Chapter 218 Traveler

Although Winters can move freely, Erlun still stays with him, even more closely than before.

"I'd like to talk to you here in this felt tent." Erlun said this, her expression a little sad: "Everyone in the camp, alas, they don't want to listen to me, and they don't need to listen to me. "

The herdsmen have dispersed with their livestock, probably because the pastures can accommodate limited livestock.

But the camp is still running, and many people, tents and animals remain here, all of which are Orlun's private property.

White Lion's first wife and his first wife's children died in the war in the early years, and now the children under his knees are still young.

As the biological sister of White Lion, Erlun naturally takes charge of part of the old camp. The white lion also loved his sister and gave her many subjects, servants and animals.

So Erlun is the mistress of this camp.

But she stayed away from the wasteland for ten years. At Red Pine Manor, she was Mrs. Cullman's personal maid. In the Chihe tribe, she suddenly became the master of a good house.

Not to mention that the subordinates are not adaptable, even Erlun himself is not adaptable. It is inevitable for a servant to bully his master.

"I don't understand Hurd society." Winters thought for a while and said thoughtfully: "But I see that when tribes migrate, they set up camp, walk, and set up camp every day. In fact, it is no different from marching and fighting. The army pays most attention to rewards. Punishment. Reward if you do well, whip if you don't do well."

Erlun shook his head repeatedly and whispered: "How dare I hit someone with a whip?"

Winters said calmly: "You don't have to do it yourself, just assign others to execute it. But there must be rules and fairness."

"I..." Erlun's eyes were red and he hesitated: "Alas..."

The little lion ran into the felt tent and interrupted their conversation.

He winked and asked Winters: "I heard from Bell that they all call you [Wolfblood]?"

Bell and Little Lion are similar in age and have similar experiences, so they get along very well.

Erlun wiped his tears, turned around and walked out of the felt tent.

Winters sighed and left the felt tent with his cane.

"E'erlun? Batu? Why did you two leave?" The little lion was confused. He turned around and asked Charles with a smile: "Why do you call him wolf? Wolf is not a good word!"

Charles, who had just pretended to be deaf and dumb, asked, "Wolf is a bad word? Don't you worship wolves?"

The little lion said angrily: "That's the slander of the tribes by outsiders! How can a wolf worship a wolf when it's greedy and vicious? We all use words like eagle, stag, horse, mastiff to praise people. Have you ever seen praise for others? Do you use wolf? You use wolf cub when you scold people. When all the tribes see a wolf, they will beat it."

The little lion smiled again and asked Charles: "But Batu, didn't he happily accept the nickname [Wolf's Blood]? Then who is worshiping the wolf? Is it you or us?"

Charles was speechless. He muttered: "My brother is not 'happy' either..."

"Then why do you call him [Wolf Blood]?"

Charles said helplessly: "Because my brother's previous nickname was even more unpleasant."

"What? Is there such a thing?" The little lion became interested and pestered Ciel to ask, "Tell me quickly."

…

The little lion also has a clever mouth. He calls the wolf evil during the day, and the wolf comes at night.

In the middle of the night, there was a sudden commotion in Erlun's camp.

Someone banged the gong and yelled at the top of his lungs: "[Herd] The wolf has entered the circle! The wolf is coming!"

The men woke up in their sleep and rushed out of the felt tent carrying mace sticks.

Winters, who was woken up, frowned and was about to walk out with a cane.

When the sleepy Ciel saw this scene, he instantly lost all sleepiness. He hurriedly stopped Winters: "Brother, your injury is not healed yet! Don't go!"

Winters walked into the camp without saying a word.

The wolf jumped into the sheepfold expecting to have a feast. But he was frightened by the herdsmen and ran away.

The men in the camp mounted their horses one after another, calling each other and chasing after each other with wolf clubs.

The sound of horse hooves gradually faded away, and the campground returned to tranquility.

The women who stayed behind lit torches and were busy counting the sheep.

Two ewes carrying lambs were so frightened that they miscarried, and several other sheep had their necks bitten.

One by one the men returned, either empty-handed or wounded - horse racing at night was dangerous.

Erlun searched hard in the crowd. When he saw someone, he asked: "Have you seen Batu?"

Everyone shook their heads.

More and more people came back, except for Prathu Batu.

Finally, the little lion came back.

Erlun rushed forward, grabbed his brother's arm hard, and asked with tears in his eyes: "Have you seen him?"

The little lion shook his head.

Erlun seemed to have been drained of all his strength in an instant, and fell limply to the ground.

"Let's go." The little lion wanted to help his sister up.

Erlun just stared blankly in the direction where the man disappeared, refusing to leave.

The little lion had no choice but to light a bonfire next to his sister and accompany her.

The night gradually receded, and Erlun's tears had dried up.

At dawn, the little lion dragged his sister up: "Let's go, he won't come back!"

Suddenly, a rider appears on the horizon.

