twin moon

Chapter 6, Scene [-] First Acquaintance II

"Stop bragging." Jiang Yan looked the girl in front of him up and down, his face full of doubts, "There are many poisonous insects and beasts in this forest, you, a girl, are running around alone, aren't you afraid? "

"What kind of poisonous insects and ferocious beasts? Little stutterer, stop scaring people. I've been in the woods for so many days, how come I've never met one before?" Ning Yue retorted, shaking her red hair, with a look of indifference, "Speaking of it Come back, you seem to be about the same age as me, didn't you come into the mountain alone?"

Jiang Yan pointed to the dagger on the back of his waist and the bow and arrow on his shoulder: "I am different from you."

"What's the difference? Don't you have two arms and two legs?"

The girl walked around Jiang Yan, a pair of big eyes wandering around him, suddenly pulled the wolf fur on the young man's body and laughed:
"Hee hee, it's really different, so you have such a thick tail hidden!"

Jiang Yan was dumbfounded by this eccentric girl, and hurriedly turned around to pull the caught wolf tail out of the opponent's palm:
"Stop making trouble. Where is the person who is traveling with you now? I will take you to find your family now."

"Don't worry about this—little stammer. No one will worry about me leaving home this trip, at least my father won't..."

Speaking of her family, the girl's originally bright eyes suddenly dimmed, and there was a trace of melancholy in her eyes.But this change was quickly hidden by her, and she asked the other party, "Where is the little stammer? You came up the mountain alone, will anyone worry about you?"

Jiang Yan nodded without hesitation: "Well, if Uncle You knew that I went up the mountain alone to find him, he would definitely sweat for me..."

"So you came to the mountain to find someone! This Uncle You is your—"

"He is not my blood relative, he just picked me up from Tankou Beach a few months ago."

"What do you mean I picked you up?" Ning Yue blinked her eyes, feeling a little strange.

The black-eyed young man sighed and said: "It's my fate. After being swept to the shore by the waves, I happened to meet Uncle You, so I finally saved my life, otherwise I would have frozen to death. Uncle You said that I Probably encountered a shipwreck, holding a wooden board tightly in my arms, and my body was as cold as a corpse. From that day on, the two of us went south together, and it was not until the end of winter and the beginning of spring that we settled down in this forest. live by hunting."

"But why don't you go back to your own home, but come here with a stranger?" the red-haired girl asked again.

Hearing this, Jiang Yan frowned suddenly, as if caught in the memory of the past.However, from the lines that follow, it is not difficult to hear that to him, that part of the past was as thin and pale as a piece of paper: "...after I woke up, I couldn't remember where my home was at all...what happened before I was rescued." I don’t remember anything that happened. The only thing I haven’t forgotten is my name..."

"Then you—don't plan to look for it?"

"Why ask so many, these things have nothing to do with you!"

For some reason, when talking about the past, the young man suddenly became irritable.He shook his head vigorously as if obsessed, and the tone of his voice involuntarily raised a lot, almost stopping drinking.

Ning Yue was taken aback, she was stunned for a moment, and then she lowered her head cautiously: "I'm sorry little stammer, then I just don't ask. You must not be angry, I don't want others to be angry..."

"You just let go of a rabbit, there's nothing wrong with that."

Jiang Yan also realized that his expression surprised the other party, and he grinned awkwardly, but his smile was extremely ugly.

The young man's embarrassment finally made the girl smile again: "Okay, okay, let's talk about something else. Do you know which state on land this forest belongs to?"

"I heard from Uncle You that this place is located in the west of Wanzhou, near Wuyun Cape, and it is the territory of Ye Kingdom. It is deep in the mountains and old forests, and people usually don't come here easily. Why do you ask this?"

"In the old days, I heard that the largest and most prosperous city on land was called Yujing. I even wanted to see it in my dreams. It's just that Yujing is in the upper reaches of the Yushui River in Changzhou. If we are in Wanzhou now, If you want to go by land, you have to pass through the two prefectures of Wansi, and there is a Suoyang Pass in between, so it's a long way."

During the conversation, Jiang Yan couldn't help admiring the unpredictable girl in front of him - although she didn't know anything about hunting and wild fruits, she was very eloquent in terms of geography:
"How do you—how do you know so many things?"

"Hey, it's not that I read it from the book. My father has a very big book library, and there are countless scriptures piled up in it. When I have nothing to do, I will look through it on weekdays and read things from ancient times to the present. It is better than being stupid at home. Sitting is much more interesting. My greatest wish in this life is to see the beautiful scenery and eat delicious food all over the world!"

