The swordsman took Chen Song back to the inn. By this time it was already dark, and there were four corpses in the courtyard, all covered with white cloths. The travelers had already woken up, standing or sitting in the hall on the first floor. The chief of the post house was explaining the passage to the travelers, and his face was full of sweat when he saw the swordsman carrying Chen Song in, and hurriedly asked someone to bring Chen Song hot soup, and someone put a robe on her.

Chen Song saw an arm exposed under the white cloth outside the court, which was Ying's mother's, and couldn't help but be stunned and let others be at the mercy of others. Abu, whom he met yesterday, was also brought down by his family, surrounded by several burly armored warriors, sitting next to his brother and looking at her frequently.

The swordsman asked, "Captain, have you caught it?" The chief of the house looked bitter and said, "No, both thieves have horses." The wind and snow were heavy, and they entered the woodland, and within a moment there was no trace of them. ”

He saw Chen Song looking at him with a pair of eyes, and sighed again: "These three or five people under my command, even if there are many homeless people, they only dare to close the door tightly, for fear that they will gather a crowd to attack." Even if you can gather all the samurai in this post house, and you want to scatter to find the rogue, where can you find it! ”

The swordsman asked, "Who are the dead?" ”

The head of the house said: "The two guards and the two domestic servants are all from the Han girl's party, and they also injured a handyman. ”

The swordsman said, "Why are they all from her family?" ”

The head of the house said: "The bags in Miss Han's two rooms have all been swept away. I'm afraid that there are few people in their group, and they were targeted by gangsters on the way. ”

Speaking of this, he glanced at Chen Song again and said, "The girl of the Han family has not been found. ”

The swordsman was surprised, "Where can she go?" ”

"That's exactly what I said!" "When we chased the thieves, we didn't see them take anyone away. When I came back to count the number of people, I realized that she was gone. I searched around the neighborhood but couldn't find it. But if you get lost while escaping, you shouldn't be so far away! ”

When Chen Song saw that they were talking about the third sister, he wanted to tell them the clues he knew, and he wanted to open his mouth several times, but he only made a hoarse sound, which made his heart burn. The swordsman spoke to the head of the house, but he didn't notice it, but someone on the side reminded him: "This little daughter has something to say." ”

It was a middle-aged man with a sickly face, and there were also several samurai standing beside him. Chen Song saw a slender boy sitting next to him, and only then did he remember that he had seen it yesterday.

The boy's expression was quite restrained, and when he saw Chen Song looking at him, he turned to the side.

The swordsman looked down and asked, "Can you write?" ”

The head of the house smiled bitterly: "This child is only six or seven years old, can he be literate?" ”

There was a hint of a smile on the swordsman's face, which was fleeting, and he said softly: "The children of the Han family, both male and female, will start learning when they can afford to hold a pen. ”

When he didn't say it, Chen Song didn't think of this. She looked at the plaque of the inn, which was quite different from the modern text, and even if she could write, it was full of mistakes and omissions. But at this time, the situation is urgent, and I can't take care of much. She had half a glass of cool warm water beside her, dipped her finger in it, and wrote on the dark wooden table: "When the thief comes, my sister is no longer in the room."

When she wrote these words, she faintly felt that another ancient style of writing emerged, as if she didn't know it in her heart, but she still remembered it in her hand. So I followed my instincts. The first few words are still jerky, and by the time the second half of the sentence is written, it is already quite fluent. After she finished writing a few words, they were all square characters. Everyone leaned over and looked at each other, and there was no doubt on their faces. It seems that the daughter of the Han family can indeed write at a young age.

She Changqi said: "She is not in the house, where did she go?" ”

Chen Song shook his head, dipped it in water and wrote: "There are horses in the circle, but there are replies."

She remembered falling from the second floor into the backyard when she was fleeing last night and saw a number of horses in front of the stables. Before, the third sister asked Ma to deliver the letter. If Ma had already returned, perhaps the third sister had left after receiving the letter.

She originally wanted to write the stable character, but she couldn't remember how to write this character, and she had no memory of the pen, so she had to change it halfway through writing. Not only is she half-illiterate, but the original Han Xiaomei doesn't know this word.

The chief saw him and said, "I'll be back before the hour." Originally, it was not urgent, and it was not a night walk. But because the girl of the Han family asked for it, she specially ordered the messenger to come back. ”

So he called a messenger and asked, "Can you give the reply to the Han girl?" ”

The messenger's face was tired, and he looked like he had not slept all night, and said, "There is no reply, and my subordinates have reported to Miss Han that they know." ”

"Didn't reply? What did she say? ”

"No," the messenger said, "she seemed to have expected it. ”

The swordsman asked, "Who is the recipient?" ”

The messenger bowed his head and saluted: "It's the county of Qi." The subordinates handed it over to the government office, and soon it was said that there was no reply and that they could go back to restore their lives. ”

