Su Muling was cooking breakfast outside, and Wei Huai'an also followed.

"I thought about it for a long time yesterday, let's go down the mountain." Wei Huai'an watched her skillfully make a fire and wash rice. was as gentle as a virtuous little wife, and suddenly regretted that she had spoken too early.

"Down the mountain? Why? ”

Su Muling stopped what he was doing and looked at him suspiciously.

"It's been a month and there hasn't been a single ship. I was thinking that this place is in the middle of nowhere and no ships pass by, although this mountain top has a wide view, but it is full of dangers, and if I continue to wait like this, I am afraid that the boat will not wait for anyone to wait any longer. ”

When Wei Huaian talks about serious things, there is a charm that people can't refute.

Su Muling nodded in agreement, it is indeed such a reason, this mountain is not as good as the village, danger is everywhere, once or twice I am lucky enough to escape, what if I don't escape one time? She didn't want to be double when she came, but single when she went back.

"I was thinking that if we didn't wait here, but went out to look for it, maybe we would meet a boat to take us back." Wei Huai'an looked solemn, his lips were tight, and he was holding a slender branch in his hand and pulling on the ground.

"Go out and look for it? How to find it? Su Muling was a little puzzled.

"Take a bamboo raft! Didn't Mr. Zhou say that there are many large and small islands around here, our island is the smallest and located in the middle of nowhere, so let's go to the nearby big island, where there may be big boats passing by. ”

Wei Huai'an seemed to have made up his mind, threw the branch in his hand, and stood up.

Su Muling suddenly felt that Wei Huai'an had become Xiao Wenxuan at this moment, and he was no longer the weak boy who was tired of even panting. It's a big man who can be trusted and relied on.

"Okay, I'll listen to you." Su Muling's eyes flashed with a clear light, and he nodded vigorously in agreement.

The two reached a consensus, had dinner, packed up the bedding and clothes, and went down the mountain to go home.

……

Old Man Zhou's family heard Wei Huai'an and Su Muling say that they were leaving, although they were a little reluctant, but they didn't force them to stay, after all, the two of them still have relatives at home who don't know whether they are alive or dead.

The bamboo used to make a bamboo raft is available at the entrance of the village, and Baoxing chose the right bamboo with a bumper harvest, and the valve is good.

Under the leadership of Wei Huai'an, from the hole where they came, the bamboo was sent out one by one, and it was tied and shaped with solid rattan on the beach.

Baoxing people are honest, but they work meticulously, and the things they make are strong and durable.

Fengshou collected aged gourds from various families in the village and tied them together with ropes and placed them at the four corners of the raft to increase the buoyancy of the raft.

The bamboo raft was ready, and Wei Huai'an and Su Muling said goodbye to the villagers.

The people in the village knew that they were leaving, so they took out the good things hidden at the bottom of the box at home and sent them to the Zhou family.

Su Mujin didn't know what to say, and in the end, he just left something to eat.

Wei Huai'an and Su Muling changed into the clothes they had worn when they first arrived. Su Muling still had a few taels of gold ingots in her purse, and she gave the purse and a jade bracelet to Ah Zi, thanking the Zhou family for taking care of them during this time.

Wei Huai'an gave the jade pendant he had brought with him for many years to the harvest as a souvenir.

On the day of the winter solstice, Baoxing and Fengshou sent them to sea on behalf of the whole village. Wei Huai'an held the hand-drawn map of Old Man Zhou in his hand, and the stars in the sky showed them the direction, and after two days of drifting on the sea, they finally arrived at the nearest island.

I went ashore to inspect and found no people. They pulled the raft ashore, found a small cave, and made a fire.

Wei Huai'an handed the dagger sent by the harvest to Su Muling, took his bow and arrow, looked at the gradually darkening sky and said to Su Muling: "You wait for me here, I'll go find something to eat and come back." ”

"Come back soon."

Su Muling was a little scared, but did not offer to follow.

Floating on a bamboo raft on the sea for two days is not like taking a boat, and there is a place for her to sleep, and the two of them have almost not closed their eyes in the past two days.

The winter sea breeze was biting, and the two of them were wet and cold by the sea breeze, and their hands and feet were cold. Although there are winter clothes and quilts given by Aunt Ah Zi, after all, Ah Zi has never experienced winter, and the winter clothes are only made of one layer more than single clothes.

As soon as he came ashore, Su Muling's legs were soft, and Wei Huai'an only arrived in the cave. She and Wei Huai'an urgently needed something nutritious and hot to regain their strength.

Su Muling's body was roasted by the fire, and her cold limbs gradually regained some sense.

Outside the cave, it was already dark, and they were going to spend the night here, and they couldn't do it without burning.

Su Muling struggled to stand up, moved his legs and feet, and took advantage of the fact that it was not dark to go to the shore to pick up something that could be burned. When she returned to the cave with a few rotten logs, Wei Huai'an also came back with a hare.

Together, the two of them cleaned up the hare and roasted it on the fire.

Wei Huai'an took advantage of this effort to go out again, and after a while, he actually pulled back a few small trees with lush foliage, and the branches were broken and put together to make a door to stand at the entrance of the cave, and blocked it with stones inside. The remaining trunks were broken into large pieces to support the fire at night.

"If the eldest princess knew that you were doing this, she would ask the emperor to kill me."

