The two of them looked at Jin Yunlan who was snoring one after another, with a glistening stream of saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth. Li Zhi frowned, and immediately took out his pillow, and Jin Yunlan's heavy head hit the bed with a "thud".
"Ouch." She groaned, and her mind became slightly clearer because of this heavy knock. The jade crown on her head was pressing against the back of her head, and she reached out to fumble to loosen her braid. Her long black hair
It spread out and a few locks fell on the face.
The sparse moonlight dimly sifted through her hair, obscuring her peaceful sleeping face. She closed her mouth, with a look of relief on her face, no longer committing any indecent behavior, and fell asleep quietly.
Li Tang stared at her for a while, scratched his face, and showed a sincere smile: "Actually, I think she is quite beautiful."
Li Zhi crossed his arms, his eyes suddenly opened wider, and he looked at his brother up and down with a sideways glance.
After the brothers arranged for her, they went to their brother's house to sleep together.
The two brothers huddled together on the same bed for a long time. Compared with the closeness they had when they were young, they have become a little awkward and distant as they grow older.
Li Tang lay flat on his right side, while Li Zhi turned his back to him and faced the window.
Due to their long-term isolation from the world, the Li family has not caught up with the torrent of ideological enthusiasm, and they have not kept up with the transformation from a matrilineal society to a patriarchal society. In addition, the Li family has a short life span, so reproduction has become a top priority, and women
As a result, his status was raised extremely high.
Men of the Li family can only marry one woman in their lifetime, but women of the Li family can have several husbands at the same time. The Li family's harshness on men is no less demanding than the secular world's high demands on women.
Due to Li's special marriage system, Li Zhi's mother had two husbands at the same time. Li Tang and Li Zhi were not siblings from the same father, but half-brothers.
Now their respective fathers have passed away, and their common mother is about to die. Li Zhi was also appointed at this critical moment to become the new leader of the Li family. His strength and character are obvious to all, and he is expected by everyone, so there is no objection.
place.
Everyone in the Li family relied on him and trusted him. He was highly anticipated and noticed. Seeing the hardships of his clan members, he was also very anxious with a sense of responsibility. But he never seemed to complain. He endured,
Perhaps he was still holding back, so at this moment, he tensed his body tightly and clenched his fists to suppress the strong feeling of powerlessness in his heart.
As an understanding brother, when he discovers that his soft-hearted brother is in pain, he should immediately offer comfort and comfort. He intertwined his fingers and circled his thumbs around each other, struggling for a long time to try to be clever and make him happy.
But he couldn't think of any good ideas in the middle of the night. After struggling for a long time, he coughed and said, "Xiao Zhi, I haven't heard you call me brother for a long time. Please call me and listen."
"elder brother."
Li Zhi's unexpected frankness surprised Li Tang. Suddenly he laughed and mentioned the foreign woman sleeping next door: "If others know that you have slept with a strange woman in your room, let's see which other woman in this empty mountain is willing to take it.
you."
Li Zhi didn't care: "Do you want love or not?"
Li Tang suddenly stared at the back of his head, sat up, flattened his body that was lying on his side, and looked at his calm expression in horror: "Don't you like her?"
Li Zhi silently twisted his brother's arm, which caused him to grin and rub his arms. He gave him a look: "You know it hurts, so why did I think you were talking in your sleep?"
"
Li Tang glared at him angrily, lay down again, and changed his tone: "I see that Jinyunlan is different from others. Just because she can climb up the mountain to apologize to us in the middle of the night, she is already better than those Jinyun elders."
We are much stronger. She is the eldest daughter of the Jinyun clan, and she may become the clan leader in the future. If she does not change her original intention, maybe our Li clan still has a future to look forward to."
Li Zhi had a firm attitude and expressed opposition to his brother's delusional idea of relying on others: "I don't want to place my hope on others. What's more, she is still a member of the Jinyun tribe, so her credibility will be greatly reduced."
Li Tang then asked: "Then what are your plans? The Li family is not prosperous at the moment. If we want to go head-to-head with Jinyun, there will definitely be no good results. The tunnels that have taken many years to dig just allow us to have more contact with the outside world.
If we want all the clan members to relocate and hundreds of people move together, people will definitely find out if the goal is too big, and besides, we don’t have enough money. To say the least, even if we escape successfully, we will still have to move.
Where should I settle?”
Li Zhi was speechless. What Li Tang said was exactly the problem he had been thinking about but couldn't solve these days. With no money, no power, and no one, they seemed to have no way out except Kongshan, a place where they could settle down and live.
They have nowhere to go, and they are struggling in the tragic fate of poverty and short life if they stay here.
What was handed over to him was a dead end left by the Li family for thousands of years.
Li Tang suddenly said: "Maybe there is only one way now."
Li Zhi turned to look at him, "What can we do?"
Li Tang blinked his bright eyes, and the light in his eyes suddenly dimmed, cast a layer of gloom. He let out a frustrated breath, glanced at Li Zhi guiltily and uneasily, and muttered: "Xiang
Jinyun surrenders. We dedicate our talents to Jinyun’s use from now on.”
