A gust of west wind suddenly began to hunt, and with a "click" sound split the lonely tree on the edge of the cliff, and fell straight into the bottomless Wanzhang Gorge, and only after a long time did I hear a faint echo. The sky hung low, and the black cumulus clouds fell down in a thousand weights, as if to crush all the ridges of the heavens and the earth in the world.

Suddenly, a terrible eagle cry sounded in the dead silence of heaven and earth, and immediately, a murderous plainclothes team stepped on the dusty road and rushed towards the edge of the cliff.

Through the thin grass gaps, there were two pairs of frightened and helpless eyes looking straight at the approaching group of centaurs, watching them rein in their horses on the edge of the cliff, drawing their long knives with white flowers, and looking around fiercely for something.

"Look carefully! I saw that the kid was obviously fleeing in this direction, and I was right! ”

The two children hiding in the grass trembled as they saw the big knives poking in this direction step by step, and one of the older children raised his rotten and purple hand, untied his clothes, and threw them to the younger children.

The little junior brother looked at the clothes handed over by the senior brother, and suddenly understood what he meant, his eyes were full of tears, and he shook his head violently: "The person they are looking for is me, senior brother, don't go out!" We're hiding here, and they, they're not going to find out about us! ”

The senior brother looked at the group of people approaching step by step, and couldn't bear to look at the glimmer of hope in the little junior brother's eyes, so he put his hands that were already festering and inhuman, and pulled the corners of his mouth bitterly, staring at the red eyes of the little junior brother desperately and firmly:

"Xifeng, listen to me, it's not a pity for the painter who wasted his hands to die. Today, if that group of people fails to kill the person they are about to kill, they will not give up. You listen to your brother, stay here and live. In other days, you still need to find that person to settle the new and old accounts! Got it? ”

The footsteps outside the grass were getting closer and closer, and the senior brother didn't care about the little junior brother's desperate efforts to stop him, so he ripped off the junior brother's clothes and changed them on himself, and then suddenly stood up from the grass and ran out.

When the people outside saw that the child they were looking for suddenly appeared, they quickly picked up the long knife, and with a "rubbing" sound, a white light rushed over, piercing the child's heart from the back, and with a "poof" sound, the hot red blood gushed like a pillar, staining the left half of the face of the little junior brother hiding in the grass.

The senior brother fell to the ground on his side, and the blood on the blade splashed on the dry grass drop by drop, and he raised his hand tremblingly and gently gestured to his mouth: "Shhhh

The little junior brother opened his mouth wide, but he didn't dare to make a sound, he bit his trembling hand tightly, and the muddy tears flowed silently with the blood stains on his face, and he watched in a daze as the senior brother tried his last strength to turn over and fall from the edge of the cliff, leaving no trace of the group except for a pool of blood that was still warm......

"Teacher, brother, don't ——!" The wind that practiced through the hall stirred the quiet night in the grass hall, and was suddenly broken by this frightening dream. Dressed in a moon-white robe, Childe woke up from his slumber and sat up, his thin face reflected in the soft yellow candlelight.

Among the Han men, there are not a few people who have faces like crowns of jade, but this son has more temperament; There are many men with outstanding temperament, but they lose a little bit of his delicate skin.

"What's the matter, Thirteen Less? What's wrong? A young man in black with a sword on his back hurried over when he heard the sound.

"It's nothing, I just lay down on the desk and took a nap and said some dream talk."

Reflecting the candlelight, he was still sleeping, with a pair of peach blossom eyes slightly open, more like evil and charming, pure and demonic, and the bottom of his eyes was deep and slender, as if he was secretly filled with unspeakable thoughts and plans. The way of the world in the dark let this picturesque young man - painting thirteen, in the late autumn night in another country, sad about the moonlight.

"Thirteen less, no wonder you are trapped like this. You've been painting day and night these days, is there too much mirage on the caravan's side? ”。

After painting thirteen absentmindedly said a light "um", his eyes fell on a half-dried ink mirage on the table, and after silently remembering "the fifth hundred" in his heart, he picked up the small silver scissors on the desk casually, and while trimming the excess candle wick, he lowered his eyes and asked the young man in black: "Changling, how is the matter that asked you to inquire?" ”

"As Thirteen Young Men expected!" Chang Ling's eyebrows flew, and he replied with admiration, "Just after the winter solstice the day before yesterday, Dayin posted a notice for the opening of Chinese paintings, but well, who issued this notice, you can't guess the thirteen young people!" ”

