The face-slapping madman who lives in the cold palace

Zhu Xi has never been out of the clan's land, where the mountains are surrounded and steep, and all the clansmen live by collecting herbs. They may pay a life, but what they get is only a meager amount of food, and it is difficult to get full.

As far as I can remember, there is only my elder brother Zhu Tong by my side, no father or mother.

He couldn't figure it out, since life in the mountains was difficult, why did the patriarch forbid the clansmen to leave the clan land?The trading of medicinal herbs and daily necessities are also handled by the patriarch. He took out a large cart, but only a few bits and pieces were brought back, and no one questioned, overstepped, or objected.

I also asked my brother, but my brother just patted his head and didn't say anything, and it was useless to pester him.I always feel that my brother knows the reason, but I just don't tell him.So he has never been willing to learn to collect herbs, recognize herbs, even if he was punished and beaten.

Of course he also asked 'Where did father go, where did mother go?Why did other people have a father or a mother, but he didn't have any?Are they all outside the mountains? 'Similar question.

After hearing this, my brother just hugged him and shook him silently, coaxing him to sleep, but his eyes were red every time.He felt that maybe it wasn't that he disliked this place and went outside, but that he fell off the mountain while gathering herbs like other uncles or uncles, and didn't wake up again.

Slowly, he stopped asking. Seven or eight years later, he, who only loved to nestle in his brother's arms, also held the most important coronation ceremony in his life.When my elder brother came to tidy up his clothes, he suddenly asked again.

I thought that my brother still wouldn't answer, but I just had regrets in my heart, thinking that this was the last time I asked.Unexpectedly, after the coronation ceremony, my brother lowered his eyelids and spoke softly, not knowing whether he was afraid of disturbing someone or the memory in his heart.

"Brother, as long as you are willing to collect herbs, it is enough to be a simple herbal collector. This is our identity, and our identity is a herbal collector walking on a steep cliff."

Zhu Xi looked at his brother's turned side face, feeling dazed and in a daze. He thought that his brother was probably the most beautiful person in the world, why was he always sad?Just like the little chick he saw on the cliff that had lost its parents, it was mourning and resentful about its dying fate, but it was powerless to resist, and the crying made people cry.

He still didn't understand what these were for, but in the following days, he stopped messing around and resisted picking herbs, and followed his brother obediently.

However, Zhu Tong did not dare to lead him to climb places that were too high and too steep, and often did not find precious herbs in flat places, so he was asked to stay where he was and wait for him.Every time he came back, he could be seen sitting on a rock close to the cliff, looking at the eagles and their new-feathered cubs that were also nesting on the cliff.

In this season, the cubs’ wings are hardened, and the new feathers are also reflecting the oily luster in the sun, and they are all shaking their wings to learn to fly. If they depend on the cliffs and refuse to fly, they will be pecked to death by the big eagle, or they will jump off. .

Zhu Xi calculated that among all the cubs, there might be one that was pecked to death, and almost none of the cubs jumped to their death, because they had wings, and when they flapped twice, they could flap their wings and fly high when they got used to it.

He really wanted to have a pair of wings himself, and then fly out of here and go to a random place.But this is impossible, if he escapes, his brother will be beaten to death by the patriarch...

After watching this for more than half a month, there are no immature eagle cubs on the surrounding cliff tops, only independent newbies circling all over the sky and starting to build new nests.

They may choose a new nest far away from the place where they were born, but they will never leave this cliff. They have a pair of wings to fly freely. No matter how far or how high they fly, they will all return to their nests when dusk comes.

Seeing the present calmly, Zhu Xi seems to have figured it out a little bit, wondering whether he can also be like the eagle, who will never leave the clan and live willingly, no matter whether its existence is unreasonable bondage or arbitrarily inflexible .

Perhaps it was because of his previous attitude that people were really uneasy. In short, Zhu Tong's bottom line is that he stayed here.I had no choice but to hold my medical skills of identifying medicinal herbs and memorize them carefully while waiting for my brother.

Thinking that as long as my brother is sure of his thoughts, he will naturally be at ease with him.

