[Pu Ye] Gardener and Flowers

Down/Pride and Freedom Road

The original tents were burned, and the new tents were far from enough for everyone.After the carnival, the crowd lay unsteadily on the wilderness, and only the Imayahans could sleep in the newly built tents.

It took Urahara a long time to fully wake up.The hangover left him parched and with a splitting headache.Although he was awake, his brain still refused to turn.When a person is sober, he always suspects that everything that happened before was false, but last night he said to him, "I will follow you", this sentence has been echoing in his mind, making him feel sweet .

He rubbed his eyes, intending to get up to find some water to drink, but at this moment, someone suddenly grabbed his back collar and hair forcefully, and dragged him aside.

His whole body was sore and limp, and he could only be dragged by that person, rubbing against the carpet underneath with his body along the way.Only then did he realize that he woke up in a tent.

He was thrown hard outside the tent.Finally, Broken Bee's black eyes, burning with rage, appeared in front of him.

"Where's Imayahan?" she asked coldly.

"Yeichi?" Urahara didn't understand why she was so angry. "I have no idea……"

Broken Bee pulled out his scimitar.

"You slept in Imayahan's tent," she said. "I am going to kill you."

Urahara looked at her blankly, still not understanding what was going on.Maybe it was because of his innocent eyes that enraged Broken Bee even more, she held the handle of the knife with both hands, pointed the tip of the knife at his throat and said sharply:

"No one can spend the night in Imayahan's tent! Except—"

"Broken Bee!" Ye Yi's loud voice came from not far away.

"Imayahan!"

"What are you doing?" Ye Yi blinked.She looked in a good mood, with no sign of a hangover on her face.

"You went out?" Broken Bee glared at Urahara, and put away the knife. "This man, how dare he sleep in your tent!"

"It's no big deal, Broken Bee," Ye Yi smiled and waved his hand, "Last night he was drunk and didn't know anything, I dragged him in."

Broken Bee looked at her in disbelief, with a stabbed look in her eyes.

"Come here, all of you." Yeyi touched Urahara on the ground with his foot. "We have work to do again!"

According to Imayahan, the black market in a nearby country is controlled by a man named Aizen.He holds in his hands the entry and exit of large quantities of goods, including the food needed by people living and fighting in desert areas.Every year, the four imayahans would take turns to exchange wealth and captives with him.This is the main purpose for the old patriarchs and Imayahans to meet regularly by the lake.

After defeating the king's army, this important matter was naturally brought up again by the old patriarch.But this time, it was Ye Yi's turn to complete the task of leading the team.

"Imayahan! Please let me go with you this time no matter what!" Broken Bee clenched the scabbard and pleaded.

Imayahan shook his head resolutely: "Neither you nor the gardener can go."

Urahara asked cautiously: "Aren't you going to do business? Why—"

"Shut up!" Broken Bee glared back at him angrily.

Yeyi explained: "Aizan is a cunning guy. Although he is somewhat afraid of us, we have to rely on him to provide food after all. He has a nasty habit, that is, every time after exchanging goods, he will let his The confidant blindfolded and threw an arrow into the departing team. Sometimes the arrow stuck in the ass of the horse, and sometimes it pierced the throat of the person. The old patriarch was unwilling to turn against him because of this matter, so every time he was shot Those sent to complete the mission were terrified. But we knew he was teasing us. That Gin Ichimaru was a famous marksman, and even blindfolded he knew exactly where he was aiming."

"Why not change the source?" Urahara asked.

"This is the most troublesome part." Ye Yi frowned. "The nearby black market merchants are all under his control, and official and ordinary merchants will never do business with us."

"Maybe, the defeat of the king's army this time is an opportunity for negotiation?"

"Well. But that's another story. Now, we must first complete the task in front of us."

Urahara nodded: "When are you planning to leave?"

"After the war, there is not much food left, so the sooner the better." Ye Yi said, standing up. "We need to mobilize the other Imayahan's camels, you and the Broken Bee can help."

Urahara was stunned for a moment, and when she turned to leave, he suddenly grabbed her wrist:

"Give me one day, one night."

"what?"

"Give me a day." Urahara said, looking into her eyes. "Let's go tomorrow morning."

