After a long time, I still remember the winter nights of my childhood. My mother placed my cradle by the fire, whispering and singing babbling nursery rhymes, while getting up and grinding the syrup to be eaten the next morning.
The red fire reflected her soft-lined face, warm and comfortable. I was woken up by a nightmare, opened my eyes, called "Grandma", and she raised her hand to wipe the fine sweat from her forehead and smiled at me: "Hey." ”
The tenderness of the whole world is like this smiling face.
So I fell into a deep sleep.
Such a mother is embedded with farming, housework, and coarse tea and light rice all the way, fixed into a constant and stable silhouette - it is certainly not suitable for the stormy rivers and lakes.
Probably because of this, the bloody wind and rain of the rivers and lakes pounced on her so urgently.
1. Wu Qi attempted
It was an early summer evening when I was six years old.
A thin white moon hung in the sky, and the first noisy cicadas (cicadas) had just climbed the trunk of the tree.
Mother prepared dinner as usual, and sat on the stone table in the small courtyard, waiting for the father to return.
I followed her like a tail—I don't know if it was a help, but I still made a mess—washed the pot, brushed the stove, propped up the bamboo chair, and lay down next to her, watching the pale red sunset on the horizon.
Usually at this time the mother has to tell a story.
But that day it didn't.
Instead, she asked a question: "Ah Xia, are you willing to die for your father?"
"Huh?"
A long time later—so long that even my own name has been recognized—I still think about it from time to time.
I don't know why my mother would ask that. probably heard some rumors from Sister Min'er, and probably because of his father's character who is always messing around, he always gives people a sense of crisis of "the lonely star of the sky" and "will affect the family".
I always chewed on this sentence secretly, tasted the bitterness hidden in it repeatedly, and again and again, more clearly than before, I became familiar with it: my mother was probably willing to die for my father.
But I didn't know it at the time.
I don't even know what death is, and I don't know dad very well.
Dad was a standard Bianyue man: it meant that he was born to conquer the world—or at least to fight. Handle the crops, renovate the sheds, and cook in the hall, and all chores should not be touched.
He strictly adhered to this tradition, which began at some unknown time, and almost never went home. Some mornings, he disappeared far away at the end of the winding narrow alleys at the entrance of the village—at night, he returned with the stars and the moon, and probably never returned.
"Marrying a woman does not marry a man".
The simple village women used their life's hard work to save lessons for their daughters, and spread out in the shallow boudoir mixed with the smell of chickens and ducks and the smell of grass, thinning the population of Bianyue.
The grandparents relied on their military exploits for the country and were assigned women from the imperial court.
Unfortunately, the war must subside.
The only ability for the men to survive has become dispensable. Marrying a wife has gradually become a hot and humid dream in the middle of the night in this land. More and more people give up their ancestral teachings for chasing vulgar dreams, learn to grow vegetables and pigs, carpentry, and walk the streets and alleys to do small business.
It is a miracle that such a father can marry a daughter-in-law, and this daughter-in-law does not lack arms or legs.
Even as a girl, I couldn't figure it out after I understood a little bit.
For a long time, my mother attributed this to "the attraction of appearance."
But from the subtle expression on her face, I knew that in her image, there was a story that I would probably never be able to touch.
In the two years when my mother first started, the rumors about her topped the list of after-dinner topics in ten miles and eight towns, and even outsiders often came to the village to peep at her through the tall and low tea forests.
When someone asked, she replied lightly: "Men are ambitious in all directions, and there is nothing bad about it." ”
- This was informed by the fourth aunt next door.
When she talked about my mother, her tone was like talking about distant legends: smart and capable, delicious cooking, one person can fry three pots of tea, and the embroidered flowers amazed the eldest lady of the family......
"The embroidery in your earroom, tsk......" she said, raising her index finger and shaking it with pride, "I have never seen so many beautiful paintings in my life!" It's like, it's like ......" The fourth aunt opened her mouth and finally stomped her foot, "Oops, it's just pleasing to the eye, I can't tell ......"
Mother was born in Qi Village, which is famous for embroidery, and was famous for her craftsmanship in the village before she got married. Her embroidery, the fourth aunt is naturally indescribable as a rough lady born in Bianyue.
The embroidered picture has the eagle of Song Huizong, the horse of Zhao Ziang, the poetry of Li Bai, and the words of the monk Mi Dian.
Mother can embroider the wildness of a big stroke, but also embroider the dexterity of a fine pen, under her embroidery needle, there are grass strokes that want to be broken and connected, and there are also ink stains soaked in the back of the paper... One
Most of the people who came to buy embroidery pictures sat in high-headed horses. When I arrived at the entrance of the village, I got off the bus and walked out.
A village woman can embroider such a literary theme. The storyteller of the day after tomorrow often receives many boos when he mentions this. But beforehand, it's just a conversation in the field.
For the peasant family, women can embroider, nothing new, nothing but the quality of embroidery - what makes everyone difficult to understand, but the mother's sincerity to the father.
"Whose man is not like a rival." As soon as she said this, the fourth aunt's short eyebrows stood upside down, "For example, the dead ghost in my family forgot to close the pigpen one night, and he would have to scold for three days - your father is not home at night, and I don't know if he is outside, that ......" She raised her little finger, and then immediately waved her hand, "Forget it, your child doesn't understand this, in short, so that your mother can endure it, it's really convincing!" The erected fingers turned into thumbs, and the back of the fingers bent back.
I listened, and I was also very worried about my father's private life - in the school, I was the only girl, and my father was absent for a long time, and it was inevitable that he would often fall behind in quarrels. If someone grabs this handle again, even if the tongue is bright, it probably won't help.
But when I think about it, I have the best grades, and my husband always wants to favor me - if it's a big deal, I'll sue me.
