In the desolate woods of the South Korean border, the blood-colored sunset in the evening shines on some skeletons in the barren forest, staining them with the traces of time. Some vultures, who had just eaten their fill, were resting on the trees, but they were startled by the roar of a teenager in the distance.

"Eh, let go of me, let go of me!" The young Wei Zhuang struggled to shake his arms to get rid of the two Korean guards who were clutching him.

"Master Weizhuang, don't make trouble, Lord Ji Wuye ordered me to ask you to return to the palace as soon as possible."

"I don't want to go back! I've been in that cold palace for thirteen years, and if I stay any longer, I'm going to go crazy! Wei Zhuang angrily broke free of the guard's hand, "Ji Wuye? What right does he have to let me go back? He's afraid that if I run away, it will ruin his big things in the future, right? Wei Zhuang rubbed his wrist and sneered, "You go back and sue him, let him rest assured, wherever I run, I will go back, I will kill him with my own hands!" ”

Wei Zhuang's eyes flashed with hatred: "I must, with my own hands, kill him!" ”

This kind of hatred has been with Wei Zhuang since the day he became sensible. The conspiracy of Ji Wuye and King Han took away all the happiness that Wei Zhuang deserved as a son of the Han family. He has been in the cold palace since he was born, and his heart is extremely cold, how can he forget these hatreds?

Wei Zhuang's father is the half-brother of King Han, who has been smarter and braver than King Han since he was a child, and is deeply loved by the old King Han and his ministers. Later, after the old King Han died, King Han, who had not been favored but was the eldest son of his eldest son, took power, and he was worried every day that Wei Zhuang's father would seize his throne, but because he was weak and incompetent, and had no military power, it was difficult to get rid of his younger brother.

One night, Ji Wuye, who was the deputy general, begged to see King Han and said: "Your Majesty has a few competent killers there, who can help King Han get rid of that thorn in your eye without fail." ”

King Han nodded happily, and Ji Wuye talked about the conditions: "After the matter is completed, please grant me the right to serve as a general." ”

King Han wanted to get rid of his younger brother, so he couldn't care so much, so he hit it off with Ji Wuye. On the second day, he secretly assassinated Wei Zhuang's father and gathered the military power in Ji Wuye.

The ministers of the Manchu Dynasty were shocked by this incident, and the people who complained about the grievances of Wei Zhuang's father, were assassinated by Ji Wuye one by one, and later, no one dared to mention this matter again.

At the same time, King Han accepted Wei Zhuang as a concubine because his mother was very beautiful. In order to keep the child, Wei Zhuang's mother cried all day long and did not let King Han get close to him, King Han was very upset, so he put it into the cold palace, thinking that when she recovered the pain of bereavement, she would be recalled to the palace. King Han slowly forgot about this "concubine", until the cry of a baby came from the cold palace, and when he entered the cold palace again, the queen mother of Wei Zhuang had already gone west.

King Han knew that this child belonged to his younger brother, so he thought about keeping Wei Zhuang in the cold palace for the rest of his life, not letting him study or study, and he would not become a climate, so he would no longer care about this matter. Wei Zhuang has been smart and dexterous since he was a child, and secretly inquired about his father and queen mother in the cold palace and the palace, and secretly asked the palace maids to bring some books for themselves, sword books or something. Slowly, he learned about his background, and he slowly became disgusted with this place.

Ji Wuye said many times that he wanted to kill Wei Zhuang, and King Han always waved his hand and said that God has the virtue of a good life, he is just a child, there is no need to kill him, wait until he is an adult. Ji Wuye was ready to do it himself, he was waiting for an opportunity, and Wei Zhuang was also waiting for this opportunity.

On this day of the autumn equinox, the people in the palace were preparing for the moon sacrifice ceremony at night, and Wei Zhuang secretly escaped from the palace according to the route that had been planned, but was discovered by someone with a heart. Wei Zhuang fled all the way to this barren forest, and the two guards who followed him all the way shot Wei Zhuang's horse and captured him.

Looking at Wei Zhuang, who was also disobedient to death, the two guards suddenly laughed: "Okay, Master Wei Zhuang, Lord Ji Wuye just likes your character of toasting and not eating and drinking." Hahaha! ”

When the young Wei Zhuang heard these laughter echoing throughout the dim barren forest, he was at a loss in his heart: "You, you, what are you going to do?" ”

"Lord Ji Wuye has long expected that you will not go back with us, so let's be in this barren forest," the two guards approached Wei Zhuang again, and Wei Zhuang retreated step by step, "Slaughter you little thing!" ”

The guards drew their swords and prepared to swing them at Wei Zhuang.

