At dusk, the sunset dragged Lang Junxia's figure very long, and the setting sun threw a little light from outside the wall, like a beacon outside the frontier dyed on blue bricks.

"Lang Junxia! Lang Junxia--!" Duan Ling rushed through the corridor, ran to Lang Junxia, ​​and shouted, "My father is back!"

Lang Junxia smiled slightly, turned to Duan Ling, and nodded.

"He..." Duan Ling was so angry that he was out of breath and stood up and gasped.

"I understand." Lang Junxia said.

"But he said his surname was Li, and I was also Li, and his name was not Duan Sheng." Duan Ling frowned.

Lang Junxia said: "You have grown up, Duan Ling."

Duan Ling looked at Lang Junxia for no reason, and Lang Junxia said, "I'm going out to do something tonight."

Duan Ling said: "Didn't you just come back? You're going out again?"

Lang Junxia did not explain, but just stretched out his hand. Duan Ling walked towards him with a confused look on his face. Lang Junxia hugged Duan Ling in front of him.

"This is very good." Lang Junxia said.

He hugged Duan Ling, then separated from him, asked him to stand up, lifted up his robe, and knelt on his knees in front of Duan Ling.

"Oh!" Duan Ling hurriedly stepped forward to support him, but Lang Junxia signaled him not to move and bowed.

"Just leave here." Lang Junxia said.

"Wait a minute!" Duan Ling realized something and said, "Are you leaving? Where are you going? Dad! Dad!"

"Yes." Lang Junxia knelt on the ground, raised his head, held Duan Ling's hand, and stared at him, "I went to Runan to find you. Fortunately, I have not been humiliated. Now that you and your father and son are reunited, my mission has been completed, and the matter of going to Beijing can come to an end."

"You... don't leave! You promised to accompany me, right?"

"Maybe, we will see you again from a year or two, or as many as several months," said Lang Junxia, ​​"But you have a palace... and your father takes care of you. Even if you want thousands of miles of the Central Plains, he can give you it. I have...I have more important things to do."

"Don't leave, Lang Junxia!" Duan Ling's eyes suddenly turned red, but Lang Junxia had already smiled and stood up.

"Duan Ling." Lang Junxia said, "I am just a passerby in your life. From now on, you must listen to your father. If there is someone in this world who will treat you wholeheartedly and never deceive you. When you encounter danger, you will come to save you regardless of your life. Do your best to plan for you in everything, and there will be no one else except him."

Duan Ling held Lang Junxia's hand tightly and pulled him into the room, saying, "No! No! You can explain where you are going first, how many days will you come back!"

Lang Junxia was like a mountain, motionless, but Li Jianhong's voice sounded behind the two of them.

"Dad sent him to investigate something." Li Jianhong said: "If this matter is not investigated clearly, Dad will not be at ease for a day."

Lang Junxia was hurriedly about to kneel on one knee again, and Li Jianhong made a gesture to indicate that there was no need to be too polite.

Duan Ling felt very uncomfortable, and Lang Junxia said seriously: "Duan Ling, be obedient, I will come back."

Duan Ling had no choice but to slowly let go of his hand.

"After returning to the south, there is no need to mention me again." Li Jianhong said again.

"Yes." Lang Junxia replied.

Duan Ling had something to say, but he didn't know how to say it. Li Jianhong said, "Let's go now, while the city gate is not closed."

Lang Junxia bowed and said, "I will leave."

"Can't you leave tomorrow?" Duan Ling said blankly, but Lang Junxia had already raised a gust of wind and disappeared at the end of the corridor.

"Wait!" Duan Ling said: "I'll bring you some..."

Duan Ling turned his head and went in, busy, trying to pack up Lang Junxia, ​​but he heard a sound of horse hooves. Lang Junxia actually left when he said that. Duan Ling ran out with the bag that had been tidied up for Lang Junxia, ​​and his robe fluttered in the spring night wind.

Duan Ling had not yet reacted, and Lang Junxia just left. Everything today came too suddenly. It was much more than everything he had accepted in the past five years. He chased behind and shouted in panic: "Lang Junxia! Lang Junxia!"

