The fire in the village below burned all night. Early the next morning, the fire was extinguished. Looking down from the entrance of the cave, I saw that the whole village was reduced to a flat ground and burned clean. In the ashes, a few wisps of smoke swayed. Even if you are halfway up the mountain, you can smell the choking mush.

Shen Jiumei squatted at the entrance of the cave, staring at the village. It wasn't until it was almost noon that she let out a long breath, rubbed her sour eyes, turned back to the cave and said, "There has been no one in the village. This time, they should be gone. ”

On the rabbit skin mattress, Shen Qiubao turned over and got up, and said happily: "Then let's go too." "Last night, after being woken up by the fire below the mountain, he couldn't sleep. He was scared for most of the night, he didn't want to stay here anymore, and he wished he could put on his wings and flee immediately.

Shen Jiumei twisted her eyebrows and thought about it, shook her head and said, "Don't worry about it first." I'll go out and have a look, and I'll pick some wild pears and come back. It only rained two days ago, and if you're lucky, you'll be able to pick up a lot of mushrooms. "Dad said that if you want to catch a rabbit, you have to be patient. Who knows if the Immortal Rune soldiers will set up an ambush on the road?

"Ninth sister, I'll go with you. Shen Qiubao ran to the entrance of the cave and eagerly grabbed one of Shen Jiumei's clothes corners, "I can climb trees, and I can pick wild pears on the tips of trees." "Ahhh He's afraid!

To be honest, there are many wild things in the Dongshan in autumn, and Shen Jiumei is not worried about leaving him, so not only did she not expose him, but responded cheerfully: "Then you have to pick more, and we will eat on the road tomorrow." ”

"Hmm. Shen Qiubao's face showed a smile that he hadn't seen for a long time.

When Shen Jiumei saw it, her heart was sour. Previously, she had been worried that Qiu Bao would cry with her and ask for her father. No, from yesterday to now, Qiu Bao has never cried, and has changed her naughty nature in the past, and obeys her in everything. This is what my father and mother usually say are sensible!

Dad, mother, don't worry. Qiu Bao is sensible. I will definitely take care of him. We will live well, work hard to learn our skills, and avenge you in the future!" Blinking her eyes, Shen Jiumei said in her heart.

Resisting the urge to pick up the little one, she just touched Qiu Bao's head and said softly, "Let's go, pick wild mountain pears." ”

All kinds of signs show that although the immortal rune soldiers slaughtered the village, they did not commit any crimes against Dongshan Qiu. And experience told her that it was noon, and the sun hung in the sky, and it was the time of the day when the wild beasts in the mountains were dormant. So, her courage gradually let go, not only took Qiu Bao to pick a pocket of wild pear, but also carefully touched the foot of the mountain, and dug five large sweet potatoes in the sweet potato field of Uncle Dongfu's house - this sweet potato field is not big, it was originally a stone pit. Uncle Dongfu's family has a lot of people and little land, so he chose this stone pit to fill in the soil and barely plant sweet potatoes. Due to the high terrain and lack of fertility, this sweet potato field grows significantly slower. The sweet potatoes in the village are almost finished, and Uncle Dongfu's land has not yet been moved. At the same time, it is precisely because of the deviation of the land, far from the village, that the sweet potatoes in the field are protected from fire. So the two sisters and brothers were cheaper, and the next rations were settled.

As my father always said, there is food in the hand, and the heart is confident. With the sweet potatoes in this rocky depression to support, Shen Jiumei decided to stay in the mountains for a few more days - it was really the reputation of the immortal rune soldiers who were too strong, and she had witnessed them slaughtering the village, so she was very scared in her heart, very worried that they had not gone far yet.

She told Shen Qiubao everything she thought. There was no way, there was no one else around her to talk to.

Shen Qiubao is now obedient to her, and he is full of promises.

