Under the sky

Chapter 139

Yang Yan and Wang Hong went all the way east, not daring to delay for a moment, and did not take a rest until the sky was dim.The two of them were sitting on the side of the road. Yang Yan looked at Wang Hong. He didn't notice it last night, but he noticed her eyes were red and swollen at dawn today. He couldn't help but ask: "Why are your eyes so swollen?" Then he understood and joked, "Thief girl" Pi was scared and cried?"

Wang Hong was exposed and said angrily: "Who is crying! I want to cry because you are angry! You are causing trouble everywhere, and this camel, you have to let it go later! If you are seen, you will be hunted down!" "

Yang Yan scolded: "You are the only ones who have done a lot of trouble!" He became curious again and asked, "What is a free hunchback?"

Wang Hong explained that as long as a female camel in the village gives birth to calves five times, she is called a free camel. This is a teaching. "You should make all living things prosper, and do not allow them to perish. Those who entrust their offspring to their offspring should be given their freedom." The free camels will be stripped of their saddles and reins, branded with a mark, and returned to the grassland. They can no longer be ridden or carried. things.

Only then did Yang Yan understand why this camel was so docile. It turned out to be someone who had raised it well.He was about to stand up when he suddenly felt dizzy and almost fell down.Wang Hong hurriedly supported him and saw that his face was pale. She touched his forehead and felt that his touch was hot. She guessed that he was exhausted after being injured and said, "Don't hold on."

Yang Yan patted the camel's butt twice, let the camel go, and said bravely: "I'm fine, it's okay." Suddenly he saw someone riding a horse in the distance, Yang Yan hurriedly cheered up and held the knife in his hand.Wang Hong was also worried, but she couldn't find a weapon to defend herself.

When the horses got closer, Yang Yan recognized the man and shouted: "Huck!"

Huck recognized Yang Yan, quickly got off his horse, knelt on the ground, kowtowed with his hands on the ground: "Huck kneels down to see the son of Sa Shen!"

Seeing how respectful he was, Wang Hong let down her guard. After asking, she found out that he was the one who let Yang Yan go.

Yang Yan asked: "How did you find me?"

Huck replied that after Yang Yan left, he rode his injured horse slowly all the way north until he reached the vicinity of the Admu community. He saw a little fire and turned eastward.His horse was injured and he did not dare to press, so he could only follow from a distance until the fire disappeared.

Yang Yan calculated the time and expected that he would arrive at about the time he had just rescued Wang Hong. It was such a coincidence that he caught up with him.Huck asked about Yang Yan's future plans. Just as Yang Yan was about to speak, his mind suddenly went blank. Feeling strange, his body went limp and he became unconscious again.

He may be able to endure the pain, but he cannot control the debilitation caused by the wounds and blood loss.

■

When Yang Yan opened his eyes again, he was lying on the kang of a mound of earth.This kang was slightly different from the ones he had seen in Gansu. It was lower and covered with only a sheepskin blanket. The wool had been polished and the stitching marks were clearly visible.There was a smell of green grass mixed with feces around, and it was unclear what kind of livestock feces it was.

This is a hut made of mud walls and straw poles. The roof is very low. Yang Yan thought that he could reach out and touch it when he stood up.There were no tables or chairs in the house, except for the kang, and a curtain separated the other side.The curtain is a few inches off the ground, and it can be regarded as dividing a room, about one foot in diameter.

"Thief!" Yang Yan shouted.

"Your mother!" Wang Hong opened the curtain and glared at Yang Yan.

"Where is this?" Yang Yan looked around, "Where's Huck? Didn't he follow us?"

"This is a village. Huck is a refugee and cannot enter the village." Wang Hong replied, "Is it okay to borrow a house for you to rest?"

"Okay." Yang Yan asked again, "Is there anything to eat?" He had been hungry all day.

"No." Wang Hong rolled her eyes.

