"Did you notice, it seems that those barbarians are much more honest."

Soon the Great Cadre Army put the Assassins behind them and continued their march.

After walking out for half a day, the organic soldier noticed something strange and whispered.

"You say so, and that's true."

From time to time, they looked at the Red King, who was riding with the princess.

At first, their gaze was clearly fierce and unconvinced.

Now all that remains is the fear of cowering.

"It turns out that it's because of the Red King."

"Back and forth, I defeated them!"

The gaze of the barbarians made the soldiers suddenly realize that the secret way was so, and at the same time admired the Red King.

It is said in the history books that the barbarian is like a fierce ghost on the battlefield, like a fierce beast, and would rather die than give in, but it turns out that this is nothing more than that.

It's not that they're fierce, it's that I've never met anyone who can beat them down before.

It is not difficult to win against the barbarians, but to conquer the other party physically and mentally, you need a little means and personality charm.

The soldiers, looking at the quieter and quieter barbarians on the march, gradually began to remember their unruly appearance.

It took half a day's effort, and the march crossed the riverbed smoothly.

The end of the riverbed was also three feet high, and Zheng Xiu once again performed the [Painter] thaumaturgy and drew a bridge.

"You ......"

This time, Huo Yu finally couldn't help it, one eye was big and the other was small, and he asked: "Red King, take the liberty of asking, are you really a 'painter'?" ”

"It's like a fake."

Zheng Xiu glanced at General Huo with slanted eyes, wondering in his heart.

Why, doesn't my temperament look like it?

Huo Yu received an affirmative answer, and the question in his heart fell like a big stone, and he returned to the army with emotion: "The world is so big, there are no surprises!" It's Huo's pattern that is small! ”

Zheng Xiu, who was the first to climb the riverbank, sneezed violently.

Zheng Xiu is now painting with his ontology, and he can't fully exert the true strength of [Painter] Inhuman.

But it's no bad for daily use.

Now he has a lot of henchmen around him, whether it is Fengbei or a nerve monk, or Qing Thirteen and Pei Gaoya, they are all giants who can stand alone, Zheng Xiu almost doesn't have to do it himself, but he is leisurely.

The sun rises and sets, the wind comes and the snow falls, and the clouds roll up.

In the endless wasteland, the days of the march were dull and tedious.

After crossing the dry riverbed, the corpses of wild beasts or barbarians can be seen in the snow as you continue your journey north.

They didn't know how long they had been dead, and their bodies were frozen in the snow, and they didn't decay for a long time, maintaining the appearance they had when they died.

When they encountered the corpse, Zheng Xiu and the others immediately stepped forward to check it, just in case.

They found that the barbarians who died on the snowy field were not exactly barbarian warriors in terms of clothing, and some of the corpses looked like ordinary barbarian people, ragged and thin.

Among the frozen corpses on the way, three corpses caught Zheng Xiu's attention.

The three corpses were like a family of three, they were frozen to death on the snow in a gesture of embracing each other, children estimated to be only four or five years old, dying with their eyes closed, and the two parents, smiling, kneeling on the ground, holding the child and praying sincerely to the sky.

So dead.

"They are 'exiles.'"

Zheng Xiu's solemn expression was different from others, looking at Zheng Xiu's side face, Yue Linglong seemed to be touched.

They have always been a question-and-answer relationship.

This is a rare time for her to take the initiative to talk to Zheng Xiu.

"Exile?"

Zheng Xiu turned around and asked, his tone gentle.

Yue Linglong nodded and said, "We in the wasteland live in clans, and clans are our everything, our roots. If someone seriously violates the rules of the clan, they will be exiled and become an 'exile'. Exiles can only wander the wasteland for the rest of their lives, and will not be accepted by any clan, and their fate can only be frozen to death, starved to death, or devoured by the beasts of the wasteland. ”

Zheng Xiu smiled: "This is how you barbarians treat the people?" ”

Yue Linglong was choked, took a deep breath, held the umbrella, raised her head, revealed the corners of her mouth that was still a little stubborn, and said word by word: "You, haven't you killed the big Qianren?" ”

Zheng Xiu nodded first, and then shook his head: "Good rebuttal." ”

Before the words fell, Zheng Xiu calmly raised an index finger.

