"Stop bragging." Jiang Yan looked at the girl in front of him up and down, his face full of doubts, "There are many poisonous insects and beasts in this forest. A girl like you is running around alone, aren't you afraid? "
"What poisonous insect and beast? Stop scaring people, little stutterer. I've been in the woods for so many days, and how come I've never encountered one before?" Ning Yue retorted, shaking her red hair, looking unconcerned, "Speaking of which When you come back, you look like you are about the same age as me. Didn't you come into the mountains alone?"
Jiang Yan stretched out his hand and pointed at the short sword on his waist and the bow and arrow on his shoulder: "I am different from you."
"What's different? Don't you have two arms and two legs?"
The girl took a step and circled around Jiang Yan, her big eyes wandering over his body, and suddenly she picked up the wolf skin on the young man's body and laughed:
"Hehe, it's really different. It turns out you have such a thick tail!"
Jiang Yan was dumbfounded by this quirky girl. He quickly turned around and tried to pull the captured wolf tail out of the opponent's palm:
"Stop making trouble now. Where is the person traveling with you now? I will take you to find your family now."
"This - don't worry about your little stutter. No one will worry about me leaving home on this trip, at least my father won't..."
Speaking of her family, the girl's originally bright eyes suddenly dimmed, and there was a hint of melancholy in her eyes. But she quickly hid this change and asked the other party, "Where is the little stutterer? Are you going up the mountain alone?" Come, will anyone worry about you?"
Jiang Yan nodded without hesitation: "Well, if Uncle You knew that I went up the mountain alone to find him, he would definitely sweat it for me..."
"So you came to the mountain to look for someone! This Uncle You is your——"
"He is not my blood relative, he just picked me up from Dankou Beach a few months ago."
"What do you mean I picked you up?" Ning Yue suddenly blinked her eyes, feeling a little strange.
The dark-eyed young man sighed and said: "I'm lucky, I happened to meet Uncle You after being swept to the shore by the waves, and then I finally had to save my life, otherwise I would have frozen to death. Uncle You said that I was I probably encountered a shipwreck, holding a wooden board tightly in my arms, and my body was as cold as a corpse. From that day on, the two of us went south together, and it was not until the end of winter and early spring that we settled down in this forest. Make a living by hunting.”
"But why don't you go back to your own home and come here with a stranger?" the red-haired girl asked again.
Hearing this, Jiang Yan suddenly frowned, as if he was lost in memories of the past. However, it is not difficult to hear from the following words that to him, that past was as thin and pale as a piece of paper: "... After I woke up, I couldn't remember where my home was... and I couldn't remember anything that happened before I was rescued. The only thing I haven't forgotten is my name..."
"Then you——don't you plan to go look for it?"
"Why are you asking so many questions? These things have nothing to do with you!"
I don't know why, but when he talked about the past, the young man's mood suddenly became irritable. He shook his head vigorously like a man possessed, and his voice involuntarily raised a lot, almost stopping drinking.
Ning Yue was startled, and after being stunned for a moment, she lowered her head cautiously: "I'm sorry for stuttering, but I won't ask. You must not be angry. I don't want to see others angry..."
"You just let a rabbit go, so what's the mistake?"
Jiang Yan also realized that his expression had shocked the other party, and he grinned awkwardly, but his smile was extremely ugly.
The boy's embarrassment finally made the girl smile again: "Okay, okay, let's talk about something else. Do you know which state on the mainland this forest belongs to?"
"I heard from Uncle You that this place is located in the west of Wanzhou, close to Wuyun Cape, and is the territory of Ye State. In the deep mountains and old forests, no one usually comes easily. Why do you ask this?"
"In the old days, I once heard that the largest and most prosperous city on the mainland is called Yujing. I even dreamed of seeing it. It's just that Yujing is upstream of the Yushui River in Changzhou. If we are in Wanzhou now , if you take the land route, you have to pass through Wan and Sizhou, and there is a Suoyang Pass in the middle, which is very far."
During the conversation, Jiang Yan couldn't help but admire the unpredictable girl in front of him - although she knew nothing about hunting, wild fruits and other things, she could speak clearly about geography:
"How do you know so many things?"
"Hey, I didn't know it from the book. My father has a very big library with countless scriptures stacked in it. I usually look through it when I have nothing to do and read about things from the past and present. It's better than being stupid at home. Sitting is much more fun. My biggest wish in this life is to see all the beautiful scenery and eat all the delicious food in the world!"
After explaining, the girl knelt down and bowed, then turned around and left, "But since this place is so far away from Yujing, I have to continue on the road quickly. Let's say goodbye to my little stutter. I hope we can see you again in the future."
