The joy of returning to his homeland filled Wang Xinghui's mind, not to mention that he didn't come back alone this time. He led Yang Xi to run around the mountains in front of him and behind the mountains, where he had let go of cattle for Hu Guiquan, and where he had been beaten by the board of the Hu family, he pointed them all to Yang Xi one by one. He walked to the top of the cliff behind Liantian Mountain, looked at the sunset in the southwest, and said to Yang Xi: "About eighteen years ago, I fell from here, and since then I have returned to my hometown in disguise as a worker. ”

At the foot of the mountain, there are still bamboo waves undulating and swaying. Yang Xi gently rested his head on Wang Xinghui's shoulder, the plot of them joining hands in the mountains to pick mushrooms a few years ago was vaguely yesterday. Wang Xinghui said emotionally: "It's really like a dream, it's been almost three years in a blink of an eye, we met here, and finally returned here." ”

Yang Xi said: "Yes, although you didn't see Liu Nanpu on your eastward trip this time, you finally brought Wei Yihu's last words, fulfilled his last wish, and completed the mission, and you picked up a wife for nothing, which can be regarded as making you beautiful." ”

Wang Xinghui said: "This is called remembering, there will be an echo, it can be seen that people are always more affectionate, if I don't listen to you that day, have been staying in the cottage, we will not be able to meet after all." ”

Yang Xi said: "You say this, dare to go down the mountain is really the same as going to me, since this is the case, why don't you go directly to Suzhou, hmph, obviously not to look for me, but to ask me to get this love." He pretended to be angry.

Wang Xinghui said without quibbling: "Having said that, if I hadn't met you in Yuanzhou that day, maybe I would have to go all the way east, what you said to me, I remember, I have to go to Suzhou City to find it, I am willing, I have not been to Suzhou to return to the mountain like this, I definitely won't." ”

The weather was fine that day, the two of them cleaned up a house in Shannan, Yang Xi cut a lot of window grilles and pasted them, Wang Xinghui suddenly said: "Hey, the pattern you cut is so special, I have never seen such a beautiful one before." ”

Yang Xi said: "Of course, this is a famous Qinhuai scene. As he spoke, he picked up one and asked, "Guess what, what am I cutting this for?"

Wang Xing saw that there were a few pavilions cut on the window grille, and the two swifts wanted to stick to each other, as if they were whispering, very vividly. He scratched his ears and thought for a long time. Yang Xi grinned and said, "I can't answer, this is called-in the old days, Wang Xie Tang Qianyan, I knew each other at the mouth of Wuyi Alley." After speaking, he picked up another one, which seemed to have a small bridge and flowing water on it, a flag with the word "wine" waving in the wind, and a big moon overhead. Wang Xinghui looked at it for a while, but still couldn't guess. Yang Xi smiled: "You are so stupid, this is called-smoke cage, cold water, moon cage sand, night park Qin Huai near the restaurant, how about it, it sounds good?" Wang Xing would applaud and praise.

Yang Xi picked up the third one again, there was a boat cut on this window grille, parked on the shore, there was a person sitting in the bow of the boat, shrinking his head and bowing his head, it seemed that he was in a very depressed mood, the high mountains in the distance were uplifted, the strange rocks were rugged, but there was a hook of the moon hanging on the tip of the mountain. Wang Xinghui thought for a while, and said with admiration: "A round of Hongyue shines on who's house, the cave is clear, wonderful, wonderful, you just said that this is the beautiful scenery of Qinhuai, then I know, this must be - Hanshan Temple outside Gusu City, the bell rang at midnight to the passenger ship." ”

Yang Xi was also very happy when he saw that he was right, and applauded and smiled sweetly.

Wang Xinghui said: "It turns out that you miss the beautiful scenery of your hometown, alas, you all complain that I let you follow me away and fly away, far away from your homeland, and suffer from lovesickness." Yang Xi said softly: "Okay, okay, I don't blame you, I'm very happy to be with you," she said with a slight redness in her ears, and seeing that Wang Xinghui didn't care, she continued, "You can continue to guess what this is called." As he spoke, he picked up another pair.

