Journey to the Rose

Fire, Lu Zhenghe.

The images presented in front and around him had to make Ruan Xi remember the Vulcan Festival four years ago again, even though he didn't want to recall those at all, every time he thought about it, the memory was like a knife, cutting again and again. On his tense nerves.

"What are you thinking?" Ruan Xi persuaded herself to calm down.

"What you said..." Lu Zhenghe has long since lost his vigilance, gradually getting used to his dependence on Ruan Xi, "I can imagine the scene."

Ruan Xi frowned and said, "Are you sure it's imagination?"

Lu Zhenghe answered honestly: "Not sure."

Feeling a little spark of hope, Ruan Xi couldn't help but ask: "So is there me in your imagination?"

When encountering such a problem, it was rare for Lu Zhenghe to abandon his usual decisiveness.He looked at Ruan Xi for a while, opened his mouth, slowed down his speech, and replied, "It seems...not."

"That's imagination." Ruan Xi closed her eyes and said nothing.

He thought, if only one of me remembers, it is not a memory, but an imagination.

The off-road vehicle did not stop driving, it galloped forward without hesitation.

The wind blows through the glass window, Ruan Xi seems to hear the sound of the lyre being plucked, which is the music that the residents of ablaze city will pluck for Vulcan to enjoy.

He saw the chariot he mentioned was parked in the air not far away, hanging, neither falling nor rising, surrounded by countless people bowing their heads in prayer.

In the crowd, he saw his self-willed self covering his mouth and nose with a large and thick gold-thread cashmere scarf. Without even thinking about it, Ruan Xi remembered that he greedily made many wishes. God asks.

They were still studying at school that year, Song Shumian hadn't met his beloved, and the news of the marriage of the two cities hadn't been delivered from afar, everything was going on in an orderly manner as usual.

At that time, Lu Zhenghe was still standing beside him, not looking like he wanted to make a wish.He just stared at Ruan Xi intently, and stretched out his hand to help twirl the fur balls wrapped in small balls on the scarf.

Then, prayers from the crowd end.

Before everyone could open their eyes, Ruan Xi withdrew from the silent atmosphere ahead of time, raised her head, pressed the scarf with her face, exposed the corners of her lips and chin, turned her head, and pressed a warm kiss on Lu Zhenghe's face.He still remembers the touch of that kiss to this day.

Yes, they should be as in memory.

Instead of sitting quietly in the car like now, the two of them have their own thoughts, and they have such a tacit understanding that neither of them speaks.

"Ugh."

Ruan Xi took advantage of Lu Zhenghe to look at the road signs, sighed quietly, raised his eyes and looked around the bare road with nothing, wanting to eat something sweet to make him feel better.

·

It didn't take long to reach Fire City.

Before entering the city, their vehicles stopped.Ruan Xi picked up the knife and was about to get off the car in good spirits, but was held down by Lu Zhenghe, "Don't get out of the car, wait for Li Shen to call."

Sure enough, not long after the car stopped, Li Shen was the first to open the front passenger seat of the pickup truck and get out of the car.

After the lessons from the previous few times, Li Shen now seems to be much more vigilant, without the usual carefree feeling, he lowers his center of gravity, and starts looking around for something.

When he got out of the car, the rear door also opened, and it was not Song Shumian who got out, but a soldier Ruan Xi had never seen before.

This soldier was tall, with slender limbs, and his hair was cut shorter than Lu Zhenghe's.Because of the distance, Ruan Xi couldn't see the face clearly, and could only tell who it was from the outline.

Squinting his eyes, judging from the outline, the face of this newly joined soldier is quite correct.He was wearing a low-light night vision training uniform, and the collar buttons were buttoned all the way from the chest to the neck. Ruan Xi guessed that he was a serious and rigorous person.

Li Shen was at the back, and the soldier was at the front. The two of them prostrated themselves on the ground, one behind the other, and waited quietly for more than ten minutes under the cover of the huge fire city sign beside the road.

In the process of observing on the ground, Ruan Xi also saw the soldier take out a watch from his arms, as if carefully counting the time.

During the whole process, Lu Zhenghe didn't move.

He let go of the steering wheel, holding the gun in his arms, with a solemn and majestic expression, and completely entered the static state of preparing to attack before the battle.When he was expressionless, the corners of his lips were always down, giving rise to a sense of indifference and alienation for no reason.

In fact, the m4 carbine/gun used by Lu Zhenghe was only dismantled by him, and it only took a few minutes.

Lu Zhenghe also told Ruan Xi that it is necessary to learn to dismantle a gun to maintain it, because there must be dust and dirt from the outside world falling into it, and the residue of the ammunition after the bullet is used will also be deposited inside. Encountered a stuck situation.And if there is any broken part, you can just replace the part and continue to use it.