Yang Yan stood up and looked out from the window - not really a window, just an uncovered vent.There were a few children playing football here and there, and there was a larger house with two torch stands hanging at the door. Even though it was broad daylight, there was still a fire on the stand, but the torches were small, like two small oil lamps. , use soil around the flame head to look like a lampshade to block the wind.Thanks to the lampshade, a breeze would have extinguished the fire.

It turned out that after Yang Yan fell into coma, Wang Hong asked Huck to carry him on his back to find a place to rest. There happened to be a nearby village, and Huck couldn't enter the village. Wang Hong carried Yang Yan in, saying that he was attacked by refugees and asked for a place to rest.The residents here are kind. Seeing that Yang Yan was injured, they lent a room to Yang Yan to recover from his injuries.Yang Yan slept for five or six hours before waking up.

Yang Yan felt sore and weak and sweating all over.He walked outside the door to catch some wind. When the children playing football saw him, they were stunned at first and then gathered around him.Yang Yan was confused. A child knelt down and worshiped, shouting: "Sa God, Sa God!"

As soon as the child knelt down, other children quickly knelt down and shouted: "Sa God, Sa God!"

Yang Yan was taken aback and said hurriedly: "I am not the God of Sa."

As soon as he finished speaking, the women who heard the children's cries came out and felt strange when they saw Yang Yan's red eyes.

Some people were even more surprised. They knew how serious Yang Yan's injuries were. Yang Yan couldn't see it himself, but his face was as pale as paper. It should hurt to move even after suffering such a serious injury, but he could still move as usual?What an amazing warrior.

After all, adults are more stable than children. They just looked at Yang Yan steadily.Yang Yan was embarrassed, and just as he was about to explain, an old man holding a cane walked out of the torch-lit low house and asked, "What's wrong?"

Yang Yan saw that the man was old and nearly bald with only sparse white hair remaining on his head. He was stooped and less than seven feet tall. One of his eyes was white and the other was gray. He hurriedly said: "It's okay, I misunderstood." , everyone misunderstood. I am not the God of Sa. I am..."

"He is the son of God Sa." Wang Hong interrupted, "I went to the pass to find the son of God Sa under the orders of Gulthas. He is the son of God Sa that I found. He will inherit Sa Hajin's mission and bring light. The son of the god of fire."

Yang Yan didn't know the purpose of Wang Hong's words, but he got into trouble several times by making his own decisions, so he didn't dare to say anything.The women looked at each other with surprised expressions and looked at the old man.The old man walked forward tremblingly, raised his head and narrowed his eyes as he approached Yang Yan, and a puff of turbid air sprayed on Yang Yan's face.He looked at it for a while and said in shock: "It's... the son of God Sa, really the son of God Sa!"

He knelt down with his trembling old body. Yang Yan wanted to help him, but Wang Hong grabbed his wrist.The old man bowed to the ground three times and shouted: "God Sa is merciful and gives me light! God Sa is merciful and gives me fire!" When the women saw the priest kneeling, they knelt down one after another and chanted: "God Sa is merciful and gave me fire!" Light! God Sa is merciful and gives me fire!"

Yang Yan saw that the piety in these people's eyes was no different from Huck's, and he just thought in his mind: "What's going on with these people?"

After the three eulogies were completed, the old man stood up with the help of the woman behind him.Yang Yan didn't know who the old man was, but Wang Hong recognized it. There was a fire burning at the door. He undoubtedly thought it was the village's small sacrifice, so he asked: "What is the name of the small sacrifice?"

"Wuldin." The old priest replied, "The great Gulthas has brought us hope."

Wang Hong said: "We were attacked by refugees on the way here, and the Son of God was injured. He has been hungry for a day. Can you give us some food?"

Wu Erdin turned around and said, "Hurry and prepare food to worship the son of God Sa!"

The women agreed and dispersed, while the children stared at Yang Yan with wide eyes.Yang Yan felt guilty, beckoned the children over, and touched the head of one of them.Wu Erdin asked: "Can the Son of God bless these children?"

