Outside Linjia Village, a babbling brook flows by, and the last rays of dark red sunset hang on the horizon, like a brocade ribbon.
A broom hung horizontally in mid-air. As if receiving some command, it began to swing its body rapidly, then suddenly plunged down and swept wildly across the ground.
In the blink of an eye, the bluestone pavement in front of Linjia Village became clean, as if it had been washed by rain.
Xia Yan thought the villagers from both villages would show surprise, or at least exclaim a few words, but to her surprise, their expressions didn't change at all, as if they were already used to this kind of thing.
She looked around and didn't see any strange, surprised, or disgusted looks in the eyes of these villagers. Instead, they all had gentle expressions.
"Momo, is this the new girl who came to our village? She's really capable! If she works at the earthen kiln, she must earn a lot of contribution points every day!"
"This little broom is so cute! It even swept our yard and the area in front of our door! Little girl, come and have a roasted sweet potato. It's so cold outside, nothing beats a warm meal!"
Several aunties brought over a basin of roasted sweet potatoes and gave one to each of Xia Yan and Tong Yiwen.
"Auntie, I see some spots on your skin. These don't look like normal freckles. Did they grow on you later?" Tong Yiwen said to the aunties while holding a hot sweet potato.
"Young lady, you have a good eye. These spots on my face appeared two years ago. I didn't pay much attention to them at the time, but who knew they would keep multiplying." The aunt sighed.
"I have a way to cure it completely!" Tong Yiwen patted her chest and assured her.
"Really? If it can really cure it, I'll give you two hundred contribution points, how about that? If that's not enough, I have more. As long as these annoying spots can disappear, everything is negotiable!"
The aunt's eyes lit up. She had seen many barefoot doctors, and everyone said that these kinds of marks could not be removed. She never expected this little girl to be so amazing!
"Auntie, that's enough, absolutely enough!" Tong Yiwen said with delight.
That way, she'll be able to earn enough contribution points very quickly!
The two girls looked at each other and saw the smile in each other's eyes.
Xia Yan's eyes crinkled as she thought the desolate mountain was indeed an ideal place. The fact that these people weren't surprised meant that she wouldn't have to hide her magic anymore!
On the other side, Lin Anniang returned Liang Shu's dowry, as well as the medicinal herbs and books brought by Doctor Tong, before arriving at Old Madam Gongsun's courtyard.
"Ancestor, I bought a lot of grain and tools, which are all stored in the spatial artifacts given to me by the Mountain Goddess. Shall I take them out now?" Lin Anniang whispered.
Holding so many things in her hands made her feel a little uncomfortable, since they all belonged to everyone and not just to her alone.
"Give them the things the villagers asked you to carry first, and put the rest in your space. After all, a lot of people have come to the barren mountain recently, so we want to avoid any unforeseen complications," said Granny Gongsun frankly.
Not everyone is of good character. As the number of people on the desolate mountain increases, there will always be some troublemakers. However, many people are afraid to show their true colors because of the majesty of the mountain goddess when they arrive in a new place.
For the sake of the future stability of the barren mountain, they still need to keep a backup plan.
"Is there any space left inside?" Grandma Gongsun asked curiously.
"There's still a lot of space, and we've only used a little over half of it so far." Lin Anniang had already spent almost all the silver in her hand, but hadn't even used half of it yet, which showed just how big the space inside really was.
"Alright, then let's leave it here with you, Madam An. There's no safer place than here!" Old Madam Gongsun exclaimed.
Soon, she told Lin Anniang everything that had happened recently, and Lin Anniang also recounted what she had encountered on the road, especially mentioning the refugees and bandits.
“Ancestor, when we set out, there weren’t so many refugees, but on our way back, we encountered more and more refugees.”
"It is said that there is a rebel army fighting against the imperial court in western Qingzhou, causing many people to be displaced." Lin Anniang sighed as she mentioned this.
When she went there, the weather had already turned very cold, and when she returned, the wind blowing around the carriage was icy cold, as if it would freeze her arms into ice.
If war breaks out at this time, it will be the ordinary people who suffer the most!
After hearing this, Old Lady Gongsun shook her head and recounted the information she had heard from the bandits.
"The leader of that rebel group was surnamed Guang, named Guanghe. He was from the same village as Guangping, who led the attack on our barren mountain last night."
"Guangping gathered so many refugees here because he wanted to build up a force, gain a reputation, and then go to join the other side. Unfortunately, we caught them and sent them to the county jail. I guess the rebels on the Qingzhou border won't let this go easily once they find out."
Xu Rurong found out about this later, and immediately sent someone to deliver the news.
"I'm not afraid, they're just a bunch of rebels," Lin Anniang said calmly.
She even killed the emperor's talented and extraordinary people, so why would she be afraid of those rebels?
Grandma Gongsun remained worried, but she was not afraid at all, because the rebel leader would not attack just because a fellow villager had been captured.
I just felt that the rebel would eventually expand his power, and the barren mountains were part of Qingzhou, so it was unavoidable.
"Therefore, I think that in addition to daily work and study, we also need to learn martial arts and make enough weapons."
A light shone in Old Lady Gongsun's eyes.
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