Chu family manor.

The lintel is high, the green tiles and white walls are like mountains, and the courtyard is deep. Clusters of plum blossoms are like snow, spreading around the stone path, exuding a sweet fragrance. There is a pavilion every three steps, a pavilion every five steps, and exquisite carvings on the pavilion.

Covered by snow, the white snow cannot cover the tall cornices, which are as light as flying geese. The heavy curtains seem to cover up the laughter in the depths of the courtyard, but they cannot be blocked. They can only blow in the wind and share the laughter.

Dance. The sun sets in the west, shining a golden warmth on the cold snow.

On the swing, there is a baby face that is more beautiful than plum blossoms. The skin is as delicate as snow and slightly rosy. The shining almond eyes are full of childishness, and the stretched eyebrows seem to have never known the sorrow of the world. Dressed in pink.

The gauze clothes were blown up by the wind, and she was as light as a fairy sitting on the clouds.

"Miss, miss, it's almost time to go back..." The maids looked up at her to persuade her.

"It's still early, wait until I can't see the sun. Hehe, I can't come down!"

"But the sun has already set..."

"I'm taller than you. Even when you can't see the sun, I can still see it!"

"Miss, stop making trouble."

"Only for a while! Brother, I can't even take care of it right now! It's just a few swings, and I won't go out. Why are you nervous? Even if I want to go out and play for a while, brother won't say anything."

Before the maids could finish "but", she jumped down from the high swing, and with the exclamation of "Miss, be careful", she landed steadily on the ground. She has a very beautiful name: Xuehai,

Because she was born in the season of plum blossoms in full bloom.

"Miss, a letter has arrived from the master."

"Really?" She hurriedly took the letter from the servant's hand, opened it happily, and after reading it for a few times, she stamped her feet bitterly, crumpled the letter into a ball, and threw it away: "What kind of brother is this?

! Too much!" No wonder she was angry: since Chu Tao became the head of the family, Xuehai has seen more of her brother's handwriting than his own person. He occasionally appears in a hurry, and sometimes even comes back in the middle of the night and disappears at dawn the next day.

No matter where he went, he would not take Xue Hai with him, nor would he tell Xue Hai what to do. The letter only said that he was going to Fenghuo Ridge and would not be back for two or three months, so that she could rest assured.

Take care of yourself, there is no more content. My brother originally promised to come back years ago, but now, he may not even be able to make it in time for her birthday.

"The leader has to take care of so many properties, so of course he can't get away from it!"

"Brother is the worst. He never misses me when there are fun places and leaves me alone at home."

"The master is the one who does big things!" the maids laughed.

"Can't I do big things?" She had an angry look on her face, pouting and getting angry with the maids.

The servants let her yell and went about their own business. They all knew that the young lady was not really angry. She was just bored and wanted to find someone to talk to. But when the next day dawned, there was no sea of ​​snow anywhere in the house!

Where could she go? Everyone in the mansion looked at each other in confusion: The master regarded her as the apple of his eye, how could he allow her to slip up? The servants immediately went out to search, but they had no clue.

Fifteen-year-old Xuehai was still a half-grown child. She was protected by her brother and had never left the city alone. When she got the opportunity, she was like a pigeon that jumped out of the cage and soared into the sky. She put on men's clothes and brought her money and jewelry.

, and walked out of the city in a hurry. The scenery in the wild was far more charming than that in the yard, like a beauty with a thousand faces. What reason did she have not to love the silver branches covered with snow and the stream with thin ice floating on it? The ground was covered with snow.

It was very soft and slippery, and she was happy to roll like a snowman in the snowdrift. But at dusk, she couldn't laugh anymore. The sky was getting darker and darker, the earth had retreated from the temperature brought by the sun, and the strong wind howled.

Come, her hands and feet were frozen. When it was time to get hungry, she couldn't even remember the direction.

Suddenly she remembered that she should light a fire, so she picked up some dry firewood. But she had never lit a fire before, and even after working for a long time, there was no movement. A gust of wind blew, and she was choked to death by the thick smoke. She hurriedly avoided it, and the flames almost touched her hair.

