When I woke up again, it was the darkest time of the night. Heavy autumn rain fell in Taihang Mountains again. The cold rain sprinkled between the sky and the earth, and also hit me.
The autumn rain was not gentle, but cold, echoing my heart that was like falling into an ice cave, and it was cold to the bone.
The one who carried me was Hua Mulan. She walked firmly and unhurriedly behind the thirty or so villagers of Shigu Village and Zhou Jing, Lu Yike, and Gu Yinghan. I smelled her faint fragrance, and my feelings were complicated for a while.
This was a silent team. Everyone walked hurriedly in the rain without saying a word. I looked back at the road we had walked, and it seemed that we had left the Four Elephants Dangerous Land.
But Zhang Bowen... How is he now?
Is he lying in the cold corridor and watching the last drop of blood in his body drain out?
Or was he pounced on by the Japanese soldiers and eaten alive before he died?
My heart ached. The scenes of my time with Zhang Bowen flashed through my mind like a slide show, completely tearing my psychological defenses. My eyes were slightly sour, and my vision had blurred unconsciously. I didn't know whether it was the rain that blurred my eyes or the tears that dimmed everything.
"Awake?"
Mulan's voice suddenly came: "You are injured, it's best not to move."
I didn't say anything because I didn't know what to say.
Thank Mulan for saving me?
Yes, I survived, but I didn't know how to thank him.
As a brother, I should fight with Zhang Bowen... until death!
This is called brotherhood!
But now Zhang Bowen is gone, but I was knocked unconscious and taken away by my wife. What is this? I held my breath in my chest, and even hated Mulan a little.
Hua Mulan and I were in tune with each other, and she probably guessed what I was thinking, so she asked, "Do you hate me particularly?"
It would have been better if she didn't ask this question, but once she asked, it immediately aroused the evil fire in my heart, and I couldn't help but raise my voice: "Are you mocking me?"
Swish!
Hua Mulan stopped instantly, and then... she threw me out without saying a word, and I came into close contact with the muddy ground. The four knife wounds and wounds of all sizes on my body made me numb on half of my body, and I couldn't move at all for a while. I only heard Hua Mulan coldly say, "Revenge is the right of the strong, you, don't deserve it!"
The movement of the two of us had alarmed the people in front of us at this time. Lu Yike saw that I was thrown into the muddy water, so he came to help me.
"Go back, we don't need outsiders to interfere in our affairs!"
Hua Mulan glared at Lu Yike fiercely, and the cold light flashing in her eyes made this introverted man in the mountains take a step back. He stood aside timidly, and dared not move his hand forward even a little bit...
Gu Yinghan couldn't stand it, so he said: "Zhang Bowen is gone, and it's normal for Xiaotian to be a little excited. Just be a little tolerant. He will be fine after two days. Why make such a big fuss? He is still injured now. Well, if something happens..."
"If something happens, I will be the widow!"
Hua Mulan glanced at Gu Yinghan and said calmly: "I don't care how other families discipline their men, but my man must act like a man. Who can see him being so sad and miserable? Even if the sky falls, he must stand up straight and take the responsibility. Don't let anything happen to him and make him look like a fool!"
I was in a bad mood to begin with, and after being beaten by her, the anger in my heart finally burst out. I raised my head and glared at Hua Mulan fiercely.
"Are you angry?"
Mulan looked at me and sneered, "I like your eyes now. Do you know what they look like? Like a wolf! Like the last ferocity of a lonely wolf in despair. Don't lose it. This ferocity is your last dignity. Come on, attack me. Let me see how brave my man is!"
As soon as she said this, I couldn't hold back the negative emotions in my heart anymore. I roared and rushed towards her!
This was my first time to challenge Mulan head-on, and then... I finally knew how desperate it was to be her enemy. Even though she has lost all her skills now, she is still an insurmountable mountain for me!
Her speed was really too fast. I couldn't react in time. I was kicked away by her in the air as soon as I rushed up. When I landed, I was so sore all over. How miserable it was!
