spring flowers

Chapter 4
The sky is high and the land is wide, the forests are all dyed, and the geese in the south are chasing the wind.

For the soldiers trained in Yan Kingdom, this is an exciting weather; for hunters, this is a season that heralds a good harvest; and hope, while also facing the irresistible disposition of death.

But for Meilin, it was definitely a miserable day.If it is said that those South Vietnamese had to be driven by the Yan army because they were captured and became their training aids, then she was just a little maid in the palace, why would she be treated like this?

Sitting on the branch of a pine tree with luxuriant foliage, Mei Lin picked a pine cone and peeled the pine nuts layer by layer, thinking of Muye Luomei, Murong Jing, and even the dark factory and the owner of the dark factory. I scolded him all over again.

It turned out that Makino Luomei's so-called game was to put those captives into the forest, and only allowed them to escape into the forest. After two hours, her soldiers went into the forest to hunt them down, and rewarded them by counting their heads.As for Meilin, according to Makino Luomei, she wants to know how a person who does not know martial arts can survive in a dangerous situation, which will help her conduct targeted training for soldiers.

Isn't it because he came out of the forest without any damage that time and was suspected.Mei Lin pursed her lips, feeling a little helpless.Thinking that before entering the forest, Makino Luomei called her aside and murmured something, seeing that she didn't respond, she immediately showed a weird smile and said, "You'd better pray from now on that you won't be caught by Ben .”

Even if he didn't realize it at that time, after such a long time, Mei Lin should have realized that the fact that he didn't know Xiyan language had been exposed.The words that Makino Luomei said at that time were not in Xiyan language, even if they didn't understand it, they can guess it now when they think about it carefully.It seems that this time it is impossible not to escape.

As for Murong Jing and...

She shook her head and threw this person out of her mind, and her eyes fell on the sun that had climbed through the mid-heaven and fell to the west, knowing that the soldiers should have been chasing.Before entering the mountain forest, she carefully looked at those soldiers, and she knew from the spirit and spirit they showed that they were not ordinary soldiers. If they wanted to compete with them, even if they had to walk for two hours first, they would not be able to compare.So she didn't hurry like other captives, but wiped away the traces left by herself as she walked.But...she suddenly thought of the sea holly that Murong Xuanlie was carrying, and couldn't help but look into the sky.

The sky was blue, and apart from a few wisps of floating clouds, there were no traces of birds, which made her slightly relieved.

Knock open a pine nut and taste the oily core meat inside, and the aroma permeates the tongue.

It's good to be alive.Mei Lin sighed.Passing through the branches and leaves blocking him, he saw two naked men limping over the rock supporting each other.She remembered that they were running ahead of her, and they seemed to have lost their way, otherwise, how could they come back again?
Just when she was considering whether to point them out, she suddenly heard the sound of screaming, and a white light pierced through the air. It shot into the neck of one of them with a "thud", and then penetrated the other, linking the two together. Together.

The pine nut in Mei Lin's hand fell, and she subconsciously held her breath, not daring to move.A moment later, a man in armor appeared in her field of vision, pulled out his knife with a "swipe", chopped off the heads of the two, and tied them around his waist.

Mei Lin closed her eyes silently, so as not to arouse his vigilance due to her own gaze.After a long time, when I opened it again, the man had disappeared.She knew that if those two people hadn't drawn his attention away, her head would probably have hung on that person's waist at this moment.

Finally seeing the strength of Makino Luomei's generals, the sense of crisis in her heart immediately rose sharply.The only hope now is that the sun will go down sooner.No matter how powerful those people are, they will be more or less affected by the darkness and the crisis hidden in the dark forest.With her current strength, it is impossible to escape from the forest, so she can only go around in circles with them until tomorrow.

Makino Luomei stipulated that the time for the soldiers to return to the camp was the next morning, as long as she survived that time, she would be able to gain temporary safety.

A bag of pine nuts was tied around his waist, Meilin noticed that no one else was approaching, and quickly slid down the tree, trying to hide in another place, but just as his feet touched the ground, a chuckle suddenly sounded from behind .She froze and turned around slowly.

At some point, Makino Luomei stood on a rock not far away, pointing at her with a crossbow.

