Traveling through the mountains and farming

At daybreak, they returned to the village.

The village in front of me gradually became clear. Although it was covered with heavy snow, I could still vaguely see traces of the village being burned down by a fire.

They each ran towards their own homes, only to see dilapidated houses and an empty village, which had obviously been abandoned for a long time.

Li Chongwen did not go to his previous home, but instead quickened his pace and walked towards the thatched house at the innermost part of the village.

Because he knew that his younger brother and sister had been separated by his father and stepmother, and lived with the wife his stepmother married for him.

These were just some fragmentary information he heard from Li Chongsong.

Perhaps because Li Chongsong was young, or perhaps he was frightened when he was dispersed by soldiers on the way to Jiangbei County, Li Chongwen could only get part of the situation from him.

Li Chongwen heard news in the military camp at that time that someone from Xiaoshan County was secretly heading to Jiangbei County, and the name of Quanshui Village was mentioned. He and Li Chongran asked General Gu for a day's leave to go and investigate, fearing that one of their family members might be among them.

At that time, they repeatedly assured that they would only check in the safe area at the border and would not let anyone detect their whereabouts.

When they were investigating in the border area between Xiaoshan and Jiangbei County, they happened to rescue Li Chongsong from the hands of the rebel army.

Li Chongsong learned that his father Li Changren and stepmother Zhang had been killed on the spot by the rebels, and the others fled in all directions, but Li Chongle and Li Ke did not flee to Jiangbei County with them.

He originally wanted to find an opportunity to take leave and come back secretly to look for his brothers and sisters, but when he returned to the military camp, he encountered an emergency and could not escape.

Later, they heard that the King of Chu was forcibly conscripting able-bodied men everywhere, so their envoys for recruiting people had been on the front line mainly dealing with the new recruits sent by the King of Chu’s military camp.

On the battlefield, he also met his cousin's father-in-law, who was forcibly conscripted into the army. After some persuasion, he recruited him into the imperial army camp.

But he did not meet anyone from Quanshui Village who was forcibly conscripted there, so he had no idea about the specific situation in the village.

Li Chongwen rushed to the thatched hut at the foot of the mountain and found that the wall was built very high and anti-theft ceramic tiles were installed on the wall.

Entering the yard, although it has been abandoned for a long time, you can see that it was previously well maintained.

He walked quickly into the main room and looked around, checked all the rooms, and then went to the backyard to search carefully.

Although the house was in a mess due to a search and had been abandoned for more than a few months, it was still clear that it had been carefully built and was full of life.

From this we can infer that the woman he had never met should be a capable woman who knows how to live.

He continued to look for clues that might be related to his brother and sister in the house and found that there were only furniture in the house and no daily necessities.

If it was looted by police officers or soldiers, it would be too clean.

He felt more like they had packed up in advance and evacuated in an orderly manner.

This judgment gave him a glimmer of hope, so he investigated more carefully.

At this time, everyone else gathered together. Their houses were burned down and they could not find any clues. However, everyone discovered that there were no daily items left in the burned houses. They all felt as if someone had moved everything away in advance.

They gathered together to share their findings and then discussed how to find their families next.

Li Chongwen analyzed calmly: "I think they must have known the danger in advance and left the village in a planned way. But we still need to look for clues as to where they went."

"When we returned to the village, we saw that all the villages along the way were burned down, and there was no place for us to inquire about the news." Li Chongran replied worriedly.

Li Changmao went on to say: "If they didn't flee to Jiangbei County, then they must have hidden in the mountains. This is the only possibility for us."

His son Li Chongwu has the ability to survive in the mountains. If he can take his family and hide in the mountains, he will feel more at ease.

"Yes, we should go into the mountains." Someone agreed.

"Then should we go into the mountains to look for them? There are mountains everywhere here, how do we know where they are hiding?" Li Chonghai's younger brother Li Chonghe said anxiously.

Li Chongwen said: "Let's split up into several groups and search the mountains. We will definitely be able to find people in the village, and then we will be able to know some of the situation."

They were not willing to sit and wait for death, they just wanted to find their families as soon as possible. Moreover, in such bad weather, they didn't know whether their families had food and warm clothes in the mountains.

Everyone agreed and decided to set off immediately.

They simply assigned the route and each carried dry food and water, as well as knives to clear the way.

Although the snow has stopped, it is still frozen, and it is not easy to enter the mountains.

Li Chongwen, Li Changyi's eldest son Li Chongran, Li Chonghai's younger brother Li Chonghe, Li Chongwu's father Li Changmao and Li Chongshan's younger brother Li Chonggu, the five members of the Li family firmly believed that the Li family must be together, so they specially formed a team.

They were conscripted to go to the battlefield, all led by the calm, introverted and resourceful Li Chongwen, Li Changmao who was highly skilled in martial arts, Li Chongran who was meticulous, Li Chonghe and Li Chonggu who were both lively and hardworking. Every time they were in danger, they were able to cooperate with each other and turn danger into safety.

The five people struggled forward along the frozen and rugged mountain road. Li Changmao, Li Chonghe and Li Chonggu led the way in front. The mountain forest that had been frozen by the snowstorm was extremely difficult to move forward. Every step required someone in front to clear the obstacles.

There were fallen branches and piles of ice and snow everywhere. The heavy snow was frozen, making every step difficult. They used straw found in the village to tie their shoes to increase friction and prevent slipping.

Li Chongwen and Li Chongran explored the surrounding area, paying attention to the movements around them to see if they could find any signs of human activity.

We walked from morning till noon but didn't find anything. However, we did catch some prey that came out to look for food, including muntjacs and badgers.

They carried the prey and continued searching forward.

"Chongwen, it looks like someone has cut down the branches blocking the road here. There must be people moving around nearby." Li Chongran said excitedly.

Li Chongwen quickly stepped forward to check, "It is indeed a trace of human activity. Let's follow this trace to find the way back."

A quarter of an hour later, they found the wooden house hidden in a secret valley.

Li Chongwen walked forward, knocked on the door gently and asked, "Is anyone there?"

Hearing no response from inside the house, he continued to shout, "Is anyone there? We are from Quanshui Village."

As soon as he finished speaking, the door opened and Wu Cunzheng appeared in front of Li Chongwen and the others.

Wu Cunzheng, who was standing in front of him, saw the people in front of him clearly and said in surprise: "Li Chongwen, you...you are back? Didn't you disappear on the battlefield?"

Li Chongwen was also very excited and said hurriedly: "Wu Cunzheng, it's me. The war outside is over, and your Erlang has returned safely."

Wu Cunzheng's second son was also conscripted into the army with Li Chongwen and has always been with Li Chongwen.

At this time, he should be working with Luo Dashan's eldest son Luo Xiaoshan and several others to search for his family in other directions of the mountain.

"That's great. Come inside quickly. It's so cold in this weather. Don't stand outside." Wu Cunzheng hurriedly greeted them.

His eldest son and daughter-in-law also heard the noise and came out to greet them.