Traveling through the mountains and farming

Luo Dashan and his friends set off after breakfast. They planned to go to Quanshui Village first.

I moved forward carefully all the way, and when I got close to the village, I found that it was surprisingly quiet.

They slowed down their pace, looked around vigilantly, and prepared to quietly enter the village along the path at the edge of the village.

At this moment, Luo Dashan discovered two sneaky figures in front of him, looking around and walking towards him.

They are preparing to take this path into the mountains.

After taking a closer look, he found that it was Wu Cunzheng and his son. Luo Dashan approached and whispered:

"Wumuramasa!"

When Wu Cunzheng heard the voice, he was startled. He turned around and saw that it was an acquaintance. He was surprised and walked over quickly.

He walked up to Luo Dashan and the others and asked in a low voice, "Why are you here?"

"We are here to see what the current situation in the village is?" Luo Dashan replied softly.

Wu Cunzheng waved his hand and said, "Don't go and see. There is no one left in our village. They all ran away."

"Weren't there still a few households there before?" Li Changli asked hurriedly.

Wu Cunzheng had a bitter look on his face, shook his head and said, "There was no one there. We went back to the village to check, and found that there was no one in the village, so we went to other villages to inquire about the news. We also met soldiers on the way, and we were almost caught?"

Li Changli was surprised and asked, "Are they still arresting people to pay autumn taxes and serve in the military? Didn't they withdraw before?"

"The officers who collected the autumn tax have been withdrawn. Now the officers and soldiers are arresting people for military service everywhere. They arrest anyone they see, no matter if they are old or young, as long as they can carry a weapon, they will be forcibly taken away. You should stop asking around, lest you run into those officers and soldiers who are arresting people." Wu Cunzheng replied.

Li Changli asked worriedly, "You went to other villages to get information. Are there many people left?"

Wu Cunzheng sighed, "People from other villages who could run have all run away, and those who ran slowly were captured. Only the elderly, the weak, women and children were left. They had nowhere to go, so they hid at home."

Hearing Wu Cunzheng's words, Luo Dashan and others looked at each other.

Luo Dashan couldn't help but ask, "Do we still need to go to those villages to investigate?"

When they went out, they promised many people to help them find out about their mother's family situation.

"Let's go and take a look. No matter whether the person is in the village or not, we must bring back some definite news." Li Changli replied.

He planned to go to Li Rou's in-laws' home and his wife's parents' home to find out the truth.

Hearing that they were going to get information, Wu Cunzheng reminded them: "Then you must be careful, try to take the mountain road, don't get caught by the soldiers, and don't go into the city."

Seeing that Li Changli and others looked puzzled.

Wu Cunzheng's son added, "I heard that starting today, if a man enters the city, he will be arrested and taken into exile at the city gate."

After hearing this, several people looked even more solemn.

Doesn't that mean we can't go into the city to buy things?

After saying goodbye to Wucunzheng, they split into two teams and went to those villages to inquire about the news.

They agreed to meet at the place where grain was stored in Uncle Li's house at noon the next day at the latest.

Luo Dashan and Li Changli's team planned to go to Li Changli's father-in-law's house first, and then go to Li Rou's mother-in-law's house which was farther away.

Along the way, they avoided the main roads and chose to travel on remote paths and mountain roads.

The two finally reached the backyard of Li Changli's father-in-law's house before dark.

They quietly climbed over the wall and walked into the house, where they saw a mess with the furniture in disarray.

The two men carefully checked all the houses, front and back yards, but did not see anyone.

"It seems that they have escaped as well?"

"hope so."

Li Chongli could only hope that they had received the news from Chen Lian and escaped in time.

The two did not dare to delay and set out in the dark on the journey to Li Rou's mother-in-law's house.

They groped their way forward cautiously, not daring to be careless in the slightest.

The leaves beside me rustled in the wind.

Li Changli couldn't help but shudder and followed Luo Dashan closely.

Once he heard any noise, Luo Dashan would stop, check the surroundings, and only continue moving forward after making sure there was no danger.

After two hours of walking on the mountain road, they finally entered the village where Li Rou's mother-in-law lived.

Li Changli secretly came to the door of Li Roupo's house and raised his hand to knock gently on the door.

After waiting for a while, there was no movement from inside the door.

Li Changli's heart tightened instantly and he knocked on the door a little harder.

At the same time, he lowered his voice and shouted, "Uncle Zheng, it's me, Changli!"

Still no response.

Luo Dashan frowned and said softly, "Did he leave too?"

Li Changli was unwilling to give up, so he walked around to the side of the house and tried to look inside through the window.

Just then, a slight noise suddenly came from the woodshed next door.

The two men looked stern, quickly climbed into the yard, and walked towards the woodshed vigilantly.

Luo Dashan gently pushed open the door of the woodshed, and it was pitch black inside.

They heard faint groans coming from the corner.

He hurriedly groped towards the direction of the sound and found Grandma Zheng hiding behind a pile of firewood.

She was leaning against the wall, looking painful and weak.

Uncle Zheng was lying on the side. They walked over quickly, moved the firewood away, and called out to the two of them softly.

Luo Dashan noticed that Uncle Zheng's face looked strange and extremely pale, so he reached out to check his breath, and then immediately touched the artery at his neck, only to find that there was no sign of a beating.

Li Changli was already supporting Granny Zheng and anxiously yelling, "Auntie, how are you?"

Granny Zheng struggled to open her eyes, and after seeing who was coming, she said in a trembling voice:

"It's Changli, please help the old man to the bed, I can't pull him alone."

Luo Dashan next to him shook his head at Li Changli, meaning that Uncle Zheng had passed away.

Li Changli's body froze, and he couldn't bear to tell Grandma Zheng the bad news.

"Aunt, Uncle Zheng...he's gone." Luo Dashan next to her said.

When Granny Zheng heard this, she trembled and burst into tears:

"That's impossible. I just touched him and he was still breathing. How could he be gone?"

Granny Zheng cried heart-wrenchingly, her voice filled with despair and pain.

Li Changli's eyes were red as he consoled her: "Aunt, don't be too sad. It's important to take care of yourself. Xiaohu is still waiting for you."

When Granny Zheng heard Li Changli mention Zheng Xiaohu, she came to her senses and asked hurriedly, "Xiaohu, how is it?"

"Xiaohu is doing well and is in a very safe place now."

Li Changli asked: "Aunt, how did Uncle Zheng get injured?"

He saw Uncle Zheng's head wrapped in sackcloth.

Granny Zheng burst into tears and said hoarsely:

"It was all those damned policemen and soldiers. They first collected the autumn tax and took my son away. Unexpectedly, they entered the village yesterday to arrest all the men. When your uncle was escaping, he ran too fast and fell, hitting his head. At the time, the cut was bleeding, but we didn't pay much attention to it. But after we hid in this woodshed, he has been unconscious ever since."

Luo Dashan consoled her, "Aunt, please accept my condolences. We must settle Uncle Zheng as soon as possible and leave here quickly."

Li Changli and Luo Dashan quickly helped Grandma Zheng bury Grandpa Zheng in the back mountain.

Then, he took Grandma Zheng and prepared to return to Quanshui Village to reunite with Li Chongshan and the others. He didn't know what was going on over there.