But my husband taught me to read, but he didn't teach me life and death.
So when I heard such a question, I had no choice but to stop without understanding.
Gao Ruomuji's appearance made her mother laugh: "Little fool." She flicked the corner of my forehead, "If Dad wants you to stop getting up tomorrow, don't study, and don't have to go to the ground anymore, would you be willing?"
"Don't get up! Why? I'm going to school! "Zhuangzi" is not finished yet. I shook my head violently, "I'm going to take the top exam in the future-Grandma, don't you want to go to the capital?" I'll be the top student and I'll take you to the capital. ”
The mother paused, and for a moment, suddenly smiled: "Yes." ”
That night, as usual, my father did not return.
My mother and I had our usual supper in the sparse moonlight.
The porridge has cooled slightly.
When my father returned, it was already the beginning of autumn.
The blood-red remnant sun leaned on the top of the mountain and refused to leave, staining half of the sky red and soaking the entire tea forest; The chilling cicada, which was still breathing, hoarsely pulled out a long and scattered sound.
Father's boots were on the broken syllables.
I saw him at the entrance of the village like a stranger.
He greeted me: "Ah Xia, where is your mother?"
I tilted my head and thought about it for a while, and then I remembered that this was my father. I don't know if I should go up to meet him - I remember the last time he was half drunk, and he jerked him, causing me to roll several times; I don't know what kind of attitude to use to answer - it doesn't seem good to be unfamiliar, after all, it's my father, but I really don't know him well.
Instead, he squatted down busily, took out a ceramic doll from his pocket, and said: "Give, you have always wanted it, and my father brought it back to you." ”
Quite an ugly doll. I didn't mean to accept it, so I had to barely pull out a smiley face - two or three years earlier, I would have cheered for something like this, but now I'm enlightened...... Does he know how old his only daughter is......
"Axia! Ah, Ming-kun, you're back. My mother's voice came from behind me—I was on my back, and there was no usual surprise in my voice, but a shallow horror in my voice.
Turning my head, my mother hurried down the gravel alley, her skirt flying and almost getting caught in the soles of her feet—I had never seen her so calm.
I was full of confusion and greeted me: "Mother, dad give me a doll!"
My mother gasped, squatted down, took the doll with a handkerchief in her palm, looked at it over and over again, the lines of her face finally softened, and stuffed it back into my hand: "It's very pleasing to the eye, Dad gave it, you can take it well." After that, he pulled his hair and stood up, "Mingjun, this time I ...... back"
Before she could finish speaking, she was interrupted by the small white brocade box held up in front of her father: "This is for you, take a look." ”
A distinct flush slowly spread from my mother's cheeks, instantly covering her face and neck—the first time I had seen my father bring her a gift.
"And many more." The father said as he pushed his mother home.
I followed in confusion. I thought to myself, what's wrong with my father? It's like a different person......
He even came into the kitchen to help. I was stunned.
When I was four years old, I was ignorant, and I once called my father to help bring a plate, but I was kicked on the ground and almost broke my bones, and I couldn't get better for three or four months.
Mother smiled and accepted her father's clumsy help.
I could feel that she wasn't as happy as she seemed - perhaps because of the side effects of her father's presence in the kitchen, of course. His hands seem to have evil magic, and no matter what he touches, he will be destroyed quickly by "ping pong".
It was as if the meal would never be ready. It wasn't until I was so hungry that I put my chest on my back that I easily went to the table, and I couldn't wait for my father to move his chopsticks, so I was beaten desperately, so I grabbed several bites, stuffed my mouth full, and chewed hard while waiting for my father's belt to fall.
But the expected pain did not come, but there was an extra glass of tiger-colored liquid in front of him.
"Hungry?" My father narrowed his eyes and smiled at me, "Our family hasn't eaten all the way for a long time, let's have a glass of sweet wine and celebrate." ”
A sweet aroma came from the glass.
I was bewitched, and I was about to pick it up, but my mother pressed her hand: "She's still young." In addition, it is not good to drink on an empty stomach, so eat first. ”
So everyone eats.
My father repeatedly advised me to drink, but my mother tried her best to refuse. I just concentrate on eating hard, and I always feel that my heart is pounding, and I can't say what is new.
That's where the plate bottomed out in the back and forth.
"Ah Xiu, you won't give face." The father raised his glass again, "Our husband and wife can easily get together once......"
"Bang", the mother put the chopsticks on the table: "In this case, husband, can you have a drink first?"
The father was stunned, his hand trembled, and two drops of wine in the cup were slightly splashed outward, and he calmly wiped it away, wanting to put down the wine glass in his hand and go to get the glass on the table that was close to him—but his mother held his hand.
"Mingjun," the mother shook her head slightly, "you are so abrupt, how can you do a big deal?"
"Ahem," her father turned his head away and didn't dare to look at her face, "what are you talking about, why don't I understand ......"
"You came back this time to take the lives of our mother and daughter." Mother asked, the hand holding his arm motionless.
I was stunned again.
When I looked up, I was about to ask a question, but when I saw my mother's face, I swallowed it again.
"No, Ah Xiu, you're mistaken, I'm ......," the father defended, his voice hesitant and flattering.
"Although I live in a mountain village, I am not closed or stupid." The mother was unmoved, "When things go wrong, there must be demons, and if you have nothing to do, you must know these words, but you are still so forward-looking, how can you succeed?"
Father's face sank: "How much do you know?" It was like a different person, and his voice was low and muffled. He shook off his mother's hand.
