The twilight is gone, and the light rain is coming.

A middle-aged official with a clear face walked on the rainy street with an umbrella, judging from the color of his official uniform, his rank was not low, but there were no subordinates beside him, only a general with a cold face followed silently.

The soldiers and junior officials at the west gate stood quietly under the eaves, their eyes moving with the footsteps of the two officials in the street, no one stepped forward, and no one showed a surprised expression.

The middle-aged official is Huang Xing, the city gate lang, who is responsible for the opening and closing of the entire Chang'an City and the imperial city, and the general who followed him is surnamed Yu Mingshui Lord, who is the general of the city gate army.

Huang Xing is known for his diligence and honesty, since he took over the post of city gate lang, every morning and twilight, he will inevitably choose a city gate for inspection, except for the water lord, without any subordinate officials, light and simple, rain or shine, so many years there is no day that is not so.

The people at the gates of Chang'an have long been accustomed to the scene in front of them, and they can only leave after the two adults have finished their inspections, which has formed an unwritten rule.

According to the rules of the past years, Lord Lang Huang Xing of the city gate today is inspecting the west city gate.

After inspecting the West City Gate, Huang Xing confirmed that he didn't find any problems, nodded, and the water lord looked back at the soldiers and officials under the eaves with nervous faces, and waved his hand with a cold expression.

Standing on the rainy street outside the West City Gate, Huang Xing tilted his umbrella slightly, looked up at the rain falling from the sky, felt that his legs were a little tired, and said slightly: "After all, I am still old." ”

Lord Yu said: "My lord can serve the imperial court for another thirty years. ”

Huang Xing asked: "Over the years, you have accompanied me around the city gate every day, and you have to step on the night to return home every day, my younger brothers and sisters have long been dissatisfied, and it is really hard for you." ”

Lord Yu replied after being silent for a moment: "My life was given by adults, don't say that accompanying adults to walk through the nine gates of Chang'an City, even if you give away your life, it is a matter of course." Now these two famous and honest officials in Chang'an City used to be colleagues in the barracks, and their fates were changed because of a tragic incident back then, and they are also closely linked.

If it weren't for Huang Xing's ruthless determination, he first took Yu Shuizhu to take refuge with His Royal Highness the Prince Li Peiyan, maybe he would have died with that general a long time ago, even if he didn't die, he would probably be left out in the cold by the imperial court, without the vigorous protection of His Royal Highness the Prince, where would there be the hard work and glory of inspecting the Chang'an City Gate now.

It's a pity that after all, they were still affected by the incident back then, although the two of them were diligent and honest and worked hard for the imperial court, and their official positions and military positions had come to an end, and it was difficult to be promoted, but at least they had glory and wealth.

Huang Xing looked at Chang'an City in the light rain, and after being silent for a long time, he suddenly said with emotion: "When we returned to Chang'an with the general, it seemed that we entered the West City Gate. ”

Yu Shuizhu's expression was slightly awkward.

When the two of them inspected the city gate every morning and dusk, they talked about the gossip in the palace, the interesting things in the court, and also recalled the military career, but never mentioned the general.

Because the two don't want to remember the tragic incident back then, they don't want to recall the role they played in that incident, maybe because of guilt and shame, maybe because of fear.

Lord Yu Shui didn't understand why the adults suddenly felt this today, and said in a low voice: "According to the rules of the imperial court, the force should enter the city through the east city gate, and later this matter was also taken out as evidence of the crime. ”

Huang Xing sighed and did not speak again.

The rain in the twilight is getting heavier and heavier, the pedestrians have already returned to their respective homes, the subordinate officials of the City Gate Division have probably returned to the warm mansion, the night vigil guards are hiding in the city gate hole or the duty room, the wet street is empty and quiet, only the sound of the rain accompanied by the two silent memories of the past.

Two carriages waited silently at both ends of the rainy street, it was the carriage sent by the two people's mansion, and the steward of the mansion had long been accustomed to the rules of the adults, so he did not come to urge them.

At this moment, the sound of footsteps suddenly sounded on the rainy street, the footsteps were very soft and steady, and if you listened carefully, you seemed to be able to hear the subtle sound of the soles of your boots breaking through the puddles.

It was a young man dressed in black and carrying a black umbrella.

It was strange that the young man did not have an umbrella and let the rain fall on him, his clothes were already soaked, and the rain ran down his forehead

Huang Xing looked at the young man in black who was walking towards the two of them, and his brows slowly raised.

He just thought that the young man in black, who was drenched all over, was a little strange, and he didn't notice any danger, and he didn't think anything would happen.

Because this is Chang'an City, which is well-guarded, and this is the heavily guarded West City Gate, whether it is those bold and reckless women's army, or those powerful cultivators, in the face of the majesty and powerful military power of the Tang Empire, they will become humble and calm.

Nothing really happened.

When the young man walked in front of the two, he noticed the official uniform worn by Huang Xing and the light armor worn by Yu Shuizhu, saluted, and then walked out of the long street.

