【Strike Lotus】Silent City

5.

The warmth made Bu Lianhua sleep soundly, and he was slowly awakened by the suffocating heat when the sky was white and the heat of the desert hit.

Sweating a little from the pores, Bu Lianhua half sat up, looked around, with doubts on her star eyebrows, how did he get to this room?And where is this?His last memory before he became unconscious was in the bathroom. So, he accidentally fell asleep in the bathtub, and Azak kindly carried him here and let him sleep in his own room?

What an embarrassment.He thought with a slight sweat, but after looking around the small room, he overturned his guess.

The owner of this room is not Azak.The room is neatly furnished, although the space is narrow but not crowded, on the contrary, it has a bright and spacious effect because of the ingenious arrangement. What makes him suspicious is that there are no bookshelves in this room, and there are no books. According to him The news heard in the past few days is definitely not in line with Azak's habit of reading.

Overturning the original speculation, Yibu Lianhua naturally thought of another candidate, and smiled inexplicably.Looking at his well-dressed clothes, he guessed that when Xi Mie Tianlai fished himself out of the bathtub last night, the expression on his face must have been brilliant.He would probably feel that he was a weirdo, but from his own point of view, Xi Mie Tianlai's strange behavior was no different from his own.

The more he studied Xi Mie Tianlai's behavior towards him in the past few days, the more interesting Lianhua was. He recollected the shock he received when he saw Xi Mie Tianlai for the first time, and he vaguely knew it in his heart but deliberately ignored it.

He approached the window and opened the casement. The cloudless and sunny weather outside the window reflected his clear and rippling state of mind. He half-lyed by the window and looked at the boundless yellow sand in the distance.Suddenly, a figure appeared in the field of vision directly below, and he blurted out without thinking: "Strike the sky."

When the other party heard the sound and turned around to check, Bu Lianhua leaped across the window frame vigorously and jumped down.

Xi Mie Tianlai reflexively avoided a group of "objects" rushing towards him, and in an instant he recognized that the object was a step lotus flower, he gritted his teeth and couldn't even curse, so he rushed forward and stretched out his arms to catch him The falling body was too far away to be rescued just now──

One step, Lianhua landed easily. The distance on the second floor was a trivial matter for him. He wiped off the mud on his palm and raised his eyes to Xi Mie Tianlai, who was watching him with unpredictable eyes. His outstretched arms were still empty in the air, and his face turned black instantly.

Seeing this, Lianhua thought something was wrong, he never thought that Xi Mietian was going to reach out to catch him, although it seemed normal to do so. "Last night...thank you." To avoid embarrassment, I thank you first.

Turning around indifferently, Xi Mie Tianlai didn't answer, and walked to the place he planned to go on his own.

Bu Lianhua didn't take it seriously, and followed Xi Mie Tianlai leisurely, and the two of them kept a close distance from each other.

The city is so quiet.

It took about 20 minutes to walk, and there were almost no traces of people. The whole city was as quiet as if it was sleeping on the bottom of the sea.

Yibu Lianhua remembered that Merenta had mentioned to him that after the massacre by government troops, all the young men in Abel City were killed, leaving only the elderly, women and children in the town.Six years have passed, and the surviving old people have died one after another. The current population of Abel City is less than 200.

In response to the sharp decline in population and changes in population structure, the life style of Abel City must be greatly adjusted, which is quite different from the life style of ordinary towns.Here, they do not use currency in circulation, but return to the way of bartering.Nearly 200 people in the town form a large and flourishing family, some of whom are responsible for food production, some of whom are responsible for doing business with the outside world, and some of whom are responsible for security and defense.

Gorski is in charge of ammunition and weapon management, Melenta is in charge of mining, Mintel is in charge of camels and vehicle maintenance, and Azak is in charge of external communications in Abel City.

"Xi Mie Tianlai." Asked immediately after thinking, Bu Lianhua didn't notice that Xi Mie Tianlai had already turned into another alley, and when he wanted to ask a question, he realized that he was ashamed.

