Chapter 4: Miles and stars

There is no one in the middle of the night, and the breeze does not care about the fleeting years, and the green bamboo and verdant colors are lightly blowing. The starlight splashed over the mountains and plains, Qing Chen quietly opened the door and came to the courtyard. A fresh breath came to her face. The faint wind shook the green bamboo, but it made the surrounding silence even more so that people could hold their breath.
I still can't sleep, although I haven't had a good rest for several days, I still have no sleep after nightfall. Several days have passed since I met them on the eleventh day. Qing Chen sat alone on the bamboo stool with her knees folded, and she lowered her head and stroked the tourmaline beads on her wrist, the feeling of emptiness came to her heart again.
Looking up at the stars in the sky, the bright stars flowed out of a wide sky on the vast night, far and deep, and boundless. The night is cold like water, and the stars are like promises. People say that every star represents a soul. Who knows which one is oneself, where it comes from, and where it goes?
She is alone in such a strange world, who is this ray of soul now? In the face of such upheaval changes, whenever I was alone in the night, I would feel my surroundings slowly sinking into darkness, without a trace of light, without a half-sound, and deathly silence.
This doesn't belong to her, nor does she belong here. Everything is wrong, but I can't go back.
The grief in my heart quietly surged, slowly swallowing the calmness that was barely maintained, and then there was almost desperate loneliness, the unspeakable loneliness that had been suppressed in my heart.
She missed her relatives, friends, everything she used to know, even Li Tang.
Li Tang, she has loved Li Tang for five years, his perfection, together with her world, collapsed suddenly, clean and thorough, and did not even leave her nostalgia.
When you don’t have time to think about it, you don’t seem to feel sad, but once you touch it, tears come unexpectedly. The string that has been tight for a few days seems to break suddenly, the string is like a blade, and the heart is drawn. It hurts.
The night worm who tweeted Qingming seemed to be frightened and quietly converged. There was silence in the dark night, only crystal tears flowed in the broken dust, like splashes of stars.
Endless darkness, empty heartache... Qing Chen clutched the beads in her hand, trying hard to calm herself down, but the more so, the more unstoppable the tears. She raised her head to look up at the night sky, and she simply let tears flow down her face. The emotions that had been suppressed for too long were like a flood bursting through a bank, and she could no longer control it.
The tears combined with the starlight, turning into a misty light and shadow. I don't know how long it took, suddenly a deep shadow fell in front of my eyes, silently, covering the cold starry night.
The long night is reflected in the eyes of the people who come, and those eyes have a sinking depth, like its owner. Qing Chen hadn't heard the slightest footsteps before, turned her head in surprise, and wiped her eyes casually. The man slowly sat down beside her without speaking.
After a while, Qing Chen calmed down and asked in a dull voice: "Your injury is still not healed, why don't you take a good rest?"
The man cast his gaze on the endless night sky and said simply: "Can't sleep."
Qing Chen didn't make a sound anymore. I don't know how long he stood behind him. Did he see her crying? Only after crying did he realize that people are often not as strong as he thought. If there is a choice at this time, she would rather not need to be strong, someone to accompany and comfort. She hugged her arms together and pressed her knees tightly. After a while, she hesitantly asked: "Fourth brother...you...will you sit with me for a while?"
"Good." The person still replied quietly, as if he hadn't considered it at all.
"Can you just sit here with me if you don't ask anything?" Qing Chen asked blankly, and regretted as soon as he spoke. He is just a stranger who meets peacefully, so why not rest in the middle of the night? Here to accompany the same stranger yourself?
However, she heard him say in a flat voice: "Okay."
Without considering it, he still gave this answer.
The simple word seemed to have suddenly touched Qing Chen's desperately suppressed emotions, tears like beads slid down her face and fell on the dressing room, she insisted on raising her head, widening her eyes to look at the already blurred starlight.
The man finally turned his head to look at her and said, "Crying does not solve the problem."
Qing Chen didn't want to refute, but subconsciously shouted: "Four brothers..." The helplessness in her voice made herself feel strange. She wanted to find someone she knew and call an existing name, so she might catch something. Will not fall into the abyss of black silence.
The man looked at her with starlight in the sky. He motioned to her and reached out to her.
Qing Chen hesitated slightly, then stretched out his hand.
He turned her hand over, palm up, and wrote the word "Ling" in her palm with his fingers: "My name."
"Ling." Qing Chen said silently, shaking hands slowly into fists.
He retracted his hand and took away the calm temperature that originally wrapped her palm: "Although crying is useless, you can still cry when you want to cry."
He looked at her tearful eyes, and his voice seemed to be non-emotional, but it was like gentle flowing water, bringing boundless peace. Hearing this, Qing Chen couldn't help it anymore, clutching his shirt like a child and burst into tears.
The green bamboo is faint, and the sunlight is half-sprinkled on the ground, mottled with light and dark.
The bamboo curtain in front of the door was half-dangling, and a few blue birds jumped a few times in the morning sun, pecking at the fallen grass seeds on the ground. The wind moved across the curtain, they spread their wings and jumped a few steps.
"How can this be done?" The voice in the room was slightly louder, and on Eleven, he stood up and strode to the curtain, shocked the birds flew away in a hurry, chirping.
Ling still sat in front of the case and said in the everlasting indifferent voice: "We have been here for a few days, and we will definitely involve her. Take her back with me, and we will take care of her."
