The sudden appearance of the hand sent a chill down Li Lanzhen's spine, and she grabbed it with her own.
Only then did she realize that what she was holding tightly in her hand was a child's soft, withered hand.
Feeling slightly relieved, she turned around and saw three pairs of dark, bright eyes in the dim light.
Li Lanzhen simply sat down and leaned against the city wall.
"Speak up, who are you? What did you see? Why are you pulling me?"
The child who had just been pulling his basket whispered:
"Auntie, are you going out of the city? The soldiers have sealed off this dog hole, and they're guarding it. They've arrested a lot of my brothers and uncles."
When Li Lanzhen looked at the three of them again, they were dressed in tattered clothes, their clothes and pants were too short, they were barefoot, and they were thin and pale, with only their big eyes rolling around.
This time, it was still the child who was holding her hand who spoke first.
“Auntie, the three of us are all orphans. We used to live in the City God Temple outside the city, but…”
Before he could finish speaking, the boy at the back spoke up angrily.
"Hmph! It's all because of that damned imperial brother-in-law!"
The boy gave him a comforting look and continued talking to Li Lanzhen.
“A while ago, that damned imperial brother-in-law said that the City God Temple was too dilapidated and affected the face of Youzhou City, so he burned it down. There were more than a dozen children living in that temple, but now we are all homeless.”
The three children all lowered their heads and remained silent.
Hearing his words, Li Lanzhen's heart tightened again, and she asked him, "Are the three of you a family?"
"No, the three of us have been together since we were little, just like siblings."
The boy glanced at the two people clinging tightly to him and continued speaking.
“Auntie, I am 12 years old and I am the older brother. My name is Shitou. This is my younger brother. He is nine years old and his name is Yanming. And that is our little sister. She is only five years old and her name is Yanzi.”
Li Lanzhen felt extremely sorry for the three children.
Orphaned at such a young age, he had to fend for himself, enduring countless beatings, scoldings, and scorn. He must have been hungry and cold.
She took out three wild vegetable cakes and a water pouch from her spatial storage, which contained spiritual spring water from her spatial storage.
Li Lanzhen thought that this would at least provide some energy for the three children.
"Here, you three eat some wild vegetable pancakes first, and drink some water after you finish. Your auntie will be leaving soon."
Stone accepted the three wild vegetable cakes and the water pouch with both hands, and said with a choked voice.
"Thank you, Auntie. Auntie, are you going out of town?"
Li Lanzhen said, "Yes, I need to go out. My family and children are waiting for me outside the city."
Stone said, “Auntie, the dog hole here is blocked, but we still know a place to go out. We come in from there, and during the day we beg for food from people on the street, or we do chores to earn a couple of pancakes. We go out through the dog hole at night.”
Li Lanzhen was delighted to hear this.
"Okay, you guys eat first, and once you're full, we'll take your aunt to find that dog hole, okay?"
Stone agreed, but the three children did not eat the wild vegetable pancakes.
Li Lanzhen saw them carefully take out a piece of cloth, wrap the wild vegetable cakes, and hand them to Shi Tou.
He patted the stone in his pocket to make sure it was in place before putting it down.
Li Lanzhen could clearly hear the three children swallowing.
They were very hungry, but they had nothing to eat.
He looked up and met Li Lanzhen's questioning gaze, and said apologetically.
"Auntie, we didn't eat the wild vegetable cakes you gave us. We'll pack them up. You won't be angry, will you?"
Li Lanzhen shook her head and said, "I won't be angry. What I give you is yours, and you have the right to make your own decisions."
Shi Tou lowered his head, then raised it again and said to Li Lanzhen.
“Auntie, we have to take these three wild vegetable cakes back with us. After the local temple was burned down, we, a dozen or so children, were homeless and had nowhere to stay. So we found a small cave in the nearby mountains and hid inside.”
Every day, we each go out to beg for some food to take back to our sick younger siblings and those even younger than us.
Upon hearing this, Li Lanzhen immediately asked.
How many children are still in the cave?
"Auntie, there are only six people left in the cave now, making a total of nine including us," the little girl Yanzi whispered.
Li Lanzhen asked, "What about the other children?"
Perhaps it was because of Li Lanzhen's gentle attitude that the little girl, Xiao Yanzi, spoke again.
"Auntie, these brothers are trying to find food for us."
They didn't go home that night. When we came to look for them the next day, we heard that when our brothers came to the city, they were conscripted and sent to the front lines to fight.
After saying that, she cried softly and rubbed her eyes with both hands.
Li Lanzhen sighed inwardly, "What kind of world is this!"
Such a young child has been captured and sent to the front lines; there's only one way out for him: death!
Yan Ming said, "Auntie, let's hurry up and leave now, or none of us will be able to get out when it's light!"
Li Lanzhen thought about it and agreed, so she stood up and said, "Alright, let's hurry up and go. You lead the way, and I'll follow behind!"
At this moment, Li Lanzhen followed the three children along the city wall, but in her heart she was thinking about when to take Xue Bao out of the space.
I bet he's still confused if we bring him out now, so let's talk about it after we leave the city.
Li Lanzhen followed the three children until they were not far from the city gate of Youzhou before stopping.
Stone crouched down and immediately parted the thatch, revealing a dark dog hole.
When Li Lanzhen saw the dog hole, she praised the children in her heart for being clever.
As the saying goes, the darkest place is under the lamp. The most dangerous place is also the safest place.
This place is not far from the city gate. As long as you are careful and don't make a lot of noise, the guards at the city gate will not think that there is a dog hole here and that people will come in and out through it.
Li Lanzhen was pondering when the stone had already been drilled. He had been gone for a while when she heard him say that.
"Come out quickly, it's safe outside."
It turns out that the stone first crawled out of the dog hole to scout out what was happening outside.
Li Lanzhen thought to herself, "What a clever child."
Yan Ming first sent Yanzi out, and then spoke to Li Lanzhen.
"Auntie, you go first. I'll go last."
Li Lanzhen exclaimed once again, "What a good child!"
Knowing how to protect the least, knowing how to be considerate!
After they all went out, Stone reached into the dog hole again and pulled at the thatch blocking the hole inside the city wall. Then he covered the dog hole outside the city with stones and thatch as well.
Then he turned around, stood up, and said.
"Auntie, let's go."
Yan Ming instructed, "Auntie, even though we're out of the city, it's not very safe. We have to leave quietly."
Li Lanzhen found it amusing; these three children really thought she was a woman who knew nothing.
Li Lanzhen followed the three children up the mountain, and after walking for a short distance, they saw the firelight.
"Brother is a cave!"
"Oh no! Something's happened!"
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