Chapter 3 Chapter Three: The Warbler's Nest

The moment white light enveloped the top of the city, the people and the army below the city couldn't see anything, they only heard the last scream of the Demon Sect woman at the top of the city, and then heard a large number of Ming Cultists screaming away.Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, wondering if the city lord had defeated the Demon Cult—however, it was irrefutable that more than a dozen Ming Cultists were rescued from the sacrifice at the stall this time. Young Master Shu Ye has been in charge of Dunhuang for nearly ten years. Under the iron fist, there has never been such a shameful incident.

A moment later, Young Master Shu Ye walked down from the top of the city slowly, passing through the dense crowd with no expression on his face.Huo Qinglei's lips twitched, but he finally held back and didn't ask. He just waved his hand and led the Shenwu army back to the camp with the young master. The cold wind from the north is still stirring in the city, rolling up thousands of yellow sands.There was silence in Dunhuang City, only countless pairs of eyes followed the figure of the young man in white.The jubilant atmosphere disappeared in an instant, and all the merchants, commoners, and dancers and singers shrank back into the room, for fear that the moody city lord would burst into terrible anger after being frustrated.

Even Huo Qinglei, who had been with the son Shu Ye since he was a child, was a little apprehensive.However, Young Master Shu Ye still seemed to be wearing a mask, but walked towards the splendid mansion in the center of the city expressionlessly, without saying a word all the way. "Has Lu Ji not come back yet?" The moment he stepped into the mansion, Young Master Shu Ye suddenly asked without looking back. Huo Qinglei was startled, and blurted out: "Yes." After a pause, he added: "My subordinates will immediately send someone to find her and come back!" "No need." Young Master Shu Ye suddenly smiled, "Let it be up to her. Can she still escape from my palm?"

"Yes." Huo Qinglei felt a little timid when he heard that tone of voice. After thinking for a long time, he finally said, "My lord, don't blame her...she may be...maybe she has stayed in the mansion for too long, so she couldn't bear it." Stay and run out..." "Haha." Young Master Shu Ye suddenly laughed out loud, startling his subordinates.He suddenly turned his head in front of Zhumen, and laughed loudly: "Old Lei, don't worry, I won't do anything to her—you don't have to hesitate to plead for her." After a pause, he raised his hand to caress the gold-plated animal head on Zhumen Suddenly, a cold light flashed in Dunhuang City Lord's deep blue eyes: "I know you like Lu Ji. Maybe, after this incident is over, I can give her to you."

"My lord!" Huo Qinglei was startled, his dark face turned red, and he immediately knelt down, "Thank you, City Master." "Don't be too happy." Young Master Shu Ye raised his hand and opened the door, and the heavy Zhumen made a slow and hoarse voice, "That woman is no longer the little girl in your memory." Huo Qinglei didn't know what was right - he watched Lu Ji grow up.At that time, he was just the child of a retainer of the old city lord, and Lu Ji was a slave girl bought by the mansion from a Persian merchant. She was only eight years old when she entered the mansion.She is kind, gentle, intelligent, and she got used to the life of the Han people only half a year ago. At the age of thirteen, she became the maid of the wife of the city lord, and was supported and cared for by Mrs. Yaohua. up.Later, I don't know where she learned the art of witchcraft and divination, and everything she said came true, which shocked Dunhuang.Even the old city lord believed in her divination, and asked her to make a divination whenever there was something difficult to decide.

Besides, she is just a weak woman, why should the young master be so alarmist? Huo Qinglei scratched his hair and followed the young master into the mansion.The waiting gate is as deep as the sea, and there are so many courtyards that it seems impossible to see the bottom. The Gao family has been the lord of Dunhuang City for nearly a hundred years. After successive dynasties, the scale of this mansion is astonishingly large, covering an area of ​​more than one hundred hectares, with mountains and forests in the middle, with many twists and turns.Even Huo Qinglei, who grew up in the mansion, has only walked through two or three out of ten of the mansion in the past thirty years.

