Hugging the snow pass came to the uninvited guest.

The old man is highly respected by the Chu clan in the clouds, even if he is as unruly as Chu Mingxiu, he has to retreat to him by three points. He was already too old, and he had been bumpy all the way from the clouds to the snow pass, and he had a minor illness, and he became more and more disfigured. A young man held his arm so that his old bones did not fall apart.

"Where's Chu Mingying?" The old man stared straight at Chu Zhixia and asked.

"Martyrdom." Chu Zhixia replied coldly.

"Yu Gong, Chu Ni is the general of Guanshan, fighting for the country and dying for the country, you treat her only daughter like this!" The old man was so angry that his body shook straight, and he raised his cane and was about to knock Chu Zhixia, "Yu Private, Chu Ni is your aunt, you can't tolerate your clan like this?" Are you afraid that someone will shake your position in the snow pass? You are simply cold-blooded, and when you go underground in the future, what face do you have to meet your ancestors! ”

"It's wartime, and wartime death is as common as eating and drinking. My elder brothers, General Tiance, General Guan Shan, and countless unknown pawns have all died for the national disaster, and there will be more people who will pay for this in the future, including myself. ”

Chu Shixia said calmly: "If the ancestor has a spirit, instead of condemning me for being incompetent, it is better to send down Ganlin for the north of the country." If the ancestors are beyond the reach of the trivial matters of the world, please also ask the ancestors to lie in the coffin in peace, and do not talk about the affairs of the living. ”

"You!"

"If you've had enough, get out." Chu Shixia said coldly, "The military law of the Xueguan Pass is the best, if there is a next time, it will be dealt with directly as trespassing in the barracks." There is no room for toleration. ”

——

Wang Yi broke an arm, barely stopped the bleeding, and lay on the bed unable to move. His sleeves were empty, and he sat up against the pillow, still able to smile at Chu Zhixia who entered the door, and raised his other intact hand to say hello.

Chu Zhixia's footsteps paused slightly, and he sat on the edge of the bed.

"I've heard about the day." Wang Xuan said, "Is there anything Your Highness would like to ask?" ”

"People are dead, and there's no point in asking anything." Chu Zhixia's tone did not have the slightest trace of guilt or pity, and it was as hard as a stone.

Wang Yi said to himself: "General Chu got married when she was sixteen years old, she was conceited and superb in martial arts, and refused to teach her husband and children at home. Mingying is her first child, and the only one, who has not been raised and taught by her for a day, but she is surprisingly strong as her. ”

Chu Zhixia lowered his head and did not speak.

It was the first time Wang Yi said so many words, and every word was said very slowly, as if he would stumble if he was a little faster.

"On the day of Beidi's night attack, it was General Chu who saved my life. It was my fault that I didn't die on the battlefield with her. But Mingying's suicide in front of the battle is not His Highness's fault. "If the person standing on the city wall that day was General Chu, she would have shot her own daughter with her own hands." ”

"I know." Chu Zhixia said softly.

The Snow Pass is important, but everyone in the Snow Pass is not important. They are like mud and sand gathered together, blocking the flood that is enough to encroach on the Central Plains. The levee is magnificent, but the gravel is so small that no one remembers a grain of sand that has been lost in the water, and no one will tear down an entire dam for a grain of sand.

"If one day, the captive person is the King of Jin, will His Highness still shoot that arrow?" Wang asked bluntly.

Chu Shixia looked up into his eyes and said cruelly, honestly and frankly, "Yes." ”

"In this way, the seven battalions are all obedient to His Highness." The king said without sorrow or joy.

A general who is cruel to himself will be merciful to his soldiers.

——

The sound of "will" fell into his ears without thinking, and Luo Shuangyi couldn't help but look at Shen Zhou's expression. Luo Shuangyi followed Shen Zhou all day long, and she knew that this was not a good drama for Shen Zhou and Chu Zhixia to collude.

