Cao Mansion, front yard.

Cao Yong, who is gentle and elegant in brown robes, stands side by side with his old grandson.

Cao Yong: "Isn't Mr. going to meet him?" ”

Who does this 'he' refer to, Cao Yong didn't say, but Sun Qihao knew it in his heart, he let out a long sigh: "It's gone, some people can't get along with themselves, why bother, they will only be boring, I often hear people say that life is unsatisfactory eight or nine times out of ten, and I can talk to people without two or three, but I feel that the red dust is rolling, the trivial things in the world are just those three, three, two, two, two, and two, and a pot of water and wine can say a seven, seven, eight, eight It's ridiculous. ”

As he spoke, Sun Qihao shook his head with a wry smile, raised his head and looked at the sky, looking helpless.

For a moment, it was impossible to tell if he was laughing at others or himself.

Cao Yong stood silently, quietly standing beside the old man who had pursued him for half his life, looking at the blue sky together, the two of them were in the northwest, and they were also looking at the northwest.

······

After a while, Wang Ling returned to the front yard angrily, but only saw Cao Yong alone, and the prefect was stunned when he saw the anger on his face, and thought that his daughter had made some trouble with this young man again.

"Why is Xiaoyou angry?" Cao Yong wondered.

Wang Ling: "What about the dead old man?" ”

Cao Yong looked at Wang Ling for a moment of silence, and then looked in the direction of the gate: "Mr. is gone." ”

Wang Ling stood on the spot, the original anger in his heart disappeared, and there was a trace of panic in his eyes: "When did you leave?" Where did it go? ”

Cao Yong did not answer him immediately, but handed over a letter.

Wang Ling snatched the letter away, and the letter was crumpled in his hand by him, and the originally flat envelope was like toilet paper, crumpled by him.

After snatching the letter, he didn't even look down, and rushed out of Cao's mansion without looking back.

"Dad, why did that man run out?"

Wang Ling said angrily that he wanted to find trouble with the old man, but Cao Shuangxu chased him out without worry, leaving Cherry alone in the kitchen to prepare lunch.

Cao Yong looked sideways, glanced at Cao Shuangxu, and just said lightly: "Mr.'s dishes and chopsticks are withdrawn." ”

After saying that, he turned around and left, but after walking a few steps, he suddenly stopped, turned his head and added to Cao Shuangxu: "Don't withdraw, let someone notify Xiaoyu and come to eat at home during the lunch break." ”

The previous sentence Cao Shuangxu understood, a little lost, and before he could say a few words to Mr. Jiu'an, he had already left, and the latter sentence Cao Shuangxu didn't think much about it, and casually called a sprinkled servant, and the servant was ordered to go out to find soup and fish, and Cao Shuangxu returned to the kitchen a little depressed.

Wang Ling came to the street, his eyes searched for the figure of the old grandson along the road on the left and right, and remembered that the old grandson once said that he was going to Jinzhou, Jinzhou is located in the three northeastern states, that is, it is bound to go to the east gate.

Roughly confirming the next direction, Wang Ling ran along the main road all the way to the east gate of the city.

Ghost old thief, I want to run away without saying hello, let me catch you up and beat you so that you can't get out of bed! Wang Ling scolded angrily in his heart as he ran.

There are a lot of pedestrians on the road, and when I saw a beggar rampage on the street, the pedestrians avoided it one after another, and it was indispensable to scold a couple of sentences.

But until the magnificent and wide city gate appeared in front of him, Wang Ling didn't see the familiar back.

Standing at the city gate, looking at the big word 'East Gate' on the city gate, Wang Ling really had a sad mood for the first time after coming to this world.

Although they didn't spend a long time together, those times together were like slides, scribbling through his mind over and over again.

It's not that he can't accept the separation, but he doesn't want to be so unclear about the separation.

What a hello······ Wang Ling has mixed feelings in his heart, he has no sense of belonging to this world, and Lao Sun Tou is his only friend worthy of his sincere treatment.

His heart suddenly moved, and he opened the crumpled envelope.

"Little Wang Ling, the old man is gone, you shouldn't be crying, right? I'm getting old, and I can't stand the hypocrisy when I separated, and I don't think you like it either, so I just agreed to it, and agreed to my goodbye.