"Come with me to 'Yingchao' today." Suddenly, he heard the young master Shu Ye walking in front of him and said something, then he walked straight into the courtyard and entered the rockery named "Qiandiezhang". When Huo Qinglei heard this, he couldn't help being surprised again.Are you going to the warbler's nest today? The dense cave in this rockery leads to the warbler's nest, which was built by the city lords of the past dynasties to accumulate concubines and prostitutes. Dunhuang is located at the hub of the Silk Road. The commerce is prosperous and the people are rich. Camel caravans and businessmen from all over the world have brought a steady stream of wealth to the city. In terms of aspects, it is even better than the emperor of the Central Plains in Chang'an.

And Yingchao is a secret and gentle town created by successive city lords investing huge financial and material resources, and it is only for personal extravagant enjoyment.Only rarely, in order to show off their wealth, the Lord of Dunhuang would invite guests to Yingchao. Those guests who were lucky enough to have been to Ying's Nest came back like a dream, saying that they had returned from the Land of Elysium. In the descriptions of those guests, it was a world made of glazed gemstones, with exquisite pavilions and five clouds, and there were many fairies in it.It is dotted with gold jade, coral, amber, agate, pearls, and glass everywhere. There are golden eight-treasure trees, emerald and jasper springs. Pearls are soaked in the springs, and what gushes out is sweet wine. Gemstone flowers, among spring water forests, countless rare birds singing, and strange beasts that have never been seen roam.By the spring, in the forest, and in the lost building, there are beautiful girls and handsome boys coming and going. They come from different countries such as Persia, Tianzhu, and Guishuang. They have hair like gold and skin as white as jade. Every visitor smiles and tenderly meets all their requests.

The narrations of the guests are roughly the same, but there are differences in the details, and it seems that everyone is a little bit delusional there.But all in all, it is a "Elysium", a paradise of extravagance beyond the imagination of ordinary people.Since the young master Shu Ye became the Lord of Dunhuang City, he invested unprecedented money and manpower to make Yingchao extremely luxurious. Huo Qinglei followed his son Shu Ye for many years, and went in and out of Ying's Nest many times.But in such an astonishingly luxurious and gentle country, even if he is as rough and persevering by nature as him, he has to sigh that there is such a place of extravagance and extreme desire in the world.

But today the Ming Cult invaded and took away more than a dozen captives. How could you still think about going to Yingchao to have fun? When it was dusk, he had already accompanied his young master Shu Ye to have dinner in the lost building in Yingchao. The entire room was covered with pure white jade, and the pearls on the curtains were the size of longan eyes. The pearls illuminated the inner room without candles.The peerless beauties were used as maidservants here, and after serving eighteen silver plates in a row, they quietly withdrew.The silver plate on the table contained delicacies that a rough man like Huo Qinglei had never seen in his life. He could barely recognize one of them as an overcooked bear paw, while the other was a huge flounder.