Before she finished speaking, she warned as if she suddenly remembered something, "Remember, after I leave, you are not allowed to have any ideas about the little rabbit again!"
"Wait a minute, are you planning to walk to Yujing alone like this?"
However, Jiang Yan's face immediately showed deep concern, and he hurriedly spoke to stop him, "Uncle You has always warned me that there are constant disputes among the princes in the world, and banditry is everywhere in the southern states. Even the official roads are not safe. He rashly went alone. What should I do if I encounter an accident on the road?"
Hearing this, Ning Yue suddenly showed a trace of disappointment on her face:
"Does the little stutter mean that I can't go to Yujing? Those princes you mentioned are powerful monkeys. Why have I never seen them in the book? And what are the wars mentioned in the book? Those monkeys Are you going to fight..."
Facing the girl who suddenly fell into confusion, Jiang Yan didn't know how to explain himself. He just waved his hands and said, "I can't explain this for a while. In short, if you really want to go to Yujing, I can come along, it’s always better to have someone to look after each other on the road.”
"Little Stammer, are you willing to accompany me to Yujing? Really?"
"Of course it's true. I don't want to live my whole life in these deep mountains and old forests! Didn't you just say that you want to see all the beautiful scenery and eat all the delicious food in the world? I-I want to go too!"
Although Ning Yue didn't know why the unexpected young man in front of her took the initiative to help her, her blinking eyes still flashed with joy: "Then let's set off now!"
Jiang Yan nodded vigorously, and then suddenly shook his head: "But I can't leave now. It will take some time to do some important things..."
Seeing that the other party was obviously worried, the red-haired girl recalled the previous conversation: "By the way, you said that you went up the mountain alone to find Uncle You?"
"Well, I have to find Uncle You first and say goodbye to him before I can leave. He went into the mountain three days ago, but he has never come back."
"In this case, little Stutterer, you can go to Uncle You with peace of mind. I will stay with you for a while and it won't be too late to leave when you come back." Ning Yue stretched out her hand and gently held the other person's shoulder, comforting her.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Yan shook his head decisively.
The girl didn't know the reason, but she didn't take it seriously: "Isn't it inconvenient? Then you can point me in the direction first, and then catch up with me after I find Uncle You?"
"No, since we are friends, how can I let you continue to run around alone in the mountains?"
The young man immediately rejected her proposal, and after thinking for a moment as if he had some troubles, he said: "Well, there is a creek behind the village where Uncle You and I live, and no one usually passes by. Let's go back from there first. After you settle down at home, I will tell you the reason slowly. But you must hide it at home these few days and not be discovered by others, so as not to get into unnecessary trouble."
"It's so mysterious, what trouble could it cause?" Ning Yue suddenly murmured in her heart, but her curiosity drove her to nod and agree, "Okay, then I will listen to your words and hide away, and you are not allowed to lie. People!"
"It's a puppy that lied to you!" Jiang Yan also patted his chest vigorously with his hands.
Hearing what the other party said, Ning Yue quickly fell into longing for the beauty of Yu Jing again. Her narrowed blue eyes were as curved as the crescent moon, which was really beautiful.
She was so excited that she even grabbed Jiang Yan's hand and hurriedly ran forward:
"Yu Jing, we'll be here soon!"
"The village, the village is not in that direction..."
This was the first time that Jiang Yan was pulled so affectionately by a beautiful girl of the same age, and his face immediately turned crimson. Ning Yue didn't care about this, but instead seemed to deliberately want to see the embarrassed expression on the boy's face. The other person's hand held tighter.
In this way, the two of them walked together in the mountains. After walking for about two or three hours, they saw a few faint wisps of smoke rising over the valley in front of them. When they turned around another mountain col, seven or eight buildings were built in the forest. The simple wooden house in the open space finally appeared in front of me.
Unexpectedly, the young man and girl who were tiptoeing towards the village bumped into several middle-aged peasant women who were washing their clothes by the stream. What was even more strange was that the women did not surround them when they saw the two children. When they came to ask questions, their expressions changed drastically, as if they had seen a ghost. They dropped the half-washed clothes in their hands and turned around in a panic and ran towards the village without even saying a word.
"Tsk, I usually wash clothes in the morning, but today I'm lazy and late! This is really troublesome..."
Jiang Yan frowned and cursed in a low voice, then stopped and stood on the bank of the stream, hesitating and refusing to move forward.
"What's wrong with you? I'm not picky. It doesn't matter if the house is messy, as long as I have a place to sleep!"
