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The white clothes stained with blood were worn on the man's body, like freehand plum blossoms on rice paper. With a beautiful gesture, he once again blocked the opponent's claws with the sword in his hand.
He could no longer tell which of the blood on his body belonged to his companions, which belonged to himself, and which belonged to the enemy. He had been fighting for too long.
This was the longest night he had ever spent in four hundred years, and he experienced too many life, separation, and death on this night. He was tired and his consciousness was gradually blurring. His wife was lying not far away. He wanted to lie next to her right away, but before that, he had to end this fight.
He actually didn't have much confidence in the enemy who had seriously injured his father before him, but he knew that he had no way out.
He finally seized the opportunity and cut off the scimitar-like nails on the enemy's left claw, and then pierced his chest with another sword. The monster wearing the green tiger head mask did not break away, but took a few steps forward to pass his sword through his body, and then embedded his other sharp claw into the artery on his shoulder.
Chapter One
The sunshine melted away the morning fog and water vapor. This was an ordinary morning in the small town of Yongchuan. Xia Qiu tossed and turned in the quilt for a long time, and finally made up his mind to get up.
Today was the day she went to high school to report, but she didn't have much expectations, because she knew very well that in this small Yongchuan, most of her high school classmates were still junior high school students. For her, every day in the sixteen years of living here seems to be no different. The streets are still not very wide, and the houses are still ancient buildings with blue bricks and white tiles.
But even so, she still loves this place deeply. It is peaceful and picturesque, facing mountains to the east and dense forests to the west. It always makes people imagine that they are isolated from the noisy civilized world. Perhaps because of this, There are so many ancient legends here that she may never get tired of hearing.
Although she didn't know how many of those legends were true and how many were made up by adults to scare children, Xia Qiu was deeply fascinated by them. Especially about the legend about the road leading to the demon world hidden in the Yongchuan Forest, she never tires of hearing it. Human beings who got lost in the forest strayed into the demon world and saw the fantastic beauty that they had never seen before in their lives, but they were also fascinated by it.
Because of that legend, she fell in love with Yongchuan Forest since she was a child and would go there whenever she had time. Unfortunately, she never found the road to the demon world, but she encountered unprecedented dangers.
It was an evening when she was six years old. That day she was sitting quietly by the Silver Moon Lake in Yongchuan Forest as usual, when she suddenly heard a commotion coming from the bushes behind her. She mustered up the courage to run over to find out what was going on, and saw six or seven black foxes besieging a small silver fox in the open space behind the bushes.
The little fox had extraordinary beauty, and every hair was like pure silver velvet. Its right front paw had been injured and the wound was bleeding. It groaned and retreated step by step until it rested against a big tree. There was no way out, and there was a trace of despair in the little fox's blue-grey pupils.
Seeing that the black foxes were about to launch another attack on it, six-year-old Xia Qiu's courage came from nowhere. Perhaps she decided to protect it from the moment she saw its eyes!
She grabbed a tree stick on the ground and rushed forward, standing in front of the little fox and waving it at the black foxes. To be honest, she was so scared that her hands were waving and her legs were shaking. To her, these beasts looked more terrifying than the legendary monsters.
Green cold light burst out from the eyes of the black foxes. The leading black fox tentatively pounced on her, and she subconsciously picked up the tree stick in her hand. This hit hit the black fox on the head, and it screamed and fell to the side. Seeing the situation, the other black foxes first slowly took a few steps back, then howled a few times and turned around and ran away.
Although the fox she injured was still unwilling to give in, after looking at her angrily for a few seconds, he saw that she was still holding on to the stick tightly without flinching, so he turned around and ran into the bushes, disappearing. Shadow trace.
Xia Qiu slowly put down her small shoulders that were hunched up in fear, and fell to the ground with relief. It took a while before she came back to her senses to see how injured the little silver-white fox behind her was. Its small body curled up into a ball, shivering, and licking the wounds on its front paws from time to time. When she tentatively stretched her little hand towards it, it was wary but did not resist. She stroked the top of its head a few more times, then took off the hair tie on its head and simply bandaged its wound. At this time, the little fox had completely relaxed its vigilance, and it fell asleep in her comfort.
