Because the Chang'an Li royal family overlooks the world, because of the Xiling Temple, the relationship between the Central Plains and the Tang Empire has never been harmonious.

Located in the south of the continent between the Great River Kingdom and the Tang Empire separated by the Daze Forest and the vast land of the Southern Jin Dynasty, the communication is extremely difficult, but I don't know if it is because the distance is easy to produce the reason for beauty, from many years ago, the monarchs and people of the Great River Kingdom have been admiring the Tang culture, ignoring the difficult and long transportation journey, and will send out envoys and students every once in a while, the customs culture of Chang'an City is extremely popular in the country, and the influence of the Tang style can be seen in many details of the official system of the court and the daily life of the people.

This group of boys and girls who appeared on the edge of the dense forest on the shore of the blue lake, dressed in light-colored open skirts, with long and gorgeous waists, the most popular clothing style during the Tang Dynasty, these young boys and girls have calm and supple eyebrows, but their eyes are focused and resolute, and the black sheath wooden sword worn at the waist is long and slightly curved, which is the unique Xiu sword of the Great River Country.

From these details, Ning Que quickly concluded that the other party was from the Great River Country, and the people of the two countries who had been friends for generations had a natural sense of closeness and trust with each other, and they didn't believe that the other party would have malicious intentions towards him, so he didn't hesitate to put down the bow and arrow in his hand, as he expected, when this group of young boys and girls knew their identity as Tang people, they also quickly released their goodwill and reported their own sect.

The Ink Pond Garden of the Great River Country is the cultivation residence of the Lord of the Book Saint King, and these young men and girls who appear in the Yanbei Wasteland are naturally the disciples of the Book Saint Sect, most of them are female disciples, and there are only three or four male disciples.

The girl who had been targeted by Ning Que with a boxwood hardwood bow stepped forward, blinked her big curious eyes, looked at Ning Que as if she had seen something funny, and asked, "Are you really a Tang person?"

This girl in a long blue skirt, probably because of the fear of cold, has a furry scarf around her face and neck, with a childish countenance, and big dark and smart eyes, which looks particularly avoidable

Ning Que replied with a smile, "What's the benefit of pretending to be a Tang person?"

The girl covered her mouth and smiled, and said, "Except for the Tang merchants in the city, I haven't seen the Tang people from Chang'an City, so I'm a little curious." ”

A woman about twenty years old stepped forward, bowed to Ning Que with apologies, took out an identity document issued by Yan ** from her arms, and then asked Ning Que to take out her own body certificate.

After all, this is Yingyuan, not far from the battlefield, and he can't lift all his vigilance just because of Ning Que's words, he understands the other party's caution very well, unpacks his bags behind his back, and takes out the documents issued by Tuyang City and hands them to the other party.

After confirming that Ning Que was a Tang person, these disciples from the Great River Country Mengchi Yuan suddenly became more relaxed, those girls gathered around him from a distance and looked at him curiously and discussed, the woman sincerely apologized and said: "I didn't know the identity of the prince before, and it was really abrupt to point at each other with swords and arrows, and I ask the prince to forgive me." ”

The girl of the Tang Kingdom is known for being sparse and spicy, whether it is Li Yu or Situ Yilan, there is this kind of ingredient in her character, Ning Que rarely sees such a gentle woman, he glanced at the male disciples of Mochi Yuan who were honest and well-behaved and stood in the distance, thinking of the rumors of the Great River Country that values women over men, he can't help but feel a little strange, since the Great River Country values women over men, why are these female disciples of the Ink Pond Garden so reasonable and gentle, and even seem too peaceful?

He smiled and shook his head: "The girl is too polite, this hot spring was originally discovered by you first, I am the uninvited guest, if you want to apologize, it should be me who apologizes."

The woman who was in her teenage years hesitated for a moment and said: "Sure enough, she is worthy of being a figure in the kingdom, her words and temperament are gentle and generous, and the three disciples of Xia Mo Chi Yuan are drinking the flowers, if the prince is happy with this hot spring, it is better to ......."

