"Master Lu, please take a seat." The woman said weakly.

"Where's the purple flute?" Lu Ci usually came at this hour, Zidi was at home, but today he was not there, Lu Ci was a little curious.

"She went to the forest to look for wild fruits, she should be back soon, Lu Gongzi wait a while." The woman's every word was filled with breath, as if she were terminally ill.

"Auntie, this is the girl Ling Xiao who saved Zidi." Lu Ci pointed to Ling Xiao, who was standing behind him, and said to the woman.

The woman was so excited when she heard this, she desperately tried to struggle to get up, but Lu Ci couldn't stop her, so she had to help her sit up: "Miss Ling, I can't repay you for your great kindness, please accept my worship." ”

Ling Xiao didn't stop her from bowing, Ling Xiao felt that for this kind of thing, maybe only if she let her worship, she would feel better. Besides, Ling Xiao felt that it was not inappropriate to be worshiped by her, this was not her elder, so why should she pretend to stop it, it seemed contrived.

Lu Ci helped the woman to lie down again before Ling Xiao spoke: "I saved her just by raising my hands, I also accepted your worship, forget about this matter in the future, you take care of your illness, don't think about the rest." ”

"Auntie, come, try this pastry, this is made by Miss Ling herself." Lu Ci handed a piece of pastry to the woman, and her weak hand trembled to take it, and then took a bite.

"Miss Ling is not only kind, but also has such skillful hands." The woman finished the pastry in her hand and did not forget to praise Ling Xiao. Ling Xiao thought this sentence was very interesting, it was the first time someone said that she was kind.

"If you like it, eat more, and I'll ask Lu Ci to bring some more tomorrow." Ling Xiao didn't know what to say to her, so she could only let her eat more pastries, and then the three of them were relatively speechless and sat down.

The already dim room, now that the sunset outside fades a little, the inside of the house is even more gloomy, and the figures are blurred. Lu Ci was about to bring the oil lamp on the cabinet and light it, but when he brought it over, he found that there was a wick and no lamp oil: "I'll bring you some lamp oil tomorrow, and you won't light the lamp when it's dark, which is it." ”

"It's been so long, and seeing that it's getting dark, does Zidi usually come back at this hour?" Lu Ci and Ling Xiao had been waiting here for more than half an hour, but they hadn't seen Zidi come back, so Ling Xiao asked.

The woman said with a worried face: "I should have come back a long time ago on weekdays, but I don't know what happened today." ”

"Why don't I go to the woods?" Lu Ci also found out that things were not good.

"The woods are so big, let's go our separate ways and look for them." Ling Xiao knew that it was not early, she didn't want to stay outside for too long, she wanted to go back home early, and she thought that she could go with Lu Ci to find it, which would also save a lot of time.

"Auntie, don't worry, let's go to the woods to find out." After Lu Ci finished speaking, the two went out.

The woods were dim and hazy, with dead branches and rotten leaves everywhere, and the trees without leaves lingered there like ghosts. Ling Xiao cautiously followed Lu Ci, who was shouting as he walked, to the depths of the forest, and said to Lu Ci halfway through: "Let's look for it separately, you go over there, I'll go this way." One time

The queen will meet here. ”

Lu Ci was not very worried that Ling Xiao was separated from him, and said: "The sky is dark, I don't worry about you alone, let's go together." ”

"I'll be careful, it's important to find someone now." Ling Xiao just wanted to find someone as soon as possible now.

Lu Ci hesitated for a moment, but still agreed: "Okay, according to what you said, but you have to pay attention to safety." ”

The night came as promised, and even the last trace of the day was spared, and it was cruelly devoured. Ling Xiao and Lu Ci continued to walk forward after separation, occasionally shouting the name of the purple flute once or twice, but the response they received was the chirping of insects on the ground, in addition to the wailing of the owl on the high branches.

Yu Niang saw that the two of them had gone out for so long and had not returned, and she began to worry about Ling Xiao in her heart, and told Lu Bo about it, and at this moment the people of the Lu Mansion were looking around on the street.

Unconsciously, Ling Xiao didn't know how long he had walked, the moon in the east had gradually risen, the moonlight was scattered in the forest, and the dead leaves on the ground reflected a faint silver light, giving Ling Xiao a glimmer of light. Ling Xiao still called Zidi's name, and this time it was no longer the sound of birds that responded to her, but the faint cry. Ling Xiao walked in the direction of the crying sound, and finally found a thin figure sitting under a tree not far away, with a dilapidated bamboo basket beside him.

Zidi in the moonlight was a little blurry, at this time she pressed her foot with one hand, looking at her in front of her, her eyes were full of fear, Ling Xiao followed her gaze, it was actually a snake spitting snake letter at her, looking like a demonstration. Zidi saw the hazy figure not far away, and said with a crying voice: "Don't come here, girl, there is a snake here." ”

"What's wrong with your feet? Bitten by a snake? Ling Xiao didn't listen to her, and tiptoed behind the snake. The dagger detached from the wrist and flew quickly towards the snake body, in the blink of an eye, the blade had pierced into seven inches, the snake was in pain, and wanted to escape, but the tip of the knife was embedded in the soil, and there was no possibility for it to escape, so it had to twist and struggle on the ground, and the red blood was stained on the ground along the swing of the body, forming half an irregular blood circle. Seeing such a picture, Zidi forgot to cry, staring motionless with her eyes, obviously frightened.

