Kaifeng Monster

Chapter 115 Life and Death Disk (1)
Throughout the night, Duanmucui was depressed.

The two dined on the second floor of the Taibai Building in the center of Maxing Street. Through the open window sash, they could see the lights and bustle from far and near.Zhan Zhao added vegetables to Duanmucui, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, bud tips, and candied lotus root, in such a small sand bowl, piled high and trembling.

She didn't look at Zhan Zhao, and she didn't pick up any food, she used her chopsticks to build a bridge between the bowl and the plate.

Zhan Zhao sighed: "Duanmu, eat as much as you want, I've been hungry for a long time."

"no appetite."

Zhan Zhao paused, and comforted her softly: "After dinner, go to the puppet show, okay?"

It's okay if I don't mention it, but when I mentioned this, she became even angrier: "It's not rare, it's not rare if you don't watch it for a lifetime." As she spoke, she stood up and went downstairs.

Zhan Zhao also wanted to get up subconsciously, and the busy Xiao Er saw that the situation was wrong, so he hurried over and nodded.Zhan Zhao is an official, so he didn't dare to say that he was afraid that Zhan Zhao wouldn't give him money, so he had to smile at Zhan Zhao desperately, smiling like a wind, hoping that Zhan Zhao could understand the bitterness behind his smile: Lord, you If I don't give the money, the shopkeeper will deduct my wages...

After Zhan Zhao settled the bill, Duanmucui had long since disappeared.

Fortunately, he knew where she had gone.

When she arrived at Duanmucui's house, before Aunt Liu had time to leave, the first thing she said when she saw him was: "Miss is asleep."

Falling asleep so early?Zhan Zhao is helpless.

Aunt Liu was understanding: "Then... I'll go first, the girl just fell asleep, if Mr. Zhan goes to call the door, maybe he can call her up and talk for a while."

After sending Aunt Liu away, Zhan Zhao locked the door, Fang turned around, and saw Duanmucui standing on the steps in his underwear and glaring at him bitterly.

Zhan Zhao was dumbfounded, and it took him a while to find something to say, "Didn't you sleep?"

"hungry!"

After rummaging through the entire kitchen, only the noodles were left.Zhan Zhao broke the eggs in a bowl and stirred them up with chopsticks. When he lifted the lid, the noodles were rolling and turning over.Zhan Zhao poured the egg flower down, added salt and minced green onion at the end, and started the pot.

The hot egg noodles with scallion oil were delivered to Duanmucui, but she kept stirring the noodles with chopsticks without saying a word.

Zhan Zhao sighed: "I don't forget the well digger when I drink water, Duanmu, I've been busy for so long, and you don't even have a word of thanks."

Duanmu Cuibai said, "Why should I thank you? It's because of you that I didn't eat well."

Zhan Zhao couldn't laugh or cry: "It's me again?"

Duanmu Cui knocked on the side of the bowl with chopsticks: "If you really want to invite people to eat and watch a show, why did you tell them the bad news beforehand? If you say that, who would want to eat and watch a show? Saved money."

Zhan Zhao was so wronged: "You didn't take a bite of the food on the table, and I didn't miss half of the meal."

"It deserves it!" Duanmucui curled her lips, her mood recovering a little bit.After eating two mouthfuls, he suddenly raised his head and asked him, "How long are you going?"

"what?"

"It's that Xixia and Dongxia." She was unhappy, "How long will it be?"

"My lord didn't say anything."

Duanmucui was angry: "Then you are dying of old age over there, don't come back."

Zhan Zhao was not annoyed: "I will come back as soon as possible."

"Is it up to you?" Duanmucui glared at him, "You don't even know what you're going to do."

"We'll know when we get there." Zhan Zhao paused, "I'll send you a letter."

"It's not rare, no! Literacy! Words!"

"Duanmu, don't be childish."

Duanmucui stopped talking, stirred the noodles with his chopsticks, and suddenly said out of nowhere: "Then I will go too."

"You can't go."

"You have the final say?" Duanmucui snorted, "You go your way, I'll go mine, you go to work, I go...to collect demons."

Zhan Zhao sighed: "Duanmu, I really can't take you there."

"Whoever wants you to take it, I have hands and feet, and I can go by myself."

"Duanmu, after I leave, you will move to Kaifeng Mansion, and you will take care of each other with your husband."

"No, I'm busy, I'm going to Xixia."

"Just live in my room and learn something from my husband every day. It's better than nothing."

"Don't study, I'll go to Western Xia."

