Chapter 47 Red Eagle 4 "Can two men get married now?"...
Zhu Song drove the carriage to the grassland outside the dense forest. It was still a while before dawn, and the two of them sat leaning against each other outside the carriage.
Wen Fengxuan was exhausted and leaned on Zhu Song's shoulder. "Do we have to wait another month before we meet again?"
Zhu Song replied honestly: "I don't know."
Wen Fengxuan himself doesn’t know, how could he know.
Wen Fengxuan chuckled and asked with interest, "Hey, the antidote, which one do you prefer, me or them?"
When he said this, he tilted his head, with the tip of his nose touching Zhu Song's neck. His breath was so hot that it almost cooked Zhu Song's neck.
Zhu Song didn't answer directly. He looked up at the moonlight and said, "I sound like you'll like me."
Wen Fengxuan said: "That's not necessarily true."
Zhu Song didn't answer, so Wen Fengxuan continued, "What would you do if you really fell in love with her?"
Zhu Song said: "Then you have to ask yourself."
Not getting the answer he wanted, Wen Fengxuan turned his head away and snorted arrogantly, "You can rest assured, I don't like you, ever."
This made Zhu Song smile, "Yeah, I'm relieved."
"I'm sleepy and want to go to sleep." Wen Fengxuan said in his usual cold and arrogant tone.
Zhu Song hugged his shoulders and said, "Go to sleep."
After Wen Fengxuan fell asleep, Zhu Song softly added, "See you in a month."
The morning sun breaks through the clouds and mist and shines on the earth. The golden sunlight is like a misty floating brocade. The tiny dust particles surge and roll in the golden river, never stopping.
"hiss."
Zhu Song opened his eyes only after hearing a sound in the carriage. The sunlight was so bright that he took a moment to adjust.
Zhu Song responded, opened the curtain, stuck his head out and asked, "What's wrong?"
The passion faded, and Wen Fengxuan's face turned pale. His voice was still hoarse. He looked at Zhu Song suspiciously, "What happened last night?"
Zhu Song replied calmly, "Yesterday I mistook wine for water. The young master drank a whole pot and was drunk all night."
Wen Fengxuan frowned, "Nothing else?"
Zhu Song asked, "Sir, are you feeling unwell?"
Wen Fengxuan frowned and said carefully, "I don't feel very comfortable at all."
Zhu Song said, "It seems he can't sleep on such a hard board."
Wen Fengxuan seemed to be convinced by Zhu Song, "It should be."
Zhu Song secretly breathed a sigh of relief, "Let's go to the village for breakfast. The young master is taking a rest."
"Um."
Zhu Song looked at Wen Fengxuan's cold face. It was clearly the same face, but the feeling was completely different from the man last night. It was only when he saw Wen Fengxuan sitting sideways and not daring to sit upright that he felt that they were indeed the same person.
Zhu Song got out of the car and was about to leave when suddenly a beggar appeared from nowhere, with messy hair and muttering to himself.
"The red eagle flies on the ground, and people dance in the sky."
"The red eagle flies on the ground, and people dance in the sky."
The beggar danced around Zhusong twice, then ran away clapping his hands.
Zhu Song's heart trembled, and he immediately jumped off the carriage and chased after him, grabbing his shoulders and saying, "Wait."
The beggar's body suddenly froze, and then he let out an earth-shattering cry, "Ah, help, help, they're eating people, they're eating people."
Zhu Song quickly asked, "What do you mean?"
But the beggar was obviously terrified and just kept shouting "Help."
The two of them were in a stalemate for a while, and Wen Fengxuan leaned out of the car window and said, "He must be from the village if he's hanging around here. Let's go to the village and ask around and we'll find out what happened."
Zhu Song thought it made sense, but just in case, he knocked the beggar unconscious with a slap, threw him into the car, and then drove away.
After walking for about an incense stick, we arrived at the village entrance. There was a boundary marker at the entrance with the four large characters "Shimozi Village" written on it in the official font.
During the busy farming season, everyone goes to work in the fields in the cool morning. At this time, the only people left in the village are the elderly and children who are unable to work.
