Lord Helanza

A northerly smoky and snow blows in the oak woods. After the snow melts next spring, the body of Assassin will rot with the fallen leaves in the forest, turning into a handful of fertile soil. Maybe you don't have to wait until that time to be eaten clean by the hungry little beasts in the forest, and even the bones will be picked back into the nest.

Surdak rode a horse in the mountains for a long time, until he confirmed that there were no stalkers behind him, and then he found the mountain road leading to the mountain pass and walked forward in heavy snow.

A journey that could have been completed in one day, until late at night, Surdak was considered to have crossed the mountain pass.

Under the moon, the mountains and plains are all white. Standing on the mountain pass, Surdak can clearly see the jungle of crosses on the top of the mountain. The bones of the robbers and the ripped clothes are in the north wind. Sway in the wind.

Until the village of Wall, hidden in the ravine, appeared in Surdak’s sight, a warm current suddenly flowed through his body.

Wal Village under the snowy night looks very quiet, the dead tree at the entrance of the village was blown by the wind wu wu, and the whistling sound was mixed with the sound of the wooden board ding ding dong dong, under the dead tree Many footprints were left, and a Daoist Priest long snow wall, castle, and snow slide piled up on the clearing next to the dead tree. Such a large project must be done by the children in the village. Many houses are completely dark, and people in the village have become accustomed to falling asleep early in the winter.

The local dogs in the village found the outsider and made a series of barking noises, but when they rushed out of the village in groups, they became flattering again when they saw the familiar silhouette in the snow. He lowered his head, wagged his tail, leaned forward with shattered steps, and made a lightly whimpering sound. The ham, frozen fish, and frozen meat that Surdak brought back would not be thrown to them casually.

I was greeted by a group of dogs from the village and entered the village. The ravine was covered with a thick layer of snow. Surdak looked up, and a semicircular dam appeared at the uppermost reaches of the ravine, Level 1. The cistern was completed as scheduled before the beginning of winter. Surdak led the horse to walk up the road in the village. When passing the central square of the village, twenty carriages were neatly parked next to the wooden workshop, and the snow at the entrance of the wooden workshop After being cleaned up, it seems that in the winter, the workshop still hasn't stopped. Through the wooden fence, you can see the unfinished waterwheel in the workshop.

The house where Selena lives is also pitch black. There are three snowmen piled up at the door. The tallest snowman has a shield made of snow and a long sword cut from branches. Surdak stopped for a while, then continued to walk up and walked to the front of his yard. Surdak was separated from the courtyard wall and saw the newly built red thatch cowshed. The cow chewed quietly in the cowshed, probably feeling it. The movement outside the wall made a deep sound.

The courtyard door was locked from the inside, Surdak with no difficulty pried open the courtyard door, led the horse into it, and moved the snow-covered Gubolai horse into the cowshed. For this uninvited guest , The previous owner in the bullpen uttered a'moo' to express his dissatisfaction to Surdak. Surdak ignored it at all, but silently untied the saddle on the Gubolai horse, and then covered it with cotton on the back of the horse. The blanket that was wrapped around the horse's legs was untied one after another, and he took a bucket of water from the kitchen water tank to drink the horse, and held up a large amount of forage in the stone trough on the side. This forage should have been prepared by Rita for tomorrow morning. , The cow next to him again made a dissatisfied protest.

Surdak heard the sound of someone pushing the door of the main house open. He turned around and saw Rita standing in the yard dumbfounded with a wooden stick, behind her was also dressed in single clothes. Natasha.

"Duck, how did you come back from Helanza with such a heavy snow?"

Rita didn't think much about it, she just threw away the stick in her hand, regardless of the night The temperature is so low that it can drip into ice, and he ran to Surdak in a single shirt and gave him a big hug. Even the hair and eyebrows of Surdak are covered with snow. The whole person is like a big Snow Mountain beast. The whole body is white and not Know how Rita recognizes herself at a glance.

Feeling a warm breath rushing up, Surdak quickly caught it, and then ran into the gentle gaze of Natasha who was standing behind.

"It's too cold outside, let's go inside and say." Surdak held Rita's tight and soft shoulders with both hands, moved her away from her arms, and stood in the snow with two singles. Said the woman inside.

