Chapter 13 first quarter
thirty-first day
in the rain
I always
standing
Standing under the shade of a tree at the mouth of the valley, Lian Shou had a dream.But when I woke up, I had forgotten what I had dreamed about. The big bamboo hat and the drenched coir raincoat kept dripping water, and there was still the maddening patter of rain all around.His bare feet sank an inch into the ooze.That's how he stood and fell asleep like a big tree - he didn't know how long. He slightly lifted the bamboo hat over his brow, and looked out of Taniguchi.There is a blur in front of my eyes, and the rocks, woods and rain are intertwined.Only intuition told him: the enemy has not yet come to Taniguchi. He shivered.A chill penetrated into the bone marrow.The back and neck are as stiff as an iron plate, and every joint will make a "cracking" sound as long as it is moved slightly.He coughed every once in a while, as if his chest and lungs were a little moldy from breathing in too much moist air. It was the second day in a row that he stood guard alone.Anyway, he seldom fell asleep in that cave, so he might as well give his remaining subordinates the opportunity to rest. He touched his waist under the coir raincoat.The knife is still there.The handle head and the mouth of the leather sheath made of brass are covered with green rust, and the surface of the leather sheath is also covered with mildew. The blade in the sheath was probably rusted too.He doesn't care, he's never cut anyone with this knife, it's just his baton. Just a few months ago, where the tip of this knife pointed, it circled a piece of territory. It was the compass of the "Three Realms Army". The beautiful but brief glory is like a dream blown away by the wind. Now that this knife can point, there are only the last twenty-seven riders, and almost all of them are his subordinates who have followed him since the Zizhen incident. And there are at least 3,000 officers and soldiers surrounding this Tokuromon Valley, and it is completely impossible to break out of such a predicament. Fortunately, the officers and soldiers don't know the number of people on our side, Lian Shou thought so.Otherwise, even with such a dangerous Taniguchi terrain and continuous torrential rain, the opponent would have already stormed in.The sickle head and his subordinates took turns to whistle in this valley, mainly to prevent the enemy's scouts from sneaking in and revealing the real number of our side. The sound of branches and leaves came from behind, and Sickle turned his head vigilantly.He recognized the figures of the two most trusted subordinates - Mao Renjie and Sun Er. "My lord, let's take over." Mao Renjie—that is, the former little Maozi—said and walked over.He didn't wear a coir raincoat, and let the raindrops hit the man in the battle armor.The double knives at his waist swayed with his steps, and a longbow was slung across his back.The two-year war has trained that skinny pony thief into the majestic chief general of the "Three Realms Army". Sun Er was not much different from before, just as strong and calm, except that the executioner's knife used in executions had now been replaced by a long-handled axe. "I'm not tired yet, I can stand a little longer." Lian Shou shook his head. "Go back and take a rest." "My lord..." Mao Renjie frowned. "You can't break the body, and when you fall, we're all finished." Kayak never told them his name.However, the leader of the uprising cannot even have a decent title.An old man in Zi Town who had read some books suggested that he be given the title of "King of Jing". This name, which was a bit random, made officials of all towns and towns in the Kansai area change their expressions in the following two years.The tricolor flags swept past like a gale, and the oppressed and hungry peasants, like the sand blown up by the wind, combined into an ever-expanding dust storm, which reached 20,000 at its peak. There is no way to resist.The warehouses of the official houses were opened one by one, and the happy smiling faces were full of food.The strong men picked up anything that could be used as a weapon at home, and excitedly joined the ranks of the uprising. The children sang the song "The Granary of the World Welcomes the King of Jing". Until the "Three Realms Army" finally caught the attention of the imperial court and mobilized three thousand "thief suppression brigades" to crusade... Although they were just entangled peasants, relying on several times the number of people, they fought head-on with the regular army, and the outcome was still between five and five; but at a critical moment, a group of generals from the "Three Realms Army" accepted the recruitment and surrendered. The wing defenses of the rebel army collapsed without a fight, and the main force commanded by the sickle head was quickly defeated by a side attack, and fled for more than 200 miles. In the end, only the twenty-eight solitary troops were driven into the dead end of the Toromon Valley... Mao Renjie took off his longbow and sat on a rock, still looking strong.After a month of siege, the only food supply has been