Chapter 24 Ghost Hand and Birthday
Xie Ci pulled Gu Guan out of the tomb and pushed himself back to the ground.
The moon is bright, the stars are sparse, the snow is white, and the earth is quiet and plain under the faint silver moonlight.
The two stood on the high slope and looked out for a long time until a cold wind blew towards them.
"let's go."
Xie Ci extended his hand to Gu Wan, jumped to the top of the cliff, and the two of them got on their horses and returned the same way.
Their horses had been replaced, and the warhorses were as eye-catching as their armor. The new horses were not as good at climbing mountains, and the two of them had taken a long detour. By the time they got down the mountain and crossed the hills and returned to the main road, it was already dawn. Smoke was rising from the tea stalls and breakfast stalls on the roadside, and early merchants and pedestrians were already on the road.
Xie Ci thought about it and said, "Let's go find Cao Yong."
It was now certain that the person whose face was scorched and mutilated was not Xun Xiao. Based on the information currently available, he must have realized something was wrong at the last moment, strangled the Northern Rong soldier, changed his armor, and then managed to escape.
He must have escaped.
Gu Wan said, "He should have burns, right?"
She had reconstructed the information and judged that if the fire had been smaller, the men Xun Xun had sent to control the situation, or even Xun Xun himself, would have been able to see his movements. Furthermore, the fire, which had completely annihilated the Wei army, must have been quite large. Otherwise, Long Shouren would have been unable to remedy the situation.
To escape from a fire like this without getting burned at all is absolutely impossible unless you are an immortal.
Gu Wan had asked Xie Ci while they were on the mountain, "Is there anyone who is most likely to rescue and take him in?"
Xie Ci thought for a long time and said, "The most likely person is a guard named Luo."
The two men's previous trip to Suzhou definitely gained more than just Xun Rongbi. They had studied the files of the treason case over and over again, and also read Xun Xiao's. Xie Ci had an excellent memory. He looked at the list of guards who died in the line of duty and found that there was no one with the surname Luo that he knew.
Xun Xiao's mother had a companion named Luo, and her wet nurse was also surnamed Luo. The guard was his foster brother, who had practiced martial arts and joined the army with Xun Xiao. However, Xie Ci made inquiries and found out that Guard Luo had been injured in the battle and retired a few years ago, and had long been out of the military rolls. It was said that later, under Xun Xiao's arrangement, he bought land and estate, left the house, married, and had children.
Finding someone is neither difficult nor easy.
The conditions were very clear. The family's surname was Luo, and they had taken in a person with burns that were likely to be serious.
But the problem is that Luo is a big surname in the northwest. Almost one out of every ten households has the surname Luo, just like the big surnames Zhang and Chen in later generations, which are everywhere in the streets.
And Xun Xiao may not still be in Suzhou. Among the nine important border towns in the north, there are also Mingzhou and Guzhou in this area, and there are many large counties and small towns further in.
In fact, the two of them thought of Cao Yong at the same time, who was the young escort leader of the escort agency. The Wei Yang Escort Agency had been established in the northwest for many years, and they had branches in all major cities. People who worked in the escort agency had to have a certain understanding and relationship with all kinds of people in both the black and white worlds. When Cao Yong said he would help them find someone, it was not empty talk.
Now is not the right time to follow up on the saying, "If you can't find your relatives, it's not too late to look for him again."
It was an overcast day, with a strong wind. The cold wind blew the snow off the eaves and branches. Xie Ci looked up at the long street filled with snow, smoke from cooking fires, and the sounds of people. He said, "If Cao Yong leaks the secret, I will kill him!"
The two men were not chosen casually to run the Yangwei Escort Agency. The Cao family had received great favors from Xie Xinzhong. At that time, the Yangwei Escort Agency offended the government and almost lost the ancestral business and the family was destroyed. It was Xie Xinzhong who stepped in to settle the matter and rescued the Yangwei Escort Agency at the center of the vortex. Although the Cao family was a small family, when the Xie family was unjustly escorted to the capital, the father and son of the Cao family tried their best to publicize it.