Wang Xing met with this pair of window flowers, and the first three deputies are a little different, high mountains and valleys, the weather is extended, there is nothing special to see, and there is no such delicate and changeable as the first three pairs, but it looks much majestic. He pursed his lips and guessed for a long time, but he really couldn't guess. Yang Xi said: "This is called the ancient temple Buddha light back to Qiankun, and the bamboo bell back to the earth." ”

Wang Xinghui was stunned for a moment and said: "Oh, it turns out that you cut Lingyun Temple here, which is the scene of Banzhu Mountain." As he spoke, he stared at it and saw the shape of the mountain, and it was indeed the appearance of Banzhu Mountain. It turned out that Yang Xi remembered that he and Wang Xinghui met in Luoxiao Mountain that day, and the two of them had been recuperating in Lingyun Temple for a long time, so they cut out the appearance of Banzhu Mountain and Lingyun Temple, and named the couplets outside the temple.

Wang Xinghui said with relief: "Good Xi'er, thanks to your ingenuity, you have only been to Banzhu Mountain with me once, and you have it all in your heart." ”

The two pasted the window flowers, Yang Xi sighed and said: "It's a pity that there are only these four windows in our room, I can only cut these four pairs, otherwise I will cut all the places we have been to together, then it will be meaningful!" The two whispered in a low voice, grinding their ears and temples, hugged each other and fell asleep after a while.

In the middle of the night, Wang Xinghui sat up suddenly, and sweat drops of rain appeared on his forehead. He hurriedly looked at Yang Xi beside him, and saw that she was still sleeping sweetly, and felt a little comforted in his heart. The empty mountain was silent, only the sound of insects, and he couldn't sleep again at this time. It turned out that he had a nightmare just now, dreaming that Tao Ziwang came up to the mountain, and sharply questioned him to return his sister, and he didn't allow him to say anything, and raised his knife to cut down at Yang Xi. Wang Xinghui shouted in his dream, waved his hand, and his heart jumped out, and he woke up like this. He sat for a while, unable to bear to wake Yang Xi, so he let out a long breath and lay down again.

He slowly searched for clues of this nightmare, thinking that he met Tao Guiying on Xiangxi Road, and waited for three days in the small town between Hunan and Jiangxi, and almost injured her under the seven-star sword when they met...... I thought: Alas, this woman is eccentric and enthusiastic, completely different from Yang Xi, and it can even be said that some Yang Xi has nothing on her, but she always seems to be overflowing. If Yang Xi is compared to a gorgeous pear blossom, then Tao Guiying is like a delicate red peony, always blooming enthusiastically. It's just a pity...... Tao Ziwang decided that his sister was killed by me, but that day we were separated as soon as we met outside Yuanzhou City...... Alas, I only blame me for being careless and letting her go alone to repay the traitor, this is it, this is it, but it is only a few days apart, could it be that she really suffered an accident? Tao Ziwang clearly said that his sister's whereabouts are unknown......

Wang Xinghui thought about Tao Guiying's unfortunate death, and thanked her for loving herself, and secretly wept in the night. The night breeze on the Tianshan Mountain was whistling, and it was squeezed into the house from the window lattice. He suddenly realized: By the way, it is the light of the Buddha in this ancient temple that returns to the world, and the bamboo bell returns to the window flower of the earth, which is why there is this dream. Alas, Xi'er kindly cut the place where we met into window grilles and pasted them here, but she didn't expect that it would make me think of things and people, and I remembered this irreparable situation.

The deeper the night, the clearer his mind became. The image of Liu Nanpu described by Gu Hongming and others that day suddenly reflected in front of his eyes. This Liu Nanpu's predecessor has such a ability, and he can't get her wife's understanding, which shows that it is very difficult for people to be alive and want everything to go well.

Wang Xinghui thought again: When we discussed the window flowers this evening, I didn't think of Tao Guiying in my heart, but why did I suddenly dream? No, the window flowers are just a shadow engraved in my heart, it will only reflect my innermost thoughts, today is the first time I have slept together with Yang Xi since we met, I should have been very happy, but why did a pair of festive window flowers cause me this nightmare? By the way, the so-called feeling of flowers splashing tears, hating other birds is frightening. It seems that this is because I still have uneasiness in my heart.

