At this time.
A maid came up to Zhou Jiaojiao with a kind attitude and whispered, "Miss, my wife wants to invite you to chant sutras. I wonder how much you want as a reward."
"Just give me one day's food." Zhou Jiaojiao was a little surprised that the other party had such a good attitude and took the initiative to mention the reward. She did not refuse after hearing that. Anyway, she also wanted to stabilize the refugees in this dilapidated temple.
Fighting will inevitably hurt innocent people and implicate yourself.
"Young lady, come with me." The old woman walked towards the guest rooms in the backyard. In the past, when the dilapidated temple was still popular, pilgrims also stayed there.
Chu San followed Zhou Jiaojiao closely. Before he left, he called Chu Erge and explained the situation to him. Zhou Jiaojiao also lowered her voice and explained to him, and then the two of them followed him to the backyard.
Chu San always stayed by Zhou Jiaojiao's side, especially when he walked in and saw dozens of guards and strong maids guarding the door of the guest room. It was obvious that the owner of the house was of high status, otherwise he wouldn't be able to afford so many people at this time.
The old woman stopped in front of the guest room and reported to the master inside. After receiving a response, she turned around and nodded to Zhou Jiaojiao and Chu San who were a little wary.
Zhou Jiaojiao patted the back of Chu San's hand and walked in together.
There are quite a few people in the house.
But they were all isolated by carriages.
Unlike Zhou Jiaojiao and the others who put their horses under a tree to shelter from the rain, this wealthy family directly pulled their carriages into the house, and the whole family occupied a large guest room.
"Girl, it's you, please help me chant the scriptures. You will be rewarded later."
The person who spoke was an old lady, dressed in silk and satin, with a compassionate look on her face, but the atmosphere in the room was a little tense, as if there had just been an argument.
Zhou Jiaojiao nodded and didn't meddle in other people's business. After Chu San spread the mat, she sat down cross-legged and began to chant.
This recitation took half an hour.
After she finished, the old woman got a signal from the old lady and brought over a bundle containing white flour cakes. Although they felt cold, they were very soft and much better than what the Chu family had been eating recently.
Zhou Jiaojiao was very satisfied. She put the baby in Chu San's arms, bowed to the old lady, and left.
"Husband, let's go back."
"Okay." Chu San wanted to carry her away.
With so many guards, he was afraid that these people had bad intentions, and he would be no match for them.
As Zhou Jiaojiao walked to the door, she heard a cough. She paused for a moment, didn't bother to do anything, and left quickly.
Return to the Buddha statue room outside.
Mother Chu had been waiting at the door. Seeing the two of them, she breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I'm glad you're okay. Come in and rest."
"Mom, Chu San and I won't rush in yet. Tell my eldest brother and the village chief to keep an eye on our mules and horses. They're all meat. There are more and more refugees coming to the ruined temple, and I'm afraid chaos will break out if we're not careful. When people are starving, they can do anything."
Mother Chu nodded: "The elders in the village are aware of this matter. They have arranged for many men to guard together, and they also have several big swords. The rest of the people will guard the luggage in the house. No one can be missing on either side.
There was no other way around it. The dilapidated temple was too small and the livestock, luggage and people could not fit in at all, so they had to be separated.
Zhou Jiaojiao felt relieved when she saw that everyone understood the situation.
She then shared her thoughts, "I discovered that although there's not much food around the dilapidated temple, those withered grass roots are still edible, especially those like kudzu root, which can be ground into powder and eaten."
"I went to chant sutras to guide the refugees who had no food to dig. It was like everyone was crowded together, only wanting to take what was good from others, to avoid chaos."
"But your belly..." Chu's mother had actually already thought about leaving early. Instead of waiting in the rain, they could wear straw hats, hold on, and find another place to shelter from the rain. Of course, they had to be lucky, otherwise it would be a bad thing if the rain continued and they couldn't find a place for a long time.
Who says catching a cold at this time is almost like having a terminal illness?
In short, it is better not to leave early unless necessary.
"Mom, it's okay. My husband will protect me. If I feel uncomfortable, just stop. There is hot water in the kettle to warm my body." Zhou Jiaojiao didn't feel very well and felt a little cold, but there was nothing she could do. At this time, she had no condition to care about these things.
"Then I'll go light a fire for you to warm yourself up so that the cold won't get into your body." Mother Chu was a diligent person, and she didn't let Zhou Jiaojiao refuse, so she went to find firewood to build a fire.
Zhou Jiaojiao did not refuse her kindness. She and Chu San walked to a place not far from other houses and sat down cross-legged. The sound of their chanting was loud enough for the other refugees who did not know them to hear.
Mo Daniu's family was not well off. Since the drought began, they had been unable to make ends meet. He fled the village with his wife, son, and elderly and frail parents, sleeping in the open air along the way. His youngest son starved to death on the way, and his mother had her food robbed and her leg broken by the onslaught of refugees.
He and his father made a cart out of vines, and pulled his mother, the remaining son and his wife, and they managed to survive with great difficulty, but it started raining again.
The worst thing is that he has no food left, and other refugees are eyeing him covetously. He saw with his own eyes last night that a family next door was robbed of their food by several men, and during the struggle, their son and daughter-in-law were stabbed to death, and even their bodies were taken away.
Mo Daniu felt more and more frightened. He didn't have the ability to steal food, and he didn't want to know where the body had gone. He only knew that if he didn't do something, his whole family would die together.
Mo Daniu had just finished talking to his father and was about to go out to the mountain to find tree bark when he heard Zhou Jiaojiao chanting.
He looked over and saw the big knife that Chu San was carrying. An idea popped into Mo Daniu's mind, and he walked over tremblingly.
"Who are you and what do you want to do?" Chu San asked defensively.
Although he has good physical memory and martial arts skills, his mentality is a little unstable because he has not recovered.
It is better to be ignorant as a child.
Seeing him raise his sword and about to attack if he disagreed with something, Mo Daniu quickly explained, "Strong man, I, I'm not here to cause trouble. I just want to tell you a piece of news."
"You are also refugees, right? You certainly don't want anything to happen. I know there are a few people with vicious minds who mingle among the refugees. Not only do they want to steal other people's food, they also... they even eat people." When Mo Daniu said this, his face turned pale. It was obvious that he was disgusted by this kind of thing and could not accept it.
Chusan's eyes widened, and he almost vomited, "Are you serious?"
"Of course, I wouldn't dare to deceive a strong man."
"Why are you telling me this?" Although Chu San is young, he is not stupid. He asked in a low voice.
Mo Daniu took a deep breath and said, "I want to deal with those people. They have always been bullying others, making everyone feel insecure. Who knows, over time, more people might develop such beastly thoughts. Now at least they can find grass roots to eat and avoid starving to death. But if they cross the bottom line, they will do anything..."
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