Chapter 55

Is this what he meant to leave with a lantern?

"I've died twice, and ghosts are nothing special." An Yinong calmed down after a few breaths. He clenched the lantern pole and turned around slowly.

From the corner of his eyes, he saw the cyan tulle flying past, but there was nothing behind him.

The path that An Yinong walked was now surrounded by white fog.

He couldn't help wrapping his clothes tightly, and his teeth were shaking.

"Thank you."

After saying that, he took the lantern and walked home, first walking slowly, then speeding up, and finally running.

It was already dark, the world was dark, and there was only a boy with a lantern on the twisted black passage. The hazy cold light from the lantern enveloped him like a mist.

The unknown biological probes on both sides were about to move, but the place illuminated by the cyan fire was clean and nothing.

He ran all the way to the house, lit the oil lamp, and was still in shock when the sound of birds flapping their wings could be heard vaguely outside the window.

An Yinong waited carefully for a while, walked over quietly, looked through the crack in the window, and then opened the window, only to see a dumb owl parked in the tree.

"Xiao Qi, do you feel anything?" he asked the system.

"No." The system was frustrated, it felt like the most useless system ever.

"Gourd Lake is impossible to go to." An Yinong turned to look at the lantern that was blown out. No matter what it was, good intentions or malice, he was leaving. When he's gone, it's all over.

In the next few days, due to the increase in taxes, the people were struggling to live. Some villages that could not survive began to flee the famine, and some people turned from good people to robbers, robbing property everywhere.

I heard that the rice store in the town was also robbed, and many people died. Therefore, businesses have closed their shops, and those big households have their windows and doors closed, for fear of being pushed by the hungry and crazy people.

Tianjia Village was also panicking, and people were hesitant to leave or stay.

An Yinong did not go out anymore, he pushed the wheelbarrow to the carpenter's house for repair.

The front wheels were replaced with new thicker ones, the sides were reinforced, and two small wheels were fixed at the back, which became a 'tricycle'. Three wooden boxes of the same size are fixed on the flatbed, and he can lie on them to sleep at night without having to set up another tent.

"Put a bamboo shed on it and put oil paper on it to keep out the wind and rain."

After hearing this, the carpenter said, "Are you going to go to other places to find food?"

"If you can, who wants to leave the country? People are cheap. 

An Yinong sighed and shook his head. "But when will it rain today?"

An Yinong didn't go out for a few days after that. He replaced some oil with the things he didn't use at home, and then packed up the little stone mill that wasn't much used at home, and ground all the food at home into powder.

He sews clothes and repairs tools at home during the day, and secretly grinds grain at night. After a few nights, most of the grain is ground into fine powder.

"Put this bag of multigrain powder in a pot and fry it until it is cooked. You can add water when you eat it. The same is true for these black beans. They are fried and eaten dry. This bag of multigrain powder is baked into dry cakes. If you really want to escape from the famine, If you don't have time to cook in a pot, you can eat it directly."

An Yinong carefully arranged the food at home.

The movement of his house was also noticed, and the villagers were curious: "What are you grinding at your house?"

An Yinong didn't tell the truth, only said: "The bark is ground, the elm bark at the door is ground for a good entrance."

It wasn't a complete lie, he did grind some bark and put it in a bag. Others have already started eating bark, so their family can't be too special.

When the time was about, the carpenter had repaired the original wheelbarrow to be extremely strong. An Yinong looked at the handcart with a shed and a wooden box with a rare smile on his face.

"I put a long pole for you on the bamboo shed. If you hang it with a cloth at night, no one will see you. Anyway, you can sleep better," said the carpenter.

After picking up the modified wheelbarrow, he went to the cobbler to get the hat and shoes, the thick fur boots on top and the melaleuca bottom. It's a pity that there is no rubber grass here, otherwise it can be a rubber-soled shoe.

As for the hat, it is the Lei Feng hat popular in later generations. It has two large ears, which can be hung to protect the neck and ears.

"One box for food, one box for clothes and quilts, one box for medicines and things that may be used." All three boxes are full, so what about some pots and pans? hanging on both sides.