After explaining, the girl bowed her knees and saluted, then turned around and left, "But since this place is so far away from Yujing, I have to continue on the road quickly. Let's say goodbye to Xiao Jieba. I hope this will go for years, and there will be a period later."

Before she finished speaking, she reminded her as if she suddenly remembered something, "Remember, after I leave, don't try to trick the little rabbit again!"

"Wait, are you planning to go to Yujing alone like this?"

But Jiangyan's face immediately showed deep worry, and he hurriedly opened his mouth to stop him, "Uncle You has always warned me that there are constant disputes among the princes of the world, bandits and robbers are everywhere in the southern states, and even the official way is not safe. Reckless and alone On the road, what if there is an accident?"

Hearing this, Ning Yue suddenly showed a hint of disappointment on her face:
"Does the little stammer mean that I can't go to Yujing? What kind of powerful monkeys are those princes you mentioned? Why have I never seen them in the book? And what is the war mentioned in the book? Those monkeys Are you fighting..."

Facing the girl who suddenly fell into confusion, Jiang Yan didn't know how to explain himself, so he just kept waving his hands: "I can't explain this for a while. Anyway, if you really want to go to Yujing, I can be together, it’s always better to have someone to take care of each other on the road.”

"Little stammer, are you willing to accompany me to Yujing? Really?"

"Of course it's true. I don't want to spend my whole life in this deep mountain and old forest! Didn't you just say that you want to see all the beautiful scenery and eat all the delicious food in the world? I—I want to go too!"

Although Ning Yue didn't know why the young man who met by chance in front of her took the initiative to help her, but there was still a light of joy in her blinking eyes: "Then let's go now!"

Jiang Yan nodded vigorously, then shook his head suddenly: "But I can't leave now, it will take some time, there are some important things to do..."

Seeing that the other party was obviously worried, the red-haired girl recalled the previous conversation: "By the way, you said that you went up the mountain alone to find that Uncle You?"

"Well, I have to find Uncle You first, and say goodbye to him before I can leave. It's been three days since he entered the mountain this time, but he hasn't come back yet."

"In this way, Xiao Jieba, you can go to Uncle You with peace of mind. I will stay with you for a while, and it won't be too late to leave when you come back." Ning Yue stretched out her hand to gently support the other party's shoulder, and comforted her.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Yan shook his head decisively.

The girl didn't know what was going on, but she didn't take it seriously: "Is it inconvenient? Then you can point me in the right direction first. Is it possible to catch up with me after I find Uncle You?"

"No, since we are friends, how can I let you continue to run around in this mountain alone?"

The young man also immediately rejected her proposal, and after thinking about it for a while, he said, "Well, there is a stream behind the village where Uncle You and I live, and no one will pass by it. Let's go back to the village from there. After settling down at home, I will tell you the reason slowly. It’s just that you must hide it at home these few days, so that no one else can find it, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble.”

"It's so mysterious, what's the trouble?" Ning Yue murmured in her heart, but her curiosity drove her to nod and agree, "Sure, then I'll listen to you and hide obediently. You can't lie to me." People!"

"It's a puppy who lied to you!" Jiang Yan also patted his chest with his hands in a serious manner.

Hearing what the other party said, Ning Yue soon fell back into the beautiful longing for Yu Jing again, and her pair of squinted blue eyes curved like a crescent moon, which was truly beautiful.

So excited that she even grabbed Jiang Yan's hand, hurriedly striding forward:

"Yujing, we'll be here soon!"

"The village, the village is not in that direction..."

It was the first time for Jiang Yan to be pulled so intimately by a beautiful girl of the same age, and his face immediately turned crimson again.Ning Yue didn't care about this, instead she held the boy's hand even tighter, as if she wanted to see the embarrassed expression on the boy's face.

In this way, the two walked hand in hand in the mountains. After walking for about two or three hours, they saw a few faint wisps of cooking smoke faintly rising above the valley in front of them.After turning around a mountain depression, seven or eight simple wooden houses built in the forest glade finally appeared in front of us.

Unexpectedly, the boy and girl who were walking towards the village on tiptoe ran into several middle-aged peasant women who were undressing by the stream.What's even more strange is that when the women saw the two children, they didn't gather around to ask questions. Instead, their complexions changed drastically as if they had seen a ghost. Without saying a word, he turned around and ran towards the village in a panic.

"Tsk, I usually come out to wash clothes in the morning, but today I'm too lazy! This is troublesome..."

Jiang Yan frowned and cursed in a low voice, then stopped and stood on the bank of the stream, hesitating to go any further.

"What's the matter with you? I'm not picky. It doesn't matter if the house is messy, as long as there is a place to sleep!"

