soul stone

"stop!"

The girl's voice was swept up by the strong wind, and along with me, it drew an arc in the air, and slammed heavily into the warm sea water.The boy had already been so frightened that he fell to the ground, his jaw chattering, whether it was because of the cold or fear.He rounded his puppy-like black eyes, and looked up at the person who just sent his companion flying.After the fist wind dissipated, a young man stood in front of the lava whale, looking at his right hand while pursing his lips.

"Oops, it's a little slow to close... Because the temperature is too low, is the reaction not flexible enough?"

"Ah... ah..." Big teardrops rolled down Yemoza's cheeks.

As if suddenly remembering it, the boy turned his head and said, "It's all right now. This whale is stranded on the shore, and it's a delusion to try to move a centimeter forward." He walked up to it, put his broad and strong palm on its forehead, It seems that he has completely forgotten the person he injured.

At this moment, Xue Ye finally surfaced, gasping for air as if she was almost suffocated.Sensing the sound of splashing water, the boy waved to her briskly: "Hey, did you expect this child to run aground, so you stopped me?"

Xue Ye returned to the shore and looked up at him.The faded and old cloak, the hood that is the same fabric as the cloak is messed up, the overly long prickly hair because it hasn't been cut for a long time, and the cynical smile that looks like sunshine——

"Are you... Jin?"

The boy opened his eyes wide: "How do you know?"

The girl showed a relieved expression, and stretched out her hand to wipe her face.A piece of damp.Blood dripped from her forehead and flowed down the sides of her nose.She felt dizzy.

Ye Mosa's face was splashed with water.He blinked, and saw his companion collapsed at the junction of the ice and the sea, the blood-colored liquid blended with the sea water, and spread slowly.

"Xue Ye!" He pounced on her and shook her body, then turned aside to face the culprit who was fascinated by the whale, "Hey, hey! Save, save her! You hurt her, right?"

"Ah?" The boy scratched the back of his head and muttered reluctantly, "...it's really troublesome."

When she opened her eyes again, Xue Ye found herself lying in a stone room.The room is about [-] square meters, and the walls are all airtight stone slabs. There are ventilation holes cut high near the ceiling, and the door is sealed with a smaller round stone.She moved her fingers and touched the soft and warm fur under her body.

"You're awake!"

A round, flushed face dominated the field of vision.Yemoza sat on the edge of the bed with a pile of thick clothes in her arms, sniffed, as if she was about to cry with joy.

"..." Xue Ye stood up clutching her forehead.The first thing that came was a burning pain, which was quickly replaced by a biting cold.The animal skins used as a quilt fell from her shoulders, and she was wearing only a thin petticoat.

"It's so cold..."

She curled up her body, but her teeth were still chattering from the cold, and her face was blue.

"Put this on quickly!" The little boy piled up the clothes on her body, "and the boots, I brought them from home."

Xue Ye blinked, only to realize that he was no longer wearing the suit that got wet in the sea before. "Is Aunt Mei not angry?"

Yemosha shook her head vigorously, showing a smug smile: "Mom is still outside, these are taken out secretly. I put the wet clothes on the oven to bake, and when mom comes home, the clothes will be dried Yes, she will never find out. How about it, admire me." After speaking, he patted his cheek with his fleshy little hand.

Xue Ye looked into his eyes and said to herself, "Steal..."

"Why, why are you looking at me?" Ye Mosa blushed even more, jumped up nervously, and backed away again and again, "It's not 'stealing', it's 'secretly taking'! We agreed in advance, you are not allowed to tell my mother!"

The little girl's eyes followed his footsteps.But she wasn't looking at him, she was looking at someone else.It wasn't until the little boy backed against the stone gate that he couldn't retreat, that she turned back from the fugue state and smiled slightly: "Of course, Ye Mosa stole it for me. I won't tell it. This is a secret between the two of us. "

"I said it wasn't 'stealing'..." the little boy defended weakly.

"But did you just remember to dry the clothes and forget about the boots?"

Ye Mosa stared at her blankly, and suddenly slapped her forehead: "Ah!"

"Go, I'm fine." She leaned over and handed him the soaked shoes, "Hurry up, if Aunt Mei finds out, all previous efforts will be wasted!"

The little boy looked at the boots, then at Xue Ye, and finally made up his mind: "Well, wrap it on me!" He walked to the door, put the shoes on the ground first, put his hands on the belly of the stone, and struggled Pushing away, her cheeks swelled like a tomato.A gust of cold wind came in through the crack of the door, stretching its tentacles into the room.Xue Ye's whole body was wrapped in fur, and she carefully hid in a corner out of reach, watching the stone close from the outside bit by bit.

"Wait for me, be back soon!"