As soon as the word uneasiness popped out of his mind, he immediately gathered his memories little by little: yes, this uneasiness came from Uncle Yi, from what Uncle Yi said a week ago, and more precisely, from the eyes of Uncle Yi earlier.

From the moment he stepped back into the mountain gate, he felt that something was wrong, but at that time, he was carried away by the joy of reunion, and immediately put this little bit of something wrong behind him. This mistake crossed his mind again a week ago, but he thought about it for a while, but he still didn't think of anything. This is the third time at this moment. Yes, it was Uncle Yi's eyes that lacked a trace of something, and three times in a row, he locked on the source of uneasiness in his heart.

In Wang Xinghui's memory, no matter what kind of setbacks he experiences and what kind of difficulties he faces, Uncle Yi is like a resolute elder, who can lead everyone through difficulties every time, whether it is when the tiger baby is in a hurry to find someone desperately, or Du Gang wipes his head to find which mountain to borrow food, he will calm down in front of Uncle Yi's firm tone like pig iron and the eyes of a lion staring at the prey motionless, listen to his arrangement, and then move forward bravely, invincible. Uncle Yi is always like a wise man, bold and courageous, calmly resolving and leading everyone to overcome difficulties and overcome uneasiness, just like the only towering nanmu tree on Liantian Mountain, sheltering the green bamboo in front of him.

But from the moment Wang Xinghui entered the door, from the moment Uncle Yi recognized him with tears in his eyes, he could no longer capture that pair of eyes like lions and wolves. Even when Wang Xinghui grabbed Du Gang with one hand and the tiger baby with the other hand and walked into the Juyi Hall to look for his father, Uncle Yi's eyes never made contact with him. There was a trace of something missing in his eyes, and a trace of something more, less like a trace of aura, a trace of anger, and more of it was like a kind of loss, a kind of sadness, or more can be said to be a kind of loneliness like ashes. Just like Gu Hongming said, when Liu Nanpu's lover killed himself, the moment Liu Nanpu turned around and left, he couldn't see the light in his eyes, he couldn't see the courage, like a mastiff with his tail between his legs! That was something that had never been seen before.

It wasn't until the moment Wang Xinghui walked into the cave that he knew that from that time on, Uncle Yi was clearly hiding from something. He also experienced more bluntly the helplessness of Liu Nanpu disappearing on that rainy night and the pain like a sharp knife in his heart.

The reason why Wang Xinghui would go to think about the source of this uneasiness a week ago was because of an incident that happened in the Juyi Hall at that time.

On this day, he took advantage of Yang Xi's preparation of cotton clothes for the winter and walked to the Juyi Hall, and as soon as he entered the hall, he saw Du Gang angrily smashing the teacup at his feet, and said: "Don't persuade me, my surname Du is incompatible with Changning County, I must take the county seat and cut off the head of the old man to make a night pot, so as to eliminate the hatred in my heart." ”

Wang Xinghui didn't dare to ask more, he saw that Huwa was also standing in front of the hall angrily, so he had to turn his head to look at Uncle Yi. Daddy's eyes still did not make contact with him, but he lowered his head sadly. Even Uncle Yi didn't have an idea, Wang Xinghui knew that something big must have happened.

Wang Xinghui didn't interject a few times, and after Du Gang and Huwa left, the boss was still surprised in his heart, and unconsciously approached the side room where he lived with Uncle Yi that day. When he saw the New Year's paintings on the edge of the window, they were exactly the same as when he left, and his heart moved warmly, and he raised his hand and gently patted the door. Inside asked softly, "Who?"

Wang Xinghui hurriedly said, "It's me." ”

Uncle Yi opened the door and said, "Xinghui, sure enough, it's you, come and come, I've been waiting for you for a long time, I know you will definitely come." ”

Wang Xinghui will live in the same house with him for three years, no different from his relatives. Wang Xinghui asked: "Uncle, how have you been all these years?" Uncle Yi had tears in his eyes and said, "Okay, okay? Come, come, let me take a good look, good boy, grow taller, grow into an adult!"

Uncle Yi said emotionally.

Wang Xinghui held his hand, told him about what had happened in the past three years, and gently asked about the cottage. Uncle Yi wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and talked to him.