Huang Xing noticed that when the young man in black saluted, the expression on his face was not awe, but with a very complicated feeling, and said with a smile: "We look at this young man in the rain strangely, and I think he will also feel strange when he looks at us two officials standing silent in the rain." ”

Yu Shuizhu said: "Reasonable, then go back." ”

Huang Xing suddenly felt that there seemed to be something more in his hand, and when he looked down, he saw a note in his palm.

He didn't look at what was written on the note, but turned to look behind him, only to see that the young man in black had long been missing from the street in the spring rain.

Lord Yu also noticed this, his eyebrows suddenly raised, and he said in a deep voice: "This person is very remarkable to be able to quietly stuff paper into the hands of adults." ”

Huang Xing was silent for a moment and opened the note in his palm.

The note was yellowish, seemingly ordinary, and it seemed to be extremely unusual, and the handwriting on it was probably written with cinnabar mixed with some kind of material, and it was as red as blood.

There were some lines drawn on the top of the yellowish strip of paper, and those lines looked like a word together, but neither Huang Xing nor Yu Shuizhu could recognize what it was.

They recognize the words underneath the slip of paper, because those are normal words.

"I have come from the general's palace to take your lives. ”

The expressions of the two changed drastically, and their expressions were so dark and gloomy that the night was about to be temporary and rainy, and Huang Xing's fingers holding the note trembled slightly.

The three words of the General's Mansion on the yellowish note evoked those memories that they buried deep in the bottom of their hearts, those blood-colored memories had long been blurred, and today Huang Xing looked at Chang'an City in the rain and occasionally sighed, which reminded them of some, and then this note made all those memories come back.

The two knew very well that the general on the note was not referring to Xu Shi, the general of the Zhenguo, nor Xiahou, the general of the Zhenjun, but Lin Guangyuan, the general of Xuanwei that year.

Huang Xing sighed and said: "I suddenly sighed before, and sure enough, something should happen. ”

Lord Yu said with a solemn expression: "I'll go to the Prince's Mansion." ”

Huang Xing nodded.

The two parted in the middle of the rainy street, holding umbrellas and walking towards the carriage in their house on the other side of the street.

The officer's boots crackled against the stagnant water in the street.

At the beginning, the rhythm of the sound was still very smooth and steady.

Then the footsteps on the rainy street became faster and faster, and more and more urgent.

This proves that their true mood at this time is not as relaxed as it seems.

Lord Yu walked quickly with an umbrella, the expression on his face became more and more cold, more and more solemn, the fear in his heart was replaced by anger, he just wanted to report to His Royal Highness the Prince as soon as possible, and there was really a fish that slipped through the net in that incident back then.

Footsteps suddenly shuffled.

His left foot was in a puddle, and the crackling sound became much longer and more muffled.

Because he could no longer lift his foot.

His foot fell into the puddle.

There seemed to be an invisible sharp wire on the ground of Rain Street, which cut the pants on his legs, cut his flesh, and cut his bones, so his feet fell.

Not an invisible sharp thread, but an infinite number of invisible sharp threads.

Yu Shui's knee was disconnected, and then his entire thigh was disconnected.

Then the light armor on his body was cut into countless pieces.

His people were cut into countless pieces of fresh meat. Like ripe fruit, they fell from the sky and smashed into the rain, making a crackling sound.

Huang Xing held an oil-paper umbrella and hurried towards the carriage at the corner of the street in the rain.

The oil-paper umbrella in his hand was old, and his face was pale.

He didn't want to die.

Although his oil-paper umbrella was very old, and the whole Chang'an City thought he was very incorruptible, but in fact he had been greedy for a lot of silver over the years, and he wanted to live and enjoy the money that it brought.

Although it was hard to inspect the city gates every day, in fact he enjoyed the timid eyes of his subordinates and the admiration and admiration of the people, and he wanted to continue to enjoy this qiē alive.

He thinks that he is a scenery of Chang'an City and wants to last a long time.

At that moment, he heard a snapping sound behind him.

The crackling sound of the heavy pieces of meat falling into the puddle is different from the crackling sound of the official boots stepping into the puddle, and it is very clear in the sound of falling rain.

Huang Xing didn't look back, he didn't dare to look back.

His hand holding the oil-paper umbrella trembled, and he looked at the carriage not far away and the steward who bowed respectfully beside the carriage, and his pale face showed a look of despair.

The yellowish note he held tightly in his hand was already wet with rain and sweat.

Suddenly, a bright flame erupted from his hand.

Another flame erupted from his robes.

Another flame erupted from the wrinkles of his aged cheeks.

Countless flames erupted from the deepest part of his body, instantly melting his hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, skin, fat, musculoskeletal, and burning for a while.

The long street on a rainy night is dark and wet.

The man under the umbrella is burning.

A moment later, oil-paper umbrellas fell from the sky and landed on the rainy streets.

Huang Xing under the umbrella has turned into ashes silently.

The umbrella rolls slowly in a puddle with a slightly charred handle.

In an alley not far away, Ning Que stood quietly in the rain.

I don't know if it's because the mood fluctuates too violently, or because this spring rain is a little cold, his face is a little pale, and the expression between his eyebrows and eyes is a little tired.

(One chapter today, three chapters tomorrow.) (To be continued)