late snow

The sky was blue and yellow leaves were falling, the sound of horseshoes kicked up dust all the way, and the cold wind poured straight into the neck.

Ji Huai shrunk his neck, looked up into the distance, and the dim yellow sunset shone far away, turning the willow branches that had lost their leaves into a dark silhouette, adding a bit of bleakness.

Ji Huai took a deep breath, even the air inhaled into the nasal cavity was cold, from the nose to the chest cavity.

"Cold?" Zhan Hua's voice came into his ears against his back.

"It's not cold." Ji Huai replied bluntly, and a gust of cold wind blew by, making him shiver uncontrollably.

The people behind grabbed the horse's reins and stopped.

After a whirring sound behind Ji Huai, a gray cloak was added to Ji Huai's body. Zhan Hua put the cap on him, covering his whole body, and even wrapped his hands holding the saddle very maliciously. went in.

Ji Huai was already nervous when he was riding a horse, but now that he took off his hand, he suddenly felt lost, "I haven't caught it yet—"

"Drive!" The person behind flicked his whip, and the horse carrying the two neighed, and galloped forward along the official road.

"Zhan Hua!" Ji Huai called him nervously, but his body leaned back uncontrollably, and then he was hugged firmly in his arms.

Zhan Hua's voice carried a playful smile in the wind, "I'm behind you, what are you afraid of?"

Ji Huai's face was blurred by the cold wind, and he knew that this guy did it on purpose.

He regretted so much why he didn't learn how to ride and shoot, otherwise he wouldn't have to be teased by Zhan Hua now.

Zhan Hua seemed to be just teasing him on a whim, the horse slowed down after running for a long time, and resumed its previous unhurried speed.

Ji Huai was so angry that he didn't talk to him.

The fake monk, who was born on the sidelines, talked more now, pointing at the two mountains next to each other with his horsewhip in his hand, "Passing those two mountains is Caixia Town, and in three days' time it will be the Mid-Autumn Festival, and there will be a lantern festival in the town."

Seeing that Ji Huai still ignored him, Zhan Hua said again: "If you want, we can spend the Mid-Autumn Festival in the town."

Coming late to the city, the Mid-Autumn Festival Lantern Festival is the most famous. I don’t know how much more lively it is than this small town in the mountains. Ji Huai is tired of watching it, but now life and death are unpredictable in a foreign country. The Lantern Festival is like a previous life. At this moment, he felt a little hopeful.

"The martial arts league meeting—" Ji Huai said hesitantly.

"No rush, there is still a month left." Zhan Hua said.

Ji Huai wanted to watch the Lantern Festival, but he couldn't speak directly, so he nodded reservedly, "Oh."

When it was getting dark, the two finally arrived at the foot of the mountain. There was no human habitation here, so they could only sleep in the wilderness tonight. This was the first time they slept in the wild in more than ten days.

But Ji Huai didn't dislike him either, what had happened before had worn down his eldest young master's delicate temper, so after dismounting now, he consciously went to pick up dry firewood.

"Don't go too far." Zhan Hua said behind him.

"I know." Ji Huai waved his hand, tied the hem of his robe to his waist, and began to pick up branches.

It just rained a few days ago, and many branches were wet. Ji Huai walked all the way, and when he came back to his senses and turned around, there were only dense dead trees that had lost their leaves and the howling wind in the forest.

Ji Huai shuddered, and subconsciously wanted to call Zhan Hua, but another thought was entrenched in his mind to stop him.

He can take the opportunity to escape from Zhan Hua.

Zhan Hua may not be able to find him in the barren mountains and wild mountains, but once they are found, their previous deal is likely to be voided, Zhan Hua will no longer trust him, and may take his life directly.

Even if he is not found, the chances of surviving alone are slim.

How is it not a smart approach.

But Ji Huai continued to move forward uncontrollably, even if he died—at least he would die in a less useless way.

He threw the dry branch in his arms to the ground. Just as he was about to run, a cold voice came from behind him, "Ji Huai, where are you going?"

Ji Huai froze.

He turned around and saw Zhan Hua standing less than three feet away from him, staring at him coldly with deep eyes.

Ji Huai twitched the corner of his mouth, "The branches here are all wet."

Zhan Hua was silent for a while, then stretched out a hand to him, "Don't leave the wet ones, come here."

Ji Huai lowered his eyes, held his hand, and was wrapped in the previous cloak, which was still warm.

Zhan Hua grabbed his hand and led him out of the dense forest where he couldn't tell the direction. Only then did Ji Huai realize that he had gone a long way.

