Han Song felt a gust of cold wind in his dreams, always blowing on himself through the cracks in the hut. In the second half of the night, the wind seemed to have stopped, and it became calmer in all directions. When she awoke to find herself wrapped in a cloak, the light of the sky shining through the branches of the wall, and it was already morning.

She rubbed her eyes, sat up, and found that the fire was only ashes, and Fu Yi was gone.

She was shocked, and she got up and got out of the hut. The wilderness was full of depression, and the long grass was covered with layers of cold frost, and she ran a few steps to the place where Fu Yi had tied his horse yesterday next to the shed, and found that the branches had been hastily removed, and the horse was gone, leaving only some messy marks.

She stood still for a moment, then slowly walked back. There are still horseshoe tracks on the road, leading to the woodland in the distance. Her mind was confused, and she thought for a moment: if she catches up now, she may be able to catch up. For a while, I thought: If others don't want to take me, even if they chase me, what can they do? After a while, I thought to myself: Isn't your own life worth chasing and trying?

She went back to the shed and saw that the cloak that Fu Yi had given her had fallen to the ground, it was a big stack. She looked at it with mixed emotions for a moment, leaned over to pick it up, but didn't pull it. It turned out that the corner of the cloak was pressed by something, and she tugged at it, and something fell out of the cloth with a dull clatter, a short sword with a sheath.

Even though it's a short sword, it's longer than her forearm. Han Song grabbed the scabbard and pulled it away vigorously, jumping out of a bright blade, like a white light in the gloomy shack.

She held the short sword in both hands, and her heart was even more dazed. At this time, I only heard the sound of ropes outside the shed, and it was the sound of footsteps: someone was coming.

Han Song glanced up, only to see a black shadow, and by the time she reacted, it was definitely not Fu Yi, it was too late. The man lifted the straw curtain at the door, and stooped nimbly into the shack. But as if he didn't expect someone in the house, he was stunned and half-knelt by the door.

The two looked at each other. Han Song found that the black shadow turned out to be a black, thin, half-grown boy, his face was very dirty, he was wearing a short shirt that could not be seen, only his eyes were black and white, very bright.

He held a broken clay pot with several green and black vegetable balls in it.

There was silence. The boy suddenly spoke, and he said in a hurried tone, Han Song didn't understand, only saw his eyes looking at the carving of the tree spirit from time to time.

She saw that the boy was not malicious, and when she remembered what Fu Yi said about the Tree Spirit Ancestral Hall, she suddenly felt guilty. Stepping aside, he pointed to the empty clay basin and said, "I'm sorry, I ate the tribute you put away." ”

After she finished speaking, I don't know if the other party understood. Suddenly, the boy put the pot down, knelt down on his knees, and knocked his head to her twice.

Han Song was taken aback, and before he could react, the boy jumped up again, snatched the short sword from her hand, got out of the shack, and ran outside.

Han Song shouted, "Wait! ”

She saw the other party flash into a faint path among the long grass, ran away quickly, hesitated for a moment, and chased after him. She was a child's physical strength after all, she didn't run far before she was out of breath, and there was no one in front of her. She looked back and saw that the shack was gone, and thought that there might be no more people in the four places, so she gritted her teeth and continued down the road.

After running for a while, I suddenly saw the shadow of the house. When I got closer, I saw a small river meandering through the barren grass, and the houses were built along the river.

Han Song walked to the river, there was a thin layer of ice on the river, and the dark sky light was reflected on the ice, and there were many strange black shadows under the ice. She suddenly took a step back, afraid to see some strange corpses, but when she looked closely, she found that it was all kinds of furniture with poor workmanship, the large ones had a few couches, and the small ones had clay pots and bowls, tied together with ropes, and sunk in the riverbed. Pots and pans were scattered around cracked cupboards, and rusty copper kettles were wrapped in thatch and fishing nets, floating in the black water under the thin ice.

Han Song didn't know what to do. She walked along the river through the village, where there were dozens of houses scattered along the banks. When she got closer, she realized that there was no one in the village at all. The doors and windows of all the houses were blocked with earth and stone, the gaps were covered with wild grass, and some of the door frames were jammed with huge dark wood cabinets, blocking the entrances. Those cabinets were big and small, and the shape was very weird, Han Song looked at it for a while, and suddenly reacted: Those are coffins.

