In the first year of Yanxi, there was a severe drought in Shangtai, and hunger was everywhere.

A large number of displaced people fled to the rich land of the Central Plains, but the old, weak, sick and disabled were unable to migrate, confined to their homeland to survive the rest of their lives.

Every day people are dying, and death has become the most common thing, and the mass graves are full of bones, and the crows like clouds are noisy on the dead trees, staring at the dying people in the distance.

In a year of disaster, nothing is prioritized, and the most important thing is to live.

There are three teenagers in the mountain temple in the northern suburbs of Shangtai who are facing this big thing.

They are orphans, they don't care about heaven and earth, and they encounter a year of calamity, although the tree moves the dead and the people live, but they will never doubt that they will die on the way to escape the famine, whether they die of hunger and thirst, or be killed by the hungry, they will not escape death.

So they chose to stay and survive, relying on the mountains during the day, whether they could eat or not, as long as they could fill their stomachs, it was a good thing, and at night they returned to the dilapidated mountain temple on the mountainside but barely sheltered from the wind and rain to rest.

"Brothers, I'm going to die."

A thin teenager leaned against a locust tree and said with a smile.

"Xiao Qi, don't talk nonsense, if you hold on for a while, you will definitely be able to find food, our life is hard, and the thief can't take it if he wants to."

Another taller teenager crouched down beside him and said.

Xiao Qi turned sideways and lay on the ground with difficulty.

"Big brother, you don't have to worry, I don't want to die, I'm just sleepy and want to sleep well." ’

The young man who was called the eldest brother said with a solemn face: "Don't lie to me, rabbit cub, if you die, my second brother and I don't have the strength to dig a pit for you!" ”

"Don't worry, when did I lie to you......"

Xiao Qi fell asleep groggily before he finished speaking.

"Second brother, you are guarding Xiao Qi here, and I will look for something to eat, I haven't eaten for four days. If you are hungry for two or three days, let alone Xiao Qi, we won't be able to stay up. ”

The other thin boy sitting under the tree didn't say anything, just handed him the bamboo pole in his hand.

The tall boy took the bamboo pole, supported his body with the bamboo pole with difficulty, and slowly got up, and staggered towards the depths of the mountain forest.

Hunger made him have to stop and rest after a few steps, and he walked and searched for something to satisfy his hunger.

I don't know how long or how far he walked, but his consciousness gradually blurred.

He only remembered to walk forward, like a puppet walking mechanically, and he didn't feel that he had gone from day to night.

The moonlight sprinkled coldly on his body, adding a little desolation.

His eyes were dim, he couldn't lift his head, he walked like this, just when he was about to lose the last trace of clarity, his feet suddenly sank, he broke out in a cold sweat, and the person instantly sobered up.

He found his feet in the mud by the white light, and he hurriedly looked around, and found that it was a small dry lake, and before he knew it, he had reached the middle of it.

Because of the great drought, this small lake is also a little silt in the middle of the lake, and he happened to step on it.

He slowly walked out of the middle of the lake, and found a collapsed thatched hut in front of him, and there seemed to be a vegetable garden in front of it.

He hurried to the vegetable garden, and when he got closer, he realized that the vegetable garden was indeed a vegetable garden, but the things planted had already died, and only the yellow leaves were spread on the ground.

He lay down in the vegetable garden in disappointment, looking at the sky, tears did not drip out but did not know it, lying on a nameless fire, turning over and digging the land with his hands frantically, his nails were broken, and his hands were stained red with blood.

Digging and digging, his fingers touched a hard object, and when he dug it out, it turned out to be the rhizome left in the ground by dry licorice!

The boy cried with joy, and he didn't care about the dirt or not, so he stuffed it into his mouth and chewed it heavily.

A sweet earthy smell mixed with earth rippled in his mouth, making him want to shout in satisfaction, happiness is nothing more than that.

But he didn't dare to stay long.

Taking advantage of the recovery of some strength, he quickly picked up the bamboo pole in his hand and dug up the ground, digging up the ground frantically.

