The island doesn't look big, but it's actually quite big. Before walking too far, I saw a small town with a slanted wine front outside the door.
Li Fulin and the others came too early, the wine shop did not open so early, they knocked on the door, and a voice from inside replied lazily: "Come here, come here."
When the door opened, the man froze for a moment.
Li Fulin in front of him was pure and refined, but Ji Zheng in the back was so beautiful that it made people tremble in the heart. That is to say, Xiaodong, who was following behind, didn't look so strange.
The wine shop owner welcomes and sends people away all day long, and he has more knowledge than others. Seeing Li Fulin carrying a sword, Ji Zheng's dress is not like ordinary women, and he has a smile on his face: "Everyone, please come in, please hurry up." Come in and sit down. Oops, you guys came too early, the store hasn't been cleaned yet... What do you guys want to use?"
"It's more convenient, and some food and drink will be given away."
"Okay, please come and sit here, this side of the window is bright."
This person can speak the Central Plains dialect, but the accent is rather strange, and he can barely understand what he said.
After a while, food and beverages were brought up, including tea noodle porridge, brown rice cakes, and fried fish.
Li Fulin pushed the tea noodle porridge in front of Xiaodong: "Eat quickly, you must be hungry."
Xiaodong was a little confused.
Ordinarily he should be hungry, he has been hungry for a long time - but why doesn't he feel it at all
Neither thirsty nor hungry.
Li Fulin was afraid that he might not be used to the food here, so he persuaded him: "Eat a little, it's not suitable for you to take Bigu Dan in your current situation."
But he wasn't really hungry.
Not only was he not hungry, Xiaodong also felt his stomach was full, as if... as if he had just finished eating.
But Master said so, Xiaodong had no choice but to drink the tea noodle porridge.
This tea noodle porridge... um, it's quite affordable. Xiaodong used to drink it elsewhere, and it was so rare that people could be seen. It could not be called porridge, but at most tea noodle soup—or just tea noodle water.
The porridge was thick and hot, although the taste was a bit strange, Xiaodong insisted on finishing a bowl.
But he couldn't eat anything else.
Li Fulin didn't feel hungry either, but he still ate some of every food, and even asked Ji Zheng to eat some too.
To be honest, such a small place certainly can't produce any delicacies. The tea noodle porridge was so rough that it hurt my throat when I drank it. The brown rice cake is hard, even after steaming, it is still hard. Fried fish... Mostly because there is no shortage of salt on the island, the fish is so salty that it becomes bitter.
Ji Zheng was not picky, he tasted the fish and drank a bowl of porridge.
Xiaodong is full of senior brothers at the moment.
Senior brother, are you hungry
Would he like something to eat
But with the senior brother looking like this, what do you need to eat? Can I eat normal things? Do you have to learn to switch to, uh, raw meat or something
He asked Mo Chen in a low voice.
But Mo Chen's reaction was to curl up, not intending to eat at all.
Seeing what Xiaodong ate was similar to bird food, Li Fulin didn't think it was because he was picky eaters, and Xiaodong was not picky about what he ate.
The reason why he can't eat now is mostly because of all the things he experienced before... and Mo Chen's current situation, which makes him not in the mood to eat and drink.
The sun has finally risen.
The wine shop owner sent them two sets of bedding. The weather here is warm, the locals are very thinly dressed, and some men passing by on the road in front of the door are shirtless.
"Have a good rest. Don't meditate yet, just close your eyes and get some sleep." Li Fulin patted Xiaodong's head.
Looking at the big apprentice on Xiaodong's shoulders, Li Fulin didn't know what to say.
This kind of situation was unheard of, and it was the first time he had seen it. This time I came to Tianjian City in a hurry, I didn't have any books to look up, and it was inconvenient to ask others for advice on this matter.
Left and right Mo Chen seems to be in a stable condition, and there is no sign of discomfort, so... let's take care of this matter when we return to the Central Plains. Now there are four of them... well, let's say there are four of them, three of them are unreliable, and Ji Zheng is the only one whose strength is still intact.
I'm not familiar with the place here, so I really don't feel at ease here.
When he got to the house, Xiaodong just brought a basin of water and wiped his face briefly.
When he was wiping his face, Mo Chen was looking at him by the basin.
Xiaodong sat down by the bed, and Mo Chen looked at each other for a moment without making a sound.
He really didn't know what to say.
And... Xiaodong was a little at a loss for this kind of senior brother.
"Eldest brother?" He asked tentatively.
The dragon-shaped elder brother who was on the table beside him nodded his head to indicate that he heard it.
"Oh, what the hell is going on..."
He was fine before falling into the sea, and the elder brother protected him tightly.
But after falling into the water, the elder brother...
Someone passed by under the window, and Xiaodong heard their voices.
