Chapter 17:

In the lively market, Yuan Xiang'er walked through the crowd, buying some daily necessities that the teacher explained to buy.
Nan He's injury was almost healed, and walked slowly with Yuan Xiang'er with his short legs. When he arrived in a crowded place, Yuan Xianger was afraid that he would be squeezed away, so he picked him up and hung him on his arm.
"Nanghe, did you say Ateng went back to her hometown, or is she still staying in the world? Her personality is so easy to suffer, which really makes me a little worried."
While talking, Yuan Xiang'er was picking at the pork stall.
"Boss, cut a slice of meat. Make it fat, thin and skinny. I'll have to cut it into thin slices." She pointed to the meat she had picked.
"Okay, don't worry, little lady, I'll cut it for you." The butcher swiped the pig-killing knife in his hand on the whetstone twice, cutting off a piece of meat quickly.
Next to the butcher stall was the poultry seller's stall, and several cages of chickens and ducks waiting to be slaughtered were crowded together, and the noise continued. Going by is a mutton stall with two fresh and sheep heads, and there are also dog meat sellers and frozen fish sellers. The sound of the sharpening of the knives of the butchers and the various calls of domestic animals have mixed up the enthusiasm of the human market.
"That snake is very strong." Nan He suddenly said, and then added, "The strong have their own world, and the weak have no choice. It is the law of the world."
"You mean Ateng is very powerful, so he has the pure qualifications?" Yuan Xianger reached out and touched the fluffy head of the little wolf. "Oh, it turns out that Xiaonan is quite good at talking. If you think about it, this is true. Just an ordinary girl, such a temperament has long been bullied so much that there is no more scum left."
Every time Yuan Xiang'er touched, the small, pointed hairy ears trembled nervously, and soon a suspicious tender pink color appeared from the white fluff.
After waiting for the meat cutting effort, Yuan Xianger touched her head and rubbed her neck for a while, and then turned over the small elastic meat pad for rubbing.
Nan He tensed his body, patiently retracted his claws, and did not bite or escape.
For some reason, Nan He has suddenly become a lot more docile in recent days. Although he is still not close, at least he is not grinning and guarding as before. Yuan Xiang'er stretched out his hand and slapped his hair. At best, he just ran away, seldom stretched out his claws to scratch people, and would not suddenly turn around to give you a bite.
Because of this, Yuan Xiang'er was in a good mood, and felt hopeful that she would be able to bury her face in the silver-white fur and the little wolf recklessly.
When returning, Yuan Xianger turned into a grocery store and retrieved a small round-handled brush that he had made earlier.
"This is made of pig bristles. I specially explained that they use soft fur. It should be quite comfortable. You can try it."
She tried it on the back of her hand first, and made sure that the softness was just right, and then she combed the hair on Nan He's back.
This is a small comb specially used to comb animal hair. With her years of experience in styling hair, as long as the comb is appropriate and the technique is correct, no animal with only hair will not like to enjoy the moment of combing. The slightly rough but soft hair comb, the feeling of scraping the skin carefully, can make the most arrogant kittens surrender.
It is a pity that Nan He did not show the expression of enjoyment as Yuan Xianger imagined.
He stared at the long round brush with bristles in a daze, "Is this for me?"
After waiting for the affirmative answer, he only turned his head away, and his ears drooped in frustration.
"What's the matter?" Yuan Xiang'er asked strangely, "Maybe you will be a little uncomfortable at first, and you will definitely like it after you comb it for you several times."
When I was about to get home, the sky started to rain again.
"Why it has been raining lately?" Yuan Xiang'er hugged Nan He and ran towards the house.
Passing around the street, one could see from a distance the back of a woman holding a purple bamboo umbrella standing outside the gate of the courtyard, and Yun Niang was standing at the threshold talking to her.
The woman with a high-stretched cloud temple and a beautifully embroidered skirt, bowed slightly to salute Yunniang, and then left in the direction of Tianlang Mountain.
Yuan Xianger ran all the way to the door, "Madam, I'm back."
"Oh, look at your body." Yun Niang held an umbrella to take them into the house. "The kitchen has hot water, so I will wash it later. Be careful not to catch a cold."
"Madam, who was it just now?" Yuan Xianger put Nan He on the floor of the eaves.
"By the way, it's your friend, whose name is Ateng. She said that she had been helped by your husband and you before. Therefore, she specially sent some thanks. I will not enter the house if I stay with her." Yun Niang raised her handle. A bamboo blue child I just received.
