Outside the setting sun, there are tens of thousands of jackdaws, and clouds and mist surround Taixuan. There are sounds in thousands of valleys with late rustling, and several peaks stand silently in the setting sun.

The mountains to the northwest of Taixuanjing are towering. With Lu Jing's eyesight, he can see the mountain scenery in the distance even if he is sitting in the small courtyard.

The winter sunset, the lingering clouds and mist, and the towering peaks in the distance are indeed a beautiful scene.

If it were normal, Lu Jing might have brought a chair over to sit in the courtyard and appreciate it carefully.

But today's Lu Jing is not in the small courtyard of Kongshan Lane.

He and Pei Yingui stood under the eaves of a roof, watching four children playing in the distance.

Qingyue and Hancai were also whispering in the room. Occasionally, there was a burst of laughter like silver bells. Together with the children playing, it was quite a quiet time.

Lu Jing glanced sideways at Pei Yingui, whose eyes were still on the four children.

Among the four children, the eldest was about seven or eight years old. Although he was playing with several younger children at this time, his eyes were frequently looking at Lu Jing.

The seven or eight-year-old children could not confirm whether the man standing next to Sister Pei was the one who fed them that night and lured Wei Lang away.

"Actually, it was just a coincidence. I saw their mother died behind the locust tree, and I also saw the children huddled in the corner. The youngest child, named Hongnu, kept asking her brother in a low voice.

, when will the immortal on the locust tree appear, and when will the mother come back to life?"

"So...I rented a yard and raised them here."

At this time, the sunset glow shone on Pei Yingui's body, and Lu Jing discovered that there was a very small mark on Pei Yingui's right eyebrow.

At first glance, the imprint is a bit simple, but upon closer inspection, it appears to be a palace under the moon.

For some reason, Lu Jing was a little distracted when he saw the mark today.

It wasn't until Pei Yingui turned to look at him that he turned his head back as if nothing had happened.

When Pei Yingui spoke just now, she deliberately kept her voice very low, not wanting the children to hear what she just said.

Lu Jing nodded slowly and said, "If you can have compassion in your heart and be willing to put it into practice, Miss Pei is stronger than me."

Pei Yingui shook his head and said, "At that time, I also saw you throwing wine, and I saw you leading away the guards."

"Now that I think about it, coupled with the many rumors circulating in Xuandu, I can also guess that you had not yet taken off the cage of the Lu family at that time.

Those Su Weilang also sent you to the restaurant on Jingyin Street. You couldn't protect yourself at that time, so if you could lure Su Weilang away in a hurry, why not be inferior to me?"

"Nowadays, there are still many children in Xuandu who have been saved from unreasonable disasters because of you drawing your sword like a wild man, and their lives are better."

Pei Yingui said this, suddenly turned his head, looked at Lu Jing and asked softly: "Sir, I'm actually quite curious, why are you still willing to do this after you have been in the mud for a long time and are used to the indifference of the adults in the house?

These reckless things?"

Lu Jing smiled and said, "Because I dreamed of a better era." "A better era?" Pei Yingui was stunned.

Lu Jing shook his head casually, looked at the seven or eight-year-old child and said, "His name is Xu Wugui? He is about seven or eight years old this year?"

Pei Yingui replied: "He forgot his exact age. Even his parents forgot. He only knew that he was born during the busy farming period. He only knew that he must be older than seven or eight years old."

Lu Jing also thought about it: "The child in Liuhuang looks seven or eight years old, but his actual age is always older...The woman who died behind the locust tree was not his biological mother?"

Pei Yin returned: "Xu Wugui came from the southeast of Hezhong Road, which is also some distance away from Taixuanjing. There was a drought in Hezhong Road for six years and the people were in dire straits. According to him, he and his parents fled for a long time, hundreds of days and nights.

, ate weeds, ate Guanyin soil, and crawled almost all the way.

A strange old man who once traveled with them had a skinny mule that was almost dead.

The old man's son was very strong and strong. No one dared to snatch the mule until he died. The old man was obviously starving to death, but no one was allowed to eat it."

"Later I met a bandit on the road, and his parents

Together with the old man's son, they all died under the knife of the bandits.

Only the old man put the child, who was still young at the time, on the back of the mule. He didn't know where the strength came from in his thin body, and with a strong whip, the mule took Xu Wugui and escaped."

Pei Yingui sighed with a sigh: "A child of only ten years old remembers these clearly.

It is said that the usually silent old man danced happily when he saw the mule carrying Xu Wugui running away. A young bandit slashed his sword, and the old man's head flew up and landed on the wasteland, his head and face

She is still smiling."

"Later on, this child encountered monsters eating people, and also encountered officers and soldiers blocking them, lest they flow into Taixuanjing.

But the boy's life was a little tough, and he eventually entered Xuandu, and there was a woman who was also living in Taixuanjing and took him in."

"Actually, the woman who died behind the locust tree had only one daughter, Hongnu, who was only three years old. The other three were adopted by her."

