Chapter 154: Life is like a dream, how much fun is there? [5k Big Chapter]
November 10, 1444 in the imperial calendar, was a rare sunny day.
The morning mist is blown away between the mountains by the bright red sun, and the sky is as blue as freshly dyed silk, smooth and clear.
The sky wraps around the ringed mountains of Black Bone Swamp, and further down is Castle Joan of Arc.
Joan of Arc Castle is like a gray patch sewn on the pale yellow grass by a white canal.
And the refugee camps are the stitches in this patch.
In the open space outside the camp, Horn posed facing the sun and spit out a mouthful of mist dyed orange by the sun, and then he shuddered.
The weather is getting colder and colder.
However, Jeanne, who always got up early, did not come to supervise Horne's practice of knight's breathing this morning, which surprised him.
Did you sleep in because the weather was too cold? Are you angry because you forgot to announce your engagement to her yesterday?
Standing up from the grass, the creek crossed Horn's line of sight.
Gray gray stones pave the path of the creek, and the blue stream water floats across the road like smoke.
After wiping the sweat on his body with a hot towel, Horn walked to the creek. He half-knelt on the soft sand and dipped his face into the creek water.
The cold stream water brushed against Horn's cheek smoothly, and the tip of his nose quickly turned red.
This also suppressed Horn's restless heart, as if only at this moment, he would not think about what is and is not.
He didn't raise his head until the stream water made his face start to feel hot and painful.
He looked at the reflection in the water. It was a young man with black hair and black eyes. However, the face in his previous life was gradually difficult to recall and even became unfamiliar to him.
When the water surface calmed down, he discovered that he was not the only reflection in the water, but also a black shadow.
"Jeanna?" Horn looked up blankly and looked at Jeanne in front of him. If it weren't for the familiarity during this period, he would have thought he had recognized the wrong person.
The girl did not tie up her long black hair as usual. Her clear hair hung down her back, with a little gold at the end.
At this moment, Jeanne was wearing a long black silk dress, her smooth shoulders and chest were covered with gauze, and a short black and purple trimmed cloak that reached the upper elbows was tied under the collarbone.
"How is it? Does it look good?" Jeanne looked down awkwardly, "Sister Sissy put this outfit on for me."
"Only a blind person would think that It doesn't look good." Standing up and looking at the girl in front of him, Horn subconsciously said what was in his heart.
The morning light came from the side of her face, seeming to penetrate the blush into her skin, glowing like jade.
“We’re leaving tomorrow, right?”
"Yeah."
"Then can I take a leave? I've been staying in the camp these days, and I haven't been around here yet."
"Of course, there are some things that I can't do. Those bastards from the Boy Army can just do it.”
“Well, brother, can you take me for a walk around here?”
Jeanna stretched out her hand to Horn. Redder than the sun in the sky.
.........
Horses were undulating on the road in the wilderness, and the sparse trees on the yellow-green field stood like sentinels.
Birds flew from the fields and landed on the scarecrow's head. In the ruined thatched wooden houses, refugees and beggars slept or died on the door panels.
Horn and Jeanne rose and fell with the horses.
Considering that there are now a large number of refugee mercenaries gathered in Fort Joan of Arc, as well as robbers hiding in the folds of the city.
Horn felt that the wild was safer, so he brought Jeana here.
The two walked along the endless wilderness, crossed the stone bridge over the river, and walked past the icons and abandoned churches on the roadside.
Further forward, the road is almost covered with weeds, and rabbit holes and vole holes are dotted in the yellow fields.
Horn and Jeanne sometimes ran on horses, sometimes dismounted, and led the horses through the ruins of the church, or else they chased low-flying sparrows.
At first, it may have been the long black silk dress that restrained Jeanne. She turned sideways and just trotted on the horse.
And Horn was riding a horse, coming around from the left and patting her on the left shoulder, and then coming around from the right and giving her a slap on the head.
This finally annoyed Jeanne. She didn't care about wearing a long skirt and waving a riding crop. She directly caught up with Horn and took away his riding whip.
"Come on." Jeanne waved the riding crop in her hand, "Catch me and I'll give it to you."