exhausted, and only four horses have been slaughtered.But he, who has long been used to starvation, was not defeated. He raised his head to face the rain, unconsciously playing the bowstring in his hand.There was fire in his eyes. "The one surnamed Ha... I can get out of here alive, and I'll be the first to find him, and I'll use this bow to shoot through his wolf heart." Ha Daquan—also known as Ha Ge—is the rebel general who took the lead in surrendering to the court.This incident made Mao Renjie very sad. Standing aside, Sun Er was speechless, he just thought about his wife and children who lived in Yongrui Town in the rear before the defeat.I don't know if they got caught... Since the two insisted on standing guard on their behalf, Lian Shou also walked away, but he didn't want to go back to the cave where he was hiding.He found a relatively dry place under a protruding boulder between the mountain walls of the valley entrance, took off his coir raincoat and bamboo hat, and sat cross-legged. Since that time on death row, he has been shaved.It's just that she has been surrounded for a month now, and a thin layer of short hair has grown on her head.But that beard has never been trimmed for so many years, and the beard on the chin has grown almost to the abdomen. He took out a small bag from the innermost part of his clothes, opened the layers of leather and oiled paper, and inside was a booklet bound in thick thread. Sickle carefully wiped off the water stains on his hands before uncovering the booklet.The pages inside were full of curvy and strange characters. In order to prevent this notebook from falling into the hands of the enemy and revealing the military situation, the sickles are all described in the language of foreign races in the Western Regions. He picked up a small stick of charcoal in the paper bag, and continued to write in his notes: "...what did I do wrong/to this point/because I believed too much/people with common goals/will not be shaken/the human heart is selfish and cowardly/drives the heart/directs its direction/needs a strong force too/strength It's not what I'm after / But before the final victory / Is it necessary to go against yourself..." The charcoal slivers between the sickle's fingers poured out his deep thoughts on the rough paper.The rain around me, and the enemies farther away, are all completely forgotten. He knew that he would never die here.Intuition without any explanation, self-evident, this is not destiny.Just as he said to Xiao Maozi that day: there are only cause and effect.As it turns out, it's not done yet.He will definitely not die here. Of course people will still die.Those who died beside him, those who died under his command, those who died in his arms. However, to change a world, one must endure this loneliness. Then he heard a flock of birds chirping. This is not a real bird call, it is a call made by Mao Renjie.Only their codes. When Lian Shou approached, Mao Renjie had already stood up from the rock and stood side by side with Sun Er. Their bodies were more still than the trees beside them. Eyes looking straight into the distance beyond the mouth of the valley. Lian Shou also followed their line of sight. "Did you see it?" After a while, Mao Renjie asked. Sickles nodded very slightly.It took a round of staring for the eyes to adjust, but he did see. Between the trees and the rain, something that does not belong to this valley shines. It is the eyes, and there are many pairs. "It's finally here." Mao Renjie's voice was calm. Sun Er's body moved inch by inch, slowly retreating backwards.After confirming that he was out of the visible range of Taniguchi, he immediately ran back to the cave and informed the remaining twenty-five comrades. ——Although, the result of this is only that twenty-eight people can die together... Lian Shou suddenly stretched out his palm and held Mao Renjie's hand tightly.This contact surprised Mao Renjie. "Little Maozi..." Lian Shou continued to stare at the pair of eyes that were slowly approaching. "Anyway, follow me." Mao Renjie thought that King Jing was afraid of dying alone. — After all, he is only human... "Okay." There was sadness in Mao Renjie's promised voice. It rained harder. "Remember? That day...it also rained." Liantou continued. "That rain, let us live to this day." Only then did Mao Renjie know: King Jing was talking about what happened at the execution ground in Zizhen two years ago. "That's right..." Mao Renjie smiled. "When it rains, we are very lucky..." He said, but was stunned. Because he saw: King Jing's expression seemed to be in some kind of ecstasy. The "sickle" on the forehead seems to be shining... Then he heard a distant and loud sound. At first he thought it was the shouts and footsteps of the official army finally launching an attack. No, that sound is definitely not human. Mao Renjie has never been to the sea or river in half his life, otherwise he would definitely think of waves when he heard this sound. He suddenly felt very small.He was more afraid of hearing this voice than facing three thousand enemies. He squeezed the palm of the sickle head tightly.