"Sure enough, it's not that simple. I was able to avoid this general's subordinates." The contemptuous tone, the murderous look that cannot be ignored.

Meilin smiled wryly, knowing that it was impossible for him to resist in front of this woman, he simply sat on the ground leaning on the tree, and couldn't help lamenting his ruined martial arts again in his heart.

"General Mei, kill as you want, I don't want to run away." She smiled a little at this, and her laughter was full of sarcasm, "You are a great general and a hero, and you condescend to play tricks on us who have nothing to do with you." A person who has no resistance and a low status is really capable."

One sentence made Makino Luomei's face turn red and turn white, and murderous intent flickered in his eyes, but the crossbow in his hand hung down, and he said with a sneer: "For a spy, this general should pay attention to benevolence, righteousness and courtesy... Humph, if not You women, how did Jinghe end up like this?" She gritted her teeth in the last sentence, obviously this was the real reason why she wanted to kill Meilin.

Mei Lin smiled, feeling that this reason really made people feel innocent, she spread her hands helplessly, "There is nothing wrong with inflicting crimes, the most favored servants in the Jing Palace are definitely not slaves. If the general really thinks about the prince, why not Marry him directly, then you can directly restrain him. Besides, with the prince's feelings for the general, how can he put his mind on other women at that time?" She shifted the question away from the spies without a trace, After all, no matter whether the other party has evidence or not, it is not a good thing for her.

Makino Luomei didn't know if she had been aroused. The sharp eyes that were originally like thorns were soft, and seemed to be thinking about her words. She didn't want to suddenly see her looking directly at her back, raised her eyebrows, and held her hand. The crossbow was raised again, "Don't think about it, Jinghe is not here. Even if he is, it can't stop Ben from killing you."

Meilin once again felt her whole body covered by murderous aura, and her back stiffened involuntarily, but she still looked disheartened on the surface.She raised her hand to cover her eyes, and the face of her begging the man to be indifferent appeared in front of her eyes. Her heart shrank slightly, and she laughed at herself and said: "I don't dare to expect extravagance. The prince wants to please the general, how can he stop it?" Even though she was gentle and loving one moment, but turned ruthless the next moment, that man opened her eyes.Compared with him, the heads of instructors in the dark factory are nothing compared to him.

Obviously because of her words, she recalled the scene in the morning. Makino Luomei was in a good mood suddenly, flipped her wrist, hung the crossbow vertically by her leg, and said with a smile: "If you kneel down and beg, I might consider letting you go once." .”

The bullying and contempt were obvious, but Mei Lin was not angry. He smiled silently, and put down his hands covering his eyes, "General Mei leads a thousand troops, and he always promises what he says. Of course, he won't regret what he said." As she said that, without giving Muye Luomei a chance to repent, she turned over and stood up, then kneeled down solemnly with a "plop", and kowtowed several times in a row.

"General Mei, you are a hero among women, a heroine, please spare the life of your servant."

It's not that Muye Luomei, who is greedy for life and afraid of death, has never met someone as brazen as Meilin, who is actually too lazy to put on a show.It's just that the words she said couldn't be taken back, she was stunned, as if a breath was stuck in her chest, not only did she not feel the slightest pleasure of trampling someone under her feet, but she also felt suffocated and wanted to vent a lot .

However, her reaction was considered quick, with a movement of her wrist, two arrows shot out of the crossbow, and they were shot on Meilin's left shoulder and right leg, which was about to stand up, causing her to kneel down to the ground again.

"I only said to let you go once, but I didn't say to let you get out." Makino Luomei said indifferently, but her expression couldn't hide her pride in winning the round.

Meilin knelt on the ground, lowered her head and waited quietly for the severe pain in her shoulders and legs to subside, and she didn't know if she listened to what the other party said.It wasn't until the dizziness caused by the severe pain and exhaustion passed that she supported the big pine tree beside her and got up from the ground again.

"My servant thanked the general for not killing me." She raised her head and looked at Muye Luomei calmly, then limped towards the depths of the forest.

Makino Luomei froze in place, watching her getting further and further away, those dark and dull eyes repeatedly appeared in his mind, and suddenly he couldn't remember why he targeted a woman who didn't know martial arts like this.