Horn drove the horse awkwardly and followed Jeanne.
His riding skills were much worse than Jeanne's. The felt hat was at hand now, but left quickly at that moment.
On the golden plains, Horn and Jeanne chased each other on the river beach and on the path.
It was not until Jeanne realized that this would wrinkle her long skirt that she slowed down her horse. , asked Horn to grab her hand.
“I caught you.”
“Gu~”
Horn looked at Jeanna’s belly, and Jeanna’s originally reserved face instantly turned red.
To be honest, this was not the first time we had seen the two of them growling with hunger since they were young, but when Jeanne was in front of Horn, she felt unspeakably shy.
"What are you looking at? You are not allowed to look, you are not allowed to listen, cover your ears!" Jeanne said angrily.
Horn discovered that it was already past noon.
"Okay, you stay here, I'll get something to eat."
Tie the two horses to the roadside, Jeanne got some dead branches and leaves and Dry wood started to light the fire, and Horn picked up a stick, sharpened it with a long sword, and ran towards the creek.
Jeanne's stomach began to growl for the third time before Horn returned carrying two big fat fish on a straw rope.
He rolled up his pants, and there were traces of river water on his calves and wrists.
“The fish after autumn are really fat.” Horn grinned.
Looking at the fatty fish roasting on the fire, Jeanne looked at Horn: "When will you learn how to fish?"
"When I was young, I often talked to my friends Go catch fish..."
"When?" Jeanne asked blankly, "You haven't paid the forest tax. How could Barnet allow you to fish?"
"Oh, I remembered it wrong." Horn, who accidentally let it slip, quickly added, "I just met a villager who asked me if I paid the forest tax. I thought I was going to be in trouble.
I originally wanted to lie to him and say that I was a noble. I didn’t expect that when he saw the ring that Halkin gave me, he left directly without me saying anything.”
Jean Na didn’t reply. She looked at the burning firewood and the smoke of fireworks. Finally, Horn couldn't see her expression clearly.
Maybe I’m too hungry, so let’s eat first.
As expected by Horn, Jeanne was too hungry before. After eating the grilled fish, her mood was obviously much better.
Spitting out the fish bones, the two of them touched their swollen bellies and fell down on the tall grass on the roadside. They were soft and warmed by the sun.
"Do you remember? We were in Moulin Rouge Village before, and after finishing the farm work, we lay down on the haystacks, just like we are now."
Jeanne turned her head and looked at Huo kindness.
Horn was lying on the weeds, staring at the sky with his eyes open, but Jeanne could feel that he had fallen asleep.
Those noisy sounds have gone away, leaving only the clear and distant sky.
It was only then that Horn realized that he had not given himself a holiday for a long time from Moulin Rouge Village to Castle Joan of Arc.
Horn and Jeanne did not continue playing, but lay on the weeds at the same time, watching the white clouds in the sky pass by, recede, and pass again like a sea tide.
When the sun gradually turned red, Horn suddenly woke up and sat up in the weeds.
“It’s time to go back.”
Jeanne also sat up. Her silk dress was stained with mud spots and weeds, and she took it off one by one in distress.
Hearing Horn's words, Jeanne took out something like a pendant from the pocket of her cloak.
Jeanne took out the half-hand sword from Horn's waist. Horn didn't stop her at all and allowed her to tie the pendant-like thing to the hilt of the sword.
“What is this?” Horn flicked the hardwood flying saucer-shaped black bead hanging from the root of the sword hilt.
Jeanna stuck the beads between her index and middle fingers, and the rope went around the tiger's mouth and wrapped around the back of her hand:
"This is called a sword bead. When you hold the sword with the sword bead wrapped around it, first of all, it will make the sword more stable with one hand, and secondly, it will prevent the sword from being unable to be picked up after it is lost."
According to Jeanne, the sword will be more stable. With the sword beads wrapped around the back of his hand, Horn tried to cut the air, and it was indeed much more stable than before.
stroking the rough sword bead, Horn looked at Jeana lying on the haystack with a silly smile, and pondered for half a second.
