I once visited a place where the winter was always very cold.
It was winter when I got there, and the snow fell on the ground intermittently. The old snow was not willing to melt, and the new snow covered it. They were layered together, drowning out all the sounds that did not belong to this season.
In the midst of the pure white, stands a small wooden house. Behind the wooden house is a vast forest. There is not a single leaf, only tall and sharp black tree trunks like huge thorns. They are very tall, I don’t know how many times it is higher than the small house.
Come, make it look smaller. The black tree tops
Pointing straight to the sky, there are only snow-white clouds moving slowly in the sky. The sky itself is also white, and the boundaries with the clouds are only vague outlines. Together with the lifeless woods and the simple and plain house, the scene in front of you is like
It's like scribbling on white paper with a black pen.
There were some white animal bones around. I don't know if they were thrown out of the house or leftover after being eaten by jackals. They were all in pieces, but they were all clean and there was no trace of red. Most of them were buried in the snow.
I walked into the painting and approached the house outlined with lines. This house was not considered dilapidated.
But it looks very old. There is air leakage in many places in the house, and the snow on it seems to crush it at any time. White smoke is rising from the chimney, which is so thin that it is invisible. Birds chirping can be heard in the house, but how is that possible?
?The door was unlocked. When I walked in and took a look, I found that the kettle was just about to boil and was making a hissing sound.
The furnishings in the room are very simple: a set of old tables and chairs, a bed with a thin mattress, a large cabinet, a simple stove, and a stove. Next to the stove is a cracked wooden pile cutting board, with neatly placed food on it.
He had a rolling pin, a sharp knife, and two pairs of bowls and chopsticks. Dry firewood was piled directly in the corner.
Fire. There were no other walls in the house to serve as partitions. Everything was packed into this square, twenty-square square shape. There was a woman waiting for the water to boil by the stove. When she saw me coming in, she just raised her head and looked at it lightly.
I glanced at her face and saw nothing but numbness.
She is a very young woman, and her beauty can be seen even without dressing up. In such a cold winter, she wears three layers of clothing, each layer is too thin and as light as herself. The first layer is
The cotton and linen underclothes were a little dirty, and they were probably washed rarely - maybe there was nothing to change into. The second layer was the coat, and the third layer was just a blanket, maybe made of wool. It looked like
It's the warmest place to go.
The woman was not surprised by my arrival. She poured the boiled water into a bowl, just one bowl, and pushed it in front of me. Then, she slowly poured the hot water into a wooden basin beside the bed.
There is already less than half of the water. Since it is not steaming, it should be cold water. The girl rolled up her sleeves, poured the pot into the basin with one hand, and fiddled with it with the other hand.
, trying the temperature. There are some scars on her bare arms. I can’t tell where they came from. They may be scratches from thorns or burns from charcoal fire. If she is the only one living here, she must have done it accidentally.
Her limbs were pale and slender, as if she had not seen the sun all day long. Pulling her out and standing on the snow, she might blend into the snowy scene.
After testing the temperature, she pulled out an arm from the unfolded quilt and wiped it with a soaked handkerchief. It turned out that there was another person lying on the bed, and it seemed that he could not move on his own. The hand was also very pale, and even darker than the girl's.
He was white, even to the point of being gray. But judging from the condition of his skin, there were no wrinkles or marks, so he was probably a young man. I didn’t drink water, I just walked to the side and watched the woman carefully cleansing the man’s body.
.
"He's sick," she said proactively before I asked, "very sick."
"What kind of disease is it?"
So I asked her, but she didn't look at me and continued busy with her hands. After wiping one arm, she opened the quilt, pulled the man to sit up, and wiped the other hand. I saw that
An equally young man. His hair is medium-long and smooth.
, it should be because someone takes care of him every day, or it may be because he does not move around while lying on the bed. His face does not look dirty, but the girl still wipes it clean for him. He closes his eyes tightly, his eyelashes are thick and long,
He can be called a handsome man.
"A disease that cannot speak or move."
She just said that.
I stopped disturbing her, returned to the table, and drank some water. In this weather, even in a room with closed doors and windows, the hot water cooled quickly. I just kept waiting until she finished all the work.
Work. Fortunately, the man's body cannot be called strong. It may be related to being sick in bed, or he may be born so thin, so it is not so laborious for the woman to wipe herself up. I am not always there
It would be rude to look at them, so my eyes wandered around the room. It was really too empty here. Except for the table and chairs beside the stove, the other half of the house was empty, as if a space was deliberately created.
.There are some brown marks on the ground. I don’t know what kind of dirt they are, but they can’t be wiped off. They must be very poor, and they may have pawned their previous things.
The woman finished her work and poured the water into a larger bucket. It is not easy to get water in winter, so it should be reserved for other things. She slowly moved to the table and sat opposite me, leaning on the other side of the bed. She
His eyes were dull, not looking at me, but staring blankly away. His sight seemed to penetrate the wall and project onto the pale snow-colored sky and earth.
