Chapter 3: The Lonely Lamp of Grandma Wind

  Xiao Qiu leaned forward on horseback, stretched out his right hand and said in a hollow voice: "Come up, follow me."

  Ye Lin Town was like a just-finished landscape painting, suddenly frozen in time. The distant residents woke up from the panic brought by the startled horse, stretched their necks to look towards the Shen family's gate, and the crowd around the flower sedan chair was still trapped in an unbelievable astonishment. The sound of horseshoes was still echoing in their ears, they had not yet understood what had happened.

  The little figure in front of the sedan seemed to be frightened stiff as well, and didn't move at all.

  A wave of panic began to rise in Xia Qiu's heart, he thought Fang Fang hadn't heard his words, or had heard but didn't accept them, if so, he would become the biggest joke in town, and wouldn't be able to shake it off for ten years.

  If she didn't get on the horse, I would escape by myself, Xia Qiu made a decision at this moment.

  The little figure's hesitation only lasted for a moment, and Fangfang lifted the red veil to reveal a face that Xiao Qiu had no impression of.

  He was stunned, it had been several years since he last saw Fangfang.

  Fang Fang's movements became swift and neat from this moment on, one hand lifted the hem of her skirt, raised her foot to step on the sedan chair handle, borrowed momentum to jump up, the other hand grasped Xiao Qiu's hand, nimbly jumped behind him, adjusted her clothes, and sat steadily.

  "Drive!" Xia Qiu shouted.

  The sorrel horse seemed to know that this gallop was significant, raised its head and whinnied, running towards the sunset at the end of the road.

  All this happened in a short time, and Xia Qiu had already run out for half a mile before Liu's matchmaker got up from the sedan chair, hand on her forehead, gazing afar at the horse and two people, saying: "The new daughter-in-law has been snatched away."

  Mr. Shen was supported by two servants, and after calming down a bit, he repeated in a daze: "The new daughter-in-law has been taken away?"

  Liu's matchmaker turned around and nodded solemnly, "It was snatched away."

  The groom, Shen Jiaolao, vaguely knew that something was missing and sat on the ground with a thud, wailing loudly, "It's been stolen! It's been stolen!"

  Two buttons on his new clothes, he ran to the middle of the road, gazing at the distant galloping crimson horse. He and Little Autumn were sworn enemies, but at this moment, he admired him so much that he forgot himself, jumping several feet high, waving his fist and shouting: "Well done, Little Autumn!"

  Mr. Shen was startled awake by the shouting, and with one punch he smashed onto Erchui's head, then rushed across the street, pulling out Lao Qiu from the crowd, spitting saliva and stars onto his face, "Is that your son? He stole my family's new daughter-in-law!"

  Lao Qiu was so frightened that he was stunned and muttered: "He's still a kid, when he comes back, I'll beat him up..."

  "Wait for him to come back?" Mr. Shen's face turned into a pig liver color, his daughter-in-law might be able to find her way back, but his face would never be found again, "I'll report to the authorities! I'll catch him and bring him back! I'll put him in prison!"

  The residents of Yelin Town had never seen Mr. Shen lose his temper so badly, and they were all scared, just like Lao Qiu. They all thought that Xiao Qiu had gotten himself into big trouble this time.

  Xiao Qiu couldn't hear Old Man Shen's threat. The dark red horse had already run very far and was slowing down.

  Xiao Qiu was accustomed to grazing and playing in the forest on the east side of the town, rarely coming to the west. The gentle slope not far ahead was the western boundary of the Wild Forest Town that he knew, and beyond it was another world.

  He became more and more confused, unable to understand why he was doing this. Behind him, Fangfang tightly hugged his waist, more real than everything in front of him.

  "After passing this ridge, it's no longer Yeli Town." He said, making small talk.

  "Mm." The voice behind him was very soft, and the arm wrapped around his waist relaxed a lot.

  Going uphill, going downhill, Xia Qiu felt panicked again.

  "Who are you?" Fangfang asked.

  "Xiao Qiu, don't you remember me?" Apart from feeling panicked, Xiao Qiu's heart also felt a hint of disappointment.

  Fang Fang didn't answer, after a while she asked again: "Where are you going to take me?"

  "I don't know." Besides escaping from Ye Lin Town, Xiao Qiu hadn't thought about anything else.

