At night, candles were lit in the inn, and the shopkeeper cleaned up the mess with a broom.

Under the candlelight, the two people sitting in the corner were eating the food in front of them.

Xiao Beichen took a bite of noodles, looked at the woman and asked with a smile.

"By the way, what's your name?"

She nibbled on the steamed bun he had given herself, was silent for a moment, and responded in a low voice.

"Gu Xin."

"Then Gu Xin, what about your mother? Why wasn't she with you? ”

Gu Xin shook his head lightly, his eyes were a little wet red, and his lips trembled slightly.

"She... He's dead. ”

"This, that's it..."

After hearing this, he frowned slightly, feeling very uncomfortable, and then asked again.

"And where do you sleep?"

"Sometimes on the street, or in the alley," she said, after a moment's thought, "but I prefer to stay in the shade of the trees." ”

“........”

Xiao Beichen was speechless for a while, his pupils opened slightly, and he gradually fell into thinking.

Suddenly, he noticed her dirty, scarred hands again.

Then, he beckoned to Xiao Er and spoke loudly.

"Little two! Bring a basin of warm water, please! ”

"Good young man!" Xiao Er hurriedly answered.

After a while, a basin of hot warm water was placed in front of the two of them.

Gu Xin's head tilted slightly, looking at him with a confused expression, not knowing what he was going to do.

Xiao Beichen picked up the wet cloth on the edge of the basin and stretched out his palm to Gu Xin.

"Come, I'll wash it for you." He smiled.

Suddenly, she looked at him and hesitated for a moment, then slowly stretched out her hand.

Xiao Beichen took Gu Xin's hand and gently put it into the basin.

The next moment, a warm current flowed from the palm of her hand to her whole body, and a warmth that had never been felt in her heart surged into her heart.

Xiao Beichen carefully wiped the dirt on her hands, and the intricate and terrifying scars were revealed in front of his eyes.

At this time, Gu Xin looked at his focused appearance, and the tears in his eyes became more and more full.

"Who did that?" He asked solemnly.

At this moment, she could no longer hold back the tears in her eyes, and the tears kept flowing down her cheeks.

"Daddy's hit... Woooooooo

"Already, it's all right," he reassured.

Gu Xin kept sobbing, and there was still endless bitterness in her heart.

Xiao Beichen raised his hand, gently wiped away Gu Xin's tears with a damp cloth, and washed her face and tidied up her messy hair by the way.

Sure enough, she still had one or two scars on her face.

He smiled and touched her head, and said happily, "This looks so much better, haha." ”

"Really... Are you sure? She asked delightedly.

"Hmmm! Of course! He nodded, affirmatively.

After hearing this, the corners of Gu Xin's mouth gradually turned up, and he said to him with a tearful smile.

"You... You also rub. Hee-hee. She took a damp cloth and wiped the blood off the left side of his face.

"Haha thanks!" He smiled happily.

After a while, Xiao Beichen walked to the counter and said to Xiao Er.

"Little Er, I want two guest rooms."

As he spoke, he took out the silver taels and put them in front of the stage.

"Okay!" Xiao Er turned around and took out two house cards.

Immediately, he counted the silver, looked up at Xiao Beichen and said with a smile.

"Shaoxia, you give too much."

"You should think of it as the repair fee."

"Well, it doesn't take so much. Moreover, the extra silver will still be collected by the horse bandits. ”

Xiao Er picked up the extra silver and wanted to stuff it back into Xiao Beichen's hand.

Xiao Beichen subconsciously replied: "I won't be here recently." Then he added, "Ahem... Probably not. ”

"How do you know?" Xiao Er wondered.

"Because... I just know. ”

After saying that, Xiao Beichen turned around, and passed by a girl wearing a strong suit and a knife at her waist.

He didn't pay much attention to it, but he felt a hint of fragrance in his nose.

Xiao Er hurriedly greeted her, "Yo! Woman, what do you want? ”

The second floor of the inn, outside the hallway.

Xiao Beichen looked at Gu Xin with a smile, picked up the house card and said to her.

"You'll sleep in that room tonight, I'll be next door to you, just knock on the door if you have something."

She clutched the sign tightly to her chest, her breathing heaving a little more.

Gu Xin's lips opened slightly, and he replied softly.

"Thank you, Brother Chen."

Suddenly, Xiao Beichen took Gu Xin's hand, and her cheeks flushed in shock.

"Oh, wait." He took out a bag from his waist and placed it in her hand.

