Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 3 Eat fish, eat fish, eat fish (thanks to the four leaders)
In the dim light, the peach trees swayed gently, tapping against the wall.

Inside the wall, Liu Taozi was staring at the knight in front of him.

Liu Taozi took a step back with his right foot, held the fishing fork in his right hand, and threw it with all his strength.

The knights stepped forward at the same time, and the harpoon scratched across the knight's mask, making an unpleasant noise, and then fell to the ground.

And he had already caught Liu Taozi. He was tall and agile. The knight turned sideways, stretched out his left foot, and threw with all his strength.

Liu Taozi's wounded body flew out and fell heavily to the ground.

Then, he remained motionless.

The knight lowered his head, stared at Liu Taozi, took a few steps, picked up the harpoon, and touched his mask.

He returned to Liu Taozi again, holding the broken fishing fork, and stabbed it hard into the ground.

"peach!"

"Please don't scare me, Taozi!"

"peach!!!"

A scream exploded in my ears.

Liu Taozi suddenly opened her eyes and grabbed the hand in front of her.

It was a warm and rough hand, and the flickering candlelight illuminated Liu Zhang's figure.

She knelt beside the couch, holding a bowl in her left hand, with two tear marks on her fair face. Under the candlelight, her tear marks were so clear, and so were the helplessness and fear in her eyes.

She cried and hugged Liu Taozi in her arms.

"My son."

She seemed to want to press Taozi back into her body to protect her. Liu Taozi had never seen her mother trying so hard. She held herself tightly with both hands and Liu Taozi could not even move.

Liu Taozi's tense body relaxed.

"mom."

Hearing this, Liu Zhang quickly let go of her hand and wiped away the tears on her face in panic, "Is it hurting you?"

"Why did you climb over the back wall, kid? Look how badly you fell."

"Fall?"

Liu Taozi asked, "Did you see me fall down from the wall?"

"No, I heard you fall, and you were lying on the ground motionless. Do you know how close the harpoon was to your head? You were almost..."

Liu Zhang raised her hand as if she was going to slap Taozi, but after hesitating for a moment, she put it down again.

Tears glistened in her eyes and she started to cry again.

She asked in a pleading tone: "Don't do this again, okay?"

Liu Taozi's expression also softened a lot and he nodded slightly.

"Ah."

A smile finally appeared on Liu Zhang's face. Her face did not match this dilapidated house at all. The room was very narrow, with several cracks on the gray earthen wall. The light was dim, and there was nothing in the room except a bed.

She has a pretty face and a petite figure, and when she smiles, the whole room lights up.

She picked up the bowl in one hand, held the wooden dagger in the other, and gently poured the soup into Liu Taozi's mouth.

"Don't get up, eat more."

Liu Taozi obediently opened her mouth and took a few bites.

The next moment, Liu Taozi realized something was wrong. He looked at the bowl and saw a few pieces of milky white meat.

"This is?"

"I just made you some fresh fish soup. Eat it while it's hot."

Liu Zhang fed Taozi the fish soup, explained a lot of things to her, and left.

After the candle was extinguished, the room fell into complete darkness. Liu Taozi listened to his own weak breathing. After a long time, he slowly got up and groped his way to the door.

There was a desolate waning moon hanging in the sky, with no stars in sight.

Liu Taozi narrowed her eyes and looked at her own yard.

There are three small houses in this dilapidated courtyard. Parents live in the middle, Liu Taozi lives on the left, and the right is the warehouse.

The yard was filled with grayish-white soil. There were no dogs, chickens, or ducks. It was completely empty. There was a peach tree that had long since withered, and next to the tree was a dark pit that emitted a fishy smell.

There is a cage on the roof, and you can hear all kinds of bird calls coming from inside.

Liu Taozi walked calmly towards the backyard and came to the familiar back wall. There was a fishing fork stuck deep into the ground.

Liu Taozi even felt the trace of dragging on the ground.

In the darkness, the urgent sound of the evil bird came from somewhere.

Liu Taozi was silent for a long time and returned to the house.

The next day, before dawn, Liu Taozi had already gotten up and walked out the door carefully.

Carrying a brand new fishing fork, he walked out of the yard quickly.

It seemed to have rained last night. The ground was mostly muddy, and the peach trees outside the house were shaking off the raindrops on their bodies.

Liu Taozi walked quickly, with big strides, moving forward courageously.

