As early as several generations ago, people from several large nearby villages worked together to build a village by the water.
The village is very large, with thousands of residents, and the men are trained from childhood. Although a lot of people were taken away by the conscripts a few years ago, the village has used its strength to fight against those horse thieves, and has never been defeated after so many years.
The gongs and drums were beating loudly, and the well-trained men came out with their hoes and machetes.
The women packed their things and, led by several village women, hid in the mountains to the northwest.
Xia Zhaoyi looked at the situation outside, then looked back at the shopkeeper who was busy behind the counter: "Shopkeeper, do we want to leave too?"
"Run!" the shopkeeper shouted while sorting out the ledgers on the counter, "But maybe we can't fight. These thieves have feinted many times in the past two days."
The girl and the maid over there looked stunned. The girl was at a loss and said: "It's so unlucky that we came here."
"Let's go!" The shopkeeper packed up his things and came out with the waiters. "Hurry up and follow the woman over there!"
"Miss, let's go." The little maid helped the girl up.
The girl looked annoyed, raised her hand to steady the bun on her head, and followed out.
"I'll go upstairs to get the baggage, you don't have to wait for me." Xia Zhaoyi said, walking towards the stairs.
"Hey, little girl." The shopkeeper said holding the wooden box outside the door, "You're not panicking at all."
"Follow up yourself!" the boy shouted.
The inn was very simple, with a narrow passage upstairs. Xia Zhaoyi went back to the room to get a small baggage.
In the bag was a change of clothes that she bought, a few small items, and the dagger she took from Wu Da.
Before leaving, she thought for a moment, walked to the window, and reached out to push the window open.
From this angle of the inn, you can see just outside the village. Across the river, hundreds of people are sitting on horses, pulling on the reins.
With his appearance, clothes, and the weapons dancing in his hands, he was indeed a horse thief.
The fences in the row at the head of the village were stacked one layer high, and the men held spears and hoes in their hands, facing the outside through the fence, and their momentum was not weak at all.
Xia Zhaoyi raised his head and looked further away.
The Panyun Road stretches as far as the eye can see, as if it can go straight to the horizon.
The sunset was burning fiercely, and the sky was filled with clouds and red waves, as if they were burning with blood.
"Little girl." An old woman's voice came from downstairs.
Xia Zhaoyi lowered his head and looked down, turned around and went downstairs.
The old woman waited for her to come out of the door and stretched out her hand to take her. Seeing the tree stick in her hand, the old woman took it back and said, "Why are you still standing there, let's go."
Xia Zhaoyi looked back at the head of the village, followed the old woman, and asked, "Old man, aren't the officers and soldiers here to take care of it?"
"How can we control it?" The old woman walked slowly with her hands behind her back. "These days, there are wars and bandits everywhere. How can the officers and soldiers control it?"
"Is there still a war?"
The old woman paused slightly and turned to look at her: "Little girl, you don't know?"
Xia Zhaoyi shook his head.
"It's better here. Let's go up here." The old woman pointed to the north, "Going over the mountains one after another, you will see that there are all dead people there, all starving to death."
Xia Zhaoyi looked along the old woman's withered fingers. The wind blew from the top of the mountain over there, blowing their hair back.
"People eat soil, people eat grass, and even people eat people." The old woman added, "Little girl, so compared to them, we are very lucky."
Xia Zhaoyi nodded.
"Why are they starving to death? It was all caused by wars. It was finally calmed down before. In the past two years, the troubles have continued one after another. There are uprising armies everywhere, and the people are in dire straits."
"It will be fine," Xia Zhaoyi smiled, "Old man, if we are separated for a long time, we will be reunited, and the world will be unified in the future."
At this time, shouts could be heard outside the village.
Xia Zhaoyi looked back, and the old woman stretched out her hand to support her back: "Stop looking, let's leave quickly."
Following the shouts from outside the village, the men in the village also roared like a rainbow, not to be outdone.
The sound was so loud that the women who had hid in the mountains heard it. Many people hugged each other, shivering, and could not sit still.
The shouts were still ringing, one wave after another, and occasionally there was the sound of weapons being exchanged.
"Did the fight start?" a woman asked with a trembling voice.
"have no idea."
The little girls next to me shook their heads, and some of them cried.
"My brother is outside..." a little girl choked.
Many people clasped their hands together and muttered words of peace, trembling so hard that they could not control themselves.
"Miss, what should we do?" Sizhu squatted in the corner and looked at the girl next to him in fear.
Zhao Yan sat on the ground, hugging her knees, her eyes red: "I don't know."
"I heard that once captured by those bandits, there will be no good end," Sizhu whispered, "Miss, do you still remember my aunt?"
Zhao Yan's face turned pale and she pinched her angrily: "Stop talking."
Sizhu was in pain, stretched out his hands to cover his arms, and flattened his mouth, looking aggrieved.
Xia Zhaoyi followed the old woman to the mountain stream here. Because it was dusk, the light was darker.
The old woman is quite famous in the village, and many people call her.
Xia Zhaoyi walked towards another downhill road while looking at the spring water flowing down the mountain.
The hillside here is full of high rocks, and the spring water rolls down in waves, encountering a lot of resistance.
There is almost no sand in the water, it is all clear stone, polished smooth and round.
"Hey!" a woman suddenly shouted, "You little girl, what are you doing down here? Come back, it's dangerous!"
Everyone looked down one after another.
Xia Zhaoyi looked up and saw that the call was directed at him, and smiled: "Okay, I'll be back."
She tightened her baggage, looked around again, and then looked at the way they came.
Some strange feelings arose in her heart, not because of the terrain or the village. What she thought of for no reason was Lin Youqing's face.
Xia Zhaoyi dare not claim to have a photographic memory, but his memory is definitely not bad.
In her impression, she had definitely never seen Lin Youqing's face before, but the real sense of familiarity made her feel unhappy if she didn't want to see him.
It was rare for her to block things in her mind like this. Master said that blocking her mind was sorrow, and she had never known what it felt like to be worried.
Xia Zhaoyi shook his head to stop himself from thinking.
It doesn't matter whether you think about it or not, Lin Youqing is already dead.
The sounds of confrontation outside the mountain are still ringing, and the sky is getting dark.
Xia Zhaoyi walked up from the downhill slope and found a corner to sit, looking up at the spring water flowing from the mountain.
The old woman said that if you climb over one building after another and go all the way north, you can see people dying of hunger everywhere.