The rider walked slowly, but he was indeed heading towards the camp.

Erlun's tears welled up uncontrollably.

The rider was getting closer and the sky was getting brighter.

Only then did the people in the camp notice that the rider was carrying two wolf carcasses on his horse.

"Batu! Wuwuwuwu!" The crowd waved and cheered, shaking their clothes and hats and beating their chests.

Erlun left silently. She returned to her felt tent and took out a set of clothes from under the wooden box.

It was a uniform for Army Academy cadets, and she had carefully mended every damage on it.

Erlun hugged this old military uniform and cried bitterly.

…

The day after the wolf attack, the White Lion sent for Winters.

At the White Lion's camp, Winters met Brother Rhett, who had been missing recently.

Brother Rhett had completely changed.

In the past, Brother Rhett would make you ignore his skinny arms, droopy skin, snow-white beard and hair, and weathered face.

He would shout, laugh and talk like a young man.

At this moment, Brother Rhett is just an old man who has run out of gas and energy.

He was still the same person, but extremely weak, and every breath seemed to exhale life force.

His face also became dark, with only a pair of eyes still slightly bright.

He lived hard, as if just to see Winters one last time.

Winters had veins popping out on his forehead and grabbed the white lion by the collar: "What did you do?"

The white lion just shook his head.

"Hey! You kid, cough." Brother Red scolded with a smile: "What are you doing?"

Only then did Winters let go.

"When I was here, wouldn't I know it myself?" Brother Rhett struggled to greet Winters: "I asked you to come here just to see me one last time. Come here and sit next to me."

Winters sat down obediently.

Brother Rhett seemed to spend a lot of energy even talking now: "I asked you to come, and I also want you to do something for me."

"Just say it."

Brother Rhett smiled softly and said, "You still have to do this. Come and help me shave my hair. I have been helping people throughout my life, and when I am here, someone will come to help me. Good."

Winters never worked as a barber, he only shaved himself.

But he did not refuse Brother Rhett's request. He simply took the razor and started shaving the heads of the old and the young in the felt tent.

Two months of carving practice have made Winters more precise in his control of strength.

He took great care not to leave a wound on Brother Rhett's wrinkled skin.

Brother Rhett's silver-white hair fell like snow, and the round scars were exposed one after another.

"I actually have nothing more to tell you." Brother Rhett closed his eyes and said slowly: "Only one thing. You little guy, you stand too short and look too close, especially at your own expense."

Winters stood silently behind Brother Rhett, carefully controlling the strength of the razor and continuing to shave off the hair bit by bit.

"If you don't consider what will happen a hundred years from now, you can't even guarantee what will happen ten years from now. If you don't consider the entire chessboard, you won't even be able to occupy a corner of the chessboard."

"Um."

"I heard that the world is a big ball." Brother Rhett's eyes gradually regained their energy: "If you keep going west, you can return to the east."

"Um."

"It's a pity that I can't finish this journey." Brother Rhett asked with a smile: "Do you remember that you still owe me three months of salary?"

"Um."

"I don't want your money. We Celika people believe in returning fallen leaves to their roots. After I die, you burn my body. Take my ashes, walk this distance, and take me back to Celika, okay?" Bury me in a place called Phoenix."

"Okay, I will definitely."

"What must it be?" Brother Rhett smiled and stretched out his hand to hit Winters: "I have traveled thousands of miles, and it is difficult to know whether I will live or die. How can I trouble you to do such a thing, I mean. After I die, you find a river , pour my ashes in, and it’s all over.”

Winters was silent.

Brother Rhett seemed to have remembered something and continued to chuckle: "But I have sworn an oath never to return eastward in this life. So you have to find a river that flows from east to west. Don't just find a small puddle to fool the old man."

"There is no river flowing westward in the land between two mountains." Winters' voice became trembling little by little: "Don't worry, just wait for me and I will take you back to Celica."

"Really? It's a pity that there is no river flowing to the west." Brother Rhett coughed twice and patted Winters' arm gently: "Don't cry, why are you crying? I have earned a living. I have gone as far west as I can go. If someone dies at my age, it would be a happy event. You all have to send me off with a smile. Even though you guys are young, you may not live to be as old as me. ."

The shaving ceremony completed, Brother Red sat Winters down in front of him.

"Although you are an unbeliever, little one, let me bless you for the last time. This is what Brother Philip said when he consecrated me, and I say it to you now." He held Winters' hand and pointed his fingers. He tapped Winters' forehead and murmured:

"[Ancient Proverbs] You will not be afraid of the terrors of the night, or of the arrows that fly by day; nor of the pestilence that stalks by night, nor of the poison that kills at noon; though a thousand shall fall at your left hand, and ten thousand at your left. On your right hand this plague shall never come near you.”

Winters lowered his head and thanked the old man.

Brother Rhett took a deep breath and suddenly turned back into the bright and energetic wise man.