He spoke earnestly, and Ruan Xi listened earnestly. After listening, he didn't learn how to disassemble the gun. Lu Zhenghe was so angry that he stretched out his hand and wanted to pinch his face again.

After ten minutes, they were the only ones left on the wide and flat road.

The few vehicles around were rushing towards the city of fire, and shouts of victory continued to be heard on the road. Most people knew that they were getting closer and closer to the north.

Looking at the team in front of them who needed to be on guard against foreign attacks at any time, Ruan Xi had to think that if he hadn't been dragged down, the escape journey would have been much easier for everyone.

There was an exclamation from outside the window, as if the time had come, and the danger was temporarily ruled out.

"My God, this place is too hot!"

Li Shen suddenly jumped up from the ground, he kept beating the dirt off his hands, and walked towards Lu Zhenghe's black off-road vehicle, ripping off the Velcro strap on the neck while walking.

The vehicle stopped, and there was no wind around.

Only then did Ruan Xi feel another gust of heat coming from all directions.

The feeling of being licked by the high temperature is unbearable. Now, he can only let the sweat rage until it soaks through his clothes, making him breathless and wanting to suffocate, like a deer falling into a swamp.

"It's too hot, I want to take off my clothes." Ruan Xi exhaled and wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

"Okay, I'll get out of the car after I take off."

As Lu Zhenghe said, he took off his outermost thick training uniform and put it on the driver's seat.

It was only then that Ruan Xi realized that his upper body had almost been stripped off, leaving only a thin short sleeve.Lu Zhenghe's lower body was still very heavy, it was a pair of long training pants with an armed belt and a tactical holster hanging on it.

On the cuffs of his short sleeves, there is a badge, which is a coat of arms with the abbreviation of the ancient land language, two spears/spears, and a lion's head.This is the armband of the Northern League.

"I'll go down and wait for you." Lu Zhenghe didn't know what clothes Ruan Xi brought on the road, so he handed him a folded white T-shirt, "You can wear mine."

"Okay." Ruan Xi said.

Just as the car door was closed, Li Shen trotted over with the "Ghost Crossbow" on his back.

He also changed his clothes, but there seemed to be no cooler clothes, he could only wear a thin training uniform.Li Shen stood in front of the car, looking left and right, wanting to ask where Ruan Xi was.

Along the way, he heard that Song Shumian told many stories about the Vulcan Festival in Ablaze City, and he seemed to suddenly understand what kind of city could breed such an interesting omega.The city of Song Shumian and Ruan Xi has the sea and enthusiasm, just like its shining name, it will nourish people with shining points.

And regardless of the north and the south, the number of omegas on the entire land is not large. Because of the climate, the north is vast and sparsely populated, and there are fewer omega, and more people become alpha when they are differentiated.

"What are you looking at?"

Before his eyes touched the glass of the off-road vehicle, Lu Zhenghe's strong body had already blocked it.

"Where is Ruan Xi? It's such a hot day here, young master, you have to cool down!" Li Shen rubbed his hands.He thinks this city is fun, and Ruan Xi will definitely like it here.

Lu Zhenghe: "Change in the car."

"..."

With a chill in his heart, Li Shen felt that if the eye knife could be turned into a sharp blade, Lu Zhenghe would definitely want to use a dagger to stab him now, and the temperature would not have to drop, "Please forget about my haunts."

Lu Zhenghe looked at the car ahead: "Return to the team."

Li Shen turned and ran, shouting: "Yes!"

After changing clothes, Ruan Xi felt even hotter.

Because his skin was officially in contact with the hot air in a large area, he felt how cool it was in the desert of the cursed city before, and the temperature of his body surface here was similar to the summer in his hometown.Inevitably, Ruan Xi missed it again.After a while of silence, he shook his head, trying to get rid of those bad emotions.

Growing up, the road ahead, people always have to learn to break away.

Right now, not only the air, but even the soles of his feet on the ground can feel hot.Of course, this kind of heat is not permanent and hurts the skin, and you will get used to it after standing for a while.

As soon as he gained a firm footing, Li Shen dragged the young soldier and ran over from a distance.

"Good morning." Ruan Xi raised her face and smiled at them.

Li Shen reminded me with a sense of presence: "It's morning."

"Good morning." Ruan Xi continued to smile and changed her words obediently.

"You, hello!"

I saw the soldier standing still, standing up straight, bowing slightly to him, then raising his head, and said loudly: "Report, my name is Gu Zirong! I am 19 years old this year! I belong to the Northern Alliance and I am in charge of the tower..."

"The restoration of the spire." Li Shen hurriedly interrupted the words.

After accepting Ruan Xi's suspicious gaze, he bit his tongue deeply, wanting to step on Gu Zirong's foot, and resisted the impulse to add two words of no avail: "That tower is... the battle tower. That kind of pointed tower The pointed watchtower, you can see very far with a telescope, have you seen it in pictorials?"

