It's the month of June. The scorching midday sun is like fire, hanging high above the sky, baking all beings on the earth.

On the official road from Jiang Guo to Chu State, a girl about seventeen or eighteen years old, dressed in white silk clothes and wearing leather boots, was walking forward quickly, as if she was in a hurry with something important.

The girl walked and muttered to herself: "Since I left the palace, it has been a month, and now I have only arrived in the Chu State." If you walk like this, when will you arrive at the Misty Ghost Forest? ”

She sighed and said, "At the end of the official road ahead, we will reach the boundary of the Ancient Fish Country. Along the way, I often hear people say that the ancient fish country has thieves, but I don't know if it's powerful or not? ”

Just ignoring the place, I suddenly felt the ground shake under my feet, and I heard the sound of hooves like thunder, and more than ten horses galloped like wind and clouds. The momentum is magnificent, such as thousands of troops.

When the girl heard the movement, she stared into the distance, but when she saw that each horse was tall and long-legged, far superior to ordinary horses, she was not only shocked in her heart: "Where did the iron horse come from, but more than ten times have such power?" ”

There were nineteen horsemen in this horse team, the leader was a young man dressed in white, and the other eighteen horsemen were all dressed in black iron armor, tightly wrapped all over their bodies, even their faces were covered with iron, only two eyes were exposed, and their eyes were hideous.

In a few moments, the horse team was at least in front of the women.

The white-clothed man grabbed the reins, bowed his hand, and said, "May I ask the girl, is the direction of the ancient fish country ahead?" ”

The girl was stunned for a moment, followed the prestige, and saw that the white-clothed boy had a fair complexion and was better than snow, his eyebrows were picturesque, his eyes were like cold stars, and his appearance was particularly handsome. ”

When the boy in white heard this, Deng was annoyed, his eyes flashed, and he snorted heavily, "Ask the girl, where should I go to the ancient fish country?" ”

The girl came back to her senses and knew that she had said the wrong thing, so she couldn't help but feel embarrassed, and hurriedly stretched out her hand and pointed ahead, saying, "You take this official road, and at the end of the road, there is the ancient fish country." ”

"Thank you, girl, for showing you the way." The boy in white arched his fists and led the horse team to gallop away.

The girl saw that the figure of the horse team was gradually getting smaller, and she still sighed to herself in her heart: "How can this person be so beautiful?" Seeing that there is an Adam's apple protrusion in his throat, it must not be a woman pretending. Alas, this is really enviable. ”

She looked at it for a while, and suddenly exclaimed: "Hey, although this person is speaking the official dialect of Chu State, between the words, there is a faint mixture of our Jiang State accent. I forgot to ask him where he was born. ”

As she spoke, she was about to continue her journey, when she suddenly heard the sound of gurgling water, and her heart was overjoyed, and she hurriedly followed the sound.

After getting off the official road, after walking for a short time, I saw a small stream.

The stream flows slowly, hitting the gravel and fine sand at the bottom of the water, and the sound is tinkling, which is especially pleasant to listen to at this time.

When the girl came to the stream, she saw that the water was crystal clear, so she hurriedly took a sip of water and drank it, only to feel a burst of coolness, which penetrated the bottom of her heart.

She drank enough water from the stream, and in addition to her shoes and socks, she rolled up her trousers and stretched out her feet into the stream to wash. A cool breath rushes straight to the heart from the soles of the feet, washing away all the sadness and tiredness all the way, leaving only a sense of relaxation.

After washing for a while, I suddenly noticed a white light flickering in the water, and when I looked closely, I saw a few fish swimming under the water.

The girl was overjoyed, thinking that she had been in a hurry for the past few days, far away from the market town, and only fed her hunger with wild fruits, and was hungry and salivating, and she didn't want to have the food delivered to her mouth today, which was really good.

Immediately picked up a dead branch on the shore, the jade foot slowly wriggled in the water, quietly picked up a piece of gravel on his toe, and kicked it out.

The gravel was forced, although it was in the water, it still flew out and hit a fish in the belly, only to hear a loud sound, and a big fish was beaten out of the water.

The girl's eyes and hands were quick, so that the dead branches stabbed away, and she was in the middle of the fish, and she couldn't help but be very happy, and said, "Wonderful! I have fish to eat today! So saying, he took out a knife from the bag, disemboweled, cleaned the fish, found some dead branches and leaves, made a bonfire, and roasted the fish.

After a while, the fish gradually cooked, and the fat aroma overflowed one after another.

The girl was so hungry that she didn't care about the hot fish, and in a few moments, she ate a fish cleanly.