Ning Yue looked up at Jiang Yan half-jokingly, but saw a strange look on the boy's face, like a trapped wild animal.But before she could open her mouth to ask, a strange voice suddenly sounded from the path by the stream, from far to near:

"Yo, the sun is really coming out from the west. I didn't quite believe it when Aunt Yu and the others came to complain. Didn't you say you were going to the mountains to find You Orion, and you got so angry that you couldn't find it and didn't come back? Why did you sneak around instead? After going around the village, they brought back a cute little girl? How long have you been in the village, and you dare to break the rules set by the witch!"

The speaker was a man in his early thirties, the No. 3 hunter in the village besides Uncle You and Jiang Yan.As the other party spoke, he wiped a pair of hands still stained with blood on the apron around his waist indiscriminately, and stretched out his arms to block in front of the two of them.It seems that he went out hunting today, and he returned with a full load, and he is currently peeling and cramping.

"Brother Cui, this girl got lost in the woods and was alone. You know the situation on the mountain better than I do, not to mention that the witch made an exception for me and Uncle You before, so I thought—— "

"You just want us to take in one more outsider? But why, in my opinion, do you want to hide her back home without telling the whole village?!"

Brother Cui didn't give Jiang Yan any chance to defend himself, and interrupted him sharply, "You don't even count how many pheasants and wild mice you have hunted in the past half a month! You don't know how much you owe, Why are you still meddling in other people's business?"

Indeed, since entering the village, Brother Cui has left Jiangyan far behind in his hunt.Although under Uncle You's teaching, his archery has made great progress, but unfortunately his experience is still lacking, and his luck is always a little bit worse, but the people in the village seem unwilling to relax even a little bit of requirements on him because of this.

"He hunted a hare today, but I let it go!"

Ning Yue on the side was blunt and forthright, seeing that the other party was deliberately embarrassing Jiang Yan, she opened her mouth to complain for her companion.The young man wanted to stop it immediately, but it was already too late.

"What, what? You let him go? Oh, this outsider is really powerful. But having said that, the little girl is really fresh, no wonder this brat got carried away and broke the rules of the village."

From the moment we met, Brother Cui never looked at Jiang Yan directly, but his gaze had already swept back and forth on Ning Yue several times.At this time, he laughed maliciously, and there was a bit of obscenity in the laughter, which made Ning Yue feel numb all over, and raised her eyes to stare at the other party fiercely.

"You youngsters, really don't let the old man worry about it, what kind of trouble did you cause? The old man is deaf, but he heard that someone deliberately let the prey go, and returned to the village with an extra mouth to eat?"

At that moment, an old and sharp voice sounded from behind Brother Cui, forcing him to restrain his presumptuous expression, and stepped aside respectfully.

The person who came was the witch they had mentioned before.I saw him with a head of silver hair, a stooped body, and a rough crutch in his hand.Although he walked tremblingly, he was not angry and arrogant.

The old woman glanced sideways at the boy opposite, and asked calmly, "What's the matter with the injury on your thigh?"

Jiang Yan hurriedly took a step forward, bowed his hands and bowed: "Thank you for your concern, the witch, but it's just some flesh wounds, it's okay. It's just that hare—it's not Yue'er's fault."

"Answer whatever you are asked, and don't say anything else."

The witch suddenly raised her head, her eyes gouged out the young man like a knife.Although her tone was still as calm as before, Jiang Yan still felt extremely displeased from that look in her eyes.

"Is this girl brought back by you?"

"Yes……"

"She let go of the hare herself, too?"

"Yes……"

"Then what excuse is there? Including you and You Orion, the people living in this village are all poor people who have been displaced in troubled times. Everyone finally found this secluded mountain col and lived a new life away from home. What do you rely on for the peaceful days of war?"

"It depends on the rules you set."

"Thank you for remembering well! The food used to sustain our livelihood in the village was given to us by the mountain gods. Therefore, we made an oath in front of the gods, and we will never be with strangers, strangers, or strangers in this life. Do not trust outsiders, let alone allow these outsiders to easily step into the mountains. Too many outsiders will disturb the god Qingxiu, make him unhappy, and bring endless disasters to this village!"

The old woman's tone gradually became aggressive, "Before, the old man agreed to let you stay with him because of You Orion's face, which is a lenient. But now you are not only a decent prey They failed to make any contribution, but they still want us to agree to let an outsider, a person who let go of the prey himself, enter the village? Is it possible?!"

"Yue'er doesn't stay long, she just stays for a few nights and then leaves—"

"Not for half an hour! If you break the rules in the village, you will be punished. You two and You Hunter, get out of the village tonight and never come back!"

