Chapter29：

The anthropomorphic figure rode the horse given by the innkeeper and left with a small piece of silver.

 He traveled far in the desert and Gobi. The setting sun refracted on the virtual figure, stretching a shadow that grew farther and farther away.

 The sky gradually darkened, but the innkeeper and the waiter had seen him off for a long distance. Looking ahead, the virtual figure had already caught sight of a city.

 The virtual figure had no emotions, but the viewers in the live broadcast room felt a sense of loss.

[The beautiful line given at the check-in point should be a kind of question, a question from Chinese civilization. Seeing this line is like seeing that landscape, and seeing that landscape immediately brings this line to mind.]

[I can't put my current feelings into words. I feel a little sad, yet can't hide my shock. It's not just because of the landscape I saw, but also something indescribable.]

[He's leaving just like that, riding a horse out of the desert, with that piece of silver metal as his reward for his time at the inn.]

[I'm a bit reluctant to part with the landlady and the waiter brother. Sob, it feels like I'm the virtual figure myself.]

[Having walked out of the desperate desert, what will the virtual figure encounter next? I'm getting more and more looking forward to it.]

 The virtual figure, alone with his horse, finally entered the city before the city gate closed at dark.

 It wasn't a city familiar to interstellar viewers. Judging from the current technological means and infrastructure level, the city wasn't large, but it exuded a majestic momentum, with the coldness of the borderlands.

 The people here, having endured hardships and sandstorms for a long time, always wrapped their heads or faces, rarely exposing their skin. Even the exposed skin was sallow, dark, rough and chafing.

 The virtual figure led his horse into the city. This wasn't his home, and there was no familiar desert inn. He had food in his bundle and space button, but that couldn't cover his expenses here.

 Staying at an inn cost money, and feeding the horse cost even more.

 The virtual figure only had a small piece of silver and some scattered copper coins, which wouldn't last long.

 Although he didn't plan to stay here for long, traveling always required expenses, and he had no idea how long it would take to reach the next place.

 The waiter brother told him that outside the desert, the nearest place was Yumen Pass, and from Yumen Pass, one had to travel a long, long way through Gobi, sandbanks, barren hills, with no sign of human habitation.

 The virtual figure led his horse into the city, but he had no swords for self-defense, was a mute, and didn't look like a Western Regions person, which made the guards at the city gate tut-tut in wonder.

 He had learned some characters at the inn and saw a notice from the Yumen Pass government: conscripting corvée labor to build city walls, with food provided.

 The virtual figure went to build the city walls. He had to support his horse. Those who came to build the walls included local civilians and soldiers.

 The virtual figure met a young man named Shang. Shang was twenty-one years old, had just joined the army, and had come to this bitter and cold borderland from the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River.

 Shang liked the virtual figure's horse very much and didn't dislike him for being a mute. Although life now was far worse than in his hometown, he didn't complain often.

 Most of the soldiers in the army were old hands. Stationed in the northern border, their eyes had lost their brightness. As a new soldier, Shang couldn't find anyone to talk to, so he talked to the virtual figure endlessly.

 "Mute, I miss my mother and my elder sister. At this time, the weather in the south of the Yangtze River is just right. If you get a chance, you must go and have a look."

 "In our south of the Yangtze River, there are the most beautiful women, the finest silk, the most charming misty rain, the best boats, and the most beautiful scenery."

 "In previous years, at this time, my mother, elder sister, and I would go boating on the lake. The scenery on the lake is wonderful. There are lotus flowers—those in bud are beautiful, those in bloom are beautiful too. Even after they wither, there are lotus roots left, which are delicious."

 "Sigh, since coming to Yumen Pass, I've never eaten lotus seeds and roots from my hometown again."

 Soldier Shang often chattered to the virtual figure.

 After all, he was a mute.

 Everyone knew that a mute couldn't speak.

 If he mentioned his hometown and his little obsessions to his comrades, as a new recruit, Shang was more afraid of being laughed at by the veterans.

 Talking secrets to a mute was the safest. Besides, a mute who came to work hard building walls—could he even write?

 The virtual figure's body was much stronger than these soldiers. He was from the future, and people born in the interstellar future had their genes improved from the embryonic stage. He was strong and hardworking, which was appreciated by these soldiers.

 It was a pity that he was a mute.

 Shang's military pay wasn't high, but he had no bad habits. He often stroked the virtual figure's horse, as if seeing his own horse through it.

 Mute, what's your horse's name?"

 The virtual figure didn't speak, and Shang continued.

 "Let me think. Wu Zhui, Chi Tu, De Lu, Jue Ying. How about these? They are all names of precious horses." Shang was full of interest, but the virtual figure was indifferent.

 "Choose one?" Shang pushed the virtual figure's shoulder.

 "You mute, really. Forget it, I'll think again."

 "Come on, I'll get some more hay for the horse later." Shang didn't drink or eat much meat, but he often paid out of his own pocket to buy a handful of hay for the virtual figure's horse, not too much, not too little.

 They continued making mud bricks and building the city wall in the biting cold wind, which made the viewers in the live broadcast room sigh.