Don't be sad, you and I meet is fate, although there is a banquet in the world, but I believe that you and I have not finished fate.

Sometimes seeing you, it's like seeing yourself when you were young, so I believe that you will have a great achievement in the future, everything about me, you will have the opportunity to know in the future, I have a dangerous future, leaving you in Qingzhou is for your sake, if you have a heart, you will do more for the people of Qingzhou.

Of course, if you don't bother to care about that, you don't have to force yourself, don't people live for a few years? No one came to this world for hardship and hard work.

Tang Xiaoyu is the daughter of my deceased, I don't ask for much, if you have the opportunity, please help her a little more.

As for what will happen to you in the future, and look at the future, if you and I still have the day to see each other again, don't beat my old bones, the old man is also a person who wants to save face.

The road is long, take care of yourself.

Sun Qihao! ”

If you don't repair it, the day of goodbye, you will be blown up by the hammer! Wang Ling scolded in his heart, but his face was very soft.

A parting letter, just a few sentences, was written on four pages.

"Waste of paper." Wang Ling muttered in a low voice, smoothing out the wrinkles on the letter with his hand.

At this moment, several shouts floated behind him, and the sound came from far and near.

"Brother Wang Ling, Brother Wang Ling......"

Turning around, a strong man dressed as a simple and honest servant of the Cao Mansion was running towards him panting.

"You are?" Wang Ling asked.

The honest subordinate wanted to reply to him, but he felt a little short of breath, so he hurriedly leaned down and gasped for a few breaths, and only after he was breathing steadily did he explain his intention: "The master is not worried about you, so he ordered me to chase you back, and by the way, I will tell you that the meal is ready, and they are waiting for you to go back at the house." ”

"Let's go back." Wang Ling carefully took the letter into his bosom, and as he passed by the servant, he patted him on the shoulder.

The servant hurriedly followed, and the two followed the road they had come from and turned back to Cao's mansion.

······

Qingzhou City, the eastern suburbs, at the foot of a remote mountain.

The old beggar was standing, looking at Qingzhou City in the distance, without too much expression on his face, but there was a gentle smile between his eyebrows.

A gust of wind swept through his aged body.

At some point, a figure dressed in black appeared strangely behind him.

A black mask obscured the upper half of the man's face, his sideburns were white, and his deep eyes gave him a weather-beaten and shattered feeling. Judging from the figure, this person was a man, and when his eyes looked at the old man, he unconsciously dimmed a little.

"Father-in-law, since you have arrived in Qingzhou, why don't you meet me." There was a reproachful tone in the man's tone.

The old man didn't turn around to drive him, still looking at Qingzhou City in the distance.

"You are depressed in your heart, why should you see each other? When I saw it, I had nothing to say, just like this. ”

The man in black was silent, quietly looking at the old man's back, and only when he saw his tattered rags that could no longer be called clothes, the man's eyes under the mask fluctuated slightly.

Sun Qihao: "It's okay, let's go back." ”

"But, my father-in-law ......"

Sun Qihao: "Needless to say, the fault of the things back then was not you, Tang Gufan and Yang Hui will not attribute the mistake to you, but you can't let go of the stubbornness in your heart, when you invited yourself to Qingzhou, I know your mind, it has been eight years, and you should let go." ”

The man in black was silent, looking down at a white-petaled wild flower at the old man's feet, his eyes full of self-blame and remorse.

The old man turned around and had been absent for many years, and when the figure of this righteous son came into his eyes again, he could no longer see the young man who was dashing with a sword and had a flamboyant and free temperament, and there was only a middle-aged man in front of him who was pressed by the guilt in his heart and made it difficult to get on the road.

"Alas," the old man sighed, a little distressed and a little disappointed.

He took out a piece of tightly wrapped in rags, this thing Wang Ling had seen a long time ago, once thought it was the old man's hidden dry bun, righteous words wanted to grab it and share it, but the old man said that it was a relic left to him by a deceased person, and Wang Ling knew about it and did not fight its idea.

Deceased ......

Isn't it the deceased, in Sun Qihao's heart, the lively and flamboyant young man is dead, and only the man living under the mask in front of him is left.