Yang Yan was embarrassed and didn't know what to do, so he looked to Wang Hong for help.Wang Hong asked Wu Erding: "What blessings do the children want?"

Wu Erdin said: "Bless these children to grow up safely, and the land they cultivate will be fertile soil."

Yang Yan touched the head of a child, closed his eyes and prayed: "Bless you to grow up safely and cultivate fertile soil." He touched one child after another, and in a short time he touched more than a dozen children. For some reason, when Yang Yan prayed for these children, he felt calm that he had not felt for a long time.

At this moment, he actually thought that he was the son of God Sa, and that the blessings given to these children would come true.

Wang Hong said: "I will take the son of Sa God back to his room to rest. Wu Erding will offer you a small sacrifice, Sa God will give you light."

Wu Erding touched his heart with his left hand and returned the courtesy respectfully.

Yang Yan returned to the house, found a bed and sat down. He couldn't help but frown and asked, "Why did you let me lie to you?"

"It's cheating when it's exposed." Wang Hong asked, "Aren't you hungry?"

Yang Yan was stunned. He hadn't eaten for a long time, so he was naturally hungry.

"A small village like this has no food left. They only let us have a place to rest without food. Your tricks are very effective." Wang Hong shrugged, "No, there will be food soon."

Yang Yan knew that what she said was reasonable, so he sat on the bed and pondered, and then said: "My wildfire was probably snatched away by Ademu. After recovering from the injury, I have to find a way to get it back."

Wang Hong said angrily: "How to get it? You want to kill someone? By you?"

Yang Yan said thoughtfully: "So we have to think of a way."

"Is that your brain?" Wang Hong sneered, "Follow me back to Nabu Batu, and don't think too much."

"Yes, it's just my brain! If it weren't for my brain, you would have been hung on the wooden frame and turned into a barbecue!" Yang Yan retorted.

"Oh." Wang Hong paused when he heard him mention this, and then said after a while, "You are kind-hearted and came here to save me. I thought you wanted me to die."

Yang Yan snorted and said, "You volunteered to be a saint and still thought about saving me. Of course I want to save you too. I am a person who clearly remembers who is good to me and who is bad to me."

Wang Hong really wasn't thinking about Yang Yan. At that time, she hated Yang Yan so much that she refused to even say anything to him. She was saving him purely for her family. She felt guilty when she heard what he said, so she said: "If Gulthas is willing, Believe you, he will send someone to help you get the knife back. Isn’t this much easier? Although the stupid method is stupid, it is really true. If you cause trouble again, will you have such good luck every time? "

"It's up to you." Yang Yan thought for a while and replied.

"Listen to me?" Wang Hong thought Yang Yan was being stubborn again and didn't expect to agree so easily.

Yang Yan nodded: "I know you are angry that my ignorance has harmed you, but in critical moments you are willing to risk your life to save me, just like brothers Ming and Jingfeng."

"Brother?" Wang Hong's eyes widened.

"When I arrived outside the customs, I was blind. I didn't understand this or that. Try to believe that you are." Yang Yan said.

Yang Yan actually compared himself to two brothers, Li Jingfeng and Ming Wuxiang. Wang Hong was dumbfounded and couldn't help but said: "Sooner or later, you will be skinned and sold."

Yang Yan said: "I just hope you won't lie to me."

This statement made Wang Hong feel guilty. Although she said she was confident, in fact she was of low status. As a Gursasi, how could she see him whenever she wanted?Just leave it to fate.If he is unlucky, Yang Yan will also die.But she didn't dare to talk about it, so she had to relent and said: "I don't know if it will work. If it doesn't work, don't blame me."

Yang Yan nodded: "I know, these tricks are not very easy to use, and most people don't believe it. Do you think Gulthas will believe me?"

"It depends on what Gulthas thinks." Wang Hong was silent for a moment and said, "The more you learn, the more similar you become, and I kind of believe you." Yang Yan said "ha".He was weak after the injury and lay on the bed to rest. Wang Hong took the opportunity to teach him the rules outside the customs one by one.

