Section 6: Not being able to ask for it

In the evening, Song Tingyu woke up from meditation, and when he pushed the door out, he saw Li Yuntao using his dagger to cut a small wood carving that had no effect, and the black cat Phantom Night was squatting aside and pointing.

What a different kind of kid. The corners of his mouth hooked up a smile, if he changed to the children of ordinary people's families, it would be impossible to get along with a demon in such a short time, and even establish the initial sense of trust.

And the black cat phantom night is willing to instruct Li Yuntao to use the dagger skills, it is also rare, this cat is very arrogant, when he is in a good mood, he can say anything, and he is too lazy to take care of you when he is in a bad mood.

Li Yuntao heard the door of the wing room, turned his head to look, and saw a pair of amber vertical pupils that seemed to be like cats flickering with dazzling brilliance, as if two candles were lit up in the main hall where the optical fiber had been dimmed.

"Why don't you light the lamp, you're not afraid of not being able to see clearly and cut your own hand." Song Tingyu paced closer and beckoned to Phantom Night.

"Phantom Night said to exercise our eyes, and we are leaving soon, so there is no need to waste the candle." Li Yuntao put down the dagger in his hand and gave the unfinished wood carving to Song Tingyu to see.

The black cat jumped lightly and jumped on his shoulder, a tail like a soft ribbon around his neck and on Song Tingyu's other shoulder.

"What is this cutting?" Song Tingyu took the half-finished wood carving, turned around twice in his hand and looked at it, but he didn't see what it was.

"The missing arrow shaft, the Phantom Night said that the teeth of the tooth can be used to make arrowheads, which are sharper and more poisonous than ordinary steel forged arrows, and the effect will be better on both evil beasts and people." Li Yuntao said.

Song Tingyu's face darkened when he heard this, how could this cat demon say everything, and talk to the child about this kind of thing so early.

"You're a little short of this arrow, aren't you?"

"This is made to the size of my special crossbow."

"You still have a special crossbow?" Song Tingyu raised his eyebrows, "This size is suitable for hand-crossbow or arm crossbow, but your father is a fast catcher in a small town, and he will be willing to buy you this kind of exquisite ... Small toys? ”

Deadly little toy, he added in his heart.

"I made it myself, it's not a hand-crossbow or something like that, and the shape is different from an ordinary crossbow machine, so I'm not afraid of government inspection." Li Yuntao unconsciously raised his chin a little proudly when he said this.

Lao Tzu, as a traverser, although he didn't come with the system, he still has a golden finger. In the past ten years, other major events have not been completed, but this special crossbow machine is a proud work.

"Okay, if you like it, I'll go to the local magistrate to discuss the evil tonight, and you can go home and reunite with your father. If things go well, you'll have to leave me tomorrow. It's your last night together, you know? Song Tingyu touched the black hair on Li Yuntao's head and said.

"The rivers and lakes are far away, and I naturally understand this. But I think I can come back to visit my relatives in the future, right? Li Yuntao pretended to be mature and put on a fist-hugging salute.

"It's best to come back." Song Tingyu touched his chin and said meaningfully.

"Alright, let's go."

After that, the master and apprentice left the courtyard separately.

Coincidentally, when Li Yuntao found his father Li Lifeng, his father was also looking for him. He had already heard from his subordinates that his son worshipped the ranger immortal master as his teacher.

How much is the ability of the immortal master? At least he admired himself in his heart after experiencing life and death and bloody battles.

But if you want to say it, you can rest assured that you will entrust your son to the other party, but you are reluctant in your heart. After all, it is the only son of the father and son who have depended on each other for more than ten years.

"Daddy, you know everything about me?" When Li Yuntao saw Li Lifeng, he saw that he was wrapped around the small half of his body with a lot of blood-colored bandages, and he couldn't help but feel a lot of soft feelings in his heart.

"Stinky boy, it's just in time, send your good brother Zhang Goudan for the last ride, it's ready to burn." At this moment, Li Lifeng is standing by the pyre to maintain order, and the people of Jichuan still can't accept the fact that their relatives can't keep their bodies in the ground, and the families of many victims can't suppress the huge emotional tear in their hearts, pestering and crying around the pyre, and even want to snatch back the bodies of their relatives.