Su Muling watched him do this skillfully, looking at him and smiling, his big furry eyes shining unusually brightly in the light of the firelight.

The corners of Wei Huai'an's mouth curled and teased her: "Then we won't go back, so that grandmother won't know." ”

Su Muling was used to his inconsistency, and turned the hare over, and the half-cooked hare emitted a burst of meat aroma.

"Are you willing to go back?" Su Muling, who had been chewing on hard steamed buns for two days, swallowed his saliva.

Wei Huai'an added a few pieces of firewood to the fire, and then said unhurriedly:

"I've been frail since I was a child, and all the doctors said I wouldn't live long. I almost died many times, but I came back to life. Since my cousin returned to Beijing and told me about his travels, my wish has changed from trying to survive to being able to travel around the capital like him.

I've only been away for a few months, compared to how many years my cousin left, and if it weren't for the fear that my family wouldn't know if I was alive or dead, I would have loved to visit all over the islands. Although the days when I came out were not as good as at home, it was these days that made me feel like I was truly alive. ”

Wei Huai'an roasted the dagger on the fire, cut a piece of meat from the hare and handed it to her, and cut off a piece himself and chewed it slowly.

Su Muling had never heard him analyze himself like this, and suddenly felt that Wei Huai'an, who was invincible in front of others, was so pitiful, his debauchery, no one in his eyes, and his arrogance and extravagance were all manifestations of his helplessness. If it weren't for his physical shortcomings, what kind of life would he want to live with his family background?

Su Muling secretly raised his eyes to look at him, and there was sadness in the handsome peach blossom eyes under the firelight.

Wei Huai'an's experience reminded Su Muling of herself, she took the knife from his hand, cut off a few pieces of meat and put them in his hand, cut off another piece and stuffed it into her mouth, and said while chewing without image at all:

"Actually, we are all poor people, I was born and my mother died, and my mother's cousin was drugged to death. Later, the woman married my father and gave birth to my sister.

The woman always wanted me to die, but I was so desperate that I was able to escape death every time. Later, I avenged my mother, so that everyone who harmed me was rewarded.

My wish in this life is to hope that my father can live happily and happily. If I can spend my life with my beloved again, even if I have no name or share, I won't come here in vain. ”

Wei Huai'an looked at her, didn't speak for a long time, and the air fell silent for a while, only the flames made a "crackling" sound.

"If you hadn't saved your cousin but someone else, would you have fallen in love with that person?"

Wei Huai'an's soul torture stopped Su Muling, and she looked at the firelight in a daze and couldn't answer.

Yes, if she hadn't married Xiao Wenxuan but Yao Junnan, what would her life be like?

A piece of meat was handed to her mouth, she instinctively opened her mouth and chewed mechanically, looking at Wei Huai'an's face with picturesque eyebrows and eyes that was more pretty than a woman: If it was he who rescued him in the first place......

Su Muling was thinking wildly, Wei Huai'an kept handing pieces of meat to her mouth, and in a trance, Su Muling seemed to see the people around her become Xiao Wenxuan, and his eyes were full of pampering to feed him.

"Eat more."

It's only been two days, and Su Muling's face has obviously lost weight.

"So are you."

Su Muling's tone was gentle, and there was love in his eyes when he looked at Wei Huai'an.

Wei Huai'an was taken aback for a while, but in an instant, he reacted that Su Muling was full of food and sleep, and couldn't tell who was in front of him.

Two days and two nights of sleepless sleep are enough to make people in a trance. Spreading the only quilt on the ground, Su Muling fell asleep almost immediately after lying down, Wei Huaian looked at her with mixed emotions for a while, and burned the fire.

The tiredness of the days made his eyelids start to fight, Wei Huai'an put the bow and arrow by his side, and reinforced the door from the inside.

After making sure that except for wild boars and tigers, small and small arches could not be opened, so he leaned against the stone wall of the cave and closed his eyes.

In the middle of the night, Su Muling was awakened by a strange sound. She opened her eyes in a daze, and at a glance saw that the door made of twigs had been scratched out, and a head was trying to get through the hole.

And beside her, Wei Huai'an was holding his bow and arrow at the door.

Su Muling woke up instantly, she took out a burning wooden stick from the fire and held it in her hand, leaned towards Wei Huai'an, her voice trembled a little: "What is that?" ”

"Leopard, hide behind the fire."

As soon as Wei Huai'an's words came out, the arrow in his hand had already been fired, and he only heard a wail, and the leopard with an arrow in one eye rushed straight towards Wei Huai'an.

The cave is too small and there is little place to hide. Wei Huai'an didn't have time to send out the second one, and the leopard had already pounced in front of him.

"Huai'an ......"

Su Muling didn't care about being afraid, stepped forward and smashed the thick and flaming wooden stick of the bowl with both hands towards the leopard's head.

The sparks shot out, Wei Huaian reached out and took her into his arms, rolled on the spot, and when he got up again, another wooden stick with flames was already in his hand.

Blocking Su Muling behind him, Wei Huai'an stared at the leopard and kept shaking the wooden stick in his hand.

This is a hungry leopard, and in the face of the fire that he is afraid of, he has to take risks to hunt for food.

In the confrontation with the leopard, Su Muling suddenly remembered the dagger on his body for self-defense.

She pulled the dagger and quietly stuffed it into Wei Huai'an's hand......