After his request was granted, Urahara disappeared for a whole day.Ye Yi and Broken Bee counted the number of camels, but they couldn't find him anywhere.It was not until the first star had risen in the eastern sky that he finally returned with his horse, carrying a thick bundle of wild brambles on its back.

"What are you doing?" Ye Yi asked curiously.

"I need a sharp knife and a durable oil lamp," said Urahara.

Ye nodded: "It's in my tent. Come to my tent."

Urahara then led the horse behind the tent.Ye Yi reached out and grabbed the rope that bound the thorns, and was about to pull it down.

"Don't touch it!" Urahara hastily stopped him.

But it was too late.Yeyi withdrew his hand abruptly, then put his finger in his mouth and sucked it.

"There are many small thorns on it." Urahara said, removing the thorns from the horse's back.Ye Yi followed him into the tent, and watched with great interest as he scraped off the thorns from the thorns with a knife, then flattened the thorns with stones, and then burned them on the flame of the oil lamp.

"What the hell are you going to do?" she asked.

"You need some equipment." Urahara said, but his hands kept moving. "It should have been made of better material, but unfortunately the best thing I could find around here were these thorns."

He looked back at her: "Go to sleep. You need to get enough energy."

"Okay!" Yeyi stood up, walked to the opposite side and lay down.

"What about you?" she asked, looking up as she pulled the blanket over her.

"I have to be busy for a while." Urahara smiled at her.As soon as he finished his last word, there was a uniform whirring sound from the opposite side.

The next morning, Yeyi woke up with a rustling sound.She stretched her waist, rubbed her eyes, and found that Urahara was still sitting where he was last night, the oil lamp beside him was almost burned out, the bundle of thorns in front of him had disappeared, and all that was left was a mess crumbs.He was rubbing something vigorously, and when he heard the movement on the other side, he turned around.

"Did I wake you up?" His voice was hoarse with exhaustion, and his eyes were bloodshot.

"No." Ye Yi walked up to him and knelt down. "What's this?"

Urahara put down the stone in his hand.

"Try it on." He unfolded something like a sleeveless armor and said regretfully. "If you have enough time, you can polish it a little more, and it should be more comfortable to wear."

Ye Yi put on the "armor" as he said.It was woven of treated wattle, tight and strong.The size is just right, and there are two straps at the waist to hold it in place.

"It's so interesting!" She lowered her head and touched the texture of the wattle. "How do you do it?"

"If you've ever made flower baskets, you'll know there's nothing magical about it." Urahara scratched his head. "I just improved the method of weaving."

"Where's your cloak?" he asked.

Yeyi brought his cloak.Urahara turned around and took out a thin helmet-shaped object as if by magic.He put it on Yeichi's head, and then covered her head and the "helmet" with the soft cap of the cloak.

"So they can't see." He pulled the brim of his cloak forward. "I tried it just now, and neither the point of the knife nor the arrow can penetrate it. In fact, I should have thought of it before fighting the Wang Jun. I hope it can keep you safe."

Ye Yi looked at him blankly.At this time, he looked at her with very gentle eyes, and there was still a bit of reluctance and helplessness in it.She lowered her eyes subconsciously, and found that his fingers were covered with fine scratches, and there were still small blood spots coagulated in the nail caps.She stood up immediately, went to the corner of the tent to rummage, and walked back to him with a large roll of bandages.

"Ah..." Urahara smiled wryly, and retracted his hand.

Night stared at him fiercely.Urahara stopped talking and stretched out his hands cooperatively.

Ye Yi crouched there for a long while, during which neither of them spoke.The faint morning light projected in from the loose tent entrance, forming a gauze-like white light.They can even see the dust particles that move up and down with their breath.

Ye Yi looked at the fruits of his labor and said with satisfaction: "It's done!"

Urahara looked down at his hands wrapped like white pomelo.

"Go to bed!" Ye Yi got up energetically. "I'll be back soon!"

Urahara looked up at her and held out a hand to her.Unfortunately, that hand was so entangled that even the five fingers could not be distinguished, let alone holding her hand, so he had no choice but to put his hand down.

"What's wrong?" Nightwing asked.

