Lu Dingtian stepped forward and knocked on the door. As the head of the village and the oldest member of the group, he was the most suitable person to handle this diplomatic task.
Before long, an old voice answered from behind the door, "Who is it? So late?"
"Brother, we are refugees passing through this area. It's getting late, and we see a village nearby. We wonder if we could ask for your help?"
The bolt was heard falling from the inside, and a moment later it creaked open.
An old man with a white beard emerged from inside. He had a cloth wrapped around his head, but his complexion was ruddy. His clothes were short, made of yellow linen, with several patches on them.
He glanced at the group of people, forced a smile, and said slowly,
“There are still a dozen or so households in our village, but the rest have all gone south. Only the houses with fires lit are still inhabited. There are quite a few of you here, so you can go to the south end of the village. There are many empty houses there, and they are fairly tidy. It's better to make do for one night than to sleep in the open.”
As he spoke, he called out to someone inside, saying he was going to take people over to see the house.
An old woman's back was visible in the window; she coughed a few times, urging him to come back soon.
Lu Dingtian kept thanking him, saying he was really sorry to have called him out so late to show him the way.
The white-bearded old man was quite tall and agile, and soon led them to the south end of the village.
As he said, the houses here were indeed all empty and connected together. For these refugees, it was actually quite good!
After settling everyone in, the white-bearded old man glanced at them, then bid farewell to the village head and leisurely returned home.
For some reason, Qin San Niang felt that he had glanced back at her several times, but she didn't know if it was just her imagination!
She didn't have time to think too much at the moment, because the children were already hungry and sleepy, and she herself was starving. She had to fill the adults' stomachs first.
Qin San Niang and her group chose a house, which happened to have three rooms.
With no one else watching, Liu decided to treat everyone to a meal. She and Wu steamed rice and also cut up some braised meat to steam.
"Mother, let's take out a few of the eggs we bought last time and make an egg drop and wild vegetable soup?"
Liu nodded and accepted it without a doubt. She was already used to the presence of this deity.
Wu Chunhua hadn't expected that she had bought eggs in Guocheng last time, so she quickly and carefully held them in her hands. These were precious eggs, and she would be heartbroken if they broke.
Each of the children was given a piece of candy and made to sit on the ground and help with the fire.
There were no pots on the stove in the kitchen, presumably the people had brought them with them when they fled. They could only build a makeshift stove with stones and set up a fire to cook, which was not difficult and was something they were very familiar with.
While cooking, Qin San Niang quickly went to tidy up her sleeping area.
Dust was everywhere, so we only stayed one night and wiped clean the areas that were needed.
While the Qin family was enjoying their meal, Zhao Juhua next door could only smell the aroma and nibble on her pancakes, along with a few sips of rice porridge—that was considered a decent meal.
Of course, this is good compared to her past self. Compared to her neighbor's, Zhao Juhua felt that life was tasteless.
She glared at the neighbors with resentment, thinking, "Let you eat, eat, eat! Let's see how long you can keep eating!" The thought that soon all of Qin San Niang's grain would be hers filled her with excitement, and even the cornbread in her hand tasted delicious.
The cornbread was given to her by the triangular-eyed constable; it was her payment. Thinking of that constable, Zhao Juhua felt a pang of soreness, but if she could get a good amount of food after the job was done, she felt it would be worth it.
After finishing her meal, Qin San Niang finally felt better.
The children had all finished washing up and were playing on the kang (a heated brick bed). Perhaps they were sleepy, because they all snuggled together and fell asleep.
Several adults were still busy around the fire, preparing to roast the meat until it was dry so that it could be stored for longer.
"Madam Qin, I feel there's something strange about this place!" Gu Qingshan said seriously.
This was a hunter's intuition, an intuition that had saved him many times, so Gu Qingshan had to be cautious.
Liu and Wu Chunhua exchanged a glance. Strange? They had only ever seen the white-bearded old man, so how could they have noticed something strange?
Qin San Niang continued to smoke and roast the dried meat.
"Of course there's something strange about it. This white-bearded old man looks like a martial arts expert. He's burly and walks steadily, not like an old farmer. As for the other dozen or so households, it's hard to say who they are! They led us here, and behind them are deep mountains. To escape this village, we'll have to pass by those dozen or so households, unless we go to the back of the mountain."
“It’s not easy to walk in these mountains at night, and it would be troublesome if there were wild animals. They figured we wouldn’t be able to get out of this village.”
"That's right, so they'll probably make their move tonight, it'll be nothing more than killing and robbing."
Gu Qingshan frowned. Anyone who dared to plot against him had a death wish! He decided to go and take a look.
Knowing yourself and your enemy will ensure victory in every battle. Besides, he didn't have Gu Qingshan's skills, so he nodded.
Before Liu and the others could react, they saw Ah Zhi's father quickly disappear into the darkness.
"Third Sister, what should we do? Why did we even come in?" Wu Chunhua asked, puzzled. Why didn't we just turn around and leave?
"Oh dear, how could we have known there was something fishy going on here? If we hadn't followed us in, we probably would have ended up in a fight right there!" Liu said angrily.
Liu's words made sense. If they didn't come in, not only would it be difficult to persuade the villagers, but the thieves might already be lying in ambush. If they were to have a head-on confrontation, wouldn't many people be lost? Although they had an oxcart and such, it might not be possible to break out in such a chaotic situation.
"Alright, Mother and Sister Chunhua, don't worry. Let's pack our things first. We'll wake Fatty up later, and if anything comes up, we'll leave early."
Wu Chunhua quickly agreed, and Liu also got up to tidy up. Although she was flustered, her movements were still orderly. What terrible things hadn't she seen along the way?
In less than half an hour, Gu Qingshan quietly pushed open his own door.
"Madam Qin, your guess was right. There's something strange about this village."
It turned out that Gu Qingshan had sneaked into the house of the old man with the white beard. There were not only the old couple, but also three adult men. They were plotting to take them all out, and their method was to drug them while everyone was asleep in the dead of night, then leave them to their own devices.
Gu Qingshan's heart skipped a beat; this was a den of thieves!
Just then, someone knocked on the door again. Gu Qingshan hurriedly jumped down from the roof. The old man with the white beard had a dog, so he dared not enter the yard, fearing he might alert the culprit. However, as he fled, he unexpectedly saw the triangular-eyed man—the same constable from the dilapidated temple!
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