A person in the hall said: "Is it Qi Dongshan's nephew?" The day before yesterday, I passed through Liangcheng and heard that Mr. Dongshan was personally guarding Tongling, and I was very impressed. ”

She sighed: "If his old man is not there, I am afraid that there will be fewer people who have fled in this county." ”

When he said this, he knew that he was speechless, and he was a little cramped, so he hurriedly changed the topic and said: "If it is a normal day, the Han girl is lost, I will report the matter to the county, and I can ask the township pavilions to send people to look for it, and the county will pay attention to check it...... But now at this time, I'm afraid I can't organize people. If Miss Han has relatives nearby, it is better to go to it. I'm here to keep an eye out for you on weekdays. If your sister comes to her, tell her where you are. ”

Although he said this, Chen Song looked at him and knew that he felt that not only would the third sister definitely not come back, but it was also unknown whether he could avoid it. When she heard this all the way, she also understood in her heart that the situation was very chaotic at this time, and everyone was too busy to take care of themselves. No one has to bother looking for a vanished girl anymore.

She thought of the female corpse on the side of the road, and her heart felt cold, and she thought: Less than a day ago, the third sister was still a person in the seat discussing etiquette, could it be that at this time, she was already in the snow ditch by the roadside?

And I thought, "Where shall I fall after today?"

Abu suddenly said, "If Sister Han has nowhere to go, you can go with us and go to my house to stay for a while." ”

After she finished speaking, she tugged at the placket of her brother's shirt, her eyes full of pleading. There was a trace of helplessness on the elder brother's face, and he turned to Chen Songzheng and said, "Although Abu is ignorant, his affection is sincere. If the little lady goes with us, the whole family will treat you as your own sister and try your best to take care of you. ”

Someone on the side coughed lightly, it was the sick-looking man from before, and said: "I see that this little lady is weak, and the two of you are going to Mobei, I'm afraid she can't stand the cold all the way." ”

He spoke in a flat tone, but with a subtle edge. The Abu siblings were surprised. Before the brother could reply, Abu opened his mouth and asked, "How do you know where we are going?" ”

The man did not answer. He said to Chen Song: "My surname is Xu, and I work under General Peng in Yongquan County. General Peng was your grandfather's student when he was in Yuzhou, and he is bound to entertain you with great care. Why don't you go south with us, and get in touch with your family in the future? ”

The two of them saw that Chen Song was young, and they both spoke very simply, but they were not contemptuous. Chen Song didn't expect that these travelers were only a one-sided relationship, but they were willing to shelter her, and she was both surprised and moved. But listening to these people, they all seem to think that the third sister has been killed.

She was frightened all night, and she already knew that in troubled times, life and death were only in a blink of an eye. But it is still quite difficult to immediately accept that the third sister is dead and start to find another way.

What's more, this matter is quite strange.

In her thoughts, since the third sister's letter was sent to Liangcheng. It's better to go to Liangcheng and ask. But she also knew that it was inconvenient for people to travel at this time, so she just went to the front to ask for an inquiry, and it took two days to go back and forth. Being able to take her all the way away is already a high wind and bright festival, how can you take her to find someone?

She sat in a daze. When the people saw her embarrassed, they did not rush her. After a while, the swordsman suddenly said, "If you don't want to go south, I'll take you to Liangcheng." ”

He added: "Miss Han may have revealed her whereabouts in her letter. I had an old relationship with Qi Juncheng, and when I arrived in Liangcheng, I went to ask him if he knew. If you have a clue, you can also ask him to send someone to help you find it. It was only a matter of days. When you can't find it, I'll take you to another relative. ”

He said it very methodically, but the head of the house said: "I don't understand what I said about joining the army. ”

He hesitated, and then continued after a moment: "When the army came to my post house, he used the token of Lian Shouyi, and he said to the southwest, why did he go to Liangcheng again?" What's more, if the Han family wants to find relatives, I'm afraid it's not easy, how to get in touch? It's better to let Mr. Xu take her south. ”

He said it very tactfully, and Chen Song listened to it: he felt that what the swordsman said was not credible, most of them were coaxing children, if he didn't say it directly in person, he might have to say that he wanted to kidnap children.

But Chen Song felt that this swordsman was very kind and had no intention of harming her.

The swordsman said: "I am an idle person, and I have no time limit to collect news from the north and south for General Lian. Although he can't take care of the children, Liang Cheng will arrive in most of the day, and he can ask the Qi family to arrange someone to take care of him at that time, which is not difficult. ”

When he said this, he couldn't help but smile when he saw Chen Song's eyes burning. When Mr. Xu saw it, he knew Chen Song's intentions, and said slowly: "Where the daughter of the Han family is going, it should be up to her to decide. But I'm afraid she's too young to tell the good from the bad, and now that I've seen it, I'll have to look at it for her...... Of course, there have been righteous people throughout the ages, and it is not possible for ordinary people to waste their efforts for women and children who do not know each other. If you have any relationship with the Han family, you might as well say it here, and let me rest assured. ”

The swordsman sighed, "It's not a secret, it's just a little embarrassing. ”

He reached out and untied something from the spike of his sword, and continued:

"When I was a teenager, I was very stubborn, I didn't like to read, and I was only willing to dance with swords. However, the rules of the family were very strict, and my father and I quarreled every day, and I ran away from home at the age of sixteen......"