He was a little uneasy, he was afraid that his brother under the locust tree would not wait for him to return.

Digging up a handful of licorice roots, he took off his rags and carefully wrapped the licorice roots and tied them to his chest.

He didn't care about the injuries on his hands, picked up the bamboo pole and ran to the old locust tree without stopping.

After two hours of fumbling he could finally see the outline of the old locust tree, but the closer he got closer he felt more and more frightened.

When he trembled and walked to the foot of the locust tree, he found both of them lying motionless under the tree, he quickly threw away the bamboo pole, trembled and probed their snorts with his fingers, and found that there were still snorts.

He collapsed on his buttocks, and finally got a breath of turbidity, muttering, "It's okay, it's okay, it's good that you're not dead." ”

"Bunnies, wake up, and if you don't eat something, you're going to sleep as long as you want!"

The boy patted the two of them on the cheek affectionately.

Xiao Qi woke up slowly, his eyes were dilated, and he finally saw the person in front of him clearly.

He was so hungry that he couldn't even speak, the boy quickly fed Xiao Qi some licorice root for him to chew slowly, and after he sat up with Xiao Qi in his arms, the other thin boy was almost awake, and he fed him some licorice root.

Then he divided the licorice root he had brought with him into two parts and put them in their hands, and when he had done this, fatigue struck, and he finally could not hold it anymore, and fell into a deep sleep by the trunk of the tree.

When he opened his eyes again, all he saw was Xiao Qi's smiling face.

When he asked, he found out that it was already the next morning, and he pushed Xiao Qi away, stood up and moved his aching body.

Xiao Qi leaned in with a smile on his face and said, "Big brother, do you still have licorice root, give me some, that thing is so fucking sweet!" ”

He glanced at Xiao Qi and said angrily: "Dare to love you both finished eating, that's what we ate for a few days, and I see that the death date is a few days ahead of schedule after you two eat at one time." ”

Xiao Qiyi said with a bitter face when he heard this: "The second brother didn't eat much, he gave me more than half of his food and asked me to save some food, I couldn't help eating it all for a while, I knew that I didn't want him, so I could save a little, and now I will starve again......"

As he was talking, the second brother in Xiao Qi's mouth also came back with no result, and happened to hear their conversation, and quipped: "Xiao Qi, if I starve to death first, I will rely on you, I will pester you every day to see how you sleep at night." ”

"Okay, pack up your things, my brother will take you to a good place, and make sure that you two will wake up laughing when you both dream at night!" He said mysteriously.

As soon as they heard this, the two brothers glanced at each other tacitly, and at the same time turned around and quickly packed up the package, saying that the package was actually just a few jars, a few flints and a knife wrapped in coarse cloth.

After tidying up, the three of them ran to the vegetable garden.

It is indeed a full stomach to be powerful, and the original two-to-three-hour journey took less than two hours to reach.

The brother looked at the large vegetable garden in front of him and laughed stupidly, such a big vegetable garden, I really picked up a treasure, I can't talk about being full, but my brother's life is ironclad.

After a short rest, they cleaned up the collapsed hut into a corner where they could shelter from the wind and rain so that they could sleep at night.

When the sun was setting after doing this, they took advantage of the afterglow to dig up a lot of licorice roots.

In the evening, they built a bonfire and sat around it and chewed licorice.

The young man who was called the eldest brother by the two looked at the two people who were playing around beside him, and couldn't help but recall the time when they met him:

At that time, he was just a teenager who couldn't keep up with the pace of escaping, so he had to look for wild vegetables all over the mountains to satisfy his hunger.

One day, I accidentally found a dilapidated mountain temple on a barren mountain, and I wanted to go in to rest and rest, but as soon as I walked in, someone put a knife on my neck.

The man asked him what he wanted to do, and there was nothing to be afraid of when the knife was already on his neck, and he asked him loudly: "Can't I come in and rest, it's not your house, what is it to sneak up on me?" ”

The man was visibly stunned, as if frightened, and the knife around his neck loosened.

