Between the vast sea of ​​clouds

The mountains are gathered together, the sky is vast and far away, and the north wind blows past. After the clouds and mists have dispersed a little, Lueyang Mountain can be seen tall and majestic, like waves layered on top of each other, magnificent and wonderful.On the top of the mountain, the dark red rock mass is abrupt and ferocious, with only a few weeds growing, making it even more desolate.

There is almost no road on this mountain. A group of people are walking among the rocks, with steep mountain walls on both sides, and a deep valley shrouded in clouds and mist below. Like broken stones, falling into the abyss, never to exist again.

After doing this for nearly three days, I arrived at the edge of Lueyang Mountain along the ancient path left by the predecessors.Go down the mountain and walk along the ancient plank road.It is unknown when and what month this dilapidated plank road was built. With planks as the road and logs as the frame, a dangerous road hanging over the edge of the cliff was paved.The plank road is very narrow, and it has not been repaired for many years. In some places, the wooden boards have long been missing. People who step on it and lower their heads slightly can see the undulating mountain fog under their feet.

The leader took the lead and opened the way on this plank road.For some unknown reason, she let Qingping follow behind her, while Wu Ying was behind Qingping, and her two subordinates were at the end of the line. A group of people walked on this rickety plank road, and the wind in the mountains was strong, as if they were walking on clouds. As you walk, you can see mountains that have been cut like knives everywhere, and towering mountains are exposed where the mountain fog has faded.

As you go further and further down, you can gradually hear the huge sound of water, which is like thunder and lion roar, and the rapids are rolling, deafening.It turned out that the fog rising in the deep valley was formed by the rushing water hitting the mountain wall. The misty water vapor was in front of everyone's eyes. It seemed that the plank road was coming to an end. The leader said: "It's almost there, the suspension bridge is ahead."

As soon as she finished speaking, there was a plop, Qing Ping turned her head slightly, but saw Wu Ying's face pale behind her, and said softly: "Don't look back, let's go."

The sound of clattering sounded from behind her, and the sound of wood breaking was so clear. The plank road had been in disrepair for a long time, and it was soaked in water vapor. After passing, the back has already begun to fall into the water.

The leader looked back, and saw that most of the plank had been broken and fell into the rough waves under his feet.The only surviving hand was pale, and she was standing on the edge of the broken plank road. When the companion behind her fell down, she had no time to reach him.But she didn't have time to say anything, so she could only follow the leader and continue walking.

Perhaps it was because of the loss of a subordinate, the atmosphere was a little heavy, but along the way, the leader lost countless people. She has lived through life and death, and this is just commonplace.Qingping's eyes trembled slightly, how many people's lives have been ruined in this desolate mountain and bitter water, for fame or profit, a hundred years ago traders secretly practiced this way, just for money.She walked on the road that the ancients walked a hundred years ago, and her eyelashes were wet with water vapor, as if she was searching hard in the vicissitudes of life, and those emotions in the past disappeared without a trace with the turbulent water.For a moment, she couldn't remember who she was and why she was here.

The water vapor is getting thicker and thicker, and the road under your feet can hardly be seen. When you finally get out of the plank road, you feel that your feet are weak and your mind is in a trance.With just one turn, he escaped from the hazy water mist, and there was a completely new scene in front of him.It was dusk at this time, and the setting sun was like blood, the red sun was falling to the west, the forests in the mountains were all dyed, and the red leaves were frosty, as if the colorful splashes of ink were extremely gorgeous, and it was the time of autumn.When they got to the suspension bridge, everyone knew that the previous dangers were nothing. They saw a long bridge connecting the two sides of the canyon, hanging above the valley, swaying gently in the evening wind, and under the bridge was the rushing water.Under the setting sun, the shadows of the trees whirled, and the mountains and forests gradually darkened.There are steep and steep cliffs on both sides of the bank, and the wooden bridge is not sure whether it is firm or not. It sways in the wind and makes a harsh rattling sound.

The bearing capacity of the suspension bridge must be limited, and four people must not pass together.The leader thought for a while, and said to his subordinates, "Go up and explore the way first."

The subordinate's hands and feet were weak, and the scene of her companion slipping and falling into the cliff just now was still lingering in front of her eyes, but the leader stared at her fiercely, her feet were trembling, and just as she was holding on to the rope to go up, the leader said again: " Forget it, come down."

