The autumn wind is whining, and the horse's hooves are clattering.

After Meng Ran and Geng Huyuan left Yihe Town, they waved several whips in a row, the four hooves of the healthy horse were windy, the mane was flying, and the shadows of the trees on both sides were drifting away. After galloping for half an hour, the outline of the city wall of Jiaxing County had already appeared in the sight of the two.

The snort of the mount under the crotch was already very heavy, and beads of sweat began to appear on the neck, and the two who cherished horsepower slowed down and prepared to slowly move into the city.

Unexpectedly, when the two of them had just passed through the farewell pavilion outside the city, there was a rapid sound of horses' hooves behind them, and a group of ten people in black clothes and black horses, their speed did not decrease, and they rushed straight to the city gate.

Then, the city gate moved slowly, and by the time Meng Ran and the others came to the bottom of the city wall, the city gate had been tightly closed.

After the two dismounted, Geng Huyuan patted against the hard gate and shouted, "Is there an official here? Please open the city gate." ”

A cold snort came from behind the heavy city gate, "What are you, you say open the door, you open the door?" Do you think Jiaxing City was opened by your family?"

Meng Ran was not angry, but he didn't scold, just slapped the door coldly.

Geng Huyuan tried to put on a smile and shouted to the official behind the door: "Official, it's still early, and it's not time to close the city gate, so it's okay to open the door and let the two of us enter the city?"

"Less fucking nonsense, one more word, Lao Tzu went out and cut you. ”

Hearing such vicious words, Meng Ran punched the city gate, and then pulled Geng Huyuan out, and said in his mouth, "Uncle Geng, stop shouting, let's stay outside the city." I'll go into town early tomorrow morning. ”

"Well, that's all there is to it. ”

The two led their horses and walked leisurely towards the farewell pavilion they had just passed.

After walking for about a cup of tea, the two of them reached the outside of the pavilion, where they first tied their horses and then entered the pavilion.

The two of them didn't care if there was soil on the stone bench in the pavilion, and just sat on it.

Meng Ran breathed a long sigh of relief, gently rubbed his inner thighs, and said with a little dissatisfaction: "I knew that I would rest in Yihe Town, so I could still have a place to shelter from the wind and rain, and I could eat something warm, but now I can only drink the northwest wind here." ”

Geng Huyuan smiled bitterly and said, "I thought I would be able to enter the city smoothly, but I never thought that the city gate would be closed so early. ”

"Alas... These people are really suffering from hysteria, and it is strange that they closed the city gate early before it was dark. Meng Ran said puzzled.

Geng Huyuan pondered for a while, then turned to look at Meng Ran, "Young Master, did you see the clothes of those riders just now?"

"Black horse in black. Meng Ran subconsciously replied, and then said with a shocked face: "It can't be the Imperial City Division, right?"

Geng Huyuan bowed slightly, "Very likely." To be able to make the city guards close the city gate so quickly, I think only the people of the Imperial City Division can do it. In normal times, even if the lord of the mansion wants to close the city gate early, he must make an announcement. ”

Meng Ran looked at the direction of the city gate and muttered, "What is the matter with them closing the city gate in such a hurry, I really can't figure it out." ”

Geng Huyuan's face changed a few times, and he said in a low tone: "It's probably a matter of the new town. ”

Meng Ran's expression was a little stiff, and then he smiled reluctantly and said, "It has nothing to do with us, we just passed by and stayed overnight." ”

Geng Huyuan looked a little satisfied, nodded slightly, and said, "That's the case, it has nothing to do with us." It's just that closing the city gate early has affected our progress. ”

Meng Ran's face slowly returned to normal, and then said, "I originally wanted to write another letter to Xue'er, but it seems that I have to wait for tomorrow." I just hope that the city gates will open early tomorrow morning, and you can go directly into the city when the time comes. ”

Geng Huyuan snorted.

"Shall we still have a fire tonight?"

"We'll see later, but let's go pick up some dry twigs first. If it's cold in the middle of the night, you can light a fire to keep warm, but if it's not too cold, you won't make a fire. ”

"Good. ”

The two of them carried their burdens on their backs and began to walk around, searching for some dry branches to use as materials for heating at night.

After looking for a while, the two of them each returned to the pavilion with a ball of branches.

As soon as I sat down, I heard the neighing of horses coming from the direction of the post road.

I saw seven or eight figures galloping on the post road on horses, tightly guarding a luxurious-looking carriage, thinking that it was a rich and noble family.

The group went straight to the gate and shouted under the wall, but it did not open as it shut, but closed tightly.

The group of attendants were very angry, and cursed loudly at the city gate, and the small and fragmented voices reached the ears of the two people in the pavilion.

The guards of the city were still unmoved, and those attendants actually slashed at the city gate several times, if it were not for the hard city gate, it is estimated that the officers behind the gate would have been cut a few times by the clamoring slaves.

The attendants shouted and shouted again, and then began to swear and curse.

From the perspective of Meng Ran and Geng Huyuan, I saw several figures at the gate of the city, pointing at the sky and the earth arrogantly.