At this time, Gu Xin noticed the sign he hung on his waist.

At a glance, it is a gold-inlaid token engraved with the word "Xiao".

The next moment, her eyes moved slightly, and she saw that the bag was full of broken gold.

"No, I can't take it—" she handed the bag back.

Xiao Beichen lowered his body slightly, raised his hands to hold her shoulders, looked into her eyes and said seriously.

"Listen to me. You can take the money and live the life you want. He smiled and continued, "By the way, don't you like the feeling of being in the shade of trees? I'll send you to Jiangnan, where the four seasons are like spring, you can buy a small yard there and live well. ”

Gu Xin's shoulders were constantly trembling, and tears couldn't help but flow out of her eyes.

She kept shaking her head and sobbing with tears.

"Woo... No.. It's not worth it. Whining.. For people like me..."

Xiao Beichen touched her head, looked at her and said softly.

"Xiao Xin, there's nothing unworthy of this, don't belittle your personality."

"Woooooo

She suddenly took a step forward and hugged him hard.

At this moment, she felt very grateful in her heart, this was the first time in her life that someone really treated her as a human being.

Gu Xin's body kept sobbing in his arms, his scarred hands grabbed his back, and tears had already soaked his clothes.

"In the future, no one can hurt you anymore." He said softly.

Gu Xin felt the warmth of Xiao Beichen's heartbeat, and for the first time in her life, she felt considerate and relieved in someone else's arms.

The two of them went on like this for a long time....

At this moment, Xiao Beichen opened his mouth to reassure.

"Okay, it's okay, it's okay. Rest well tonight, and we'll leave tomorrow as soon as possible. ”

She lifted her face, looked at him with tears in her eyes, and nodded.

Gu Xin wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, took out an old gray-white jade pendant from his pocket, handed it to him, and said.

"Brother Chen, this is for you."

"This..."

"If you don't accept this, then I don't want your money."

She took his hand and shoved the jade pendant into his.

"Uh, okay,"

He nodded and put the jade pendant on his waist.

Gu Xin smiled happily and walked to the room with anticipation.

After that, the two went back to their rooms.

In the room, the candles are faintly lit.

Xiao Beichen poured a cup of tea and drank it slowly.

He took out the envelope in his arms and muttered to himself.

"It seems that there will be a delay, so it should be fine."

Gradually, he remembered the purpose of his trip......

A month ago, the imperial capital, Xiao Mansion.

"Smack!!" The door of the study was suddenly pushed open by Xiao Beichen, and its strength was so great that even the armor hanging in the room shook twice.

He hurried up to the old man and said with a disbelieving face.

"Daddy! Why don't you let me go! ”

“.......”

Xiao Zhen didn't pay attention to him, still writing quietly with a brush.

"I want to go to war with my brother too, uhhh Xiao Beichen pouted and said unhappily: "Isn't this what you let you practice martial arts every day?!" ”

I saw Xiao Zhen frowning slightly, raised his head and glared at him, and said with a serious expression: "Come and study ink." ”

Xiao Beichen was so frightened that he trembled, and hurriedly walked to Xiao Zhen and sat down, picking up the ink ingot to study ink for him.

After a while, Xiao Zhen stopped the pen in his hand, looked sideways at him, and asked.

"Soldiers, the major affairs of the country, the place of death and life, and the way of survival, must not be overlooked. What does this mean? ”

"Huh? What? Xiao Beichen looked confused.

Xiao Zhen immediately raised his hand and knocked on his head, and reprimanded him sharply.

"Usually let you endorse! What are you doing? Where did you lose the art of war?! ”

He had a headache as soon as he heard the crepe thing, and said with his hands on his head.

"Ahh I just want to practice more martial arts..."

"You still want to go to war." Xiao Zhen shook his head helplessly, put the letter on the table into the envelope, and said softly, "Take it, put away this letter." ”

"Why don't you use carrier pigeons, or fly beans to deliver them?" Xiao Beichen replied suspiciously.

"This is for the old pavilion master, don't you want to go?" Xiao Zhenhu looked at him suspiciously.

Suddenly, Xiao Beichen's eyes lit up and he smiled happily.

"What? For Uncle Xiang?! ”

He immediately took the letter and tucked it into his bosom with joy, thinking that he would be able to go there again for a vacation.

"Do you remember how to get there?" Xiao Zhen asked softly.

"Hee-hee, forgot."

“..........”

Xiao Zhen shook his head helplessly, raised his hand on his shoulder, and taught calmly.

