Xu Yuehuai pointed to the distance and said, "I am a refugee, heading to Chang'an. I passed by here and saw you pleading for help, so I came over."
The girl was extremely grateful and kept thanking Xu Yuehuai while holding his hand.
"It was nothing, get up."
He helped the girl up.
The girl blinked and then realized that she had been rescued by a large group. Seeing that the woman had woken up, Jiang Qianqian hurriedly brought her a water bag. After drinking the water, the woman was even more energetic than before, and then she looked at everyone.
"I'm dying soon, and many people in our village have died."
"There's no idle land under heaven, how could you starve to death?" Xu Yuehuai asked.
The girl sighed, "Although everyone is well-off, there are so many exorbitant taxes and levies here now. Take my family for example, even if we hand over all our grain to the state every year, we are still in debt. Every year there are quotas and tasks, and even if we work ourselves to the bone without eating or drinking, we may not be able to repay the state's debts."
How could this happen?
But Xu Yuehuai soon realized that there were corrupt officials in this place.
Here, the emperor is far away and the sky is high, so the monkeys are kings.
These guys do whatever they want, and since the public doesn't dare to report them, their bad habits are hard to break.
"Where are the men? Where have all the men in the house gone?"
"man?"
The girl hesitated for a long time before she spoke, “My man was taken away by the imperial court three years ago, supposedly to make money, but there has been no news of him for three years. I’m just holding on to my last breath, waiting for him to come back. If only he could come back, yes, if only he could come back.”
The girl's eyes sparkled with anticipation and longing.
Xu Yuehua nodded upon seeing this.
She searched for a long time, but all she found was a little barley flour.
"This is all the food we have left. You eat it, we're leaving."
Xu Yuehuai turned and left.
The girl said reluctantly, "If my husband comes back, I'll go with you to the capital, Chang'an. It's wonderful there. Once we're in Chang'an, we won't have to go hungry anymore, and life will be much better."
Xu Yuehuai offered a few more words of comfort in a gentle voice before leaving.
In the distance, Zhou Qionghua and Liu Cuiming were still arguing, their back-and-forth banter making onlookers restless and agitated.
We continued on our way and after a while, we entered an unfamiliar town.
This is the largest town near Longshou Village. Upon entering the town, Xu Yuehuai looked around and found that there were no men here, as if she had entered a land of women.
When strangers entered the town, many people stood up from the dark corners and asked for food.
But they were also very hungry and had nothing to eat.
By the afternoon, it would be time to set up camp.
At this moment, Jiang Shichen spontaneously moved closer to Xu Yuehuai.
"Grandma, we need to get some food. How can we earn money?"
Xu Yuehua smiled and said, "Then let's each use our expertise. Aqi and I will identify the herbs, you will collect them, and Zhou Wan, you will sell them."
Xu Yuehuai considered it the best arrangement to have Zhou Wan manage the finances.
She's shrewd and knows how to manage money and how to use it sparingly and consistently to sustain herself.
As for the rest, they shall be distributed according to their work and their needs.
Ah Qi and Xu Yuehuai went up the mountain and searched for medicinal herbs in remote, untouched areas. After finding them, they had everyone identify and remember them, and then began to harvest them. Soon, they returned with a full load.
Ah Qi recognized many valuable herbs, and everyone happily got busy.
When they reached the foot of the mountain, Zhou Wan sold the goods and made a few more taels of silver.
The prices here are low, and soon everyone checked into a clean inn.
The inn offered bathing and rest facilities. The food selection wasn't extensive, but it was delicious and visually appealing. Everyone enjoyed a hearty meal, and while some rested, others continued their busy work.
“How strange,” Zhou Wan said, glancing at Xu Yuehuai beside her as she did her needlework. “There are no men here. This is a land of women. We haven’t seen many men along the way.”
Even if there are men, they are nothing more than old people and newborn children.
Where have all the men gone?
At this moment, Xu Yuehuai suddenly thought of the bag in the grass sea some time ago, and the wriggling corpse inside the bag. Xu Yuehuai shook his head and prepared to go out, his mind a complete mess.
She went out for a stroll, intending to start a business, but found that the locals were extremely poor and had almost no material needs, which turned her plans into a pipe dream.
After going back and having lunch, I still don't know where I'll stay tomorrow or what I'll eat.
During the meal, the waiter leaned closer and said, "Miss, things aren't very peaceful around here. You should get some rest early tonight. No matter what noises you hear, it's best to stay inside. Let's all keep things simple."
What could possibly be here?
"Why……"
The waiter looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated. Just as he was about to speak, the proprietress suddenly appeared and scolded him harshly, "What are you doing? Are you trying to cheat here? Hurry up and serve the food. Table number two is getting impatient."
The waiter had no choice but to grit his teeth and head towards table number two.
Xu Yuehuai "saw" something from Xiao Er's hesitant expression.
Enter the house.
Everyone was exhausted after a long day of running around, so they found comfortable spots to rest.
But Ah Qi was very alert. The little guy looked around like a feline, then sprinkled a bag of ash from his sleeve onto the window, carefully checked the door latch and other security measures, and tied a hair to the threshold before finally taking a nap in the corner.
"Have you noticed anything amiss?"
"It's nothing much," Ah Qi said, stroking his chin. "But be careful, didn't you hear how that waiter described it in such a fantastical way?"
Then everyone prepared to rest.
Xu Yuehuai was exhausted and fell asleep as soon as she lay down.
Soon, the room was filled with even breathing and Jiang Mingfu's coarse snoring.
But in the stillness, a masked man appeared in the next room.
The man was dressed in black.
He was almost perfectly integrated with the darkness. He moved like the wind, scaling walls and leaping across rooftops. Qi Guze had just heard the footsteps and hadn't even gotten up when the man had already flown in through the window.
Wait until that person enters the house.
The room was pitch black.
In absolute blackness, the pupils have difficulty adapting to the darkness.
But once the eyes adjust to the darkness, a blurry outline can be seen. The assassin flew in and advanced cautiously, holding a sharp ghost-head knife in his hand.
The moment he entered, Qi Guze and Tie Xiong attacked from the left and right sides respectively.
Both of them were injured in the previous fight.
Qi Guze's arms and shoulders were injured, and he felt a dull pain as soon as he moved.
As for Tiexiong, he injured his thigh and did not receive any medication to alleviate the pain or provide treatment. The wound had become infected and ulcerated, and the white bone could be vaguely seen through the skin and flesh.
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