Chapter 17 A strange breath

Gu Xiyue and Xiao Heng went directly to Zhao Yancheng's house.

When he arrived, Zhao Yancheng's family had already gone to bed, and the sound of a child crying could be heard from the house.

"Mom, I'm hungry..."

Gu Xiyue hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

Zhao Yancheng's voice came from the room.

"It's me, Gu Xiyue!"

There was a pause, and then there was a rustling sound, followed by Madam Liu's voice, "It's Madam Gu, wait a moment, I'll open the door right away."

Soon, a faint oil lamp lit up in the room and the door opened. Madam Liu saw Xiao Heng standing behind Gu Xiyue and asked in surprise, "Your husband is here too?"

"Come in! Come in! Yancheng, please come out quickly. Miss Gu and her husband are here."

The child was still crying in the house, shouting that he was hungry. Gu Xiyue looked at Madam Liu and was about to ask something, but when he thought of the current situation, he fell silent again.

Madam Liu saw what Gu Xiyue meant and said helplessly, "If the rain doesn't stop, we'll starve to death. We won't be able to buy food in the shops, and sooner or later the children will..."

At the end, she held back the sob in her throat, tried to control her emotions and didn't say any more.

Zhao Yancheng also came out from the inner room at this time. Madam Liu smiled and said, "I'll go and coax the child to sleep first. You guys sit down first."

After she finished speaking, she went into the house. The child's crying instantly became much quieter, turning into a humming sound. After a while, the sound gradually disappeared.

Xiao Heng briefly explained the current situation to Zhao Yancheng, and Zhao Yancheng nodded dejectedly after listening.

He was a strong man under thirty years old, but due to years of malnutrition, there was not much flesh on his originally round face, which made his facial features look prominent. In addition, he was anxious these days, rushing to harvest wheat in the rain, and he looked like he was in his forties.

"Brother Zhao, I've discussed this with my husband at home. We can't just sit there and wait to die. We have to find a way to survive. We have to find a way out and find a solution from outside."

Zhao Yancheng's eyes lit up when he heard this, but then they faded away. "So what if we can get out? We have no money or food now. What can we do if we go out?"

He looked so heartbroken, completely different from the passionate person he was a few days ago.

"Brother Zhao, if you can help me find five or six smart men, I will find a way to help everyone get through this difficult time."

Zhao Yancheng looked at Gu Xiyue with a complicated expression, thinking that she had discovered the mosquito repellent grass as soon as she arrived, and later had a debate with three military commanders. He had never seen her intelligence and knowledge in his life.

"Yancheng." Madam Liu came out, closed the door gently, came over and sat down, and said, "I trust Madam Gu. Just find someone according to what she said."

After saying that, he turned around and asked Miss Gu, "If there is anything you need me to do, Miss Gu, please let me know at any time."

"Okay!" Gu Xiyue said with a smile: "Sister Liu, find a few sisters who are quick-witted and eloquent. They will be busy in the next few days."

Taking advantage of the free time, Zhao Yancheng went next door to call Qian Fu over, and the five of them chatted together for almost an hour.

When the two men returned, Zhao Yancheng and Qian Fu sent the people out of the yard. Their faces were filled with fighting spirit and they were full of anticipation for what they were going to do next.

When Gu Xiyue and Xiao Heng returned home, the two military officers had just helped Meixiang and Wei Lin move their things and had just left.

When Meixiang and Wei Lin saw their master coming back, they immediately told him that they didn't have enough money. Xiao Heng immediately took out another twenty-five taels of silver and gave it to Wei Lin. Wei Lin ran after him and stuffed the money into Xu Junye's hands halfway through.

Gu Xiyue and Xiao Heng went into the house to check the food, but they were shocked by the scene in front of them.

Xiao Heng's east room mainly stores food, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, etc., while the west room stores some necessary daily necessities.

Pots, pans, wooden barrels, wooden basins, hemp ropes, cloth, etc., basically all the necessities that can be used in daily life are available.

This is where all the stuff in the store is brought in.

It only cost seventy-five taels of silver!

These three generals are considered to have a conscience. Although there are many things they cannot do, they will never hesitate as long as they can do it.

Gu Xiyue felt that the money was well spent. At least the food could ensure that everyone in the Southern Wilderness would not starve to death for one or two months. As for one or two months later, they would definitely be able to think of other solutions by then.

She has the confidence.

That night, a fire suddenly broke out in the shop on the east side. When the fire first started, Xu Junye and Li Junye were sleeping, and everyone in the entire Southern Wilderness was asleep. The fire in the shop was so big that it burned all the cabinets and shelves inside. In the end, half of the roof collapsed.

Mr. Wang’s room was connected to the shop. Fortunately, he was not in the room because he had something to do, otherwise he might have been burned to death.

As the fire grew bigger, Xu Junye and Li Junye were suddenly awakened by the sound of burning and collapsing buildings. They picked up their clothes and ran to the yard, where they put on their clothes in the rain, still in shock as they watched the flames licking the house.

How could the store suddenly catch fire on such a rainy day?