"Since you came down the mountain, our cottage and the county magistrate Li of Han'an County have also been close for a while, but it didn't take long to hear that the county magistrate Li was transferred out of Sichuan. It didn't take long for the county to take up a new official, and this official also came to our cottage a few times, but he didn't seem to be on the right side with the original county magistrate Li, not only took down the sign of our district office and threw it on the ground, but your brother Du stepped forward to ask a few words, and he slapped his mouth without asking anything. No, what kind of Jingwei regiment has been formed in our place......"

"Jingwei Regiment, where did we get so many people?" "Hey, it's said that it's the Jingwei Regiment, but it's just a false name, shouting that Li Lei is a regimental training instructor......"

"Li Lei, is that the brother Li Lei who is responsible for guarding the Toad Stone?" When he heard this name, Wang Xinghui slowly remembered that after the establishment of the cottage, Li Lei was responsible for guarding the Toad Stone Waterway, and Deng Jinfan and Liu Yuanbin were guarded by Deng Jinfan and Liu Yuanbin before and after the Toad Stone Waterway. Wang Xinghui and Du Gang also visited him a few times at that time, and he managed the toad stone very well, all the materials were taken locally, and the river was also doubled. It's just that the impression left is limited to this, and the two don't talk much.

"It's him, this new official came to inspect our cottage on this day, and after slapping your brother Du, he was furious and scolded people. We didn't dare to provoke this uncle, only bowed our heads and were reprimanded, and I don't know how, Li Lei was on the side at the time, he saw that the official was angry, so he stood behind him and fanned him to serve tea and pour water. The official nodded in approval, and arranged some words for Li Lei, and later, he often went to Toad Rock to eat some river fresh, Li Lei saw that the official liked game, and often caught some shrimp and crabs and sent them to the county. ”

Wang Xinghui was silent, stunned for a while, and then asked, "What about others?"

"I said that I went to the provincial capital a few days ago to listen to the admonition, and I have been gone for several days. Uncle Yi replied.

"Then Brother Du shouted that he wanted to take revenge on Changning County, what is going on?"

"Oh, that's just about to start with this Jingwei Regiment. In May this year, Li Lei took some brothers to Dongshan Pass to pay for the seedlings. The villagers under the Dongshan Pass resisted, saying that Changning County had come to collect it in the spring of this year. They can't pay taxes twice on the same crop anyway. Li Lei didn't say a word, so he moved roughly, but you know that he didn't bring enough people at that time, so he suffered a little loss. No, your brother Du later brought people to ask for the guilt, and there have been several frictions between the two sides. ”

Uncle Yi wiped away his tears as he spoke: "No one knows how it came to be like this, alas, and, there is...... Okay, let's go back to the house first, it's getting late. Uncle Yi said and pushed Wang Xinghui out.

Wang Xinghui was like a cloud, and he still heard Uncle Yi sobbing lowly behind him. He wanted to ask more, but he knew that Uncle Yi didn't want him to see his old tears.

He went back to his house that day, and stood for a while, not knowing that so many things had happened since he had come down the mountain, so he collected his emotions and went into the house again. Yang Xi is new to the cottage, there is no need to let him know these many things, lest she add a lot of worries.

In fact, Uncle Yi doesn't know much about the things around him. It turned out that not long after Wang Xinghui went down the mountain, Liu Xiang began to fight with his uncle Liu Wenhui, the governor of the Sichuan Army, to fight for the territory of central Sichuan. Since it was a lose-lose situation, it was natural that the fisherman would benefit, and Secretary Yang, who was under the army of Governor Liu, took advantage of the situation and took over most of the Sichuan army. Secretary Yang did not show his face, and after his rise, he quickly expanded south and north, and County Magistrate Li was forced to go into the wilderness, and went to Nanjing with his tail between his halberds.

The new official of Han'an County intended to suppress the forces of the League Defense Bureau, and as soon as he came up, he slapped Du Gang's big mouth, and the tiger baby didn't know what to do, so he almost pulled out his gun and was stopped by Uncle Yi. The new officer saw that Li Lei had a flattering intention in his eyes, so he arranged for Li Lei to go to the brigade headquarters to give a face-to-face lecture, and later promoted him to the head of Jingwei.

