Angel on earth

"Harry!"

The barbed whip swung and took away the ring finger of his left hand.

Blood spattered, and his outstretched arm jerked, but his fingers were still trembling in vain, trying to catch Harry's hand.The wound on his right hand was painful and itchy. He pressed it against the wooden fence, and thick blood mixed with pus flowed down.

He knew he should switch hands and put his left hand underneath, pressing against the ruptured blood vessel.But there was no time, the carriage wasn't fast, and Harry couldn't run anymore, they all had to work harder, exerting all their strength like facing the flood of the doomsday——

The fingertips of the two brothers touched briefly and quickly a few times, but they still failed to hook together.The young man was running with all his strength, his chest making the terrifying sound of a blacksmith's bellows, his two green eyes turned upwards, and the white foam at the corners of his mouth had long since dried up.There was a rope around Harry's neck, and the other end of the rope was tied to a hook under the prison cart; the last time Aaron reached down to try to untie the knot, the cavalry smashed his right thumb with a stone.

Harry ran faster and faster, his slender legs took fierce steps, almost provoking death.The cavalry whipped him, yelling at the coachman to speed up, but Harry just ran wildly panting. He saw the joyful look on his younger brother's face, that kind of encouraging smile should always be his responsibility——

The young man's eyes darkened and he fell to the ground.His handsome cheeks were flushed purple, and his shirt was cut open by a stone, leaving it on the ground a few meters behind him with a tear.

The soldiers were cheering and yelling—they gambled a lot of money on this matter, guessing when he would die, and it was the worst luck to be the last one, he never thought that Master Edwards could run barefoot for so long without being thrown by the carriage Next——, Harry Edwards' body made a squeak—squeak—sound on the rough road.

Aaron grasped the iron railing and stretched out his hand to Harry:

"Catch... catch me, ha... Harry..."

Harry wouldn't respond to his pleas anymore.Harry has always been a formidable older brother, and he will do his best in everything he does to become a qualified Marquess Edwards. This time, he should also do it. He jumped onto the car and grabbed his brother's hand.

But he should have known Harry was dead, the moment he stopped.He has done many operations with his father and brother, they even replaced organs for greedy nobles, but nothing can replace a broken heart, he hoped that something he learned was wrong, because he was never a good boy, a good student , so he could pray over and over again that Harry would get up off the ground.

He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out, he wanted to say: Help, help, help—anyone—but nothing came out of him.

When did the other fingers break off?He doesn't remember.All he could see was the long, long, winding bloodstain trailing behind the cage, Harry's bright red flesh and blue-gray intestines hanging on the rough stone, his brother's picture of the most virtuous lady The faces staring back became bloody and bloody in the stones and mud, and then solidified, blackened, rotted, and maggoted on the long transportation line.

Jeremy was crying out for pain, calling his name, Aaron, help me... But he couldn't save anyone, he just knelt in the prison car and watched his brother motionless, Harry would be with the few people around him The corpses rot together.He heard the girl's cry, how strange... He had never heard it clearly before, but after more than 200 years and almost 300 years, he clearly recognized that it was Patricia, and Patricia was also screaming : Aaron, help me—

Jeremy fell silent, the soldiers stopped shouting, and Patricia died after shouting a few times.He stared blankly at Harry's torn muscles, his bare feet that had been running for a day and night were bloody and bloody, exposing the bones inside.The autumn rains had started, and that would make Harry rot faster, and he had to find a way...

Mithra, the sun god, heard his prayer, and the prison door opened.He hadn't eaten or watered for several days, and he almost didn't even have the strength to turn around, but he finally jumped out of the prison car, and someone caught him——

Arnold, no, you can call him Aaron now.Aaron Young Edwards woke up suddenly in the cave, took a deep breath, and the cry for help that could not be uttered in his dream was extinguished in his throat.

He did not allow himself to indulge in fantasies of salvation.

The extinguishing of the fire kept him awake for the rest of the night, and he had a bunch of messy dreams; he hadn't had a dream for a long time, but he could still distinguish between dreams and real memories.Fortunately, now, after such a long time, he would no longer feel sad and guilty for Jeremy or Patricia, he would just kill a few more bishops for their burial.

There is a living spring in the cave. This season makes people feel very cold, after all, it is already winter, and Mikhail will be 17 years old in two days.

But Aaron still felt lucky when he found this cave yesterday. How many years have he stayed in Lieyang City?He doesn't remember.So long—so many springs, summers, autumns, and winters had completely changed him.He needed clean water to wash away the filth they poured into this body on a whim, including the blood of dead men and animals, the sewage brought from the plague lands, and the spiritual overflowing medicine; he filled the esophagus and stomach pouch with herbs and flowers, Fumigate the unused airways with the steam of essential oils and decocted herbs; he wants to wipe off everything scalded by the soldering iron, he wants to wash the ground on winter nights—only he survives in the end.

He also had to sew limbs to the dead, his loved ones were too weak, and he didn't even shake his fingers when he picked up the fine stitches, so that they could be thrown into the fire with dignity.He wants to wash off the blood and flesh under his fingernails, there are his little cousin and... and who?

Aaron picked up the clear spring and splashed it on his face, and couldn't remember the rest.He didn't want to think about it.If Mikhail stood firmly on the side of the church, he would have happily told him everything aloud, but now, he was beginning to regret asking Mikhail to find the truth.What if Mikhail knew everything?