An Yinong tried to lift the wheelbarrow. The things on it were attached to the wheelbarrow, which added up to more than 200 pounds. It felt heavy when pushed.

The car is so heavy that it can only be carried by two arms, and the arms will be useless after a day. An Yinong recalled other people's cars: "A strip of cloth has to be tied between the two armrests, and the cloth strip is tied on the shoulders, so that it can be lifted."

"Dong, dong, dong!" There was a rapid sound of gongs and drums outside the door.

He walked out of the door, and many villagers walked out: "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Lianhua Village was robbed by robbers. They all died. No one survived." The married girl who fled here took her child and cried. howl.

The villagers' hearts were even colder: "Robbers?" 

The robbers came very quickly, and they appeared in the next village the next day. The wealthiest Huang Lao Cai's house was looted. The young masters and young ladies with tender flesh were also robbed, and only the youngest young master escaped.

This group of people grabbed and left without stopping.

"I heard that it was a soldier who was defeated, and he was killing good people and taking advantage of them."

"Several carts were pulled away, and the sacks were full of grain." The villagers spread rumors.

Two days later, the villagers did not find out the whereabouts of the robbers, but they heard that the county government office was robbed, and the food in the county government office was also looted.

Both soldiers and bandits, the county government was robbed, the county magistrate died, and all the grass roots that could be eaten nearby were scraped out and eaten clean. This series of events finally cut off the last fluke in the hearts of the villagers. They knew , there is still a chance to escape, and there is no doubt that he will die if he stays.

"Would you like to go?"

"Go!"

Countless hungry farmers dragged their families out of the house.

"Let's just leave? There are still a lot of things, don't take them?" The people who fled the desert looked back frequently, and the scenery and dilapidated houses that had been tired of seeing for a long time seemed to be very cute.

"If you don't take it, you won't be able to take so much."

"All the chickens in our family have been killed? Can't we raise them first?"

Bit by bit, breaking a home is worth a thousand dollars. But if you don't go, you will starve to death.

Bringing his parents, wife and children, pushing the car, abandoning his hometown, the people from Tianjia Village set off.

"There is nothing to eat on the road." Looking at the desolate scene on both sides, the old people burst into tears.

After two years of drought, many plants could not survive at all, and were later gnawed by locusts and humans, so what appeared in front of them was a piece of wasteland.

The road is full of yellow mud and sand, and when the wind blows, I can't open my eyes. Therefore, those who fled the desert covered their heads with sackcloth.

An Yinong pushed the cart and walked with difficulty, a thick strip of cloth tied his back, and the cloth was fastened with handrails on both sides.

He also carried a bag with food on his back, a water bladder hanging from his waist, and a trimmed-down car on top of which was covered with a thick mattress and quilt.

Families with large populations are pulling ox carts, horses, horses, or donkey carts. The carts are full of things, and they carry a lot of stuff on their backs.

The poor family had two baskets on one shoulder, one for their children and the other for food rations.

They just walked on a deserted road.

The population of Tianjia Village is not large, only about 20 households with more than 100 people. They are going to go together, and they can take care of each other.

"It's winter now, the north is cold, no grass grows, there's still a war at the moment, and there's no way to survive. It's better to go to the south, the wild vegetables in the south grow early, and it's better to survive the winter."

Several adult men got together to discuss the escape route.

An Yinong did not stop it. From the development of the plot, the survival rate of refugees who fled to the south is indeed the highest. Of course, the road to the south is not safe. There are many mountains here, and there are many robbers and robbers. In the plot, they encountered two robbers along the way, and many people were killed and injured.

Thinking of this, he clenched the black iron machete in his hand, and there were muscles on his arms that were formed after three months of eating.

This month, he also practiced the martial arts he had learned before, just to give him a little more chance of survival when he encountered gangsters.

The team of more than 20 families started to head south. They walked nearly ten miles along the dry river on the first day. Occasionally, they could see puddles that had not completely disappeared.

Because of hunger and lack of energy, everyone was slow, and no one said anything along the way, and they were dead.

An Yinong also stopped and walked, but he stopped to collect water and dry wood.

On either side of the wheelbarrow were two baskets, one with a wooden barrel for collecting water and one for holding dead branches and hay.

