Sister Xu Yue packed up her old clothes in the house.
Each has a jacket that can be stuffed with reed flowers.
The sisters only had two sets of clothes each. They already had one set of thin linen clothes for spring and summer.
There is also a set of thicker linen jackets to wear in winter, which are covered with patches and are comparable to those of a beggar.
But from the little girl's weak memory, Xu Yue discovered that a little baby like her with complete clothes was already the envy of the children in the village.
The older daughters of many families in the village don't even have a set of clothes. They usually hide in bed and never go out or see guests. Only when they get married can they get a set of clothes to wear out.
If a girl can get a new set of clothes when she gets married, it is the most decent dowry.
In this backward era when money is inconvenient to flow, cloth is even more useful than gold, silver and jewelry, and silk fabrics such as silk and satin are also the most popular hard currency for merchants.
While pinching her nose, Xu Erniang dug out a piece of "modern splicing style" bed sheet from the broken wooden box that smelled of decay, packed the sisters' clothes into a bundle, and placed it on the bedside.
Xu Yue walked around the house and found that her parents and sisters had not packed up the pots and pans. Guessing that they might not have noticed the value of these things, she silently packed up the five pottery bowls with broken pots and one for cooking.
All the clay pots for cooking were put away and placed in the baskets on the parents' backs where they kept food.
All that's left is the straw mat and bedding for sleeping on. I have to sleep one night tonight and just get up and clean it up in the morning.
After everything was tidied up, since this family was so poor that there was nothing to tidy up, Mrs. Wang put out the torch, locked the door, and went back to their rooms to rest.
It was a moonless night, the whole village was dark, and the wind was blowing outside the house, as if this family was the only one alive in the world.
Xu Yue suddenly woke up from a strong uneasiness and saw the shadow of the tree outside the window shaking, like a ghost, rushing towards her with teeth and claws.
Under the influence of this inexplicable uneasiness, Xu Yue, who felt no fear when seeing dead people during the day, was suddenly so frightened that she hugged Xu Erniang next to her.
Xu Erniang was awakened by such a big movement. She was stunned for a moment, then raised the corners of her mouth, patted the back of her sister in her arms with both hands, and coaxed softly: "I'm here, I'm here."
Hearing the gentle soothing voice, the strong uneasiness in Xu Yue's heart slowly eased.
At this moment, the wind outside the house suddenly became stronger, making the door next door creak. Somehow, Xu Yue suddenly thought of the old man next door.
The strong uneasiness that I had just suppressed arose again!
"Sister, I want to go out and take a look next door." Xu Yue begged in a low voice, "Can you go with me?"
Xu Erniang hummed, she seemed to be born to walk in the darkness, and the ghostly tree shadows with snarling teeth and claws could only serve as a backdrop for her glorious majesty.
Xu Yue looked at Xu Erniang who got up to put on her shoes, and suddenly felt that she was no longer so strange.
The two sisters opened the door and prepared to go out. In fact, Xu Da and Wang next door were awakened by the two of them and followed them out.
"Dad, aunt?" Xu Yue didn't expect her parents to be woken up.
"What are you two little girls planning to do in the middle of the night? Don't you know how dangerous the night is?" Wang asked with a frown.
Xu Da also looked at the two sisters displeased. Children should act like children and report anything to adults first.
Xu Yue knew that they were worried about her safety, so she expressed the strong uneasiness in her heart.
"I just wanted to go over and see how the old man was doing. He was alone and a little pitiful." Xu Yue said.
But in fact, she already had an ominous premonition.
"Let's go together, Xu Da, you go get the torch." Wang quickly made a decision.
Xu Yue was slightly stunned. Xu Da had already lit the torch and came over. Seeing the stunned look on her face, he couldn't help but want to laugh again. He suppressed his smile and urged:
"Let's go."
Xu Yue nodded, and the family of four left the fenced courtyard and walked to the next door.
The two families were not far apart, and within a few steps they reached the house where Xu Yue had been during the day.
The door was open, crumbling in the wind, and the old man sitting on the threshold was no longer here.
Looking at the dark courtyard inside the gate, Xu Da and Wang looked at each other and asked Xu Erniang to hold their younger sister and step in first while holding a torch.
The yard was empty, and everything of some use had been taken away. Walking all the way to the main room, a straw mat was exposed in front of the couple, and on the straw mat, an old man was lying peacefully.
"Already dead." Xu Da said indifferently.
Xu Erniang's eyes lit up. As the saying goes, an alchemist who doesn't want to be a necromancer is not a good light magician!
Isn't this corpse in front of me the best undead material?
Xu Erniang excitedly held Xu Yue's hand and was about to come forward to take a look, but Xu Yue pulled her tightly and said, "I don't want to look!"
Those big eyelids looked at her in fear. Xu Erniang's heart softened. She stopped helplessly and stroked the top of her sister's hair, enjoying the feeling of being relied on.
"My poor sister, the goddess of light will bless you." She comforted with a smile.
Xu Da frowned slightly, wondering what kind of slang this cheap eldest daughter was saying, why couldn't he understand a word of it?
Mrs. Wang sighed, turned to her awed little daughter and said, "Bury it."
Xu Yue nodded, Xu Da's face turned gloomy, he didn't want to be tainted by these meaningless causes and effects.
Xu Erniang shrugged, she didn't care.
The position of the head of the Wang family cannot be shaken for the time being. She said she had to bury it, otherwise how could they have the nerve to inherit the old man's "legacy"?
Xu Erniang knew this trick very well. She took Xu Yue, who didn't want to face the dead old man, and searched around the house. Unfortunately, the old man's house had been robbed before, and the two sisters couldn't find anything useful after searching for a long time.
.
The darkness did not seem to affect the sight of Xu Yue's family. The torch was left to the two sisters. Xu Da and Wang wrapped the old man's body in a straw mat and carried it out, preparing to find a hillside to bury it.
Sister Xu Yue, who only got a skin water bag at the old man's house, took torches and went home first.
In ancient times, it was difficult to see even at night. Even with good eyesight, Wang could only barely make out the outline. It was all thanks to this body's memory of the village that she was able to successfully walk to the hillside at the entrance of the village.
The terrain of the entire village is relatively flat, and the surrounding mountains and forests are not high. Only this small hillside is slightly higher. Standing on the hillside, you can see the official road leading to Changyi County, the seat of Shanyang County, in the distance.
Xu Da and Wang dug a shallow pit and quickly buried the old man's body. Just as they were turning around to go back, they heard something strange. When the couple looked back, their faces changed drastically!
A long fire dragon connected by torches appeared on the official road. The sound of tens of thousands of galloping horse hooves rolled towards Changyi. A red and shabby flag stretched wantonly in the firelight. The ferocious face of the flag bearer shocked people.
.
However, these soldiers are not uniformly dressed and have various weapons in their hands. The only thing that is uniform is that they all have black cloth strips tied on their arms.
The memory of the original person emerged in Xu Da's mind, and his voice became sharp:
"No! It's a refugee rebel army composed of tough bandits and bandits. Leave quickly!"
