[Author's comment: The previous chapter was lost during circulation, and my friend Shu Youqun has been sent to make up the addition]
It's getting foggy.
Misty clouds and mist cover the valley, and the fog is gray and white in the dark night, making it difficult to see anyone within three feet. Brother Rong gathered around the fire and couldn't help tightening his tattered coat.
It's hard tonight.
The light from the fire shone on his stern face, and a trace of sadness appeared in his delicate brows. He didn't know how low the temperature would drop at night. The fire in front of him and the firewood around him couldn't last the whole night.
And as far as he knew, the coldest time in the mountains was not late at night, but around three or four in the morning.
That’s when the dew is heaviest.
Can the fire around you last until then? Obviously not, although I picked up a lot of firewood and hay before evening. But he didn't dare to go far, the firewood would definitely not last the night.
The hay cushioned behind Aunt Xue cannot be smoked, the wooden frame that has been built cannot be dismantled, and the branches and leaves stacked on it cannot be used for burning. There is the last layer of warmth and defense. Without those things, the dew at night will make Aunt Xue wet.
"What a beautiful scene." Aunt Xue huddled behind a stone shelter from the wind, sitting under a wooden frame and looking at the hazy mist in the valley. She rarely encountered the sight of being in the fog.
He sighed in admiration and looked at Brother Rong's back again. He said, "Rong'er, come here, it's very foggy. Although the place here is small, you can still squeeze in."
"..." Brother Rong was hesitant. He saw that although this place was sheltered from the strong wind in the valley, it could not avoid the dew. It was late at night, and the firewood in the mountains was wet with dew, making it impossible to light it easily.
He really wanted to pick something up while he was here, but he didn't worry about Aunt Xue staying here alone. The most important point is that the double obstacles of night and fog prevent him from taking risks easily.
Suddenly, I heard Aunt Xue behind her scream in pain, and quickly turned around to see Aunt Xue holding her wound with a sad face and one hand.
"It's a wound. Madam, please don't move easily." Brother Rong hurried over to take care of her.
Another place in Xiaoqingliang Mountain.
Jia Lian held up the lantern and urged: "Sister, please go down the mountain first. There is heavy dew in the mountains at night, so don't get cold from the dew."
Baochai was silent. How could she go back? The one who fell down the mountain was her husband, and the other was her mother. The whereabouts of her two closest relatives are unknown and they seem to be injured. How can she go back?
"Thank you second brother for your kindness." Baochai replied politely: "Sister Feng and Qin are unable to support themselves in the house, so how can I leave. Second brother, please rest assured that Ying'er and Xiangling are with them. stop."
Seeing this, Jia Lian pulled Xue Biao next to him again. Xue Biao and Baochai have always been close, and he wanted to let Xue Biao persuade Baochai again.
Xue Biao saw that Sister Bao had led a group of maids and women to the depths of the mountains. He said helplessly: "I'll go and accompany my sister. The second master will lead the male servants to continue calling Brother Rong."
Call!
Second Master Lian had no choice but to go all the way up the mountain. The soldiers divided into several groups and opened a path in the mountains, heading straight for Brother Rong in the direction where he fell. Along the way, the servants' voices were hoarse. Didn't hear a single response.
Now the night is cold and foggy, and everyone is tired.
His feet were trembling now. "The night is too dark, it's time for the servants to take a rest."
Xue Biao pointed to a faint light coming from the mist on the mountainside.
"Second Master, please send someone to persuade that master to come back. He is walking down the road and should be separated from everyone."
Jia Lian looked at the misty light and knew that Jia Qiang was there. He shook his head helplessly, how could he not know that Brother Rong and Jia Qiang had the best relationship among the two houses.
At first, the two of them were inseparable.
And everyone in the house knows that Brother Qiang treats Brother Rong very differently. This time Brother Qiang came back from Jinling, but he met the old concubine who passed away. He didn't even see Brother Rong a few times. The house was finally busy, and something like this happened again today.
well……
Before going up the mountain, when Mr. Lian saw Brother Qiang, he noticed that his eyes were scarlet.
Can't be persuaded.
"Recruit a few people to follow him." Second Master Lian said helplessly. "I don't know if the guards of Prince Zhongshun's palace who opened the way from the mountain have discovered Brother Rong's whereabouts."
Xiaoqingliang Mountain is too big, and many places are inaccessible and very steep.
Second Master Lian gritted his teeth and said: "Look for a while and let everyone rest for a while. The government should have sent a lot of things for everyone to fill their stomachs."
Jia Qiang has forgotten how far she has walked and how many times she has shouted.
