The days went by so fast amidst the busy schedule, Lei Jin received Berg's letter of approval without accident, and Lan Qi agreed to help, no matter what the reason was, whether it was guilt or gratitude, the matter of going home finally came to an end With a good start, Lei Jin spent six or seven days to prepare. After all, the road was really difficult. This time, there was no Xi Ya and the others to take care of him. Anything could happen. For the sake of his own life, It is not too much to prepare, but there is still not so much time.
"Is there anything else missing?" Roger helped Lei Jin count the things that needed to be taken away.
"It's almost done. Food, clothes, bows and arrows, torches, flint and steel, salt, the basics are all ready. As for the clear water to drink at sea, I have cut some bamboo tubes and put them on the mountain. Just add fresh water to the river before going to sea. "Lei Jin picked up the things in the big rattan basket, the food took up a large part, and they were all dried meat roasted with Roger's help. Firstly, it could fill the stomach, and secondly, it was lighter to carry. He took important things such as maps and black jade stones with him.
Roger let out a "hmm", and seeing that he had very little clothes, he asked, "Do you want to bring more clothes, I guess it's very cold at sea at this time." Lei Jin's plan was very thorough and thoughtful, but Roger is always worried about letting him go on the road alone. You must know that this is not a modern society. If something goes wrong, you can still call for help. It’s better to have Lan Qi’s help at sea, but he still has to go through the jungle alone to reach the forbidden area. After that, I still don't know what will happen. After all, the strange incidents that have happened near the forbidden area in recent years are still unclear. But he can only remind him again and again that dissuading him is impossible anyway.
"Forget it, these are enough." It's a good thing to bring a few things here, and those who are about to leave are not qualified to ask for too much.
"When are you going to leave?" The turpentine lamp in the room was dim, and Roger couldn't see Lei Jin's expression clearly at the moment.
"The sooner the better." He couldn't help procrastinating on anything, since he was going to leave, he had to hurry up, procrastination was not his style of doing things.
"Well, go to bed early, it's too windy tonight, you close the doors and windows." Roger finally ordered.
It was indeed getting colder this day. I don't know what happened to them hunting in the jungle, but when they came back, they left by themselves and couldn't see them anymore.
The next day Lei Jin went to look for Berg to discuss the departure.
Beige didn't expect Lei Jin to prepare everything so quickly, so he had to tell the truth at this time, Lan Qi was lying on the bed and couldn't move, he was beaten up by Xi Ya and Mo Ya, if Anbu didn't stop him, It might be fatal.
Lei Jin didn't expect that Xi Ya and Mo Ya would go to deal with Lan Qi two-on-one. What method was used, and compared to seeing Xi Ya and the others injured, he didn't care about Lan Qi's injury at all. Of course, in front of Berg, he still properly expressed his deep condolences and concern for cats and mice.
Beige explained that it was not two-on-one, Mo Ya came to beat her up first, and Xi Ya came to make up for her injury before it healed. But he didn't explain that Ya also came once, seeing that Lan Qi was only half out of breath, after thinking about it, he punched him angrily before leaving.
Lei Jin almost laughed, these two people are really childish, he has always been used to being a protector and being relied on, but after he came to this world, he was taken care of by them everywhere. The fate is really broken. Thinking of this, I still feel sour in my heart. Berg doesn't know what Lei Jin is thinking, but he looks embarrassed, and seems to have no interest in talking further, only because of Lan Qi I delayed things, apologized repeatedly, and promised to leave within five days.
In this way, we can only wait, because under the premise that there are no advanced tools for crossing the sea, without Lan Qi's help, he will die if he goes to sea. Although Lei Jin is in a hurry to leave, he still has the sense he should have. He didn't want to die on the road yet.
The latest time Lei Jin set for himself to leave was when the Moon Festival came, and there were still about ten days left, so there was still plenty of time, and he agreed with Berg on a specific departure time before returning home.
During the waiting period, Lei Jin was not idle, and led Roger to experiment many times. Finally, before he left, he brewed soy sauce and vinegar. He also cleaned up the two houses and hung up the windows and doors. The animal skin is separated from the wind. A few days ago, because Lei Jin was ill, Xi Ya and the others only cleaned the room where Lei Jin slept inside and out, and went hunting before they could do anything else.