Among them, Zhang Qiming's father who sent the black-haired man to the white-haired man is the most, Zhang Qiming's father is a storyteller, and he is usually famous in Xiaoji Town for his sharp teeth and able to speak.

A group of injured catchers held him to prevent him from snatching back his child's body, so he scolded more fiercely and viciously, but everyone felt ashamed and didn't care about him.

Syllable~!

Li Yuntao went straight up, strode forward and slapped Zhang Dabai, and the whole person staggered and almost fell to the ground.

"Enough! You are scolding here, can your son live? In order to protect the people in this city, the eldest brother and my father here have risked their lives to fight against evil spirits. ”

"Zhang Goudan died, I can only blame him for his bad life, he bumped into the scene of the evil attack, and he didn't get away at the first time!" He stared at the middle-aged man who was a head and a half taller than him, but his momentum was not weaker than half a point.

"Phew! I've heard from a few other cubs, my family Qiming didn't escape because it was to help you, otherwise how could the other little beasts run out but my doll didn't run out. How good he is in this group of cubs, I know best as a father. Zhang Dabai was stunned for a while, and then glared back as if he had caught something. But no matter how you look at it, it's a little inward-looking, and the confidence is insufficient.

"Since I'm not afraid to talk about it anymore, you know that Zhang Dogan stayed here to help me, then you should also hear who snatched them out of the evil mouth, right?" Li Yuntao stepped forward without showing weakness and said as he stared at the bloodshot eyes of the middle-aged man.

"Zhang Goudan did save my life, I have saved him more than once, I killed the evil demon and avenged him, but he owes me more. Is that how this account is calculated? ”

"You told me that's how this account is calculated?!"

"We are a hero born in Jichuan, the most important thing is brotherly righteousness, even if he doesn't save me and don't help me, I call my brother a few years older than him, and I should save him. Aren't the other cubs like that?

And Zhang Goudan also saved me once at the moment of life and death, this is the brotherhood of life and death, why should I give him this life?

But now, even if I pay him for my life, will he be able to survive? Is this the time to talk about this?

My brother he was lying there! Don't I want him to be buried in the ground and join a good family in the next life?

But he is polluted by evil blood, and in a moment he will turn his corpse into a monster that is no different from the evil spirit, do you want to watch him become a monster, and then be seen as a broken corpse by these uncles and uncles? ”

Li Yuntao is so strong and domineering that he doesn't look like a teenager at all, Zhang Dabai only feels that it is actually Li Yuntao and his father who are standing in front of him and talking to him, the tall and mighty man who is still bleeding from the wounds on his body.

He pursed his lips, but he couldn't speak, took a few steps back and finally stood still, and finally sat down on the ground, whining and crying, snot and tears dripping uncontrollably on the ground, pitiful as an old dog about to die.

And Zhang Goudan's mother had been crying and fainting on the side, and now she woke up, and she just sat quietly on the side, quietly looking at her son who was lying on the pyre as if he was asleep.

"If you can't do it, let me give my brother a ride myself." Li Yuntao sighed, looking at the man who was still as fierce as a beast suddenly became so weak, and he felt uncomfortable.

These words should not have been spread out, but seeing that the injured uncles were scolded so badly and no one said a word, I couldn't get over that hurdle in my heart.

"You... You... Brother Yun...... I'll call you Brother Yun again, Qiming has your brother who has died, and this life is worth it. It's my incompetence as a father, who will only bark like a mad dog here, and will only play tricks in the nest, but I am really... It's really..."Zhang Qiming's father cried again halfway through speaking.

"Brother Yun, you go, send the dog for the last ride. My family Qiming calls you brother, no loss. The other dolls have already told me that it is no wonder that the uncles and brothers present do not need to die, and it is only to blame that my dog's life is not good. Don't cry, take one last look at the child. Zhang's mother walked in with a calm face and hugged her husband.

Li Lifeng saw that Zhang's mother had a wrong look on her face, and glanced at the two brothers next to her. And Li Yuntao nodded, took the torch handed over by the person next to him, and walked to the pyre silently.

I wanted to say something more, but when I walked to the pyre, a thousand words turned into a sigh. He didn't say anything, but threw the torch in his hand neatly.

The sunset is like blood, Xiaoji Town is close to the desert, and the sunset in the west is even more blood-red in the sky. Strange to say, the barren wind that had been going on for several days stopped inexplicably in the evening.