He closed his eyes, feeling the sweet spring water filling his mouth and throat, and slowly flowing into his stomach, which was heavy and reassuring.

He dreamed of Mikhail.He was ashamed of it, because in the dream that Mikhail had come to rescue, Harry was dead, and so were Jeremy and Patricia.His salvation has nothing to do with anyone else, it doesn't belong to him.After all, so what if there was Mikhail at that time?Mikhail would have died that autumn, no doubt, for no reason.

It was cold and rainy outside the cave, but it didn't snow for some reason.After parting from Mikhail, he headed northeast, planning to go to Bronzini's place. He entered the Garden of All Nations outside Spring Spring City the day before yesterday to recollect the seeds and seedlings of the plants he needed.

The Garden of All Nations is a paradise on earth for fugitives and heretics, but most of the time tourists and fugitives will coexist peacefully, because according to legend, this is also the resting place of Saint Yana, who will open her eyes to judge those who blaspheme the Holy Land at any time.

After Micah took him out of Lieyang City, the two fled here.He cannot drink the blood of men and boys, but Micah's blood is the manna of vampires, because he is blessed by the sun god.But Micah had to take him to hide, kill enemies, and find allies, and he would just lie on the ground like a dead dog, so Micah couldn't drink blood for him often, it was just a waste of energy.

He still remembers that it was a spring when all things were revived and flowers were blooming. In the Garden of All Nations, the rare and exotic plants were in full bloom. Sometimes Micah would hide him in the flowers, the ground was wet and warm, and the sun shining on the flowers and leaves would not burn him. .

The spring flowers are so fresh and soft, just like Mikhail today, and he is a living corpse, except that his chest is covered with corpse spots and burn scars.Micah made a lot of noise in Lieyang City, the entire Mithra dynasty was under martial law, and Micah himself was seriously injured, so they stayed in the Garden of Nations for half a year until late autumn.When the flowers start to fade in late spring, a little warm wind will make them scatter and the dandelions are colorful.One day a petal fell on his lips, and the sweet morning dew slid into his mouth.He chewed and swallowed the petal unconsciously, and he still remembers it as a pear blossom with a strong fragrance to this day.

He took a deep breath and smelled the fragrance of flowers and plants in the continuous cold rain.If there are two more snowfalls, he can take some plum blossoms away.He had only heard about it from Yana, but hadn't tasted it yet.

After washing his face, he performed his morning prayers as usual, unbuttoned the collar of his shirt, and felt free.

Aaron froze for a moment, touched it a few more times, and lowered his head, panicked.

His amulet was gone.

It was a brass key, which Micah took away when he went to rescue him in Lieyang City.When they parted in the Violet Mountains, Micah gave him the key as a token of freedom.There are a few messy lines engraved on it, as rough and mysterious as the heretical lithographs produced by the Red Moon Empire thousands of years ago, they help him resist the erosion of the sun god.

The key is that he is not afraid of the sun to rely on, and because of this, "Glory Maiden" was not able to kill him instantly like other vampires.

He took off his coat and shoes and shook them, and untied the belts that were full of pockets that were tied inside the waistcoat outside his shirt to check, and then searched the entire cave, but found nothing.The light rain outside was still pattering, and the heavy panting of the vampire echoed in the cave.After a stagger, he knocked feebly on his stinging joints, and had to decide to deal with the damn fire first, and wait for it to warm up before continuing to search.

A wooden box lay quietly among the firewood and ashes.

As if struck by lightning, Aaron suddenly opened his eyes wide, looking at the box almost ferociously.

It was his mother's dowry, and the gold buckle with inner spring was engraved with family crests composed of lancets, brass syringes, gauze, and weeds. He used it as a toy when he was a child, and broke a gold-coated sharp corner.

He stared at the box, clenched his teeth, and the veins stretched out on his forehead.

It seemed that everything he encountered was a test, but he was called Aaron instead of Job. He was supposed to heal the sick and save the sick, and he never thought of taking on the burden of the master.Regardless of whether it is the sun god or what, what do they think of him in the sky to come to test him, and put the belated compensation after he lost to Satan?He is not Job, he cannot accept that his parents and relatives die worthlessly for the bet made by gods and ghosts, and then happily welcome new wives, children, and flocks, as if relatives and flocks in the world have no gold. What a difference, they've done enough flocking.He just wants to die with them and spit on the gods in the sky while he goes to hell.

But he still opened the dowry, which was filled with off-white powder and large bones, and the vampire smelled Harry in it.

Aaron closed the lid, as if it was extremely cold, bent down holding the wooden box tightly, and knelt down by the damp fire.

For a long time, a burst of ecstatic laughter, like some kind of hoarse crying, clearly passed through the rain and stopped on the field.

The author says:

Manna: During the 40 years when Moses led people through the wilderness, God gave people to eat this. It is said to be the taste of white bread and honey.

Job is the protagonist of the Old Testament "Job". He was originally a patriarch or something. God and Satan bet on his faith, made him bankrupt and died, and his whole family was terminally ill. They also found someone to humiliate him. Job is a loyal minister Always defending God, and finally got a new wife and children and more wealth.It is enough to regard the biblical stories here as part of the sun god canon.