He only knew that it was so cold now, his throat was so hot, and the night was so dark.
The moon in the sky is faintly visible. But the fog that appeared from time to time in the mountain forest made his heart tense. Is Brother Rong injured? Did he have anything to eat in the mountains? Brother Rong, who has never suffered before, can he withstand such a cold?
No matter how tired you are, you can't relax. You must find Brother Rong as soon as possible.
Going further ahead, the fog in the mountains becomes heavier.
But he moved forward without hesitation, dragging his legs as heavy as hammers, and walked resolutely into the thick fog.
If something happens to Brother Rong, what's the point of everything he does?
This was the only thought lingering in Jia Qiang's mind.
Sudden……
There was a faint light there. He stepped onto a large raised rock and looked out over the valley. I could vaguely see fire dancing in the mist in the valley.
"careful."
Stones wet with dew are slippery. Fortunately, Jia Lian, who led several people to follow him, had quick hands and eyes, and he and the others caught Jia Qiang.
"It's okay, just be careful where you step at night."
"It's okay." Brother Qiang gritted his teeth and gritted his teeth in pain. He suddenly remembered something and shouted, "I saw Brother Rong and the others. They were down the valley in front of me. I saw a fire there, it must be them." "
"Is there a fire?" Mr. Lian was helped to stand on the stone and looked up. The valley was pitch black, without any light. "Where's the fire?"
"Really, I saw it. I really saw it. Uncle Lian, hurry up and take people to the valley to find Brother Rong and bring him out." Brother Qiang said anxiously, rubbing his hip that was bruised by the stone.
Jia Qiang's voice attracted Baochai, Xue Biao and others. After hearing the explanation, several people walked straight to higher places and found several places to hold lanterns and look into the valley.
Each person is like a beacon in the night.
Towering on the mountainside.
Gusts of cold wind whistled by, causing the lanterns in their hands to sway left and right, causing their eyes to squint.
"Why did you bury the charcoal fire?" Aunt Xue asked curiously.
Brother Rong wiped the sweat on his face. A gust of wind blew into his soaked clothes and made him shiver with cold. "Instead of burying him, digging a hole like this and putting charcoal fire in it can give us a little warmth. Covering the charcoal fire with plant ashes can also keep the fire for a while."
We must save firewood.
He used a branch to push through the ashes, revealing the red charcoal inside. The light of charcoal fire imprinted on Brother Rong's face, and his appearance fell into Aunt Xue's eyes.
The originally beautiful and handsome face turned into a big tabby cat.
The big tabby cat laughed and said, "Madam, please rest early. I'll bring the wooden rafts we just braided to block the wind and dew outside."
Aunt Xue nodded gently and said, "Rong'er, please rest earlier."
"I'm keeping an eye on the fire for my wife, and I add wood from time to time to keep the charcoal fire going."
The light at this time was countless times darker than before. Hiding between the two big rocks on the mountainside, hiding in this crude vegetation shelf, Aunt Xue was lost in thought when she looked at Brother Rong's figure.
"Are Ronger scared?"
"kindness?"
It is absolutely impossible to say that there is no worry in my heart, but that is just worry.
As someone who was used to wild life in the countryside when I was a child, although I don’t have any serious knowledge about survival in the wild, I can barely cope with the current situation with the knowledge I learned later.
Of course, the most important thing. Even though he was worried a few times, he couldn't show it in front of Aunt Xue.
A relaxed smile appeared on his face. He said: "My wife just said that this place is beautiful. There is nothing to be afraid of in such a beautiful place."
There's really nothing to be afraid of. Apart from poisonous insects, poisonous snakes and rain, there is nothing else to worry about here. At least you won't have to worry too much for a few days.
He knows what to eat and what not to eat.
There is water and wild fruits.
Hungry to death.
"Don't worry, madam. Let's just make up for the missed outing during the Qingming Festival."
"Yeah. Rong'er, come here, it's cold even if you sit on the stone." Aunt Xue didn't show off, nor did she shy away from suspicion. In such an environment, there is nothing to avoid suspicion. Etiquette is the product of having no worries about food and clothing, and it is the rule of the noble.
The most important thing for the two of them right now is to survive, but the most important thing to survive is not to get sick.
Brother Rong was reserved for a while, and finally sat next to Aunt Xue and lay down on the hay next to her.
The cold wind brought the two people closer involuntarily.
"Do you still remember the scabby monk you met in the Temple of the Reclining Buddha?" Aunt Xue said suddenly, not feeling sleepy.
Brother Rong was stunned for a moment, how could he not remember that guy. She hummed softly and asked cautiously: "Which monk did your wife know before?"
