Chapter 33: Farewell

  The surrounding government soldiers were so frightened that they hastily retreated, fearing that they would be infected with the bad luck on that man's body.

  Wang Ergou's arm was freed, he turned around and saw the big red pimple on the face of the officer who had just grabbed him. He suddenly understood and quickly glanced towards the entrance of the Sheng family's courtyard, where he saw Sheng Siyan poking her head out from the gap in the door, looking this way with a curious expression.

  Seeing Sheng Siyan's sly smile on the corner of her lips, Wang Erge couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth. He slightly shook his head, signaling Sheng Siyan to hide back.

  Sheng Siyan hastily withdrew her head and tightly closed the large gate.

  Wang came out of the small kitchen and said to Sheng Siyan, "You come over here. Those men are fierce and evil, we women can't deal with them."

  Sheng Siyan walked back with a sullen expression, looking up at Wang Shi and saying uneasily: ".... But, isn't the Wang family's second brother's household......"

  Wang smiled and patted Sheng Siyan's head, "You just don't worry about it. They have a noble person helping them, nothing will happen. Let's just pretend we don't know. Come, mother made snake soup congee, you come drink a bowl."

  Sheng Siyan's small face scrunched up instantly, "Still want to eat snake soup?" From young to old, she didn't know how many snakes she had eaten, how many snake gallbladders she had swallowed. The snakes on Medicine Mountain must have hated her to death...

  Sheng Siyan grumbled to himself as he was dragged by Wang Shi to have breakfast.

  Next door at the Wang's house, after a brief period of quiet, it started again with chickens flying and dogs jumping, human voices, footsteps, and animal cries all mixed together.

  Sheng Siyan perked up her little ears and listened carefully to the sounds from next door.

  Just as everyone in Wang's family was being driven out of the courtyard, and even the monk was about to be searched for, a thunderous sound of horse hooves came from outside.

  This time, there were even more people than the group of Jia soldiers who entered the village before.

  Sheng Siyan stacked up his bowls and shouted: "I'm going to watch the excitement! I'll eat when I get back!" With that, he hastily ran out.

  Wang couldn't stop her, so she could only watch as Sheng Siyan picked up her little hedgehog A Cai and left the yard.

  As soon as the door opened, Sheng Siyan was startled by the tall horses and armor-clad soldiers in the village, taking two steps back, almost falling to the ground. - Do you need such grandeur?! What kind of background does that monk from next door have?! It's just missing a tattoo on his forehead!

  "By the order of the Prefect of Beijing, I have come to eliminate the rebels. - Where are you from? Where is your warrant?" A loud and clear voice like a bell rang out as a man with a long spear in his hand pointed at the group of armored soldiers who came first.

  Just now, in front of the villagers, Jia Bing, who was invincible, suddenly became like a mouse avoiding a cat, honestly binding his hands and nodding to those real generals: "Great... sir, I am under Zhao, the lord of the garrison area. You see, can you make an exception?"

  "What Lord Zhao? Which Lord Zhao? There are many Lord Zhaos in our court, some families don't even recognize them!" The man raised his spear and killed the soldier who had just spoken.

  Sheng Siyan's face turned pale as she hastily rushed over to tightly shut the large wooden door again, leaning against it and panting heavily.

  A burst of laughter came from outside the door.

  "Little sister, don't open the door if nothing's wrong. They're catching rioters, don't blindly join in the commotion..." a loud voice said, and then... there was no then.

  Because Sheng Siyan saw the bloody scene just now, even if she closed her eyes, she could only see a wave of blood mist in front of her that couldn't be waved away. She opened her eyes and saw that the whole courtyard was still shrouded in a bloody red color, and finally couldn't bear it, her head tilted to one side, and she fainted on the steps.

  ……

  Sheng Siyan didn't wake up until the next day. As soon as she opened her eyes, she anxiously called out: "Mother! Mother!"

  Wang rushed over in three strides, sat down beside the bed and stroked Sheng Siyan's forehead. Seeing that her high fever had subsided, he finally let out a sigh of relief and said, "I told you not to go out yesterday, but you didn't listen. Now you know what it means? You're just a little soul who can't take the sight of all that blood. Don't forget, the young son of Wang San from the east village was frightened by the dead body he saw at the Temple of the Land and died after falling ill when he got home."

  Sheng Siyan hummed and nodded, indicating that he had learned his lesson. He was worried about Wang Ergou's safety and asked in a hurry: "Is Wang Ergou okay? Has the monk been taken away?"

  Wang's eyes dimmed and he sighed: "Your second brother Wang..."

