I don't remember how long I was silent in the dark.

In 1721, the emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty sixty years.

In September of the same year, Russia and Sweden signed an unequal treaty in the small town of Nistad.

In December of the same year, a Russian with pale skin and brown hair, about 35 years old, took two Asian children to cross the sea by boat and came to Estonia, a small country that was already ruled by Tsarist Russia.

The Russians drove the workers' gates with money, built a manor house in a mountain forest near a remote small village in Estonia, and lived in with his two "adopted" children.

The Russian name is "Mensak", which means the youngest boy in the family. In fact, his full name is longer, but it is difficult to pronounce.

The names of the two yellow children adopted by Mensak were even stranger. Although the names were very short, their pronunciation was strange and difficult to learn. The two children were named A Mu and A Xin. The former is an older brother and the latter is a younger brother.

According to Mensak himself, he picked up the two yellow children during the war. They were the children that Mensak picked up on the Qing Dynasty border. When they were picked up, the parents of the two children were both dead.

The two children followed the caravan and begged. They could not eat enough, were not warm, and were too hungry. Menshak felt that the children were very pitiful, so they took them with them.

Menshak has no regular occupation. He is a reporter-like intelligence collector. He travels around the world, dealing with various people, recording the stories of others or the events that are happening in front of himself. He sells them to newspapers and needs them. Organization of the message.

This is actually a dangerous profession, so Mensak is often attacked by unknown people.

Fortunately, Menshak had received some military training. He always carried a rifle with him, and every time he went to a new place, he would spend money to hire several mercenaries as bodyguards.

When he adopted these two homeless children, he realized that he had shouldered the entirety of two young lives, and Menshak, who had been walking around the world alone, felt the heavy responsibility, and finally began to get tired of his "career ".

He decided not to engage in dangerous intelligence gathering, but to find a safe place to raise the children with peace of mind.

So he chose Estonia, where the population is sparse and the environment is beautiful, which is a little bit colder in winter. Menshak led the children here and took out his savings to build a small manor. He thought that if the next day was ordinary and peaceful, and he had nothing to worry about, then he would always live here and no longer move his nest.

In the beginning, the situation was indeed as good as Menshak imagined. When the long winter ended and spring came, he hired several farmers to work on the manor, plant some suitable fruits and vegetables, and raise livestock.

In addition to the two adorable little guys he adopted, in addition to the initial intimidation of strange surroundings, which caused him to be more introverted, his personality quickly became lively and cheerful after getting familiar with him.

Mensak, whose home is all around the world, speaks many languages. His language talent is very good. Many languages ​​were learned by Mensak in the process of traveling around the world. He naturally learned without a teacher. The language of Qing Dynasty is no exception. .

Mensak can communicate with the two children without any obstacles, but the children cannot communicate with each other, so Mensak began to try to teach them Russian and local Estonian to let them learn more and teach They make friends with people and tell them to call themselves dads.

The two children are twins.

They were only about eight years old and looked very similar to each other, almost identical. Dress them with the same clothes, straighten out the same hairstyle, and stand side by side. Menshak bet that even the biological parents of the twins couldn't tell who they were.

The twins are very cute, at least in Mensack's eyes. The two children's black hair and black pupils are petite and squeezed together like two soft little black cats. They are really cute and dead. Whenever he saw that Menshak couldn't help feeling it, he had to hold two small things in one hand and lift them in circles.

The twins are very close and go in and out every day. They seem to imitate each other's language and movements. Many habits and movements in life, and even the accent when speaking.

The close twins even have the same ability as the telepathy. Often, the older brother Amu just said a word, and the younger brother Axin knew what to say next.

They are so much alike, even a little too much. As a result, for a long time, it was difficult for Menshak to tell who was the elder brother and who was the younger brother.

To make matters worse, the twins never corrected Mensak's misidentification. When Mensak yelled at his brother's name by mistake, the brother would rightly answer: "Yes, I am Amu."

Similarly, my brother would pretend to be his brother Ashin when he called his brother.

This embarrassed Menshak, so he began to call the twins before himself, asked them who was Amu and who was Axin, and then told them over and over again: "You need to recognize your name Amu is Amu, Axin is Axin, don't substitute or impersonate each other, can you? "

"Why?" The two brothers asked in unison.

