In the evening on Helios Island, the setting sun is only a small halo on the horizon, and the sky is filled with layered colors.

Cheng Jiao peered out from the window of the room, watching how the light dissipated imperceptibly and how the night slowly spread out the darkness.

Chi Ji in his arms shook his head gently, Cheng Jiao put one hand around its neck, and the other hand gently smoothed its mane. She followed the example of the horse boy at home, and whispered in Chiji's ear: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, it doesn't hurt at all, it will be fine soon." Chi Ji snorted impatiently, and the hot breath hit Cheng Jiao's neck, and she suddenly felt that she was just entertaining herself, and Chi Ji didn't need her comfort at all. She let go of the neck of the red-maned horse, which shook its head slightly and jumped off the wooden bench in a boring manner.

"You're right, I'm doing this too much."

Igfi was clutching one of Chiji's front hooves and using a crescent knife to kerature the bottom of the horse's hooves. He couldn't help but laugh when he heard the disappointment in his daughter's words.

"Chiji is from the Isle of War, it is a battle-hardened war horse, looking at its calm appearance, it must have experienced a big scene, maybe it ......" He thought for a while, and did not say the words "Bloody Eye Night", "In short, it must be used to nailing shoes." With that, he put down the crescent knife, got up and rummaged in the wicker basket next to him, and only took a piece of shoes for a long time.

"It's got holes in its hooves, look!"

Cheng Jiao leaned over, and in the firelight, she saw that Chi Ji's hooves were covered with deep and shallow nail marks.

Nails with new shoes into old nails can cause them to loosen. Dad had already trimmed the horse's hooves and found a piece of shoes with a different layout than the original nail holes. With a few nails in his mouth, he held the shoe steady, drove the nails diagonally into them one by one, and then changed a small hammer to knock off the exposed nail heads, and the file was smoothed. The series of movements is smooth and skillful, without any stagnation.

"Dad, you're so handsome at work!" Cheng Jiao exclaimed, "Let the Bone Divine Craftsman nail the horseshoe, if the workers at the construction site of the Thousand Eyes Temple know, they won't be scared of their eyes!" ”

Igfi scratched his daughter's nose with his hand, and when he saw that she didn't dodge or dodge, he smiled at him sweetly with a small black nose, and he lovingly wiped the black hole on her nose for her.

"Is there a poor mouth in Jinwu Academy? I think you can get a perfect score. ”

"Don't ask that in front of outsiders! People will know if you went to school or not. Cheng Jiao pouted mischievously.

"Ho~ This looks down on your father? Yes, you and your mother are both geniuses of the Golden Crowin! I'm afraid I'm self-taught, I'll have to nail you at home in the future! ”

Cheng Jiao hurriedly stepped forward to help his father untie the rope of Chiji's leggings, "Bone Craftsman, don't be humble, if you continue to say this, I'm afraid that the statue of God of War Island will come to me with anger!" ”

Igfi quickly crossed the index fingers of his left and right hands in the air and made a gesture to defuse his bad luck.

"Kids, don't talk nonsense!"

Cheng Jiao sticks out his tongue.

Igfi got up and stretched his back, and said to his daughter, "Okay, bring your quiver, and I'll help you sharpen the arrow." ”

"No need Dad, I've already grinded it."

"All of them? How many quivers did you bring? ”

"One." Cheng Jiao didn't think about it, and replied lightly.

A quiver could only hold twenty arrows, and Igfi thought to himself, "Why only one?" Don't you think... A little less? "I'll have to ask her again, this guy isn't a kid anymore.

"Weapons will be provided in martial arts classes, and in the first year of the Golden Crow Academy, the curriculum will not require students to fight. What am I carrying so many arrows for? Cheng Jiao looked at her father, she was telling the truth, "I don't plan to spend so much effort on martial arts. The same goes for sacrifices. I'll be in the library for a long time, and I want to spend more time studying subjects like theology, history, pharmacy, and art. ”

"What happened to martial arts and sacrifices?" Yi Gefei was a little strange, he noticed a trace of loss in his daughter's tone, "You are very strong in these two subjects!" ”

Cheng Jiao laughed self-deprecatingly, "It's just that learning in the lakeside is strong." But more importantly, if these two subjects want to compete for the first place, they will be more in the limelight, I think...... Mom didn't want me to do that. ”

"Did your mother tell you that?" Igfi's heart moved, could it be that his wife had the same worries as him?