The wind was cold and the snow was biting. Xie Ci's beautiful and sharp eyes reflected the color of the snow, and his pupils seemed to be frozen. There was a silent and bone-chilling chill in his calmness.
He turned his head to look at Gu Wan.
——Xie Ci has really changed a lot, but his original trajectory was that he had strict military discipline and was decisive in killing.
Gu Wan couldn't help but sigh: "You really have changed."
Gradually, it really overlapped with the thank-you speech in her memory.
However, Xie Ci didn't have such feelings. He saw that she hadn't said anything for a long time, and suddenly she said this, and he was immediately anxious: "No matter what, we are still the same as before! Always! I just feel that we can't be the same as before..."
The main thing is that once your mindset changes, everything will change, including your attitude towards life. But no matter how it changes, no matter what the future holds, he will still be grateful. The bond between the two of you and your family will never change!
I was so anxious to say thank you.
Gu Wan chuckled, "I mean, you are indeed an adult, a man now."
The ancients had a maturity of sixteen, and there was indeed a reason for that. Xie Ci had gone through so much hardship, and the changes were particularly obvious.
She said it in a teasing tone. Xie Ci realized that she was making fun of him again, and his heart was relieved. But when she said "he is a man now", for some reason, his heartbeat suddenly quickened and an unknown sense of uneasiness arose.
But before Xie Ci could say anything, Gu Wan laughed twice and pulled him onto the horse, "Let's go, didn't you say you were going to find Cao Yong?"
With a beautiful mount posture, her long legs clamped the horse's belly, and the brown horse trotted away with its tail wagging. Gu Guan flicked the whip, and the wind blew her hair. She turned around and smiled, "Hey, Xiao Si, it's up to you from now on. You have to carve out a place for our family to settle down!"
Don't keep dying.
See, isn't that it? As the saying goes, those who survive a great disaster will surely have good fortune in the future. We should be more optimistic.
It would also allow her to benefit from it.
Gu Guan thought about it and felt that the proposition of being a powerful figure and shaking up the world was too big and still had a certain distance from him.
So from the very beginning, she positioned herself as a guide and assist.
Now it seems that it is starting to show remarkable results.
The wind carried her laughter: "When you become a general in the future, remember to give me a logistics officer."
Xie Ci immediately said, "How could you possibly be a Cao Zhuan? At least he should be a military advisor, a chief priest, or a lieutenant of the Imperial Guards!"
He had just come back to his senses and said it subconsciously.
Well, the Military Advisor was Cao Jian’s immediate superior, which was Guo Jia’s position; as for the Inspector of the Imperial Guards, Zhuge Liang had held that position.
Gu Wan laughed so hard that he couldn't straighten his waist: "Damn, big brother, you think too highly of me——"
Although this great general was illusory and Xie Ci didn't dare to apply this to himself, Gu Guan's smile was so joyful that he felt happier than ever before and he also smiled.
Laughter accompanied the sound of horse hooves, which trampled the mud and snow. The two riders, one in front and one behind, quickly left the small town.
…
After the snow, the sky was blue and the golden winter sun shone all over the earth.
Everything finally went smoothly.
Gu Wan was a low-profile man, so he disguised himself and entered Suzhou City, heading straight for the Yangwei Escort Agency. Cao Yong was very loyal and said to himself, "Don't worry, brothers. I'll take care of it!"
Yangwei Escort Agency is an old-established agency with a lot of connections. In addition, the escort business often deals with pharmacies and medical clinics, so he has many acquaintances. He quickly found a target that met the requirements.
"In Ping County. I just moved here last year."
Ping County is a small county under the jurisdiction of Suzhou. It is adjacent to Funiu Mountain, a branch of Longshan Mountain. If something happens, it will be across the mountain to the territory of Longzhou. It is located at the node of the East-West Trade Road and is a relatively prosperous small county.
