With everything prepared, Li Guang went to the courtyard, approached the horse, and found it to be in very poor condition.
It didn't touch the hay I gave it last night, it only drank a little water.
The old man was right; the horse had suffered internal injuries and urgently needed medical attention, which could not be delayed any longer.
Li Guang led the old man away from the village, bidding farewell to the old man.
Although he was anxious, Li Guang dared not walk too fast, for fear of aggravating Di Nu's horse's injury. Although twenty li was not a long distance, it took Li Guang quite a while to walk it.
There's a village ahead, which should be the Gu Family Village the old man mentioned. This village is quite large, about the size of a small market town.
What puzzled Li Guang was that there weren't many people in the village, and everyone seemed to be in a hurry.
Li Guang was so eager to get medical treatment that he had no time to think about these things. He wanted to find someone to ask where Master Gu lived.
Finally, Li Guang saw a middle-aged man pushing a wheelbarrow, hurrying along, and went up to ask him for directions.
"Excuse me, sir, where does Master Gu live?"
The middle-aged man stopped and began to scrutinize Li Guang.
"Who are you, and what business do you have with Master Gu?" the middle-aged man asked.
"I'm just passing by. The horse behind me has encountered some trouble. It may have suffered internal injuries. I heard that Master Gu is skilled in treating horses, so I'd like to ask him for help."
The middle-aged man looked up at the horse behind Li Guang. It was indeed a fine horse, but it didn't seem to be in good spirits; it must be sick.
The middle-aged man sighed and said:
"Brother, perhaps you've come at the wrong time. Master Gu has no time to treat your horse right now."
In a few days, Gujiazhuang might cease to exist. Take my advice: go back to where you came from. This is truly not a place for you.
Li Guang was puzzled by the middle-aged man's words. Could something big be about to happen here?
Seeing Li Guang's expression, the middle-aged man sighed and spoke again.
"Young man, let me tell you this: Gu Family Village is being invaded by the ancient forces. In a battle a couple of days ago, the eldest son of the village head was captured, and the second and third sons died in battle. Only the youngest son is left."
Now, Master Gu is recruiting people at the village entrance, preparing to form a suicide squad to fight the ancient forces to the death.
Currently, the ancient faction has 5,000 troops, while the Gu family village only has a mere 1,000 troops remaining. How can such a small force possibly contend with the ancient faction?
The people of Gujiazhuang now have nowhere to hide or escape, and have no choice but to fight to the death.
The people of Gujiazhuang are all heroes; they would rather die standing than live on their knees.
Young man, I've told you everything. You'd better take care of yourself.
After the middle-aged man finished speaking, he hurriedly pushed his wheelbarrow away.
Li Guang was astonished. Was this still the Great Northern Dynasty? How could there be two forces fighting each other? Did the local government not intervene in this matter?
In Li Guang's view, it was impossible for such a powerful family to exist among ordinary people, unless it was in a remote area where the government could not control it.
Having lived my whole life, apart from farming in Shuixian Village for the past few years and having some contact with the outside world, I had always lived in the imperial palace, like a caged bird or a frog in a well, and knew nothing about the affairs of the Great Northern Dynasty.
Now that I've stumbled upon this, I'm determined to get to the bottom of it.
Li Guang led his horse toward the village entrance.
The atmosphere at the village entrance was somewhat somber, with many men queuing to register, ranging in age from thirteen or fourteen to fifty or sixty.
After registering, the man took off his shirt and stood aside. Then someone came over and tattooed words on his back.
At the entrance of the village, there is a high platform with more than a dozen people standing on it, their expressions serious.
Among the dozen or so people, there stood an old man, over sixty years old, fully armed. Judging from the situation, the old man should be a military officer.
If I'm not mistaken, this person should be Master Gu. Asking him to treat the horses at this time is indeed not the right time. It seems I need to look for another opportunity.
Li Guang led his horse to a shady tree and quietly watched everything that was happening before him.
The recruitment was completed in no time, and a man in his forties walked over from beside Master Gu. Judging from his clothes, he should be a scholar.
He came to the center of the field and looked around. There were so many people today; almost everyone from the whole village had come.
"Those who come here today are all descendants of the Gu family. The Gu family has lived and multiplied here for hundreds of years, and the population has reached several thousand."
However, in recent years, Gujiazhuang has been repeatedly invaded by the ancient faction. In particular, since the beginning of this year, Gujiazhuang has clashed with the ancient faction several times, and the number of people in Gujiazhuang has decreased from more than 3,000 to just over 1,000.
The ancient faction has only one goal: to exterminate our Gu family, seize our land, and take over our property.
For the sake of our ancestors' legacy, we swear to defend Gujiazhuang to the death, until the last man falls.
As soon as the man finished speaking, the crowd below became excited and started shouting.
"We swear to defend Gujiazhuang to the death, to fight to the last man..."
A moment later, the man raised his hand, and the people below immediately fell silent.
"War requires money. In the past few years, the Gu family's wealth has been depleted. I know your family is not well-off either, and now is the time when you urgently need money."
Those of you with money, contribute money; those without, contribute some grain. We have only one goal: to defend Gujiazhuang.
A commotion arose in the audience, and people began to come up and donate money, placing it on a large tray.
Among them were elderly people with white hair and toddlers learning to walk; some donated a few taels of silver, while others donated only a few copper coins.
Some women removed their jewelry and placed it on a tray.
This scene was truly moving. At this moment, Gujiazhuang was united like never before, with almost everyone stepping forward to donate money and goods.
Li Guang patted his pockets. He had made up his mind to donate the two hundred taels of gold he had on him to gain the trust of the people of Gu Family Village and see if he could persuade the head of the village to treat his horse.
By this time, the donations had been completed, and there was no one left in the middle of the venue.
Seeing that the time was right, Li Guang led his horse over.
Li Guang's actions immediately attracted people's attention. This young man was clearly not from Gujiazhuang. What was he doing leading a horse there?
People held their breath, wondering if he was also going to donate.
Li Guang walked to the tray, stopped, took out four gold ingots from his pocket, placed them on the tray, and then led his horse to leave.
Those in the distance only knew that Li Guang had put something on the tray, but they didn't know what it was. However, the man next to the tray could see it clearly.
The man was taken aback; he could tell at a glance that it was two hundred taels of gold.
Seeing that Li Guang was about to leave after putting down the gold, the man spoke up.
"Young man, please wait a moment."
Li Guang had been waiting for these words, and upon hearing the man speak, he stopped in his tracks.
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