Shuizhuzhou, Qianhua County.
The ground beneath my feet was cracked and covered with weeds. Even in April, when flowers were in full bloom, it was still dry and yellow, with no trace of green.
Loran Hill slowly landed on the ground and looked towards the end of the road. A small village was located on the hillside, and sporadic smoke could be seen.
She flew all the way from Minzezhou to the west, and today she happened to land in Shuizhuzhou, which is actually not far from Huiluzhou.
According to what Leng Yan, the member of Tuositang, said before, this place should gradually recover to be an area with fertile grass and water. Why does it look so desolate? The girl can't even see any animals as far as she can see.
Stepping on the dry ground, some of the soil blocks were very hard, and there was broken powder on the edges. It looked like it had not been moistened by rain or dew for a long time. There was also a smell of dried platycodon in the air.
As I walked into the small village on the hillside, I heard a burst of dog barking. A small black puppy was standing in front of a mud brick hut in the distance and barked at the strange visitor. Unfortunately, the sound sounded sharp and weak, and it didn't frighten people.
"Stop barking." The girl said softly, then looked at the hut behind the puppy and slowly approached.
This is the only house in the village with smoke coming out of cooking.
With a creaking sound, the old, leaky wooden door was pushed open, and an old woman with silver hair walked out slowly with a hunched back. She looked at Loran Hill outside, then picked up the puppy and stroked it a few times before calming the puppy's cries.
"Miss, you are..." She was a little puzzled. How could such a young girl appear in this remote place? And judging from her clothes, she didn't look like she was from an ordinary family.
"My name is Jialan. I came back from far away and want to know what happened here and why it is so desolate." Loran Hill said.
"Have you come back from out of town? Oh, yes, you must not be an ordinary person, otherwise you wouldn't be able to get here..." She muttered incoherently, with air leaking from her teeth. If it weren't for Loran Hill's sharp hearing, he probably wouldn't have understood what she was saying for a moment.
"Old man, a guest is coming." The old woman muttered for a long time, as if she didn't want to talk to Loran Hill, and then she carried the puppy into the house.
After a while, an old man with sparse hair but looking relatively healthy came out. He was wearing a thin brown linen shirt, and his body was thin, basically skin and bones. His face was full of wrinkles, giving him a shriveled feeling.
"Miss, who are you?" He looked at Loran Hill with a little hesitation.
Loran Hill simply repeated the sentence again, and then the old man opposite slowly answered.
"It's the young man who came back..." He sighed, then walked to a stone next to the hut with his crutches and sat down before speaking slowly.
"This is Lead County, um, that's what it used to be called."
"However, those who are young and strong and can run are all gone now." His voice was hoarse, like a dried reed.
"Why do you want to leave?" Loran Hill vaguely guessed the answer.
"There's no water. The upstream supply has been cut off... There's been no water for a long time... We used to be able to dig wells to get some water, but now the wells are almost dry."
"Many people left while they could still walk... Only my wife and I are old and can't run anymore, so we stay here..."
"Look around here, there used to be dozens of families, but now they are all gone..." He pointed at the abandoned houses in the village.
"There's no water... There's no water..." He said slowly, staring blankly at the empty house in the village, his body motionless.
"Sorry." Feeling that it was wrong to let such a thirsty and uncomfortable old man talk so much, Loran Hill bent down slightly, then thought for a moment and waved to the sky.
Amid the sound of flapping wings, a bird with fluffy feathers slowly flew down. In its claws was a large basket, which seemed to contain a lot of things.
Although he knew that the things in the basket were snacks that Dai Ju wanted to bring for herself, Loran Hill still opened the cover and took out one of the sealed jars, which contained clear dew.
"Would you like something to drink?" Loran Hill handed the old man a glass of water.
"Ah..." The old man slowly turned around, made a hoarse sound, and then looked at the clear water that suddenly appeared.
"You...you are a good person." He said as he trembled as he held the glass of water and drank it thirstily. Then, after drinking half of it, he suddenly put the glass down and turned his head to shout at the room next to him.
"Old woman, come on out! There's water to drink...there's water to drink."
The old woman who had just walked out slowly, holding the puppy in her arms, was mumbling something. She probably thought the old man was fainting.
When he saw the water pitcher handed to him by Loran Hill, his face was filled with surprise, and it took him a while to react.
"Thank you, girl, thank you..." She pursed her lips and kept muttering, then carefully held the water jug, as if afraid of dropping it, and carefully placed it on the wooden board in front of the door, then slowly poured it into her mouth and drank it sip by sip.
After the two old men finished drinking the water, they seemed to be much more energetic. At this time, they took the initiative to respond to Roland Hill's words.
"Thank you, young lady. Where did you come from? I was dizzy and didn't want to talk, so I hid in the house."
"It's okay, it's my fault." The girl shook her head and continued to ask what happened here.
After listening to the girl's question, the two of them slowly explained that three years ago, the scene here was just as Wei Lengyan said, slowly returning to the water town of the past, Shui Zhuzhou, lead red and water Zhuzhihua, the local cinnabar, rouge, and dyes were all very famous, and there were many people.
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