"Is this the cave?" Qi Yoyo asked Zhang Xiaozu, pointing to the dark cave entrance in front.
Zhang Xiaozu glanced at the ashes left by roasting snake meat on the river bed, nodded and said, "Well, this is the cave."
Looking at the entrance of the cave, Zhang Xiaozu felt that his scalp was numb and his hairs stood on end. The feeling of deathly silence and loneliness in the darkness enveloped his heart, causing his body to tremble uncontrollably, and large beads of cold sweat fell from his forehead drop by drop.
"What's wrong with you?" Qi Yoyo was the first to notice something strange about Zhang Xiaozu and asked hurriedly.
"Pawn, what's wrong with you?!" Niu Dawa held Zhang Xiaozu's trembling body and asked urgently.
Zhang Xiaozhu took a deep breath and tried his best to control his body from shaking, but his voice still had a trembling tone as he said, "I'm not afraid of your jokes if I say it. I'm afraid of this cave."
"Is there danger in the cave?" Qi Yoyo asked.
"No, it's very safe." Zhang Xiaozhu replied, "What I'm afraid of is the endless darkness, silence and loneliness in the cave. I almost died in it."
"Little brother, it's understandable." A handsome black man stepped forward and slapped Zhang Xiaopou on the shoulder, and said with a bitter smile: "Confinement in a small dark room is the most terrifying punishment in our military camp. In just three days, a bear can be beaten."
A man as strong as you was tortured to tears, like a baby. I heard that you walked in the dark for seven to ten days in this cave, and I admire you."
"Little brother, good job." Another man gave Zhang Xiaopou a thumbs up.
"Don't be afraid. This time we have torches and companions to chat with, so we won't feel darkness, silence and loneliness." The handsome black man patted Zhang Xiaopou on the shoulder and consoled him.
"Yes." Zhang Xiaozu nodded, taking deep breaths to adjust his body condition.
Following Qi Yoyo's order, the thirty people were divided into six groups, each group of five people. Each group was equipped with a torch. They were ten steps apart and entered the cave in order according to the group number.
Zhang Xiaozu, Niu Dawa, Zhou Jianlai and the two men who just comforted Zhang Xiaozu were in the first group and led the group at the front.
The dark handsome man is named Zhao Quan, and the other square-faced man is named Qu Kai.
There were torches for lighting, and the cave was quite spacious, so the group moved very quickly.
Although as Zhao Quan said, with torch lighting and companions to chat with, you will not feel dark, dead and lonely, but as time goes by, the sense of depression caused by being in a narrow and dark space gradually comes over your heart, making you feel uncomfortable.
People feel unspeakable pain in their hearts.
"Rest." When the first torch was about to burn out, Qi Yoyo gave the order to rest.
A group of five people sat on the ground and took out dry food and water to replenish their strength.
…
"Have you heard that our patio in Yancheng has been dry for more than a month?"
"How is that possible? The government has been distributing clean water every day this month. If the patio is drying up, where does the distributed water come from?"
"It is said that the water was stored up by the officials before the courtyard dried up. Didn't you notice? The water distributed by the officials has been getting less and less this month."
"It seems so."
"The courtyard must be drying up. I heard that the rich and powerful have begun to pack up their belongings and prepare to pack up and run away."
"Where are you running?"
"Run north."
"Ah, aren't there big-toothed dogs making trouble in the north? If we meet a big-toothed dog on the road, wouldn't we be asking for death?"
"The big-toothed dogs are all fake news released by the rich and powerful, specially designed to confuse us poor people. They are afraid that if we run with them, they will cause riots and anger the officials, who will block the city gates."
Close, no one can escape."
"Whether it is true or not, we will go back and clean up. If the rich and powerful really run away, we will run with them."
In the past two days, similar topics have been discussed in the northern and southern outer cities of Yancheng, making people panic and making it difficult to sleep or eat well.
In the central city, in the city lord's palace, the city lord Qi Wuwei slapped his face on the desk, knocking the books on the desk to the ground.
His deployment was almost completed, but the news of the drying up of the courtyard was released one step ahead of time, and was exaggerated and deceived, intending to mess up Yancheng. He knew who did it, but not yet
When he took action, he became extremely angry.
A beautiful woman smiled, picked up the books that Qi Wuwei had knocked down one by one, put them on the desk, then reached out to caress Qi Wuwei's chest, and comforted: "It's all expected.
What are you so angry about?"
"I'm angry that in order to fight for power, they actually ignored the life and death of the Southern Territory and treated the lives of millions of people as child's play." Qi Wuwei said bitterly.
"The rebel forces in the south have defeated ten cities in a row, and two more cities will attack our Yancheng city. Logically speaking, the East King City and the West King City should ask us for help, but there has been no movement from the two cities so far. In my opinion
, they have probably gotten together with the rebels and are ready to open the door to welcome them into the city at any time." said the beautiful woman.
"Someone wants to seize the Su family's power!" Qi Wuwei sighed, "I don't know if it's the old master of the previous dynasty or a powerful clan? In the southeast, northwest, and only the situation in northern Xinjiang is under control, the situation in the east and west and our southern border
The situation is similar, it is turbulent, the situation is precarious, and it may collapse at any time.”
"That's right, my master Zhang Butcher is in charge of Northern Xinjiang, who dares to make a mistake?" the beautiful woman said with an arrogant look.
"Butcher Zhang, you're getting old! You can block it for a while, but I'm afraid you can't block the general trend!" Qi Wuwei sighed.
"Wuwei, are you afraid?" The beautiful woman suddenly held Qi Wuwei's hand, her beautiful eyes moving, and she felt uneasy.
Qi Wuwei took the beautiful woman into his arms and sighed softly: "I wasn't afraid before, but for some reason, as I grew older, I started to be afraid. I'm afraid of losing you, Changkong and Yoyo."
"The more bonds you have, the more your heart will naturally change." The beautiful woman's words were interrupted by a rapid knock on the door.
Qi Wuwei's old face turned red, and he quickly pushed the beautiful woman in his arms away, straightened his clothes, and said, "Come in."
The beautiful woman covered her mouth and smiled coquettishly, then stood on tiptoes and quietly retreated behind the screen.
The door of the study room opened with a clang, and a soldier in helmet and armor came in. This man walked two steps forward quickly, knelt down on one knee, and said urgently: "General, Master Changkong was ambushed by the Daya Army in Yanbei."
"What?!" Qi Wuwei's body trembled, and his heart suddenly reached his throat. He took a deep breath and asked anxiously: "Where are you now? Are you alive or dead?"
"Zhang Da, Master Changkong's personal bodyguard, brought back news that Master Changkong was seriously injured and fled into Baihuang Mountain."
"Where is Mr. Zhang?" Qi Wuwei asked.
"Dead. He was hit by two arrows in the chest. He managed to escape with his last breath and left without saying a few words."
"A rich burial!" Qi Wuwei said, "Send Jiaziying to Baihuang Mountain."
"No." The beautiful woman came out from behind the screen, interrupted Qi Wuwei's words, and said, "I'll go. Jiaziying is guarding the city and cannot move."
