The monster on the mountain kidnapped the boy's mother.
Sitting at home, Feng Ma cried about this incident. About a year ago, when he and his mother went up the mountain to cut grass, a monster with a terrifying bull head and protruding eyes attacked them.
He was very scared. In order to protect him, his mother pushed him into the grass and rolled down the hillside. His head hit something on the way and he passed out. When he woke up, he had already returned to the village.
No matter what he said, the villagers did not believe him. They searched the mountains for several days, but did not see his mother or the so-called minotaur.
Feng Ma's father went up the mountain to search for a long time and came back late at night every day. After persisting for a month, he also gave up the search. But Feng Ma did not give up. He learned to write from his grandmother and then wrote a letter in five words.
The price of an egg asked a grandfather who rushed to the city to do business to send it to the Adventurer's Guild for him.
The boiling tea was poured from the charcoal-black kettle spout. The boy held the large kettle in both hands and carefully poured tea for Reina. Reina sat quietly in the house and looked up around her. The wooden house was very simple. The two
room only
There was no kitchen across the door, so they dug a hole in the center of the living room, placed some stones around it to make a bonfire, and then hung the most valuable thing in the house, the big black pot, in the air, with some other things inside.
Great looking meal.
"So your mission is to find that monster or to find your mother."
Reina took a sip of tea. She was not afraid of the heat, but the bitter taste of the tea made her frown slightly.
"Both."
The young man answered truthfully. After he put down the teapot, he took out the clamps, which were two blackened bamboos. He used them to pick up a black stone and placed the teapot on the empty space to heat it. His movements were very skillful.
Reina placed the cup on the ground, put her hands on her thighs, and raised her head to look at Feng Ma.
"It requires a higher price."
She said the boy's second most feared words, and he lowered his head and continued his work, trying to hide the unconfident look on his face.
"How many."
"One hundred dragon coins, converted into guild coins, is about seventeen hundred yuan."
When he heard the price, the boy's face turned bitter, and the muscles in his cheeks tensed up, presumably because he was gritting his teeth to prevent his tears from falling.
He couldn't afford the price, and Reina could tell at a glance that their family had nothing, nothing of value, and nothing decent except for the farm tools and the big pot beside the door.
"I...I can't take it out now, but!"
As he spoke, he choked up and was speechless for a moment. Feng Ma immediately turned around, wiped away his tears, and strode to something like a cabinet, stacked with only two wooden boards.
, he lay on the ground, reached inside, lifted up a small stone brick inside, and then took out a cloth dumpling. After opening it, there was a pile of the most worthless copper coins inside.
"This is the money I have saved, and I will definitely return the rest to you. Please... please believe me."
He held his hands in front of him and knelt on the ground. Reina looked at him with complicated eyes. If she rejected him now, the young man would probably collapse.
Suddenly her ears twitched, and there was a sound of footsteps, and then someone pushed open the half-open wooden door. Reina turned around and saw a farmer with stubble on his face, who was holding a hand.
With a hoe, he pressed one hand on the wooden door and glanced around the house pantingly.
He saw Reina, but immediately focused his attention on Feng Ma.
"Feng Ma! What are you doing at home! Why don't you go to school!"
The man suddenly cursed in a very loud voice, threw away the hoe angrily, picked up the bamboo weaving by the door, and walked towards Feng Ma. Feng Ma immediately raised his head, backed away and shouted: "Dad
!She, she’s here to help us find our mother, the Adventurer’s Guild!”
Before he could finish speaking, his thigh was slapped hard. It hurt so much that he jumped up, but his father grabbed his arm and he couldn't escape.
"Say! Say! How many times have I said it! Your mother is no longer here! You are! Just giving me trouble!"
Feng Ma's father yelled and beat his son. The latter had tears as big as beans in his eyes, but he bit his mouth tightly and made no sound. He just stood there like a piece of wood.
The crisp crackling sound was accompanied by deafening curses. No one liked this environment.
Reina sat aside and frowned slightly.
"Go! Go back to school. Only if you can read can you leave this mountain and go to work in the city. Do you understand that?"
Feng Ma's father also gritted his teeth. His face was red with anger, but he did not continue to beat his son. Instead, he looked at him for a few seconds, and then his face softened. Maybe he had a guilty look on his face at that time. Reina was not sure
.
He bent down, picked up the copper coins on the ground one by one, and put them in his left hand.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Adventurer. I'm really sorry. My son caused you trouble. His mother's death was a huge blow to him. He couldn't accept it, so he made up some random stories and blamed me."
The two father and son were very similar. When they were talking, they didn't dare to raise their heads to look into her eyes. He kept lowering his head to pick up money, and his tone was also low.
"It doesn't matter, I'm just passing by, and I'm not an adventurer."
As Reina spoke, she secretly glanced at the young man in the corner. He looked at her with a look close to despair and shook his head.
"Thank you for the tea. If there's nothing else, I'll leave first."
"Hey, I'm sorry for causing you trouble. Please walk slowly."
The man breathed a sigh of relief, and Reina walked towards the door. Suddenly, Feng Ma's trembling and hoarse voice came from behind.
"I didn't lie."
This was a sentence he said with all his strength, but it was still very quiet, and it was probably hard to hear it outside the room.
His father turned back and glared at him, but did not scold him.
Reina paused for a moment, and then stepped out of the door. Feng Ma looked at her back desperately and left his home. He closed his eyes and let tears flow. His father turned around and looked down at him.
, he swallowed, showed a somewhat guilty expression, and whispered: "Just stay home today."
After saying that, he put the money in his hand in the rag bag on the ground, took the hoe, left the house, and closed the wooden door.
He walked outside the door and watched the white-haired woman leave. She walked towards the village without looking back.