No matter how much reluctance there is, the day of departure has arrived as scheduled. It is always very late in winter. When Lei Jin wakes up and opens the door, the grassland is still gray, but fortunately there is still unmelted snow , the road can still be seen clearly. He hung the heavy basket behind his back and planned to meet up with Lan Qi. Before he went out, he heard a lot of movement on the street. They were all asleep, so they could hear every sound very clearly. Lei Jin did not expect that the people who went out to hunt came back just before he left.
Today, no matter what, Lei Jin couldn't leave anyway. Lei Jin calmly hid the rattan basket, took off the clothes he had just put on and put them on the wardrobe, turned on the bed and pretended to be asleep as if nothing had happened. There are footsteps approaching from far away.
"Lei Jin, look what Mingya brought you..."
"Hush...still sleeping." Xi Ya interrupted Ming Ya's excited voice.
Lei Jin felt cold fingers touching his face, and they slid down.
"Did he sleep so deeply? Let him sleep more. He hasn't had a full sleep in the past two months." Hearing Mo Ya's voice, he should be the last to enter the door.
"I've been walking for almost half a month. I don't know why I haven't gained any weight. I don't know if I have eaten and slept well."
Lei Jin thought that he was pretending a lot these days, so they all saw it, but they didn't say that they heard that Xiya added some charcoal to the brazier, and the room was much warmer in the morning, and then light Hearing the sound of lightly opening the closet, Lei Jin thought they must have changed clothes.
Lan Qi should be in the river valley now, I hope Berg can see that something is wrong, and inform Lan Qi earlier, there is no need to worry about Roger, he has his own way to deal with it.
Lei Jin closed his eyes and meditated, but amidst their rustling sounds, he pretended to be asleep at first, but his nerves that hadn't slept well for many days couldn't be stretched anymore, and he really started to feel confused.
Before going to sleep, it seemed that the blanket on the side was tightened, and someone carefully touched the bed, and lay down close to his back. It should be Mingya, Lei Jin thought subconsciously, but fell asleep before he had any other reaction.
In warm arms, Lei Jin fell into a deep sleep, and when he opened his eyes, he saw Ming Ya lying on the bedside, staring at him without blinking her beautiful big eyes.
"I have flowers on my face?" Lei Jin stretched out his hand from the blanket and pushed away his big head that was about to stick to his face.
Before the person pushed away, Lei Jin felt a chill in his mouth, wondering what Mingya stuffed in.
"Is it delicious? This is the rock fruit picked by Mingya." He emphasized that it was picked by Mingya, coupled with a look of anticipation, he almost wagged his tail and waited for someone to praise him.
It's soft and smooth, and the sweetness is light and not greasy at all. It's really good, but Lei Jin's evil intentions don't say it's delicious. Seeing Ming Ya's expression gradually turn from anticipation to disappointment, he almost cried in anxiety at the end.
"You don't like to eat it?" This was the first time he went out hunting as an adult and brought it back to Lei Jin, but Lei Jin didn't like it at all.
"Little idiot, it's delicious." Lei Jin felt that he had played enough tricks, so he generously half got up and put his arms around his neck in his arms, and rubbed his head twice.
"Hmm..." Mingya struggled in pain on Lei Jin's chest.
The two of you pushed each other to block, I went up and you went down, they huddled together like two children, entangled and frolicked on the bed. In the end, Mingya rolled over with Lei Jin's legs between her legs, successfully pinning him down.
"I won't come, I won't come..." Lei Jin saw that the situation was not good, and immediately started to play tricks.
"Ming Ya doesn't want to wake up." This Lei Jin looked very attractive, his clothes were disheveled, his hair was wet with sweat, and their chests heaved violently when they touched each other.
"Then how do you get up?" Lei Jin grabbed his ear and said with a nonchalant smile, "Young man, you've learned how to bargain with me."
"Then give Mingya a kiss?" Mingya approached with her mouth pouted coquettishly, not afraid of death.
Lei Jin's eyelids twitched, he turned to laugh, pressed the back of Mingya's head, and kissed Mingya, the sound was loud and the effect was good, it was just a kiss on the forehead.
Mingya didn't seem to expect that Lei Jin would really kiss, so she didn't react stupidly.