Standing under the shade of a tree at the mouth of the valley, Lian Shou had a dream.But when I woke up, I had forgotten what I had dreamed about. The big bamboo hat and the drenched coir raincoat kept dripping water, and there was still the maddening patter of rain all around.His bare feet sank an inch into the ooze.That's how he stood and fell asleep like a big tree - he didn't know how long. He slightly lifted the bamboo hat over his brow, and looked out of Taniguchi.There is a blur in front of my eyes, and the rocks, woods and rain are intertwined.Only intuition told him: the enemy has not yet come to Taniguchi. He shivered.A chill penetrated into the bone marrow.The back and neck are as stiff as an iron plate, and every joint will make a "cracking" sound as long as it is moved slightly.He coughed every once in a while, as if his chest and lungs were a little moldy from breathing in too much moist air. It was the second day in a row that he stood guard alone.Anyway, he seldom fell asleep in that cave, so he might as well give his remaining subordinates the opportunity to rest. He touched his waist under the coir raincoat.The knife is still there.The handle head and the mouth of the leather sheath made of brass are covered with green rust, and the surface of the leather sheath is also covered with mildew. The blade in the sheath was probably rusted too.He doesn't care, he's never cut anyone with this knife, it's just his baton. Just a few months ago, where the tip of this knife pointed, it circled a piece of territory. It was the compass of the "Three Realms Army". The beautiful but brief glory is like a dream blown away by the wind. Now that this knife can point, there are only the last twenty-seven riders, and almost all of them are his subordinates who have followed him since the Zizhen incident. And there are at least 3,000 officers and soldiers surrounding this Tokuromon Valley, and it is completely impossible to break out of such a predicament. Fortunately, the officers and soldiers don't know the number of people on our side, Lian Shou thought so.Otherwise, even with such a dangerous Taniguchi terrain and continuous torrential rain, the opponent would have already stormed in.The sickle head and his subordinates took turns to whistle in this valley, mainly to prevent the enemy's scouts from sneaking in and revealing the real number of our side. The sound of branches and leaves came from behind, and Sickle turned his head vigilantly.He recognized the figures of the two most trusted subordinates - Mao Renjie and Sun Er. "My lord, let's take over." Mao Renjie—that is, the former little Maozi—said and walked over.He didn't wear a coir raincoat, and let the raindrops hit the man in the battle armor.The double knives at his waist swayed with his steps, and a longbow was slung across his back.The two-year war has trained that skinny pony thief into the majestic chief general of the "Three Realms Army". Sun Er was not much different from before, just as strong and calm, except that the executioner's knife used in executions had now been replaced by a long-handled axe. "I'm not tired yet, I can stand a little longer." Lian Shou shook his head. "Go back and take a rest." "My lord..." Mao Renjie frowned. "You can't break the body, and when you fall, we're all finished." Kayak never told them his name.However, the leader of the uprising cannot even have a decent title.An old man in Zi Town who had read some books suggested that he be given the title of "King of Jing". This name, which was a bit random, made officials of all towns and towns in the Kansai area change their expressions in the following two years.The tricolor flags swept past like a gale, and the oppressed and hungry peasants, like the sand blown up by the wind, combined into an ever-expanding dust storm, which reached 20,000 at its peak. There is no way to resist.The warehouses of the official houses were opened one by one, and the happy smiling faces were full of food.The strong men picked up anything that could be used as a weapon at home, and excitedly joined the ranks of the uprising. The children sang the song "The Granary of the World Welcomes the King of Jing". Until the "Three Realms Army" finally caught the attention of the imperial court and mobilized three thousand "thief suppression brigades" to crusade... Although they were just entangled peasants, relying on several times the number of people, they fought head-on with the regular army, and the outcome was still between five and five; but at a critical moment, a group of generals from the "Three Realms Army" accepted the recruitment and surrendered. The wing defenses of the rebel army collapsed without a fight, and the main force commanded by the sickle head was quickly defeated by a side attack, and fled for more than 200 miles. In the end, only the twenty-eight solitary troops were driven into the dead end of the Toromon Valley... Mao Renjie took off his longbow and sat on a rock, still looking strong.After a month of siege, the only food supply has been exhausted, and only four horses have been