"Punish me, don't implicate Uncle You, this matter has nothing to do with him!"

What Jiang Yan was worried about still happened—the roaring old woman made him realize that he might have hurt his savior because of impulsiveness. click.

At this time, Ning Yue had roughly understood the ins and outs of the matter from the dialogue between the two parties, and finally understood why the young man was so embarrassed about taking her back to the village.

She, who had always been blocked by Yang Yan, finally couldn't bear it anymore, and walked around in front of the boy, looking apologetically at the black eyes full of self-blame, anger and depression, and said:

"I didn't expect that because of me, you and that Uncle You would be implicated. Stop begging them in a low voice. Since this old woman wants to drive me away, I will go! I will wait for you in this forest, and wait for you." After finding Uncle You, the three of us went to Yujing together, so we didn't care to stay in this poor place! There are so many elders in the village, and they all band together to bully people with broken rules, they really don't want any face!"

The girl's voice echoed in the twilight, sonorous and powerful, and she turned around immediately to walk out of the village.

"No, it's going to be dark soon, and you don't even have enough time to go back to the woods to start a fire!"

Jiang Yan grabbed the girl's hand subconsciously, but this action made the faces of the witch and the villagers even more ugly.The old woman hit the ground with her crutch vigorously, ordering the villagers to come forward and drive them away.

Unexpectedly, Brother Cui suddenly walked up to the witch, and whispered a few words in her ear.I don't know what exactly he said, the old woman's eyes and brow wrinkles gradually relaxed, she turned from anger to joy, kept nodding her head, and then spoke again, unexpectedly changing the topic:
"However - there are exceptions to everything. If you are willing to act as an introducer for this girl, it is not impossible to keep her."

Brother Cui has always been popular in the village.But Ling Jiangyan didn't expect that he could easily persuade the stubborn witch to change her mind.But now that the old woman has let go, the young man didn't hesitate for a moment, Dang even straightened his back and said loudly:
"I do it!"

But Ning Yue felt that something was wrong, so she tugged on the boy's cuff to stop her and said, "Little stutterer, don't just agree to their demands! Why do they have to leave whoever they let go, and they can stay whoever they say they want to stay?"

"Hey, it seems that this girl is not willing to accept your love."

Brother Cui laughed maliciously, so excited Jiang Yan took another step, and said with a straight neck:
"I just said, I do!"

"You can think about it well, once you agree to be an introducer, you have made a contract with the gods, and there is no turning back."

"Naturally I've thought about it. I'll go up the mountain tonight, and at the same time, please remember that, according to the rules of the village, from now on, I will be Yue'er's host, and no one will be allowed Make it difficult for her! If someone breaks his promise, not only will the gods not agree, but I will never let him go!"

Jiang Yan seemed to have suffered a lot in the village, but he was so angry that he pointed at the faces of the villagers and shouted sharply.

Witch, Brother Cui, and the surrounding villagers never imagined that this child, who had no father, no mother, and even lost his memory, would swear such a curse for an outsider who met by chance, and his face suddenly lost color. Even more afraid to linger under the angry eyes of the young man, surrounded by witches, they went back to the house.

Only then did Jiang Yan hold the slender wrist of the girl beside him, and walked straight towards the simple cabin that belonged to him and You Orion—there was not much decoration inside the door, but everything was neatly tidied up.Although many things are very old, they have been wiped spotless, and they have nothing to do with being dirty.

Before entering the door, Ning Yue broke free from the young man's tight grip on her hand, and asked, "Little stutterer, tell me the truth, what dangerous thing is that attractor going to do?!"

The boy was determined not to say a word, but gritted his teeth with a gloomy expression:

"For now, you can just stay in this house. Although the villagers are quite hostile to outsiders, they still respect the gods in the mountain. As long as I go to the top of the mountain tonight to satisfy their wishes, everything will be fine tomorrow. You believe me!"

The red-haired girl knew that it was useless for her to ask any more, so she nodded reluctantly: "I don't need to ask about that little stammer."

Seeing the other party's pale face, Jiang Yan hesitated for a moment before reacting, and quickly stretched out his frown, and squeezed out a still ugly smile at her:

"The way I looked just now—I didn't intend to scare you. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I feel panicked in my heart, as if there is a fire burning. Since you entered the village, you are the only one besides Uncle You. The second person who treats me well from the bottom of my heart. He is my savior, you are my only friend in this world, if you treat me well, I will treat you well too!"

At this time, Ning Yue still couldn't fully understand the meaning of the other party's words, but vaguely felt that it seemed that it was because of her unintentional arrival that some things buried deep in the blood of the black-eyed boy in front of her revived again. .

(End of this chapter)