Lei Jin took the opportunity to push him away and said, "Pull the curtain on the window, what time is it?"
This was the first time that Lei Jin kissed Mingya when he was sober. Mingya only caressed her forehead in a silly way until Lei Jin kicked him before she realized it, jumped out of the bed and raised the curtain.
The sunlight illuminated a large area of the room through the window, and it seemed that it should be around noon.
Barefoot, Mingya ran to the table, and came over with a bowl filled with bright red fruits the size of longan, wiped her hands, twirled one and brought it to Lei Jin's mouth, explaining: " When you were sleeping, Mingya smashed a lot, you should eat more."
Lei Jin has a big head, and he's not a child, why should he be fed one or two, Xi Ya and Mo Ya didn't hide it before and after, and now even the little guy has been taken away.
"I'll do it myself." Lei Jin was going to reach out to take it.
Ming Ya pursed her mouth, clearly unwilling, she insisted on bringing her hand to Lei Jin's mouth, with an expression of grievance and unconsciousness.
Lei Jin had no choice but to open his mouth and continue.
Mingya just smiled.
Lei Jin was afraid that he would stand barefoot on the ground, so he let him go to bed. The noon sun was bright, and the two of them ate half a bowl of rock fruit on the bed. In fact, almost all of it went into Lei Jin's mouth. Jin was willing to eat what he was feeding, and just grinned.
"I'm too busy eating fruit, so I didn't even eat? Lunch is ready, let's get out of bed and eat." Xi Ya smiled and opened the door curtain to come in.
During the meal break, Roger asked, "Why did you come back so quickly from hunting this year?" In previous years, because there were fewer prey at this time of year, and there were more demands for moon sacrifices, it often took more than a month for the orcs to go out.
"This time in the valley, we happened to encounter a herd of deer that was dispersed by the snowstorm, which accounted for most of the prey this time. In addition, looking at the weather, there may be snow in two days, so we tried to hurry back as fast as possible. "This is Anson's answer.
Orcs spend more time in the wild, and are far more sensitive to changes in the weather than females. Therefore, in the eyes of Lei Jin and Roger, it is a warm sunny day when the sun is just right, but orcs can feel the blizzard a few days later.
Luo Jie looked at Lei Jin calmly.
There was no abnormality on Lei Jin's face, and he looked even more relaxed than the previous few days. Roger knew that Lei Jin had a countermeasure in mind, and he couldn't help but lament Lei Jin's determination. Nothing can stop it.
There are still five days to sacrifice the moon, and that will be the last moment. Lei Jin put the last piece of meat in the bowl into his mouth, and drank the remaining soup in one gulp.
In the past two days, I watched the tribe get busy one after another. The faces of the people I met on the road were full of joy. The moon worship is very sacred to the people in the tribe. They will sincerely thank the gods for their protection this year. And pray for good weather and plenty of food in the coming year. The orcs have to go to the mountains to cut wood, soak it in animal fat, and then build a huge bonfire frame. The females slaughter and clean the prey at home, and save it for use on the first day of the festival.
Anbu took time out of his busy schedule to find Lei Jin once, told him the specific situation of the land division, and talked about the experimental wheat planted after next autumn, and asked him if he had any other ideas.
Lei Jin thought for a while, and added something he knew.
Anbu said that he would introduce him to the elders of the tribe on the festival day, but Lei Jin just smiled and said nothing.
At the time, Anbu thought that Lei Jin had agreed.
The evening before the opening of the festival, the sun was setting and the twilight was merging. Lei Jin stood in front of the door, the wind on the grassland blew the hem of his clothes, and the shadow cast by his left hand gradually blurred.
"Lei Jin, Mingya is back." Mingya smiled and ran over, hooking Lei Jin's arm affectionately.
"It's so cold, why are you waiting outside?" Xi Ya touched his face, it was cold, and he didn't know how long he had stood here.
Mo Ya took a deep look at Lei Jin, and pulled him into the door quickly.
"It smells so good, Ah Mo said we're going to have dinner alone in the room today, and I'm still wondering what delicious food Lei Jin cooked," Mingya said childishly, sniffling.
On the table in the center of the room, a small clay stove is boiling a pot of hot soup, which is fragrant.