"It's not good." Mensak actually couldn't figure out what was wrong. He could only tell his feelings straightforwardly: "You are two very different individuals. You have your own personality and life. You Will become excellent, so do n’t imitate each other, you cannot be one. ”

The brothers looked at each other and seemed unable to understand what Mensakkh was saying.

However, after repeated persuasion by Mensak, the two managed to converge, and finally did not excessively imitate their brother's language behaviors and habits. The brothers gradually showed some differences and their temperaments became different.

Although he was an adopted child, Mensac's care for twins was no worse than his biological ones. He gave almost everything he could give to the twins. Menshak has always believed that these two children will have a very different life in the future, but they will have a wonderful life, and he is full of expectations.

But the accident happened quickly.

Estonia is a country where 47% of its territory is covered by forests.

The back door of Mensak Manor is a huge forest. The two children Amu and Axin often play at the edge of the forest. Mensak has told them not to go into the depths of the forest because he cannot guarantee whether it will be inside or not. There are black bears or other predators.

The twins were very obedient, never going too far into the forest, and occasionally just looking in from the edge of the forest, they could see the forest was dark, and there seemed to be something running in the bushes, causing the grass to shake constantly, and they could not hear Howling of a beast.

One day, the twin brothers chased each other on the edge of the forest as usual. In the process, his brother Axin stopped suddenly and pointed at a bush in the forest and said, "Brother, look!"

Amu heard his words, leaned over his face and looked in the direction of Axin's fingers, and found a wounded and bloodied reindeer lying in the bushes not far away.

Reindeer can be regarded as a common animal in Estonia, and it is found in highland tundra and coniferous forest areas. They are group animals that start migrating every spring, but this one doesn't know why.

Maybe it was attacked by wolves or bears.

Amu noticed that the reindeer lying in the bushes, although seriously injured, was not dead and was breathing slightly.

In terms of body shape, this reindeer should be young, and it is much smaller than the adult reindeer seen in the past, and the antlers on its head are not complete.

As an older brother, Mu was more stable. Although the scarred reindeer looked pitiful, he felt that it was better for him and his brother not to rush into it.

But Amu underestimated his brother's curiosity. As soon as he didn't pay attention and didn't catch Ashin, Ashin rushed up, over the dense weeds, and ran to the reindeer.

"Axin!" Amu shouted helplessly to his younger brother, but Axin had run to the reindeer and squatted down to observe the lying reindeer carefully. He turned back and beckoned with Amu: "Brother, come here!"

Now that his younger brother has passed, Amu Yi still follows him. They surround the injured reindeer, seeing the reindeer half-covered and panting.

The brother said: "It looks so poor, we should find Dr. Herqiu in the village to rescue it."

"Dr. Herqiu is a life saver, not a veterinarian." Amu reached out and rubbed his brother's head.

"It doesn't matter, it's all doctors." Axin was very stubborn, dragging Amu's hand to shake, "brother, save it!"

Amu said: "We should go back and talk to Dad, Dad will have a solution."

"Brother, go and find your father. I'll stay here to watch it!" A Xin gleefully opened his eyes and looked at his brother Amu. There seemed to be stars blinking under his eyes.

"Fool!" Amu couldn't help crying. "The forest is too dangerous. You can't stay here alone. Who knows if the reindeer's wound was caused by a bear or wolf? Let's go back and find father together."

"But what if the reindeer is eaten by the wolf as soon as we leave?" Axin reluctantly.

"There's nothing we can do. We can't stay here and be eaten by wolves." Amu told the cruel facts in simple words. He said, "Deer can eat grass, wolves can eat meat, we all have to Eat, and starve to death if you do n’t. "

Axin was still not reconciled, and he put forward a new suggestion: "Let's move it together and move back, and the wolf will not be able to eat it."

Despite this, the two children, Axin and Amu, were unable to move the deer's size and strength.

Although this deer may seem to be young, it is not the kind of small deer. It should be a young deer. If it can stand up, it will definitely be taller than Amuah's two children.

"Don't make a mess, go back with me to find father."

Amu is still very majestic, and opposes Axin's various unreasonable troubles. Axin's coquettish rolling has no effect, so he is aggrieved and pulled away by the reindeer temporarily.