I thought life was just like what he was thinking, and after he memorized the medicinal materials, he would let his brother take him with him.Suddenly one day, he discovered that there was an eagle catcher from outside.

He just stared at the young man blankly, from the head to the feet, and then from the feet up.Scratching his scalp while staring at the young man, and dodging his eyes, he closed his eyes and curled his lips.

It turned out that the teenagers outside looked the same as the people in the clan.

According to his observation, the boy should be a novice. After all, the eagles are all adults now, and it is difficult to catch them alive. If it were earlier, it would be easier for the half-sized eaglets than now, and they have to climb the highest cliff.

So when the boy started to scratch his ears and look around anxiously after observing his territory for a long time, he just curled his lips.

I thought the boy would give up, but who knew that the next day he would bring some tools on his back, rope hooks, etc., as well as some strangely shaped pieces of wood.However, this man only rested for a while, and continued to climb up with his things on his back until he was close to the eagle's territory. climb down.

It turned out that it was just to transport tools, and there are other preparations?So Zhu Xi's curiosity was aroused all of a sudden, and he waited to see how the man caught the eagle.

This has been the case for several days in a row, and Zhu Xi's gaze at the eagle catcher is no longer so unreasonable. Sometimes he will stand up and take a look at the eagle catcher waving at him.

Today, the eagle catcher has already set up a soft rope net between the cliffs. He moves swiftly like a monkey walking on the cliff. After setting up a net, he waved to Zhu Xi.

When Zhu Tong came down, he saw Zhu Xi frowning and kept looking at the soft rope net above.He thought it was a self-protection measure made by a herb picker.

He casually asked Zhu Xi, "Who just made the net? This is too close to the eagle's territory, and they will attack in groups if they are not careful."

Zhu Xi looked at Zhu Tong sullenly, "It was set up by a man who came to catch eagles outside. It's been several days, but he just doesn't act upright. It makes my heart itch."

Zhu Tong didn't seem to be interested in this, so he squatted on the ground self-consciously, sorting and refreshing the piled herbs, shaking off the wet mud, and carefully wrapped them with broad leaves before leading him down climb.

After climbing down the mountain, as usual, one went east and the other went west. Zhu Xi went home, and Zhu Tong went to the patriarch's house to hand over the freshly picked herbs.

Zhu Tong put down the herb and left as usual, without talking to the patriarch.He felt that Zhu Xi didn't know anything, no matter whether the young man who caught the eagle really came to catch the eagle or pretended to find out the news, if the target was Zhu Xi, he would definitely not be able to ask anything.

Not knowing anything is the best disguise. If you don't know anything, don't know it for the rest of your life.

After a few more days like this, Zhu Xi mentioned the eagle catcher more and more times in his words, and it seemed that he was chatting with each other.Zhu Tong didn't stop him, but just asked him if he had remembered the medicinal materials he had read for so many days.

Of course Zhu Xi nodded, and asked Zhu Tong to test him with his chest held high. If he was wrong, he would eat the wrong medicine raw.

Seeing that Zhu Xi was so confident, Zhu Tong showed a rare smile, tested a few of the similar shapes, and saw that he could answer all the answers, and his smile deepened a little bit, "Brother, brother will take you to see the real medicinal materials tomorrow." ?”

This time Zhu Xi didn't nod quickly, he hesitated for a long time before agreeing.Zhu Tong saw it, but didn't know, and asked him to pack the tools that would be used tomorrow.

The two brothers went into the mountain early the next day and didn't come back by the moonlight until evening.Both of them are used to the smell of medicinal herbs. Originally, they were pretending to be a herbal village, and the clan field must be filled with the smell of herbs.

But just smelling it now, I always feel that the smell is weird. If I smell it a few more times, my head will feel dizzy and my chest will feel uncomfortable.

The two took a few steps back, wondering what was going on, when suddenly a pair of hands stabbed out from the darkness, powerfully struck Zhu Tong from behind, and knocked Zhu Tong unconscious with one blow.

