This place is remote and deserted. After Pei Hongdu's family was destroyed and everyone was killed, he accidentally discovered it to avoid being hunted. He never thought that others would set foot in it.
The little boy was panic-stricken, but Gu Qingling was extremely calm. She took a step forward and asked in a gentle voice: "Whose child are you? This place is quite remote. Did you get lost and come here?"
"I..." The little boy opened his mouth, his dark eyes kept glancing at the two of them, twirled his clothes with his fingers, gritted his teeth, and stopped talking.
Pei Hongdu had no expression, as he always did to outsiders: "It should be a kid from the town, let's send him back."
Hearing this, the little boy froze, raised his head suddenly, his lower lip trembled, and said sharply: "I don't want it! They will beat me when I go back, and they will beat me to death! You guys, just pretend you didn't notice.
It’s my turn!”
He trembled and turned to run away. Lu Qingling subconsciously raised her hand, and a soft and gentle force slowly stopped him.
"Don't run away. Did you say that your family beat you? Then we won't send you back. But you have to tell me the truth, where are you from and why are you here? Are the injuries on your body also caused by family members?
”
"...I escaped from Heshan Town. My mother and father separated, so I followed my father, but he drank and gambled all day long, and would beat me when I woke up. All the things my mother left behind were pawned, and he also
They wanted to sell me to a mountain picker as a laborer. I ran away and I want to find my mother!"
As he spoke, the little boy's eyes were red, and tears rolled down his cheeks, wetting his clothes.
Heshan Town is not very close to here. I am afraid that this child ran around day and night for a long time before he accidentally broke into this place.
Gu Qingling suddenly felt soft, squatted down, took out a white and soft handkerchief, and slowly wiped the dirt on his face: "Do you know where your mother is?"
"I know! It's in Zhaojiazhuang!"
Hearing this place name, Gu Qingling's eyes widened slightly.
It was at this moment that she suddenly remembered why the name Heshan always seemed familiar!
When she was a child, the couple who picked her up belonged to Zhaojiazhuang. And Heshan is a mountain near Zhaojiazhuang.
So that’s it, that’s it. After going round and round, she actually came back here again.
For a moment, Gu Qingling was filled with thoughts, her long eyelashes drooped slightly, and her fingers holding the handkerchief tightened subconsciously.
Suddenly, Pei Hongdu's broad and hot palm gently grasped the back of her hand and helped her wipe away the little boy's tears. He then put away the handkerchief and squeezed her fingers gently, as if to comfort her.
"Let's go to Zhaojiazhuang." He said softly.
Several formation hubs in Heshan have been resolved, and the rest are all near Zhaojiazhuang. This trip is considered a good one.
……
As the sun sets over the Western Mountains, the trail is filled with the afterglow, and a simple carriage moves forward slowly, like an ink dot, smearing and wandering in the golden yellow.
Gu Qingling and Pei Hongdu were sitting side by side in the front of the carriage, while the little boy was curled up in the carriage. He had just eaten something and was lying on the ground drowsily.
"... During the years when you were taken to heaven, I also came here to see you." Pei Hongdu held the reins in his hand, raised his eyes and looked into the distance, his voice was soft and soft.
Strange to say, Zhaojiazhuang used to be considered a land of outstanding people, but since Gu Qingling left, it seems as if the spirit has been drained away. The rivers have decreased, the herbs have died, and many young people have left their homes to seek a way to survive.
As for the family that adopted her, after being taught a lesson by Gu Cangyin, their family situation plummeted and they were regarded as aliens. In the end, they left here in dejection with their tail between their legs.
Gu Qingling hugged her knees and said softly: "Really?"
In fact, she didn't have any trouble in her heart. She was young and immature at the time, and she only knew that although Aunt Zhao always hit and scolded her, she still picked her up and gave her food to eat, and she felt a little grateful and flattering in her heart. She always felt that,
As long as you are obedient and well-behaved enough, you can let Aunt Zhao treat you better.
Looking back now, Aunt Zhao did not pick her up out of kindness.
It was just because a high-ranking official in Zhaojiazhuang returned to his hometown in fine clothes, and distributed money, rice noodles, pork and duck meat to each household, and received them according to the head. Aunt Zhao had her eyes on those things, so she picked them up and got a lot of them.
.
After receiving it, he originally thought of keeping her at home for a few months before throwing her away to prevent the neighbors from gossiping. However, he did not expect that Gu Qingling had been smart since she was a child, and she could tell at a glance that she was a beauty.
Aunt Zhao also had a weird idea. If she raised her up and sold her to a squire at a high price, she would be exchanged for money, cloth, pork and duck meat. Maybe she would enjoy endless glory and wealth for the rest of her life! p>
The Zhao family has never had any love for her. They just regard her as a cash cow and want to knock her bones and suck out her marrow.
By the time Gu Qingling came to her senses, the carriage had already arrived near Zhaojiazhuang.
