I really don’t know how long I slept until my right hand gradually lost sensation.
I tried hard to open my eyes, and the hazy picture gradually became clear. I was lying on a bed of weeds, with only a dirty women's long windbreaker covering my body.
The bright moon hangs in the sky. It is not as bright as the sun, and its light is even "stolen". However, the moon looks much more beautiful than the scorching sun.
Maybe it's because of the countless stars? The lonely sun during the day doesn't know how to share the vast sky with other companions.
After taking a quick look around, Xu Zhe was sure that he had never been here before. It was an endless forest, and the air was filled with the smell of soil. He could also find a few owls on the branches, one eye open and the other closed. He wondered if they were asleep.
And "she", quietly resting her head on her arms, had fallen asleep, her slightly bent body trembling unconsciously.
She seemed very cold because her hands were holding her arms so tightly...
She seemed to be dreaming, because that familiar face had an innocent smile...
Xu Zhe could no longer see her clearly because his vision was blurry...
Unbelievable? Inconceivable? No words could describe Xu Zhe's surprise and excitement.
Because she is Wu Qian, the companion who was captured by Yaqi for her, and the "reason" that made her resolutely come to this strange land alone...
I thought it would take countless battles and a long time of traveling before I could see her.
Unexpectedly, everything was just like a dream. When she woke up, she quietly returned to her side.
"You're hurting me..." He thought for a long time about how to wake up the sleeping person, but in the end he still pushed Wu Qian's head coldly out of habit.
Why was he so cold? Perhaps Xu Zhe wanted to give her a tight hug. But when he thought about it, his body stiffened, as if he was shy... Just like when he faced Xue Er back then...
"Don't make noise... Just sleep for another five minutes." Like a child who is spoiled by her mother, Wu Qian curled up and just squirmed twice. It was rare to see this "diligent princess" sleepy, and for a moment Xu Zhe didn't know what to do
Fortunately, Wu Qian, who was sleeping, noticed something was wrong and sat up immediately.
Their eyes met in the air without any conversation, and the air seemed to freeze at this moment.
Xu Zhe supported his body and slowly sat up, leaning against a big tree beside him, looking at the silent Wu Qian.
"It's so heavy..." It was Xu Zhe who broke the awkward silence first, raising his numb right arm and then naturally releasing it.
"What?" Wu Qian obviously didn't react and was confused.
"Your head is pressing on my hands so hard that they are numb." Xu Zhe's cold tone was so familiar to Wu Qian.
"I'm heavy?! Didn't you see who carried you all the way here from the forest?" Wu Qian finally opened her mouth and was furious. She puffed up her pink gills and complained, "You're as faint as a dead pig. Not only do I have to carry you, but I also have to carry such a heavy sword. My goodness, I walked for three hours on the mountain road to find this slightly dry place. It's more tiring than the 7 days of military training in college, and..."
"I'm sorry..." Wu Qian wanted to continue complaining, but she forgot what she wanted. Maybe it was because the person who would never bow his head was apologizing to her? She didn't feel any irony or other emotions, she really felt guilty about herself.
This made Wu Qian feel frustrated. She held her head awkwardly and looked at the dark forest on the side. She smiled stupidly, "It's nothing. We are partners after all. I can't just sit there and watch you lie there, can I?"
"But can you explain what these are?" Xu Zhe suddenly changed the subject and raised his left palm. The wound caused by the knife had been treated. But the bandage strips were messy, and there were still a few green leaves sticking out from the bottom? In fact, if you look carefully, you can find the "ownership" of the strips on Wu Qian's thin white shirt.
"You are really lucky. I found some herbs that can be used. They are very effective in stopping bleeding." Wu Qian's eyes wandered as she explained, as if she was avoiding Xu Zhe's reproachful gaze.
"So you bandaged your shoulder too?" The windbreaker slowly slipped off, revealing a newly bandaged shoulder that looked even more exaggerated, with messy tree branches sticking out from under the cloth.
