Xu Chen piled up an earthen stove, boiled a pot of fresh vegetable soup, smelled the rising fragrance, and looked at what Chu Yang said, and towards the situation at this time, he actually laughed slightly.

In the north of the wasteland, especially in the middle of the Central Plains and the prairie, the northwest wind blows all year round, and it is very cold. He was wearing a thick cotton jacket and a black windshield shirt outside, and he sat by the lake like this, not knowing whether it was the bowl of warm vegetable soup that worked, or whether he had gained something from his cultivation, but he didn't feel too cold in short.

The shallow part of the lake near the shore is very transparent, and you can clearly see the white stones and trees that have fallen for hundreds of millions of years at the bottom, and the lake becomes more and more blue in the distance, surrounded by mountains and low cliffs on both sides, slender and long, with no end in sight, and stretches to the depths of the wilderness in the far north.

After walking along the shore of the lake for about a few miles, I could faintly see that there was a stream of water in front of me that was impacting the surface of the lake like a jewel, hitting countless beautiful small whirlpools, but the dense forest next to the pass was thick, although the branches and leaves had already fallen, but still covered the movement behind the forest, and the stream could not be seen.

Xu Chen knew that it was the peach source he was looking for, smelling the faint smell of sulfur in his nose, and guessing that there might be a hot spring there, he couldn't help but smile.

Suddenly, a touch of jade white came into his eyes, and then a touch of blue flashed, like this lake.

Xu Chen's eyes suddenly showed a look of vigilance, not because of the blue color that was deeply reflected in his eyes, but for other reasons, he pulled his bow and arrows like lightning, aimed at somewhere in the dense forest, and said in a deep voice: "Come out." ”

There was a sound in the forest, and more than a dozen young people walked out slowly, some people also aimed at Xu Chen with bows and arrows, and more people looked at him vigilantly, holding the sheath in their left hand and the long sword hilt outside the sheath in their right hand.

Xu Chen didn't pay attention to the sharp feather arrows aimed at him at all, and just calmly aimed at the youngest of these young people.

At this moment, a young man bravely jumped in front of the young girl, bent his left knee forward, took a forward arrow step, held the scabbard with his left hand, his thumb faintly pressed against the ebony sword, and his right elbow was bent back and raised his wrist.

Xu Chen looked at the posture of the young man holding the sword, and then glanced at the clothes and ornaments on these young boys and girls, guessed where they came from, and relaxed a little.

He looked at the young man with the sword and smiled and said, "It's useless against my arrows." ”

The young man was despised by the enemy, and his face suddenly became angry.

"I'm Han. ”

Xu Chen said where he came from, and then, without looking at these young people who were looking at him nervously.

Since he guessed the origin of this group of young boys and girls, he knew that there would be no problem, but because the other party obviously had no combat experience, he put down his weapon first, so that the other party would not make a mistake because of nervousness.

Sure enough, hearing that he was a Han Chinese, the expressions on the faces of the young boys and girls who had been vigilant a moment ago suddenly became relaxed, and they put down their bows and arrows and let go of the hilt of their swords.

"We are from the Yuxuanmen of the Western Jin Dynasty. ”

The relationship between the Central Plains countries and the Chaoyang Empire has never been harmonious, although they dare not be a little contemptuous because of the prosperity of the Chaoyang Empire's armor, but they have absolutely no good feelings in their hearts, only the Western Jin Dynasty is a special case.

This probably has a certain reason with history, because they are also Han people, and there are naturally a lot less mustards, which is also the reason why the Chaoyang Empire did not trample the Western Jin Dynasty under its feet back then.

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 in the Kaihua years, these boys and girls have calm and supple eyebrows and eyes, 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 Xiujian of the Western Jin Dynasty.

From these details, Xu Chen quickly concluded that the other party was from the Western Jin Dynasty, and the people of the two countries who had been friends for generations had a natural sense of closeness and trust to each other, and they did not believe that the other party would have malicious intentions towards him, so he did not hesitate to put down the bow and arrow in his hand, as he expected, when this group of young boys and girls knew their Han identity, they also quickly released their goodwill and reported their own sect.

Yuxuanmen of the Western Jin Dynasty, Xu Chen naturally knew that whether it was the previous Brother Lu Shi, or the later Yao Nan Yao Bei.