"The question is, you don't know much." The mother bit her lower lip and-for-tat, "Do you know what the characteristics of the three cups in front of you are, and which cup is the poison in?" If I were to be replaced, would you be able to see it? Do you know where to start in your home? The kitchen and the food storage room are indistinguishable, can you not force yourself at home? Not to mention, I'm looking for a small shop outside, so it's good to breathe!" Mother's voice became faster and faster, and I never thought that her two graceful meniscus eyebrows could be so obliquely raised into her sideburns, "Do you know the right time to choose?" Do it on the first day of the meeting?" After a while, the corners of my mother's eyes turned sharply, "When am I a fool? Still blind?"
Father's speech.
Indoor 静得吓人。
The mother bit the corner of her lip and trembled slightly, and after a while, tears still oozed out of her eyes, condensed into a huge one, fell to the ground, and retracted the soft sound of "popping".
Her lips trembled: "Our mother and son follow you, not expecting to be able to eat and drink, but begging for a peaceful birthday, who knows you, you are ......"
"It's not a son...... "The father frowned and muttered quietly.
- Every time he came home, he grinded his mother to have another son, saying that he was "afraid that you two will be bullied at home". It's like having an extra baby who needs to babble, and our mother and son can instantly increase their combat effectiveness.
My heart was cold, and I didn't know what to do with hot liquid sliding down my cheeks.
The mother was visibly stunned. After a while, he shuddered and asked, "So, you are, already ...... Got someone?"
"This is ......," the father muttered, "but if I can ...... it."
"What can you?" The mother stood up "Teng", "Beautiful women like clouds? For the sake of gentleness, you want to sell your wife and daughter?"
"What do women know?" was probably swept back by his mother's fierce tone, and his father became angry and shouted, "I have a promise with others, this is the bloody righteousness of the men in the rivers and lakes!" Thinking back to the time when Wu Qi ......"
"Wu Qi?" The mother sneered, "Even if you have this strategy, you should think about his fate - you really think that Xu Yongyou is as benevolent and righteous as he is rumored, and you can become famous with him?"
"You!" Hearing the name "Xu Yong", his father shook his whole body as if he had been whipped and turned his head suddenly, "Do you know Xu Shao?" His eyes are like a vulture looking for carrion.
My mother half-blocked me behind me: "You know, so what?"
I had a premonition that something was coming, and I trembled with fear everywhere from my bones to my hairs. I tried to sneak the broom leaning against the corner of the wall with my toes, but I couldn't do it.
"Then I won't be able to tolerate you." Before his father's words fell, a cold light suddenly appeared on his sleeve.
"Mother!" I exclaimed in despair.
But it was my father who fell.
"Use poison ......," the mother muttered intermittently, her face pale, her chest rising and falling violently, "and understand the poison...... The poison was hit by a touch, and the competition was still in the wine, and he still touched the ......"
Before she finished speaking, her legs weakened and she knelt on the ground with a "plop".
I tried to comfort me, but I found that my feet were stiff and I couldn't move, and my crotch was clammy and cold.
Two Nights and a Half
After a long time - when his mother's name resounded all over the world - the most famous Mo family who ran the post newspaper asked: That night, why didn't the killer preemptively kill?
You must know that on the rivers and lakes, my mother is known for being ruthless. She practiced martial arts very late, but she relied on a spicy energy that was not afraid of death, and even eager to seek death, to gain a firm foothold in the chaotic martial arts.
"I'm a mother, I can't kill her father in front of my child." Mother replied lightly.
It was also evening when he said this. She leaned sideways, sitting cross-legged on the futon, letting the afterglow of the remnant sun cut out silhouettes in the sky, without even frowning between her eyebrows.
Those experiences sank into the chaotic palm of the rivers and lakes in such a calm narrative, and only standing behind her knew what a thrilling night it was.
In fact, even killing my father would not help.
When my mother and I discerned a little soft and ran to the entrance of the village, we knew why my father was in a hurry to do it.
At the entrance of the village, there was a high-headed horse's car, and there were several figures dangling next to the car. The strong smell of burning knives wafted in the wind, and choked on my throat, but I didn't even dare to cough lightly to clear my throat, because there were other rough words that drifted in the wind:
"Fuck, Liu Ming, that kid, why is it so slow! I'm still in a hurry to drink!"
"Why don't we break out and see women and dolls...... Hey hey ......"
"It's not good, after all, he is the one who wants to enter the 'Lethe......"
The previous words were inaudible.
My mother took me by the hand, and quietly walked forward step by step, tiptoeing like two cats in the dark night, and only after walking a little incense before leaving the entrance of the village.
There is only one way to the outside world.
You can't pass through here, and if you want to get out of the village, you have to climb over the mountains that surround you. Although it is not very high, the woods are full of branches, and all kinds of poisonous insects have not had time to freeze to death, so it is really not suitable to walk through in the middle of the night when they dare not light the lights.
What to do? My heart was pounding. Biting his lower lip hard, for fear of revealing his figure. My mother held my cold hand in her palm, but her palm was even colder, and I was afraid that she would be worried.
"Axia." We didn't dare to go home, so we hid in the shadow of the big tree in the village, and sat down on the knotted roots to take a breath, when my mother suddenly asked me, "You say, if you want to find someone to deliver the letter at this time, who will it be?"
"This ......," I thought for a moment, "let's find a gentleman." ”
Mr. is a teacher in a private school, surnamed He. There is only one literate person in the village, so the surname is exempted and only Mr. is called.
The mother was noncommittal, bowing her head and groaning.
"Sir always taught us what benevolence and righteousness were, and besides, he went into the city and saw a wide range of things...... If other people leave the village, they may not be able to find the way, right?"
- It's a pity that I didn't know in advance that every time I slaughter dogs, most of them are readers.
Midnight rush.
The gentleman did not seem to be calm or angry, but quietly listened to his mother's broken narration, and asked in a low and steady voice, "So, what can I do?"
