Traveling through the mountains and farming

Lin Wan was not in a hurry to return to the grain storage cave in the valley. She wanted to wait for Li Changli to come back to see if there was any latest news from the village.

Li Changli, whom the whole family was looking forward to seeing soon, was preparing to sneak into his backyard.

He sneaked all the way here and saw that the once familiar and peaceful village had now changed beyond all recognition.

The houses in the village were wantonly destroyed, some were still emitting black smoke, and the roads were littered with footprints and debris.

From afar, I saw that many people's doors were smashed open, the yards were in a mess, and the servants were moving food and livestock from the houses.

He stared blankly, his heart filled with anger.

Just as he was about to sneak into his backyard, a hand suddenly reached out from the side like lightning and grabbed him tightly.

He was shocked and turned around hurriedly, and found that the person who grabbed him was Wu Cunzheng.

Wu Cunzheng lowered his voice and said anxiously:

"Changli, don't go in. The officers are still in your house. I just saw one of them go in."

Li Changli asked in astonishment, "Muramasa, why are you here?"

Wu Cunzheng replied in a low voice: "I also sneaked out to investigate the situation."

Li Changli then asked: "How are your family members? And other people in the village?"

Muramasa sighed and said, "My family was hiding in the mountains. Thanks to the information your father provided, we had time to prepare in advance and escaped in time. But our house was damaged and burned down by them."

Muramasa's face was filled with anger, and he continued, "They are simply a group of robbers! They rushed into the village with ferocious faces. Because many people in our village fled in advance, they could not collect the autumn tax grain, nor could they force conscription. So they took out their anger on the houses in the village, smashing everything they saw and setting fire to houses crazily. They are simply insane!"

"Have all the villagers escaped safely?" Li Changli asked anxiously.

Muramasa frowned and said, "No, four or five households near the entrance of the village didn't have time to escape and were blocked by the police. I saw them move the grain away and took away all the men from those households."

He gritted his teeth and said, "Listen, those officers are shouting again."

Li Changli listened carefully for a while and heard the officers shouting loudly in the village.

They said that the villagers who were hiding should show up voluntarily, otherwise if they were caught, their crimes would be more serious and they would have to endure more cruel punishment.

They threatened to burn the entire village to the ground if the villagers did not come out voluntarily.

If everyone has nowhere to escape, it will not be as simple as capturing a few men. Everyone will be forced to suffer a fate worse than death.

Li Changli clenched his fists tightly, veins popping out on his forehead, "These bastards, I'm going to find out the details."

He was usually a relatively rational person, but when he saw the devastated scene in the village, he found it difficult to suppress his anger.

Wu Cunzheng hurriedly stopped him, "Don't be impulsive. There are almost no people in the village now. Even if they set fire, they can only burn all the houses. Even if they set fire to the mountains, it will be useless. We are surrounded by mountains here. We can hide in deeper mountains."

After listening to Wu Cunzheng's words, Li Changli calmed down.

After that, he said goodbye to Wu Cunzheng, turned around and left in a hurry, preparing to go to the place where the grain was stored to find his family.

He walked quickly, his heart full of worry and anxiety, and soon he arrived at the entrance of the cave where the grain was stored.

Li Chonghao immediately spotted him, lowered his voice and called out "Third Uncle", then took him into the cave.

As soon as he entered the cave, he was hugged tightly by the two brothers Li Chongan and Li Chongping. Their eyes were red and they were very excited.

Chen Lian, who was not far away, also cried with joy when she saw her husband return safely.

He quickly ran forward and said with a sob: "You are finally back. I was so worried about you."

When Li Changli saw that his family members were safe and sound, the stone in his heart finally fell to the ground.

He gently patted the backs of brothers Li Chongan and Li Chongping and comforted them, "Okay, okay, I'm back."

Then he turned his head, looked at Chen Lian, and said softly: "Don't cry, I'm fine."

At this time, Aunt Li wiped away the tears from her eyes and said with a smile: "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back."

Uncle Li patted him on the shoulder heavily, then pulled him aside and asked if he knew the situation outside.

He told his family in detail everything he saw outside.

Uncle Li also told Lin Wan and the others about the plan they had discussed before, and decided that they would get up now and go to the grain transfer location to meet up with the others.

Li Changli thought for a moment and said, "My second brother and I will stay with Lin Wan and the others to wait for the grain transporters to arrive. I am not comfortable leaving the three of them here alone."

"That's great. You can stay and take care of them more." Uncle Li responded.

After that, the family began to pack up and prepare to embark on the journey to live in seclusion in the cave.

Li Changli, Lin Wan and others secretly returned to the cave in the valley where they stored grain.

The first time Li Changli heard Lin Wan say that their grain storage was in a cave in the valley.

They were as surprised as everyone else when they heard it, and exclaimed that these three people were very brave for choosing a place that the whole village was afraid of to hide the grain.

But we have to admire their intelligence and courage. Who would have thought that the secluded valley caves that everyone avoided would become a place to store food?

When they returned to the cave in the valley, Li Changli saw the place where Lin Wan and the others chose to hide, as well as the food and other supplies they had stored.

He admired Lin Wan's abilities immensely. If he had to start from scratch with only five taels of family money and two children, he might not have been able to do so well.

They waited quietly in the cave for the arrival of the food carriers, and time seemed to pass very slowly.

Li Changli would walk to the cave entrance from time to time and pry open a small hole to observe the situation outside.

Lin Wan had been praying in her heart that the officers would evacuate as soon as possible after they couldn't find anyone, because she wanted to go back and get the iron pot from home.

Life would be less enjoyable without an iron pan.

"Third uncle, do you know how many constables there are in the village?" Lin Wan asked softly.

Li Changli thought for a moment and said, "I'm not sure about the exact number, but there are probably about ten or so, and there seem to be a few conscripted officers and soldiers."

This ancient official seemed to be responsible for collecting taxes and the officers and soldiers were probably here to enforce conscription.

After hearing this, Lin Wan couldn't help but frown, and was secretly worried.

The situation on the front line for the King of Chu must be very tight, and forced conscription has even been implemented.

As time passed, the atmosphere in the cave became more and more tense.

Li Changli would still pry a small hole at the entrance of the cave from time to time to check the situation outside.

Lin Wan and her two siblings sat aside in silence.

Suddenly, there was a slight noise outside. Li Changli immediately became alert and signaled everyone to keep quiet.

He approached the cave entrance cautiously and peered out.

I saw a few dark shadows swaying in the distance, seemingly searching around.

Li Changli's heart suddenly rose to his throat. He slowly retreated back into the cave and said to everyone in a low voice:

"There seem to be a few officers outside searching nearby. We have to be more careful."