He bent down and handed the thing to Chen Song, it was a black jade pendant, very delicate, shining with streamers. Chen Song felt very familiar. She looked at it for a moment, came to her senses, and took out the pendant that the third sister gave her around her neck.

I saw two pendants side by side, obviously from the same source, both carved with leaves, but one was slender and the other was in the shape of a forked feather. Chen Song turned it over and saw that the back of the pinnate leaf was engraved with the word "Zhi". She looked up at the swordsman and saw that his eyebrows were indeed somewhat similar to the third sister.

When they saw it, they were amazed. Mr. Xu was interested and asked: "In the early years, I heard that Mr. Yuzhou had a young son, who was born with immortals and went to the mountains to learn the Tao, didn't he step down?" ”

The swordsman smiled bitterly: "I don't know anything else, if you talk about the prodigal who can't make it, I'm afraid it's me." ”

He added: "Ah Liu is the eldest daughter of my second brother, and I have been familiar with her since yesterday. But I have been gone for more than ten years, how can I call myself an elder, and I feel inconvenient to recognize each other. Originally, I wanted to go north together and take care of it secretly. Unexpectedly, something like this happened. ”

Mr. Xu nodded and said, "In this case, my group went all the way south, from Wuxian to Lingchuan. If Han joins the army and does not dislike it, he will come out of Liangcheng, and within ten days, he will be able to catch up with us. ”

Chen Song listened and knew that he was still not at ease, so he told them the route. In this way, if Han Zhi can't find a family to sustenance, she can catch up with the Jiang family.

She was grateful in her heart, but saw that Mr. Xu turned his face sideways again, and said to the boy beside him: "The youngest daughter of the Han family is not yet high in the sword, and she is unwilling to abandon her relatives and friends in danger. The ancients said that words and deeds teach, how can it be a lie? ”

When he said this, although it was praise, there was a vague sigh. After that, he shook his sleeves and got up, waved at everyone in the hall, and left with the group.

Since the swordsman confessed that he was the elder of the Han family's sisters, the rest of the people didn't ask any more. Abu Yi was reluctant to give up, and when she saw that Chen Song's luggage was missing, she gave her two sets of warm clothes and shoes. After the two parted. The freshly baked uncle asked, "Do you have anything else to bring?" ”

Chen Song hesitated for a moment and pointed upstairs.

Han Zhi didn't ask much, and took Chen Song upstairs. The ground hadn't been cleared yet, and only a row of small, blood-colored footprints led all the way to the bedroom. The furniture in the house fell down, and the blood splashed everywhere, which was shocking.

Chen Song endured the smell of blood and looked around the room. She wanted to find the scribbled note left by the third sister. But there were no more pieces of paper.

Why did the masked man take away even the notes he had written? Is it really for the sake of robbery?

Her confusion was even greater, and there was a faint fear in her heart. Han Zhi patted her on the shoulder and led her downstairs.

The two of them passed by the court, and the snow flakes flew, and they saw several corpses still lying in the distance. Han Zhi said: "The head of the dormitory has been entrusted to bury them. ”

Chen Song nodded, and then turned back to look at the ditch next to the road. After half a day of heavy snowfall, those faint black shadows have disappeared.

Han Zhi saw her intentions and said, "I'm just afraid that I can't bury the poor people in the world." ”

The head of the house had ordered someone to set up the horses for the car driven by the third sister, and sent another person to drive for them, and returned to Liangcheng. Han Zhi thanked him, led Chen Song to the car, and asked, "You are ranked seventh, what do you call your family?" ”

Chen Song still didn't know what the name of this Han Qi Niang was, she was originally a little worried about being discovered. But after some life and death, he felt that it was just a trivial matter, so he stretched out his hand and drew a "pine" character on the wheel of the car with a thin layer of snow.

Han Zhi looked at it and said: "My four brothers are all named after Fangcao, but none of them have become the pillars of the court as my father wished. When his grandchildren were born, he named them after the trees and said, "The building will fall, the grass is perishable, and I hope you will be born as an arbor." ”

When he said this, as if in his heart, he looked up into the courtyard.

Originally, there were many good trees planted in this court, but when it was cold winter, they flew white everywhere, and all the trees were bleak and bare, and there was nothing to be seen.

There is only one big tree covered with snow, and its branches are knotted, pressing down a pale green, which is different from the sparse trees next to it.

Han Zhi looked at the branch and said, "It's a pity that this old man is getting more and more stupid, what a heavy name this is." ”

Chen Song didn't know why, and looked up at him. Han Zhi smiled, reached out and stroked her forehead, and said, "I'll call you Xiao Qi." ”