"You are also here to find the treasure."
Her voice was soft but firm. I shook my head and said, no. Then she looked at me, but her expression was still very numb. She stared at my eyes for a while, and then slowly looked away.
"I don't believe it. The people who come here all want to go through the woods behind the house to find the legendary treasure."
"I've heard this rumor." I told her sincerely, "Are you talking about a magic weapon left behind by the evil god of the South a thousand years ago? But I'm not here to find it."
"Then what are you doing here? Well... you are alone, and it really doesn't look like you are here to risk your life. But there is nothing here, it is deserted. No one has ever made a conclusion whether the legend is true or false. People gather in groups
If a man comes here, he will chase me and ask questions. If a man comes, he will always think of being frivolous with me."
She spoke calmly, her tone neither sad nor happy, which made people feel distressed.
"...You only have two people living here?"
"As you can see."
"I heard that less than ten years ago, there was a village here. But when I arrived here, the other houses may have been demolished and the traces were buried under the snow. I only saw your family."
"Well, it's because it's haunted or something. Ever since rumors spread that there are magic weapons in this area, every house has been uneasy. It's like being cursed. From house to house, some people are seriously injured, some are sick, and some even die unexpectedly.
They couldn't bear it, so they moved away one by one. We had no place to go, so we stayed here. As you saw... we were not spared."
I nodded and glanced at the person on the bed. He was lying there quietly, and it was not so easy to notice in the low light. But after I knew there was someone there, I could easily spot that pale and peaceful face. He seemed to
Just like a faint smile, it makes people feel comfortable, but leaves the suffering to others.
"He is yours..."
"My brother." She paused, "Although we are only less than a quarter of an hour apart in age, he has always taken care of me like a father. He can be regarded as the backbone of the family."
"You two's father..."
"Our biological father passed away before we were born. The idea of being destitute is not new anywhere. You know that this village is remote, and you can't expect my brother to take me... He knows that someone always wants to occupy our house and take us away.
After driving him out, he set up many traps around the house in advance. If anyone really broke in, he would fight others with a knife. Don’t look at how we all
Small, children are the most desperate when they are violent. Those people suffered a loss and went back with a broken head. They did not dare to say what caused the trouble, but people knew it. As time went by, there was no
People dare to provoke us again...but we are still not welcome. It doesn't matter, I originally thought that as long as we live together until we slowly grow old and die, that's not bad."
"But the 'curse' happened?"
"But the 'curse' happened. I originally hoped that even if it happened to us, I would be the best to choose. In this way, I would not have to hold him back. But he beat me and forbade me from saying stupid things -
-He has never hit me before, so I am afraid
, let’s not talk about it anymore. When my mother was still alive, he swore to us in front of my father’s grave that he would treat me well and protect me all his life and would never do anything to hurt me. Probably because of breaking his promise, my father
Angry...who knows."
I asked: "You didn't think about leaving this village - when the mutation first started? It was because you didn't have money..."
"If you don't have money, let it be that way." The woman said lightly, "The main reason is that I have nowhere to go. It's the same everywhere. Think about it, two children have no place no matter where they go, so they might as well stay
I am now in a stable position. I will be stuck in this position for almost the rest of my life..."
I was silent for a while, not wanting to say anything further. I think many people who are as busy as me must have asked about similar topics before, and she must have said it many times without getting tired of it. After that, I asked the last question.
"What's your name, please?"
"Tao Zhu." She raised her finger and pointed to the bed, "His name is Tao Ji."
I stopped talking and didn't know what else to say. I looked at the bottomed water in the bowl. There were some black and small impurities in it. This was the reason why I didn't drink it completely. After all, she poured the water directly into it.
, but I have never washed the dishes. But having said that, it is better not to waste precious water in such a place. How dirty can the commonly used bowls be.
"I told you that you are young and old, but you have been asking for a long time, but you still haven't told me what you are here for. If you are not here to hunt for treasures, what else can you find in this place where birds don't lay eggs?"
"I'm coming to find you."
Miss Tao Zhu said so, so I told her. After hearing the answer, she opened her eyes wide and looked surprised as I expected. At that moment, the numbness was dispelled, but there was no joy.
.
"What do you want from me?" she asked.
"I'm here to take you away," I told them, "to take you to a place where you can be cured. I'm not proficient in medical skills, but I can lead you and your brother to find a reliable doctor. You can..."
"I won't leave." She suddenly turned cold, "I don't believe you. Besides, I know that my brother's illness cannot be cured."
"There are ways. If you are sick, find someone to heal you. If you are possessed by evil spirits, find someone to exorcise the devil. I will help you."
"Impossible, you just want to lie to me just like them!"
Tao Zhu suddenly became angry. The moment she stood up, the stool hit the ground and made a loud noise. She continued to shout:
"People like you just want to trick me into leaving, trick me into selling myself, and separate me from my brother!"
"...I won't do that."
But no matter what I did, what I said, or how I tried to appease her, she refused and would only act like she wanted to drive away the guest.
