bookcurios Chapter 55
Chapter 55
"Okay, my lords, we've arrived. Further on is the Wandering Swamp, and the carriage can't go—" the tea stall owner's courteous voice sounded from outside the carriage.
You Huang lifted the curtain of the car and jumped to the ground first, then turned around to support the chieftain.It was evening now, covered by thick clouds, no light from the sky, and the swamp in the distance was covered with mist, and cold and damp water vapor rushed towards the face.Low miscellaneous trees grow sparsely across the uneven puddles, and occasionally a few phosphorous fires flicker in the air, fleeting.
Youhuang still has some vague impressions of this place, after all, he came here when he escaped from Ye'an City last time.At that time, he was exhausted, and he was carrying the comatose chief on his back, and he had a very difficult journey. If he hadn't met Qihai, who was passing by chopping firewood nearby, and was taken care of by his wife, he might have died. To explain here.Now that I think about it, the kind-hearted couple suffered from nightmares and are no longer alive, so I can't help but sigh.
The owner of the tea stall bowed and stood beside the car, with a respectful expression on his face, "My lords... this place has also been delivered, and the work is over, look—"
Chief understood what he meant, nodded, took out a small silk pouch from his sleeve, and threw it over.The owner of the tea stall took it in his hand, weighed it, and immediately smiled, "My lord is really generous, and the little one will have enough to live for a long time. In the future, as long as you have orders, we will go through fire and water." I'll do it for you."
Chief didn't show any expression, and just said calmly: "Come on, take the money and leave quickly, don't stay. If it gets dark later, you mere mortals don't know what will happen to you in this land of Beiming. Don’t ask someone to snatch the money you just got before it’s warmed up.”
As the sky seemed to be getting darker again, the boss looked up, and Yue Mo was also a little scared, and hurriedly bowed and said, "Yes, yes, thank you for your reminder. The little one is leaving now, take care, take care!" Turning his fat body around, he was about to climb into the carriage tremblingly.
The chief took this opportunity and wanted to kill the man immediately to silence him, but his shoulder moved slightly and he stopped again.What he thinks in his mind is that Youhuang is also with him, this scholar has a benevolent disposition, probably he doesn't like to see him commit more crimes.While hesitating, he suddenly heard the tea stall owner grunt, rolled off the carriage, collapsed on the ground, twitched twice and then stopped moving.Seeing that the situation was not right, the driver shook the reins to escape, but he also fell down with a muffled grunt.Chief was stunned, only to see a pitch-black blade protruding from the chest of the two of them, hitting the heart, and after a moment, it turned into wisps of blood and black smoke, disappearing into the air.
It was You Huang who moved his hand.This move was so crisp that even the desperately singing birds on the treetops above his head could not be disturbed by a single one.
The scholar in black was stuffing the writing brush that had committed the crime into his sleeve. Seeing that Chief looked at him in surprise, he actually smiled and explained: "This black-hearted boss is a person who got into the money trap. What is it for money?" He will do things that are not based on loyalty. If you let him spread your whereabouts and let those who are interested hear, we will cause a lot of trouble."
Chief also understood this truth, but still sighed softly: "...But, your hands are dirty again."
You Huang didn't care, and said in a clear voice: "My subordinates are not clean. When I manipulated gunpowder to blow up the dam in Shuzhou City, I don't know how many thugs drowned—although they were thugs, but There are also quite a few families with wives and children—later they joined Ghost Mo to work for the dynasty, and even if they didn’t want to, they would inevitably lose their lives.” He looked down at the corpse of the tea stall owner, with a hint of disgust in his eyes. He hated it, and said, "...As for the dead man, he did a lot of outrageous things during his lifetime. I took his life, and I saved countless innocent people in the future. Guilty. What's more, to me, your life is a hundred times more valuable than his. If half of it threatens your safety, I won't hold back."
Chief's expression relaxed, as if something he had been worrying about for a long time suddenly let go: "It seems that I haven't fully understood who you are... I didn't want you to follow me before, and I always thought... Seeing those killings, you will definitely Can't bear it."
You Huang said: "I will not bear it, but some things must be done even if I can't bear it." His expression was a little solemn, and he looked at the chief, "So, chief, listen carefully. We now Every step is extremely difficult and dangerous, and as long as one is not careful, one's life is in danger at all times. So since this is Beiming, everything should be done according to Beiming's rules. The rules of our mortals are very different from your demons. There are many places where you and I cannot understand and agree with each other, but do what you have to do, don't worry about others, and don't bother to explain to me. Because no matter when and where, I am with you .No matter how powerful the opponent in front of you is, no matter how rough the road is, when you look back, I will always stand here and support you. ——I absolutely, absolutely don’t want you to die.”
Hearing his words from the bottom of his heart, Chief was stunned for a moment, and finally moved.During these days of getting along, many conflicts between him and Youhuang are all about "killing" and "not killing".Both of them are aware of this, and they have always compromised with each other.Now You Huang told him to "don't worry", that means he was actively withdrawing the bottom line.Even when he did not hesitate to kill people just now, he made it clear that he would always be ready to be stained with blood for the chieftain in the future.
