East of Eden

Chapter 22 OUTLAWS OF LOVE

Good wine, wandering circus girl, bright red lips, small white teeth holding plump grapes, beating tambourines and singing songs, dark wheat-colored skin oil flowing like oily wax.On the night of the moon when cherries turn red, the wind blows across the field. In the center of the camp is a beautiful deerskin tent with a small gold star on the top. The candles in the tent are flickering, the curtains are flickering, and the singing gradually dies down and is replaced by What came out was a long, curled up moan.

......

When it was almost noon the next day, Liang Shiheng took the Zhanfeng gun wrapped in white cloth to look for Cang Xing.

Cang Xing's tent is easy to recognize, and the twinkling six-pointed star on the top marks the unique identity of the owner.Liang Chen dragged the iron chain, as if making great determination with every step, and finally walked to his door.The outermost curtain was rolled up, and when he walked into it, he smelled a smell of wine.

There was an astonishing sense of decadence inside the tent: overturned wine glasses, fallen fruit, crumpled carpets, and clothes strewn everywhere.Liang Chen could probably guess that it must have been very lively last night, and he could also judge the trajectory of people's entanglement from the overturned items. It was very intense, starting from the table and continuing to the bed.

He frowned.

"Wang! Wang Wang!"

Cang Xing's dog suddenly jumped out from the side, it was a pure white sled dog, its shape was a bit like a wolf.It is Cang Xing's loyal partner, so no matter how many times Liang Chen feeds it, it will still betray Liang Chen without hesitation.

"Is your master here?" Liang Chen touched its head, squatted down, put the gun on his shoulder, and scratched the soft fur on its neck with both hands. The white dog stopped barking and let out a comfortable purring sound. , eyes turned towards the house.

"Are you looking for Cang Xing?"

A woman's voice sounded from the inner veil, with a strong Ani accent.She was wearing Cangxing's clothes, holding a bong, and opened the beige curtain with her left hand.Cang Xing's clothes were too wide for her, revealing dark wheat-colored legs and large breasts, and there were layers of gold bracelets on her wrists.

Liang Chen's eyes stayed on her for a while, then turned to the fruit plate beside him: "Where is he?"

"It's already gone, maybe in the woods to the east." The woman shrugged: "Actually, I don't know."

After Liang Chen got the answer, he picked up a gun nearly one person tall, turned around and left, but the Ani woman stopped him: "Hey, I haven't seen you before, you don't look like a barbarian."

Liang Chen didn't answer.

"I'm from the Ani nationality, and I traveled around the world with my grandfather's circus, and we're leaving for the south soon," she said, puffing on a cigarette.

"How many days have you been here?"

"Three days and three nights. You don't even know?"

Liang Chen glanced at the heavy things in his arms. He stayed behind closed doors for the past three days to repair the Zhanfeng Gun. He didn't know that a circus passed by, and he held a three-day banquet in a row.At the banquet, people drink and frolic, indulge in sensuality, and at night all the men can lead the girls home.

"So Cang Xing has been with you all these three days?"

The woman thought for a while: "Yeah, let's fool around together."

Liang Chen felt a wave of anger rushing to his heart, but reason told him that Zhu Si should not be angry, at least he should not show it.So he remained calm, even narrowed his light golden eyes, and smiled gently.

"Goodbye, ma'am," he said.

As soon as he got out of the tent, Liang Chen took a deep breath of fresh air, "TesaDouRuir.TesaDouRuir." He silently recited the spell a few times to restore his calm, and walked back with his gun.The white robe was too long, and it was twisted into the iron cuffs again, so he struggled to pull out the clothes, the corner of the clothes was torn a seam, Zhu Si Shengjie's robes had been worn down to dirty rags these days.

At this time, Cang Xing's dog chased after him, barking shortly at his feet, wagging its fluffy tail back and forth.When Liang Chen got a little further away from it, it immediately bit Liang Chen's robe, "Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo" A pair of clear black eyes looked at him pleadingly, and dragged him in a certain direction.

"Ok?"

Liang Chen felt that there might be something wrong with it, so he followed its meaning for a while.The sled dog loosened his clothes, jumped out all of a sudden, ran to the hillside and turned back to wait for Liang Chen.

"That's the pine forest in the east." Liang Chen thought to himself, "Will you take me to find its owner?"

One person and one dog walked on the grass field, summer was coming soon, the ice and snow melted, the field was full of unknown yellow flowers, and the soft paws of the white dog stepped on them, making a soft rustling sound.Going down the Rosebud River, you can reach the pine forest about five miles away. The water in the Rosebud River comes from the melted snow from the snow-capped mountains. It is clear and cold, and the water becomes turbulent in early summer.

This land is beautiful, with snow-capped mountains, meadows, and forests. It is a paradise for animals to inhabit. However, due to sudden climate changes, many species have become extinct. Liang Chen saw many dead red-spotted birds along the way.He dug an earthen pit to bury the birds, and placed a bouquet of small wild flowers on it. Cang Xing's dog was already impatient and barked a few times.

