beyond the horizon

Wardler was awakened by thunder.

The torrential rain washed over the felt tent, and Wardle got up, lifted the curtain and took a look, and there was an ominous thunder and lightning brewing in the lead gray cloud.The rain curtain blocked his sight, and he unconsciously tightened his grip on the curtain.His experience of living in a pastoral area since he was a child told him that this was not an ordinary shower.

His heart was full of worry, and his brows were also furrowed.Someone patted him on the shoulder from behind, and Wardle was startled, and he was taken aback—he completely forgot that there were other people in the yurt, even if he didn't want to admit it, he was already used to the original yurt .In that small space were his younger brother Hazabu and Luo Yunxi.

"Did the storm scare you?" Darrante asked Wardler with a half-smile.Wardler's worry turned to irritation. "Go away," he cursed under his breath, "don't touch me."

Da Lantai shrugged his shoulders and stepped back, as if thinking of something, he raised the corners of his mouth viciously, "I wonder if your younger brother and little teacher were frightened by the storm, are they still looking for you outside? So Fierce lightning - I can only ask for the blessing of Changshengtian."

In response to Dalantai's unsettling words, the depths of the clouds suddenly lit up, followed by rolling thunder, resounding throughout the wilderness.

"Shut your mouth." Wardler gave him a hard look.He convinced himself in his heart, no, Luo Yunxi and Hazabu must have been disappointed in him, why would they come out to find him.Sometimes he couldn't tell what he had done—at Saiyin's funeral, his heart was broken into gravel, and when he thought life would finally get better, reality gave him a painful blow, telling him He hadn't really changed anything, the land would never have given birth to hope.The things he cherished were still going away from him. Luo Yunxi told him that he should abide by the rules more than freedom, and he tried to listen to Luo Yunxi's words, but it was useless.None of this worked.

He stayed at Saiyin's grave all night, and when the sun rose the next day, he made an impulsive decision to escape from it all.

In this vast grassland, apart from Hazabu and Luo Yunxi, the only one who can talk to him is Dalantai.Dalantai has no rules, he doesn't need to abide by anything, and even good and evil are illusory things to him.He hated Dalantai very much, but when he was wandering alone on the grassland, he couldn't think of a place that could accept him more than here in Dalantai.

Sure enough, Da Lantai easily took him in.What Wo Dele didn't know was that since Luo Yunxi beat up Da Lantai to protect them last time, his father knew about Da Lantai's conspiracy to rob, which led to a big quarrel between them. After a fight, Dalantai was driven out of the house by his father with a stick.Now the two of them live in front of a remote hillside. The yurt is very old and even leaks, and there is no stove for cooking.

Dalantai at this moment is like a lone wolf with its tail between its legs on the grassland, more dangerous than anything else.

Wardler just looked at the rain screen intently, and he hoped that the rain would end soon.Now, he really felt a trace of regret, and decided in his heart that as soon as the sky cleared, he would immediately go back to see if Hazabu and Luo Yunxi were still safe.

The torrential rain that lasted for a day and a night finally stopped gradually when the sun rose in the east.

Luo Yunxi's muddy clothes had been washed by Hazabu, but they were not completely dry and could not be worn again.Fortunately, there was a set of spare clothes for the driver in the off-road vehicle. The driver was a burly man, and the clothes on Luo Yunxi's body inevitably grew a full circle.Yesterday's high fever deprived him of part of his pain. Today when he woke up early in the morning, he found that the abrasion on his left forearm was really serious, and the wound was not cleaned thoroughly. Even the whole arm was numb with pain. Before returning to the grassland , It is very necessary to go to the medical station to deal with it first.

Luo Yunxi sat on the edge of the bed, and Hazabu squatted in front of him to help him roll up his trousers.From this angle, he could only see the curls on the top of Hazab's head. The boy's good mood almost radiated from every strand of hair. When his fingers touched Luo Yunxi's ankle, the tactile sensation and The heat reminded Luo Yunxi of last night.

Now his mind is much clearer, and without the shelter of the night, he doesn't know what to do, and his whole body falls into sweet pain.What the hell did he do? It's just so confusing.Do you like Hazab, the answer is yes, no one will not like Hazab.But Hazab is still so young, he hasn't seen too many people, he hasn't even been out on the grassland, he doesn't understand anything, maybe everything last night was caused by his own misleading—yes, it must be like this.It was all his fault for being too close to Hazab, for him to take the initiative to stare into Hazab's eyes.

He is 12 years older than Hazab, and he is Hazab's teacher.If one of them did something wrong, it must be him.

