under the field

colin

Already the chill of autumn in the north was beginning to be felt, but at the moment the red-carpeted main house had a wood-burning fireplace providing plenty of heat.Otis stood by the window, from here he could see the stable on the way and the faint red figure inside. "We really should have someone take her to another room to keep warm first."

"Maybe we should quickly settle the meeting here," I said.

Otis asked in a low voice: "Do you think he will really be here? I mean, he has been running for so long, and he is still only at the border of the imperial city."

"The most dangerous place, the safest place." I just don't know if Kennedy III is really hiding here.

There were footsteps in the room, and an old man with gray hair and a trembling physique appeared from under the door curtain leaning on a cane, followed by the leading man Luo Fu who had just gone in to inform us. "Mr. Hulman." This is the lord of the village in the stone bed.

He was wearing a wolf fur cloak, and he nodded to himself and sat down on the recliner by the fireplace, his wrinkled red face was shining. "The wolves in the north are very fierce. I wonder if you heard about it when you came here?"

I nodded, "We deliberately avoided going on the road at night, and never thought that we would encounter wolves during the day."

Hullman lowered his head and stroked the fur on his cloak, "My eldest son was bitten to death by a pack of wolves when he went out, and there was not even a complete body left. Now the villagers have to prepare torches and guns whenever they go into the woods- Otherwise, we will die under the fangs for no reason. We accept foreign tourists only to provide temporary shelter for people." His cloudy and dim eyes looked at us: "You don't look like An ordinary traveler."

"We are indeed heading for the village in the stone bed."

"Your name?" Hullman said.

"Colin."

Hullman leaned over and asked Love beside him. "How many people named Colin have we heard in this land?" Love carefully answered after glancing at me: "The one from Jacob."

Immediately, Hullman put on a suddenly realized expression, "Ah, the famous one." The pair of deep green eyes narrowed, and he read in a low and hoarse voice: "Jacob's Colin." He glanced at Otis instead. "Your name?"

"Otis Stark, sir," Otis replied honestly.

There was no expression on Hullman's face, "What makes you think we will take in rebels who are against the royal family?"

"The village in Stone Bed is located in the boundary of the imperial city, but it has established its own tribe to isolate itself from the outside world. The tower in the center of the street only hangs the family emblem of the tribe in Stone Bed, and there is no royal symbol. It is obvious that you are not loyal to the current incumbent."

The only sound in the house was the crackling of burning wood.After a while, Old Hullman said, "This does not mean that we will help the rebels."

"But you want to know what we're here for," I said.Hulman gave Love a glance, and he took a wine jug and glass from a cabinet by the fireplace.He poured the wine slowly, without speaking.I continued, "We came here to find someone."

Hullman took a sip from his wine glass and avoided talking: "There are ordinary people in the village."

"I think you know who we're looking for."

The crowd outside the house began to clamor lively.

"Ah, it seems that our people have found a new player in the cage game." Hulman said to me with a smile. "Is she afraid of water?" he asked. "The girl in the white dress." I realized he meant Scarlett.

"What do you mean?" I asked, beginning to feel ominous, and motioned for Otis to go out and make sure Scarlett was still outside the barn.

"She's gone!" said Otis, walking to the window.

"Did you just say the cage game?" I looked at Hullman. "Player?"

"They don't know that's your girl, bro." Hulman continued drinking.

Seeing that Otis and I stood up, Hullman said without haste, "Ah, it seems that our guest has something to do and needs to go first.

"Love, don't forget to entertain them well. I still have a lot to say with the guests from Jacob."

Outside the stable, Otis quickly picked up the red cloak that had fallen beside Ollie. The girl had long since disappeared.I looked at Hullman, who was standing beside the main house, and said word by word, "Where is she?"

"According to the usual practice, it is held by the lake every year." Hullman casually looked at the people behind him, "Is that right, Love? Please guide our guests, Jacob's Lord Colin is in a hurry broken."