Watching the fire source on the torch gradually ignite the dry firewood, the firewood made a crackling and popping sound in the flames, the flying spark debris gradually flew and extinguished, and the billowing black smoke gradually condensed into a pillar of smoke and went straight to the sky.

When a person dies, it is just a handful of soil and a fire. What will I be like when I die?

Looking at the pillar of smoke leading to the sky, Li Yuntao couldn't help but wonder: Did Zhang Goudan climb up to heaven along this pillar of smoke? If there really is a kingdom of heaven. Or was he dragged down to the underworld by the bull head and horse noodles, went to drink a bowl of Meng Po soup in front of the bridge, and then reincarnated?

Watching the rising and surging tongues of fire devour the people on the firewood stack, the cries of the relatives of the surrounding corpses became more and more heartbreaking.

Sure enough, Zhang's mother rushed up at this juncture and wanted to jump into the fire to reincarnate with her son. was stopped by two catchers who received Li Bantou's instructions in advance, and watched his son completely cover his body by the flames and disappear into the blazing flames.

Quickly handed over Zhang's mother to Zhang Dabai, the man and then his daughter-in-law kept it to death, complaining while crying, complaining that she couldn't think about it so much, even if she didn't think about her husband, she had to think about the child in her belly, the child was not born and had to accompany her mother to die, how ruthless are you?

When the woman heard her husband talk about the child in her womb, she finally stopped struggling, and sat quietly and stupidly on the ground, watching the light of the firewood gradually replace the setting sun and become the only bright color in the night.

A fire burned for most of the hour, and when the fire gradually subsided, the darkness had already embraced Xiaoji Town, and every household in the east city began to hang up the lights, and there were also sporadic windows in the west city with lights on.

But on this day, it is destined that many families will never be lit up again.

The bones of the corpses burned by the firewood are only a few people who may be infected with the evil blood corpses, and today due to an evil calamity, there are far more than these few dingkou, and the injured are even more multiple.

After collecting the ashes and cleaning up the fire, it was already dark and I couldn't see my fingers. Li Lifeng, who was injured tonight, had no task and walked home with his son, and the father and son walked side by side on the familiar streets, but they were silent and did not speak.

A whole group of heavily armed city guards on the street ran from the direction of the east gate with heavy steps, and the father and son hurriedly stood on the side of the street to make way. The outstretched hands of these city guards may not be as good as the brothers of the patrol room, but the killing skills of the military array are beyond the ability of the stragglers of the patrol room to catch up.

"It seems that there is a big movement at night, and this is the ...... of the entire East Gate guards" Li Lifeng was the first to speak, and as he was talking, neat and heavy footsteps sounded in the direction of the North Gate and the South Gate. A dozen or so armored cavalrymen rode their horses and ran through the middle of the road, and the long knives hanging on the side of the saddle were nearly two feet long.

"The whole city guard has been mobilized. The county lord who saw the dragon without seeing the end made me a little impressed. Li Yuntao remembered the words of the Phantom Night Cat Demon, and had a good impression of the county order in his heart.

At this moment, a man dressed as a servant on horseback stopped and stepped off the horse, sat on the saddle and hugged his fist and said.

"Li Jialang, it turns out that you are here, and I am looking for you. The county magistrate's order, the brothers who patrol the house and the messengers in the yamen will not sleep tonight, and we have to go to the city wall to guard the city gate.

If there is a strong man in the family, please also trouble the Li family to come forward to talk about one or two, and lend people to defend the city. Tonight, the city guards are going to go out of the city with the immortal to get rid of the trouble, and it is really not good for Xiaoji Zhencheng to have no one to guard the palace. ”

"It turned out to be the Chen guard in the yamen, so I'll go and gather people." Li Lifeng hurriedly hugged his fists and replied, this Chen guard is the guard responsible for the protection of the county master, don't look at the level of the clothes worn by the servants, but the status is not lower than that of Master Qin, and he is also a good hand in Xiaoji Town, some people in the yamen say that Chen guards are not visible on weekdays, and the kung fu under his hands is afraid that it is a few points higher than Li Dalang.

Li Lifeng and Chen Shiwei have met a few times, and they can feel that each other is a good hand, but they haven't tried it, and they really don't dare to say that they can be better than each other.