Shen Zhou's expression did not fluctuate at all, as if he had expected it.

"What's wrong?" Shen Zhou instead felt that Luo Shuangyi's reaction was very strange and asked.

"Master of the house, aren't you scared and disappointed?" Luo Shuangyi asked tentatively.

"Do you mean, will Mo Xue choose to hold the snow between me and Yongxue Pass?" Shen Zhou said indifferently, "Why should I be scared and disappointed? ”

"I know that the head of the family will not fall into the hands of the Beidi people, but it is just a hypothesis, and she did not choose you." Luo Shuangyi was puzzled, "Between normal people, don't you call this 'betrayal'?" ”

Shen Zhou leaned against the black wall, looked at the snow pass in the night, and said, "This is not a betrayal. If she knows that something will hurt me, but she still wants to do it, it is called betrayal. ”

Luo Shuangyi didn't understand.

Shen Zhou didn't know how to explain it, and between the two of them, Chu Zhixia had already pushed the door out. She seemed to be extremely cold, took a deep breath with her big, and turned her head to look at the two people who were squatting in the corner not far away.

Chu Zhixia was not surprised that they were here.

"It doesn't hurt me."

After Shen Zhou said this, he took a few steps forward and took Chu Zhixia's hand and left with her.

——

"Did you hear it all?" Chu Zhixia asked.

"Hmm." Shen Zhou and Chu Zhixia interlocked their fingers, and their tone was slow, "Do you know that I'm outside, and I won't even coax me?" I'm so sad. ”

Chu Zhixia smiled helplessly, raised his hand to pinch the flesh on his cheek, and said, "I didn't see that you were sad at all. ”

After a long time, Chu Zhixia said: "Shen Zhou, I didn't lie. If you were the one who was put in front of Erdan today, I would really kill you with my own hands. ”

Shen Zhou said neatly: "Mo Xue, not only do you know me, I also know you. If I die at your hands, you will only suffer more than me, how can I hate someone more pitiful than me? ”

Chu Zhixia stood still, raising his eyes to look at the pure eyes of a sinking boat deer.

"You've made me choose so many times, and I've had a lot of opportunities to regret it."

Chu Shixia corrected him: "You have it first." ”

"I don't regret it." Shen Zhou leaned down and kissed her eyes, "Never." ”

Chu Zhixia trembled and melted under this dragonfly-like kiss, and said, "If I really lose you in this war, or if I am defeated like a mountain, I will reunite with you on the Huangquan Road; Or I will return triumphantly, and when the mountains and rivers are calm, I will die for you. ”

"You don't have to die for me," said Shen Zhou, "I only ask you to live a long life and get what you want." ”

I will wait for you to grow old by the bridge.

——

In the third year of Xuande, in July, Chu Zhixia and Erdan reached an agreement to exchange the remains of Hongji Thorn and Hazar for the bodies of Chu Ni and Chu Mingying. Chu Zhixia sent Chu Ni's coffin back to the clouds for burial with a military salute, and on the way, the people either heard about it or knew little about it, so they all volunteered to mourn it, and the city was full of vegetarianism.

Starting from Chu Mingyan, the snow-white clothes of the city in the north have not faded.

The whole of the north is shrouded in the shadow of death.

There are still three months left before the completion of the fortifications of the Snow Pass.

"Throughout the summer, there was not a drop of rain in the north of the country, the crops died, and there must have been no harvest in the autumn. The last batch of grain and grass sent by Guangling has been put into the warehouse, and the military supplies supporting Xueguan do not need to worry, but the disaster situation in the north of the city is ......."

Cheng Yuan hesitated a little and didn't continue.

Chu Zhixia was wearing a practice uniform, half of his muscular shoulders were exposed, covered with beads of sweat. She held a bow and practiced the trifecta she had already mastered, the string of which cut through the air with a "boom" and the arrows rattled against the red bull's-eye.

