Sorghum, Nantuo.

The color of the snow has disappeared far behind.

Although Fang Zhiqiu's sentence in the world Fang Zhiqiu is a sigh that Huangliang's understanding of world affairs is far inferior to Huai'an, but in the place of Nantuo, it is extremely pertinent, correct, and to the point.

In fact, although the wind and snow in the north were very heavy this year, after entering Nanchu, the chill slowly disappeared.

The people in Jiangluo may have seen a little bit of the tail of the snow, and some children happily swept the light snow on the steps, reluctantly pinched into a snow ball, and then brought it home very preciously.

There is no snow in Gaoxin, and so is Nantuo.

It's just a cold autumn heading south.

So the snow disappeared far behind.

Children stood at the edge of the forest, looking out at the twilight behind the vast forest.

There is autumn water.

The tail of the River Styx.

The place where twilight never sets.

The child would love to go and see it, but his parents wouldn't allow it.

Because there are many demons over there, although they are not in Qiushui, but they are on the Yellow Mountain Range above Qiushui, in the ancestral land of the demon clan, just like the demon clan in the world many years ago, living on that ancient and barren black land.

Children don't really understand.

It's like the question he asked after being repeatedly warned by his parents.

"Don't go there, it's all demons."

"But mother, didn't you say that the demon clan and the people in the town have long coexisted?"

"It's different, it's their ancestral land."

The child was silent for a long time and asked a deadly question.

"But we're demons too!"

The child's two-eared mother raised her hand and touched his skull, saying, "But you don't have to be." ”

Demons are creatures, not multiplying beings.

The Great Dao will not give birth to a race that will survive in the world for a long time.

All things have to die if they are born, which is the principle of permanence.

The child thought that this problem was fatal to his mother, but he didn't expect that it was himself who was fatal.

So the children never asked these questions again, but sometimes stood at the edge of the forest and looked at the twilight behind the forest, imagining what a great river it was.

Just like today.

As the mother of the demon clan, he and the father of the human clan took the money early in the morning and went to the other side of the town, because it was almost the New Year, and there were no pigs at home, so he planned to go to other towns and kill a pig and come back.

Of course, a family of three can't finish a pig, so the rest will be smoked into bacon, which can be eaten slowly until the second half of next year.

The child stood quietly in the woods, thinking about the cured pork and the river on the other side of the forest.

Autumn water should be the color of preserved pork, which is yellow and clear when fried, and has a crystal bright color - it is the color of the oil that has been fried.

The child thought about it for a long time, and then he felt that something was wrong, but he didn't know what was wrong.

So he looked back at the town behind him after a stream had passed, it was early morning, and the autumn fog in the town had not yet dissipated, but was flowing slowly in the air, clinging to the corner of the wall, and then turning around, and landing on the corner of the street.

But on the other side of the woods, there is a dusk scene.

The child stands here as if he were standing in the night between yesterday's dusk and this morning's morning.

But there was no night, just a forest, with cicadas chirping, insects bouncing on dead leaves, and if there were noisy frogs in autumn, the townspeople would surely be annoyed to death.

Children subconsciously think about autumn, and the people of Nantuo seem to have no concept of winter.

In fact, it is December 26th, and in a few days it will be the Spring Festival, and then the new year.

Is the beginning of spring?

The child thought, but he wasn't sure.

It seemed to have been erected, but it seemed that there was not, so the child did not bother with these things anymore, but walked towards the forest in a cranky manner.

It's still early in the morning.

Killing a pig is a very troublesome thing, so his father and mother will probably have a long time before they come back with a pig.

It is precisely because of this that the child has the courage to sneak over this mountain forest to take a look.

Because he was worried about meeting those demon clans, he broke a thorny branch from the bushes full of weeds in the forest, imagining what kind of rare divine weapon in the world, waving it all the way, and walking towards the autumn water.

The mountains and forests were suspended in the twilight, and it seemed to be very close, but when the children walked in, they realized that they were actually very far away.

You have to walk through a forest, and you have to climb over some mountains that have been heard to have been soaked in the waters of the River Styx.

Then he walked through a forest full of fiery maple leaves—his father didn't tell him what trees were in the forest behind the mountain, as the townspeople said.

The boy did not cross the hill until noon, and stopped on a hillside, and watched from afar the twilight that grew thicker and thicker, like the sun in the sky being drowned in the water, and then his sad orange blood spread in all directions in the rivers, and the color of the edges seen on the other side of the mountain forest was naturally a diluted light color.

So the more I walked to the river, the more I could see the sun's drowning.

The child was thinking wildly, and on the other hand, he felt that he had been gone for a long time, and he wondered if his father and mother had already arrived home, and he was a little worried.

But after thinking about it, I've already come here, and I'm going to be beaten when I go back anyway, so it's better to continue to walk to the end and take a look.

So the child walked down the hill along the path that had not been walked for many years, and continued on his way.

