Chapter 74: Watermelon Under the Horse's Hoof.
The sun is scorching.
The heat wave swept across the fields.
At the fork in the road, a simple little tent built of wood stood. A simple-looking old man, wearing a straw hat and a Han cloth, was enjoying the breeze passing by.
The breeze blew his white beard across his face. On his wrinkled cheeks, aged by the years, a pair of eyes that had become clearer with age were particularly bright.
In front of him, the small stall was neatly laid out with watermelons. The harvest in the melon field behind him was also good, with green and plump watermelons.
The old man squinted his eyes and glanced to the side, a smug smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
"How is it? Sweet?"
Swish!
A thumbs-up indicated high praise.
"Well, old man, your melon is really good. It tastes great."
The boy's mouth was like a cutting machine with a blade—taking a bite of barbecue, then a bite of watermelon—like a starving ghost reincarnated.
The eagle was eaten up at a speed visible to the naked eye under the boy's iron teeth.
In the face of praise, the old man raised his chin slightly, quite pleased.
"I've been busy in the fields all my life. I can tell whether the watermelons here are sweet or not at a glance."
"If you don't believe me, ask around for dozens of miles. Everyone knows the watermelons from my Green family are ordered by the nobles in Wanchuan City."
"You must have heard of Baron Mellon. Even he ate this watermelon and kept saying it was good."
The young man grinned. "I know Baron Mellon. I glanced at him from a distance once—hey, the maidservant with him was so pretty!"
The old man was stunned for a moment and began to look at him with a new expression, the straw hat fanning waves of heat.
"You kid... can't tell—your eyes are sharp~"
"But looking at you like this—well, it's not bad. It'll be easy for you to marry a good wife in the future. Maybe some noble lady will take a liking to you."
"With your appetite, it's not easy for ordinary people to support you. You'll have to eat rich food."
Soft rice holy body?
Facing the old man's caring—and extremely affirmative—look, the young man didn't take it to heart at all.
He ate while crunching, responding a few times here and there, fully taking care of the old man's emotions without throwing the chat to the ground.
In the scorching afternoon air, an extremely harmonious scene appeared by the roadside.
An old man and a young man, chatting from time to time, with such enthusiasm and joy that those who didn't know them would think they were grandfather and grandson.
But it was obvious to the naked eye that the two looked very different.
The old man looked very ordinary, but the young man was surprisingly handsome.
He wore a tattered black suit, with no exquisite decorations. The clothes were very plain, and he didn't seem keen on dressing himself up, nor did he like it—just pursuing simple and comfortable clothing.
But some beauty doesn't need clothes to set it off. The boy looked so handsome. His face was a little dusty, but it revealed a soft and freehand expression like jade. His facial features were as exquisite as landscape paintings—handsome and still, handsome and natural.
The snow-gray hair was particularly exquisite, with a crystal texture, and the red willow blades lifted in the breeze...
The boy sat casually on the grass, a smile on his lips, making him look neither depressed nor melancholic—rather, too enthusiastic and free, which made him seem a little strange.
Looking closely, his colorful pupils revealed a sense of turbulence, as if ice and fire were intertwined.
Yes, the boy was none other than Su Ye, who had come out of the Sunset Forest.
At this moment, he had completely changed his appearance. His figure looked taller, and his well-proportioned body seemed to have been tempered—thick and surging with strength.
After finishing his training, Su Ye had originally planned to go directly to Tiandou City to find Qing'er, but he was so hungry halfway through that he hunted prey and dug a stove in the ground to roast it directly.
He happened to meet an old man selling watermelons here, so he came over.
On the one hand, it wasn't easy for the elderly to make some money on a hot day. On the other, the taste of pure barbecue really wasn't good.
Unexpectedly, the old man mistook Su Ye for someone in trouble.
Part of it was probably because the spring water of the Yin-Yang Eye of Ice and Fire had burned Su Ye's reinforced clothes—made of Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear Skin—into pieces.
Also, Su Ye had come out of the field with baked food, eating and holding peaches and plums (leaving money), and he was so happy that he didn't avoid people...
This situation obviously looked like a habitual offender, and anyone would think he was a naughty kid from some village.
Su Ye didn't expose the misunderstanding, just to make the bored old man happy.
"I wonder how the old man is doing now?"
Looking at the white beard around the old man's face, Su Ye couldn't help but think of someone else.
Old Tom also liked to grow such a beard—it looked very manly.
He had left Tomorrow Village, and it had been almost four months.
Shaking his head, Su Ye didn't continue thinking about it. The old man was in good health. When he went to the Star Dou Great Forest again, he could go back and take a look.
Trample-tap—
Suddenly, a heavy and rapid sound of horse hooves rang out.
Several knights sat on horseback, fully armored and armed, riding their horses forward.
The heavy silver armor fit tightly over the horses, clanging with metallic sounds, as if two armies had collided on the battlefield.
The oppression and killing intent radiating from the tall horses and heavily armored knights was no less than that of tigers and lions.
"Yu—!"
Several military horses stopped in front of the stall. The sergeants had stern looks in their eyes, holding spears in their hands. The horses' hooves turned in place, and the animals snorted heavily.
In this hot summer day, it suddenly felt as if a heavy cold wind had blown through.
Seeing this, the old man's face instantly became uneasy, and Su Ye couldn't help frowning.
"My lord..."
Swish!
The old man was about to speak when a silver light flashed, and a spear directly pierced a watermelon and picked it up.
The big man who looked like a team leader had thick eyebrows and tiger eyes, a face like lead and copper, and a slightly hideous scar at the corner of his eye. He didn't look like a good person.
Old Green's face tightened, and his body trembled. He stood aside and didn't dare say anything more.
Snap.
Roughly breaking the watermelon open, the man took a bite directly.
It's good to have a melon to quench your thirst in hot weather—especially when wearing thick armor. They were already sweating profusely. The strong man laughed wildly and said:
"Try it!"
"This melon tastes good!"
The other soldiers immediately followed suit, stabbing at the watermelons with their spears.
The spears and horse hooves were in chaos. The stall couldn't bear the weight and was destroyed, demolished.
Many watermelons fell to the ground. The sweet red flesh and juice were wasted, splashing all over.
A cold light flashed in Su Ye's eyes. After glancing at the old man, he thought it over and didn't rush out.
The Green family had lived here for generations. Su Ye could leave safely after teaching them a lesson—but the old man couldn't.
It was totally unnecessary to make the old man uneasy just for a moment of pleasure.
As for killing people and eliminating danger...
Everything hadn't settled yet—it was completely out of reach.
Killing wouldn't completely solve the problem. These soldiers also had bad friends. There was no guarantee they wouldn't come to settle scores with the old man for Su Ye standing up for him.
Half a watermelon was bitten just a few times before it was thrown on the ground.
The strong man stabbed another with a spear and took a few big bites—just enough to feel satisfied.
He ate and slapped the watermelon in his hand, snorting contemptuously:
"Old man, the watermelons you grow are not bad!"
"It's your good fortune to let the adults have a taste. Do you understand?"
"I understand, I understand—" The frightened Old Green nodded repeatedly, hunching over with a forced smile:
"Soldier, if you like to eat, just take it. Just think of it as an old man's filial piety to you. Is that okay?"
"Let's go!"
With a look that said, "you know what's good for you," several men rode away.
The dust raised by the horses' hooves left the broken watermelons covered in a layer of gray haze.
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(End of this chapter)