She turned around and looked up and down at Qingping, smiled suddenly, and said: "You can calm down, the ancient plank road is still so calm, why don't you go? How about it?"

Qingping looked at the long bridge behind her, and the opposite bank was the territory of Yunzhou.As long as you enter this place and go back, you will definitely be able to return to Anping County.This was what she was looking forward to, but for some reason, she hesitated at this time.

What can I do when I go back?Could it be that he really followed Wu Ying back to Chang'an to correct Chu Jun's various false statements?Now that Juning Pass has been breached and the Xirong army has driven straight in, they have only left the royal court for a few days, and the situation has completely turned around. No one can tell what kind of situation Yunzhou will face.All these are things that she dare not touch in her heart, and at this moment, just like this crumbling suspension bridge, stepping on it may fall into a deep valley at any time, but if she is lucky enough to reach the other side, it may not be the way back.In this way, it is better to fall into the valley, where ignorant people have no knowledge.The mountains had dimmed in her eyes, and she gradually couldn't see the raging river under the bridge clearly. The surrounding scenery blurred into a few pale strokes after the setting sun sank into the mountains, but the suspension bridge became clearer and clearer in her eyes.

But after just a few thoughts, she just thought for a while, and the sky was already dark. Seeing that she didn't answer, the leader thought she was unwilling, so he pulled out his scimitar and urged gloomyly: "What are you waiting for! Hurry up!" go up!"

As soon as Qingping stepped on it, she felt a little unstable under her feet, the chain was very cold and trembling, she was about to hold it with her hand, but was pulled back.

Wu Ying's forehead twitched, she calmed down, and said, "Commander Yu, if we let her pass first, what if she does something wrong?"

The leader said: "The bridge is made of refined iron. I'm afraid she won't be able to damage the chains."

But Wu Ying said aggressively: "What if we let her run away? Isn't this encounter between you and me in vain?"

Her words were not unreasonable, and the leader said to the subordinate: "Then I need to trouble you."

The woman didn't dare, although she didn't want to, but because of the leader's reputation, she had no choice but to go on the wooden bridge.The leader stared at her back, Wu Ying breathed a sigh of relief, the palms of her loosened hands were covered with cold sweat, and when the mountain wind blew, she felt chills all over her body.Just as the leader was concentrating on the subordinates who were walking farther and farther on the suspension bridge, Wu Ying suddenly felt that someone pulled her hand. The touch was so light that she almost thought it was her own illusion, so she couldn't help turning her face to the side. He looked at himself, as if he had been waiting for a long time.

Her face was not very clear in the evening sky, and her thin outline showed a bit of fatigue. Wu Ying's heart skipped a beat, and then she clenched her hands tightly.

Seeing that the subordinate finally crossed the bridge, the leader let Qingping go up, the bridge is between two mountains, the mountain wind blows at night, making the chains rattle.This bridge is not difficult to walk, it is much better than the winding ancient plank road just now.It's not so scary at night when you can't see how deep the valley is below you.Only the torrent was raging, and the sound of the water was like thunder, which covered up the rapid heartbeat. When people crossed the bridge, she slowed down for a while before she recovered.

Now that the first two were safe and sound, the leader asked Wu Ying to come too.Naturally, she was the last one to reach the shore. At this time, the sky was completely dark, and the forest was dark, so it was inconvenient to go on the road. In addition, everyone was exhausted physically and mentally after the long journey, so they found a place to rest for a night.

"Flying light, flying light, I advise you to have a glass of wine. I don't know how high the sky is, and how thick the earth is. I only see the moon is cold and the sun is warm, so let's cook life..."

Sleeping in a daze, Qingping heard some people reciting poems. She vaguely thought that she was reading in the morning at a school in Hezhou. Said: "Qingping? Wake up..."

Qingping opened his eyes and saw Wu Ying. He was about to say something when he saw the leader behind her casually sweeping over and pushing Wu Ying away.Wu Ying was unprepared, she pushed her down on the fallen leaves, Qing Ping didn't wait for her to speak, and said first: "You don't need to pretend to be a good person, Mr. Wu, there is no friendship between us, why are you so hypocritical?"

