^
Before dawn, the depths of the grassland were still pitch-black, like an ancient world that had existed for who knew how long.
In the silence, two beams of light lit up, like a flame that broke through the darkness, appearing very weak and small in the silent grassland.
Hu Jinxiu was still sleeping soundly when she was carried into the carriage behind the light. Ran Ran held her mother's hand and cried softly, while the 'young man' stared at the grassland behind them in a daze, thinking about something.
"Let's go, your father drank too much last night and is still asleep. If he wakes up, it'll be hard to leave." Ran Ran's mother held her daughter's hands tightly, her gaze lingering on Hu Jinxiu's sleeping face, as if she couldn't bear to part with her as long as she could.
"Mom, we'll be back in spring tomorrow." Ran Ran's eyes were red and swollen as she made up her mind. She didn't know that the future wasn't in her hands.
"Okay, okay, take care of yourself and take care of your brother." Ran Ran's mother smiled as if she was comforted. "With Big Egg around, Mom won't be afraid of anyone bullying you."
The 'young man' didn't have his usual clean smile. There was a hint of sadness in his eyes that couldn't be erased, perhaps because he was about to leave the carefree grassland.
The four-wheeler started up. The sound of the engine wasn't ear-piercing, but rather deep, like a ferocious beast lurking in the darkness of the grassland.
"Mom, you have to take care of yourself too. Don't trust the witches on Dongpo when you're sick. You have to take the medicine that Uncle Zhuo Ma brought back. Dad, he …" Ran Ran leaned against the window, trying her best to wave her arms at her mother who was getting further and further away.
In the cold, dark grassland, in the barren and backward hometown, her mother's figure became more and more lonely, smaller and smaller, as if she had been left behind to watch her children leave.
When the four-wheeler completely disappeared into the darkness, leaving only a little bit of light, the mother who had been standing there for a long time turned around, wiped away the tears at the corner of her eyes, and walked towards the poor home step by step.
At the door of the house, she saw her man holding on to the door frame and looking at the light in the darkness. There were tears in his eyes, but he did not want her to see it, so he hurriedly covered it up.
She was not surprised. From the beginning, she knew that he was pretending to be asleep. Just like the other thing she knew, on that rainy night when little Zhuoma escaped from the grasslands, this man rode on a fast beast and secretly followed him without rest. He escorted him, leaving food and water wherever he passed by, until he walked out of the grasslands and saw him.
After he came back, the man fell seriously ill and almost died …
She had never told Zhuo Ma about these things, and her man had never mentioned it either. It was as if he had forgotten about it. This time, the one who left was not his younger brother, but his child.
He was like an ancient watcher, watching over the primeval prairie, waiting year after year for his younger brother to get tired and bored and come back. From now on, there were two more people waiting.
"They will all come back," the man reassured his wife, and himself.
"Ma Yingxiu, you must live well!" His wife also consoled her man.
The sun finally rose from the edge of the prairie. A few of the wild boas that the "young man" had caught ran away in the night, and the trivial life began again.
…
When Ma Yingxiu woke up, he realized that he was not in his bed at home, and the home that he had lived in for twelve years was nowhere to be found.
He realized that he was in the four-wheeled vehicle that he was curious about, but was now unfamiliar to him. He had arrived at a place that he had never been to before. Although it was still on the grasslands, it was so far away that he had never dared to come here alone.
He cried and wanted to go back, refusing to go to the beautiful big city that Uncle Zhuo Ma had mentioned. He wanted his mother, and he wanted his father.
Ran Ran also cried and consoled him, and the two of them cried together.
The four-wheeled vehicle was still running wildly on the primeval grasslands, as if it was determined not to turn back. It refused to stop, no matter how much the child in the carriage cried and begged.
The "young man" gently caressed the back of the boy, which was twitching from crying. He turned his melancholy gaze to the reflection outside the window and murmured, "Ma Yingxiu …"
…
On a cloudy day, they arrived at the edge of the grasslands.
The sadness of leaving home was gradually diluted by the strange and dazzling sights, such as the chimney that reached the clouds, the pipe that was as long as a dragon, and the strange trees and roads.
