The hillside was lush with vegetation. Three joss sticks were stuck in the ground. The light smoke just rose up and was blown away by the breeze.
The sun was shining.
Jiang He covered her forehead with her hand and looked up at the sky. Scenes from thousands of years ago flashed before her eyes, followed by everything in the modern steel city.
A sense of disordered time and space rose from her body. Xu Qing looked at her from the side. He felt that her silhouette became fleeting at a certain moment. It seemed to be very far away, but also seemed to be very close.
People who did not belong to this time and space, could they really stay here for a long time?
Xu Qing subconsciously reached out and held her arm that was resting on her knee. Jiang He tilted her head to look at him and smiled at him.
This smile made Xu Qing heave a sigh of relief, and the strange feeling just now disappeared.
The two of them squatted on the ground and watched the joss sticks slowly burn.
Her village had now become a small slope. In the distance, there were stone steps winding up. Further away, modern buildings stood on the flat land. It looked like a farmhouse.
He closed his eyes. There was only the rustling sound of the breeze blowing through the grass. Time seemed to go back at this moment. A large piece of yellow land and thatched huts, sparse crops, people in tattered clothes, dirty arms and cheeks, and a woman wearing a straw hat.
Xu Qing was lost in thought for a moment. He seemed to see a group of people talking and laughing here, holding black pancakes and swallowing them in big mouthfuls. The woman looked at him from afar and nodded slightly.
He opened his eyes. The breeze and wild grass were still there. Under this piece of land, Jiang He's past and memories were buried.
"Let's go."
Jiang He stood up and clapped her hands. She let out a long breath as if she had completed a wish.
"Let's wait for it to finish burning." Xu Qing pointed at the joss sticks that were still smoking. "If it lights up after we leave, you will be arrested."
"I think you ordered it, right?"
"You put it in."
"You bought it."
"… Anyway, we will be arrested together."
Jiang He chuckled and went around to lie on his back. She wrapped her arms around Xu Qing and gently shook him.
"What do you think would have happened if I hadn't come?"
"Perhaps … you won't even know when you'll be hacked to death. I'm living a leisurely life in the modern world, drinking coke and watching dramas. When Haozi and the others get married, only then do I realize that I should also find a girlfriend … Hmm … Then, under pressure from my old man, I'll find a proper job, go on blind dates, or meet someone I can get along with."
"I won't be hacked to death. I'll be the one hacking others." Jiang He gazed into the distance and said, "Maybe I'll even meet a rich family."
"And then be buried with them before being dug up again?"
"You wouldn't know it was me even if you dug it out."
"We don't know each other?"
"How is that possible?"
"That's too boring."
They were talking and laughing, and the candles were burning slowly. The ashes at the top were blown off by the wind, and the bottom was wet because of the wet soil.
When the candles were extinguished, Xu Qing stood up with Jiang He on his back. He turned around and looked around.
"Leader, I ran away with Jiang He!"
"Do you want to die?!" Jiang He pinched him.
Xu Qing laughed and ran down the hill. Jiang He was not heavy, and the backpack hanging in front of his chest was not heavy either. For him, there was no pressure at all.
That small village in Gusu …
From then on, it would only exist in his memories.
…
Xu Qing thought that Jiang He would be sad, but he did not expect her to adjust so quickly.
Just like on the first day in Suzhou, she was still a little disappointed on the way, but when she got off the train, she had already recovered.
"Crying won't do anything, so don't expect me to cry like those stupid women on TV if you make me angry in the future. I'll only beat you up and make you cry."
"We scholars have to be reasonable, okay?"
"Who's a scholar like you?"
Sitting on the train, Jiang He threatened him with a fierce expression. "You're not being reasonable. You're lying."
This person always wanted to ruin her body before marriage. He was not a good person. Maybe he would dislike her after getting her, and then she would beat him up.
The train moved forward quickly, and the next carriage suddenly became noisy, as if something was happening.
The two of them turned their heads at the same time, and then looked at each other.
"Is the zombie virus going to break out?" Jiang He excitedly prepared to carry Xu Qing and run. She had seen this situation before.
It was okay not to have the long sword with them. In the early stage of the outbreak, there were not that many dangerous zombies. As long as they ran fast, they could freely use it when they reached the ground. If they wanted to escape or fight, they could advance and retreat flexibly.
"Why did you think of zombies?" Xu Qing was very confused.