Eleven was a little impatient: "Of course, there have been frequent wars in Mobei in recent years. The mountains are not peaceful. It is safe to take her back to camp, but you want me to go first. How can I rest assured?"
Ling suppressed and coughed slightly: "I can't leave for a day or two with this injury. If you delay it like this, there may be changes ahead. You should be clear about the importance of this matter. You should go back first. Otherwise, it will be impossible to keep her safe with the strength of you and me."
Eleven frowned and said, "I am afraid that the Turkic side will not let it go. The three people we met the day before were dressed in our army costumes. They also spoke Chinese fluently. Obviously, they have been in the army for a long time. If it hadn't been for the fourth brother, and the idlers would not be able to tell, the military might have something wrong."
Ling turned his gaze and fell on the long sword beside the case, saying: "Your guess is not unreasonable, but depending on the situation, they shouldn't know the news of Gui Lijian, otherwise it will not be in the current situation."
Eleven whispered: "Fourth brother, if I hadn't been careless, I wouldn't hurt you."
Ling raised his hand and said, "The military situation is urgent, so we can't delay any longer. The other party will track down all the way and we can't stay here for long."
Eleventh Road: "But I am afraid that the other party is really interested, and he has found it here, so I am not relieved if you let me go."
Ling closed his eyes for a while, then opened his eyes and said: "In that case, even if you are there, it won't help, but there are many lives. On the contrary, if you leave and come back in time, the way to get out is."
Eleven frowned, but knowing what he said was reasonable, staring at the slender light and shadow falling through the bamboo curtain on the ground, there was silence for a moment, then he raised his head and made a decisive decision: "I will be back within two days."
"You will take Guilijian away." Ling said slowly, "Be careful yourself."
Eleven promised and said: "I don't know what she intends to do or whether she wants to follow us."
Ling turned his head to look in the inner room, and said, "If she doesn't leave, she will be killed. If you can make it clear, she will understand."
"Go and see if she's awake." Eleven turned around and raised the curtain, stepping into the inner room, only to see Qing Chen sitting on the couch with her knees hugged, seemingly surprised when the two of them came in one after another.
Eleven stunned, and asked: "Hey, when did you wake up?"
Qing Chen smiled and said, "When you two said where to take me."
Ling helped Changan to sit down and glanced at her. Eleven: "Have you heard all of them?"
Qing Chen looked up at each other and nodded.
Eleven and Ling glanced at each other and asked seriously, "In that case, would you like to go back with us?"
Qing Chen tilted her head slightly, lowered her eyes and thought, accidentally seeing the string of obsidian in Ling's hand, and her heart moved slightly.
Eleven saw her silent for a long time, and said: "But I am used to living here and can't bear it?"
Unexpectedly, when he asked, Qing Chen was stunned and looked up at the bamboo house. The bamboo color is blue and green, the light yellow and light green, the birds sing in the ears are crisp, tactfully and pleasing, it is really a good place to live, but it shouldn't belong to her.
Eleven said again: "Or, don't believe us? My fourth brother and I won't harm you."
Qing Chen pursed her lips and raised her head, "I believe you will not harm me, but I don't know what happened, I don't know where you are taking me, or even who you are..."
Eleven seemed to want to say something, but finally turned to Ling: "Four brother, look..."
Qing Chen also turned his head to look, and suddenly ran into a pair of penetrating eyes, that was cold black like water like ink, a deep lake, ruthless, and it made people feel that there are thousands of colors hidden at the bottom of the lake, which is intriguing. She didn’t know who he was, or even figured out who she was, but he made her feel safe. It was a strange feeling. Perhaps it was just because of loneliness, a strange world and no acquaintance. He and Eleven are hers. The only person I know now.
His voice remained calm: "You can decide for yourself, I won't force you."
Eleven then continued: "But if you continue to stay here, you may get killed. This is no joke. Besides, if you live alone here, there is no one to take care of, and it is even more dangerous."
"I understand. Actually, I don't want to stay here." Qing Chen got up and sat on the couch, bit her lip slightly, and said after a while, "It's okay to go with you, but..." She turned her head and stretched out to Eleven. One finger, "Add a request!"
"Huh?" There was no response at 11 o'clock.
"Together, three requirements." Qing Chen repeated. In fact, she originally wanted Ling to agree to borrow her something, but when the words reached her lips, she changed her mind, and instead threw the words to Eleven.
"You..." Eleven words were lost, and he laughed later, "The deal! Just ask for it, can I still be afraid of you?"
Qing Chen said: "The man said everything..."
"It's hard to chase a horse!" Eleven happily agreed.
Qing Chen couldn't help laughing, and eleven shook his head helplessly, but felt quite relaxed in his heart, finally letting go of his worries. Qing Chen stood up, looked down and thought for a while, then said: "This is the end of the matter. I am willing to follow your arrangements. Anyway, I have no relatives and no reason, and it is the same everywhere. Didn't I just say to leave? Since the four If my brother wants you to go back, he must have his reason, and the right thing is to get on the road as soon as possible."
Eleven also stopped laughing and nodded slightly and said, "I'll go and get back quickly, at most two days, I will ask you for the injury of Brother Fourth."
"Good." Qing Chen said, "Don't worry, I will take care of it. There will be nothing wrong."
Ling listened to them in silence and looked at Qing Chen with a judgmental look, as if he had never seen her.
This woman is playful and cunning when laughing, quiet and cool when sad, calm and calm when she is calm, her words and deeds are unique, and she feels like clouds and mist under the breeze, and is fascinating and strange, which is different from the women he has ever seen.