"But you are quite smart. You went deep into the mountains and you have weapons. It is better to deal with wild wolves and other beasts than to encounter those unreasonable garrisons. I can take you across the Canglan River and reach the territory of Shunzhou, but I don't know what the situation is in Shunzhou."
"Why don't you leave the village and go to Shunzhou?" Zhou Jiaojiao asked directly. She could see that it would be no problem for the boy with heterochromia to leave on his own and survive.
"There's no difference between me going to Shunzhou and staying here. My eyes make everyone think I'm an alien." The boy with heterochromia smiled sarcastically.
Zhou Jiaojiao looked at her eyes and suddenly thought of the nearby map. She asked curiously, "Is your father or mother an alien? The closest tribe to Yuzhou is the Nanman. I heard that there are many people with heterochromia in the Nanman area."
The boy with heterochromia had his pupils shrink slightly, and he pursed his lips tightly: "What do you want to say?"
"Then what do you want from me? How can I be sure that you are not a spy sent by the Nanman?" Zhou Jiaojiao asked back, staring at the young man.
A flash of anger flashed in the boy's eyes, and he shouted angrily, "If I were a spy for the Nanman, would I have to stay here and starve to death?"
"Who knows?"
"If you don't want to give me food, just leave." The boy with heterochromia eyes was obviously unwilling to talk to them anymore.
Zhou Jiaojiao didn't make things difficult for them. She just gave them a few steamed buns and turned away without asking for ginseng.
Chu San put one arm around her waist and held Bao'er in his arms, saying, "My lady, I think that boy is still somewhat useful. We patrolled the mountains for a week before and found no signs of human life. This shows that he is quite adept at investigation. However, those strange eyes alone are indeed unacceptable to most people in the Great Chu. However, the information he has revealed is somewhat useful. We'd better leave Yuzhou as soon as possible. As for Shunzhou, I suspect that the Shunzhou and Yuzhou garrisons have fallen out, and I'm afraid the officials above will also be under pressure. I don't know when they will give up."
"Well, we'll leave early tomorrow morning."
Zhou Jiaojiao and Chu San's analysis made some sense. They rested comfortably at night. The next morning, at daybreak, the villagers took their luggage and walked towards the river. They put the bamboo raft that had been prepared long ago into the water, and several veterans got on the raft and tried to row to the other side of the river.
Hu Liuzi and Fang Nian went there first. They were carrying a task assigned by Zhou Jiaojiao, which was to go to the front to check the situation in Shunzhou first.
After the villagers made sure that the bamboo rafts could pass through the thinly frozen river, they slowly transported the luggage and people.
The bamboo raft cannot be completely stable on the flowing river surface with thin ice, which is very dangerous, so the speed of the village is very slow.
Zhou Jiaojiao and Chu San did not go there immediately and fell behind. By the time it was their turn, it was already afternoon.
As a result, when Zhou Jiaojiao and Chu San crossed the Canglan River.
I found that behind the team, there was a boy with heterochromia eyes and the children around him. They followed silently and refused to leave even when the villagers chased them away. However, from time to time, the boy with heterochromia eyes would leave for a while and come back with more prey in his hands.
Perhaps because there were several children following them, the people in the village did not mention Chen Lin unscrupulously. Instead, they subconsciously concealed the matter, and thus developed a good habit in advance.
Wait until we get over the mountain.
Hu Liuzi and Fang Nian are back.
Chu's mother handed them the pancakes she had prepared long ago.
Braving the cold, the two drank hot water to recover their strength while saying, "We saw the Shunzhou garrison blocking the road ahead, and some refugees also passed through, and they all entered smoothly."
"What's the situation in Shunzhou? Has the local area suffered any disaster?" Zhou Jiaojiao asked the key question.
Fang Nian was more careful and steady. He swallowed his pancake in big gulps and glanced at Zhou Jiaojiao. "Shunzhou's summer income wasn't good this year. I'm afraid it's not enough for the people to eat, but they can barely survive. However, the winter is getting colder, and the radishes and other crops in the fields have all frozen to death. I heard that many people are waiting for the government to release grain."
In other words, Shunzhou is not having a good time this year either.
"Then let's go into Shunzhou and see if we can get to the nearest county town."
Zhou Jiaojiao told the news to the village chief, and after resting in a nearby village at night, they continued on their way. Sure enough, early in the morning, they appeared on the official road and saw a fence not far ahead with armed soldiers patrolling.
From time to time, some local people were walking towards the county town.
Seeing Zhou Jiaojiao and her group, many people looked over.
As soon as the team moved forward, they were stopped by soldiers.
"Are you refugees from Yuzhou?"
The soldier asked directly.
Chu San and the village chief were in the front. The village chief hurriedly took out the household registration documents and other documents, indicating that they were going to seek refuge with relatives.
The so-called relative who took refuge was actually Zhao Changliu.
Last night, Zhou Jiaojiao discussed with the village chief and others for a while and felt that it would be more appropriate to find Zhao Changliu. The main reason was that she felt that he was the male protagonist and had good luck. The female protagonist Chen Lin was also in the team, so if they went to find him together, there shouldn't be any problems.
The documents in Shen Lin's hand were naturally taken away by Zhou Jiaojiao and the others.
The soldier took a look at the documents and the relevant identification documents and said, "If you want to continue north, you must go to the county government office and apply for a travel permit. Only then will you no longer be considered a refugee."
The soldier's implication was that he wanted to collect money.
The village chief subconsciously looked at Chu San.
Chu San stuffed some copper coins into the soldier's hand and asked, "I wonder how long it will take for so many of us to get a travel permit? If we go to the county town together, will it disturb the peace there? And how much silver will it cost?"
The soldier weighed the copper coins and said in a friendly manner: "Aren't you the village chief? Just take the villagers' documents and go there to handle it. As for the fee, it's naturally two taels of silver per head."
When the village chief heard the price, he took a deep breath. He was surprised but didn't dare to say it was expensive, for fear of offending people and leaving himself without anyone to guide him.
"Don't complain about the price." The soldier sneered. "You guys were able to come all the way from Yuzhou. You must have crossed mountains and rivers to avoid the Yuzhou garrison, right? We've come this far, we can't go back. Besides, although the food price in Shunzhou is high, at least there is food. It's not like the forced conscription in Yuzhou."
"Your current price is quite low. You can leave as soon as it's done. If you delay any further, the price might even be higher."
The village chief and Chu Sanda came back after hearing the news.
When Zhou Jiaojiao heard about the layers of exploitative policies and saw the village chief's gloomy face, she sighed in her heart. The soldier was right in one thing. Shunzhou's current situation was considered good, but it would soon become chaotic. By then, it would not be something that could be solved with two taels of silver.
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