The thirteen pairs of eyes were not shocked, but stared at the dancing candle flame steadily, and replied lightly unsurprisingly: "The opening of Chinese painting, the grand event of the country, once every ten years, the winter solstice - this is the old example of Da Yin, of course, the announcement of the repair of the painting was promulgated by the Hanlin Painting Garden in the palace, I am not mistaken?" ”

"Thirteen young people actually know so much! However, the last point is that Thirteen Shao said wrong," Chang Ling raised the corners of his mouth, and wanted to sell Guan Zi, but he couldn't wait to follow up and said: "It's strange that this session of the opening of the Chinese painting promulgated is not an ordinary announcement, but it is actually the holy decree of Emperor Dayin's imperial pen!" The holy decree said that a reward should be offered to the world's first-class hand-made painters to enter the palace to repair Chinese paintings! It's crazy among all the artists in the world! ”

"The Divine Decree?" The hand that painted the thirteen candles paused slightly, frowned, rolled his eyes slightly, and asked, "Can you ask, which is the Chinese painting to be repaired this time, and why does it have such a status?" ”

"It's a huge long painting called Firefly!" Chang Ling inquired early in the morning, and replied with a flying expression, "The holy decree issued by the emperor is called the 'Firefly Order' because of its name." ”

With a "pop", the palm of the thirteenth hand shook, and the small silver scissors of the candle cutting in his hand fell to the ground suddenly, his eyebrows twitched tightly, and he repeated in disbelief:

"Fireflies?"

A huge painting about 20 feet long slowly unfolded in the mind of Hua Thirteen, and the memory of a long absence was not blurred by the distance, and he could still clearly remember the trend of every stroke and every inch of color on that painting. His calm eyes suddenly lost calm, and let the cool breeze blow outside the window, but he was unconscious for a long time before he pulled the corners of his mouth with a smile:

"Unexpected... I've been waiting for 10 years for this painting......"

The surprise and surprise that flashed in the thirteenth side of the painting changed back to a calm and calm look in a blink of an eye, and then asked Xiang Changling: "The person I asked you to check, can you find it?" ”

"Found it, thirteen young guess what?" Chang Ling couldn't hide his surprise, and continued to reply one by one, "This person is actually still a woman!" Right now, she is in Ding'an, the capital of Dayin, and it seems that she has lived for a long time and will not move elsewhere for a while. ”

"Woman?" Painting Thirteen's eyes were lowered, as if thoughtful, and he muttered, "That's right." It would be strange if the corrective technique on the rivers and lakes was "unrecognizable to Meng Po" if it came from a man's hand. Did you find her name? ”

"Jingmo."

Painting Thirteen silently recited the name several times in his heart, and was silent for a while. After a long time, he breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had finally made a decision, and confessed: "Changling, there is something that you need to do as soon as possible." ”

"Early tomorrow morning, you will check each one according to the list contained in this list." Painting Thirteen turned around and took out a roster from the depths of the wooden cabinet, handed it to Chang Ling's hand, and added, "The words are engraved by the sun, which is convenient for you to read." ”

"Good look, so suddenly took out this roster?" After Chang Ling took the roster, he "read" a few pages with the touch of his fingers, and a pair of thick eyebrows couldn't help but curl up, and asked worriedly, "What is recorded above is the details of all the caravans that the Thirteen Young Men have collected for the Khan in these years in the desert!" Could it be that the Khan doesn't believe in the Thirteen Youths and is asking you for this list? ”

"It's not that he wants it, it's me who wants it."

Hua Thirteen smiled at it and replied lightly, "After you finish it, don't go back to the cottage, take the roster and go directly to the Taya Palace to find me." ”

"In the palace?" Chang Ling put the roster in his arms and asked puzzledly, "Winter is coming soon, judging from previous years, the Khan should be busy preparing for the 'Winter Treasure Ceremony' at this time, right?" Moreover, after the ceremony, there are seven days of Dharma to be done, how can there be time to summon the thirteen young people? ”

There was no time—a voice echoed in Thirteen's heart. The "Firefly Order" from Da Yin can be described as traveling thousands of miles a day, let alone seven days, and any more day of delay will be torment and variables for him.

"I've been here too long." Hua Thirteen's eyes were slightly sluggish, he exhaled lightly and deeply, and said slowly, "It's time to go back." ”

"That's right, Thirteen Young hasn't seen the Khan in the palace for a long time, and the Khan must also miss Thirteen Young." Chang Ling's eyes were straight, and he couldn't hear where the thirteenth painting said that this was here, and where he went back, but he continued to worry: "It's not early, do you still have a painting to make tonight?" ”

"Hmm. The last one. Painting 13 looked at the white rice paper spread out on the desk, his eyes turned slightly, and the bottom of his eyes was covered with thick ink, covering up the only remaining soft light, calm with three points of determination.