There were two swishing sounds, and the two stones were in the middle of the back of the guard's sword-holding hand, and there was a sharp pain, and the long sword fell out of his hand. Wei Zhuang nimbly passed under the guard's arm, snatched a sword, and kicked the other one up, sending it flying towards another teenager who was tumbling down from a branch. The boy took the sword, did a somersault, and stood firmly on the ground.

The two guards rubbed the backs of their hands: "Little rabbit cub!" Uncles, what are you meddling in! I don't want to live anymore! Then they exchanged glances and rushed to the two teenagers in front of them and behind them.

Even though he has a sword in his hand, he is still young, his martial arts are not high, and the sword does not fit together, so it is really difficult to face these two mid-level killers. After barely taking a dozen moves, the two teenagers leaned together, panting.

"Eh, what else can you do, you can't go on like this!" Wei Zhuang was very anxious.

"There are solutions, but I need your help."

"How can I help?"

"Bring me your bundle of hair!"

Wei Zhuang untied the hairband from his head, and suddenly understood something.

"Help me get on top." The young man in white put down his sword and ran away with Wei Zhuang's headband.

When the two guards saw that Wei Zhuang was the only one left, they smiled: "Look at it, look at it, your helpers have all run away, I'll see how long you can last!" Then he approached Wei Zhuang with a wicked smile on his face.

Wei Zhuang settled down, ran to the boulder next to him, focused his attention on the sword in his hand, and flew down from the boulder: "Go die!" He slashed at one of the guards, with great force, but was still caught by the guard empty-handed, and the guard was about to look up and laugh at Wei Zhuang, but saw Wei Zhuang's sly smile. When the guard held the sword firmly in his hand, Wei Zhuang took advantage of the situation and kicked himself fiercely in the stomach with his feet off the ground. The guard let go of his sword in pain, took a few steps back with his stomach in his hands, and just as he tried to stand up straight and fight back, he lay straight on the ground as if he had been hit hard by something in the back of the head.

Wei Zhuang, who had just fallen to the ground, quickly rolled over and got up, and pierced the heart of the unconscious guard with a sword.

This was the first person Wei Zhuang killed with his own hands, and he didn't feel guilty at all, he was afraid. He knew his hands would get more blood on them in the future. In this troubled world, there is no choice between life and death.

As soon as another guard picked up the sword abandoned by the white-clothed young man from the ground, he saw the bizarre scene of his companion being killed just now, and then looked at Wei Zhuang with blood on his hands, and suddenly panicked: "Who is it, who is hiding in the shadows?" The guard's face was pale, and he spun in place, for fear that he would be attacked from behind, and his trembling voice echoed in the dim barren forest, "You have the ability, you come out, and we will duel face to face!" ”

There was the sound of horses' hooves in the distance, and the person riding the horse was the young man in white just now. In his hand he held tightly the improvised slingshot made of Wei Zhuang's headband and forked branches, with which he had just shot the hard stone into the back of the guard's head, leaving him unconscious.

"Who should I be!" The surviving guard breathed a sigh of relief and smiled contemptuously, "Are you here to die?" At this time, he was quietly approaching Wei Zhuang in front.

Wei Zhuang was turning his head and grinning at the white-clothed young man who had come to help, completely ignoring the danger from behind.

"Be careful!" A clear voice could be heard in the distance.

Wei Zhuang hurriedly turned around, and there was a gust of wind in his ears, and he subconsciously dodged backwards to save his life, but he still couldn't dodge the sword. The sword slashed into the chest of the young Wei Zhuang, and with the sound of the skin opening the flesh, Wei Zhuang fell backwards.

The moment Wei Zhuang fell, a sharp stone pierced straight into the guard's forehead, and the guard's eyes still carried the joy of just cutting down Wei Zhuang, and then his pupils dilated, and he fell and died.

Wei Zhuang suddenly found that the young man in white was not light, and maybe the two would become like-minded friends in the future.

The sound of horses' hooves approaching, and the young man in white jumped off his horse. "How are you?" He ran over to check on Wei Zhuang's injuries.

The blood flowing from Wei Zhuang's wound had soaked the black robe on his chest.

"That's not going to work!" The white-clothed young man used his long sword to cut a long strip of cloth from the hem of his clothes, circled Wei Zhuang a few times, and bandaged the wound simply.