Zhu Xi was so frightened that he opened his mouth to call someone, but he was also thrown to the ground, covering his mouth tightly, and then his limbs were completely suppressed, leaving only a pair of eyes that could move.He stared at the attacker with wide eyes in horror. After changing the angle several times, he finally realized that the person who attacked them turned out to be the eagle catcher boy he saw every day!

Angry flames almost rushed out of his eyes, and he opened his mouth desperately to bite the hand that was covering his mouth tightly.

Unexpectedly, the other party frowned, his eyes almost rolled up, but he remained silent.He was frightened, and quickly let go.

But in just a short while, he was gagged with a hair scarf, his limbs were bound, and he was dragged along the mountain road with his brother like a pig.

So of course he writhed and struggled, the eagle catcher had been thrown backwards by him several times, and he only retreated a little way, and he was already panting from exhaustion, but he didn't seem to dare to pant loudly , covering his mouth, only daring to let out a little bit of air.

If Zhu Xi hadn't been gagged, he would have wanted to yell.

Just procrastinate for a while, rest for a while, the farther away from the clan, the less nervous the eagle catcher will be, but it took a whole night before the three of them rested in a very hidden cave in a panic.

The eagle catcher boy was covered with sweat and mud all over his body. His skin was already dark, but now he only had a pair of black and white eyes.He wiped his face angrily, rubbed his arms, and glared at Zhu Xi who had been staring at him all night and still refused to give up.

"The good intentions are not rewarded. The whole village has been drugged and locked up. I rescued you two and treated me like this without a word of thanks. If you don't believe me, wait another three days. I will be here waiting for you to thank you." !"

After speaking, he rubbed Zhu Tong's acupuncture points. After rubbing for a while, Zhu Tong slowly woke up with pain on his face.

Seeing his brother woke up, Zhu Xi hurried to hug his brother, still whimpering.

Zhu Tong was only in a daze for a while, and then he quickly came to his senses. He looked at Zhu Xi and then at the young man in front of him. He was not as angry as Zhu Xi, but asked, "Who are you and why are you so angry?" Bind us?"

The eagle-catching young man let out a long breath, "If I knew he was unreasonable, I would have knocked him out. It didn't take so much effort."

Zhu Xi arched violently again, and Zhu Tong, who was already in severe pain in his shoulders and sides, felt the pain even more, and couldn't help scolding: "Brother, don't get excited, life or death is in his hands anyway. inside."

Zhu Xi's face turned pale in an instant, with tears streaming down his face, and his nose twitched sadly, like an abandoned puppy.

Seeing Zhu Xi like this, the young eagle catcher blushed inexplicably, turned around abruptly, and waved his hands at the two people behind him, "Hey, I'm really not a bad person." He said and took out an iron plate in his arms Shaking his head back, the front is "exquisite martial arts" and the back is "arts and virtues like the sea"

"This is a gift from His Majesty today. It can't be faked. It is to reward my father. Almost all of His Majesty's soldiers are brought out by my father. However, my father has no ambition to be in court, and he does not want to be a general. Now there is only one wild crane in the sky. But he There is a strange rule that if you want to get out of the house, you have to catch an adult live eagle. So I am really not a bad person. The bad people are in the village. They stun everyone and lock them together. I would have just told you, but At that time, the entrance of the village was full of bad guys, and it was so quiet at night, if there was a sound, it would definitely be discovered, and there were drugs spreading, if you stay for a long time, I will catch you!"

As he spoke, he winked at Zhu Xi who had stopped crying, and thought he had persuaded the two of them, he walked into Zhu Xi and took off the gag's turban, seeing that he didn't bite it off, he smiled and went to pick up the rope that bound the two of them, and continued talking.

"You also know that I've been here for a month. In fact, ten days is enough to get it done. It's also because I happened to see a group of not-so-good people sneaking around, so I stayed and just saved you."

Zhu Tong rubbed his hands, neither believed nor disbelieved, and winked at Zhu Xi.Zhu Xi wiped away tears, and asked with red eyes, "What's your name, brother?"