Few outsiders visited the village, so Zhu Song's appearance immediately attracted attention. Seeing an elderly man with white hair and beard eating from a large bowl under the eaves, Zhu Song got out of the car and walked over. "Old man, we are from Ninglang and are passing through here. We would like to buy a meal. Is it convenient for you?"
The old man looked to be in his seventies or eighties, but he was still very strong. He replied, "What's wrong with that? It's fine as long as the noble people don't mind eating simple food."
Zhu Song replied: "I don't mind, as long as I can eat my fill."
The old man said, "Come inside."
Zhu Song took the opportunity to ask, "On the way here, we met a beggar who was chanting something about a red eagle. I tried to talk to him, but he fainted out of fright. Is he from the village?"
The old man then noticed the paralyzed man in the carriage and said, "Just put him on the ground. Don't worry about him. He will wake up on his own soon."
"Then let him stay in the carriage." Zhu Song still couldn't do the thing of throwing the man to the ground, so he just made him submit a little, and then helped Wen Fengxuan out of the carriage.
Wen Fengxuan was dressed in green and had a conical hat on his head. He looked frail and weak, and since he was not feeling well, his walking posture was not right, so the old man mistook him for a woman and thought they were a couple.
During the conversation, he asked, "How did you and your wife come to our remote village?"
Because he was wearing a bamboo hat, Zhu Song couldn't see Wen Fengxuan's expression, but he quickly clarified the misunderstanding, "Old man, you misunderstood. We are not husband and wife."
The old man continued to ask: "Not married yet?"
Zhu Song said: "No, he is not a woman, he is a man."
The old man was a little surprised when he heard his words. "Can two men get married now?" He sighed and said, "The world changes so fast."
"No, we are not husband and wife, and we have no plans to get married. We are just friends."
The old man understood, "Oh, now two men still can't get married?"
Zhu Song gave up the idea of explaining to him and asked instead, "Is there any porridge?"
The old man replied, "Yes, it's too hot today. I can't eat without porridge."
As they were talking, they came to the main hall and the old man said, "Please sit down. I will serve you some food."
Zhu Song said, "I'll help."
The old man did not refuse.
When serving the rice, Zhu Song saw a large pot of rice and asked, "Old man, are there so many people in your family? Why cook so much rice?"
The old man replied, "You can tell he's the son of a wealthy family. There's a lot of work to do in the fields these days, so cooking one meal means we can have several more, which saves us a lot of trouble."
Zhu Song frowned, "It's so hot, won't the food go bad if you eat too much?"
The old man said, "It's a little smelly, but it won't kill you." Then he quickly explained, "But don't worry, this is freshly cooked this morning."
Zhu Song laughed and didn't continue speaking.
Porridge, pickles, and a piece of fried pumpkin were served on the table. The old man said, "You guys eat. I'll go eat outside."
Zhu Song quickly said, "No need."
The old man looked at Wen Fengxuan and said, "I'd better go out."
Wen Fengxuan said: "It doesn't matter."
Finally, the old man went to the door. Zhu Song brought the meal and sat with him on the threshold, eating and chatting. "Old man, what is the red eagle that the beggar mentioned?"
The old man said, "Oh, there is no red eagle. He is just a madman."
"Madman?" Zhu Song guessed, "Was he frightened to death by the red eagle?"
The old man replied: "The savages are frightened mad."
Zhu Song asked, "Are there still wild people here?"
"Well, go east after leaving the village. There is a wild man forest. There are wild men in the forest."
As the conversation went on, the old man told the whole story, "Before Chunsheng went crazy, he was the best hunter in the village. He never missed a target when he went out. But ten years ago, he went to the wild man forest and disappeared for half a month. Everyone thought he was eaten by the wild men, but he suddenly came back half a month later, and kept shouting something like 'Red eagles fly on the ground, and people dance in the sky.'
We know he must have encountered wild people. Alas, although he saved his life, he became crazy and mad. I don't know whether it is good or bad. Since he went crazy, his wife ran away with someone else, and his children call someone else their father. It's also a sin. "
Zhu Song expressed sympathy for these tragic events but was not interested. He asked, "Besides Chunsheng, has anyone else seen the wild men?"
The old man shook his head. "The legend of the Savage Forest has been passed down for generations. No one would risk their life there. Chunsheng doesn't believe in evil. If he goes there and it turns out like this, no one will dare to go there anymore."