The mother hesitated for a moment, and took out a handkerchief from her arms: "Go to the town and give this to the Fu family...... Anyone. ”
The gentleman's eyebrows twitched.
My heart skipped a beat.
The Fu family is a famous killer family on the rivers and lakes. When my classmates in the school refused to sleep properly, their parents always used this excuse to coerce them into falling asleep.
Although it is a killer, it is like opening a commercial house and a pawnshop, and there are sub-departments and cities in the eighteen realms of Kyushu. When I went to the town with my mother to catch the market, I also saw a narrow small door, at the end of the street, with black doors, black thresholds, and black frames, revealing an ominous atmosphere.
"This is embroidered by the second lady of the Fu family, take this to inform her, saying that I am in trouble, she ...... It should come. Seeing that the husband did not answer, the mother hurriedly commented.
"In that case," said the gentleman, with a slight hesitation, "you wait, and I'll go." ”
My mother and I sat in the gloom.
Listen to the sound of "tick" and "tick" of the water meter at the gentleman's house.
"Mother," I asked in a low voice, "what does the young lady of the Fu family look like?" Isn't it ......" I thought of the fear of my classmates, "the face is dark, strong, and ......"
"Remember Sister Min'er?" Mother asked.
"Ah, I remember."
It was a big lady, only a little taller than me, and she didn't like to laugh. Trick me into all sorts of tricks and trick me into helping her bargain with her mother.
"That's her."
I was so shocked that my eyes almost bulged out: "What......"
At this moment, the door suddenly moved.
I quickly covered my mouth and held my breath.
"Ah Xiu!" The person lowered his voice and gasped, "You go quickly, someone is going to kill you!" It was the voice of the fourth aunt.
My mother and I jumped out of the room and pushed the door open: the fourth aunt was sweating profusely, and she was still carrying firewood behind her, panting one sentence at a time.
"What iniquity have you done here? Why did the gentleman bring someone to kill you?"
"What...... It couldn't be ......."
"What else are you talking about," the fourth aunt pointed to the other side of the road, "Aren't people already here!"
Sure enough, scattered torches were rapidly moving in this direction.
My mother said "ah", grabbed me and ran back to the mountain.
I don't even remember saying thank you.
I don't know why, at this juncture, my husband forgets the morality that he keeps teaching us. Hate the Fu family? Coveting a delusional reward? Probably, in a man's heart, there is always a dream of breaking into the rivers and lakes?—— which can no longer be known. By the end of the night, he was a corpse.
The fourth aunt is too.
By the time she said goodbye, she had turned into a low grave on the back hill - when she heard the gang of thug wolves at the entrance of the village rushing into her husband's hut, and found that she had pounced, she screamed in anger.
At that moment, the head and neck of the gentleman did not have time to say goodbye before they were separated.
The fourth aunt, who was hiding behind the tree, was also exposed in the later search and was not spared.
In the distance, I heard her screams faintly heard. A sense of fear, accompanied by a voice that seems to be absent, invades the bottom of my heart.
For the first time, I learned that although the charlatan has the same face and body as us, it is a completely different species. The ordinary people in front of them are nothing more than ants in front of the rooster - weak, lowly, and not worth mentioning.
Death, it's so close.
I was dragged by my mother into the mountains and forests, where I couldn't see my fingers.
I don't know how many years of accumulated fallen leaves rustle under my feet, always tripping my feet and dragging them down. Because of this, I threw myself on the ground countless times, and was lifted by my mother countless times, and I slapped my pants silently and continued to move forward.
My hands and feet were broken, and my knees hurt, but I didn't dare to cry, or even breathe hard.
I'm afraid to die.
But death is a keen and greedy beast. It can sense the tremor of fear, smell the stench of cowardice, hear the wail of timidity, follow all the clues, and not let go of any dying prey.
When the next day's sun warmed my eyelids, the nightmare of swords and blood was not dispelled—on the contrary, the rising sun lifted the shelter of shadows and illuminated the path of death, and when I opened my eyes, the sound of sinister footsteps seemed to be wandering in front of me.
My mother hugged me tightly, leaned against my ear, and whispered, "Shhhhhh ”
I shook my head, trying to keep my eyes open and get used to the gloom: it was a cave, deep, narrow, straight in and out, except for a bag-shaped open ground at the end of the cave, in which there were some hemp ropes scattered and an empty cloth bag that was placed on the rock mouth over there.
I think it's a place where the woodcutters in the village rest when they are collecting firewood.
There is no second one out of this hole. Mouth, if it is discovered, it is like catching a turtle in an urn - I don't even dare to come out of the atmosphere.
However, there is no escaping the disaster. Just listen to "There's a hole here!", "Come out and have a look!" The sound of chaotic footsteps appeared at the entrance of the cave.
"Mother......" I was so scared that I wanted to cry, but I didn't dare, and I vaguely felt that my pants were getting wet again.
My mother patted me, "Don't be afraid. ”
She grabbed the hemp rope on the ground and pulled hard.
"Ouch!" There was a scream of pain, a grunt—probably a man rolling down the hill.
"What's that?"
"There's a youkai in the hole! Mountain Eagle was ......"
"Eagle fart, what kind of broken nickname did you give yourself, isn't this a hawk? Get out of the way for me, and see my ability to dominate the southeast!"
The sound of coaxing, footsteps...... Mother was about to pull the rope, when suddenly the footsteps stopped: "What, a broken trap, look at the one that scares you, bastard." ”
The rope in her mother's hand was suddenly withdrawn, and with a "whoosh" sound, it left a bloody mark on her tiger's mouth.
She frowned, bit her lower lip, and didn't scream.