It wasn't until after passing through some of the unusual autumn forests that the child's eyes finally widened in amazement.

Yes, the people in town are right.

This is a maple forest.

The fiery red leaves hung on the branches, shining in the twilight glow, and they were so bright.

The forest has clean and well-groomed paths, perhaps paved with stones many years ago, and covered with red leaves, like blood spat on the riverbank when the sun is drowning.

When the wind blew, the blood flew up again, clattering through the woods and falling into the unknown distance.

The child left the thorny branch at the entrance of the forest, and then stepped on the fallen leaves all the way to the edge of the maple forest.

In fact, he can already see some of the appearance of autumn water.

The glow floating on the river, in the wind, in the gap between the branches of the red leaves, is slowly falling to the world.

When I looked up, I could see the black mountain range that was not far away, extremely tall and silent—it was also sprinkled with twilight.

I say that a long time ago, people firmly believed that the twilight of the world flowed from the tail of the river Styx, flowed behind the forest, and was blown by the warm evening breeze to the whole world.

Because dusk is the closest color to autumn.

That's why they call it Qiushui.

Translucent.

The child thought of the name, and at last he walked through the forest and stood by the great river.

When the brilliant and soft tones fell into his eyes, the child finally sincerely believed that the twilight was blowing here to the whole world.

The river is full of sunshine, quietly heading towards the endless deep ocean further south, and when the water ripples, it will make people feel that this is the twilight missing in some gloomy town, broken in the autumn water early.

The sun died here.

The child looked up at the sky, and there was not a single sunset on the top of the black earth mountain range, where the peaks were invisible.

It's just a cloud of eternal beauty drifting away.

So the sun is dead here.

While the child was thinking like this, he suddenly found a woman wearing twilight on her body and dragging a waterfall of white hair, with a peach blossom hairpin in her white hair, and the end of a sword hidden.

Is it a demon?

The child suddenly regretted leaving the branch of the magic weapon at the entrance to the woods, so he just stood nervously on the shore and stepped back cautiously.

But the woman looked at it anyway.

The child stopped and looked at the woman in a daze.

He saw autumn water.

In the woman's eyes—when the glow fell into the clear eyes.

Yes, it's autumn water.

"Who are you?"

The child was stunned for a long time before asking softly.

Qiushui just quietly glanced at the child who appeared by the autumn water for some reason, and then turned back to look at the twilight river in front of him.

"Autumn water."

It is the cliff master of the world, and it is also the autumn water of the demon of autumn water.

Maybe it's too far away from the high cliff, too far away from the autumn water a thousand years ago, but the child has never heard of this name, just standing there and guessing what kind of demon in the world this is.

This river is also called Qiushui, and the woman is also called Qiushui.

Then she must be the big demon that this river has turned into.

"You came down from the mountains?" The child remembered his father's instructions, and asked with some anxiety.

The woman shook her head.

"And you're going to the mountains?"

The white-haired woman still shook her head, but perhaps in order to stop the child from asking, she turned her head again, looked at him, and said, "I'll go to the other side of the river, do you want to go and see?" ”

The child stood nervously in the woman's gaze, holding his fingers and rubbing them several times, and then nodded when he rubbed out some black mud.

Qiushui stretched out a hand to the child, and the child hesitated for a long time before slowly walking over and taking the extremely cold hand.

This surprised the child for a long time, and he looked at the young-looking, white-haired woman beside him.

She didn't seem to feel any pulse in her hands, and only for an occasional moment could there be some subtle movement of blood surging.

Qiushui didn't say anything, just quietly took the child's hand and walked towards the river that flowed in the twilight.

The children were not surprised, and sometimes there were people passing through the town, and when they passed, sometimes they would take the bridge by the stream, and sometimes they would tread directly through the water.

It seems that when a child grows up and the demonic power in his body is stronger, he seems to be able to do the same.

But he didn't know how old he had to be.

The demonic power of a child cannot even blow a gust of wind.

The two of them crossed the river.

The child let go of the woman's hand, and was about to say something, when he saw a man walking out of the maple grove facing the river.

Stopped not far in front of the two of them and saluted respectfully.

"The demon lord wants to see the cliff master."

Qiushui just looked at him quietly, then took the child's hand again, ignored him, and walked slowly along the long river.

The man hesitated to stand still, watching their backs, and then followed.

The two of them walked for a short distance before finally stopping at a place where autumn water bypassed the autumn mountains.

There was a trail leading into the woods, and not far from the side of the trail lay a dilapidated cottage that looked like it might have been many years old.

The child followed Qiushui to stop there in a daze, only to see the woman next to him quietly looking at the grass house, and then said calmly: "If you want to see me, let the demon clan go down the mountain first." ”

This sentence was naturally said to the demon clan who had been following the two of them.

The man was silent for a long time, then turned and left.

The child looked back blankly as the man departed, not knowing what such a sentence meant.

Haven't the demon clan been under the mountain all along?

