twin moon

Chapter 13: First Acquaintance

Not too far from the village, the two found a warm place surrounded by mountains on three sides and facing the sun.

Jiang Yan used his knife and his hands to dig a hole about a foot in the ground, and his clothes were already wet from exhaustion.After resting for a while to catch his breath, he solemnly buried Uncle You's skeleton wrapped in wolf fur, and placed the broken horn bow beside its owner.He knelt in front of the grave and kowtowed a few times, unwilling to get up for a long time.

"Little stammer, don't you plan to set up a tombstone for Uncle You?" Ning Yue asked.

"So what if it is erected? If no one pays tribute to one's life, erecting a monument will add to the sadness. As long as I can remember Uncle You forever in my heart, that's enough—he is the only relative I have in this world right now." , I have forgotten my parents and relatives, and I must not forget him too!"

Jiang Yan responded, but without stopping his hands, he carefully and meticulously spread the littered branches and leaves scattered on the ground back onto the already filled tomb.In an instant, the land became as if no one had ever been there.Even if others intruded inadvertently, they would have no way of knowing that there was an unjustly buried soul buried under this slightly raised mound.

Most of the day has passed.As the sun set, Ning Yue put down the little white fox in her arms, and sat side by side with Jiang Yan on a large bluestone beside the tomb. She raised her head to enjoy the sunlight falling on her face from among the leaves, and closed her eyes comfortably:

"Little stammer, if Uncle You and the villagers never told you what dangers there are on the hill, how did you recognize that strange bird as Gu Ying at a glance?"

Sweat dripped from the boy's temples, glistening.He pondered for a moment, then murmured:
"I don't know, I just vaguely feel that it seems to have been told in many strange stories I have heard before, and I suddenly recognize it. When Brother Cui's wife was crying just now, I also seemed to have known each other."

"So, your memory is slowly recovering?"

"Not at all. In front of my eyes, only some hazy shadows flashed occasionally, but I still couldn't see them clearly. Now I still can't remember the appearance of my father and mother, and I don't know where they are now..."

Seeing that she was a little sad, Ning Yue felt a sudden soreness in her heart.She curled her legs up in front of her chest, and put her knees against her chin, as if comforting her companion, but she started talking to herself:

"Little stammer, don't be discouraged. Maybe after a while, you will be able to think of more things and find your relatives. That's great... At least your father will tell you so many stories, and My father would just put on a stinky face all day long... In the past, he would often go home to accompany me and make me happy..."

Jiang Yan felt that the girl next to him, who was always as bright and fiery as a ball of flame, suddenly became a little melancholy at this moment.He turned his head away, looked at the girl's dim face under the sun, and couldn't help asking:

"Yue'er, you never told me, where did you come from? The whirlwind before - did you really not know at all?"

"Little stammer, I can only tell you that I came from the sea. As for the gust of wind..."

The girl paused, as if hesitating whether to tell the other party her life experience, but finally made up her mind to continue talking, as if she desperately needed someone to listen to her, "Actually, my father is the chief priest in the clan, so I was born My physique is different from ordinary people. When I am in a bad mood, a little temper will cause strong winds on the sea and huge waves. Now, I still can't control this force in my body, let alone know that it is God's favor. Still a curse on me..."

The black-eyed boy listened to what the girl said half-understood.He didn't understand the profession of the arch priest, and he didn't know what attitude he should show towards this powerful force in his companion, so he just looked at her silently.

Ning Yue raised her head, and seeing her companion's face full of astonishment, she instantly became embarrassed like a kitten abandoned by the roadside:
"Little stutterer - after you know - will you not want to continue to be friends with me..."

"No, how could it be?" Jiang Yan realized his gaffe, and shook his head like a rattle.

"You're not allowed to lie to me—but I felt from the very beginning that you are a trustworthy person. Little Stutter will always keep those words secret for others, right?"

"Of course, I will keep my mouth shut! If you violate this oath, you will be punished by heaven and earth!"

Jiang Yan nodded his head vigorously, watching the haze in the girl's blue eyes dissipate, and a smile appeared on his face again.

The two continued to sit for a long time, watching the sinking day by day.The young man climbed down from the big bluestone, and patted the dust on his buttocks vigorously: "There is nothing worth nostalgic about here. I'll kowtow to Uncle You again, and then we'll leave as soon as possible. "

While speaking, his body suddenly stopped, and instead he put his index finger on his lips, signaling to Ning Yue who still didn't know what to do, to keep silent.Then he looked up, through a gap in the treetops, into the sky above his head—

At some point, without warning, a large flock of birds that had just returned to their nests was startled in the forest.The flock of birds gradually merged into a deep black shadow under the twilight, and they sang and passed over the heads of the two, covering the sky and the sun.