Cao Yong attached great importance to thanking Gu Guan for his request. After finding out the truth, he decided to lead the way himself.
Ping County also had a branch of the escort agency. Cao Yong had been there for a while and was familiar with the area. Following the address inquired by the escort leader of his branch, he took Xie Ci and Gu Guan through the streets and alleys, and finally came to an area in the south city where civilians and small vendors lived, at the end of a lane called Qingtou Lane, there was a small house with two entrances.
"The Luo family just moved to Ping County last year. They have a wife and a son. But I heard that his wife took the child back to Mingzhou to study. Anyway, only Luo Da and his cousin are left at home."
"His cousin was reportedly badly burned, but he was almost healed by the time he arrived, so there was no need to see a doctor. But I heard he was a lunatic..."
Gu Guan muttered to himself, of course he is almost well, if he doesn’t recover by chance he will die.
Cao Yong paused: "This is it!"
Cao Yong was a man who understood the ways of the world. Seeing that Xie Ci and Gu Guan were staring at the door without any surprise on their faces, he said, "I'll go back to the semicolon first. You can decide whether to stay or not. If not, just go back to the escort ship." Then he left.
Xie Ci stared at his back, picked up his sword and followed him silently. When he turned back again, he shook his head slightly at Gu Wan, and did not notice anything wrong with Cao Yong.
It was almost dusk at this time. Gu Guan sat in the tea stalls and wonton stalls at the street corner for most of the day. Worried that he might look familiar, he finally found an inn and booked a room on the third floor. When he opened the window, he could see the entire courtyard.
So she stared while eating melon seeds and drinking tea, waiting for thanks.
Xie Ci finally came back. The two didn't say much. Xie Ci drank half a bowl of tea, and the two went downstairs and went straight to the small house with two entrances.
The alley is lined with houses of ordinary people. The buildings are not very regular. Many of the courtyards are surrounded by half yellow mud and half fences. This small house with two entrances is better. The wall is made entirely of rammed earth, but it is not high, just level with Gu Wan's ears.
The remaining snow on the top of the wall and the corner of the alley had been swept away. The setting sun shone on the brown and yellow wall. The house and the long alley were silent. Xie Ci and Gu Guan walked one after another to the half-worn and mottled black lacquer gate of the courtyard.
Xie Ci drew out his slender goose-feather knife and stepped forward to block Gu Wan.
Gu Guan is quite skilled, but he would still be at a disadvantage if he met a master like Xie Ci who had practiced internal martial arts since childhood.
And Xun Xiao is such a master.
Xie Ci pushed the door with his scabbard, but it didn't move. He knocked on it with his scabbard like his neighbors did.
"Knock, knock, knock."
Gu Guan had no objection and took a step back. When Xie Ci knocked on the door, she moved her head. Unexpectedly, her eyes casually glanced at the small courtyard she had just looked at, and she was startled.
"Ah!"
Just now, the small loess courtyard was empty with only a few items hanging on bamboo poles and swaying in the wind. But at some point, a person was standing by the main door!
This man was very tall, but what caught Gu Wan's attention at first glance was definitely not his height.
Instead, it was a blood-red scar with a bit of black, the kind of scar unique to burns. It was twisted and uneven, covering half of his face. Even a large piece of his scalp was burned off, leaving it bald and red. The left eye socket was twisted, and that eye looked particularly red and hideous. At first glance, it looked like the eyes and face of an evil spirit crawling out of hell!
Moreover, his left wrist was empty below, and the muscles were also bare, red and twisted. When the wind blew, the sleeves fluttered, and Gu Guan could just see the bare arm.
She was caught off guard and got a big scare.
Oh my god! Gu Wan was not afraid of corpses, and she had seen many disabled people, but this man's appearance and eyes were too terrifying. Even though she had prepared herself mentally, she was still frightened and her adrenaline rushed.
