Chapter 40 Chapter 40 He raised the sword in his right hand and chopped off his father’s head…
Hanyu suggested that they rest on the spot. After all, they had been traveling for a whole day, and not only were they tired, but the horses were also exhausted. If they didn't rest well, if they really encountered a wild beast, they would not be able to outrun it and would only become food.
The guards picked up some dry firewood to start a fire. It was a cold and windy night, so the two of them hugged each other to keep warm, while Hanyu huddled together in the carriage and slept alone.
The howling of wolves echoed in her ears from time to time. She couldn't sleep well and tossed and turned until late at night.
In a trance, she dreamed of that night in the cabin on the snowy mountain in her previous life. Hanyu, having drunk the wedding wine, was so drunk that she passed out after only half a cup. When she sobered up, she found herself lying alone on the wedding quilt, her beloved missing.
Hanyu followed the mountain road to look for the missing Ajiang, but ran into an armored army. The scene of the foreign army's invasion three years ago was repeated.
The difference is that the direction this army goes up the mountain is different from that of the past. They seem to be heading towards the place where the tomb-guarding tribe is. She suspected that the people coming now are here to avenge the Central Plains soldiers who died in the snow-capped mountains that year.
On one side is her missing lover, and on the other side are her own people. She is worried that the tomb-guarding clan will be massacred by outsiders, and she is also worried that Ajiang was abducted by this group of people.
When Hanyu mustered up the courage to walk towards the army, she unexpectedly saw that the general sitting on the horse at the head looked very similar to Ajiang.
She shouted from a distance of a hundred meters: "A Jiang! It's me! A Yu."
The general on horseback came following the reputation. He ordered his soldiers to rein in their horses and stop, as if waiting for Hanyu to catch up.
Hanyu chased him all the way to his horse. Now she finally saw the familiar face clearly. She questioned Ajiang, "Ajiang, why did you abandon me last night on our wedding night without saying goodbye? And why were you dressed like that? And who are they?"
The man asked her sternly, "Who is Ah Jiang? You didn't think that the person you married last night was me?"
"Who else could it be if not you? Ah Jiang, have you lost your memory again? Have you forgotten me too? I am your Ah Yu! Ah Jiang, come with me back to the little cabin by the river and you'll see. The bed there is covered with a mandarin duck wedding quilt, two double-happiness red candles are lit at the head of the bed, and the unfinished wedding wine from last night is still on the table!"
"Oh~ So she's the wild girl my brother married? It's a pity that you'll never see your husband again. Not only your A Jiang will die today, but also your people! I will make them all buried with the dead Great Yin soldiers! Hahaha~"
The man laughed wildly towards the sky. He raised his sword in his right hand and commanded the soldiers behind him to charge into the tribe of the tomb keepers, killing everyone they saw without mercy.
Every corner of the Ma Ti Ta Bian tribe was filled with the blood of their fellow tribesmen.
Hanyu cried and searched for her father in the chaotic crowd.
She saw her lame father at the door, searching for her in panic.
"Where is my Ayu?"
"Father!"
Hanyu was just about to run over and take her father to hide, but the man riding a horse behind her galloped past her and stopped in front of her father.
He raised the sword in his right hand and chopped off his father's head.
"No!"
Hanyu suddenly woke up, her whole body soaked in cold sweat, and the dream-like real memories once again hit her fragile heart.
She hugged her cold body tightly and secretly made up her mind that she would never let the tragedy of her previous life happen again in this life, no matter what the ending was for her father or Jiang.
The two guards outside fell asleep by the campfire. Hanyu quietly untied the reins of the horses on the carriage while they were still asleep.
She didn't know how to ride a horse, but she tried to climb onto the horse's back, hunched over it, and slapped the horse's butt hard.
"drive!"
The horse started to gallop, and she grabbed the horse's mane tightly, trying not to fall off. The guards behind her were awakened and found that she was running away, but it was too late for them to catch up.
After a while, the horse carried her out of the jungle.
Hanyu used the stars to identify the direction of the southern border and returned along the original route. The horse ran for a day and a night before entering the territory of the Miao village in southern Xinjiang. Finally, due to exhaustion, it stopped at the entrance of the Miao village.
"Horse, why don't you leave?"
Hanyu clamped her legs around the horse's belly and whipped its back with the reins, but it seemed unable to move anymore. She had no choice but to dismount.
She looked at the alien village in front of her. It seemed strange yet familiar. She felt like she had seen the clothes these people wore somewhere before.
The cowherd at the village entrance saw her and exclaimed, "Who are you? Why did you come to our Miao village?"
The cowherd boy recognized at a glance that her clothes were different from those of the Miao people, and was wary that she was a foreigner with ulterior motives.
"Is this the Miao Village in Southern Xinjiang? Little kid, do you know a woman named Na Zhu?"
"You're a bad guy! I'm going to tell Grandpa!"
The cowherd boy picked up cow dung and threw it at Hanyu, trying to drive her out of the Miao village. Hanyu dodged, but the cow dung was thrown onto her horse. The horse was frightened and ran towards the deserted fields at the entrance of the village.
The cowherd boy quickly took the rope and went back to the village, leaving Hanyu standing there alone, not knowing whether to go into the village first or chase the horse.