Luo Yunxi lowered his head, while Hazabu raised his head, his sight was like the bright morning sun, and it hit Luo Yunxi's eyes.

"Teacher." Hazab still called him as before, but everything was different.The boy raised his hand, very naturally, and treasured a strand of hair from Luo Yunxi's temple behind his ear, "Will the wound hurt?" Hazabu asked worriedly.

Luo Yunxi hesitated until he completely succumbed to the deepest desire in his heart.His joy is accompanied by sin, and his love is accompanied by pain, but it makes him want to hold on desperately.

"En." He replied with a very soft nasal voice, closed his eyes, and indulged himself in this short moment.Hazabu straightened up while kneeling on one knee, touched Luo Yunxi's forehead with his lips, and then touched the bridge of his nose, then quickly backed away as if afraid of being scolded, blinking his wet eyes, feeling wronged Teacher Luo looked at him intently.Luo Yunxi was tickled by him and laughed helplessly. There was no one else in the room except the two of them. He raised his arms around Hazabu's neck and dragged his good boy into a real kiss.

Hazabu's breath was so warm, Luo Yunxi closed his eyes and thought, if this is wrong, then at least he has to leave something now.

Before returning to the grassland, they made a detour to the medical station, treated the wounds on Luo Yunxi's arms, and even stitched some serious wounds.As Bayan guessed, he was hit by a rolling stone and hit a tree. When he told the origin of these wounds, even the nurses were stunned by his narrow escape. "Longevity bless you." The nurse sighed again and again, "This is a great blessing."

Luo Yunxi smiled and didn't speak. What he thought in his heart was that if there is really a blessing, then let me find Wardle as soon as possible.

In any case, as long as Wardler can show up, everything is fine.

It was almost dusk when we returned to the pastoral area. Luo Yunxi took some motion sickness medicine at the medical station, and his energy recovered a lot.The car was driving fast, and the place where the sky and the earth intersected was faintly glowing red.Luo Yunxi thought it was Xiaguang at first, but soon after, he realized something was wrong.

The red light seems to be alive, dancing with the wind, the closer you get, the more you can see the billowing black smoke mixed with it.

It was not sunset at all, but fire.

Luo Yunxi's mind froze, and Hazab and the driver obviously realized that the off-road vehicle deviated from the original track and began to drive away from the fire.The fire did not spread rapidly, but the scale was by no means small. It must have been burning for a while, and professional firefighters had surrounded it.The off-road vehicle stopped in a safe place. Luo Yunxi saw a herd of cattle fleeing from the center of the sea of ​​flames, and guessed that the cowshed was probably on fire.The wind on the grassland was fierce, and the flames were still spreading with the direction of the wind, which might affect the nearby houses——Luo Yunxi's heart tightened, and the place within one kilometer along the direction of the wind was not where he lived?

"How could this be?" Hazab said in disbelief with his eyes widened.There hasn't been a fire on the grassland for many years, and it just rained heavily last night, so the ground and wood are very damp, so how could it suddenly catch fire.The driver obviously needs to be much more experienced. "It is estimated that someone set the fire," he said. "In such weather, there is no reason for a sudden fire."

"I'm afraid this fire will reach my residence." Luo Yunxi said hastily, unfastened his seat belt and jumped out of the car, "I still have documents in my room—"

"No, it's too dangerous!" Hazabu grabbed Luo Yunxi's arm and leaned out of the car, looking very eager, "If the wind blows, you won't be able to get out in time!"

"This boy is right. Although the fire is far away, it is only a gust of wind time." The driver shook his head and said, "Now I can only pray that the fire can be extinguished quickly, and it will also burn in your tent." Before."

Luo Yunxi frowned, obviously wanting to fight for it again, those materials are very important, not to mention all his personal documents are still in the house, he will run very fast, and be able to come back before the fire starts.But Hazab also jumped out of the car.

"Mr. Luo, don't go." He begged, "It's too dangerous, don't go, okay?"

Luo Yunxi was ruthless, "Hazab, listen to me, I still have some documents that really—"

"Then I'll go," Hazabu said, and stuffed the small package containing the wet clothes into Luo Yunxi's arms, "You tell me where you put it, and I'll get it back." Luo Yunxi saw that he was serious, boy His footsteps were ready to go, and he was about to run in the direction of the felt tent.At this point, Luo Yunxi could no longer persist.

He grabbed Hazab's arm with both hands, afraid that he would run back impulsively, while his eyes looked anxiously at the direction of the yurt.The fleeing cattle were driven to one place by the herdsmen, and the shadows of people and livestock were elongated in the afterglow and firelight.