Finally, he returned the sword to its sheath, turned around, and pulled Jeanne up from the weeds: "Let's go, I want to take you to the last place."
"I don't mean to leave. Is it already? It’s almost night, is it too late?” “It’s too late, let’s get on the horse.”
In the forest that had been quiet for who knows how many years, the sudden sound of horse hooves came again.
After passing through the intersecting branches, the remaining sunlight painted spots on the ground.
The horse's hooves stepped on the light spot, causing it to ripple like water, and the five-flowered horse under the seat made a proud neighing sound.
Jeanne sat sideways on the saddle and rested her head on Horn's chest. The long skirt around her ankles undulated with the grassy wind.
"Where are we going?"
Jeanna looked forward. The black forest in front of her looked like a place where witches lived. It was so cold and dark that it seemed like another world.
"Our destination." Horn's hand holding the reins was a little stiff, "I heard from Halkin that the only place near Fort Joan of Arc worth visiting in late autumn."
Tucking the hair hanging down on her face behind her ears, Jeanne put her ears against Horn's chest again. She could hear the clear and chaotic heartbeat.
Rumble, as if two hearts were beating at the same time, just like when he hugged her and said "I believe in you".
Horn was dressed in peasant-like coarse cloth, while Jeanne looked like a nobleman who had just escaped from a dinner party.
It's like a peasant who eloped with a noble lady in a knight novel.
Jeanna's face became slightly warm again.
Horn silently urged the horse to speed up again, as if the night was chasing him behind him.
In the gaps between the pale black pine forests and beech trees, the war horses swept the deep mist to both sides.
The moss-covered trees quickly approached them and became blurry before their eyes, while the light spots under the horses' hooves became more and more intense.
“We’re here.”
The sun returned to Jeanne’s world again. She squinted her eyes, but when she saw everything in front of her, her eyes couldn’t help but widen.
The world was almost completely quiet at this moment.
The red light of the setting sun shakes the maple leaves all over the mountain, the fresh and cold fragrance waves float in the wind, and the whole mountain sways with the evening.
Billions of maple leaves rustled in unison, surrounded by blue river water printed with purple sunset glow, and the mountains were rippling and burning in red.
Under the branches and maple leaves, the green grass is painted noisily. The boundaries between the red maple and the green grass are blurred together.
Sitting sideways on the horse, holding Horn's waist, Jeanne's posture was the best viewing position. She sat blankly, unable to say a word.
The evening breeze lifted the hem of her skirt, and the red leaves whirled across her ankles.
She raised her head and discovered that the black-green pine and beech trees on both sides of the road had turned into rustling red maples at some unknown time.
The half-yellow and half-red maple leaves fell like golden rain, falling into the collars of Horn and Jeanne against the wind.
Having reined in the naughty horse and getting off the horse, Horn tied the horse to a tree by the roadside.
He held Jeanne's waist and wanted to lift her off the horse.
But Jeanna jumped off the horse. She walked towards the mountain made of red maples, stepped on the grass paved with maple leaves, and stared blankly at everything in front of her.
The ocean of maple leaves swayed slowly, as if greeting Jeanne.
"Brother, is there such a scenery in the little paradise you mentioned?"
"Yes, but generally speaking, it is difficult for you to watch it alone. You will only see Internet celebrities and uncles and aunties. Walking around in strange postures on the thick maple leaves."
"Then do you miss it?"
"I hate it there." Horn paused for five seconds. Seconds, "But when I left, I felt missed again."
"Then do you like it here? Do you like Joan of Arc, Castle Joan of Arc?"
Pretending not to hear, Horn just looked up at the setting sun on the maple leaves, which was unknowingly hiding behind the mountains.
The setting sun sets on the top of the mountain, and the red light in the middle of the mountain gradually fades away, and one-third of the sky is covered by starlight.
Standing next to Jeanna, Horn did not continue to look at the red leaves on the mountain, but turned his head and looked at Jeanna's side face.
Her face was submerged in the glow, painted into a black silhouette by the light, her long eyelashes were trembling, and there was no trace of sadness or joy on her face.