"Not really. But...... I think that's what she meant. I only registered with a single name when I started and completed my studies, and I didn't add my last name. I originally thought that after I was admitted to the Golden Crow Academy, my mother would ask me to add the surname of 'bones', but ......" Cheng Jiao lowered her head, "Maybe my performance still can't satisfy her, she doesn't want people to know that I'm... Well... Her daughter! After all, she is the Lord of the Hot Spring Palace, and she can do anything. She said that it would rain for two days and then turn sunny later the next day, so that the opening ceremony of the Kinwu Temple would have a good day. Dad, did you see the sunset? "Prayer and Sacrifice Matters" says that 'the morning glow does not go out, and the sunset travels thousands of miles'. Mom, she can do it to this extent! Cheng Jiao shook his head in admiration.

As her body shook slightly, Igfi heard a small sound of "Geleng Geleng", was it the pearl on her braid?

Igfi looked at her daughter by the flickering light of the fire. The light and shadow flickered on her plump bud-like face, her eyelashes flickered, her big eyes hung down to the ground, and her feet in thin leather boots restlessly kicked away the small iron nails scattered on the ground. Before I knew it, my daughter had grown so big! He pictured in his mind what it would look like when he was a baby. At that time, they were still living in the old house on the island of the god of war, and he was sketching on a large table, and Cheng Jiao, wrapped in a small quilt, slept on the table, lying on his scratch paper. He drew for a moment, looked up at her, and found that the little baby had woken up and was staring at his drawings silently. He didn't think babies would be engrossed in observing something, but his little daughter looked like she was calmly examining his work. He looked at the baby's dark and round pupils, and felt that she was thinking, and he even felt as if the baby was about to break free of the quilt, sit up, and say to him, "Shouldn't this line be moved a little in?" The baby's eyes moved to his face, and he hurriedly smiled at her, and the baby immediately smiled back.

It's not the innocent grin of an ordinary baby, but a slight smile of understanding.

He always remembered this moment, because Xiao Chengjiao's behavior gave him a very special feeling. He was sure that it wasn't the happiness of being a father that made him feel that his baby was different, but that he did have a different child.

However, this feeling is difficult to describe, especially for the person who has grown up.

"Jiao'er," said Igfi to her daughter after some thought, "when I first met your mother, I thought there would be no more special person in this world. But, after you were born, I knew I was wrong. Do you know what you first said to me when you were a kid? ”

I saw my daughter frowning slightly and thinking seriously. He laughed, just thought that she had grown up, and then she was childish again, how could she remember!

"Sixteen years ago, on June 16, the night of your first birthday. I hold you and show you the moon in the sky. The moon that night was round and bright, white and golden, and extraordinarily beautiful. I said, 'Look, Jiao'er, how beautiful the moon is today!' You look at me and say two words, 'sweet.' I suspect I misheard, because neither your mother nor I noticed that you could speak as a baby. I said to you again, 'Jiao'er, look, it's the moon~bright~! You also stretched out a little hand, pointed to the full moon in the night sky, and said clearly, 'Moon, sweet.' 'I heard it very clearly this time, you were telling me that the moon tastes sweet!' "Daughter, you were just a year old!" ”

Cheng Jiao remembers that night.

At that time, my mother had already been appointed as a shrine maiden in the town hall of the hot spring hall according to the oracle, and they celebrated their birthday in this mansion on the Divine Blessing Avenue. Dinner was carefully prepared by the housekeeper Granny Ulanda. She remembered that her mother gave her a small bite of the yellow crab soup with a shiny little silver spoon, and the smell of fresh fragrance permeated her mouth, and everything that night came to life - Dad carried her down the steps, the warm evening breeze caressed her face, and they came to the garden of the West Hall, where the water of the fountain rattled, the wood hydrangea was in full bloom, the clusters of flowers were still slightly green in the moonlight, and a few snowball-like flowers formed a circle against the background of the deep blue night sky, and the moon happened to be in the middle. The sweet scent of the wood hydrangea in the warm breeze made her think it was the smell of the moon, so she spoke. She was going to go on to say, 'Daddy, take a bite.' But seeing her father's surprised expression, she became shy and threw herself on his shoulder. His pigtails were tied there, piercing her face.

