Fall into the clouds, fall into the sea.

A long life is like a river flowing backward.

As if in reality or in fantasy, there are misty clouds and mist floating from the mountain col.

The village under the starry night was deserted.

The woman in Jingchai's cloth skirt held up a rusty hatchet and pressed the girl's right hand on the stone millstone in the courtyard. Her face, stained by years of wind and frost, seemed to be filled with sadness, joy, and a daze, and she whispered:

"Don't be afraid, Aman, don't be afraid. It won't hurt, just this moment..."

The girl was frightened and struggled hard: "Mother, don't! Don't--"

However, the woman who had always been weak in body suddenly became frighteningly strong for some unknown reason, and her eyes were frighteningly bright, as if she had burned her whole life into it at this moment.

The girl couldn't break free after all.

The blunt edge of the hatchet fell.

The mottled rust stains were suddenly covered with bright red blood stains.

It hurts so much.

She opened her eyes at once, cold sweat dripping down her forehead, but what she saw was a hut surrounded by desolate surroundings. An oil lamp was lit on an old wooden table, cracked pottery cups were placed next to it, and there were a few scattered on the ground.

The paper money was splashed with mud, and while I was sitting behind the leaky door panel, I felt a dull pain in the fingers of my right hand.

In a daze, Zhou Man subconsciously raised his hand.

It was his right hand, a thin wrist, a pale palm, and slender fingers, but the little finger was wrapped with several thick layers of white cloth, with faint blood oozing from it.

This is where the dull pain just came from.

Zhou Man stared at the oozing blood, then turned his gaze to Xiao Ran's house in front of him, and didn't come back to his senses for a long time.

The past is like a dream, making people unable to tell whether they are Zhuang Sheng or a butterfly.

It turns out that what was written on Emperor Wu’s golden slips was actually true?

"Yi Shen Jue" has a total of nine arrows and nine realms. "Unfortunately" is the ninth arrow, the ninth realm. The golden slip is uploaded. The power of this arrow is unpredictable. It seizes the creation of heaven and earth and invades the mystery of the sun and moon. The Supreme One can change it.

Twilight becomes morning, spring becomes autumn, and it has the ability to reverse time.

"I have been practicing this technique for decades. I have been trapped in the eighth arrow for many years, but I have never been able to defeat the ninth arrow. I never thought that before I died, I seemed to have touched a little bit of the surface." Zhou Man smiled bitterly in his heart, but couldn't help but think.

, could this be a dream of mine? "But if I only dare to dream after my fingers are cut off, it would be really pitiful..."

Her body was a little stiff after sitting for a long time. She stood up holding the door and walked slowly in this simple house. Her injured fingers slowly touched the texture of the wooden table, the gaps on the pottery cups, and the

There was only a simple ebony hairpin lying in the long and narrow hairpin box by the window...

It is a relic left by my mother.

If I remember correctly, Zhou was buried yesterday.

There were not many mourners.

Several villagers helped carry the person and found a good place in the mountains. They rolled up a straw mat, covered it with loess, and set up a sign to serve as a tombstone.

She stared at the hairpin for a while, then slowly put it back in the box.

A trace of dark blue night light filtered through the gap in the unclosed window sash.

Zhou Man opened the door.

The small yard was surrounded by a bamboo fence. There were blood stains on the stone millstone in the east corner, and a hatchet fell on the ground. It just rained for several days, and the blood stains on the stone millstone were diluted, and the hatchet on the ground was diluted.

The blood stains were mixed with the rust stains and were no longer distinguishable.

The drizzle has not stopped, bringing moisture all over the ground.

Zhou Man sat under the eaves.

I still remember that the rain started on the night when Mrs. Zhou cut off her little finger, and she covered the bandaged broken finger and sat under the thatched eaves, listening to the rain all night.

From heavy rain to continuous drizzle...

It turns out that the rain has not stopped till today. Has it lasted for so long?

Zhou Man remained motionless, listening to the drizzle, until he heard the white sky in the east, the mist of rain stopping, and the crow of a cock in the distance. Then he got up and walked towards the chaimen of the courtyard.

There are playful children in the village who get up early and chase them all the way here.

She walked out of the door and within two steps, she saw three teenage children catching up with the child in front of her. They pushed her to the ground two or three times, punching and kicking her, while laughing and shouting curses.