If it were an ordinary Tang ** person, I don't think it would make this third disciple of Mochi Yuan attach so much importance to gentleness. It's just that this place is not far from Dongsheng Village, the black smock that Ning Que is wearing is a send-off gift for everyone with red sleeves, whether it is material or embroidery, it is the world's first-rate ability, how can the women of Dahe Country not understand the truth of Datang clothing, just a glance and guessed that Ning Que must have an extraordinary background, maybe it is those who heard that they are practicing in Dongsheng Village, so their attitude is more and more gentle and humble.

"There is no such reason. Ning Que said with a smile: "I just walked along the lake at will, and occasionally found that the lake flow was different, and I guessed that there might be a mountain stream here, and I didn't expect it to be a hot spring in advance, so you don't have to pay attention to me." ”

Hearing this, the woman's expression remained calm, but she was relieved in her heart. With Dahe Guo's respect for Tang Guo, especially guessing that Ning Que may have an extraordinary background, if she was at another time, she would probably leave directly with her junior sisters and disciples, and give this hot spring to Ning Que, but now she has no regrets......

"In this way, it will not disturb the Qing Xiu of the prince of Shangguo. ”

Seeing that he didn't mean to sign up for himself, he couldn't take the liberty of asking, smiled and said, squatted down and saluted respectfully, and then led the group of young men and girls to the dense forest.

Ning Que looked at the depths of the dense forest, and vaguely saw the mist steaming from the hot spring, as well as a yellow cloth about one and a half people high, thinking that the girls of the Great River Country were probably soaking in the hot spring behind that group of cloths, no wonder they were so nervous before, if other men stole all the spring light with their eyes, how would it be good.

I didn't think about walking along the lake, but I could actually meet the female disciple of the Ink Pond Garden of the Great River Country, and today's luck didn't seem to be too bad, he picked up the bags on the ground, turned around and walked towards the place where he came, thinking that the scenery of the shallow pond seeping out of a white stone by the lake was not bad, and he planned to go there to meditate and cultivate.

At this moment, a broken footstep suddenly sounded behind him. He turned around curiously, and the girl from the Great River Country who had been targeted by himself with a bow and arrow ran over, because she ran too quickly, her tender little face was full of redness, and the fluffy beast tail around her neck had already spread out, becoming more and more cute.

Ning Que asked, "What is the matter?"

The girl opened her big black eyes, stared at Ning Que's cheeks full of gentle expressions, thinking about the calm and indifferent and terrifying archer before, she subconsciously scratched her head and asked, "Can you tell me that we came out of the forest together before, so many senior brothers and sisters, why do you want to aim at me with a bow and arrow?"

"If I say that the thief captures the king first, do you believe it or not?" Ning Que replied with a smile.

The girl Gege smiled, shook her head and said: "Of course I don't believe it, there are so many disciples in Duochi Yuan, I have always been the worst one, and at that time I didn't have any weapons in my hands, the senior brothers had bows and arrows in their hands, and the senior sisters all wore Xiujian at their waists, you are so strong, of course you will not see me as the most threatening person." ”

Ning Que didn't expect that she could think of so many things from that aim, and after being slightly stunned, she replied honestly: "The reason why I am aiming at you is indeed because you are the weakest one in the crowd, today."

Then he added: "If you can't lock up the most important person among the enemy, lock up the one who is easy to be attacked to death, so that it is easier to negotiate the conditions." ”

The girl looked at him curiously and asked, "What if...... There was some misunderstanding at the time, would you really shoot me?"

There was no resentment, no irritation, just pure curiosity.

Ning Que nodded.

The girl's lacquer-like eyes showed a look of surprise, and she said, "But can the Tang people also bully the weak?"

"We Tang people are also ordinary people, there are good people and bad people. ”

The girl was puzzled and asked, "But you're not a bad person." ”

Ning Que looked at the little girl who was as cute as a young beast, and couldn't help but reach out and rub her head and said with a smile: "There are no good and bad people on the battlefield, only the dead and the living. ”

After a pause, he looked at her reddish white and tender face, he didn't know if he was touched by those memories, the smile on his face gradually faded and said seriously: "On the battlefield, either you kill the enemy or the enemy kills your little girl, if you don't want to die here, you must remember this." ”

The girl nodded vigorously.

"You just want to ask about these things?" Ning Que asked.