The night was dark, starless and moonless, and the bad weather of the next day could be foreseen.

Meilin's back was close to the uneven mountain wall, hoping to use the coolness of the rocks to reduce the burning sensation in her body.The arrowhead had been pulled out, herbal medicine was applied, and the wound that had been roughly treated was throbbing and throbbing, and even the drowsy head was burning with pain.She knew that she was running a fever, so she didn't dare to let herself go to sleep, fearing that she would never wake up again if she fell into a deep sleep, so she grabbed a sharp stone tightly with her hand, and when she was about to lose it, she stabbed herself hard. Stay sane with this.

This is a cave on a slope.After escaping from Muye Luomei, she held her breath and went to a place with lush forests and bushes, not daring to stop.Just because Makino Luomei let her go, doesn't mean her subordinates will let her go.She no longer has the strength to remove the traces left by herself, so she can only try her best to go to the place where she can't use bow and arrow and light kung fu.

Even so, the blood loss and pain still made her lose her usual vigilance, and she stepped on the ground while running, and rolled down the slope.Although he fell in a mess, he also discovered this mid-mountain cave that was covered by long grass and tree roots.Don't say that she has no energy to continue running, even if she can escape, she probably won't be able to escape the pursuit of those soldiers who are skilled in field warfare. She is naturally adventurous, so she hides and waits for Muye Luomei to withdraw her troops.

Fortunately, no one noticed until nightfall.Unfortunately, she didn't have the skill to protect her body, and her resistance was not as good as before. This experience, which was not a big deal before, made her have a fever.

The parched throat, burning breath, and the unspeakable pain and exhaustion all over her body were tormenting her, eroding her will.

In a daze, Mei Lin seemed to see the spring flowers all over the mountains and fields again, and the dense rain intertwined, making the blossoms white and beautiful.The fresh air surrounds the body with the unique rich fragrance of flowers in February, making people want to sleep like this and never wake up again.

The fingers holding the stone moved and finally lifted up, as if using all the strength of the whole body, but in fact they were limply stuck on the wound on the thigh.The pain cleared the mind for a while, and the heaviness of the body came up again, and something was eager to get rid of this prisoner-like skin and burst out.

What does your mother look like?She grasped a trace of clarity and tried hard to fight against the desire to give up. Suddenly, she thought of this question that she had never allowed herself to think about before, and then felt that her whole body was suffering from the inside out, and she was eager to know the answer like never before.

Why not her?It didn't matter where she came from, whether she had a family like everyone else's, whether there were brothers and sisters in the family.She just wanted to know what her mother looked like.Just want to know this, nothing more...

no more...

In the darkness, Mei Lin's cracked lips opened, whispering softly, but no sound came out, maybe even she herself didn't know what she was whispering.

Maybe this time it won't make it through.Just when this thought popped up in her mind, which was no longer sober, she suddenly heard a muffled "bang", as if something hit the tree trunk, and even the rock above her head seemed to be shaken .The sense of crisis made her wake up all of a sudden, and she unconsciously restrained her heavy breathing.

She tried her best to concentrate and hold her breath, but she didn't hear any sound for a long time.Just when her consciousness was about to drift away again, a whimper suddenly pierced through the growing chaos in her mind, causing her heart to tremble.

The rustling sobs kept going, making the already uncomfortable Meilin become irritable, she didn't want to care about it, and was afraid of hurting herself.As a last resort, she had no choice but to crawl out with her body, which was already reaching its limit, and found the black shadow on it, regardless of its head or feet, grabbed it and dragged it down.

She didn't have much strength, but she made the man scream in fright. From the voice, it could be heard that it was a teenager whose voice was changing.

"Shut up!" Meilin felt a splitting headache, and when she drank, she realized that her voice was hoarse, like sand.

The boy was so frightened that he immediately fell silent, and wanted to ask who the other party was, but he couldn't open his mouth, stopped crying, and swayed uncontrollably.

"Come with me if you don't want to die." Meilin tried, and found that she didn't have the strength to drag this half-baby at all, so she could only threaten in a low voice.