"Okay, here we come." He rolled up his clothes and patted the sled dog on the head. The dog flew into the depths of the pine forest like a white lightning bolt, and had to stop every time it walked. This slow-moving human being.

The Rosebud River turned a corner in the pine forest. The river course became wider and the water flow became more gentle. The forest was dimly lit, and a few beams of light shot in obliquely.Walking in the forest, you always feel that there are a pair of eyes staring at you behind you, which may come from an elk or a brown bear.Liang Chen found that there was a road in front of him, the branches on both sides were broken, and the fallen leaves showed signs of being stepped on.

"Wang!"

The dog seemed to smell something and ran forward quickly. It was much more flexible than humans in the jungle.Liang Chen walked to the end of the road, got out from under the bushes, and suddenly saw a clear vision - this is a clearing in the forest, and he could see the blue sky when he looked up.He took off the leaves entangled in his hair, and heaved a sigh of relief. A green bird perched on his shoulder, perhaps attracted by his breath, and curiously pecked at his long hair.

"Banash (the dog's name)? Why are you here?"

Liang Chen heard a deep voice coming from the front.

"Wow wow wow!"

Laughter: "Come here! Banash!" Clapping: "Come here!"

Out of curiosity, Liang Chen approached the source of the sound lightly, pushed aside the branches and leaves above his head, and stood in the dark to spy quietly.I saw a man standing in the middle of the river, naked, wringing out his wet black hair with his hands.His outstretched arms propped up his skeleton, his body was as handsome as a leopard, water dripped down the center of his back, and there were many scars of different shades.

Hearing the sound or smelling the smell, the man raised his head towards Liang Chen, his pure black eyes were like a lake that was still for a few seconds, and then there were waves.

"You?" It was Cang Xing.He looked puzzled.

Liang Chen suddenly looked back: "...something happened."

Cang Xing seemed to smile, and went ashore from the river, stepping on the gravel with bare feet, dripping water dripping down.

Liang Chen turned around to avoid it, coughed and said, "In short, put on your clothes first."

Cang Xing thought the rigidity of the Donglu people was ridiculous, so he deliberately walked behind Liang Chen like this, leaned over, and blew in his ear: "Huh? What did you say just now?"

"—!"

Cang Xing swears that he did not expect Liang Chen to have such an overactive reaction—the warlock shuddered three times like a frightened squirrel, and then a cold light stabbed him. Cang Xing quickly avoided it, almost piercing his shoulder.I saw a sharp black blade protruding from the white cloth package, pointing directly at his chest with a chilling air.

Cang Xing couldn't be more familiar with the arc of this gun, he was stunned for a while, he grasped its blade in suspicion and surprise, and clenched it tightly.

"Give it back to you, Zhanfeng Spear." Liang Chen's ears were still burning, but his expression was very cold: "We are both clean."

He let go, and Cang Xing took the spear, and tore off the white cloth, revealing the cold black crystal spine.He touched it from the beginning to the end, and found that the Zhanfeng gun was not only intact, but also stronger than before.

"You fixed it?" he asked.

Liang Chen ignored it, and walked back alone, folding branches while walking: "Your circus girl left today, go see her off."

Later, no one knew how the two of them got together. When Tuo Mo saw Liang Chen walking around in the tent wearing Cang Xing's clothes, he still couldn't react until one day, Cang Xing Ask him to borrow three dogs to go sledding.

"Brother, you want to go into the mountain?" Zhuo Mo said puzzled, "But there is nothing there anymore."

"Liang Chen asked me to take him there." Cang Xing led the dogs, gathered eight dogs in total, tied each two in a row, and then carried heating products such as firewood boilers onto the sled.

"He told you to go and you went. I told you to take me hunting and you never paid attention to me." The boy pouted angrily.

Cang Xing rubbed his head, smiled proudly, and whistled: "Banash!"

The dog in front started to run.

There is a wooden house halfway up the mountain, which is almost buried by white snow. Cangxing managed to clean the snow off the roof and strengthen the doors and windows to ensure that the cold wind will not blow in.

"Thanks to Banash I was able to find this place." The man rewarded his dog with a piece of raw meat.

Liang Chen's head was covered with thick hair, only his golden eyes were exposed: "Your original home?"

"Ah."

Everything in the house remained the same. Cang Xing lit a fire in the stove and added firewood. After a while, the room began to get warmer. They finally took off their heavy coats and wiped the frost off their faces with hot water.Liang Chen found a table for himself, unfolded the blueprints that he carried with him, pressed the corners of the paper with an oil lamp, and took out some precision instruments Cang Xing didn't recognize from his bag.

Liang Chen didn't care about people when he was busy. There was a delicate magnifying glass on the bridge of his nose, with a gold border, and a thin chain hanging down behind his ears. He started a long calculation based on the drawings.Cang Xing stared at him wordlessly for a while, and finally couldn't help asking: "What are you doing?"

"Calculate the height and angle of Polaris, and record the moon phase by the way."

"What is the use?"

"Set the latitude and longitude."

In their time, the well-developed Donglu and Xizhou people already had the concept of latitude and longitude. Zhu Si invented the measuring instrument, but the barbarians in the snowy land knew nothing about this technology. They relied on experience and observation. .