"Thank you! My name is Wei Zhuang, what about you? Wei Zhuang watched as the young man in white carefully knotted and tied the strips of cloth on his side.

"Gaine." The young man in white helped Wei Zhuang up, helped him on his horse, and looked at the woods that were getting darker and darker, "It's not too early, I have to take you to see Langzhong quickly, apply some medicine, and the wound will be healed." Then Gagne jumped on his horse.

"Can we not go back to South Korea?" Wei Zhuang said weakly.

"Well, that's exactly what I'm leaving Korea for." After speaking, Gai Nie hugged Wei Zhuang tightly to prevent him from falling, grabbed the reins, and hurried to the border of Qin.

When he rushed to the border of Qin and found the pharmacy, it was already late at night, and the pharmacy was closed, so Gai Nie jumped off his horse and knocked respectfully on the door.

"It's coming," the voice of the door opened, "it's so late, who is in any emergency?" The schoolboy in the pharmacy poked his head out of the pharmacy with sleepy eyes.

"My friend is badly injured and bleeding profusely, and needs to be seen by your Lang Zhong here."

"But my master is already asleep."

"Please." Gai Nie bowed slightly, took out some copper plates and put them in the apprentice's hands.

"Then you wait." Although the money was collected, the apprentice was quite reluctant to wake up his master, after all, it was a chore.

Gai Nie suddenly heard a middle-aged man's loud reprimand at the door, he felt embarrassed, but when he saw Wei Zhuang who had passed out on horseback, he was determined to cure him.

"Who's going to get medical attention?" The apprentice opened the door, and Lang Zhong walked out of the pharmacy and saw Wei Zhuang on horseback, "Carry him down!" The apprentice stepped forward to hug Wei Zhuang, and several people came to the pharmacy, lit the light, and asked Lang Zhong to check it well.

After Lang Zhong carefully examined Wei Zhuang's wound, he smeared some medicinal powder on Wei Zhuang's wound, bandaged it, and said to Gai Nie: "This deep flesh wound is easy to infect, but fortunately, the treatment is timely and there is no major problem." After that, apply these powders to the wound every day, change the gauze, and bandage them. Then he asked the apprentice to give Gai Nie a few packets of medicine and some gauze, "He still needs to be raised for a while, and he can't suffer from bumps in three days, remember!" ”

Gai Nie took the medicine, paid the money, thanked Langzhong, and left the pharmacy with Wei Zhuang on his back.

There happened to be an inn not far away, and when the door of the inn was opened, Gai Nie asked the boss for a room. I suddenly found that the money I brought was no longer enough.

"You must stay for three days!" He thought to himself.

"How many days does the young man want to stay?" The boss asked gently.

"Three days." Gagnie poured all the money he had left on the counter.

"That's not enough money." The boss said after counting.

"If you don't have enough money, I'll make up for it as a buddy here!" Gai Nie said sincerely.

The boss looked at his childish face, then at Wei Zhuang on his back, and his eyes fell on the golden hair band on Wei Zhuang's head: "This hair band is made of good material, let's use high-grade silk!" You can cover half a month's room fee, are you sure you want to earn money here? ”

Gai Nie looked at the sleeping Wei Zhuang on his back and nodded: "Hmm! ”

"This money can stay for one night, and come and work with me tomorrow morning."

Gai Nie nodded happily and carried Wei Zhuang to the room.

In the early morning of the second day, the autumn was crisp, and Wei Zhuang, who had been in a coma all night, opened his eyes and wanted to get up and sit up slowly, but the wound on his body hurt so much that he sweated, but he still couldn't sit up.

The door to the room opened, and the guy dressed as Gai Nie entered the room with a basin of hot water.

Putting the basin on the chair next to the bed, Gai Nie slowly helped Wei Zhuang sit up, and asked with concern, "How is it?" Does the wound still hurt? ”

Wei Zhuang nodded, but he was wondering what Gai Nie's strange outfit was doing.

"Are you working here?" Wei Zhuang took the towel handed over by Gai Nie, and asked Gai Nie while wiping the sweat from his face.

"I earn some money here to prepare myself for going out to study and apprentice in the future." Gai Nie subconsciously said a lie, and then changed the topic, "You lie down here, Lang Zhong said that you can't go on the road for three days, I will bring you three meals a day, and I will come back to change your medicine later." I'm going to get busy first. With that, he walked out of the room.