slaughtered.But he, who has long been used to starvation, was not defeated. He raised his head to face the rain, unconsciously playing the bowstring in his hand.There was fire in his eyes. "The one surnamed Ha... I can get out of here alive, and I'll be the first to find him, and I'll use this bow to shoot through his wolf heart." Ha Daquan—also known as Ha Ge—is the rebel general who took the lead in surrendering to the court.This incident made Mao Renjie very sad. Standing aside, Sun Er was speechless, he just thought about his wife and children who lived in Yongrui Town in the rear before the defeat.I don't know if they got caught... Since the two insisted on standing guard on their behalf, Lian Shou also walked away, but he didn't want to go back to the cave where he was hiding.He found a relatively dry place under a protruding boulder between the mountain walls of the valley entrance, took off his coir raincoat and bamboo hat, and sat cross-legged. Since that time on death row, he has been shaved.It's just that she has been surrounded for a month now, and a thin layer of short hair has grown on her head.But that beard has never been trimmed for so many years, and the beard on the chin has grown almost to the abdomen. He took out a small bag from the innermost part of his clothes, opened the layers of leather and oiled paper, and inside was a booklet bound in thick thread. Sickle carefully wiped off the water stains on his hands before uncovering the booklet.The pages inside were full of curvy and strange characters. In order to prevent this notebook from falling into the hands of the enemy and revealing the military situation, the sickles are all described in the language of foreign races in the Western Regions. He picked up a small stick of charcoal in the paper bag, and continued to write in his notes: "...what did I do wrong/to this point/because I believed too much/people with common goals/will not be shaken/the human heart is selfish and cowardly/drives the heart/directs its direction/needs a strong force too/strength It's not what I'm after / But before the final victory / Is it necessary to go against yourself..." The charcoal slivers between the sickle's fingers poured out his deep thoughts on the rough paper.The rain around me, and the enemies farther away, are all completely forgotten. He knew that he would never die here.Intuition without any explanation, self-evident, this is not destiny.Just as he said to Xiao Maozi that day: there are only cause and effect.As it turns out, it's not done yet.He will definitely not die here. Of course people will still die.Those who died beside him, those who died under his command, those who died in his arms. However, to change a world, one must endure this loneliness. Then he heard a flock of birds chirping. This is not a real bird call, it is a call made by Mao Renjie.Only their codes. When Lian Shou approached, Mao Renjie had already stood up from the rock and stood side by side with Sun Er. Their bodies were more still than the trees beside them. Eyes looking straight into the distance beyond the mouth of the valley. Lian Shou also followed their line of sight. "Did you see it?" After a while, Mao Renjie asked. Sickles nodded very slightly.It took a round of staring for the eyes to adjust, but he did see. Between the trees and the rain, something that does not belong to this valley shines. It is the eyes, and there are many pairs. "It's finally here." Mao Renjie's voice was calm. Sun Er's body moved inch by inch, slowly retreating backwards.After confirming that he was out of the visible range of Taniguchi, he immediately ran back to the cave and informed the remaining twenty-five comrades. ——Although, the result of this is only that twenty-eight people can die together... Lian Shou suddenly stretched out his palm and held Mao Renjie's hand tightly.This contact surprised Mao Renjie. "Little Maozi..." Lian Shou continued to stare at the pair of eyes that were slowly approaching. "Anyway, follow me." Mao Renjie thought that King Jing was afraid of dying alone. — After all, he is only human... "Okay." There was sadness in Mao Renjie's promised voice. It rained harder. "Remember? That day...it also rained." Liantou continued. "That rain, let us live to this day." Only then did Mao Renjie know: King Jing was talking about what happened at the execution ground in Zizhen two years ago. "That's right..." Mao Renjie smiled. "When it rains, we are very lucky..." He said, but was stunned. Because he saw: King Jing's expression seemed to be in some kind of ecstasy. The "sickle" on the forehead seems to be shining... Then he heard a distant and loud sound. At first he thought it was the shouts and footsteps of the official army finally launching an attack. No, that sound is definitely not human. Mao Renjie has never been to the sea or river in half his life, otherwise he would definitely think of waves when he heard this sound. He suddenly felt very small.He was more afraid of hearing this voice than facing three thousand enemies. He squeezed the palm of the sickle head tightly.