The boy didn't know whether he was scared out of his wits or realized that the other party had no malicious intentions, so he obediently followed her back to the cave below.It wasn't until he sat down against the stone wall and didn't hear any other movement for a long time that he realized that the other party was trying to save him.Grateful in his heart, he couldn't help trembling and asked: "Big...Brother, where...where are you from?" He thought, they were both running for their lives, and they might not know each other.He didn't realize that he took the other party as a prisoner of war like him for granted.

Meilin didn't answer, probably because there was one more person, she felt better, reached out her hand to her waist, touched a few pine cones and threw them on the boy.

The boy was hit several times, although it was not heavy, but he immediately shut up, thinking that he made her angry.After a while, he quietly picked up an object that fell on him, touched it, and put it to the tip of his nose to sniff it suspiciously.

"Peel off... the pine nuts..." Meilin had never seen such a silly child, and he endured it, but finally couldn't hold it back, and reminded him with some difficulty.

The young man fled for a whole day without eating anything, and was dizzy from hunger. When he heard that he was eating, he didn't care about the scales and scratched his hands, so he shook his head sullenly.He groped for the pine cones that had fallen on the ground beside him, and picked out every single pine nut inside.

"Brother, you eat." Just when Mei Lin was about to fall asleep in a drowsy state, he touched her carefully with one hand and said.

It turned out that the boy had been holding back all the time, until he peeled off all of it, and handed it to her first.

Meilin's eyelids were already so heavy that she could hardly hold them up, and when she felt the other party's touch, she just groaned dully, unable to respond.The young man waited for a long while, seeing that she didn't respond, he withdrew his hand and knocked on his precious place.

So in the quiet cave, I heard the sound of creaking and rattling. Although it was a little noisy, at least it would not make people get lost in the darkness.

After knocking all the pine nuts in his hand, the young man smacked his lips with insatiable desire, and listened attentively to the movement around him. Apart from the heavy breathing of the person opposite, there was no other sound.His panic-stricken heart finally settled down, so he shrank back and curled up into a ball to sleep.

I don't know when it started to rain outside, and the autumn rain hit the branches and grass leaves, making a rustling sound.Probably because the opening of the cave is low and the space is not large, it is not cold in the cave where two people are crowded.Breathing sounds with different frequencies come and go, as if they finally have a dependence.Just when everything returned to calm, there was a "bang", as if something had slammed into the big tree above, shaking the soil between the rocks and falling from the top of the head.

The two who had not fallen asleep were startled, and opened their eyes at the same time, even in the dark, they could feel the shock in each other's hearts.

The rain became heavier and heavier, and there was no sound from the top of the cave, and the boy couldn't sit still.

"Brother, I'll go and take a look." He was worried that if the other companions were injured, if they were to be drenched in the rain like this, it would be bad luck.

"En." Mei Lin was also a little uneasy, thinking to himself: Could it be that someone stumbled and fell from the top again?If it's true, I'm afraid it won't be able to hide here for a long time.

The boy went out, and not long after, another person was dragged back.The night was gloomy, and she couldn't see anything. Meilin just felt that the cold rain and fog were brought in, which made her shiver involuntarily.

"He's not dead yet." The boy said, rubbing the man's cold hands and feet hard, "His clothes are soaked, and he doesn't know where the injury is."

Meilin was silent, feeling that being yelled at by people like this, the discomfort on her body seemed not as unbearable as before.Her body was still hot, and her wound was still throbbing, but now she was not alone, and the darkness could no longer obliterate her silently.

"It's too cold, he will die if it goes on like this..." The young man murmured, and then there was a rustling voice, "I took off his wet clothes. Brother, let's squeeze together, It's warmer this way." As he said, he dragged the silent man towards Mei Lin.

Mei Lin didn't dodge it, and after roughly judging that the person brought in last was not dangerous, she really moved her body and leaned towards him, pinching that person with the boy on the left and right.At this time, she doesn't mind passing on her scalding body temperature to others.

A hand as thin as a chicken's claw stretched out from there, wrapping around her shoulders, making the three of them lean closer together.The wound on the shoulder was grabbed, and severe pain came in wave after wave, but Mei Lin gritted her teeth and didn't make a sound.One is that the pain can keep her awake, and the other is the feeling of sharing life with others, which makes her yearn for it.

