Su Ziyan opened his eyes, supported himself on the bed with his hands and slowly stood up. He rubbed his eyes. His messy hair blocked his vision. He vaguely saw his father carrying farm tools and going out to work.
In the room, Su's mother was wearing a coarse linen dress and a pink cloth tied on her head. She was busy with something in the house.
It was still a little chilly in the early morning, so he was wearing a green cloth robe. He was only six years old, with a chubby little face, which gave him a cute look.
He looked at his mother and called her softly.
When Su's mother heard the voice, she turned around and saw that Su Ziyan had woken up. She smiled gently and walked towards Su Ziyan.
She reached out her hand and stroked Su Ziyan's hair, looking at him lovingly, "You're awake. I'll tie your hair first. Then rinse your mouth and go have some porridge."
After saying that, he picked up a blue cloth to tie Su Ziyan's hair and took him to rinse his mouth.
After he rinsed his mouth, she let him drink the porridge on the table while she continued to do her own things.
While wiping the table, she said, "You can go out and play by yourself later. Mom and your dad are going to work in the fields. Remember not to run too far, otherwise it will be dangerous."
Su Ziyan nodded, holding the bowl to drink porridge and eating the pickles on the plate. Although there was no big fish or meat, he ate happily.
Not long after, Su's mother also went out to work.
After eating the porridge, Su Ziyan ran out. He did not play with the children in the village, but ran to the right side of the village and started fishing in a creek more than a mile away from the village.
The stream water hits the rocks, making a gurgling sound, and there are many small fish swimming in the quiet little pond.
After he was five years old, he often came to this creek to catch fish, and then put them back, just for fun.
Su Ziyan doesn't like to invite other children to come over. He likes this kind of quiet environment where he can play alone.
He rolled up his trouser legs, revealing his little feet, and walked into the pond. Seeing the little fish hiding in the cracks of the rocks, Su Ziyan smiled and reached his hand in.
But in a flash, the little fish ran to another place and disappeared.
Su Ziyan looked for it but couldn't find it. He ignored the fish that had escaped and continued to look for other fish, reaching out to catch them.
However, it was also because he came here to play that he was able to stay away from a great danger today, and his life also underwent a great change!
...
Just when he was having fun, more than thirty men in black clothes with murderous looks walked to the outside of their village with shining swords in their hands.
"Everyone gather at the entrance of the village! Those who disobey will die!" shouted a burly man in the lead!
This man had a face full of flesh, a black beard on his chin, and a scar running diagonally from his right eye to his left chin!
He held a big knife in his right hand and placed it on his shoulder, while his left arm was empty and his short sleeves were empty. But even so, it still couldn't change the fact that he was a ruthless man!
At this moment, he was looking at the villagers who were working in the fields with a vicious look and sneered.
When the villagers who were working in the fields saw so many people coming here, they immediately panicked and hurriedly ran from the fields to their homes.
Scarface saw this and became furious. "Hmph! Go ahead, catch them all and gather them at the village entrance! Don't let even a chicken go!"
Behind him, a middle-aged man wearing soft armor, with a beard and pockmarks on his face laughed and agreed, "Brother! Just wait and see, we'll go right away."
"Brother, wait a moment. Hehe, I won't let anyone get away!"
As soon as they entered the village, there was chaos and shouting.
Before long, more than 20 villagers, men, women, young and old, were driven out of the village by the bandits and gathered together.
Everyone had a look of fear on their faces, and some children and women were crying out of fear.
Scarface asked one of the young men, "Is everyone here?"
Before the younger brother could reply, the pockmarked younger brother laughed and said, "Everyone is here. We won't let go of even a chicken."
Scarface hummed and looked at the crowd.
Su Ziyan's parents were also among them. Their eyes were darting around, but they couldn't see their son.
Father Su was wearing a blue cloth, looking slightly thin, with a rope-like strip of cloth tied around his forehead. He asked his wife nervously in a low voice, "Where is Yan'er?"
"I don't know. I came out before Yan'er finished eating the porridge." Su's mother was also extremely anxious!
"You! Forget it. At least now we haven't heard them talk about murder. It seems that Yan'er should be safe." Father Su breathed a sigh of relief.
Su's mother nodded, but looking at the people around her, she was also afraid. If something happened to them, what would happen to Yan'er?
He was only six years old. He could not take care of himself and would face starvation to death.
She looked at her husband and was about to speak, but Father Su shook his head slightly at her, signaling her not to speak, and then looked at Scarface.
