The winter sun emits a faint heat, reflecting on the Fontaine County on the outskirts of the Black Beast Ridge.
It has been snowing for half a month, and it finally stopped today. There is a thick layer of snow on the ground, and you can see a frozen lake going down from the mountain ridge.
By the lake, there are rows of arrow bamboo forests. After winter, the leaves of the arrow bamboo have fallen off, leaving only a bare bamboo body. At this time, the bamboo body has been frozen into ice edges, and under the sunlight
, folding out a colorful halo.
"Creak--" There were four more lines of skewed footprints on the quiet snow. A little boy wearing a worn-out felt hat was holding a basket and following behind an old man with a stooped back.
The old man looked to be about seventy or eighty years old. He was wearing a thin winter coat that was so torn that the lint was visible, and his dark-green flesh was exposed inside. He walked around the arrow bamboo forest, his muddy old eyes lit up, and he pointed
On the outside of the bamboo forest.
"There are winter bamboo shoots, Erwang, dig them out with my grandpa," the little boy's face was also blue and purple from the cold, and there were two green snot that had frozen into small icicles trailing on his nose.
As soon as he heard that his grandfather had found winter bamboo shoots, Erwang quickly took out the hoe from the basket, and the grandfather and grandson started digging hard around the bamboo forest.
The soil in winter was almost as hard as ice, and Erwang and his grandson had not had a full meal for a while. They worked very slowly. It took them nearly half an hour to dig up a plant as thick as an arm.
Bamboo shoots.
In such severe cold weather, the bamboo shoots had turned brown and black, looking just like a piece of dead wood.
But the eyes of both grandfather and grandson burst out with joy at the same time.
After picking out the bamboo shoots, the old man quickly peeled off the skin of the bamboo shoots, took out a chopping knife, and cut them open with all his strength. The frozen hard bamboo shoots split into two halves.
A plump overwintering stick insect was hidden in the hollow bamboo shoots. Erwang, who had not seen the smell of meat for three or four months, couldn't help but sniff, but was trembling with cold wind that poured into his nose.
.
"If you dig some more, you might be able to find a few stick insects, and you two brothers won't have to go hungry." The old man touched Erwang's hand with a hand as dry as wood.
This year's winter came very early, and the wind and snow were extremely heavy. Nearly nine out of ten barley crops in the county were buried by the snowstorm before they could be harvested.
All the surplus grain that the people had on hand to survive the winter was taxed. Ordinary people like Erwang's family had no coarse wheat for cooking at home.
"Grandpa, when do you think we will have a lord?" Erwang carefully put the winter bamboo shoots into the basket and asked the old man innocently.
"Silly boy, we have a lord. Our young lord, Mr. Yue, is receiving training from the Dragon Rider Battalion in the Ottawa Imperial City. When he becomes a great Dragoon warrior, he will come to the territory," the old man touched him kindly.
Erwang's head and old eyes were looking at the cluster of arrow bamboo forest on the sunny side of the lake.
"But other people in the village said that we don't have a lord. If we had a lord, we wouldn't go hungry. In winter, we would have winter clothes to wear, and we wouldn't be bullied by people from other counties," Erwanggu said
He looked a little discouraged.
For most ordinary people in the imperial fiefdoms, the lord is their heaven and their haven from the wind. Lords from other counties will come to the territory once a year.
The Lord of Fontaine County has not appeared for three years, and some of the new children in the county have never even seen the Lord of Fontaine County.
The old man coughed dryly and wanted to explain.
Suddenly, a whine of animal horns came from the other end of the mountain. The sound was like a galloping war horse, or like a tiger roaring in the mountains. I kept thinking about it next to the empty snowfield and ice lake.
The old man's expression suddenly changed.
On the other side of the mountain, patches of snow and mist suddenly rose up, making a rumbling sound like an avalanche. Dozens of neat beast shadows rushed down the ridge like the wind, accompanied by the sounds of young men and women playing.
One, two, and several tall leopards, shining like snow, emerged from the other side of the mountain. This group of snow leopards have small heads, snow-colored fur, agile hands and sharp claws. Their
The speed was very fast, and in a moment of surprise, the grandfather and grandson had already swooped down from the ridge.
As if they had smelled human scent, the irises of the leopards turned red, and they let out a wheezing sound.
"It's the Snow Leopard from Bailu County, Erwang, hurry up," the old man's voice was urgent and frightened, and he pushed the child.
Soon, the old man gave up the idea of escape. Based on his decades of experience in Fontaine County, the foot strength of ordinary people was not as good as that of a third-level Snow Spirit Leopard.
"Climb up. If you don't hear Grandpa's cry, don't come down." The old man pushed the child, held up the child's buttocks with trembling hands, and sent him up to the Jianzhu.
Children in this area have lived in the bamboo forest environment since they were young, and have all learned to climb trees like squirrels.
Erwang heard his grandfather's almost anxious cry. He was very obedient. His two hemp-like hands hugged the arrow bamboo, which was extremely smooth for ordinary people, and his two feet wrapped around the arrow bamboo, which was not much thicker than his arms.
, sent it upwards, and climbed up the arrow bamboo several feet high in three clicks.
Under the bamboo, you can hear the crunching sound of grandpa stepping on the snow and running towards the lake.
"Grandpa," Erwang called in a low voice.
For a long time, no one responded to him.
The bamboo began to shake. When Erwang looked down, he was so frightened that he almost burst into tears. Several snow leopards several times larger than cats surrounded the arrow bamboo forest and tried to climb up.
After climbing several times, the snow leopards found that they could not climb the arrow bamboo, so they had to walk away with their tails wagging.
Erwang hid for a while and then slipped off the bamboo.
Just after he walked out of the arrow bamboo forest, there was a "swish" sound and a projectile hit his knee.
Awang's feet slipped and he slid all the way to the lake.
"Hey, look what I found. There's a little kid here who's not dead yet. Don't worry about the old one. Let the babies eat this alive one." The speaker was a domineering young man in his mid-teens with a broad forehead.
Mouth, smile is very ugly.
Not far away from him, there were several young men and women wearing fine sable furs, each riding a fourth- or fifth-level mysterious beast mount. The saddles of the mounts were tattooed with the word "white dew".
Erwang looked forward, and his throat suddenly became blocked. His grandfather was "looking" at him not far away.
A large area of blood spread on the ice. Grandpa's body had been split into two halves. The basket with stick insects was scattered aside. Grandpa's eyes were bulging and he was "looking" at himself.
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu" Erwang started to cry, "You killed grandpa. When our young lord comes back, he will not let you go."
"Young lord, haha - kid, there has been no lord in Fontaine County for a long time, and there is still a young lord." The domineering young man raised the beast whip in his hand, intending to whip it at Erwang.
"!" The domineering young man felt a whistling wind behind him. When he realized it, a sharpened bamboo had been inserted into his shoulder. He was suddenly thrown off the horse. The next moment, he was punched.
A heavy punch hit the cochlea.
Boom, a big hole was opened in the surface of the ice lake, and the domineering young man was submerged into the water with his clothes and armor on. The cold and biting water flooded into his nostrils and mouth, making him tremble with cold.
Just when he thought he was going to drown in the water, he was pulled out of the water.
"Ahem, who are you, dare to hit me?" The domineering young man spat out ice water, and what caught his eyes was a masked face.
"My name is Lord," the young man wearing a half-mask raised the corner of his mouth and said evilly.