So, the siblings settled in the cave for the time being. However, after turning around the foot of the mountain a few times and not seeing the shadow of the immortal rune soldiers, they became more emboldened and began to feel towards the center of the village. They hope to find their father's body from the rubble, or find some surviving belongings and clothes. However, the truth is always so cruel. After three days of rummaging through the ruins, they found nothing, not a single bone, not a single big penny. The whole village was burned to the ground, and there was nothing left but ash.

The only thing I was glad about was that during this period, the Immortal Rune Soldier did not appear again.

"Let's go, let's go to the town to find my aunt. In the early morning of the fifth day after the slaughter of the village, Shen Jiumei dug out ten roasted sweet potatoes from the ash pile and put them into the old clay pot, so she said.

Niutouao Village is located in a mountain nest, and when you come out of the village, you have to climb two mountains one after another, a total of more than 40 miles of mountain roads, to reach the official road. The mountain road is narrow and there are several dangerous slopes, and the people in the village rely on a pair of feet to go out. Therefore, the foot strength of little children like Shen Qiubao is too poor, and adults will not easily take them out of the village. Shen Jiumei was also nine years old before she was qualified to follow her father to the town to sell mountain goods. In more than two years, she made a total of three trips to town. Since she was a child, her memory has been one of the best among the children in the village. The first time my father went to town, when she came back, she already knew the way. Dad was proud of it, and praised her cleverness to her mother.

The day before departure, Shen Jiumei estimated Shen Qiubao's foot strength and felt that in three days, she should be able to walk to the town. There is a lot of food in the mountains in autumn. Along the way, she remembered that there were several wild fruit groves. So she brought only ten roasted sweet potatoes, and in addition, a fire fold, an old clay pot, an earthen porcelain bowl, and two rabbit skin mattresses—which was already the limit of her load. No matter how many things she had, she really couldn't bring them.

Originally, she didn't expect Shen Qiubao to help. As long as he could walk the more than 90 miles by himself in three days, she would be thankful. No, the latter insisted again and again, insisting on carrying a rabbit skin mattress. The little guy slapped his chest and crackled, with a proud face: "Ninth sister, I have a lot of strength, and I can carry it." My legs are strong and I can walk. I won't win if I run away. There is no slope in the village that I can't climb. ”

Shen Jiumei thought about it for a while, it seemed that in the past few days, Shen Qiubao had followed her up and down the mountain, and she had indeed not caused trouble. The little one is more capable than she previously thought. So, she nodded in response: "Okay, you carry it first." Don't be foolish. If you can't carry it, and if you're tired of walking, you have to tell me. You're still young, it's too hard, and you're going to hurt your bones. ”

After finding Nagayama and tying up simple luggage, the two set off.

At the leewind of the gravel slope at the entrance of the village, they saw traces of people camping: a large pile of ash, a lot of chicken bones scattered next to it, and fragments of wine jars.

"It must have been left behind by the Immortal Rune Soldiers. Shen Jiumei walked over and toe the ash heap with her toes. There were a few sticks of bowl-thick charcoal left in the ash heap, which were already damp. The ashes did not have any temperature at all, and they were sticky into a ball. So, she was sure of it, "it was wet with the dew of the night." Well, it takes at least three nights of dew for the firewood ash to get wet like this. "Dad said that the danger in the mountains is not only the infestation of wild animals, poisonous weeds, air barriers, etc., but also the people who enter the mountains. Therefore, you must be careful when you encounter residual ash heaps in the mountains. A closer look at the ash heap reveals a number of useful clues. She is the eldest child in the family, and her father thinks she is very clever, and every time she goes into the mountains, he teaches her very carefully. And she also studied very hard.

Wow, the ninth sister knows so much! Shen Qiubao lifted the mattress on her back and looked up at her with admiration: "Ninth sister, the immortal rune soldiers have already left, right?"