The old man stuffed the thing into the palm of the man in black hanging on his thigh, this action was very light, and the man in black almost did not react in the process, but the moment the thing was in hand, his body was slightly stiff.

The man looked at the thing in his hand, vaguely guessed something, and used the qi to disperse the wrapped strips of rags, revealing the true face of such a thing, and the moment it entered his eyes, his pupils shrank.

That token, the whole body is as black as ink, engraved with dragon patterns, with mountains and rivers as the base, the front is engraved with the word Tianzhu, and there are two small characters at the bottom right of 'Tianzhu'.

Omen.

When he saw this token, the man's eyes under the mask suddenly turned red, looking at this token, he wanted to say something, struggled a few times, and couldn't spit out half a word.

The old man looked at him calmly, just watching quietly, and there was a light cry of birds around him, and the wind blew through his ears, which was slightly cool.

The two were silent, one looking at the object in his hand, the other at the child in front of him.

After a while, the old man opened his mouth to break the silence: "This heavenly decree was originally intended to be returned to you after you regain your strength, this thing is also a burden to me, so that my old bones are uncomfortable sleeping, and I have to worry about a thief at all times, since you have found it, I will simply leave it to you." ”

When talking about a certain thief, Sun Qihao's mind unconsciously appeared Wang Ling's face, and that face suddenly grinned at him, and he hurriedly spat it: "Phew, little rabbit cub." ”

The man in black was stunned, thinking that he was scolding him, and naturally thought that he had discarded his waist card and fled to Qingzhou, regardless of his behavior, so that his father-in-law complained to this day.

He was ashamed and bowed his head.

Just when the man buried his head in reflecting on himself, the old man suddenly spoke: "There is a kid who is in Qingzhou now, I asked Cao Yong to send him to the Street Division, I don't need you to take care of him, just look at it, whether it is life or death is his creation, of course, if I can, I hope he is alive and alive until the day I see him again." ”

The man pondered for a moment and said, "Is it the young man who made a big fuss in front of Cao's Mansion today?" ”

The reason why he knew that the old man appeared in Qingzhou was thanks to Wang Ling, the matter of Caofu ended at this moment, and after less than half a day, no matter how fast the rumors were, they would not be known all over the city, but this was only for the common people, for some people, not only did the news come quickly, but the content was also very detailed.

The big people in Qingzhou City, from the physical characteristics of the old beggar and Cao Yong's attitude towards him, are all guessing the true identity of the old man, and naturally they also know Wang Ling, the initiator.

Only a small number of people like the man in black can analyze that the old beggar is Sun Qihao.

The main reason is that Cao Yong looks easy-going, but he is extremely arrogant and disdainful of officialdom, so there are not many people who can make friends with him, and even fewer people who are respected by him.

And the few people, except for Sun Qihao, who has long since resigned, are still living in the temple.

If you think about it like this, it is not difficult for those who know the inside story to guess that Sun Qihao has arrived in Qingzhou.

It is precisely because of this that the man in black was able to rush to meet Sun Qihao before he left Qingzhou.

It's just that the man didn't expect that the young man who accompanied him would be so valued by his stepfather.

He secretly made a note that he planned to find an opportunity to contact the other party and see how the other party was different.

The corners of the old man's mouth raised, and he said with a playful smile: "That's an interesting boy, you just look at it, but this kid is very angry, if you can make him suffer some hardships, I am willing to laugh twice old man." ”

The man's eyes flashed slightly, he was not jealous of the old man's affection for the young man, but he was just curious about what kind of person would be the person who could make the world-famous old man in front of him appreciate.

The man respectfully said, "Do as you are told." ”

The old man is gone...... Facing the breeze of spring in the north, we departed towards the east.

"Where is the stepfather going?" The man in black said loudly.

The old man walked forward on his own, waved his hand behind him, and did not respond.

After seeing each other for a moment and separating again, the man in black glanced at the simple ink-like token in his hand, and just as he was immersed in the mood of sorrow, he suddenly saw the old man stop, turn around and turn back.

Sun Qihao walked back in his puzzled gaze, came to him, and handed over an old hand, this time there was nothing in the hand.

"Huh?" The man in black didn't understand what it meant.