Wei Zhuang watched Gai Nie's back leave, and suddenly moved, his thirteen-year frozen heart was a little sour for the first time. Although he lives in the cold palace on weekdays, there is no shortage of people to serve, but this young man who met in Pingshui not only saved his life, but also took care of himself so much, he really has never met such a person.

He thought of the group of palace maids and guards who circled around him every day, they always had a sense of fear of him, they wouldn't really get close to him, and they didn't know what he really needed. They just think it's good as long as their heads don't leave their bodies. This is not to blame them, Wei Zhuang thought about it, as a courtier, a guard, a palace maid, this kind of little person who is accused of zhì, as long as the master is unhappy, his head can fall to the ground. This kind of life controlled by his own predetermined fate and living a life in fear, Wei Zhuang doesn't want it, he wants to become a person who controls the fate of the people in the world.

For Gai Nie, Wei Zhuang feels that this person of the same age as himself is not simple, he has good skills, has a good temperament, and is also a person who can do a great job. However, now, Wei Zhuang wants to come to the question of how to repay Gai Nie and how to recuperate from his injuries.

Gai Nie, who had been busy all day, dressed Wei Zhuang with medicine, bandaged the wound, cleaned up the bed, and went to his bed to prepare for rest.

After a boring day, Wei Zhuang wanted to inquire about Gai Nie's life experience, so he opened his mouth first: "Gai Nie, what nationality are you?" ”

"Qin people."

"Seeing that you are so polite and polite, you must be from a big family, right?"

Gai Nie smiled and shook his head, "I was born into a poor family," he got up and blew out the oil lamp next to the bed, "When I was six years old, my mother died, and my father was dragged to be a soldier, and he never came back. Before he became a soldier, he gave me over to a carpenter, where I became an apprentice. My master carpenter is a man who has a lot of knowledge, and he is the one who gave me these rituals. When I was ten years old, the master said that it was time for me to go out and wander, so he gave me some silver taels and let me go. So I went to South Korea and stayed there for two years. ”

"How have you spent the past two years?" Wei Zhuang was very curious, how a ten-year-old child could make a living in a foreign country.

"I first worked as a handyman to earn some money, and then I asked where there was a master who taught swordsmanship." Gai Nie looked at the roof blankly, "In this kind of troubled world, if you don't learn some skills, how can you survive?" ”

"That's right!" Wei Zhuang agreed.

"After two years of staying, I didn't find a suitable place to learn martial arts, so I was ready to leave, and then I met you." Gai Nie turned over to face Wei Zhuang and whispered, "Wei Zhuang, why did a Korean royal son like you fall to the point of being chased and killed by a killer?" ”

Wei Zhuang laughed when he heard it: "Do you know my identity?" ”

"In South Korea, he was personally 'taken care of' by Ji Wuye, and he dared to call Ji Wuye's name directly, and threatened that the person who wanted to kill him must not be a mortal."

Wei Zhuang withdrew his smile and silently told about his father and queen mother.

He didn't know how he could trust this young man so much, but after he finished speaking, he felt a lot more comfortable, and Gai Nie was still saying some comforting words on the side, which were simple but very effective. The two talked until late before falling asleep.

Wei Zhuang's injuries healed quickly, the wounds had healed in three days, and he was already alive and kicking in five days. Every night, Wei Zhuang would ask Gai Nie to tell him about his adventures over the years. These things are very fascinating for a young man who has been in the palace for thirteen years. Funny things will always win Wei Zhuang's laughter, and Gai Nie will also smile very gently.

One day, Ganie, who was free, sat at the back door of the inn and didn't know what he was busy with. Wei Zhuang sneaked close to him, trying to scare him from behind, but, "Don't sneak around in the back." ”

Wei Zhuang was immediately distracted: "What are you doing here?" ”

Gai Nie showed Wei Zhuang the results of his few days, which was a very sharpened and delicate wooden sword, and even carved beautiful stripes on the hilt.

"This wooden sword is very well sharpened." Wei Zhuang took the wooden sword, looked at it over and over in his hand, and swung it a few more times.

"If you like it, I'll give it to you." Gai Nie smiled and patted the sawdust on his clothes, looked at Wei Zhuang and said, "It's still good, right?" ”

Wei Zhuang nodded and raised his eyes to look at Gai Nie: "Then what should you do?" ”

"I'll do it myself. It's you, you don't have anything to defend yourself when you go out. ”

"Then you're welcome!" Wei Zhuang jumped away happily with his sword, Gai Nie looked at his back, and couldn't help but sigh, although Wei Zhuang had so much hatred in his heart, his smile was sometimes very warm.

