Exorcism

Xiaoqiu bent down on the horse, stretched out her right hand, and said in a hollow voice: "Come up and follow me.

Yelin Town, like a newly completed folk painting, suddenly came to a standstill. Residents in the distance woke up from the panic caused by the frightened horses, stretched their necks to look at the Shen family gate, and the crowd around the sedan chair was still in incredible surprise. The sound of horse hooves still echoed in their ears, and they still didn't understand what happened.

The little figure in front of the sedan seemed to be stunned and motionless.

A feeling of panic began to rise in Xiaoqiu's heart. He thought that Fangfang didn't hear what he said, or that he heard it and refused to accept it. In this case, he would become the biggest joke in the town and would not be able to get rid of it in ten years. .

If she doesn't get on the horse, I will run away by myself, Xiaoqiu made a decision at this moment.

The little figure hesitated for only a moment. Fangfang took off the red hijab, revealing a face that Xiaoqiu had no impression of.

He was stunned. The last time he saw Fangfang was two years ago.

From then on, Fangfang's movements became swift and neat. She picked up the hem of her skirt with one hand, put her foot on the pole of the sedan, jumped up, held Xiaoqiu's hand with the other hand, and jumped behind him flexibly. Clothes, sit tight.

"Drive!" Xiaoqiu shouted.

The bay-red horse seemed to know that this gallop was of great significance. It raised its head and neighed, and ran towards the sunset at the end of the road.

All this happened in a very short time, Xiaoqiu had already run out for half a mile, and matchmaker Liu stood up in the sedan chair, put her hands on her brows, looked at the horse and two people from a distance, and said: "The new wife has been snatched away."

Mr. Shen was supported by two servants. After recovering from the shock, he repeated blankly: "The new wife was snatched away?"

Matchmaker Liu turned around and nodded solemnly, "Snatch it."

The groom's official, the eldest son of the Shen family, dimly knew that something was missing. He plopped down on the ground and howled, "Snatched! snatched!"

Er Shuan, dressed in new clothes, ran to the middle of the road and looked at the maroon horse walking in the distance. He and Xiao Qiu were enemies, but at this moment he worshiped him so much that he jumped several feet high, pumped his fist and shouted: "Good job! Brother Xiaoqiu!”

Mr. Shen was awakened by the shout, punched Er Shuan on the head, rushed across the street in a few steps, pulled out Lao Qiu from the crowd, and sprayed spit foam into his face, "That's your son, isn't it? He He stole my new wife!”

Lao Qiu was so frightened that he froze and said nonchalantly: "He is still a child. When he comes back, I will beat him hard..."

"Wait for him to come back?" Mr. Shen's face turned the color of pig liver. His wife may be able to get her back, but his face will never come back. "I want to report to the official! I want to catch him and bring him back! I want him to enter Prison!"

The residents of Yelin Town had never seen Mr. Shen lose his temper like this before, and they were as frightened as Lao Qiu. They all thought that Xiao Qiu would be in trouble this time.

Xiaoqiu couldn't hear Master Shen's threat. The bay red horse had already run far away and was slowing down.

Xiaoqiu usually grazed and played in the woodland at the east end of the town, and rarely came to the west. The gentle slope not far ahead was what he knew as the western boundary of Yelin Town. After passing it, it was another world.

The more he thought about it, the more confused he became. He didn't understand why he wanted to do this. Behind him, Fangfang was holding his waist tightly, which was more real than anything in front of him.

"After passing this threshold, it is no longer Hengzhen." He said, running out of words to find something to say.

"Yeah." The voice behind him was very soft, and the arms around his waist relaxed a lot.

Uphill, downhill, Xiaoqiu felt panic again.

"Who are you?" Fangfang asked.

"Xiaoqiu, don't you remember me?" In addition to panic, Xiaoqiu felt a little disappointed.

Fangfang didn't answer. After a while, she asked again: "Where are you taking me?"

"I don't know." Apart from escaping from Yelin Town, Xiaoqiu has not thought about any more questions.

"Where are you going to sleep tonight?"

"What next? Where will you live?"

