Three-way intersection.

Fluttershy, dressed in emerald green, stands apprehensively under a large tree, looking forward to the bottom of the mountain.

Not much.

Her eyes lit up, and a happy smile finally appeared on her face.

"Childe ......"

She ran up with tears in her eyes.

Luo Qingzhou gently hugged her still trembling body, and comforted her softly: "It's okay, don't be afraid." ”

The little girl saw that kind of bloody scene for the first time, and it was the first time she saw him killing, so she was naturally afraid.

Fluttershy cries, "Childe, you have a lot of blood on you, let's go home......"

Luo Qingzhou took her little hand and looked at the road when she came.

After a pause, he bent down and whispered into the girl's ear, "Fluttershy, we won't be home for a while today, but Childe will take you to a fun place." ”

"Huh?"

When the little girl heard this, her face was full of astonishment: "What...... Where? ”

Luo Qingzhou looked at another path with a complicated gaze: "Where I was born." ”

Fluttershy's eyes widen.

"Let's go."

Luo Qingzhou didn't dare to stay here for too long, so he pulled her and walked to another path that was already unfamiliar and covered by wild grass.

I can't go home right now.

If there is still an ambush on the road, in his current state, he and this little girl will probably be more than lucky.

I had to go to that small mountain village for one night.

Wait until dawn tomorrow and then take a carriage back to the city by surprise.

"Oh."

Fluttershy doesn't say anything more, and is obediently led by him and walks down another path, her eyes full of dependence.

No matter where Childe goes, she will follow.

Even if Childe sells her, she is willing.

If Childe really sells her, it's a big deal that after Childe gets the money and leaves, she will secretly escape and go to Childe again.

Anyway, she will be a son for the rest of her life, and in the next life, she will always be a child.

Never part with your son!

The master and servant walked on the deserted path, and neither spoke again.

Luo Qingzhou pricked up his ears, still vigilant, and looked back a few times from time to time to confirm whether anyone was following.

The small mountain village in my memory is only four or five kilometers away.

However, this path has been untouched all year round, and the grass has spread, and there is no road in many places.

It's noon.

The two finally saw the small mountain village in front of them.

Today's small mountain village is desolate and dilapidated.

After several attacks by demon beasts, most of the young people in the village died, except for some lonely old people who lost their relatives and stubbornly stayed there, there were no young people in the village, let alone children.

The bustle of the village was like yesterday.

But even in the past, almost all that remained in Luo Qingzhou's memory were shadows.

The mother was pregnant before marriage, and after giving birth to him, even the father did not know who it was, and there was a lot of discussion in the village, nailing the mother and son to the pillar of shame.

Almost every day, there are vitriol, sarcastic and invective words.

Even children don't play with him.

In order to raise him as an adult and let him study, his mother suffered a lot of eyes and humiliation in the village, but she still persevered.

After his grandfather and grandmother died, and his uncle and second uncle left the village and never returned, his mother was lonely, without protection, afraid that he would be hurt, and wanted him to live better, so she cheekily took him into the city and into the Chengguo Mansion.

Since then, the mother and son have never returned to the village that made them sad.

With these things in mind, Luo Qingzhou takes Fluttershy to a simple wash in the river in front of the village before entering the village.

The village, once filled with the sounds of children playing, dogs barking, and adults shouting, is now silent.

Wild grass grew all over the front and back of the house.

The iron locks on the gates were rusty, and the courtyard walls of some houses had collapsed.

Luo Qingzhou took Fluttershy all the way, walked all the way, watched all the way, and through the courtyard gate, only saw two old people, sitting alone in the small courtyard, with their eyes closed and basking in the sun, as if waiting for that day to come.

Luo Qingzhou did not stop and came to the small courtyard where he used to live with his mother.

The gate has decayed and fallen, and half of the courtyard wall has collapsed, I don't know if it was caused by the wind and rain for a long time, or if they were pushed down by the people of the village after their mother and son left.

The courtyard was full of lush grass, broken bricks, and some tattered cloth buried in the dirt.

There was nothing left in the house.

Even the tables, stools, and beds were all moved.

Fortunately, the four walls are still there, the roof is still there, and it can still shelter from the wind and rain.

"Childe, is this where you and your wife used to live?"

Fluttershy looks at the scene with a sad expression on her face.

"Clean up the room, we'll be here for the night tonight."

Luo Qingzhou didn't say much, walked out of the house and said, "I'll go and see what to eat, you should be hungry too, right?" Don't run around, just stay in the house. ”

"Uh-oh."

Fluttershy says yes and goes to find the broomstick.

There were brooms in the courtyard, but they were rotten.

But it doesn't matter, you can wrap it in a strip of cleaned cloth and continue to use it to sweep the floor.

There should still be water in the well.

Luo Qingzhou walked out of the small courtyard and walked to the end of the village, looking at each house one by one.

Towards the end of the village, he saw an old woman.

The old woman in a shabby cotton jacket sat on a chair in front of the door, staring at the mountains in the distance with cloudy and confused eyes, not knowing what she was thinking.

The old woman has white hair, her face is full of wrinkles and frost, and her back is rickety.

But Luo Qingzhou already recognized her at the first glance when he saw her.

At that time, the most vicious and bad person in this village to his mother was the person in front of him.

He still vividly remembers that one summer, his mother came back from picking up a wild watermelon in the mountains.

Mother and son were about to share happily when the man, whom his mother called Aunt Jiu, suddenly broke into the house with someone, accused his mother of stealing her watermelon, and then scolded him with all kinds of vicious and dirty words, and grabbed his mother's hair with his hands and his mother's face with his fingernails......

