[Twelve Kingdoms] The dance of the vast sky in the mountains

?The bright sunshine shines on the mighty team, but the silence of the team seems to be shrouded in invisible haze, and the silent mountain forest is desolate.

Having just encountered a violent attack, the bloody smell of the victim is still lingering, and no one is in the mood to speak.

Zhao Xin is no exception.

It's just that she was busy struggling with the packs of snacks, and there was no shadow on her face.

But...it always feels a little weird.Ye Ming frowned and stared at the shrinking package, and finally couldn't help asking: "Zhao Xin, are you okay?"

"Huh? Uh, uh, uh." Zhao Xin hurriedly removed the apple in his mouth, and quickly peeled the peanut shells with both hands.

Even immortals can't understand such a language!Ye Ming sighed, reached out and pulled out the apple, which had two rows of neat teeth marks on it.

"Hey, what are you doing? My teeth will fall out! If you want to eat an apple, go get it yourself, why did you have to shoot me?" Zhao Xin yelled loudly, threw the peanut kernel into his mouth, and rushed to grab it back I bit into half of the apple myself.

"I'm not trying to grab your apple... Forget it, let's not talk about this, I just want to ask..."

"Then why are you still snatching my apple? You just snatch it, and you don't admit it." Zhao Xin curled her lips and took a big bite as if venting her anger.

"I'm asking, are you okay?" Ye Ming directly skipped the controversial part and asked.

"Huh? Uh, ok, uh." Zhao Xin stared at the apple absently, chewing hard.It seems that the variety is not the same as that in China, it is a bit hard.

"Is it really okay? When you saw the blood just now, you seemed to be stupid." Ye Ming looked at her, and when she didn't answer, he sighed again, "I said a long time ago that this kind of work will not It suits you. Your country is prosperous and stable, and you will never have the opportunity to see such a scene..."

"What are you kidding, Xiao Yeming? I haven't seen it before?" Zhao Xin suddenly raised his voice, "Have you ever seen a building collapsing on fire? Have you ever seen a train fall off the rails? What is a few people? I have seen a lot."

Although I didn't understand what she was talking about, but judging from the tone, it should be a very serious incident.Ye Ming thought for a moment, then asked again: "Then why don't you dare to kill the demon with your own sword?"

"Why?" Zhao Xin's eyes widened in disbelief, "If I use it to kill that kind of bastard, how can I eat apples in the future? The apple skin here is so hard, if you don't peel it off, you will suffer from indigestion!"

Actually... is this the reason?Ye Ming couldn't tell whether she was talking nonsense or had other intentions, so he had to ignore this question.

"Hey, Xiao Yeming..." Zhao Xin tugged at the corner of her clothes suddenly, and his muffled voice came out from the crisp chewing sound, "How much longer do we have to go? How many more disgusting things will we encounter?" ? It won’t be like this all the way?”

Ye Ming glanced at her hastily, and slowly moved his hand to the hilt of his sword, "Whether it's like this all the way depends on whether we ride on the Pengyi or not. It's the first time I've experienced it so I don't know exactly, but I need it right now." Solve it... Get out of the way, Zhao Xin!"

Before Zhao Xin understood what was going on, she subconsciously jumped into the circle formed spontaneously by the guards, while Hao Yi quickly stepped forward to fill her empty space at the same time.

(Hey, Kunlun girl! What are you doing? Hurry up and replace Haoyi! What are you doing?!) The tall and strong captain of the guard yelled at Zhao Xin while waving his big sword.

Zhao Xin listened to the foreign language in a trance, his blank eyes passed by the fighting people, his mind was filled with splashing scarlet, and he cried chaotically, everything turned into a blank.

The half-bitten apple, with a slightly astringent freshness, a slightly sour sweetness, rolled into the dust.

Why is this happening?

(This is the world.)

Is this the arrangement of fate?

(It's destiny.)

Who arranged such a fate?

(Who knows.)