Li Lei personally went to Dongshan Pass to collect the green seedling fee and Changning County to provoke Liangzi, and ordered Huwa to take people to seek revenge, Huwa said: "Dog eats dog, a mouthful of hair, Lao Tzu does not shed this troubled water." Li Lei was so angry that he trembled and said a few good words in a row. Seeing that the situation was not good, Du Gang hurriedly asked for orders to take someone there.

This series of things happened in a year to half a year before Wang Xinghui returned to the mountain, and Uncle Yi didn't have time to elaborate a week ago, Rao only got up, which also woke up Wang Xinghui from a nightmare, his eyelids jumped, and he couldn't sleep all night.

There is little snow in the southern part of Sichuan, but this winter was unusually cold. The bamboos all over the mountain are bent and shaken, and the sound of heavy snow crushing the bamboo can be heard at night throughout the winter, which is unsettling.

Yang Xi was not used to the cold weather in southern Sichuan, so Wang Xinghui moved a brazier and put it in the room. I got up in the middle of the night and added charcoal a few times, and before dawn, I heard Du Gang knock on the door and say outside the door: "Go, go, put on your coat and go to Banqiao." ”

Wang Xinghui asked through the door: "What are you doing in Banqiao?"

Du Gang said impatiently: "What are you doing, the head of the regiment has come back from the provincial capital, let's go and greet you!"

Before Wang Xinghui could react, he heard Du Gang muttering a few words outside: "I'm really ignorant, be proactive." ”

Wang Xinghui hurriedly put on his coat, and when he arrived at Banqiao, it was already mid-morning, only to see Du Gang, Huwa, and Yi Laobo already waiting, Deng Jinfan, Liu Yuanbin and others were waiting in line, and even Lei Laosan was standing at the back.

The tiger baby bit a branch in her mouth, and Du Gang kept reproaching, saying, "Ready, ready, coming, coming." ”

A black sedan sped over, and it was no longer the Chevrolet it used to be. As the car walked over the bridge, the rear wheel suddenly slipped and fell into the ditch, and the car was refueled twice and failed to get out of the mud puddle.

Du Gang saw it from a distance, and hurriedly shouted at a few guards to trot forward together: "Quick, quick, take a hand." The group had to step forward and lift the wheels out of the mud pit.

The door opened, and a man got out of the car wearing sunglasses. Du Gang stepped forward and said: "The head of the regiment has returned with honors, and he has worked hard all the way, everyone is welcome." ”

The applause was a little sparse. The person who came hummed, took off his sunglasses, glared at the tiger baby, and said with a gloomy face: "This time I went to the provincial capital, I was able to listen to the teachings of Supervisor Yang, tomorrow we will have a meeting in the big school, I want to convey to you well, the last time the chief came, he had a bad impression of us, and our cottage should be rectified." ”

Wang Xinghui was stunned. He and Li Lei let go of the bamboo raft together in Toad Stone that day, and they saw each other less after that. At this time, Wang Xing was stabbed by Li Lei's eyes!

That night, the more Wang Xing thought about it, the more wrong it became, and he sighed all night. Yang Xi saw that he was not in the right mood, so he re-lit the lamp and asked him what was going on. Wang Xinghui said: "I always feel that something is wrong, and something ominous will happen on the mountain tomorrow." Yang Xi said: "Since we returned to the mountain, no one has come to argue about anything, I heard you say that now we and the nearby mountains are safe, what is the matter with our mountains are also brothers who share weal and woe, born and died?"

Wang Xinghui was silent for a while, shook his head and said: "No, let's go, let's get up, I will send you to the Huang Ling'er Teahouse at the bottom of the mountain, no matter what happens on the mountain tomorrow, you can't go up the mountain, go, let's go." Yang Xi saw that he said solemnly, she had always obeyed Wang Xinghui, and immediately wrapped some scattered silver on her body, took a few clothes and wrapped them, and said: "It's a pity that I cut the window flowers......"