Wu Ying was stunned for a moment, then came to her senses, and said angrily: "A dog's eyes don't recognize a good heart!" After saying that, she got up angrily, patted the fallen leaves and dead branches on her body, and went to the fire to get dry food to eat.

Qing Ping found that the leader was not suspicious, so he looked around.This forest is dense and large, and the fallen leaves have accumulated so much that people only feel soft when stepping on it.There are very few forests like this in Yunzhou. She recalled yesterday's thrilling experience, and remembered that the valley was in a semi-circular shape, which made the water vapor not easy to evaporate, and the continuous flow of the river, which made the forest grow. grow.She had seen a topographical map in Guangyuan, Yunzhou City, Yunzhou had few rivers, and most of them were tributaries of the Canglan River. Among them, Fengfeng County had the most distribution, and the vegetation was wider and more complex than the other two counties. .She had an idea in her heart that this place must not be far from Fengfeng County.

They didn't have much dry food on them, so they ate some casually. The leader asked a few people to find dead branches and explore the road on the ground as they walked.The forest seemed endless, and no one knew what would be in the thick layer of dead leaves. In order to prevent swamp insects and snakes under the leaves, she opened the way first.But the trees are dense, covering the sky and the sun, and the sky can hardly be seen. In this case, it is impossible to tell the direction.Rao is the leader who has countless experiences and lost his way in the woods.When she was young, she wandered on the grassland for many years, and she could recognize the stars, but this skill is almost useless in the woods, because the night here is not as clear as the grassland, and the fog in the forest is thick, and the stars cannot be seen, so how to determine the direction?

There is no one in the woods, and it seems that no caravan has set foot in it for a long time.But where the trees are sparse, there is a trace of a small road.Several people walked along this road for a day and a night, and finally walked out of the woods.The faint autumn sun fell on Qingping's body, and the original warmth had already faded away, leaving only a little bit of sunlight in the cold wind.

It was only then that Qingping realized that they were on a mountain, surrounded by clouds and mist in the distance, as if he could see a corner of the flat and vast land.Clouds are gradually rising in the sky, gathering but not dispersing. Qingping has lived in Yunzhou for several years and knows that this is a harbinger of winter.In a few days, there will be a heavy snowfall.

If you don't leave here again, it will be difficult to leave after it snows.Although the leader didn't know the weather in Yunzhou, she also noticed something abnormal in the sky that was completely different from usual. She said decisively: "I must go to a place where there are people quickly. I am afraid it will snow today."

Wu Ying said: "At this time, when the war is at stake, the gates of the counties are closed and no outsiders are allowed to enter or leave. How can we get to the town?"

The leader only said: "Your Majesty Wu, you don't need to worry about this matter. When we arrive in the town, our people will definitely take care of us."

After coming down from the mountain, the trees were no longer seen, and turned into short bushes, with occasional clumps of withered grass. As far as the eye could see, it was an open and flat field, with streams flowing past their feet, calm and gentle.

While resting by the river, Qingping suddenly glanced at Wu Ying beside him. The leader sensed something was wrong, but he was too far away to respond in time, but seeing a flash of cold light, Qingping snatched the sword from Wu Ying's waist and slapped the ground. In front of her neck, Wu Ying just wanted to move, she said: "Don't move."

"What's the use of you hijacking me?" Wu Ying asked incredulously, "Could it be that you can retreat completely? Even if you retreat, you are just a betrayer, so where can you retreat?"

What she said was painstaking, but Qingping didn't pay any attention to her, just stared at the leader closely, and said: "If she dies, you must be to blame too, right?"

The leader pulled out his knife, intending to provoke her, but he remembered that this person had endured inhuman torture in the golden tent of the king's court and never gave in.This trip to the grassland to find people was originally a scheme of Master Wu. If something happened to her, wouldn't the credit be on him?Speaking of outsiders, they are suspected of being greedy for merit, and it is really difficult for King Qi to explain it.The leader has stayed in the palace for many years, and he is familiar with those doorways. He secretly thought that he had misread it, and persuaded him: "My lord Li, Yumou also admires your heart, and people in the world may not have your kind." Courage. The so-called heroes follow the Ming Lord, why do you die for the old master in vain?"

Qing Ping was unmoved, and only said: "I don't need to say whether I will die or not, if you think slowly, she will definitely die first."

