The sky was low, and snowflakes were falling from time to time. More than a hundred new graves were erected in the wasteland in the southern suburbs of Tongcheng. The sound of soul-calling bells echoed in the wilderness, and many paper money were flying in the air.
Dozens of people are filling two large pits with soil. The people buried in them are all homeless bandits or slaves. It would be best to let them die in the wilderness according to everyone's opinion, but it is too close to the city and no one can
I didn't dare to let them rot, so I had to put them into the ground with great effort.
Near the Wuyin Temple, rows of corpses were neatly placed. They were all people who were killed outside the city. Many people were walking around to identify whether there were any relatives or friends among them. People kept confirming, and there was a burst of noise over there.
After hearing heartbreaking cries and feeling calm, he found door panels and the like and transported the body to various villages for burial.
Pang Yu stood on the bank of Tongxi River, watching a group of people dragging the corpses left in the river with bamboo poles with nooses. Many corpses were bulging, their skin was soaked and turned white, and they had begun to rot.
Pang Yu asked the soldiers to bury the corpses in the river deeply to prevent the occurrence of an epidemic. Today, he specially sent some infantrymen to leave the city to check the damage along the official road. The more arduous aftermath tasks have not yet begun.
He Xianya's voice came from behind, "Squad leader, seventy-three people in the strong squad were killed, five squad leaders died, one squadron leader died, twenty-one people are missing, including two squad leaders, and thirty-three people were injured.
The three people who were seriously injured may not survive, and it may take two or three days at most."
"What happened to the family members?"
"Every family was very sad, and most of them transported the bodies back to their hometowns. There are more than ten families who have not left yet, asking the county government for compensation.
For those who were not killed or injured, their families are urging them to return to their hometowns, especially those whose homes are far away. This time, the bandits were not affected, and only the strong men in the village died. They all said that it was not worthwhile to be a job, and ten people had already died.
Several strong men offered to leave."
"It's a bit uneconomical."
Pang Yu looked at the ground, bent down and picked up a piece of red cloth at his feet. There was a word "Zhuang" on it. It must have been lost by a strong man by the river during the night attack. He took it in his hand and rubbed it gently.
He Xianya didn't know what to say, so he had to stand aside and wait.
"Where's the express class?"
"Nineteen people from the fast class were killed, including six from the horse team, three are missing, and 12 were injured, including one seriously injured. Another horse team sent to the south has not returned yet. Currently, there are only three horse teams available in the Yamen."
"Have all three horsemen been dispatched?"
"They are all out. Mr. Yang sent one person to Anqing Mansion to deliver Shenxiang to the city guard. The other two people went to Qianshan County and the other to Lujiang. The people who went to Lujiang have just returned."
"Are there any more rogue bandits in the north?"
"I didn't find anything, just Lujiang County..." "How is Lujiang County?"
"The houses in the city were completely destroyed, not even a tenth of the people were left alive, many corpses were left unburied in the streets and alleys, the city began to smell of corpses, too many women died by throwing themselves into wells, and all the wells were so blocked that buckets could not be thrown in. He left the city for a mile
Then I found a well to drink water from."
He Xianya raised his eyes and took a look. Pang Yu had no expression and just responded lightly, "It's a bit miserable."
He Xianya was about to answer when he heard Pang Yu say again, "If you don't become a strong man and try to avoid it, this will be the end result. In the end, I don't know if it is worthwhile or not."
"What the squad leader said is that even if they are far away from the city, they may be able to be saved this time, but they may not be able to do so next time."
Pang Yu stood up, put the quick red cloth into his arms and asked, "How many people were killed or injured in the city?"
"More than fifty soldiers were killed in the battle. There were stray arrows in the city and more than 330 civilians were killed or injured in the fire. We haven't counted the whole city yet, including two Westerners who were killed by the civilians..." Pang Yu waved his hand.
He Xianya stopped. His eyes were red and swollen, and Pang Yu asked him to be responsible for counting the battle losses.
This work was very complicated. Pang Yu didn't rush him. He Xianya felt very tired, but rarely fell asleep, so he spent all his time on statistics. He already had rough data. How many people died on the bandits' side, but he still couldn't.
