Needless to say, Aiven fell down countless times along the way.
Because he was afraid of being discovered, he dared not light a torch, and could only use a tinderbox to barely light the way, and then grope his way across using both hands and feet.
He walked for an unknown distance and then suddenly a wall-like object appeared in front of him.
He lit the tinderbox again and looked, only to find a huge tree, as thick as three people could hug, with its trunk lying across his eyes!
Aiven's heart pounded wildly.
This tree must have been knocked down by an extremely powerful external force!
Aiven looked at the cross-section of the tree and touched it with his hand—the cross-section was wet.
It is clear that the tree fell within three hours.
Aiven took the torch off his back and lit it.
The scene before him had never been so shocking.
Because he saw a girl very close by.
A girl dressed in white.
She lay in a deep pit, her body and face covered in blood.
His eyes were closed, and he remained motionless.
Aiven's hair stood on end.
He thought he would see a huge meteor from outer space, but instead he saw a strange, injured girl!
However, when hunters go into the mountains, they will always rescue any injured people they encounter.
He stepped forward, and just to be safe, picked up a twig and nudged the girl's arm: "Hey!"
The girl frowned, coughed a few times, and opened her eyes.
The girl spoke with an unfamiliar accent: "Where...is this?"
Before this, Aiven had never spoken to a girl alone.
His face flushed bright red, and he scratched his head, saying, "This...this is Old Pig Forest!"
Where is Old Pig Forest?
"In the mountains!"
What is the name of this mountain?
"The mountain has no name, so we just call it the mountain."
The girl looked at the silly-looking young man and asked, "Do you usually go to the county town? What's the name of your county town?"
Ai Wenxing scratched his head again: "Our county is also called Laozhulin County, and this mountain and forest are also called Laozhulin—because there are wild boars in there. But don't be afraid, they're not the big kind! Our local wild boars are a very small breed, and their meat is delicious."
The girl smiled and stood up unsteadily: "Would you like to take me home?"
Ai Wenxing hesitated for a moment: "Where do you live? I feel like you've lost a lot of blood. Can you even walk home? Why don't you come to my house and rest for a while? My mother knows a little about herbal medicine. I'll have her brew some medicine for you and at least bandage all your wounds!"
The girl looked at the honest young man in front of her and smiled again: "My injury is nothing serious. But I really need to get home now. My home isn't far, just over this ridge and another 200 li or so. Would you be willing to take me home? My parents are very rich, they will give you a lot of money."
Ai Wenxing swallowed hard: "This... I have to ask my dad first."
Just then, a whistle rang out in the silent forest.
Ai Wenxing was both delighted and startled.
This is Aiganbei's whistle.
Their family has a set of ancestral whistles, which are like coded messages and are used specifically for transmitting messages in the deep mountains and forests.
Aivenxing hesitated for a moment, looked up at the starry sky, identified the direction, then put his hands together to his lips and blew a very long and melodious whistle.
Not long after, from the same direction, Ai Ganbei's whistle came again from afar.
And so, Ai Wenxing and his father Ai Ganbei exchanged whistles for a while.
About half an hour later, Ai Ganbei arrived in front of the two, panting.
Ai Ganbei was shocked to see the injured stranger.
The girl reiterated her request to hire someone to take her home, and emphasized once again that her family was very wealthy and would offer a generous reward.
But this time, the girl added, "If you send me back, I might not be able to come back. But don't worry—whoever sends me back, you can consider it as me buying them!"
As she spoke, the girl took a thumb ring off her left thumb. “This thumb ring of mine is extremely valuable, you could say it’s priceless! No matter which of you takes me home, the other two can take this thumb ring back and either pawn or sell it. It’ll be no problem to buy a large courtyard and a hundred acres of fertile land.”
After saying that, she handed the thumb ring to Ai Ganbei.
Ai Ganbei held the ring in his palm and looked at it with a slight tremor.
By the light of the moon and torches, Aiven could see clearly—it was a very exquisite thumb ring, engraved with a dragon-like pattern.
Later, Ai Wenxing specifically studied it and found that it was a pattern of a chilong, a traditional auspicious pattern.
The thumb ring is made of mutton fat jade, which is very delicate and has an oily luster. It also has traces of blood color.
In short, it's obvious at a glance that it is indeed priceless.
Ai Wenxing immediately said to his father, "Father, I'll take this young lady home!"
Unexpectedly, Ai Ganbei frowned and said:
"inappropriate.
You are only 18 years old this year and are not yet married.
It is highly inappropriate to be alone with this girl!
Moreover, the girl's home must be far away!
As the girl just said, there might still be danger, but Dad has experienced more than you."
As he spoke, he handed the ring to Aivenxing:
“Go home and send a message to your mother—”
I took the girl home.
The girl just said it's only about 200 li (approximately 100 kilometers), I reckon she should be back in three to five days.
As he spoke, he tore off some of his clothes: "Young lady, where are you injured? Bandage it up first before you go on a long journey."
The girl didn't hesitate: "My injury is on my shoulder, it's nothing serious. Uncle, thank you for saving me, you're a good person, you'll definitely be rewarded! When we get home, my father will definitely repay you properly."
Aiven watched as her father led the girl in the direction she pointed.
Old Pig Forest has one entrance and one exit, connected by an almost perpendicular road, but it has been cut into countless branching paths by the mountains.
The girl's home requires crossing a mountain ridge.
Aiven sighed – indeed, he had never crossed a mountain ridge alone before.
He put the ring on his thumb and felt a very warm sensation coming from it.
—It really is a good thing. At that time, Aiven Star had never seen anything good before, and he took this warm feeling as a sign that it was a good thing.
Following his father's instructions, Ai Wenxing obediently went down the mountain.
Because he had obtained the thumb ring, he was in a hurry to take it back to show his mother, and he no longer bothered to look for any celestial stars.
Even now, Aiven can't tell whether the memories after descending the mountain that night were real or a dream.
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