"In order to stagger that little bastard, I forgot to entangle with Cao Yong's old boy in a hurry, give me your silver, I was a beggar for three months when I came, and you don't want me to beg along the street when I leave, right?" The old man's face was not red when he spoke, and his heart did not beat at all, and he did not feel embarrassed at all.

"......" was dumbfounded in black.

He only knew that his father-in-law disguised himself as a homeless person and entered the city today, and then went to the prefect's mansion, but he didn't know that his father-in-law was really one of the homeless people, and he spent three months begging on the streets...

The man in black didn't understand, with the status and ability of his father-in-law, why was this so?

I wanted to open my mouth to ask, but I suddenly thought of the temperament of my father-in-law, and I was afraid that even if he asked, he didn't bother to say, not that it was important, but that he had always been like this, and from time to time he wanted to disgust others, and if he asked, he would only be bored with himself.

Thinking of this, the man in black immediately swallowed back when the words came to his mouth.

He obediently turned out the money bag on his body and put it on the old man's unclean hand.

The old beggar cushioned, well, heavy, estimated that it was about a hundred taels, and he was very satisfied.

He smiled happily, and then hurriedly restrained his smile, and scolded in his heart, he was all contaminated with this stinky problem of seeing money with that little bastard.

On his side, he was ruthless with himself, and he was angry with the king's decree and caused him to lose his temper.

The man in black on the other side hasn't laughed from the bottom of his heart like his father-in-law for many years,

As if he felt that what he had given was not enough, he groped around with himself again, rummaged through it, and found a delicate dagger that seemed to be worth a lot of money.

He put it into the old man's hand without any distress.

"It should be able to sell for five hundred taels, please accept it from my father-in-law, I... After hearing your news, I was in a hurry to see you, and I didn't take anything else with me when I left. "The man was a little embarrassed, he hadn't seen him for many years, and he finally had a chance to pay respect, but he didn't bring enough silver.

Intentionally or unintentionally, his eyes avoided the old man's eyes, hiding his embarrassment at the moment.

After a while, the old man did not move, and the man in black was strange for a while, raised his eyes, and found that his father-in-law was staring directly at his waist, and there seemed to be a look of reminiscence in his eyes, as if he had fallen into a certain memory, and he was stunned.

The man in black followed his gaze, and his face under the mask was a little unnatural, just because the old man stayed on the half of the jade plaque hanging from his waist.

He was a little embarrassed and said, "This... It's not worth it..."

Xu is fang saw that he was a little distracted, Sun Qihao was stunned when he heard this, and then he came back to his senses and looked at this righteous son, and said softly: "Xiao Qi gave it to you, right?" ”

When the man in black heard this, his heart seemed to have been hit by a heavy hammer, and his breathing became disordered, and he tried his best to restrain his emotions and did not answer.

Sun Qihao stepped forward, patted this righteous son on the shoulder, and said with relief: "She doesn't necessarily want to see you like this, they are all waiting for you." ”

With that, he took the silver and the dagger into his arms, and turned to leave.

The man in black had mixed feelings in his heart, why hadn't he ever thought about getting back on the road? But over the years, countless nights, those who died because of him would always appear in his dreams, and the familiar faces passed in front of his eyes, and he woke up from his dreams several times to find that the pillows were wet.

This guilt is too heavy for him, so heavy that he can't take a step, how can he get out?

The man in black stood in place, silent for a long time, and suddenly heard the voice of an old man floating in the distance......

"The young man is chivalrous and carefree, and he is happy and does not know his worries.

was born to be a guest in the clouds, why did he disturb himself as a ghost prisoner?

The deceased is in tears, and Huang Quan looked back silently.

But Zeng sat up in shock, and the stars fell to the ninth stream of self-pity.

Every year is a cold winter month, and every year is full of red.

Qingsi has been frosty, and how many autumns should it be gone?

The Si people have passed away and will not come again, and Hongchen has passed a pot of wine.

Don't treat today as yesterday, and wake up from a dream and still be a young man. ”

The man in black froze there, trembling slightly, put his hands in front of him and shook his knees, and his knees fell straight to the ground, and the dust flew with the movement of his knees.

Finally, facing the direction of the old man's departure, he kowtowed three times.