The sun hangs on the top, like a charcoal basin warming the fire.
Zhang Xiaozu endured the high temperature and carried Qi Ronger over one hill after another. He was so tired that he was panting like an ox and sweating like rain.
"The sun is getting hot, why don't you find a shady place to rest?" Qi Ronger, who was lying on Zhang Xiaopou's back, suggested.
"Yes." Zhang Xiaozu nodded. He was tired, hot, thirsty and hungry, and couldn't run anymore.
After finding a shady spot under a big tree, Zhang Xiaozu put Qi Ronger down and sat down on the ground, breathing heavily. Even though it was hot when I was running just now, I could still feel a little bit of wind. But as soon as I stopped and there was no wind, I felt like the internal organs in my body were on fire. The heat was rushing out against my skin, and I was sweating even more. It was like a gush of water, instantly soaking him all over.
Tsk! Tsk!
Zhang Xiaopou was really anxious. Although the beauty was in front of him, he didn't care about his image. He grabbed his right arm with his left hand and his left arm with his right hand. With two sneers, he pulled down the two sleeves of his robe. Then he kicked off the boots on his feet, exposing his white-haired feet soaked in sweat to breathe, and then he felt better.
Qi Ronger snorted in amusement, covered her nose and moved to the side. It was not because she disliked it intentionally, but because the smell on Zhang Xiaozu's feet was too strong.
She took out the water bag, took out a small porcelain bottle from the bag, poured out a green pill the size of a soybean, and put the green pill into the water bag. Suddenly, a cool breath came out of the water bag and reached Qi Rong. child's palm.
Qi Ronger took a few sips to quench her thirst, then threw the water bag to Zhang Xiaozu and said, "Drink some water quickly, don't get heat stroke."
As soon as Zhang Xiaozu's hand touched the water bag, his droopy eyelids suddenly opened wide. He grabbed the water bag, pulled out the stopper, raised his head and gurgled and poured it in.
The cool and sweet water instantly filled his mouth, and then flowed all the way down his esophagus into his abdomen. He felt the coolness spreading in his abdominal cavity, and penetrated into his lungs. The hot body was suddenly doused in half, and he felt so uncomfortable.
"Haha, it feels so good!" Zhang Xiaozu drank the five kilograms of water bag in one breath. He felt that even the breath he exhaled was cool and he couldn't help himself.
"How did you do it?" Zhang Xiaozu asked Qi Ronger curiously while holding the water bag.
Qi Ronger pursed her lips and smiled, shook the small porcelain bottle in her hand at Zhang Xiaopou, and said: "Relieving Heat Pills, when dissolved in water, it can make the water cool and sweet. It is a must-have medicine for traveling in summer. Here it is for you. .”
After saying that, Qi Ronger threw the small porcelain bottle to Zhang Xiaozu.
Zhang Xiaozu hurriedly reached out to catch it, fearing that it would fall to the ground and break, and said: "You have already given me a lot of things, why are you so embarrassed?"
Yesterday evening Qi Ronger woke up from a coma and learned that Zhang Xiaozhu buried the old man with the crown and the old man with the red face. She was very grateful to Zhang Xiaozhu. She was thoughtful and saw that Zhang Xiaozu couldn't put down the three-foot sword of the old man wearing a crown. Knowing that Zhang Xiaozu liked the sword, she did a favor and gave the sword to Zhang Xiaozu. He also took out some elixirs that Zhang Xiaopou could use from the bags of the old man wearing a crown and the old man with a red face, and gave them to Zhang Xiaopou as repayment for Zhang Xiaopou's kindness in collecting and burying the body.
Zhang Xiaozu couldn't refuse them, so he had to accept them all. For Qi Ronger, he felt grateful for the first time. Because he knew that these elixirs were very precious, he decided to go to the county town to exchange these elixirs for silver coins, and then exchange the silver coins for grain to help Liujia Village survive the drought.
