Chapter 12 Survivor: His strange eyes were like a deep sea concealing a storm...
I woke up early the next morning, chilled to the bone; the fire in the fireplace had gone out.
Strange noises came from outside the window, so I put on my animal skin coat and opened the window.
A group of men and women wrapped in animal skins were excitedly talking together.
A short-haired girl came in carrying a basin of hot water. From her conversation with Shaling yesterday, we can tell that her name is Aya.
"What are they saying?" I asked, pointing out the window.
"The village chief from the neighboring village came over early this morning." Aya placed the basin of water on the table.
"Is it about the Daibei family incident?" I remember that the neighboring village killed the Daibei family over a roe deer.
"Yes, I heard that the village chief from the neighboring village came to find our village chief before dawn with two other people."
Two people? That's incredibly bold. Isn't it some deep-seated hatred?
“The village chief from the neighboring village knelt down in front of our village chief and said he wanted to apologize on behalf of his son,” Aya said, looking out the window indignantly. “The villagers rushed over to kill them, but when they heard that they were going to compensate us with a generous gift, they put down their knives. The expressions of the village chief and several elders also softened noticeably. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to get revenge, so I wanted to rush out and argue with them, but the aunt next door stopped me and said that men’s matters should be resolved by men. But I was afraid that this matter would be suppressed.”
I was angry, but mostly I felt helpless.
"No, I have to go out and find out more. I have to stop it if there's anything wrong."
Aya ran out the door as fast as she could.
At noon, Aya came over dejectedly with bread and porridge. "The village chief has reached an agreement with the neighboring village. The neighboring village will compensate us with five bags of wheat flour, five bags of sweet potatoes, five bags of potatoes, and five horses, and that will settle the matter once and for all."
In the eyes of these people, food and reproduction are more important than the lives of others. Now, in a year of snow disaster, when compensation can be offered in the form of supplies, the outcome is already predetermined.
As evening fell, the village entrance was bustling with activity. The villagers stood at the crossroads watching as people from the neighboring village drove five carts loaded with apologies into the village.
The drivers were all burly, strong men, each with broad shoulders and thick waists. I then looked at the villagers sitting on the cart; they were all of average build. A question arose in my mind: why was there such a big difference in physique between the drivers and the passengers?
The villagers were thrilled to see so many supplies. The massacre of an entire family was terrifying, but the snowstorm was far worse. What did it matter if a few people died—as long as they could fill their stomachs? As long as they weren't family members.
I suddenly noticed several bags on a cart wriggling a few times, and I quickly asked, "Aren't you going to check these things?"
Aya followed my gaze and said, "These things are usually checked; our village is very strict about them. But today is an apology, and it would be impolite to check them."
Just then, the two bags moved again. Aya saw it too, but didn't think much of it, saying, "The cart is bumping a lot, so the bags will move."
My heart suddenly skipped a beat.
This is a dangerous intuition, stemming from multiple brushes with death.
Moreover, the village chief of the neighboring village only brought two people to the village of the "enemy." Are there really people who are so fearless of death?
My heart suddenly started pounding. I closed my eyes, then opened them again after a while and asked Aya, "Do you have any secluded places around here?"
Aya was taken aback. "What do you mean?"
"I..." I didn't know how to explain, and I was a little flustered. "I just felt that these people had ill intentions, so I wanted to avoid them for a while."
Aya looked surprised. "Sister T, why would you think that?"
"I..." I stammered, when a soft female voice interrupted, "I know a very secluded place, I'll take you there."
It was actually Sha Ling! I was stunned, and Aya was also taken aback.
Sha Ling looked at me calmly and said, "My family has a cellar, which my father built specifically to protect against wild animals that might break into the house."
I was quite surprised. "You believe me?"
The girl who had once pushed me into a cesspool and then bandaged my wounds turned around stiffly and said, "Let's go."
Sha Ling is tall with long legs and walks extremely fast. I had to pull Aya along and jog to catch up with her.
Aya was panting as I pulled her along. "My father might be back today. He's been hunting in the forest with some uncles for days. How can I not go with you?"
"Hurry up and catch up with her!" I didn't have time to explain to her, and quickly caught up with Aya with her...
As the sun set and the last pale red light shone into the hidden gap connecting the cellar and the outer room, an hour had passed, but nothing had happened.
Aya jumped up from the animal skin mat, yelling that she wanted to go back.
Just then, a series of shrill screams suddenly came through the dilapidated walls, and we were all stunned.
Sha Ling was the first to react. She quickly moved a piece of dried animal hide at the corner of the stairs and looked outside through several small holes in the wall.
In the dim, gloomy light of the setting sun, a dozen burly men jumped out from under the sacks and carts, and together with the burly man driving the carts, brandished sharp swords and knives, slashing at the villagers who had opened the rice sacks and were driving the horses...
The villagers were terrified and forgot to react until more than a dozen people fell into pools of blood. They then screamed and scattered in all directions, but the strong men chased and slashed them wildly, and they fell into pools of blood with screams.
These burly men were no ordinary villagers; they were broad-shouldered, muscular, and quick and ruthless in their attacks.