A layer of white cloth wound from her jaw to her thumb, and a faint trail of blood leaked open.

She's been practicing here for a day.

"Is there any news from the clouds?" Chu Zhixia asked with a steady breath.

Cheng Yuan shook his head and said, "Everything is as usual." ”

"Then leave it alone." Chu Shixia took out four arrows from the quiver, gestured on the bowstring, and said, "The climate in northern Yanbei is harsh, either snow or drought, the government has grain in stock, and the officials have experience. In comparison, the situation in the imperial capital is even more severe. ”

Cheng Yuan was speechless, and said with difficulty: "Your Majesty ordered the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce to donate food in order to raise money and food for disaster relief. ”

"They are all businessmen who can't afford to make no profits, and they are not allowed to have any benefits, how can they be willing to spit out their bones?" The muscles on Chu Zhixia's arms were tense and the curves were refined, "But our majesty is not a pure person, and there are more ways to make people 'willing'." ”

"Those who shirk and donate, and those who donate less, will be found out by the government within a few days. or the children of the family are adulterers, or they are cheating and playing tricks when paying taxes, and they will be punished severely, the family property will be confiscated, and the clansmen will be imprisoned. Cheng Yuan sighed.

The lesser of two evils, money is such a thing, you have to earn it and you have to spend it. The merchant is the best at observing words and feelings, and when he sees that the emperor is determined to pull off a layer of skin from the merchant to get through the difficulties, how dare he disobey?

Fear is as contagious as the plague, and Bai Ziche knows this well, and he is skilled at killing chickens and monkeys.

Chu Zhixia let out a dull laugh from his chest.

The sound of four feathered arrows breaking through the air came one after another, the first feathered arrow hit the bull's-eye, and the second shot followed by the tail end of the first arrow, splitting it straight open. The last two arrows were as if they were powerless, and they almost missed the target.

"Four beads!" Cheng Yuan's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Not yet." Chu Zhixia moved his sore arm and said.

"Your Majesty's decision shows that he is also the last resort of the crossbow, and he has to do it as a last resort. In the history books of later generations, it is indispensable to point at his nose and scold him for 'tyrannical expropriation'. Chu Zhixia patted Cheng Yuan's shoulder and said, "Fortunately, it's almost over." ”

Cheng Yuan didn't understand, and he didn't dare to ask.

——

At the foot of the Beidi Holy Mountain.

The desolate mountains are full of scorched woods and bare rocks, with the occasional eagle soaring by, leaving a fleeting trail among the thick clouds. On the pillars at the four corners of the altar lay hideous beast heads, looking down on the sorcerers dressed in colorful clothes, holding colorful flags, singing and dancing. Under the altar were planted the banners of the ten divisions of Beidi - the three divisions of Chihe, Mosu, and Hada had been annexed.

The pure white yak is bound face up, and the shaman inserts an obsidian dagger into its heart, singing an ancient and obscure song to cut it out. The shaman raised his bloody heart above his head and shouted to the vast sky in an ancient language.

Erdan stepped up to the platform under the watchful eye of the crowd, and the wizards sprinkled water at his feet. Erdan came all the way to the shaman and knelt down facing the holy mountain.

The shaman pointed a bloody finger on Erdan's forehead and said, "The arrogant Central Plains people burned the holy mountain in an attempt to offend the gods, but this is only a shell abandoned by the gods. Erdan, the Son of God, washed away the reproach of the Beidi people with blood. ”

"In the name of the Immortal Heaven, the Ten Divisions of Beidi have been like a family since then, but all those born on the grassland are God's people. The Beidi people will never raise a butcher's knife against their brothers and sisters again! Erdan turned to face the nobles, generals, and soldiers of the Ten Divisions, raised his saber and shouted, "Step on the Snow Pass and sweep the Central Plains!" ”

"Step on the snow pass and sweep the Central Plains!"