Every village has a small priest, and the Wu Erding we just met is the small priest.Although the small priest does not manage the tribe, he has great authority and can give orders to the tribal chiefs according to the scriptures.The village's small sacrifices are appointed by Batu, which also makes it clear which Batu's influence the village belongs to.This is mainly the territory of Nabu Batu. Wang Hong has confirmed that the village does belong to Nabu Batu.

Xiaoji can get married and have children, but his status is not hereditary.To become a minor priest, one needs to enter the priesthood in Baduli to study scriptures, pass the examination, and then be assigned to each tribe.

There are thousands of tribes, large and small, on the grassland, ranging from Batu with hundreds of thousands of people to small villages with more than a hundred people like this village.Every tribe needs small sacrifices. Tribes without small sacrifices will be regarded as not being blessed by the Sa god and cannot be regarded as tribes. They will be robbed by refugees and have nowhere to redress their grievances.

Yang Yan thought to himself that even under the Nine Families, there might not be anywhere to redress his grievances.When I mentioned the refugees, I thought of Huck again. He is a character who repays the kindness of others. He wondered whether Huck was suffering from hunger and cold outside the village, and asked: "How about I let Huck enter the village in the name of the son of the god of Sa?" "

Wang Hong told Yang Yan that there were only two ways for refugees to become good people. One was to voluntarily become slaves, and the other was to make great contributions and be pardoned by Sa Si.Yang Yan doesn't have the power now, so don't cause trouble.Huck was a homeless man who was used to wandering. She made an appointment to meet under a tree outside the village so she didn't have to worry about him.

Yang Yan felt uneasy, suddenly smelled a scent, his stomach growled a few times, and he couldn't help but stand up.I just heard someone shouting: "Invite the Son of God to enjoy the sacrifice!"

Yang Yan was about to rush out the door. Wang Hong coughed. Yang Yan stopped and walked slowly to the door.A roasted lamb was placed on a large clay plate. Yang Yan took it and said, "God Sa gives you light."

Wang Hong only thought that they would send wheat, millet or highland barley, but she didn't expect that they would send a roast lamb. It was so generous and unexpected.The two of them had been hungry for a long time and ate like a storm.Yang Yan turned around and looked at the group of children standing outside the house, their eyes so greedy that they seemed to be drooling.

Yang Yan tore into a large piece of mutton, walked outside the house and said, "Let's eat together?"

The children looked at each other with expressions of wanting but not daring.A seven or eight-year-old child was about to reach out when another older child grabbed him and said to Yang Yan: "We are not grown up yet and cannot eat the sacrifices. Only those who work can eat mutton."

Yang Yan smiled and said: "What kind of breaking of the rules is this? I am the Son of God. If I say I can, I can, so you guys can split up."

A woman walked up quickly and drove the child away.Yang Yan asked anxiously: "What are you doing?"

The woman knelt on her knees and said, "This is a sacrifice for the Son of God to enjoy. The children cannot bear it."

Yang Yan thought for a moment and said, "This is the blessing I bestow upon you. If you eat this piece of meat, you will not starve in the future."

The woman hesitated again and again before calling the children and eating the piece of mutton with a knife.

Yang Yan saw that the children were eating happily, and he was also happy. He thought of Huck again, and regardless of his injuries, he walked outside the village to find the tree Wang Hong mentioned.As expected, Huck was resting against the tree trunk, looking quite leisurely.When Huck saw him, he hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down, touched his heart with his left hand, and said respectfully: "See the Son of God."

Yang Yan asked him to stand up and talk. Seeing ashes and bird bones on the ground, he asked, "Can you hunt?"

Huck smiled and said: "This is the skill of refugees. Refugees cannot farm and have no property. Apart from robbing, they can only hunt."

"What did you do to be demoted to a refugee?" Yang Yan walked to the tree to sit down and saw the mottled old scratches.It was a sharp dagger, similar to the pattern of the knife and scale trade, but it was missing a horizontal line.

