The cicadas that have been chirping non-stop since early morning announce the fact that it is summer with a strong sense of presence. The hot air is filled with the smell of blood and the unique odor of swamps. The high temperature in midsummer is the catalyst for everything. The discomfort is magnified thousands of times under the scorching sun - the annoying chirping of cicadas, the discomfort of sweating, and the heat that makes it difficult to relax.
But someone was trembling.
"This is really——" The hotel owner who was pulled out was unexpectedly young. He was about thirty years old and had long hair. At first glance, he looked like a woman. He looked at the two children lying on the ground and the one standing next to him, holding his arms and shivering with a pale face. He then looked at his anxious father, turned his head and finally glanced at Master Jian.
Mr. Jian, who often comes here to sell ointments, has some acquaintances with the people here, so the hotel owner also knows his identity as a pharmacist, but the old man looks a little confused when looking at such a scene.
"I'll do my best." Mr. Jian ran back to the hotel to look for his medicine box. The Luoan girl who also came out to take a look and Yajiro and others next to her took a glance and realized that the situation was not optimistic.
Judging from the wet clothes and bloody legs and abdomen of the two children, it was obvious that they had been attacked from under the water. Because the mud and clothes were mixed with the blood, it was unclear how many wounds there were, but there was still blood oozing out. It's a solid fact.
"Tsk——" After looking around, the Luoan girl found that all the adults around her looked like they were in a state of confusion. Relying on her experience as a mercenary, the Luoan girl planned to go up and press the wound to stop the bleeding as much as possible and wait for Mr. Jian to come back, but she just took a step. The dark middle-aged man stopped in front of Mira.
"What do you want to do! Don't get close to my child!" He gritted his teeth and almost roared out these words. Mira was stunned. She could see the nameless anger in the other person's bloodshot eyes, as if she was herself. She had an sworn feud with him - but it was only the first time she had met this man.
"That is my guest, and also an honored guest of this samurai's house." The store manager defended the Luoan girl, and when he heard that it was the samurai, the farmer immediately lowered his head, but said "chee" He said with a face: "Even so, if a woman still looks like this, I will not let her get close to the child!"
"What if there is a curse!" The farmer roared so loudly that Yajiro next to him turned dark, and Mira also felt a little dissatisfied. Luo Anbai, who looked different from the people in Crescent Continent, She didn't expect that her hair would become a hindrance at this time, but it seems that this hatred is not caused by hair color alone. And just when she was about to beat this man down and go over to stop the child's bleeding, the middle-aged man who had been gritting his teeth before as if all this was Mira's fault suddenly changed his expression.
"What's wrong?" When the steady tone sounded, she knew that her teacher was coming.
Henry, who was repairing the carriage in a nearby stable, Galeva who was working as a subordinate, and three superior warriors also came over when they heard the noise. When they saw the tall sage, Leng Touqing, and three noble warriors, the middle-aged farmer came directly She was so scared that she didn't say a word. Seeing the emergency situation, the Luoan girl didn't care about the other party's annoying attitude anymore - she turned her head and said, "It seems that I went to the swamp to play and was bitten by something."
"Yes." The sage nodded, then took out the tool knife from his waist and walked over directly.
"You, you, you evil ghost, what do you want!" The middle-aged farmer yelled, closed his eyes and punched Henry directly, but then he felt that his whole body was lifted up and then sat on the ground. .
"I'm going to fetch water." While the farmer was left aside by Henry, Mira ran to the well not far away, and the sage squatted down to check and found that one of the children had made no sound and went directly to the other one. one person. He used a knife to quickly cut open the clothes wrapped on the surface, and after the Luoan girl came back with the well water, he quickly cleaned up the reeds, mud and clothing fragments on the wound surface with water and cloth.
"It's not optimistic." The half-grown child half-opened his eyes and opened his mouth in confusion. His thin chest was still heaving, but the amplitude was getting weaker and weaker.
"Here it comes, here it comes." Mr. Jian, who was dressed roughly, came over carrying the entire medicine cabinet on his back. He didn't know what kind of situation he would encounter, so he wanted to prepare everything as much as possible.
The middle-aged farmer sat on the ground next to him and watched all this in a daze. Because there were samurai standing there, he did not have the courage to rush forward again, so he could only watch this group of exotic monsters move their hands on his children.