Not finished counting.
Pang Yu paused for a moment and said, "I heard from Mr. Sun that the ears of bandits can be regarded as military merits. You can tell me again, cut off the ears and bury them."
He Xianya agreed in a low voice, then retreated after a slight pause.
Pang Yu looked towards Wuyin Temple. There were new graves there, and among them was the figure of a woman. She stood alone in the cold wind of early spring, her back looking lonely and lonely.
After hesitating for a moment, Pang Yu walked there, walking very slowly, and it took a long time to reach behind the woman.
Zhou Yueru's clothes were dirty and torn, her hair was a mess, her bun was completely messy, and she didn't tidy it up.
In front of Zhou Yongtian's tomb, there were some animals, sugar candies, and fruits. The quantity was not much, and it cost three or four taels of silver. Because there were too many burials in the past two days, there was no supply of goods in the city, and the prices of everything were rising.
The inventory of the coffin shops has been completely wiped out. After the city gate was opened, many people were busy going to Longmian Mountain to cut wood and sell it to several coffin shops. They would sell one pair as soon as they were made, but the supply was still in short supply.
There was no stone tombstone in front of the grave, so Zhou Yueru made one with a wooden board, wrote Zhou Yongtian's name on it, and marked the place first.
"I have found a stonemason, and he will make your father's tombstone in the afternoon."
Zhou Yueru hummed slightly, neither thanking nor rejecting.
Pang Yu coughed and then whispered, "On the day of the night attack, your old helper fell asleep. Your father woke up and went out alone. He got into a dispute and a fight with the neighbors... It was all caused by the gangsters."
Zhou Yueru's shoulders twitched slightly, and she tried not to cry.
After escaping from the bandits that day, she went west into the mountains. Together with some people who also fled into the mountains, she robbed food from the villas in the mountains of large households, and then walked deeper into the mountains. Every day, people came out of the mountains to inquire, and they kept hiding.
They didn't go down to Longmian Mountain until the bandits left.
On the way, she learned that Tongcheng was defended, and everyone was elated. When she returned home full of joy, she saw Zhou Yongtian's body, but he did not die at the hands of rogue bandits.
Pang Yu didn't know what to say for a moment. He had never doubted Zhou Yongtian in his heart. The Zhou family's livelihood was here. Zhou Yueru had three taels of monthly silver and a high income at this time. He had no reason to help the bandits.
As for the friendship between fellow villagers, it naturally has no weight in the face of interests.
So they always agreed to Zhou Yongtian's delivery of supplies, and Zhou Yongtian worked very hard.
Li Lao just didn't let him go up the city wall and didn't allow him to go out at night. In fact, he was trying to avoid suspicion.
That day, Zhou Yongtian went out at night, and after talking to Zhang Daiwen, he suddenly took action. Most of the hundreds of neighbors and soldiers present participated in the beating, and Pang Yu had no way to catch the murderer.
At this time, the people hated the social atmosphere of bandits and did not allow him to uphold justice for a Westerner.
Even Zhang Daiwen couldn't be arrested, because he was scared away by Zhou Yongtian and did not participate in the beating at all. Zhou Yongtian made the first move, so no terms could be applied to Zhang Daiwen. Zhou Yongtian's murder case could only be left unsolved.
The two of them stood silently in front of the grave, surrounded by the sound of ringing bells calling for souls, and paper money floating in front of them from time to time.
After a long time, Zhou Yueru finally said softly, "I heard that he was afraid that I would not be able to enter the house when I came home late at night, so he wanted to wait for me at the door."
Pang Yu knew that she didn't need to chat at this time, but just needed an audience, so she remained silent.
"When he was in Shaanxi in the past years, he loved to fight with others.
Later, relatives said that business was not easy to do in Shaanxi, so they followed him to the south. He still had the same temper and often argued with others. He is a foreigner, so he has always been at odds with his neighbors."
Zhou Yueru paused for a moment and said, "But he shouldn't have ended up like this. He also helped transport stones to the city for two days." Zhou Yueru shook his head when he said this, and burst into tears for a while, but he still didn't cry loudly.
