Life

1.

The sky was dark and dense, with thick clouds covering each other, preventing even a single ray of sunlight from leaking out.

There was a hint of heavy rain in the air, but the children seemed unaware of it, laughing and playing on the cobbled country road.

Among the short people in this row, only Zhao Jiu stood tall among the group of children, looking uncoordinated.

His eyes were covered with black cloth, and he fumbled around slowly.

The children were laughing and running around, making noises, causing Zhao Jiu to grope for the past, but he was always in vain. At this time, everyone couldn't help laughing with their stomachs in their hands. Zhao Jiu didn't know what they were laughing at. But he also laughed, with a simple and honest look.

In this "Ghost Catch Man" game, everyone didn't want to be a ghost. They let Zhao Jiu be a ghost, and said that when he was able to catch people, they would replace him with a ghost.

"Zhao Jiu, I'm here, come here!"

A boy as thin as a bamboo pole played tricks. He dodged and hid behind a low and flat rock, clapped his palms, and deliberately led Zhao Jiu over.

A stone that was higher than his ankles lay between the two of them. The people around understood his intentions and laughed along with him.

Zhao Jiu didn't know why, and laughed along with him, groping in the direction of the boy's voice with his hands.

Children's pranks are often harmless.

Sure enough, Zhao Jiu knocked on a rock, lost his balance and fell to the ground.

He fell to his knees with his back hooked and his hands on the ground, but he didn't react for a while.

"Hahahahahaha..."

The children around burst into laughter, seeming amused by their prank.

Zhao Jiu was stunned for a moment before he brushed off the plaster on his knees and stood up.

He hesitated and pulled off the blindfold, only to see the children around him, all of them blushing with smiles.

So he also grinned, showing his big white teeth.

"Come on, come on, let's continue playing!"

The children laughed and patted him on the back, and started the game again. The boy who was the mastermind of the prank was still squatting and laughing, so happy that he couldn't stand upright.

A flash of lightning flashed across the sky, and the "rumbling" thunder finally broke through the clouds. The strong wind began to rage, and the sand and sand on the path were blown up, fascinating the children so much that they couldn't open their eyes.

Several families who had smoked from their kitchens by the side of the road began to call their children home one after another. The children responded with an "ah" and began to say goodbye to each other and went back to their respective homes.

The skinny boy was the last to leave. He barely stood on tiptoe, patted Zhao Jiu on the shoulder and said, "Zhao Jiu, I'm leaving too, let's play next time."

After speaking, he waved his hand and left in the direction of home.

Zhao Jiu stood in the wind, still holding the black blindfold in his hand, his mind was a little slow, looking at the smoke from other houses, his face was blank, thinking when he would stop being a ghost.

He stood there for a long time before turning around, walking along the endless cobblestone path towards the foot of the mountain where there are few people.

He is not from this village, his family lives at the foot of the mountain, separated by a large forest with few people, and it often takes half an hour to get home.

It takes an hour to go back and forth in a day, but he never tires of it, since he is the only one in his family anyway.

Weeds were overgrown in the big forest, and the bushes were crooked. He walked unhurriedly, leaving a series of fine footprints on the somewhat damp mud.

The heavy rain fell as soon as it was said, and it came fiercely. Just as a few pea-sized raindrops melted into the mud, the heavy rain fell on the head and covered the face, destroying the vegetation in the forest to the point of crumbling.

Zhao Jiu folded a big leaf and put it on top of his head and started running. The rain was so heavy that it covered the road ahead with a rain curtain, and he couldn't even see the road clearly.

Suddenly, he stopped, and the leaves on his head fell off and landed in a small mud puddle beside him, splashing a splash of water.

He saw a person lying in front of him, he didn't know whether he was dead or alive.

Zhao Jiu was a little at a loss, so he decided to take a closer look. As soon as he got closer, the bloody smell that had been washed away by the heavy rain became stronger again.

The man's clothes were opened many times, just exposing the wounds on his body, the bright red flesh, the edges were washed white by the heavy rain, some wounds were still bleeding, and some wounds dried up, congealed into a jet black, The silt mixed in the rainwater melted into the deep surface of the wound, making it even more shocking.

Zhao Jiu didn't speak, and squatted down to check the man's breathing.

The man was breathing weakly and seemed to be holding his last breath.

2.

The heavy rain had no tendency to stop, and the strong wind howled and raged in the dark night, making a sound like a terrifying monster.The leaves fell to the ground, rustling across the wet ground.

Just as Zhao Jiu just closed the window, he sensitively felt a sharp gaze piercing his back. Looking back, the man who was originally placed on the bed had opened his eyes and was looking at him. His sharp eyes were full of hostility.

The man saw a stranger walking towards him, he supported himself with all his strength, his voice was vaguely hoarse after a high fever.

"do not come!"

His tone was very harsh and threatening, but due to physical reasons, he was a little out of breath.

Zhao Jiu stopped where he was, as if frightened, he hurriedly waved at the man, "I, I, not..."

He stammered a bunch of words, not knowing exactly what to say.

The man didn't let down his vigilance, he gritted his teeth and confronted Zhao Jiu, the room was very quiet for a while, but the man's breathing became more and more rapid, and his reddened face showed that he couldn't hold on anymore.

Zhao Jiu rarely communicated with others, and he didn't know what to do at this time, so he could only stand aside obediently, keeping a safe distance for the other party, but his eyes were always observing the man's physical condition.

