Just after the soldier tremblingly recounted the situation at Old Madam Ge's house, the centurion, along with the scholar, Hei Zi, and a group of guards, went to Old Madam Ge's house.

After entering the Ge family's gate, the soldier pointed to the side rooms, then shrank back behind the guards. One of the guards opened the outer door for the centurion, who then went into the kitchen. Next to the kitchen was the bedroom.

The centurion pushed open the door from the kitchen to the bedroom. Through the bright moonlight, he could see six large red lacquered chests on the bedroom floor, directly opposite the kang (a heated brick bed), with intricate lines on them.

...

The story begins with the centurion assigning his soldiers to search for food in various homes. A small squad was responsible for searching the north side of the main road.

When they found that Old Lady Ge was at home, it was already dark. The squad leader and his soldiers searched the main house and kitchen, but found nothing. In fact, Old Lady Ge's house was really gone. After Ge Erping got married, Ge Erlin and Ge Sanzong disappeared without a trace.

Then, the body of Xiao Sun was brought back. The old woman and the child were practically begging for a living, and there was no food left in the house.

Just when they couldn't find anything, one of the soldiers spotted a large red lacquered wooden box inside the west wing.

If it were in an ordinary home, that bright red lacquered wooden chest would either be part of the dowry or the new bride's private property. The soldiers, upon seeing the bright red chest, would inevitably take action against it.

A few soldiers circled the mahogany box, looking for a way to open it, but they couldn't find a way to open it. Then, a soldier who was good at finding things swiftly raised his knife and chopped down on the brass lock.

Unexpectedly, the soldier used all his strength, yet not only did the brass lock remain undamaged, but the knife even chipped a tooth. Seeing this,

The hot-tempered quartermaster strode forward, shoved the soldier aside, and swung his broadsword, which he used to chop off heads like vegetables. This time, the quartermaster didn't cut the brass lock; instead, he chopped down on a corner of the large red box.

With a swift stroke, whether by speed or skill, a corner of the wooden crate was severed, and blood gushed out onto the ground.

The sergeant saw the blood on the ground, took two steps back, frowned, put the blade to his lips and blew on it. Meanwhile, the seven soldiers inside the house were terrified, their faces ashen, and they screamed and ran outside.

Everyone thought that as long as they ran out of the house, they would be fine. But at this moment, the captain of the tenth squad was like someone who had gone mad. He would chop anyone who tried to run out with his sword. In the blink of an eye, the floor of the west wing was littered with corpses.

After killing everyone in the house, the squad leader didn't care about the corpses on the ground, didn't even frown, climbed onto the cold kang, and fell asleep immediately.

The soldier who came looking for the centurion witnessed the whole thing at the door, and something very strange happened: the man who had been killed instantly transformed into a paper effigy of a child boy.

The box opened automatically, and the paper figures lined up and lay down one by one inside the red lacquered wooden box. Then the box closed again, and the bloodstained corner of the box returned to normal.

This scene terrified the soldier so much that he was completely out of his mind. Instinctively, he knew he had to tell the centurion about it.

...

After leading the centurion to Old Madam Ge's west wing, the centurion and the scholar stood in the kitchen while Hei Zi first pushed open the bedroom door and entered the room.

He took out a tinderbox, lit the oil lamp, and everything in the room was as usual, completely unlike what the soldier had described.

Under the dim light of the oil lamp, Hei Zi's figure appeared even longer, and six red-lacquered wooden boxes were neatly arranged in a row facing the kang (a heated brick bed).

Hei Zi tried using a knife to break the brass lock, but after trying several times, he still couldn't open it.

Nothing was wrong. Hei Zi looked up and saw the squad leader lying on the kang (a heated brick bed). He walked over and patted the squad leader, who immediately sat up and picked up the broadsword beside him.

Without uttering a word, he attacked Hei Zi. Seeing that things were going badly, the centurion shouted, "Hui Shi, stop right there!" and stepped into the room. Hui Shi then slashed again in the direction of the voice.

Whether the centurion underestimated his opponent or was simply not as skilled as Hui Shi, he swung his sword down at the centurion's head. Fortunately, the centurion dodged in time, and the blow landed on his shoulder.

The scholar, seeing that something was wrong, quickly ordered several soldiers who had gone with him to rescue the centurion. Inside, Hei Zi was still fighting with Hui Shi.

When the centurion was rescued, he ordered his men to rescue Blackie as well.

Several soldiers entered the west wing without complaint and took Hei Zi's place. Although the soldiers were not killed, they were all injured to some extent in the process of rescuing Hei Zi.

After observing for a while, the scholar ordered everyone to leave one by one. Strangely enough, as soon as people came out, Shi stopped making a move. Even after everyone had left the house, he lay back down on the cold kang.

The centurion had lost too much blood and was so delirious that he could no longer speak coherently.

The group carried the centurion and Heizi back to Xiaoyue's house.

As the scholar walked back, he pondered. Everyone in the village had fled. The people from Sanjiazi Village and Guaibo Village were almost all dead. The only option was to go to the town to find a doctor. However, Lord Yun's entourage had completely surrounded the town, leaving no way to pass through.

He himself had only managed to persuade Centurion Qi to lead about a hundred men and escape during a mission. Unlike Lord Yun's men, he had neither the pain of having his home confiscated nor the resentment of having his power usurped.

My whole family is in Longcheng, and most of my relatives and friends are also in Longcheng. There's no need for me to get involved in this mess.

They all escaped during the mission. They brought out about a hundred men, but now only seventy or eighty remain. Without supplies, they have no choice but to beg for food in remote villages.

After Lord Yun's men traveled east for a while, he decided to take this group of people and take a different route to the south to join General Gu Ning's forces. However, the most important task now was to provide food for these people who had followed him.

The grain in a village is simply not enough to feed the villagers for ten days, and in many villages, the villagers are not even able to get enough to eat.

The scholar was sweating profusely in this freezing winter. He thought that things couldn't get any worse than before. Not only could he not find the food, but he had also injured the centurion and Hei Zi.

The scholar led out the centurion's and Hei Zi's two warhorses and handed them to Tian Wu and Yun San, asking them to find a doctor.

The scholar entered the side room and felt too cramped. After witnessing such a strange scene at Old Lady Ge's house, he ordered the soldiers to carry the centurion and Hei Zi to the east room.

The scholar added water to the pot and went outside to tend the fire in the stove. As he did so, he pondered, "I wonder if Lord Yun can proceed east tomorrow? It's really not suitable for me to stay in this deserted village with no food."

The things that happen in this village are also quite unbelievable to others.