Merit Book·Xinghai

Qi Dan froze for a moment, then seemed to think of something, his face changed drastically, he didn't even bother to say hello to Rong Yuan, he turned around and ran away.

He quickly passed through the woods, jumping over the gnarled tree roots like a nimble little leopard, the overgrown branches, leaves and bushes hit his face and body, leaving deep and shallow bloodstains, but he didn't seem to notice anything To the same, the speed has not slowed down at all.

Walking out of the forest, you can see golden farmland and a low wooden house.In front of the wooden house, there was a wide square for drying millet. At this time, most people in the village gathered in the square, and the cries came from there.

"Please have mercy...please have mercy...please spare him...you killed me...let me replace him..."

Qidan quickly ran along the ridge between the fields.He was small, and his figure was almost completely blocked by the straight wheat, so no one noticed that he came out of the forest.Not long after, Qidan ran to the square along the path in the village and saw what happened there, which was exactly what they had been worried about.

The neighbor of Qidan’s house——Uncle Kasanglai was trampled underfoot by a wolf cavalryman with a bloody head, and he let out a mournful and hoarse wailing like a beast; Aunt Kasanglai seemed to have just been fished out of a pool of blood. It was all covered in blood, she couldn't even stand up, she crawled over and hugged a wolf cavalryman's leg, weeping blood and crying: "Let him be spared... let him be spared... let him be spared..."

She didn't even seem to have a clear mind, she could only repeat this sentence over and over again, the blood spread from under her body, and the bright and dazzling red was shocking.

The wolf cavalryman whose leg was held by her seemed to be a big man. The other cavalrymen only wore leather armor, but he was wearing iron chain mail. The well-maintained armor gleamed in the sun.His face was also hidden behind a metal visor, only a pair of eyes as cold as iron could be seen.

The wolf cavalryman pinched a red, crumpled little thing with three fingers, and he carried it far away, as if he was carrying something dirty.Facing Aunt Kasanglai's mournful plea, he just gave her a cold look, and then kicked her away.

The physical fitness of the moon wolf tribe far exceeds that of humans. Even if he didn't use much force with his kick, Aunt Kasanglai spat out a mouthful of blood with a "wow".The thin woman wriggled on the ground like a worm for a long time but couldn't get up, but even so, she arched her body and moved forward inch by inch, leaving a bloody trail behind her.

In the eyes of the wolf cavalry, her powerless struggle was both ugly and ridiculous, and they burst into laughter when they saw her embarrassed appearance.While the surrounding human beings all bowed their heads in a submissive manner, in fact, everyone's eyes were filled with uncontrollable anger and hatred. The men clenched their fists tightly and trembled all over, while the women couldn't bear it. He closed his eyes and covered the eyes of the children around him, but the wailing and begging continued to reach their ears.

They all knew that the reason why Kasanglai's family was like this was because it was her youngest son, Katuri, who was only three days old, who was pinched in the hands of the wolf cavalry.

The Moon Wolf Clan implemented strict and cruel management on the human villages under their rule. In addition to the round-the-clock hard labor and huge tax burdens, they even took charge of the birth, aging, sickness and death of human beings—all human beings had to start working at the age of ten. You must get married before the age of 15 (otherwise you will be pulled into a forced match), and each couple can only have two sons at most (there is no limit for daughters, but beautiful girls are often taken to the castle to become maids when they grow up, and then listen to There is no news), at the age of 40, when you are injured and sick, and you are basically too tired to work, you must die (those who did not consciously dig a hole to bury themselves, the wolf cavalry will come to do it for them, and punish their children and neighbors for it).

Kasanglai already has two sons.However, the eldest son, Kagto, was frightened when he witnessed wolf cavalrymen throwing tax-evading peasants into the pack of wolves when he was a child, and he was frightened. Since then, he has been crazy and foolish; Anyone can foresee that when the child will start working in the fields in two years, it will not last long.Therefore, Kassan came to the couple to expect another child, even if it is a girl, as long as it is healthy, it can also help this miserable family.

As a result, a boy was born, healthy and strong. Right after he was born, he announced his existence with an extremely loud cry.

Every family can only have two sons, this is the iron rule.

So what about having three sons?

——Just one of them dies.