When the sunset completely disappeared, Jeanne's face also fell into darkness.
An inexplicable feeling of suffocation occupied Horn's mind.
“Brother, we should go.”
…………
On the way back from the forest, Jeanne seemed to be asleep and said nothing. .
She buried her head in Horn's arms, her body rising and falling with the horse.
When they returned to camp, they woke up again, and the sky was already covered with stars.
"Your Majesty, you are finally back." Taking the reins from Horn's hand, Sissi breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Horn, "I thought you were captured by bandits."< br>
"Haha, I'm late, sorry." Horn smiled, scratched his head and dismounted.
Armand on the side squeezed over: "Your Majesty, we have found some clues about the previous account books..."
"We will talk about this later." Horn interrupted Armand, Walking towards the welcoming Madeleine.
"It's up to you during this period." Horn said while holding Madeleine's hand. "Tonight, you and Boerwerf go to the Duke together to agree on everything. Remember, the Duke cannot be relied on, but can only be used." , Do you understand?”
“Understood.” Madeleine nodded heavily, “I will insist until you come to pick us up.”
“Everyone in the camp knows that I am going. Where are you?"
"We all know that you have gone to the Holy City, but they are a little afraid that you will forget about them after you go to the Holy City."
"There is nothing we can do. It's a matter of fact." Horn sighed.
Turning his head, Horn looked at the twenty-eight people present, including Cosset, Grampvin, Jeshka, Sissy, René, Duvallon, Armand...
Follow Huo En The group of old people who have been kind to me the longest and most loyal are all here.
“Are you all ready?”
Sissi nodded: “The luggage is packed and ready to go at any time.”
“It’s not too late.” Huo En looked up at the moonlight and said, "Let's leave now."
Looking at this completely new camp, Horn felt a little emotional, but he immediately frowned.
Beside the camp gate, he saw Jeanne, who was still wearing a black dress.
"Jean, why don't you change your clothes? If you like this dress, you can't wear it all the time. It's very cold when sailing at night."
"Your Majesty the Holy Sun." Jeanne stood there At the edge of the camp, there was still mud on his body, like a chamomile that had just emerged from the ground. "You can go first, I have something to do."
Horn was immediately confused: "Something, what's the matter? It’s almost time to leave, let’s talk about it later.”
"I can't wait until later. I don't want to go to Chishu Town."
"Why? When we get to Chishu Town, we will ignore Carrie and the others and get married directly, you know..."
"Your Majesty Shengsun, please stop lying to me." Jeanne smiled as if she was crying, "You are Shengsun, my brother, his name is Horn, and he has been killed by Barnet.
You are a good person. You always care about my feelings and try your best to act like him, fearing that I will be sad.
But I have to understand that my brother is dead and I am not you after all. The real sister is not the one you love, right?”
"I can do it." Horn said hurriedly, "We can go to Chizhu Town, and our children will inherit a great empire."
"You are the holy grandson, and your mission is to create a Little Heaven, you see very far, too far, too far..." Jeanne looked at Horn's face under the moonlight, but Horn could not see hers clearly.
“And I, and we, we are just small people, we have nothing, our vision is too narrow, we can’t see the future, we can only see the present.
The small paradise of tomorrow in your mouth is certainly true Okay, but if they can't make it to tomorrow, what's the use?
I've been following you, doing what you asked, but it seems that I have been useless, my lightning can't break the armor. , I am not as strong as Carrie, I am not as knowledgeable as Sissy, and my resourcefulness is not as good as yours
As for the lightning smelting you mentioned, you actually don’t need me. I think there are many lightning-related energy-shaping wizards in Black Snake Bay. With your status and connections, it won’t be difficult to find them for help.
Stay here. Those believers will know that I am your sister and a saint. They will know that you have not given up on them, so they will not hesitate or worry.
Using my own way to resist the church’s army is the only thing I can do.
As for the engagement you said, I know it was a white lie, because, because..."
After being silent for a while, Jeanne slowly spoke:
"Your Majesty, you see, from the beginning to now, you still don't want to call me sister, right?"
(End of this chapter)