Ning Yue looked up at Jiang Yan half-jokingly, but she saw a strange look on the young man's face, like a trapped beast. But before she could ask, a strange sound suddenly sounded on the path beside the stream. The sounds, from far to near:
"Oh, the sun is really out in the west. I couldn't believe it when Aunt Yu and the others came to complain. Didn't you say you were going to the mountains to find Yu Orion, and you said you wouldn't come back if you couldn't find him? Why did you sneak around instead? After going around the village, you brought back a pretty girl? How long have you been in the village, and you dare to break the rules set by the witch?"
The speaker was a man in his early thirties, the third hunter in the village besides Uncle You and Jiang Yan. As the other man spoke, he wiped a pair of hands still stained with blood on the apron around his waist. He stretched out his arms to block the two of them. It seemed that he went out hunting today and came back with a full load, and he was currently skinning and cramping.
"Brother Cui, this girl got lost in the woods and was alone. You know the situation on the mountain better than I do, not to mention that the witch woman also made an exception for me and Uncle You before. I just thought - "
"You just want us to take in one more outsider? But why does it seem to me that you want to hide her back home secretly without telling the whole village?!"
Brother Cui didn't give Jiang Yan any chance to defend himself, and interrupted him sharply, "You can't even count how many pheasants and wild mice you have hunted back in the past half month! You don't even know how much you owe. Why are you still meddling in other people's business?"
Indeed, since entering the village, Brother Cui has left Jiang Yan far behind in his hunting. Although under the guidance of Uncle You, his archery skills have made great progress, but unfortunately he still lacks experience and his luck is always so bad. However, the people in the village seemed unwilling to relax even a little bit of his requirements.
"He hunted a hare today, but I let it run away!"
Ning Yue, who was beside her, was cheerful and straightforward. Seeing that the other party was deliberately trying to embarrass Jiang Yan, she opened her mouth to express her grievances on behalf of her companion. The young man immediately wanted to stop him, but it was already too late.
"What, what? Did you let him go? Oh my, this outsider is really powerful. But having said that, Xiao Nizi is really smart. No wonder this brat got carried away and broke the rules of the village."
From the moment they met, Brother Cui had not looked at Jiang Yan at all, but his eyes had already glanced back and forth at Ning Yue several times. At this time, he laughed maliciously, with a little bit of laughter in it. The lustful meaning made Ning Yue feel numb all over her body, and she raised her eyes and glared at the other party fiercely.
"You young people, are you serious about not letting me worry about it? What kind of trouble will you cause? I am deaf, but I heard that someone deliberately let the prey go, and you shamelessly brought an extra mouth to eat back to the village?"
At that moment, an old and sharp voice sounded from behind Brother Cui, causing him to restrain his impudent expression and step aside respectfully.
The person who came was none other than the witch they had talked about before. She had silver hair on her head, a stooped body, and a rough cane in her hand. Although she walked tremblingly, she was not angry or intimidating.
The old woman glanced sideways at the boy opposite and asked slowly, "What's the matter with that injury on your thigh?"
Jiang Yan hurriedly took a step forward and bowed his hands: "Thank you for your concern, Wu. It's just a flesh wound, it's not in the way. It's just the hare - it's not Yue'er's fault."
"Answer whatever is asked of you, and don't say anything else."
The witch woman suddenly raised her head and glanced at the young man like a knife. Although her tone was still as calm as before, Jiang Yan still felt extremely unhappy from that look.
"You brought this girl back, right?"
"yes……"
"She also let the hare go with her own hands, right?"
"yes……"
"Then what's there to defend? Including you and You Orion, the people living in this village are all poor people who have been displaced in troubled times. We finally found this secluded mountain col and resumed our lives far away.
What do you rely on to live a stable life in the midst of war?"
"It depends on the rules you set."
"Thank you for remembering well! The food used in the village to maintain our livelihood is all given to us by the gods in the mountains. Therefore, we made an oath in front of the gods that we will never be acquainted or familiar with anyone in this life.
Do not trust outsiders to come and go, and do not allow these outsiders to easily step into the mountain. Too many outsiders will disturb the god Qingxiu, make him unhappy, and then bring endless disasters to the village!"
The old woman's tone gradually became more aggressive, "Previously, for the sake of You Orion, I agreed to let you stay with him, which was a bit of a relief. But now you not only can't even catch a decent prey.
They have failed to make any contribution, but they still want us to agree to let an outsider, a person who personally released the prey, enter the village? Is it possible?!"
"Yue'er doesn't stay here for a long time, she just stays for a few nights and then leaves -"
"Not even half an hour! If you break the rules of the village, you will be punished. You two and You Orion, all get out of the village tonight and are never allowed to come back again!"
"My punishment is to never involve Uncle You. This matter has nothing to do with him!"