Cheng Jiao looked at his father's shining eyes, more than ten years, and fine lines had been added around those eyes. At this moment, he was obviously immersed in good memories, and Cheng Jiao's reluctance to tell the full memory of his baby made his father worried.

So, she muttered in a low voice, "It's just a stupid thing a child said." ”

"I've never heard of a one-year-old child saying such a stupid thing!"

"Yes! Are there fewer such strange things? Say some strange things, have some strange dreams, and walk around in your dreams to bring bad things to others! So everyone else has to stay away from me! Cheng Jiao's voice unconsciously raised.

"As the youngest and most special daughter of one of the five islands, why do you think you should be an ordinary person?" Igfi raised his voice as well. He paused, and then, he decided to speak: "Jiao'er, you are different and have special talents, which your mother and I have known for a long time. ”

You and Mom don't know how different I am! Cheng Jiao thought to himself.

"I've seen you don't use any ritual utensils, don't follow the ritual procedure at all, and just let it rain on a sunny day just because you're in a bad mood. You were too young to notice the changes in your emotions. ”

Cheng Jiao raised his head and looked at his father with wide eyes.

Iqfi also looked at her solemnly, "The gods have given your mother a special gift, and she uses it according to her will to bring glory and peace to the five islands, and this is the best way to worship the gods. Believe that the gods have their own arrangements and will bless worshippers who make the most of their talents! ”

Seeing her daughter nodding obediently, Yi Gefei's tone softened, "The situation in the five islands is turbulent, and your mother has to deal with pressure from all sides, but at this time, you have to go to the Golden Crow Courtyard again." She didn't let you register with your full name, it must have been a deliberate decision, and you have to understand her. When you arrive at Jinwuyuan, you have to be cautious in your words and deeds, okay daughter? ”

"I see, Daddy."

"There are two little things I want to remind you of." Igfi walked up to her daughter and caressed the long braid that hung down her back, where she had only a simple golden headband tied and not adorned with a jewel. "You've asked for a cut of your hair several times before, but your mother didn't say yes, you should know why." Igfi tapped the back of her daughter's head lightly, and Cheng Jiao stuck out her tongue. "If you have to cut it this time, don't cut it too short. You haven't had a headache in a few years, but it's always good to pay attention. Also, I've heard that some of the students of the Golden Crow Academy like to go to the tavern called the "Ninth Sage" in the Place of the Gods, and I hope you don't do that. Alcohol dulls our senses, slows our minds, nightmares strike in drunken nights, and it is an accomplice to the madness of evil thoughts and worries in the night........."

Whenever my father started talking about rules and decrees in a stack of words and analogies, he could go on and on for an hour. Cheng Jiao listened silently, but his heart began to become impatient. She thinks she's old enough that she's completely up to herself. She slipped her left hand into her pocket, unlocked the lock of the small tin box that was there, and gently pulled out the two teeth inside. The sound of her teeth hitting the box just now seemed to have caught her father's attention, and he must not let him find out about it, and she had to set off and return unconsciously. Thinking of this, she began to calculate the time in a fidgety way—she had to get to Myohoyama and hide on the path in front of the temple before midnight, so that she would have a chance to secretly give her grandfather two teeth when he set out from the temple. In a moment it was time for her to leave.

Seeing her daughter's absent-minded appearance, Yi Gefei tugged at her long braid and let out an exaggerated sigh.

"Did you hear me speak?"

"Ahh She has to find a way to deal with her preachy father, "but I think you should also say this kind of thing to your beloved wife." Yesterday I also saw her gulping down wine from a glass filled with water while she was writing letters! Behind your bed, she hid several different flavors of liquor, and a bottle of Golden Bead Storm Spirits from Spirit God Island had been drunk more than half of it! Do you dare to guess how much of her wine is still hidden in other unknown parts of the house? ”

"You can't talk about this in front of anyone!" Igfi poked her daughter on the forehead.

Cheng Jiao was secretly amused in her heart, she watched her father's expression change from serious to helpless, and she had already begun to fidget and want to leave. She decided to give him a staircase down. She untied Chiji's reins from the tripline, "I'm going to take Chiji back to the stable, feed him some water and oats, and you don't have to accompany me, Dad." ”

Igfi leaned down and kissed her daughter on the cheek, "I wish you all the best in Jinwu!" May the gods bless my beloved daughter! ”