When the girl had finished eating the grilled fish, she became inert and became sleepy, so she put out the fire and took a nap against the trunk of a tree by the brook.

She traveled for days, ran around for a long time, and slept soundly. The tree was sleeping in the shade, and I didn't feel that the time was passing, and suddenly a cold wind hit, and I couldn't help but shudder, and when I opened my eyes to look at the sky, it was already the middle of the night.

At that time, there was no moon in the sky, and the earth was dark.

The girl yawned slowly, opened her sleepy eyes, rubbed her eyes lightly, and looked around blankly, and the surroundings were hazy.

Suddenly, I heard a few strange screams, and I saw a faint black cloud fluttering in the sky.

The area is hilly and rugged, and birds of prey such as vultures inhabit the area. This black cloud is a vulture peeping at night, looking for human or animal carcasses for food.

The girl was stubborn for a while, picked up a gravel and threw it towards the black cloud, and then heard a scream, and a black shadow flew away, only a few feathers slowly fell.

The girl kicked her feet, turned over and jumped, grabbed the feathers, and grinned: "Hehe, you flat-haired beast, this time you will suffer!" ”

The girl was smug when an exclamation came.

She was taken aback, and when she followed the prestige, she saw a child of twelve or thirteen years old, holding a hemp rope in his hand, staring at her from a short distance.

The boy was barefoot, with only a tattered robe washed white, and he was scrawny and skinny, and there was no flesh at all.

At the other end of the hemp rope was tied a very tightly wrapped straw mat, and two shriveled little feet were exposed at one end of the straw mat, which was white and stiff.

The girl was stunned for a moment, and muttered, "Where did the child come from in this wilderness?" As he spoke, he beckoned and said with a smile, "Hey, kid, do you live nearby?" ”

But the child ignored it, and looked at the girl for a while, and then his eyes suddenly fell on the fishbone on the ground, and he did not look away.

The girl saw him staring directly at the fish bone, with a salivating look on his face, and was a little overwhelmed for a while, and hesitated: "You...... Do you want to eat fish? ”

As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly realized. With his own family history and the guidance of a famous teacher, the way of cultivation has begun to be essential, and his vision in the dark is like day, and it is not strange to see the remaining fish bones on the ground, but how can this child also see it?

The girl was taken aback, pointed to the fishbone and asked, "You...... Can you see this? ”

The child nodded, swallowed again, hesitated for a while, and said, "Big sister, can you teach me how to fight vultures?" ”

The girl thought for a moment and said, "There is no need for any method, just make the internal strength throw?" Well, as for the quasi-head, there is no other, but he is familiar. ”

The child asked, "What is internal strength?" ”

The girl was stunned for a moment, and she was very puzzled in her heart: "This child seems to know nothing about the way of cultivation, but how can he see things secretly?" ”

When the child saw that she did not answer, he only said that she did not want to teach, so he said, "Big sister, I came from a poor background, and my family has no money or food. You taught me the method, and I will repay you when he has the chance. ”

The girl shook her head and sighed, "I don't mean to ask for anything in return, I'm just ...... It's just that this internal strength is obtained through cultivation, and it is a kind of power that runs through the bones and joints of the whole body and runs at will. You don't know anything about cultivation, but I can't talk to you about it. ”

The child muttered, "Cultivation...... Cultivation? Big sister, what are you talking about cultivation is the way to become an immortal? ”

The girl muttered, "That's right. It's just that...... Alas, it's just that it is difficult to become an immortal! ”

The child shook his head and smiled, "Big sister thinks a lot!" The immortal saying is ethereal, and it is not a luxury for ordinary people like me. All you have to do is teach me how to fly rocks and birds. ”

The girl felt helpless in her heart: "This child is so invisible!" When we first met, he kept asking me to teach him the exercises, which was really embarrassing. ”

Seeing that the girl had not spoken for a long time, the child knew that she was unwilling in her heart, and was quite disappointed, and after a while, he smiled and said, "Big sister, what is your name?" Listening to you, it's not our people, where are you from? ”

"My name is Qingyi, and I am from Jiang Guo." Seeing that he no longer talked about the exercises, the girl immediately breathed a sigh of relief, so she picked a stone and sat down, and said with a smile: "Hey, isn't what I said about the official of Chu State wrong?" How do you know that I'm not from Chu? ”

The child shook his head and said, "I don't know if what you said is right or not, but it seems to be the same as what we are talking about, but it is about the same, so I asked you." ”

"Oh, you cunning little ghost, it turns out that you are deceiving me!" The girl Qingyi's eyes slowly swept over the child, and when she saw the straw mat on the ground, and her stiff feet, she couldn't help but be stunned, stretched out her hand and pointed at the straw mat, and said, "This...... This ......"