  "Where will you sleep tonight?"

  "I don't know."

  "What's next? Where will you live?"

  "I don't know." Xia Qiu felt stifled because Fang Fang asked these things, and he hadn't considered any of them.

  "What shall we eat?"

  Xiao Qiu was annoyed by the questioning and irritably said: "Go drink northwest wind."

  For a while after that, there was no sound. Xia Qiu felt guilty and the arm around her waist suddenly tightened again. Fang Fang whispered: "Then let's drink the northwest wind."

  The sky was getting darker, and Xiao Qiu's panic had disappeared. "I'll go find something to eat later, then find a place to sleep. Tomorrow I'll continue walking... wherever that may be. Anyway, I won't let you starve."

  Kokoro thought about the skills she had learned while grazing in the forest and felt that it was no big deal.

  "Hmm." Fangfang said softly, and didn't ask again.

  No one came chasing after them, and all of the dozen or so horses in Ye Lin Town ran off in unknown directions.

  After walking in silence for a while, Fangfang suddenly said: "The house of Grandma Wind is ahead, we can go there to stay overnight."

  Xiao Qiu had long seen a glimmer of light ahead and exclaimed in surprise: "Is that the old madwoman who isn't allowed into town?"

  "The wind granny is not an old madwoman, she often goes into town to buy things, she's a good person, because she loves quietness and lives outside the town."

  Xiao Qiu didn't argue, about the rumors of Feng Po Po, he had heard them since childhood, and they left a somewhat frightening impression on him. For the rest of the journey, he was thinking of excuses to not enter the door.

  However, as the light changed from a yellow bean to a warm glow, Xiao Qiu gave in. Even living in Lao Feng Po's house was better than sleeping out in the wilderness, he thought wearily, and Fang Fang must be even more exhausted.

  Xiao Qiu first jumped off the horse and then reached out to help Fang Fang down. For the second time, he looked straight at her face, still feeling unfamiliar, but this might be due to the darkness of the sky.

  Fang lowered her head, moved her numb legs and feet, and led the way towards the wooden gate.

  This is a small courtyard nestled in lush grass, with plants crawling all over the fence wall, and almost no signs of human presence can be seen. If it weren't for the faint light shining out from inside the yard, passersby might not even notice the existence of the three thatched cottages.

  In the courtyard, a wooden stick as thick as a bowl stood upright, with a small oil lamp on top. Xia Qiu immediately took this unusual behavior as evidence of "crazy old woman". Just as she was about to call out to Fangfang, she had already quickly run past the oil lamp and rushed towards the door of the thatched hut, crying out: "Feng's wife."

  In the dim yellow light, a wrinkled but extremely kind face appeared, and Xia Qiu's tension and vigilance disappeared instantly. This was absolutely not a madman. He walked in slowly, with Zao Hong Ma following behind him.

  "Fang Fang? What are you doing here in the middle of the night? Aren't you supposed to get married today?" Feng's old lady was short and stout, about the same height as ten-year-old Fang Fang, her voice muffled, as if she had lost a few teeth.

  Fang Fang cried, crying very sadly, saying something intermittently, her voice even more unclear. Xiao Qiu stood uncomfortably in the courtyard, while Hong Ma nuzzled his neck to comfort him.

  The old woman warmly invited the two into the house, with her arm around Fangfang.

  Sitting on the stool, Fangfang finally stopped crying, "I don't want to marry into the Shen family, Xia Qiu... Xia Qiu saved me."

  The oil lamp in the room was also lit, making it brighter. The old woman smiled and sized up Xiao Qiu, "Hmmm, good young man, you're quite handsome too. Why did you want to save Fangfang?"

  Xiao Qiu's face turned bright red, "Nothing, it's just... Fang Fang doesn't want to marry into the Shen family."

  "Xiao Qiu, Xiao Qiu." The wind blows and repeats the name. "A few years ago, wasn't it you who took Fang Fang everywhere and told people she was your wife?"

  Both of their faces turned red, they lowered their heads and neither looked at each other.

  The old woman laughed even more happily, her eyes narrowed into thin slits, and she went to fetch a half pot of rice porridge and some small dishes. She kept muttering "really pitiful" in her mouth. Fangfang wanted to help, but she didn't accept it.