"Haha." The voice at the door laughed wildly, "The blood on this rope is still new, and the people are here!" The little ones, come up. ”
I was hunched in the crook of my mother's arm, my whole body was so limp that I couldn't even make a sound—my various forms of death flashed in my head again and again, piled up in an irregular way, crushing each other into hideous shapes, cluttering my thoughts.
The mother's shivers were clearly transmitted through her arms and body. I heard the "click" of her teeth colliding against each other.
"Don't be afraid!" She trembled and said, "Mother, there is another, and the latter ......"
She waved her hand, presumably trying to pat me to soothe me, but she couldn't because of the trembling.
At the call of the leader, the footsteps at the entrance of the cave became more and more dense, mixed with complaints and pushes of "why is it so crowded" and "it's so dark inside, you go up first".
The mother's lip was bitten and bloody.
"What the hell, you come out."
There is a guy with a little back who is selected: "Li Tou, this ...... I have another ...... at home."
"Lusu what! Come out for me!"
Footsteps dragged on the ground and slowly rubbed towards us.
"Ah Xia, no matter what happens, it's going to be here, don't move, you know?" Mother said suddenly—there was no hesitation in her voice.
"Okay......" I forced myself to shake my head.
As soon as the words were finished, the mother said aloud to the entrance of the cave, "Treasure outside! Do you dare to go all the way out?"
This is...... Crazy?
I didn't dare to speak, and looked at my mother in disbelief: she stood with her hands erect, standing up to the sky in the narrow hole, her sparkling eyes clear even in the gloom...
"Mother...... You ......"
"Don't talk, don't be afraid." My mother patted me on the head and kept saying loudly, "What? Can't? Sure enough, it's a bunch of silver-like spearheads!"
"Come in!" The man at the head was visibly enraged, and cried out, "Little ones, follow me all the way!" Who dares to fall in front and slash with a knife!"
Under such coercion, the messy footsteps at the door were all in unison, and they were approaching in......
In a moment, you will become a ghost! I closed my eyes in despair - just then, there was a muffled "bang" in my ears, and a surging heat rushed towards my face, and screams filled the entire cavern in an instant!
What happened?
I shuddered to open a crack in the middle of the cavern: the middle of the cavern had been sunk by a raging fire, and several stout figures were bouncing from side to side in the tongues of fire, like frogs thrown on an iron plate.
The tongue of fire swayed with the mountain wind, and often almost licked the corner of my clothes, but it always stopped at a step away—and when I looked closely, I realized that the ground was sprinkled with straw at some point.
Straw spilled with oil.
Extending from the entrance to the middle of the cave, there was only a line less than three paces away from us, barely allowing the fire to spread to the bottom of the cave.
I don't know where my mother got so much straw, probably from the woodcutter's usual bedding in the cave, and probably from the dry thatch outside; I don't know where she flowed so much straw - thanks to the gloomy glow, not to expose them prematurely; I don't know what organization she used to make them fall all the way; I don't know where she got that oil, it was the lamp oil that the woodcutter in the cave had to spare, and probably she, as she usually does, wipes her hands with some canola oil to protect her hands from frostbite wherever she goes...... All I know is that when I was tired and unconscious, she still managed to fall asleep and prepared diligently if she didn't succeed.
The people in the fire finally recovered from the scorching vibration, withdrew their "whining" hiss like wounded wolves, and pounced on us.
But most of them didn't take two steps before they fell to the ground. What's more, he got the wrong direction and rushed out of the cave and fell down the mountain - only two or three people, led by the leader, rushed to the flame area......
Their hair, bodies, hands and feet were red from the fire, their skin was charred and cracked like parched earth, and the cracks were hot with blood like lava—like ghosts crawling from the depths of hell.
"Dead bitch! Fight with you!"
"Even if I die, I won't let you go!"
The harsh sound was like sandpaper rubbing against the back of a rusty knife. Another person couldn't even retract his voice, and just opened Hessesen's mouth in vain with "ahh
"Kill that little one first! Kill one is one!" When the big man at the head saw me in the corner, he screamed hysterically and pounced.
The two people in front of them also immediately burst into tears and regained their vitality, and stretched out their hands to me with a cruel smile......
I shrank back desperately, letting the stone wall behind me hurt me - the plague known as "incineration" on my dry wood-like hands, which would be doomed if I touched it......
"Get out!"
With a shrill roar, my mother's not strong body thrust out horizontally, shielding me from the imminent insidiousness. She swung a huge piece of rubble—
“咣!”
"W-knock!"
Three strong men who were nearly exhausted by the flames fell in response.
Mother threw the stone to the ground—the weight of which nearly caused her to fall, but she did not forget to roar at the swaying figure on the other side of the fire:
"Come if you're brave enough! Straight sissy thief! The tiger (tiger) is not powerful, is it really a sick cat for the old lady!"
Roaring, picking me up, and hurrying through the front-line blockade that had been gradually weakening—the minions guarding the entrance to the cave were obviously frightened by such a ferocious struggle, and hesitated for half a second, and my mother rolled out the embers on the rocks and hid in the bushes with her arms.
My whole body stiffened, and I was dumbfounded.
Because it's too frightening. The scare stems from the serial threat of death, and the fright comes from the mother.
Squinting his eyes, secretly investigating her beside her, his solemn and vigilant face was still slack-familiar, but a little unfamiliar.
My mother, whom I knew, was not a very devout Buddhist. There is always a little little resistance to killing, and occasionally the family will be cut off for a week, and the birds will fade out of their beaks. She doesn't have much strength, she never expects to kill pigs, and chickens that cut their throats and bleed can get rid of the coercion, and in order to make a soup, they often make a house full of chicken feathers and duck blood.