"It's Ateng?" Yuan Xianger chased after the discharge door in surprise and joy, raising his eyes and looking into the distance. In the rain and fog of the green mountains, in the depths of the wild path, the slim figure holding the bamboo umbrella at the foot of Tianlang Mountain has walked far away, and gradually disappeared into the mist on the mountainside.
In the yard, Yunniang squatted in front of Nanhe, uncovering the leaves covered on the blue, the turquoise basket was filled with a basket of thick matsutake, and fresh mud was stained on it.
"Oh, it's so polite, it's so fresh, it looks like it's just picked from the mountain." Yun Niang said happily.
Nan He leaned his head to take a look.
"It's matsutake, this stew is fragrant." Yuan Xianger picked up a fat matsutake and clicked on Nan He's nose. "Nan He, Ateng, she still remembers to come back to see us."
Nan He moved his nose and couldn't imagine what such "mushrooms" could be delicious.
Yuan Xiang'er took a comfortable hot bath and came out of the house while wiping her hair.
The rain outside the house was already very heavy, and the raindrops fell from the eaves, forming a shiny curtain of rain. The rain in winter is very cold, and there is too much rain to drain in the yard. A group of yellow chicks wanted to follow their mother to jump on the sling to shelter from the rain, but they couldn't reach them because of their short legs. They fluttered their wings in a hurry.
Nan He was standing in the rain, swiftly throwing the fluffy chicks one by one. The chick that went up rolled on the ground, and quickly chased after the mother chick who was hiding far away because of fear, and the chick who didn't go up went to Nanhe's side. These little guys who were born not long ago have forgotten the fear of wolves in their nature. If they were exposed to a winter rain, they might not survive tonight.
Yuan Xianger ran over and reached out from the eaves to help pull the chickens up. Finally caught the wet Nanhe.
She took off the towel from her neck, put it on Nan He's head, and quickly rubbed him into a messy hair ball.
"Xiao Nan is really good lately." Yuan Xianger took the wet hair dumplings back to the room, "Are all the wounds on her body healed? Show me, right?"
Since Nan He regained his mobility, he no longer agreed to Yuan Xiang'er turning him over and treating the wound on his belly. Yuan Xiang'er felt very sorry.
Sure enough, as soon as the white ball heard these words, it quickly pressed down on the bottom of his body and became alert.
"It's alright."
He only jumped out four words, cold and hard, but Yuan Xianger heard a kind of embarrassment from it for no reason.
"Then I will give you a hot bath? You see you are all wet." Yuan Xianger said.
The little wolf couldn't hold back any more. He sprang up and ran out. Yuan Xianger quickly pinched the back of his neck with his eyes and hands.
"Don't run, don't run, just kidding. I'll wipe it for you, I promise not to move."
Yuan Xiang'er fetched a tub of hot water, first washed the little wolf with a wet towel, washed his face, wiped his ears, then lifted his muddy white paws, put them in the hot water, and broke the gap between the meat pads. , Wash it inside and out carefully.
While he was slowly relaxing, Yuan Xianger lifted his neck and put the whole little wolf into the small wooden basin.
"Okay, okay, so it's clean. It's so cold and you're covered in mud. It would be nice to soak in hot water."
The coaxed little wolf squatted aggrievedly in the hot water basin, stretched his limbs together, and flicked his tail unhappily.
Yuan Xiang'er took a wooden spoon and poured hot water down his neck little by little, rubbing his drenched hair, and cleanly washed the stiff little wolf all over, this time it didn't mess up.
The little wolf, washed and dried, had slender and soft silver hair, glowing with a beautiful moon-like color.
Outside the house was the falling winter rain. In the warm room, Yuan Xianger combed Nan He with the newly bought hair.
"My injuries are all healed." Nan He said suddenly.
Yuan Xianger was obsessed with the silvery beauty and couldn't help herself. She didn't pay attention to his implication, and then replied, "Well, I know, that's why I dared to give you a bath. It turns out that Xiao Nan's hair has been washed clean, so beautiful. what."
Nan He lowered his head and stopped talking.
It has been raining for most of the night. Yuan Xianger slept soundly wrapped in a quilt.
There is a small square cabinet on the side of the bed with soft cushions, where Nanhe sleeps. When Nan He first came here, he was badly injured. Yuan Xianger was worried and placed his nest next to his bed. Later, he got used to it and never moved.
Nan He curled up on the cushion, listening to the rain outside the house. There was a restlessness in his body, twitching his blood, reminding him of the imminent corpse period.
As a Sirius, the power of blood tells him that before the skeletal period arrives, he needs to go through a lot of battles to strengthen his bones and temper his will.