He asked sharply, his voice piercing the clouds and cracking stones: "Am I poor?"

"Yes!" Winters replied.

"Am I alone?"

"yes!"

"Can I go back east?"

"Never!"

"Okay! Okay! Okay!" Brother Rhett laughed heartily: "I can leave in peace."

His head slowly lowered, and he passed away accompanied by Winters and the White Lion.

…

In accordance with Brother Rhett's wishes, his remains were cremated.

Winters and White Lion dragged logs one by one from a distance and built them into a cremation platform.

The great shaman also came. He danced in front of the fire and paid the highest respect.

Brother Red spent his life as a monk, a Taoist priest, a priest, a legal scholar, a mendicant monk, and was finally gifted by various shamans.

After Brother Red left, Erlun also packed his bags for Winters.

"I'm sorry." Winters said with a knife in his heart, "I'm sorry."

Erlun smiled and shook his head.

The guilt nearly crushed Winters to pieces, but he still had things to do.

When Winters walked out of the felt tent, the little lion was waiting for him, leading four horses.

"Let's go, I'll see you off." The little lion pretended to be relaxed and said: "These four horses are for you and Charles, and you two can ride them interchangeably. Do you want to name the horses?"

"I can't afford it."

The little lion was slightly startled: "I can't afford it, it's good if I can't afford it. We won't name the war horse, just call it by the color of its coat."

"No, I never want to name a horse again."

The little lion led several guards and escorted Winters and Ciel away.

Erlun chased him out of the felt tent and all the way to the hillside. Looking at the man's back, he cried heartbreakingly.

The white lion also came to the hillside. He wiped away his sister's tears and said softly: "Don't cry, Erlun, I will sing a song for you."

The white lion looked at the horizon and sang softly:

"The one I love,

Many mountains have been climbed;

The one I cry for,

Countless rivers have been crossed;

I cry,

But he will not look back at me;

I want to find him,

But his way can no longer be found.

…”

This is a woman's love song, but it is sung by a white lion.

The song of the white lion is desolate and sad, and the birds circle for him, and the cattle and sheep stop for him.

You must have gone through a lot of sad experiences to be able to sing this kind of song.

After the song was finished, the white lion said softly to Erlun: "If you miss him, just go find him."

"But." Erlun stopped crying and just sobbed softly: "What should the fire-warmer do?"

"It's okay." Bai Shi held his sister in his arms and gently arranged her forehead hair: "Brother always has a way."

…

The little lion escorted Winters all the way to the River Styx.

He first led Winters to pay homage to Qiang Luck.

Qiang Yun rests on a beautiful hill, and the hillside is covered with red and blue flowers.

There was no tombstone. When the little lion buried Qiang Luck, a stake was laid. On the stake, a few knives were carved with a horse.

Winters stroked the stake gently, like brushing the side of Qiang Luck's neck and long mane.

He had no tears, and he hadn't cried since he woke up from the coma, not even once.

Even if Brother Red passes away, even if he is separated from Erlun.

His ability to cry seemed to have been completely taken away.

The little lion and his guards took the sheepskin bag and wooden frame, and they quickly prepared the sheepskin raft.

The two guards made a round trip first to confirm that the sheepskin raft was usable and to find the little lion back to life.

The first to be sent to the other side of the Styx were four horses, followed by Charles.

The little lion accompanied Winters and finally reached the east bank of the River Styx.

"That's right." The little lion asked curiously: "As long as your name is Batu, I don't know what your name is yet."

"My name is...Deep Winter in the Mountains."

"Is your surname 'Qunshan'?" The little lion clapped his hands and laughed: "My father's tribe is called 'Wen Duo'er', which also means mountains and high mountains."

Everything had been shipped to the east coast, horses, food.

"You won't get lost, right?" The little lion asked Winters with a smile: "There is no distinction between east, west, north and south on the grassland, so it is easy to get lost."

"I have this." Winters took out Lieutenant Colonel Jessica's map: "You won't get lost."

"That's good."

"This is for you." Winters took out another roll and threw it to the little lion: "Maybe you can use it."

"what?"

"I drew the map." Winters said softly, "The prairie part."

"Okay! Thank you!" The little lion laughed loudly: "Let's go home in the deep winter in the mountains."

The little lion said goodbye reluctantly and firmly: "Never come back again!"

Winters pulled the reins lightly and rode away, followed closely by Ciel.

One hundred and sixty-four wooden cones were carefully stored in the deepest part of his luggage.

[Thanks to book friends for their collection, reading, subscription, recommendation votes, monthly votes, rewards and comments, thank you all]

[Some book friends mentioned Winters’ growth issues. In fact, he did continue to grow through setbacks, but not through death.

Brother Rhett's departure was actually not exciting to Winters.

The old man has reached the end of his life, after all, he is already 95 years old (self-proclaimed).

He crossed the last person (not Winters) and reached the end of the journey himself. ]