Suddenly, Luo Yunxi saw a shadow.

That shadow is very conspicuous, because it is the only one that is still, as if it is also standing on the top of the mountain looking back at Luo Yunxi.It was the shadow of a man, or a boy. He subconsciously took a step in that direction. The shadow seemed to be frightened suddenly, and ran away from the hill in the opposite direction.A strange sense of familiarity surrounded him, he looked at Hazab, and found that Hazabu's gaze was also following that shadow.

Against the background of the fire in the distance, Hazab looked extremely serious.

It took another 20 minutes before the fire was completely extinguished.Fortunately, no one was injured in the fire. The herdsmen in the upwind area lost several cattle, and Luo Yunxi's felt tent was burnt with a hole. Fortunately, that's all. The information he was worried about was safe. Nothing happened to the horse and lamb.Luo Yunxi didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the hole in the wall, and wondered if he would have to sleep in the air-leakage tent tonight?It seems that we can only make do with felt to make up for it first, and then try to find a way to replace it with a new one tomorrow.

He was going to ask Hazab for a favor, but Hazab has been silent since he came back.The sun sank to the horizon, taking away the light and all his words.

Luo Yunxi patted him on the shoulder lightly, "Hazab, do you have anything to say to me?"

Hazabu looked at Luo Yunxi, Teacher Luo's eyes were always as tolerant and gentle as the lake.He finally said, "I see Wardler."

"What?" Luo Yunxi thought he had heard wrong.Hazab saw Wardle?This shouldn't be, they have been together all this time, when did Hazab see Wodele, why didn't he see it—the still figure appeared in front of Luo Yunxi again.

If, if that person is Wardle.

"I saw Wodele with several people. They ran away from the mountain together. One of them was Dalantai. I won't admit it wrong, Mr. Luo, absolutely not." Hazabu held Luo Yunxi With the hands on his shoulders, the boy's palm felt a little cold, he inserted his five fingers into Luo Yunxi's, the palm prints were close to the palm prints, two surging rivers of life converged in their palms.There are so many creatures in the world, but at this moment, only the two of them are closely connected.

"It won't be like that." Luo Yunxi clenched Hazab's palm tightly, "Listen to me, Hazab. Things will definitely not be what you think. The fire was an accident, do you understand? "

"That's Dalantai, and the fire is so close to your house." Hazabu retorted weakly, deep in his heart, he dared not even guess the slightest possibility than Luo Yunxi.

"Shh, shhh—" Luo Yunxi comforted him, as if comforting a panicked animal, "I believe in Wardle, don't you trust him?"

Hazab shook his head, nodded again, and finally said, "I believe it."

"He won't hurt you, Hazab." Luo Yunxi smiled, pointing to the hole in the wall, "Now, you have to get up and help me, I can't fill such a big hole by myself .”

The two of them looked at the missing corner of the tent, Bai Sang and Xingguang were poking their heads in that hole, looking curiously at everything in the tent.Hazab was amused by their silly looks.

What Hazab didn't say was that he was afraid that that person was Waodele, not only because he was afraid that Waodele would really become a bad person, but also because he was afraid that Waodele would hurt Teacher Luo.He and Wo Dele are brothers, and they are inseparable. If so, what is the difference between him and himself hurting Luo Yunxi?

Teacher Luo is the cloud he wants to hold in his arms, and the starlight he carefully puts in his eyes to protect.The last thing he wants to see is that he will hurt Luo Yunxi one day.

Once a certain idea is planted in a person's heart, whether he wants it or not, it will silently take root and sprout.

The next day Luo Yunxi went around to inquire about how the fire started. As expected, everyone said that someone set the fire on purpose.But whoever set the fire, no one saw.

This uneasy mood has lasted for more than a month.The wound on Luo Yunxi's arm is gradually healing, and he needs to get himself busy again in order to dispel his worries—not only about Wardler's whereabouts, but also his relationship with Hazab.A young man's love is a fire that almost burns him.At one point, he tried to remind Hazab of the age gap between them, and something more realistic, but Hazab just hugged him from behind.He didn't explain or refute, but just buried his head into Luo Yunxi's neck, and asked sadly and sincerely, "Teacher, how can I keep you."

How to keep a gust of wind, a cloud, a drop of water in the sea.How can he keep his teacher Luo.

Luo Yunxi was shocked, and fled from his arms.

There was one thing he hadn't had time to tell Hazab.He couldn't find the right moment, and he didn't know how to speak.Not long ago, Zhao Xiaoqin called him and said that the Beijing Education Commission had given him permission, and the two of them could be transferred back to Beijing to resume their jobs in a month.

a month.He still has a month to stay in this grassland.One month is the last time limit for him and Hazab.