"You're alone?"

"Nonsense, isn't it a person who can still be put by you with a knife to the neck?"

Visibly feeling a sigh of relief, he lowered his knife and said to me, "You can go." ”

Can I leave as soon as my temper comes up?!

Touching the bloodshot wound on my neck, I watched him walk over to the collapsed statue of the mountain god and sit down.

At his feet was a fire burning, and a pancake was baked on it.

When I saw the cake, my eyes straightened, and I walked over and sat down across from him.

He glanced up, and I saw that he was clenching the knife in his left hand.

I hurriedly said, "Don't get me wrong, I won't rob you of food, I'll borrow the fire, don't get me wrong." ”

He didn't speak.

Seeing that he didn't react, I had the courage to take out a few wild potatoes that I had managed to find and bury them carefully in the fire.

Then he spoke: "If you want to stay, then stay." ”

After saying that, he lowered his head and turned over his wheat cake, but his left hand was still clutching the knife.

With great difficulty, I took my eyes off his churning wheat cake and swallowed hard.

Later, when we got acquainted, he told me that the reason he let me stay was because someone could use me to get him out when they were in trouble with him.

It turned out that a few of his cakes were snatched by stunning a soldier at the foot of the mountain, and he was afraid that someone would come to him to settle accounts, so he hid in this mountain temple deep in the mountains.

Fortunately, no one came to settle accounts with him.

On the third day of my arrival at the Mountain Temple, we rescued Xiao Qi.

That day, we split up to look for food, and when we returned to the mountain temple in the evening, we found a person lying on our stomach in front of the temple gate.

We carried him into the temple and fed him some water, and then we woke up, laughed when we saw us, got up and grabbed the wild vegetables we cooked, and did not see anything outside, and said while grabbing, "You can call me Xiaoqi." ”

It was this Xiao Qi who robbed us of a wild potato and didn't leave, and over time, the three of them became very familiar.

Later, I could find less and less food, and I was hungry more and more......

"Big brother, what do you want, eat quickly, if you don't eat it, I'll finish it." Xiao Qi's voice pulled me back from my thoughts.

I laughed and scolded, "You just remember what else you can remember when you eat!" ”

Xiao Qi also said with a smile: "How to live if you don't remember to eat these days." ”

That's right, if you don't eat this year, it's a dead end.

"Second brother, Xiao Qi, let's go down the mountain tomorrow, while there is still this vegetable garden, we have to think of other ways quickly, even the leaves on this mountain are almost gone, so we can only go to the city to try our luck."

"Okay, it's really not a way to go on like this, maybe there is relief food in the city!" Xiao Qi said with a smile.

"Okay, since we all agree, then we'll go into the city tomorrow!"

Early the next morning, the three of them began to pack their things early, and after packing up their things, each of them dug up enough licorice for a day, and then set out on the trail down the mountain.

The hut they were in was deep in the mountains, so they set out early in the morning and arrived at the gate of Shangtai City in the afternoon.

The elder brother stood at the city gate and looked at the city wall, the originally prosperous Shangtai city was lifeless, and it was dilapidated and desolate in the spring.

The tall and majestic city wall in their impression was like a dying old man at this moment, and the city gate was half-hidden and unguarded.

They stood silent at the gate for a moment, then raised their hands and pushed open the gate and entered the city, and as soon as they entered the city, they saw a group of soldiers unloading their armor or squatting or sitting beside a cart eating dry food.

The soldier saw the door open and entered, and the three thin boys all looked at them with great interest.

Suddenly, a soldier came from the car and pushed the three of them to their feet, then closed the city gate, leaning against the city gate and sneering at them. At this time, for the teenager who has not talked much among the three, it is tantamount to a bolt from the blue.

He saw a soldier, and he was familiar enough to hear the other's breathing.

The boy clutched the knife in his arms and stared at him.

"Take your hands off that gadget, can you kill him?" A middle-aged man who sat up from the cart teased.

The young man said without looking back: "If you don't try, you will never be able to kill it." ”

The other two tacitly stood on both sides of the young man, looking at the middle-aged man and ready to shoot at any time.