"I don't know." Xiaoqiu felt frustrated because he had never considered any of the things Fangfang asked.

"Then what shall we eat?"

Xiaoqiu was annoyed by the question and said angrily: "Drink the northwest wind."

There was no sound behind her for a while. Xiaoqiu was feeling guilty when her arms around her waist suddenly tightened a little tighter. Fangfang whispered: "Then drink the northwest wind."

As the sky grew darker, Xiaoqiu's panic disappeared, "I'll go find something to eat later, and then find a place to sleep. I'll continue walking tomorrow, wherever I go...Besides, I won't let you starve anyway."

Xiaoqiu thought about the skills she had learned in the forest during herding days, and felt that it was not a big problem.

"Yeah." Fangfang said softly without asking any more questions.

No one was chasing after them. There were only a dozen horses in Hengzhen, and they all ran away without knowing where to go.

After walking in silence for a while, Fangfang suddenly said: "Ahead is Granny Feng's house, we can stay there."

Xiaoqiu saw a little light in front of her a long time ago and said in surprise: "Is she that crazy old woman who is not allowed to enter the town?"

"Grandma Feng is not an old crazy woman. She often goes into town to buy things. She is a very nice person and lives outside the town because she loves peace and quiet."

Xiaoqiu didn't argue. He had heard the rumors about Granny Feng since he was a child, and the impression was a bit scary. During the next journey, he kept thinking of excuses for not getting in.

However, seeing the light change from soybeans to a warm glow, Xiaoqiu gave in. Even if he lived in the old crazy woman's house, it would be better than sleeping in the wilderness. He was tired, and he thought that Fangfang must be even more tired.

Xiaoqiu jumped off the horse first, then reached out to help Fangfang down. Looking directly at her face for the second time, she still felt unfamiliar, but this may be because it was too dark.

Fangfang lowered her head, moved her numb legs and feet, and took the lead to walk towards the wooden gate.

This is a small courtyard embedded in lush vegetation. The fence walls are covered with plants. There are almost no traces of man-made work. If it weren't for the little light shining through the courtyard, passers-by would probably not be able to see the three thatched houses. The presence.

In the middle of the yard stood a piece of wood as thick as a bowl, with a small oil lamp sitting on it. Xiaoqiu immediately regarded this unusual approach as evidence of a "crazy woman". Just as he was about to call Fangfang, she had already He quickly walked around the oil lamp, threw himself at the person at the door of the thatched cottage, and cried out in a tearful voice: "Grandma Feng."

A wrinkled but extremely kind face was revealed in the dim light. Xiaoqiu's nervousness and vigilance suddenly disappeared. This could not be a madman. He walked in slowly, followed by a bay-red horse.

"Fangfang? Why are you here in the middle of the night? Aren't you getting married today?" Granny Feng was short, almost as tall as teenage Fangfang, and her voice was vague, as if she had lost a few teeth.

Fangfang cried, crying very sadly, and said something intermittently, her voice became more vague. Xiaoqiu stood uneasily in the yard, and the bay red horse stretched its head and sniffed around his neck to give him some comfort.

Granny Feng put her arms around Fangfang and warmly invited them into the house.

Sitting on the stool, Fangfang finally stopped crying, "I don't want to marry the Shen family, Xiaoqiu... Xiaoqiu rescued me."

Oil lamps were also lit in the room, which was brighter. Granny Feng looked at Xiaoqiu with a smile, "Well, what a young man, and he looks quite handsome. Why do you want to save Fangfang?"

"Xiaoqiu, Xiaoqiu." Granny Feng repeated the name, "A few years ago, did you drag Fangfang along and tell people everywhere that she was your wife?"

Now both of their faces were red, their heads lowered, not looking at each other.

Grandma Feng smiled even more cheerfully, her eyes narrowed into slits, and she tremblingly brought half a pot of rice porridge and a few side dishes. She kept mumbling about how pitiful she was. Fangfang wanted to help, but she didn't accept it.

Xiaoqiu was really hungry. She was relatively reserved at first, but soon she stopped caring about showing off. She drank porridge in big gulps, and then another bowl. Just when she was about to say thank you to Grandma Feng, there was suddenly a rush of horse hooves outside. , and then a loud voice shouted: "Grandma Feng, did you see two children passing by on horseback?"