He looked left and right, and the uninhabited Abel City was almost desolate, and it was difficult to arrest someone for directions even if he suddenly wanted to.

Just bet on your luck, at worst, follow the same path and turn back to Mie Tianlai's residence, even though it is a bit difficult for him, it is more constructive than standing still.

Bu Lianhua stood in the middle of the road, thought for a few minutes, then randomly picked the most pleasing alleyway and turned in, almost bumping into Xi Mie Tianlai who was rushing back in a hurry.

"Aren't you following behind?" Xi Mie Tianlai asked in a loud voice, with a hint of panic and exasperation in his tone.He thought Bu Lianhua was following him all the time, but when he turned around, he couldn't see anyone, so he immediately turned around and went back to the original place to look for him.During this period, his mind kept wondering whether Bu Lianhua would take the opportunity to escape. Thinking about this possibility, there was a mess in his body that made him unable to calm down, and the meaning behind the escape made him care. .

He didn't quite understand why his emotions were deeply affected by Yiyi Lianhua, maybe the similar birthmark on his body acted as a reminder to him, making him long to get close to him but he couldn't control himself to float when he got close His mood was the same as when he hugged him last night, the steadfastness and anxiety rose in his heart at the same time.

"Yes," Lianhua replied innocently in a single step. "I thought you were in front, but when I looked up, I realized I was lost." Seeing Xi Mie Tianlai's panting and anxious appearance, Lianhua moved his hand to his buttocks and tried to take out a handkerchief and hand it to the other party, but then remembered that his handkerchief was still there I left it in the bathroom and forgot to take it out, so I used my sleeve instead to wipe off the sweat on my forehead.

When his cool fingers touched Xi Mie Tianlai's forehead, Xi Mie Tianlai lowered his head abruptly and backed away, raised his hand and brazenly clamped a step by Lianhua's wrist, and said roughly: "Follow me tighter." Yu Bi let go and turned around and continued to walk forward.

Touching his hot wrist, he noticed Xi Mie Tianlai's reddish ears, and Lianhua smiled lightly.This person is really cute, he thought leisurely, and followed calmly.

■

They explored many places successively, first the pasture where Mintley was located, then the miniature laboratory where Gorski locked himself in for research and development all day long, and then the crystal mining area in the back mountain of Abel City.

With previous experience, this time Mie Tianlai chose mostly smooth roads, instead of taking shortcuts and winding narrow alleys, so it took him half as long as usual to complete the tour. A day's journey.

"And Azak." So far, Yibu Lianhua has roughly understood what the job of Xi Mie Tianlai is. Leaders often work hard, seem to be easy but are hard. They must always monitor the overall situation, but like Xi Mi It is even rarer for Mie Tianlai to personally inspect the district by district.After all the calculations, all the places that should be patrolled have been patrolled, and Azak is the only one left, Bu Lianhua couldn't help asking curiously.

Although Azak is different from other people, he always looks like he doesn't care about others, but Bu Lianhua feels that this person's heart is no harder than others, plus he has a special friendly relationship with Xie Mie Tianlai , so that his interest in him has increased a lot.

"He's gone to the city." With half-raised eagle eyebrows, Xi Mie Tianlai stared at Yibu Lianhua with a strange expression, seemingly puzzled.

"I'm just reminding you." Bu Lianhua replied with a smile.

Xi Mie Tian didn't say any more, and walked down the rugged mine road to the foot of the mountain. When walking, the two people's feet kept making rustling sounds, and occasionally they would feel a slight tingling pain when they stepped on the crushed ore.

"The quality of the crystal ore here is not very good."

"Amethyst level [-], lower-middle-level crystal ore." Xi Mietian responded lightly, feeling quite surprised that Lian Huaguang could tell the quality of a crystal ore with his eyes. Usually, this requires a little mining experience. "If you drop one level down, you don't even want to give it away." He laughed.