"Okay, I'll let you try, Shen Yue, Qin Ben will meet them."

"Yes!"

As soon as the words fell, a tall man stood up from the side of the carriage and the soldiers in front of the city gate formed a circle around the three young men, slowly approaching.

The knife-wielding young man whispered: "Big brother Xiaoqi, you restrain that fat man, and I will deal with the city gate." ”

"Good!"

Shen Yue in front of the city gate did not draw his knife, he approached the young man step by step.

The young man with the knife held the knife tightly, watching Shen Yue's footsteps, and silently recited in his heart: "Closer, closer." ”

When Shen Yue approached three steps in front of him, he suddenly slashed his ankle with a sudden slash.

Shen Yue was obviously not in a hurry, and he barely retreated to avoid a catastrophe, but his calf was bruised, and he couldn't help but gasp and put away his contempt.

Shen Yue nodded, did not retreat, but punched the young man's face, the young man raised his knife to parry, but Shen Yue turned his fist into a claw and grabbed the young man's wrist.

The young man smiled secretly, and Shengsheng stopped raising the knife momentum and slashed down, slashing his claws, and Shen Yue quickly retracted his palm after failing to make a move.

Shen Yue then flew up with one hand and kicked at the young man's wrist, and the young man was kicked before he could finish his knife, only to feel that his wrist was numb, and the short knife came out of his hand.

Shen Yue followed up one step by one, and put one knee on the young man's lower jaw, and the young man suddenly fainted.

At the same time, Qin Ben also knocked out the two people cleanly.

By the time they woke up, it was already dark, and it was about the middle of the night.

The three of them were tied together to make the pig's trotters buckle, and these soldiers were really unkind.

The brothers found the soldiers sitting by the fire beside them.

"Awake? Let's talk when we wake up, do you know why I'm tying you up? The middle-aged sergeant asked.

"Didn't I rob you of your food?"

"And what do you think I should do with you?"

"I did the grain robbery, I will dispose of it with you and let them go."

"Rabbit cub, you can let it go." The middle-aged man scolded with a smile.

"I don't have the ability to protect the food, and now I have to involve irrelevant people, it's really majestic." The boy said, taking a sip.

"You kid, don't provoke me, I'll give you two ways, one is to stuff you into a death row prisoner and behead you, and the other is for your brothers to follow me, with me to eat a bite is absolutely indispensable to you, two paths, you choose by yourself." The middle-aged man said as he played with the dagger.

The three of them looked at each other tacitly.

"Okay, we'll follow you."

After hearing the answer, the middle-aged man handed the dagger in his hand to Shen Yue and motioned to loosen the tie.

He said again: "Then you will be my Ma Hao's soldiers in the future, you can write down your name tonight, and if you don't have a name, you will register it tomorrow, first in the guards, Shen Yue, you will bring them." ”

After saying this, he got up, patted his ass and yawned and went to sleep.

That's it?!

Shen Yue cut the rope and looked at the stunned three people and said, "Don't make a fuss, General Ma is like this, he usually doesn't have a proper line, and you will get used to it in the future." ”

The three of them nodded hurriedly, and Xiao Qi hid behind his eldest brother and asked in a low voice, "Then we're all right?" ”

Shen Yue smiled and said: "It's okay, General Ma will never get along with the three children no matter what, by the way, my name is Shen Yue, I am your team leader, and the tall man next to me is called Qin Ben, who is the guy you knocked out." ”

Qin Ben on the side snorted coldly, his face was not good.

The three of them laughed awkwardly and made amends again and again.

Qin Ben may not be able to hold his face, so he got up and left directly.

Xiao Qi couldn't help but ask: "Brother Shen, our team shouldn't be the garrison of Shangtai City, I am quite familiar with the original garrison." ”

Shen Yue said: "Yes, we are not the Shangtai garrison, we are border pawns, subordinate to the Moze battalion, we are stationed freely in peacetime, and we are ordered to defend the border in wartime." ”

"I see."