However, this feeling is broken when the skylight shines into the cave.

It was probably because the people around her absorbed the excess body temperature. At dawn, the fever on Meilin's body had subsided, and the hand holding her shoulder had slipped off because of the heavy sleep of the master, and it lay softly on the body of the person in the middle.

She stayed up all night.The quiet dawn made it possible to see things vaguely in the cave. She turned her somewhat stiff eyes and saw clearly the person she was snuggling with all night, and her complexion became extremely ugly in an instant.

She closed her eyes and opened them again, which proved that she was not dreaming.Clenching her hands unconsciously, she took two deep breaths, then moved aside silently, hiding herself in the shadow deep in the cave.

Murong Jinghe.The pale and unconscious person turned out to be Murong Jinghe.

This is really a big joke!

Mei Lin lost her composure, for a moment she didn't know how to deal with the current situation.Maybe she should leave here immediately, or take this opportunity to kill him...

The rain was still pattering outside the cave, and the ticking sound hit Meilin's fragile nerves, making her feel like a splitting headache again.As a dead soldier, killing people is very normal, so she can completely kill the man who caused her to fall into such a field.Just like yesterday morning, in the face of her pleading, he did not and did not soften his heart in the slightest.

Thinking in a mess in her heart, the flustered emotions finally calmed down gradually, and she crawled towards the entrance of the cave.

The rain dripping down the grass blades fell into her thirsty mouth, which made her feel a little better, and took a few breaths of fresh air around the cave before she sat down on the spot and turned her head to look coldly at the person in the cave. two people.

The sallow-faced and thin boy lay beside Murong Jinghe, apparently exhausted from running away for a day, and slept soundly.Although his face is dirty and his clothes are ragged, it can still be seen from the childish eyebrows that he will not be more than 15 years old.

Since he was able to escape yesterday, he will be able to survive in the future...

The rustling sound of the grass blades swaying into the ears interrupted Meilin's meditation.A dark brown oblate snake head came out of the grass beside the hole, stared at two black eyes, stretched out its beard twice, then slid into the hole wagging its head, exposing the child's wrist-thick body.

Meilin sat there, looking at it calmly, clenched her fists, her throat moved involuntarily.Just as the black snake slid onto her leg that was blocking the road, the hands that were hanging on the sides of her body suddenly stretched out. One hand was stuck three inches away from the snake, and the other grabbed its body, wrapping her arm around the snake's tail in shock. At that time, he bit the snake's seven inches above.

Ignoring the snake's struggle and the increasing tension of the snake's tail, the teeth tightened, tightened... until the cold snake's skin was pierced, and warm blood flowed into her mouth.

The snake tail finally loosened slowly, with occasional convulsions, and then finally hung down softly.

Snapped!A dead snake four or five feet long was thrown on the ground. Meilin almost collapsed and leaned against the rock wall, closing her eyes and gasping for breath. The unhealed wound on her left shoulder oozes blood again.

After drinking a stomach full of snake blood, the physical strength exhausted by blood loss, hunger, high fever, etc. was finally replenished, and the body gradually warmed up.Slowing down a bit, she opened her eyes, only to meet a pair of clear black eyes full of fear.

The young man woke up, obviously he saw the scene of Mei Lin biting the snake, or in other words, he was most likely awakened by that noise.

Meilin thought for a while, reached out to pick up the snake on the ground and threw it in front of him, said calmly: "Eat it." Although pine nuts are a good thing, but after all, the amount is too small, it really can't play a big role in filling hunger.

The young man shivered in fright, shrank towards Murong Jing who was still in a coma, and stammered: "You...you are..." He never imagined that a woman would appear at any time, and she was also a fierce woman. Incomparable woman.

Meilin lowered his eyelids, not incapable of explaining, but he really had no desire to speak, and didn't want to waste his energy, so he took out two more pine cones from his still bulging waist and threw them on the boy, while he crawled over and dragged the dead snake away. back.His eyes searched the cave, and finally fell on Murong Jinghe's lap.

Crawl over again, take down a dagger from above, and pull out the fancy-shaped sheath. The thin blade is glowing with snow, and it looks like a good thing.