  Xiao Qiu was really hungry, and at first she was still quite reserved. But soon she couldn't care about appearances anymore, and she started drinking the porridge in big gulps. After finishing one bowl, she refilled it again. Just as she was about to thank Grandma Feng, a sudden loud horseshoe sound came from outside, followed by a booming voice shouting: "Grandma Feng, have you seen two kids riding horses passing by?"

  Xiao Qiu's heart tightened suddenly, and the jujube red horse was still outside, where it would be seen by the pursuers at a glance.

  The old woman smiled at the two and indicated that there was no need to be afraid. She turned around and went out of the house, asking "Who is it?" at the door.

  It's still that loud voice, "I'm Shen Lao Si from the town...hiss... disobedient donkey, go back and slaughter you..."

  "Oh, you're talking about Fangfang?"

  "It's true, she got married today and was kidnapped at the gate."

  "She was still wearing her wedding dress when she saw him, and ran over, rushing past in a flash."

  The sound of horseshoes echoed outside, and the visitor left, but it was not just Shen Lao Si alone.

  The old woman came in after a while, still smiling on her face, as if lying was a daily routine. "Don't worry, you won't be in trouble at my house."

  "My horse..." Xia Qiu was perplexed.

  "Your horse is eating grass at the back." The wind grandma comforted, and then filled a bowl of rice porridge for Xia Qiu. She sat opposite him, intimately hugging Fang Fang, and asked the young man: "Where do you plan to take Fang Fang?"

  Xiao Qiu had already made some preparations, quickly swallowing the food in her mouth, and said somewhat urgently: "Let's go further away, I can let the horse loose or do something else, I can learn anything, just...just can't let the Shen family find out."

  The old woman nodded in approval, "Hmm, so you have a plan. Are you willing to listen to a piece of advice from me?"

  Xiao Qiu didn't find this old woman scary at all, and the rumors in town were clearly unreliable. "Of course, I'll listen to you."

  "Heh heh." The old woman turned her head to glance at the little girl in her arms, her face full of wrinkles that could get people lost just by looking at them. "In any small town, you two would stick out like sore thumbs. I suggest you go to Xijie City, do you know where that is?"

  "That's not our capital, is it?" Xia Qiu said immediately, not wanting to appear ignorant.

  "Uh-huh, it's a pretty big city. Just follow the official road and you'll pass by Linhe Town, Xiao'erbao and Da'erbao. It'll take about a month to get there on foot, but if you ride horses, you can get there even faster."

  "Xi Jie Cheng, a month." Xia Qiu repeated numbly, feeling that it was really far away, as if the journey was going to the edge of the sky.

  The old woman noticed the young man's panic and smiled even more, "Later I will write an address, when you arrive in Xijie City, go find my old sister, she will help you get settled. When you are a few years older and can get married, you won't have to be afraid of the Shen family anymore."

  The two of them blushed, and Xia Qiu was too embarrassed to speak up, unsure of how to express her true feelings: He just wanted to rescue Fang Fang, without thinking of marrying her.

  The old woman settled the two down to sleep in separate rooms, then walked alone into the courtyard, added oil to the solitary lamp, looked around with her head raised, sighed and said softly: "Leave, leave, the farther the better, everything is predetermined."

  Her tone was as if she were talking to herself, but a reply came from the corner of the courtyard: "Why interfere with what's destined? You know our rules."

  The old woman turned her head to look at the blue-clothed Taoist in the shadows, and there was no surprise on her smiling face. "Strictly speaking, I didn't do anything. These two children ran out of Ye Lin Town by themselves. Does this count as breaking the rules?"

  "Alas." The Daoist in blue robes let out a long sigh, "I just don't understand, the great hall is about to collapse, yet you're focusing your mind on two ants."

  "It's just a small effort, why not do it?" Feng Popo's smile grew even brighter. "Is the rumor true? A large number of demons have escaped?"

  The Taoist in blue robes nodded, "We're not far from leaving here, you've lived here for a long time, haven't you noticed anything?"

  The old woman glanced at the small oil lamp in the yard and said nothing. As long as this lamp is here, she has nothing to fear.

  The Taoist in blue robes took a step back, almost disappearing into the shadows, and solemnly said: "The Dao fire is not extinguished."

  The old woman put away her smile, straightened up with effort, and suddenly became a whole head taller. "The Way's fire is not extinguished."