Yesterday was turkey, Damon thought. What will it be today, a roe deer or a gray goose?
The hunter's yard was quiet. The boy hesitated for a moment and decided to inquire about the situation. He knew this was a dangerous move. The hunter had a bad temper. If he saw someone looking furtively behind the tree, he would probably shoot an arrow at him.
Damon had seen hunters shooting arrows at the shooting range. He held a huge hunting bow that was nearly the height of a boy. The arms were made of yew, wrapped in mature cowhide and covered with a glistening layer of linseed oil. When the hunter draws the string of his bow, the air vibrates faintly. At that time, this huge bow was the dream of most boys in the town. Far from being the exception, Dimon is the most enthusiastic.
It's just that the hungry boy didn't have the energy to think about hunting bows and arrows. His mind was filled with the scent of prey. Neighbors would skin the animals in their yards, leaving the fat separated from the inside of the fur and exposed to the cold air. Damon kept inhaling until his lungs ached. Even the blood is delicious at this point.
But all he could see was a small deer lying on the ground, with a horrific gaping hole in its abdomen. The courtyard was deserted. Damon suddenly realized something and turned around to run.
But immediately he felt the pressure on his neck and was forced to fall forward. His face was covered with dirt, there were bursts of severe pain in his scalp and cheeks, and his limbs were moving wildly.
"I knew it was you, bastard!" The hunter pressed the back of Damon's head and pressed down on him. Muscles built over years of exercise rendered the boy's kicks useless.
"Help!" Damon screamed at the top of his lungs. "Help! Help! I'm sorry!"
The hunter picked him up but didn't let go. Otherwise, he can guarantee that this little guy will run away. "You crazy hungry kid." He pushed the peeper hard against the tree trunk. "You will definitely be a thief in the future. I can see now that you are full of evil."
"I'm sorry! Sir, I'm sorry! Please forgive me, I can never do it again."
Damon was sure the hunter would beat him. Previously, a friend broke the glass of his house, and the boy could hear the unlucky guy's wails at home. In fact, they were playing together at the time, and it was Damon who suggested it at the door of his house. But several children climbed through the fence and went around the alley, and only the slowest one was caught.
Only then did he regret it, but it was too late. He would get a good beating and go home bruised and bruised. And Upton will never save face for him. This is the scariest thing - after learning the whole story, his father will beat him mercilessly until he can't get out of bed. Upton cares more about his own face.
And Dorothy, she will feel much better after taking on Upton's wrath herself. No matter what, I will definitely feel happy watching my excitement.
In despair, he screamed and struggled, and finally cried miserably.
"Why are you crying?" But to Damon's expectation, Xia Zuo let go impatiently. He seemed to be upset by the crying. "Coward, I haven't done anything yet. Get up and stop acting like a little girl. Tears are not a tool for you to gain sympathy. Men should grab them for you. Are you Dorothy's sister?"
"younger brother."
"That's true."
There was no anger in Damon's words, and he quickly stood up. He didn't know why he didn't get beaten. Maybe the difference was just in the hunter's mood.
"...I was wrong, I'm sorry." He tried his best to hold back the sniffling sound.
"How long have you been hiding here?"
"Not... not long."
"How long is it?" Xia Zuo yelled.
"Three weeks!" Damon replied loudly in fright. He was surprised that he actually remembered the exact time.
"You little bastard," the hunter muttered. He was also surprised by Damon's words. If the hunter didn't believe that no liar would take the matter seriously, he would have thought that Damon had been blinded for a while.
He took a look at the little devil. Damon's appearance was very different from his sister Dorothy's beauty. Of course, he was most similar to Upton. Xia Zuo was not familiar with the carpenter, but there were basically no strangers in the whole town. The boy was much shorter than his companion, but seemed more powerful. "You little bastard." The hunter repeated. "Do you dare to come with me?"
"You...what do you want me to do?" Damon asked uneasily. He wasn't thinking about running away, at least not yet. Maybe the daily confession to Gaia had an effect. Although he was just bored on weekdays, Damon finally realized his mistake. Goddess bless me, today is different. I have many things to confess today.
"Atonement for your sins." The hunter dusted off the dust on his hands. The particles shook off from the gaps in the skin, but a lot of them were still stuck to his palms - his hands were covered with half-dried deer blood.
"Peeping is not a big deal, but it always develops into theft. It is a vicious and evil business, accustomed to taking advantage of other people's efforts. Gaia has no time to correct your mistakes personally, but I have nothing to do, Just the thing to take care of little villains like you."
Damon walked into the yard uneasily. The dead deer was lying on the ground, and the smell was fishy and sour. Originally, people in Bonfire Town never worried about food spoilage, but now they have to change. The hunter ordered him to chop a bundle of firewood into pieces, and then asked him to slowly light the pile of firewood. Damon was never good at this kind of work. He was incredibly clumsy.