In the end, the watermelon was taken away.

The mother hugged him and cried silently in the corner.

At that time, he secretly swore that when he grew up and had the ability, he would definitely let this vicious woman be tortured.

But at this moment, looking at the old man in front of him, looking at her white hair, wrinkled face, quiet and aging appearance, his heart couldn't hate it anymore.

"You...... Are you Qingzhou? Yu'er's Qingzhou? ”

The old man looked at him with a look of surprise on his face.

Luo Qingzhou came back to his senses, stepped forward, and a smile appeared on his face: "Ninth mother-in-law, it's me, Qingzhou." ”

The old man's eyes widened, he stood up, stared him up and down, and saw that the robe he was wearing was tattered, and he could not help asking, "Didn't you go to the city with your mother?" How did you come back again? You're ...... Kicked out? ”

Luo Qingzhou didn't explain, and nodded: "Well, I was kicked out." ”

was used by Chengguofu as a tool for repentance, but he was kicked out.

The old man sighed and said, "Poor, your mother is also pitiful, she entered the city, she didn't enjoy a few days of happiness, and she died so young, listen to them, she was buried on the Zixia Mountain in front of our village, right?" Hey......"

Luo Qingzhou was silent for a moment and said, "Ninth Mother-in-law, the people in your family ......"

The old man was already indifferent: "All of them are dead, except for me, the old woman, there is no one left." ”

Luo Qingzhou didn't dare to ask any more, glanced at her yard, hesitated, and still asked, "Ninth mother-in-law, do you have anything to eat at home?" ”

The old man glanced at him, turned around and staggered into the house, and sighed, "There are two more cakes, they are too hard for me to gnaw on, and if you are hungry, take them and eat them." ”

"Hey, pitiful, look at you, your mother is dead, you can't even eat a meal now, I said earlier, what's the use of studying? It's better to learn how to farm......"

The old man chattered, went into the kitchen, and brought out two hard biscuits.

After thinking about it, he went into the house again, took two eggs, and handed them to him together.

"Hey, the last hen was taken away by a weasel, and there is nothing alive in this village except for us old immortals. In the past few years, even those man-eating beasts have not come......"

The old man sighed.

Luo Qingzhou took the cake and eggs, took out a piece of silver from his pocket, and handed it to her: "Ninth mother-in-law, you take the silver, if there are vendors in the village, you can also buy something to eat." ”

The old man looked at the silver in his hand, did not take it, shook his head and said, "You can take it yourself, it is useless for me to ask for this thing, how can there be a hawker here now." I'm in good health, and I can still grow a few mouthfuls of food to eat. You are young, and there is still a long way to go, so keep it for yourself. ”

Luo Qingzhou glanced at her, didn't say anything, and prepared to leave.

When he walked to the door, the old man suddenly said: "Qingzhou, it turns out that the ninth mother-in-law treated your mother and son like that, but now that I think about it, the ninth mother-in-law actually regrets and feels guilty in her heart." When people get old, they know that those rules and customs are not important, and the most important thing is to live happily. It wasn't your mother's fault that she was pregnant out of wedlock, and we shouldn't have done that to her......"

Luo Qingzhou suddenly turned his head and asked, "Ninth Mother-in-law, do you know how my mother got pregnant with me back then?" Do you know that person? ”

The old man shook his head: "I don't know, no one in the village knows who that person is, that's why they treat your mother like that." But in the end, I heard that your mother was forced...... Hey, at that time, even if it was forced, a woman's reputation was ruined, and no one could afford it, not to mention that your mother was too stubborn and refused to tell who that person was......"

Luo Qingzhou didn't say anything more, nodded, and walked out of the door.

The old man also followed, talking to himself and babbling, not knowing what he was talking about.

Just as he was about to continue to sit down on the stool at the door, he suddenly noticed that there was an extra piece of silver on the stool.

By the time she looked up, the boy was already far away.

"Hey......"

The old man sighed, picked up the silver, and sat down, recalling in his mind what had happened to the mother and son.

Luo Qingzhou returns to the dilapidated courtyard, and after sharing cakes and eggs with Fluttershy, he sits down in the house and works on his inner strength.

Fluttershy doesn't dare to disturb and goes out of the house, looking around in the other rooms and courtyards, as well as in the doorway.

After a while.

She couldn't bear it anymore, went out of the gate, and wandered curiously around the village.

The sun sets quickly.

Luo Qingzhou felt that the pain on his body had been alleviated a lot.

When Fluttershy returns, she brings a needle and thread, and says happily, "Childe, the slave met an old woman in the village and chatted with her all afternoon, and she borrowed all the needle and thread." Take off your clothes quickly, and the slave will help you mend them. ”

Luo Qingzhou's heart moved, took off his clothes and said, "What did she talk to you about?" ”

Fluttershy took the clothes and said, "I didn't talk about anything, the old woman kept talking about the past, and the slave didn't dare to ask about the son and the lady, and the old woman didn't mention it." By the way, the old woman also said let's not go out at night, this place is haunted. ”

Speaking of this, the little girl had a frightened expression on her face.

"Haunted?"

Luo Qingzhou's eyes flashed.

Fluttershy nodded, "Well, the old woman said that at night, the village was full of whining and crying, and she said that she saw a lot of dark shadows floating around, which was terrifying. ”

Luo Qingzhou looked outside.

Isn't it scary?

Why did he still have expectations?

Outside, night falls.

A crescent moon rises in mid-air.

The whole village was shrouded in darkness and dead silence.