Pei Yingui spoke eloquently, always with a sigh in his tone, as if he was lamenting that Xu Wugui's life was like a piece of grass and he should have died in the middle of the river.

Guan Yintu couldn't kill him, bandits couldn't kill him, monsters and soldiers couldn't kill him either.

There are also weeds among the grass and mustards, and they can always grow.

"We were both refugees. We didn't have enough to eat ourselves, but we were willing to do good to others. How did that woman die?"

Lu Jing squinted his eyes and asked softly.

"Xu Wugui didn't say anything. When I asked him, he just lowered his head and said that every injustice has its own debtor. As long as he lives, he can always take revenge."

Lu Jing finally had more appreciation in his eyes and looked at Xu Wugui who was holding Hongnu in his arms and letting her smell the fragrance of the flowers in the courtyard.

"Since he doesn't want to say it, there is no need to ask more. As the child said, people with low lives and those who regard human life as trivial have one thing in common. They both have only one life. If they are killed, they will die.

Since he has the obsession for revenge in his heart, he can live a better life in this world."

Lu Jing said softly.

Pei Yin was silent, but after a long time, he suddenly said: "A child as young as this has to live in the world with hatred, just like... me."

Lu Jing turned to look at Pei Yingui.

Pei Yin returned: "In my hometown, I have seen many dead children. Even when I was a child, some of them were close to becoming corpses placed in the garden."

Lu Jingziran had already heard from the tone of her words and the way she chose words and sentences that Pei Yingui was not from Taixuan, or even from the north of Dafu.

That's why he gave Pei Yingui a couplet before, with the sentence "This place of peace of mind is my hometown."

But he never asked any more questions.

Today, when Pei Yingui saw these children, he remembered Xu Wugui's past and took the initiative to speak out. He became a listener and did not interrupt, but just listened.

Pei Yingui's eyes were deep and he said: "My hometown is rich in madmen and butchers. I have seen many people chatting and laughing one moment, but their heads fell to the ground the next moment.

The heads of the people I lived with day and night were also placed in the garden. A hole was always dug out on the top of the head, filled with soil, and seeds planted.

Human flesh, blood, brain, and marrow are always a great source of nourishment. If you plant seeds, in March and May, the flowers will be lush and beautiful."

The words in her mouth were a little scary, but her tone was as calm as ever.

In the past few breaths, Pei Yingui suddenly woke up, turned his head to look at Lu Jing, and said apologetically: "Yingui made a mistake and apologized to sir."

There was still some nervousness in her eyes, as if she was afraid that Lu Jing would give her the impression of a madman.

But he never thought that Lu Jing's expression did not change and he asked: "Is there no one to resist in this kind of land?"

"Yes, but how can ordinary people defeat the army? High-roller rangers often come to assassinate, but they always leave their heads behind."

Pei Yingui frowned: "As the Buddha says, one flower and one world, one leaf and one Bodhi.

I often wonder whether the flowers and leaves that bloom from a head filled with blood and sin can also give birth to the world."

Pei Yingui's words were somewhat pessimistic.

At this time, it was getting late, the sunset glow in the sky had faded away, and the world became much darker.

Lu Jing asked again: "King Qi Yuan of Qi State was tyrannical and fond of killing, and the prince of Qi State was happy to behead and skin him...

If the royal family is like this and the people cannot resist, are all the ministers in the court cold-blooded and ruthless?"

When Pei Yingui heard Lu Jing say the word "Qi", he glanced at Lu Jing in surprise, and then realized that his words today had already revealed many signs.

In addition, Lu Jing is a scholar, so he naturally has access to many classics. He knows the situation of various countries, and it is not surprising that he can guess it.

Pei Yin came all the way back and kept his identity strictly hidden.

But today when I was talking to Lu Jing, I unknowingly talked about this much. Now that Lu Jing had guessed where he was coming from, he didn't even have any worries or panic in his heart.

She just shook her head and replied: "It is enough that most courtiers are cold-blooded and ruthless.

They only look at their own acres of land, their treasures, and their slaves crawling at their feet. How can they remember what is going on in the country?"

"The irony is that the people of Qi State became more and more sad, and the national power of Qi State suddenly became stronger.

The devil sitting on the throne whispers softly every day, turning all the princes in the court into monsters!"

"All the good people are dead, and the remaining people are afraid, so naturally no one will resist."

Lu Jing frowned and thought for a long time, then whispered softly: "There is always a good thing, at least Miss Pei has walked out of that bloody place."

"I fought my way out." Pei Yingui's voice was solemn: "My Guanghan Palace shot through the eyebrows of thousands of people, and I wiped hundreds of people's necks, and escaped for a year and three months, and finally

Escaped here."

"But... everything in the past still lingers in my mind. The human demon sitting high on the throne always holds a skull with five orifices burning with will-o'-the-wisps, and looks at me without saying a word and with an expressionless face.

"

"Mr. Lu Jing, do you think I really escaped?"
To be continued...