"Hmm. The girl smiled like a first lotus, blushing slightly, "I also want to sue you, my name is Tmall Girl." ”

After saying this, she turned around and ran in the direction of the hot spring mountain stream, never looking back.

Ning Que couldn't help but laugh when he looked at the girl's back, thinking that it had always been very interesting to hear the name of the people of Dahe Country, but he really didn't expect that someone would call him Tmall Girl, this name is really not good, but it really matches the little girl's curious lacquered eyes and fluffy cuteness.

He didn't go far along the lakeside, he looked at the pool that seeped out of the white stone at the low end of the shore, the bottom layer of the clear pool was as clear as a book, the scenery was good, he made sure that the distance was far enough, and he would not be misunderstood by the girls of the big river country after the yellow cloth, and then unpacked his bag and sat down.

There was still a faint smell of sulfur in the air by the lake, and thinking that the mountain stream was actually a hot spring, and there was no way to drink it, he understood why neither the tribes in the wasteland nor the Yan allied forces chose to camp close to them.

"The girl of the Great River Country really loves hot springs as written in the book. ”

Looking back at the corner of the yellow cloth that was faintly visible in the distance, his right hand on the round stone subconsciously grabbed it, this action did not have any obscene meaning, but he was reminiscing about the touch when he rubbed the head of the lynx girl before, and after a while, he realized that the aftertaste at this time was because he had not rubbed Sangsang's head for a long time.

The scenery around this lake rock pool is quite beautiful, quiet and pleasant, and the most important thing is that the heaven and earth are full of vitality, since there is no way to jump into the mountain stream and bathe happily with the girls of the Great River Country, Ning Que is naturally reluctant to give up such a good cultivation place.

The next day, he rode a big black horse to the lakeside.

Sitting in the lake breeze, meditating quietly with his eyes closed, he opened his eyes, raised his fingers and gently drew incomprehensible lines in the wind, only he knew, and the combination of these lines was runes.

His gaze followed his fingertips as he moved through the empty air, and when he encountered an insoluble pass, he frowned and thought for a long time, waved his hand to erase the imaginary runes, and then continued to draw invisible runes with his fingers.

Before he knew it, the sun had moved to the middle of the sky, and the cold wind was shining a little warmer, and he unbuttoned the collar of his smock, stood up and stretched, loosening his stiff body and slightly sore arms.

It was the laziness of stretching his waist, the comfort of reaching out his arms, his gaze naturally drifted to the right front, and landed on the yellow cloth that loomed in the distance between the forests and streams, maybe this was the nature of the body or the nature of the mind, in short, he looked over there, and even heard the splash of the stream and the laughter of silver bells in his ears.

"The girl of the Great River Country really loves hot springs. ”

He sighed again, thinking that he soaked yesterday and soaked every day, no matter how smooth and fair his skin was, he was afraid that it would be soaked into wet white paper, wouldn't those girls be worried?

The vigilant and sentry figures of several male disciples of Mochi Yuan outside Lin Xi further proved the rumors that the Great River Country valued women over men, Ning Que couldn't help but think that the previous monarch of the Great River Country was a queen, and the legend once disguised herself as a man Guan Shan flew to Chang'an City to study, and there were some unclear stories with the Tang Dynasty Emperor...... If it weren't for the fact that the queen only had one son, if she hadn't walked out of a book saint, I was afraid that the status of the men of the Great River Country would be even more miserable today.

The hot spring soup is like goat's milk, and the girl is playing like a deer, this kind of imagination can't make the stomach full after all, Ning Que left the stone pool, found a dry place and began to cook in the stove, he is going to stew a pot of milky mutton soup today.

"Do you still know how to cook?"

The lynx girl appeared on the shore of the lake, looked at Ning Que who was lighting the fire with big eyes and curiosity, and said, "Didn't you hear that the men of the Tang Kingdom don't cook and only eat ready-made?"

Ning Que had already known that she was coming, and he didn't raise his head, and said: "When I was in Chang'an City, I naturally didn't know how to cook, but in this kind of wilderness, what other way can I do it myself. ”

The lynx girl clapped her palms, and her lacquer eyes turned to squat beside him and said bravely, "I'll help." ”

Ning Que saw that her face was full of hope, although she didn't trust the cooking skills of this girl from the Great River Country, she still smiled and gave up her position, and what he expected was that the Tmall girl was so young, and her cooking skills were extremely exquisite and skillful, and it only took a while to complete all the procedures, and then wash and dry the taro hands, just waiting for the final unveiling of the pot.

