the execution table, cut off your flesh with a knife, and let you die in excruciating pain! ”

"But...... But why did they do this to me? I have never killed anyone, I have never done evil, even if a bird dies, I will have a heartache for a long time, everything is done by them, what did I do wrong? I was hungry and cold every day, and last night, I drank my own urine three times in a row, until I couldn't pee anymore, and I thought, "Father, why do you treat me like this every day as I sing praises to you?" Hong Tianguifu suddenly roared, as if he wanted to vent the anger that had been accumulated for many days, "Could it be that I voted for the wrong fetus and cast it into the Hong family?" After speaking, Hong Tianfugui's tears have gushed out like bursting the embankment.

"yes...... Yes, why should a child bear the sins of the previous generation? Su Sanniang looked at this scene sadly, and suddenly felt that something in her heart that had been insisting on it for many years was re-torturing her soul, and her eyes didn't feel moist, and after a while, she squatted down, held Hong Tianguifu's hands, and said like a generous elder: "Okay, if you have decided to give up all this completely and become an ordinary child again, I am willing to help you." ”

"Sanniang, am I really, do I still have a chance?"

"Well, yesterday, when I went to patrol the mountain, I found that a demon army was searching for this mountain, and even people had set foot in the vicinity, but I have eliminated all the people who are extremely dangerous. Later, I mobilized the power of purification and went to a valley twenty miles away, and found a family there whose dwelling was so hidden that it was extremely difficult to be discovered, so I visited the house, and learned that there was only a seventy-year-old woman surnamed Tang left in the family, living alone, so I asked her if she would like to take in an orphan of more than ten years old, and could do farm work for her, and she was very happy. ”

Hong Tianguifu's eyes lit up and said: "If I can, I am willing to be her grandson forever, do all the farm work for her, and also provide for her to die!" Sanniang, take me there, I'm really fed up with this ghost place! ”

Su Sanniang nodded: "Okay, after all, the Qing Demon doesn't know your face, after arriving at the Tang family, you have to wash your body, tie up your braids, and live with another identity forever." Child, from now on, there will be no subordinates around you to serve, you have to use your hands, chopping wood, feeding pigs, carrying water, laundry, these dirty work, will you? ”

"No, I can learn!" Hong Tianguifu replied solemnly, "Compared with the life of the family, what are these?" ”

Su Sanniang said again: "Okay, after you settle down, I will also bid farewell to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom completely, be a simple demon exterminator, and follow the footsteps of my friends, and the fate of our monarchs and ministers will also stop here, okay?" ”

With tears in his eyes, Hong Tianguifu nodded deeply, stepped forward to give Su Sanniang a hug, and said, "Sanniang, if there is an afterlife, you will be my mother, okay?" ”

"Okay, Sanniang promises you." Su Sanniang showed a pleased smile, and hugged Hong Tianguifu tightly, "If there is an afterlife, let's be a mother and son, rely on each other, and live an ordinary life." ”

For Su Sanniang, when was the last time she experienced such a warm moment, she couldn't remember, as if she wanted to make up for the regret of not being able to be a mother in this life, and after a while, she finally reluctantly got up and said, "Let's go." ”

When the two of them walked away, another figure came out of the forest, it was the old man who had sent water and bread to Hong Tianguifu before, he silently came to the mound, bent down to look at the pit below, and said to himself with a wicked smile: "The prey, it seems to have appeared, ah chacha ......"