"It's a pity that you haven't learned how to talk to this king."

Yue Linglong was stunned for a moment, and then shocked: "Don't-"

Click!

In the distance, there was a scream.

Pei Gaoya smiled fiercely, seized the opportunity, shouted loudly, jumped high and fell heavily, and trampled a barbarian to death.

Another one.

Yue Linglong stretched out the palm outside her sleeve in a hurry, and as soon as she came into contact with the sun, she showed a dazzling red spot.

One more died.

These people were her guards.

Now one by one, one by one.

Yue Linglong suddenly calmed down, Ying Ying bowed, and knelt down.

She bit her pale lower lip, trembling all over, and a wisp of blush slipped from the corner of her lip as she bit it too hard.

"Husband, Linglong is wrong."

Zheng Xiu raised his eyebrows and had nothing to say.

Get back on the road.

Zheng Xiu still gently hugged Yue Linglong, looking like a loving couple to outsiders.

Pei Gaoya returned to the horse and waited for the next time.

Qing 13 put the cigarette stick in his mouth back and forth, without lighting it, thoughtfully.

Pei Gaoya noticed Qing Shisan's weirdness, and Da Da Da Da was on a par with Qing Shisan.

"Lao Qing, what's wrong with you, there's no fire?"

Qing Shisan glanced at the brainless man, and said in a low voice: "You killed it just now, but have you noticed that the master is a little different from the past?" ”

"Different?" Pei Gaoya thought for a while, and suddenly realized: "When you say this, it seems to mean a little bit, the old man is a little irritable than usual." ”

"Some? And so much more. Qing 13 couldn't wait to pry open Pei Gaoya's head with a cigarette stick to see if it was full of muscles, and said with hatred: "Obviously, the lord has something different in it for the barbarian princess." ”

"Huh?" Pei Gaoya's eyes widened: "Didn't you say that the master really fell in love with her?" No, I can't! ”

Pei Gaoya does not believe in evil.

"It's not the kind of love that men and women love." Qing 13 closed his eyes and pondered for a while, and then nodded affirmatively: "The master is angry." ”

"Angry? And with whom? The princess? ”

Smack~smack~smack~

Qing 13 opened the fire fold, lit it a few times, and finally lit it. He took a deep breath and exhaled smoke rings of different shapes.

After a long time, he said slowly: "And himself." ”

……

Sunset.

Camp.

Zheng Xiu, as usual, got into the small tent with Fengbei.

He went out to dig a handful of ice, waited for the ice to melt, polished some ink, and spread out the rice paper.

The orange cat was in the corner of the tent, stretching a big lazy waist, holding his cheeks, and looking at Zheng Xiu's back with interest.

Meow~

"You want to be beautiful."

Zheng Xiu replied to the orange cat.

Feng Bei smiled slightly on the couch, like a concubine half-lying, lazy and charming.

This time, her expression told Zheng Xiu that she seemed to be drifting between the two personalities again.

Feng Bei changed his posture, squinted his eyes and asked with a smile, "What are you painting?" ”

"Keep a journal."

Zheng Xiu didn't raise his head.

“……？”

Zheng Xiu replied with a dull head and quickly put down the pen.

In the tent, only the sound of Zheng Xiu's pen tip rubbing against the paper remained.

Feng Bei got up angrily and looked at Zheng Xiu's humble table.

He painted a picture.

In the painting, it is the corpses of the three exiles seen during the day.

It's just that unlike the daytime, Zheng Xiu added something else to the painting. The child's eyes were gently closed, and his expression was serene. The two parents surrounded him, smiling kindly.

Around them is no longer a field of ice and snow, but a grassland.

In the end, Zheng Xiu gently touched the palm of the child's hand and turned it into a blooming flower.

Zheng Xiu gently put down his pen and looked at the painting, and his mood gradually calmed down.

Behind him, Fengbei gently hooked Zheng Xiu's neck, and his little face was against Zheng Xiu's face.

"What the hell are you angry about?"

Fengbei heard the suppressed anger in Zheng Xiu's heart like a storm.