There was no longer the figure of Lang Junxia in the distance, Duan Ling stared blankly. Li Jianhong came, but Lang Junxia left, just like the sun and the moon were flying, the tide was rising and falling, everything came so suddenly.

Li Jianhong brows deeply, looking at Duan Ling and wanted to hug him, but Duan Ling was extremely sad. He just stood up and gasped, his face turned red and almost cried. Li Jianhong could handle anything, but he could not handle his son's tears, and he was immediately in a hurry and didn't know what to do.

"Dad really has something to let him do..." Li Jianhong said confusedly: "How many days later? Forget it..."

"No need." Duan Ling choked while wiping his tears: "I understand."

"Don't cry." Li Jianhong said: "Your tears made my father's head hurt in pain."

Duan Ling was immediately amused and crying, so Li Jianhong picked him up and took him home.

At the end, Duan Ling was depressed, so Li Jianhong had to try to coax him and talk to him. After a while, Duan Ling's mind slowly disintegrated - because during dinner, Li Jianhong promised him that after finishing the matter, he would ask Lang Junxia to come back and serve him specifically.

Duan Ling asked: "Really?"

Li Jianhong said: "If you want it, you will naturally have the final say."

Duan Ling always felt something was wrong, as if the word "serving" was too heavy, and he should not have such a relationship with Lang Junxia.

Duan Ling was used to the domineering behavior of the noble families in the house. They had one or more servants for them to call around. Although Lang Junxia said that he was a "resident", their relationship was different from those people after all.

"Although I asked him to pick you up and take care of you," Li Jianhong said, "but I don't want to see my son become a little Lang Junxia."

Duan Ling said: "Lang Junxia is a very good person."

"Yeah." Li Jianhong said carelessly, "A very good person, except for the repeated times, he almost put your father and my white knife into the red knife, in general, it is still good."

Duan Ling: "..."

"In addition to him, you will also know many people in your life." Li Jianhong said, "You must learn how to distinguish. Others' intentions to you are sincere or flattering."

Duan Ling replied: "I don't understand, but I know he is sincere."

"Look at a person's eyes." Li Jianhong replied, "People who have made true friends with you often talk to you without thinking. They always reveal their nature before you and have no scheming."

"When you know someone, you can't just look at the present." Li Jianhong said, "He has a past and a life experience."

Duan Ling said: "But Fuzi said that family background cannot determine anything."

Li Jianhong said: "It's not family background. No matter whether a hero comes from a family background, it's family background. It's your life background. What kind of person is your friend, half of his life background."

When Duan Ling was told this by Li Jianhong, he suddenly remembered what kind of person Lang Junxia was like before and had never told him. Duan Ling often asked him, but Lang Junxia was tight-lipped and never mentioned it.

"But Lang Junxia treats me very well." Duan Ling said at the end, "his life experience should not be bad either. He is...well, to me, a good person."

Although it was very sad to leave Lang Junxia, ​​he quickly got used to Li Jianhong's arrival. In the past, Lang Junxia only asked him to study and take care of his daily life and diet, but never taught others how to be human, but Li Jianhong said too much. During dinner, he said to Duan Ling that he should not speak when chewing food in his mouth, swallow it before talking; when asked Duan Ling, he would patiently answer any questions, and remembered them from the beginning, and said from the beginning, and would not use the sentence "Don't ask, you will understand in the future" to block his questions.

After dinner, Li Jianhong replaced Lang Junxia's position, sat by the well to draw water and wash dishes, and also washed Duan Ling's clothes, as if it was natural and natural. Duan Ling rested for a while and made tea for Li Jianhong. Suddenly, he thought that he might need to take a bath, so he took soapberry and other items, took out the new robe that Lang Junxia had never worn, and waited for Li Jianhong to go to the bathhouse together.