"I didn't commit any crime." Huck scratched his head and replied, "I am the child of a refugee."

Yang Yan was very surprised and asked: "A child of a refugee?"

It turns out that Huck’s parents are also refugees.It is a custom among refugees that after a woman is caught, she will be forced to marry one of the refugees until she gives birth to a child.Women are scarce among the refugees, and only those with great merit and ability can be assigned wives.

When a refugee child reaches the age of seven, he will be tattooed with a hexagonal snowflake tattoo, and the child will become a refugee.Huck's father died in a hunt by nobles, and his mother wanted to escape in order to prevent Huck from becoming a refugee.

Yang Yan couldn't help but ask: "It's okay for parents to be refugees. Why do we force our children to become refugees?"

Huck replied: "Isn't having children just to increase the number of people in the community? How can you stay in a refugee community if you are not a refugee? Eating food for free? If you don't get a tattoo, others won't be happy either."

Yang Yan only felt that this was a case of refugees harming each other.

Huck's mother failed to escape. She was forced to marry other refugees and gave birth to several younger siblings, but Huck was separated from them.At the age of seven, Huck was tattooed and moved around with the refugee tribe.

Refugees have no fixed abode and will be hunted by nobles if they live in one place for too long. The one who likes to be hunted the most is the Atulie Badu, which is the most powerful among the five badu.Refugees like to attack caravans, especially the trading caravans of barbarians in the west. It will be a good harvest, and the caravans will also organize armed resistance.Attacking small villages is the last resort because it is likely to attract large-scale hunting.If you can defeat the hunting nobles, it will be another kind of harvest, but this is difficult.In addition, the way the refugees make a living is by hunting.

Huck followed his mother through several refugee groups. When he was 15 years old, the refugee team he belonged to was defeated in a conflict with a caravan. By then, they were already very weak and their number was less than forty.This was the first battle he participated in, and it was the battle that separated him from his family.He wandered on the grassland for more than half a year before he found another refugee tribe that took him in.He stayed in the tribe for two years, and the tribe was attacked by other refugees, which was rare.Refugees generally do not attack other vagabonds, which can lead to a bad reputation on the steppe.He joined several small groups of refugees one after another, and was either merged or defeated. He wandered like this for six or seven years, and finally joined the Unn tribe, which was two years ago.

Because he had so many escape experiences, Huck had dishonorable titles: Son of Doom, Huck who was good at escaping, and Storm on the Prairie, which meant that wherever he went, he was swept away.

Huck doesn't think so.

"I think I should be called Lucky Huck." Huck said, "The two things I know best on the grassland are hunting and escaping." He actually felt proud, "It's not easy to escape from so many battles. You have to have keen observation skills and good luck. Every time I fight, no, sometimes even before the fight starts, I know whether I will lose or win. I know how to run away, otherwise I pointed out last night , how did the Son of God run so smoothly?"

When Yang Yan heard what he said, it actually made sense.He thought for a moment and asked, "What is your wish?"

Huck's eyes shone brightly: "I want to enter the village, I want a wife, I want a son, I want a house, and I want a thick blanket!"

"That's all?" Yang Yan heard his wishes, which were ordinary things.

"I have never been to a village or lived in a house. Thick blankets are only owned by the leader. My wife and son..." he said with a smile, "it's not easy to find..."

Only the top warriors among the refugees are assigned wives, and Huck is obviously not one of them.These ordinary things are luxuries to any refugee.If Yang Yan understood what he meant, he would know that what Huck wanted was the pardon of his refugee status.

"If I could ask for more, I would also like a sharp knife, a good bow that can shoot fifty feet, and drink red wine."

"Red wine?" Yang Yan was stunned.

"That's wine brought by barbarian caravans. Nobles love to drink it. I got a glass of it during a caravan robbery. It's different from milk wine and has a fruity aroma."

Yang Yan smiled and said: "I haven't even drunk it."

"The Son of God will definitely drink it." Huck suddenly knelt down and kowtowed, "Huck hopes that the Son of God can forgive Huck's refugee status!"