To Qi Ronger, she just gave away some pills, but to Zhang Xiaozhu, what she gave was full rations that saved the lives of more than 200 people in Liujia Village. How could Zhang Xiaozhu not be grateful.
"They are all worthless gadgets, don't worry about them." Qi Ronger smiled nonchalantly, then thought for a while and said: "I'm very grateful that you can put aside the past grudges. I will definitely repay you well when we get out of the Black Forest. . To be honest, apart from my relatives, you are the first person I have met in my life who truly cares about me. You are a good person."
Zhang Xiaozu shook his head and smiled bitterly, and said: "I have killed people before, so I can't be said to be a good person. To you, I just do what you want and don't let my conscience be troubled."
"What does it have to do with whether you are a good person or not and whether you have killed someone before?" Qi Ronger was not surprised at all that Zhang Xiaozu had killed someone, but she also strongly disagreed with Zhang Xiaozu's point of view and said: "According to what you said, heroes are not worthy. They are called heroes because they have all killed people, and some of them are even called butchers."
"How can I, an ordinary person, dare to compare with a hero?" Zhang Xiaozu said.
"How can we compare? Aren't heroes just ordinary people before they become heroes?" Qi Ronger retorted.
"I can't help you." Zhang Xiaozu said helplessly.
"Giggle--" Qi Ronger suddenly laughed happily.
"What are you laughing at?" Zhang Xiaozu asked.
"I was thinking -" Qi Ronger responded, "Maybe one day you will become a hero, and then people will have to call you Hero Zhang Damao. Your name doesn't seem to match the word 'hero'. Haha , Just a joke, don’t take it seriously. By the way, judging from your appearance, you should be about the same age as me. Your master should have given you a cousin name, right? What is your cousin name? "
"Master said that one name is enough. Why do you need so many names?" Zhang Xiaozu said nonsense. It can be seen that in his heart he is still defensive about Qi Ronger.
"That's right." Qi Ronger nodded, "If you have great skills, you can be famous even without a name. If you accomplish nothing, no one will take a second look at you, no matter how good your name is. Your master must be a person with great abilities. Wise master, I will definitely find time to visit his home after I get out."
"My master has already driven westward," Zhang Xiaopou said.
"Ah, that's such a pity." Qi Ronger said disappointedly.
Zhang Xiaozu stood up with a three-foot dagger, tied the drained water bag around his waist, and said to Qi Ronger: "You rest here first, I will go find some food and water, and be careful of wild beasts."
"Yes. You should be careful." Qi Ronger responded, and then watched Zhang Xiaozu leave. When Zhang Xiaozu's figure disappeared from the field of vision, she suddenly stood up from the ground, stretched her waist and kicked her legs, and jumped a few times, happily He stretched out his muscles a lot.
If Zhang Xiaozu saw this scene, he would definitely be furious, because Qi Ronger lied to him that he was so weak that he couldn't walk, so he carried her on his back.
Obviously, Qi Ronger was lying.
However, the reason why she lied to Zhang Xiaozu was not because she had any conspiracy to do anything to Zhang Xiaozu, but because she couldn't bear the safe and warm feeling of being carried on his back, and wanted Zhang Xiaozu to carry her for a while longer. This was the first time she had been carried on someone's back since she was so old, and this scene had appeared in her dreams countless times, except that the person carrying her was her father. This was her extravagant wish in her dream, but unfortunately it never came true in reality, just because she was a concubine. She still clearly remembers that when she was five years old, she saw her father carrying her eldest brother on his back in the garden. She was so envious that she ran over to ask her father to carry her, but was kicked away by her father and fell to the ground. On the hard bluestone floor, he fainted on the spot.
She used to have some illusions about her father, but now she only has fear and hatred.
It can also be said that Qi Ronger is using Zhang Xiaopou's back to realize her long-held dream fantasy.
Soon Zhang Xiaopou turned back and didn't catch any prey, but he found some berries, which had a sweet fragrance and excellent taste, and could barely satisfy his hunger.