The torture didn't last long, however. When Damon picked up the ax for chopping wood, the hunter was doing the job he had just given up. When he released the handle with sweat profusely, a complete deerskin had already been draped on the wooden pole. The wind in the hot climate is not strong, the deerskin is shaking, and the strings of flower spots are constantly changing.
Xia Zuo snatched the flint from his hand, cracked it twice, and a cluster of sparks fell on the dry wood. He blew a fierce breath, and the bright red bonfire suddenly became blazing. The hunter puts the deer on the fire, and the sound of fat grilling is subtle and alluring. "How can people in Bonfire Town not light a bonfire?" He snorted at the boy through his nostrils.
Damon didn't pay attention to the hunter. He stared at the meat being grilled on a skewer and turned a deaf ear to everything in the outside world.
After the venison was roasted, the hunter gave him a leg.
To be honest, Dimon felt almost no gratitude at all in this situation. He had no mood at all. All that was left in his body was his stomach, no brain and no heart. The body fluids and organs that controlled emotions were all gone. He turned himself into a bag and swallowed the food in the bag desperately.
A deer leg soon disappeared and Damon raised his head, but the hunter wouldn't let him eat more. "You can only get this much from your work." Xia Zuo warned him, "Sooner or later, greedy people will have to put a noose on themselves."
"No, that's enough." Damon finally broke free from the control of instinct - this was probably because his stomach was too full to eat. The remaining reason made him blush, and he replied calmly: "Thank you, Mr. Xia Zuo."
"Thank you for your luck, kid! A week ago, I would have beat the shit out of you."
"Thank you Berti for your gift," he said devoutly, "and Gaia."
The hunter tore off a strip of salted meat with his teeth, which was not very tasty. He had spent twenty-seven years in the Morris Mountains and knew what game was most delicious. "You might as well thank Lucia." He sneered. "He is always paying attention to the Ice Territory Territory."
"Lucia?" Damon felt familiar.
"Goddess of Light. Why, didn't Upton tell you not to go to the Church of Light?"
The Church of Radiance is Lucia's church, Daemon suddenly realized. He knew it, but not as a temple to the gods. Bonfire Town is cold and chaotic, and vacant houses are very rare. The original church became a rare part of this after the last priest moved away. The children took the empty house as their own and drove away the homeless people sleeping inside. Only after learning about Gaia did Damon realize how vicious this was. Being homeless in the Ice Territory was a punishment even worse than hanging. They took away the last place of shelter for those poor people.
The person who stopped this behavior was the hunter in front of him, Witek Shazo. Damon knew he wasn't thinking about the outcasts. He suggested knocking down the church. Fortunately, not many people voted. After the workers demolished a few walls with strange and incomprehensible anger, no one went there.
Only then did Upton tell us to stay away from anything that had anything to do with the word "radiance." Damon didn't have the guts to ask him why. Dorothy did, because even Damon could see that Upton cherished his daughter much more than his son. He would scold her but rarely hit her. Upton beats Damon the most, followed by his wife B'Elanna. The last time Damon saw his father slap his sister was a year ago.
But Dorothy doesn't ask about these things. Her interests and hobbies are incomprehensible to a little boy like Damon. After all, he didn't have long hair, and he didn't like skirts and oddly styled woolen socks. It's just that now it seems that Dorothy knows the reason and doesn't ask questions.
So why? "Glory" represents Lucia. Why does he pay attention to the Ice Territory? Why did Dorothy know but didn't tell us?
"Glory" gave them a beating, but Damon still remembered it. Xia Zuo's proposal is not in line with Gaia's teachings. His mind went round and round, returning to the homeless man, and his throat couldn't help but feel tight. "That's 'Raven's House.'" He spat out the name of the Church of Radiance among the children. "Upton never mentioned it."
"Lying." The hunter saw through him at a glance.
But the lie at this time did not anger him. Wicket swallowed the venison and threw the roasted meat away. "You want to know the secret inside, Daemon, the lies of Gaia believers are always lame. Am I right?"
"I'm sorry, sir." But Damon wanted to know very much, and his heart wavered between uneasiness and curiosity. "You guessed it, absolutely."
"Why should I tell you?"
"Please, Mr. Xia Zuo, let me help you pack your things." The boy picked up the roaster.
The hunter was delighted by his cleverness. "You little bastard." He said it for the third time, but this time it was friendly, the kind of friendliness that could be felt by Damon. The boy's heart was relieved. "You are smarter than other brats. You like my bow and think you are hiding it very well. I know this little secret very well."
"But you're a good man and won't beat me up."
"The good guys beat you up, the bad guys hand out candy and sell the stupid kids to the mines."
This time it was Daemon's turn to sneer at the hunter. "I already knew it. B'Elanna keeps saying this every day. Are you going to say it or not?"
The hunter smiled. "Shut up and listen quietly."
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