"It's important to get down to business, you go home and rest by yourself, and tomorrow it's over, and I'll tell you about today's business."

Yuntao, you have your own ideas since you were a child, and I don't know how my own children are different from other children's children when I am a father, I only know that you are more sensible than other cubs when you are young, this time you fought with the evil spirits, and you did a good job! ”

Li Lifeng turned his head and stretched out his hand to touch the black hair on his son's head, but he patted him on the shoulder halfway.

Seeing that Li Lifeng and his son beside him had asked him, Chen Guards knew about the matter, so he rode his horse away.

"So that the people of the city know that my Li family has a heroic son and a young man. He's a man who stands up to the sky. Daddy Li grinned a little ugly, but it made it easy to feel his simple joy.

"Dad, you have something to do, just go, wait for me to go home and get the guy, and come to the city to help." I will go to the second uncle's house to cut two catties of pig's head meat and put on a pot of wine, otherwise I will be hungry in the middle of the night, and I will be frozen by this barren wind. ”

"Okay, it's still thoughtful that you kid is thoughtful, just keep it on Lao Tzu's account. Come back to the West Gate to look for me. Li Lifeng readily agreed.

The father and son said goodbye, watching their son slowly leave, Li Lifeng's teeth rubbed in his mouth, his cheeks agitated up and down, and his face gradually became ugly. Then he raised his hands and slapped them on both cheeks, and when he put them down, he was already smiling.

"I have to be a grandson again, how can I let this little devil see it." As he spoke, Li Lifeng turned around and walked towards the streets and alleys where the big families in Dongcheng lived.

It is said that Li Yuntao went home to discuss all kinds of matters, and when he reunited with his father in Xichengtou, it was already after eight o'clock in the evening.

Li Yuntao, the head of Xiaoji Town at night, has not come up yet, and today is the first time, and as soon as he came up, he was taught a lesson by the freezing air that was much colder than in the daytime. Quickly put on a piece of thick clothing that you had brought in your package.

The section of the West City Gate guarded by Li Lifeng was guarded by the brothers in the patrol room and the yamen, and due to the limited manpower, only one person could stand every 20 meters or so. The patrol house originally had two shifts of 20 people, but after a battle a few days ago and during the day today, there were a total of nine active brothers left plus Li Lifeng himself, and this 300-meter-long city wall could only be taken care of with the support of five people from the county government's yamen.

So as soon as Li Yuntao came, he was supported by Li Lifeng and gave the five people a pot of wine, a pound of sliced pig's head meat sprinkled with sauce and spicy sauce.

In this way, he still has three catties of meat and two pots of wine left on his side to share with his brother. The brothers in the patrol room were not completely unprepared, they each took out the steamed buns, pickles, and meatloaf prepared by their mother-in-law and aunt, and handed them to Li Yuntao with a smile and roasted them on the stove in the city gate tower, and made an appointment to eat and drink together in the middle of the night when they were hungry.

Li Lifeng saw that the nine people could divide the two pots of wine, so he asked his son to find the cheap Xiaoyao and fetch a big gourd. No way, who asked Li Yuntao to bring the three pots of wine is the expensive and small osmanthus brew, and the small wine pot is not much bigger than Daddy Li Lifeng's fist.

However, the taste of osmanthus brewing is mellow, the aroma lingers for a long time, and the stamina is enough but not on the head, and drinking a pot at the vigil can warm up the body without delaying things. Li Yuntao is not wrong to bring osmanthus to brew.

This is also to temporarily pull up the head of the city to defend the city, and there is no inspector to supervise it, if it is an ordinary soldier of the city guard, how dare to drink so blatantly in the middle of the night to keep warm? Take a sip and hide in the far corner battlement of the city wall.

At night, the lights of Xiaoji Town gradually faded away, darkness shrouded the earth and this border city, and occasionally a torrential wind blew, and it only stirred the Donghuang military flag planted at the head of the city to shake lazily twice.

The father and son stood at the head of the city, looking at the long dragon of torches that had gone far to the northwest, and only some outlines could be faintly seen. One person took a pot of osmanthus brewing, took a sip, and said a few words.