  "What's wrong?" Sheng Siyan's heart rose to her throat again.

  "Wang's family, Wang's family has to leave the village today." Wang said slowly, explaining what happened later to Sheng Siyan, "The group of armored soldiers who came first yesterday were said to be rebels and were caught or killed by the officers who arrived later. However, it was also said that the Wang family had offended someone and could no longer live here."

  "What? Leave the village? Where to?" Sheng Siyan lifted the quilt, "I'm going to ask Wang Erge."

  Wang gave her a change of clothes and tied up her hair, thought for a moment, then swallowed the words and only said: "Just go say goodbye. Saiweng lost his horse, who knows it's not good luck. You let Wang Erge study hard, having a good backing is also important, but you must work hard yourself, otherwise the mountain will collapse and the river will dry up. Relying solely on others won't do."

  Sheng Siyan seemed to understand but didn't really get it, and hastily left.

  The sky outside had just brightened, and a thin mist still lingered in the village.

  Sheng Siyan led A Cai out of the courtyard with a rope, and as soon as they exited the gate, they saw that the Wang family's large copper lock was locked on their front door. —— Had they already left?

  There are two roads out of the village, one leading south and the other north. Which road did Wang Erge and his companions take?

  Sheng Siyan unwillingly shook the rope tied to A Cai and said, "A Cai, sniff out which direction Wang Er Ge went?" She had always treated the little hedgehog A Cai as a guide dog.

  A'chai twitched his little nose and crawled southward.

  Sheng Siyan followed behind, chasing all the way, and slowly saw the road out of the village, as well as the familiar people on the road, who were particularly clear in the misty morning light.

  "King Ergou! Smooth sailing!" Sheng Sihyan climbed onto a large rock, waving repeatedly at the familiar back of the young man, tears falling down her face.

  Wang Er Ge walked silently ahead, always regretting that he couldn't say goodbye to Sheng Si Yan.

  Suddenly, he heard Sheng Siyan's voice and was both surprised and delighted. He quickly turned around and saw that in the pale purple mist of dawn, Sheng Siyan was wearing a bean green dress, standing on a large stone, waving goodbye to him.

  Even standing on a rock, her small body was still not taller than herself.

  Wang Ergou suddenly felt his nose turn sour.

  "Siyan, how did you run out here?" He ran back again.

  Everyone in the Wang family turned around and stared at them.

  The second prince Xia Zhao had changed his attire and was no longer dressed like a monk, but rather wore the same clothes as a common villager, with a cloth wrapped around his head, not drawing attention to himself.

  Just then, the sun slowly rose and dispersed the thin layer of morning mist.

  Xia Zhao saw Sheng Siyan's appearance and was slightly surprised. A delicate-looking little girl like this doesn't look like a village girl...

  However, he glanced at Wang Jia's older sister beside him, and she didn't look like a village girl either, so he let it go.

  Wang Ergou came to Sheng Siyan's side, picked her up from the big stone, and began to nag habitually: "I've told you many times, don't climb high just because you see it. In the future, if you fall down, there won't be a Wang Ergou underneath to catch you. Also, don't eat cold rice balls, they're bad for your stomach. Even if there's nothing else to eat, boil some water in a pot and steam the rice balls hot before eating them. And from now on, don't go to school anymore, Brother won't be there, what if people at the girls' school bully you..."

  Sheng Siyan looked up at Wang Ergou with a smile, "I know. Brother Er, you must take care of yourself. My mother said to remind you that you must rely on yourself. No matter how hard the mountain is, it's not as good as being strong oneself."

  "Brother Wang nodded heavily, 'Wang's wife is a sensible person, I will remember.' He also instructed Sheng Siyan, 'Don't be naughty. Be obedient. Your mother has only one person to rely on, and she has to play the role of both father and mother. It's not easy for a woman to take care of the household alone. Now that we've moved away from home, you must remember to help your mother with more chores.'"

  Sheng Siyan nodded in response, and only asked one sentence at the end, "Wang Erge, are you coming back?" She didn't ask where they were going, but whether he would come back.

  Wang Erge pursed his lips, "I'll definitely come back to see you." He said, and turned around to leave.

  Watching Wang Erge walk away with big strides, Sheng Siyan's heart was filled with a sense of confusion.

  She was most afraid of parting, but whether in her past life or this life, she had to face parting again and again.

  ……

  Before she knew it, four years had passed and Sheng Siyan was already ten years old.

  It's arrived at the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month again.

  "Wang said to her: 'Tomorrow we'll go to the Shen Nong Temple in Beijing to pay our respects. Go to bed early tonight, don't stay up too late reading.'"

  ……