"What's wrong with these birds?" Ning Yue finally felt that the atmosphere was not right, and whispered in the boy's ear.

"I'm not sure yet. Maybe it's a pack of wolves migrating, or maybe some other beast is threatening to pass by. But judging from the direction the birds are flying, it seems to be heading towards the village. Let's climb up the tree and hide first. Don't act rashly!"

After talking about Yan, he pouted at a nearby big tree.But Ning Yue had just rolled up her sleeves and was about to climb up the tree, but when she turned around, she saw her companion's expression changed, and she suddenly turned around and ran towards the village.

"What are you doing, little stammer?!"

The red-haired girl couldn't help but exclaimed.

"It's Baipi. My Baipi is gone. I'm afraid it was accidentally dropped in the village before—it's the only relic left to me by Uncle You. It must not be lost like this! Yue'er, wait obediently on the tree. I, don't come down!"

The young man reached out and touched the red rope that was supposed to be tied to the scabbard behind his waist—the broken end of the rope was gnashing, and it might have been worn down during the previous battles.Before Ning Yue could speak to dissuade him, he had already flew away.Seeing this situation, how could the girl on the tree be obedient, immediately picked up the little white fox and jumped down, struggling to follow behind.

The people in the village seemed to be frightened by the previous gust of wind. At this time, they hid and hid, and they couldn't even see a single person.Just as the two of them were looking around, sweating profusely, they suddenly heard Cui Ge's startled voice behind him:
"Why did you two come back again?!"

Jiang Yan immediately turned his head and saw that the other party was coming out of the wooden house alone, his face was full of astonishment.And what he planned to hide behind his back in a panic was the dagger he was looking for so hard!

"Sure enough, you picked it up, return the knife to me!"

The young man didn't want to entangle with the other party any more, so he immediately went forward to grab it.However, before he could make a move, he heard a series of dense hoofbeats approaching, and he rushed from the forest to the entrance of the village in a short while.

It was this ten-man cavalry team that disturbed the large group of birds before.On the backs of steeds taller than an adult, sitting warriors were dressed in black armor with sea falcon patterns, red robes, feather helmets, and bronze masks carved with ferocious animal heads.The cavalry team arrived in the dust, running straight until the horses sprayed white foam and sweat drenched through their heavy clothes.

Jiang Yan once heard from Uncle You that this special Xuanjia is a protective gear that only Ye Guozhou masters can wear.The cavalry didn't seem to care about the entanglement between the three of them, they just reined in their horses and stood behind him and asked:
"We were ordered by Lord Ye to hunt down the rebel bandits in the territory. We have been in this village recently, have any suspicious people visited?"

Hearing that the other party was just passing by, the black-eyed boy immediately wanted to make up a lie to deal with it.Unexpectedly, Brother Cui fell to his knees with a "plop" and maliciously hurt him and Ning Yue:

"Masters, these two brats are the fellow pirates you are looking for. That girl can also use demons to harm people, so don't let them go!"

Jiang Yan never thought that the other party would bite back at such a time, and immediately reprimanded:

"How can you spout blood indiscriminately? Could it be that the previous design failed, and now you want to use other people's hands to kill me, Tong Yue'er?!"

Brother Cui spoke more and more righteously, and pulled out the Baipi from his hand with a "shua", pointed at the tip of Jiangyan's nose and shouted:
"Now that the military lords have arrived, how dare you pretend to be garlic! The reason why You Orion brought you to our secluded village is obviously to avoid being traced by the officials! He has a weird tattoo on his back. The clothes are carefully covered, but I have seen it with my own eyes—that is the white whale pattern that only pirates can use! You little devil was brought to the village by You Orion, and you practiced with him all day long Wu Yi, if he is not an accomplice, why would he bother so much?"

Hearing this, the young man couldn't help being startled.He had indeed seen the lifelike white whale tattooed on Uncle You's back, and knew what the other party said was true, but he couldn't think of how to explain it for a while, so he could only clenched his fists.

Seeing that General Yan suddenly became nervous, the black-armored cavalry general with a pheasant tail and long feathers immediately swung his sheathed saber, stabbed Jiangyan's waist with a "goo", and shouted sharply:
"Anyone who moves will be killed without mercy!"

The black-eyed child immediately squatted down on the ground in pain, and a thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.Ning Yue rushed forward to support him, but there was nothing she could do, so she continued to curse at Brother Cui:

"Shameless! Thanks to Xiao Jieba who was soft-hearted and spared your life earlier, you villain will repay your kindness with revenge!"

But Jiang Yan knew that shouting grievances was useless at this time, he raised his face enduring the pain, and said word by word to Brother Cui in front of him:

"Brother Cui, you and I are much more familiar with this forest than these soldiers, there is still time to escape together!"