Such a mother, two and a half slowed down three big men - I was almost suspicious of my own eyes.
"Mother...... "I touched her, she was very hot, not real.
"Scared, aren't you?" My mother turned her head, smiled, and patted me on the head, "Don't be afraid, let's run out, just run out." ”
The light moonlight sprinkled on her face, which was mottled with blood and fire, like a jade Buddha that had just been unearthed.
After a long time, when we were more or less back to normal life, one day, a weasel (weasel) came to bite the chicken. The fat and clumsy Hen suddenly spreads her wings, her hairs stand up, and she stands proudly in front of the chicks, like a battle-hardened fighting.
The weasel was actually pecked away. Watching the Luhua hen limp and fold away her messy wings, I thought of measuring my mother who broke out from the fire and the brute—probably a natural martial art that all mothers possess.
Three desperate places to survive
The search continues. But there were not many people coming, and as soon as the cave entrance was defeated and frustrated, the process slowed down significantly.
The mountains are densely populated with plants of all kinds—dwarf trees block the light, dwarf shrubs stumble, and moss adds the possibility of instability to an already difficult journey...... The searchers over there are not very pleasant, but we who escape here are even harsher......
My mother and I held hands and pulled each other, and in the orders, shouts, and shouts of the men around us, in the faint light that almost impossible to discern the outline, we stumbled towards the road step by step.
The mountain has always had feelings for the people who snuggle at its feet all year round.
And perhaps the irreverence of the barbarians angered it.
This mountain, the streams, the trees, the moss, and the rocks in the mountains—like friends who promote narrowness—are usually fond of playing tricks on people, but they are still firmly on our side when it comes to matters of life and death.
The voices of shouting and killing were imminent, and they almost passed by, but they never touched the corners of our clothes.
The gloom before dawn came and we saw the big dirt road leading to the town.
and a strange number of people on the road.
"Axia." My mother gestured, and I sat down and rubbed my sore legs, "There are so many people on the road at this time, isn't it right?"
"Something has to be wrong!" I was consumed by all the timidity, reserve, and etiquette of a child after a night of traveling, and my speech became as coarse as panting, "Auntie, don't you remember?" We went back to the market, went out a little early, there were only a few people scattered on the road, and now the sky is not bright, there are so many people! One or two, they still want to disguise themselves to go to the city to catch the market - do you know how many days there will be a market?"
My mother was probably amused by my little adult, and lowered her head and chuckled: "No, it's always like this, it's not enough to achieve more than to lose......" said this, and her face sank again.
Although he could see through the disguise, the people walking on the road seemed to be all men who were short, full of pimples, and menacing.
Regardless of individual strength or quantity, there is a convincing advantage.
You can't beat the head-to-head duel no matter what.
"It's better to ......," I hesitated, "...... another way"
As soon as the words came out, I regretted it.
Within ten miles, there was only one road leading to the town; If we want to find another way, we will have to walk for three more days - we have no dry food with us, and it is late autumn, and it is more difficult to find food in the wild than to climb to the sky, and there is no fire......
"Then follow the main road and walk through the woods?" I said again.
The mother shook her head: "How are we going to cross the river?"
The river is a river that runs between villages and towns, and it is spacious, with a short, turbulent current, which can only be crossed by a bridge on the main road and a ferry not far from the bridge.
Since the main road is full of eyeliner, it is needless to say that the ferry port.
"Let's take a look at the ferry." After a moment of silence, the mother said, "There is only one boat, and there must not be as many people here." ”
It's morning.
The East has just turned up the white of the fish's belly.
A glimmer of light sprinkled the bumpy surface of the river. At the beginning of autumn, the water has not had time to recede, and the cascading waves continue to push against the shore.
There were a few big men around the ferry, and there was no short and thin ferryman Lao Qiao in sight, only the spark on the top of the copper cigarette mouth, through the crowd, flashing brightly and darkly.
The choking smell of smoke wafted through the human voice.
"This crossing, the master has been guarding for a full thirty-five years, and for thirty-five years, who to carry or not to carry, the master has the final say-where are you from the wild men, dare to go wild with you Qiao Ye on the ferry?"
The big man who surrounded him said something. Presumably a threat, presumably a bribe.
Old Joe's voice was even higher: "What if I want to carry it?" As he spoke, he coughed vigorously.
He was always slumped on weekdays, and he didn't even speak to ask for a ferry fee, only raised two fingers to mean it, but he didn't expect to have such a loud voice.
The big men became restless, and the swords around them collided with each other, "clanging" sounds.
In the encirclement, Qiao Ye was gone. When he looked again, he had plunged into the water, pushing the broken bamboo raft that was a boat, rising and falling on the tumbling river.
"Leper dog! I don't have the ability, I can only bark! Talk ruthlessly to you Qiao Ye? I'll talk about it when you can catch it!"
There were really two or three big men who were provoked and couldn't help jumping into the water.
They didn't even have time to lift their heads, and they sank silently into the surging river.
The big men didn't dare to move forward anymore, and only looked at each other on the shore.
Old Joe was even more proud, pushing the raft from the left to the right and from the right to the left of the ferry, always maintaining a distance the width of a man from the shore. As if the frenzied waves did not exist.
A few big men were jumping around on the shore like grasshoppers, but they couldn't do anything.
"Let's go!" At this moment, my mother suddenly seemed to wake up to something, and pulled me to the river.
"Daughter?"
"Lies!"
I was about to ask, but she threw me far away—like a broken sack, I spun around in the air and slammed into the raft, on all sides.
"Stay on your stomach, don't move!" Someone yelled at me.
I had Venus in my eyes, and my ears were full of "buzzing" roars, but I couldn't tell that it was my mother or Qiao Ye, and I was at a loss, so I had to lie straight and straight according to my words.
