A pair of skinny palms covered with thick calluses and earthworm-like veins crawling on the back of the hand gently closed, and worshiped the land god three times. The statue carved out of red stone is only two feet high, hiding under the shadow of a granite rock, wearing a rag that has been yellowed by sand and dust.The facial features of the god are blurred due to years of weathering, and only the two eyes that have become hollow holes can be vaguely seen. What is he looking at?The devout face of the worshiper in front of him?That well beside the rock that runs dry five months of the year?That piece of loess that can only support one weed for every ten feet?A blue sky that hasn't rained a drop for thirty-eight days? ...

Nobody knows. "Fuck you mother." A young voice came from the other side of the well.The middle-aged man who worshiped the god closed his eyes, pretending not to hear, and also hoped that the god did not hear.The tall and thin body was still kneeling, and kowtowed to the land god, muttering wishes. ——Bless you eat well today... "I said, fuck your mother!" The young man yelled as he walked over.He didn't have much flesh on his body than a middle-aged man, and his face was like a hungry wolf. "How old is it? What god do you still worship?" The young man's voice was tired and angry.It took all morning to find the well, and when I looked down, there was still no water left.The crack at the bottom of the well was like a mouth mocking him.

The two horses tied to the well looked weaker than people.If they fall down, they are dead. The more the young man thought about it, the more annoyed he became, his walk turned into a run, and the machete hanging behind his back was shaking violently.He stretched out his hairy legs wearing tattered straw sandals, and kicked the land god on the head. The neck of the weathered and fragile statue was broken, and its head flew to the dry and cracked ground, rolling more than ten feet away with smoke and dust, and was only stopped by a stone. "Profanity!" The middle-aged man exclaimed, stood up in embarrassment, and chased in the direction where the head fell.The young man grabbed his back collar.

"If you want to eat, don't worship God!" The young man spat on the ground and stared at the middle-aged man fiercely. "Rely on this!" He patted the handle of the knife behind him with his other hand. The machete is very dilapidated, the handle and the blade are rusted in many places, the handle is wrapped with rags, and there is no scabbard, only two pieces of wood are used to clamp the blade, and then wrapped with hemp rope . He pulled the middle-aged man towards the horse. "Get on the horse!" The man's eyes were still looking at the land god who had lost his head, but he didn't dare to resist, and his legs started to move back.

When he arrived at the dry well, the young man took another old knife from his partner's saddle and handed it to the middle-aged man's chest.The man held the knife in time. "If there is anything in the world that can protect us, it is it." "Little boy, I understand..." The middle-aged man lowered his head. "But you don't have to do that... I'm afraid we will have retribution..." Xiao Maozi ignored him and jumped onto the saddle.The man knew what not to say, and followed suit. They didn't dare to rush the horses too fast, they just half-paced to the southeast, where Zizhen was located.Of course they dare not enter the town, but as long as they are close to the town, the chances of encountering travelers will increase.

On the vast yellow land, the two riders were like ants, humbly crawling towards the direction where the food might appear. They covered their heads and faces with cloth scarves to shield them from the scorching sun.Under the shadow of the cloth towel, Xiao Maozi squinted his eyes, constantly searching the distant horizon for prey; the middle-aged man named Ha Ge kept licking his chapped lips, touching the water next to the saddle with his palm from time to time sac, but he dared not take water to drink.It is extremely dangerous to drink the last jug of water until a new water source is found.

Xiao Maozi's eyes suddenly widened. A small black shadow appeared on the horizon that was floating due to the heat. He glanced at Brother Ha. "Do you still have strength?" Brother Ha nodded. The two pulled out the knife, patted the horse's butt with the back of the knife at the same time, and rushed towards the black shadow in front of the right. The closer it gets, the bigger the shadow becomes. Sure enough, I read it right, it was a human being.And only one person.on foot. ——Walk with your feet in such a world and on such a ground? Xiao Maozi didn't think too much, and continued to ride his horse forward.Both of them slowed down at the same time, it is better to let the horse save more energy.