After that, the two brothers returned to Mensak Manor and were going to find Mensak, but after returning, they found that Dad was not there. The servant who worked at the manor said, "The master went to the city to buy."

In desperation, the two brothers decided to go directly to the village doctor, Herqiu, whose house was not far from their estate.

Dr. Herqiu then received two young children. After hearing the story of the story, the doctor felt anxious in his heart.

First of all, Dr. Herqiu is not a veterinarian and has no clue about treating a reindeer. Moreover, drugs used in humans may not work for animals, and may even have adverse effects.

Secondly, even if the injured reindeer can be rescued, the reindeer that has been in contact with humans will be rejected by the ethnic group. The reindeer alone will not live long, and I am afraid that it will still face the fate of death.

In the end, the drugs of this era were quite precious, and Herqiu did not want to waste any medicine on a deer.

In this case, it is better to leave it alone at the beginning.

But in such cruel words, Dr. Herqiu could not speak to the two expectant children, so he thought for a moment and sighed and decided to choose to help the twins.

"Well, take me to see the reindeer." Dr. Herqiu said, "But I can't guarantee that I can save it, I'm afraid I can only do some simple treatment on its wound."

"That's great!" Axin jumped with joy when he heard it. "Can we move it home?"

"Better not." Dr. Herqiu shook his head and hit him. "There are hunters in the village who specialize in deer hunting. If you don't look good on deer, it will be caught by the hunters."

Immediately after, Hurchia followed Amuashin back to the edge of the forest and found the **** reindeer still lying in place.

Dr. Herqiu brought a shotgun with him because he was worried about a wolf or bear attack.

Secondly, he also brought a knife and some cloth strips. The medical level in 1721 was very backward, and extremely primitive methods were adopted to treat the wounds—washing, burning, cutting, bandaging.

It's that simple four steps. So Hirchu asked the two brothers of Amuashin to fetch a little water from a nearby stream, and he picked up some dead leaves and lit a fire.

Then I briefly cleaned the wound on the reindeer with the recovered water, scraped off the excess fur with a knife, and then burned the knife to red, cut off the rotten and pus flesh, burned to stop bleeding, and tied a cloth strip. The wound is almost treated.

There are not many wounds on this reindeer. There are only a few abdomen on the side of the reindeer. It seems to have been caught by some beast. This makes the reindeer bleed a lot of blood, and it is weak to move.

It is also a good thing to be unable to move, at least Hurqiu will not move when he deals with the wound ... The reindeer's hoof is very strong, and it is awkward to be kicked.

After finishing the treatment, Herqiu went to the side of the stream to wash his hands, and took the two brothers to leave. When they left, the reindeer hadn't stood up yet, still lying motionless.

Ashin asked Herqiu, "Doctor, can it live?"

"Then I don't know, it depends on it." Herqiu answered.

After returning to the village, Menshak had purchased from the town. He heard that his twins went to the doctor, Herqiu, to help heal a reindeer. Realizing that his child had caused trouble for others, he took some fruit and stored it from the manor warehouse The meat was presented as a thank-you gift to Dr. Herqiu.

In the early morning of the next day, the cheerful Asin woke up his brother, and the two brothers came to the spot where the reindeer was found yesterday. It turned out that the reindeer had disappeared, leaving only some blood on the place where the reindeer had lay.

"It may be gone." Amu told his brother.

Ashin looked at the place where the reindeer had lay for a long time, his expression lost: "Can we never see it again?"

"No." Amu intentionally described the beautiful picture for his brother. "It may be back in its group. The next time we see the deer herds pass, we may see it with a cloth strip on it."

With that said, A Xin laughed happily again. When Axin smiles, there will be two dimples on his face. He looks very cute. Every time he sees his smiling face, Amu can't help but reach out to touch the fluffy hair on his brother's head.

After touching his brother's head, the two brothers were just about to leave. At this time, they also heard the sound of grass and trees behind them.

So they turned around and looked back, and found that the reindeer they rescued yesterday was standing in the grass, raising their antlers to look at them.

"It's back again!" A Xin shouted happily.

Unlike Ashin's excitement, the keen Amu noticed that the reindeer seemed to be holding something in his mouth.