They were all set on fire. But there was finally a fire. When I was thirsty, I found two clean dead leaves, scraped some snow from the branches, melted it by the fire and drank it. It tasted astringent, but it was better than no water.

Before I had time to laugh, I looked at the thick snow and thought, could I be sleeping in the ice and snow?

A figure seemed to flash past in the woods ahead. It was only after taking a few steps closer that I could see clearly: He was walking with his back to the sea of ​​snow, wearing all black, carrying a baggage on his back, and clearly hiding a sword at his waist. He moved quickly, as if

A ronin. She followed immediately, but did not dare to go too close. After not far, she arrived at a cave and found a baggage on the ground. She thought it was left by that man. A line of footprints went into the bushes.

.

"Solid food!" Xuehai was ecstatic. Since that guy didn't look like a good person, what's the point of taking away his things? She opened the bag and found six white buns wrapped in a paper bag. She had not eaten for a day and was so happy that she almost screamed.

He made a sound. He picked up two of them, wrapped them in paper bags and left them.

When I returned to my fire, I was afraid that wild beasts would visit me at night. I saw that the big tree on the side was very thick, so I climbed up in twos and twos. I sat among the branches and swayed my legs and ate steamed buns. It was quite leisurely. Then I thought again: I don't know what that means.

Will people blame him if they find out? Suddenly she found that the person just now was coming here with a sword and murderous intent. "Oh no." She remembered that she could find the person by following the footprints in the snow. The person was already under the tree.

Without the cover of leaves, she had nowhere to hide, so she shouted under the tree: "I'm sorry, uncle, I have nothing to eat, so I took your things."

He suddenly shouted: "Who is the uncle?!" The voice was like thunder.

She wasn't afraid, she suddenly flashed her big watery eyes and giggled. Who made this man look so rude? He was like a dead tree! His face was like a stove that hadn't been washed for a thousand years - one patch here and there, one deep and one shallow, all over his face

He has dark brown pot ash and two or three bunches of long hair scattered in front of his forehead, clearly showing the appearance of the endless grease. His beard is so thick that it seems that it has not been trimmed in decades. The worst part is his facial features: thick underturned eyebrows.

A sword, paired with a pair of eyes that can kill. All the bandits in the mountains are kinder than him. But to be honest, how does Xuehai know what the bandits look like?

A stone unexpectedly hit her on the head. "Ah!" The branch was too slippery, and she lost her guard against others, so she fell down. The scene in front of her was shaking rapidly: she was so frightened that she thought she was

She was almost dead, but unexpectedly she didn't fall to the ground, but was firmly caught by a pair of arms. He held her in his arms and looked at her with an evil look in his eyes. He had that stove face.

When their eyes met, she screamed in horror and jumped away, straightening up her fallen bun. Against the backdrop of her soft, low-hanging hair, how could men's clothing conceal her delicate appearance and aura?

Unexpectedly, what suddenly fell from the sky was a beauty of ice and snow. He was a little stunned. He looked at her for a long time before saying, "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were a girl."

She frowned and packed up her baggage. The poor steamed buns couldn't be eaten after a few bites, so she glared at him fiercely. She raised her feet to leave, then looked at the increasingly dark sky, and for a moment she didn't know where to go.

Wherever she went, she didn't look at the direction, let alone where she was going. "Be careful!" Before the stranger could finish her words, she tripped over a root of a tree under her feet. She was so painful that she couldn't stand up for a long time. She muttered in a low voice: "It's so unlucky.

…”

"Where do you live?" he asked as he approached.

She glared at him hard and ignored him.

He suddenly leaned over and touched her acupoint, picked up her baggage, put her on his shoulders and left - it was like handling a sack.

She shouted loudly: "Hey! Who are you! Put me down!" But she only felt that her whole body was soft and powerless to resist. She was so frightened that she couldn't breathe: If he was a bad person and lived in the wilderness, even if he was poisoned, she would be killed.
Chapter completed!