After some conversation, Zhang Xiaozu learned that the four old men were farmers in small mountain villages and had never traveled far. They only knew the village and county where they lived and nothing else.
Zhang Xiaozu was very embarrassed, because he, like the four old men, only knew about Liujia Village, Fengshui County and Baiyun City. As for where exactly these three were located in the vast southern land, it was unknown.
Therefore, the Baihuangshan, Longduo County and Yancheng mentioned by the old man have no reference value to Zhang Xiaopou.
In the end, Zhang Xiaozu left half of the snake meat behind, waved goodbye to the four of them, and headed in the direction pointed by the old man.
The old man told him that if you go over three mountains and walk more than ten miles, you can see the official road leading to Yancheng. There are many people fleeing on the official road, and there are many knowledgeable scholars among them.
can help him.
Zhang Xiaozu was eager to go home, so he moved very quickly. It only took him half an hour to see the Yanbei Official Road that the old man mentioned. However, the situation on the official road made his heart uncontrollably heavy. He only saw people walking on the spacious road.
One after another, they staggered from north to south, with no beginning or end in sight, like a long dragon.
Everyone is in ragged clothes, dusty, sallow, skinny, with chapped lips, and muddy eyes. They neither cry nor laugh, nor make noises nor make noises. They are lifeless. There is only the sound of feet rubbing against the ground, just like a group of soulless walking dead.
"The drought is so terrible!"
The scene of the escape had a great impact on Zhang Xiaopou. He became more and more anxious. He missed the folks in Liujia Village and wondered if they were well. He gritted his teeth and wished he could get a pair of wings and fly back immediately.
"Old man, please stay. Do you know which direction to go to Fengshui County in Baiyuncheng?" Zhang Xiaozu stopped an old man who looked knowledgeable on the roadside and asked.
The old man raised his slack eyelids, glanced at Zhang Xiaopou with his cloudy eyes, shook his head, and responded hoarsely: "I don't know."
"Sorry for disturbing you." Zhang Xiaozhu saluted with clasped fists and moved out of the way, allowing the old man to continue moving forward. Then he searched the passing crowd for those who looked knowledgeable.
"Brother, please stay. Which direction should we go to Fengshui County, Baiyun City?" Zhang Xiaozu stopped another middle-aged man dressed in a long gown.
"Baiyuncheng Fengshui County? Never heard of it." The middle-aged man shook his head.
"Where is Baiyun City?" Zhang Xiaozu thought that maybe Fengshui County was too inconspicuous and not many people knew about it, so he only asked Baiyun City.
"I don't know." The middle-aged man glared at him angrily, walked around him and walked forward.
"Brother, may I ask how to get to Baiyun City?"
"have no idea."
"My father-in-law, do you know how to get to Baiyun City?"
"I don't know, get out of the way."
"Sister, how can I get to Baiyun City?"
"have no idea."
Zhang Xiaozu asked more than ten people, but no one knew about Baiyun City, which made him panic. He guessed that this place might be hundreds of thousands of miles away from Baiyun City, otherwise how could no one know about it.
"Does anyone know about Baiyun City?"
"Please kindly tell me which direction Baiyun City should go."
Zhang Xiaozu simply stood on the side of the road and shouted, hoping that one of the passers-by would know. But he shouted so loud that his throat almost smoked out. Hundreds of people passed by, but no one knew. However, a few well-meaning people told him
Forty miles further ahead is Yancheng. Let him go to Yancheng to inquire. Someone there must know.
"Hey" Zhang Xiaozhu sighed helplessly and decided to follow the advice of a kind person and go to Yancheng City to ask for directions. But just as he was about to lift his feet, a middle-aged man with a goatee suddenly stopped in front of him.
pace.
Zhang Xiaozu was overjoyed and asked hurriedly: "Excuse me, brother, does he know how to get to Baiyun City?"
"I don't know." The goatee man shook his head.
"Thank you." Zhang Xiaozu clasped his fists, feeling very disappointed. He thought that the man with the goatee knew that he came over on his own initiative, but it turned out that he stopped to rest.
But just as he was about to lift his feet, he heard the goatee man continue: "But I know someone knows about Baiyun City."
"Ah?" Zhang Xiaozhu was overjoyed and asked eagerly: "Brother, please let me know."
