pull

The white garment, stained with blood, was worn on the man's body like a plum blossom on rice paper, and he once again blocked the claws of his opponent with the sword in his hand with a beautiful gesture.

He had long been unable to distinguish the blood on his body, which belonged to his companions, which was his own, and which was the enemy's, and he had been fighting for too long.

It was the longest night he had ever spent in four hundred years, and he had experienced too much life and death in that night. He was tired and his consciousness was blurring, and his wife was lying not far away, and he wanted to lie down next to her right away, but before that, he had to end the fight.

He wasn't really sure about the enemy in front of him who had seriously injured his father, but he knew that there was no way back.

He finally seized the opportunity and slashed the scimitar-like nail on his enemy's left claw, followed by a sword that plunged into his chest. The monster with the cyan tiger head mask did not break free, but took a few steps forward and pierced his sword through his body, then embedded his other claw in the artery in his shoulder.

Chapter I

The sunlight melts away the morning fog and water vapor together, and this is the most ordinary morning in the small town of Nagagawa. Xia Qiu tossed and turned in the quilt for a while, and finally made up her mind to get up.

Today is the day she went to high school to report, but she didn't have much to look forward to, because she knew very well in her heart that in this small Yongchuan, most of the people in high school were still those in junior high school. For her, the sixteen years of living here seem to be the same every day, the streets are still not very wide, and the houses are still ancient buildings with blue bricks and white tiles.

But even so, she loved this place, which was calm and peaceful, with picturesque scenery facing the mountains to the east and dense forests to the west, and always filled the imagination with the imagination of being cut off from the hustle and bustle of the civilized world, and perhaps because of this, there were so many ancient legends that she might never get tired of hearing.

Although I don't know how many of those legends are true, and how many are made up by adults to coax children, Xia Qiu is deeply fascinated by them. Especially about the legend of the road to the demon world hidden in the Yongchuan forest, she never gets tired of hearing it. Humans who got lost in the forest strayed into the demon world and saw fantastic beauty that they had never seen in their lives, but they were also lost in their souls because of this.

Because of that legend, she fell in love with the Yongchuan Forest since she was a child, and she would go there whenever she was free, but unfortunately the road to the demon world was never found by her, but she encountered unprecedented danger.

It was an evening when she was six years old, and she was sitting quietly on the shore of Silvermoon Lake in the forest of Yongchuan as usual, when she suddenly heard a commotion in the bushes behind her. She mustered up the courage to run over to find out, only to see six or seven black foxes besieging a small silver-white fox in the clearing behind the bushes.

The little fox was unusually beautiful, every hair was like pure silver velvet, its right forepaw was wounded, the wound was bleeding, and it was moaning and retreating step by step until it reached a big tree, and there was no way back, and there was a trace of despair in the little fox's blue-gray pupils.

Seeing that the black fox was about to launch another attack on it, six-year-old Xia Qiu got the courage from nowhere, perhaps from the moment she saw its eyes, it made her decide to protect it!

She grabbed a stick from the ground and rushed forward, standing in front of the little fox and waving it at the black foxes. To tell the truth, she was already scared, her hands were waving, but her legs were shaking. To her, these beasts looked even more terrifying than the legendary youkai.

A cold green light burst out from the eyes of those black foxes, and the black fox in the lead tentatively pounced on her, and she subconsciously picked up the stick in her hand. This hit the black fox on the head, it screamed and fell to the side, and the other black foxes saw the momentum and slowly took a few steps back, then howled a few times and turned around and ran away.

Although the fox she had injured was still unwilling, after angrily staring at her for a few seconds, and seeing that she was still clinging to the stick without flinching, he also turned around and ran into the bushes and disappeared.

Xia Qiu slowly put down his little shoulders that had risen high in fear, and sat down on the ground with relief, only to come back to his senses to see how the silver-white little fox behind him was injured. Its tiny body curled up in a ball, shivering, and licking the wounds on its front paws from time to time. When she tentatively reached for it, it was wary but did not resist, so she stroked the top of its head a few more times, and then untied the hairband on her head to bandage the wound for it. By this time, the little fox had completely relaxed its vigilance, and it fell asleep in her comfort.

Xia Qiu couldn't leave it there anyway, so she ran home with it. In front of her yard, she deliberately bypassed her grandfather, who was mending the fence of the courtyard, and rushed into her room in a panic as soon as she entered the door, put the little fox on the bed, and then hurriedly rushed into the front hall to find the medicine box on the cabinet, and then folded back to her room with the medicine box, while recalling the steps of her grandmother to bandage herself every time she was injured, while carefully untying the hairband that had temporarily tied the wound before, and carefully treating the wound for the little fox.

After treating the wound of the little fox, Xia Qiu couldn't help but look at it, how could there be such a beautiful animal in the world, she thought.

"Let's stay in our house from now on." She whispered to it, wanting to keep it by her side.

At night, she pretended to fall asleep early, but in fact, she couldn't worry about the little fox and wanted to watch it all the time.

"It's good you're here—" she hugged it softly, muttering it repeatedly, and before she knew it, she fell asleep.

But when she woke up in the morning, the little fox was gone, and she was somewhat disappointed. It was gone, silently, without a trace, as if it had never existed, except for the bloodstained hairband on the table that proved it had ever existed, and what had happened yesterday seemed like a dream to her.

But those gray-blue pupils were deeply imprinted in Xia Qiu's mind and engraved on her heart, so that for many years after that, she always looked for its traces in the forest, looking forward to its appearance, but never touched it again.

"Xiaoqiu."

When approaching the front gate of Yongchuan High School, Xia Qiu was stopped by a voice as sweet as honey, and before she could raise her head, a pair of outstretched arms wrapped around her neck.

Liu Lingmei rubbed around Xia Qiu's face like a cat, and everyone who passed by couldn't help but cast strange glances.