After a while, a dark shadow appeared on the city wall, and the man shouted coldly: "No matter who you are and what kind of background you have, retreat quickly, or you will be punished for storming the city gate." ”

A man rushed out of the group below, and he gestured a few times at the city wall, cursing uncleanly, and the man on the city wall only raised his arm slightly, and fixed himself at the attendant, only to hear a 'whoosh', and a crossbow arrow shot out of the city like lightning, and shot into the attendant's chest with a 'poof'.

The formidable figure clutched its bleeding chest and fell to the ground.

The rest of the people were shocked and angry, and shouted loudly: "Presumptuous, dare to kill my brother, do you know who he is?"

The man on the city wall asked slowly, "Whose family is it?"

"We are the entourage of the magistrate's mansion, open the city gate quickly, otherwise there will be good fruit for you to eat. ”

The black shadow laughed a few times, and then opened the big cloud, revealing the corner of the black brocade robe inside, and a gilt token pinned to his belt, on which there was a pattern of a black wolf.

The men under the city wall saw the pattern, quickly rolled off their horses, and knelt on the ground in unison.

The man waved his hand, "Hurry up and get out, if you dare to make noise again, you will be killed." ”

The attendants carried their tails like bereaved dogs, and after taking the corpses of their companions, they quietly moved away from the city gate and headed in the direction of the farewell pavilion.

Looking at the figure that was getting closer and closer, Geng Huyuan glanced at Meng Ran, "Let's go, let's go to the grass in the distance to rest, don't have a conflict with that group of people." ”

Meng Ran nodded, and followed Geng Huyuan, holding the branches on the ground and walking out of the pavilion to the wasteland not far away.

By the time the two had taken the horses away, the carriage and its attendants had arrived at the pavilion and stopped there.

Not long after Meng Ran and Geng Huyuan sat down, two people, one fat and one thin, walked towards them.

When he arrived, the slightly chubby middle-aged man asked, "The two friends are polite." Do you know why the gates were closed so early?"

Geng Huyuan shook his head, "I don't know." The gates were closed when we arrived. ”

The chubby man asked, "Have you ever encountered any strange things on the road?"

Geng Huyuan shook his head again, "No." ”

The two men hugged their fists and then went back to the pavilion.

By this time, the sky was getting dark, and stars were faintly appearing in the sky.

Meng Ran asked in a low voice, "Uncle Geng, do you want to light the fire?"

"Don't worry, let's eat something first. ”

"Good. ”

The two nibbled on dry food for a while and drank some water.

By the time Meng Ran and the others were six or seven minutes full, a fire had already been lit in the pavilion, and those attendants were baking some dough cakes and dried meat there, and the night breeze was blowing, and the fragrance was overflowing.

When the men had finished baking some of the food, they brought the food to the carriage, and with a few whispers, a maid of her twentieth year came out of the carriage and took the things in.

Then the men began to eat slowly.

On the other side, Meng Ran was lying on the grass, his head resting on his hands, quietly looking at the sky, missing the good wine and food in the city.

If there is no comparison, he doesn't think how hard he and Geng Huyuan are, once he compares with the group of people who eat meat and drink wine next to him, he instantly feels as miserable as he is.

Just when Meng Ran was imagining it, the slightly chubby man just now came over again and said to Geng Huyuan: "Friend, the autumn night is slightly cool, I will send you a pot of wine to warm up." ”

Geng Huyuan stood up from the ground, hugged his fists and said, "Thank you for this friend, I am grateful." ”

The man waved his hand, "It's okay. ”

With that, he staggered and walked away.

Geng Huyuan also sat on the ground again.

Meng Ran sat down and asked, "Uncle Geng, do you want to drink?"

Geng Huyuan thought for a while, nodded and said: "It's better not to drink, when you go out, no one knows what other people think, it's best to be careful." ”

He unplugged the leather bag and pretended to drink with his head up, but in fact he just spilled some of the wine from the wine bag on the ground, and then shouted in a low voice, "Good wine." You can have some too. ”

Meng Ran pretended to follow his example.

After that, the two lay side by side, whispering words that no one else could hear.

The night is getting darker, and the stars are disappearing. The cold air gradually rose from the ground, and Meng Ran and the two began to shiver.

"Let's light the fire. ”

The two of them found a few small stones, built a small circle, and then began to lay hay branches.

Geng Huyuan took out the flint, only to hear a few 'clicks', the dazzling sparks splashed on the dry grass, and a small flame appeared, he carefully added a few handfuls of dry grass, and the flames instantly grew bigger.

With the addition of the branches, the flames had turned into clusters of flames, swaying in the dim wilderness, providing warmth to the two travelers beside them.

The fire was already in place, and the dark red light made the faces of the two of them blush brightly.

Geng Huyuan turned to look at Meng Ran, "Young Master, if you are sleepy, go to sleep, I will guard here." ”

Meng Ran hesitated for a moment and said, "Okay, then I'll sleep for a while, and when you're sleepy, call me, and I'll guard again." ”

"Good. ”

Meng Ran lay down recliningly, and after a while, he let out a slight snoring sound.

Geng Huyuan looked at Meng Ran, who was curled up, and sighed slightly, he seemed to be like this back then, once he was tired, he could fall asleep immediately after lying down.

It's just that it's been a long time since I've slept like that? It's been more than ten years, right? Alas, so long has passed in the blink of an eye, and now I'm a little old.

Geng Huyuan looked at the rising and flickering flames and fell into memory.