Wang Xinghui hurriedly pulled her, sent him to the bottom of the mountain overnight, settled down in Huang Ling'er Teahouse, and repeatedly explained that she could not go up the mountain, he said: "You are waiting for me here, and after waiting for a while, I will go down the mountain to find you." He kissed her on the forehead and turned to leave.

Yang Xi grabbed it: "In case, in case you," she wanted to say, "What if you don't come down," but after thinking about it, these words were too unlucky, so she hurriedly stopped.

Wang Xinghui said gently: "Don't worry, I won't leave you if you say anything, you just wait for me here, in case I don't come for three days, you can leave here farther away, and go to Chongqing Chaotianmen to wait for me." Seeing that she was still not at ease, he said: "I just returned to the mountain, there is no danger to anyone, my safety is absolutely no problem, I am just afraid that something will go wrong tomorrow and scare you." Wait for me here, I'll be here in three days. ”

Even the north slope of the top of the Tianshan Mountain is a large flat dam, to the north is enough to run horses and shoot, and to the south, it is the cliff of Luoluotai. This has become the best training ground on the mountain. Training here adds a bit of might and murder!

This morning, the school field was busy. Several brothers of the Jingwei Regiment hurriedly arranged the school grounds, and set up three rows of tables on the north side, covered with clean blue-gray cloth, and placed three teacups. Behind the desk, two pillars were erected at midnight, and an indigo banner was pulled up, on which was written in black and white letters: "Advocate the court meeting, promote the new political group leader admonishment meeting" In the middle of the school field, there are white benches.

The group member in charge of the arrangement ran to Li Lei: "Report to the group seat, the venue is arranged, please instruct the group seat." ”

Li Lei walked to the table, the wind kept drilling into the back of his neck, and at the same time blowing the sky blue banner hunting, like a big bird falling into a net, constantly fluttering its wings. Li Lei walked to the front of the platform and looked down, turned around and slapped Tuan Ding's face, and scolded: "Facing the north and sitting in the south, that is the ancient way of sitting as a minister, you are determined to let me be small, do you place it like this?

Tuan Ding put the table banner on the north side again. Li Lei sat silently on the table, picked up the teacup and drank tea in small sips.

The big guy slowly walked over to the bench and sat down. Even the gates, passes, and halls in all parts of the Tianshan Mountains were attended, and there were 300 people sitting full. If they can't sit down, they stand behind. Wang Xinghui, Huwa, Yi Laobo, and Lei Laosan all sat on the first row of benches. I don't know if it was arranged in advance or what, Du Gang bent down to the table, sat down on Li Lei's right, coughed lightly, put away his smile, looked at the sky with his eyes, and never swept over the faces of Wang Xinghui and the others.

To Li Lei's left, there was a stranger sitting.

Everyone had never experienced such a big event, and they all looked at Li Lei, and when they saw that Li Lei's face was gloomy and scary, everyone slowly fell silent.

First, Du Gang stood up and said that he would invite Commissioner Hou of the brigade headquarters to speak. Commissioner Hou, who was sitting on the far left, cleared his throat and babbled and began to speak. Wang Xinghui only listened to what he said: "In accordance with the instructions of the upper peak, with the system of the military government and the responsibility of the locality, Li Lei was appointed as the head of the first regiment directly under the Yilu Jing'an Defense Regiment, and implemented new policy measures such as reclamation, mining, education, and road construction...... and then changed his words and said: "According to the proposal of General Senwei of the Military Affairs Supervision Office on the issue of purging the armed forces of the 24th Army before the implementation of the new policy, all regiments are instructed to carry it out. ”

Wang Xinghui's heart trembled, he had not returned to Sichuan for a long time, and he did not know what the so-called 24th Army and Liantian Mountain had to do, but looking at the atmosphere today, it seemed that it was not good.

In fact, it was not only his heart that trembled, but the one who trembled the most was Du Gang sitting at the table. Du Gang's palms were sweating. At that time, he cooperated with the county magistrate Li of Han'an County, and he came forward to facilitate it, Han'an County belonged to Wang Lingji, and the mixed brigade to which Wang Lingji belonged had an inexplicable relationship with the 24th Army. Just when everyone was silent, Li Lei's scream raised everyone's hearts to their throats. He shouted: "The power of the 24th Army is available on our mountain, and we have it on the mountain!"