"I... can only do this for you." After a moment of silence, he replied as if talking to himself. "...I hope you stay out of danger.... But the desert is your home."

Ye Yi was slightly taken aback, but soon understood what he meant.

"What are you talking about, gardener!" She leaned over and shook his shoulder. "Imayahan will not agree to others easily! Moreover, I will not do things that I regret!"

After speaking, she turned and walked out.Urahara heard her yelling outside the tent: "Broken bee, prepare your horse!"

When people are worried, the wait can be extraordinarily long.When Imayahan's camel caravan came back with a full load of food under the sunset, Urahara was still lying in an unlit tent.Although the body is very tired, the spirit is hard to relax.All day, he was there counting the hours, having trouble falling asleep, and even took a long time to remove the bandages on his hands to kill boredom.

"Why is it so dark!" Ye Yi's voice came from not far away.Then she lit the lamp with the tinder.

Urahara took his hands from his eyes, trying to adapt to the sudden light.

"Look!" Ye Yi was standing in front of him, except that the helmet on his head had been taken off, his radiant look was no different from when he went out in the morning.She turned suddenly, her back to him.Only then did he realize that there was a long sharp arrow hanging from the cloak behind her.

"I left it on purposely, just to bring it back for you to see!" She happily turned her head and looked at her back. "That nasty guy tried to shoot me today! But he can only shoot through my cloak, but not the armor made by the gardener! He miscalculated!"

Urahara stared at the arrow for a while, then suddenly lowered his head and rested his forehead on his scarred hand.

"The gardener?" Ye Yi tore off his cloak and threw it aside, squatting down. "Does your hand hurt, Gardener?"

Urahara didn't answer.

Suddenly, he raised his head and suddenly hugged her in his arms.

Surprised, Yeyi heard Urahara let out a long sigh in her ear.There were many complicated emotions in it, but she was hugged so tightly that she couldn't think about what those were.The armor woven of thorns was between them, squeezing her ribs achingly.

"Hey, gardener! Flower—" she just cried out twice, but then fell silent, because her lips were firmly kissed.Those were warm and strong lips, slightly dry due to insomnia, which pressed against her tightly.But Urahara didn't do anything other than that, it seemed that he just wanted to use this action to temporarily release his anxious emotions and long-suppressed longing.

He let her go quickly and pushed her away a little.

Ye Yi stared at his golden eyes, with an expression as if he had just woken up from a dream.

"Yeichi..." Urahara spoke with some difficulty.He didn't know what kind of response he would receive on his impulse.This was completely unexpected to him, but it was the result of his emotional ups and downs all day long.

"I..." He spat out a word dryly.But at this moment, Ye Yi suddenly took his face and bit his lips hard.

"Oh!" he yelled out in pain.

"I know!" Imayahan's golden eyes sparkled in front of his eyes. "It means you like me! I like you too, Gardener!"

Urahara covered the corner of his bleeding mouth and was completely stunned.

"...What's the matter? Did it bite you?" Ye Yi raised his hand and shook it in front of him.

Urahara still covered his mouth, and after a while, he said pitifully, "I regret it."

"what?"

"I regret it." He shook his head sadly. "I don't want you to come home with me because you'll bite me."

Ye Yi was stunned.For a moment, she literally believed him off guard.

But she immediately rushed forward with her white teeth bared: "Wow, Gardener! How dare you tease me!"

When Suifeng walked into the tent, what he saw was this: Yeyi threw himself on Puyuan, the two of them twisted into a ball, Puyuan laughed and pretended to struggle.

Sensing someone coming in, the two stopped their hands at the same time and turned their heads.There was blood dripping from the corner of Urahara's lips, and there was also a trace of blood on Yoruichi's lips.Faced with this bloody scene, Broken Bee thought they were injured at first, but seeing their expressions, she quickly understood what was going on.

"Imayahan..." she said stiffly, her face pale.

"What's the matter?" Not noticing Suifeng's strangeness, Yeyi got up contentedly, and before standing up, he still didn't forget to tap Urahara's forehead with his elbow.

"The patriarch has started distributing food." Broken Bee looked at the ground.