When Chang Ling heard this, he obediently retreated and stood aside as always, sometimes grinding, sometimes pouring tea and silently accompanying each other. Painting 13 lifted the brush, but hung his wrist and did not put it down.

After a long time, he moved his wrist, calmly walked the pen on the rice paper, slowly sketched an outline, and then, with the momentum of the big waves washing the sand, like a river rushing to the sea, walked on the pen and paper. Such a joyful energy in one go is not so much the demeanor of a famous painter, but more like a mute who has eaten a big mouthful of Coptis chinensis and finally can speak and vomit quickly. After the painting, he closed the pen neatly, but the hand holding the pen seemed to be full of contradictions, curled up slightly.

"Huh? Thirteen less, why is there one less stroke this time? Chang Ling had been listening carefully to the movement of the thirteen strokes from the side, and after hearing him stop writing, he couldn't help frowning and asking puzzledly, "The thirteen young painters have never been more than thirteen strokes!" ”

"You heard it wrong. It's the same with this painting. Painting Thirteen replied casually without waves. As soon as he raised his eyes, he could see that Changling was listening to his own paintings.

Before painting thirteen, I only knew that his paintings were good-looking, so there were many people who watched his paintings, so many that they could line up from the thatched halls of the desert to the capital gate of Dayin. But since he was accompanied by this honest and pure person, he realized that his paintings might also sound good. Chang Ling's appearance of listening to the painting made him feel at ease, and this peace of mind seemed to be a rare comfort in the desert.

Painting 13 slowly rolled up the ink-stained painting and carefully placed it into a long, elaborate paulownia box. In the depths of the night, he carried the long box to and fro in the thatched hall, his gaze swept over the wooden cabinet, under the bed, behind the curtains, and finally landed on the beams of the inner room.

After he put the lacquered paulownia painting box on the beam, he took half a step back, glanced at it from a distance, and a smile as light as the moon rose on the corner of his mouth, and raised his head to the moth-proof and anti-corrosion paulownia wood and muttered:

"'Brother Tongmu', if the return date is expected, I really don't know if when we meet again, it will be you or me who will be more eroded."

Outside the thatched hall, the moon hangs in the air on his head, a river of yellow sand lies quietly and quietly, he likes to come out and walk in the second half of the night when he finishes painting, and a stone path in front of the hall has been polished very bright by his heart-to-heart footsteps. He looked left and north in the direction of the Taya Imperial Palace deep in the desert, and then turned his head to look at Ding'an, the capital of the Great Yin that had been separated for many years outside the desert.

It's time, he thought. It's time to go back and see for yourself how the snow that covered everything quietly ten years ago has gradually cleared up after a little snow.

The cold night wind blew on Hua Thirteen's face, and in a trance, he didn't know how many times he felt an incomparably real burning sensation on the left side of his face, as if the hot blood of his brother had never been washed away before he died. He couldn't help but quickly lift his cuffs, trying to wipe the blood off the left side of his face.

However, the blood in memory cannot be erased. He wiped it heavily a few times, and then slowly reacted, he drooped his eyelids, snorted a dry muffled smile in his nose, and had to slowly lower his cuffs, and looked up gloomily from the bottom of his eyes, and recalled a name in his mind:

Jingmo .......

The wind on the plug swept the yellow sand barrier violently and mercilessly, and under the shadow of the sun, a graceful figure was galloping on a horse, like a lonely Hong flying across the vast sand sea. At this moment, a "ding-dong" bell sounded on the horizon, and two dusty camel teams came in a mighty manner, and the sound of galloping horses' hooves gradually slowed down.

"It's the Thirteenth Prince!"

On the two big camels in the lead sat two men in exotic costumes, one of whom was a big man with a big head full of wrinkles and yellow sand embedded in his face, and said respectfully to the painting thirteen, "The thirteen princes are going to the palace to see the khan in this direction?" ”

Painting Thirteen bowed slightly, and greeted: "Leader Assanji, and you want to lead the team to the Central Plains?" ”

"Our caravan, what else can we do but go back and forth from south to north and from north to south!"