"Try this." Young Master Shu Ye tapped the rhino horn chopsticks on the flounder and smiled. "This is a gift from a merchant from Luoyang a few days ago. It is said that it was raised in seawater all the way, and it was brought into Dunhuang alive." Bring the flounder from the East China Sea into Dunhuang alive?Huo Qinglei, who grew up in the wind and sand, couldn't suppress his curiosity, so he picked up his chopsticks and took a sip. The delicious taste made him speechless for a while. "It's really good to eat... The chef I invited back from Chang'an cooked this dinner. It is said that he used to be the supervisor of the Douchi Shangban Supervisor." Young Master Shu Ye took a sip, put down his chopsticks, and held Cup smiled, "That man didn't like to come to the desert, but I promised him ten times as much money, and ordered someone to cut off one of his ears and throw it into the pot, and he agreed." "My lord!" The food in his mouth was suddenly hard to swallow, and Huo Qinglei looked at this moody young city lord hesitantly. How did it become like this... After disappearing in the Kunlun Snow Mountain at the age of thirteen, the son Shu Ye who returned had a terrible and profound change. The dangerous aura permeated by such an elegant demeanor made everyone who approached him feel uneasy. Feeling anxious. The dancer next to her is doing Huxuan dance.The young orchid with honey-colored skin was wearing a leotard, with her small waist and shoulders exposed, and she spun rapidly on the three-foot-square carpet, stepping vertically and horizontally, but her feet never reached the edge of the blanket.Eyebrows slanted, eyes waved smartly, tassels all over the body collided with each other, making an incessant ding-dong sound like flowing water.A row of twelve musicians next to them, holding curved-neck pipa, five-stringed strings, sheng, flute, panpipe and 筚篥, played the Kucha piece "Tuozhi" in ensemble. The beauty is like jade, singing and dancing all night.The branches and flowers are curling up, and the golden bottle of wine is not empty.The charming and glamorous breath is floating in the air, all kinds of desires make people dizzy like drinking alcohol. "Old Lei, do you want to try this?" After dinner, the young master Shu Ye leaned on the soft couch, took out a jasper vial, and asked leisurely - in between his fingers was a Pea-sized light green pills with a faint fragrance. I don't know how many times I have received this invitation, but Huo Qinglei still shook his head vigilantly, and replied as usual: "I'm not sick, I don't need to take medicine." He didn't know what it was - he only knew that the young master carried this medicine with him and had to take it almost every day for ten years.After taking this strange medicine, he would feel depressed for a moment, his breathing would be low and slow, as if he had fallen into a fairyland, his face would have a trance-like look of joy, and others seemed to turn a deaf ear to him. "What a stubborn guy... If you don't taste this taste, you will regret it for the rest of your life." Young Master Shu Ye popped a pill into the wine glass in front of him, and it melted immediately.He picked up the wine glass and drank it down, closed his eyes and let out a long sigh: "Old Lei, have you lived for more than thirty years, do you believe in the Paradise of Ultimate Bliss? Do you believe in the Kingdom of Heaven? - All the answers are in this glass. After eating the Bliss Pill, you will be able to see the heaven on the other side." The effect of the medicine came on very quickly, and by the end of a few short sentences, he had already become depressed. Young Master Shu Ye's originally fair face suddenly lost all blood, and became even paler.He suddenly lay down on the couch covered with ferret fur, his eyes widened. "Bliss Pill? What the hell is this?" Finally unable to hold back, Huo Qinglei yelled, "My lord, what kind of medicine have you been taking?! If you don't feel well, you should see a doctor in the city. How can you take this medicine?" Something weird?" "What is it? It is the jade dew from the sky, the nectar from the Immortal Fairyland..." Young Master Shu Ye closed his eyes, and a smile suddenly appeared on his lips, "This is marijuana essence... Besides, there is also Tianzhu's nectar." Hibiscus, rosemary from Persia, datura from Miaojiang... all kinds of herbs are mixed into this pill. It can open the door of paradise for you that has never been seen in the world... If you have tried its magic, you will be able to see Get everything you want...you will believe...the existence of Paradise..." By the end of the day, the voice had gradually faded. However, Huo Qinglei jumped up in shock, and blurted out: "What did you say? Drugs? Mangyros? Aren't those all poisonous weeds! Demonic flowers that make people lose their minds and create illusions! My son, you, what you take is actually like this Drugged?!" However, Young Master Shu Ye no longer answered him.The pale and handsome Dunhuang City Lord lay quietly on the couch, ferret fur covered his body, and buried him in the thick white down.The surrounding vocal dances are still going on, gorgeous and beautiful, and the glow of gems is shining in every corner of the warbler's nest.Young Master Shu Ye fell into a deep and shallow sleep, his breathing gradually changed from shortness of breath to relief. Suddenly he opened his eyes, but his eyes were blurred.Taking