"But it can still be sold to neighboring countries, right? It's just that the price will be a bit lower, but there is still a lot of sales for countries with weak energy around Elis."

"You know a lot."

"Professional needs are all that matters." Since he was 13 years old, he has traveled around the world with his adoptive father, and it has been nearly ten years now. He has visited many countries, most of which are poor countries.

"In the past, they could only be sold to neighboring countries, but now these crystal ores are also collected in Elis." The Northern Territory of Elis lost control, and relatively lost a lot of energy mines, which is better than nothing.

"So you will transport the mined crystal ore to the important town of Elis in exchange for funds?"

"Of course, we're still good citizens who 'follow the public and obey the law'." If they don't do enough surface work, the Ellis government will soon suspect them. "However, crystal mines above the fifth level of green crystals are occasionally dug here."

"At this time, your target of buying and selling should not be the towns in Elis." It should be the neighboring countries with weak energy sources, especially the powerful countries such as Yapei, Yingqi, Oga and other countries that are energy-deficient but have global economic power. Good bargain. "Are you also dealing with Yapei merchants?"

"Yes." Responded briefly, Xi Mi Tian Lai had no intention of explaining, although Ya Pei willfully invaded the Elis country in order to rob energy, but those who can profit in the war will always be a small number of people in positions of power, the real Ya Pei citizens Many of them, like them, suffer from the negative effects of war and lack of energy.Moreover, if they close themselves and do not contact foreign countries, they will have no way of getting news about the Yapei country.

"This is a way to get the best of both worlds." Yibu Lianhua said in a low voice, and Xi Mietian stopped and looked back at these words in surprise. "What's wrong?" Is there something on his face?Bu Lianhua touched her cheeks unconsciously.

"It's okay." With one hand in his trouser pocket, Xi Mie Tianlai shook his head and said, turning his back, he smiled slowly. "Don't you want to know?" The lazy tone was like a stagnant Foehn. "What happened to that woman after that?"

"I already know."

"Did Mintel tell you?"

"No, no one mentioned it to me." Because of this, he knew what happened to the woman without asking.

After Lianhua finished speaking in one step, the atmosphere between the two of them turned serious in an instant, and neither of them talked until they reached a small four-story manor.

■

Walking into the manor, I saw a short and fat woman about fifty years old, who was raking the soil with a hoe with her back to them. When she heard a movement at the door, she put down the hoe and looked outside, and a sassy laughter sounded immediately .

"Xiao Mie, it's just in time. I just tried to make a new pastry in the kitchen. The wild berries were just harvested a while ago, and it should taste good with dried rice cakes. Come in and help me try it... Hey, the one behind you is... ..."

"My name is Yibu Lianhua, what should I call you?"

"One Step Lianhua... Ah," after winking, the middle-aged woman suddenly said in surprise, "You saved that woman, right? I heard from Xiaomai and the others, but unfortunately I wasn't there that day, and Meili proposed to come The neighboring town went to buy some dried fruit seeds and planted them, so I went with her... Oh, come in, come in, don’t just stand here and talk."

The woman opened her two palms, each held Xi Mie Tianlai and Yibu Lianhua on the left and right, and walked into the house together. The strength of the shoulder clasping was much stronger than that of ordinary women.

"Come, come, you are welcome," the woman took the two of them to the guest table as soon as they entered the room, and then brought a plate of pastries and two cups of hot milk tea. The strong milky fragrance smelled a little pungent. "Just call me Mommy."

It turns out that she is the mother. No wonder she is stronger than ordinary women. Usually, experienced field nurses have very strong hands, so they can assist the doctor in rescuing the wounded in an emergency, whether it is suppressing the wound that resisted due to pain during the operation. It takes a lot of courage and strength to move and carry the wounded alone when there are insufficient manpower.

Bu Lianhua accepted Muma's warm hospitality and drank a big mouthful of hot tea, but she choked until she burst into tears and couldn't stop coughing.