"Duanmu!" Zhan Zhao's complexion darkened, and his tone became a little more serious.

Duanmucui was aggrieved: "Xixia belongs to your family, can I go around?"

Zhan Zhao's heart softened, and his tone softened accordingly: "I'm going this trip because I have important business to do. It's equivalent to sneaking into Xingzhou. How dangerous is it? If you don't show signs of restraint, where can I take you?"

"I told you I don't want you to bring it." Duanmucui said impatiently, "I told you I can go by myself."

"Where is Xixia, how can I feel relieved if you go there alone?"

"Then if you go there alone, I can rest easy?" She insisted on confronting him, and even exposed his background very rudely, "I will meet three or four girls Yao, hmph..."

Zhan Zhao didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and he shook her hand after a pause: "Duanmu, speak seriously."

"Be it in the past or now, even in the future, I will always be away for many days, arresting criminals and handling cases, Duanmu, you can't follow me every time."

Duanmucui bit her lip and remained silent.

"I know you're worried about me, but don't be willful and wait for me to come back."

"But……"

"Duanmu," Zhan Zhao looked straight into her eyes, "I can leave with peace of mind only if I know you are well. Listen to me, move to Kaifeng Mansion, and wait for my news, huh?"

Under such gaze and tenderness, even if Duanmucui had eleven thousand reluctances and eleven thousand tempers, she couldn't express them.

"Then..." She bargained, "If you really want to stay there for a long time, Zhan Zhao, I'm going to find you."

"Okay." Zhan Zhao agreed simply.

When she fell asleep, Zhan Zhao helped her tuck in the quilt and sat down beside the bed.

"When will we leave tomorrow?" Duanmucui stretched out his hand from under the quilt, holding onto the corner of his clothes.

Zhan Zhao smiled: "It's the fifth watch of the day, at that time, you haven't gotten up yet."

"Then it's too late to send you off?" Duanmucui immediately realized.

"Don't give it away." Zhan Zhao bowed his head and kissed her forehead, "If you send me off, I'm afraid I won't be able to leave."

"No wonder." Duanmucui glared at him.

"What are you staring at?" Zhan Zhao teased her, "If you stare again, your eyes won't get any bigger."

Duanmucui curled her lips, and suddenly thought of something: "Have you packed your luggage?"

"Not yet," Zhan Zhao shook his head, "I'll clean up when I go back."

"Then go back earlier." Duanmucui chased him away, "Clean up earlier and go to bed earlier, so that you will be refreshed for the journey tomorrow."

Zhan Zhao smiled and nodded, "I'll go back when you fall asleep."

Duanmucui closed her eyes: "I fell asleep, Zhan Zhao, you should go back quickly."

There was no movement for a while, and he opened one eye mysteriously, and saw the corner of Zhan Zhao's lips smiling slightly.

"Hey, Zhan Zhao, why haven't you left yet?"

"You didn't fall asleep either." Zhan Zhao replied as a matter of course.

"You are arguing with me here, how can I sleep?" Duanmucui was anxious, sat up and pushed him, "Let's go."

"Okay, let's go."

Indeed, it is time to go.

"Hey." Seeing that he really turned around to leave, Duanmucui hurriedly stopped him.

"What?" Zhan Zhao turned around.

"Do you want to hug me?" She smiled, "After tonight, if you want to hug me, you can only go to the roadside to hug a log."

"Why are you hugging a log?" Zhan Zhao was a little confused.

"Because I'm Duan... Mu... Cui." She emphasized the word "Mu" in the middle of her name, "When I was young, my mother called me Xiao Mu. When you miss me, of course you have to look at Mu Mu."

"Oh..." Zhan Zhao suddenly realized.

He walked back to the bed and sat down, deliberately bargaining with her: "Then is it okay to hold a rock? Is it okay to use a piece of soil? Is it okay to use a crock pot? Is it okay to use a water tank?"

Duanmucui said angrily, "Okay, whatever."

Zhan Zhao laughed out loud, stretched out his arms to hug her, and hugged her tightly: "That won't work, let's save our strength and come back and hug Xiaomu."

Duanmucui didn't speak, buried her head in his arms, and suddenly said something in a low voice.

"What?" Zhan Zhao didn't hear clearly.

"I didn't say anything, go back early and have a good sleep."

Zhan Zhao left, but Duanmucui couldn't fall asleep.

She still didn't dare to say that sentence clearly and out loud.

"Zhan Zhao, if I don't become a god, will you marry me?"

When the words came to his lips, he became timid, was he afraid that Zhan Zhao would not marry her, or did he not dare to say "not to be a god" after all?