The goatee man's triangular eyes scanned Zhang Xiaopou up and down, and finally his eyes fell on the small cloth bag hanging on Zhang Xiaopou's waist. He glanced left and right again, and when he saw that no one was paying attention, he lowered his voice and asked, "Yes?"
Food?”
The small cloth bag contained the remaining half of the snake meat. It was the advice given to him by the old man he met in the Baihuang Mountains. He said that all the people who were fleeing would be hungry and red-eyed. If they saw the meat in his hand,
, will definitely swarm him and grab it, so I suggested that he wrap the meat in cloth so that no one can see it.
Zhang Xiaozu felt that what the old man said made sense, so he borrowed a piece of cloth and did as he was told.
"Yes." Zhang Xiaozu responded.
The goatee man's eyes suddenly lit up, and he reached out to grab the cloth bag at Zhang Xiaozu's waist.
"Wait a minute!" Zhang Xiaozu frowned slightly, swatted away the goatee man's outstretched hand, raised the bone knife in his hand, and said: "There is food, and there is a knife, a knife that has killed people."
The implication is, if you forcefully rob me, don't blame me for being rude.
Zhang Xiaopou had killed people before and had been on the verge of life and death several times. At this moment, his tone became serious, and he had some power.
"Ah, haha, abrupt, too abrupt." The man with the goatee quickly retracted his hand and said haha with an awkward smile. He felt the oppressive feeling emanating from Zhang Xiaozu's body and knew that the young man in front of him was not easy to mess with.
"Little brother, come here and talk." The man with the goatee pointed to the road not far away, made an invitation gesture to Zhang Xiaopou, and then walked over there first, not afraid that Zhang Xiaopou wouldn't follow.
Zhang Xiaozhu asked and shouted for a long time, and finally found an insider. Naturally, he would not give up easily.
"How much food do you have?" Seeing Zhang Xiaozu following him, the goatee man's eyes couldn't help but fall on the cloth bag on Zhang Xiaozu's waist, he rubbed his hands and swallowed and asked.
"A pound of meat." Zhang Xiaozu replied.
"Give them all to me, and I will tell you who knows Baiyun City." The goatee man said eagerly.
"Half." Zhang Xiaozu frowned.
"No, I want them all." The man with the goatee said firmly.
Zhang Xiaopou had to give in because he was asking for help, but he was not stupid and said: "Take me to find that person, and I will give you all the meat. Otherwise, there is no need to talk."
"Okay." The man with the goatee agreed readily. After saying that, he turned around and walked north, saying as he walked: "Follow me, not far ahead. When I passed by, I heard a little old man begging someone to write a tombstone for him.
.”
"What tombstone?" Zhang Xiaozu asked in confusion.
The man with the goatee replied: "The little old man can't read. He took a piece of wood and blocked the road to ask someone to write on it the tomb of so-and-so in Liujia Village, Fengshui County, Baiyun City. I didn't hear the details clearly."
"What did you say?!" Zhang Xiaozhu's body trembled when he heard this, and his voice suddenly rose dozens of times.
The man with the goatee was startled by Zhang Xiaozu's suddenly raised voice, and said hurriedly: "I said the little old man asked someone to write on the wood."
"I asked him what words he asked someone to write on the wood?!" Zhang Xiaozu asked.
"Why are you so anxious?" The goatee man glanced at Zhang Xiaopou dissatisfiedly and said: "The little old man asked someone to write on wood the tomb of so and so in Liujia Village, Fengshui County, Baiyun City. I didn't hear the specific name clearly. Why, do you know that person?
Little old man? Oh, you and he are both from Baiyun City, so we can’t be serious about each other, what are you doing?! Put me down quickly!"
The goatee man suddenly screamed in fear because Zhang Xiaozu grabbed him by the back of the neck and lifted him up.
Zhang Xiaozu ignored him and just asked: "Is it in front?"
"Yes, right in front." The goatee man replied honestly. He felt that Zhang Xiaozu's body suddenly exuded a terrible and violent aura, as if he wanted to choose people to devour, and he was so frightened that he did not dare to say another word.
Baiyun City, Fengshui County, Liujia Village, so-and-so’s tomb.
Zhang Xiaozhu's eyes were red at that time, and tears were welling up in his eyes. Everyone in Liujia Village was his closest relative, so no matter who died, he would be heartbroken.