The lights were all night in the bathhouse in Beijing. It was inconvenient to take a bath in winter. Lang Junxia often brought Duan Ling here, including dried fruits, sweet fermented rice wine, and a storytelling downstairs. Duan Ling was familiar with the road, took Li Jianhong's hand and walked into the bathhouse. He tiptoed to count silver in front of the counter and ordered the bath scrubber. Li Jianhong just looked behind him, with a smile in his eyes.

Li Jianhong looked up at the brightly lit hall and said, "Dad, don't ask anyone to come in if you don't scrub your bath."

Duan Ling thought that maybe Li Jianhong was unacceptable to people serving him, so he wanted to scrub him by himself. When Li Jianhong untied his clothes and showed his naked body, Duan Ling was shocked.

His body was covered with scars, scars and arrows, there was a horizontal sword mark on his strong abdominal muscles, an arrow scar on his chest, and a small burn mark on his broad back.

Li Jianhong let out a sigh and lay in the warm water pool. There were only two of them in the pool. Duan Ling held a coarse cloth towel and didn't know how to start. However, Li Jianhong said: "Dad often fights with people, so my son doesn't have to be afraid."

"How did you get this?" Duan Ling asked.

Duan Ling put his hand under Li Jianhong's ribs, and Li Jianhong said: "This knife was left by the assassination of Na Yantuo."

"Who is Yantuo?" Duan Ling asked.

"It is said that he is the number one swordsman in the Western Regions, but now he is just a dead person." Li Jianhong said carelessly, "If you change one sword, he stabs me in the ribs and I stab him in the throat, it's fair."

Duan Ling asked: "What about here?"

Li Jianhong turned sideways and said, "Dad is in close contact with the Yuan people under the Jade Bi Pass. Zhebo shot through my armor with an arrow, leaving this scar."

"Where is Zhebi?" Duan Ling asked again.

"I escaped, I'm still alive." Li Jianhong replied, "But I won't live long. I'm burned by tinder oil. You can do your best to rub it, so you won't be afraid of breaking your skin."

While rubbing Li Jianhong's body, Duan Ling silently counted the scars on his body. Li Jianhong's naked body seemed to have been patched, but it did not make him feel scared at all. It seemed that each scar cooperated with his agile and masculine naked body, which had a different kind of power and beauty.

"Did my son see this?" Li Jianhong turned his face and asked Duan Ling to look at the corner of his eyes. Li Jianhong's nose was high and his nose was very beautiful. His skin color was a healthy bronze color, but there was a not-so-obvious scar at the corner of his eyes, as if he had been hit.

Duan Ling touched the corner of Li Jianhong's eyes and asked, "How did this come about?"

"Your mother did a good thing." Li Jianhong said with a smile, and picked up a piece of crispy cheese from the tea tray placed next to the bathtub, fed it to Duan Ling's mouth, hugged him with one hand, pressed his forehead, and rubbed it hard for a few times.

Duan Ling felt very comfortable, so Li Jianhong hugged him in front of him, soaked them in water, and their skin was pressed against each other.

"Why?" Duan Ling asked.

"Dad asked her to leave, but she didn't want her to leave." Li Jianhong said, "That night she knocked her on her face with the vase from the tent of King Kersu of the Huns, as if she was really cruel. Are you a bit like your mother? You are harmless on weekdays, and you can do anything if you get angry."

Duan Ling: "..."

"What happened later?" Duan Ling asked, "Have you fought back?"

"Of course not." Li Jianhong said, "How can I bear to bear it?"

Li Jianhong sighed and hugged Duan Ling, as if he was holding his entire world in his arms.

"Have my son seen her?" Li Jianhong asked.

"No." Duan Ling turned sideways and laid on Li Jianhong's chest.

After taking a shower, Li Jianhong was wearing a green robe. Lang Junxia's new clothes were still a little smaller when he wore them. The father and son went home in the spring breeze. Li Jianhong carried his son and walked slowly along the bluestone road. Shangjing was like a awakened girl in this bright and late spring, stretching lazily.

The pear blossoms are blooming, shuttled under the moonlight, falling on the empty path.

"Dad." Duan Ling was a little sleepy and lay on Li Jianhong's back.
To be continued...