Over the years, he always kept these two sentences in mind, taking them as the standard of his words and deeds, and engraved them deeply into his bones. However, he never thought that one day he would find it so difficult to "cut off the responsibility immediately."
If possible, he hopes to have more time to think about something or leave something behind.
But he understood: fate often does not leave too much time for those who make choices.
"The sword and the scabbard are inseparable. Without the scabbard, even the sharpest sword will eventually break. A sword must return to its sheath. I firmly believe that I will meet my master again one day."
After he said that, he held his sword across his chest and bowed solemnly to say goodbye.
"Wei Xiang obeys your orders. I will take my leave now. Master, please take care."
After he finished speaking, he stood up, handed the torch in his hand to Xiao Nanhui, took a few steps back, gathered his energy, and then drew his sword to cut off the wooden beam that supported the stone wall.
Accompanied by a huge roar, collapsed rocks and sand poured down, instantly blocking the branched passage.
The man stared at the rubble quietly for a long time, and only turned around after the smoke and dust cleared.
"Let's go."
Xiao Nanhui picked up the torch and shone it deep into the secret passage that led to an unknown destination.
Where to go? She didn't know. But she knew they had no way out.
The torch in his hand dimmed again, but fortunately it did not go out in the end. This proved that Ding Weixiang's judgment was correct and this road should lead to the outside.
But the road ahead seems to have no end, and unknown uneasiness quietly spreads in the darkness.
She walked ahead holding a torch, feeling empty and uncomfortable in her heart, and started talking randomly.
"You just said...you said..." She huffed and puffed for a moment, her voice trailing off, "You said that if I died, you wouldn't live either. Did you mean that...?"
There was silence behind him, and no one responded.
She suddenly regretted asking such a question. Why did she have to pick this one when there were so many other topics to talk about? Such corny words couldn't be trusted by anyone, let alone someone like him.
"I actually think this sounds like something from a play, so I'm just wondering which play you're from..."
As she was searching back, she finally heard some movement behind her.
But it was not the sound of talking.
There was only a dull sound, and the footsteps behind her disappeared.
Xiao Nanhui slowly turned her head. In the dim firelight, she could only see the outline of him kneeling on the ground. His long hair fell from his shoulders to the ground, and his pale fingers were tightly clasped on the ground, the fingertips were completely bloodless.
She barely knew how she had stumbled to his front. She only felt the flickering light of the fire, making it difficult for her to see the man's expression. Only then did she realize that it was because her hand holding the torch was shaking.
"It's okay, don't be afraid."
After he said this, he coughed twice, and a few dark spots fell on the front of her clothes and sleeves, like the cinnabar he usually left behind when he commented on bamboo slips.
She looked down at the red spot on her hand, and in a trance, water drops continued to fall, trapping her in the rain. The memory of the Shrike gradually turning cold in her hand surfaced uncontrollably, and fear grew wildly in the deepest part of her heart, lingering.
She heard a trembling plea coming from her dry throat.
"Don't die, you can't die..."
Even when a sword chopped her head off on the battlefield, she had never been so panic-stricken as she was now. Because she thought she had little, she was not afraid of losing it.
But just now, when she thought she had the best thing in the world, fate was about to take him away.
"I won't die."
He raised his hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, and used his other clean hand to wipe the tears from the corner of her eyes. Then he shook his head gently, signaling her not to repeat those meaningless words.
"I haven't kept the Qu family locked up in the capital for so long just to make enemies." He pulled out a delicate flat porcelain bottle from his sleeve, poured out the pill inside and examined it. "I wanted to let Qu Mo try it himself first, but now there's no chance."
After saying that, he no longer hesitated and swallowed the pill.
She recalled the time in Murhe when Hao Bai used the Buddha's bone relic as a medicine to successfully revive Zou Sifang, and she instantly felt hopeful again.
"But the antidote?"
Instead of answering directly, he took her hand.
"You should have formed some conclusions about what you saw and heard at the Shen family. For me now, the worst outcome is not death..."
In the dim firelight, she saw that the pair of eyes that had always been calm and clear had become a little blurry, with only the last trace of clarity remaining in them.
"Wei Xiang and I agreed on a rendezvous point earlier. After we leave here, we'll go to Lengzhai in Alley 13 of Murhe Old City to find Mr. Luo He. I'll show him the Buddhist beads in my hand, and he'll take us out of Huozhou."
"good."
She nodded, pressing her face tightly against his.
"Remember, don't take the water route. No matter what happens on the way, don't stop until you reach the end of the world."
"good."
She felt his breath gradually disappear from her ear, and the hand that was holding her tightly slowly loosened.
"Don't be afraid, we will all survive..."
******************
On the northern section of the official road to the Jifu area of Quecheng, Zhao Youshan was hiding from the sun under a catalpa tree.
He worked several nights in a row and finally it was his turn to do the day job. He had assigned the task to someone early in the morning and took advantage of the afternoon break to doze off.
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