"Is that all you can do?"
Hua Mulan seemed to have changed today, still sneering at me: "If that's all you can do, you should learn how to save yourself, because you have a big goal. You want to avenge your father, and you have to challenge the strongest evil creature born in the grave of the Ten Deadly Evils. This is destined to be a road of no return! How are strong people born? It is in blood and fire and countless hardships. From ancient times to the present, the supreme glory is made of piles of bones. From the moment you embarked on this road, you should have thought of the current situation, and this is just the beginning for you. You will lose more people in the future, Qingyi, Zhou Jing, Fatty, and even... me. All of us may not be able to accompany you on this road, but this is your own choice. You have to crawl and crawl to the end!"
Hua Mulan's words completely broke my psychological defenses. I lay in the mud and cried loudly. I don't know why I have so much sadness, but this is my only way to vent. Even if I don't look in the mirror, I know that I look like a dog now.
The wind and rain became more and more intense...
I don't know how long I cried in the wind and rain. In short, Gu Yinghan and his team had already left with the rescued villagers of Shigu Village to avoid embarrassment. They probably went to find a place to take shelter from the rain, leaving the space for Hua Mulan and me.
When I was tired of crying and wanted to sleep because I was exhausted, Hua Mulan had already sat beside me silently, and gently stroked my face with her cold but soft and slender hands that didn't look like a warrior's. Her eyes, like cold stars, stared at me quietly and whispered: "Have you vented enough? If you have, stand up straight, my little man."
I nodded. Although my emotions were calm, the sadness in my heart could not be dissipated anyway.
Hua Mulan seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then said to me: "I'm sorry for what I did to you just now. It's mainly because you suffered a huge blow this time. It's the first time you watched your brother die in front of you. I was worried that you wouldn't be able to bear the blow and become depressed, so I had to stimulate your fighting spirit and guide you to vent your negative emotions."
I have calmed down a lot now, how can I not figure out all these key points? He patted Hua Mulan's hand, closed his eyes tiredly, and asked softly: "Tell me what happened later."
"He... is a warrior!"
Hua Mulan hesitated for a moment, and said slowly: "Later, in order to stop those ghost soldiers from continuing to chase us and provide us with a chance to escape, Zhang Bowen climbed into the ammunition depot with his last breath, and completely detonated all the explosives and poison gas bombs in the ammunition depot, completely destroying the cave field of the Four Symbols! In this way, the shackles on the ghosts of the prisoners who died in the cave field were completely opened, and thousands of ghosts escaped."
Hua Mulan closed her eyes gently, her face full of fear. Obviously, the scene at that time was very scary: "Those ghost soldiers were busy capturing those ghosts, and we finally waited until the cloud and fog barrier disappeared to escape "I came out!"
My eyes lit up: "You mean... Zhang Bowen was not stabbed to death by the ghost soldiers?"
If Zhang Bowen was not stabbed to death by the ghost soldiers, then his soul would not be scattered. He is not a cultivator, and his soul must go to the underworld. With Qingyi's ability, it is not a problem to forcibly bring the ghost out of the underworld. I will find a living person to host him at that time...
Hua Mulan seemed to guess what I was thinking. She glanced at me and whispered: "I carefully sensed that night, and no ghost appeared. At the beginning, I could still find the breath of Zhang Bowen's ghost. Later... his ghost breath also disappeared. It is very likely that those ghost soldiers took his ghost to vent their anger!"
My heart, which had just risen with a glimmer of hope, was instantly hit the bottom again...
He followed me, and ended up with a soul scattered!
I gently closed my eyes and let the cold rain sprinkle on my face. Such bone-chilling coldness can calm my heart a little.
"This world will never be gentle to people."
Hua Mulan sighed and said nothing more. She just sat with me in the heavy rain.
I don't know how long it took, Zhou Jing suddenly ran over in a hurry and shouted from a distance: "Brother Tian, the Jinsui Army ghost soldiers we met last time are here, Zhang Ju said he wants to see you!!"