As expected, after the cowherd boy returned to the village, he called another group of Miao people over. Seeing that the horses were about to destroy their grain fields, they picked up their hoes to drive the horses away.
Someone saw Hanyu standing at the village entrance, looking around in strange clothes, and walked over to her and questioned her, "Are you that foreign thief? Why are you a weakling? A good man doesn't fight with a woman. If you leave now, I won't pursue you."
"But you've captured my horse. How am I supposed to get away?"
In a nearby grain field, several large Miao men banded together to surround the frightened brown horse, fearing it might go berserk and trample the villagers. One advocated killing it, while another felt the horse could be ridden again and couldn't bear to kill it.
Hanyu looked at the ferocious looks of those people. Although she wanted to save her horse, she didn't dare to get close.
She begged the strong man in front of her to let her into the village: "I'm looking for a Miao friend named Na Zhu. Big brother, do you know where Na Zhu lives?"
The man looked her up and down and recognized that she was wearing clothes from the Central Plains. The Miao people in this village seemed to be very hostile to people from the Central Plains.
Upon hearing the spider's name, the man was even more unwilling to take her into the village and picked up a hoe to drive her out.
"Go, go, go! The person you're looking for isn't here! Go somewhere cooler!"
Just when Hanyu thought that there was no result in entering the village, the cowherd boy came to the village entrance with his grandfather.
He pointed at Hanyu and said to the old man beside him, "Grandpa, look, that's her!"
The old man immediately walked towards Hanyu, and the Miao man respectfully called him "Lao Lai".
"Mr. Lai, why are you here too? This Central Plains woman is trying to sneak into the Miao Village, claiming to be a friend of that ominous witch. I see she has ill intentions and was about to chase her away!"
Old Man Lai's eyesight was not very good. He looked at Hanyu with squinting eyes and asked, "Are you from the Central Plains too?"
Han Yu nodded and replied, "Why do you ask this, old man? Do you know other people from the Central Plains? Then have you ever seen a Central Plains man around twenty years old, wearing a black robe?"
Mr. Lai remained silent, pondering for a while before asking, "Could this girl be 'Ayu'?"
"Yes! Why do you know my nickname?"
"Since it's you, then come with me, girl!"
Hanyu couldn't hide her joy, thinking that she had finally found the right person. In fact, she should thank the cowherd who threw cow dung at her just now.
The Miao man didn't understand what Lai Lao meant and asked him, "But she's a foreigner with unknown origins. Aren't you afraid of causing trouble by letting her in like this?"
"Hey~ She's someone my friend knows, it's okay to let her in."
Hearing him say this, the Miao man didn't dare to refute him even though he didn't understand. However, the cowherd boy kept pestering Lai Lao: "Grandpa, she just bullied me. I don't like her! I don't want her to come into the village!"
This little kid is actually the first to complain? Hanyu immediately refuted him: "It was you who picked up the cow dung and threw it at me! How did I become the one bullying you? Little kid, don't lie! Be careful that if you fall asleep, the foot-pulling woman will take you away!"
The cowherd boy was frightened by her and burst into tears, hiding in Lai Lao's arms.
"Miss Ayu, my grandson is timid, please don't scare him. Children speak without restraint. If there is any offense, I apologize to you on his behalf."
Hanyu quickly explained, "The old man was too serious. I didn't blame him. I was just joking with him."
"Hmph! I don't want to bother with you!"
"Little one, listen to Grandpa. Go home and eat first. Grandpa will be home later."
The unconvinced cowherd boy grumbled, wiped his tears and ran home.
Mr. Lai took Hanyu to a remote and quiet alley. Most of the old houses here were abandoned and there were less than three families living there.
The muddy cobblestone road was covered with patches of moss, and the knee-high weeds on the roadside were covered with spider webs.
"The path is slippery and hard to walk on, but it can hide you from others and prevent them from seeing you. Miss Yu, watch your step and don't slip."
Mr. Lai handed her a wooden crutch, but Hanyu politely declined it.
"I don't need it. By the way, Mr. Lai, there's something I don't understand. That spider isn't an orphan. Her parents are still alive. Why does she live alone in this wilderness?"
"This is a long story, and it involves someone's private affairs, so I'm sorry I can't reveal it."
Old Lai pointed to the thatched cottage with a small fence across the alley and said, "It's just ahead. My friend from the Central Plains can't see anyone right now. Miss A-Yu, please wait outside the yard. I'll go in and let him know."
Hanyu waited obediently by the fence in the yard. Not long after Lai Lao went in, he heard Yin Jinglong's furious voice: "Who told you to bring her here? Get her out! I don't want to see her again!"
"What? I came looking for you out of good intentions, worried that you'd die and no one would come to collect your body, but you don't want to see me?"
He was still as stubborn and hot-tempered as ever, so she shouldn't have worried about that. Hanyu turned around and wanted to leave in anger, but the next second she felt that this was inappropriate and she couldn't act on impulse. Since she was already here, she had to find out what happened that day before leaving.
Without waiting for Mr. Lai to greet her, she pushed the door open and walked in. Unexpectedly, the appearance of the person in front of her surprised her and she was speechless for a long time.
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