Chapter 33 Chapter Thirty-One

The dark clouds rolled, and there was still sunlight in the sky, casting huge cloud shadows on the ground. The raindrops were heavy and sparse, falling on the dry ground, splashing fine dust, making a clattering sound.As soon as the rain fell, it was sucked up by the dry soil, leaving only a shallow wet mark.The raindrops became denser and more urgent, and gradually, those wet marks became one piece. This ox cart is no more than a horse cart because it has no cover.Seeing that the rain was getting heavier, Yan Wei quickly put up her clothes and put them on the heads of the three of them to cover them from the rain.Li Qichen also urged the cow to go on the way, to see if he could find a suitable shelter from the rain.

Turning around a mountain ridge, there is an openness in front of you, which is actually a large river plain.The river has dried up to the point where there is only a trickle in the middle of the river, and the river bed is full of loose rocks. On the river beach, there was actually a group of people who built simple shacks and had a raging fire.The fire was so strong that even the torrential rain did not extinguish its burning momentum. "This is Jiangshui..." Li Qichen sighed. "Really? This is the lower reaches of Jiangshui?" Yan Wei asked. Li Qichen nodded: "I didn't expect that there would be a great flood in the early spring, and in the middle of summer, it would be so dry. This year is really a disaster year..." Speaking of this, he was afraid of arousing Gongzi Cong's thoughts, so he stopped.

The car gradually approached, and the three of them realized that this group of people was also a group of refugees, including men, women, old and young, presumably because there was still water here, so they all gathered here.These people are all in ragged clothes and have pale faces. Some old people and children are so thin that only a handful of bones are left. They are much more embarrassed than the previous women. The only thing that makes people feel a little angry is the fire, a simple stove made of a few big stones, the firewood is placed high, and on the fire is a big urn surrounded by two people, which seems to be boiling water. Steaming.

When those people saw the ox, the cart, and the three people walking towards them, they all turned their heads and stared at this side, their eyes were empty, as if they didn't have any thoughts, like a pile of wooden puppets. When we got to the fire, the rain gradually stopped. Young Master Cong got out of the car, bowed to his surroundings, smiled and did not speak. After waiting for a while, a fat shirtless man in the crowd came forward, bowed back, and said, "The three of you are guests from afar, but there is no owner here. They all came here fleeing famine. We don't have anything to eat. Take the water as you like, and if your clothes get wet, you can use the fire here to dry them.” This man looked fierce, but he spoke politely.

Gongzi Cong and the other three had no shelter to shelter from the rain than these people, their hair and clothes were already soaked, and they were not humble at the moment, they just sat around the fire and warmed themselves. When the three of them sat down, they stood out from the crowd like chickens, very eye-catching.The three of them were drenched in the rain, their hair was dripping with water, and they looked very embarrassed, but their clothes and shoes were bright and they were full of energy.Most of the victims in this group were naked, most of the men were bare-chested, and some children were five or six years old, and they were still naked.A mother was breastfeeding a baby, her upper body was only covered with a piece of linen, and a pair of shriveled breasts were exposed. The baby's belly was protruding, and it lay quietly in the mother's arms, not knowing whether it was dead or alive.

Everyone remained silent, staring intently at Gong Zi Cong and the other three, as if wishing that the three would leave sooner.Being stared at by such eyes, Li Qichen couldn't help but feel anxious for a while, wishing to leave immediately, but thinking of Gongzi Cong and Yan Wei who were weak, if they didn't dry their clothes, they might fall ill, and had to stay by the fire. Suddenly, a black shadow rolled past behind the big urn, and the big urn fell obliquely, and the slightly boiling water in the urn poured on the three of them. Fortunately, Li Qichen saw the opportunity quickly and pulled Yan Wei away. When he was about to turn around to pull Gongzi Cong, the water had already come down.He had no choice but to protect Gongzi Cong's head and face, hugged him and rolled on the ground, seven or eight steps away.

Yan Wei was not injured at all, and Gongzi Cong only got wet when he rolled, and was not splashed by the boiling water. Only Li Qichen's shoulders and back directly suffered from the boiling water.Yan Wei hurriedly took off Li Qichen's clothes, but saw that his skin was mottled and red. In desperation, she hugged Li Qichen tightly and used her wet clothes to cool him down. She said anxiously, "Someone get some cold water. Come!" Someone at the side brought a bucket of cold water, and Yan Wei repeatedly scrubbed Li Qichen with the water on his sleeve, and only applied Huayu ointment lightly on his skin when it cooled down.

On the side, the fat shirtless man beat a skinny young man with a whip, cursing at the same time: "You are going to die! You are going to make trouble for me when you are dying! Don't think that you can survive if you upset the water, I will kill you right now!" Stripped alive!" The boy was only wearing a pair of short-nosed trousers. His skin was dark and his body was covered with scars. His hair seemed to have been scorched and curly. There were also burns on his shoulders, and his hands were tied behind his back.The fat man was merciless in his strikes, as if he wanted to put the boy to death, every time he whipped, there was a bloodstain, the flesh on both sides was turned over, dripping with blood.

"Stop!" Yan Wei yelled. The fat shirtless man was stunned, and said: "He knocked over the water and scalded you..." Yan Wei cut off his words: "Even if he did it, there is no need to beat him like this... He has no enmity with us, Always ask why." The fat shirtless man sneered: "He is my slave, I can beat and kill if I want, no one else cares!" He raised his whip again. Only then did the three of them clearly see that the young man had the brand of a slave on his neck, because his skin was too dark and his body was full of scars, it was almost hard to see clearly.