Pang Yu sighed, stretched out his hand and patted her shoulder twice.
A bell rang behind me, and I heard a voice saying, "This girl, there is no resurrection after death, and everyone in the world is suffering. After leaving this world, you will travel thousands of roads, but if you follow the right path, you will be blessed with great blessings."
Someone needs to be guided on the road to the afterlife. The small path inherits the secrets of our sect and is designed to guide the way to the next life. Whether it is to be reborn in the heaven or to meet the underworld for the first time, there is one road among thousands. If you, a relative, take it
By the way, it was the Jade Emperor who came to guide him, and he later lived in heaven, escaping the suffering of reincarnation.
It's just that salvation consumes a lot of mana and costs more money, but it's just for children.
"Pang Yu turned around and saw that it was Wang Ren. He took out his original outfit and looked like an immortal.
When Wang Ren saw that it was Pang Yu who turned around, he quickly stopped and was about to leave, but then turned back and said, "As a child, you just have to do your best. This girl seems to be a kind-hearted person at first glance, and your relatives and friends must be too.
I have exhausted all the blessings. I was originally going to heaven, so there is no need to transcend. There are still things to do on the small road. My dear, please forgive me."
After he finished speaking, he turned around and was about to leave. Pang Yu said, "Wait a minute."
Wang Renpingtong knelt down and begged for mercy, "Please forgive me, class leader. The path is because there are too many people in the city and the monks and Taoists are too busy, so the path doesn't charge money."
"Okay then, you can do some rituals for free and liberate those who are unclaimed."
"This" "Make it bigger so that everyone can see it. If you want to buy anything, shopkeeper Liu will ask you to put it in advance."
Wang Ren agreed with a frown on his face, and with his head hanging down, he went to the city to find Shopkeeper Liu, but his moralistic and celestial spirit was gone.
After such an interruption, Zhou Yueru stopped crying.
After a while, she said, "How is Sun Tianxiu?"
"I just finished handling the affairs in the city today. Once all the corpses are fished out of the river, I will go to Nantang to see her. Do you want to go with me?"
Zhou Yueru turned to look at Pang Yu, "You always think of this girl after finishing things. You don't really take her to heart."
Pang Yu listened with his head bent and did not refute.
After she said that, she turned around and said, "You go ahead, I don't dare to go.
If it is...no matter good or bad, don't tell me anymore. Anyway, we will be far away from Tongcheng in the future, and we won't be able to see her from left to right, so the Nujiaquan will treat her as if she is still alive there."
Pang Yu said softly, "Miss Zhou, you have read the notice. Your Majesty does not have to drive the Westerners away, but just appeases the people in the city."
"The notice clearly states that your Majesty wants the Westerners to leave on their own within one month."
"Your Majesty is worried that if the host and guest are suspicious, it will be bad no matter who's life is harmed in the future, so he issued that notice, but as long as there is a reliable person as a guarantee, he can stay."
Pang Yu looked at Zhou Yueru and said, "I can go to the county government office to act as guarantee, so you don't have to leave."
"What are you doing here? Are you going to continue to be neighbors with the people who beat my father to death?"
Pang Yu sighed softly, "I can find another place for you to live."
"No, it's still a place after all. I bump into it wherever I go."
Zhou Yueru met Pang Yu's gaze and said, "I'm the only one left. When we get out of Qi, we will go wherever it is clean."
At this time, Pang Ding came over from the river and said, "Master, all the corpses have been fished out, and the pit over there has been dug. Wang Xiucai asked you to go and see if it is deep enough and how to spread the lime."
Pang Yu nodded and whispered to Zhou Yueru, "My condolences, Miss Zhou."
After that, he hurried away. There were so many corpses pulled out of the river that there was not enough to bury them in one pit. A total of three large pits were dug, and the corpses were covered with lime and buried deeply.
When the filling began, Pang Yu complained to Wang Wenyao and rushed to Nantang with Pang Ding. Both of them rode horses. The two horses were borrowed from Yang Erming's groom, and Pang Yu matched them himself. His mount has long been given the horse speed.