What Jiang Yan was worried about happened still - the roaring old woman made him realize that he might have harmed his savior because of his impulsiveness. In desperation, he couldn't help but take a step forward, and the knuckles on his fists cracked.
Clicking sound.
At this time, Ning Yue had roughly understood the ins and outs of the matter from the conversation between the two parties, and finally understood why the young man had been so embarrassed about taking her back to the village.
Having been blocked by Ji Yan all the time, she finally couldn't bear it any longer, and actually ducked in front of the boy. She looked apologetically at the pair of dark eyes full of self-blame, anger and depression and said:
"I didn't expect that because of me, you and Uncle You would be affected. Stop begging them in a low voice. Since this old woman wants to drive me away, I will leave! I will wait for you in the woods.
After we found Uncle You, the three of us went to Yujing together, so we didn't want to stay in this wretched place! There are so many elders in the village, they all banded together to bully others by breaking the rules, they really don't have any shame at all!"
The girl's voice echoed in the dusk, sonorous and powerful, and she immediately turned around and started walking out of the village.
"No, it's going to get dark soon. You won't even have enough time to make a fire when you go back to the woods!"
Jiang Yan subconsciously grabbed the girl's hand, but this move made the faces of the witch woman and the villagers become even more ugly. The old woman punched the ground with the crutch in her hand, and actually ordered the villagers to come forward and drive her away.
.
Unexpectedly, Brother Cui suddenly walked up to the witch woman and whispered a few words in her ear. I don’t know what he said. The wrinkles in the corners of the old woman’s eyes and eyebrows gradually relaxed, and her anger turned into happiness. He kept nodding his head, and then spoke again, but the topic changed:
"But - there are exceptions to everything. If you are willing to be the guide for this girl, it is not impossible to keep her."
Brother Cui has always been popular in the village. But Ling Jiangyan did not expect that he could easily convince the stubborn witch woman to change her mind. But now that the old woman has relaxed her words, the young man did not think about it for a moment. Hesitating, Dang even straightened his back and said loudly:
"That's what I do!"
Ning Yue felt that something was fishy, so she tugged on the boy's sleeves to stop her and said, "Little Stammer, don't just agree to their requests! Why should anyone they let go have to go, and whoever they say they want to stay can stay?"
"Hehe, it seems that this girl is unwilling to accept your favor."
Brother Cui laughed maliciously, irritating Jiang Yan to take another step forward, scratching his neck and saying:
"I just said it, I will do it!"
"You have to think carefully. Once you agree to be the introducer, you have made a contract with the gods. There is no turning back."
"Of course I have thought about it. I will go up the mountain tonight. At the same time, I also ask each of you to remember that according to the rules of the village, from now on, I am Yue'er's introducer, and no one is allowed to Make it difficult for her! If someone breaks his word, not only will the gods not agree, but I will never forgive him!"
Jiang Yan seemed to have suffered a lot in the village, and his blood was rising. He raised his hand and pointed at the faces of the villagers, shouting loudly word by word.
The witch woman, Brother Cui and the surrounding villagers could not have imagined that this child, who had no father or mother, and even lost his memory, would actually make such a vow to an outsider who met by chance. The color suddenly drained from his face. Not daring to linger any longer in the young man's angry gaze, they all went back to the house with the witches around them.
Jiang Yan then took the slender wrist of the girl next to him and walked straight towards the simple cabin that belonged to him and You Orion - there were no decorations inside the door, but everything was tidied up. Many Although the things were old and dirty, they were wiped spotless and had nothing to do with filth.
Before entering the door, Ning Yue broke away from the young man's tight grip on her hand and asked: "Little stutterer, tell me honestly, what dangerous thing is that attractor going to do?!"
The boy refused to say a word, but gritted his teeth with a gloomy expression:
"For now, just stay in this house. Although the people in the village are quite hostile to outsiders, they respect the gods in the mountain. As long as I go to the top of the mountain tonight and obey their wishes, everything will be fine tomorrow. You believe me!"
The red-haired girl knew that it would be useless to ask again, so she nodded reluctantly: "I won't ask about that little stutter."
Seeing that the other party's face was pale, Jiang Yan hesitated for a moment before reacting. He quickly relaxed his frown and gave her a still ugly smile:
"The way I looked just now - I didn't mean to scare you. I don't know what's wrong with me, I just feel panicked in my heart, as if there is a fire burning. Since you entered the village, except for Uncle You, you have The second person who sincerely treats me well. He is my savior. You are my only friend in this world. If you are good to me, I will also be good to you!"
At this time, Ning Yue could not fully understand the meaning of the other party's words, but she vaguely felt that it was because of her unintentional arrival that something deeply buried in the bones and blood of the black-eyed young man in front of her came to light again. Awakened.