Why is it that you were assigned such a fate?

(and who are you?)

Why, let me witness all this?

(Could it be me?)

Why, am I powerless to do all this?

(are you me?)

If, what can I do...

(I'm here.)

So--

As night fell, Ye Ming and Zhao Xin, who were in charge of the first night watch, leaned next to Meng Ji, watching over the dimly lit fire.

"Zhao Xin, if you're tired, you can go and rest, I can watch alone." Seeing the listless Zhao Xin leaning on Meng Ji, Ye Ming couldn't help saying.

"Well, I'm resting." Zhao Xin murmured, fiddling with something.

"Are you—are you minding what the captain said during the day? Actually, you don't have to take it to heart, the captain has no malicious intentions." Ye Ming patted her on the shoulder.During the day, because Hao Yi replaced Zhao Xin, the big captain yelled at Zhao Xin who couldn't understand him at all. Could it be that she was worried about this?

"Ah? Oh, by the way, what exactly did he say?" Speaking of this, Zhao Xin suddenly regained his spirits, "Did he say something ugly? If I knew it, I would have scolded him, anyway, he listened don't know."

Ye Ming laughed dryly twice, but did not answer.Of course, cursing words won't sound very pleasant, so it's better not to tell her.

"Xiao Yeming, I just found out that climbing the mountain is really dangerous! So..." Zhao Xin suddenly put his face in front of Yeming's eyes, and quickly stuffed something into her hand, "This is for you, don't throw it away. .”

"What?" Ye Ming looked at the strange item in his hand in disbelief with the faint light of the fire. This is——

? ! ! ! !

"Amulet!" Zhao Xin fiddled with the skull earrings under his ears as a matter of course, with a serious face.

amulet?A skull made of peach pits is a talisman?Ye Ming stared suspiciously at the rough little skull, unable to imagine how it was made.

"Although it's my first time doing this, what's the matter? It's not bad, right? It took me a long time to set the teeth." Zhao Xin looked pale.

Ye Ming didn't have the strength to say anything more, so he could only put the little skull in his arms.But why does the kid like skeletons so much?How strange.

"Hey, Xiao Yeming, don't take it for granted!" Zhao Xin protested, but was interrupted by Ye Ming's silence.

There was a slight sound in the bushes, like someone's staggering footsteps.Ye Ming quietly drew out his dagger, and approached the bushes lightly, a group of black shadows suddenly rushed out.

"Stop, who is it?" Ye Ming swung his sword across and shouted in a low voice.

"I, I, I, I am Shao Ting, don't move, don't move, the sword is very dangerous." The visitor raised his hands nervously, and then muttered, "Why is there a woman in the guard? "

"I'm here to ascend the mountain. My name is Shao Ting. Please give me your advice."

The faint flame reflected the unfamiliar face, the young man who claimed to be Shao Ting bent over cautiously, looking like an honest and serious person.

Opposite him, the captain of the guard with the fire in the pavilion was sitting upright, with a solemn expression on his face, questioning the intruder carefully.To be honest, there are almost no cases of encountering thieves on the way up the mountain, because no idiot risked his life to enter the Yellow Sea for a little money, so he didn't doubt Shao Ting's plan, but he was just a little curious... Uh, very little bit.

The onlookers who didn't know why turned their eyes from one side to another, and then from there to this side, completely confused.

Ignoring the first half of the nonsense, the captain asked again: "Where is your entourage? Why are you the only one left? Or..." This guy just followed his master to climb the mountain?Looks like ordinary clothes, really don't want to afford to hire followers.

"Ah... follower? No! I'm not such a big person..." There was a trace of panic on the originally cautious face, and Shao Ting waved his hands again and again, giving a confused look that was completely different from the seriousness just now. Reckless yet cute.

——It seems to be quite young.

"So, are you going to climb the mountain alone?" Although he thought it was impossible, the captain still tried to ask.