Not knowing how to answer for a long time, the chieftain finally said slowly: "Don't worry, the king of Youdu has not avenged me for humiliating me, and I will not die. What's more, I haven't traveled every inch of this world with you yet. Rivers and mountains, you can see every piece of scenery!"
***
Not long after the two went deep into the swamp, it was completely dark.In the pitch-black night sky with no stars and no moon, you can't see your fingers. In the silence, you can occasionally hear some animals running rapidly in the distance, or howling with a prolonged voice.Naturally, it was impossible to move forward in such a situation. You Huang took off the ghost lamp hanging on his waist, and cast a spell to activate the light, illuminating the road ahead from afar.I vaguely saw a large black area under a half-dead thousand-year-old locust tree not far away, which seemed to be a tree hole.After careful identification, it turned out to be the place where he escaped from the swamp with the chieftain on his back and rested for several days.
The chieftain also recognized it, the corners of his mouth were slightly curved, showing a smile that was not a smile, he turned his head to look at Youhuang: "...It's getting late, we will go back to the old place, and we will spend the night there, how about it?"
Probably the center of the swamp is inaccessible, so there are still traces of the fire they burned last time in the tree hole, and a large area of black and black was scorched on the ground.You Huang wanted to light the bonfire again, but he didn't know that it had rained just now, and the nearby branches were all extremely damp, so he couldn't light it at all, so he had to run very far to find it.When he came back after finding suitable fuel, he saw the chief waiting in the tree hole, and at some point there were two big silver-white fish in his hands.
I don't know what species the fish in the Beiming Swamp are. They are very different from the ordinary world. Their stomachs were ripped open and their internal organs were removed. They were grilled on the fire, and a layer of bright oil was able to leak out, which dripped and crackled in the fire. rattle.
You Huang turned the wooden stick for spearing the fish to prevent the fire from being uneven, and inadvertently glanced sideways at the chieftain, and the thoughts in his mind suddenly drifted away.
Until now, he still clearly remembers the appearance of the beautiful prison doctor when the two first met, dressed in white clothes as gentle and moist as jade, with elegant and polite gestures, as if in the darkest and bloodiest prison, an unsullied doctor descended from the sky. Light.
It was precisely because of this first impression that Youhuang felt the coldness from head to toe when he saw the incomparably cruel arc on the corner of the man's mouth while torturing the prisoner.
Later, in the arena, Youhuang saw the strength of the chieftain for the first time.The figure in heavy armor brought an unparalleled sense of oppression, making it difficult to even breathe.In fact, as long as the chieftain fishes it lightly, he can take away his Yuan Fate without any effort.It's just that the demon was too proud, too proud, too proud, and didn't bother to do that.
So when the chief was seriously injured and had a high fever, his whole body lost all color, and he was curled up on the ground dying, his pale and harmless posture, so fragile that it seemed that a breeze could blow him away, was surprising again.
——What an elegant and unyielding soul, yet full of contradictions.
Now the rumored scariest demon in Beiming is sitting opposite the fire, holding his knees with his hands, not saying a word, his red eyes reflecting the dancing flames, earnestly waiting for the fish on the rack to be cooked , Just like a docile big cat.
Thinking of the past and the present, four words flashed in You Huang's mind: It seems like a world away.
The big cat spoke quickly: "Hey... dead scholar, why are you in a daze?"
You Huang said: "I was thinking... If the two of us stay together all the time, it will be very good to just live in this tree hole in the future."
The chief snorted disdainfully, and said, "...it's not a monkey, what kind of tree hole does it live in? Can't build a house?"
Youhuang suddenly realized "Ah", and the chief ignored him, and only said: "Pick it up, it will burn if you bake it!" He still stared at the fish.
"Oh, good, good..." You Huang hurriedly unloaded the fish from the fire, looked around for a while, and felt that it was almost ready, so he handed it to Chief, and watched him take a bite, "... How? Is it delicious? I sprinkled salt."
Chief chewed the food in his mouth, tasted it carefully, and then swallowed it. Then he lowered his head and stared at the bitten part, making sure that there was no trace of blood in it, and that it was completely cooked, before handing it to Youhuang: " Hmm... you can try it too."
You Huang was moved, knowing that the chief was careful, and he was afraid that he would feel nauseated after eating raw food like last time, so he took the initiative to try it, so he took the fish, took another bite at the place that the chief had bitten, and said : "Oh, the skin of this fish is baked and crispy, my craftsmanship is really good."
The chief snorted and said, "Sell yourself and boast!" He picked up another fish from the fire and started to eat it.
※In fact, from the perspective of Beiming’s history of constant wars and biological evolution, I think that the demons should be proper foodies besides being particularly brave and good at fighting.
Chapter 56