Ma Yingxiu kept asking what this was and what that was, full of curiosity. Ran Ran bought many things that she had never seen before, but she did not know how to use them.
Only the "young man" was unmoved by these things, and there was only confusion in his eyes when he looked at them. Ever since he left the vast grasslands, that clean and simple happiness seemed to be gradually disappearing from his eyes, replaced by the occasional frown that he had never seen before.
"Brother Big Egg, are you unhappy?" Ma Yingxiu brought a red candy that looked like a stick of rock candy to the "young man"'s hand. She also took one and licked it. "You won't miss home after eating this. Brother Big Egg, I guarantee that you have never eaten something so delicious before. I have never eaten something so delicious before!"
"Home?"
The "young man" took the ice stick and frowned again. Yes, everyone had a home. Ma Yingxiu's home was in the grasslands, Zhuo Ma's home was in the Sacred City, but what about his home?
He should have a home too. For some reason, after leaving the grasslands and the place where he wanted to plant flowers, he gradually became troubled by these strange questions. He seemed to have never thought about it before.
And every time he frowned, there seemed to be an indescribable cold aura emanating from him, like the cold air when a sword was unsheathed.
It was not strong, and if one did not observe carefully, they would not even be able to feel it. But it was "unsheathing" bit by bit, as if it was nurturing a powerful force, blooming new shoots in the land after a storm.
"Brother Big Egg, in the Sacred City that Uncle Zhuo Er mentioned, do the saints and saintesses living there have such delicious rock candy sticks to eat every day?" Ma Yingxiu licked the ice stick and asked with longing and envy.
The "young man" thought about it and shook his head. He did not know, but he also felt that it was too extravagant.
At this time, Zhuo Ma bought all the things from the nearby shop and returned to the car. He said with a smile, "My little Ma Yingxiu, if one day you are lucky enough to see the life of the saints and saintesses, no, the life of the real nobles and rich people in the Sacred City, you will also find that even your uncle, me, lives like a maggot."
Ma Yingxiu did not show the surprised expression that Zhuo Ma expected. The reason was very simple. Neither he nor the "young man" could imagine it.
"I think I am already very happy to have this to eat every day," Ma Yingxiu said with a silly smile.
"What a bumpkin." Tao Wu followed behind Zhuo Ma and glanced at Niyue embarrassedly. He gently hit his brother and said seriously, "We are going to be city people, and the people of the Sacred City. It is not suitable to say such things."
Ma Yingxiu did not care and continued to lick his ice stick.
After a short pause, the four-wheeler set off again, bumping forward.
The further they went, the higher the temperature gradually. Although it was still cold, it was a little stuffy for people who came out of the grassland for the first time.
Ma Yingxiu and Ran Ran were both sleepy. The "young man" was still looking out of the window, and sometimes he would close his eyes. No one knew what he was thinking, or maybe it was just a blank space.
"This place is too remote. We can only buy newspapers from a few days ago. Do you want to read it?" Niyue, who was sitting in the front row, said softly.
"Read it. We can't always get a complete signal from the radio. It is intermittent." Zhuo Ma changed its cheerful tone and was full of worry.
"This is the first article." Niyue gently flipped the paper in her hand and said softly, "The title is: There is a signal, but they are silent!"
Zhuo Ma said, "What is it? What does it mean?"
Niyue read selectively in a low voice, "On this flying planet, scientists have found signals of the existence of life, and they have reached a certain level of technology. Scientists are trying to crack these signals, but it is said that the progress is slow … We have sent friendly signals to them, but we have not received any response. They are still not changing their orbit."
Zhuo Ma interrupted worriedly, "We should send them a warning signal! What kind of friendly signal is that? These people are really hopeless! "
Niyue did not reply, but made a sound of surprise. She pulled out a piece from the bottom of the newspaper and read it in surprise, "The latest news from the Academy of Sciences states that, by calculating the amount of orbital deviation caused by the arrival of this dead planet, it has been confirmed that it was approaching our planetary system at a speed close to but definitely not reaching the speed of light. The gravitational force generated by its huge moving mass … According to the chief astrologist Tang Jitu, the process of its deceleration has definitely not changed, but the deceleration has greatly decreased. It is expected that it will hit our planet ten months earlier than previously calculated. Of course, this is the prediction that we came up with under the premise that we cannot destroy it."