The leader thought for a while, made a gesture of invitation, threw the weapon to the ground, and said with some regret: "Differences in ways are not conspiring with each other, but Mr. Li, you have to think about it. Yumou admires your talents. I don't make it difficult for you; if you insist on leaving, then don't blame Yu for being rude to you."

"Thank you for your kindness." Qing Ping didn't accept her tricks, and said: "Stand back a bit, if you walk slowly, Mr. Wu's life may be lost!"

The leader backed away, and Qingping held Wu Ying back slowly, and when she got to a certain position, she suddenly pushed Wu Ying out with force, and jumped back herself——

The leader waited for the moment when she put down her weapon, and stepped forward. When she pulled her hand, the scimitar that was originally on the ground flew into her hand in an instant.She rushed to the place where Qingping was missing and looked down. It turned out that it was the side of a small hill, covered with long grass, almost as tall as a person, and people would not be injured if they rolled down the side of the slope. She told her men: " Let's see what Master Wu is doing." Without any hesitation, he jumped down deeply.

Wu Ying sat on the ground and coughed non-stop, and couldn't get up when she thought about it. The subordinate saw her and helped her up, and said with concern: "Master Wu, you didn't..."

Before she finished speaking, she felt a chill in her stomach and opened her eyes wide to look at the person in front of her.

Wu Ying raised her head slowly, her eyes were cold, and with force in her hand, the long sword penetrated a little more.

Her face was reflected in the dying man's pupils, like a rigid stone sculpture, and then she clenched the hilt of her sword and drew it, avoiding the fallen body.She gasped for breath, checking herself for blood spatters.

She ran to the river to wash the blood off the sword, wiped it dry with a cloth, put it back into the sheath, slid down the side of the hill, and jumped into the tall grass.

Qingping quietly lurks in the withered grass, the wind howls all around, and no human voice can be heard.She clenched the saber in her hand, and after thinking about it, she tied it with a cloth strip to prevent it from falling out under a heavy blow.

As early as on Lueyang Mountain, from what Wu Ying said to her, the straw rope she threw on her face had already explained everything.

She unconsciously held the loose grass rope in her hand. People in Lingbei are good at weaving rope. It has been passed down to this day and has evolved into various complicated knots, which are almost common in every household.As early as hundreds of years ago, there were members of great families who went out to wear knotted jade pendants symbolizing their own clan around their waists, and some families still retain this tradition today.

The knots that have been widely circulated are naturally endowed with special meanings. Kiyohei counted the number of knots on the straw rope in his hand.According to legend, in ancient times, a pair of best friends went out to play, but they were caught by bandits, and they only had enough money to redeem one of them.The two experienced a struggle in the room, and finally chose to use straw to weave rope knots to decide life and death. In the limited time, whoever weaves the longest will survive.One of them is not good at this, so he made it slow on purpose, trying to keep his friend alive.But she never expected that the one she made up was a little longer than her friend's.When the mountain bandits sent people to kill them, the soldiers and horses from the government to suppress the bandits happened to arrive here, and the two survived by luck.Later, when the man unwrapped the knot, he realized that his friend knew that he was not good at knitting rope, so he purposely made his knitting tight and dense, so it was much shorter than hers.And this knot has also become an item given by Lingnan people to their close friends. It often appears in ornaments, symbolizing the deep friendship between friends.

There are often children in the school who make up and play after class, and Wu Ying has also taught her by hand.

"Mountains and rivers are not important, but meeting confidants."

The sound of Lang Lang reading seems to be still in her ears, no matter what, she wants to believe her once.Even if it is the end of the mountain, there will be no return.

When the sound of piercing the air came, Qingping rolled several times on the ground, relying on the experience of being hunted down in Xirong, she reacted very quickly, and she blocked the blow with a knife.The tiger's mouth was numb from the shock. Fortunately, she tied the handle of the knife in her hand just now to avoid the situation where the weapon fell out of her hand.

The leader joked: "It's just to let you identify the old master. She abandoned you first. Life is the most important thing in life. Is this the truth?" He raised the machete and slashed at Qingping. But after a few strokes, she was exhausted, and the wound on her shoulder was split open. Hot blood gushed out from her back, soaked her clothes, and was blown by the wind, almost speechless in pain.Even so, she never let go of the saber with countless gaps in her hand.