The calmer Zheng Xiu's surface was, the louder the roar in his heart became.

Fengbei listened to the sorrow in Yue Linglong's heart and the roar in Zheng Xiu's heart all the way, and was very uneasy.

"I'm fine."

Zheng Xiu threw the painting into the brazier casually, and watched as the brazier burned the painting into ashes little by little.

"I'm really angry."

It wasn't until the painting was completely burned that Zheng Xiu smiled and said, "Reason tells me that I shouldn't take the feud out on the next generation, it's useless to do so." ”

"But emotionally it drives me."

Zheng Xiu touched Fengbei's long soft hair: "Every time I see her face me with the appearance of a victim, it feels like a fire is burning in my heart." ”

"It's obviously because of them that my family is ruined."

"Why did she keep her voice so low, as if she was being persecuted by me?"

Zheng Xiu looked away and stared at the flickering candle flame on the table: "I told myself several times that once she dares to go crazy and dare to reveal half a point of killing intent, I will, without hesitation...... Kill her. This hatred will be complete, and I can turn around and go south with peace of mind, return to my comfort zone, and be my rich prince honestly. ”

"It's a pity she didn't."

Fengbei was silent.

She understands Zheng Xiu's thoughts.

Zheng Xiu seems to be heartless on weekdays, but once he encounters something, his stubbornness makes people feel terrible.

The ten years of getting along in the painting made Fengbei understand this person thoroughly.

"Don't talk about these bad things."

Zheng Xiu re-laid out a piece of paper and drew a new "doorway map" on the white paper one by one.

Most of the blanks on the doorway diagram have been filled in by Zheng Xiu's inferences.

Zheng Xiu pointed to the nine paths below the [prisoner]: wind, flowers, snow, moon, thunder, swamp, mountain, forest, and fire.

"Nine days."

Immediately after that, there were ten blanks below, and Zheng Xiu filled in "crow" and "snake".

"Ten lands."

Emperor, General, Usurper.

"Three."

"And the ...... that is hidden in the city Upper, middle and lower nine streams. ”

"There are forty-nine doorways, and the 'forks' that each one extends."

Put down the brush, the pen and ink were not dry, and the heads of Zheng Xiu and Fengbei were stuck together.

Kiss~

The orange cat sneaked over at some point, squeezing through the obstacles, and his little head lay between the two.

Meow Mi is also looking at Zheng Xiu's "Door Path Diagram".

Zheng Xiu hugged the kitten: "Tell me, am I guessing right?" ”

"Meow!"

"You're deliberately pretending not to know, aren't you?"

"Meow meow!"

"What do you mean that you are not interested in human affairs? Believe it or not, I'll cut off your bread tomorrow? ”

"Meow?"

"What do you mean I don't dare...... Cheng, you're awesome, I really don't dare. ”

Seeing Zheng Xiu reach under the armpit of the orange cat with both hands and lift it high, the two faces of a person and a cat were almost attached to each other, arguing in a weird way, Feng Bei covered his mouth and laughed. She silently stuffed a piece of fish cake into the orange cat's arms.

The orange cat rolled her eyes at Zheng Xiu proudly: "Meow! ”

Zheng Xiu raised his slap, and slowly fell again, but he didn't hit it.

Feng Bei's eyes were shining, and he asked curiously, "What did it say?" ”

Zheng Xiu was speechless: "It said, look at how sensible you are." ”

Fengbei: "......"

When she heard it, she also wanted to make a move, no wonder Zheng Xiu raised her slap and wanted to hit the cat.

It took Zheng Xiu a lot of time to finally summarize most of the forty-nine paths.

Nine heavens, ten earths, three respects and nine streams.

This is the original appearance of the doorway map speculated by Zheng Xiu.

"Like the first fire worshipped by the blood-drinking savages of ancient times."

"Or maybe the ancients were hesitating under the rolling thunder."

"The surging flood."

"Relentless natural disasters."

"Man's powerlessness, gratitude, confusion, and ignorance in the face of nature will eventually become awe and worship."

"Humans are eager to overcome nature, and once they can't beat it, they can only try to become them."