There is a lot of people by the lake, even if people gather together, the icy cold wind can still penetrate your body.People were celebrating loudly, and I pushed the assembled villagers out of the way.Before I came to the lake, I saw the cage hanging high, and there was a person standing inside. I didn't dare to think that it was Scarlett, but the white clothes all reminded that it was her.

"They're crazy!" Otis said as he ran beside me. "Is it killing people in this freezing weather?"

I didn't answer, but I could already hear Scarlett's shouts and splashes, and I had to quicken my steps.

People watched the torture as excitedly as if they were watching a scene, and the cold weather did not hinder their will.

I looked up and saw the cage rising slowly again, while Scarlett curled up by the cage like a cat, but kept groping for the railing with both hands.

"What are you going to do?" Someone stepped forward to block the way, I waved him away, and then someone came up to subdue me. "Put her down! Rope!" I said to Otis.Someone came up and grabbed my hand, and Hullman and his men stopped the man loudly.Otis rushed to the shore to wrestle with the fat man controlling the rope shaft, the rope was let go, and I watched the cage fall rapidly in front of me.The water splashed, the icy lake water splashed ashore, and the people started cheering again.

"Scar!" I shouted her name, the cage was pulled up by Otis, and the torso was shaking violently, because the door valve was opened, the people inside had disappeared, and the crowd exclaimed.

I took off my coat and wanted to jump into the lake, but the lake surface was cut open suddenly, and Scarlett struggled to surface, she took a big breath, I jumped into the water and swam towards her with all my strength, and embraced her in my arms.Her body was very cold, but her hands clenched the front of my collar tightly. She couldn't speak, her eyes were wide open. After seeing my face, she relaxed.

I took her ashore, put her gently on the ground, and wrapped her in the coat I had taken off.A woman yelled from behind: "It's not over yet!" Otis yelled at them. "Get out! This is an extremely ridiculous farce!"

"Put hot water on Lord Colin and his girl," I heard Hulman say behind me. "This is not a virgin, she is Lord Colin's wife." Someone in the crowd burst into disappointment, more regretfully.

I carefully held Scarlett in my arms, let her lean on my shoulder, and led her away from the lake and the crowd.

She was like a newborn heart that was beating violently in her arms, trembling violently, but was so fragile that it would be broken if she exerted force. "You are safe." I gently wiped away the water droplets on her face, and comforted me in a low voice, as if this could dispel the fear in our hearts and let her know, "You are safe now."

The maid outside said to me that the hot water is ready, I don’t know if I responded to her, I kicked open the door of the bathroom and pulled the wet Scarlet out of the clothes, first the outer skirt and the inner underwear, almost tearing, I don't know how to take off these things. I slowly put her into the bathtub after she was undressed.She turned her back to me and kept silent. I was full of anger and was about to explode several times, but at this moment I had to be weak. Her face was so pale. She breathed heavily in the hot water and finally stopped shaking.The maid next to me who was pouring hot water into the bathtub wanted to go out, I reached out my hand to stop her, "You stay and help her." After I finished speaking, I closed the door and went out without looking at the person in the bathtub.

Otis appeared at the door of the room: "Is she okay?" He took a look at me and said, "Dude, you must need a hot bath with this look." "I heard that this is the tradition of the village in the stone bed. Will Dipping a virgin in Lake Doyle three times will appease the wrath of the monster."

"So there are no virgins in their village? Because they were all drowned?!" I looked at him in disbelief: "Otis, she almost died before my eyes!"

Otis was a little helpless: "Once a year, and they said that most of them didn't die. It's not good for a woman's body to go through such cold torture, and many women suffer from infertility because of this." Uncontrollable anger I couldn't help punching the wall with my fist. Everyone in the corridor looked over, and Otis' eyes signaled me to calm down.

"So there are not many people in the village in the stone bed." It was a bit ridiculous, I ignored Otis and walked out of the room.The icy air filled the wooden house, and you could feel the cold air rising from the ground when you walked on the floor.It was only then that I became aware of the cold, the coldness of the lake was also hitting my bones, and the touch of her skin just now was at hand.

Cold and soft, like lake water.