Li Qingshan pondered for a while, but he was at a loss. Why was he in the center of this desert?
His heart moved, and he looked inside his spirit and sea of consciousness, but there was nothing there, as if something was missing. The spirit that he had just raised relaxed again.
However, he could not stay here. An indescribable great fear filled his heart, urging him to move forward quickly. He randomly chose a direction and staggered forward.
There was no goal, no companion, not even an enemy. There was only the sandstorm coming one after another, and an indescribable great emptiness filled his heart. It kept expanding until it was the same as the whole desert, the whole heaven and earth.
His face was sharpened until it was rough and blank. He could only keep moving forward, not daring to stop even a step, as if he would immediately be swallowed by this desert if he stopped. However, the exhaustion grew deeper and deeper. The earth no longer gave him endless support, but instead drew out his strength and spirit bit by bit.
The desert was no longer golden, and the sky was no longer blue, as if the colors had been blown away by the sandstorm again and again.
Finally, after a sandstorm, the sun also disappeared, leaving only the empty white sky and the endless stretch of pale white sea of sand.
The sandstorm then subsided, and the sound of the wind also disappeared. Between heaven and earth, only he was still trudging with difficulty, listening to his own heavy breathing, stubbornly refusing to look back. He could not see that with every step he took, the footprints would immediately disappear, as if they had never existed.
Time became blurry, and suddenly, the last of his willpower, like that stone pillar, collapsed with a loud bang.
Finally, he collapsed on the desert. Perhaps this place could no longer be called a desert. There were no undulating sand dunes, only a boundless whiteness.
His black eyes were blurry like frosted glass, looking at the distant blurry horizon. The white sand surged, drowning him inch by inch.
Under the pitch-black sky, the continuous mountain range was like a crouching giant beast, quietly waiting for the dawn.
Under a small hill shaped like a crouching bull, there was a small village.
"Xiao Er, wake up!" A voice broke the silence of the entire world, a middle-aged peasant woman bent her back like a bucket and shouted.
In a pile of hay in the cowshed, a skinny young man suddenly woke up from his sleep and thought blankly, "Who am I?!"
He looked around the dirty cowshed and felt the itch from the mosquito bites. Although it was a little uncomfortable, it was all so familiar and intimate. He gradually woke up from his dream, but that dream was so real that it felt surreal, as if everything in front of him was fake.
However, when he recalled the dream, it quickly dissipated like a puff of smoke. He only vaguely remembered that it was an extremely terrifying nightmare that almost frightened him. He felt that he couldn't wake up, so he gave up thinking about it.
"Where else? Of course it's in our house! Waiter, don't sleep in the cowshed when the weather gets cold. Don't catch a cold. Dinner is ready, go eat! " The middle-aged woman laughed. Her voice was rough, but it was filled with deep concern, causing the youth to feel warmth in his heart.
Oh right, I'm Li Er. This is Crouching Ox village. My parents are both farmers in Crouching Ox village, but they passed away when I was young. It's all thanks to my elder brother and sister-in-law who took care of me.
He stood up, and he immediately became taller than the sister-in-law. The sister-in-law sighed, "Sigh, the days sure pass quickly. In the blink of an eye, you're already as tall as your elder brother. In another two years, you'll be able to marry and have children. You need to prepare now. When your elder brother comes back from selling the cow, he'll tear down this cowshed and build a new house for you. I can't say it's better than anyone else, but it can't be worse than anyone else. With your talent, Xiao Er, apart from caretaker Liu and village head Li's son, we won't accept anyone else in the village. Aiya, the water's boiling.
Hurry up and wash your face. Come eat! "The sister-in-law rambled on for a while before hurrying to the kitchen.
However, he only heard one sentence. "When your elder brother comes back from selling the cow!"
Yes, this had been planned a long time ago. Because the old Oxen that had accompanied him since he had grown up was almost too old to work, he planned on bringing it to town and selling it to the butcher for money to build a house for him. Back then, he was very reluctant, but there was nothing he could do. Farmers didn't all raise cows like this.
However, when he recalled Oxen's moist eyes, his heart shuddered. He murmured, "No, no, this can't be right!"
He rushed out of the cowshed and left the sister-in-law's cries behind. He followed the road to town and ran wildly.
The morning breeze blew past his face, carrying the refreshing scent of vegetation. It almost drowned out the mountain path. He ran like he was flying, leaving behind countless crystalline droplets of dew. However, he had not eaten after all, and the nightmare seemed to have consumed too much of his strength. He felt tired very soon, but an indescribable urge urged him on. "Go, go! Go! Find the cow!"
After turning a corner, a familiar figure appeared in front of him. It was a middle-aged farmer with a simple face.
He stopped in a hurry and grabbed the farmer's shoulder. "Big brother, where's the cow?"
"Waiter, come and pick me up. The cow has already been sold. Look, the money's here. It's a total of eleven taels of silver. It's enough for you to build a house and get married." Big brother Li patted the pouch on his shoulder and smiled honestly.
"I can't sell the cow, I can't sell it! I don't want to build a house and get married!" He was frantic, rambling incoherently.
"I know you have feelings for the old cow. I'm the same, but this is its life. We can't just bury it underground!" Big brother Li's face darkened and patted his shoulder.
"Where's the cow?" He panicked inside and bellowed furiously.
"It's already been killed. You'll be too late. Let's go home!" said big brother Li.
"Killed? Killed! Killed … "
There was a rumble in his head as if something had shattered. Big brother Li dragged him home, returning to Crouching Ox village unconsciously. The hardworking villagers had already woken up, all greeting him. Every single face was extremely familiar. Big brother Li also replied with a smile.
He passed by a brick house. It was pitch-black inside, and a statue of a god was enshrined on the altar. An old woman in brightly-coloured clothes was currently worshipping the statue. She was the witch of the village. All weddings, funerals, and sacrifices had to be done by her. She even knew divination and exorcism. She was extremely effective, possessing great prestige in the surrounding villages. Hearing the disturbance, she turned around and smiled benevolently.
The voice in his head rang out again. He suddenly broke free from big brother Li and rushed into the witch's house. He made his way around the altar and arrived at the back of the house. There was a verdant vegetable field here.
He began digging desperately towards a location that seemed to be engraved in his soul. He felt like all the blood in his body was boiling. His hands dug through the moist soil. He was completely unaware of the rubble that had cut his fingers. Big brother Li's cry and the witch's question seemed to come from extremely far away. In that moment, he felt like he was extremely close to reality.
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