Xie Ci suddenly turned around and immediately stood in front of Gu Guan, meeting Xun Xiao's eyes.
He couldn't help but be shocked.
Xun Xiao, a famous young Confucian general in the northern border, wears silver armor and a white robe, and is nicknamed the White-Faced Young Man.
He was the eldest son of Xun Rongbi, the governor of Suzhou, but what made people remember him even more was his extremely handsome appearance.
Gentle and elegant, like the bright moon in the wind.
Xun Xiao said coldly: "Isn't it scary? Doesn't it look like a ghost? Ha, ha ha ha..."
His voice sounded like one that had been repeatedly rubbed by the sharpest gravel, and then burned by high-temperature fireworks for ten days or half a month. His vocal cords could no longer stretch. The voice of an evil spirit that had crawled out of hell was extremely piercing, as if someone was rubbing his eardrum and heart repeatedly with a file, making people's hearts shrink immediately.
Xun Xiao laughed hoarsely, his brows grim. “Ha ha ha ha, all this is thanks to your good uncle and cousins!”
He was extremely angry. Only today did he realize that he and his mother were a joke!
My mother, Mrs. Pei, has passed away. She was silenced.
The father whom he had admired for thirty years turned out to be an evil ghost in human disguise!
And the brother whom I have loved and cared for for many years like a brother turned out to be a bastard from the Northern Rong region who was full of malice from the very beginning!
He wanted to pounce on them, tear their necks, suck their blood mouthful by mouthful, and let them suffer all the pain in the world before dying! !
He hated, he even hated everything and everyone related to those two bastards Xun Rongbi and Xun Xun!!
Xie Ci's expression didn't show any emotion at all. He said coldly, "Those are your father and brother."
Faced with the opponent's sharp attack, he counterattacked without hesitation.
Xun Xun was completely mad! He screamed and rushed forward frantically. Luo Qian, who had rushed out of the house, fell on his knees and hugged his thighs tightly. Luo Qian pulled hard, looked over, and pleaded: "Fourth Master, my master is sick. He is prone to this when he is stimulated. He will be fine. He will be fine after taking the medicine and taking it slowly."
"Xun Er is not my master's biological brother. He was actually brought back by General Xun. He was said to be an illegitimate child before marriage. He is older than my master. The Second Young Master died young, so the general brought him back and he eventually took over the Second Young Master's identity."
Pei was kind-hearted, and after Xun Rongbi discussed it with her earnestly, she accepted Xun Xun. He had everything that his biological son had, and she treated him as her own son.
Unexpectedly, it was the orphan of Princess Rilian, a malicious Beirong kid who had been scheming for twenty years, and finally tore off his false mask and revealed his hideous true face.
Pei's mother and son knew nothing about Xun Rongbi's past, but in the end, they had to bear it all!
Luo Qian thought of the moment when he saw the eldest master again, and tears streamed down his face. "Please, Fourth Master, we have found out what you want to know. The master is not usually like this." Xie Ci's appearance was mainly to stimulate Xun Xiao. "Wait a moment. I will tell you everything tomorrow when the master is better."
"Please, please, Fourth Master."
Xun Xiao was acting like a madman, struggling and shouting continuously, alarming even the neighbors. A child shouted, "That madman is going to hit people again!"
Luo Qian begged and quickly pulled him into the house.
Xie Ci returned the sword to its sheath with a sharp "swish". In Xun Xiao's current state, there was really no way for him to continue communicating.
"Wan Niang, what's wrong?"
Xie Ci turned around immediately. Gu Wan hadn't said a word from the beginning until now. Xun Xiao did look scary, and he was worried that she was scared.
"It's okay, it's okay."
Of course, Gu Wan was not frightened. She was just scared at the beginning. She quickly waved her hands and stood on tiptoe to watch Luo Qian and Xun Xiao struggling until the door was closed, then she withdrew her gaze.
It was a surprise, but it was a surprise of astonishment.
Holy crap.
