After days of heavy snowfall, the snow reflected the morning sun, and it was dazzling.

Peter yawned as the rising sun swept away the remaining sleepiness from his body.

Vladimir fumbled around the door a few times, and with an extra crutch in his hand, he lifted the crutch and pointed it at the road ahead, and then took a step forward tentatively.

Peter hurriedly followed to help, but he waved his hand away, and said confidently: "I don't need your help, I often walk this road, and I can come and go freely with my eyes closed." ”

Peter looked at him worriedly, and only when Vladimir walked away with his staff did he quickly chase after him, and said with admiration: "You can really do it, Brother Vladimir, you can really walk alone!" ”

Vladimir smiled, "If a person loses his sight, the senses of hearing and touch will naturally be more fully exercised, and it is not difficult to learn to walk alone." ”

"This kind of thing is also about talent, right? You can still make prints after you lose your sight, but most people don't have the ability to do that. Peter sighed.

The two of them chatted all the way through the alley and onto the wooden bridge. Peter was a little nervous when crossing the bridge, and he clung to Vladimir's side and was ready to hold him at any time, but fortunately it was just a false alarm, and Vladimir walked steadily.

When he reached the middle of the bridge, he stopped, listened to the sound of the water under the bridge, and asked Peter, "Why is the river not frozen when it is so cold?" ”

Peter leaned on the railing of the bridge and looked down, and turned back to tell him: "A big hole has been carved in the ice under the bridge, and it must be Giovanni who has come to fish again, but unfortunately I am not free this morning, otherwise I would like to try my luck in going down, maybe I can catch a few fatty fish, and when I come back from the exam in the afternoon, the ice may have frozen." ”

Through his words, it was not difficult for Vladimir to imagine the other party's face full of pity, and shook his head with a smile: "You are the one who wants to become a priest of Sindra, why are you still thinking about going down to the river to catch fish, let's go, let's go eat." ”

Cross the bridge to the opposite bank of the river, turn into an alley, and the smell of toasted bread wafts in the wind.

Of course, the bakeries in the slums don't have any fancy goods, and the freshly baked black bread is cheaper than three copper coins for a pound of bread, and a free cup of hot tea.

Vladimir ate a loaf of bread with Peter under the eaves of the bakery, drank a cup of hot tea, and bought two loaves of bread to bring back to Nikolai for breakfast.

Vladimir paid the bill and suddenly asked Peter: "Is Nikolai seriously injured?" ”

Peter almost choked on the tea and coughed, "No...... No, he's fine! ”

"Peter, a priest can't lie, don't lie to me."

"There really isn't a ......" Peter's voice was weak, and seeing Vladimir's frowning, he hesitated for a long time, but he couldn't help but tell the truth. Perhaps out of some kind of remedial mentality, he specifically repeated what Nikolai said yesterday to Vladimir.

"The loss of a left arm is less serious than being blind, and even if Nikolai can still find a job with only one arm, it won't affect his life much, so I think he made the right decision - should I give you this opportunity for treatment?"

"However, I can indeed regain my sight this way, and Nikolai will be forced to retire." The knuckles of Vladimir's clenched crutches turned slightly white.

"What does that matter?" Peter shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, "People say that good men are not soldiers, and they can only earn a few bucks by fighting to the death on the battlefield at the risk of having their heads cut off?" Wouldn't it be nice that Nikolai would be able to live with us after he retired? ”

Vladimir shook his head and sighed, "You don't understand, Peter, there is a kind of man who is a natural soldier, and leaving the army will make Nikolai miserable, not to mention that he is missing an arm......"

"I will study hard, become a priest, and use magic to help Nikolai heal his left arm in the future, and then he can return to the army if he wants." Peter said naively.

Vladimir smiled wryly. Not to mention whether Nikolai can return to active duty after retiring, Peter obviously hasn't figured out what kind of high-end magic the "regeneration technique" is, and the only people who can perform this magic in the entire Krasburg are Patriarch Boris and a few high-ranking priests. Peter hadn't even crossed the threshold to the church at Sindra, thinking it was too early.

Vladimir stood for a long time with a heavy heart, and seemed to suddenly come back to his senses, and said to Peter: "It's not early, you go to the seminary to take the exam, and I'll go back myself." ”

"That's not going to work! I've got to get you home safely! ”

"Whatever you want."

The two returned the same way, crossed the wooden bridge, and the door of their house was in sight. Vladimir urged Peter to go quickly.

Time was indeed tight, and the road to home was smooth anyway, so Peter hesitated for a moment and agreed to go first.

Hurrying across the wooden bridge, Peter looked back, saw that Vladimir's back was fading away, and felt a little relieved, and quickened his pace and ran forward. He could not afford to hire a horse-drawn carriage, and besides, it rarely stopped in the slums, so he had to run all the way to the seminary on two legs, which took an hour, to say the least.

After running wildly for ten minutes, Peter stopped to catch his breath. Perhaps it was his innate supernormal perception that was at work, and from time to time his mind flashed the back of Vladimir hobbling forward with a cane on the snow, and he felt an inexplicable panic in his heart, vaguely feeling that something bad would happen, but he couldn't figure out what the problem was.

After walking restlessly for a while, he finally stopped, unable to get rid of the ominous premonition, gritted his teeth, turned around and ran away along the road he had come.

Peter trusted his instincts. If something bad happens, it's too late to turn back. Even if it turns out to be a false alarm, it doesn't matter, at least a piece of heart disease can be removed.

The wooden bridge appeared at the end of the view, and the uneasy premonition intensified.

Peter held his breath and sped away, finally reaching the bridge.

At a glance, the bridge deck was empty and there was no figure. He was just about to breathe a sigh of relief, when he accidentally saw a piece of paper swaying in the wind on the side of the bridge covered with snow, and hurriedly ran over to take a look, and his heart suddenly rose to his throat.

A paper bag was thrown on the bridge, and the bread inside was frozen hard.

"Damn it!" Peter hurriedly leaned down to look under the bridge, where a dark shadow could be seen in the hole in the ice about ten feet wide.

Peter didn't bother to take off his coat, jumped straight down, and plunged into the ice hole in the river with a pop. The icy river instantly soaked him, the chill almost made him faint, desperately paddling his hands and feet to keep himself awake, taking a deep breath and diving under the ice, staring wide eyes and searching around.