The carriage creaked and creaked on the road, and Talia lay beside the window, looking excitedly at the rolling hills and scenery outside.
In the carriage, Sylutia was wearing a dark gray coat. Yinxue's long hair was spread casually on the hood and shoulders behind her. She started to look at the scenery outside the window like Talia. However, she was probably sleepy now, so she leaned on the back of the chair to take a nap.
The slight bumps in the mountains did not wake her up. As she gradually became familiar with this rhythm, it became a hypnotic rhythm similar to a lullaby.
There were scattered snow in the sky, and the carriage walked slowly and unhurriedly. There were no people in the open field, only the occasional bird flew by, bringing some chirping.
During a hazy nap, Sylutia recalled his past life. Whenever he went to his hometown during holidays, he would have to take a long car ride.
The adults talking and laughing, the ups and downs of the mountain roads, and the refreshing mountain breeze that flows into the car are all so familiar and nostalgic.
My hometown in winter and my hometown in summer have different scenery. There are no summer cicadas and floating water, but there is more warmth in front of the firewood and the smell of roasted sweet potatoes.
As time passed, he and his friends from his hometown gradually grew up, until they went their separate ways and headed for strange distant places.
In the evening, when the sky was getting dark, the carriage slowly climbed up a high slope, and then headed downwards. On the flat land, a village surrounded by fields appeared. The scattered orange lights in the village were dim, guiding the carriage closer and closer.
"Huh, huhu--" the reed horse neighed for a long time, exhaling white hot breath, then knocked its hooves randomly on the stone slab a few times, and the carriage stopped.
"Tia, we're here." Talia walked out of the car wearing a small brown cloak and greeted the girl behind him.
"Yes." The girl agreed softly, then pulled up the hood behind her head and got out of the car.
The two of them were standing in the village square at the moment. The place looked the same as it had a few months ago. Only traces of the battle at that time could be seen in some subtle places, such as the carbon ash remaining between the cracks in the stones, the gaps cut in a certain guardrail, etc.
"My home is behind the village, follow me."
Talia waved to the coachman and led him to move on. At this time, the villagers he met on the road also said hello to Talia.
"Back, Talia."
"We haven't seen you for a few months, and you have become much more beautiful."
"Hey, thank you, uncle and aunt." Talia replied sweetly.
"I'm back." She announced slightly loudly, as if she wanted to shout a few times to vent her anger.
Walking on the road, Talia's footsteps became bouncing and extremely brisk.
Soon, they arrived at the village chief's house. The old village chief had already heard the sound and was waiting at the door.
"You have come back to see me, Talia." He stretched out his hand and hugged his granddaughter, and the grandfather and grandson hugged each other and laughed.
After reminiscing about old times for a while, the old village chief reluctantly put down Talia and said hello to Sylutia.
"Sorry, Miss Tia, I was a little excited at the moment." This old man has dark brown hair and a thick beard.
"It's okay. How are you recently?" Sylutia walked over and put down the two bottles of medicinal wine he was carrying.
"If you drink some of these in winter, you will feel much better." A little "Blazing Sun" Aspect Power herbs are added to the medicinal wine, so it is very stomach-warming.
"Oh, it's really costing you a lot of money." He asked the two of them to sit in the house, and then went to arrange the coachman's accommodation and a place to unload the goods.
In the evening, the three of them gathered in the hut for a meal. On the table were baked bread, smoked sausages, and steaming vegetable root soup. Although it was not very luxurious, it was still an extremely wealthy dinner in the village.
While eating, the old man asked about their current situation at Scorched Stone City. When he heard that Sylutia was studying at Scholar Heide, he gave them a thumbs up.
"Very good, that old man is a great scholar. If I hadn't had no money back then, I would probably have gone to him to study."
"Hey, when grandpa was young, Scholar Heide wasn't that old, right?" Talia complained, holding his head.
"He may not be very young, but he was already quite famous at that time. Many girls in Scorched Stone City admired him and liked him." The old man replied, rubbing Talia's head.
"I was just about 20 years old and working as an adventurer in Scorched Stone City. Scholar Heide was in his early thirties and had become a "second-level Secret Speech" bachelor. He helped the previous generation Viscount Xuefeng with government affairs. He often led people to visit nearby villages to solve problems, so many people in this area know him."
"Some villages still have the enlightenment books he left behind, and it is said that he raised his own money to print them."
"Although there are still not many people who are literate, at least some people who want to learn to read have channels." The old man recalled.
"I didn't pay much attention to this at that time. Instead, I focused on doing adventurous tasks to make money, and I also met your grandma."
"What does my grandma look like? Is she beautiful?" Talia was particularly curious, shaking the old man's arm and asking for an answer.
"Your grandma..." The old man stroked his beard.
"She is not the kind of person who is very beautiful and eye-catching at first glance. She came to Scorched Stone City with a circus. Her aunt worked in the circus and is said to be a fortune teller."
"I didn't have money to buy tickets at the time, so I climbed over the wall with a few companions to watch the show, and that's when I met your grandma who came out to pour water."
"She is about eighteen or nineteen years old. She has fine chestnut hair, simply braided on both sides. Her smile is particularly sweet. I was fascinated by those dimples."
"I didn't see the circus show. My companions and I were kicked out by your grandma with a broom. It's really surprising that she, a little girl, was not afraid of us, several strong young men."
"But we also have to live in Scorched Stone City for a long time, and we don't have to go into the Sheriff's house for this matter, so we didn't dare to hit her. We just sneered and dodged the broom, and then ran out."
"However, we finally got to know each other. After that, when the circus stayed at Scorched Stone City, I always went to look for her and gradually became familiar with her."
"She told me a lot about distant places, such as fire-breathing lizards, crows and birds that can understand human speech, and black vines that rise at night."
"All kinds of stories made me stunned at that time. Even though I have seen many new things as an adventurer, I was still occasionally frightened by her."
"She seemed to enjoy seeing me being frightened and felt very proud. In this way, we almost had endless things to talk about."
"But the good times don't last long. The circus will eventually leave, and then we will also have to face separation."
"She begged her aunt and hoped to stay directly. I was with her at the time."
"That was the first time I met your grandma's aunt. I can't remember her appearance for a long time, but the dark purple hood and the crystal ball in front of her have always appeared in my dreams."
"Her aunt did not agree at first, saying that your grandma would not be happy if she stayed here, because she is a fortune teller, and many people in the circus believed her. In this way, the first request was a complete failure."
"Originally, I didn't think there was much hope, and I didn't have the courage to force him to stay, because I couldn't be said to be decent or wealthy at that time. I was just an ordinary adventurer with a precarious life, and I hadn't officially entered First Order yet."
"I spent the last few days like this. When I was mentally prepared to see your grandma off, she seemed to have made up her mind and jumped out of the carriage and threw herself into my arms."
"I have never remembered the feeling that day so clearly. When your grandma's body was hugged by me, the warmth and softness were the source of my lifelong dreams." The old man poured wine and spoke slowly.
"Because of your grandma's insistence, her aunt was finally helpless, so she sighed and told me to take good care of her. She also presented a necklace to your grandma and told her to keep it well."
"The happiness was so sudden. We returned to the village shortly afterwards and held the wedding. At that time, many friends and relatives came to bless us. The joyful scene lasted for several days."
"Since then, I have lived a stable and warm life. The first thing I do when I come home every day is to hug your grandma, tell her what happened today, and then eat together. Whatever fresh and delicious things I encounter there will be brought back to your grandma. Just sitting up makes me happy."
"We lived very happily in this way until your father was born later." The old man's story slowly declined to the second half.