"It's autumn now, and there will be packs of wolves or tigers and bears looking for food in the woods, and if you are not careful, you will die." Zhan Hua gave him half of the dry food, took out a torch and lit the dead branches.

Zhan Hua didn't know when he found so much firewood.

Ji Huai gnawed on some cold and hard pancakes, and responded sullenly.

Zhan Hua poured the warm water into a bowl and handed it to him. Ji Huai was choking so hard at the moment, he took a big gulp of water, but he spit it out halfway through drinking.

The corners of Zhan Hua's mouth curled up uncontrollably, and then he suppressed it indiscriminately, "What's wrong?"

Ji Huai frowned and said, "Is this wine?"

Zhan Hua took a sip and said with a blank expression, "Sorry, I took the wrong one."

Ji Huai's throat is still burning right now, he doesn't hold a lot of alcohol, and he only drank some sake when he visited Fenghua Building in the past, and he would get drunk if he didn't pay attention.

Zhan Hua poured him another bowl of warm water. Ji Huai learned to be smart this time. He smelled it first, then took a sip, and only after confirming that it was water did he drink half of the bowl.

Zhan Hua drank most of his remaining bowl of wine and noodles without changing his face. Seeing Ji Huai looking at him, he said, "It's cold in the mountains at night, drinking some wine will help you keep warm."

Ji Huai looked at him suspiciously, "Didn't you give me the wine on purpose?"

"Naturally." Zhan Hua didn't change his expression, his expression was indifferent.

Seeing his cold expression, Ji Huai thought that Zhan Hua would not be such a person and would not do such a boring thing, so he put all doubts behind him.

The wine was too strong, Ji Huai just took a big sip accidentally, and now he was a little dizzy from being roasted by the fire, and the breath he exhaled was full of wine fragrance, and now he was wrapped in a cloak and huddled into a ball , the cloak was damp when it came back, and it's not very warm to wrap it in at the moment, but it's better than nothing.

Zhan Hua reached out to support his shoulder, frowned and said, "Are you drunk with this little wine?"

"Not drunk." Ji Huai was not happy with his support, so he slapped his hand away, and moved to the side, a few feet away from him.

Zhan Hua withdrew his hand that was frozen in mid-air, and stared down at the orange flames, "Ji Huai, do you hate me?"

The man wrapped in the cloak snorted coldly, turned his back to him, and gave him the answer forcefully with his actions.

Zhan Hua: "..."

Ji Huai was dizzy at the moment, and was so sleepy that he wanted to sleep. Suddenly, the cloak was pulled away, and the cold wind swept across his body in an instant, making him shiver from the cold.

Ji Huai turned his head angrily and questioned the culprit, "How old are you!?"

How can you be so childish!

"The twentieth birthday is over next month." Zhan Hua put the cloak on the fire to bake.

Ji Huai was stunned for a moment, his voice was still drunk, "You, haven't reached the crown yet?"

"Yeah." Zhan Hua threw the baked cloak to Ji Huai, "Put it on."

Ji Huai is twenty-one years old this year. Although he is only one year old, he is still older than him. He is not very smart now when he is drunk, "Why don't you cover it up."

The main reason is that Zhan Hua is usually too calm and calm, and his martial arts is strong. Ji Huai has always subconsciously thought that he is older than himself.

Zhan Hua narrowed his eyes, took the cloak and wrapped Ji Huai inside, even tied a knot under the hat, and said coldly: "No need."

Ji Huai: "..."

In the middle of the night, the firewood was about to be extinguished, and Ji Huai felt cold while half asleep and half awake, and couldn't help leaning into the arms of the person next to him, and then suddenly woke up.

Now his face was pressed against Zhan Hua's neck, and being held in Zhan Hua's arms, he froze all of a sudden - before going to sleep, he clearly remembered that he deliberately chose a place farthest from Zhan Hua.

Zhan Hua seemed to be in a deep sleep, with his arms tightly wrapped around his waist, and there was still a clear blue-black under his eyes, as if he hadn't had a good night's sleep for a long time.

Ji Huai felt that now he should take the opportunity to pick up the iron-cut dagger hanging from Zhan Hua's waist, stab the fake monk who was about to kill him, and then ride away on a fast horse.

But I don't know if it was because he was too sleepy, or because Zhan Hua hugged him too tightly, or because the two of them snuggled up too comfortably in this dark and cold autumn night, he fell asleep unknowingly while planning how to kill someone .

The person who was holding him slowly opened his eyes, and saw Ji Huai's hand on his waist, which was only a few inches away from the dagger, pinching his wrist and stuffing that hand that was red with cold into the cloak.

Then close your eyes and fall asleep.