newbobooks Chapter 683 Why can't your father leave this mountain?
Chapter 683 Why can't your father leave this mountain?
"That's the plan!" The burly bodyguard gritted his teeth and slapped his thigh hard. "We'll insist that the person has been delivered! That the kid walked away on his own!"
The group quickly reached an agreement, and they stuffed the worn-out clothes back into their bundle.
As dawn broke, the group pretended nothing had happened, turned their horses around, and galloped towards the capital.
Meanwhile, in a small mountain village a hundred miles away.
Shi Yong looked at Lin Jiayou's wary and hostile eyes, his face expressionless, and simply looked away from the hands that Lin Jiayou was tightly protecting his chest.
"I don't want your money." Shi Yong turned around, picked up a rough earthenware pot from the stove, poured a bowl of hot water, and handed it to Shi Xiaoniu next to him. "Give it to him."
Shi Xiaoniu, holding a bowl, approached Lin Jiayou again, his clear black and white eyes full of curiosity.
"Don't be afraid, my father is a good man. Although he looks fierce and has a tough tongue, he has a very kind heart. Everyone in the village asks my father for help."
Lin Jiayou did not take the bowl of water; his body remained tense, like a lone wolf ready to fight or flee at any moment.
Shi Yong ignored him and said to Shi Xiaoniu, "I'm going to check the traps on the back mountain. You stay home and watch the guest, don't let him wander off."
After saying that, he picked up the machete and rope leaning against the door, pushed open the wooden gate and went out, his empty sleeve swaying slightly in the morning breeze.
Only two teenagers remained in the room.
Seeing that Lin Jiayou ignored him, Shi Xiaoniu was not angry. He put the bowl on the table, then moved a small stool and sat down in front of him, resting his chin on his hand and continuing to scrutinize him.
"Are you really going to Chengdu? That's a long way off."
"I heard from the old folks in the village that there are tall houses in Chengdu and the roads are paved with bluestone slabs, so they're very smooth. Is that true?"
"You're going to Chengdu to visit the Gu family? What kind of family is that? Is it more impressive than the village chief's house?"
Shi Xiaoniu kept talking, but Lin Jiayou remained silent.
He was on high alert with all his senses, listening for the slightest sound or movement outside the courtyard.
He didn't know when the one-armed hunter would return, nor did he know what he was up to.
He can't trust anyone.
After an unknown amount of time, Lin Jiayou's stomach betrayed him and growled twice. The sound was particularly clear in the quiet little house.
Upon hearing this, Shi Xiaoniu's eyes lit up. He immediately jumped off the stool, ran to the stove, and presented a plate with two golden-brown roasted sweet potatoes on it.
"Are you hungry? Eat this, it's very sweet!" He held the plate up to Lin Jiayou with a completely innocent smile on his face.
The steaming aroma wafted into his nostrils, and as Lin Jiayou looked at that dark, honest face, the ice in his heart seemed to crack a little.
He hesitated for a moment, then reached out and took one of the piping hot sweet potatoes.
"Thank you." He finally spoke, making Shi Xiaoniu's eyes crinkle with joy.
Lin Jiayou ate in small bites, the sweet and soft taste melting on his tongue and warming his stomach.
He settled down in Shijiazhuang.
During the day, Shi Yong would go into the mountains to hunt or go to the village to do some manual labor.
Shi Xiaoniu, on the other hand, followed Lin Jiayou around like a little shadow.
He would show the bird eggs he had collected to Lin Jiayou like treasures, and he would also drag him to the river at the entrance of the village to catch fish, even though Lin Jiayou had never gone into the water.
Lin Jiayou still speaks very little, but he is no longer as prickly as he was at the beginning.
He would sit quietly in the courtyard, watching Shi Yong skillfully weave straw sandals with one hand, and listening to Shi Xiaoniu tell interesting stories about the village that he had never heard of before.
Life here is poor and simple, yet it possesses a tranquility he had never experienced in the Prince Yong's mansion.
That evening, Shi Yong brought home a wild rabbit and was skillfully skinning it in the yard.
Lin Jiayou looked at the bloodstain, hesitated for a long time, and finally walked over.
He stopped in front of Shi Yong and spoke again: "Uncle, I would like to ask you to take me to Chengdu."
Shi Yong didn't stop what he was doing, nor did he raise his head: "I told you, I don't want your money."
“I know,” Lin Jiayou took a deep breath, his tone much firmer than before, “but I have to go. Once I get there, the Gu family will give you a generous reward, enough for you and your son to live a good life.”
Shi Yong finally stopped what he was doing, raised his head, and looked quietly at Lin Jiayou with his deep eyes.
"I will not leave this mountain."
Lin Jiayou was stunned. He thought the other party was just observing, but he didn't expect such a straightforward rejection.
"why?"
"There's no reason why." Shi Yong lowered his head again and continued to process the rabbit in his hands, his tone indifferent. "If you want to go to Chengdu, figure it out yourself."
Figure out your own solution?
What could a teenager like him do in this desolate wilderness?
He can't stay trapped here forever.
He clenched his fist, staring at Shi Yong's profile. "Fine. Then give me a map, I'll go myself!"
Upon hearing this, Shi Xiaoniu, who was teasing ants under the eaves, suddenly jumped up, rushed over, and grabbed Lin Jiayou's arm.
"Brother, don't go!" Shi Xiaoniu cried out anxiously, his face turning red. "It's dangerous outside!"
Lin Jiayou looked at him and pursed his lips: "I'm not afraid."
"Why aren't you afraid!" Shi Xiaoniu's voice was trembling with tears. "Don't you know, there are wolves in these mountains. They gather together and howl as soon as it gets dark. Their voices are terrifying!"
"And there's also a man-eating tiger! Old Wang from the village was carried off by a tiger! My dad said the most powerful creature in the mountains is the black bear; it can snap a tree this thick in half with a single slap!"
Shi Xiaoniu gestured with his hands toward the old locust tree in the yard, his face full of terror.
As Lin Jiayou listened to these words, his face gradually turned pale.
He had witnessed the evil in people's hearts, but the ferocious beasts hidden in the deep mountains and dense forests were a terror he had never imagined.
It was a completely irresistible, unreasonable, pure, and primal danger.
He barely escaped from a pack of wolves in human form, was he really going to go and feed the real jackals and tigers?
Seeing his deathly pale face, Shi Yong finally spoke again, his voice devoid of emotion: "Do you still want to leave by yourself now?"
On a simple wooden bed, two children lay side by side.
Shi Xiaoniu quickly fell asleep, breathing evenly with a slight smile on his lips, as if he were dreaming about something.
Lin Jiayou, however, was wide awake.
He stared with his eyes open at the dark beams above his head.
why?
Why would Shi Yong rather be trapped in this poor and dangerous mountain for the rest of his life than leave?
He turned over and gently nudged Shi Xiaoniu's shoulder.
“Little calf.” He lowered his voice.
Shi Xiaoniu smacked his lips and mumbled a sleepy "hmm".
Lin Jiayou leaned closer, "Why can't your father leave this mountain?"