“That…that is also a herb…” Like a child who had done something wrong, Wu Qian lowered her head.
Ten minutes later, Xu Zhe was still leaning against the tree, but the cloth on his shoulders and hands had been removed. Wu Qian moved two stones over, using the flatter one as a board and the rounder one as a hammer, and crushed the rough herbs carefully under Xu Zhe's guidance.
For a moment, the only sound in the silent forest was the "dong dong" sound of pounding medicine.
Quietly watching the clumsy Wu Qian, there is a familiar feeling, a familiar clumsiness.
"How have you been these days?" Wu Qian lowered her head and pounded the medicine faster. "Is the disease in your head... healed?"
"That's a 'death penalty notice' that has been sentenced. How can it be good?" Xu Zhe still described his own death in the most relaxed tone, but he didn't know that his calm expression would make people around him sad. "But I met the person I had been looking for for a long time, and learned some stories about me that I didn't know at all."
"You saw Xue'er?!" Wu Qian was so excited that she wanted to throw the stone in her hand away, and looked at the man beside the tree with a complicated expression. She was looking forward to knowing, but she was also afraid that the result would be the same as what she thought.
"It turns out that she is truly holy and cannot be violated. She was originally the goddess of the moon, but was forced to abandon her in the human world in order to make me a tool of God." At this point, Xu Zhe silently raised his head and looked at the crescent moon hanging in the night sky. He wondered how Xue'er was doing. "Fortunately, in order to influence my choice, she completed her own 'mission', otherwise she might still be living an ordinary life with useless me in the human world..."
"You... must be very heartbroken, right?" Her eyes naturally became moist and tears fell unconsciously. Wu Qian was really sad for Xu Zhe.
"Actually, you're very strange, you know? Why are you always sad because of other people's sadness? It's none of your business at all." Xu Zhe smiled in confusion.
"I don't know. I will feel sad when I hear sad stories. Even when I heard the fairy tale of Snow White, I cried for a long time for the princess who ate the poisoned apple. If the princess and the prince had not been together later, I would have torn up the book long ago." After wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes and trying hard to force a smile to cooperate with Xu Zhe, Wu Qian continued to pound the medicine vigorously.
"You are a good person..." This was the first time Xu Zhe had ever evaluated a life in this way. "Even though you live in this dirty world of humans, your kindness has not been tainted. That's why I always feel that you are out of tune with society."
"Are you praising me or scolding me?" Wu Qian didn't understand.
"It's up to you to interpret it..." After a pause, Xu Zhe's face darkened slightly. He felt a little complicated, and after hesitating for a while, he couldn't help but ask, "You... have you been doing well these days? Why did you come here?"
"Actually, after I was caught from the bridge that day, I was taken to Japan. Yaqi treated me well. I ate all kinds of delicacies from land and sea, and lived in a beautiful house like in a fairy tale." Wu Qian was laughing when she said this, but Xu Zhe knew that she was pretending to be happy just to make herself feel better. "And a month ago, I met their legendary master, the monster with nine tails. But I didn't see her face because it was very dark. She was really scary. Even Yaqi didn't dare to breathe in front of her. If possible..."
"I'm not here to fight with her. I'm just here to save you." Xu Zhe knew Wu Qian's worries, and it was rare for him to take the initiative to reassure Wu Qian.
Although it was such an ordinary sentence, Wu Qian's heartbeat actually quickened secretly.
"Later, I stayed in the residence arranged by Yaqi, learning flower arrangement and tea ceremony..." Wu Qian frowned and looked very painful.
"You?" Xu Zhe doubted that Yaqi could teach her...
"Later, just a day ago, Yaqi told me the news of your coming to Japan and decided to let me go. He also asked me to tell you to leave Japan as soon as possible and stop being an enemy of the Nine-Tailed Fox." Wu Qian's story was not as dramatic as Xu Zhe's, but it was precisely because of this that Xu Zhe's guilt was reduced a little.