[It's so hard, but it seems that the productivity of the current era is quite backward. Why didn't Zhao create a more advanced one?]

[This man named Shang is a bit like the inn's waiter, he loves talking, but they are different.]

 [From the desert to this city, it's so desolate. Was the whole era like this?]

 [Wu Zhui, Chi Tu—do these names the man came up with have any special meanings? They sound nice.]

 On this day, the virtual figure was still diligently building the city wall when he heard the mournful sound of the Qiang flute.

 There were wild geese circling in the sky. Amid the sorrowful notes of the Qiang flute, the weather in the borderland changed suddenly. In an instant, the north wind howled.

 The north wind swept across the land, roaring fiercely. The violent wind broke the already sparse withered grass on the ground. Clearly, it wasn't winter yet, but the world was hazy, and in the howling wind, snowflakes fell one after another.

 In that moment, white snowflakes fell like flowers, as if the spring breeze had come overnight, and pear blossoms in thousands of trees and clusters were falling.

 The north wind danced wildly, and pear blossoms bloomed!

 The virtual figure stared blankly at this scene. He had seen moonlight like snow in the desert, but now, the snow was like spring pear blossoms.

 The sudden change in weather made the civilians and soldiers building the wall stop work one after another. No one noticed that the virtual figure picked up a strange object and pressed a button towards the scene in front of him.

 The frame froze, and another poem about the scene appeared in front of the viewers in the live broadcast room.

 The north wind rolls the ground, breaking the white grass; in the Hu sky, snow falls as early as the eighth month.

Suddenly, it's as if the spring breeze came overnight, and thousands of trees are covered with blooming pear blossoms.

 The wind was still blowing, and the snow was still falling, but the virtual figure was not afraid of the wind and snow, lingering on the scene before him.

 [Hurry up and write it down. Did you all write down the previous lines? Who can send me a copy? Such exquisite words.]

[How many are there? I remember there were two in the desert, and now another one, that's three. I wonder if there will be a chance to see such landscapes in the stars in the future.]

[Four, right? Did you forget the one Zhao said in the previous live broadcast, about the leaf boat: "Riding a small boat like a leaf, holding a gourd cup to toast each other. We are like mayflies in the world, tiny as a grain of sand in the vast sea."]

[!!! Did you memorize it? I think it's so hard to read. Amazing!]

 After this snowy day, the snow in Yumen Pass melted the next day, but the weather was obviously colder.

 But the virtual figure felt that the atmosphere in the city had changed significantly. For some reason, the speed of building the city wall was required to be speeded up), and the construction of the defense works was already nearing the end.

 Soldier Shang came to talk to the virtual figure.

 "Mute, if you want to leave, go quickly while it's not too cold, go to the south of the Yangtze River."

 "I think there's going to be a war."

 "It's getting cold. I heard from the old soldiers in the army that those bastards are going to come and plunder the city's food and grass again."

 "If you're going to the south of the Yangtze River, please take a letter home to comfort my elder sister and mother."

 The virtual figure didn't know where the south of the Yangtze River was, but since Shang said so, and the city wall had been built, he could go to the south of the Yangtze River.

 A few more days passed, and sure enough, the atmosphere in the whole city became more and more tense. The construction of the city wall was completed, and Shang brought a letter to the virtual figure.

 "Mute, this is my military pay and the letter. I'm entrusting them all to you. You must hand them to my mother and elder sister yourself."

 Although they had known each other for a short time, Shang already trusted the mute's character very much.

 The virtual figure took the things Shang gave him, led his horse, carried his bundle, and prepared to hit the road again.

 However, before leaving, he pointed to the horse beside him.

 Shang had been with the virtual figure for a long time and could understand his meaning from his gestures.

 "Mute, what's wrong? The horse? There's nothing wrong with the horse." Shang stroked the horse's mane, reluctant to part.

 The virtual figure pointed to him, then to himself. Shang thought for a while.

 "The horse's name?"

 "Are you asking me to name the horse?"

 The virtual figure nodded. A smile appeared on Shang's dark face. At this time, snowflakes were floating in the sky. Shang stretched out his hand to catch a falling snowflake, which melted instantly in his palm.

 He said, "Let's call it Snowflake."

 The virtual figure agreed, put Shang's things in the deepest part of his bundle, then turned over and mounted the horse.

 The virtual figure left on the second snowfall in Yumen Pass. When he walked out of the city gate, he heard the whimpering sound of the Qiang flute coming from somewhere.

 On the seventh day after the virtual figure left Yumen Pass, the sound of bugles rang out. 

The bugle sound resounded through the sky. Every household in Yumen Pass closed their doors. The surging enemy army charged towards the city wall like a thick black cloud. The dust raised by the horses' hooves covered the sky, and the sound of wind and cranes seemed to destroy the city.

 But golden light broke through the clouds, shining on the armor of the defending soldiers, reflecting the light like golden fish scales, glittering and dazzling.

 The virtual figure couldn't see this scene, but a card had already taken shape.

 Black clouds press down on the city, as if it is about to collapse; the light of armor faces the sun, like golden scales unfolding.