"It's been twenty years. When we first met, he had not yet become a monk." Aunt Xue said calmly. Falling into memories, it felt like she had returned to the world twenty years ago, when she was still a teenage girl.
"He was more romantic than Baoyu at that time, and no worse than you are now. He was even more valued by the prince at that time. He was so dazzling!"
Speaking of the former leprosy-headed monk, Aunt Xue couldn't help but smile.
It was as if I had seen that handsome young man with my own eyes.
"What happened later? Why did he become a monk again?" Brother Rong asked curiously. He very much doubted that Aunt Xue had anything to do with the scabby monk.
"Later, I only heard that his house had been ransacked and he was missing. Not long after, I married into the Xue family, and I never heard from him again. It wasn't until Baochai was born that I discovered that he had become a crazy person. The monk."
Fortune plays tricks on people.
Brother Rong thought that Aunt Xue twenty years ago was the age when she first fell in love, and that monk should be in his early twenties. How could a handsome young man in his early twenties not be charming?
Brother Rong became confused again. This leprous monk usually appears together with the lame Taoist priest. But the lame Taoist is a Xibei Tianren, so he is a scabby monk?
How do they know about things like Coca-Cola and Rolex?
My mind is full of questions, and I don’t know who can answer them.
Will Jia Jing know?
King Zhongshun may know something, but will he tell himself?
Brother Rong suddenly narrowed his eyes, wondering if King Beijing knew anything.
But King Beijing is not in Shenjing City.
While he was thinking wildly, Aunt Xue's faint voice came to his ears again. "Actually, you are not the first person to claim to be from heaven. He once said that he was from heaven. Such was the trend at that time, everyone wanted to have something to do with heaven. That's why your family's gems are like that. adventure."
Jia Rong opened her eyes wide in disbelief.
Isn't it... wrong? If that guy really traveled through time, how could he still be so miserable? What a waste he was in his previous life, even though he, a semi-illiterate, could come up with something.
he……
Brother Rong asked: "Why are there so few rumors of people coming from the sky in recent years?"
"Rong'er, isn't it?" Aunt Xue chuckled. The cold forced the two of them to get closer. The warm fragrance overflows and goes straight into the nose.
"Besides me, has Madam ever heard of other people from heaven in recent years?"
"Gone."
strangeness. It seems that this matter must be asked carefully by Jia Jing. I actually ignored this problem at the beginning, which was really too careless.
"Madam, please tell me what happened to that monk before he became a monk."
Aunt Xue's face turned red for no reason after hearing this. Thinking of my own dementia, I couldn't help but laugh. Thinking again of the conversation I had with the monk at the Wat Pho today, I said with relief: "He used to be just like you now, and I am the little Daiyu who occasionally plays tricks."
So exciting?
Brother Rong almost wanted to gossip about whether anything happened between Aunt Xue and the monk. Suppressing his curiosity, he asked: "How could he have ransacked his house when he was so famous back then?"
"It has something to do with the prince at that time, so I was implicated." Aunt Xue replied slowly.
But what the monk asked me today sounded in my mind.
"Have you been happy, madam, these years? Does prosperity and wealth make people happy?" Aunt Xue couldn't come back. If you ask yourself, you can't tell whether you are happy or not.
The monk's words: "That's good, that's good. Just do what makes you happy."
But she didn't know why she couldn't help but feel the urge to cry.
At this moment, Aunt Xue really seemed to have returned to twenty years ago. I remembered the sounds of that year in my ears, and couldn't help but murmur to myself: "Thinking about the past is so vague that I can't even dream about it, and how many times I hate the bitterness and sourness... One spring event, the peach blossoms turned red; I looked back and saw who I met in this world; three or two beautiful things Thing, who said young love always grows old..."
Listening to Aunt Xue's slightly trembling voice, Brother Rong's heart began to tremble. Sure enough, the monk and Aunt Xue had a past.
Very old times.
The past is like smoke, always choking people's tears.
He had no intention of guessing the true identities of the scabby monk and the lame Taoist.
The night is quiet.
Brother Rong got up and added two pieces of wood, picked the charcoal fire and saw that they were scarlet.
After a night, people wake up.
Brother Rong only felt his hands were warm, as hot as fire.
Looking down, he saw that the man lying in his arms had white lips and was extremely weak.
Caught cold? Injured, weakened immune system, caught a cold?
"Madam." Brother Rong didn't care about anything else, just looking at the fire pit on the ground that had long since lost its warmth. She found the water that had been treated last night and moistened her lips.
What to do next?