He walked through the peach forest, followed the path along the stream, and then headed into the wild boar forest.

Soon, he returned to the vicinity of the trap.

Liu Taozi lowered her head.

The traps were empty, and there was no trace of blood or blood in the dark soil. Their bodies were gone, as were the heavy armor, the smell of blood, and the broken branches along the way.

The insects and evil birds in the forest stopped making any sounds, and the silence became eerie.

Liu Taozi stood for a while, took big steps, and walked all the way to the road.

The gravel road where the fighting took place yesterday was so clean, as if nothing had happened.

In this dead silence, Liu Taozi suddenly felt a chill.

And for some reason, he wanted to laugh.

When he returned home again, Liu Zhang was making a fire and cooking.

Taozi sat next to her mother.

He frowned, his face grim.

"Bang!!!"

The man broke open the gate and rushed in violently. He was carrying a musk deer, his short coat was stained with blood, and a large bow hung around his waist.

He strode into the yard and threw the deer on his shoulder into the pit next to the dead tree.

His eye sockets were sunken and his whole body looked like a cold and skinny piece of iron. He looked at Liu Taozi and threw the rusty dagger in front of him.

Liu Zhang hurriedly stood up and asked, "Why are you back so early this time?"

The man ignored her, waved his hand tiredly, and walked into the house.

Liu Taozi picked up the dagger and came to the side of the musk deer. He squatted down, and with an expressionless face, he skillfully skinned and removed the tendons and bones of the musk deer in front of him.

The blood of the musk deer flowed into the pit, and the pit instantly turned red. The red color was particularly bright and thick.

At some point, Liu Da sat at the door of the main house, stretched out his legs, and basked in the sun.

Liu Zhang prepared the meal and the family of three gathered in the courtyard.

The stench of blood did not affect Liu Da's appetite at all. He ate very roughly, wishing he could chew the bones into pieces and swallow them.

Mrs. Liu Zhang was much more polite and ate in small bites.

Liu Taozi sat next to Liu Da, staring at his left cheek.

"What are you looking at?"

"You came from the Boar Forest?"

"What can be caught in the wild boar forest at this season?"

The atmosphere was strangely silent and depressing.

After finishing her meal, Liu Zhang collected her empty bowl and left in a hurry.

"I killed someone."

"Three Xianbei knights, both men and horses."

Liu Da had a stern face, and there was no change on his iron-like face. He almost spoke through his teeth.

"If you don't want your whole family to be buried with you, shut your stinky mouth and forget about it forever!"

"Who are you?"

"I am your grandfather!!"

Liu Da stood up, his whole body began to turn red, like pig iron during smelting. He angrily ripped open his collar, revealing scars.

"Shitty stuff! Shitty stuff! Shitty stuff!!"

"Not a moment's peace!"

"You bastard! You bastard!!"

He was like a volcano about to erupt, with huge anger piling up in his chest. He waved his hands while roaring, as if he was punching someone.

He tore at his chest again, trying to dig out all the anger.

Liu Zhang came running over.

"What? What happened?"

She hurriedly protected Taozi, who was a head taller than her, behind her and stuffed the package in her hand into Taozi's hand, "Send it for me, go quickly, go quickly."

She pushed it a few times with difficulty, and Taozi turned and left.

As I walked out the door, the roar in the courtyard gradually subsided.

Liu Taozi, carrying a package, strode along the path leading to the village.

There were graves on both sides of the road, surrounded by weeds.

There was a hole on the grave mound, and traces of a rat crawling could be vaguely seen.

Ahead is a lonely village.

Of the two courtyards at the front, only the broken eaves and walls are left. The whole thing is charred black, with burnt door panels leaning against the wall. Walking between the two courtyards, the rats in the courtyard screamed and fled.

A small path winds forward, with courtyards on both sides of the path.

Most of them are ruins, but there are a few that have been preserved and you can see the smoke rising from the cooking fires.

The village was so quiet that looking over there, there wasn't a single person in sight on the path.

Liu Taozi stopped in front of the fourth courtyard.

ps: Thanks to Xueshengsang, my name is -, Shangxianqitian, kalotno1 and other four book friends, thank you for your support.

I would also like to thank other book friends for their monthly tickets and collections.

As a newbie in the history category, Laolang really needs your support. Thank you~~
(End of this chapter)