Didn't you say that those on the mountain were just guarding the ancestral land of the demon clan?

Qiushui didn't explain these things to the children beside him, but just quietly looked at the glow of Qiushui in front of him, and walked towards the grass house.

"Where is this?"

The child asked, puzzled.

"This is the homeland."

Qiushui said softly.

"I lived here many years ago."

Qiushui looked at the grass house with amazement.

At that time, there was more than autumn water by the autumn water.

There are also Gou Qian, as well as Kamigawa, and those demon clans who were forced to stay away from the world and fled all the way south.

And the lame elk, who lived under a certain tree in the mountains, looked at the north of the world with tears in his eyes all day long.

The child looked at the white hair behind Qiu Shui and seemed to understand something.

"Are you very old and dying, so you came back here to see your hometown?"

Qiushui looked down at the child beside him and said with a sigh, "Yes." ”

Just like when the demon clan had to return to the world before they were willing to die, Qiushui also had to return to Qiushui to be willing to spend the last period of his life in vain.

The child was silent for a long time, holding Qiushui's cold hand tightly.

"Is it on the mountain?"

Is the mountain a homeland?

Naturally, the mountains are too.

"Yes."

"Will you go up the hill and have a look?"

"No, it won't."

"Why?"

Qiushui looked up at the high mountain full of black soil and umbrella trees, and said slowly; "Because the people on the mountain still have some unresolved hatred in their hearts."

The child finally asked what he had been puzzled about.

"Isn't the mountain the ancestral land of the demon clan?"

"How could the ancestral land of the demon clan be on such a barren mountain?" Qiushui said softly. "It's the bustling and lively world that gave birth to the demon clan."

"So what's on the mountain?"

Qiushui was silent for a long time, and said slowly: "The mountain is the land of many stubborn people who are still unwilling to be freed. ”

Thousands of years ago, ten thousand demons crossed the autumn water, but that was not all demon clans.

Some remained.

Looking at the world with trepidation, I don't know what fate will go from then on.

Qiushui didn't care who the so-called demon lord of this generation was.

Kamigawa didn't care either.

If you would rather stay in the mountains, you will stay in the mountains forever.

No one ever forced anything.

The child didn't ask anything more, but quietly followed the autumn water towards the millennium-old meadow.

The two of them stood in front of the grass hut, and the child turned his head to look at the autumn water on the side, and asked softly, "Do you want to cover it again?" ”

Qiushui nodded.

The boy thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll help you." ”

Such a thing as building a grass house is always a great temptation for children.

Qiushui shook his head.

The child thought that Qiushui didn't believe in him, and said very seriously: "I used to play with my friends and them in a grass hut outside the town. ”

"Not this."

Qiushui looked back in the direction where the two of them came from, and said slowly, "Your father and mother have come back from outside the town." ”

The child was startled, only to realize that he had forgotten about it, and was just looking at the big river and the distant mountains and forests, and he was a little sad.

It's so far away, how can I suddenly rush back.

It's just that he began to feel sad, but the sword-like branch he picked up earlier suddenly passed through the glow and fell into Qiushui's hands.

"So you're a sword cultivator?"

The boy forgot that his father and mother were carrying the pig to the house, and looked at the branch in the hand of the woman beside him with amazement, but he felt as if he had asked too much.

The white-haired woman had always held a sword in her hand.

I just don't know why, I always seem to be prone to not remembering this.

Maybe it's because the sword is sometimes hidden under the gray hair.

Qiushui didn't say anything, just handed the twig to the child.

"Take it and it will take you back."

The child remembered his father and mother again.

"Before they get back?"

"Yes."

The child suddenly felt that this episode was very similar to some stories told to children, where the adventurous person discovered a secret realm, so the person with magical abilities gave him a token that could allow him to travel in that secret realm without being discovered by the world.

Thinking of this, the child felt excited, and nodded as he held the branch.

"Then can I still hold it and let him bring me back?"

Qiushui nodded and said, "Yes." ”

The child felt that a secret and great task was falling on his shoulders, and looked at Qiushui very sincerely, waiting for her words to follow.

"In a few days, you come to Qiushui again, and I will ask you to do me a favor."

And sure enough, it was!

The child was very excited, but he nodded solemnly and did not ask what he could help.

Naturally, what happened a few days later needed to be kept secret.

Qiushui didn't say anything more.

The child grasped the branch in both hands and imagined that it had become a sword.

So there was really a twilight sword light flowing on the branch.

Then, suddenly, he took the child through the autumn water, through the mountains and forests, and returned to the edge of the forest where it was still noon.

The fog in the town had lifted, and when the child turned back with a branch, he saw that his father and mother had carried a slaughtered pig through the town towards their little yard.

"I'm back for dinner! Eat pork stewed vermicelli today. ”

His mother saw the child standing at the edge of the forest, and shouted happily.

The boy hid his branches under a tree in the forest, covered them with fallen leaves, and ran to the other side of the stream.

"Okay!"