Assanji smiled with a smile on his face, and squeezed his eyebrows as if he was talking about it, and said, "The Thirteenth Prince is a first-class celebrity around the Khan, and I still have the same old saying, please advise the Khan when the Thirteenth Prince is free, and make less Tower Arrow coins!" Year after year, seeing that the money in his hand is becoming more and more worthless, the camels at the leader of the caravan are hungry and thin! ”

"An emaciated camel is bigger than a horse." Hua Thirteen lowered his eyes and took out something from his bag and handed it to Assanji, and replied lightly, "Now, after the Taya coin circulates throughout the desert, the trade route is prosperous, and Asangi is cheap and good." ”

Asangi took over a few mirages handed over by Painting 13, took out a bag of heavy tower coins as usual, and said with a smile: "Where and where, among the merchants, who doesn't know that 'if you want to control the desert, you must hold Danqing'?" It all depends on the mirage painting of the thirteenth prince that I can lead the team smoothly! ”

One hand to pay the money, the other hand to hand over the painting, in addition, the painting thirteen had no intention of doing more, not deep or shallow smiled "um", then turned around and hit the horse and stepped on the sand and left, only to hear Assanji behind him pull a thick voice, pointing to another young leader beside him, and shouted from afar: "Thirteen sons - my brother is the first time to lead the team across the desert, and I hope that the son will give him this treasure when he is free another day!" ”

When the new team leader who was traveling with Assange heard this, he was even more puzzled: "Brother, who is this?" Why do you have so much respect for this Han man? What is the treasure that Fang just shouted? ”

Assanji patted the man on the shoulder, looked back at his subordinates who were six or seven meters away, and said mysteriously:

"I was begging him to paint a mirage for you! You are the new team leader, and there is a saying that you have to know, 'If you want to conquer the desert, you must hold Danqing', which refers to the mirage made by this young man, or painting sweet springs, oases, and beauties. But whenever the caravan is in distress and the people's hearts are distracted, I go out alone and spread this long scroll on the sand, which is also strange, and the mirage in the painting will immediately jump out, just like the real thing! If you can make everyone not rush, you will always turn danger into a disaster. With this, this man became famous in the desert in a few years, and besides, despite the fact that he was a Han, he could make the Khan treat him as a brother. Who doesn't know how much the Khan hates the Han people, it can be seen how simple this young man is! ”

When the new team leader heard this, he couldn't help but be amazed, and hurriedly hugged his fists to thank him for his affection. Next, Assanji let go of his voice and said aloud:

"There is a saying in the Central Plains and the desert over the years, brother, you must have heard it, and the pen is shocking——"

"Du Mu Thirteen Lang! Ay? Brother, you just called him...... Thirteen sons! I should have thought that such a young man and such a painting skill, who else but him! ”

The two of them looked at the back of Thirteen and drifted towards the direction of the towering Imperial Palace in the center of the oasis with the lingering sound of the phrase "The pen is shocking, and I admire Thirteen Lang alone", Assange retracted his gaze, and carefully packed the newly acquired mirage into the depths of his bag as if it were a treasure.

Painting thirteen fast horses riding the wind, in a blink of an eye has arrived at the gate of Taifang Palace, as the pearl of the desert of the Taya Palace, the palace wall alone is more than ten times heavier and thicker than other places, and a layer of three-foot thick dolomite is built outside the palace wall to resist the severe cold of the desert.

Draw thirteen dismounts, gallop to the palace gate, show the waist card given by the Khan himself, the guards all bow and salute, and open the palace door. He climbed the stairs and looked at the familiar main hall of the palace.

The porches are all inlaid with amber as the base, decorated with the newly unearthed whole piece of jadeite wool, not to mention the sandalwood on the cloud top as the beam, the hall on the fan gold as the pillar base, and the treasure in the hall on the top of the hanging a huge bright moon pearl, shining. Although it is not as exquisite as the Central Plains Palace, it also shows a jade-like gold-like beauty. This tower is the first generation of the founding of the country, and its Khan's prowess can be seen.

Outside the gate of the main hall, the palace people saluted respectfully when they saw the thirteen paintings, but they were embarrassed and stopped:

"The Thirteenth Son came unfortunately. The Khan was busy preparing for the Winter Treasure Ceremony, and had to watch the Nu Dance as usual in the evening, so he did not have time to meet the Thirteen Princes for a while, but as usual, he had already arranged a first-class lodging for the Princes to rest, and he summoned the Princes as soon as he was free. ”

"I'm not looking for Khan."

Painting Thirteen asked slowly and unhurriedly, "I'm looking for the dance team." ”