Бездомная собака в моих мыслях

Глава 62

Several years ago, he had passed through this place and rested briefly in that temple. Now, he could already smell the rain in the air, and since he couldn't go into the village to stay overnight, he had no choice but to temporarily stay at that deserted temple.

Moreover, although they hadn't encountered any further attacks on their way down from Qingmei Ridge, this didn't mean things were finally peaceful. The dying words of the Nine Nether Big-Headed Ghost had likely been overheard by countless hidden enemies, so even more brutal ambushes awaited them.

Now, he's going to lead them to the Three Realms Temple!

The Sanjie Temple, with its vast emptiness, desolation, and remoteness, coupled with the torrential rain, was the perfect place to resolve a feud between江湖 (jianghu, the martial arts world).

Zhu Huihui, of course, had no idea what Feng Xuese was thinking—otherwise, she would rather die than go to that Sanjie Temple.

It's less like an abandoned temple and more like a ruin in the jungle.

Sanjie Temple was in a terrible state of disrepair. The mountain gate was still there, but the courtyard walls were gone. Overgrown with weeds, there were traces of birds and beasts everywhere. Most of the houses were dilapidated. Only the main hall at the back was relatively well preserved. Apart from the eaves being somewhat collapsed and the wild grass on the roof being too long, it was still quite sturdy.

Zhu Huihui led the horse to the corridor and let it graze on the grass. Then she pushed open the door of the side hall, took Feng Xuese's hand, and walked in together.

The side hall was filled with dust and cobwebs. The broken Buddha statue had its gold plating peeled off and was leaning to one side. The offering table was clean, with dry straw on it. Straw was also scattered in the corner where it was sheltered from the wind.

Zhu Huihui was no stranger to this kind of environment. When she was wandering around, she had no money to stay in hotels, and most nights she and Zhu Huahua stayed in places like this.

She brought over some dry grass, spread it on the ground, and said, "Hero, please make do with this seat!" She helped Feng Xuese sit down.

She then gathered some dry branches and weeds inside and outside the main hall, skillfully started a fire in the hall, and then squatted in a corner of the hall, furtively fiddling with something.

Feng Xuese smelled a bloody odor and asked, "What are you doing?"

"I didn't do anything," Zhu Huihui said.

Feng Xuese gave a slight, cold laugh. Feeling a breeze on her face, she casually waved her hand, brushing away a feather that had drifted over.

He knew without even asking that she was dealing with the stolen chicken! Ugh! He was having such a headache! This girl was completely impervious to reason; no matter how he tried to teach her or scare her, she just wouldn't change her bad habits.

Chicken feathers flew everywhere in the side hall. Zhu Huihui was busy taking a kitchen knife to gut the rooster while saying, "Great hero, you said you wouldn't eat stolen food, right?"

"how?"

"Nothing much! Just checking!" Zhu Huihui cleaned the chicken up, but couldn't find any water to wash it, so he skewered it with a twig, leaving it bloody, and put it over the fire to roast.

As she roasted the chicken, she said with a smile, "This chicken was just long-feathered, but not very fat. It's just the right size for me. The hero only eats steamed buns anyway, so this is perfect!"

She patted her belly, which she had prepared to use to "dispose of the stolen goods," and sighed contentedly. Then she placed the bamboo basket containing the buns into Feng Xuese's arms: "Great hero, please, don't be so polite with me!"

The steamed buns my mother-in-law made were quite large. Although they lacked oil and salt, the wild vegetable filling had a refreshing and delicate flavor. For some reason, even though it was my own insistence, holding the wild vegetable buns made Feng Xue Se feel a little down, so she only ate one before putting it down.

Zhu Huihui twirled the branch from which the roasted chicken was hanging, sighing, "Speaking of chickens, the ones raised by Widow Sun in Qingyang City are the best! Those chickens grow up eating the seeds and insects of the Dream-Breaking Grass, and their meat is incredibly fresh, fragrant, and sweet. It's a pity that I haven't had any since the last time at Yanhe Pagoda!"

Feng Xuese asked, "Is it the time when the brother was killed because he refused to eat or drink?"

Zhu Huihui laughed heartlessly, "That's right! If those two fat guys hadn't happened to come and die, I might have been the one killed back then!"

These words made Feng Xuese want to hit her! He took a deep breath and said coldly, "There's no need to rush to your death. Maybe it'll be 'your' turn soon!"