a closer look, the originally dark green pupils suddenly enlarged, loose and unfocused.Then young master Shu Ye sat up slowly, smiling, the strange joy and unfathomable joy on his face made Huo Qinglei, who was originally frightened and angry, timid for a moment, and dared not speak out.Young Master Shu Ye smiled at the void, as if an incomparably gorgeous and beautiful gate of heaven was slowly opening in front of him. The stunning dancer is still dancing around, her honey-colored skin glows seductively under the pearly light, and the tasseled pearls and jades she wears are constantly jingling, her dancing posture becomes more and more beautiful. "Alas..." Suddenly, the young master Shu Ye, who was in a trance, let out a long sigh from his chest, sat on the couch, and slightly opened his arms.With permission, the beautiful dancer danced and fell into his arms, her arms softly wrapped around his waist, and she raised her head to show her full and plump red lips. The music has also changed from "Tuozhi" to the fragrant and extravagant "Spring Orioles". Huo Qinglei originally wanted to jump up and ask what happened, but when he saw such a situation, he had to withdraw quickly. A group of dancers surrounded him and left. The last dancer added a handful of Su Hexiang to the golden beast, and closed the door without hesitation. The power of the medicine made everything illusory and ethereal, and everything emerged in the way he wanted most in his heart, including the appearance of the woman in front of him—when a person cannot get something, the only choice is to try not to forget it ? However, she had already forgotten him... He had been waiting in Dunhuang for ten years, and the one he waited for was such a person who had forgotten everything?Why should she forget?Voluntary, or forced? "Shamanhua..." Suddenly, the dazed young master uttered such a low question, but he hugged the stunning dancer with both hands, and put her down on the beard covered with ferret fur. On the couch, she tore off the tassels around her neck and the red silk tube top, buried her head in Shengxue's skin, and murmured, "Sha Manhua... are you finally back?" The dancer girl seemed to be used to seeing her master's trance-like appearance after taking the medicine, so she caressed her very gently and took off the outer gown. In the middle of the chest, the huge brown scar came into view impressively.The dancer kissed her lightly. At dawn the next day, pushing aside the beauty who was still sleeping softly beside him, the Lord of Dunhuang put on his clothes and went out.The sandy wind was blowing outside, the yellow dust enveloped the whole city, and the sky had just become clear.However, Huo Qinglei had been waiting outside for a long time, as if he hadn't slept all night. "Why did you get up so early?" Obviously having forgotten what happened when he was intoxicated last night, Young Master Shu Ye teased with raised eyebrows, and his expression returned to his usual coldness, "Could it be that the beauty who is sleeping is not attentive?" Before he finished speaking, he was punched heavily in the chest, almost knocking him out of the air. "Gao Shuye, you are a fucking lunatic!" Huo Qinglei's face darkened, and his suppressed anger finally burst out, he almost forgot the distinction between master and servant, and just called the city lord's name, "You have been taking drugs all this time? Are you crazy! Do you know that once you get addicted to that kind of thing, you can't quit! Are you fucking looking for death?" "Ah?...I told you yesterday that it was drugged?" The horror of that punch made Young Master Shu Ye serious, and suddenly he murmured with a wry smile, "I've really become talkative...since she came .” "Her?" Huo Qinglei was stunned for a moment, and suddenly understood, "That Mingjiao girl who came yesterday?" "Sha Manhua... Sha Manhua." Young Master Shu Ye murmured and sighed, turning his head to look at his secret kingdom, "All these years, I have been waiting for her to come back to me, and then—" He His fingers passed through the scattered front, and touched the huge scar in the middle of his chest: "Then, just like ten years ago, an arrow shot through here." "What?" Huo Qinglei blurted out in surprise, "You were killed by this witch when you returned from dying ten years ago?" "Yes." Young Master Shu Ye nodded slightly, with an incomprehensible smile on his lips, looking at the long yellow sand and the looming towering snow-capped mountains at the end of the west, "At that time, Mo Xiang and I fled from the Great Bright Palace, Crossing the snow-capped cliffs of Kunlun... She bent her bow at the foot of the cliff and shot thirteen arrows at me in a row. The last arrow pierced my chest and nailed me to the glacier cliff." "Thirteen Arrows..." Huo Qinglei took a breath when thinking of the woman's astonishing arrow skills in the city yesterday.After hesitating, he finally couldn't help asking: "Then, the young master did go to Kunlun Snow Mountain? Is that where you learned your current unique skills? But... when did you start taking this kind of drug? It was also that time. when?" "Hehe." Young Master Shu Ye patted the white jade railing with his hand, but smiled without saying a word, but seemed to have infinite thoughts. "My lord, in those five years... what exactly did you encounter in Kunlun Snow Mountain?" Huo Qinglei was not a talkative person, but his curiosity