The main thing is that Li Lifeng said, and Li Yuntao listened. The father started by cutting his son out of his mother's womb, saying that he was named a celestial evil star, and the people of the same clan hated and avoided him.

said that he was a little man who wanted to feed and change diapers, how could he understand these things? At that time, I was numb and begged my grandfather to tell my grandmother, but it was the girl of the Sun family who sold tofu on the corner of the street who was righteous and reached out to help.

He also said that he was different since he was a child, he had his own ideas, he always liked to tinker with some strange things, and he saw that his son had no mother's pain and no mother's care, so he let him toss, as long as he didn't make trouble.

When it comes to practicing martial arts, Lao Li is very happy with a smile, saying that he is very much like himself, and he is a good material.

The child has no mother to talk about a long story, Lao Li drank wine while reminiscing with his son about the past memories of these years, sighing and sighing, the heroic and uninhibited coat of the past quietly faded unconsciously, leaving behind an old father who broke his heart for his son.

"Actually, there is one thing I have never dared to ask, but if things go well tonight, I will leave tomorrow, so I think it is better to ask now. Dad, you confessed to me, and they all said that I killed my mother, don't you hate me in your heart? Li Yuntao gritted his teeth and asked when Li Lifeng finished speaking and was immersed in the memories of his past life.

Li Lifeng's eyes were bloodshot at some point, and he pressed his palm on the weathered city bricks. Finely broken stones fell from under his palms, and he kneaded the city wall with his five fingers, but he didn't know what was kneading in his heart at this moment.

"Why do you ask that, you are my son, how can I hate you."

Li Yuntao handed over the wine jug that he had drunk in his hand, and replaced the ceramic wine jug that Lao Tzu had drunk empty.

"Every year on my birthday, you have to go out of the city to stay in the clan for half a day, and I think you are going to see my mother. How good the relationship between the two of you should be, you still can't let go of it after more than ten years. And you never said my mother in front of me, so I can sense that there is actually a threshold in your heart that you can't cross. Li Yuntao hardened his heart, opened his mouth, and used his white teeth to tear open the scar on his father's heart.

Li Lifeng's eyes turned redder, and he took a deep breath, breathing as heavy as a worn bellows. drank half of the pot of osmanthus brewed that his son had exchanged for him, and the wine overflowing from the corner of his mouth soaked his beard.

"I didn't expect you to notice it, I thought I was hiding it well." He took a pleasant breath of wine, wiped the corners of his mouth, and gently rested the flask on the wall.

"You're not a woman, where do you get such good acting skills?" Li Yuntao leaned on the side of the city wall and said.

"Some things are too clear, it's not good."

"But if you don't make it clear, your heart will be uneasy. If you are not in your heart, you can't do things smoothly, I can't walk happily, and you can't live comfortably. ”

Li Lifeng's pupils shrank, and he threw a punch without warning, and it wasn't until the fist reached his forehead that Li Yuntao reacted, and it was too late to dodge. The two of them were too close, and they were close to a martial artist, and even the immortal master who was protected by mana had to weigh it, not to mention that he had only practiced half of his skills.

Syllable~!

It hurts, but it's not the kind of pain you imagined. Li Yuntao hugged his forehead and squatted down, squeezing out some tears from the corners of his eyes.

In the end, Lao Li sent his son away with just a snap of his fingers.

"It was my hand that cut you out of her belly..... If anyone killed her, it would be me.

I do hate you, she wouldn't have left me without you, and I hate you for torturing me for more than ten years after she left.

You know what? Stinky boy, your eyebrows and eyes are not like me at all, but they are like your mother to the bones. The older you get, the more tormented I become. And you are the most precious gift she has left me, and I will not let anyone hurt you again until I breathe.

At the end of the day, I think the reason I hate the most is myself. ”

Lao Li smiled sadly, and the hot breath from his mouth condensed into a particularly conspicuous white vapor in the quiet night sky. He held his head high and looked at the moonless and starless sky, and a few points of crystal flickered in the light of the brazier next to him.

"Daddy... I'm sorry. I didn't expect this to be the case, I thought you..."Li Yuntao looked at the water in the corner of his father's eyes, and knocked over the five-flavor bottle in his heart, leaving only unspeakable apologies and shame in the end.

In order to let himself go with peace of mind, he wants to tear open the old wounds that his father, who has been dependent on him for more than ten years, has managed to hide.