As soon as the eagle-catching boy caught Zhu Xi's eyes, he immediately dodged away, touched his nose and said in a low voice, "Just call me Brother Ying. Also, if I let you go, it's up to you to leave or stay, but I I still want to remind you that those people are not easy to mess with, they look like dead soldiers raised by the government."

Hearing this, Zhu Tong's eyes suddenly changed, and he grabbed Zhu Xi's wrist and walked out. Zhu Xi looked back at the eagle-catching boy uncomfortably, but was staggered and bumped into Zhu Xi. Tong's back.

Covering his nose, he called Zhu Tong, "Brother, I don't think he looks like a bad guy..."

Zhu Tong then sneered, "Brother, he is not simple. He has never been in a pile of dead people. How can he smell the smell of dead officials? Maybe they are all in the same group. I am just out of my mind to capture you separately." .”

The eagle-catching young man didn't agree now, and Zhu Xi was caught in the middle, so he had no choice but to hold Zhu Xi's hand with one hand, preventing him from taking another half step, and confronted Zhu Tong.

"Hey, you can't wrong me like this. It's obvious that your village has provoked some great people, so how could it be that I saved you?"

Zhu Tong tugged at Zhu Xi, but seeing that he couldn't move, she turned her head and moved the person behind her with a disdainful expression, "Even if what you said is true, since you have already noticed that something is wrong, don't say it in the next 20 days, someone will do it again." I also thought you were kind and true, you could have intercepted us at the foot of the mountain and spoke clearly, why did you insist on us getting close to the entrance of the village to attack?"

The young man who caught the eagle widened his eyes in disbelief, pointed at Zhu Tong and said loudly, "Why are you so suspicious. If I say one sentence, you can refute me two sentences. What do you want me to say? Okay, okay, you You go, you go to seek death, you go, but he has to stay."

After speaking, she went to dial Zhu Tong, trying to draw Zhu Xi to her side.

Of course Zhu Tong would not agree, and started flirting with the young eagle catcher.One collects herbs all the year round, and the other practices martial arts all year round. If you rely on brute force instead of moves, no one can compare with the other.

Only Zhu Xi was driven crazy by the two of them.Sending the two of them off one by one, unceremoniously, "Go back to the village in two days, and then you, tie yourself up, if you want to prove your innocence."

The young eagle catcher was instantly discouraged. He lowered his head and glanced at Zhu Xi. He silently picked up the rope and hung it on his body...

Zhu Tong snorted coldly, "Then you can't wait here, maybe someone from him will search for it later."

"You!" The young man catching the eagle's chest heaved up and down, and he blurted out, "If I am innocent, you will kowtow on your knees and apologize!"

"That's natural! Your innocence must be the savior of the two of us, let alone kowtow, it's okay to call you grandpa!"

"You! Okay, wait for you to call me grandpa!"

The three of them were led by Zhu Tong, and found another crack in the mountain where they could live. Although it was not as good as the small cave before, it was absolutely safe, and they would not think that people were hiding here.

After two days, Zhu Tong took out the bundled and sturdy young eagle catcher, and walked to the clan area holding a small medicine pick.Once passing the entrance of the village, not only is the silence terrifying, but also a strong smell of blood can be smelled.

Zhu Tong originally had a fluke mentality, but now his legs were limp and he sat straight on the ground, and suddenly stood up like chicken blood, rushed to the village, and searched from house to house for anyone who was hiding.

The more he couldn't find anyone, the more strange his expression became, as if he was going crazy at any moment.

Even Zhu Xi followed Zhu Tong like a wandering spirit, and his whole body was in a state of ecstasy.

The young man who caught the eagle felt that he had saved someone, yet he had been tied up for two days. He was suppressing evil fire in his heart, so he wanted to sarcastically say a few words.Seeing this, she had no choice but to shut up, and silently followed behind, even pulling Zhu Xi from time to time to prevent him from falling.

Zhu Tong searched from the beginning of the village to the end of the village. His voice was hoarse but he couldn't find anyone. He searched again unwillingly, but there was still nothing, nothing.