The little boy poked his head out, his eyes full of joy: "This is it! Great, today at the Zhaojiazhuang market, my mother is selling handkerchiefs, so she will definitely come over. I want to find her."
As he said that, he wanted to get off the carriage, but Pei Hongdu raised his hand and grabbed his collar, saying lazily: "What's the hurry? Wait, we will take you there."
"Oh, okay then." The little boy also knew that they were not bad people, so he sat obediently on the side of the carriage and waited for them.
Pei Hongdu didn't want to attract attention, so he found two curtain hats, one black and one white, raised his hand and put it on Gu Qingling's head, then put on another one himself, and then he led the little boy's hand out of the carriage and walked into the market.<
/p>
Zhaojiazhuang Market can be said to be a gathering of talents from all over, with a large number of people and a lively atmosphere. They walked along the stalls buying handkerchiefs, and the little boy worried about his feet and craned his neck to look all the way, fearing that he would miss his mother.
"I saw it, it's over there! Mother...mother!"
His voice was filled with tears, and he broke away from Gu Qingling's hand, like a fish swimming into the sea, diving into the crowd, and then emerged not far away, and threw himself into the arms of a girl in white.
When mother and son met, they were surprised and hugged each other with tears in their eyes.
Gu Qingling said: "Well, we don't have to go there, right?"
Pei Hongdu said: "No need. It's enough to send him here. That good-for-nothing dad won't come all the way here to look for a little brat."
"That's right. Well... Actually, I also want to ask him if he has been anywhere before. On his body, I sensed a very light aura." Gu Qingling tilted her head and thought: "And this
The aura became even stronger after we returned to Zhaojiazhuang."
Pei Hongdu raised his eyes and saw layers of mountain peaks in the distance, smeared with thick dark blue. That was where several other formation hubs were located, and it was also the birthplace of the spiritual energy in the little boy.
He erected a tomb in the sea of blue flowers. In order to prevent others from intruding, he specially set up a mysterious barrier, which was both protection and hiding.
Ordinary mortals would never find it there anyway. But that touch of aura not only led the little boy to break through the confusion, but also happened to meet them.
Is it really a coincidence?
Gu Qingling is also thinking about this matter.
Another reason why they were willing to take the boy with them was to find out the source of this spiritual energy. However, they did not expect that this spiritual energy actually came from several other formation hubs.
Pei Hongdu asked: "What is the name of that slightly shorter mountain?"
Gu Qingling thought for a moment: "Hmm...ah, I remembered, that mountain is called Suishan Mountain. I heard that the vegetation was lush before, but now it seems that it will soon become a barren mountain. Do you also think that mountain is strange?"
/p>
"Yes. And the remaining two formation pivots are on that mountain. However, the spiritual stone used to activate the formation pivot has cracked. We have to wait a day and a night before we can continue."
While talking, Pei Hongdu took out a palm-sized green spirit stone. This was the "key" to activate the array pivot. Because they activated five array pivots in a row, the spirit stone had been used many times and cracks had appeared, so it could only be used.
Pei Hongdu’s spiritual energy repair.
This spiritual stone was so delicate that it had to be nourished by spiritual energy for twelve hours before it could be restored to its original state. Fortunately, they were not pressed for time and could even be considered generous, so they chose to wait for the spiritual stone to heal itself slowly.
"Okay then! In that case, let's reluctantly visit this market!" Lu Qingling clasped her hands together, patted them lightly, and raised the corners of her lips, like a cat trying to steal honey.
"Okay." Pei Hongdu curled his lips and chuckled. Naturally, he knew that she was now playful, and his look and tone were extremely conniving.
Lu Qingling has always liked these gadgets in the world. After walking a few steps, she came across a stall with several horizontal bars with colorful lines flying on them.
She stared at it for a while without saying anything, then looked away, picked up the delicate and dexterous little clay figurine on the stall next to her, raised her hand and pinched the round and realistic bun, and laughed softly.
"Do you like this?" Pei Hongdu said: "It seems to be a complete set. Just buy them all."
Gu Qingling shook her head, put down the things in her hands, raised her eyebrows, and smiled brightly and playfully: "Mr. Pei, you are so generous. Does that mean you have to buy everything I touch?"
Pei Hongdu nodded and said in a serious tone: "Yes."
Lu Qingling tilted her head and stared at him, suddenly smiled, stretched out her hand to hold his wrist, and then looked at him with a smile, her meaning couldn't be more obvious.
The tips of Pei Hongdu's ears were slightly red, but his face was serious: "It's already yours."
"What are you talking about? I can't hear you." Gu Qingling likes to see his nonchalant look the most, so she comes slightly closer, the thin light reflected in her bright pupils swaying at the tip of Pei Hongdu's heart.
Suddenly, he lifted a layer of gauze in front of Gu Qingling, and passed over her red lips like a dragonfly touching water.