Furthermore, the appearance of people from the village here means that Liujia Village can no longer survive, and everyone has abandoned the village and fled.
Why is there only one little old man asking for help? Where are the others?
Not all
For a moment, Zhang Xiaozu felt panicked and did not dare to think any further.
The man with the goatee looked at the rapidly retreating scenery on both sides and listened to the whistling wind in his ears. He was a little confused and a little scared. What was so confusing was that he never expected that this skinny young man could be so powerful. He could lift a person in his hand.
He was walking as fast as he could, but he was shocked that he would threaten such a powerful person to hand over all his food. Was it because he thought he would live too long?
"There, there, is that little old man." The goatee man suddenly pointed at a thin figure in the distance by the road and shouted.
Zhang Xiaozu looked in the direction he pointed, and sure enough he saw a thin old man, crying and digging. Next to him was a thin girl, holding a thin piece of stone in her hand, helping the old man dig. Between the two of them,
There was a person lying a few steps away, his sight was blocked and he couldn't see his appearance.
Zhang Xiaozu, carrying the man with the goatee, jumped up, spanning a distance of more than ten feet in an instant, and landed next to the little old man with a thud, raising a cloud of dust. The little old man shivered violently in fright, and sat down on the ground.
Zhang Xiaozhu's eyes first fell on the little old man and the little girl, and found that he did not recognize the grandfather and grandson. Then he immediately looked at the person lying on the ground. This person had a dark complexion and was already thin. After careful identification, he suddenly discovered
This man's face was somewhat similar to Niu Dawa's, and he shouted uncertainly: "Dada Wa?!"
The more Zhang Xiaozhu looked at him, the more he looked like Niu Dawa. Thinking about the content of the tombstone that the little old man asked someone to write, he immediately concluded that this person was Niu Dawa. He immediately knelt down beside Niu Dawa, held his head in his arms and called out urgently:
"Da Wa, what's wrong with you? Da Wa, wake up?"
"Big boy, wake up, I'm a pawn!"
"Big baby?"
"Big baby!"
Tears poured out of Zhang Xiaozu's eyes like a flood. No matter how he called, Niu Dawa didn't respond at all. What was even more terrifying was that he could clearly feel the stiffness and coldness of Niu Dawa's body.
Zhang Xiaozhu never imagined that after saying goodbye to Da Wa in the Black Forest, when they met again, they would be separated by yin and yang.
Scenes from the past came to mind, and Zhang Xiaozhu couldn't stop crying.
"Young Master, do you know my benefactor?" The little old man was in shock. Hearing Zhang Xiaopou calling and crying while holding Niu Dawa's head, he hurriedly climbed up and asked cautiously.
"Is his name Niu Dawa?" Zhang Xiaozhu asked with tears in his eyes and choked with sobs. He held a trace of fantasy in his heart, hoping that the little old man would shake his head and tell him no.
In fact, he was deceiving himself. The date-shaped scar behind the man's right ear in his arms clearly told him that this was Niu Dawa, because the scar was caused by him accidentally poking it with a tree branch when they were fighting when they were children.
The little old man didn't know who the Niu Dawa Zhang Xiaozu was talking about, but he still replied: "My benefactor's name is Niu Guangmao, whose courtesy name is Letian."
Click!
Zhang Xiaozu felt like a thunderbolt struck his forehead, and his mind was buzzing and going blank.
"What's wrong with him?!" After being stunned for a while, Zhang Xiaozu suddenly looked at the little old man and asked. His eyes were so fierce that the little old man shrank in fear.
The little old man wiped his tears and murmured: "In order to save our grandfather and grandson, my benefactor risked his life to fight a group of big-tooth soldiers alone. He was extremely brave. A dozen or so big-tooth soldiers were chopped down by my benefactor with a steel knife.
On the ground, my benefactor was also stabbed several times, and his wounds burst several times along the way. He never received treatment, and the result was "
The little old man choked up and couldn't speak any more.
The little girl also cried, begging with tears and runny nose: "Oh, my benefactor is a good man, he saved me and grandpa. Can you save my benefactor? He is still angry, he is still alive. Please."
Please, save Bengong."
"Still alive?!" Zhang Xiaozu was suddenly startled and immediately overjoyed.