Cang Xing sighed: "You asked me to take you into the snow-capped mountains just to help you choose the site for the 'temple' you mentioned?"

"I need a field visit." Liang Chen nodded: "It must be built in a very, very perfect location."

Cang Xing, who was left out in the cold, had no choice but to lie down, with his arms resting on his forehead, watching Liang Chen focus on his work under the lamp with dark eyes.His lover is a puzzling warlock.The candlelight outlined the man's facial contours softly. From the brow bone, eye contour, eyelashes, nose bridge, lips, chin, to the neck and the looming collarbone in the white robe, a layer of veil-like light was enveloping it. Yi's fingers were long and fair.

"You built the temple to fight against the so-called 'natural disaster'?" Cang Xing asked again.

"A natural disaster is coming. Believe it or not, everything is getting crazy cold. Even the south, which is hot all year round, is starting to snow. The disaster is coming. I don't know what it is. I can only prepare, prepare non-stop .”

"Why do you believe in those gods you can't see and still devote your whole life to them?" Cang Xing sat up and said, "I don't believe in any omens."

The instrument in Liang Chen's hand stopped for a moment: "When I was very young, there was only one way in front of me, to become Zhu Si. If you want to ask me why, this is probably fate..."

"Unfortunately, I don't believe in fate either."

Cang Xing hugged him from behind, with his chin resting on his shoulder, deeply inhaling the smell of his hair, slipping his warm hands into his clothes, and moving down from his waist.

Liang Chen couldn't hold things steady, and said with some embarrassment: "Don't make trouble."

"Is being with me a betrayal of God?" He really stopped, waiting for an answer.

On the contrary, Liang Chen was not used to him stopping abruptly. He was silent for a while, then turned around in his arms, and said, "I always have a way...to convince myself."

Cang Xing took off Liang Chen's eyepiece and smiled slightly: "Then let me tell you a secret, no one will tell you anywhere else."

Liang Chen stared at him: "What?"

"God is jealous of us."

Liang Chen was stunned.

Cang Xing moved closer and repeated in a low voice: "...God is jealous of us."

Liang Chen just wanted to say something, but Cang Xing lifted his chin and sealed the rest of the dialogue with a kiss.They turned their backs on the gods again on the snow mountain, and their bodies only followed each other's guidance.Liang Chen's arm was lifted up, and pressed against the blueprint full of star trajectories. The corners of the blueprint were severely crumpled, and the ink was rubbed into scars. Cang Xing's hand climbed up his arm, hooking his fingers, Until the two of them clasped their fingers tightly, Liang Chen allowed himself to wade with him, and those blueprints were like tumbling waves.

"I think... just build the temple here..." Liang Chen's eyes were foggy.

Cang Xing said "hmm": "Is it a perfect position?"

"Yes." Liang Chen stroked his hair.

……

The lights are off, but the house is not dark because there are stars all over the sky.In the deep blue, they lay side by side. The dog outside seemed to be asleep, and gradually lost its sound.

"Actually, I'm not called Xing." Cang Xing said, "I inherited a very old name, Cangyang Rinpoche."

"I've seen it on the Zhanfeng Spear, it's quite engraved."

Cang Xing touched the side, touched the gun he placed in the corner of the wall, lifted it up, and let the starlight illuminate the words.

"So why did you change your name?" Liang Chen snatched the Zhanfeng Spear, sat up from the bed, and slowly looked at the black crystal spear bone that had been broken by him.

"In the past, a red meteor fell down into the snow-capped mountains. I wanted to see where it went, so I kept running in the direction where it fell. Later, everyone called me Cang Xing."

Liang Chen knocked him on the head: "Fool, the meteor just passed over our heads for a short time, you will definitely not be able to find it."

"It wasn't there at that time, but now I found it." He stroked Liang Chen's blond hair.

Cang Xing usually doesn't say these beautiful words, but once he does, he is gentler than anyone else.Liang Chen lowered his head, and smiled imperceptibly, warmth flowed through his heart, smoothing those hidden scars.

After a while, he said: "I want to engrave your current name on it, Xing, it's a nice name."

"how about you?"

"How about my name engraved under you?"

Cang Xing agreed, and Liang Chen happily started working.He has a small golden carving knife and a small silver chisel, and the crisp knocking sound resounds in the night.Cang Xing hugged him and watched him chisel. Liang Chen explained: "In the ancient language of the gods, the star is called Stel, and the name of Chen is Exillia. Some people say that words carved in the ancient language of the gods can be immortal."

"I thought it was a good read."

"Yes." Liang Chen continued to work, he seemed to have inexhaustible strength, and he was never tired.

But Cang Xing was really sleepy, and gradually, Cang Xing fell asleep on top of him, breathing on the side of his neck.Liang Chen knew that Cang Xing was tired this day, so he put him down and gently covered him with a blanket made of animal hair.

Sleeping Cang Xing really looks like a little boy, he thought.

"Amitorye." Liang Chen whispered in his ear, and gave him a light kiss.

Amitorye is the most unique ancient language, meaning I love you.