A life of two souls traveling through time

In the deep winter, the earth was covered in silver, and the white seemed endless. Occasionally, a few harsh crow songs could be heard in the silent and empty woods. A gray hare was jumping cautiously in the snow, and suddenly, with a "whoosh", an arrow flew out from behind a big tree and shot the hare.

"Your Highness, Master Fan, look!" Wrapped in a gray mink coat, he looked at the twelve or thirteen-year-old boys happily picking up the hares that were still struggling in the snow, then turned and waved to two men leading tall horses in the distance.

"Arnold, good job!" The older middle-aged man with a long beard was the first to laugh heartily and gave the young man a thumbs up to show encouragement.

"You've made progress but don't be too proud. It would be better if you could kill your prey with one accurate arrow instead of leaving it a chance to breathe." Another young, handsome but stern-looking man said calmly.

"Yes, Your Highness!" The young man ran towards the two men and responded with a smile.

For him, it was a great honor that His Highness, who had always been strict and demanding, could recognize his progress.

"It's such a bad omen that I came out. It looks like another heavy snow is going to fall." The middle-aged man stroked his black beard and frowned as he looked at the darkening sky.

"Do you want to go back? But our hunt has just begun. If I bring this rabbit back, they will definitely laugh at me..."

The young man looked at the two people in front of him nervously. He had just been praised for his archery skills and was full of confidence and wanted to continue to show his skills. He didn't want to go back with such a feeling of unsatisfaction.

"It's still early, let's find a place to avoid the snow first."

"Yes, Your Highness!" After receiving a satisfactory answer, the young man almost jumped up with joy.

"Hahaha, it seems that His Highness is very optimistic about Arnold today." The middle-aged man also laughed happily.

"Then let's see if Arnold is worthy of my expectations." The young man glanced at Arnold indifferently and then jumped on the horse.

"Don't worry, Your Highness. Arnold will definitely perform well today!" The young man shouted confidently after being pulled onto the horse's back by the middle-aged man.

But the person in front had already ridden away on his horse through the snow and did not respond.

"Okay, you are still young and you have plenty of time to practice archery. Why rush at this moment..." The middle-aged man touched the boy's head lovingly and said with a smile.

"Master Fan, I'm twelve years old now. I heard from Aunt Eli that when His Highness was ten years old, he had already become one of the best archery and horse riding experts in Xiyue Kingdom." The young man frowned and pushed the hand off his head like an adult.

"You are ambitious. You are the first child who dares to compete with His Highness."

"I'm not a kid anymore!"

"Haha, good, Arnold is not a child, he is the future archer of our Xiyue country."

"I want to be not only a master archer, but also a great general like Your Highness, and continue to expand the territory for our Xiyue Kingdom!"

"Oh, really? How many pages of the military manual I gave you last time did you turn? Tell Master Fan about your experience?"

"Uh... that... Master Fan, hurry up, His Highness is about to get rid of us!"

In the woods, the sound of horses stepping on the crisp snow was mixed with hearty laughter.

To the south of the forest lies a small village backed by a mountain. In a simple farmyard, a cold and beautiful young woman in a green jacket half-pull the bow and arrow in her hand towards the wooden stake in front of her. In the blink of an eye, the arrow shot from the string and firmly hit the stake.

"Ayao, your archery skills are improving very quickly. You're almost catching up with me, your master." A young man in his early twenties standing under the eaves showed a simple smile and looked at the other party with shy and foolish eyes.

"Really? Can you really catch prey at this level when hunting outside?" But the woman did not show any joy on her face. Instead, she looked at the arrow that was still shaking slightly on the wooden stake with disappointment.

"Ayao, I... I just want to encourage you. Hunting is not something that can be mastered overnight..."

"Drawing a bow requires strength and correct posture. You don't have enough strength, and you don't use your waist strength. Your arms are not fully stretched, and your leg posture is not right. Therefore, the bow cannot be fully pulled open, and the arrow shot out will naturally appear weak and light." The young man under the eaves was interrupted by a cold and majestic voice before he could finish his words.

"Who are you?" Seeing a strange man leading a tall horse outside the yard, the young man immediately stood in front of the woman and asked vigilantly.

But the man outside the yard ignored him. He just silently took the bow and arrow from the horse's back and walked into the yard. He spread his legs, straightened his back, stretched out his arms, and easily pulled the bow in his hand. Then, a golden-headed arrow was firmly stuck in the center of the wooden stake.