The two looked at each other sleepily, and they already knew what was going on.

This fire was not started by itself, but by human beings!

The two men simply did not disturb the villagers and hid under a big tree in the southwest corner of the yard, feeling sad.

As for killing them all!

Even those who were on duty here were not spared.

When those people sent people to set the fire, didn’t they think that they were sleeping in the next room?

On this rainy night, the two generals were disheartened and felt that their practice of strictly following their duties in the past few years was ridiculous.

After the fire was extinguished, the rain washed away all the smell of burning, and the three shops were reduced to ruins. The blackened walls and half-burned beams were shocking to look at.

The next morning, Wang Hu, who lived in the east end, was the first to discover that the shop was burned. He had felt unwell when he woke up in the morning and wanted to go to see Lord Zhao Wangjun. As he got closer, he found the burned shop.

Suddenly, the whole person began to stagger. He had just heard last night that the imperial court did not care about their life or death, saying that all the things in the store would be gone once they were sold out. After one night, even the store was burned down!

He confirmed that the two soldiers were still alive. After one of the soldiers went out and had not returned, he ran to the village shouting to spread the news.

"The store caught fire last night and burned down everything! There's nothing left!"

Early in the morning, when no one was awake yet, Wang Hu ran and shouted, his voice echoing throughout the village from east to west.

Everyone had just received the news that they had been abandoned by the court yesterday, and now the shop has been burned down. Although they may not be able to afford it, as long as the shop is there, at least they still have some hope. If they think of a way, they can still get some money together to buy something.

Now, there is nothing!

The rain is still falling and the wheat cannot be harvested.

The imperial court ignored them and waited for them to starve to death.

Now the shop has been burned down again, and I have no hope at all!

God is going to take them away.

From that day on, no one went to the sloping fields to grab wheat. The little wheat they did grab was not harvested in good weather, so it was kept damp at home.

Everyone became discouraged and began to give up on themselves. They stopped saving food and went back to eating two meals a day, eating all the dry food and stored food.

This situation continued until seven days later, when all the stored food and dry food were gone and the sky cleared up completely.

We hadn't seen the sun for a long time. When we woke up in the morning and the sunlight shone on the land of the southern wilderness, everyone felt a little uncomfortable for a moment.

The temperature rose rapidly and the heat began to scorch the earth.

The villagers carried out the wheat piled up in the house and spread it in the bumpy yard. Some people went up the back slope to check the wheat, but it had all been soaked and rotted in the mud and could not be saved. Occasionally, there were some wheat straws that were not lying in the mud and had already turned moldy and black.

After the weather cleared up and the wheat was baked in the sun for a day and fermented overnight, the next morning everyone found that the wheat spread in the yard had sprouted and grown into green wheat seedlings.

All the wheat that had not been harvested on the mountain began to sprout.

Everyone laughed and cried, gathered with the villagers in the big square, talked to each other, recalled the good days in the capital, and looked forward to the road to the underworld, wondering whether they would be able to accompany each other.

Everyone was talking, crying, laughing, and the whole scene was filled with a strange atmosphere.

Basically, every household will not be able to make ends meet by tomorrow.

After they chatted for a while, Wang Hu suddenly said, "Fellow villagers, why are Zhao Yancheng and Qian Fu's families missing? And Granny Liu is missing too?"

Everyone then looked at each other, and it was no big deal, as they discovered that not only the three of them were missing, but also Xue Jun's family in the east, and Zhou Daying's family in the middle of the village were also missing.

"It's strange! When I came here just now, I clearly called Madam Zhou Daying, and everyone in the room answered. I thought they were all here."

The woman who lives next door to Zhou Daying said.

"Me too!"

The man next door to Xue Jun and Zhao Yancheng also said so.

These families are the backbone of the village on a daily basis. Not only are the men capable, but the women are also capable. Everyone will go to them when they have something that cannot be discussed.

Now all four families are gone!

This is strange!

"Do you think they went to see Miss Gu?" Wang Hu said cautiously, "After all, Miss Gu has a lot of ideas. Maybe they went to see her to find a solution."

Someone's eyes suddenly lit up, "Maybe it's true!"

"yes!"

Some people rekindled their hope for survival. "Miss Gu even discovered the mosquito repellent plant. Maybe she can really find a way to keep us alive."

"Oh!" The man who lived next door to Zhao Yancheng clapped his hands violently, wiped away the tears that had been streaming down his face, and stood up and said, "I remember seven or eight days ago, when it was getting dark, there were noises coming from Zhao Yancheng's house. Those noises weren't from Madam Liu and Zhao Yancheng, but from Madam Gu and her husband. It seemed like Mr. Qian was there too."

"Yes, yes, yes. There has been no one at Xue Jun's house these past few days. There are only people at night."

After comparing with each other, everyone basically came to the conclusion that these four families and Granny Liu must be at Miss Gu's house.

Wang Hu instantly became happy, "How about... let's go find Miss Gu!"

Just as everyone was about to agree, they saw a few people walking in from outside the venue, led by Miss Gu.

"No need to look for me, folks. I'll come here myself!"