The cry was deafening, and the mountains and rivers trembled.

——

In the third year of Xuande, in August, the ten departments of Beidi, headed by the Qingying Department, stepped across the boundary monument of the Snow Line River and went south.

The Beidi people showed unprecedented unity, and in just two months, the seven major military fortresses in front of Yongxue Pass fell one after another, and both sides suffered countless casualties. Those who are captured at birth, if they are nobodies, are tortured alive and tortured to death; If it is a general with a name and surname, he will be beheaded, put on a banner, and call out to the seven camps of Yongxueguan.

By October, only Baichuan Fort was left to support before the snow pass.

Chu Zhixia was dressed in black light armor, strode in the narrow corridor of the Snow Pass, kicked open the door and carried the ghost city master in his hand. The ghost city lord was so anxious that a string of fire boils burned out of his mouth, and he was still holding a mess of design drawings in his hand, and was about to go out.

Chu Shixia said: "How long will it take to complete this fortification?" ”

"The last ignition mechanism is missing."

The ghost city lord was not angry, and grabbed a crumpled drawing to show Chu Shixia, "According to your request, the machine will automatically throw the fire into a bamboo pipe filled with fire oil, and detonate the entire fortification from the inside out. But the bracket hasn't had time to install it yet, and you can't do that with the range of your bow and arrows! Even the assassins of the Nine Shadows couldn't light the oil and leave before it exploded. ”

The ghost city lord hurriedly said, "Give me another fifteen days, only fifteen days......"

"It's too late." Chu Zhixia said.

"What?" The ghost city lord was stunned, this was the first time Chu Shixia had said "no" to him in this matter.

"Since we haven't had time to install it, the entrance to the fire should not be sealed. We don't use the opportunity to ignite it with people and start the self-detonation of the entire fortification. Chu Zhixia lowered his head slightly, and half of his face was shrouded in shadows that could not be illuminated by the lights.

"Do you know how big this fortification is?" The ghost city lord was stunned, "There are two thousand three hundred and sixty-one fires put into the mouth, and those who go to light the fire will definitely die." ”

"I know." Chu Zhixia raised his head and looked cold, "The army in northern China has a very complete set of laws for the distribution of pensions and the maintenance of the widows of dead soldiers, and in northern Yanbei, embezzling pensions and insulting the widows of dead soldiers are extremely serious crimes, do you know?" ”

The ghost city lord stared at her blankly.

"You're right, Erdan is destined to be. Now, God is coming. ”

Chu Zhixia actually showed a smile, with the murderous aura of a sword in his smile.

——

Baichuan Fort.

The first Beidi soldier stepped onto the city wall with the blood spurting from the body of his companion on his head, and slashed the throat of the defender with the knife in his mouth. Like the first crack in the dam, the Beidi soldiers swarmed and tore apart the city defense of Baichuan Fort. As many people climbed up, as many people were thrown down, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood.

The corpses piled up under Baichuan Fort were almost enough for the Beidi people to step on the corpse mountain to climb the city.

No one knows when it is bright and when it is dark.

Maybe the person who was hiding in the trench with you one second will be cut in two by the butcher's knife of the Beidi people the next moment; The person who fought back to back with you one second will be shot through the eye by a flying arrow the next.

"Yongxueguan didn't open the door, and the people we sent back didn't respond." I don't know who trembled and said, "We were abandoned." ”

Holding the snow and closing the door meant that they had no way to retreat, but could only face the blade of the Beidi people.

A resounding slap in the face broke the desperate silence.

The centurion's face was covered in blood and mud, and his left shoulder was bandaged with a messy bandage. But this slap was crisp and powerful, and it was simply tigerish.