Duanmucui sighed, turned over, turned over again.I don't know how long it took before I fell asleep.

She had a strange dream.

In the dream, she was woken up by the sound of banging on the door, and when she opened the door, it turned out to be Mr. Gongsun.

Gongsun Ce was so anxious that his face was covered with sweat, he said something to her loudly, waving his hands while speaking.But she couldn't hear Gongsun Ce's voice, she could only see his mouth opening and closing rapidly.

She suddenly recognized his mouth shape, he repeated back and forth, and only said two words: "Xixia."

"Did something happen to Zhan Zhao?" She became nervous, grabbed Gongsun Ce's arm, and asked again, "Did something happen to Zhan Zhao?"

Gongsun Ce couldn't answer her, but just repeated those two words loudly.

Duanmucui knocked Gongsun Ce away and went out.The alleyway outside the door seemed to be shrouded in a layer of fog. There were many people standing outside the door. When they heard the sound of the door opening, they turned around very slowly.

She saw familiar faces, including Aunt Liu's, Master Bao's, Yin Zhu's, Zhang Long's, Zhao Hu Dynasty's, Ma Han's, Bai Yutang's, Xu Qing's... They had indescribable expressions on their faces. With a sad look, he slowly shook his head at her.Everyone was talking, and their lips kept opening and closing. She couldn't hear the sound, but she clearly knew that they were saying the same two words: "Xixia."

"Did something happen to Zhan Zhao?" She panicked, crying out loud.

No one answered her.

"I'll go find him."

He raised his foot and wanted to leave, but found that a thousand catties seemed to have fallen on his foot. When he looked down, it was Xiao Qinghua, who hugged her leg tightly and shook his head desperately at her.

She didn't care, she was going to find Zhan Zhao.

Somehow, we finally arrived in Xixia, with scattered scorched-earth battlefields, cloak flags tilted everywhere, corpses scattered all over the place, and the surroundings were terribly quiet.Duanmucui rummaged through the dead body while crying: Didn't Zhan Zhao say he sneaked into Xingzhou?How could he appear on the battlefield?He is not a military guard, why should he fight on the battlefield?

In a daze, she stumbled and Duanmucui fell to the ground, with a cloak flag falling not far in front of her.

Seeing the cloak flag, Duanmucui suddenly had an ominous premonition in her heart, she slowly stretched out her hand, and took the cloak flag.

This is not the cloak flag of any general of Xixia or Song Dynasty, this is her cloak flag, it is her cloak flag of Duanmuying.

The shouts around suddenly shook, and Duanmucui suddenly realized: This is not Xixia, this is Muye!
The war drums were beating like a mountain, and the banners were waving half of the sky. Duanmucui looked around blankly, and the sound of a spear piercing the sky sounded behind him.

"General! Be careful, General!" The warning sound brought back her clear consciousness, and she hurriedly turned around.

Before it was too late, a bronze spear pierced straight through her heart.

The heart-piercing wailing of the guards sounded in her ears, and she fell to the ground, with her side face pressed against the cold and bloody soil, and the blood from her chest gradually seeped under her body, like a blooming flower. flower.

After Duanmucui woke up with a start, she couldn't fall asleep anymore.

Looking at the time, it was the fourth watch. She put on her clothes and hurried to Kaifeng mansion.

The yamen servant on duty at the gate knew her, first he was surprised and then smiled knowingly: "Ms. Duanmu, it's so early? Oh, Mr. Zhan hasn't left yet."

Duanmu Cui hummed, and hurriedly stepped into the door.There was no one in the corridor, only the sound of her footsteps, soft and heavy.

The door of Zhan Zhao's room was ajar, and the room was filled with a hazy yellow light.After a few steps, Duanmucui heard Mr. Gongsun talking: "This bottle is Jinchuang medicine, this bottle is Yuludan, have you brought all the clothes? It's cold, maybe it's still snowing..."

Duanmucui pushed open the door, and the two people in the room all looked up at her.Zhan Zhao was still wearing his sleeping underwear, the luggage was spread out on the table, and the clothes on the bed were arranged one on the left and the other on the right.

"Duanmu!" Zhan Zhao greeted him in surprise, "Why did you come here at this time? It's only four watch."

"Can't sleep." Duanmu Cui muttered.

Gongsun Ce stroked his goatee and laughed, "Of course I won't be able to sleep, so it's good if you're here, and help Zhan Zhao tidy up, so as to save an old man like me from rushing in and out."