"It's beef. It seems that there are still bones. Do you want beef soup tonight?" Xi Ya walked two steps closer and asked with a smile after washing her hands.
"No, let's eat noodles tonight." Lei Jin's attitude was calm and natural.
"What are noodles?" Mingya saw Lei Jin bring a straw cover from another table, and planned to go around to help.
Lei Jin heard from Luo Jie that most of the wheat in the tribe is boiled directly in the pot. Even if it is ground into flour, at most it is made into pancakes, and there are almost no other methods.
"You'll know after you eat it." Lei Jin signaled that he didn't need to come over
Because it has been boiled for a long time, the soup has become so thick that it turned white. After Lei Jin tasted it, the beef was also rotten and delicious. He put the cut noodles on the lid into the pot.
After the noodles came out of the pot, there was soup and meat. Lei Jin sprinkled a handful of chopped fungus, mushrooms, minced pickles, and shallots into each bowl.
The four happily ate dinner around the table, and no one noticed when the weather outside had changed.
after dinner
"Okay, I'll clean up tomorrow. You can go to bed now." Xi Ya covered her mouth and yawned. She didn't know why he felt so sleepy tonight. Could it be because he was too full tonight? But I did eat a lot tonight. Mo Ya and Ming Ya also ate a lot, only Lei Jin barely moved his chopsticks, according to him, he couldn't bear the hunger, so he put some in advance.
"Go to bed first, I'll be fine now." Lei Jin smiled, but his lips were pale.
"You..." Xi Ya still wanted to say something, but the sudden surge of drowsiness interrupted his thoughts, he shook his head, and managed to stay awake.
"Go to bed quickly, isn't tomorrow the tribal month festival? There is still work to do." Lei Jin pushed him to the bedside.
Xi Ya fell asleep almost as soon as she touched the bed.
Mo Ya was still sitting at the table with her forehead supported, her hair drooping slightly in front of her forehead, Lei Jin didn't know what he was thinking, so he walked over and said, "Go back to sleep, you've been busy all day.
Mo Ya stood up with a little difficulty, and helped Ming Ya, who was already asleep on the table, to the innermost bed. Without saying a word, he came out and hugged Lei Jin in his arms, so tight that Lei Jin suspected that his bones would be strangled the next moment.
"You're so grown up, can't you act like a baby like Mingya?" Lei Jin patted him on the back and made him stand up.
"You must be well..." Mo Ya leaned on Lei Jin's shoulder and said softly.
Lei Jin was taken aback, but quickly forced a smile and said: "What nonsense are you talking about..." Before he finished speaking, he felt a weight on his shoulders, and Mo Ya finally couldn't hold on anymore.
Lei Jin suppressed his smile and helped Mo Ya to lie down. Lan Qi's medicine was really effective.
"I once asked you, do you want to go with me? You rejected me at that time, I think you will not want to go with me this time, after I leave, go to see the baby more when you have time, don't frown , you know I don't want to make you sad." Lei Jin gently smoothed the wrinkles between Mo Ya's brows with his fingertips.
"Mingya has grown up, and she must be obedient in the future, but Mingya has always been very obedient." Lei Jin went to the back room to help Mingya pull the blanket.
Lei Jin pulled out the prepared pannier from under Mo Ya's bed.
"I'm leaving, Xi Ya, I'm sorry." In his heart, the person he felt most ashamed of was Xi Ya. This person accompanied him through the most difficult times during his injury, and endured silently on weekdays. When he needed But he was always standing in front of him. For such a person, he was the one who was sorry for him after all. He didn't say anything about the child in his stomach at that time, but he thought that if it was Xi Ya's, he might make up for this person, but the child was after all Didn't keep it.
"You deserve a better person who understands you well."
"I'm leaving." Lei Jin leaned over to place a last kiss on his lips.
Lei Jin turned around, only to realize that the corner of his clothes was held by Xi Ya at some point in his hand. Xi Ya looked painful, as if struggling to wake himself up.
With a cruel heart, Lei Jin broke open one by one, picked up the basket and ran out.
As the door was closed, suspicious red blood dripped from Xi Ya's fingertips.
Roger was already standing outside the door.
"Take care all the way." By now, Roger had nothing else to say.