Sitting back where she was, she began to deal with the dead snake sullenly.Snake skin, cut snake head, dissect snake belly to remove internal organs...

"You...You...Big...Brother?" While she was doing all this, the young man finally regained his composure, and picked up the pine cone on his body blankly, with an expression of disbelief.

Meilin glanced at him, but still didn't speak, picked a few semi-yellow and not green broad leaves at the entrance of the cave and spread them out in front of her, cut the snake meat into slices and placed them on top, and dug up the snake skin and bones on the spot A hole is buried to avoid attracting ants and other things.

Cooked snake meat may be delicious, but raw snake meat is never flattering.The young man looked hesitantly at the white snake meat in front of him, then at Mei Lin who was chewing silently, he couldn't help swallowing, trying to suppress the rising nausea, forcing himself to pick up a piece of putrid meat. into the mouth.However, before he started chewing, the cold and creamy feeling with a strong fishy smell immediately made him spit it out with a "wow".

Seeing him mouthful after mouthful, almost spitting out bile, Mei Lin couldn't help but frowned, stepped forward to take back the snake meat, and then threw all the pine cones on her body to him.

"Yes... I'm sorry, Big... Big... Elder Sister..." The young man wiped his mouth with his sleeve, his beautiful eyes were full of tears, and he blamed himself so much that he was about to cry.

"It's okay." Mei Lin finally spoke, although her voice was better than yesterday, but it was still hoarse, which made the boy immediately affirm that she was the one who took him in last night.

She wrapped the rest of the snake meat tightly with grass leaves, put it into her arms, poked her head out to see the rain that was still falling, and looked back at Murong Jinghe, who had been unconscious for some reason, and then Climb outside.

"Sister, where are you going?" The young man was taken aback when he saw this, and immediately stopped stuttering.

"Run for your life! Are you going to stay here forever?" Meilin said without turning her head. After thinking for a while, she reminded him, "You should leave here quickly too! You may be in trouble if you are late." At this time, those soldiers should He was rushing back to report to Makino Luomei.If they found out that Murong Jinghe was missing, they would probably search the entire mountain forest, or even block it, and they would be unable to escape even if they wanted to.

"But... Sister, Sister..." The young man looked at Murong Jinghe who fell to the side, ignoring the pine cones all over the floor, he climbed up and grabbed Meilin's ankle with a movement more sensitive than a mouse.

"What are you doing?" Mei Lin couldn't move forward, and looked back with a frown.

"Sister, don't leave me behind." The boy was crying, his eyes were red, and his face was full of grievances.

Mei Lin was a little stunned, she didn't expect that he would want to be with her.I have also worked with other companions to overcome difficulties before, but usually they will separate after achieving their goals, and they will never be tied to each other.For her, this was the case last night, she gave him a hand, and he helped her survive the most dangerous night, even if she was still dying after dawn, she would not complain if he left alone .Similarly, when she was about to leave, she didn't think of calling him.

"Let's go." After thinking for a while, Meilin felt that his movements were quick and there was no harm in the two of them walking together, so she nodded.

The young man was overjoyed when he heard the words, with a bright smile on his face, dazzling everyone.

"You wait for me." He said, and then quickly returned to the position where he lay before, busy for a while.

Meilin saw that he was going to clean up the pine cones on the ground, so she looked away, first climbed outside and sat under the big tree to wait, and didn't take a second look at Murong Jinghe who was lying inside without knowing his personnel.If it was said that her mind was fluctuating because of his inexplicable infatuation in the past two days, it was completely destroyed yesterday.He didn't do her any favors, and she didn't do him any wrong, so his life and death had nothing to do with her.

The rain seemed to be getting heavier, penetrating through the still thick leaves above her head and hitting her with a few drops from time to time, but it didn't affect her good mood after eating.She stretched out her hand to catch the rainwater, slowly washed the blood on it, and then looked at the mountains and forests shrouded in rain and fog, thinking about the escape route.

"Sister, let's go." The boy's voice came from below, with a slight gasp in his voice.

Meilin looked down, her face turned green immediately.

The young man was standing below, with Murong Jinghe, who was much taller than him, on his back. His face was flushed, but his eyes were full of incomprehensible joy.

(End of this chapter)