The reindeer did hold something in its mouth, and it carried it closer to the two of Amu and Axin. Immediately afterwards, the reindeer lowered its head and lowered the items in its mouth and placed them on the ground.

Then, the reindeer took a few steps back, leaped sharply into the woods, and disappeared in a blink of an eye.

"It seems to send us a thank you." Amu saw this scene and said thoughtfully.

"Is it because we saved it? That ’s why we sent gifts to us?" Ashin was even more excited, leaping to the "thank you" from the reindeer, looking down and thinking to Amu: "Brother, look, what is this?"

Amu followed her and glanced over, frowning, "This is ... a stone?"

"Isn't the stone so beautiful?" A Xin reached out and picked up "Xie Li". Stars appeared in his eyes, expecting: "Is this a crystal?"

The thing in Axin's hand really looks like crystal, a light blue, slightly transparent, irregular square faceted ice crystal. And this thing is small, A Xin can hold it in the palm of one hand.

However, this crystal-like polyhedron is too symmetrical and flat, and each of the faces on the top is carefully polished like a ruler.

When you look closely, you can see that the crystals are carved with tiny grains of rice, not any kind of text that Amu and Axin have learned. These texts are densely packed on each side of the crystal. Obviously this crystal is not formed naturally, but an artificial product.

Amu thinks that this thing is very valuable. In their time, such exquisite crafts could sell a very, very large amount of money, at least their father Mensak said so.

So Amu told his younger brother Axin, Amu said, "Take this and keep it in your own pocket. Don't let others see it."

Ashin can understand his brother's thoughts: "Is it something precious?"

"Maybe." Amu said, "I'm not sure, but don't let others see it easily, just go back and ask Dad."

Ashin couldn't help worrying: "If it was a valuable thing, would Dad sell it?"

Amu laughed: "This is your stuff. Our dad is an upright man, so he won't take your stuff and sell it!"

"But ... this is what the reindeer gave to the two of us, not just my stuff." Ashin seemed to be tangled in a strange point.

"No, it's yours." Amu gently looked at his brother, "It's you who want to save that deer, not me. So the gift given by the reindeer should also be a gift for you."

"If it's mine, can I give it away?" Asin asked innocently.

"Of course." Amour said of course, but a little lost in his heart.

Amu thought to himself, "Is there already someone I want to give a gift to?" Who is the one? A little girl in the village? Amu remembered that Axin liked the younger sister in the village, who was two years older than them. His name was Su Lier.

Before waiting for Amu's loss, Axin suddenly burst into a bright smile and lifted the crystal in his hand to Amu: "Then I want to give it to my brother, I like my brother the most!"

Axin stuffed the crystal into Amu's palm, then slammed into Amu's arms.

The younger brother in his arms was very fragrant and soft, and Amu's heart suddenly softened. He tightened his arms and hugged Axin's back, and stroked Axin's spine with his hand. Now. "

Amu and Axin survived the war, and their parents died when they were very young. The brothers have been together since consciously, and they begged everywhere, following the caravan.

Since childhood, they have not worn enough clothes and eaten enough, and their biggest wish is to be able to eat a full meal. This wish was realized after being adopted by Mr. Mensak. The two brothers have always been very grateful to Mensak, and have really pinned on his father's affection for Mensak.

But apart from Mensak, Amu and Axin have the deepest feelings for each other.

In the hardest days in the past, they supported each other to survive, and the only food left on their bodies, even if they were half hungry, must be given to their brothers.

It is because of this deep **** that Amu and Axin will become more similar and intimate, trying to imitate each other's words, habits and actions.

These things, which once annoyed Menshak, were very important to the two brothers. Their similarity symbolized the close relationship between them.

...

Mu Qin opened his eyes suddenly, waking up from his sleep.

In fact, he has rarely dreamed while sleeping. The things that Muqin dreamed of in the previous dream have long disappeared in his memory.

So this time, having such a long dream really made Mu Qin's mind a little confused.

After dreaming, Mu Qin found himself still sitting on the icy butterfly throne, holding Zhou Yue's icy body in his hand.

But in addition to this, Muqin suddenly realized that he was standing alone.

Because this person was standing in front of him, the other person's body blocked the light projected from the crack in the castle above his head and enveloped Muchen's shadow.

So Muqin had to look up and look at the man in front of him.

A man who can't see his face all the time.