"That's so smart!" Shen Jiumei pinched his face and said happily, "Judging from this pile of ashes and these chicken bones, they left three days ago." ”

"Ninth sister, you said that you are not allowed to pinch my face. Shen Qiubao frowned and turned his face away, and then stuck out his tongue happily, "Fortunately, we hid for three more days." "If they had been on their way the next day, they would have been sent to the door to cut off the heads of those wicked people who deserved a thousand cuts.

In other words, the immortal rune soldiers in Tu Village had already left. This is definitely good news. The sister and brother suddenly felt refreshed, and their legs were plain and had a lot of strength. Without any further delay, the two continued to rush with confidence.

Next, they walked for another two days, and finally crossed two mountains, and smoothly used the mountain road for more than 40 miles to arrive at the official road as planned.

Along the way, they never found the ash heap left by the Immortal Rune Soldiers. This was expected by Shen Jiumei. It is said that the immortal rune soldiers can travel 500 miles a day. Dad said that there are only immortal runes stationed in the county, and there are only more than 100 miles from the county to the village, so they naturally don't have to spend the night on the road. Three days have passed, and the immortal rune soldiers must have returned to the county seat long ago.

Although the official road is farther than the mountain road, it is much smoother, and there is a grass pavilion every twenty miles for resting legs, which is much safer than the mountain road, and there is no need to worry about running wild beasts out at night. They brought fire folds and torches, and they were able to travel at night. After walking for two days, Shen Jiumei was full of confidence in Qiu Bao's foot strength. Tonight, they're sure to make it to town.

Qiu Bao saw the official road for the first time in his life, and looked around happily: "Ninth sister, the official road is so wide and peaceful." As he spoke, he took a few steps. The shabby straw sandals made the dirt road "crackle", "not at all." Much more comfortable than the road in our village. ”

Shen Jiumei sneered disdainfully: "What is this! There is a street in the town, all paved with bluestone. When you go up, that's what makes you comfortable. ”

"Auntie, does their family live on that street?" asked Shen Qiubao expectantly.

"Yes. Shen Jiumei smiled, "My aunt's family runs a shop in the town, and they eat white rice twice a day, as well as large slices of meat!"

"Really?" Shen Qiubao almost drooled at the thought of the fragrant white rice. In their family, if it is not during the New Year's festival or the busy farming season, the rice they usually eat is mixed with sweet potatoes. If the year is not good, you can't even eat sweet potato rice, so you can only mix it with wild vegetables and drink it thinly. In addition, these days, they eat either roasted sweet potatoes, boiled sweet potatoes, or mountain mushroom soup without oil and salt, just mixed with a full stomach, and their mouths are lighter than water. He really wanted to have a delicious meal of white rice.

"Well, that's true!" Shen Jiumei gestured with her hands to the size of the sea bowl, "Dad took me to my aunt's house three times." Every time, my aunt and grandmother would give me and my father a big bowl of white rice covered with sliced meat. My aunt smiled, and she was kind to me. It's not like grandma, she is always fierce and stingy, she has delicious food and never gives it to me. ”

Shen Qiubao couldn't help lowering his head and muttered, "Grandma is not fierce sometimes, and she is not stingy at all." "The ninth sister didn't know that she was reluctant to take a bite of the good things that her grandmother hid, so she secretly gave them to him. However, his grandmother, who always secretly gave him good food, was also killed by the fairy rune soldiers...... Thinking that he would never see his father and mother again, as well as his grandmother, and that he could only go to his aunt and grandmother who had never met in the future, he was very sad, and it took a lot of strength to hold back his tears.

Seeing this, Shen Jiumei's throat was a little tight. In fact, she knows that grandma, like her father, is a good person.

"I'm just talking about fun, not bad things about grandma. She was ashamed and explained in a low voice.

"I know. Shen Qiubao sniffed hard, raised his head, and said with a sparkling smile in his eyes, "Ninth sister, when I get to the town, I will also listen to you." ”

"Qiu Bao is good!" Shen Jiumei smiled with satisfaction. This time I held back and didn't pinch his face.