"It's probably a crocodile, what you call a dragon." The teenage child had long wounds on his abdomen, and part of his belly even turned up to reveal the pink internal organs inside. This was obviously because he was bitten and tossed back and forth.
"The one next to him is out of breath." Henry grabbed Jian Ye, who was about to check the other person. The old pharmacist took a look, sighed, then unloaded the medicine cabinet and started to deal with it together with the sage.
"It's a miracle that he can let go, but it's such an injury." Henry's face and tone were still calm. In the eyes of the people next to him, it looked like he had no blood or tears, but at this time, compared to being like that father Venting your emotions and staying calm are the best ways to save your child's life.
The skin of the thigh was torn open and constantly overflowing with blood, and a piece of flesh as big as an adult's palm was torn off. This kind of wound is extremely painful even for adults with larger bodies, let alone slender children. on the limbs. There were wounds and blood everywhere, and the head seemed to have been hit by being thrown around. Even though the two of them tried their best, the child was still pale and lifeless five minutes after arriving at the hotel.
"Dead, dead?" When Henry and Jianye both shook their heads and stood up, the moment the hotel owner informed the middle-aged man of the fact, his dark face turned ashen for a moment, as if all the blood in his body had been sucked dry. .
"Fuck you!!" The farmer roared loudly and rushed towards Henry and Jian Ye, and the sage used one hand to hold down the top of his head like a child and stopped him in place.
"Give me back my children, give back my children!" The middle-aged man beat the sage's arm with all his strength, but only he felt the pain.
"Qiang——" Minghai next to him took out the long knife from his waist and looked at the other party coldly.
"I - you -" The farmer, whose expressions were constantly changing, clenched his fists and then unclenched them. He stamped his feet vigorously but did not dare to step forward again. He turned around in circles several times and finally locked his eyes on himself. The only surviving child——
"Qiu!! Why!!" The child, who looked no more than seven or eight years old, shuddered like a prey being targeted by a predator the moment his father called out his name.
And what he said next made many people present have the urge to beat this man up.
"Why did you survive alone?"
The middle-aged man, whose eyes were about to burst, teeth gritted, and filled with anger, shouted loudly: "Why is it not you who died?"
The pale-faced child froze on the spot, and finally lay twitching on the ground as if he wanted to cry but couldn't.
"Are you pretending to be miserable again, you loser? Your mother is not here to protect you right now!" The middle-aged man who rushed up with big strides raised his hand and was about to hit his only surviving child, but Narumi took a step towards him. He stopped directly in front of him.
"Hey, Lord Takeshi." The anger that seemed to be overwhelming was extinguished in an instant like a mouse seeing a cat. The middle-aged farmer sat down on the ground and backed away on his hands and knees, and finally stood up and stood far away. .
"O-I, why is my life so miserable?" He muttered with a sad face, and the next second he changed to the angry look: "I tell you, come here now, Qiu, If you don’t come here, you’ll never get in.”
The middle-aged man roared loudly to assert his authority over the only being with a lower status than him. What he didn't notice was that his child had already fainted.
"After being so stimulated, it's actually a blessing to lose consciousness." The Luoan girl who went over to check had a glimpse of the young man's scarred body under the large men's Jinbei clothes.
"It's a girl." She immediately understood the reason why the father shouted "Why wasn't you the one who died?"
"Really, oh my life, why is my life so miserable?" The emotionally out-of-control middle-aged man suddenly left his two deceased sons, turned around and ran away, shouting. His loud shouting attracted the attention of many neighbors. There were people watching, but the sage squinted his eyes and observed. Most people saw this person and walked back as if they hadn't seen him.
"It seems that he is a character in the local area?" he asked, and the innkeeper next to him sighed gently: "Yes, this person's name is Allen, and he is a somewhat difficult person in the village."
"Because his family was poor, he did not marry a wife until he was in his 30s. It was not until fourteen years ago that he went out to collect peat in the swamp and picked up a crazy woman who he claimed was his wife."
"Then I always wanted to have a boy."
"After three girls were born, two boys were indeed born, and then four more girls were born. Aqiu is the fourth girl in his family." The store manager turned around and glanced at the unconscious short-haired girl. , Mira carried her and planned to take it inside the hotel.
"Ever since he was four years old, this child has not been hanging out with boys like girls, and this time he will go out with his two older brothers."