He must return to Sirius Mountain, hunt those powerful monsters, bite their necks, devour their flesh and blood, consume their inner alchemy, and use a lot of spiritual energy to temper his body again and again to be able to survive safely. Passed a difficult and painful period of departure.
Instead of lying in such a soft and comfortable place, killing your time.
The skeletal phase symbolizes the process of a young Sirius metamorphosing into a powerful wolf. With a series of transformations and reincarnation of the body and spiritual veins, Sirius will enter an extremely unstable and painful period. The young wolves of this period should have stayed in the group, well guarded by their families. It is a pity that there is only one Sirius left in this world. He has no companions and family members. He must capture more energy for himself, prepare a secret and safe lair, and survive this Sirius tribe alone, the most critical and dangerous. Period.
Should go, leave here, leave this human being. No need to say goodbye to her, just walk quietly in this rainy night.
The rain outside the window was very cold, and the light of the sky shone on the human girl's face, her skin was shiny, and the corners of her mouth were slightly tilted, as if there was something happy in her sleep.
Looking at that face, Nan He suddenly remembered a kind of flower that he had seen on Tianlang Mountain. The flower was always facing the sun and blooming hot and cheerful, covering the entire hillside with a golden color.
Sometimes, even if he just glanced at the dazzling golden color from the dim jungle, he could make his mood happy.
Nan He suddenly felt a little sour in his heart. It has been a hundred years, or two hundred years, he has been alone, covered with clouds and moon, and walked alone in the dark jungle. Until I met the human in front of me.
When he was young, he was captured by vicious humans who wanted to turn him into a slave driven by humans. He resisted to the death, and deeply hated human beings.
But now, after these days of getting along with each other, Nan He certainly understood that Yuan Xianger was not malicious to herself. On the contrary, she gently healed her injury, gave herself comfortable cushions and fragrant food, and hugged herself in her arms. Visit the lively market...
Although she treats herself very well, Nan He feels that he may never be able to please her. He can neither let Yuan Xiang'er rub his ears and tail casually, nor can he turn out facelessly like that shameless black dog. Rub her belly.
Even after receiving so much care from her, I will leave without saying goodbye tonight.
She will definitely be angry.
But it was better than when she woke up and used her formation to fight against herself because she didn't agree. Nan He knew in his heart that he did not want to face a break with her anyway.
After she leaves, she may find a bunny spirit that she often talks about, or other animals with more beautiful hair, and become an apostle.
Nan He thought with frustration, she would treat the kind of well-behaved rabbit patiently, touch his ears and neck, cook him fragrant food, and use the brush that she made for him to brush his hair, and then she would think that she was still a rabbit. He was more obedient than that wolf, and finally forgot himself quickly.
He repeatedly told himself that he was leaving, but his feet seemed to be stuck and couldn't move.
The rain outside the window gradually stopped, and Yuehua came in and sprinkled on the floor of the house, the stars shifted, the jade rabbit sank to the west, and the sun rose. The morning sun shined through the paper window on Yuan Xiang'er's cheek again.
Yuan Xiang'er woke up, rubbed his eyes, and saw a very beautiful large wolf dog parked on the floor of the house.
Although he may not be a full adult, the lines of the body are smooth and beautiful, the limbs are tight and powerful, the silver hair is dark and flowing, and a pair of amber eyes stares at him for a moment.
"Nan...Nanhe, Xiaonan?"
"I'm leaving." The wolf made a sound exactly like Xiao Nanhe.
"Go, where to go?" Yuan Xianger was still in a state of chaos just after waking up.
The silver-white Sirius closed his mouth and lowered his eyes.
"No, Xiaonan, you..." Yuan Xianger got down from the kang and squatted in front of Nan He. After hesitating, she said something that had been repeated in her heart many times, "I have always wanted to tell you, can you stay by my side? , To be my apostle?"
Sirius stepped back silently, turning his head slightly.
His steps are light, and the flow of muscles is driven in action. There is a wild beauty. He is a powerful elf galloping in the jungle.
Yuan Xianger felt very reluctant, but in fact, she had already prepared such a psychological preparation. As a rational modern person, she actually knew that she should not restrict the freedom of others because of her own preferences.
What's more, the other party is still a powerful creature with the same intelligence and emotional intelligence as herself, and a friend whom Yuan Xianger has recognized in her heart as an equal.
Yuan Xiang'er raised her hand and touched Nan He's taller head, but the hair there was still the same soft.
"All right, then I will see you off."