Chapter 78 The Empty Liu Family Village
Li Shiyue didn't think Li Youfu disagreed with Li Shiyang establishing a separate household for that reason, but in the end it was clear that Li Youfu couldn't persuade Li Shiyang otherwise, and Li Shiyang still established his own separate household.
After Qin Tao's family settled in, Li Shiyue's mind rang again.
"Congratulations, host, on completing the long-term mission and receiving a super gift pack!"
"Please keep up the good work, host, and become a favored concubine soon!"
Li Shiyue's expression changed repeatedly, from happy to gloomy, in the blink of an eye.
"I was quite happy when I heard it was some kind of great gift package;"
Then came all that trashy concubine stuff, and I didn't even bother clicking to see what was in the "gift package" anymore.
However, Li Shiyue didn't have a chance to see any gift package at the moment. After settling down, the constable called everyone to get on the donkey cart. It seemed that he was going to send everyone to Liujiatun.
Without even entering the town, Li Shiyue and the others followed the constables and headed towards Daheishan Mountain.
Although we came from a different direction, all we could see ahead was that we were heading towards Daheishan. We asked the constable on the way, and sure enough, Liujiatun was right at the foot of Daheishan. Sanshan County was much farther away.
Little did they know that after walking for half the afternoon, and with darkness approaching, Li Shiyue felt she was about to suffer from low blood sugar, and they had only just arrived at Liujiatun.
Using the last rays of daylight, Li Shiyue looked up at the three characters "Liujiatun" on the wooden archway, whose paint was peeling and worn. Then she looked at the small village behind the archway and felt that something was not right.
“There are still some in Liujiatun,” the constable turned to ask the old man who came out holding an oil lamp, “Sir, there are now less than ten households left.”
The constable nodded. "Here, this is Old Man Liu, an elder from Liujiatun. Your Lijiacun has the largest population. From now on, you should rest and recuperate in Liujiatun."
The land surveyors should arrive in about three to five days. You should rest for a few days and not worry; the land will surely be allocated.”
After the constable said this, without waiting for Li Youfu and Li Shiyang to say anything, he cupped his hands in greeting to the group, and the two of them got into the donkey cart, cracked the whip, and drove off.
Looking at them, it was clear they were "fleeing in panic," which made people even more uneasy.
Li Shiyue stepped forward and bowed to Old Man Liu: "I'm new here and don't know anyone. Old Man, what's wrong with our village?"
It's dinnertime, why is there no sign of cooking in any of the houses?
Yes!
At this time, when it should be time to eat dinner and cook, it's understandable that there are no children by the roadside at the village entrance, but how come there isn't a single wisp of smoke rising when every household should be lighting fires to cook?
"Sigh," the old man sighed to Li Shiyue. Li Shiyang also bowed and asked, "Old man, we came here as refugees. We have settled in our village today. Please tell us the truth."
"Grandpa? Grandpa?"
Before the old man could reply, a child's voice called out "Grandpa" from afar and came looking for them. As the child got closer, everyone could see that this must be the old man's granddaughter.
"Please follow me."
An old man, walking with faltering steps, led the way for the group, holding an oil lamp. Once they entered the village, the desolate and bleak atmosphere became even more pronounced.
Not to mention Li Shiyue, everyone else in Lijia Village has eyes too.
"This...this seems like...we've just suffered a disaster?"
"What? Is it really true that no one is cooking?"
"But it doesn't look like a disaster."
"I noticed the river we came across was quite deep, and we're at the foot of the mountain, so how could we be short of water?"
"Then? What happened?"
Li Shiyue followed behind, looking at both sides of the road leading to the village entrance. There were mud houses built there, but all of them were closed, and not a single ray of light could be seen.
Either these mud houses are uninhabited, or someone lives there but is not home at the moment?
After walking a while further in, we finally saw a place where lights were on.
Sure enough, Old Man Liu led everyone toward the light.
"Please don't stand on ceremony, everyone. This is my old man's house. Please come in and have some water."
The yard is quite large. Li Shiyue noticed that there must be vegetable gardens planted in the northeast corner of the yard, with rows and rows of them.
Li Shiyang called out to everyone in Lijia Village, telling them to find a place to sit in their courtyards. Since they had all traveled a long way, they didn't bother with sitting on stools or anything like that and just sat down on the ground.
Even if you just want to sit on a stool, there aren't enough at Old Liu's house.
"Grandma, Grandma, Grandpa is back! Grandpa brought lots and lots of people with him."
The child said this as he ran toward what should have been the kitchen.
A short while later, an old woman with a hunched back came out carrying a gourd ladle filled with hot water.
Old Liu took the gourd ladle filled with water and turned to introduce it to everyone: "This is my wife." Old Liu then saw the little girl behind the old woman carrying three or four earthenware bowls and said, "This is Chestnut, and she is my granddaughter."
Old Liu's bowls were definitely not enough, but the group had brought plenty of bowls and chopsticks from their escape.
Li Shiyue held her bowl, blowing on it as she drank; she was genuinely thirsty.
Suddenly, they heard Old Man Liu cough lightly: "Cough cough," and the old woman quickly reached out to pat Old Man Liu on the back.
After calming down, Old Man Liu smiled helplessly at Li Shiyang, who was closest to him, and then slowly said, "Our Liu Family Village used to have about thirty households, with more than a hundred people coming here."
We live near the Black Mountain, so we can always get a meal.
Although it's at the foot of the mountain, as long as you're wary of wild animals coming down, this place isn't too far from the town, making it a good spot.
but,"
Li Shiyue sighed inwardly, "As expected, there's a 'but'!"
"The Mohe people from Daheishan came. They crossed the mountain and attacked us directly, robbing us of grain, food, women, and children. In that one time, more than half of our village died."
Later, the town's officials sent soldiers to search the mountains, and they did indeed find several Mohe barbarians.
The official hung up the barbarian who could speak Chinese and beat him for a day and a night before he finally got the truth out of him: the grasslands over there had dried up, the grass hadn't grown, and they couldn't raise cattle and sheep, so they had crossed mountains and valleys to rob us.
The official took all the Mohe barbarians away, leaving us to bury our relatives and clean up our homes.
But who knew that after the soldiers left, the Mohe barbarians hiding in the mountains would come down and wreak havoc again.
When the conversation began, Old Man Liu lowered his head and spoke in a low voice. Li Shiyue and the others exchanged glances, and they all understood why this place needed refugees.
Because the indigenous people were all killed!
After pausing for a moment, Old Man Liu continued, "Some died, some fled, and the few remaining households all went to Qingsong Town. Only my wife, my son Chestnut, and I are left in this village."
After saying this, Old Man Liu raised his hand and patted the little girl standing on his lap on the head.
"Chestnut's parents were killed by the barbarians. That day, my wife and I carried firewood and chestnuts into town to sell, and that's how we escaped this calamity."
As soon as Old Man Liu finished speaking, the people of Lijia Village immediately started talking incessantly.
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