In the early morning of this day, a visitor came outside the yurt.Hearing the sound, Luo Yunxi hurriedly put on a coat and opened the curtain, only to find that standing outside was Director Li whom he hadn't seen for a long time.It was still early in the day, and he was still a little sleepy, but Director Li's serious expression was like a bucket of cold water poured down his head.He hasn't told Director Li about Wardler's disappearance yet.Thinking of this, Luo Yunxi woke up instantly, and was so embarrassed in front of Director Li that he couldn't even speak a word.

Hazabu also woke up. He rubbed his eyes and got out of bed, standing behind Luo Yunxi.Even though he saw clearly that the person at the door was Director Li, he still didn't realize too much, he just felt that the early morning wind was a bit cold.He was only wearing an unlined shirt, because his coat was being draped over his shoulders by Luo Yunxi.There was nothing wrong with either of them about this.

"Mr. Luo, I'm here this time for the sake of Wardle." Director Li said first.

Luo Yunxi subconsciously pushed Hazabu backhand.Even he himself didn't know why this action was happening.He felt uneasy and terrified, and his instinct made him shield Hazab behind him, as he had always done.

"Director Li, I, I should have told you... It's all my fault, I didn't take good care of him!" Luo Yunxi's nerves were so tense that he was about to break, he said in a topsy-turvy way.But Director Li showed a very puzzled expression, and because of Luo Yunxi's pale face, he was very worried.

"Mr. Luo, are you okay? Are you feeling unwell?"

"Director Li, what do you think happened to Wardle?"

This sentence was asked by Hazab.Director Li looked at Hazabu with a somewhat complicated expression, and the uncle Hazabu hadn't seen for a long time poked his head out from behind Director Li. Only then did the two people in the tent see clearly that Director Li did not come alone. , even Zhao Xiaoqin followed.

"Wodele was sent to the county office by the police this morning because of arson." Director Li sighed and said, "I thought about it, and I still have to come and tell you, Mr. Luo, that I shouldn't send this child away. Come to your side, but cause you trouble. I'm sorry, Mr. Luo. "

Luo Yunxi didn't answer, just stood there in a daze.

Their uncle rushed forward and asked Hazab loudly, "Hazab! Do you know what Wardler did, and did you have a part in it!" His tone and demeanor were very different. It seems that it has been expected that such a thing will happen one day sooner or later.

Hazab didn't even need to answer, the disappointment in their eyes said it all.Everyone knows how close and strong the relationship between the two brothers is. Although Wardler repeatedly said in front of the police that this incident has nothing to do with Hazab, who would believe it?Hazab would have forgotten that in the eyes of those people, they were originally a pair of brothers who were not taught or raised, and who had been in prison and had a criminal record.

They don't know what happened during this time.They don't know it all, and they only stubbornly believe in the one-sided view they see.But no matter how long it took, Hazab felt that there was nothing to hide from such gazes.

"No, no, there must be some misunderstanding." Luo Yunxi finally digested all the information.What they were talking about should be the fire that day, and Hazab was right, the shadow was indeed Wardler.But Ward put the fire on?He absolutely didn't believe it, not to mention that Hazab was with him that whole day, how could this matter have something to do with Hazab.

"Ms. Luo, don't be fooled!" A clear female voice came, and Zhao Xiaoqin squeezed to the front of the crowd, standing in front of Luo Yunxi.The conjecture in her heart was verified when she saw Hazabu's messy singlet and Luo Yunxi's coat that did not belong to her.She felt unusually angry, but the source of the anger was somewhat unclear, and she insisted on exploring it, probably with a little selfishness mixed in.

This indescribable emotion almost made Zhao Xiaoqin's heart fall apart, and Hazab's gloomy and handsome face added fuel to the fire. She didn't like the way Hazab looked at her every time, including this moment.

She couldn't choose what to say, "The one who came out of the forced labor camp is such a good boy!"

"Zhao Xiaoqin!" Luo Yunxi shouted at the same time as her.

Everyone quieted down.

Director Li said, "Hazab, you have to go back to the office with us. The police are still waiting for you over there."

Hazab lowered his head.He nodded, obediently and silently preparing to follow Director Li to leave.Luo Yunxi grabbed his hand from behind.He had never held on to Hazabu so hard, and the stitched wound on his forearm almost burst open.

"No." He said resolutely to everyone, with an almost fierce look on his face, "I am their teacher. The police have to ask me if my students have made any mistakes."