It was already late at night. The camp in the forest was shrouded in silence, with only the occasional chirping of insects, which seemed particularly clear in the stillness of the night.
Before going to bed, Su Wencheng and his wife sat beside the simple bed, having just tasted the shortbread that their son and daughter had specially left for them.
The sweet taste of the biscuits was still lingering in their mouths. The couple felt sweet in their hearts, feeling the caring and understanding of their children. With this deep warmth, they gradually closed their eyes and fell asleep.
At this moment, Yao Qingshuang was not sleepy at all. She closed her eyes and slowly probed her consciousness into the space.
I hope to find something useful in this space so that everyone can have a smoother journey ahead.
At this moment, a sudden shout broke the tranquility of the night. The sound was particularly abrupt in the silent forest, and instantly pulled Yao Qingshuang out of her state of concentration.
She was startled and quickly got up. Without even bothering to tidy up her messy clothes, she ran towards the direction where the sound came from.
When she arrived at the scene, she saw Da Niu and Da Zhuang, who were in charge of guarding the northeast side tonight, escorting two people with serious faces and walking towards the center of the camp with firm steps.
The two men looked rather disheveled, their clothes were disheveled and their hair was messy.
They were firmly controlled by Da Niu and Da Zhuang, their arms were tightly held and they could not move, but they kept shouting, as if they were defending themselves.
Yao Qingshuang's eyes were fixed on the two people, her heart full of doubts and worries. She secretly wondered where these two people came from and whether they would bring any trouble to the camp.
The shouting detonated in the silent camp, waking up the villagers who had already fallen asleep or were about to fall asleep.
Everyone came over from their beds or corners curiously, with gossipy looks on their faces and curiosity glints in their eyes. They gathered around and looked at the two people being escorted by Da Niu and Da Zhuang, whispering to each other and guessing what had happened.
At this time, the village chief also heard the noise and was hurried over here.
He pushed through the crowd and walked to the front, and immediately saw an old man and a young boy being escorted by Da Niu and Da Zhuang.
A hint of doubt flashed in the village chief's eyes. He frowned slightly and asked, "What's going on?"
Da Niu and Da Zhuang looked at each other, and finally Da Niu cleared his throat and answered, "Village chief, this is what happened. The two of us were on guard in the northeast tonight, alertly paying attention to the movements around us, when we suddenly noticed these two people sneaking around our camp.
It doesn't look like anything good is going on, so we brought them here. What do you think we should do with them?"
After listening to what Da Niu said, the village chief understood the general situation.
He turned his gaze towards the two men and looked at them carefully.
The young man was about fourteen or fifteen years old, with a handsome face and a pair of bright and lively eyes that seemed to be able to speak, revealing a clever and intelligent temperament.
Looking at the old man again, although his hair is gray, his face is kind and he has a gentle demeanor. He is wearing slightly old but very clean clothes, and his every move is full of elegance. At first glance, he does not look like a bad person with bad intentions.
So, the village chief slowed down his tone and asked them, "Where are you from? And what are you doing near our camp? Please tell me the truth."
Although the village chief's voice was gentle, his eyes revealed an unquestionable seriousness as he quietly waited for their answer.
Seeing everyone looking at him with confusion and vigilance, the young man hurriedly tugged at the arm of the old man beside him. Then, mustering up his courage, he spoke, "Everyone, please don't misunderstand me. My grandfather's name is Bai Zhu, and I'm Bai Dongqing. We're not bad people. We're just like you, fleeing famine."
Although Bai Dongqing's voice was still slightly trembling, it was full of sincerity. He continued, "We set out from Baomin County and finally arrived in Pingning County."
At this point, a flicker of fear crossed his eyes. He swallowed hard and continued, "But who could have predicted that upon arriving in Pingning County, we'd encounter something as serious as Prince Chen's rebellion? Pingning County instantly became a chaotic mess, with men being conscripted everywhere, allegedly to be sent to fight in the army. My grandfather and I, grandson, tried every possible means and, taking advantage of the chaos, finally managed to escape from Pingning County."
Dongqing said this while gesturing about the escape scene, his face full of relief and fear after surviving the disaster: "After escaping, we really had nowhere to go. The outside world was in chaos and we didn't know where to go. We had no choice but to go into the mountains.
As we walked, we discovered a path cleared ahead, presumably made by refugees like us. We followed it, step by step, until we reached your camp. Seeing the firelight, we were delighted, thinking it might be another refugee group stopping here, so we came over to say hello. But…"
After he finished speaking, he lowered his head somewhat embarrassedly and looked at his miserable appearance.
The village chief listened carefully to Bai Dongqing's words, and his originally tense expression gradually relaxed and became much better as he spoke.
He thought to himself, "I told you I'm pretty good at judging people. Judging from their facial features, these grandfather and grandson don't look like the kind of people who would do bad things."
With this in mind, the village chief raised his hand, waved towards Da Niu and Da Zhuang, and said loudly, "Alright, let them go. Judging from their situation, they are indeed poor refugees."
After hearing what the village chief said, Da Niu and Da Zhuang loosened their grip on the grandfather and grandson.
Bai Dongqing and Bai Zhu felt relieved immediately, and hurriedly bowed deeply to the village chief and the people around them, constantly expressing their gratitude.
Yao Qingshuang stood aside, listening quietly to the boy's story, thinking about the possible impact of this incident in her mind. Suddenly, as if she was hit by an electric current, she shuddered violently.
She thought to herself, "Yes, there is no existing road on this mountain. In order to continue moving forward, we have to make a road ourselves. This will definitely leave a series of obvious traces in the mountains.
What if some bad guys follow these traces?
If we were to encounter bad guys in this desolate mountain area, how would we, young and old, handle it?"
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