Zhu Huihui turned her head to look at him: "Huh? What do you mean?"

Feng Xuese ignored her, and simply took the sword wrapped in cloth and placed it across her lap.

As soon as Zhu Huihui saw him take the sword, she immediately sat far away from him, secretly laughing to herself. She knew he was angry. Haha, who told him to play dumb? He wanted her chicken, so he should just say so! Too shy to say it, so he tried to snatch it with a sword? Hmph, if he managed to get it, that would be a different story…

As I was pondering this, I suddenly heard a noisy commotion outside, accompanied by the sound of footsteps, which shook the ground and caused even the birds in the evening sky to fly around in disarray.

"Boss, you ate two extra steamed buns just now!"

"Which eye of yours saw me eat it? It was the second son who ate it!"

"No! It wasn't me! It was the third brother who ate it!"

I'll slap you to death!

"That's what the fifth brother ate!"

"It was clearly the boss who ate it! The boss even ate an extra half pound of beef!"

"Yes, yes, I saw it too!"

"..."

Upon hearing this chaotic noise, Zhu Huihui immediately pictured five large, clumsy men wielding enormous vajras. What were they called again? Right, the Five Heroes of Qiyun! She couldn't help but exclaim softly, "Heroes!"

Feng Xuese covered her forehead with her hand, her delicate brows furrowed: "What's all the noise about!"

"I didn't make a sound! They were the ones making a sound! Those five idiots!"

"Don't talk nonsense! They're not stupid, they're just... just a little confused."

"..." That's not the same thing!

As the two men were talking, one of the five big, clumsy guys kicked open the broken door of the side hall and walked in.

Upon seeing the ten boat-shaped feet and the five pillar-like vajras, Zhu Huihui immediately moved closer to Feng Xuese, grabbed a kitchen knife, and made up her mind that if these five people rushed up to attack while the old man's eyes were not functioning properly, she would find an opportunity to chop off their big feet!

However, the five people who came in only glanced at them. Seeing that it was a patient and a little black girl who was even uglier than them, they ignored them, sat down on the ground, and started arguing about who had eaten more steamed buns and beef.

Feng Xuese frowned deeply, one hand on his sword, the other hand's fingers gently rubbing his temples. He was filled with deep regret; if he had known he would encounter Master Huizhi's five talkative disciples from Qiyun Mountain at the Sanjie Temple, he would have preferred to brave the rain and travel rather than come to this place!

Zhu Huihui was also dizzy from the noise of the five rascals. Several times she wanted to chime in and join in their bickering, but in the end she was afraid of their big feet and vajra pestle, so she bit her tongue and held back.

She lowered her voice: "Um... cough, does your head hurt? Let me rub it for you!" She secretly pinched herself. Idiot! Calling someone a hero in front of strangers is practically admitting who she is!

Feng Xuese shook her head.

"How about... I grab a couple of chicken feathers and stuff them in your ears?" Zhu Huihui asked kindly.

Maple-colored lips curled slightly: "Your roast chicken is burnt!" This silly girl! He's already blind; if his ears are also plugged with chicken feathers and he can't hear, wouldn't he be at the mercy of others?

Zhu Huihui hurriedly turned the roast chicken over, and just then, a whirlwind carrying the scent of rain rushed in. The flames dimmed for a moment, then blazed brightly, making a crackling sound as the bamboo and wood burned.

She looked up in surprise and saw a person slowly walking into the palace.

This is a woman.

Her clothes were made of rough fabric, faded from washing, and patched in places. Her hair was very black and long, simply gathered together with a coarse cloth ribbon, with a small tuft of purple hair pressed down at her temple. Upon closer inspection, the fine downy hairs fluttered slightly, revealing it to be a tiny purple feather.

She walked in peacefully, quietly, and calmly from outside the dilapidated palace gate. Her clothes fluttered gently and beautifully, yet when she raised her eyebrows slightly, she was fierce and cold.

Looking at her, Zhu Huihui felt her vision suddenly brighten, but her heart inexplicably calmed down.

She is a woman who is both gentle and strong-willed, a complex contradiction.

What a beautiful woman!

So beautiful that even the deep scar that ran from her left eyebrow across her high nose bridge, across her delicate cheek, and down to her pointed right chin looked incredibly cold and aloof!