Ling Xiao was not in a hurry to take care of the dagger on the ground, and walked straight to Zidi and kicked down: "How do you feel?" ”

Zidi was pulled back to his thoughts by this sentence, looked at Ling Xiao in front of him and cried again, and said in a choked voice: "It's just a sprain." ”

Ling Xiao let go of most of his hanging heart when he heard this, as long as he wasn't bitten by a snake. "How can you sprain your foot?" Ling Xiao asked.

Zidi pointed to the crown of the tree behind him: "I was picking wild fruits on this tree, but the branch broke and fell from it, twisting my foot. Unable to move, he later encountered the snake again. ”

"Okay, it's okay, don't cry." Ling Xiao said soothingly.

"Why is the girl here?" Zidi asked suspiciously.

"Lu and I went to your house to look for you, and when we saw that you hadn't returned for a long time, we were worried that something would happen to you, so we came to the forest to have a look." The snake on the ground had gradually stopped struggling at the moment, and Ling Xiao was about to reach for the dagger, but was stopped by Zidi: "This snake is poisonous, and it will kill if you bite it." ”

Ling Xiao thought something was wrong, and after hearing this, he smiled at her: "It's okay, the snake is dead, there will be no danger." "The snakes that Ling Xiao had encountered in the primeval forest before were a hundred times more poisonous than this.

"Let's go. Go back and let Lu Ci treat your injuries. Ling Xiao wiped the dagger on the ground with the dead leaves, put it on his wrist and picked up the purple flute with one hand, and picked up the bamboo basket beside the purple flute with the other.

"The girl saved my life again today, and I don't know how to repay your great kindness." Zidi's tone was very excited.

"I always do what I want to do, you don't have to take it too seriously. And in the future, you can call me by my name. Ling Xiao helped her. Because one of her feet was sprained, she couldn't exert her strength, and her walk was very unsteady, and Ling Xiao struggled to hold on.

"I wonder how old the girl is this year?" Zidi felt that it was inappropriate to call Ling Xiao's name directly.

"Fifteen." Ling Xiao almost said that it was twenty-five, but when it came to his mouth, he immediately changed it to fifteen.

"I'm fourteen this year, so why don't I call the girl sister in the future." Zidi's mood calmed down a lot, and her tone of voice softened a little.

"Whatever you want." Ling Xiao said lightly. In fact, Zidi saw Ling Xiao's cold temperament that day, so he didn't care about Ling Xiao's indifferent words.

The night breeze in the forest was slightly cold, and the two of them were already thinly dressed, but now they were caressed by it like this, and both of them shivered. They did not delay any longer, and walked back by the moonlight along the way they had just come.

"You sit down and rest, wait for Lu Ci." After walking for so long, Ling Xiao took Zidi back to the place where she was separated from Lu Ci, and sat at the root of a tree that was bare on the ground with Zidi.

An hour had passed, and although Lu Ci was eager to find someone, he had not forgotten the agreement with Ling Xiao, and was walking back along the same road at this time.

"You're so good, you've been found like this." Lu Ci saw two figures standing under the tree in the hazy night, and couldn't help but admire Ling Xiaolai.

"Let's go, hurry up and go back, Zidi's foot is injured." Ling Xiao said to Lu Ci, who had approached.

"Hurt? What's going on? When Lu Ci heard the word injury, his tone was a little more worried.

"I picked fruit and fell from the tree." Zidi said with palpitations.

Ling Xiao lifted the bamboo basket: "Let's go back and talk about it." You carry the purple flute. ”

Lu Ci couldn't believe his ears: "What? Back? ”

"I'll just go by myself." Zidi also felt that it was inappropriate to let Lu Ci carry her, so she barely stood up and almost fell down when she took a step, Ling Xiao hurriedly helped: "When is it, and I am still worried about these red tapes." ”

"Okay then." Lu Ci walked in front with the purple flute on his back, Ling Xiao followed behind with a bamboo basket, and a few figures in the dim darkness finally walked out of the woods.

Since the oil lamp ran out of oil, it was even more difficult to deal with the foot injury, so Lu Ci could only use the moonlight outside the house for a simple inspection and treatment: "I injured the meridians, and it is estimated that I will have to recuperate for half a month." ”

After hearing this, Zidi opened her eyes and looked at Lu Ci: "What, is there a way to get better quickly, I still have to take care of my mother." ”

"You don't have to worry about this, I'll come over to help you every day in the future." Lu Ci knew that Zidi had injured her foot now and had no way to take care of her mother.

"Let's go, I'll help you in to rest, it's so late, your mother is also worried." Ling Xiao helped Zidi into the house.

The woman was lying in the dark coughing intermittently, and when she heard footsteps from the outhouse, she was excited for a while: "Zidi, are you back?" ”

"It's me, Mother." Zidi was also very excited at the moment, just when she saw the poisonous snake, she thought that she would never see her mother again, but Ling Xiao saved her again.

"Hungry, huh? Eat something first. Ling Xiao sat down on the edge of the bed, and through the little moonlight shining through the window, he fumbled and handed her the pastry box on the table.

Lu Ci stood in the outhouse waiting for Ling Xiao, and Ling Xiao explained to Zidi: "Rest early after eating, accompany your mother well, it's not too early, we should go back." ”