When the child saw her like this, his expression suddenly darkened, and he sighed: "This is my brother, unfortunately he drowned in the water today, and my father asked me to drag him to a mass grave and bury him." ”

When Qing Yi heard this, she felt slightly sorry in her heart, pondered for a while, and said with a dry smile: "Hey, you haven't said what your name is?" ”

The child raised his hand and pointed to the north and said, "My name is Chen Jiusi, and I live in Chenjia Village in front." Sister Qingyi, you can call me Ninety-Fourth. ”

"Ninety-fourth...... Ninety-fourth......" Qing Yi muttered a few times and said strangely, "Your name is so strange." Why did your dad give you such a name? ”

Chen Jiusi scratched his head and said with a dry smile: "Maybe my father's name is Chen Jiu, and I am the fourth in the family, so I named Chen Jiusi." ”

When Qing Yi heard this, a flash of inspiration flashed in his mind, and he asked, "That...... Xiao Jiusi, how many brothers are there in your family, and they are all named after the size of the rank? ”

Chen Jiusi nodded, thought about it again, and said, "It's not just our brothers, it's all like this in our village, what's the problem?" ”

Qing Yi shook his head, sighed, and said in a low voice: "Alas, the people have been the most ignorant since ancient times! ”

Chen Jiusi saw that she didn't belong in her mind, and asked, "Sister Qingyi, are you homesick?" ”

Qingyi's eyes turned red and said, "Heh, I don't want to." My dad was busy with his business all day long, never liking me or looking at me, I was all playing alone. ”

Chen Jiusi said: "My father is the same!" Every day, I have to go to Mr. Wu's house to order, finish the work in the field, and dig wild vegetables to come back to cook. It's busy. What about your mother? ”

Qingyi said: "My mother died when she gave birth to me!" My father said that I killed my mother, and he was annoyed with me and hated me. But I was born at that time, and I was just a baby, so how did I know these ......?"

As she spoke, she couldn't help but cry.

Seeing her like this, Chen Jiusi was at a loss for a while, and after a long time, he said: "Sister Qingyi, we are quite similar, we are all poor people. It's just that although your father doesn't love you, he finally raised you as an adult, which is better than I don't know who my parents are, but I am much luckier. ”

Qing Yiqi said: "What do you mean by this?" Didn't I just hear you say that you called your father! ”

Chen Jiusi pondered for a long time, and then he spoke eloquently. It turned out that he was an orphan, and he was born without knowing who his parents were, and was abandoned in the mountains, but fortunately he was rescued by a Taoist priest.

The Taoist priest had a crane-like temperament, how could he bring a crying baby by his side, so he found an honest family in a nearby village, gave him some money, and fostered him.

Chen Jiusi's adoptive father is named Chen Jiu, who lives in Chenjia Village, and his father and son are poor peasants for three generations.

Chen Jiusi is the fourth in the family, with two brothers and a second sister above, and the two below are brothers.

According to the custom, the common people have no merit, wealth, or non-monasticism, and they have no name, but can only be named after the date of birth, or the size of the family. This is the case with Chen Jiusi's family, six brothers, all named after their size.

The family of eight was crammed into three low, thatched huts, one of which had collapsed, and there was no extra ration in the grain hoard.

The family has worked hard all year round, and the food is still not enough, and there are always one or two months a year that they need to eat wild vegetables and tree roots to survive.

Although Chen Jiusi is young, he can see it clearly. Since he was born, he has always survived like wild boars and wild dogs.

Since the second sister married into the city to work as a companion for the county lord, he went out to work with his brother and parents.

The fifth and sixth were very young, but they were only children, and every day when they went out, my father tied them to the table leg with a rope and kept them at home.

In this way, life is okay. But who knew that the situation was not good this year, and the river in Guqiu first flooded, and hundreds of thousands of people became refugees. Then the plague followed, making the people miserable, and the people complained.

Before the disaster passed, the Jin Kingdom in the north took advantage of the fire to loot again, waved its army south, and attacked the city and plundered the land. Under the combination of soldiers and disasters, countless people in Guqiu Country were separated from their wives and families.

Chen Jiusi's family is one of them.

The eldest and third were arrested and sent to join the army, and there was no news again. Then, first the fifth child starved to death, and within a few days, his mother also starved to death. So far, only his father Chen Jiu, Chen Jiusi and Lao Liu are left in the family.

On this day, Chen Jiusi and his father Chen Jiu, as usual, tied up the sixth child and went out to work. But when he returned home at night, he saw the sixth child drowning in the water tank.