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墨書 Inktalez
The morning mist flowed slowly through the forest, resembling a living entity. Lin Dahe crouched as he navigated through the underbrush, feeling the chill of dew seeping into his straw sandals with each step. The enormous footprints from last night extended into the thick fog ahead, each stride far surpassing that of an adult man. He instinctively touched the crossbow at his waist—the arrowheads coated with a double dose of Ma Fei San, a special "beast formula" concocted by Cui Xiaoman.
Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the bushes to his right. Lin Dahe immediately crouched down, aiming his crossbow at the source of the noise. Through the gaps in the leaves, he spotted a small figure curled up in the morning light, munching on a muddy raw potato with a "crunch crunch" sound.
Gently parting the branches, he was taken aback: a child of about seven or eight years old had his back to him, happily gnawing on the potato. The little one wore tattered clothes resembling a fishing net, and his bare back was crisscrossed with scars—some looked like whip marks, while others appeared to be... bite marks?
As Lin Dahe took a step forward, a dry twig snapped ominously beneath his foot. The child jumped up like a startled animal and turned around, his dirty little face filled with wariness. His eyes shone with an unusual amber hue in the morning light, pupils narrowing into thin slits from tension.
"Don't be afraid," Lin Dahe said slowly, lowering his crossbow and pulling out half a flatbread from his pocket. "This is better than raw potatoes."
The child suddenly lunged at him with astonishing speed. A sharp pain shot through Lin Dahe's wrist—this little creature's teeth were as sharp as a wolf cub's! He gasped in surprise, noticing that the child's canine teeth were unusually long.
"Let go! Damn it..."
"Xiao Man has candy!" Cui Xiaoman's voice emerged from the fog. She had followed him without him noticing, shaking a piece of amber-colored malt candy in her hand. "It's ten times sweeter than hard biscuits!"
The child's nostrils flared rapidly, and he actually released his grip. He stared intently at the candy and suddenly made a strange gesture—his left hand patted his right shoulder, his right hand pointed to the sky, and then he drew a circle on his chest.
Cui Xiaoman's expression changed instantly: "This is... a signal for military children!"
The child snatched the candy and began to devour it while mumbling indistinctly, "Iron hats... looking for farmers... kill..."
Lin Dahe's heart sank. The system immediately pulled up relevant information: [Later Jin "Iron Hat Army" Special Reconnaissance Unit, named for their distinctive helmets, tasked with capturing agricultural talent]. He slowly crouched down to meet the child's gaze: "Who is looking for farmers? The ones wearing iron hats?"
The child suddenly tore open his tattered collar to reveal the word "escape" branded on his collarbone. Cui Xiaoman gasped—this was the mark of an official slave! Even more astonishing was that the patch on the collar of that ragged shirt had stitches identical to those on Mad Old Woman's spindle!
"Come to the village," Lin Dahe said gently. "There's hot soup, clean clothes, and..." He glanced at the frostbite on the child's feet. "...medicine for your wounds."
The child hesitated as he looked toward the western ridge. Following his gaze, Lin Dahe noticed several reflective black spots faintly visible in the mist—outlines of iron helmets! Those scouts had been watching all along!
Inside Mad Old Woman's grass hut lingered the bitter scent of herbs. The child held a steaming bowl of corn porridge but kept glancing toward the door and windows. When the old woman trembled her way out from inside, her ceramic bowl clattered to the ground with a loud crash.
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