"It's a good deal. That guy Yaqi has caught my weak spot again, but it's acceptable. We will go to Daban tomorrow and leave this inhumane country as soon as we find Haozi and the others." Xu Zhe no longer wanted to stay in this dangerous country. He didn't know if it was a psychological effect, but he felt that if he continued to stay, something more terrible would happen.
"Cough cough cough cough..." A breeze blew, and Wu Qian, who had always been as strong as any man, could not resist the coldness of the forest late at night.
"Idiot, you don't even know how to make a fire. Didn't the bureau have wilderness survival training?" Xu Zhe wanted to say something to comfort him, but when the words came to his lips they turned into blame
"Do you think I don't want to?! We all use waterproof ZIPPO lighters during training, but I don't have anything on me. Can I make fire by rubbing two sticks together?" It would have been better if I didn't mention it. The coldness was even more chilling. Putting down the stone, Wu Qian rubbed her cold arms. Who told her that the only clothes she had to keep warm were on someone else? And she was left with only a torn shirt...
"I really can't do anything with you..." He pulled out a bunch of weeds from under his body and piled them in front of him not far away. He picked out a slightly wider one, bit his index finger, and wrote a familiar spell on it.
"What are you doing..." Wu Qian hadn't finished her question when the green grass in Xu Zhe's hand started to burn without fire. Using the Five Elements Forbidden Spell Flame Talisman to start a fire was a waste, and it was an insult to the command of the ancestors, but Xu Zhe didn't care about that.
In the dark forest, the campfire can illuminate very few things...
"It's still the same as before. At any time, any trouble, as long as you take action, it will be solved immediately. Just like the hero praised in the story..." Humans are strange animals. The fear of darkness is engraved in their bones, especially when they are lonely and helpless. Such light, a familiar person, brings warmth that is difficult to calculate in terms of heat.
"Hero?" Xu Zhe didn't think he deserved the title. "If I were a hero, I should be able to distinguish between good and evil. But why? Why can't I find it..."
“You will find it. No one is born a hero. You may get lost, go astray, or feel sad... but a hero is always a hero. In the end, he will defeat the evil devil, save the beautiful princess, and become everyone's idol.” Wu Qian looked at the beautiful night sky with a smile, as if she was narrating the girl's fantasy.
"You've read too many fairy tales. Grow up, you childish woman." With a hint of sarcasm, Xu Zhe also smiled, his smile was exceptionally calm.
Back at the shrine belonging to the Great Tengu, a loud noise suddenly was heard.
In the wide hall, a huge ten-meter-tall column exploded at the bottom, and red sawdust flew everywhere, as if it had just been hit by a 120mm shell.
Next to the pillar, there was no smoking gun muzzle, only an old man with his fists clenched and his teeth itching with anger.
"Sir, I will arrange the next round of pursuit immediately, and I will definitely kill him this time." Ning pleaded coldly.
"There's nothing we can do now. That bastard Yaqi just brought back an order from the adults. For 24 hours, all actions against Xu Zhe must be suspended. The failure of Shishan Gui, the violator, was not enough to make Da Tengu so angry. He was angry about the adults' order, which cut off his way back to continue the pursuit.
When I asked Yaqi why, he just replied coldly, "My Lord has decided to solve all the problems himself. This is a three thousand year game, and no one is allowed to interfere with my Lord's interest in 'playing'..."
"Ning, follow me." After saying that, he turned around, and the Great Tengu's hunched back seemed to straighten a little, and walked towards the exit of the shrine.
"Where are we going?" Ning had already followed when asking the question.
“Go to Daban, isn’t Xu Zhe going there too? The 24-hour ban… When these 24 hours are over, if Xu Zhe is still alive, I will personally end his life before the adults object.” The pair of old pupils flashed with enthusiasm again. For a thousand years, Da Tengu was only enthusiastic about two things.
One is to rescue Kyuubi-sama...
The second is to kill Xu Zhe...