Isn't this a ghost hand?
Gu Wan didn't expect that he would meet an important character in the plot here.
…
The thanks from the original trajectory, the war-like man who streaked across the sky like a meteor.
There is a military advisor in his army who is so wise that he is almost a demon, and is known as Ghost Hand.
His face was burnt and disfigured, and even his left hand was amputated below the wrist, leaving only a bare arm covered in burn scars.
Like Xie Ci, no one knew where he came from, but the two had a very good relationship. Whenever Xie Ci went on a campaign, he was the one in charge of logistics or in charge of base camp.
Holy crap.
It turns out that these two are cousins.
Gu Wan was originally worried that his appearance would delay his knowledge of the Ghost Hand.
As a result, she realized now that she had originally thought that the similarity between the two people was just a coincidence, but it turned out to be inevitable.
Gu Guan scratched his head, but it seemed like the relationship between these two people was getting worse now?
…
Dusk has fallen, the afterglow of the setting sun is gradually fading away, and the chill of the night is suddenly becoming more apparent.
Xie Ci stared at the main door of the courtyard for a moment, then pulled Gu Wan back to the inn.
"He and Xun Xun have a deep blood feud. We'll come back tomorrow."
Unlike Gu Guan who immediately became excited after realizing that Xun Xiao was the Ghost Hand, she was now almost certain that Xun Xiao was fine and would be of great help, but Xie Ci gave Xun Xiao a cold assessment.
Because Xun Xiao's surname was Xun, even though he knew intellectually that the other party was also one of the victims, but after experiencing Xun Rongbi's apology, he could no longer feel close to the other party emotionally.
Unlike his previous life that Xie Ci didn't know about, he had his family and Gu Wan, different times and different people, and he no longer needed to huddle together with Xun Xiao for warmth.
Xie Ci said this as he skillfully blew the fire stick to light the oil lamp.
Gu Guan sat at the square table with one hand on her chin. She looked at Xie Ci's elegant and handsome profile. The oil lamp was lit with a "hiss". The yellow light illuminated his thick black eyebrows and starry eyes. He could now be described as handsome.
His facial features have grown a little, becoming less delicate but more majestic, and he is becoming more and more handsome.
But if you think about it, this is actually a good thing.
To be able to get along with such an extreme Xun Xiao to that extent, you can imagine how lonely he is.
When Gu Guan thought about it, he immediately put that little regret behind him.
"Hey, thanks!"
Calling Xie Ci's real name, Gu Guan lowered his voice and leaned over to shout.
Xie Ci blew out the fire and put on his hood. When he turned around, her face was so close to him that he could even clearly see each of her long, black eyelashes and the lines in the pupils of her slightly curved eyes.
He let out a "Huh?" and his heartbeat suddenly quickened.
"What's the matter?" Xie Ci leaned against the wall and spoke in a low voice.
Gu Wan chuckled: "Xie Ci, do you remember what day it is today?"
Xie Ci was stunned.
I knew you forgot.
"Today is your birthday!"
The eighteenth day of the twelfth lunar month was Xie Ci’s seventeenth birthday.
She smiled and raised the letter in her hand, "Forgotten? Fortunately, my second sister-in-law and mother wrote to me early."
Xie Ci was stunned.
It turns out that today is his birthday.
…
[Due to the clip, the update will be delayed until 22:00 tomorrow~]
The author has something to say:
Due to the clip, the update will be delayed to 22:00 tomorrow (Saturday)~
In the original trajectory, Xie Ci and Guishou huddled together for warmth, but now he no longer needs that. The sadness and indignation are still there, but he also has love.
(I found that there was a baby that was not connected, so A Xiu made a small correction. Xun Xun is the child of Princess Rilian. I killed the last one, the baby in the cradle. I don’t know if it can be regarded as the last trace of pity. I feel that the word "pity" is not appropriate...)
Finally, a huge kiss to you all! See you tomorrow, babies~ (/≧▽≦)/
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