When Wei Zhuang walked to the counter, some gossip came to his ears.

"That guy is so nice to his friend!"

"Yes, not only take good care of me, but also do miscellaneous work to earn room expenses, if I have such a friend, I will become famous in the future, and I must share half of his glory and wealth."

"As long as you are still famous, work hard for me!" The boss rolled his eyes at the guy who had just said something big, and the guy ran away stupidly.

Wei Zhuang returned to the house, put the wooden sword upright on the bed, and ran out of the inn.

In the evening, after another busy day, Gai Nie yawned, held the oil lamp, locked the doors and windows of the inn, extinguished the rest of the oil lamps, and walked towards his room. Tonight is exceptionally quiet, the residents have already rested, and even the street is not suffocating. Gai Nie also quietly went upstairs, every time he stepped on the stairs, the wooden planks of the stairs creaked, and when he stepped on the last staircase, he seemed to hear someone calling him, the voice was very eerie: "Gai Nie ......" He raised his head, and what caught his eyes was a head that covered his invisible face with his hair, and his whole body blended with the darkness.

"Ahh Gagnie couldn't help but scream in fright.

The person in the shadows immediately stepped forward and covered his mouth: "It's me, Wei Zhuang!" ”

Gai Nie broke free of Wei Zhuang's hand: "It's a big night, why are you so scary!" Tie up your hair! ”

Wei Zhuang shook his head, revealing half of his face: "It's hard to figure it out now" and then pulled Gai Nie into the room, "I used the hairtie as a headband, paid off the room fee, and bought you a robe, you see, it's about the same as yours!" Wei Zhuang happily pointed to the neatly folded white robe on the Gai Nie bed.

Gai Nie picked up the clothes and found that this one was very different from his original one, because there were many more lines on this one, and after unfolding, the lines on the entire robe looked atmospheric and solemn, plus some black edges that still had lines, so that the color of the whole robe did not look monotonous.

"You try."

Gai Nie put on this robe, and a kind of chivalrous spirit spontaneously appeared: "Thank you, thank you!" He happily couldn't speak.

"It's okay, it's okay," Wei Zhuang smiled and jumped onto his bed, looking at Gai Nie, "Even if it's a parting gift." ”

The two have been in this inn for seven days, and after seven days, Wei Zhuang's injuries are almost healed, and both of them are ready to go their separate ways. At the end of the seventh day, they drank wine in the house and told them what they were going to do.

Gai Nie took out a red hair band from his pocket and handed it to Wei Zhuang: "Don't go out and be scary!" ”

Wei Zhuang took it, combed the messy hair, fixed it with a hair band, showed his face, and smiled at Gai Nie.

"What are your plans?" Gai Nie filled two bowls with wine.

"The Qin State is so big, let me take a look at the Qin State first!" Wei Zhuang looked at his emaciated face in the bowl, and felt that he couldn't bump too far.

"Then you have to be careful, don't mess with those high-ranking people and officers and soldiers, recently the Qin State implemented the law of Shang Ying, and used the law to cover up the righteousness, after all, it is the law formulated by the King of Qin, and if the civilians touch the law, they will touch death." Wei Zhuang nodded and took the wine handed by Gai Nie, "Your injury is just right, and your body is still weak, drink less, I'll drink it first." Ganie finished drinking the wine in the bowl.

Wei Zhuang also drank most of the bowl to show his sincerity, this wine was really strong, he had never drunk such strong wine in the cold palace before, so hot that his tears swirled in his eyes, in order to divert Gai Nie's attention, he quickly took over the topic: "What about you?" ”

"When I go to the Wei State, I will take the Qin State as the last place to try my luck." Gai Nie took another sip, "Today, the Qin State is the most prosperous, I think in a few years, the Qin State will disintegrate and unify the vertical and horizontal and dominate the world." ”

"Although the Qin State is a big country, the strength of other countries is not weak, and it seems that it will take a while for the King of Qin to dominate the world."

"No matter what the world holds, I hope we can survive during this time." Gai Nie picked up the wine bowl after speaking.

Wei Zhuang also poured wine and raised the wine bowl: "We take three years as an appointment, and on the day of the autumn equinox in three years, we will meet here again, and when the time comes, we will see you and leave!" ”

"A gentleman's word!"

"It's hard to chase a horse!"

"It's a deal!" The two of them finished the bowl of wine and burst out laughing.