Listening to the sound of the soup boiling in the pot and smelling the aroma of meat that had begun to overflow, Ning Que glanced at her in surprise, and became more and more confused about what kind of existence the women of Dahe Country are, a society that values women over men, so raised with such a gentle temperament and skilled cooking skills?

Uncovering the soup, Ning Que handed over a bowl, the Tmall girl smiled, and the two of them sat in the cold wind by the lake and began to drink the slightly hot soup, which became warm from body to soul.

"Rivers is warm, isn't it?"

"Hmm. The Tmall girl nodded, looked at the thin ice on the lake, shivered and said, "I really didn't expect Yan Guo to be so cold, and the cotton clothes I bought in Xiling on the road didn't seem to be able to block the wind at all." ”

"After a few days, when it comes to the real winter, or into the depths of the real wasteland, you will know what the knife-like wind is, speaking of which, you are so small, why did you follow the senior sisters to the front line?"

"I'm fourteen years old. The lynx girl opened her big eyes, looked at him and asked suspiciously, "Are you still young?"

"Isn't fourteen small?"

The Tmall girl frowned slightly, pouted and said, "Fourteen can be married, where is it small." ”

Tang Lu seems to be sixteen years old before he can get married? Ning Que held the soup bowl, looked at the hot mist slowly rising in the distance on the lake, and thought that Sang Sang happened to be fourteen years old this year, could he marry someone in the Great River Country? After drinking the sheep soup, the Tmall girl ignored Ning Que's objections, and quickly took off the straw hair collar around her neck, rolled up her sleeves, and brushed the dishes, chopsticks, pots and pans cleanly.

Looking at the busy little figure by the lake, Ning Que naturally thought of Sangsang again, in the more than a month after leaving Chang'an City, he rarely thought of the little maid at home, but after meeting the Tmall girl, I don't know if it was a similar age and figure or something else, I thought of Sangsang more and more.

"A little gift to say thank you. ”

When the Tmall girl said goodbye, Ning Que took out a box of small snacks from her bag and handed it over.

The Tmall girl wanted to excuse herself, but looking at the exquisite emblem on the wooden box, her big eyes suddenly lit up, and she shouted in surprise: "This is Chang'an regret...... The osmanthus cake of Hibiscus?"

"Sort of. ”

The pastries in Ning Que's bag were all prepared by Xiaocao by Jane's family, and the food snacks prepared by Xiaocao were undoubtedly basically what Sang Sang liked, and he vaguely remembered that it seemed to be an osmanthus cake that he remembered.

"Hibiscus Ji other pastries are sold in Kyoto Branch, but there is no osmanthus cake, because this osmanthus cake uses osmanthus outside the Daming Palace. ”

The Tmall girl was pleasantly surprised, holding the pastry box like a baby, taking out a piece and carefully putting it into her lips to chew, with a very happy and intoxicated smile on her face.

Looking at the smile on the little girl's face, Ning Que was very happy, remembering that when she brought back the pastries from the red sleeves to Sangsang last year, it seemed that she was also smiling like this, but why did she think of her again?

My love is on the mountainside, and I want to find her too high on the mountain. Ning Que always felt as if he had read such a poem somewhere, but he couldn't remember the specific year, month and day when this memory was produced, and he was only a little disturbed by the osmanthus cake in that sentence, and secretly thought that it was better not to let the girl disciple of Mochi Garden make a mistake, although he didn't have pear blossoms on his head, he didn't want to bully the tender flowers and grass.

It turned out that he was thinking too much, or that the people of the Ink Pond Garden had a plan to deal with this kind of thing, and the day after he gave the osmanthus cake, the female disciple named Ji Zhihua came over with a large pot of stewed fish as a return gift.

The stewed fish tastes really sweet and smooth, and the attitude of the girls in the Great River Country is really gentle and can't find the slightest mistake, which makes people flattered, Ning Que can't always eat white food, so he turned out a box of pastries from his bag as a return gift.