Behind the woman followed a strange animal, which seemed to have been split in half, with two and a half legs, one eye, one ear, and half a tail. Its black body was covered with scars of all sizes.

Zhu Huihui stared at it for a long time but still couldn't tell whether it was a wolf or a dog.

Anyway, it was just a disabled, black-furred thing covered in scars. Oh well, let's just consider it a dog!

This woman and her dog are the complete opposite of herself and Huahua.

She's beautiful but her dog is ugly, while ours is ugly but the pig is beautiful—her Zhu Huahua is a handsome pig wherever she goes, and she's never failed to seduce other people's little pig girls!

The woman walked to the fire and asked softly, her voice slightly hoarse, "May I sit here?"

"Please, don't be shy, have a seat!"

Zhu Huihui took a liking to the woman and immediately made room for her to sit down.

The woman nodded slightly and sat down on the ground. Even though she didn't twitch an eyebrow, Zhu Huihui felt as if she had smiled at him, and he felt surprisingly flattered.

“Sister, your dog…this dog is very special!” Zhu Huihui struck up a conversation. She felt strange; usually, when she met a woman, no matter how old she was, her first thought was to take advantage of her, to scare her into screaming before she felt happy. But this woman with a scar on her face made her inexplicably admire her and want to get close to her.

The woman simply hummed in response, her gaze fixed outside the hall, and said, seemingly unrelated to the question, "It's about to rain."

"Yes, it's bound to rain heavily!"

Zhu Huihui wanted to say a few more words to her, but the woman stopped answering. She just stared at the gray sky outside the palace, lost in thought. Her bright eyes seemed to hold countless unspoken thoughts.

Those eyes, so gentle and bright, so clear and full of life, made even someone as carefree as Zhu Huihui feel a sudden, inexplicable pang in her heart. She inexplicably rubbed her chest and secretly made a face. Just then, the chicken was almost done roasting, and she tore off a leg, nudging Feng Xuese: "Big...big...big brother, would you like to try some?" She almost blurted it out again!

Feng Xuese said gently, "You can eat by yourself, I'm already full."

Zhu Huihui put the chicken leg to her mouth, about to take a bite, but hesitated for a moment: "Sister, you should try some too, we also have steamed buns here!" Usually, apart from Zhu Huahua, it would be harder than climbing to heaven for anyone to snatch a bite from her mouth, so she was being unusually generous today!

The woman simply shook her head slightly, yet Zhu Huihui felt as if she were smiling at him again.

She scratched her head in confusion, knowing full well that the person in question wasn't one to talk much. Fortunately, there were five large, goofy guys in the hall who were constantly bickering and bored, so it wasn't too dull or boring.

Although she was lazy and loved to eat, she didn't have a big appetite. She was full after gnawing on a chicken leg and a wing, so she gave the rest of the chicken to the half-dog.

To her surprise, the half-dog was incredibly arrogant, not even glancing at her half-chicken. Zhu Huihui sighed with admiration; both were pets raised by humans, yet her Huahua had become increasingly greedy, a world apart from the other dog.

Zhu Huihui couldn't help but pout, put her hand to her mouth, and yawned. Before she could close her mouth, she saw a young woman helping an elderly and frail old woman carefully walk in.

The first thing Zhu Huihui did upon seeing the old woman was to hide her face behind the maple-colored back.

Oh my god! The mess is still unresolved, and the victim has already come knocking on the door!

The visitor was none other than Granny Chen, who had lost her chicken.

Although Granny Chen was quite old, her eyesight was still good. Even though Zhu Huihui hid quickly, she still spotted her at a glance.

She pointed at Zhu Huihui and cried to the young girl, "It's her! This dark-skinned girl stole my chicken! Oh dear! Look, the feathers are still here! My poor chicken! You just left like that, leaving behind a bunch of orphans and widows, how are they supposed to survive?!

Grandma Chen stamped her feet, her voice trembling as she whined and complained.

Zhu Huihui stubbornly denied it: "Who, who, who stole your chickens!"

"It's you, you black charcoal head!" Granny Chen grabbed a handful of chicken feathers, examined them closely, and then started crying. While crying, she even used her cane to hit Zhu Huihui.

Zhu Huihui hopped on one foot, dodging left and right in a disheveled state: "Hey, hey, if you hit me again, I'll fight back!"