If Jiangnan is like a well-mannered gentleman, then Northwest is like a rough man with a strong and stubborn face.

Whenever outsiders talk about this, the first thing that comes to mind is nothing more than the lonely smoke of the desert, the sunset over the long river, the yellow sand of the Gobi, and the sound of horses' hooves like thunder.

Compared with the Jiangnan where the literary style is at its peak, the northwest is full of traces of wind and frost, and the contrast is great.

It's winter now, but the winter in Jiangnan can even be called warm compared to the northwest.

The wind in the south of the Yangtze River is the wind that blows the willows and willows.

The wind from the northwest was as cold and hard as a knife, and the wind was mixed with the sand blowing from the grassland Gobi, which hit the face and hurt.

The Jiangnan River network is dense, and it is difficult for cavalry to travel, and it is even more difficult to launch a large-scale charge, so it is difficult to hear the earth-shattering sound of horses' hooves in the Jiangnan territory.

To be sure, this kind of environment, in the eyes of literati and poets, may be the so-called border plug style, but for the ordinary people living here, there is great suffering.

The land in the northwest is cold and hard, especially in the days when the water drips into ice in winter, the ground is frozen harder than the stone, an iron pickaxe goes down a white mark, you have to use an iron drill and dozens of pounds of sledgehammer to hit the hole, connect the holes into a row, and then use the iron drill to pry hard, so that you can barely dig a shallow layer, but only in such a land will there be a roaring sound of horses' hooves.

Now it is a cold winter, there is a war going on in the northwest, there are dead people everywhere, and the ground is frozen like this, it really can't be buried.

After all, digging a shallow pit will take four people to work for a day, and after burying the dead, the living are almost exhausted, and if they are buried shallowly, they will be dug out by wild beasts after thawing, and they will be busy in vain.

And there are more and more dead people, and at first they were nailed to a thin wooden box, and then the grass was swept, and finally the straw mat was gone, and the corpses were simply abandoned in the wilderness, especially in Liangzhou, where the two armies were fighting, such a scene abounded.

Xu Beiyou has lived in the northwest since he was a child, and he has a particularly deep memory of the winter in the northwest.

In addition to the ground that is harder than stone, there are ice ridges hanging from the eaves that can almost connect to the ground, which are the thickness of a child's wrist, which is really scary.

Li Shentong is a native of Jiangnan, born and raised in Jiangnan, this is the first time he has come to the northwest, the first time he has come to his master's hometown.

Along the way, the scene that caught his eyes not only opened his eyes, but also touched him deeply.

The cruelty of war is not necessarily on the frontal battlefield where thousands of miles of blood have been shed, but on the contrary, this kind of subtlety is more subtle and touching.

After Xu Beiyou took him from the south of the Yangtze River to the northwest, he did not go directly to see the old man Zhang Yihu, but first went to Danxia Village, fortunately, Danxia Village was already in the hinterland of Shaanzhou.

For Xu Beiyou, it is naturally a blessing.

Because Danxia Village is unharmed, it means that Xiaofang Village is also unharmed.

Rao is to the realm of Xu Beiyou, and it is still a bit of his hometown plot, after all, his life is not like those old people who have lived for hundreds of years, he has long only regarded other places as his hometown, and he has only lived for twenty-four years, of which twenty years have been spent in Xiaofangzhai, how can he easily give up.

In Danxia Village, Xu Beiyou only stopped for a moment, and Li Shentong said: "Master, I heard my wife say that the first time you two met was here. ”

Xu Beiyou was slightly surprised: "Have you seen your master?"

Li Shentong was also surprised: "My wife will see me once every time she comes to Jiangdu, doesn't Master know?"

Xu Beiyou held his forehead and pressed the purple talisman seal between his eyebrows, "My master is indeed not very dutiful. ”

Li Shentong said with a hippie smile: "Master has every opportunity, going south and north, where can he take care of me." ”

Xu Beiyou heard a few extraneous voices in the apprentice's words, but he didn't get angry, just smiled and stretched out his fingers, which had become white as jade, and lightly tapped Li Shentong's forehead.

After Xu Beiyou took Li Shentong to leave Danxiao Village, he went straight to Xiaofang Village, but he didn't enter the village, and now there is no Mr. in the village, Xu Beiyou has no intention of breaking the peace and tranquility there, he just took Li Shentong to the cliff behind the village.

There is an old tree on this cliff, and the summer cicadas of Xu Beiyou were caught from this tree.

Today, the child holding the summer cicada has grown up.

At this time, there are no cicadas perched on the trees.

It was the cold winter wax moon, and no matter how tough the cicada was, it was inevitable that they would die in a sad wail. Just like the old-fashioned Hengqiu, after all, the new winter is coming.

There is a small mound under the tree.

It's not a new grave, but it's not an old grave either.

There is a wooden plaque standing in front of the tomb, on which are written eight big characters, "The Tomb of the Ancestor Gongsun Zhongmou".

There are not too many honorific titles, and there are no biographical texts, compared with the clothed mound in the East Lake Annex, it is really a little simple, even a little simple.

Xu Beiyou put the sword box in front of the tomb, pointed to this simple tomb, and said slowly: "Fourteen years ago, it was here that I met your master, and it was here that I saw the birth of Zhuxian and knew that the outside world was so vast. ”

"Four years ago, in order to return from Biyou Island, I buried your ancestor's clothes here and made a small clothed mound. ”

Without Xu Beiyou's instructions, Li Shentong was already kneeling in front of the grave, kowtowing three times, and when he raised his head again, a faint bruise could already be seen on his forehead.

Xu Beiyou's eyes full of purple air showed a look of remembrance, and he whispered to himself: "Master said to me before he died, put the Sword Sect in my hands. It was precisely because of this sentence that I decided to go to Jiangdu from the northwest alone, and before leaving, I didn't know if I could get to Jiangdu smoothly, and I didn't know if I could return to this place. ”

Li Shentong, who was kneeling on the ground, was silent for a long time.

Xu Beiyou looked at this tomb and continued: "Mu Tangzhi is not enough, Xiao Jin is not afraid, Lin Han is not worried, the great enemy of the Sword Sect is not in the world, but outside the world. ”

Li Shentong clenched his fists violently.

Xu Beiyou said: "Master once told me after drinking that when he was young, he also had a green shirt and a swordsmanship, but unfortunately I couldn't do it, and I'm afraid I won't have the opportunity to do this in the future." ”

Li Shentong raised his head suddenly, "Master......"

Xu Beiyou had a gentle smile on his face, leaned down, pointed to the sword box and said: "This sword box, your ancestor has carried a jiazi, I have carried it for four years, and now I will pass it on to you, I hope that one day, you can be free and graceful, and walk with a sword." ”

Li Shentong looked at the sword box, his lips pursed, and he didn't know what to say.

Xu Beiyou looked directly into Li Shentong's eyes, and said word by word: "I am not completely sure of the battle with Autumn Leaves, if I don't return, you will have to carry this sword box on your back, which is to represent your master, on behalf of your sect, this sword box is a breath, an incense inheritance, in the future, you will have to bear the incense of our sword sect, and stand in the world with this breath." ”

Xu Beiyou straightened up and said in a deep voice: "Back box!"