Pei Hongdu slowly exhaled and whispered in her ear: "It's already yours, no need to buy it."
Lu Qingling's cheeks suddenly turned red, her eyes flickered, and the corners of her mouth were slightly raised, as if she couldn't hold back her laughter.
"Why are you still so ungrateful? Okay, okay, I give up. Pei Hongdu, why are your ears red? Is it because you're hot? Come here and have a look..."
Just as she was about to reach out to catch her, a woman in white suddenly emerged from the crowd, with tears in her eyes, holding a little boy tightly in her arms, and said timidly: "Two... Young Master, Miss?" p>
Gu Qingling quickly retracted her hand, coughed slightly, pursed her lower lip, and pretended to be serious: "Ahem, um, what's the matter?"
Seeing her like this, a smile flashed across Pei Hongdu's eyes.
The woman's eyes showed gratitude: "I am Xiaodong's mother, thank you for sending him back! There is no way to repay such a great kindness. I don't have gold or silver with me, so I can only give you these two handkerchiefs.
I hope you don’t dislike it.”
Two delicate and beautiful Hexin leaf handkerchiefs appeared in front of Gu Qingling.
She was a little surprised: "This is a Hexin leaf! According to the rules of you embroiderers, you can only give away one piece in this life."
The embroiderer was slightly surprised: "I didn't expect the young lady to know the customs here... It's true. I see that the appearance of these two talented men and women is a match made in heaven, and this heart-leaf handkerchief is the most suitable."
Gu Qingling hesitated slightly, but it could be seen that the embroiderer's eyes were sincere, so she accepted it and said seriously: "Thank you, girl. In fact, it is not all our fault that you mother and son met. Xiaodong himself also worked very hard to run out.
That town."
Xiaodong huddled in his mother's arms, his fear and anxiety gone. At this moment, he seemed to be the happiest child in the world.
Xiu Niang was still busy with the stall, so she didn't stay much longer, leaving Xiaodong behind to let him take the two of them for a stroll. Gu Qingling and Pei Hongdu also happened to have time to ask him about spiritual energy.
Gu Qingling led Xiaodong while walking, making subtle remarks: "Did you meet any strange people when you ran out? Or saw something strange?"
Xiaodong was confused when asked: "Weird people, strange things? None. I just ran forward, then I tripped over something and fell unconscious. When I woke up, I just recovered.
When I pass by, I will see you two."
It is estimated that during the period when he was unconscious, that spiritual power helped him... But, why?
Gu Qingling once again cast her eyes on the sudden mountain.
Quiet and dark, like the ashes left after something burns out.
There was no inn near Zhaojiazhuang. Fortunately, the embroiderer inherited her parents' house. After hearing about this, she warmly invited them to stay and even cooked an exquisite and sumptuous dinner.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Xiaodong had not eaten hot food for a long time. When he put his chopsticks into his mouth, two lines of tears slowly flowed out. When Xiu Niang saw him like this, the tip of her nose became sore again. She held him in her arms and touched his head tenderly. p>
After dinner, Pei Hongdu and Xiaodong went to the kitchen to clear away the dishes, while Gu Qingling sat side by side with Xiu Niang and listened to her talk about the past few years.
After she got married to Xiaodong's father, the man revealed his true nature at an extremely fast speed, and had no shortage of food, drink, prostitution, and gambling. But she was already pregnant at that time, so she held back in every possible way, hoping that he would change his ways.
But soon, the embroiderer knew that this was impossible. She was completely disheartened, left a letter of divorce, hugged her baby who was just one month old, and fled in the dark of night.
Before she left the town, she was discovered by the man's fair-weather friends. The man was furious and snatched the child without telling her. He also drove her away, saying that unless she handed over fifty taels of silver, he would never take the child back.<
/p>
"My parents died young and I had no brothers or sisters to help me. How could I rob him? So I had to sell everything I could in the house to collect fifteen taels of silver and give it to him, telling him to take good care of the children and treat me well.
Come back when you have enough money left."
Gu Qingling thought to herself: This embroiderer is quite smart. She first gave fifteen taels of silver to hang on. In order to get the remaining thirty-five taels, the man had to take good care of the child no matter what.
However, this wisdom is also full of sadness.
Gu Qingling: "But according to Xiaodong, that person has already planned to sell him to Tiaoshan. I'm afraid he has waited too long for the money?"
The embroiderer smiled bitterly: "Yes... But I didn't expect that Xiaodong would have the courage to escape, and he would just happen to run into you! It's really the mountain god who appeared and protected him!"
"Mountain God...?" Gu Qingling caught this, her eyes flashed slightly: "You mean, the mountain god of Heshan?"
The embroiderer smiled slightly, a little shyly, and revealed a red string on her wrist. At the end of the red string was a red bead the size of a fingernail.
She whispered: "It's not Heshan, it's the mountain god of our sudden mountain."