Zhu Song then asked, "Besides 'The red eagle flies on the ground, and people dance in the sky,' did Chunsheng say anything else?"
The old man still shook his head and said, "No, I've been reciting these two sentences for ten years." Then he asked Zhu Song, "You don't want to go, do you?"
Zhu Song smiled and said, "To be honest, old man, I want to write down what I saw and heard during this trip into a travelogue. I haven't encountered anything so bizarre along the way, so I'm curious."
"You want to write a book?" The old man looked surprised. "I was the one who told you about the Savage Forest. You must write me in the book. My name is He Cangnan."
Zhu Song promised, "I will definitely write you into my book."
The old man was afraid that he would not remember his name, so he repeated it again, "He Cangnan, Cang of Canghai, Nan of South Bank. You must remember it."
Zhu Song said: "Remember, He Cangnan."
The news had been heard, and after breakfast, Zhu Song and Wen Fengxuan returned to the market in Ganning Township.
It was already past noon when the two returned to the inn. Wen Fengxuan was listless and had returned to his room without saying anything. Zhu Lingye and the other two had been waiting for them in the lobby since this morning. Noticing the strange atmosphere between them, Zhu Lingye leaned over and whispered, "Brother, did you have a fight with the young master?"
Zhu Song yawned to cover it up, "No, I'm just tired."
"Oh, just tired?" Zhu Lingye was a little skeptical.
Zhu Song sighed, wanting to say something but stopping himself. "It's a long story, so I won't go into it. Let's just talk about the results of this trip."
Now that he had something important to do, Zhu Lingye's curiosity was suppressed.
Zhu Song told the three about Chunsheng's situation and instructed them, "Go and find out more about the Wild Man Forest this afternoon and be prepared to encounter this legendary wild man."
"yes."
Zhu Song returned to his room and had a big meal, then slept until the next morning. He felt full of energy again. When he went out and saw that Wen Fengxuan had also recovered, he felt even more relieved.
But now when he saw Wen Fengxuan, he felt a little awkward for some reason and touched the tip of his nose. "Morning, young master."
Wen Fengxuan nodded at him, his tone as distant and gentle as ever, "Good morning."
Zhu Lingye called him, "Brother, come and sit down. We heard the news yesterday."
Upon hearing the news, Zhu Song's embarrassment instantly disappeared, "Tell me."
Zhu Lingye said, "There really are wild men in the Wild Man Forest. An old man accidentally stumbled into it fifty years ago and saw them. A group of them, wearing animal skins, were hunting in the mountains. They killed a deer, bit open its throat, drank its blood, and ate its raw meat."
Zhu Song asked, "Were you not discovered?"
Zhu Lingye replied, "He was hiding in the bushes and the wild men didn't find him."
Zhu Song continued to ask: "What about the red eagle?"
Zhu Lingye said, "There are indeed many eagles in the Savage Forest, but they are black, just like ordinary eagles. No one has ever actually seen a black eagle. We guess this is also a metaphor. The red eagle represents those brutal savages."
The answer was about to be revealed, and Zhu Song did not speculate too much. He glanced at everyone present and said, "Zhu Lingye and I will go explore the Savage Forest. You stay here and wait for news from us."
Zhu Lingye naturally had no objection and waited for Wen Fengxuan to speak. Wen Fengxuan nodded and said, "If you don't come back in three days, we will report it to the police."
Zhu Song responded, "Okay."
Once the matter was settled, Zhu Song and Zhu Lingye immediately went to prepare things for the trip to the Savage Forest.
After lunch, the two set off on horseback.
Zhu Song's injury hadn't healed yet, so he didn't dare to ride too fast. It took them two hours to reach the Savage Forest. The tall trees in the Savage Forest blocked out the sun, and the ground was overgrown with weeds, making it impossible to ride forward. So the two men dismounted and walked into the Savage Forest.
They kept walking until dark, but still didn't see any savages. They were tired and stopped to eat dry food.
While eating, the two chatted, and Zhu Lingye said, "There are no signs of life here. It seems that there is still a lot ahead."