Other families have a large population, so you can divide a few people to pack the firewood and leave two people to guard the luggage. He was alone, and as soon as he left, the car might be pulled away.

So An Yinong came up with this method. Collect as many things as you can while on the road, and use them when you stop and rest.

The sky gradually turned dark, and they found a dilapidated temple nearby, with more than 100 people crowded in the courtyard.

The sense of security brought by human buildings is incomparable to the wild environment. Several families have collected dead wood and hay, lit bonfires in the yard, and then took out the food to bake.

At the moment, their food is still there. Although they are all grains, rice bran and even grass roots, the comfort is there, so they are all in good spirits and have the strength to speak.

"It's so cold." The man took off his shoes and roasted his feet, and the smell of the stinky pigsty came out. A few women laughed and scolded them, saying that what they were going to eat later also smelled like stinky feet.

"Don't laugh, right now there is still an eaves that can cover the rain, burn things, and have something to eat. I don't know what to do in the future."

As soon as these words came out, everyone quieted down. Sensible children hide behind their parents timidly.

At this time, An Yinong stayed in the most corner position. After his tricycle was parked, it was inclined. He had to put special pads under the two small wheels, so that the surface of the car was flat and would not move casually.

He hung rags on three wooden shelves, fastened the straps, and hung a straw curtain on one side, blocking most of his vision. He sat on the small stool and listened to their chat.

Of course, he wasn't just sitting there, he was filtering the water he collected during the day, with four layers of pebbles, charcoal, sand, and cotton yarn, and then boiled it to save it for drinking.

Other families who drink raw water directly don't understand: "You can do so many things when you drink water."

"I'm weak, and drinking raw water is easy to get sick." An Yinong didn't explain much, he couldn't prove that there were germs in the water and insect eggs, if they say more, they will feel that An Yinong curses them. In this environment, he felt that it was appropriate for him to be selfish.

By dinner time, he climbed into the small carriage on the wheelbarrow, lowered the curtains, and applied a 'health halo' to his shoulders, wrists and legs. After pushing the car for a day, it seems that my body is not my own.

The only thing that can bring him comfort at this time is the food in another space.

The dinner there was always very rich, and there was still a lot of food left on the table after he was full. Aynon consciously left behind less flavorful foods, such as lettuce, fruit and bread.

These are wrapped in a clean cloth for tomorrow's breakfast.

Not long after dinner, except for the two people who stayed vigil, everyone else climbed into the car and slept. An Yinong was also lying in his car. The relatively private space brought him a sense of psychological security.

When the cries around him began to come and go, An Yinong also held the machete and closed his eyes.

"...!" His eyes snapped open.

"Shh." A finger pressed against his lips, cold.

Chapter 56

The skin is as smooth as white jade, the long black hair is spread on the quilt, and the man with the cold fragrance on his body is lying on his side, with his index finger on his lips.

The interior was dim, and he should have been unable to see clearly, but An Yinong saw this man clearly: he was a handsome man with sword-brow and phoenix eyes, with his own majesty.

When he approached, there was an aroma that he had smelled.

"Wuwuwu, host, I'm sorry for you, I just found out that this is a high-risk world!" The system squatted in An Yinong's ear and cried, crying until An Yinong's brows twitched.

"Okay, don't cry." He thought of the strange ending in the plot. It is only reasonable for ghosts to exist in this world. The protagonist chooses to become a monk.

"Who are you?" An Yinong whispered, clutching the machete in one hand.

"You offended me, I didn't kill you, but you wanted to kill me?" 

The man's cold fingers wrapped An Yinong's knife-holding hand, and the fingertips of the other hand crossed his chin. He couldn't move at the moment. He could only ask reluctantly, "I don't know how I offended Your Excellency?"

"You didn't offend enough by crushing food with my urn?"

"......" He had done that since he got here in the first day, using a broken black pot to crush potatoes.

Who would have thought it was an urn? Weren't earth burials popular among the ancients?

"I'm sorry." Knowing that it was his fault, An Yinong simply apologized, "I don't know what I can do to get your forgiveness?"

"It's okay," An Yinong's unusual reaction seemed to please the man , his eyes narrowed, "Anyway, the ash inside has been cleaned up."