"Or maybe in the ten places, the predatory posture of the beasts makes humans can't help but imitate them, longing for that pure predator-like power."

"Emperors, generals, usurpers...... or the various occupations and identities of the people in the market......"

"At the end of the day, it's all a 'wish'."

"I finally understand at this moment why the practice of the Path must be tireless, day after day, year after year, or like a barbarian, worship and reverence for a certain totem for many years and months."

"The intersection of Chang Yan and Chang Shi, the proximity of the two, has made countless people's 'wishes' come true in an almost violent form."

"And so it became forty-nine doorways."

"This is what makes human beings fulfill...... Road! ”

Zheng Xiu sighed with emotion, his brain was opened, and he vaguely understood the principle of the doorway.

"But,"

Feng Bei's face showed a hint of melancholy, which was quickly hidden by a smile.

"I never looked forward to it, not even for a moment."

Zheng Xiu sensed the loss in Fengbei's heart, and she remembered her experience again. He reassured: "It's not just you, I guess, it's 'everyone'." When the wishes of countless people come together, they grow into a 'stone'. ”

Feng Bei was stunned when he heard this: "Stones, stones? ”

"It's a trick, you can roughly understand it, the essence of everyone's wishes."

"That would explain why there are fissures between the Bunds."

"In Changyan, human desires are mutually influencing and are not independent things."

The orange cat quickly finished nibbling on the fishcakes, smiling secretly.

This was followed by another rain cloud.

Whew.

A few days later.

The people walked on the moor for several days.

What he saw and heard along the way made it difficult for Zheng Xiu to understand how the barbarians had lived in this land for so many years in such a harsh environment.

The Northern Barbarian State and the Great Qian State, the reason why the two have been fighting for years is rooted in this.

The vast dry land and the vast resources of the Northern Barbarians, and all kinds of asymmetries have led to such contradictions and conflicts.

personally walked this way, so that Zheng Xiu understood that there was no possibility of peaceful coexistence between the two.

Absolutely nothing.

Regarding the ending of this marriage, Zheng Xiu had a vague foreboding.

In the distance, two continuous mountains stood in front of you like a moat.

There is a narrow canyon in the middle.

After opening the map and comparing it repeatedly, Huo Yu was very sure that this was the canyon where the Red King had ambushed his men in advance.

In other words, Gu Qiutang has been blowing the northwest wind on the top of the mountain for several months.

As I struggled with at first, it would take an extra month to get around the east-west mountains.

It was precisely because of this mountain that it was like a wall of sighs that it not only blocked the barbarian army, but also won Zheng Haoran a chance to breathe.

Without this moat, Zheng Haoran would not have been able to complete the Jedi counterattack.

The wolf king back then would never have imagined that the moat, which should have become their geographical advantage, actually helped Zheng Haoran once, which made people have to sigh at the treacherous and changeable battlefield.

Ten miles outside the canyon, the marching army camped to rest, and Huo Yu, Shen Shizong, Zheng Xiu and others held a temporary meeting.

Huo Yu and Shen Shizong expressed their opinions, Shen Shizong thought that he should take the risk to break into the valley and not be afraid of the barbarians, but after Huo Yu experienced the River Plate Assassin, he thought that everything should be stable, it is better to take a detour.

Zheng Xiu did not participate in the dispute inside, but silently walked outside the tent, took out the painter's trick, and walked to the open area.

Many soldiers noticed the shadowy Red King and secretly wondered, but in the next second, they saw a "blood-colored cage" rising from the ground.

"Full Moon."

Zheng Xiu drew a cage in the snow.

"Projection."

"Inspiration."

"Scouting."

One skill after another was released, and in Zheng Xiu's field of vision, there were many shadows in the canyon, and there were assassins lurking.

"Sure enough."

Zheng Xiu smiled and patted the snow off his body and walked in.

While walking, behind Zheng Xiu, the dark fog covered Zheng Xiu's body little by little like a piece of armor.

Finally, the thick fog formed a hideous and terrifying iron hood on Zheng Xiu's face.

"Paste......

Crazy and ominous figures silently enter the canyon like ghosts.

"Abyssal Walker."