Shu Niang followed Qiao Xin tremblingly, regretting not calling a few more people to come along. This damn place, the narrow path through the sky seemed endless, and both sides were steep. Apart from the occasional bird calls, there was no sign of a single person after walking for most of the day.
After leaving the small path, there are mountains everywhere in sight. It is really like running to death, and crying when you can't see the house!
Qiao Xin was speechless. Is this the place that the yamen runners mentioned, just across the river and a few steps away? Given the transportation conditions, no one would come even if they were paid.
Just when the two were about to despair, they finally turned the corner and the view in front of them suddenly opened up. The land under their feet clearly showed signs of human reclamation, but it was very sloppy.
On the flat ground not far away, there are a few thatched houses, which are dilapidated and some have even collapsed. The bleak scene makes people feel desolate.
Three or five children, skinny and wearing tattered clothes, were playing on the dirt road outside the house. When they saw the stranger coming, they quickly hid in the house and only peeped out for a long time to see what was going on.
Qiao Xin looked around but couldn't find an adult to question, so she had to turn her attention back to the children.
She took out a few hawthorn berries from her pocket and spread them on her hands. She said loudly, "Whoever can tell me how to get to Saltwater Town will get the candy."
After waiting for a long time, a weak voice finally answered from the wooden door behind him: "This is Xianshui Town!"
Uh, Qiao Xin is stuck!
This is Xianshui Town. When did seven or eight thatched houses become a town?
Is it that she is not well-informed, or is the regional division of Dajing Kingdom too weird?
When they were in Xiaoyao Village, the Qiao family had been longing for a piece of land for more than ten years but could not get one because their ancestors were hunters.
Now that I have come to Lao Hu Town and Xian Shui Town, I can use the land as I please as if it were free.
Qiao Xin placed the candy in front of the child's door and stepped back. She took out a few more candies from her pocket and this time used them to entice them to call the village chief.
Seeing that Qiao Xin kept her word and really left the candy for them, the children became bolder. They leaned out half of their bodies, pointed to the north and said, "The village chief has taken people to the foot of the mountain to dig wild vegetables."
Qiao Xin nodded woodenly, turned around and walked north.
The head of a village has fallen to the point of organizing a group of people to dig wild vegetables for a living. It shows how difficult life is. What else can she say?
When Qiao Xin found the village chief, the old man was leaning on a cane, digging dandelions step by step. The basket with a big hole in it beside him was already half filled with wild vegetables.
Seeing the stranger appear, the villagers were very alert and quickly gathered together. The women thought of the children in the village, their faces changed, they dropped the stone knives in their hands, and ran back without caring about spraining their ankles.
A group of people surrounded Qiao Xin.
The old man in the lead, dressed in tattered cloth, stomped his feet, had missing front teeth, a hunched back, coughed every three steps, and squinted his eyes as he looked at the two women in front of him.
"Where are you from, sir? What are you doing here?"
Qiao Xin said, "I came across the river from the neighboring Laohu Town and came here to see the fields!"
The other party obviously didn't believe Qiao Xin's words. "Farmland, where are the good farmlands in Xianshui Town? Nothing can grow here, who would buy the farmland here?"
Qiao Xin spread her hands and said, "I have no choice. This is all the grace of His Majesty. I have to plant the land no matter what. Otherwise, I will be charged with deceiving the emperor. My family cannot afford to bear this!"
The village chief looked at him steadily, then raised his head to the sky and sighed, "Bestowed by the Emperor? Why would the saint bestow the wasteland of Xianshui Town to you? How did you offend the nobleman?"
Qiao Xin was very depressed after hearing these words. She also wanted to ask the King of Qi and His Majesty what they thought. However, this was not the time to dwell on this. She had to find out the specific situation of Xianshui Town first, and then she could prescribe the right medicine.
"Father, I see some of the fields here have been reclaimed. With so much land, you should be able to fill your stomach. Why are you so poor?"
The old village chief did not answer directly, but asked someone to bring a bowl of water to her and said, "Try it!"
Shu Niang was afraid that there might be something unclean in the water, so she wanted to taste it for Qiao Xin.
Qiao Xin smiled and stopped her from moving, and directly took the bowl over. Before she took a bite, she could smell the fishy smell of soil.
Qiao Xin spat out the water, frowned and asked, "Is all the well water here like this?"
The village chief looked worried. "It's not just the well water, the water from the surrounding lakes is the same. If you want to drink water, you have to go over the mountains and across the ridges to fetch it from the river. It takes most of the day to go back and forth, and no one can afford to waste time."
"Always like this?"
The village chief shook his head and sighed, "That's not the case. It's only been in the last 10 to 20 years. In the previous dynasty, Xianshui Town had at least a thousand people and tens of thousands of acres of fertile land. I don't know since when the well water, lake water, and even the mountain water flowing down from the mountains became unacceptable. During the rainy season, the water coming down from the mountains is all yellow-green, and sometimes as red as blood.
Many people say that our Xianshui Town is cursed by God. Those who have some ability and can leave have already left. I think we old guys can't leave, so we can only wait for death. Now we can't bear it anymore, and we old guys are leaving too!"
Qiao Xin took out a piece of silver and put it in the village chief's hand, "Father, can you send someone to take me to the old Xianshui Town?"
It was the first time for the village chief to see silver, and he would be lying if he said he wasn't moved. But he knew very well that any woman who dared to come to this deep mountain forest alone was not someone to be trifled with.
The old village chief took a deep breath, shook his head and refused, "Your Excellency, you don't know that after the snowstorm last year, that place was buried by the muddy water imagined by the melting snow."
Qiao Xin didn't give up: "What about the lake?"
That is a cursed place, none of us go back. Besides, the lake is at the top of the mountain and we old guys can't climb up. If you really insist on going, go by yourself. Qiao Xin can understand the awe of modern people for nature, and did not force it. After leaving the silver, he went up the mountain.
Shu Niang was worried that something might happen and hurriedly stopped him, saying, "Madam, why don't we go back first, wait a few days, and call a few more people to come and take a look. Is it too dangerous for the two of us?"
Qiao Xin was anxious to confirm her guess, so she would not back down. Besides, she didn't have the time to waste here forever.
"Let's go see what the situation is! Then we can make further plans. We can't come back empty-handed after such a hard trip."
She didn't believe in any curses, it was just a trick to deceive the ignorant villagers.
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