Just as the work at the dock was proceeding in an orderly manner, the iron ore mining team had already set out.
Wei Mingyuan and others finally arrived in Wei County.
Yizhou has nine counties, nine states and one hundred counties under its jurisdiction.
Wei County had ten counties, with its seat in Ye County.
If they wanted to go back, they had to pass through the three counties of Wei County before they could reach Xinxiang and enter Qinghe County.
Compared with Changshan County, it’s more of a detour.
However, since we have arrived in Wei County, we must search for the Wei clan relatives in the territory, just like we did when we passed through Changshan County before.
This is how it is in a large family. Relatives are everywhere, including married daughters of the Wei family, families related to the Wei family by marriage, students of the elders, former classmates and colleagues...
Wei Mingyuan had been away from home for many years and was not very familiar with the relatives in the clan. Most of the correspondence with the clan leader was about official business. Since he joined the army, his mother followed his second brother's family to Yuyang.
In the past, the interpersonal relationships within the clan were arranged by the wife...
Thinking of his wife, a trace of sadness flashed in Wei Mingyuan's eyes.
Wei Mingsheng was much more familiar with the situation than he was. His wife Yang and two children were by his side. Since his father and eldest son Wei Li lived in the clan, Yang would write letters and send some Liangzhou specialties back from time to time to care about the recent situation of his old father and eldest son.
The eldest son, Wei Li, had been naughty since childhood. Even when he was about to reach the age to enter officialdom, he was still childish all day long.
Seeing this, Wei Mingsheng had no choice but to keep him in the clan and let him study with his uncles.
The study conditions in Liangzhou are not as good as those in Yizhou. Yizhou is a place where literary style prevails. There are many well-known scholars in the Ming generation who did not become officials, but stayed in the clan to cultivate the next generation.
The Wei family's clan school is well-known in Yizhou, and it only accepts children of the Wei family. It is no worse than the academies outside. The school is divided into different age groups. In addition to enlightening the children, the uncles will also explain the ways of officialdom and analyze the situation in the court to the younger generation who are about to enter officialdom.
Therefore, many young men stayed in the clan to study.
Yang took the time to write down all the relatives she could think of, including those in Wei County, on a piece of paper and handed it to Wei Mingyuan. "Third uncle, please take a look. It may not be complete, but this is all I can think of."
Wei Mingyuan took it and read it quickly. He folded the list and put it in his arms. He said, "The largest number of people live in the capital, so let's go to Ye County first."
Thousands of people took a remote path and stopped near Ye County.
After waiting for a while, Wei Ling, who was responsible for leading the scouts to explore the way ahead, returned.
Wei Ling looked strange. "Father, we haven't seen any trace of the monster army near Ye County, but we found some people gathering in a villa two miles east of Ye County."
Wei Mingyuan tilted his head to look at him, "But are there survivors?"
"I don't know." Wei Ling shook his head. "Those people were wearing black scarves and holding weapons. They were stationed near the villa. We didn't dare get too close, but we could hear bursts of chanting coming from inside, as if they were praying."
In fact, this kind of thing is not surprising. They have met some desperate people before, praying to God for mercy and to let the world go.
There are many people worshipping Bodhisattvas and Buddhas.
This epidemic, unlike any other in the past, has overturned people's cognition. Originally, most people believed in Buddhism and religion, so there was nothing surprising about it.
Wei Mingyuan didn't want to get involved, as other people's beliefs had nothing to do with him, but they were passing by here and looking for someone. Since there were survivors in other villages, they naturally had to go and ask.
However... I don't know whether it is an enemy or a friend, so it is better to be cautious.
He ordered in a deep voice, "Wei Ling, Shi Le, you two lead a hundred soldiers to sneak into the vicinity of the villa, investigate the situation and report back in time."
A young man named Shi Le stepped out, clasped his fists and accepted the order with a solemn expression, "Yes!"
The two men led a hundred people to leave the team and approach the villa in the east.
Arriving near the villa, the group hunched over and hid in the bushes.
At present, the plants are growing lushly, and the scenery outside the villa is picturesque and lush with green. The grass tips that were originally a few in number have grown to half a person's height.
People hiding inside are not easily discovered.
Wei Ling squatted in the grass and quickly explained what he had just discovered to Shi Le beside him. "There are about twenty people on duty around the villa. They are very vigilant and are constantly patrolling the area."
"I just heard someone praying inside. I'm so far away that I can't make out the content of the prayer. I can only vaguely hear a uniform voice. I can make out a few words. It sounds like they're asking God for atonement, forgiveness, etc."
Shi Le's expression remained calm upon hearing this. "If we want to find out what's going on inside, it's best to capture someone and interrogate him. It's best if he's not an enemy."
They met too many different kinds of people along the way. Seeing that they were imperial troops, many people thought they were reinforcements and finally refused to let them leave no matter what.
Some local generals, seeing that they could not win over the general, even led their men to launch a surprise attack at night, attempting to kill the general and recruit the Wei family army into their own ranks.
Along the way, they not only have to guard against monsters everywhere, but also be alert to the survivors around them.
Later, the general had no choice but to take tough measures and suppress the rebellion with force.
So now when the Wei family army sees survivors on the road, they will avoid them if possible and try not to confront them.
I am most afraid that the same situation will happen in Ye County Villa.
Shi Le gestured to the right, and dozens of soldiers behind him left their positions and quietly moved to the right, intending to go around to the back of the villa and find a weak point in the defense as a breakthrough point.
He was about to stand up when Wei Ling raised his hand and grabbed his arm, whispering, "Wait, don't move. Something's going on."
Suddenly, the main gate of the villa opened, and a pretty boy holding a paper fan walked out. He was in his early twenties, looked frail, and was dressed like a scholar.
The pretty boy looked around vigilantly, and seeing that everything was calm outside, he gave a few instructions to the people outside the door, then turned around and went back to the villa.
Because they were far away, their conversation was not loud and could not be heard clearly. All they could see was the person guarding the door nodding and bowing, smiling, and watching the pretty boy return to the village.
Soon, bags of things wrapped in sacks were carried out of the village, taken along a small path to the other end, and thrown into a deep pit.
The eight people carrying the sacks kept cursing along the way, without even looking around, and went straight back the same way they came.
After everyone returned to the villa.
Wei Ling and his companions quickly bent down and moved in the bushes, going around to the deep pit to investigate the situation.
The sack at the bottom of the pit was easily cut open by a long knife, and the pale face of a dead person came into view.
There were corpses in the sacks.
The head of the corpse had been destroyed, but the whole body was visible. There was a big hole in the chest and the clothes were soaked in blood. It was obvious that the person did not die from mutation, but was killed by a knife.
The two men's expressions changed slightly. It was obvious that the people in the other village were not easy to deal with.
"Look at the clothes, the deceased must have been of high status when he was alive." Shi Le stared at the clothes and accessories on the corpse. It was obvious that ordinary people could not afford them, but the accessories were still there. Those people didn't seek wealth, they only wanted to kill people...
Why?
The two men discussed in low voices for a few words, and Shi Le stayed here to continue observing the situation, looking for an opportunity to capture people from other villages alive for interrogation.
Wei Ling led five people and returned early to ask his father for instructions.
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