Wen Kai glanced at him silently, with an expression of "Why don't you say egg tarts".

Fortunately, Gu Zirong's reaction was very quick, and he immediately recovered his energetic expression, and said firmly: "I swear, no matter what job I am in, I can try it. If you need anything, you can trouble me!"

"Ruan Xi, you can call him Xiao Gu," Li Shen explained, "We considered that we needed someone to take care of Song Shumian on the way, and we needed someone to take care of you, so we temporarily selected him from the soldier search and rescue team that day. A very fine talent, come..."

take care of me?

Is there anything I can take care of?

Ruan Xi pointed to herself, unbelievable, me?

"Yes, it's you. Uh, there are almost no betas in our army, but Xiao Gu is, so he is more careful, and it is more convenient...to take care of the two of you." Knowing Ruan Xi's understanding of the difference caused by gender He was disgusted by the treatment, and Li Shen stumbled in his expression, trying to smile.

"It's okay, you don't have to be so nervous."

Ruan Xi glanced at Lu Zhenghe, who was silent behind him, and frowned, "But whose meaning is this?"

"It's what we mean," Li Shen could see that Lu Zhenghe had no intention of answering questions, so he could only continue to be the young master's acting spokesperson, "Don't worry, Xiao Gu usually follows us, and only targets when there is something wrong Take care of you, there are many people, there is always strength, there is always a time to help."

Ruan Xi nodded, appreciating their kindness, "Just trouble Xiao Gu to take good care of Song Shumian, I don't need it yet."

"Okay, I knew it!"

Li Shen shrugged, hesitated to speak, "You can't always recognize your identity."

"Li Shen." Lu Zhenghe frowned and reminded.

Knowing that she shouldn't say more, Ruan Xi still couldn't help it, "Is it the identity of being wanted and arrested? I don't want to involve more people."

Li Shen frowned and retorted: "Ruan Xi, you don't understand, we are a team now..."

It is indeed a team. Everyone has helped each other a lot along the way, and now it is an inseparable relationship.

Ruan Xi nodded, realizing that his language was too sharp and did not consider the feelings of his companions, so his tone softened a bit: "I know. But, I really feel that I am no different from everyone, I can just Be an ordinary member. I want to help everyone more, instead of being taken care of blindly."

"You are different," Li Shen said helplessly, "You were destined to be different from the moment you were born."

Birth, and birth again.

When he was in Ablaze City, the world gave Ruan Xi too much halo, and those halos accumulated into a huge "crown", which weighed heavily on his head at any time, making him unable to breathe.

He hated the so-called "God's will" more than once, and hoped that one day the gods could really come to the world and divert everyone's attention from himself.What everyone believes in is God, not prophecy itself.But now that his hometown is gone, he has become a vagabond, drifting to a foreign land, but he still has to be locked in some kind of invisible shackles.

But this is what he needs to accept, and Ruan Xi also understands.

"...Sorry, I don't want to say it. I'm sorry."

Ruan Xi turned around and took a deep breath, feeling that the moisture in her body was about to be dried by the heat wave of this land.

As soon as he turned around, Lu Zhenghe followed suit. The sweat of the two of them slid down their shoulder blades from their foreheads. Ruan Xi felt that they were about to meet somewhere.

Lu Zhenghe's gaze kept on him and did not leave, like some kind of silent comfort.

Ruan Xi lowered her eyes, tidied up the scattered emotions, and returned her comforting eyes.He knows some things, it's useless to say too much, he will prove it to everyone.Prove that he is a man of flesh and blood who can be like everyone else.

About to enter the city of fire, Ruan Xi stepped on the pedal of the off-road vehicle with one foot, got into the driver's seat with a bow, sat on it, and stared at Lu Zhenghe who hadn't gotten into the car yet.

Lu Zhenghe's exposed arms were too strong, and he just leaned lazily in front of the huge hood of the off-road vehicle, like a male model about to walk on the booth.

Wow.

After staring at him for a while, Ruan Xi felt that the heat wave in Huocheng raised the temperature in his chest.

It is this Lu Zhenghe who is different from the memory, which makes Ruan Xi remind herself repeatedly: he is no longer the former him, and you are not the former you.

Look away, and try to look at him with a re-acquaintance mentality.

Ruan Xi stabilized her mind and persuaded herself to get rid of small thoughts quickly and keep her mind free of distractions.

He stuffed candy into his mouth, chewed, and shook the map that Wen Kai handed over after getting off the car, and then unfolded the map paper, and the basic situation of a strange city appeared vividly on the paper.

His eyes followed the continuous line of the border volcano to see his position, and the four letters of "fire" were very eye-catching.

Ruan Xi didn't know what she would face when she entered the city.

Waving his hand, he greeted Lu Zhenghe: "You sit, I'll drive."

Lu Zhenghe was stunned, and smiled with the corners of his lips: "Okay."

Fire·32 acts alone!