"Ha..." Muma laughed happily when she saw this, and patted Shunbu Lianhua's back bent due to coughing hard, making a crackling sound, which was so shocking that Lianhua almost spit out the milk tea she had swallowed come out. "The taste of camel milk is strong. Drinking more is good for your health." As he spoke, he refilled Bubu Lianhua's cup.

Lianhua stared straight at Bubu, with a smile on the corner of her mouth, she took the cup calmly, and took a deep breath.

"Try to drink, you're welcome, I'll go to the kitchen to serve pastries, wait a minute."

After Mama turned into the kitchen, Xi Mie Tianlai took the cup out of Yibu Lianhua's hand.

"Don't force it, there are a lot of Mu Ma's unique spices in it, the taste is very strange, people who drink it for the first time will be very uncomfortable." People with weak stomachs and diarrhea, Xi Mie Tianlai recalled the first time he tried Mu Mu Ma's miserable experience of making special milk tea made her frown involuntarily.Some of them still can't get used to this taste, that's why that boy Gorski avoids Mama all day long.

Seeing that Xi Mie Tianlai drank two large servings of milk tea in a row without changing his expression, Bu Lianhua's pupils showed admiration.

"There is still a big pot." Smilingly pointing to the teapot on the table, Lianhua pushed it to Xi Mie Tianlai with one step, as if looking forward to what Xi Mie Tianlai would do with it.

Xi Mie Tianlai glanced at Lianhua with a half-stare, and observed the mother who would shuttle in the kitchen sideways. After confirming that she would not come out for the time being, he quietly took the teapot and walked to the window sill, and distributed the milk tea evenly. After arriving at a row of green potted plants, and returning to the guest table as if nothing had happened, I saw Bu Lianhua glance at the potted plants sympathetically from time to time, and said, "Don't worry, they have strong vitality."

Just as she was about to reply, Mom came out with a plate of pastries and saw that the teapot on the table was empty, she smiled and said, "Oh, I didn't expect the business to be so good."

"Yeah, the taste is really good." Bu Lianhua smiled warmly.

"Then I'll go in and pretend." Hearing the compliment, Muma's round face was stained with a girlish blush.

"Mum, don't be busy, or we'll be too full to eat later." Yibu Lianhua quickly stopped Muma's movements, brought her back to the guest table and let her take a seat, her eyes met with Xi Mietian inadvertently Come and bump into him, the latter is about to stare at him with a smile.

"That's right." Nodding in agreement, Mother sat down as she said, took Lianhua's hand and said, "I only found out later that this brat kept you in prison for so many days and made you hungry... Knowing that he is innocent and being implicated, he still treats him like this..." While talking about the mother, she glared fiercely at Mie Tianlai, and the next second she apologized to Lianhua in the previous step and said, "So I called him Bring you here, Mommy will cook a delicious meal to compensate you."

"It's okay, he didn't do anything to me, mother don't care."

"You have such a good temper." Mama smiled gratifiedly, then glanced at Xi Mie Tianlai on the other side and said, "It's not like this brat always has a sullen face...Look at you..." She said vigorously He pinched Xi Mie Tianlai's extremely elastic cheeks. "Go, go, don't sit here, go and rake up the field outside, I'm going to plant berries tomorrow."

The mother's intention of chasing people is obvious, Xi Mie Tianlai then left the seat and went to rake the soil outside the house.

After Xi Mie Tianlai's back disappeared at the other side of the door, Mama looked back, her brows and eyes were slightly worried.

"This kid used to be naughty and stubborn, but now he's just a dull gourd who keeps everything to himself. Sometimes I really don't know what's going on in his mind."

Hearing this, Yibu Lianhua held Muma's warm palm and said softly: "Maybe it's a bit abrupt to say so, but I think he is someone Muma can rest assured."

Mu Ma's face improved a lot when she heard that, she thought, this person in front of her is young, but has a sensitive heart to understand the world situation, and she must have experienced a lot of hardships.He is about the same age as Xi Mie, so Mama feels pity for him, just like she treats these children in Abel City.