Rita only felt cold at this time, put her hands on her chest, and covered the clear outline exposed under the linen shirt. The pretty face was a little red.

However, a pair of big blue eyes still asked with great concern: "What happened? How did you walk the mountain road in this weather?"

The expression on her face looked like him. Big brother, Surdak couldn't help but touch the top of her head.

Surdak stretched out his other hand to embrace Natasha, and said as he walked into the house: "Nothing happened, everything is fine. A magician in the city needs to buy some sulfur mine. I came back this time to fetch the sulfur ore."

Entering the house, Surdak finally felt a touch of warmth. Rita lit a candle in the narrow living room, which was the same as before. For those furnishings, Surdak took off the cloak on his body, and just about to sit down to catch a breath, he saw the door of old Sheila's room opened and she staggered out of the house.

Surdak walked over and hugged Old Sheila. She had some problems with her legs and feet, so she pulled Surdak and sat down on the chair by the fireplace, and instructed: "Rita, you go and boil some hot water. Taking a hot bath can get rid of the cold."

He said to Natasha who was standing at the back: "Natasha, you light up the fireplace again and hang a scone. You paid it last night. There is some chestnut rice porridge left. Dak needs a little hot drink."

The ashes in the fireplace are still warm. Natasha took some wheat stalks from outside to light the pine cones in the stove. The flames ignited all of a sudden, hung a piece of toasted wheat cake by the fire, and then hung a small pot from the fire. The chestnut rice porridge inside quickly heated up with puci puci.

Surdak rubbed his hands and said to the tired old Sheila: "Go and rest. I will eat and go to sleep."

"I'm old, I don't have that many sleep anymore. Sit down and tell me about the city..." Old Sheila lightly laughed to Surdak and said slowly.

Natasha took out a blanket for Old Sheila to cover her lap, and Sheila casually asked Surdak about her life in Helanza.

"Where to live...I am now living in the student dormitory of Knight Academy. The conditions there are very good, a separate room with a terrace..." Surdak said honestly, but obviously Old Sheila has some I can't understand what the dormitory is, and I can't imagine what the terrace looks like, but listening to Surdak's vivid description of what the Academy looks like, Old Sheila's eyes are filled with a faint smile.

She seemed to think that after a few years, little Peter might also be able to study in the Knight Academy and live in the spacious and warm dormitory building. This is probably the biggest wish of Old Sheila.

"The cafeteria in the Academy offers three meals a day, and every day all has white bread and broth..." Surdak continued.

There are few people in Wall Village who can eat white bread. The refined wheat flour used to make white bread is very different from whole wheat flour. It is necessary to grind away the bran and germ on the surface of the wheat after removing the hull. The wheat grains are carefully selected and then refined again to obtain fine wheat flour. Grinding this wheat flour is simply a waste of grain. No one in Wall Village can do it like this, but it doesn’t mean they don’t know white bread. Surdak said that the Academy’s cafeteria everyday all serves broth, and Rita next to him couldn't help but swallow.

Surdak again talked to old Sheila about joining the guard camp in Helanza City. This is a privilege that Wall Village has never had before. Hearing that Surdak’s life in Helanza city is so comfortable, old Sheila’s spirit is only Gradually relieved, she couldn't help feeling a little sleepy, lifted the blanket and stood up slowly. She didn't want to see anything wrong with her body, at least not before Little Peter entered the Knight Academy.

Old Sheila said to Surdak before going to bed: "Your house has never been on fire. It is as cold as an ice cellar. Soaking in a hot bath is slowly getting exhausted. Sleep here tonight!"

"Okay." Surdak was holding a small saucepan and eating hot chestnut porridge.

Rita also brought a plate of thinly sliced ​​raw ham. Surdak tore off a piece of burnt and crispy scones. He thought it was a good match to eat.

After all this, Rita yawned and went into the room to go to bed. She knew she wanted to give Natasha and Surdak some time.