Scarface looked at everyone and sneered, "I'll take your things and your lives."
After saying this, he waved his hand and ordered his men to attack the gathered villagers without any hesitation!
For a moment, screams were heard one after another, blood was splattered, and some robbers even took torches and set fire to all the thatched huts.
A younger brother next to the strong man asked in confusion, "Brother, why don't we take these girls back?"
"Humph! Are you stupid? These are just village girls, how good can they be? Wouldn't it be better for us to go to the Lichunyuan in the city and find those women? They are more tender."
When the younger brother heard this, he laughed and said, "Yes, yes, you are right, brother. I am short-sighted."
...
In the creek, Su Ziyan was bending over and feeling the crack of a large rock. Hearing a sound coming from the direction of the village, he stood up and looked towards his home in confusion.
After listening carefully for a while, he hurried ashore, put on his shoes and trotted back.
However, when he returned to the vicinity, he was so frightened by what he saw that he fell to the ground. He saw a group of strong men in black clothes chopping at the villagers with shining swords.
Seeing the burly man in the lead, he had a scar on his face, a knife in his right hand, and the other hand was missing. It was extremely scary!
This image was deeply imprinted in Su Ziyan's mind!
Not long after, all the villagers who were standing were lying on the ground in a mess, even the children were not spared, and the ground was covered with blood.
When Su Ziyan saw this scene, he was completely frightened, his mouth slightly open, and fear filled his eyes!
Scarface picked his teeth with a bamboo stick, flicked the stick away, and waved his hand, "Go!"
The younger brothers below took their things and left together. As they left, they were still talking about how many people they had killed and left the village happily.
After a long while, Su Ziyan finally stood up with his hands and walked slowly towards the village. It took him half an hour to walk such a short distance.
When he came to his parents' bodies, he stared at them lying on the ground in a daze.
The house next to him was crackling with fire and the heat wave enveloped his body, but he now felt extremely cold!
Looking at the blood on the ground, although Su Ziyan didn't understand what death was, he had seen other animals become motionless before, and it was because of the red water that flowed out.
He stretched out his hands to shake his parents' cold bodies, and gradually began to cry, louder and louder, "Dad, Mom, wake up, I'm scared, Dad, Mom, I'm scared, please get up.
Please talk to Yan'er, Dad, Mom, please don't scare me, Yan'er is really scared...!"
But Su's mother and father didn't move at all, and their faces had turned pale because of the blood flowing from their bodies.
Su Ziyan cried for a long time and was very sad. After an unknown amount of time, Su Ziyan fell asleep.
...
When he woke up, he saw an old beggar in his seventies or eighties, with dishevelled hair and ragged black and gray clothes squatting in front of him.
His gray hair was scattered all over his body, his face was haggard, and he was holding a dry bamboo in his hand.
For a moment, Su Ziyan was a little scared, and his little face was full of horror.
Seeing Su Ziyan wake up, the old beggar asked him in a hoarse voice, "Child, you are awake. Are you okay? Are you hungry? Come, grandpa has some steamed buns here."
As he spoke, he took out a white steamed bun from the cloth bag and handed it to Su Ziyan. Su Ziyan was really hungry now, so he didn't care whether the other person was a stranger or not, or whether he was afraid or not. He took the bun and started eating.
Finally, the old beggar asked him some questions, but Su Ziyan didn't understand anything. After eating the steamed buns, he just kept crying because he knew in his heart that he would no longer have the love of his parents.
From now on, I can only live alone...
The old beggar looked at him like this, turned his head to look at the others, and sighed, "Poor child, forget it, I will take care of you from now on."
The old beggar stood up and searched for a while in the half-burned house. He found some hoes with half-burned wooden handles and axe in some corners.
Then he took Su Ziyan to the mountain to look for food while digging a hole in a loose soil.
Fortunately, the soil was loose, and the old beggar dug a hole and buried one person at a time. After more than ten days, all the people were buried.
Su Ziyan lay in front of his parents' grave and burst into tears, "Dad, Mom! Don't leave Yan'er. Yan'er will be very good in the future and will never play around again! Dad, Mom, can you please come out and see Yan'er!"
Don't you want Yan'er anymore? Yan'er will be obedient!"
The old beggar grabbed his hand and pulled him away, looking at the grave of Su Ziyan's parents and said, "Let me take care of your child from now on."
That day, Su Ziyan cried so sadly that his voice became hoarse.
After Su Ziyan had cried enough, the old beggar took Su Ziyan all the way to a dilapidated temple on the hillside eight miles away.