They were ordered to protect Qi Yuan and should do their best, not to mention that Qi Yuan was a great sage whom they respected.
Now, right under their noses, a child rushed to the sage without saying a word, and even dared to snatch the sage's food.
Fortunately, this child was only robbing food. If he had evil intentions and harmed Qi Yuan, not only would they have no face to go back to find King Wucheng to restore his life, but they would even be implicated in their family due to their inability to protect the sage.
So all the guards were furious and stood up one after another to catch the child.
A few who were far away even drew out their weapons with a snap.
"Do not hurt his life."
When Qi Yuan saw someone taking out a weapon, he was startled and shouted to stop.
I just robbed a roast chicken, so there's no need to use a knife or a gun!
These guys are really violent. What if they really hurt that child?
The child was barefoot and had long hair, and his clothes were ragged, and his face was so dirty that it was hard to tell what his appearance was. As he ran outside, he picked up the roast chicken and crazily stuffed it into his mouth, not caring about the scalding heat on it.
"Boy, stop."
"Where to run?"
Several guards stepped forward to intercept.
I thought it would be easy to catch a child, but I didn't expect that this child looked young and skinny, but his strength was amazing. He knocked them away at once, and even had two bodyguards.
Unsteady, he fell to the ground.
Even Zhao Wu, the strongest among the guards, stretched out his hand to grab the child's arm, but the child struggled to break free from his grasp.
There was just a squeaking sound, and half of the sleeve was torn off. In the blink of an eye, the child disappeared into the darkness and disappeared.
"Um?"
Qi Yuan was startled.
He didn't expect that a child could escape from Zhao Wu's hands.
Zhao Wu was Huang Feihu's trusted general. He had extraordinary martial arts skills and was considered a great general even if he was placed in the army.
I remember that when I was on the road two days ago, I encountered a frightened rhinoceros that was running wildly and trying to topple Qi Yuan's carriage. However, Zhao Wu knocked the rhinoceros out from the side and rolled two or three feet away.
The scene at that time left Qi Yuan stunned.
It is really unbelievable that such a fierce man could be freed from the hands of a child.
Zhao Wu looked at the dirty half of the sleeve in his hand in a daze, then turned around and apologized to Qi Yuan: "Sir, Zhao Wu is incompetent. Not only did he fail to protect you, but he even allowed the little thief to escape. Please punish him."
"
Qi Yuan waved his hand: "It's just a trivial matter, don't worry about it."
As he said that, he turned to look at the village elder and asked somewhat strangely: "Does the village elder know the origin of that child?"
"well."
The village elder sighed and said: "That child is also a poor person. His parents died early and he has been alone since he was a child. In the past, the villagers saw him as pitiful and often gave him food. But later they found that the child was dishonest and was killed.
When a person discovers that he is stealing food from other people's homes, he gradually becomes unpopular with others, and now few people will give him anything to eat."
"Later, when the child saw that no one in the village would give him anything to eat, he went outside to find food by himself. One time I saw him coming back carrying a wolf. I don't know where he picked it up."
The village elder talked nonchalantly, maybe because he was older and spoke slowly, which made people a little anxious.
"That's it."
Qi Yuan nodded: "Then what's so special about this child?"
"Somewhere else?"
The village elder frowned and thought for a while before replying: "Other than being stronger, I don't see any difference."
Seeing that the village elder couldn't say anything else, Qi Yuan changed the subject and asked about things on the road ahead.
There was no words for the whole night. When the cockcrow sounded and a hint of fish belly white gradually appeared in the east, everyone woke up one after another.
Under the attentive service of the guards, Qi Yuan washed his hands and face, rinsed his mouth with soft willow branches dipped in green salt, and then began to move his muscles and bones in preparation for cooking.
Of course, he doesn't need to do these things himself, he just needs to give guidance from the side.
Just when breakfast was about to be cooked, I suddenly heard a noise not far away.
I turned around and saw that it was a group of children in the village who were bullying someone.
"You bastard, I'll beat you to death if I ask you to steal my dates."
"Beat him to see if he dares to steal again."
Qi Yuan frowned and took a closer look, and immediately recognized that the little boy who was bullied by everyone was the child who snatched the roast chicken from him last night.
I saw him holding his head in his hands, not resisting, and letting the children hit him with rocks and sticks. His exposed arms were covered in bruises and bruises, and there were various wounds and scars on them. He looked at him
People feel sad.
"Stop, what are you doing?"
Qi Yuan quickly stopped him.
When the group of children saw an adult coming forward, they immediately dispersed.
Qi Yuan walked forward and came to the child.
Zhao Wu, who was on the side, was a little worried. He quickly waved his hand and followed with a few brothers.
Qi Yuan came closer and looked at the child carefully, and his brows suddenly furrowed even more tightly.
It's early spring now, and the weather has just warmed up a little while ago. It still feels cold in the morning, but the little boy is wearing tattered clothes that obviously don't fit well and can't keep out the cold. He stands barefoot on the ground, without even a pair of straw sandals, and is completely dirty.
It exudes a strange smell.
"well……"
Qi Yuan sighed softly, with infinite compassion in his heart. He untied his robe and gently put it on the little boy to prevent him from freezing.
I don’t know how many crimes this child suffered to become like this.
The child stood there motionless and looked at Qi Yuan calmly, his eyes like dead water without any color.
Qi Yuan looked into his eyes and knew that this was because the child had lived in a gloomy world for a long time and could not see any future, so he had such eyes.
Even if he is about to die, he probably won't let this child blink.
Qi Yuan asked softly: "Child, what is your name?"
The boy didn't answer, still looking at him blankly.
Qi Yuan shook his head, knowing that asking was in vain.
"Are you hungry? I'll take you to eat."
As he said that, he took his dirty little hand and walked back.
The little boy didn't struggle and allowed Qi Yuan to lead him to the front of the tent, staring at the food in the pot that exuded a strong aroma.
Qi Yuan chuckled, reached out and picked up two pancakes, sandwiched some mutton, and as soon as they were handed to the little boy, he snatched them away and ate them hungrily, looking like a starving ghost reincarnated.
"Oh, you kid..."
The guard on the side couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to teach the little boy a lesson to let him know what politeness meant.
In their view, Qi Yuan, as a wise man of his generation, should be respected by people.
Qi Yuan waved his hand, indicating that they didn't need to pay attention. Instead, he filled the little boy with a large bowl of broth and brought it to him: "Here, take a sip of the soup, eat slowly, don't choke."
The little boy would not refuse anything that was edible. He quickly finished the two cakes in his hand, drank the broth in several mouthfuls, and then continued to stare at the food in the pot.
"Well, I'm not full!"
Qi Yuan turned around and brought him two more cakes, but the little boy still snatched them away. After eating them quickly, he still stared at the pot.