Lei Jin let out a "hmm" and asked again: "If I go back, do you have anything I want to bring?"
Roger sighed and said, "Twenty years have passed, and I don't know if anyone still remembers me. Do you remember the pocket watch I gave you when we first met?"
Lei Jin nodded in agreement, of course he remembered, but for some unknown reason, the hands of the watch never moved.
"If you can, go there and have a look." Roger said an address.
Although Lei Jin had never been there, he remembered it carefully.
"In order to avoid suspicion from An Sen and An Luo, I can only send you here, and Lan Qi should be waiting for you at the mouth of the river.
"Goodbye, Roger."
As soon as Lei Jin turned around with the pannier in hand, he heard the sound of the door being knocked open.
"Lei Jin..." Mingya cried and rushed out, hugging his waist from behind, Lei Jin staggered two steps before stabilizing his figure.
"Mingya?" Lei Jin was surprised, wasn't Mingya the first to fall asleep
"Lei Jin, where are you going? You don't want Mingya anymore, and you don't want your eldest brother and second brother?"
"Mingya let go." Lei Jin said helplessly, raising his hand to pull his arm away.
"Mingya doesn't want you to go." He knew that once he let go, Lei Jin would really leave.
"Ming Ya, listen to Dad, Lei Jin has someone waiting for him to come home, you can't be so selfish." Luo Jie felt good seeing his son like this.
"But do they treat Lei Jin better than we do?"
"That's not how it works, Mingya." Roger pulled him over and held him in his arms.
"Thank you, Roger." Lei Jin looked at Ming Ya who was crying out of breath in Roger's arms, but he still didn't say any words of comfort after all.
"Father, will Lei Jin be happier when he goes back?"
"Maybe." A lot of things will not be lost, and there will be no heartache. When you learn to feel heartache, it will be too late.
Mingya wiped away tears, and said: "Father, Mingya is going to see him off, I'm afraid he may encounter danger on the way, Mingya has to protect him."
Luo Jie looked at Mingya's firm eyes, and never felt like this moment that his little son had really grown up, was a real man, and had learned to protect the people he liked, even though he didn't want Mingya to lose him. Such a brutal way to grow up.
"Go, Dad is waiting for you to come back." That was all Roger could say.
Lan Qi and Berg stood at the mouth of the river waiting for Lei Jin, looking at each other without words, Lan Qi smiled wryly, he and Berg had finally come to this point today, since that night, Berg would never be with Lei Jin if it was not necessary. He only said that if he persecuted him again, he would take Pao Pao to die together. No matter how tough he was, how dare he risk the lives of these two people.
Beige saw a figure approaching from a distance, and went to meet him, and Lei Jin actually followed Mingya behind him.
"What's going on here?" Berg pulled Lei Jin aside and asked in a low voice.
"Forget it, don't ask, we are leaving, thank you this time, Berg." In order to avoid too big a goal, Berg did not leave for the time being.
"This time we parted, I guess we won't have a chance to meet each other again." Speaking of this, Berg couldn't help but get red-eyed.
"No matter what happens in the future, you have to think that you still have bubbles." Lei Jin gave him a gentle hug between friends. Could it be that there are times when Lei Jin gives guiding opinions to others.
Lan Qi and Ming Ya pushed out the bamboo raft that Lei Jin had already tied up from the reed marsh, and Lei Jin looked up at the small hill protruding from the flat ground in the southeast.
"Do you want to go over and watch it again?" Berg knew what Lei Jin was thinking.
Lei Jin shook his head, and stepped firmly on the bamboo raft.
"It's snowing, Lei Jin." Mingya looked up at the sky.
Lei Jin chose to leave today on purpose. Firstly, Xi Ya and the others must participate in the Moon Festival tomorrow, and they cannot chase after him. Second, the heavy snow tomorrow morning will obliterate all traces of him.
"Lei Jin, add another coat." Mingya rowed the bamboo raft. Lan Qi has jumped into the water.
Lei Jin sat down, opened the back basket, covered his face with one hand, his strong and indifferent mask was finally shattered inch by inch, and in the top bag of the back basket were neatly stacked the thick clothes he made this winter.
Beige stood on the shore, watching the small bamboo raft carrying Lei Jin slowly disappear into the vast night.