All the adults and children in the clan disappeared, except for some bloodstains with no chance of survival.

In the end, Zhu Tong fell to the ground with a dead face, just staring at the sky.Zhu Xi was held tightly by the young man who caught the eagle, and he was still in a daze.

Suddenly, Zhu Tong pointed at the sky and laughed, "Why is it the Zhu family? Why is it us? We have all hid in the mountains, just asking for food and clothing, why do we have to be persecuted like this? Are we really heinous? Is it impossible to exterminate the clan?"

Zhu Tong's sudden madness scared the young man back three steps before he lowered his head to chew on Zhu Tong's words. After a while, he also understood why the village became like this.He pursed his lips and only let out a sigh. "It turns out that you are the Zhu family. It seems that they were all captured by His Majesty's people. Zimo can't do anything about it. Please forgive me, Mr. Zhu."

Zhu Tong's eyes were bloodshot, and he finally shed tears that he had held back for a long time, "You go, everything here has nothing to do with you."As he spoke, he got up and kowtowed to the boy.

Chen Zimo accepted the gift, his fingers were still firmly around Zhu Xi's wrist, and he said seriously: "Since your Majesty's dead soldiers have found this place, they must have figured out the number of people. They are withdrawing now just to arrest you. Let Zhu Xi follow you." Let me go. At least follow me and he won't have to go through those things."

Zhu Tong only felt a mouthful of fishy sweetness rushing up, and it overflowed in his mouth.He quietly raised his sleeves to cover his face, and then just waved his hands like this.

Zhu Xi also only yelled, but was covered by Chen Zimo, knocked out again with a knife, turned his back, looked at Zhu Tong hesitantly, and said, "Do you really want to stay here to delay?"

Zhu Tong took off his sleeves, revealing his blood-stained chin. The red and white contrasted, his eyes turned, and there was a hint of charm on his dignified face. "Isn't this what you designed? Do you want to take both of our brothers? Chen Qiuping is your father, right? He was the one who forced my father to death back then. One leap, jumped off the city wall, embedded in the soil fiercely, and bloomed the brightest blood flowers, and could never be separated from each other. I have been a herb picker for 13 years, unfortunately they don’t even have a herb picker If you enjoy it, you will be forced to die!"

Chen Zimo never thought that a five-year-old boy who lived in the deep mountains for 13 years, even if he could remember, could tell his origin in one go.I had to admit: "It's me, and it's also my father. I'm sorry, I've already reported the number of people, and he's the only one missing. I really have nothing to do with the rest."

After speaking, he raised his eyebrows and bowed deeply.

Zhu Tong waved his hand feebly, "My brother doesn't know anything. He doesn't know his life experience, he doesn't know his enemies, and he doesn't know what the surname Zhu means. He only knows that everyone in the clan is surnamed Miao, a herb picker from generation to generation. Treat him well. Your father already owes Mrs. Zhu two lives, don't kill our family of four..."

After finishing speaking, Zhu Tong stopped talking, but quietly held a thin iron hairpin hidden in his chest, which he secretly hid on his body when he was looking for someone at the patriarch's house.Ever since he saw his parents' death with his own eyes, he had already put the Ecstasy Envoy on his back, and never put it down for a moment...

After Chen Zimo and Zhu Xi left, Zhu Tong was immediately arrested and imprisoned with his tribe.

There are no patriarchs, no children, and no adults in it. They are all scared and shivering teenagers.When they saw that Zhu Tong was also arrested, they all surrounded him crying.

Zhu Tong knew in his heart that some people might commit suicide, while others were killed.For example, children who are too young, adults who no one can look down on, and patriarchs who are convincing and obey orders.

With a desolate smile, he originally planned to end himself after meeting his clansmen, but now his mind is filled with the idea of ​​killing the dog emperor and letting the Zhu clan occupy the pinnacle of power forever.

He didn't tell anyone about this idea.It is better to get out of this unfair world as soon as possible after being reduced to a man's plaything and being abused to death, and wait for him to seek the top position for Zhu's family, and then become a member of Zhu's family in the next life...