Xiaoqiu's heart tightened. The bay-red horse was still outside, and would be seen by the pursuer at a glance.

Granny Feng smiled at the two of them, indicating that there was no need to be afraid. She turned around and left the house, asking at the door: "Who is it?"

It was still the loud voice, "It's me, Mr. Shen from this town...you...disobedient and stubborn donkey, I will go back and kill you..."

"Oh, you mean Fangfang, right?"

"Yes, she got married today and was snatched away at the gate."

"I saw her. She was still wearing the bride's clothes. She ran over and ran away quickly."

There was the sound of hoofbeats outside, and someone was coming and leaving, and it wasn't just Shen Laosi.

Granny Feng entered the house after a while, still smiling, as if lying was a common occurrence, "Don't worry, you will be fine in my house."

"My horse..." Xiaoqiu was confused.

"Your horse is grazing in the back." Granny Feng comforted her and served Xiaoqiu another bowl of rice porridge. Then she sat opposite, hugged Fangfang affectionately, and asked the young man: "Are you going to take Fangfang to the house?" Where to take it?”

Xiaoqiu had already made some preparations, quickly swallowed the food in her mouth, and said with some urgency: "Go a little further, I can herd horses, or do other things, I can learn it, anyway... Anyway, we can't let the Shen family Discover."

Granny Feng nodded approvingly, "Well, it turns out you have a plan. Are you willing to listen to my advice?"

Xiaoqiu didn't think this old woman was scary at all. The rumors in the town were obviously not credible. "Of course, I listen to you."

"Haha." Granny Feng turned her head and glanced at the little girl in her arms. The dense wrinkles on her face were enough to make anyone watching get lost. "In any small town, you two will look very conspicuous. I suggest you go to Xijie City, do you know where it is?”

"That's not our capital." Xiao Qiu said immediately, not wanting to appear ignorant.

"Well, it's a pretty big capital city. Just follow the official road and pass by Linhe Town, Xiao'er Fort and Big Ear Fort. It will take about a month to get there. If you ride a horse, you can go faster."

"Xijie City, one month." Xiaoqiu repeated numbly, feeling that it was really far away, as if it was a journey to the horizon.

Grandma Feng noticed the boy's fear, and her smile grew brighter, "I'll write down an address later, and when you get to Xijie City, you go find one of my old sisters. She will help you get established. When you grow up a few years, you can worship. Once we get married, ww.nｓhc won’t have to worry about the Shen family anymore.”

The two of them blushed with embarrassment, Xiaoqiu hesitated to speak, and didn't know how to describe his true thoughts: he just wanted to rescue Fangfang, and never thought about getting married to her.

Granny Feng arranged for the two of them to sleep in the inner and outer rooms respectively, walked to the yard alone, refueled the lone lamp, raised her head and looked around for a few times, sighed, and whispered: "Let's go, let's go, The further away the better, everything is destined.”

Her tone seemed to be talking to herself, but a reply came from the corner of the courtyard: "Why interfere with what is destined to happen? You know our rules."

Granny Feng turned to look at the Taoist priest in blue in the shadows, with no trace of surprise on her smiling face, "Strictly speaking, I didn't do anything. These two children ran out of Yelin Town on their own. Doesn't this count as breaking the rules? "

"Alas." The Taoist priest in blue sighed, "I just don't understand that the building is about to collapse, but you spend your time on two ants."

"It's easy, why not do it?" Granny Feng's smile became even brighter, "Are the rumors true? A large number of demons have escaped?"

The Taoist priest in blue nodded, "It's not far from here. You've been living here for a long time, haven't you noticed it at all?"

Granny Feng glanced at the lonely little oil lamp in the yard and said nothing. As long as the lamp was there, she had nothing to fear.

The Taoist priest in blue took a step back, his whole body almost hidden in the shadows, and solemnly said: "The Taoist fire will never be extinguished."

Grandma Feng put away her smile and tried to straighten up. Her whole body instantly became taller, "The Taoist fire will never be extinguished."