Moonlight, stroking Apple's collarbone through the crack of the vent, she woke up.

It was dark and dark, and the crescent moon was like a sickle.

Find the coach separately to apply for training, and the head coach approves.

The sky was completely dark, and there was no light, and a certain man's order came: "Whoever finds the lantern first can sleep first." ”

The crowd was hidden in the night.

Obviously, the five fingers were missing, but the children scattered in an orderly manner. I must have trained a lot before this.

Apple never stopped training.

Perched on the inky black rendered realm, surrounded by the same groping clatter, Apple moved her left foot and took the first step without direction. In an atmosphere full of exhaustion and sleepiness, Apple's five senses are sharpened and her energy is dominant.

She was just about to open the second step, seven or eight meters on the right suddenly brightened for a moment, and the shadows of the three children scrambled and flickered, and then dimmed, who shouted: "I'll take it—get out!" ”

"It's mine!"

Thorn -

The sound of a lantern cracking.

The children sped up their search and found the lanterns one by one.

There will be a fire fold on the lantern. Only by lighting the wick can you be considered to be eligible to sleep.

Thorn -

The sound of a lantern cracking. The light flickered.

Thorn -

The sound of the lantern cracking, and the entire body of the lamp burned, illuminating the disappointed and gritted teeth expressions of the children on the side.

Thorn -

The sound of a lantern cracking. Whose sleeves are on fire, fluttering to extinguish the fire.

Two people grabbed a lantern, five people grabbed a lantern, this person had a fire fold and that person had a lantern snatched each other, and the fire fold flew a few people to lie on the ground and grope ...... The lanterns prepared were actually just right, but the head knew that there would be a poor worm tonight.

Ping was vigilant and groped for a while, making sure that no one was paying attention, and the next second, she melted into the darkness and searched for the complete lantern.

She dodged the child with a bad face, a small blood line was drawn on her collarbone, and the beads of blood slowly oozed from the balls, and her right hand wrapped in cloth was faintly clenched into a fist.

Groping for the walls, the brick texture was obvious, and Ping guessed that there should be a lantern near the building.

In fact, it is best and can be done now by taking the lantern and running, and if it is lit far away, naturally no one will have time to snatch it.

The clearing lit up occasionally, and Apple stood still for a moment when she saw a white round object in front of her.

Back in the darkness, Ping reached out and touched the object's rope, and she hooked her fingers to pull it over.

Suddenly, the white light swaggered, and someone was chased, holding up the Kong Ming lantern in his hand. Some people even saw the lantern coming to hand.

There is no way to avoid it.

She grabbed the fire fold, picked up the lantern, and ran!

The wind swept through her, and the footsteps behind her were startled, and the jumble of voices gathered towards Apple, and she lit the lantern.

At this moment, her eyes were extremely bright, and she waited for the head coach to judge that she was qualified. The flickering lights shone on the ironic face of the sect leader's smile, and the rules were set by him, whether it was the moment the lantern was lit was considered completed, or it could be completed by whoever grabbed the lantern, or the Kong Ming lantern flew up.

He is the rule.

Apple understood.

She could only run.

"Give it to me!" Someone yelled at Apple, with foul language that only adults would say.

Others chased after them.

Whoa—

Someone grabbed Apple's sleeve and kicked her at her!

Apple dodges and throws a punch back, and his knuckles slam into the meat!

In the process of guarding and snatching the lamp, the two of them tore the fabric, and the lantern was well protected by Apple's side, and the fragile paper was occasionally wrinkled. Apple carried the lantern to avoid the attack, not touching it in the slightest.

Other children rushed up.

Ping took advantage of the gap in the movement to slip away against the corner of the wall, and inadvertently touched something like a box in her knees, and jumped up, touching the eaves with her right hand!

At the same time, someone's hands gripped Apple's ankles and their nails dug into the flesh!

At night, the lights flicker and the hustle and bustle continues.

Gritting her teeth, Apple slowly lifted the lantern up to the roof with her left arm.

Kong Ming lantern, orange-red warm and full of hope through the white tissue paper, illuminates the girl's face, and reflects the light in her eyes.

Maybe the head of the sect just wants to see them scramble and tear this brightness apart.

