Chapter 3: Ran Away
On a spring night, the moonlight was cold and silent.
In Zhoujia Village, the noise of the donkey cart startled a burst of barking dogs.
The villagers here are different from those in other places. Even in the middle of the night, when they hear a noise, some people will quickly light a lamp and come out to check, showing their unusual vigilance.
The girl, hiding in a pile of funeral paper in the donkey cart, looked at the four or five lights that lit up one after another and said in a low voice, "Just drive the cart and don't look around."
"That's Lao Shuan's car, right? Why would he go out in the middle of the night?"
"You may not know this, but Lao Shuan made a fortune this time... He said it was a rare and valuable commodity."
"Tsk, Lao Shuan has had really good luck in recent years..."
"I just lack a son."
"They have one at home! Find a wife in two years, and when the grandson is born, he will be yours!"
A few men hunched their necks and rolled up their sleeves while chatting and laughing. Then they shouted in the direction of the donkey cart ahead: "Lao Shuan! Why are you out delivering the goods in the middle of the night?"
"Yes, be careful of running into ghosts along the way! Lao Shuan, do you want to go with us?"
In the darkness of the night, the driver froze and said in a trembling voice: "What...what should I do..."
The voice from the car behind him said, "Go, hurry up."
"Um…!"
The boy, wearing an old lambskin hat of a middle-aged man and wrapped in a thick cotton coat to hide his body in the night, felt his heart about to jump out. He could only stare straight ahead and drive the donkey cart faster.
"What happened to Lao Shuan?"
"Why don't you say anything?"
Several people looked at each other and their expressions changed immediately.
"Quick, go to his house and take a look!"
"Sixth brother, follow me!"
Soon, the sound of gongs could be heard in the village, which could only be heard when there was a flood in other places.
They are not well-trained soldiers, but the principle of "all suffer if one suffers" is ingrained in their bones, and their level of vigilance is far beyond that of ordinary people - when faced with interests, especially interests that come from illegal sources and without work, people are often very spontaneous and do not need to be learned or taught.
"Quick! Catch up with them!"
In addition to the two people who ran after them at the beginning, someone soon caught up on a mule.
Listening to the sound getting closer and closer behind him, and thinking of the terrible consequences after being caught, the boy's forehead and palms were full of sweat, and there was only one voice in his mind - it's true, it's impossible to escape!
The next moment, he suddenly felt a wind blowing from behind.
The girl hiding among the funeral objects suddenly stood up, jumped up, and sat on the wooden board beside the boy. She grabbed the donkey rope from the boy with one hand, and raised the whip with the other hand, saying, "Hold on tight. If you fall, I won't come back to save you."
The donkey cart suddenly accelerated and rushed forward.
The boy held on to the board tightly. All he could see was the girl's half-tied ponytail flying in the wind and the yellow and white paper money stuck on her shoulders being blown off.
Seeing that the donkey cart in front was getting faster and faster, the people on mules chasing it became increasingly angry.
"This is... a donkey cart?!"
He runs so fast, let alone him, even the donkey itself would dare to believe it!
Due to the huge speed difference, the driver in front chose a detour that confused the vision. After chasing for half an hour, he finally lost the person completely.
There was a lot of noise in Zhoujia Village. Most of the villagers had woken up and ran towards the headman's house one after another.
"Laoshuan's house is full of blood!"
"A half-dead little girl... How is that possible!"
"Why hasn't the third sister come back yet? We can't really let her run away!!"
"I just don't believe it. No one has ever been able to escape from here alive!"
"Li Zheng, what do you think we should do?"
"Why are you in such a hurry? If you can leave Zhoujia Village, you can also leave Hezhou?" The man in a coat sitting in a chair looked impatient. "Although it won't cause any big trouble, it will be troublesome enough! I will go to the city to make arrangements as soon as the sun rises. Each family will give ten taels of silver first, and Lao Shuan will make up for it later."
Although there were some reluctant people among the crowd, they had no choice but to follow after complaining a few words.
The lame woman who was pouring water for everyone listened to these words and pursed her cracked lips.
…
Did he really escape? The boy sat on the donkey cart, sweating profusely, and looked back blankly in the direction of Zhoujia Village, which he had long since lost sight of.
"Did we...really escape?" The boy asked cautiously, looking at the girl's unreal profile.
He didn't dare to have such a dream for a long time.
I had this dream when I was young. After waking up, he would be covered in wounds and would always wipe away tears for a long time in the dark.
But the girl looking forward said, "Not yet."
The boy was stunned.
The girl glanced at the official road ahead, determined the direction, and headed east.
As daybreak approached, the donkey cart slowly stopped in front of the city gate.
The girl looked up at the words "Hezhou" on the top of the city wall.
When she first heard the couple speak, she could tell they spoke with a Hezhou accent.
She had memorized the map of Dasheng since she was a child, and she had also been to Hezhou before, so she was able to determine the official road into the city based on her memory.
So, the world is still the same as before, everything is the same as before, except that she "resurrected" in another body.
After the fifth watch, the city gate slowly opened.
The guard at the city gate yawned and began his day's patrol.
There were already quite a few people queuing outside the city gate. Most of those entering the city at this hour were small vendors rushing to the morning market. Two young men, one big and one small, who were dressed in ordinary clothes and were pulling funeral items on a donkey cart, were not noticeable in the crowd.
The guard waved his hand and let the car pass without checking the items in the car.
The girl lowered her eyes as she listened to the two guards laughing and chatting about trivial matters.
Although in non-wartime or critical moments, the entry and exit of the city by the people under the jurisdiction of the state does not need to be too strict, but the lax attitude of these guards shows that the governance of Hezhou is too lax and there is no law and order at all.
No wonder.
After entering the city, it was already dawn.
"Go buy ten buns." The girl took out a piece of silver and handed it to the boy: "I only eat meat buns."
The boy looked at the bun stand she pointed at, walked over cautiously, handed over the change with both hands, and said very seriously: "Ten...meat buns."
"Here!" When he brought the bun back to the girl, there was an inexplicable light in his eyes, as if he had accomplished something extremely unattainable and remarkable.
The girl took the kettle from the donkey cart, poured some water to wash her hands, picked up a bun and started to bite into it.
The buns are hot, and eating them makes you know clearly that you are still alive.
Only those who are alive can eat.
It feels so good to be alive.
The girl who ate five buns in one go looked at the boy standing there motionless, thought for a moment, picked up a bun, and told him: "This is a bun, something you can eat."
The boy was stunned.
It’s not like he didn’t know that it was a bun…
"Can I...can I eat too?" he asked uncertainly.
Meeting the pair of ever-cautious eyes, the girl nodded and handed the bun to him.
The girl's fingertips were slender and white, more delicate than the soft buns in her hands, and glowed softly in the morning light.
The boy looked at her for a long time before reaching out to take it.
While eating the buns, the girl and a passerby found out the location of Liuke Lane.
…
"Have you remembered how to say it?"
The boy suppressed his uneasiness and nodded: "I'll remember it."
There are only three households in Liuke Lane.
It is the only place outside the gate that does not have the name of the house on the plaque, but only the four words "Jingfeng Bieyuan".
The boy led the donkey cart to the back door of the villa, swallowed nervously, and mustered up the courage to go forward and knock on the door.
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(End of this chapter)
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