"This situation is so similar to the movies … You, me, husband and wife, there's a couple over there, and there's a pregnant one. Then we run together."
Jiang He found the best scenes in the movie one by one, which made Xu Qing very surprised. She seemed to have a good understanding of movies.
"…"
"Then the zombies in the next carriage will rush over." Jiang He continued to perfect the script.
"It's a pity that you are not the director." Xu Qing clicked his tongue and whispered to Jiang He.
She did not know what was going on in the next carriage. Anyway, after the next stop, there was another wave of noise. The zombies that Jiang He was expecting did not happen. After all, it was a movie. She, an ancient person, fighting against zombies, that was too damn.
Another group of people came up. Xu Qing held Jiang He and leaned to the side. Listening to other people's chatter, from the few words, it seemed that someone was going to jump off the train.
How magical.
Xu Qing sighed at the wonder of human beings.
The heroine knew that the train would crush her to death. Such a big train, no golden bell or iron shirt would be useful.
"Next, we should go around and play."
"Where to play?"
"Sword pool. You should like it."
Xu Qing felt that since the heroine liked swords so much, she should like the sword pool.
From the name, he thought it was a place with countless swords, just like the "sword pool" in the novels. The pool was filled with all kinds of swords. The disciples would come to choose a sword, and the spiritual swords would choose their masters. Then the protagonist would go over. The deadly swords that had not moved for hundreds or thousands of years would be excited and shamelessly want to follow the protagonist.
In the end, when they arrived, oh, it turned out that the shape of the pool was like a sword.
The two of them bought the tickets, each costing 40 RMB. Xu Qing pulled Jiang He with all his might and went straight to their destination.
There were four big words on the arched door, "A Different World." When they entered, there were two stone cliffs rising from the ground. In the middle was a pool of green water. The pool was long and narrow, wide in the south and narrow in the north. Looking closely, it looked like a flat sword.
"That's it?"
Xu Qing was disappointed and then looked at Jiang He. "Was it like this before?"
Jiang He pursed his lips and felt that Xu Qing was as stupid as a stupid donkey that only knew how to bark. "Who would spend money to see this before?"
"… This is the power of time."
Xu Qing finally understood. The historical sites that people were interested in now, in the eyes of people in Jiang He's time, were just broken stones and dilapidated houses by the roadside.
Just like how he felt that his neighborhood was old and small, if it could be preserved for thousands of years and a big shot appeared, it would become a historical site. Many people would also come to see where he lived, and even White Gourd's dilapidated house might become a scenic spot.
"If you were placed in a museum, there would be countless people, and even foreign devils would come to see you. This has nothing to do with whether it's dilapidated or not."
Xu Qing needed to explain that this was not an IQ tax, but a difference caused by the environment. The place that Jiang He used as a dilapidated house was actually a famous scenic spot now.
And the park that modern people regarded as a dilapidated place was very beautiful in her eyes, and she liked it very much.
"You're the country bumpkin."
Jiang He brushed away the stray hair on his forehead and thought about how he had been treated as a country bumpkin by Xu Qing. In fact, if their environments were reversed, Xu Qing would also be a country bumpkin.
This meant that the two of them were equal.
And to put it in a museum … Jiang He's big eyes rolled a few times, thinking about a reason to spar with him and give Xu Qing some pointers.
He had already spent the money, and he could not waste it. Even though spending time to see things that he was not interested in was a sunk cost, the stupid Xu Qing always felt that he should see more. Otherwise, not only would this trip to Suzhou not be perfect, but he would also feel that it would be wrong to go anywhere in the future.
Jiang He had no feelings for the historical sites. What else could he see? Just sightseeing …
This had to be carefully considered. Many of the scenic spots were historical sites. If they were removed, there would be a lot less to see.
The Sword Pool was 40 yuan. Not only was there a Sword Pool, but there was also Broken Beam Hall, Silly Spring, Sword-Testing Stone, Tiger Hill Pagoda …
After looking at the Sword Pool, Xu Qing went straight to the Sword-Testing Stone. This was his second goal.
The Sword-Testing Stone was just a broken stone, and he looked at the marks left by others.
The afternoon sun shone down, covering the stone with a layer of warmth.
Jiang He only took a glance and was not interested. She turned to look elsewhere, but she felt Xu Qing looking at her.
"What's wrong?" She felt that Xu Qing's gaze was a little strange.
"Aren't you going to take a closer look?"
"What's there to look at?"