Just when the father and son were silent, in the far northwest, a large fire rose up, the fire first looked far away and only encircled a short line at the edge of the horizon, and then it was out of control, and the tongue of fire silently jumped up half of the sky.

The crimson flames tore through the cold and silent night, dyeing the small half of the picture as far as the eye could see was red and translucent.

The changes over there attracted the attention of the fast catchers on the city wall, who pointed out and asked from afar.

"It's done over there. The fire was so fierce that it was probably done. Li Lifeng hammered the city wall, and then turned his head to look at his son: "You little kid understands the feelings of a ball?" Wait until you say that your mother-in-law gave birth to a grandson to Lao Tzu, and then you will talk about these three words. Now you are not qualified. ”

"Since you said that you want to be the second hero in the world, then do it. Dad, I won't stop me, but the ugly words are in front, and if you can't be the second in the world, don't come back to see me. After you left, I married your aunt, although she didn't have your mother's water spirit, but she was really good to me. And the ass is big, and the chest is heavy, and he doesn't have to worry about eating ten or eight big fat boys when he goes back. If you don't come back, I'll assume that I haven't given birth to your son, and you're going to be far away from you anyway, out of sight and out of mind. ”

As he spoke, Lao Li punched Li Yuntao in the chest again.

"Humph! I know that you have taken a look at the chest of the widow Sun, don't say that the guy is afraid that he is not as big as a watermelon, I am greedy when I see it. Li Yuntao was punched by his father on a thin layer of chest muscles, grinning in pain. This time it was much heavier than the flick of his fingers just now, and he could hear the echo inside his body.

"That's your stepmother, you are not allowed to be greedy, and greed is also Lao Tzu and your future brothers. It's called a rule, you know? Lao Li glared at him, like a leopard.

"Phew, only the state officials are allowed to set fires, and the people are not allowed to light lamps."

"Lao Tzu has a big fist, and Lao Tzu has the final say."

Day 2

One hundred and thirty of the 200 city guards who had gone out of the city to fight last night returned, and the other twenty-seven were killed in battle and cremated on the spot, bringing back only ashes. As for the injured, it is said that more than half.

In fact, it was not yet dawn when they returned, and now they had already returned to the camp under the arrangement of the military attache to rest and recuperate, and as for the battle report, the invitation to merit, the list of casualties, the damage of equipment, and other details, the county order and the military attache jointly discussed the details, and issued a document to report to the authorities.

A battle may take only one night, but it takes days to prepare for it and wrap it up afterwards. Although Xiaoji Town and County took the initiative to attack this time, fighting unintentionally with intention, and facing an evil monster with obviously low intelligence, but because of the hasty preparation in advance, the plan was not made carefully enough, and the loss would be so big.

According to the military attaché's later statement, if there had been one more day to discuss how to attack, how to do it, and several coping strategies, the twenty-seven brothers who had died might have been able to return.

However, if the war is nothing, the evil beast will not wait for you for one more day.

West City Gate

At this time, it was just dawning.

"This time the evil beasts are clustered, not only the organization is clear but also the discipline is restricted, it is really strange, I must go deep into the desert to find out the reason, this matter must not be delayed, everyone, don't cross it, the rivers and lakes are far away from meeting each other. It doesn't have to be sent far. Song Tingyu looked around with his fists clenched, put his newly acquired hat on his head, and jumped on the horse in a dashing manner.

"The rivers and lakes are far away, and we will meet again." Li Yuntao's eyes were red, tears were already filling the frame of his eyes, he held back his crying strongly, and stepped on the jujube red horse sent by Zhang Da Baihua with his fists.

Those who came to see him off at the gate of the city, several blood brothers of the Lao Li family, and a group of fast catchers, government officials, and city guards who had fought side by side. There are also several families in the West City who were saved by the immortal master. plus a group of friends and family members who were saved by Li Yuntao.

The young man was dressed in a brand-new suit, with a strangely shaped crossbow machine and a sword with a simple scabbard and a slender and elegant long sword with a simple hilt on his back, leaving a slightly immature and thin back, clamping his legs and tapping the horse's belly with both feet, and riding the horse to keep up with the master who went first.

The lonely figures of the two horsemen gradually drifted away in the dust raised by the horses' hooves, and looked far away in the depression and loess sand to the northwest.