Going to Liangshan Alone

Su Musong slept from the afternoon to the morning of the next day.

Memories that were deliberately buried reappear in dreams, and even after many years, they still cause a dull pain in one's heart.

The autumn morning in the northwest was already chilly. Su Musong, who had rested well, turned back into the handsome young master Su. He prepared snacks under the grape trellis in the yard, lit the stove to make tea, and waited for Su Mufeng to come.

“Big Brother!”

Seeing his elder brother regain his former charm, Su Mufeng was overjoyed and trotted over to Su Musong's side. He was not paying attention and tripped over the bricks and stones under his feet, almost falling flat on his face. Fortunately, Su Musong quickly caught him. For more than six months, he had either been pretending to be the well-educated, dignified and elegant Princess Ding in the palace, or the steady and wise military advisor in the army. Su Mufeng was secretly glad that he was in front of his elder brother. If Prince Ding had seen him, he would have wanted to dig a hole in the ground.

Su Musong did not make fun of what happened just now, but poured a cup of tea for Su Mufeng and said

"Thank you for your hard work, Mu Feng, in accompanying me these days."

"It's my job, so why bother talking about hard work?"

Seeing his elder brother thanking him so seriously, Su Mufeng felt a little uncomfortable for a moment.

"I know you are worried about the war ahead. You don't have to accompany me. Go find Mo Lin."

"We're at a stalemate right now, and we're still trying to figure out the Hanyun Army's movements. It's fine for me to accompany you."

"I'm fine now, don't worry about me."

"Then I'll accompany you to see Brother Luo Chen?"

"No, I can go by myself."

Su Mufeng thought about it for a moment and realized that his elder brother wanted to deal with this matter on his own, so he did not insist anymore. Instead, he gave Su Musong the map he had prepared early in the morning.

"Well, I'll give you the route map to Chixia Mountain so you can save some trouble. When do you plan to leave, big brother?"

"Finish this pot of tea."

Su Musong said it calmly, but Su Mufeng was obviously caught off guard.

"Ah? So urgent."

"It's been delayed long enough."

"Then I will go out of the city with you and show you the way."

Both brothers were preoccupied with something else. They said they had finished a pot of tea, but in fact their cups were still half full. They had already given up the tea party and rode out of the city.

When they parted, Su Musong looked at his third brother who had become more responsible and could not help but admonish him.

"Mu Feng, protect yourself."

As soon as he said this, Su Musong felt a little depressed again, so he added

"If you really can't win, then run away. You're not a soldier, so no one will laugh at you."

"Brother! Who are you looking down on?"

Seeing that Su Mufeng was angry with himself, Su Musong hurriedly coaxed

"Alright, alright, big brother, I was just kidding you. Big brother, you know that our Third Young Master is definitely not a coward."

Su Mufeng knew that he was joking with him, so he did not bother to bother him any more. He was still a little uneasy about Su Musong going to Qingzhu Village, but he did not say much. He just consoled him.

"Brother, no matter what the outcome of this trip is, you must take care of yourself."

Su Mufeng told Su Musong everything he knew about Qingzhu Village, but there was one thing he never told Su Musong: he had heard that Xiao Luochen seemed to have a son. Although he didn't remember Su Musong and Xiao Luochen's past, he could tell from Su Musong's behavior how much Xiao Luochen meant to him.

In Su Mufeng's view, if his unwavering love for his brother, which made him never marry, was rewarded with his wife ignoring him and marrying and having children, then he would undoubtedly be a pathetic joke. He certainly didn't want his brother to become such a joke, but judging by the current situation, it seemed possible.

Following Su Mufeng's directions, Su Musong rode for half a day before arriving at the foot of Chixia Mountain. Qingzhu Village was located on the main peak of Chixia Mountain. Su Musong followed the map and found the path into the mountain. He had walked about two miles when two burly men suddenly appeared from nowhere and blocked his way.

"Stop, who are you and what are you doing here?"

"I'm from Xizhou City and would like to see the leader of Qingzhu Village. I'd appreciate the two gentlemen introducing me."

Over the years, Su Musong has been managing the Su family's business and traveling around a lot. He has killed many bandits, bullies and green forest people, but he has made friends with even more. Naturally, he didn't take the two guards at the mountain gate seriously.

"Who do you think you are? Can you see our leader whenever you want?"

"I was sent by Mr. Su from Xizhou City to deliver the message."

The fact that the leader had lent the road to the Xiangping army was known to everyone in Qingzhu Village. The two sentries were undecided for a moment, so they blew their whistles, and a moment later there was a whistle response from the mountain.

"Come with me."

One of the big men led Su Musong up the mountain, while the other one seized his horse and returned to his own sentry post.

The big man who led the way took Su Musong to the second sentry post and then went back. The man from this post continued to lead the way. After passing four checkpoints, Su Musong finally saw the true face of Qingzhu Village. The camp in front and the village in the back looked like a garrison. Guards patrolled in front of the village, and farmers could be vaguely seen in the back working in the fields. It seemed inconsistent, but harmonious.

But Su Musong was a little confused. There was clearly not a single bamboo here, so why was it called Qingzhu Village?

"Who are you?"

Su Musong was looking around and didn't notice when a little boy of eight or nine years old appeared in front of him. He had a handsome face and his eyebrows and eyes looked familiar.

"I'm a messenger sent from Xizhou City. May I ask who you are?"

"I don't need to tell you who I am. I see your eyes are wandering and you're looking around. I'm afraid you're a spy here to spy on the situation in the village. Better drag him away and chop him off."

Su Musong was secretly shocked. This kid was really powerful. He wanted to kill people as soon as he opened his mouth. He quickly started to defend himself.

"No, no, your leader knows me. Just take me to see the leader and I can prove my identity."

"Do you know my dad?"

"The chief is your father?"

Although he had thought about it in his mind, actually seeing it was another matter. Su Musong just felt very upset.

"You said you knew my father, but you didn't know that my father had a son like me?"

The child's question left Su Musong speechless, and he answered after a while.

"He and I are old acquaintances, from before you were born."

The little boy looked at Su Musong and felt that this man was weird. He was fine just now, but why did he seem so heartbroken after just saying a few words? Could it be that his words scared him?

"Don't be afraid. I just said I was going to drag you down and chop you off to pieces just to scare you. Come with me, and I'll take you to see my father."

Su Musong didn't expect that this little boy had the ability to play pranks on people seriously, but his heart was exactly the same as Luo Chen's, and he couldn't bear to see others sad.

"You said you and my father are old acquaintances, then do you know my mother?"

"I don't know him. When your father and I separated, he wasn't married yet."

The child was very disappointed after hearing Su Musong's answer.

"I see, so you don't know my mother either."

Su Musong sensed the disappointment in his tone, so he also had a question.

"What? Your mother isn't here?"

"No, I haven't seen her. Dad said that my mother died when I was born."

A string in Su Musong's mind was suddenly plucked, and he asked

"How old are you?"

"I'll be ten soon."

Ten years old?! Su Musong stopped, leaned over, and carefully examined the child. As he looked, his eyes became moist. No wonder he felt so familiar. Although the child's eyebrows and eyes resembled Xiao Luochen, they looked more like Xiao Luoyao. His nose and mouth were as if they were printed from the same mold as Huo Yanran's. This turned out to be the orphan of the sixth brother!

Although Su Musong had cursed God countless times over the years, he felt a trace of gratitude in his heart at this moment. He thanked God for letting the child survive, so that Xiao Luochen would at least not be so desperate and lonely.