"Of course not!" Shao Ting opened his eyes wide, and just when everyone showed the expressions of "it should be like this", he heard him add, "There are so many people ascending the mountain, of course I walked with everyone , Although I chose a different path halfway, I met you again. I am really happy to be able to walk with the students and guards of Taixue. Actually, I originally wanted to be admitted to Taixue..."

While rubbing his temples with a headache, the captain had to interrupt him: "You mean you want to go with us?" Ting followed them all the time, and he had to save him when he was in danger, but now it was unreasonable to drive him away alone... The captain sighed heavily in his heart, this time the ascent of the mountain was really a disaster. !Those who came were all those who didn't understand the situation... He glanced sideways at the girl from Kunlun who was sitting on the sidelines and fiddling with something, and when he saw the short sword on her waist, he felt a vein on his forehead— —So far, the uniformly distributed short sword has cut eleven apples and seven pears, plus a bunch of weird snacks!Thanks to her, he finally discovered that Fangguo was so rich in natural resources, and there were so many kinds of food that he had never seen before.

"Is it not possible?" Shao Ting tilted his head obtusely. In his opinion, since they want to go to the same destination, it is not difficult to walk together.Sure enough, he is a guy who doesn't understand the situation.

"..." The captain looked speechless, and in Shao Ting's eyes, this was undoubtedly a kind of acquiescence.

"Thank you very much!" Facing the other party with a childish smirk, he kept bending over to thank him, "Please go by yourself", no one could say that.

Hao Yi, who had witnessed the whole process, suddenly interjected, "How did you catch up with us? Did you not meet any monsters when you walked alone?"

"Well, actually, I followed the marks you left behind to catch up. Ahh, the students of Taixue are indeed good people. They knew that someone might get lost, so they deliberately scattered apple peels, banana peels, peanut shells... There are some very rare foods—well, it must be very expensive, right?” Shao Ting continued to answer without noticing the sweat of the people around him and the black line on the captain’s head in front of him, “As for monsters, how could it be possible? It's so easy to meet! I'm just a small person (does it matter?), and I've met three times in my 15 years of life."

Ten, 15 years old?Everyone was startled.Although it looks younger than everyone, 15 years old is still too young, right?Young and mature?Or is it just a prematurely aging face?However, at this time, Fang had only encountered monsters three times, and she was safe and sound walking in the Yellow Sea alone, which seemed to be extraordinary luck.

"Ah, that..." Shao Ting raised his head and said sincerely, "Which one left the mark? I must express my gratitude to him."

The surroundings fell silent in an instant, and the captain's face became gloomy and gloomy, and he finally glanced at the sentence: "There is no such person in my team." Then he shook his hand and left.

"Huh?" Shao Ting blinked his eyes and looked around cautiously, "What's wrong with him? Did he suddenly have a stomachache?"

The crowd couldn't bear it any longer, and even though the captain hadn't gone far, they laughed loudly.This time, Shao Ting was even more at a loss.Did he say something wrong?The serious and calm Hao Yi didn't feel that he curled his lips, and turned to look at Zhao Xin who was hiding alone by himself with a lonely expression.His eyes kept staring at the things in his hands, but his hands didn't move for a while, and his eyes flicked to the ground in front of his feet from time to time. It seemed that he wanted to join their "happy joking and laughing", but it was a pity that he couldn't speak the language.

Shao Ting was just confused, but not very stupid. He quickly realized that he followed Haoyi's gaze, and a ray of light flashed in his eyes unconsciously.Is that the girl?He walked over quickly.

"I'm sorry to bother you. Excuse me..." The voice of the question interrupted his contemplation. Ye Ming, who was sitting behind the tree with his back to the crowd, turned around, but unexpectedly found that it was Zhao Xin who was being questioned. "...you must be the kind person who left a mark on the road?" asked the boyish young man who looked about eighteen or nine years old.

"..."

"You are so kind. You actually put in so much effort to help unrelated people you don't know at all. I will definitely repay you."