Seeing that the black-eyed boy who was about to die said something like this, Brother Cui immediately laughed out loud:

"Escape? Why should I escape? Now that I have a weapon in my hand, I won't be afraid of you! If you don't bother me, I will subdue you two little pirates with my own hands! If so, they will reward me with a big reward. With this money, I can take my wife and children and leave this barren place forever, leave that nagging old hag, and start a new life!"

"Idiot, hurry up and put Baipi away! If these soldiers believe that I am a pirate, then there is absolutely no way you and other villagers can get away with it!"

Jiang Yan still wanted to continue persuading him, but he suddenly saw two cavalry behind him who had mounted their horses and moved forward at some point.The horse's breath sprayed on the back of his neck, making every nerve in his body tense.

The young man hastily stretched out his hand, intending to push Ning Yue out of the siege, but the horse moved too fast, already blocking the three people's escape route, as if they were catching a turtle in an urn.

"Master Jun, you guys, are you making a mistake? I want to help you!"

Seeing this situation, Brother Cui suddenly panicked, and squeezed a stiff smile on his face.However, the leading cavalry general didn't want to hear another word from him at all.There was a flash of cold light in mid-air, Brother Cui was already decapitated.

The flying head hit the ground and rolled away with a grunt.In the pair of wide-open eyes on the skull, Brother Cui's endless puzzlement and fear before his death were still revealed.On its still standing body, streams of fresh blood spurted out from the wound on its neck.The headless corpse gradually lost its support and fell limply to the ground.

"Give me an order to take all the people in the village and the pirates back to the Zhihedu camp for trial. If anyone refuses to obey, or resists arrest with weapons, they will all be killed on the spot, and no mercy will be given!"

The rider on the horse said coldly.Seeing that Jiang Yan still put on a defensive posture and refused to give in, Dang even rode forward, swung his long knife and swept towards him without hesitation!
The black-eyed boy hugged Ning Yue, who had been scared stupid too early, and with a short body, he avoided the sharp edge of the cavalier's weapon, but his back was still scratched by the edge of the blade.But Jiang Yan didn't have time to check his injuries, so he rolled on the spot and picked up the Baipi that Cui Ge had dropped on the ground, and turned around to meet the long blade that the opponent had slashed again!

"ah--!"

Ning Yue's screams echoed in the mountains, and again startled a large flock of birds that had just landed on the treetops nearby.

The young man originally only intended to fight to the death, but he never thought that the weapon in his hand was actually a precious knife that cuts iron like mud.With a crisp sound of "铛", the cavalier's long knife was cut off in an instant.The sharp broken blades flew outwards with inertia, and immediately cut through the belly of another nearby war horse.

The cavalier never imagined that the seemingly weak boy in front of him would be able to receive his full blow, and directly scrapped the weapon in his hand.The war horse under his crotch also stood up because of the fright, and slammed the owner on his back to the ground.

One of the rider's feet was hooked by the stirrup, and he was facing up to the sky, but he had nowhere to exert his strength. He could only let his mount drag him in the direction he came from.The other war horse whose belly was scratched couldn't stand still anymore, and its legs went limp, directly pressing the knight on the ground firmly, making it difficult for him to escape.

"Don't force me! I'm not afraid of killing people!"

Jiang Yan stood in the encirclement covered in blood, roaring angrily.The blood oozing from the wound on the back gradually flowed down through the clothes, gathered on the tip of the knife in the palm of the hand along the arm, and dripped down on the feet, smashing dark red pits one after another on the mud.

He turned his head and stared fiercely at the faces of the remaining eight or nine cavalrymen.Wherever the gaze went, the war horse neighed, and it seemed that it was also startled by the fierce light in the dark eyes that was about to fight a trapped beast.Seeing a mere young man tear open a gap in the encirclement circle in the blink of an eye, the cavalry all froze in place for a while, and did not continue to draw their swords to besiege.

But at this short moment, Jiang Yan pulled Ning Yue who was also standing there dumbfounded, and rushed straight from the gap to the dense forest outside the village.He knew that he was able to escape from the knife just now, relying on a sliver of luck.Even if he is not seriously injured right now, if he fights head-on, he will never be able to beat the opponent by himself.

The cavalrymen on the horse also reacted one after another, drawing their knives out of their sheaths one after another, clamping their horses under their stomachs and chasing after the two of them.While running, Jiang Yan glanced at Ning Yue who was running staggeringly beside him, her face was as pale as paper. He resisted the severe pain in his back and squeezed her hand hard:

"A horse can't run fast in the woods, let's hide on Leiyin Mountain!"

(End of this chapter)