"..." Then you are still chasing me to apologize?

The man chuckled, and the deep laughter hit his eardrums, making goosebumps all over: "Of course, if you insist on apologizing, I won't stop it. From now on, if you offer me a stick of incense, I will do the same. protect you."

This sounded a bit bizarre, but for some reason, An Yinong was willing to believe that this sentence was true, and he relaxed a little: "I'll go buy some incense in the next town."

"No, I'll bring it myself. ." The man waved his sleeves and held out a beautifully patterned mahogany box, inside which were neatly arranged incense sticks.

"..."

This night An Yinong didn't sleep well. Although the man disappeared and disappeared, he knew that the man was always there. The next day he had dark circles under his eyes. Fortunately, the others were the same. They didn't sleep well, so he wasn't obtrusive inside.

An Yinong took a little water to wet the handkerchief, wiped his face, and then took a little brown plaster made of herbs from a jar, pushed it open, and rubbed it on both sides of his cheeks, as well as on his temples, causing his face to sag. The visual effect, and then dipped a bit of salt on the corner of the handkerchief to wipe his teeth.

"No wonder you eat a lot but still look thin."

When he turned around, An Yinong found the man sitting on his wheelbarrow. He wears a jade crown, a long robe, and holds an ebony fan painted with mountains and rivers. The silk and satin with exquisite textures are spread on the box, which is out of tune with the whole environment.

"Find a dirty cloth to wrap your face, the effect is better." The man leaned there lazily and spoke lazily.

An Yinong looked around.

"Don't worry, they can't see me. My name is Gu, and the word Zhengzhong, you call me Zhengzhong."

As expected, the others didn't look here, and An Yinong whispered, "My name is Tian Xi."

"That's not your real name," the man shook the exquisite fan in his hand, "when people call you that, you always need to confirm it."

This man's observation is careful, I guess the secret of getting food after he disappeared has also been seen by him.

Forget it, don't worry about more lice.

"Yinong, this is my name, an elder took it."

The man was satisfied: "Yinong, don't forget today's incense offering." 

The yellow-brown incense was lit and inserted into the gap of the wooden frame. The man in the suit was cross-legged, and the smoke lingered around him.

After the incense was burned, the man raised his eyebrows and looked at him: "To thank you, I will keep you vigil at night, and let you relax."

As soon as he finished speaking, An Yinong noticed that the cloth on his shoulders loosened, and he The pushing vehicle is much lighter. If it used to be more than 200 jin and fast 300 jin, now it is at most 100 jin.

"Thank you." An Yinong sincerely thanked him, and after thinking about it, he took out the tangerine he was reluctant to eat and put it in the car. The tangerines were his reward, and Mary gave four or five.

The man stared at the yellow orange for a long time, without asking where it came from, he picked it up and peeled it: "It's so sweet." 

His slender white fingers peeled the orange one petal at a time, the thin membrane was easily torn, the rich juice flowed out.

An Yinong could smell the sweet and sour taste. He licked his lips and wanted to eat.

The first day of escaping the famine was more of a psychological pain, after all, it was to leave home. But on the second day, they began to know what escape was.

Not only the psychological exhaustion caused by the hopeless and repeated desolate environment, but also the physical exhaustion caused by poor food and sleep and travel.

"No, my leg hurts." After walking for a day and not having a good rest at night, the muscles on many people's legs became sore and swollen the next day.

"Would you like leg bindings?" An Yinong pointed at his calf. "It won't hurt so much when you tie it up like this."

He had already tied his calf with a long cloth strip. The leggings could protect his legs and avoid long journeys of blood. Pain caused by deposition.

"Does it work?"

"Will you find out if you try it?" said another, already rummaging through the long strips of cloth for leggings.

Soon, most of the people tied their calves, and they kicked their legs a little unaccustomed to: "The meat is stretched, it's a little swollen." 

The villagers were still dubious at this moment, but after walking for a long time, they felt The benefits of the leggings are now: "Good thing, it doesn't hurt after walking for so long."

An Yinong smiled reluctantly, he was too tired to talk anymore, he was tired even laughing.