These young boys and girls who appeared in the Mobei Wasteland were naturally their junior brothers and sisters, most of them were female disciples, and there were only three or four male disciples.

The girl stepped forward, blinked her big curious eyes, looked at Xu Chen as if she had seen something funny, and asked, "Are you really Han?"

This girl in a long blue skirt is probably afraid of cold, with a furry scarf around her face and neck, with a childish countenance, and big black and smart eyes, which looks particularly cute.

Xu Chen replied with a smile: "What are the benefits of pretending to be a Han Chinese?"

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

What she said was naturally the Han people of Chaoyang Kingdom.

A woman about twenty years old stepped forward, bowed to Xu Chen with apologies, took out an identity document issued by the Western Jin Dynasty Military Department from her arms, and then asked Xu Chen to take out her identity document.

After all, this is a wasteland, not far from the battlefield, and he can't lift all vigilance just because of Xu Chen's words, he understands the other party's caution very well.

After confirming that Xu Chen was a Han Chinese, these disciples from the Jade Xuanmen of the Western Jin Dynasty 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 son before, and it was really abrupt to point at each other with swords and arrows, and I ask the son to forgive me." ”

Xu Chen glanced at the male disciples of the Jade Xuanmen who were honestly and well-behaved and stood in the distance, thinking of the rumors of the Western Jin Dynasty's preference for women over men, he couldn't help but feel a little strange, since the Western Jin Dynasty valued women over men, why were these female disciples of the Jade Xuanmen so reasonable and gentle, and even seemed 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, in the lower jade Xuanmen disciple Zhao Ling'er, if the prince is happy with this hot spring, it is better to ......"

If it was an ordinary soldier, he would not have made this third disciple of the Jade Xuanmen attach so much importance to gentleness. It's just that this place is not far from the military village, and the black smock Xu Chen was wearing only glanced at and guessed that Xu Chen must have an extraordinary background, maybe it was the disciples of the Dushan Sect who heard that they were in the military village, so their attitude became more and more gentle and humble.

"There is no such reason. Xu Chen said with a smile: "I just walked along the lake at will, and occasionally found that the lake flow was different, guessing 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 the respect of the Western Jin Dynasty for the Chaoyang Empire, especially guessing that Xu Chen may have an extraordinary background, if at other times, she would probably leave directly with her junior sisters and disciples, and give this hot spring to Xu Chen, but now it is very inconvenient...... "So that it will not disturb the Qingxiu of the prince of Shangguo." ”

Zhao Ling'er saw that he didn't mean to sign up for his own number, and it was inconvenient for him to take the liberty of asking, so he smiled and said, squatted down and bowed respectfully, and then walked towards the dense forest with the group of young boys and girls.

Xu Chen looked at the depths of the dense forest, and vaguely saw the mist steaming out of the hot spring, as well as a yellow cloth about one and a half people high, thinking that the girls of the Western Jin Dynasty were probably soaking in the hot spring after that group of cloths, no wonder they were so nervous before, if other men used their eyes to steal all the spring light, how would it be good.

I didn't think about strolling along the lake, but I could actually meet the female disciple of the Jade Xuanmen of the Western Jin Dynasty, 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 he came from, 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 youngest girl in the Western Jin Dynasty ran over, because she was running 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.

Xu Chen asked, "What is the matter?"

The girl opened her big black eyes, stared at Xu Chen's cheeks full of gentle expressions, thinking of 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 are you staring at me like that?"

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

The girl smiled, shook her head and said: "Of course I don't believe it, there are so many disciples of Yuxuanmen, 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 swords on their waists, you are so strong, of course you will not see me as the most threatening person." ”

Xu Chen didn't expect her to think of so many things, and after being slightly stunned, she replied honestly: "The reason why I am glaring at you is indeed because you are the weakest person in the crowd. ”

Then he added: "If you can't lock down the most important person among the enemy, you can lock up the most vulnerable person to death in the enemy, 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 kill me?"

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

Xu Chen nodded.

The girl's lacquer-like eyes showed surprise, and she said, "But do you Han people in Chaoyang Kingdom also bully the weak?"