The shore was cluttered.
I barely wriggled my dazed head to look over there—my mother was jumping out of the crowd and into the river.
"Mother!" I screamed in shock, braced myself to my feet, and the raft followed suit. I was horrified, like a cat about to fall into the water, pulling around in the air. But the bamboo raft silk never understood my mood, and the angle of standing up became larger and larger, and it was about to overturn......
At this time, there was a complaint from behind: "You little baby, tell you to lie on your stomach, why don't you listen?"
The voice was hoarse, and when he turned his head, it was Lao Qiao.
He grabbed his mother and threw it onto the raft, wiping the water from his face: "I almost capsized!"
"Hey, hey, Master Qiao......" I was busy laughing.
"The child is young and not sensible, so you can ......" the mother also helped.
"That's it, it's good that the boat hasn't capsized," Qiao Ye lifted the placket of his clothes and wiped his pipe on it, "I don't think about those leper dogs, and I still think about it with you two mothers and sons?" Ha ha. As he spoke, he swished and opened his penny.
The choking smell of smoke came to me.
"Speaking of this...... I was a little worried, "Master Qiao, aren't you afraid?" Such terrible people. ”
My mother frowned, wringing water from her clothes and winking at me.
"Haha, big sister," Lao Qiao saw it in his eyes, biting the cigarette holder with his yellow teeth, and laughing so that the corners of his eyes were full of deep wrinkles, "The little baby is not sensible, what are you anxious about her?" Are you afraid that I won't cross you? When I got on this boat, I was naturally going to cross. I can't control it on land, but on this river, I really haven't been afraid of anyone!"
- Old Joe's voice was very loud, and his rickety back was a little straighter. At that time, he probably did not expect that in another ten hours, a sharp arrow would pierce his heart quickly, accurately, and steadily.
It is said that when he fell, he still did not let go of his boat.
If you want to take credit for him and deter the other minions, you can only end up hanging your stiff body and broken raft all the way to the high city gate - this is the "way" of Lethe. In doing so, they have established their prestige in countless places. But this time, it doesn't seem to have been so successful.
"Hey, I didn't expect my old Joe to have such a big face."
That night, in the cities and villages within a radius of three hundred miles from the city gate, everyone who had taken Lao Qiao's ferry boat had the same dream.
In the dream, he held the yellowed pipe in his mouth and invited everyone with a smile to take a look at his "big face" - as if this was the apex of his life.
He deserves to be the oil in the turbulent river.
He knows what others don't know, and he naturally knows what others don't know.
The raft floated with the water for four or five miles, and Lao Qiao supported the bottom with a bamboo pole: "Right here, you jump on that rock, flow through the shallow water, there is a small mud road in the woods on the shore, follow that, and you will reach the city gate." ”
The mother hurriedly thanked him. I dug into the baggage, but only found two or three copper plates - the baggage was scraped out of a small hole, and most of the money would be lost when I ran the mountain.
"Phew!" Lao Qiao glanced at the dirty burden with disdain, and then touched two or three pieces of broken silver and stuffed them into his mother's hand, "Old man, I don't want my life, and I'm greedy for your money!" Go ahead, grind something!"
I was almost kicked off the boat by Old Joe.
The alleys are very hidden and winding, but the distance is surprisingly short. But for half an hour, I could vaguely see the gray and yellow corners of the county city wall.
"Mother, it's almost there!" I secretly let go of the hanging boulder in my heart - my foot was so painful that I was about to lose consciousness, and I really didn't know how long I could hold out if I couldn't get it anymore.
My mother's reaction immediately calmed me down again.
She froze, frozen like a stone statue, and then raised her hand to cover my mouth with a trembling hand.
"Mother?" I didn't know what was going on, so I looked up and followed her line of sight.
On the other side of the city gate, there were several big men, disheveled, who looked like they had been through a rough night—among them was my father.
He was still dressed in his homely clothes, with a crooked strap. At the end of the strap is a five-colored mandarin duck embroidered by his mother.
The morning light is gray.
The men's clothes were as rustic and hazy as if they had been sucked out of color.
Only the mandarin duck was on his father's waist, shaking and shaking, so clear that it seemed to pierce his eyes.
There were warm droplets of water dripping on my face.
Looking up, it was the tears of the mother.
The tears were bitter and salty, soaked in the chill of late autumn, and they were cold from the tip of the tongue to the bottom of the heart.
Many years later, when I heard the story of my mother from the mouths of others—at that time, I had already had a sweetheart, who had been drowning in the sweetness of love, and had been struck by the sharp blade of guilt—and I suddenly thought of my mother's great round tears at the city gate that year, that month, that morning.
I thought of the soft "click" that fell on my cheeks, the faint splashes of tears in front of my eyes, and the sour taste that rolled all the way to my lips......
Probably, it wasn't just tears.
"Axia." After a long time, my mother squatted down and called me softly.
"Hmm!" I hurriedly answered.
"Wait a minute, the sun will rise."
"Yes."
"I'll walk up."
"Huh?" I grabbed her hand, "Mother! Don't ......"
"Don't be afraid!" My mother gently stroked the back of my head, "Listen to my mother." I try to get their attention, and I can put it on for as long as I can. What about you, came out of the small door next to you, did you see it? The little door over there?"
The mother pointed with her hand from afar.
It is a small corner gate next to the side gate of the city gate, which is unique to this county, and it is said that it was thought by Wong Tai Sin when the county was established, and it was specially used for Wong Tai Sin to enter and exit.
I quickly shook my head.
"You slip out of that little door, pay attention, sneak in. Then run straight down the road and go to find Sister Min'er. ”
"But ......"