Zhuo Ma was shocked and almost lost control of the four-wheeled vehicle. It took the newspaper from Niyue's hand and looked down as it drove. "Ten months earlier? Doesn't that mean there are only three months left? How is that possible? Which newspaper is this? It must be a small newspaper. Is it a scam?! "
"It's a small newspaper." Niyue whispered as she flipped through the other large newspapers, trying to find the same report, but to no avail.
Zhuo Ma breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at the sky in the corner of the window. There, it could gradually see a not-so-bright star appearing in the daytime sky with the naked eye.
This was the Death Star. According to the calculation of its orbit, it would hit the planet where Zhuo Ma was.
"There's another report here." Niyue flipped open another newspaper and read, "It is speculated that they may have sent a fleet to destroy our exploration satellite at the edge of the galaxy. According to insider information, exploration satellite No. 9 has been out of contact for more than three days, but technical failure cannot be ruled out."
The newspaper placed on Niyue's knees was full of reports about this uninvited guest. The rest was some news about the state of emergency and military mobilization, such as the formation of a new space force, a military academy recruiting students in advance, the army recalling veterans, and a large number of recruits.
Zhuo Ma heaved a sigh of relief again. After a while, it sighed and said, "No matter what, there should be news when we reach the Sacred City. Such a big thing can be seen with the naked eye. It can't be hidden even if someone wants to. I have to speed up my plan!"
"Ran Ran should be fine. She's very smart, and you happened to help the dean's wife. As for Hu Jinxiu … Can you lower the standards a little? Even Ran Ran can't get into the Temple Servants College. It might not work no matter how much money you spend, "Niyue looked at the sleeping Ran Ran and Hu Jinxiu and said worriedly.
"That's the only way. Otherwise, there's no guarantee of safety. Only by entering the Temple Servants College can I be protected as a seed at the last moment. Don't worry, I'm prepared this time." At this time, Zhuo Ma glanced at the "young man" who seemed to be asleep in the mirror and whispered to Niyue,
"You've only known them for a short time, so you don't know the situation, especially Cesbia. He's my biggest trump card. With his qualifications and conditions, not to mention the First Aerospace Force, even the Temple will be jealous. With this as a condition, Hu Jinxiu will definitely be able to enter the Temple Servants College!"
Niyue also glanced at the "young man" and said worriedly, "So you must bring Cesbia along?"
Zhuo Ma sighed helplessly and said, "Niyue, I'm indeed a little selfish in this matter. But if I don't do this, as you said, Hu Jinxiu will definitely not be able to enter the Temple Servants College where geniuses gather. It's useless no matter how much money I spend.
But if Cesbia enters the army, he might not be in such danger. He might even be safer than him as a civilian. After all, at that time and in such a situation, who will care about civilians? "
Niyue frowned and said, "Why must you let Hu Jinxiu enter the Temple Servants College? Maybe there are other ways to obtain safety. Hu Jinxiu might not be happy there. You don't know those places, but I know a little. "
Zhuo Ma said firmly, "No matter what, we have to enter. This is the best opportunity. If it was in normal times, the Temple might not agree to this condition, but now they will definitely agree. They have no choice. The Star of Disaster is coming, and they need more power!"
"You're doing business!" Niyue said with a little dissatisfaction.
Zhuo Ma was silent for a moment and said, "For Hu Jinxiu's future, and also for us. If Hu Jinxiu enters the Temple Servants College, it means that he will have access to the nobility. Our last obstacle will be gone."
"Are you feeling inferior or not confident?" Niyue asked in return.
"I don't know." Zhuo Ma sighed and said, "Maybe both."
…
Although the two lowered their voices, they didn't notice that the "young man" frowned again.
^ (To be continued.)
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