"We Han 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." ”

Xu Chen looked at the little girl who was as cute as a young beast, couldn't help but reach out and rub her head, and said with a smile: "There is no such thing as good people and bad people on the battlefield, only dead and alive, and for me, maybe neither, in my eyes, there are more enemies." ”

After a pause, he looked at her reddish white and tender face, he didn't know if he was affected 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 you, 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?" Xu Chen asked.

"Hmm. The girl smiled like a lotus, blushing slightly, "I also want to tell you that my name is Yaxiu." ”

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

Xu Chen couldn't help but laugh when he looked at the girl's back, thinking that he had only heard that the name of the Western Jin Dynasty had always been very interesting, but he really didn't expect that someone would be called Yaxiu, this name is really not good, but it really matches the little girl's curious lacquered eyes and fluffy cuteness. It's just, do they have a surname Ya?

He didn't go far back along the lakeside, and then he looked at the pool oozing out of the white stone at the bottom of the shore, the bottom layer of the clear pool was as clear as the pages of a book, and the scenery was good, he confirmed that the distance was far enough not to be misunderstood by the girls of the Western Jin Dynasty after being surrounded by the yellow cloth, and then untied 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 Western Jin Dynasty coalition army chose to camp close to them.

"The girl of the Western Jin Dynasty 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 that landed on the cobblestone subconsciously grabbed it gently, this action did not have any obscene meaning, but just recalled the tactile feeling when he rubbed Yaxiu's head earlier.

The scenery around this lake rock pool is quite beautiful, quiet and pleasant, and more importantly, the heaven and earth are full of vitality.

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

Sitting in the lake breeze, closing his eyes and meditating quietly, he opened his eyes, raised his fingers and gently drew incomprehensible lines in the wind, only he knew that the combination of these lines was runes, which was probably only an apprentice that Lu Yin would teach.

His gaze followed his fingertips as he moved in the empty air, and when he encountered an intractable pass, he frowned and thought for a long time, waved his hand to erase all the runes in his imagination, 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 it was the nature of the body, maybe it was 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 Western Jin Dynasty 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 hot spring soup is like goat's milk, the girl is playing like a deer, this kind of imagination can't make the stomach full after all, Xu Chenxing 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?"

Yaxiu appeared on the shore of the lake, looked at Xu Chen who was lighting the fire with big eyes and curiosity, and said, "Didn't I hear that the men of the Chaoyang Empire don't cook, they only eat ready-made?"

Xu Chen already knew that she was coming, and he didn't raise his head, and said: "I naturally don't know how to cook, but in this kind of wilderness, what other way is there besides doing it yourself." ”

Yaxiu clapped her palms, rolled her eyes, squatted beside him, and said bravely, "I'll help." ”

Xu Chen saw that her face was full of hope, although he didn't trust the cooking skills of this Western Jin Dynasty girl very much, but he still smiled and gave up his position, to his surprise, Yaxiu was very young and skillful, and it only took a while to complete all the procedures, and then wash his hands, just waiting for the final unveiling of the pot.

Listening to the sound of boiling soup in the pot and smelling the aroma of meat that had begun to overflow, Xu Chen glanced at her in surprise, and became more and more confused about what kind of existence women in the Western Jin Dynasty were, a society that values women over men, so gentle temperament and skillful cooking?

Uncovering the soup, Xu Chen handed over a bowl, Yaxiu 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.

"It's warm in the Western Jin Dynasty, isn't it? Well, at least it's warmer than here, right?"

"Hmm. Yaxiu nodded, looked at the thin ice on the lake, shivered and said: "I really didn't expect it to be so cold here, the cotton clothes I bought in Xiling on the road seem to be completely unable to block the wind." ”

"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. Yaxiu opened her big eyes, looked at him and asked suspiciously, "Are you still young?"

"Isn't fourteen small?"

Yaxiu's eyebrows frowned slightly, and she pouted and said, "Fourteen can be married, where is it small." ”

The law of the Chaoyang Empire, it seems that you can only marry at the age of sixteen? Xu Chen held the soup bowl and looked at the hot mist slowly rising in the distance on the lake.

After drinking the mutton soup, Yaxiu ignored Xu Chen's objections, quickly took off the furry collar around her neck, rolled up her sleeves, and brushed the dishes, chopsticks, pots and pans cleanly.