A large bird fluttered up from a crack in a half-collapsed roof, causing an echo in the silent alley, startling Han Song. The bird landed on the roof beams covered with dead vines and crowed, and it turned out to be a rooster with tail feathers.

She realized that the residents of the village probably fled in advance to escape the war. So they blocked the doors and windows with wood and stones to show that there was no one in the house, and threw all the furniture they could not take away into the water, hoping to avoid looting or fire. She looked back at the rough furniture that swayed at the bottom of the river, and saw a school of tiny stream fish swimming out of a crockpot. She stood silently by the river for a moment, and when she turned around, she saw the boy standing in front of her. He no longer had the dagger in his hand, and he didn't know where to put it.

Han Song breathed a sigh of relief when he saw him. The boy looked pale, and muttered something in his mouth, and his tone was angry, and it sounded like an insult.

Han Song thought that he was a remnant of this village, and he felt very sorry in his heart, and said, "If you want that sword, I'll give it to you." ”

And he said, "I can't do anything with it." ”

The boy shook his head and walked forward, walking briskly for a short time, and then looked back at Han Song. Han Song trotted up to follow, and when she saw him leave the village and walk towards the woods in front of her, she thought to herself: What if he wants to harm me? And I thought: I don't have anything to show for me.

The trees in the forest gradually become dense, and the terrain is undulating, forming many hills and depressions. The boy leaned low, nimbling through the foliage. Han Song saw a number of hewn caverns between the branches and leaves, some of which had bonfires and simple cooking utensils scattered in them. She then vaguely understood: although many villagers left their homes, they did not go far, but hid nearby to observe, hoping that after the chaos had passed, they could go home.

After walking a little further, the boy crouched down and waited by the cave, as if observing the situation in the dense forest ahead. Han Song was infected by his demeanor, and tiptoed behind him, and when he lowered his head, he saw a bare and purple bare foot among the dead leaves.

Han Song had also seen a lot of dead people at this time, and he was quite calm. When I looked closely, I saw several corpses lying in the bushes, all thin and bleeding. There are old and young, and there are women, and the shape is unbearable. She looked up at the boy, and saw that his face was tense and did not squint, and she got up and walked forward, and slowly followed. Along the way, I saw seven or eight corpses in a row, all of them seemed to have been killed by sharp blades, and some of their limbs were mutilated, as if they had been devoured by beasts. Others appear to have been killed shortly after their deaths, and blood has penetrated and stained the gravel purple-red.

The deeper he walked into the woods, the more cautious the boy became, listening to every step he took. Before walking past a rock wall full of dead vines, he suddenly reached out and pressed it, uncovered a piece of the dead vines, and drilled into it.

The entrance of the cave was not as high as Han Song, Han Song leaned in, and when he looked up, he was taken aback when he saw many faint lights flashing in the tunnel of the black hole. After a while, his eyes adjusted to the darkness, and he saw that it was a dozen people in rags. Old and young turned their heads to look at her, all of them were yellow and thin, and they didn't say a word.

She spoke, "You-" The boy stretched out his hand, almost pressing it against her face. She reacted, covered her mouth, and kept silent. The boy sat down against the rock wall, and Han Song sat silently beside him, looking at the villagers in this cave. For a moment, everything was silent, and only a faint light of heaven penetrated through the camouflaged vines at the entrance of the cave.

After an unknown time, Han Song faintly heard the sound of conversation coming from outside the cave. She leaned over to the entrance of the cave and saw some people dressed in yellow, all dressed in grass armor, several carrying long knives on their shoulders, and blue cloth belts tied to their wooden handles. They laughed loudly with each other, walked among the bushes, and slashed the ground with their long knives, as if searching for something.

The boy half-crouched beside her, staring at the soldiers, his face solemn, his eyes unblinking, and suddenly his hands moved, and he took something out of his shirt. Han Song saw at a glance that it was the short sword that he had snatched, she was so shocked that she grabbed him and whispered, "Are you going to take revenge?" ”