Peifeng is located northwest of Shoushi, at the branch of the Bishan River and Dongjiang River.
Five hundred years ago, a major flood occurred, killing and injuring hundreds of thousands of people. The river poured in crazily, swallowing up three counties along the river, forming Dongqing Lake.
Peifeng survived the disaster due to its high terrain. People who fled the disaster built a city here. Due to the fertile water and soil and the vast plains north of the Yangtze River, Peifeng gradually became prosperous.
This Peifeng catastrophe was not caused by a natural disaster, but by a man-made disaster.
The cities of the six states in the northwest were destroyed and the Pingyang Road could not be defended. Millions of people fled south. Some of the refugees gradually gathered and formed several tributary bandits in the name of rebels.
Peifeng has the largest ferry and the most abundant food, and has accommodated countless victims. It is also the fat meat that the bandits eagerly want to take a bite of.
However, the imperial court was distracted by the northwest and was so worried that it did not pay attention to this place. After reacting, Peifeng had become the current situation.
Xia Zhaoyi, Lao Tong and Zhi Changle walked for four days before reaching Peifeng territory.
There is still water and mountains, but the surrounding fields are desolate.
In just four days before arriving, more than a hundred corpses had been seen. After entering the territory of Peifeng, the swarms of mosquitoes and flies and the stench that hit his face made Zhi Changle unable to stop vomiting several times.
The road Xia Zhaoyi chose was very eccentric, trying to avoid major roads and take mountain roads and wild trails.
But there are hungry people everywhere, and they also choose to come to the ancient mountains and forests to dig up grass roots and peel off tree bark. Those fruit-bearing trees have been chopped down in patches, leaving them lying in ruins.
Many people did not know what they had eaten and were poisoned to death on the roadside, their whole bodies glowing purple.
It was about to rain soon, so Xia Zhaoyi took Lao Tong and Zhi Changle to stay temporarily in a dilapidated thatched hut in a mountain col.
A fire lit up on the bumpy ground. Xia Zhaoyi set up a wooden frame, hung the pot they had been carrying for the past few days, and placed the drinking bowls and lacquered chopsticks inside.
cook.
Lao Tong and Zhi Changle went outside to cut down trees and grass branches, then climbed up to the hut and spread it on the roof to prevent rain from leaking.
After finishing the work, Xia Zhaoyi came back and pointed outside again and said: "The threshold is not enough, raise it higher, and dig a few earth holes in the southeast corner to dredge the water."
Lao Tong and Zhi Changle readily agreed. After wiping their sweat, they turned around and went back to work.
When they came back more than half an hour later, there was a strong aroma floating in the room. They were so greedy that they washed their hands and wiped their faces, then sat down on both sides and waited obediently for the meal.
Vegetable soup was boiling in the pot, and grilled fish and big birds were placed on the other side. The spices and herbs sprinkled on it sizzled with the golden oil, making their saliva swallow one mouthful after another.
Xia Zhaoyi asked Lao Tong to serve the soup. She took the grilled fish off the wooden branch and neatly divided it into three portions. She kept the smallest portion for herself and divided the other two portions between the two big men.
"It smells so good to me, it's so fragrant!" Zhi Changle hurriedly took the fish meat that was handed to him.
Lao Tong carefully placed the boiling vegetable soup next to Xia Zhaoyi. On the outside of the bowl, there was a very small Juanxiu font with the word "Xia" written on it.
Lao Tong's bowl is marked "Tong", and Zhi Changle's is "Zhi". Like the bowls, their chopsticks are also marked.
Not long after, it started to rain outside, and it started pouring down.
Xia Zhaoyi held the hot soup in her hand, raised her eyes and looked outside. Her eyes fell on the splashing rainwater, and she was stunned.
"Ah Li?" Lao Tong looked at her and called softly.
Xia Zhaoyi looked back: "Huh?"
"What are you thinking about," Lao Tong said again, "Why have you been distracted while eating these past few days?"
Xia Zhaoyi smiled, shook his head, and said nothing.
When Lao Tong saw her like this, he didn't want to ask any questions. He just felt that this little girl's eyes were obviously clear and clean, but they were complicated and difficult to understand, as if she was hiding too many secrets and worries.
As for what she knew and understood, he and Zhi Changle had gone from being unbelievable and surprised at the beginning to slowly becoming accustomed to it now.
She said when it rains, it will rain.
She said there would be a lot of wild vegetables which way to go, and they actually appeared ahead.
They can fish, catch birds, make fires and cook pots, and bake delicious food that they have never tasted in their lives.
In short, from heart to stomach, they were completely convinced by her and no longer regarded her as a girl.
Whatever she asked them to do, they would do it immediately, because everything she asked them to do was right, and they just had to obey her instructions.
At this time, Qingyun snorted beside him.
Zhi Changle put down his bowl and said, "I'm going to feed Qingyun some grass."
"Have you finished eating?" Lao Tong asked.
"I'm done eating. I won't eat anymore."
"That's it, I've finished eating too." Lao Tong said, starting to pack things and prepare to wash the dishes.
Xia Zhaoyi's bowl was also taken away. She twisted the handkerchief with the boiling water on the side, wiped her mouth, paused, and looked back to the door. Then she put the handkerchief away, got up and walked away, standing holding the door frame.
, looking at the rainy scene in the distant mountains.
The sound of rain hitting the ground was heard from heaven to earth. It gurgled intermittently, raising a huge tidal mist that enveloped Sichuan and covered all the fields.
Xia Zhaoyi's eyebrows were solemn and he kept looking away. Unknowingly, the clothes on his stomach were wet.
"Ah Li, be careful if you catch a cold!" Lao Tong shouted.
"It's going to rain for a long time." Xia Zhaoyi said.
"About how long?" Lao Tong was curious.
"About ten days."
"Ten days?!" Lao Tong was dumbfounded, "How can it get so much rain?"
"Of course it's intermittent," Xia Zhaoyi said solemnly, "These days will never be sunny."
Lao Tong knew that Xia Zhaoyi had always wanted to go to the capital, and could see that she was in a hurry, so he comforted her: "It's okay, it won't affect our journey."
"It affects us," Xia Zhaoyi said, squeezing her fingers gently on the door frame, "the water level in Dongjiang River is about to rise, which will not only affect our journey, but may also cause floods."
Old Tong was stunned and looked into the distance.
Zhi Changle, who was feeding the horses over there, was also stunned and turned to look at them.
The sky gradually dimmed, and the mountains and rivers in the distance disappeared one by one, turning into very faint silhouettes.
Xia Zhaoyi withdrew his gaze, turned back, and said, "Get some rest, I'm afraid it won't be easy to travel in the next few days."
Lao Tong nodded and sighed: "Yeah."
The sleeping area was divided into inside and outside. Xia Zhaoyi slept inside, with a blanket on the floor, a small quilt covering her body, and weeds as a pillow.
Lao Tong and Zhi Changle took turns guarding outside. There were also blankets and quilts spread on the ground.
But these faded blankets and quilts are all the outer clothes that Xia Zhaoyi took off from the clean corpse.
She boiled the clothes in a pot with herbs, then hung them behind the blue clouds to dry in the June sun, and finally sewed them together stitch by stitch.
The "quilt" and "blanket" had a very faint scent of vanilla and sunshine. Similarly, the clothes on Lao Tong and Zhi Changle were also taken off from the dead.
There are ways to live in troubled times, so why should we care about anything?