"Mr. Pian Lao." Zhan Zhao sent Gongsun Ce to the door, and gently closed the door. Before he could turn around, Duanmucui suddenly hugged him from behind.

Zhan Zhao was startled for a moment, then smiled, paused for a moment, then took her hand away and turned around: "What's wrong? Are you unhappy? Didn't we agree earlier?"

"What did you say?" Duanmucui said sullenly.

Zhan Zhao smiled and hugged her into his arms: "Didn't I tell you to sleep well, don't come over to see her off?"

"I can't sleep." Duanmucui bit her lip, leaned against his chest sideways, reached out and grabbed the front of his chest, repeatedly.

Zhan Zhao laughed at her: "There really should be a mirror for you to see yourself, like a child who is reluctant to travel far."

"I have never sent anyone away."

Zhan Zhao stopped talking, sighed, and when he lowered his head, he saw the scratches on her face, reached out and touched her lightly: "Did you have a nightmare?"

"Dreams are not real." She answered quickly.

That seems to be the case, Zhan Zhao laughed: "Then sleep a little longer."

"what?"

"Go back to sleep, and I'll call you when I leave."

Zhan Zhao didn't avoid suspicion, after she lay down, he pulled the quilt to cover her.The quilt was slightly warm, it seems that not long after Zhan Zhao got up, Duanmucui shrank into the quilt, Zhan Zhao smiled slightly, sat by the bed and folded the clothes one by one.

"In the past, it would be like this, always traveling far away?" Duanmucui couldn't fall asleep after all.

"Yes." Zhan Zhao nodded, "I'm used to tidying up after going back and forth." After a pause, he suddenly smiled, "It would be great if Duanmu was by my side every time I left."

"why?"

"No reason." Zhan Zhao lowered his head and continued to fold his clothes, "I used to come and go alone, without worries, happy and carefree; now I suddenly feel that two people are also good."

"Suddenly felt it?" Duanmucui turned over, Zhi Yi looked at him, "When did you suddenly feel it?"

"Just now, I saw you sleeping here." Zhan Zhao smiled, but his voice suddenly became very soft, "It's like...a home..."

Duanmucui was taken aback for a moment, then sat up slowly.

Family?
"Zhan Zhao, you don't seem to come home very often."

"Yes, I left home when I was young, studied art with a teacher, and then wandered around the rivers and lakes, entered the public school, and rarely went home. Occasionally when I go back, I come and go in a hurry."

"Who else...is there in the family?"

"There's mother, brother and sister-in-law." Zhan Zhao thought for a while, and a smile appeared on the corner of his lips, "There are also nephews and nieces. Last time we saw each other, they were too skinny. They should grow taller now."

"You miss home so much, why don't you go back often?"

Zhan Zhao paused, and slowly stopped the movements of his hands: "It's been too long since I've been away from home. Every time I go home, Mother treats me like a distinguished guest. Uncomfortable. If I could stay for a longer period of time, I might be able to regain the harmony of the usual family, but unfortunately, it will only be like that for a day or two. Once I left home, my mother and brother-in-law gave me a ride. Talking about family matters on the way, which family’s rent should be collected, which relative’s birthday should I go to, what to buy, what clothes to add to the children-I can’t get in the conversation, watching them chatter, I’m so envious, as if I It's an outsider."

"Zhan Zhao..." Duanmucui didn't know how to comfort him.

Zhan Zhao smiled: "Actually, it's nothing, it's just that sometimes, I feel a little bit emotional."

"Zhan Zhao, if..." Duanmucui said hesitantly, "I mean, if we are a family, what would it be like?"

"If we are a family..." Zhan Zhao's hands stopped slowly, and he smiled and looked at Duanmucui, "I'm afraid I will use up all my life's blessings."

"you are not willing?"

"I'm just afraid that my luck is not enough."

Duanmucui was stunned, looking at Zhan Zhao, tears slowly streaming down her face.

"Why are you crying again?" Zhan Zhao raised his hand to wipe her tears, "It's not good if the tears get on the wound."

"I want to be a family with you, Zhan Zhao, will you marry me?"

"Marry."

"Marry after using up your luck?"

"Marry."

"No cheating?"

"One family, don't talk about two families."

With tears in her eyes, Duanmucui laughed out loud, stretched out her arms to hug Zhan Zhao, and whispered in his ear: "Zhan Zhao, I will definitely marry you, no one can stop me."

Unable to fall asleep anyway, Duanmucui got up to help Zhan Zhao fold his clothes.

(End of this chapter)