"Because his wife is crazy and has many children, the children in his family are basically left alone. Many times they don't have enough to eat. The people in the village can't bear the suffering of the children, so they often give them food, and they often come to my hotel to beg for food. But as time goes by, However, Allen also developed a bad habit of coming to bother him whenever he had nothing to do. He often borrowed money from him and never got it back. In the end, most of them chose to turn a blind eye. They would go to the swamp, mostly because they wanted to be in the swamp. Go over there and dig some lotus root vegetables to eat. It’s really hard on the child.” The innkeeper shook his head and called into the house: “Ah Zhong, call two people over and take them to the cemetery for burial. The tombstone is here. Order one or two silver coins."
"Bring her in and help clean the child." Several women in the group gathered together, and the store manager spoke to them very politely.
"Yes." The Luoan girl nodded, and then she, Sakura, Ling and Lulu walked to the bathroom in the hotel where hot water was drawn from the hot spring.
The girls left, and the dead child was also carried away by the entourage. There were still people cleaning up the blood stains in front of the door and on the wooden door frame. For a moment, everyone in the group was speechless. After a while, the young master spoke first.
"Why give birth if you can't afford it?" he said, and the hotel owner glanced at him and sighed.
"Although Allen hates girls, because for him, sons are the ones who can inherit the family business. But girls who are 14 years old can marry people from other villages. After marriage, they don't have to continue to raise them themselves, and they can also harvest A gift.”
"Children are like commodities to him."
"His grief may be true, but is he grieving because of the loss of something? No, let's not continue to guess." The hotel owner shook his head and did not continue. Some things will be revealed after they are exposed. It's all cold, so even if it's false, it's better to think that he is a father who feels pain after losing his child.
People have to believe in something to avoid falling into despair.
After stopping the discussion, the innkeeper smiled and changed the topic: "But this Nanman master actually knows medical skills, and his actions just now were quite calm and decisive. Although I have seen some Nanman visitors, but someone like this master is still It’s my first time. If you’re interested, how about drinking together and exchanging knowledge?”
"If you, gentlemen, think highly of me, you are welcome to go with me." The store manager said this, and the sage nodded: "Henry Meyer." He introduced himself like this, and the store manager responded: "Please call me Yazhi. ."
This matter has not been completely settled yet. How to place Aqiu and the situation of the nearby swamp have not yet been settled. Maybe they will stay in this village longer than expected.
But now that we encountered this unexpected situation early in the morning, a pot of good wine was just what everyone needed.
The cicadas were still chirping, and the rustling of brooms as servants cleaned up the bloodstains at the door of the store and the "squeaking" of wet cloths being wiped back and forth on the floor came and went. Together with the chirping of the cicadas, they formed a background sound that was not pleasant to the ear.
As the sunshine hours accumulate and the air outside becomes hotter and drier, the paper doors and windows are basically opened to allow ventilation.
The store manager ordered the maid next to him to pour wine for everyone in the group, and quietly everyone picked up their glasses and took a sip.
The bitter and spicy taste of sake flowed on the tip of his tongue, and Yajiro, who was not good at it, frowned. He is still young, and if he can taste the so-called aroma of wine, he is probably already an expert in life.
Even if you try your best, you will still lose. Even the seemingly omnipotent sage often has a life that cannot be saved.
Not everyone in the world will be grateful and cherish what they have.
Driven by anger, people will want to be violent towards those unpleasant things, but are they really wanting to use the power they have to change, or are they just venting the destructive impulses that exist in their hearts under the guise of justice.
More than two hundred years of life.
He once had the opportunity to grasp the supreme power of the greatest empire in the world of Rigar; he has gone through legends and even became one of the legends himself; his footprints have spread all over the known and unknown worlds of Rigar people.
People sang and recorded his name in books.
Hymernin; Aurora's Nightmare; Sage.
But am I really nobler, smarter, and able to gain so much than a rough country farmer?
Are the things you do always correct?
This was a question Henry didn't have an answer for.
The young and energetic Yajiro would probably consider himself noble from the bottom of his heart; his disciples who respected him might also try to prove from every angle that he, as a teacher, was a far better being than his ineffective father just now.
But in terms of being unable to save the two children, he and Allen were equal.
Bitter things fill every aspect of life, but even so - because of this.
Daily meals are worth savoring.