Qi Ronger still pretended to be weak, but Zhang Xiaopou had no doubt that he was there.
"I see you seem to be in a hurry to get out." Qi Ronger said while eating berries.
"I've been in the mountains for several days, but I don't know if my wife is okay at home? I'm afraid I've run out of food." Zhang Xiaozu said worriedly. He was worried about the safety of the people left behind in Liujiacun, and even more worried about the safety of the hunting team.
"After you get out, you might as well bring your mother to Baiyun City. I will find you a serious job to support you and your mother through the drought." Qi Ronger said, "Actually, I originally wanted to invite you to do I am a follower, but next year's island survival is too dangerous, so I won't let you take the risk together."
"Subordinates?" Zhang Xiaopeng was a little surprised when he heard these two words, and blurted out: "Why are you all looking for retinues? Is it because of what you said, survival on an isolated island?"
"You guys?" Qi Ronger immediately grasped the key point and gave Zhang Xiaopou a questioning look.
"Second Miss Qin also looked for me, but because my war sect was congenitally closed, she gave up." Zhang Xiaozu did not hide this matter from Qi Ronger.
"Don't you really care about her? Why didn't you tell her that you were just pretending?" Qi Ronger pouted, her tone a bit sour.
"It's true that my war sect was congenitally blocked." Zhang Xiaopou said.
"and you--"
"I didn't say it, it was just your own wild guess." Zhang Xiaozu interrupted Qi Ronger.
Qi Ronger thought about it carefully and found that Zhang Xiaozu had never made a clear statement from the beginning to the end. It was her own assumption that Zhang Xiaozu used special skills to create the illusion that the war gate was blocked.
"Tch! It seems that you are not as honest as you look on the outside. You are more clever than anyone else." Qi Ronger said displeased, but did not dwell on this issue and continued to answer the question Zhang Xiaozu just asked. , said: "You are right, she and I are looking for followers to prepare for next year's island survival."
"Survival on an island, does that mean literally?" Zhang Xiaozu asked curiously.
"Yes and no," Qi Ronger said, "Because on an isolated island, you have to fight not only the natural environment, but also the sneak attacks and hunting from different forces."
"It's so dangerous! Can't you not participate?" Zhang Xiaozhu didn't understand.
"No, because this is a rule jointly formulated by all forces in Baiyun City. Anyone who violates the rules will be punished by all other forces, including the city lord's palace." Qi Ronger said, seeing the question mark on Zhang Xiaopou's forehead, it seemed that Because she couldn't understand, she continued to explain: "There are four forces in Baiyun City. These four forces compete with each other to check and balance each other. They share the same cake in the same city. Friction and fighting are inevitable, but the constant fighting makes all parties All the forces suffered heavy losses. If you eat a bite of cake but lose two teeth, the gain outweighs the loss. So someone came up with an idea to seal off an isolated island. Every year, the four forces send their newly grown children to the island to fight, regardless of life or death. All The grievances and grudges of the family are all left to the young children who go to the island to resolve. Violent fighting without rules is simple and direct. The children of the family who are selected to go to the island have one year to prepare. Just like Qin Rulan and I, we will fight on the spring equinox next year. When going to the island, each person is allowed to bring five followers, and the followers must not be older than 18 years old."
"Are many people dying every year?" Zhang Xiaozhu asked worriedly.
"Don't worry, Qin Rulan is the legitimate daughter of the city lord's palace, no one dares to touch her. This can be regarded as an unwritten rule. Unless there is an undying grudge between the various forces, they generally will not touch each other's legitimate son and daughter, so they die every year The people on the island are all children of concubines like me. To put it bluntly, we children of concubines are just playthings for them to vent their grievances. If I kill you, a concubine, I feel much better. In turn, I will kill you too. Being a bastard, I feel more comfortable. That's about it. Do you understand?" Qi Ronger spread her hands, and you could see her eyes were full of sorrow and anger.