"Don't be afraid, my mother can hold it. And it's going to be dawn. As soon as the morning dawned, the officers and soldiers came to open the city gates, and when the time came, they did not dare to commit any real crimes in front of the city gates. ”
- Niang miscalculated the officers and soldiers.
In this place where the smoke of war has not yet dissipated, many officers and soldiers are nothing more than bandits in uniform.
Fortunately, she did not miscalculate Sister Miner's combat effectiveness.
That morning, my mind was always blurry, like watching a shadow puppet show through sandpaper, but it was clear, like the four books that Mr. peeled the skin and bone.
I crept to the gates.
Taking a deep breath, I watched my mother walk to the city gate step by step, and was pulled by my father......
Start and run.
The wind howled in my ears, and the tall houses on both sides of the street brushed my shoulders forward. I didn't have time to make my way when behind me came the deep roars of the big men, followed by the screams of my mother.
"Sister Miner! Where are you, Sister Miner! My mother is dying!" I was so anxious that I screamed.
The windows on both sides of the street opened with a "clatter".
"It's noisy!"
"What are you screaming about!"
The scolding and the overnight night pot poured down all the way to the head and face......
I didn't know how to dodge - probably not so much unintentionally dodging, that was the only way to get to Fu's house - I could only sprint hard in the direction where the stench fell......
But the filth did not fall on the body, but on the contrary, the body suddenly rose off the ground.
I was so shocked that I couldn't even make a sound, and the weightlessness made me dizzy and sick.
"Don't be afraid, it's okay, close your eyes, don't look." A cold voice drilled into the cochlea.
Familiar short tens.
- It's Sister Miner.
I gave a hard "um" - but couldn't close my eyes.
Because, a new world that I had never imagined was, like a sudden wind, rolling up all the unimaginable realities and rushing into my eyes.
I saw Sister Min'er fall lightly like dust on the city gate, and said to me, "You are standing here." It vanished like a phantasm, and quickly disappeared from my sight.
Sister Miner rose silently into the air. Facing the rising sun, unfurling the wide sleeved robe, like a phoenix that has always eaten people - after many years, I still think of this image from time to time, terrifying and reassuring.
When I leaned over to look again, the big men around my mother were all lying down, neatly arranged around them, and in the crimson morning glow, a blood-colored flower bloomed.
"You can deal with this." Sister Min'er picked me up from the castle tower, turned around and handed my mother a short sword in her hand, "If I make a move, he will die." ”
The mother did not answer.
Just for a long time, for a long time, I looked at the man who was kneeling on the ground shivering, leaking feces and urine all over the ground.
"Ah, Ah, we, let's go home, okay, live, live ......"
For a long time, it was my father who spoke first.
"Don't." As if bitten by this sentence, the mother reflexively stepped back and turned her head into the city.
On the muddy floor, a round tear pit was left behind.
Not long after, I learned from the conversation between Sister Min'er and her mother that the cause of this erroneous action was Xu Yong, the second young man of the Xu family who was about to get involved in the position of "Martial Arts Alliance Master" - mistakenly thought that the embroidery that Sister Min'er gave to her mother was the secret of the Fu family's martial arts.
"This is really ......" Speaking of this, Sister Min'er couldn't help but support her forehead, "If I have such a secret, will I be stupid enough to treat it as an embroidery pattern and give it to others?"
"But......" the mother who was doing the horse walking pointed to the embroidered handkerchief in front of her, "Am I not following this practice?"
"It was a secret back then." Sister Min'er made an exception and said a complete long sentence, "But so many years have passed, and now it's just an entry-style style." The embroidery is mainly because the calligraphy is pleasing to the eye, but I don't want to cause you such a big trouble. ”
"No...... If it weren't, it would be a big problem. ”
Men are afraid of getting into the wrong business, and women are afraid of marrying the wrong man. The mother's face slid over the rest of her life.
Fortunately, Xu Yongsheng was afraid of being detected by Sister Min'er, so he didn't dare to use any martial arts masters under him.
Fortunately, the people who came thought that my mother and I were powerless, so they took it lightly.
Fortunately, my mother and I worked in the fields all day and kept in good shape.
Fortunately, there are more or less villagers with weak bones......
How many fortunate things left my mother and me dead.
But there are many mothers and daughters, but they are not so fortunate - they become instruments of revenge, currency for trade, gifts for hand, and stepping stones to ascent, dying silently, and probably living as if they were dead.
Some of them died after the famous family, and some even died at the hands of their relatives......
Even after experiencing it myself, I still can't believe that there are really countless "Wu Qi" in the world, countless men who dream of yellow sorghum in the middle of the night, just for the sake of fame and small profits, can easily sacrifice their wives and daughters.
"They shouldn't be husbands and fathers, they shouldn't be in the family."
- When I asked my mother why she suddenly decided to start studying martial arts, she replied.
"There should always be someone to protect women and children from the scum who have blended into the family."
At this time, my mother had just completed three months of martial arts. Every day, I get up at midnight and stand on the pile, run for two hours, eat only vegetables and egg whites, and boil them.
Her body changed every day, and soon she was lean and strong, black as a piece of charcoal.
Half a year later, within a moment, she would be able to walk back and forth on the mountain outside the city that had plagued us.
A year later, she was able to fight bears with her bare hands.
Bawen
In the deep and shallow boudoir, there is gradually such a legend: when you are desperate because of all kinds of hardships that cannot be shared with outsiders, as long as you hang a pink ribbon in the window, there will be a chivalrous man, as promised......
This is the "Woman" - a chivalrous man exclusive to women, who used to be a village woman, my mother.
As for the creation of a girls' school, the construction of a shelter, and even the purchase of an entire "women's island" on the southeast coast, and then stood on the front line against Xu Yong...... It was a long time later.