Jiangshan Fengwuzhi

Chapter 86 Ah Chou
When I woke up, it was snowing heavily.

Gu Jingnian had a long dream.

In his dream, he was riding a giant bird, soaring in the sky, flying over a vast plain covered with flowers, with two high mountains in front of him.

This time, he clearly felt that it was his hometown.

It felt very strange. He had clearly never been to that place, but he had a strong attachment to it.

"go home."

Ever since I woke up, this thought has been on my mind.

But the more important thing right now is that he is very weak.

He was very hungry, but he didn't have the strength to eat. He could only pick up the rotten leaves on the ground and swallow them. They tasted terrible, but it could only be said that after swallowing them, there was finally something in his stomach.

After eating two more mouthfuls of snow, he looked down at his body.

All the skin was still burnt, and the cut open stomach had just closed, and the gap between the two pieces of skin could still be seen.

He was still a piece of charcoal, a piece of charcoal without any strength.

For a moment, he thought he had lost the ability to heal himself, but soon realized that this was not the case. If he had, he would have died long ago. Perhaps burns are particularly difficult to recover from.

But why he survived such a big fire, Gu Jingnian himself didn’t know.

He vaguely felt that his body was a little different from before.

In fact, there is a huge difference. However, what he felt was a deeper and more subtle difference.

Since he was not dead, he decided to go west to the old market town where he had agreed to meet Feng Niang, and then look for fertile land together.

Although he didn't know what happened to them.

After lying there for a long time, he managed to stand up and looked for fallen fruits to eat. After he regained some strength, he could sometimes gnaw on some tree roots. He lived like a savage for two days. By luck, he picked up a small deer carcass that had been eaten by wild beasts. He struggled to eat the rotten raw meat, but he fell seriously ill, with severe abdominal pain and a dizzy head.

He was walking unsteadily, when suddenly he felt a pain under his feet. Before he could even lower his head, he was caught in a big net.

His foot was caught in a trap. He bent over and tried to pry it open, but he was too weak to save himself.

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"Brother, there's movement over there."

Someone shouted not far away, and soon two people came over with bows and arrows.

"Hey, what is that?"

"It's a black ape. No, it's a monster!"

The people who came were a pair of brothers from a hunter family. The elder one was named Zhang Dashi, eighteen years old, and the younger one was named Zhang Xiaodao, only thirteen years old. Both of them were wrapped in thick animal skin coats, and their wrists and ankles were tied with rags.

Zhang Xiaodao leaned forward, staring at the dark and naked figure in the net bag with wide eyes for a long time, scratched his head, and said, "Brother, it looks like a person."

"A person?" Zhang Dashi poked the things in the net bag with a branch and asked, "Are you a person?"

The thing actually opened its mouth, but it only made a hoarse and unpleasant sound like a saw. It was as if its throat had been completely burned dry before it spoke, and it felt like it was hissing and smoking.

But when he realized he couldn't speak, he nodded vigorously.

"I don't understand." Zhang Dashi said, "Aren't you a monster?"

The dark figure shook his head.

"Brother." Zhang Xiaodao also saw clearly at this time and said, "He looks like he is about to die. Should we save him?"

"What if he's a monster?"

"There's no way a monster can step on a trap."

Zhang Dashi scratched his head, hesitated for a while, and then nodded.

The two brothers carried the prey on their backs, half-pulled and half-supported the charred person in the net bag, and left the old forest.

After crossing two mountain passes, there is a stream flowing slowly in front of us. Walking along the stream, we see a small village.

This is Lanshui Village.

The Zhang brothers lived at the very edge of the village. Their house was a bit simple and isolated from all other families.

The courtyard door was bolted. Zhang Dashi knocked on it. After a while, the door opened and Zhang Xiaofang stuck her head out to take a look.

She is Zhang Dashi's younger sister, sixteen years old this year, a little dark-skinned, with dry and peeling cheeks, and red from the cold. She is holding animal skin and needle and thread in her hands, probably sewing before opening the door.

"You came back very late today."

Although Zhang Xiaofang is the younger sister, she speaks with the aura of the head of the family. She said, "I've told you so many times that we have to get out of the old forest before dark..."

"Yes, yes, yes." Zhang Dashi said perfunctorily: "Isn't this just dragging someone back, so we should walk slower?"

Zhang Xiaofang then fell on the dying, charred man behind them and was startled.

After dragging the man into the yard, Zhang Xiaodao began to pound the herbs, spit into them twice, and made a paste-like ointment. When he was about to apply it on the burnt man's feet, he was stunned.

"Left foot? Right foot? Hey, brother, the clamp doesn't seem to be deep enough."

"Then don't waste the herbs." Zhang Xiaofang said, "Save them for next time."

"Okay." Zhang Xiaodao said, "I see he's starving, can you give him something to eat?"

In the kitchen, porridge was being cooked, and some bacon was cut into it. This was the meal Zhang Xiaofang had prepared for three people. She hesitated for a long time before reluctantly saying, "Okay, give him a meal and let him go tomorrow morning."

It’s not that she is stingy, but there are only three siblings in the Zhang family who depend on each other for survival, and life is not easy. And she always remembers her mother’s instructions before she passed away, that she must save money to get her eldest brother married.

In short, she gave half a bowl of porridge to the burnt man and let him stay in the woodshed for one night. Early the next morning, Zhang Xiaofang woke up the two brothers and asked them to send the man away.