"..."

Seeing Zhao Xin staring at him motionless, Shao Ting scratched his head unconsciously. Could it be that his tone was not sincere enough?So let’s put it this way—"Ah, you are really smart, how could you come up with such a novel way to make road signs? I admire your wisdom very much."

"Ye Ming." Zhao Xin grabbed the lapel of Shao Ting who was bending over respectfully, turned to look at Ye Ming, pointed at him aggressively and asked, "Is this kid scolding me?"

?

Ye Ming stared blankly at the two of them, Shao Ting's expression seemed to be cursing?

"What did he scold?" Zhao Xin asked again, skipping the answer to the previous question.

"Uh...it's not what you think..." Ye Ming tried to explain, but was interrupted by Zhao Xin, "Xiao Yeming doesn't have to excuse this guy, from the beginning I don't think he's a good person, sneaky, and Disturbed my interest in talking with Xiao Yeming, I must teach him a lesson!"

"Wait!" Ye Ming stopped her fist in time, "You can't do violence to ordinary people!"

Zhao Xin was stunned, then blew a whistle, and shouted in a joyful tone: "Ye Ming, you have the temperament of a king! Have you ever thought that you might be the king of Fang Kingdom?"

A drop of cold sweat dripped from Ye Ming's forehead... What is this child thinking about?Thinking jumps too much, right?

Shao Ting, who took the opportunity to save his clothes, hurriedly hid behind Ye Ming, and muttered, "I'm not a monster, why are you suddenly grabbing me and chanting a curse?"

execration?Ye Ming smiled wryly, because he is a fairy, so he can't feel the difference in language at all, but for people who don't understand the language, it will indeed be like reciting a mantra, right? "Shao Ting... this is your name, I remember it right?" Because he had been in a daze just now and didn't hear the captain's questioning, trying to remember that the first meeting was the other party's inappropriate self-introduction, Ye Ming said to the owner of the name After confirming, he continued, "That child is not chanting a spell. She is speaking another language because she is from Kunlun. She still can't understand your words, so it caused a little misunderstanding."

"Oh." Shao Ting suddenly realized, and then asked with a rare sensitivity, "Then why can you understand?"

This seemingly befuddled kid... is unexpectedly flexible in a place where he shouldn't be smart!Ye Ming secretly rolled his eyes, pretended not to hear, and turned to Zhao Xin to explain.

"So you're thanking me." Zhao Xin finally figured it out, but still looked suspicious, "Did I do anything worthy of his gratitude?"

"This..." Ye Ming prevaricated, then turned back to Shao Ting, "If you want to repay that much, there is one thing I need your help with."

"Hey, Xiao Yeming~ You haven't answered my question yet." Zhao Xin was not as easy to change the subject as Shao Ting, who kept tugging at the corner of Yeming's clothes and yelling.

"Ahem, Zhao Xin, actually," Ye Ming said with a serious face, "this little brother Shao Ting wants to teach you to speak the local language, and after you have learned a certain level, ask him personally Isn't it challenging?"

"I don't have such hope." Shao Ting muttered in wonder, but did not express any objection.

On the other side, Zhao Xin was lost in thought.Learn the language here?Then ask yourself to get to the bottom of it?Well, you can still swear at others when you are upset, so that only you can understand the swearing in Chinese, and there is no sense of accomplishment at all... Very good, that's it, no matter what, I have to figure out why Shao Ting is grateful to her first!

See, curiosity is such a thing.

Hao Yi pulled Ye Ming over and asked in a low voice, "Is this okay? That Shao Ting man is so honest, will he be bullied badly?"

"Who knows, I just want to keep Zhao Xin's mouth busy so that he can control his appetite. If there is another person chasing after the garbage, the captain will go crazy." Ye Ming smiled sinisterly, With a strange expression, "As for this Shao Ting, it was God's arrangement to meet Zhao Xin. Why should we worry about it? In short, everyone has their own destiny."