"Okay, let's not talk about these for now, you shouldn't have a serious name, right?,I have a scroll of bamboo slips that is said to be a text or something.,Anyway, there's a lot of words on it.,You can refer to it and give yourself a name.,By the way, are you literate?"

"I, me, me! I've been in private school for a few years! “

Xiao Qi is eager to try.

So Shen Yue took out a bamboo slip from her arms and handed it to Xiao Qi and said, "Don't underestimate this scroll, many brothers' names come from here." Xiao Qi hurriedly took it, and the three of them began to look head to head.

Shen Yue lay on the haystack and fell asleep.

Early the next morning, as soon as Shen Yue opened her eyes, she saw three heads with dark circles under her eyes, she was startled, and quickly asked, "What are you doing?" Xiao Qi's eyes lit up and said, "Brother Shen, we have a good name!" ”

"Yo, it's fast, let's hear it." Shen Yue said as she yawned.

"The eldest brother's name is Gan Yi, the second brother's name is Gan Zi, and my name is Gan Ye! Wild wild! Brother Shen, what do you think? The three of them looked at Shen Yue expectantly.

Shen Yue praised: "Yes, yes, they are all good names, but are the three of you all surnamed Gan?" ”

Xiao Qi scratched his head and said: "We don't even know the surnames of the three of us, we totaled it, and decided to use the sweet character of licorice as the surname." ”

"Okay, you will have your own name in the future, you go eat something first, and I will go to General Ma to give you a book."

The three of them said in unison: "Thank you, Brother Shen!" ”

Shen Yue watched her brother run away, turned over and continued to sleep, and waited for the book to wake up.

In the evening, the sunset is like blood.

Ma Hao took Shen Yue over to find the three brothers and sent them with three sets of armor.

Ma Hao changed his past easy-going and said sharply: "From today on, you are a member of the Youyi Department, the battlefield is ruthless, life and death are conceited, there are rewards and punishments for merit, I don't have many rules, only one: those who betray their comrades will be killed!" Is this clear to you? ”

The three of them shouted in unison: "Yes! ”

At this time, the sunset is like residual blood, and the sky is like fire, although it is a city, the wind and sand on the side are still flat and raging, raging over the immature face, the face of the ravine.

Three months later, when the imperial court's relief grain arrived in Shangqi City, a military order also arrived.

Relief food was ordered to be delivered door-to-door, and there was a long-lost cooking smoke in the city.

General Ma received the military order from the Liangzhou Thorn Mansion.

The drought has weakened, and there is no need to prevent mobs from rioting, so the assassin Shi Fu ordered him to lead his troops to Wuwei County in the starry night.

General Ma took this military order and thought silently: Running in the starry night should be restless.

The day after the relief food was distributed, there were many more straw mats on the streets, and their stomachs were broken.

Spiritual flags fluttered on the streets, paper money was all over the sky, and there was a group of slaughter.

"Go, tell the county commander, we have been ordered to set off tomorrow morning, call his soldiers to guard the city gate, and by the way, tell him that I will help him bury these people." General Ma said to Shen Yue downstairs at the city gate.

Shen Yue left with his hand, and General Ma turned around and looked at the white paper money raging with the wind and sand in the city for a long time without saying a word.

In the early hours of the morning, three hundred border guards stood in the streets, their hairs tied to their waists, and their swords were thick, and the morning dew wet the strong bows and dripped down the strings, and there was silence.

"Spirit!"

A roar broke the silence.

General Ma turned his horse's head and walked out of the city, a group of soldiers obeyed the order to carry a straw mat and follow the horse, followed by the border soldiers who all carried bows, and finally the relatives of the deceased, who did not cry, just silently followed behind, silently scattering white paper money into the sky.

When we arrived at the hill, the black holes of the graves that had been dug earlier were lined up.

General Ma dismounted and looked at the burial and filled in the soil.

As soon as he looked up, he saw a black crow landing on a dead branch, and said to himself, "Life is thinner than paper." ”