"Okay! I'll go right away!" Ye Yi jumped up, wiped his mouth, and disappeared like a gust of wind.

Sube then raised his eyes and looked at Urahara who was wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

"What do you think you're doing?" When a cold voice sounded above his head, Urahara realized that the broken bee was still inside the tent.

"...Huh?" He absently touched the cleft at the corner of his lips, with a look of joy on his face.

"You bastard!" Broken Bee raised her right hand high, she seemed to want to slap him hard, but she was trembling with anger, but she just held that hand high and didn't move for a long time.

"You're putting Imayahan in danger!" she snapped angrily in a trembling voice. "You are a selfish bastard! You have no right to be with her!"

Urahara looked at her in astonishment.Like yesterday morning, he still didn't understand why she was so angry.But what she said just now was spinning in his mind over and over again, and he began to vaguely feel that in the process, he seemed to have missed an important link.

"Imayahan is a noble person..." Broken Bee frowned tightly, and two lines of tears flowed down her cheeks.She lowered her hands slowly, looking very remorseful. "...I should have killed you earlier."

Urahara was silent for a while, sketching the outline of the matter in his mind.

"Tell me, what's that?" he asked.

"That's pointless!" and Broken Bee just stared at him tear-stained. "...As long as I kill you, everything can be over!"

She neither revealed the truth nor drew her cutlass threateningly as before.She looked down at him, but her expression seemed to be begging him to give up.Urahara lowered his head, and after a while, he finally sighed.

"... Broken Bee." He said softly. "Imayahan is free. Even if you kill me, it won't change that fact."

As if crushed by his words, Broken Bee let out a whimper.Urahara heard the sound of the blade being unsheathed, but he was still sitting there, motionless, not even trying to dodge.The two were in a stalemate like this, and in the silence, only the breathing of one of them trembling with anger could be heard.Finally, Broken Bee threw the scimitar to the ground, turned around and rushed out.

Urahara sat there for a while, then went out of the tent and found A Sanjing who was busy.

"A Sanjing," he asked straight to the point, "you once told me that your Imayahan paid a heavy price for marrying Mrs. Feizhen. Then, if it wasn't Mrs. Feizhen who came here, but Is Imayahan going to the north? So what?"

A Sanjing put down the pocket in his hand and looked at him a little blankly.The question was asked too suddenly, and he wasn't sure if he understood what Urahara meant.

"What I mean is," Urahara slowed down his tone, "what if your Imayahan wants to leave here? What price will he pay?"

This time, Ah Sanjing finally understood.

"The price?" He looked at Urahara like a madman, and then put his hand across the front of his neck. "There is no price, Mr. Urahara. That is betrayal. Betrayal cannot be forgiven. If anyone tries to betray his people, he will be torn to pieces by Imayahan's warriors before he walks out of the desert. His bones will be exposed to the sun on the sand dunes, and no one will cry for him until he turns to yellow sand!"

He finished speaking in one breath, and seeing that Urahara didn't respond, he asked strangely, "What's the matter, Mr. Urahara? Why are you asking this?"

Urahara shook his head slowly.

"...Nothing. Just curiosity. Thanks for letting me know."

Food is distributed equally to everyone.There are additional rewards for those who do meritorious deeds.Urahara tied the rations and prizes he got to the camel, and they quietly hid the camel into the grove while everyone else was busy.

Ye Yi said that as long as people are asleep, they can leave.

The two sat quietly in the woods as Urahara made a final inspection of his pots.

"...Yeyi, why can't we wait until the party is over and return to the desert before leaving?" That way, the old patriarch and other Imayahans would not be disturbed.

Turning around at night, golden eyes looked at him in the dark.

"Who said anything to you?" she asked with some annoyance. "What a mouthful!"

Urahara shook his head.

"...There was once an Imayahan who left his subordinates in the desert and fled," Yeyi said slowly, looking at the camp outside the woods, "the old patriarch threw all his subordinates away in a fit of anger. Beheaded. Because the old patriarch thought that they let him go in secret."

"But we slipped away under the nose of the old patriarch." Urahara understood. "So, he has no reason to lose his temper."

He was silent for a moment, put down the flower pot, turned around and hugged the person beside him gently.

