Xiao Youran jumped up and down in anger, "His legs have only just recovered, haven't they? What's he doing going to join in the fun? Can you be brave during wartime?!"
The group, having lost their way, pondered for a long time before realizing that Sanyang Village used to be located on Sanyang Mountain, where coal mines were located. There must have been soldiers stationed there. They could go and ask where Sanyang Village had moved to afterward.
Surely someone from the Yun family will stay behind in the village?
Perhaps my great-aunt and the others also returned to Yunjia Village to seek refuge?
So the group turned around and asked around many times, and finally found out the direction of the newly built Yunjia Village.
But when they passed a dilapidated village, everyone was terrified.
The village was filled with smoke and the smell of burning flesh could be smelled from afar, indicating that it had been massacred and looted.
Su felt a pang of sympathy, which made the guards even more vigilant.
Sure enough, after traveling for a short while, they saw fresh hoofprints on the ground ahead. The leading guard quickly slowed down the carriage and went ahead to scout the way. Sure enough, they found Western barbarian troops ahead, so they quickly took a detour.
After repeating this process several times and walking for about half an hour, they finally found Xinyunjia Village without any major incidents.
The mother and daughter were both quite shocked as they stepped into the new Yunjia Village for the first time.
The houses were arranged in neat rows, all new, with doors and windows of the same style, presumably made by the mountains.
However, all the doors of the houses were wide open, and the houses were ransacked. Tables and chairs were all over the ground, indicating that they had been searched several times. Even the pots and pans were gone.
There wasn't a single person in the village.
Su was in a panic. Where could she find someone right now?
What's the easiest thing to find nearby?
That must be a mountain.
Looking around, you can immediately see where the mountains are.
The two mountains here are clearly visible: one is the low mountain to the south, and the other is the nearby Sanyang Mountain.
That's right. The old Sanyang Village is located on the east side of Sanyang Mountain, while the new Yunjia Village is located on the west side. Further south is that low mountain. However, the Sanyang Mountain on the side of Xinyunjia Village is the western mountain they saw back then, an extremely high and dangerous mountain that is impossible to climb.
Xiao Youran pondered for a moment, then pointed to Sanyang Mountain not far away and said, "Let's go to Sanyang Mountain and look for it."
Zhao's mother asked, "Young Miss, why do you say that?"
Su Yue, who was standing next to her, also said, "A few years ago, when my family fled famine, my parents also took the pot with them... They may have fled in other directions."
"But haven't you noticed that some houses are missing tables or chairs? They've moved all the furniture out of the houses, so they can't have gone far. They must be reluctant to leave these newly built houses. Maybe they're hiding on Sanyang Mountain, waiting for the Westerners to leave!"
The guards thought this made a lot of sense. "That's right, there are coal mines controlled by the imperial court on Sanyang Mountain, and they might even be protected by soldiers! We'll go find them immediately!"
Xiao Youran shook her head, "The soldiers on Sanyang Mountain should have already withdrawn, which is why the Yun family villagers could be hiding on the mountain."
As the crowd walked alongside the Su mother and daughter, they asked, "Why are the soldiers withdrawing?"
Su Shi understood Xiao Youran's meaning at this point. "Perhaps they are going to reinforce other prefectures and counties. Moreover, if the enemy attacks and the government troops do not withdraw, are they going to stay in front of the coal mine and tell the enemy that there is a coal mine and military rations here? They must have taken away all the food they could carry from the coal mine as soon as they received the news. There should be some simple fortifications on the mountain. The people of Yunjia Village may have thought that the mountain was relatively safe, so they may have hidden on Sanyang Mountain."
The guards were convinced and quietly headed towards Sanyang Mountain.
The new Yunjia Village and the old Sanyang Village are separated by Zhaojia Village. However, when the guards passed by Zhaojia Village, they found that a large number of people were stationed there.
The group immediately took a detour and arrived at Sanyang Village from the side.
However, it is clear that there are also Yi people living in Sanyang Village.
Xiao Youran thought for a moment and understood. It turned out that there was an instant noodle workshop in Sanyang Village, which was later moved to the area between Zhao Family Village and Yun Family Village. Perhaps when the soldiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty withdrew, they probably didn't have time to take the grain from the workshop. So the Westerners found such a large granary and settled down there, using it as their base to raid the surrounding villages from time to time and harm the people.
Sanyang Village is backed by Sanyang Mountain, giving it a geographical advantage and preventing it from being attacked from both sides.
Sanyang Village and Zhao Family Village are not far apart. Presumably, there were not enough houses in Sanyang Village for the Westerners to live in, so some of them moved to Zhao Family Village.
It is evident that their numbers are likely no less than a thousand.
Sanyang Mountain was too close to the village entrance, and Su was worried that the carriage would be discovered, so she could only park the carriage far away in a grove of trees, and then lead everyone to quietly approach Sanyang Mountain.
Xiao Youran still remembered the mountain path that Yu had taken her up the mountain by going around to the other side. As darkness fell, the group searched and found the mountain path hidden by weeds at the foot of the mountain.
The group carefully climbed the mountain, when suddenly an arrow flew down from above.
The guard was startled and quickly dodged. Upon closer inspection of the arrow lying at his feet, he was overjoyed and hurriedly put his fingers in his mouth, whistling three long and two short whistles.
Soon after, two short and three long whistles sounded from above, and the guard blew a whistle with four short and one long sound.
After a brief exchange of words, the guard turned around and looked at Madam Su and the others with a delighted expression. "Madam Su, young mistress, our people are up there! They really are up there! Let's go up."
Xiao Youran thought for a moment and understood. It must be that before Senior Brother Da Bai left, he left a few guards to protect his great-aunt and the others.
Therefore, my great-aunt must be on the mountain!
Madam Su also thought of this, and quickly took Xiao Youran's hand and went up the mountain, leaving a guard to watch over the carriage.
After climbing for a while, someone came to meet them. Upon asking, it turned out that Wen Yuanbai had stayed behind to take care of the Yun family. Moreover, his great-aunt and the others were all up there with the people of Yun Family Village.
The two climbed for about half an hour before reaching the halfway point of the mountain.
After wandering through the jungle for about fifteen minutes, the group finally entered the cave and met Madam Yun and her entourage.
When Madam Yun saw Su Shi and Xiao Youran, she could hardly believe her eyes, and her eyes immediately welled up with tears.
Zhou went straight over and picked up Xiao Youran, who then started crying.
Madam Yun and Madam Su couldn't help but embrace and weep.
It took a while for the group to calm down. Madam Yun took a deep breath and softened her tone, "Ya Rong, why are you here again?"
Little Youran blinked her big eyes and said playfully, "We've come to bring warmth!"
The villagers standing nearby burst into laughter, instantly diminishing the touching atmosphere of the reunion.
With tears in her eyes, Madam Su smiled and said, "We heard that the Western barbarians have entered the pass and brought an army of 200,000 to attack Taizhou. As soon as we received the news, we rushed over here."
At this moment, Yu wiped away her tears, snatched Xiao Youran from Zhou's arms, hugged her tightly, and then smiled, "Oh, Xiao Youran, cousin, you and your mother don't have any soldiers. With this war and famine, what can you do here?"
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