Zhu Song nodded. Zhu Lingye looked at the bright red clothes on the two men and joked, "If we run into wild people this late at night, I wonder if they'll be afraid of us or we'll be afraid of them."
Red can repel eagles, but it looks scary at night.
Zhu Song said: "They are all savages, whether they know there are ghosts or not is still a question."
Zhu Lingye agreed: "That's right."
While chatting, Zhu Song suddenly smelled a strange floral fragrance. He looked at Zhu Lingye and asked, "Do you smell it..."
"Bang!" Before he could finish his words, he saw Zhu Lingye fall to the ground. Zhu Song's eyes flashed. Damn, drugged. Then he fainted.
"Woo woo woo woo woo"
Zhu Song was woken up and when he opened his eyes he saw his feet tied to a rope and hanging upside down in the air. The scorching sun was hanging high in the sky, and the sunlight made his eyes black.
He blinked quickly and looked to the side. He was the only one hanging up, and he didn't see Zhu Lingye.
There were hundreds of savages in strange costumes dancing around a crudely made stone pool waterfall on the ground, shouting "wuuuuuuuuuuuuuu", which seemed to be some kind of spell.
"Let me go." After being hung upside down and exposed to the sun for a long time, Zhu Song felt a little exhausted and his throat was dry and hoarse.
But the savages below did not listen to him at all and continued to sing and dance. In order to maintain his strength, Zhu Song did not speak, but was just thinking about how to save himself. Unfortunately, his hands and feet were tied up and he could not use any strength at all.
After about half an hour, the savages finally stopped and knelt down. A man who looked like a leader knelt in front and said loudly: "Incomparable Eagle God, bless your believers."
The people behind him shouted, "Incomparable Eagle God, please bless your believers." "Incomparable Eagle God, please bless your believers." "Incomparable Eagle God, please bless your believers."
Zhu Song understood, and the hairs on his back stood up in an instant.
This is actually a sacrifice, and a human sacrifice at that.
Suddenly, the four people kneeling in the middle of the second row stood up at the same time, holding daggers and bowls in their hands and walking towards Zhu Song.
Zhu Song felt bad because human sacrifices were always bloody. He quickly said, "I am a messenger sent by the Eagle God. You can't touch me, or the Eagle God will be angry and you will have to bear the consequences."
But his words did not stir up any ripples. The chief shouted loudly: "Eagle God, accept your sacrifice! Listen to his dying wail, how beautiful it is! Look at his expression of fear, how vivid it is!"
"Fuck, let me go."
The four men walked up to him, two of them held his left and right hands respectively, and the other two took a knife to cut his wrists. Zhu Song's eyes widened, and the only sound in his ears was the "dripping" of blood dripping into the bowl. He barely calmed himself down and tried to make his tone sound calm.
"I am the messenger of the Eagle God. You will be punished for doing this."
But they turned a deaf ear to it. Instead, Zhu Song, who had lost too much blood, began to have blurred vision. He saw a tall man standing up straight, holding a bowl of blood, and suddenly throwing it into the sky. His eyes involuntarily followed the blood, and then he saw a tall flag not far away.
There was a lifelike eagle on the flag, but it turned red the moment blood was splashed on it.
It turns out that this is the red eagle.
The people overhead began to dance again, the flags at their feet fluttering in the wind, and the eagle seemed to come alive.
The red eagle is flying on the ground and people are dancing in the sky.
In a daze, Zhu Song knew that those people had put him down, then carried him to the cliff and tied him to the tree trunk again.
Zhu Song became more and more confused. The only sound he could hear was the eagle's cry, which became louder and louder, but fortunately it did not come closer.
"Blessings" "Blessings" "Blessings"
When Zhu Song opened his eyes, he saw three familiar worried faces. Seeing him wake up, Wen Fengxuan and the other two breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhu Song was very surprised. He sat up suddenly and pinched Xie Ningyuan beside him hard.
But Xie Ningyuan didn't react at all, which made Zhu Song even more surprised. "Isn't this a hallucination before death?"
Wen Fengxuan replied: "No, we just rescued you."
Zhu Song touched his hand and found it was still warm. The wound on his wrist had been bandaged, but the pain was still there. He glanced around and saw a cave. He looked at Xie Ningyuan again, "Aren't you in pain?"
