The setting sun was blood-red, hanging in the western sky, dyeing the whole sky red. Under this red and golden sky, in a hidden mountain forest near Djerkhala, a column of curling smoke rose in front of several broken tents that had been patched together and floated into the air before being slowly blown away by the wind.

Petliula shook the blood off his hand and tossed the bloodied butcher's knife aside. He squinted his eyes at the late day, raised his hand and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his dirty sleeve. Beside him, his bandit brothers sat together in twos and threes, busy with their own affairs, and raised their heads from time to time to talk a few words to relieve their boredom.

They had been in the shelter for two weeks now, and there had indeed been soldiers searching for them near the forest. But God forbid, their group was still not discovered by the army.

Judging by their experience in hiding, they should be safe by now. After all, it was impossible for that group of aristocratic lords to let the soldiers search for criminals all the time for the sake of a few dead people. In general, they still need soldiers to serve them, at least in the eyes of the bandits, these nobles can't stand the slightest discomfort.

The bandits themselves are different, they don't have such a good life. After fourteen days without cooked food and hiding in the cold, damp woods, their leader, Makayev, finally allowed them to light a fire and cook food.

Petliura and his friend Bimogan, the Kugit, were the two best men in the entire camp with bows and arrows except for Makaev, so naturally the two of them were sent out by the boss. They spent the whole afternoon hunting in the woods, and at first they had set their sights on a fat and sturdy boar, but in the end they let it run away without paying attention.

Thankfully, as the two of them returned disappointed, the Kujit Bimogan stumbled upon a rabbit hole next to a bush, and after a grueling battle of wits with the rabbit family, they finally pulled out six rabbits, large and small, from the rabbit hole. Maybe the rabbits we talked about weren't enough for the people in the camp, but with the vegetables, cheese, and so on that the bandits' own storage, it was enough for ten people to eat. After all, after enduring such a long time of only eating dry food, they were already very satisfied to have such a feast.

After returning to the camp like heroes, Petliura and his brothers were rushed to work by Makaev before they could brag to their companions. While joking and chatting with the people around him, Petliula skillfully picked up the butcher's knife hanging in the tent and began to skin the rabbits. Bimogan stayed by his side, carefully handling the rabbit skin that had been peeled.

Both of them were born in Orion, and it wasn't long before the intact rabbit skins were deftly peeled off by Peliura, and Bimogan quickly took the rabbit skins he handed over, plastered them with lime, filled them with hay, and hung them in the wind to dry. These rabbit skins are good stuff, and they are used in the sewing and mending of everything in the camp. When the skins are dry, they will have to spend some time rubbing them to make them soft, otherwise they won't use them at all.

A thief came slowly, took out the rabbit that had been skinned and looked a little red and white in the wooden basin, shaved the bones with a knife, and then cut the meat piece by piece and threw it back into the basin.

Although it is early summer, it is not like the time when autumn is approaching winter, and that is when rabbit meat is at its fattest. But this can also provoke the eyes of this group of people, looking at their unproductive appearance, Makaev involuntarily laughed at them, and the whole camp immediately resounded with a burst of laughter, so startled that the surrounding birds flew high and did not dare to fall.

It was getting late, the sun was about to set, and the hungry bandits were ready to eat. After some debate, the six rabbits finally had a good home - two of them were roasted, and the remaining four were stewed with other ingredients.

The fire has already been lit, and we are waiting for the food to go to the pot. After a while, the water in the pot began to boil, and the thief, who was the cook, threw a handful of salt into it, and poured all the sliced rabbit meat into it. Cover the pot and start cooking. The rabbit on the fire rack on one side has also begun to roast, and the air around it is beginning to emit a delicate greasy aroma. From time to time, oil drips from the rabbit meat fell into the fire, making a sizzling sound.

Jessica peeked at the tent for a while, then walked out and sat on the grass on the side, holding her legs without saying a word. After a while, he stood up again, walked to the side of the grinding stone, and began to help Makaev sharpen his knife.

Makaev first smiled at her flatteringly, and then said without words: "Hehe, sharpen the knife?" You have a little less water, you must have more water, otherwise it will wear out the knife surface. Right! That's it, don't change the knife surface grinding, be sure to grind from one side, both sides will grind the blade. Yes, yes, that's it! Follow one direction so that the cutting edge is not damaged. ”

Soon Jessica finished sharpening her first knife under his guidance, and she smiled and raised the knife she had sharpened in her hand, looking at him with a happy face. Makaev stared at her smile, feeling almost intoxicated.

Jessica was a little embarrassed by his burning eyes, and gently slapped his arm, blushing and lowering her head.

Only then did Makaev react, smirking and looking dumbfounded.

Makaev and his bandit men hid in the forest for fourteen days, and Jessica stayed with them for fourteen days. After such a long time together, Jessica has gradually become familiar with this group of seemingly vulgar but actually enthusiastic men, and the thieves no longer think about those bad things about her, but love this fawn-like girl as a sister.

These bandits actually know what their leaders think, but since the leader doesn't say it, they can only see through it and pretend to turn a blind eye to it. As for Jessica, she can vaguely detect a hint of clues, but she doesn't think about it at all, she just sees Makaev as a trustworthy brother.

Makaev himself was not satisfied with this, he did not care what his subordinates were thinking, he only knew that he loved this angelic girl deeply, and he did not care to force her in a rough way. But he also knew that he was not worthy of her no matter what, and one day she would return to her father and brother and be the young lady again. In this case, what's wrong with being a qualified brother during this time.

So, since some love is destined to be unspeakable for the rest of your life, what's wrong with keeping it in the way it is?

Jessica naturally didn't know what he was thinking, she just listened to the laughter of the bandits in her ears with some distraction, felt the loving eyes of Makaev beside her, and silently thought: Life in the shelter is actually very good!