Aya, who was crying uncontrollably, had her mouth tightly covered by Shaling, and she herself shed tears silently.
I was trembling all over.
The entire village turned into a living hell, filled with howls and screams of agony, as one thatched hut after another was set ablaze... Even we, who were in the cellar, could feel the heat.
Thump, thump, thump, heavy footsteps suddenly came from above us. Aya was so frightened that she hid in Shaling's arms, while I huddled tightly against the wall.
The sounds of crashing and banging continued, accompanied by the smashing of heavy objects, kicking of tables and chairs, and shouting and cursing—it was a terrifying scene.
We hugged each other tightly, burying our heads in each other's chests.
The smashing and looting finally stopped after a long time.
We were still holding each other, and after what seemed like forever, we finally drifted off to sleep against the wall...
As the first rays of sunlight streamed in at dawn, the sounds of smashing and looting ceased. We left the cellar, our hearts pounding with fear, and went outside.
The snow-covered landscape was a blood-red mess, littered with corpses and flowing blood.
Aya let out a mournful wail from deep within her throat, rushed over and embraced one corpse after another, weeping uncontrollably. Shaling knelt heavily before several corpses, also letting out a hoarse cry.
I was vomiting violently, almost bringing up bile.
After vomiting, my innate sense of insecurity led me to climb to a high snowdrift. In the dim sunlight, I saw a fierce army approaching in the distance, which scared me so much that I almost fell.
"Quick, all of you come up and take a look!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.
Aya was still crying in the snow, while Shaling wiped away her tears and climbed up the snowdrift. When she saw the dark red flag in the hand of the leading guard, her eyes widened in horror, her body went limp, and she actually tumbled heavily from the high snowdrift to the snow.
"Are you alright?" I quickly slid down the snowdrift and helped Sha Ling up.
Ignoring her own pain, Sha Ling grabbed my hand and said in a trembling voice, "Quick, we have to run! The master of another territory is attacking with his army..."
***
In the freezing cold, heavy snow fell, covering the castle on the steep cliff with a thick layer of white.
The castle was built on a huge rock, making it exceptionally sturdy. The inner and outer walls, moat, main and secondary towers were also carved and built on stone, making it extremely strong in defense.
Inside the simple main hall, built entirely of gray and white stone bricks, the underfloor heating was burning brightly, and the warmth remained undiminished despite the countless snowflakes drifting in through the open arched stained-glass windows.
But the atmosphere in the castle was still so cold and suffocating.
It wasn't until a handsome man, as radiant as the sun, appeared and illuminated the gloomy castle that half of the chill was dispelled.
His exquisite features were like the work of a god, his perfect lines seemingly crafted by divine hands, delicate yet radiant.
His strange eyes were like a deep, stormy sea, shifting between transparent blue and a faint, hidden gold that resembled hellfire, burning people to ashes.
Two veiled maids smiled sweetly and tried to drape a black fox fur cloak over him, who was only dressed in black riding attire.
But his eyes were fierce and cold. He waved his hand, and the maids, holding their cloaks, shrank back. He took the iron helmet handed to him by his subordinate, nimbly mounted a tall horse, and galloped away.
A large group of armored cavalry, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately followed closely behind and charged out of the castle together...
They sped along, without stopping, for several hours before finally arriving at the town closest to the village where the entire family had been wiped out.
“My lord,” the burly head guard approached the silver-haired man’s horse, which had just stopped, “night is approaching, and a blizzard is expected to blow tonight. Please rest in town for the night, my lord.”
The silver-haired beauty, whose face was covered by an iron helmet, asked with an inscrutable expression, "Has it already been occupied?" He was naturally referring to the village that had just been destroyed.
The lead guard paused for a moment before answering, "Yes."
"Is Rosie still in this area?" The silver-haired man's voice carried a suffocatingly deep killing intent.
"exist."
"Great, excellent."
***
As night deepened, snow began to fall heavily. In the smallest room of the town's inn, Sha Ling and I sat around the warm fireplace, talking, while Aya was already asleep.
We arrived in this small town on two black horses that had escaped from the village. We rode non-stop all night until dawn before entering the town. Shaling had some money on her, which allowed us to check into this simple inn.
“What you just saw was the army of another territory's owner, trying to seize our village,” Sha Ling explained to me. “Our village is located on the border of our territory and has a super strong defensive barrier. Outsiders absolutely cannot get in. If it weren't for the Daibei family's matter, our villagers would not have opened the barrier.”
After finishing her sentence, Sha Ling added, "The neighboring village is located in the wilderness and does not belong to any territory. We dared to let them in because we thought they had no ulterior motives."
I asked, "So, this might be a case of the people from the neighboring village colluding with another lord, using the deer to stir up trouble, but actually trying to get through the defensive barrier?"
“Yes.” Sha Ling suppressed her anger. “They probably have their eyes on our village. Their village is barren.”
"Isn't anyone going to take care of this? Where is your lord?"
Suddenly, Sha Ling fell silent, and no matter what I said, she wouldn't say another word.
A note from the author:
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