Li Zhi was furious when he heard what he said. A sullen blush suddenly appeared on his face. He sat up suddenly, lowered his voice and said angrily: "Absolutely impossible! Jinyun has persecuted us for thousands of years, you let me lead you
Are all the existing tribesmen working as cattle and horses for them? How can you expect me to be worthy of the ancestors of the Li family? Their lives, including the lives of our father, were not killed by Jinyun's curse. You have forgotten ours so quickly
Hatred, can't you wait to beg for mercy from Jinyun?"
Li Tang was also a little angry when he heard this. He sat up and retorted without hesitation: "I am also thinking about the sake of my clan. Our short life will not be enough to waste Jinyun. If we sit back and wait for death, within a hundred years, the Li clan will be dead."
This world has become extinct. Now, relying on the food sent by Jin Yunlan, life is a little easier. But she is not the God of Wealth, can she still have inexhaustible supplies? Sooner or later, she will have to make plans, so it is better to suffer.
determination."
Li Zhi said resolutely: "Jinyun has hated the Li family for thousands of years. Do you think that if we surrender to the enemy now, they will celebrate us and welcome us? It's just a sheep entering a tiger's mouth. They will inevitably speculate on our intentions and be wary of us all day long.
.Our close proximity makes it easier for them to frame us, doesn’t it? I can’t agree with the idea of offering a knife to the enemy nakedly!”
The quarrel stopped abruptly.
This plan received the strongest refutation. A huge loophole was easily found, forcing the two of them into a bottomless abyss.
Unexpectedly, the method of discarding dignity and bottom line still cannot change their sad current situation.
It seems that the destruction and demise of a clan is the only outcome they can determine.
The two brothers looked at each other in the silent, dark night, silently savoring the heart-wrenching taste of helplessness and despair.
The light dispelled the darkness of the night, and the morning came as before.
People went out to the bamboo forest without saying a word to cut wood. The houses and buildings that were previously destroyed by Jinyunlan are being gradually restored.
Jin Yunlan was awakened by the noise at the construction site. When she opened her eyes and woke up, the lively voices and the sharp sound of saws rubbing bamboo poles poured into her ears.
She sat up dizzy. She had a splitting headache at the moment because of her hangover.
Li Zhi came in at this moment, and brought a bowl of dark sobering soup in front of her expressionlessly, "Drink, drunkard." His cold tone was the same as before, just like what she said last night.
The words didn't move him in the slightest.
She felt a little frustrated. It was not that she was wishful thinking, trying to resolve the ice in Li's heart with just a few words. She just hoped that her sincerity could get some response, even if it was only a small amount.
She picked up the sobering soup that night and took a sip without knowing it. The sour and spicy taste severely scratched her taste buds and throat, and the unpleasant smell went straight into her nasal cavity. Her mouth and nose were hit hard at the same time, making her
Her stomach was churning.
She was about to spit it out, but when she saw Li Zhi's sharp eyes, she still held back and swallowed it, and then with a hoarse voice, she praised against her will, "Howl... it tastes good."
"
Li Zhi still frowned coldly, "Do you still remember what you said before?"
He meant the oath Jin Yunlan made in front of them before.
She put down the soup bowl and replied solemnly: "Remember."
Li Zhi pointed to a road leading deep outside the window, "Okay. There is a lake in the back mountain. You should wash off the dirt on your body first, put on these clean clothes and then come to me."
Only then did Jin Yunlan realize that a simple dress had arrived with the hangover soup. She hugged the dress and walked around the busy construction site toward the back mountain pointed by Li Zhi.
The further you go deeper into the forest, the more desolate and solemn you feel here. The lively and busy scene just now seems like a different world, and the noisy sounds gradually fade away behind you.
It was as deserted as if she was the only one living in this vast world.
She hugged her dress tightly and quickened her pace, but for some reason she kept spinning in circles. It was like she was in a strange circle, and no matter which direction she went, she would always end up back where she started.
She observed the surrounding area and found nothing strange, and no one was using spiritual energy nearby. It didn't seem like someone was maliciously playing tricks behind her back.
She pondered for a while, then strode forward, marking the path along the way to find the solution to the puzzle, but she didn't want to stumble into a tomb area.
The sky became strangely dark.
The gray-white tombs all over the mountains and plains spread endlessly like shells floating on the turbulent tide. The names written in cinnabar on the tombstones turned into bleeding eyes, staring at her without blinking. A sinister wind
It blew past at the right time, setting off an endless wailing of blood and blood that lingered in the air for a long time and refused to dissipate.
Even Jin Yunlan, who was fearless, was breaking out in a cold sweat at this moment.
She seemed to hear someone crying.
She shook her numb palms and staggered back a few steps. She wanted to run away, but she held back. She tried hard to control the fear and uneasiness in her heart, bowed to all the tombs in front of her, and said sincerely
I apologized: "Sorry. I accidentally entered your quiet place. When I come to visit you another day, I will bring a sacrifice to make up for it."
When she stood up straight, the scenery in front of her returned to its original splendor and beauty. The tombs stood quietly on the spot, serene and peaceful. The noisy construction sounds and voices intertwined came from behind.
She seemed to have returned to the real world again. This chapter has been completed!