Chapter 212: Ten Days in Texas
Bei Jingchu jumped down from the kang and said, "Let's go clean up the cellar, pile up some warm things, and turn everything that can be made into dry food into dry food and put it in there."
"Think of some way to conceal the entrance to the cellar."
Then he took action.
......
On the street outside, far away, there was a Tunil soldier guarding the place and not allowing the people to go out.
The neighbors of the courtyard were a warm-hearted family. From a distance that was not too far away, an auntie greeted them warmly.
"Everything has been taken away. This winter is going to be tough."
Ah Yu smiled and replied, "But my life is saved and my family is still together. But I need to eat, so I have to borrow food from others."
"Yes, in the future, I don't know how many years it will take to pay off the debt I owed this winter."
"I have saved a lot of meat and grain, but I don't want to eat it normally, so I am waiting to have a good New Year!"
"If I had known this would happen, I would have saved that bite."
"Oh, I'm really greedy!"
"I hope the official who comes to Tunning is a good person, so that we can live in peace and not fight anymore."
As soon as you hear it, you know that this family is simple-minded and they must have really handed over all the money and food.
Maybe most people are just as simple.
Bei Jingchu was filled with worries. A warm finger touched her brow and rubbed it.
It’s Nian’er.
"Your brows have never been smoothed since today."
On the second day, the Tuning soldiers, who had said they would leave without receiving any money, came again.
There were cries of pain from the next door: "Soldier! Soldier! We paid everything yesterday. We really have no money left!"
"ah!!!!"
Bei Jingchu's ears were covered, and Ayu held one of her and Xin'er's hands each, covering one ear and burying the other ear in her arms.
Wait quietly for the storm to pass.
It's their turn next.
Several officers and soldiers broke into the courtyard and rummaged through the drawers and cabinets.
The remaining property was also looted.
When one of them stepped on the dirt in the cellar, Bei Jingchu's heart jumped.
In the end, the few people went around in a circle without discovering their real secret.
Perhaps they were full of what they found, so they did not kill anyone. Instead, one of them found a handkerchief because their superior had told them to wipe the faces of these children. The eldest daughter of the Emperor of the Yue Dynasty is trapped in Dezhou.
"If we find her, we can negotiate directly with the Emperor of Yue and ask him to cede five cities to us."
A dirty cloth that had been used on countless faces was placed on Bei Jingchu's face.
She endured the discomfort and held her breath.
The other person took out a wrinkled piece of drawing paper, compared it, stared at it for a while, and shook his head at his companion.
So they turned their target to Xin'er.
After they were sure that it was neither of them, they left.
After the people left, Ah Yu lost his strength and fell to the ground.
Xin'er's mouth clenched and she was about to cry out, but A Yu covered her mouth with his hand.
"Hey, baby, be good and be quiet."
"You can't cry now. If they hear you crying, they might be attracted back. Do you understand?"
Xin'er's eyes became even more frightened, but she nodded and stopped crying.
In dangerous times, even ignorant children will behave well.
But fortunately, there don't seem to be many people who know how to hide.
Maybe he was worrying the same way as Aunt Yu did yesterday: What if he was caught lying?
The wailing sounds continued, but they were getting quieter and quieter.
It means the distance is getting farther and farther.
Ah Yu and Yan Wei went out to check the situation, but the aunt next door asked in surprise: "How come you are okay?"
She pointed at Yan Wei and asked, "How come he's fine?"
On the ground was the body of an old man, probably her husband.
The different experiences made the aunt's heart unbalanced, like a demon, as if she wanted to eat their flesh alive.
But in the end she did nothing and just cried loudly over the corpse with the children.
Separation of life and death is everywhere.
Inside the house, Lei Nian'er held Bei Jingchu's hand, as if looking for a backbone. She asked helplessly, "Sister, what should we do now?"
Bei Jingchu covered his forehead with his other hand. "First they robbed the money. After the robbery, if they want to stop the war, it's time to end it."
“But I don’t think that’s possible.”
"Burning, looting, and robbing have always been together."
She stood up and said, "Come on, everyone hide in the cellar!"
The third and fourth days were both very quiet.
But the people living nearby had no food, and they were starving, and their faces were pale and their bodies were thin.
Apart from Bei Jingchu, Xin'er, the youngest, started crying: "Let me out, let me out!"
"It's clear that there's nothing wrong outside, but it's cold and stuffy in here!"
Ah Yu slapped her hard on the face and said angrily, "Be quiet!"
Xin'er covered her face, feeling aggrieved and surprised.
"Mother..."
"What time is it? You're still acting uncomfortable. I'm just too used to you."
"I'm right, just listen to Yangyang. Just wait for a few days and don't make trouble for me!"
Xin'er endured the discomfort and complained aggrievedly: "Why do I have to listen to her? Whatever she says is what it is."
"I'm really uncomfortable. Why can't you just listen to me?"
At this point, reasoning with the child was pointless, so Ah Yu continued to suppress her with force and did not allow her to cry.
Xin'er's resentment and dissatisfaction grew stronger and stronger, and her dissatisfaction with Bei Jingchu's decision reached its peak.
She had already secretly decided in her heart that she would run away tomorrow.
On the fifth day, Xin'er huddled in her mother's arms, trembling as she listened to the noises coming from above, and no longer had the slightest thought of going out.
There were sounds of searching footsteps coming from above the cellar.
I don’t know if it was Bei Jingchu’s illusion, but this time, in addition to the screams of those being beaten to death, there were also... the faint cries of a woman being humiliated.
She reached out her hand to her neck, as if trying to remove the invisible hand on her neck. A feeling of suffocation lingered.
[It turns out that their original purpose was to massacre the city.]
[It turns out that the initial statement of handing over food but not killing people was just a means to numb people’s hearts. ]
[The people in the city were forced to hand over their money and food obediently. After a few days of starvation, they lost their ability to resist and were easier to kill than rabbits.]
【And these people, these people...】
Bei Jingchu's eyes were filled with tears.
【These people are all common people of the Yue Dynasty.】
A depressing silence spread in the cellar, but what did sadness matter?
It is the greatest luck for each of them to be alive.
The massacre outside continued for two days. On the seventh day, the familiar shouting that appeared at the beginning came again: "Everyone, the massacre is over--"
"Everyone who should come out should come out——"
"Come out now, it means you surrender, and you can keep your life. If you come out again tomorrow, you will be killed—"
If a person is sober, he or she will definitely not believe this.
But now, even those who had plenty of food could not resist the urge to go up and get some fresh air, not to mention the ordinary people who were hungry and had not eaten for several days.