"...I'll protect you," he whispered. "...Although I don't know how to use a knife, I will protect you."

For a while, none of them moved, just maintaining this warm and reliable posture.Finally, Ye Yi raised his head, showing his bright white teeth:

"I know, Gardener! You've helped me so many times!"

They waited there until late at night.Ye Yi slipped to the edge of the woods to see what was going on in the camp, then turned around and motioned for Urahara to go.

After finishing everything, they rode on camels and headed northeast together.However, when they walked to the north of the woods, they found a figure waiting for them in the wilderness ahead.

"It's Broken Bee." Ye Yi said, looking ahead. "Don't stop, gardener."

Urahara looked back at her.Her face was calm, but her eyes showed firmness and determination.

Broken Bee watched them slowly approach.She looked up at Imayahan.

"Are you leaving just like that?!" she yelled in despair. "...Are you going to betray us for this man?!"

Imayahan lowered his head and stopped his camel.But Urahara did as she said, still moving forward.

The evening wind brought Imayahan's loud words.

"I don't owe them, Broken Bee. I don't owe you either. I will do what I want, even if my bones will be exposed to the sand dunes until they turn into yellow sand!"

For seven days, they traveled day and night, stopping to rest only when absolutely necessary.Along the way, Urahara described his home to Yeichi.

"I have three assistants," he said with a smile, "Tetsai, Jinta and Xiaoyu. They are all hardworking people and easy to get along with, except that they like to use a broom to solve problems occasionally... But don't worry, they are definitely not you opponent."

"...When we get home, we can build a few more new houses and put huge windows on the roof so that we can see the stars when we sleep at night."

Ye Yi repeatedly expressed his approval.

On the morning of the eighth day, they reached the little oasis that was drying up when the two met for the second time.

At this time, it was just dawn, and the gray before dawn was floating everywhere.There is no water in the oasis.Urahara jumped off his hump, trying to find more black desert roses.But he returned without success.Except for the one he had in hand, he had never seen the same plant in this desert again.

When he came back, Yeyi was sitting on the sand, chewing dry food.So he squatted down and took two bites too.

"By the way, Gardener, I forgot to ask you!" Ye Yi said suddenly. "I broke into your tent that day. If you knew who I was, would you have helped me?"

Urahara shook his head: "It's hard to say. But you were really scary at that time. If I knew who you were, maybe I would take off your veil first to see what this famous wanted criminal looks like. Let's make a decision."

Regardless of the mouthful of food, Yeyi burst into laughter with puffed cheeks.

They talked and laughed for a while.When he got up and was about to go on the road, Urahara held Yeichi as usual, and kissed her on the cheek.

But this time, over his shoulder, Ye Yi saw a small piece of fuzzy dust rising up in the distant sky.

She shoves him away, then pushes him hard toward his camel.

"Go!" she said. "They are catching up, you go first!"

Urahara glanced at the way he came from, and saw that the black shadow of the dust was slowly expanding.He turned back again, staring at her intently.

"I'll find a way to hold them back." Ye Yi pulled out his knife, carefully inspecting the tip of the knife. "Go away. It's me they're looking for."

Seeing that he was still motionless, she gave him another hard push, and jumped onto her camel.

Urahara staggered a bit from her push, but he still stood there, neither opening his mouth nor running away.

Ye Yi grabbed his scabbard and threw it over.The scabbard hit Urahara's forehead, and a thin line of blood slid down the corner of his brow.

"You protected me!" she yelled at him from the hunchback. "Now, I want to protect you too! Your desert flower will not be defeated, she will survive and come to your hometown to find you! Imayahan never lies, have you forgotten!"

Urahara narrowed his eyes.

The nascent sun is casting its brilliant golden light over the undulating sand dunes.Ye Yi's figure was swallowed by the light, as if it was also on fire, exuding a beautiful and dazzling brilliance.

For a moment, Yoruichi was surprised to find that Urahara's eye sockets seemed to turn red.But he quickly turned and jumped on his camel, never looking back at her again.

The young Imayahan sat on a hunchback holding a machete.On the right, the lonely figure of the gardener is rapidly fading away.On the left, fluttering flags and roaring horseshoes are rapidly approaching.