Seeing this, the leader shook his head, not knowing whether he was laughing at her overreaching, or expressing disdain for her persistence.Finally, the knife in Qingping's hand was blown away, and she was unable to support herself, so she had to kneel and sit in the grass.

"It's useless. Why bother doing all this useless work?"

Qingping's tiger's mouth was shattered, and she couldn't close her hands no matter what. She tried several times, but finally gave up, raised her head and said: "I haven't tried it, how do I know it's useless."

"Now that you've tried it, what's the result?" The leader said flatly, "But it's a waste of effort."

After saying that, she pulled out a rope, roughly dragged Qingping, and bound her hands.Qing Ping suddenly said: "Your master traveled thousands of miles and lost countless troops. He just came to Xirong to pick me up. Don't you want to know why?"

The leader paused in his hands, narrowed his eyes dangerously, pulled her hands up, tied them tightly, and stared at her closely: "What exactly are you trying to say?"

Qingping smiled and said softly: "That's because I know a secret, I'm afraid not only your master sent someone to look for me, other people are also looking for me, but you are one step ahead of them, it probably won't take long , they will catch up..."

Her voice was soft and weak, like a gasp coming from between her lips and teeth. The leader didn't seem to care, but at this moment, the hand that was holding her hands was lifted suddenly, and he said against her face: "You are smart, this journey is very difficult. Aren't they all marked?"

Qing Ping was talking nonsense at first, hearing her words seemed to have fallen into a trap, and said: "So what? We're going to die anyway, why don't we go together, no one will know this secret..."

"Say—" the leader strangled her neck and forced out words from between his teeth, "If that's the case, I'll leave you alone to die. Tell me everything you know, and I will naturally leave your whole body."

She let go of her hand, Qingping's face flushed red, and mocked regardless of the pain of the wound: "You want to know this secret? Anyone who knows is dead."

The leader was about to say something threatening, when she suddenly felt a chill behind her back, she looked down and saw the tip of the sword piercing out from her chest covered with blood, and then the sound of a sharp weapon piercing into the flesh came, and the tip of the sword penetrated inch by inch Xi Wu is different from ordinary people. She turned around and attacked with a knife, and when she saw Wu Ying with a pale face behind her, she seemed to understand everything.But at this moment, there was a sharp pain in her chest, Qing Ping pulled it out suddenly behind her, immediately blood spilled, fell on the withered yellow grass, and soaked into the soil.

Qingping dragged his sword and walked over, Wu Ying crouched on the ground and felt the leader's pulse, saying: "Dead."

Only then did Qingping collapse on the ground, her hands were tied halfway, if the leader hadn't been suspicious and believed her, I'm afraid it wouldn't be so easy to deal with.Wu Ying went to help her up, but felt blood on one hand.

"I'm afraid the wound is open." Qingping said to her while still a little bit clear, "I can't find any medicine here, leave me alone, you can go, if they still have someone to help, it will be terrible."

Wu Ying was startled and angrily said, "Who do you think I am?"

Qingping didn't want to quarrel with her, so he stuffed the knot made of straw into her hand, and said quickly: "I know, I know everything..."

Wu Ying looked at the half-loose straw rope in her hand, her eyes became hot, and she said with difficulty: "What do you know?"

Qing Ping's consciousness gradually became blurred, but he held her hand and did not let go, but his voice became lower and lower.Wu Ying hurriedly hugged her tightly, the sticky blood stained her sleeves, she choked up, suppressed the hot tears in her eyes, and said hoarsely: "What do you know?"

She seemed to be asking the person in her arms, but also seemed to be asking herself.The wind whimpered, passing through the field, the dark clouds in the sky broke a crack, and several golden glows fell down. They sat in the dry grass, as if they were in the golden waves.The golden grass leaves cover the sky and cover the sky, rippling in the wind in the last autumn sun, Wu Ying looked up at the dazzling light, her eyes were full of tears, she finally couldn't help but lower her head to get close to Qingping's face, saying: "Look, The sun is coming out."

Tears rolled down, she pressed her forehead, as if it was the same as before, her voice was broken, and she whispered: "Qingping, wake up..."

The slender arm of the person in his arms slid down powerlessly, exposing a loose knot in the palm, and rolled down into the tall grass with the wind.