"I heard that by looking at someone's sword mark, martial arts masters can figure out sword intent …"
"Yes, yes, it can be stimulated. Thousands of swords flying around, equivalent to a peerless master's full power strike." Another young man like Xu Qing chimed in while taking pictures.
"If you have high comprehension, you can learn the sword technique of the person who left the sword and improve your skills."
"That depends on what the person who left the sword mark was thinking at the time. Sword marks are different …"
"…"
Jiang He looked at the two guys talking excitedly. She thought that she was in a Xianxia world.
She, a master, could not see anything, but these two rookies were talking so clearly and logically.
"Maybe there's a sword technique in there."
"If you can figure it out, you'll be awesome!" Xu Qing patted the guy's shoulder. "Go for it, brother!"
"Please be normal." Jiang He said coldly.
Xu Qing and the young man looked at each other and shook their heads at the same time. "Women."
Crack!
Xu Qing's expression froze.
The young man looked around curiously. "What's that sound? What sound? Did you hear it? "
"The sound of Kung Fu."
Xu Qing pointed at the Sword-Testing Stone seriously. "I'm not fated with it. Goodbye."
After that, Xu Qing pulled Jiang He away.
"Is there really no sword intent?"
"No."
"Inner force?"
"No."
"Plucking yin to nourish … Ah!"
Jiang He punched him angrily. He had taught him everything he should. What else did he want?
As a martial arts fan, Xu Qing had never forgotten his original intention. Although it looked stupid, it was his dream when he was young. Now, the dream was shattered.
If a martial arts master like Jiang He said there was no sword intent, then there really was no sword intent.
The sword was only used to cut people. How to cut more powerfully, stab more accurately, and cut faster, that was Kung Fu.
The eighty yuan ticket was wasted. The Sword Pool was just a pool. There was no sword intent on the Sword-Testing Stone. The other two were not interested. They just took a few photos and sent them to Zhou Suzhi. Then they returned to their place.
Coming out of the historical site, Xu Qing looked at the traffic on the road and the buildings on both sides of the road. His heart slowly calmed down.
A normal life was not bad.
To Jiang He, the historical site was far less popular than the street food.
For the next two days, Xu Qing took her to the streets, eating, drinking, and going to the parks. They were like normal people living in Suzhou. They did not go to the historical sites.
The two walked on the brightly lit streets, leaving their shadows everywhere in this strange modern city.
Three to five girls surrounded the two boys. Amidst the laughter and cheers, there was jingling music.
Xu Qing and the heroine were like a normal couple. They went wherever there was fun. They set a trap for a few exquisite keys and chains. Jiang He was going to bring them back to Pingping as a gift.
"Wait for me to smash one for you." Xu Qing and Jiang He watched for a while. He was eager to try. He felt that the punching machine this group of male and female students were playing with was just right for him.
With one punch, as long as the firing pin reached the top, a gift would fall out.
Jiang He put his hands in his pockets. Hearing that, he shrugged and did not say anything. He looked at them with interest.
The two boys had tried their best. They had not hit the top yet. They were competing to see who was stronger. A few female students were chattering. They had just taken two steps when they heard a loud bang.
Turning around, they saw the girl who had been watching them put her hands back into her pockets. The man beside her went to retrieve the gift that had fallen out. They looked at the machine again. The music had changed. It sounded like a record had been broken.
"…"
"…"
The two of them walked past them leisurely. Xu Qing leaned on Jiang He's shoulder and praised her.
A few female students watched them walk away in a daze. Then, they turned their eyes to the two boys.
The two boys had a mental breakdown.
What the hell!
"Do you want to play that?"
Jiang He's eyes lit up when he saw the trampoline. He pointed at it. Xu Qing quickly pulled her back. "That's for kids. Kids!"
He was afraid that Jiang He would hit her head on the roof.
"Let's go play whack-a-mole." He had a bunch of coins in his pocket waiting to be spent.
Jiang He liked this kind of life. For her, visiting a modern city was like visiting a historical site. She had never eaten or played before. It was fresh and exciting.
"Take it easy. Don't break the machine."
Jiang He held the hammer and tried it out. Xu Qing reminded him patiently.
Coming here, Jiang He felt like she had returned home. If she had such a big sister to play with when she was young, it would have been great.
Now, it was like taking care of a daughter … It was a good feeling.
He was already looking forward to a happy childhood for the two of them. With such a mother, he would be invincible.
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