Already within a hundred yards of the man, the man stopped apparently because he heard the sound of hooves. "Stop if you're dying!" Xiao Maozi raised his machete reflecting the sun and shouted when he reached a distance of tens of feet.At this moment, he saw the figure of the other party. An unusually tall figure, covered from head to toe under a large cloak, carrying what looked like a box. The man was still standing there without any reaction, as if he was relaxing to welcome Xiao Maozi and Brother Ha. The two had been working together for a long time, and at this moment there was a tacit understanding, Xiao Maozi stepped forward to test it first, and Brother Ha was on guard behind.

Xiao Maozi rode up to the man.Only then did he see clearly that the man's figure was really frighteningly tall, almost reaching the Adam's apple on the saddle.Xiao Maozi couldn't help but feel a little guilty, even though the man was empty-handed. The weird big cloak was woven with patterns of silk threads of different colors, but the colors had faded due to long-term exposure to the sun and rain, and it was no longer clear what patterns were woven.On the back is a bamboo suitcase half the height of a person. From the footprints on the ground, it can be seen that the man came on foot from the due west, and each footprint clearly shows five toes.

The man wasn't even wearing shoes. "Put it down!" Xiao Maozi pointed at the bamboo trunk with the tip of his knife. The man's face was hidden under the shadow of the cloak, and no expression could be seen. Xiao Maozi was about to order again, but the man squatted down and gently unloaded the bamboo box on the ground. Xiao Maozi jumped off the saddle, the tip of the knife was still pointing at the man. "Stand back!" The man took a few steps back. Seeing that the man didn't resist, Brother Ha stepped forward and jumped off the horse, holding the reins of the two horses with his left hand at the same time, while the knife in his right hand threatened the other party from a distance.