Yang Yan was startled and said hurriedly: "It's not possible now...the time...the time has not come yet." He didn't know how to evade it, remembering that his master Xuanxu loved to play tricks, and anything that could not be explained was attributed to the lack of time or God's will.

"I know that the Son of God will return to Nabu Batu, and let Gursas be regarded as the Son of God and give orders to the five great Batu." Huck said, "I will protect the Son of God when he goes to Nabu Batu."

Yang Yan was shocked again. He didn't know if he could deceive him when he was in front of Gulthas.He wanted to refuse, but when he saw Huck's eyes full of expectation, he couldn't bear it for a moment, so he had to say: "I will find a way to forgive you, and I will let you drink red wine with me until you are drunk."

Huck asked doubtfully: "Find a way?"

Seeing his doubts, Yang Yan immediately understood that the son of God Sa should be omnipotent in their hearts, and his tone did not allow for any hesitation, so he changed his words: "Everything follows God Father's will."

This move is still based on Master's tone, God's will and Father's will both mean the same thing.

Huck was overjoyed and kowtowed several more times.Yang Yan originally wanted to tell him not to kowtow, but he thought that his respect for him was based on his identity as the son of God Sa. He was a little embarrassed, so he had to say: "Okay."

Huck stood up and said: "This village is poor, and the Son of God has not received a good reception. It is better to leave quickly."

"They respected me very much and even killed a lamb for me." Yang Yan replied.

"Oh?" Huck looked confused and said, "They are so willing. I thought they couldn't come up with good offerings to entertain the Son of God."

"How do you say it?" Yang Yan asked.

"This village is extremely poor. From the outside, it looks like a small village with at most 100 people. The harvest here was not good at the beginning of this year, and life was very difficult." Huck pointed to the dagger carved on the tree, "The tip of the knife There are no scales, and they can't even do knife and scale transactions, which shows that there is a shortage of food. It is only May and they are so poor. Look at the village we went to before. There is milk, wine, grain, and medicinal herbs."

"I guess they don't have many sheep. I've seen this kind of village. The elderly and children must not have enough to eat." Huck said, "They are willing to kill sheep."

Yang Yan remembered what the child said, those who did not work could not eat the sacrifices. It seemed that they would kill sheep only when they were offering sacrifices. He couldn't help but feel uneasy about his conscience. He also thought, if he had to stay one night, wouldn't he have to kill again? Head sheep?Is it okay to live in it?He said hurriedly: "I'll go back to the village first. Are you okay here?"

Huck patted his chest and said, "I'm very good at hunting. Son of God doesn't have to worry about me. I can stay here for a few days."

It was already dusk when Yang Yan returned to the village, and he saw the old people in the village gnawing on the leftover sheep bones that he and Wang Hong had eaten. There was no meat on them, but they still refused to let go.The men in the village returned to the village after finishing their farm work, and they prayed on the ground with the women in the largest square at the entrance of the village.Wuerdin moved a chair and sat at the door, explaining the scriptures to the children in an old voice.

Seeing Yang Yan come in, the villagers knelt down and saluted, looking very pious.Yang Yan quickly asked them to get up, glanced at Wu Erding, and was about to step forward when Wu Erding slowly stood up and walked towards the hut.Yang Yan quickly followed and entered.

"What are the orders from the Son of God?" When Wu Erding saw Yang Yan following him, he was about to kneel down. Yang Yan hurriedly helped him up, saying that the priest was old and there was no need to kneel down.

"Wu Erding's little sacrifice..." Yang Yan hesitated for a while and said, "I'm leaving. Thank you for taking care of me."

Wu Erding said: "The Son of God is still injured and should rest more."

"No." Yang Yan said, "I want to go to Nabu Batu to meet Gulthas as soon as possible."

Wu Erdin closed his eyes and hesitated for a while, then slowly said: "I know you are not the Son of God, you are pretending."

Yang Yan was shocked.

(End of this chapter)