Three days ago, looking at his youngest son lying on the bed stretching his arms and kicking his legs very vigorously, Kasanglai sat silently outside the door all night.Early the next morning, Kasang came to let his silly son eat his stomach full for the first time, and then dragged him out of the village.On the way, everyone who saw them guessed what Kasang was going to do here.They made way to the side of the road silently, and some people stuffed an egg, a handful of beans, and a few wild fruits that they had saved with great difficulty into Kagto's hands.

When they arrived at the place, Kasanglai silently dug a hole - two meters long and 1.5 meters wide, flat and flat, almost twice the size of the small wooden bed at their home. If it was really a bed, it would probably make people Had a great sleep.

This is the last thing he can do for his son - so that he will not sleep so aggrieved in his last moments.

After digging the hole, Kasanglai straightened up, hammered his back, and when he turned around, he saw his stupid son Kagto squatting behind him digging the soil.Because Kasang came without a second tool, he picked up the soil with his own hands and threw it far away. When the wind blew, most of the soil fell back on him, but he still worked hard. very hard.Seeing his father looking back at him, Kagto, who was so dirty that he couldn't see his true colors, clapped his hands, took out an egg from his pocket, swallowed, and handed it firmly to Kasanglai, saying, "Dad... ...Eat! Dad...Eat!"

When Kasang arrived, his throat choked up. He turned around, rubbed his eyes twice, and said hoarsely, "Father is not hungry, good boy, you can eat!"

"Well, good!" Kagto didn't know what humility is, he responded readily, and finished eating the egg in a few mouthfuls, even the eggshell was chewed and swallowed by him.Licking his fingers covered in dirt and egg yolk, he mumbled, "Eggs...delicious..."

Kasang turned her back, not daring to look at him, and said tremblingly, "Son...come here...you...you lie down here..."

"Oh, okay." Kagto didn't know what was going to happen next, he lay down obediently, put his hands on his stomach, and said, "I'll lie... lie down, Dad."

Kasanglai took out several thumb-sized mushrooms from his pocket, the red ones and blue ones were very pretty.But all the farmers know that this kind of mushroom is extremely poisonous, and you will die from the poison within a few breaths after eating it. It's just that in this short period of time, the pain experienced is unimaginable.

Kasanglai held the mushroom tightly in his hand, turned around and saw Kagto lying obediently in the tomb dug for him, his clear eyes were full of ignorance and innocence, seeing him look over, immediately Then he showed a carefree, wholehearted and trusting bright smile.

Kasanglai's emotions suddenly collapsed, and he knelt down and cried loudly.The man's desperate and mournful cries were like the wailing of a wounded beast at the end of the road, the pain was so painful that it pierced the heart.

……

When night fell, Kasang came to take Kagto back home.

At night, the family lies in bed.Of course, except for the eldest son and the youngest son who didn't know what sorrow was, everyone else just stared at the dark roof.

"I'll go."

When it was daylight, the second son Karenby said calmly.

"Brother can still help the family with some work. I am like this, and I will die sooner or later. So... what difference does it make if I die sooner or later?"

"Kalumbi... my Karenby..." Aunt Kasanglai covered her mouth, sobbing hard.

Kasanglai didn't make a sound, his tears had already soaked all the hair on his temples, and in the darkness, a hunchbacked figure kept trembling.

Early the next morning, Kasang came to watch his second son finish his meal without haste one bite at a time, and then carefully cleaned himself up. The mud in the bed was cleaned, and he was as calm as if he was not going to die, but to go on a date with a beautiful girl.

"We should go, Dad."

Calumby pushed open the door, squinted his eyes and took another look at the land that fed them and gave them infinite pain, and then said.

Kasanglai's arms trembled slightly, he tried to stand up while supporting the table several times, but fell back down again.His whole body was limp and in pain.

The one who was going to die was his favorite son. He was smart, sensible, well-behaved, and obedient. Apart from his poor health, there was nothing wrong with him.He hasn't caused much trouble to his parents since he was born, and when he becomes a little more sensible, he will hold his elder brother who is much taller than him with his own little hand, take care of him, protect him, and never complain.Even when I was sick and curled up in pain, I never vented my pain by crying and screaming. Instead, I smiled and comforted my worried parents.

Such a child... Such a child... How could Kasanglai let him die just to make way for his newborn brother?

Kasanglai closed his eyes in pain, and opened them after a long while, his expression had calmed down.

"Let's... send Katulli away."