Surdak is eating scones voraciously, Natasha's eyes are very focused under the candlelight, she sits on a small stool beside her, with her elbow resting on her knees, one hand resting her chin and watching Surdak quietly Since the man in front of her appeared in her life, her life is changing continuously. The cold north wind no longer flows into the room through the cracks in the roof, and there is no need to save a few grains throughout the winter, everyday all hungry. Sleeping with your stomach, maybe tomorrow spring, you don’t have to go to the mudflats to dig grass roots. The current life should be a gift from Goddess! What's not satisfied with this?

After eating, Surdak got into the warm wooden barrel, and the cold in the body was completely driven away. Natasha walked in with a clean loose linen pajamas, Surdak looked up and wanted to pull it. Natasha's hand, but she escaped like a deer.

Wait until Surdak has taken a hot bath, wearing thin pajamas while wiping his wet hair, return to the living room.

Natasha dumped all the water in the bucket, otherwise the bucket will be broken by the ice when the bucket of water freezes tomorrow morning.

Only a red charcoal fire remains in the fireplace in the living room, and the most comfortable recliner next to it is covered with a thick quilt. Surdak lie down on the recliner with the warmth of the fire. After finishing all this, Natasha blew out the lingering candle in the living room, and was about to return to the room lightly.

"Or...talk to me for a while."

In the dim living room, Surdak whispered.

Natasha stopped, her gentle face flushed slightly, but she walked slowly to Surdak and sat down on another chair by the fireplace, the red fire reflected With her beautiful face, those blue eyes became a little deep, Surdak leaned over, reached out and rubbed her curly blonde hair, and wrapped her in a quilt.

"How cold it is to sit like this! Would you like to lie down with me for a while..."

Natasha didn't know how she and Surdak were squeezed in the narrow recliner The one above is like a curse. Her mind is empty. There are only a pair of firm eyes and some stubble in front of her. Natasha tries to lean out as much as possible, so as not to take up too much space and make Surdak not lie down. Comfortable, but then a pair of big hands hugged her tightly in his arms.

Without waiting for Natasha to struggle, Surdak whispered: "Don’t move, just hug for a while..."

...

Natasha woke up suddenly when she heard the sound of opening the door.

She couldn't remember when she fell asleep, and when she opened her eyes, it was bright. Looking at the clothes scattered by the fireplace, Natasha just wanted to escape the scene as soon as possible.

In a panic, she lifted her body from the arms of the sleeping Surdak. Her body was empty. Natasha was almost about to cry. Even her pajamas were all gone, just in time. Rita, who got up and walked out of the room with a narrow smile, hurriedly retracted into the cup again, worried about waking up Surdak, got up lightly, hugged her clothes, blushed and walked quickly from Li. Run around the tower into the room inside.

'Fortunately, it's Rita, it's nothing, it's not the first time...'

Natasha hypnotized herself.

……

Surdak was awakened by a scream of excitement. He didn’t know how long he hadn’t slept so securely, even in his sleep. Swim continuously in the Sea of ​​Consciousness, and feel the nodes in the body are constantly lit up, rarely when I sleep until I wake up naturally.

"Father, I'm not dreaming!"

Little Peter got into Surdak’s bed in his pajamas, his feet were cold, he stared wide-eyed and he didn’t even wake up. Surdak, who came, rubbed his face vigorously and yelled yelled. Surdak quickly stopped little Peter to prevent him from kicking the quilt off.

"Peter, you should let him sleep a little longer, he came back late yesterday..."

Natasha was neatly dressed, wearing an apron, and walking over with a glass of warm water , First let little Peter take a sip of water, and then pour the rest into Surdak's mouth.

"I came back last night, you didn't even wake me up!" Little Peter looked at Natasha angrily.

But then Rita pinched her ears and pulled out of Surdak's bed.

Little Peter protested loudly and begged for mercy in a low voice...

...

Surdak opened the door and walked into the old village chief’s house. They were eating breakfast around the dining table. The dining table was full of people. Even his native dog named Kara curled up and hid under the dining table.

Charlie saw Surdak and quickly stood up and asked with wide eyes in surprise: "Duck, why did you come back from Helanza?"

The old village chief was also puzzled. looked towards Surdak, but he was much more calm than his son Charlie, and asked Surdak: "Have you had breakfast? If not, let’s have some..."