The man on the bed finally couldn't hold on anymore, his body went limp, and he collapsed under the blanket again.

Zhao Jiu had quick eyesight and quick hands. As soon as the man lost consciousness and fell under the quilt, he quickly went over and touched his forehead.

The fever is very serious, and the temperature needs to be lowered quickly. Zhao Jiu sat by the bed, dipped the cloth towel in water and wrung it dry, and wiped the hot sweat from the man until the situation improved. Then Zhao Jiu stopped and covered the cloth towel on the man's forehead.

The man has lost consciousness now, and Zhao Jiu has no intention of waking him up.

There was only one bed in the room. Zhao Jiu looked at the unknown man lying quietly on the bed, and then at himself. He could only move a new set of bedding from the closet, spread it on the floor and make do with it overnight.

3.

The sky was bright, the heavy rain last night had stopped, and the ground was in a mess. Some vegetation that had been devastated by the storm had sprouted new shoots. Compared with the broken branches and new leaves, there was a feeling of a new look.

Zhao Jiu got up early, and as soon as he opened the window, he saw drops of morning dew bending the fresh green branches, slipping over the leaf tips and dripping into the small puddles.

He still moved lightly, sweeping the courtyard full of broken branches and fallen leaves, and carrying a pole to fetch two buckets of water from the river.

When Jiang Yuan woke up, his body was not so heavy, as if the control had returned to him.

Scanning the unfamiliar environment, I vaguely remembered what happened last night.

Jiang Yuan lifted the quilt, and his large movements affected the wound on his body. He let out a muffled grunt, with a painful look on his face.

The wound has been bandaged with medicine, and even his tattered clothes have been changed.

Zhao Jiu just came in at this time with a bowl in his hand.

He seemed to have forgotten how aggressive this man was last night, so he moved closer to the bed.

Seeing people approaching him bit by bit, Jiang Yuan remained calm on the surface, but in an instant, he quickly grabbed Zhao Jiu's neck. The veins popping out on the back of his hand showed that as long as he exerted more force, Zhao Jiu's body would be broken. The neck will break under these hands.

Zhao Jiu was taken aback when the man made a move. He looked flustered and didn't dodge in a daze. With a bang, the porcelain bowl in his hand shattered to the ground, and all the hot porridge was spilled on the back of his hand, scalding hot. Yes, it burned that piece of skin red.

Seeing this man's dumbfounded look, Jiang Yuan narrowed his eyes, thinking about something.

Zhao Jiu didn't bother to wipe the sticky and hot porridge on the back of his hand, he just stood there motionless, silent like a cicada.

Jiang Yuan felt that this person's reaction was too stupid, and he didn't seem to have much attack power. His frowning brows slightly relaxed, and the strength in his hands also withdrew a little.

"Fool?"

Zhao Jiu paused, then slowly raised his head to look at him, his eyes were black and bright, "I'm not a fool."

This is the first complete sentence that Zhao Jiu said to Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan was about to take back his hand, but when he noticed that the person in front of him was about to move, his heart became alert, and he ruthlessly strangled Zhao Jiu's throat with his hand, exerting force quickly.

Zhao Jiu's whole body was lifted up, his survival instinct made him keep pushing Jiang Yuan's hands away, but those hands were as firm as shackles.

He screamed, gradually unable to breathe, his face turned purple due to blood congestion, his eyeballs began to be bloodshot, he was still struggling, and the feeling of suffocation made him at a loss what to do.

This is not the first time Jiang Yuan has killed someone. He looked at the screaming young man in front of him, and he didn't feel any guilt in his heart.

The boy stared at him closely, his bloodshot eyes filled with tears, as if he was telling himself something.

It was only then that Jiang Yuan realized that what the young man was looking at was his own chest. He had just applied medicine to his chest, and blood had already flowed across his chest due to the large movements before, but he himself didn't feel it.

Pain surged with hindsight, Jiang Yuan was powerless, and Zhao Jiu, who had been strangled half to death, fell to the ground, only to save his life.

Zhao Jiu was still dizzy just sitting on the ground, his head roared for a while, the stars in front of his eyes were spinning wildly, and the pain around his neck was even more burning. After resting for a while, he finally broke free from the suffocating feeling.

Jiang Yuan was also exhausted from the pain, sitting on the edge of the bed, sweating profusely, blood oozing from the wound, and a few flowers of blood bloomed on his clothes, but he gritted his teeth and said nothing.

Zhao Jiu almost recovered his strength, stood up, turned around and went out the door.

Jiang Yuan glanced at the door closed from the corner of his eye, and when he was heaving a sigh of relief, Zhao Jiu pushed the door open again and entered.

Jiang Yuan watched Zhao Jiu approaching vigilantly, his heart sank, but his physical condition did not allow him to take any action.

"What do you want to do again?"

In just one sentence, Jiang Yuan broke out in cold sweat and trembled.

Zhao Jiu stood in front of him, his outstretched hand stopped in mid-air.

Jiang Yuan only noticed the herbs in his hand.

"Here, take the medicine."

Zhao Jiu hesitantly unbuttoned Jiang Yuan's clothes, pursed his lips and looked at the worsening wound, then applied crushed herbal medicine on it to stop the bleeding, and wrapped the bandage around and around before giving up.

"The injury is not healed, don't move around."

Hearing this instruction, Jiang Yuan didn't make a sound, just stared at the shocking bruise on Zhao Jiu's neck.

"It's really a fool."

Jiang Yuan's voice was very soft, with disdain in his tone.