From Huaiyang to Jian'an, the fast horse whip can be reached in two days at most, if it is a thousand miles of good horses, sweat and blood horses, plus the horseback rider's riding skills, that is, one day can be reached.

Shangguan Jiyue, on the other hand, slowly slowed down her horse on the road, as if she was waiting for something. Xiao Hong didn't urge, just quietly rode his horse behind her and pulled away for a short distance. Maybe it's because of the difference between men and women, or maybe it's other reasons, I didn't take the initiative to say a few words to Shangguan Jiyue along the way.

In the evening, the two stopped outside an inn.

The small inn is not very big, there are two small buildings up and down, about 20 rooms, the courtyard is surrounded by wooden fences on all sides, only two vermilion lanterns are hung on the two tall trees in front of the gate, and the two big characters of "inn" are written on them with a bamboo tube brush, and there is not even a name.

Xiao Hong took a few steps forward, stood side by side with Shangguan Jiyue, and arched his hand: "General Qi, there is only this inn within a hundred miles, so I wronged General Qi to stay in this small inn for one night, and it is not too late to go again tomorrow morning." ”

Shangguan Jiyue smiled, turned over slightly, and said politely: "Commander Xiao is polite, Qi Yu is a military person, and sleeping in the open is commonplace, and now it is good to be able to spend the night here and avoid the pain of night dew and white frost." ”

While the two were talking, the young shopkeeper had already trotted out to greet them, stood still in front of their horses, and looked at Shangguan Jiyue's eyes that lit up obviously, as if he didn't expect that there would be such a handsome man in the world, and he was stupid.

It wasn't until Xiao Hong said "cough" twice that the shopkeeper came back to his senses, scratched the back of his head embarrassedly, and said with a smile on his face: "Are the two guest officers going to live in the hotel?" ”

"Two upper rooms." Shangguan Jiyue and Xiao Hong turned around and dismounted, and handed the horse rope in their hands to the shopkeeper, "Take good care of the horses, and we will have to hurry tomorrow morning." ”

"Great! Rest assured, the small one will take good care of your mount! ”

After the two entered the store, they asked for two adjacent upper rooms on the second floor, and Xiao Hong politely said to Shangguan Jiyue: "After a day's journey, General Qi will go back to the house to rest for a while, and they will bring food to eat in a while." ”

With that, he turned around, pushed open the door of another room, and stepped in, without saying anything superfluous.

Seeing that the door of the room was about to close, Shangguan Jiyue suddenly opened her mouth and asked, "Commander Xiao, are you so relieved of Qi Yu?" Aren't you afraid that Qi Yu will run away? ”

Hearing this, Xiao Hong's movements on his hand froze, and then he laughed a few times, and said loudly: "If General Qi really wants to run, he will not follow Xiao to catch this day's journey, since General Qi has no such intention, how can Xiao spend it with the heart of a villain?" ”

Shangguan Jiyue showed admiration on her face, and arched her hand and said: "Commander Xiao is really a gentleman and frank, what Qi Yu said just now is really a moment of playfulness and curiosity, don't blame it." ”

"Could it be that in the eyes of General Qi, Xiao is the person who cares about the small belly and chicken intestines?"

"Huh?" Shangguan Jiyue was stunned for a moment, as if she didn't expect an unsmiling person like Xiao Hong to say such a stubborn thing, and couldn't help but raise her eyes to look at him. Sure enough, seeing a faint smile in Xiao Hong's eyes, he also hooked the corners of his lips for a while, and said, "Commander Xiao is upright and open-minded, so naturally he is not." ”

At this time, Xiao Hong's eyes suddenly lit up, and he glanced at the closed door of the opposite room without a trace, and said: "It's cold and the night is cold, General Qi has been in the dust all the way, hurry back to the house and rest." ”

After speaking, he didn't look at Shangguan Jiyue again, closed his big hand, and closed the door.

Shangguan Jiyue looked at Xiao Hong's closed door, lowered her eyes and was silent for a long time, turned around and returned to her room, when the door was closed, she glanced at the upper room directly opposite through the crack in the door, and sighed heavily in her heart.

The decoration in the guest rooms is simple and elegant, although there are no beaded curtains hanging, and the brocade curtains are icing, but there are many daily things that should be there. In this wild and desolate place, it can be regarded as "going to the house" like this.

After the shopkeeper quickly brought hot meals and tea, he respectfully retreated.

After dinner, Shangguan Jiyue sat by the window, letting the cold wind blow on her face, looking up at the dark night sky. There are no stars and no moon, and as far as the eye can see, except for the two red lights hanging high at the entrance of the small inn, they are all vast and inky, desolate and barren.

After a long time, she slowly got up, closed the window, turned around and walked to the bed, wanting to sleep peacefully. As if thinking of something, he turned around and walked to the door, opened the door, and looked at the door that was still closed on the opposite side for a long time, before lowering his eyes slightly, ready to turn back.

When she retracted her gaze, she suddenly saw a flash of cyan robe in the corner of the corridor on the right hand, her eyes lit up, and she quickly rushed out of the room and chased around the corner.

However, except for the empty hallway aisles, there was not a single figure. Shangguan Jiyue's eyes narrowed slightly, and she was surprised: Could it really be that she was dazzled just now?

At this moment, the shopkeeper retreated from a guest room diagonally opposite, turned around and saw Shangguan Jiyue standing in the corridor, slightly stunned, and then smiled all over his face: "Does the guest officer still need anything?" You just command. ”

"Was there a boy in Tsing Yi with a mask who came to stay just now? What room does he live in? ”

"The guest officer laughed, there are a few young guest officers living in the small shop, but none of them are wearing masks, I don't know which son you are talking about, guest officer?"

"No?! Are you sure you don't?! Shangguan Jiyue's eyes were shining, like sharp blades, shooting straight at the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper didn't seem to expect that this handsome and unparalleled young man would be so frightened when he was angry, and he was swept over by her so coldly, as if he was in an ice cave, and the chill was biting.

For a while, the shopkeeper's face turned pale and he snorted: "Just ...... Just after the New Year's Festival, the business of the small shop is very poor, counting the two of you, there are less than ten guest officers in the small shop today, there is really no ...... The masked boy you were talking about. You want nothing else...... The little ones stepped back first......"

Seeing that she didn't speak again, the shopkeeper carefully leaned his back against the wall and moved his steps little by little. After feeling that he had retreated to a safe distance, he ran down the stairs with his legs and "kicked".

Shangguan Jiyue stood in place, her eyes bright and obscure. After a while, she slowly turned around, looked behind her unwillingly, and then walked to her room.

At the moment when her figure disappeared around the corner, the window lattice of the guest room that had just been diagonally opposite slowly opened a crack, revealing a black black black iron mask.

The fingers holding the window lattice were pale and thin, the bare skin under the mask was also pale, and a pair of melancholy eyes stared at the position where Shangguan Jiyue had just stood through the mask, and remained motionless.

It was a long time before the window was slowly shut, making a barely audible sound. Immediately after, a violent cough came from the house.

The dim candlelight cast a long, thin shadow on the lattice, which bowed low, covered its mouth with a handkerchief, and coughed so that her shoulders trembled, and she could not straighten her waist. After a while, I saw him gently roll up the handkerchief in his hand and stuff it into his sleeve......