Xia Qiu couldn't leave it there anyway, so she ran home with it in her arms. Passing by her yard, she deliberately bypassed her grandfather who was repairing the yard fence. As soon as she entered the door, she rushed into her room in a panic, put the little fox on the bed, and then hurriedly rushed into the front hall. He looked for the medical kit on the cabinet, then returned to his room with the medical kit in his arms. While recalling the steps that his grandma used to bandage himself every time he was injured, he carefully untied the hair tie that temporarily tied the wound and treated it carefully for the little fox. Wound.
After treating the wound of the little fox, Xia Qiu couldn't help but look at it. How could there be such a beautiful animal in the world? She thought.
"Let's live in our house from now on." She said to it gently, wanting to keep it by her side.
At night, she pretended to go to sleep early, but in fact she was worried about the little fox and wanted to keep watching it.
"It's so nice that you're here..." She hugged it gently, murmuring this sentence repeatedly, and fell asleep unconsciously.
But when she woke up in the morning, the little fox was gone, and she was somewhat disappointed. It still left, silently and without a trace, as if it had never appeared. Except for the hair tie stained with its blood left on the table to prove its existence, everything that happened yesterday It was like a dream to her.
But those gray-blue pupils were deeply imprinted in Xia Qiu's mind and engraved in her heart, so that for many years after that, she always looked for it in the forest, looking forward to its appearance. , but never encountered it again.
"Xiaoqiu."
As she approached the gate of Yongchuan High School, Xia Qiu was stopped by a voice as sweet as honey. Before she could raise her head, a pair of arms stretched out and hugged her neck.
Liu Lingmei rubbed against Xia Qiu's face like a cat, causing people passing by to look at her strangely.
"Lingmei."
Xia Qiu patted her back gently, like comforting a small pet. The little girl in front of her, who had a loli figure but held her almost to the point of suffocation, had been her best friend since elementary school.
"Xiaoqiu, I haven't seen you for a long time, let me take a good look!"
"It's not that long, right? You've only been away for two weeks, haven't you? And we just talked on the phone yesterday."
Liu Lingmei was obviously not satisfied with Xia Qiu's attitude. She let go of her hand and glared at her pretending to be angry.
Xia Qiu has long been accustomed to her sudden surprises and somewhat dramatic personality. Although her personality often gives her a headache, it is really uncomfortable if she is not around. .
Liu Lingmei wore a light yellow dress today, and the ribbon that tied her hair was also of the same color. She just came back from a beach vacation with her family two weeks ago. Although she didn't tan, she had a few cute little freckles, which made her already beautiful. The beautiful little face is more playful and very lovable.
"Let's go check out the class placement. If we continue to be delayed like this, we will be late."
Xia Qiu pulled Lingmei and walked to the school. The class list was posted on the bulletin board in front of the teaching building. When they arrived, the place was already full of people.
"Ah, why am I so short."
Liu Lingmei complained, standing on tiptoes and trying to look in from behind the crowd. The boy standing in front of her looked back at her and gave up his seat to her. No wonder, who would have the heart to stand in front of such a cute girl.
Xia Qiu and Liu Lingmei were lucky enough to be in the same class. When they walked into the classroom of Grade 1 (1), there were already many students sitting there, and there were also a few familiar faces, all of whom had been there since junior high school. In the same class or school. They found their assigned positions on the blackboard and walked to their seats. Lingmei was assigned to a window seat, while Xia Qiu sat in the second to last row.
"We are in the same class again, Xia Qiu."
As she was walking back, a boy called out to Xia Qiu. When she looked up, it was Du He who was in the same class as junior high school. It was said that they had always had a good relationship. After not seeing each other for a summer vacation, Du He looked a little tanned, but his smile was still bright.
