After passing through the old forest, Lu Qiqi and the others headed directly to Yushan Town.
From here to the border, it's all official roads; you can't reach the border from the wild mountains and forests.
The group entered the city smoothly, and the city gates of Yushan Town were wide open.
There wasn't a soul in sight in the city; it was even more desolate than when Lu Qiqi first entered the city.
The ground was littered with things that people couldn't take with them when they fled the famine.
These things quickly became worn and tattered under the scorching sun, covered with a thick layer of dust.
Walking through the deserted city at the end of June, under the bright sunshine, I felt a sense of desolation.
A bamboo lantern fell from the eaves and rolled to a stop in front of Gu Shaoqing's horse.
The horse's hooves stepped over the lanterns and continued forward. Gu Shaoqing couldn't help but ask, "Have all the people in the city fled Yushan?"
Li Changlong, driving the cart, paused for a long time after hearing Gu Shaoqing's words, and said, "Natural disasters and man-made calamities have caused Yushan Town to not receive a drop of rain for two years, and the fields have yielded no harvest."
The border town was about to fall. The Tartars were cruel by nature and committed all sorts of atrocities; staying meant certain death, so they all fled.
"but..."
Li Changlong didn't finish his sentence, and Gu Shaoqing understood what he wanted to say.
The old forest was filled with rotting corpses; none of these people had survived.
Thinking of this, Gu Shaoqing was somewhat speechless. He led the team to speed up their advance and did not say another word along the way.
After leaving Yushan Town, we traveled for another three hours and passed by a post station.
The inn's gate was tightly shut, and weeds and leaves piled up in front of it, indicating that it had been neglected for a long time.
But after passing this point, it will take another six hours to reach the next post station, which will be around midnight.
It would be better to stay here, pack up, go inside and rest, and continue our journey tomorrow.
Gu Shaoqing dismounted and pushed open the door of the post station. A stench of decay hit him.
Through the light shining through the gate, two corpses could be clearly seen lying on the ground, as if they had been hacked to death.
It's unclear how long these two corpses have been lying here, and the inn's doors are tightly shut and poorly ventilated.
The stench almost made Gu Shaoqing faint, so he had no choice but to close the gate of the post station to keep the smell inside.
Seeing that there was still no movement outside, Lu Qiqi lifted the curtain of the carriage and asked, "Young manager, what's wrong?"
Gu Shaoqing walked to the carriage and briefly told Lu Qiqi about the situation at the post station.
Upon hearing this, Lu Qiqi frowned and glanced at the banners hanging outside the post station.
He said calmly, "In that case, let's rest outside today."
I've lived in the old forests, let alone on the official road.
Gu Shaoqing thought for a moment and said, "I remember there's a village up ahead, shall we go and take a look?"
Having a village would be great!
Lu Qiqi nodded quickly.
After walking for about fifteen minutes, just as Gu Shaoqing had said, a village appeared before them.
Led by Gu Shaoqing, they headed to the village.
The village didn't look very big, and there wasn't even a gatehouse, so it probably wasn't a wealthy village.
Just when everyone thought the village must be deserted, they saw a woman dressed in loose clothes, leading a child of about five or six years old, walking past them expressionlessly.
The child had wide, round eyes and would occasionally turn around to look at them.
"There are people in this village! That's really strange!"
One of the bodyguards in the group said with slight surprise.
Lu Qiqi heard the sound and lifted the carriage curtain, but the mother and child were long gone; she couldn't even see a trace of their clothes.
However, she was also curious, as the Tartars' iron hooves had once trampled on this land when they fled famine.
How did these villagers survive?
Lu Qiqi would never believe that the Tartars had suddenly become kind-hearted, since they were capable of swallowing human flesh.
Do you think those beasts will let the villagers go?
It's something that's impossible even to a child.
As their group walked towards the village, they quickly attracted the attention of the villagers.
A lean old man stopped them.
"Who are you? What are you doing in our village?"
Gu Shaoqing quickly dismounted, bowed to the old man, and said kindly, "Sir, we are a caravan escort, passing through a village, and would like to ask for lodging for the night. I wonder if you could do us a favor?"
The old man looked suspicious, his sharp eyes scanning the entire procession. Seeing the two or three carriages and dozens of tall horses, he had no further doubts.
"I am the village chief of this village, and my surname is Ruan."
"If that's the case, then come with me."
Gu Shaoqing was overjoyed to receive permission and nodded his thanks, "Thank you, Village Chief Ruan."
Village Chief Ruan led the way, and the group soon arrived at a house.
The room was very spacious, a large open space, seemingly used to store firewood, with some scraps of firewood on the floor.
An empty house is better than one outside where you have to worry about the wind and rain.
When Lu Qiqi entered the house, Gu Shaoqing thanked Village Chief Ruan again.
Village Chief Ruan waved his hand dismissively and walked out of the house.
As they passed Lu Qiqi, the two exchanged a glance and silently brushed past each other.
As Village Chief Ruan walked out the door, Lu Qiqi watched his unsteady legs until his figure gradually disappeared from sight.
Li Changlong called Lu Qiqi twice, and only on the third call did he see her turn around.
He asked in confusion, "Qiqi, what's wrong? What's outside that's so captivating you?"
Lu Qiqi gave a faint smile to reassure Li Changlong, "It's nothing, I was just lost in thought. Second brother, what do you need me for?"
"I see," Li Changlong thought, realizing his purpose. "Qiqi, there's no bed here. It's better to stay in the carriage than to sleep on the floor."
Tonight, I'll stay outside the carriage and watch over you; we won't go inside to sleep.
What Li Changlong said was true; the carriages outside also needed someone to keep watch at night.
Lu Qiqi did not refuse Li Changlong's suggestion.
As it was getting dark, Gu Shaoqing bought some firewood from the villagers.
With the fire burning, Li Changlong placed a pot on it.
Before long, the dried meat rice was cooked.
The roasted chicken that was previously used to worship the Chen family was saved for dinner, as we had to travel during the day and only had some dry food to eat.
Therefore, Li Changlong divided it into small pieces, heated it in a pot, and then it was ready to eat.
Pheasant meat is scarce, and a group of people can't even share many pieces.
Lu Qiqi ate the dried meat rice and found it very delicious.
After dinner, Gu Shaoqing, as was customary, arranged for the bodyguards to keep watch at night.
Lu Qiqi also prepared to return to the carriage to rest, so that she would be in good spirits to continue her journey tomorrow.
Before she even got into the car, she sensed a shadow in the corner.
She turned around abruptly and shouted sharply, "Who's there!"
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