The centurion stood up with his scarred long knife on the ground and scolded: "The Beidi barbarians don't want to die, as soon as the door of the snow gate is opened, do you think they will use the corpse to block the arrow and rush in directly?" Two months ago, in order to keep Baichuan Fort, the general could even give up his own clan sister, and now the Beidi people's knives have not fallen on your necks, and you are in a hurry to kneel down one by one! Not even a little girl! ”

The centurion spat viciously and said, "Seed! Even if the snow closes the door, Lao Tzu will not leave, and if he dies, he will drag two Beidi people into the water! ”

More than a dozen of his men were in high spirits, and they had just raised their weapons and roared twice, when their faces suddenly turned to horror. The centurion was blessed with a heart, and slammed himself to the ground, his broadsword grazing his hair. The young soldier, who had been dejected before, suddenly pounced and stabbed the Beidi behind the centurion.

The Beidi grabbed the young soldier's knife and cut off his head. The centurion was still immersed in the dazed escape from death, and suddenly his eyes were red by the splash of blood, and he grabbed the knife in his hand and rushed forward regardless of it.

Mo Zhigen looked at the centurion with disdain, the blade in his hand twisted, and easily cut the centurion's knife, the blade sank into the centurion's shoulder blade half an inch, and it was actually stuck. Mo Rigen used a wolf slashing knife, the back of the knife was heavy, the blade was light and thin, it was difficult to pull out for a while, and the metal rubbed against the bone stubble to make a tooth-sore sound.

The centurion vomited blood and hugged Morrigan's waist and shouted with all his might: "Run! ”

The young man behind the centurion woke up like a dream, but instead of turning his head and running away, he grabbed his weapon and rushed forward. Mo Rigen sneered, and the handle of the knife slammed into the centurion's cervical vertebrae, breaking his cervical vertebrae. The centurion lost his strength, his fingers loosened, and Morrigan jerked the man away.

More Beidi soldiers jumped out behind Mozhigen.

The neighing of the horses was earth-shattering.

The black flag of the white crane and the black flag of the tiger and leopard swept in from afar.

The king of Zhenbei led the tiger and leopard to ride in person.

Morrigan raised his hand to split the feathered arrows that came at him, and the second arrow that followed was grabbed by him, and the third grazed his temple and sank into the eyebrows of the soldier behind him. As soon as Morrigan turned his head, an unexpected fourth arrow slammed into his left eye.

Mo Rigen reached out to grab it, and the shaft of the arrow grazed a bloody mark in his palm, and the sharp cluster of arrows pierced his eyeballs, piercing deep into his sockets, and an inch more would pierce his brain. Mo Rigen decisively pulled out his arrow, the white horse slashed in front of him like lightning, and the black-armored cavalry stabbed him in the heart with a spear.

Under the severe pain, Mo Zhigen was able to lift his knife and slash at the tip of the spear, causing the spear to be rerouted. The black-armored cavalry took advantage of the situation and spun the spear in his hand, slashing straight at the top of his head. Morrigan dodged to the side, and the heavy barrel of the gun smashed into his shoulder, knocking him to his knees.

A rain of locust arrows swooped down on the black-armored cavalry, and a tiger and leopard rider rushed forward, raising his shield to cover her. Morrigan grabbed the spear and pushed it forward, rolling and crawling backwards. A war horse rushed out of the spur, grabbed Mo Rigen on his horse, and fled.

"Your Highness, are you hurt?" Ye Qian turned around and asked Chu Zhixia.

"Very good." Chu Zhixia lifted his mask and looked at the soldiers they had saved.

When the Beidi people had just released their arrows, the tiger and leopard riders protected them with a barrier made of shields.

"It's the tiger and the leopard riding ......," said the centurion, whose tears were mixed with blood, "and the reinforcements are really coming." ”

The young people watched him die quietly, and they didn't know who made the first choked up.

"Pass my order, all the sergeants of Baichuan Fort withdraw to Yongxue Pass."

Chu Zhixia's words fell, and the sound of gold, which symbolized the retreat, resounded through the dilapidated Baichuan Fort.

"It's a long chapter."