The other foot was also grabbed by someone, and it hurt to hold it.

The right hand stabbed and I couldn't grasp it firmly.

Apple let go and fell.

The Kong Ming lantern flies slowly into the dark night sky, and the sickle-like crescent moon will determine its fate.

***

The Kong Ming Lantern Trial is over.

Half of them were being punished in the open space outside, the youngest being nine and the oldest nineteen—but there was not a single sound.

Inside the house, the child who slept lightly had a dream, at first it was only a slight sob, and then it was crying loudly, crying and whimpering, calling mother, mother, wanting to go home......

The cry woke up the child next to him, and he kicked him in confusion. The crying child woke up after being kicked, wiped his tears, hugged the quilt and fell asleep again.

The girl on the right was also disturbed by the crying, and she was troubled in her dream, turned over and grabbed Apple, and hugged her to death.

Some of the children whispered like a lullaby, and Apple tried to take the limp arm away, but suddenly found that the girl's arm was injured, and there was no blood scar at this time, but only a part of it was pasted with medicinal powder, and there was a blood scab that seemed to flow like bright red.

In the moonlight, the girl on the right drooled and snored slightly.

Apple didn't move again.

Collarbone, left arm, knee, ankle...... Fragmentary scars, calmly tingling Apple's nerves. Her eyes were half-open, her eyelashes trembling slightly, and her eyes looked reflective.

Early the next morning.

The door was open, and from the outside, the 300-square-meter brick house was now only half of the original children, and it was much more empty. Under the cold gaze of the head of the sect, they forcibly got up and folded the quilt.

The girl on Apple's right side opened her mouth wide, and the little tiger raised her arms in satisfaction to stretch her waist, and then opened her eyes to find that she might have slept with Apple in her arms, and the girl squatted, thinking for a while, and finally jumped out of bed and went out to meet without saying anything.

Breakfast was nest head and boiled bugs.

The head of the sect, dressed in open clothes and scarred on his chest, wandered around and supervised their meals.

The poisonous part of the insect is removed, and the edible part is boiled in a pot and cooked with a little salt, and the salt taste is almost non-existent. Each person has a "dish" and a nest, and only these must be eaten.

Eat them all, and there's nothing left. Chi Ran tasted these with her. Ignoring age, Chi Ran is the best brother.

All the children are fed, quietly put their hands on the table, listen to the head and repeat along.

“…… Giving you food, fighting the enemy...... "They specialize in adopting street children, or buying children whose parents don't want."

Children can always learn to be grateful.

The child sitting across from Ping had eyes full of gratitude and determination. The food available would satisfy him, but the other big kids were hungry and they had to survive the battle tomorrow in exchange for survival.

Inadvertently looking at the kid across from her, Apple sees her own reflection in his eyes.

Short and weak self.

"We got food, we ......," the other children shouted.

Ping once had a brief time in school, and the school's teacher, Yang Ruilin, said: "Many people do good deeds with malicious intentions. "I didn't understand it when I was in the school, but now, Apple suddenly realized a little.

As the others lined up towards the training grounds, the sun overhead was so hot that the light stretched to everyone's cold bodies.

Smack-

The whip whipped the children in the vicinity, and some children made the wrong move.

Apple put a hand on her left shoulder, and the owner of the hand said in a steady tone, "Apple?" Learn their movements, don't be lazy, starting tomorrow, if you make a mistake, the whip will be treated equally. ”

After speaking, the head of the sect whipped the other children again, and the children dodged a little and looked at the man in fear.

The head who is missing one eye is bald, his head is full of scars, and he is short in stature.

"We will receive rewards according to tasks in the future, if you don't survive, who will hire you?" It's like to say it to Apple, and it's like it's to everyone. The head of the sect smiled heartily and let go of Apple.

The whiplash wounds of the child who had just been beaten were oozing blood, and the movements were much more standard.

At a glance, most of the children's clothes were tattered, with a little dry and cracked blood stains on their bodies, and their exposed hands and faces were dirty and wounded.

Each person squatted, clenched his fists, straightened his arms, and hung a stone on his wrist. The hemp rope that wraps around their wrists grinds away their skin, greedily absorbing blood.

Without hesitation, Apple took a pair of stone pendants and began her endless training.