The days gradually flowed away in the exchange of various Great River Country stewpots and various Chang'an City pastries, the cold of the Yanbei Wasteland became deeper and deeper, winter was officially coming, the thin ice on the lakeside gradually gathered and gradually melted and condensed, becoming a whole piece like a mirror, but the ice surface on the shore of the hot spring lake was still blue.

Although he didn't say much, and he didn't even meet too many times, Ning Que and the girls of the Mochi Garden of the Great River Country became acquainted with each other in short, and the girls did not ask him the name of his teacher, nor did he ask why the other party was not stationed in the coalition barracks, but chose to come to this wilderness.

Winter is rising, the cold is getting stronger, the hot springs behind the yellow cloth are falling along the steep cliffs, becoming a stream and pool, and the white water vapor is diffused everywhere, still warm as spring.

Because of the high temperature in the cloth enclosure, the lynx girl only wore a close-fitting small obscene clothes, sat on the wet stones by the stream, kicked her two little feet, and held a few pastries in her hands to eat happily.

She looked at the waterhole on the square of Wenxi and shouted, "The last two pieces of osmanthus cake, you really don't want to eat it?"

Ji Zhihua walked to the side of the stream, looked at the direction of the waterhole and said with a smile: "Mountain Lord, try it." ”

The milky white mist permeated the top of the pool, and only a figure could be seen faintly, and suddenly a cold wind blew from the depths of the mountain forest, penetrating the cloth fence to blow the hot mist on the surface of the pool and shaking uneasily, and the vision was slightly clearer.

There is a rock sticking out of the water in the pool.

A young girl sat quietly on the rock, with her back to the river bank, her lower body was wrapped in a light white wet cloth, her upper body was not wearing a thread, her black hair hung like a waterfall on the back of **Ruyu, and water droplets slowly fell from the end of her hair.

"Eat. ”

Zhu Zhihua looked at the girl in the pool, and said worriedly: "Mountain Lord, the coalition forces don't want to pay attention to us at all, and there are many difficulties in both logistics and camps, so why should we stay here forever?"

The lynx girl threw the wet hair on her shoulders behind her, walked to the edge of the pond and said angrily: "In my opinion, we might as well go to Dongshengzhai, General Tang will definitely welcome us." ”

Ji Zhihua rubbed her head, and said helplessly: "Although Dahe has been friends with the Tang Kingdom for generations, after all, my disciple of Mochi Yuan came here after receiving the edict of the temple, and your majesty does not dare to offend the temple, and don't forget that the master is a guest of the temple, if we leave the coalition army and go to the Tang camp, it will bring trouble to the master." ”

The Tmall girl rolled her eyes and said, "Senior sister, or just tell them your identity." A few days ago, when I saw the Lu Chenjia following the Heavenly Oracle Academy into the barracks, those guys from the Yan Kingdom and the Moon Wheel Country were so honest and respectful, if they knew that you were also here, where would they dare to treat us so badly. ”

The black-haired girl on the stone in the pool was silent for a moment, and then said softly, "Why fight for all this idleness. ”

Occasionally, one day, Ning Que came to the lakeside earlier than usual, he put down his bags by the stone pool, thinking that the girls in the ink pond garden should still be resting, and glanced at that place casually.

Then he saw a beautiful and picturesque landscape.

He saw a beautiful landscape painting.

In the faint morning light, at the end of the slanting branch that stretched out into the winter tune, stood a young girl.

The girl was dressed in a light white dress, her black hair was tied behind her like a waterfall at will, ** her feet stepped on the thin branches, with the cold wind blowing on the lake, the branches swayed up and down gently, and her body swayed slightly, looking extremely comfortable, as if it was not the wind of the winter wasteland, but the warm spring breeze.

Ning Que looked at her quietly, without making a sound, and subconsciously didn't want to destroy this picture.

The girl in white standing at the end of the slanting branch seemed to sense his gaze, flicked her white sleeves, and disappeared behind the yellow cloth in an instant.

Only the thin branch was still swaying gently in the lake breeze.

Ning Que looked at the trembling branches, and his eyebrows slowly raised.

He didn't see her face clearly, only remembered the blue ribbon that had been tied around the waist of her white robe when she left.

A touch of white clothes, like clouds on the lake.

A stick of turquoise, like the water in the lake.