Chapter 24 Opera Troupe
Zhou Yunshu's reputation skyrocketed after the team members practiced the Five Animal Exercises and rarely fell ill again.
They all knew that martial arts like the Five Animal Exercises should have been a secret family technique passed down from generation to generation, but Zhou Yunshu selflessly taught them to prevent them from getting sick and to make their bodies stronger.
In their eyes, Zhou Yunshu, who is so selfless and well-read, has gradually surpassed Du Laozhuang and become the person they trust the most.
Du Laozhuang was certainly aware of the changes in morale within the team, but he did not stop it.
In other words, Du Laozhuang was happy to see Zhou Yunshu's relationship with the team becoming closer.
Ever since they experienced the village being robbed, Zhou Yunshu and the others have been extremely cautious when traveling, fearing that they would be treated as fat sheep again.
But there was not much water left in their team. Even though everyone thought they had been frugal enough, there was less than one-third of water left and it was about to run out.
At this time, they had been on the road for two days and had not found any place to stop to replenish food and water.
Luzhou was even more desolate than they had imagined.
Living under the sun should make people feel warm, but the long journey made their legs feel like they were filled with lead. At the beginning, they could still feel pain and numbness, but later, all that was left was swelling and endless lifting and putting their feet down.
This is not the most despairing thing. The most despairing thing is that they can't utter a word, their lips are like dry land on the roadside, their throats are soot and burning, and they are about to be reduced to ashes by the sun.
Even so, no one said to slow down. They all wanted to leave this hopeless Luzhou as soon as possible.
"Auntie, did you hear any sound?" A hoarse voice sounded.
"What?"
"I..." The person who spoke closed his mouth. It was not because he didn't want to speak, but because he was too tired and didn't even have the strength to open his mouth.
"stop!"
The long line stopped at the head, and the people behind slowed down as the people in front did until they stopped.
Their team was much longer than before. Starting from Tongcheng, many lonely refugee teams followed Zhou Yunshu and her team to seek protection after hearing that it was difficult to go to the north.
In short, as long as they did not endanger the interests and safety of the original team, Du Lao Zhuang acquiesced.
Zhou Yunshu felt the car stop and walked out of the car carrying a bow and arrow and a machete.
The sun was setting. Zhou Yunshu looked towards the setting sun and saw an isolated courtyard not far away.
"It looks like a dilapidated temple."
Someone nearby said in surprise, "We have a place to rest tonight!"
"Yes, there is a ruined temple here, so there must be people living nearby. Then we can go buy some water."
The joyful voices did not last long, because the dilapidated temple was occupied by someone, a troupe of actors.
Although they had not been in Luzhou for long, they had not encountered any large groups. They did not know where the opera troupe in front of them came from, and they were even escorted by a bodyguard team.
Since they couldn't enter the dilapidated temple, everyone could only rest in an open space not far from the temple.
With so many refugees coming outside the dilapidated temple, the people inside were very scared, fearing that these refugees would turn into a mob and break in to rob them.
It was at this time that Wei Zhong started talking to the escort company that was escorting the opera troupe.
This opera troupe came from Xuzhou and was called Chuntai Troupe.
Fang Huiwen knew the name as soon as it was mentioned. Not only Fang Huiwen knew it, Feng Xujie knew it even better.
"This Chuntai Troupe is a famous opera troupe in Xuzhou, Yangzhou and other places. Liu Fuyi's performance of 'Peach Blossom Fan' is even more famous throughout Jiangnan!"
Last year, on his father’s birthday, he invited the Chuntai Troupe to perform. However, just one year later, the Chuntai Troupe was still as glorious as ever, but his father had passed away.
Wei Zhong also said, "I heard that the Chuntai Troupe was invited by the Meng family in Luzhou to celebrate the old lady's sixtieth birthday."
"The Meng family is indeed a wealthy family in Luzhou. Even in this year, they still spend a lot of money and go to such great lengths to bring a troupe to watch a play." A sarcastic and sour voice sounded.
Du Lao Er also said: "That's right, in order to ensure that the Chuntai team arrived in time, the Meng family hired two escort agencies to escort them."
"Without so many people escorting them, this troupe wouldn't dare to set foot in Luzhou."
Du Youtian on the other side said, "It would be great if I could hear them sing a song. I've never heard such a famous opera troupe sing a song!"
"Hahaha, just think about it, you can't just listen to the songs of the Chuntai troupe whenever you want!"
…
A night passed, and at dawn, the team made a fire to cook, and the sound of horse hooves gradually came out of the dilapidated temple.
Zhou Yunshu put on a thin jacket and came out, just in time to see the people from the troupe driving away in a carriage.
“So many horses!”
"Did you see that? My goodness! That carriage is actually pulled by two horses!"
"You're surprised by what you've seen. I've heard that some rich people have horses pulled by three or four horses!"
Amid the voices around her, Zhou Yunshu looked at the departing troupe. Perhaps they felt that it was safer for the troupe to be escorted by the escort team, so some of the people who had initially followed Zhou Yunshu and her team directly caught up with the troupe.
Zhou Yunshu and her group set off almost an hour after the troupe left.
They had originally thought that the troupe had left early, and since they were all traveling by horse-drawn carriage, they would definitely not encounter them again. However, that afternoon, Zhou Yunshu discovered the bodies of the troupe members who had left earlier on their way.
The red blood dried on the dusty ground, and flies and some unknown insects flew around the corpse, as if enjoying a feast.
It is unknown how long these people have been dead, and their bodies began to emit an unpleasant odor under the exposure to the sun.
Before getting close to the group of corpses, the person at the front of the team stopped and put on the masks that had been made by the team earlier.
Someone in the team had died of a cold before, and Zhou Yunshu took the opportunity to explain the measures to prevent the disease. In order to survive, most people in the team remembered them.
Of course, there are also people who don’t take it seriously, but they are still forced to wear it by the elders in their family and people around them.
After all, if someone in the team really gets infected with the disease, the entire team will not be spared.
The troupe's luggage, carriages, and other belongings were nowhere to be found, and the number of deaths did not match the number Wei Zhong had seen in the ruined temple before. It was likely that some people had been captured or had escaped.
The corpses on the ground, especially those of the escort team, made everyone in the team very alert.
Being able to kill so many people from the escort teams means that the murderers are at least stronger than these two escort teams.
As Du Laozhuang commanded the team to bypass the corpses on the ground and continue forward, everyone in the team, including children aged six or seven, held weapons in their hands.
Even without weapons and farm tools, everyone has a sharpened wooden stick.
The atmosphere in the team was depressing, even the usual sounds of children joking had disappeared, for fear that the bandits who had previously killed this group of people would suddenly jump out from somewhere.
The tense atmosphere did not ease until the team was about to stop before nightfall.
As soon as the luggage was put down and the fire was lit, the sound of horse hooves came quickly from far away, and each sound seemed to kick people's hearts.
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