Xie Ningyuan replied, "It hurts."
Zhu Song asked, "Then why didn't you react at all?"
Xie Ningyuan replied expressionlessly, "I can endure it."
Well, Zhu Song had nothing more to say and went straight to telling his story. "I'm sure Yi Kangning got out from here, but what happened back then is still unknown. Zhu Lingye was captured by them, and we have to find a foolproof way to rescue him."
"Um."
Zhu Song said, "Let's split the troops into two groups. Your Highness, take one person with my token and go to the prefect to report the case. I'll try to find a way to sneak in."
Wen Fengxuan didn't respond but just asked, "How do you want to get in?"
Zhu Song said: "The people here are barbaric and uncivilized. They believe in gods but not officials. I think if I can make them believe that I am the messenger of the Eagle God, everything will be easy."
It sounds like a good idea, but it's actually difficult to do. Wen Fengxuan felt embarrassed. "If I don't show them a miracle, how can they believe it?"
miracle?
Zhu Song lowered his head and thought, "They don't know I have helpers. Maybe I can start from there."
Zhu Song said, "I want to tie me up and take me back tomorrow morning before they get here. Xie Ningyuan will use a hidden weapon to untie the ropes on me from the dark, and I'll use some sweet words to seduce them. Is this feasible?"
Wen Fengxuan thought about it and said, "It seems feasible."
"Let's do it this way." They didn't have any more resources available now, and Zhu Song couldn't think of a better way for a while.
Wen Fengxuan lowered his eyes and glanced at Li Qiuting. Li Qiuting frowned slightly, but Zhu Song was worried about Zhu Lingye now, so he didn't see their eyes meet.
Wen Fengxuan said: "If you want to show a miracle, this alone may not be enough."
Zhu Song looked up at him and asked, "Sir, do you have any good ideas?"
Wen Fengxuan said, "Qiutong knows some simple disguise techniques. You and Ning Yuan are about the same height, so why not let Ning Yuan disguise himself as you?"
Healing from a serious injury overnight is truly a miracle.
Zhu Song said: "Let's do as you say."
Wen Fengxuan had already spoken, and Li Qiutong didn't say much, "Let's start now."
"good."
Wen Fengxuan said gently: "You are injured, take a rest."
Zhu Song was indeed feeling exhausted. With the help of Wen Fengxuan, he ate some dry food and fell asleep after lying down for a while.
When Zhu Song woke up the next day, he and Wen Fengxuan were the only ones in the cave. Wen Fengxuan had woken up long ago and was sitting at the entrance of the cave looking outside. When he heard the sound, he turned around.
Zhu Song asked, "What time is it?"
Wen Fengxuan replied, "It's almost noon."
So late? Zhu Song frowned, "They've gone?"
Wen Fengxuan replied, "It's still dark and there's still no news. But don't worry, sir. We have a backup plan."
Zhu Song's mind was not clear, and he blurted out, "What's the back-up plan?"
"Report it to the police."
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard hurried footsteps approaching from afar. Zhu Song frowned. Wen Fengxuan saw his anxiety and said to him, "Qiutong is back."
Hearing that it was one of his own, Zhu Song felt a little relieved.
Li Qiutong soon stepped into the cave, looking anxious, "Those people believed the envoy's words, but they still want to see the Eagle God."
This made Zhu Song and Wen Fengxuan frown. Zhu Song asked, "See the Eagle God?"
Li Qiutong nodded. "They kept kneeling in front of Xie Ningyuan. No matter what he said, they refused to listen and just wanted to see the Eagle God. Xie Ningyuan was almost unable to hold back."
Zhu Song thought for a moment and decided that since things had come to this, he might as well create an Eagle God. So he said, "You help me, and I'll pretend to be the Eagle God."
Li Qiutong looked at him doubtfully, "Can you do it?"
Zhu Song was so desperate that he said, "I've already sent so many people away, one more won't make a difference."
Li Qiutong looked at Wen Fengxuan, who also frowned and spoke with worry, but ultimately agreed, "Let's do it this way."
"Okay. I'll get some feathers."
The smell of the feathers just covered up the smell of medicine and blood on Zhu Song's body.
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