"Wangcai, come here."
Upon hearing Lu Qiqi's call, Wangcai ran towards them and finally stopped at Lu Qiqi's feet.
Lu Qiqi stroked the fur on Wangcai's head, and Wangcai squinted its eyes, as if enjoying it.
"Give this to the soldier who fed you meat."
As she spoke, Lu Qiqi took out a letter from her sleeve and had Wangcai put it in his mouth.
"Go."
Lu Qiqi patted Wangcai on the back.
In an instant, Wangcai transformed into a sharp sword and shot out.
Li Changlong stared at Wangcai running out of the village and exclaimed in surprise, "It can still recognize people?"
"Of course not." Lu Qiqi said calmly, watching Wangcai's figure disappear.
"Then why did you say that..."
Lu Qiqi said, "I wrote the recipient's name on the envelope."
With a wolf delivering the message, there's no need to worry about it being stolen by unscrupulous people.
As fellow officers and soldiers, upon seeing the envelope, they would certainly hand it over to the recipient.
Looking at the bright torches outside the fence and the soldiers in armor, Lu Qiqi could only hope that the villagers of Tianxin Village would not make the same mistake again.
"Let's go," Lu Qiqi said.
The two returned to the ancestral hall, where Lu Da was questioning the villagers about where they had fled to.
There are many roads leading out of the village, but most of them are heavily guarded, turning the village into a cage. Escaping is not only difficult but also extremely dangerous.
"Brother Lian, please tell me."
Lu Da was exhausted from asking questions, but the other party remained unmoved, adhering to the three no's principle.
No answer, no response, no acceptance.
Lu Da had no other choice but to say, "You've seen with your own eyes what happened to Tian Shui Village next door, so I don't need to tell you more."
Upon hearing the words "Tianshui Village," Brother Lian's expression finally softened.
Tianshui Village was the first village to discover the plague. The government sent troops to control it, which frightened the villagers into fleeing in all directions.
What was the final outcome?
Destroy the village!
The fire burned for three days and three nights, and the acrid smell lingered in the sky for seven days before it finally dissipated.
Having been in Tianxin Village for so long, Lu Qiqi knew more or less about the reasons behind it all, and she pointed out incisively, "If we don't speak up, the past of Tianshui Village will be the future of Tianxin Village."
Look at all these old and young people trapped in the ancestral hall, unable to leave. Are they really going to be burned to the ground?
Upon hearing that the fire had completely breached the defenses, Brother Lian struggled for a moment before saying, "They fled to the deep pool to the west."
Deep pool, no wonder the ancestral hall was filled with women, children and the elderly, even three-year-old children were left behind.
The reason is that these villagers chose to escape by water, and with women, children and the elderly along, they were too conspicuous and could not escape at all.
"Foolish!" Lu Da exclaimed, jumping up and down in panic upon hearing the words "deep pool." "Is that a place we can go to?!"
It was no use saying anything now, so Lu Da immediately rushed out of the ancestral hall.
Lu Qiqi and the others also caught up.
After thinking for a moment, Brother Lian led the villagers toward the deep pool.
On the way to Deep Pool, Lu Qiqi asked Zhao Xiaodong, "What kind of place is Deep Pool?"
For some reason, the name Deep Pool instinctively gave her a bad feeling.
As Zhao Xiaodong walked, he said, "The Deep Pool was originally just an ordinary pool. About five years ago, Tianxin Village was flooded, and the pool became bottomless."
It was for this reason that some villagers discovered a passage leading from the deep pool to the outside, but only those with good swimming skills could cross it.
Lu Qiqi nodded, and suddenly a thought flashed through her mind, "Xiao Dong, have someone go find a rope."
"Why are you looking for a rope?" Zhao Xiaodong asked, puzzled.
Lu Qiqi didn't explain further, only instructing Zhao Xiaodong to do as she was told, since it was best not to use the rope unless absolutely necessary.
So Zhao Xiaodong called for someone to go back and find the rope.
After passing through a bamboo grove, you will reach a deep pool.
Holding torches high, the light shines on the bamboo forest, creating dappled shadows.
The villagers standing on the bank of the deep pool were startled by the sudden light and scattered to hide in the bamboo forest.
Lu Da shouted, "Fellow villagers, don't do anything foolish, hurry back home!"
Upon hearing Lu Da's voice, some of the villagers who had been hiding slowly stood up and walked into the firelight.
Some villagers, clinging to a glimmer of hope, remained motionless, hiding in the shadows, hoping to find another way out of the village after everyone had left.
Lu Da lost patience and continued trying to persuade him. He saw a familiar figure and asked, "Da Niu, did anyone go into the water when you came here?"
Da Niu was suddenly called out, and his heart tightened. He stammered, "Big brother, I...I..."
"If you still consider me your older brother, then stop talking nonsense!"
After saying that, Da Niu knew he couldn't hide it any longer and had to admit, "Nine people went down."
When Lu Da heard that someone had gone into the water, his eyes widened and veins bulged on his forehead.
"They said they would send someone up to tell us once they found the cave entrance. But half an hour has passed and they haven't seen anyone come back."
Da Niu's voice grew softer and softer, while Lu Da's anger, which was welling up from within, grew stronger and stronger.
After hearing the whole story, Lu Qiqi immediately said, "Now is not the time to hold people accountable. Let's go and take a look."
A large group of people surrounded the deep pool.
The pond wasn't big, about the size of a small thatched house.
The villagers held torches close to the edge of the pool, trying to use the light to see what was at the bottom.
Unfortunately, the pool was too deep to be illuminated, so it was impossible to know what was going on below.
Lu Da thought for a moment, realizing that things couldn't continue like this, and said while taking off his shirt buttons, "I'll go down and see what's going on."
“Brother Lu,” Lu Qiqi suddenly called out to Lu Da, “It’s getting late, it’s too dangerous to go into the water rashly.”
This deep pool is bottomless, not to mention whether the entrance can be found.
Even if we could find it, so much time has passed.
If the villagers escaped, they should already be outside.
In other words, if they didn't escape, and half an hour had passed, there would be no chance to come back up.
Da Niu panicked. Of the nine people who went down, one was his cousin. If they hadn't escaped, and he didn't go down to rescue him now, they would be doomed.
Da Niu's voice was trembling with tears as he said, "Big brother, my brother, my brother went down there, what do we do, what do we do!"
"What are we going to do? You still have the nerve to ask what we're going to do!" Lu Da said with a look of exasperation. "Now you know you're scared? It's too late!"
Lu Da turned around and said, "Miss Lu, I understand what you're saying, but I have to go down and check right now, otherwise I'll have a guilty conscience for the rest of my life."
Seeing that she couldn't stop Lu Da, Lu Qiqi took out a dagger and handed it to him, saying, "In that case, this is a luminous pearl. You can wear it for lighting."
Lu Da took the dagger, but before he could thank him, he heard Zhao Xiaodong say, "The rope is here."
With everything prepared, Lu Da tied the rope around his waist, held the dagger in his mouth, and jumped into the deep pool with a splash.
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