Xiao Maozi stepped forward and kicked the bamboo trunk over, and then stretched out his hand to unbutton the lid of the trunk.He squatted down and turned the whole heavy bamboo trunk upside down with his left hand. All that fell out of the bamboo box were books.Most of them are very dilapidated, some are bound with wires, some are wrapped with ropes, and some of them have covers made of unknown animal leather. With a desperate expression, Xiao Maozi kept flipping through the pile of scrolls, hoping to find out what was hidden among them.Just page after page of text.Xiao Maozi was illiterate, but he could tell that some of the crooked characters came from foreign countries. - hell... "Damn, why are you carrying so many books on your back?" Xiao Maozi furiously pointed his halberd at the man. The man sat cross-legged on the ground slowly, and he pulled off the hood of his cloak. The long and messy hair and beard covered half of his face, but he could still see a very clear and solid outline.His face was very tanned, and his cheekbones were prominent because of his emaciation.There are four long-standing scars on the left cheek, as if scratched by some ferocious beast.A pair of eyes are big and bright, but there is a strong sense of tiredness. When the man put his palm into the large pocket on the side of the cloak, Xiao Maozi and Brother Ha couldn't help but take a step back. The man took out a small oilcloth bag from his pocket, and he opened it with fingers covered with zigzag tattoos.Inside were two small pieces of flint and three scrolls of paper as long as fingers. The man picked up one of the scrolls, put it in front of his nose and sniffed it a few times, then put one end of the scroll in his mouth, and lit the other end with a flint and steel.After the paper roll caught fire, he took a deep sip, and then contentedly exhaled a puff of blue smoke with a sweet smell. "Books are for reading, of course." The man looked up at the smoke in the air and said casually.The voice was hoarse with the vicissitudes of life. Xiao Maozi thought for a while before realizing that the other party was answering him.He rushed forward angrily, and knocked the paper roll between the man's fingers away with his hands. "What else is in the pocket?" The knife stopped a foot before the man's neck. The man slowly took out the only things in the big bag: a half-remained sheepskin water bag, and half a hardbread wrapped in paper, which were also placed on the ground. Xiao Maozi took a step back, and pointed the tip of the knife at the man's chest again. "Don't pretend! Stand up." The man stood up.Xiao Maozi and Brother Ha only reached his chest, and his eyes looked down at them calmly. "Take off! Take off everything!" Xiao Maozi waved the machete in the air. The man obediently unbuttoned the cloak, and the cloak suddenly fell to the ground. The man was not wearing any clothes in the cloak, only his lower body was wrapped in a piece of rag into the character "Ding", and his whole body was exposed to the hot sun, his body complexion was as dark as his face.Surprisingly, the tall body was unreasonably emaciated, and the two rows of ribs were like a birdcage covered with skin.Although the muscles of the chest, abdomen, back and hands and legs are slender, they are still very strong, and the beautiful texture and shape are clearly visible. One can imagine how strong and fit this body was once.There is not much intact skin all over the body, either old scars or blurred tattoos.The pattern on the navel piercing looks like an eye... Xiao Maozi and Brother Ha held their breath because of the strange body suddenly naked in front of them, their eyes were completely attracted, and it took a while to calm down. Xiao Maozi knelt down and fumbled for the cloak that fell off the ground, but there was nothing inside.He sighed dejectedly. Brother Ha was attracted by the fallen scroll.He picked it up, sniffed and lit the smoke from that end, and then took a sip like that man. Brother Ha has also smoked tobacco pipes before, but the feeling of smoking this thing is completely different. The body seems to suddenly become lighter, and the feeling of hunger and thirst also seems to have faded.He smiled unconsciously. "Little Maozi... this... is a good thing..." Xiao Maozi glared at Brother Ha angrily. It is a taboo to say his name when "doing things"-although there are no people in the neighboring towns who don't know him. Brother Ha seemed completely unable to see Xiao Maozi's angry face, and still smirked and handed him the scroll. Xiao Maozi snatched the scroll and took a look.Anyway, nothing can be robbed, this thing is not smoked for nothing.He took a deep breath. The anger in his eyes disappeared instantly. The man picked up the cloak on the ground, put it on slowly, and then put the scattered scrolls back into the bamboo box. "Haha..." Xiao Maozi took another puff with a smile, then pointed the knife at the man. "Do you still want to carry this pile of things? Are books so good?" "After reading the book, you will understand many things." The man replied while picking up. Xiao Maozi laughed again, and pointed the knife at the large expanse of loess. "Look! How many things do you need to understand in this kind of place?" He waved the machete again. "It is enough to understand this. Here, the least valuable thing is a book." The man closed the lid of the bamboo box, then walked up to Xiao Maozi, took the scroll in his hand, and took a sip as well.The man was standing so close, but Xiao Maozi was not at all vigilant. The man passed the scroll to Brother Ha, and then looked at Xiao Maozi's young face. "Why do you want to be a thief?" Xiao Maozi laughed, this was the stupidest question he had ever heard. "I don't have anything, so I rob others." "If you snatched someone else's, wouldn't it be very painful for others?" "You can also rob others." Xiao Maozi shook his head, "If you don't have the guts to rob, you have to wait for others to rob you. You can't blame anyone." He sat down, put the machete aside, and patted the ground. "I've lived here for twenty years, and it's been like this for twenty years. People call out thieves, but they still wish they were thieves. Bah, a bunch of gutless cowards." "Officials are more fierce than thieves." Brother Ha said from the other end, puffing out smoke. "Yes, that's how it is here." The man looked at the earth and the sky, and said solemnly: "Have you not thought about changing this place? If we all don't fight, we can live a good life together." Xiao Maozi and Brother Ha looked at the man in astonishment. - Sure enough, a lunatic. Ha Ge held up the scroll. "I said, you smoke this stuff too much." "Maybe." The man picked up the bamboo box. "Then I will give you the rest, water and bread." He pointed eastward. "If I'm not mistaken, there are people over there, right?" Xiao Maozi nodded like sleepwalking. "I'm telling you: you're going to die." Just as the man was about to take a step, he suddenly stopped and stared at Xiao Maozi. "What?" Xiao Maozi stared.He was terrified by the man. "When you die, you will meet a man with a sickle on his forehead." The man pulled the hood of his cloak up. "At that time, if you promise that man that you will never be a thief again in your life, you can live on." After the man finished speaking, he continued to walk towards the east with his bare feet and even and powerful steps. Xiao Maozi was still puzzled, snatched the scroll from Brother Ha's hand, and took another sip. The two watched the man turn into a small black shadow on the horizon again.