Chapter 190 – Determination (Part 2)
Something happened…
Ryan widened his eyes, looking at his father. Seeing him in such a hurry and with a serious expression, Ryan doubted he was joking. He thought he had gone out with Uncle Jim to look for Grandma Claire. What could have happened in such a short time? Did they not find her?
Or maybe…
Before Ryan could ask, he saw his sister Hill’s face turn pale in an instant. She quickly stood up, causing the stool behind her to fall with a loud clatter. She looked at their father, her voice trembling as she asked, “Where…”
The beautiful girl’s pupils trembled, her fists clenched tightly, her body rigid. She didn’t even dare to ask what had happened. Her appearance pained Ryan’s heart, and he immediately felt a bad premonition.
But before him, the rugged man was startled by the girl’s extreme reaction. After a moment of hesitation, he pointed outside the wooden shed, “Over there…”
Before he finished speaking, the girl hurriedly rushed out of the wooden shed, leaving a fragrant breeze in her wake. After a while, Ryan’s father came back to his senses and followed her out. Ryan quickly followed suit, asking softly from behind, “Dad, what’s going on?”
“Go away, this has nothing to do with you.”
His father waved his hand impatiently. After walking a few steps, he turned back, frowning at Ryan, hesitating whether to speak or not. Eventually, he asked, “What did you two talk about inside just now? Why does it feel so strange? Did you properly comfort that girl?”
“Dad!”
Ryan complained softly, “At a time like this, how can you still think about such things…”
“You don’t understand anything, idiot.” His father slapped him hard on the back of his head, “Although I don’t know what happened, no matter what it is, that girl is crying. Do you understand? She needs someone to lean on right now!”
Father and son walked side by side through the campsite. Nearby villagers saw them and called out, “Hey, Doug, Doug, Ryan!”
Doug raised his eyes, saw someone approaching, and pulled Ryan’s shoulder, leaning in closer, lowering his voice, “Girls of that age are often very sensitive. Even if they are strong and excellent, when they are sad, they hope for a man to console them, to give them emotional comfort and a sense of security. And you, you’ve hit the jackpot, happening to be here at the right time…”
“Dad, Hill really is sad. Can you please stop saying these things?” Ryan pushed his father’s hand off his shoulder, frowning, “You still haven’t told me what’s going on!”
“There’s nothing, and even if there is, it has nothing to do with you!”
Seeing Ryan’s fearless demeanor, Doug was extremely angry and couldn’t help but kick him in the butt, “Damn it, if you don’t take this chance to show your manhood in front of little Hill, I won’t acknowledge you as my son in the future. You’ll lose too much face!”
Ryan wanted to retort, but saw several villagers already approaching. He held his tongue.
These villagers had been waiting outside the wooden shed. Earlier, Hill ran too fast for them to call her back. Now seeing Ryan and his father come out, they all gathered around, asking questions, “Ryan, did you ask? What’s going on outside?”
“Is little Hill okay?”
“Doug, I haven’t heard any news for a long time. What did little Hill say? Should we go back to the village?”
In these past two days, they had lived in constant worry.
That night, before the villagers could settle down in the mountain stream, they saw the sky over Deer Town turn red from afar. The noise was incessant. Although they were far away, they were still terrified by the commotion, feeling as though
It seemed like it was a year ago, that apocalyptic scene, when the villagers thought it was going to happen again.
Even after things calmed down, they were still frightened, unable to sleep soundly for two days. Any slight movement would make them worry, each of their hearts hanging by a thread. When little Hill suddenly returned, everyone wanted to know what had happened and if there was still any danger. But seeing the girl’s appearance, they didn’t dare ask directly. Ryan, who was quite close with the girl, stayed in the wooden shed with her for a while, so the villagers assumed he knew something.
“I don’t know, stop asking me.”
Ryan thought, do you think I’m anyone important to Hill’s sister? She wouldn’t even tell me, and Father doesn’t understand these things either. He kicked him for saying such things, making him feel like a real coward.本来就 mood wasn’t good, and now these people kept asking questions, driving him crazy.
“When you didn’t believe me back then, now you all come running to me for information. Hill’s sister cried, did you not see? Don’t you care!”
The young man spoke sharply, and the villagers all smiled awkwardly.
Most of them were elders. If this had happened before, Ryan would have been beaten up by his father for talking to elders like that. But after this incident, people’s impression of Ryan had improved somewhat, even if it hadn’t, they had to appreciate his help. Plus, what he said made sense, so they couldn’t just lash out.
A group of people walked to the north side of the campsite, which was actually only about a hundred meters away from the wooden shed. There was a stream here, and a hunter who knew medicine had set up a tent by the riverbank. Outside the tent were tied several handsome horned horses, which naturally weren’t the villagers’ horned horses; no one in the village could afford such horses.
When Ryan saw the horned horses, he immediately understood that outsiders had arrived.
He and his father entered the tent first, and inside it was chaotic. As soon as they entered, they smelled blood. Ryan frowned, and then saw several monks in golden robes standing aside. A person lay on a fur mat in the middle of the tent, also dressed as a monk, with blood all over his robe, looking seriously injured, his body trembling violently. The hunter who knew medicine was grinding herbs by candlelight, and his Hill sister was already here.
And Grandma Claire.
Grandma was kneeling on the ground, looking healthy and well, but a bit anxious, holding the hand of the injured monk and muttering, “My lord monk, child, don’t go to sleep yet. My girl is here, she came, everything will be fine, don’t be afraid, the Mother Goddess will protect you…”
Seeing that Grandma was fine, Ryan’s heart finally relaxed.
“Dad.”
He couldn’t help but glare at his father: “Next time there’s trouble, explain it clearly.”
“Huh?”
The burly man Doug was puzzled.
At this moment, Hill’s sister had squatted beside the injured monk. She gave Grandma a pretty smile, a comforting one, then proceeded to examine the monk’s wounds.
The wound was on his abdomen, a large burn, bloody and mangled, with internal organs faintly visible. Ryan’s face turned pale, feeling nauseous, but he noticed that Hill’s sister remained calm, as if she was used to such scenes. So he forced himself to endure the nausea and stared unblinkingly at the wound to prove that he wouldn’t be shaken by it. However, in reality, no one paid attention to his reaction.
“I met them by the mountain stream. The monks said they were looking for you, little Hill. How did you come back?” Grandma Claire said with a smile when she saw Hill’s sister.
“Grandma, I’ll tell you later.”
Hill’s sister was smiling too.
But Ryan noticed that when she turned her head to look at the monks, the sweet smile on her face suddenly cooled down as if doused with water: “How did you know I was here?”