that had been suppressed for ten years finally couldn't be restrained. "Encountered a fairyland." Suddenly, young master Shu Ye burst out laughing. "Fairyland?" Huo Qinglei was taken aback, "Kunlun Snow Mountain is difficult for flying birds, and there are no traces of people. How can there be a fairyland?" Young Master Shu Ye shook his head and smiled slightly: "Have you ever entered the deepest part of Kunlun? How do you know that there will be no people there? Let me tell you: at a very high place in the Kunlun snowy region, on top of the cliff, is the Mingjiao General Altar. Where is the Great Bright Palace!" "Great Guangming Palace?" Huo Qinglei blurted out, thinking of this sect that is being attacked in the Central Plains—the Mingjiao General Altar, the Great Guangming Palace, is it really on top of the snowy peak?So the leader of Mingjiao, the "benevolent father" and "religious king" who made all the countries in the Western Regions tremble, also lives in Kunlun Snow Mountain? "That's right...that's why Mingjiao's successive leaders are also called the 'Old Man in the Mountain' by the countries in the Western Regions." Mentioning that name, even a person as fierce as Young Master Shu Ye calmed down, with a faint expression. "You should have heard the legend of the old man in the mountains passed down from generation to generation in the Western Regions, right?" Huo Qinglei nodded silently, his eyes became awed and cautious.How could you not have heard of it?Although Kunlun Snow Mountain is thousands of miles west of Dunhuang, the caravans on the Silk Road still brought those amazing legends—— Legend has it that on a dangerous peak in Kunlun at the far west end, there is a palace like a paradise called the Daguangming Palace.That is the main altar of the Ming Cult, where all the previous teaching kings received the followers of the sub-altars.At the same time, batches of terrifying killers have also been cultivated there.Those small countries in the Western Regions were all in awe of the old man - because he controlled a huge and terrifying killing force, if any of those small countries dared to disrespect Ming Zun, they would immediately send assassins to assassinate the country's monarch. More than 20 years ago, the former Huihe Khan originally resisted Mingjiao, but he died inexplicably one night in his prime, and his younger brother inherited the throne.As soon as the new Khan took office, he declared Liming Cult to be the state religion, and sent his favorite eldest daughter, Menia, to the Daguang Palace to be one of the three saints of Mingjiao.With the support of Huihe, the power of Mingjiao increased greatly, and it became more prosperous in the Western Regions for a while, and even penetrated into the Central Plains through the Silk Road. That was the time when the power of the Ming Cult was at its peak.However, for some reason, Mingjiao's activities in the Western Regions have suddenly decreased in the past ten years, and its deterrent power is not as good as before.Even though Young Master wanted to exterminate religions in Dunhuang like Young Master, Da Guangming Palace still failed to take really effective and severe measures. It only sent one or two assassins to assassinate, and Young Master did not expend much effort to resolve them one by one. Thinking of this, Huo Qinglei couldn't help but shook his head and muttered: "The killers sent by the Great Bright Palace are nothing more than that... Those warriors from countries in the Western Regions must not be proficient in martial arts, so the assassins took the head of the country." "Do you think those assassins who came to Dunhuang represent the assassination level of the Great Bright Palace?" Young Master Shu Ye smiled suddenly, with a hint of disdain and arrogance, and turned to look at Huo Qinglei, "You know, the main altar of the Great Bright Palace The place where killers are trained in the village is called the Shura field. In the Shura field, the killers are divided into "three realms" according to their ability: the realm of six animals, the realm of life and death, and the realm of light. , At most, they are just novices in the world of life and death! I'm afraid they haven't cultivated killers who have really reached the level of the "Bright World" in ten years?" Huo Qinglei was startled, but he didn't dare to ask any more questions: You are so familiar with the interior of the Demon Sect's Great Bright Palace? As if seeing the doubts of his subordinates, Young Master Shu Ye smiled slightly. For some reason, when he talked about these secret past events tonight, he didn't mean to hide anything. He sighed with his hands behind his back: "I just arrived in Daguangming fifteen years ago. When he was in the palace, he was a lifeless killer of the animal world—just like that kid Mo Xiang." "Moxiang?" Huo Qinglei blurted out after hearing this name in the young master's murmur to himself intermittently for ten years.Perhaps only a confidant like him knows that the person named "Mo Xiang" is the only "friend" of the young master in his life. On the other hand, the young man in white leaned on the railing, his eyes full of gold and jade, but his eyes were so lonely, just like his memories.The world is full of ice and snow... When all the wind blows, the clouds disperse, the ice melts, and the snow melts, he still has never told anyone about the past that was covered in snow in Kunlun.