"Reinmi."

Xia Qiu gently patted her on the back, as if comforting a little pet. The little girl in front of her, who was about to suffocate her, has been her best friend since elementary school.

"Xiaoqiu, I haven't seen you for a long time, let me take a good look!"

"It hasn't been that long, haven't you only been away for two weeks? And just yesterday by phone. ”

Liu Lingmei was obviously not very satisfied with Xia Qiu's attitude, let go of her hand, and stared at her with her mouth full of pretending to be angry.

Xia Qiu has long been accustomed to her startled and somewhat dramatic personality, although her personality often gives her a headache, but if she is not around, it is really a little unaccustomed.

Liu Lingmei wore a pale yellow dress today, and the ribbon that tied her hair was also of the same color, she just came back from a vacation to the beach with her family two weeks ago, although she didn't tan but added a few cute little freckles, making the already beautiful little face more playful, very likable.

"Let's go and see how the shifts are going, we have to be late if we delay like this."

Xia Qiu picked up Lingmei and walked to the school, and the list of classes was posted on the bulletin board in front of the teaching building, and they were already full of people when they arrived.

"Ah, why am I so short."

Liu Lingmei grumbled, tiptoeing to look in from the back of the crowd. The boy standing in front of her looked back at her and gave up his place to her. It's no wonder who would stand in front of such a cute girl.

Xia Qiu and Liu Lingmei were lucky to be in a class, and when they walked into the classroom of the first (1) class of high school, there were already many students sitting inside, and there were a few familiar faces, all of whom had been in the same class or school since junior high school. They found their pre-arranged positions on the blackboard and made their way to their seats. Reimi was placed in a row of window seats, while Xia Qiu sat in the penultimate row.

"We're in the same class again, Xia Qiu."

When she walked to the back, a boy stopped Xia Qiu, and when she looked up, it was Du He, who had been in the same class since junior high school, and the relationship between the two had always been good. I haven't seen him for a summer vacation, and Du He looks like he's tanned, but his smile is still bright.

"yes."

Xia Qiu smiled at him and walked back to his seat, it was great for her to have Du He sitting in front of her on the right, his grades had always been good, and he was very cheerful and talkative.

After a while, except for the seats behind Xia Qiu, the others were filled one after another. She looked at the blackboard, and the name behind her was Ouyang Xiaoleng. This is a very special name, compound surnames are rare, and there are not many people with cold words in their names.

She filtered through her mind, and she had never heard of the name in either elementary or junior high school. What kind of person will the owner of this name be? Boys or girls? When a person begins to care about a name that he has never heard before, there is also a sense of mystery about the owner of that name.

Suddenly the bell disrupted her thoughts, and with the crisp and rapid sound of high heels, a woman in her early thirties walked in. Her chiseled face was painted with light makeup, her long wavy curls were casually draped over her shoulders, and she was wearing a very simple white shirt, blue washed jeans, and black stiletto heels.

"Good morning students, I am your homeroom teacher Dong Muya! I am also teaching you Chinese classes, first of all, welcome to the Senior One (1) class! ”

The woman's tone was as crisp as her appearance, her voice was small but penetrating, and the aura she emanated from her made the entire classroom quiet from the moment she entered.

At this time, suddenly a thin and tall teenager stood outside the classroom door, he lowered his head, his bangs blocked his eyes, and the white T-shirt and beige pants on his body were natural and casual. His hands were in his trouser pockets, and his bag was casually carried on one shoulder.

"It's not good to be late for the first day of class, Ouyang Xiaoleng!" Dong Muya found that the students' attention had shifted from herself to Ouyang Xiaoleng at the door of the classroom, and said to him with a little seriousness.

Ouyang Xiaoleng raised his head and looked at her, there was no expression on his face, but his handsome face made the girls in the classroom excited.

"Come in and get back to your place."

Dong Muya shook her head and pointed in the direction of the last row to him. He walked in the direction she pointed with a blank face, without squinting or saying a word.

For some reason, looking at Ouyang Xiaoleng who was walking in his direction, Xia Qiu actually felt a little dizzy. His face is indeed beautiful, and that beauty can only make people feel two feelings, admiration and jealousy. But what kept her breathing were his eyes, those gray-blue eyes as deep as a lake in a still night, and looking at them, it was as if she was about to sink into them. She felt familiar with those eyes, but she couldn't remember when or where. As he passed by her, his gaze seemed to linger on her face for a moment, but she did not dare to look directly at him.

Teachers of all subjects met with everyone in the morning, followed by the opening ceremony and a guided tour of the school's facilities under the guidance of the senior student representatives. The most popular thing in the whole campus is the huge banyan tree next to the playground, although it is not the flowering season at this time, she thinks it will be beautiful in the spring.

Like her, the young man named Ouyang Xiaoleng stopped under the tree, standing side by side with him, and Xia Qiu realized that he was far taller than he thought. The atmosphere between them was so special, she couldn't guess if he had something to say to herself, or simply liked the tree as much as she did, and she was a little at a loss, but Liu Lingmei suddenly jumped out.

"I'm still looking for you everywhere, why are you standing here stupidly?"

Almost as soon as Liu Lingmei appeared, Ouyang Xiaoleng turned around and walked away, as if he was deliberately avoiding her.

"Inexplicably, did I offend him?" Liu Lingmei looked at his back in confusion and pouted.

"Reimi, have you ever had that feeling of déjà vu? It's always like I've seen it somewhere, but I can't remember it. Xia Qiu muttered to herself.

"Déjà vu? And you mean with this tree? ”

Liu Lingmei was stunned for a moment when Xia Qiu asked, and then couldn't stop laughing. Xia Qiu was also amused, in her eyes, Lingmei was sometimes really silly and cute.