The leading young man is particularly strong and strong, and is the son of the village butcher Sun;

The child who was held down and beaten was only seven or eight years old. He looked thin and frail, with red lips and white teeth, and delicate facial features. He was Cheng Fangzhai, the son of Master Cheng, a teacher in the school.

Because his father had a weird temper, he often punished people in school, and often complained to parents if students couldn't memorize books, which inevitably made these children feel resentful.

They did not dare to embarrass the Master, so they all took revenge on him.

Cheng Fangzhai was young and cowardly. He endured it alone and did not dare to tell Master Cheng, because it would probably cause more trouble.

Although Zhou Man did not go to school, he had listened to several lectures by hanging on the wall of the school. He had seen this situation many times and it was always difficult to manage.

It's just that things are different now.

Zhou was buried just yesterday. She thought they were too noisy and disturbed the purity in front of the door, so she stopped and said calmly: "Don't fight here."

How many children are willing to listen?

Although Zhou Man was several years older than them and taller in stature, he was slender and pale, and no matter how straight he stood, he had no intimidation in the eyes of children.

Besides, everyone knew that she had lost half of her finger.

The child from the butcher's family looked at her and snorted: "What's a cripple doing to meddle in other people's business!"

After saying that, he kicked Cheng Fangzhai again.

Zhou Man lowered his eyes and turned around to enter the house.

The three children thought she was gone and didn't care.

Unexpectedly, a moment later, Zhou Man came out of the door again with a hatchet in his hand.

Without saying a word, he just stood in front of people.

The hatchet had a curved blade, and the tip drooped quietly, as if it was just being carried casually, but the blood on the blade was already frightening, but her face was still expressionless, which did not cause the slightest concern.

Even the children of the butcher's family felt chilly in their hearts when they watched pigs being slaughtered all year round.

All the children were frightened.

There was no need for Zhou Man to say any more nonsense. They were so frightened that they ran away and disappeared after a while.

Only Cheng Fangzhai, who was covered in mud, was left on the spot.

When he was bullied before, he could still endure the humiliation with gritted teeth, but now he was rescued, but his eyes were red.

He forced himself to get up from the ground, but kept in mind the red tape taught by his father, and handed over his hands to thank Zhou Man: "Thank you, Sister Man..."

However, Zhou Man looked at him in the same way as he looked at the children just now. He just threw the hatchet to the bamboo fence beside the road and said to him coldly: "Get away and cry again."

Cheng Fangzhai's face suddenly turned pale.

Tears welled up in his dark eyes. He actually felt that Zhou Man was even scarier than before. He didn't dare to stay any longer. He ran away in a hurry.

But when Zhou Man dropped his hatchet and looked up, he saw a group of ten people standing under the old apricot tree not far away. Most of them were wearing green and black robes. Although they were not wearing swords, they had a calm and solemn air.

It is definitely not available to villagers near and far.

It seems that it has been here for a while.

One of them, an old man with white beard and hair, holding a cane, was looking at her with a slight frown.

The moment I saw this old man, memories from my past came flooding back.

Zhou Man recognized them.

She just took one look, then withdrew her gaze and ignored him. She turned around and walked out of the village, choosing a path overgrown with grass to go up the mountain.

When the old man saw it, he frowned even more and asked, "Is it her?"

Behind him, a middle-aged man in rich clothes wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and replied: "Xiao Jian's old city, my subordinates have seen it with their own eyes. 10% of the natural sword bones are indeed hers. There is no mistake."

The old man stroked the cane, recalling the look in the girl's eyes, and said: "You are young, but your temperament is so cold..."

It has been raining for days and the mountain roads are muddy.

The road up the mountain was difficult, but Zhou Man walked very steadily.

There are continuous apricot trees on the mountain. Because the terrain is higher, there are still a few apricot flowers blooming on the branches in April. When she reached the mountainside, she recalled that Zhou only loved apricot flowers, so she stopped, broke off a branch and took it.

With it in hand, I continued to move forward.

Zhou's grave is on the shady side of the mountain, with newly built loess on top.

When Zhou Man arrived, her plain cloth skirt was already covered with mud and water.

She first gently placed the branch of apricot blossoms in front of the tomb, and then slowly said: "Mother, I'm finally back to see you."

Yes, finally.
To be continued...