There was mist in her eyes, and she sighed, "Did that kid tell you about the woman you treated?"

Bu Lianhua nodded first, then shook her head. "I know she's dead."

Mother said with more emotion: "It seems that he didn't make it clear to you. In fact, he originally planned to wait for the food looting incident to end before releasing the woman. He reached an agreement with the woman to temporarily lock her up in the cellar where the wine is stored. On the night of the ninth day, the woman repented. She tricked Naiba, who kidnapped the guard, and pierced his throat with a dagger. . "Xiao Mie was very angry, and the other children were angry and sad... They decided to kill her."

It may be because of this that Xi Mie Tianlai would starve himself for a few more days, and the person who brought water to him after the tenth day would have such a tired expression on his face.At that time, he was too busy to take care of himself, and he didn't have the opportunity to observe each person's abnormality in detail. Now that he thinks about it, everything makes sense.

Yibu Lianhua patted the back of Muma's hand, not intending to say more words to express comfort, besides, he really didn't know what to say, when what he said was wrong, it was better to be silent.

"Lianhua, can I call you Lianhua?" Obtaining a step by step Lianhua agreed with a smile, and mother suddenly squeezed his hand tightly, almost pleading: "You won't say it, right? Even if you are free in the future, you You won’t tell about them, right? No matter how others try to lure and threaten you, you won’t say it, right?”

The days when she felt guilty even taking self-protection made her exhausted. In her eyes, that woman was just a child, but how could she bet on the safety of other children?

"Mother, please calm down." Shaking Mother's hand back, Bu Lianhua comforted her softly, "Don't worry, I won't tell the truth. I'm a doctor, and I only do what I should do."

His mellow voice seemed to have magical powers, calming Mama's hesitation.

"That's right, what you said is..." Nodding again and again, Muma forced a smile and replied, "I lost my temper, don't take it to heart..."

"Mumma, look at me," holding onto Muma's hand tightly to prevent her from withdrawing, Bu Lianhua's gentle eyes looked straight into Muma's pupils that flickered left and right. "It doesn't matter." After a long time, Muma's hands finally stopped shaking, and Tongren began to focus on Yibu Lianhua with peace of mind.

As soon as she relaxed, Mama wiped away the water from the corners of her eyes with her apron, and said with a smile, "Thank you, please forget what I just said, when I was talking nonsense. Sit down for a while, I will prepare dinner The ingredients to use."

"Don't be busy..."

"Not busy, not busy, I move quickly, sit and wait."

Seeing that the mother regained her spirits, Lianhua let her go without further decline. Originally, he wanted to borrow a communicator from the mother so that he could contact the emperor and the others. To give mother unnecessary confusion, it is better to let it go for a few days and see the situation before making plans.

At this time, he was very lucky to have Cang beside Tianzi to comfort him, otherwise, according to Tianzi's worry-loving personality, he would probably go straight back to the Mitanguo Municipal Medical Center—his previous service hospital—to inquire about him.

Just thinking about making contact, Bubu Lianhua suddenly heard the sound of cups and plates breaking from the kitchen, and when she rushed to the kitchen, she happened to catch her mother's swaying body from behind.

He straightened his mother up, only to see that she was sweating all over, her mouth was dry and her face was yellow. She supported the wall with one hand and stood firm, then said softly: "It's okay, it's an old problem of anemia."

"Mum, you..."

"Oh, I'm really fine, don't worry about it." In less than half a moment, she regained her composure and said with a smile on her face: "Look at me, I'm very healthy. I'm worried that Xiao Mie may not be able to do it alone. , can you go and look after me for me?"

Unable to refuse Mama's request, Bu Lianhua nodded in response, and then walked to the field outside the house.

Outside the house, Xie Mie Tianlai has already completed the work assigned by his mother. He climbed up the earth-painted low wall on the second floor and sat and watched the city of Abel shrouded in the scorching sun. Black hair, half covering his speechless side face, as silent as this city.