As soon as the words fell, the last trace of wind disappeared.On a snowy night, I put on dry and warm clothes and shoes, and walked around the house.Daily necessities are pitifully scarce, not like a place to live, but like a tent for an expedition team.In one corner of the room stood a hill of fuel cans and kerosene lamps.A card-like thing lay on the ground, protruding at right angles from a slit in the fuel tank.Picking it up, it was a thick card the size of a palm, with two intersecting X shapes drawn on one side.

Just as she was about to turn over to see the other side, the cold wind hit from behind unexpectedly.Ye Mosa could only push open a narrow stone door, and was pushed aside by the young man, seemingly effortlessly.

"Yo, you're awake."

Xue Ye handed him the card.

"So it fell here...Thank you very much." The boy took it with a smile and put it in his trouser pocket.

"Are you a hunter?"

"That's right. My name is Kim Freesh, please take care of me."

Xue Ye raised her head and squinted her eyes.The heroic spirit exuded from this young man made people dare not look directly at him.

"Hi, Mr. Jin. I'm Xue Ye."

"If I hadn't stopped in time just now, I'm afraid you would have died." Jin took off his fur felt hat, threw his coat on the bed, sat on the edge of the bed, and stared at her with a serious expression, "That lava whale is solid I want to eat you and your companions. Like the act of saving the enemy just now, before you have enough strength, you are simply asking for your own death."

Xue Ye pursed her lips and shook her head silently.

"Why did you save it, Xue Ye?"

No matter what the boy asked, the girl just shook her head without saying a word.Jin shrugged helplessly and patted Xue Ye on the head.

"follow me."

On the frozen coastline, the huge monster with only a hemispherical head exposed is still stranded, and the waves are rolling behind it.It swung its tail desperately, trying to get out of the plight of being stuck in the frozen ground, but it didn't know that doing so would only make it more firmly embedded.

"It won't live long, and it will soon be crushed to death by its own weight." The boy explained, "Although it looks big, this lava whale is still a child, and it is probably the first time it has returned to its hometown along the ocean current. .”

"Go back to your hometown?"

"Rest every autumn, leave the frozen island to go to the warm south to give birth to offspring, return here in the next spring, and grow up in summer." He jumped up and sat on the back of the whale. "Usually, the cubs come back after their parents. Yes. This child lost his way for some reason, and maybe separated from his parents. A cub without parental protection, even if it returns to its hometown, will be bullied by other adult whales in the whale group, and it will not live long no matter what. "

As he spoke, he drew a dagger from his waist.

"Now, I'm going to kill it. Can I?"

The little girl raised her face and looked at him with the same eyes peeping into the room from the window.

"If you must do that, please wait until after I leave."

"Eh?"

Xue Ye covered her ears and knelt on the ice, showing a painful expression.

"Mr. Jin, have you ever killed someone? Have you ever heard the screams before death?"

The boy put down the dagger he held high and looked at her curiously.

"Animals are more pitiful than humans. Their cries are much more miserable than humans. Look at its eyes, it is asking us for help."

Jin rolled over and slid down, leaning closer to the whale's basin-sized black eyes.

"I didn't hear anything. Hey, you..."

At this time, Xue Ye had already curled up into a ball in pain, her hands seemed to press her ears into her head.

"So that's why you haven't said anything." The young man thumped his palm suddenly, "If I kill it, the sound will stop, so..."

Suddenly, a loud splash of water replaced the whine of the whale.The world suddenly became quiet.Xue Ye let go of her ears and stood up slowly.The pale golden sun shines on the boundless frozen coast, and there are no whales to be seen anywhere.Not far away were gold coats and shoes.In the distance, a slender figure came from the sea.

"I sent it back to the sea." The boy smiled brightly like the sun, "It's so cold, let's go back to the house."

Yemosa did not come back until sunset.

Withdrawing her gaze towards Shimen, Xue Ye brought her hands closer to the stove to bake.The orange-red firelight cast a shadow on the face of the boy opposite, looking like a weather-beaten adult.

"It's getting dark so soon, I'm really not used to it. I didn't bring a watch. I don't know how long it has been. It's difficult..."

"Mr. Jin, what are you doing here?"

"Me? Of course it's to track down the giant lava whale."

Xue Ye tilted her head slightly, subconsciously stroked the amethyst earring with her left hand.

"However, a gentleman told me that you were looking for the 'Entrance Stone'."

"You know a lot." Jin picked up the hot water cup and drank it in one gulp, "Who told you?"

"A gray-spotted seal named 'Big River'."

The boy opened his eyes wide in surprise, but quickly recovered his usual expression.

"Hahaha! What an interesting ability. You can not only 'listen' passively, but also 'speak' actively, right?"

Xue Ye nodded with difficulty.

"It's really convenient to have this ability..."

The teenager scratched his chin as if there was an unshaven stubble there.