Eight-year-old Yun Ying curled up in the icy snow, her thin clothes soaked in snow and frozen into a hard layer of ice that covered her thin body.
But she couldn't feel any of this anymore, because her whole body was already in a semi-comatose state, and even the scene in front of her was gradually blurred.
Just as her eyelids were about to close, she saw a strange black bird standing on the wall, and the strange bird tilted its head to look at her for a moment, and then slowly turned into a woman dressed in black, slid down the wall, and walked gently to her.
"Mother, mother......"
Yun Ying mistook her for her mother in a trance, she used her last strength to crawl over and grab a corner of the woman's clothes, and then her head sank, and the whole person fell into an endless darkness.
Yunying woke up to find herself lying on a small, narrow bed, this bed was greasy, and it exuded a strange smell, it looked like she hadn't changed her bedding for a long time, but she didn't care, after experiencing the pain of freezing, she could stay in such a warm place, she already felt like she was in heaven.
The morning light outside the window was faint, and she found that she actually recognized this place, this is a courtyard where people live in Qifeng Building, and this house belongs to a woman named Qingpo.
Qing Po bears the most bitter and pickled work in Qifeng Lou, that is, to help the girls clean their clothes, in order to find such a person, it took a lot of effort for Hua Gu, because although the Song Dynasty is open, but there are still some taboos about the underwear of the girls in Qinglou, but Qing Po doesn't care, she comes from a foreign domain, and she is not confined to the customs of the Han people, plus she is eager to get a place to live, so she stayed in Qifeng Lou, and she has been doing it for many years.
Qing Po usually doesn't care about people, but those mothers-in-law and girls in Qifeng Lou don't dare to bully her, one is because Aunt Hua has explained, this job is only done by Qing Po to do well, so no one should stumble on her, and the other is that Qing Po herself is very strange, her back is very hunched, from a distance, it looks like she is carrying a big bow on her back, and she seems to have had a serious illness in her early years, ten fingers are bent like a bird's claws, although it does not affect her laundry, but it looks extremely uncomfortable.
In addition, she doesn't say a word to anyone, so everyone usually avoids her, except for coming over to explain to her when something happens.
Yun Ying also came to give the Qing Po clothes, but she quickly put down the basin and ran away, never daring to look at the black figure.
But now, her mood is completely different, so when the green woman pushed open the door and came in and threw a pack of steaming steamed buns on the bed, not only did she not have the slightest fear, but showed a sweet smile to the silent figure.
Qing Po glanced at her expressionlessly, turned around and was about to leave, but was stopped by the girl behind her.
"Thank you......
Thank you ......."
"You're not afraid of me?"
Her horn-like bun shook twice, and she turned her head to look at the little girl on the bed with bird-like eyes.
"You mean that?"
Yun Ying held a pitch-black feather in her hand, she stared at Qing Po, lifted the quilt on her body, and walked over cautiously with her bare feet on the floor.
"If you dare to speak out, I'll eat you......"
This vicious threat was interrupted by a warm hug, Yun Ying threw herself into her arms, clutching her greasy clothes tightly, "Here, only you are good to me, my life is saved by you, if you are unhappy one day, just take it at any time," her voice became smaller and quieter, and finally almost disappeared into the air, but the young woman heard every word clearly, "My mother liked to wear black clothes when she was alive, so I mistook you for her last night, mother......
Mother......"
Qing Po's heart was broken by these words, and she remembered that when her daughter was dying, she also called her mother over and over again until she exhausted her last strength.
She hesitated, she was never merciful to her prey, but in front of this skinny girl, she finally took off her hard guard and became a woman and a mother again.
Since then, Yunying and Qingpo have lived together in Qifeng Tower, until she was lucky enough to be bought by a large family to be a maid when she was eleven years old, and this mother-daughter relationship ended.
However, Yunying is not far away from the life of the Qing Po, as long as she is free, she will return to Qifeng Tower, quietly sit with the Qing Po, the two snuggle together and look at the flowing clouds in the sky, feel the warmth that each other gives each other, and enjoy their only warmth in the world.
Yun Ying naturally knows all about Qingpo's secrets, but she has been abandoned by her biological father since she was a child, so her temperament is harder than ordinary life, and she has always been thoughtful, so for some things, she never delves into them, let alone takes the initiative to ask.
After a few years, the young lady who Yunying was waiting for got married, and she also followed into the Huo Mansion as a dowry maid, and since then, the green woman told her not to come to Qifenglou casually, because as she gets older, she has to start thinking about her marriage, and if others know her relationship with Qifenglou, they will naturally be taboo.
Although Yunying was reluctant, she still relied on Qingpo, but a month ago, she suddenly appeared in Qifenglou and begged Qingpo to kill someone for her.
Qing Po didn't ask her why, because killing someone, especially killing a child, was the easiest thing for her, so on that day, she came out of Qifeng Tower as promised, and prepared to guard in front of Huofu, but before that, something went wrong.
She met Xun'er at the door of Xin'an Mansion, and when she saw this child for the first time, she felt that her mouth was dry and panicked, and the Gu worm in her stomach was even more irritable, as if she was about to pop out of her chest.
She felt that she had to eat him, a craving that had never been greater, like a raging fire filling her filthy skin, though she didn't understand the reason for it.
So she sealed Xun'er's mind, and conjured a kite, leading him away from Xin'an Mansion little by little, trying to find a secluded place to eat him, but they went halfway, but they happened to meet Xiao Xuan, she had escaped from the sedan chair, and was looking for Qin Xiangzhai alone without a clue.
Qing Po suddenly remembered what she had promised Yun Ying, so she had to abandon Xun'er, and then took Xiao Ying away from the downtown area, came to a remote suburb, and shot Gu worms into her palm.
"You have been hiding in Xin'an City for ten years, and only recently did you start to kill, presumably because of this waterlogging that has only been seen for many years, the Yellow River is flooding, and the people in the neighboring villages have run out, and you can't steal the children in the village like before, so you have to take the children in Xin'an City, no," Yan Niang frowned, her eyes lit up as if they had just been washed with water, "Maybe there is another reason why you have become so unscrupulous." ”