"What great archery!" The young man behind him didn't bother to be on guard, and ran to the wooden stake in amazement, touching the crack on the stake. Even this hunter who had been hunting for ten years and had always been proud of his archery skills was full of admiration.

But when his eyes moved to the golden arrow, he noticed that the man was dressed in noble attire, so he asked curiously, "This gentleman came to our Lianjia Village..."

"Your Highness!" The words were interrupted again, and two more people rushed into the courtyard.

"I don't mean to offend you, but I'm sorry for the trespass. Today, the three of us have been on our way here and we see that it's going to snow heavily. I wonder if you could lend us a place to stay so that we can temporarily avoid the wind and snow?" Seeing the confusion of the two hosts in front of him, the middle-aged man immediately stepped forward and smiled humbly and politely.

At this time, heavy snow was falling from the sky.

"Oh, please come in." Seeing that the other party was so polite, the young man no longer had any concerns and immediately stepped aside to lead the three people into the house.

"This is a rough countryside, please don't think our hospitality is inadequate."

Inside the house, the charcoal fire in the brazier crackled and the farmer poured three bowls of hot tea for the guests.

"No, no, we are sorry to bother you." The middle-aged man continued with a humble smile, "My last name is Fan. May I ask what your last name is, young man? What should we address you?"

"My name is Lian Qi, and I'm a hunter in Lianjia Village." The young man smiled innocently.

"Brother Lian Qi, this is our clan leader." The middle-aged man also nodded with a smile, and then introduced the noble man next to him who had not said a word.

"My name is Arnold, Brother Lian Qi, is that sister just now your wife-to-be? She is so pretty, just like...a green plum blossom under the lush snow on the mountain." The young man, who had been curiously looking at the furnishings in the house, also sat down next to the middle-aged man and asked Lian Qi curiously.

"Hehe, Arnold, don't be rude!" The middle-aged man warned seriously, but was also surprised at where the child learned such smooth talk at such a young age.

Arnold looked at the middle-aged man with a puzzled look on his face. He thought he was praising people sincerely and there was nothing wrong with it, but when he saw Master Fan's serious expression, he had to shut up. He then looked at His Highness aggrievedly, but it was obvious that he didn't even get a glance from him.

"Uh...you misunderstood. Ayao...is not my wife-to-be..." Lian Qi lowered his head with a red face.

"I'm really sorry, little kid can't hold back." The middle-aged man said the words of apology but he didn't seem surprised at all. From what he observed outside the yard just now, although this little brother Lian Qi had feelings for her, the girl didn't have any romantic feelings for him.

Arnold's eyes widened, and he didn't dare to say anything.

"It's okay." Lian Qi still lowered his head, staring at the brazier and smiling bitterly.

"But how could a girl come to the home of a man like you who lives alone?" Arnold finally couldn't help but speak out of curiosity.

"My dear young master, please don't misunderstand me. A Yao is a girl rescued by Aunt Ya next door to my house. She only came to me to ask for advice on archery." Lian Qi hurriedly waved his hand to explain to Arnold. In his heart, A Yao could not tolerate any disrespect.

"Isn't she from your village?" the middle-aged man asked curiously.

"No, half a month ago, A Yao fainted in the snow outside the village. Fortunately, Aunt Ya found her in time and carried her back. But after A Yao woke up, she only told us her name and nothing else, so we couldn't force her to answer." Lian Qi continued to add hot tea to the three of them and explained.

"So that's how it is..." The middle-aged man nodded suddenly. No wonder the girl didn't look like she grew up in such a rural village.

"Since Sister Yao doesn't belong here, why doesn't she go back to her home?" Arnold still tilted his head in confusion, and suddenly laughed excitedly: "Could she run away from marriage..."

Before he could finish, the middle-aged man hurriedly covered his mouth and turned to look at the silent man beside him: "Master Zong, this child has learned bad things, and you don't care?"

"It's better to drain than to block. Don't you, as a teacher, understand such a simple truth?" The silent man just looked at Arnold and smiled faintly, and finally spoke: "Besides, Arnold didn't say anything out of line, right?"

"That's right, how could I have learned bad things?" With the protection of His Highness, Arnold finally had the confidence to break free from the middle-aged man's hand and muttered in dissatisfaction.

The middle-aged man was not annoyed, he just shook his head and smiled helplessly.