"Sister, he is still sick." Zhang Xiaodao said, "I looked into his eyes, he was kind."

"You have captured him and paid him back with a meal, and then we are even." Zhang Xiaofang said, "Do you still plan to keep him as a child?"

"I just feel sorry for him. My father saved so many people before..." "So how come my father is gone?" Zhang Xiaofang was very fierce and asked, "Who is the head of the family now?"

Zhang Dashi was afraid of his sister, so he didn't dare to say a word. He sent the charred man out and sighed, "Let's go."

The other party bowed with all his strength and uttered a few hoarse sounds.

"I can't hear what you're saying. Please go slowly."

Zhang Dashi watched the man limping away, then turned back home and saw the brother and sister looking at the ground in the yard.

"what is this?"

"Is it a word?" Zhang Xiaodao was very surprised and said, "He can also write."

"What words did you write?"

"I only understand the word 'big'."

Zhang Xiaofang pointed to the word at the back and said, "This should be the word 'En'. That person knows how to be grateful."

"Let's go hunting."

The two Zhang brothers carried their bows and arrows and went into the mountains again. They did not return home until the evening. They knocked on the door and Zhang Xiaofang opened it. There were several scratches on her face and neck.

"What's going on?!" Zhang Dashi was shocked and angrily asked, "Which bastard dares to bully you?"

"Come in and talk."

Zhang Xiaofang let the two brothers into the yard and locked the door.

In the hall, the burnt man was lying there, unconscious.

"Some people in the village said he was a monster and wanted to burn him," Zhang Xiaofang said, "I had a fight with those people."

She said it lightly, but Zhang Dashi saw that the old bow he hung on the wall had changed its position, and asked hurriedly: "Did you hurt anyone?"

"No, I shot them two arrows and scared them away."

Zhang Xiaofang said, "It was that damned woman Zhang Cuihua who attacked me from behind and disfigured me."

"I'll go find her!"

"Forget it. A good man should not fight with a woman. Those people in the village are just like that. Why bother with them?" Zhang Xiaofang pointed at the burnt man and said, "Wait until you go to the market in town, then send him away."

"it is good."

Zhang Xiaodao leaned over to look at the burnt man, and couldn't help reaching out his hand to touch his burnt bald head, then quickly retracted his hand and smiled apologetically.

Unexpectedly, the burnt man opened his eyes and responded to him with an ugly smile.

Zhang Xiaodao asked: "What's your name?"

The burnt man said something again in a hoarse voice and raised his hand to draw a few strokes in the air.

"Forget it. I can't understand it, and I can't understand it either." Zhang Xiaodao said, "You are so ugly, so we should call you 'A Chou'?"

After waiting for a while, the other party actually nodded.

"Okay, Ah Chou."

Zhang Xiaodao had no friends in the village, so he was very happy. He turned around and said, "Sister, can you give Ah Chou some clothes too?"

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Gu Jingnian finally put on a set of tattered clothes and a hat, leaving only his burnt face exposed, which didn't seem that scary.

His strength had not yet recovered, so he stayed at the Zhang family for the time being.

The next day, seeing that it was impossible for him to bully Zhang Xiaofang, the Zhang brothers went out hunting again.

Gu Jingnian felt that he had received their kindness and was willing to do what he could to repay them. Therefore, while Zhang Xiaofang went to do other chores, he picked up needles, money and animal skins and started sewing.

As the son of a general, he has been independent since childhood and can do all these things, but his fingers are burnt and not very flexible.

"That's pretty good."

When Zhang Xiaofang came over, he praised him and picked up an animal bone to polish it.

The two worked in silence for the whole morning. Perhaps they were a little bored, so she said, "A Chou, let me ask you something. Just nod or shake your head."

Gu Jingnian nodded.

Zhang Xiaofang was simply asking about his background, but her imagination was limited, so she only asked some simple questions and then started talking about things in the village.

"Yesterday they wanted to burn your village chief Zhang Fugui. His son Zhang Jiquan died in the old forest a few days ago. The government said he was eaten by wild beasts, so he became insane. In short, you should stay away from him."

Gu Jingnian thought that the person who died a few days ago might have encountered something.

But I don’t know what happened to Fengniang and Yingyao later.

Unfortunately, given his condition, he will need to be nursed for a while before he can move independently.

In the evening, Gu Jingnian sewed a beast skin. Zhang Xiaofang unfolded it and looked at it. She was a little surprised. She didn't expect that this ugly man had good craftsmanship and the style of the clothes was also trendy. Once it was sent to the market, it should be able to sell for a good price.

But if you think about it carefully, supporting him for a few days is actually a loss. However, Zhang Xiaofang would sometimes be soft-hearted.

That night, Zhang Xiaodao gave Gu Jingnian two extra pieces of bacon. Zhang Xiaofang saw it and frowned slightly, but she didn't say anything...

Gu Jingnian temporarily settled down in this small village.

He was still very calm at the beginning, and there was even a moment when he occasionally thought that this might be the ordinary life he had always wanted, although he quickly rejected the idea.

In any case, he quite liked the name "Achou".

He had never thought before that when he had lost everything, even his appearance was ruined, there would still be strangers who could be nice to him.

He left home and slept in this simple and shabby house, which made him feel more at ease than staying at Gu's house...

(End of this chapter)