"Wait! Even if it's a domestic slave, you've hit so many times, it's enough..." Yan Wei's tone softened obviously. It's a matter of course for the master to deal with domestic slaves, and outsiders shouldn't comment on it. The fat shirtless man laughed: "Haha! Forget it, let's stop beating, and cook him to eat meat later! You wait obediently and don't quarrel, and you will get a share of the pie later." Yan Wei was taken aback, she stood there with her mouth open, not knowing what to say.It never occurred to him that the boy was bound up to be slaughtered, so he must have desperately tried to save himself when he knocked over the water jar...

Suddenly, the boy stumbled up to Yan Wei, tapped Yan Wei's feet lightly with his head, and grabbed the corner of Yan Wei's clothes with his teeth, but he didn't speak, but his eyes were full of begging.The boy's appearance is very correct, his eyes are like lacquer, his nose bridge is straight, his teeth are neat, his skin is very dark, and there are many scratches and chapped marks, which cover up the beauty of his facial features. Young Master Cong moved over, pulled the boy up from the ground, and said, "This slave is clever, how about selling it to me?" The fat shirtless man shook the pockets at his waist, jingled, and said with a smile, "I don't lack gold and silver here. I only lack those that can fill my stomach. Look at these people yourself..." He turned and pointed at the other refugees, "Would you like them again?" Look at that child, it’s not yet full moon, and it’s about to starve to death, I donated a slave to save everyone’s life, this is a matter of great merit. You son, brother, you want to show kindness, but you’re looking for the wrong place!" It was only then that the three of them realized that those people were waiting for the cook to have a tooth sacrifice before, and the situation was disturbed by the three of them, and it was not easy to eat people in front of the three of them, that's why they had such expressions.Now that the fat shirtless man had spoken, some people started clamoring, just urging the fat shirtless man to act quickly. Yan Wei swept her eyes around, and saw that there were still unburned human bones in the ashes next to her, she couldn't help but gag. The shirtless fat man smiled and said: "Haha! This young man is cowardly. If you don't see this, you should leave quickly. Everyone is hungry. You have food in your belly. I don't have the strength to argue with you. .” The boy knelt down again, looked at Yan Wei, then at Gongzi Cong, his eyes were dark and bright, with a trace of despair, he still didn't speak. Gongzi Cong sighed and looked at Yan Wei, just as Yan Wei also raised his head to look at Gongzi Cong, the two of them had the same thought, they both wanted to exchange the cow for the young man, but due to Li Qichen's leg injury, it was hard to say it out. He only heard Li Qichen say from behind: "My leg injury is no longer a problem, and I can't even walk, so give them the cow instead." Yan Wei smiled, and said to the fat shirtless man, "How? Change?" The fat shirtless man was overjoyed: "Really? You won't lie to me?" Yan Wei nodded. Someone has already run over to untie the ox's reins. When the four of them returned to the car, they couldn't help feeling a bit embarrassed. Before, they were always afraid that they would run out of food and clothing on the road, so every time they passed by the village market, they tried to buy as many things as possible, especially clothes. Mr. Cong was very clean by nature, and he changed and washed his clothes frequently, so Bought many spares.These things piled up in a cart, and now that there are no cattle, it would be a bit embarrassing if only four people were to carry them. Li Qichen said: "You might as well give them some clothes. We only need to take the important things on the road. It's only three or four days away from Fan City. After passing Fan City, we will pass Changyan Pass..." Yan Wei cleansed the young man's wound, applied medicine, and gave him a piece of clean clothes to wear, and said, "Give him something to eat first." Then she laughed, "According to me, eat enough. If you are full, take less dry food and travel lightly, and you can go faster." While busy stuffing dry food into his mouth, the boy said vaguely, "Let me pull the cart..." Li Qichen wondered, "Can you pull such a heavy car?" The boy's mouth was still vague: "If you can eat a few more full meals and gain some strength, even if you all sit on it, you can pull it..." Yan Wei smiled and said, "Don't brag and be brave, why don't you try it?" I saw that the young man was still stuffing something into his mouth with his right hand, and he pulled the shaft with his left hand, and pulled the car lightly and deftly, it seemed that he didn't use much effort. Li Qichen gave a good compliment and said, "I didn't expect you to be born with supernatural power." The boy nodded: "Well... I have been strong since I was a child, and I was able to lift an adult when I was four or five years old." The young man was pulling the cart, and the three followed the cart on foot.Part of the clothes in the car had been distributed to the refugees, and the boy was almost pulling the empty car without any effort. "What's your name?" Yan Wei asked. "Wu Jie." The boy replied. "How old is it?" Yan Wei asked again. "Fifteen." Wu Jie replied. "Ah? It's only one year younger than me... I really didn't see it!" Yan Wei was very surprised. The boy was half an inch shorter than Yan Wei, and his body was extremely thin. He looked like he was thirteen or fourteen years old. appearance. "Where are you from?" Yan Wei asked again. "Jiang Guo." Wu Jie replied again. "Jiang Guo..." Li Qichen murmured, gently pulled down the young man's collar, and carefully looked at the brand mark on his neck. The brand mark must have been branded on him when he was very young. Now that he has grown up, the edge of the pattern It was a little blurry, and it looked very similar to the outline of the "Double Dragon Transforming Fish Pendant". Yan Wei also leaned over to take a look, and couldn't help saying "Huh": "This...it's very similar to that 'Double Dragon Transforming Fish Pendant'!" Gongzi Cong murmured, "Could it be that you are..."