"Beichen, I know that you are simple by nature. Let Doufei take you out this time, be cautious about making friends. ”

"I can tell the difference between good and evil, and I'm not a child." His expression was very unhappy.

"By the way, during this time, the old pavilion master is holding a martial arts conference." Xiao Zhen admonished earnestly and continued: "As for you, don't pay attention to it. After delivering the letter, stay good and wait for your brother to pick you up. ”

"Okay, okay." Xiao Beichen nodded helplessly, got up and wanted to leave.

"By the way, there's one more thing." Xiao Zhen picked up the book on the art of war on the table, turned to him and said, "You copy it for me..."

"Doufei is looking for me!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he jumped out of the window...

At this time, Xiao Beichen gradually came back to his senses from his memory.

"Ah yes, Doufei." He hurriedly put his hand on his waist.

He flipped through it, took out Doufei and pulled out the feather stuck in its belly.

"Click!" The gears slowly turn again.

As the bird's body twitched, the aura in his eyes flashed.

The next moment, Doufei glared at him fiercely, flew up and pecked his head desperately with his mouth.

"You stinky little ghost!!"

Xiao Beichen blocked his hands in front of him, kept retreating, and hurriedly replied: "Wait, wait!" ”

"Do you know if you're wrong! How dare you be disrespectful to Uncle Ben?!! ”

Suddenly, Xiao Beichen quickly turned his face sideways and flashed its peck!

Seeing his move, Dou Fei said even more annoyed.

"Stinky little ghost! Dare to hide?! It flapped its wings violently, gesturing to peck again.

"Look!"

Xiao Beichen raised the small spirit stone in his hand and blocked it in front of it.

"Huh? Is there any? It immediately stopped and stood on the back of his hand.

"Hehe, before leaving, I asked Daddy to prepare more." He smirked.

"Put it down for me, Uncle Ben just happened to be hungry!"

After a while, Xiao Beichen wrapped his arms around and leaned quietly against the window, overlooking the old town at night.

There was no moon tonight as usual, only a few stars twinkling in the night sky.

As the last house extinguished the candles, the town fell into dead silence......

"This hellish place, it's really rotten!" Dou Fei stood on the edge of the window, pecking at the small spirit stone.

“..........”

"Stinky little ghost, why don't you speak?" It flew over his shoulder and asked, "Huh?" It can't be homesick, right? ”

Xiao Beichen tilted his face to the side and whispered, "Well, it's a little." ”

"Don't worry, Uncle Ben won't take the wrong way again this time! Be sure to complete the task as soon as possible! ”

"Hmph." He snorted softly, looking at it suspiciously.

"Huh! If it hadn't been for the sand fog the other day....."

Suddenly, Xiao Beichen seemed to notice something, and leaned forward to look at the town street.

If you look closely, it's the Sand Wolf Brothers!

The two of them were chasing a figure in front of them with their knives raised, and curses kept coming out of their mouths.

Seeing this, Xiao Beichen immediately jumped out over the edge of the window.

"Hey! What are you doing, stinky little ghost! Uncle Ben hasn't finished yet! Doufei shouted and followed.

"Da Da Da!!" Listen only to the sound of light steps passing over the eaves.

Xiao Beichen's light skills that have been practiced hard for many years have been vividly exerted at this time!

After a while, he saw the sand wolf brothers chasing him into the alley, so he immediately turned over and jumped down the street.

Then, Xiao Beichen rushed to the entrance of the alley, looked at the two tall backs, and said disdainfully.

"Hey! You two, you're itchy again, aren't you?! ”

“..........”

Xiao Beichen saw that the two of them were silent, and wanted to go over and call them.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they took a step, the bodies of the two fell backwards stiffly!

I saw that the necks of the two were bleeding, as if they had been cut by something.

In the next moment, a black shadow emerged from the shadows!

"Phew!!" Xiao Beichen quickly raised his hand and blocked the blow with his bracers.

Seeing the shadow shrink back again, he immediately squinted at the bracer, which was only left with four scratches.

At this moment, the black shadow lay on the corpse of a man, making a swallowing sound over and over again.

Xiao Beichen took half a step back vigilantly, holding the hilt of the sword on his back with his right hand.

"Is it a wolf?"

At this moment, the dark clouds in the sky dispersed, and a little moonlight fell on the black shadow.

Xiao Beichen's eyes widened! Looking ahead in shock.

"Valley! Gu Xin?!! ”