"yes."
Xia Qiu smiled at him and walked back to her seat. It was perfect for her to have Du He sitting in front of her on the right side. His grades had always been very good and he was also very cheerful and talkative.
After a while, except for the seats behind Xia Qiu, everyone else was filled one after another. She looked at the blackboard. The name behind her was Ouyang Xiaoleng. This is a very special name. Compound surnames are rare, and there are even fewer people with cold characters in their names.
She filtered it through her mind and found that she had never heard of this name before in elementary school or junior high school. What kind of person is the owner of this name? Boy or girl? When a person begins to care about a name that he has never heard of, a sense of mystery will arise about the owner of that name.
Suddenly the preparation bell disrupted her thoughts, and with the crisp and rapid sound of high heels, a woman in her early thirties walked in. She has light makeup on her chiseled face, and her long wavy hair is draped casually behind her shoulders. She wears an extremely simple white shirt, blue washed jeans, and black stilettos, which is elegant in simplicity. , but it makes people suspect that she is in the wrong place. The big screen may be more suitable for her than the podium.
"Good morning, classmates, I am your class teacher Dong Muya! I also teach your Chinese class. First of all, welcome everyone to Class 1, Grade 1!"
The woman's tone was as clear and crisp as her appearance, her voice was low but very penetrating. The aura she exuded made the entire classroom quiet from the moment she entered.
At this time, suddenly a tall and thin boy stood outside the classroom door. He lowered his head, his bangs blocking his eyes. He was wearing a white T-shirt and beige pants, natural and casual. His hands were in his trouser pockets, and his schoolbag was slung casually on one shoulder.
"It's not good to be late on the first day of class, Ouyang Xiaoleng!" Dong Muya found that the students' attention had shifted from herself to Ouyang Xiaoleng at the door of the classroom, and said to him slightly seriously.
Ouyang Xiaoleng raised his head and looked at her. There was no expression on his face, but his handsome face made the girls in the classroom excited.
"Come in and return to your place."
Dong Muya shook his head and pointed to him in the direction of the last row. He continued to walk in the direction she pointed with an expressionless face, without looking away or saying a word.
For some reason, Xia Qiu felt a little dizzy when she looked at Ouyang Xiaoleng walking in her direction. His face is indeed beautiful, and that kind of beauty can only make people have two emotions, love and jealousy. But what made her breathless was his eyes. Those gray-blue eyes were as deep as the lake water in the quiet night. Looking at them, it was as if they were about to sink in deeply. She felt that those eyes seemed familiar to her, but she couldn't remember where or when. When he passed her, his eyes seemed to stay on her face for a moment, but she did not dare to look directly at him.
Teachers of all subjects met with everyone in the morning, followed by the opening ceremony and a tour of the school's facilities under the guidance of senior student representatives. Xia Qiu's favorite thing on the entire campus is a huge banyan tree next to the playground. Although it is not in flowering season at this time, she thinks it will be beautiful here in spring.
Stopping under the tree like her was the young man named Ouyang Xiaoleng. Standing side by side with him, Xia Qiu realized that he was much taller than she thought. The atmosphere between them was so special. She couldn't guess whether he had something to say to her, or whether he simply liked the tree as much as she did. She was a little at a loss for a moment, but Liu Lingmei suddenly jumped out.
"I'm still looking for you everywhere, why are you just standing here?"
Almost as soon as Liu Lingmei appeared, Ouyang Xiaoleng turned and walked away, as if he was deliberately avoiding her.
"It's inexplicable. Did I offend him?" Liu Lingmei looked at his back in confusion and pouted.
"Lingmei, have you ever had that feeling of déjà vu? It seems like you have seen it somewhere before, but you can't remember it." Xia Qiu said to himself.
"Deja vu? You mean this tree?"
Liu Lingmei was stunned for a moment when Xia Qiu asked, and then she couldn't help laughing. Xia Qiu was also amused. In her eyes, Lingmei was so cute sometimes.