"Have you heard? Laoguan and the others are back. They didn't catch fish, but caught a few people."
"who?"
"Oh, they're all dead, and I don't know the origin. Lao Guan said it was bad luck, and he wanted to burn incense and worship God, so he dared not go out for the past two days."
"Could it be that the boat capsized somewhere..."
Not a capsize.
They were the ones who fell together from Amami Castle yesterday.
Many people survived, but many more may have died.
"Eldest brother, did you see it yesterday? The... that tree supporting Tianjian City."
Mo Chen couldn't speak now, but his thoughts were not affected.
is that a tree
It was just a quick glance last night, and Mo Chen was still thinking about the origin of this pillar under Tianjian City.
He didn't see that it was a tree.
How did Xiaodong see it
"I knew it the first time I saw it."
"Brother, I have often had a dream since I was a child. In the dream is a tree..."
Mo Chen poked his head forward slightly.
Xiaodong whispered: "I don't know how many years it has grown, but it seems to be more and more lush every day. In the warm season, there are many white flowers on the tree. The leaves grow very densely, one by one. From a distance, the tree looks like an open umbrella..."
Mo Chen can't speak now, but his posture and eyes seem to be able to speak.
Xiaodong can even read his meaning.
and after
"Later..." Xiaodong pressed his chest.
That painful feeling came again.
Xiaodong was not squeamish, but the pain made his eye circles hot and his nose sore.
"Later it... died." Xiaodong used the word death to describe it.
This death is somewhat different from what other people usually call death.
"Its roots are trapped, Tianjian City is like a blood-sucking worm, firmly suppressing it below, and then slowly absorbing spiritual energy from the tree..."
This process is very long and tormented.
The formation on the altar in Tianjian City exists to trap and suppress this tree. In order to maintain the power of the formation, the Xie family had their own way. But this method gradually failed, and the Xie family began to sacrifice their lives again, relying on the lives of family members from generation to generation to maintain the power of the altar.
No one told Xiaodong about these things, and he couldn't tell how he knew.
"Tianjian City's status is detached and its aura is rich. They claim to be unique. But few people know how this uniqueness comes from..."
Xiaodong's fingers were tightly twisted together. Others may not believe these words, but the elder brother will definitely believe him.
Such a deep, heavy darkness pressed against his chest, making him unable to breathe.
If he didn't speak out, Xiaodong was afraid that he would be suffocated to death.
But looking at the senior brother's current appearance, Xiaodong felt ashamed again.
The trouble that the senior brother encountered was much bigger than him, but who could the senior brother complain to? At a time like this, he always wants to rely on his senior brother and throw all his troubles to him, which is really inappropriate.
Mo Chen didn't think there was anything wrong with this.
If Xiaodong didn't tell him when he was in trouble, it would make Mo Chen feel disappointed.
But now is the time...
He wanted to comfort Xiaodong, but he couldn't say a word.
Even if I wanted to hold his hand, I couldn't do it.
Even so, Xiaodong still felt much more comfortable than before.
You don't have to be comforted and persuaded to figure it out. Sometimes as long as you speak out what is in your heart, you will feel much more relaxed.
Before he was thinking, who is he? How did he come into this world? Who are his biological parents? Why would he know this? Obviously no one told him, these things naturally came to his mind.
It's as if he knew it a long time ago, but he just forgot it for a while before, and now he remembered it again.
There must be other reasons here.
Xiaodong felt that this had something to do with the blood of the Xie family, but no matter how many there were, he couldn't guess it.
"By the way, senior brother, you haven't seen what you look like now, have you?"
The room is shabby and has no mirrors. But Xiaodong thought of another way, he carried Mo Chen to the water basin.
Mo Chen leaned forward.
What is reflected on the water surface is its current body size. Although it is not very clear, it can be seen roughly.
Xiaodong could feel that Mo Chen's body stiffened.
He hadn't looked in the mirror since he became like this, but now looking at the reflection in the water basin, Mo Chen seemed to be dumbfounded, motionless.
"It's pretty good." Xiaodong racked his brains on the side to explain to Senior Brother, so as not to hurt him too much: "Master said that this is the appearance of a dragon, but it's... a little smaller. But Senior Brother, you are not old at all. Not much. Maybe it will change back tomorrow, so don’t worry too much about it.”
Mo Chen wasn't worried at all, his previous motionlessness was indeed too shocking.
dragon
He could comfort himself when he didn't see the whole picture of his body now, but now he can see it clearly.
Just looking at the shape, it is indeed the same as the dragon shape in legends, calligraphy and painting. It's just that Mo Chen's current physique...is too small and exquisite, and he doesn't have the demeanor of the legendary beast at all.
For example, there should be horns on the dragon's head, but now there is nothing on Mo Chen's head.
Is it not growing out, or do we have to wait a little longer? (to be continued)