On the way, they passed several small county towns, but each of them had their gates closed and refused to open to the refugees.

"Bang!" Without any warning, an aunt who was leaning on the car rolled off the wheelbarrow, and the young man pushing the cart was startled.

"Mother?!" 

The crowd stopped, and the people they knew approached. They carefully stretched out their fingers, and the faint breath was on their fingertips. Is there any?" 

The young man who looked like he was just an adult hurriedly brought water and cotton slag cakes.

"This cake won't work, it needs to be softer, soak it with water."

His tears rolled down: "This is the only one left now."

Cotton slag cake is a cake made from cottonseed flour. It is poisonous and should not be eaten too much. But there is nothing to eat at the moment, that's all.

If the cotton dregs cake is gone, they have to consider the bark and Guanyin soil, then it is really a dead end.

Everyone was saddened by his crying, but when he asked them to take out food, they couldn't do anything, not to mention that they didn't have food themselves, even if they had, then they had to think about their wives and children.

This is the first day of the escape? The days to eat will be long.

An Yinong's hand has already touched the box. The box contains his rations, not counting kudzu powder and other things, there are more than 100 catties. But...

he turned his face away, and the fingers that were stretched out were withdrawn one by one with difficulty.

Fortunately, the old woman woke up after drinking a little water. She slowly sat up and said, "I'm fine, but I'm dizzy after sitting for too long. Just walk around." 

He believed his mother's words.

Everyone looked at the mother and son and shook their heads secretly: I'm afraid she won't last long.

Because of such an accident, the team stayed in place for more than ten minutes before setting off again. This time, they were even quieter, and even the expressions on their faces gradually became numb.

"I thought you would help." Gu Zhengzhong looked at An Yinong.

"If I have the spare power, I will help."

But where does the spare power come from? He only had so much food, but there were so many people who were affected by the disaster that he couldn't help. Since you have to face death sooner or later, it is better to have such cruelty early in the morning.

As an 'orphan' who lost his parents and no relatives and elders, the original owner's life in the village was also very difficult, but only the village chief's family helped him.

Their mood that day was the same as that of An Yinong at this moment.

Call him selfish or cold-blooded. He has to take care of himself first. If the village chief's family is exhausted, he will try his best to help, but others can't.

Having said that, that night, the young man found a strange paper bag in his car. It's probably paper, very soft, with patterns printed on it. He found half a catty of millet in it, and a persimmon cake was pressed on the paper bag.

"...The mouth is disgusting and the body is upright." The system complained.

"Shut up."

Two days later, the old woman was still dead, and she slept through the night without suffering.

Her son took the paper bag and bowed to the crowd: "My mother asked me to thank my benefactor, and I could eat my favorite persimmon before leaving. I also thank you, my mother left in her dream after she was full, and she was not guilty at all. ."

After he finished speaking, he knelt on the ground and banged his head a few times.

"Okay, your mother is full and go, okay. She is relieved, and you are relieved." An old man of about the age looked at the thin body, and then looked back at his own children who were also starving.

"Dad, don't say that."

An Yinong turned sideways, he felt a kind of worry. His worry is not because a person dies, but because this is an era when people can starve to death.

Although there were many deficiencies in his previous life, at least they were far away from starvation, so far that they forgot that people starved to death fifty or sixty years ago.

"I used to be so comfortable." He stared blankly as the man dug a groove in the ground and put his mother's body in.

The team set off again, and suddenly he heard the barking of the dog, but when he turned his head, he saw a wild dog from nowhere, surrounding the dug, constantly digging at something with its claws.

"Don't look at it, don't look at it, you are buried deep, and the wild dogs can't eat it." The elders from before comforted the younger generation, and the younger generation immediately burst into tears.

"Mother, I'm sorry, I can't even erect a grave for you."

Others also had a sour nose, only the old man had a calmness that could see through the world: "Let's go, your mother has someone to collect the corpse and enjoy it."

They Keep walking forward, not daring to look back.

That night, An Yinong heard the barking of dogs in his sleep. He woke up several times, and was woken up by crying the next morning.

A couple knelt on the ground and cried. An old man was hanging from a tree in front of them. It was the old man who helped bury Grandma yesterday.