The road was devastated, with ruins in every village. Although Pang Yu had already learned the general situation from the dispatched Kuaishou, what he saw with his own eyes was still shocking.
There were scattered snowflakes floating in the sky, and everything was desolate under the gloomy sky.
The closer Pang Yu got to Nantangli, the heavier his mood became.
Finally, we arrived at Sun's village. Outside the village, we could see people summoning spirits and burning paper. Pang Yu got off his horse and walked slowly through the village. The local dogs that used to block the road were nowhere to be seen. There were ruins of walls everywhere in the village.
When they arrived at the door of Sun's house, the door was wide open. There was a bouquet of wild flowers on the door, which was somewhat dry and still swaying gently in the wind. Pang Yu walked into the courtyard carefully.
The dilapidated thatched house of the Sun family has been reduced to ashes, the earthen walls were scorched black by the fire, and the grass and trees in the corners were also burned to the ground.
Pang Yu slowly approached the pile of burned ruins. Under the charred beams, there was an outstretched hand holding a half-burnt shoe with a big word "福" on the toe.
...Two days later, a few people stood in front of the three tombs, while other fellow villagers who paid homage left one after another.
In front of the grave were knife heads and candies, and paper money was still burning in a pile of ashes.
Although it was early spring, snowflakes were flying in the air, the cold wind was blowing, the paper strings on the graves to summon souls were fluttering slightly, and the black paper ashes were scattered in the wind.
Two of the three tombs belong to Sun Tianxiu's parents, and the one on the far right belongs to Sun Tianxiu. There are only three words "Sun Tianxiu" engraved on the tombstone.
Pang Yu found someone to make tombstones for all three graves, which was a lot of money in rural areas.
His uncle took Sun Tianxiu's two younger brothers to kowtow to Pang Yu. The two younger brothers had their heads buried and their expressions were a little dull.
Pang Yu waved his hand, looked at him and said, "If these two little ones are inconvenient to your clan, you can leave them to me."
"The clan leader has already said that it is better to be raised by the clan, so I won't bother Mr. Pang anymore."
Pang Yu hummed and said, "If you have any trouble, come to me in the city. You can go back later. I will stay for a while."
His uncle nodded silently, kneeled down to Pang Yu with his two children, kowtowed three times in succession, got up and went to the village first.
Only Pang Yu and Pang Ding were left in front of the grave.
Pang Ding looked at the grave and asked, "Master, why did you only write her name?"
"I can't think of anything else to write."
Pang Ding peeked at Pang Yu and advised in a low voice, "The little girl should be happy to meet a good man like you, the young master. At least she can keep her home while she is alive. She can only blame the bandits."
"Do you really think the young master is a good person?"
Ponting hesitated and said, "It depends on who you are competing with.
If the eminent monk is a good person, the young master will definitely not be able to do it, but if he is compared with the bandits, then the young master will be able to do it."
Pang Yu laughed and said, "Master, I am so unpopular. I am only a little better than a bandit. After all, I am still a bad person."
"Huang Wending, Wang Guohua, Liu Xiucai, Fang Xiangguan, and the bandits must think that you are a bad person. Aunt Liu may think so too, but Sun Tianxiu must think that the young master is a good person."
"Sun Tianxiu?
I only met her four times. I helped her get the fields back, gave her some money, and dealt with the chief of the village. I thought I saved the family, but the Sun family was still ruined.
The value of the help I gave her was far less than any transaction between me and anyone else."
Pang Yu looked at the small tomb, "So Zhou Yueru is right, I don't really take Sun Tianxiu to heart.
Because she lacks actual value to me, but what she gives is the most valuable."
"I don't understand what the young master said."
"Because those people are trading, and she is sincere in return." Pang Yu took a breath of cold air, "My colleagues in the Yazhong, the strong class, the fast class, the Shangguan, the Baishuntang helpers, and the neighbors, I am afraid that not many of them think that I am a good person, young master.
, even our father may not think so. After he knew that I opened Baishuntang, he stopped talking to me for a long time, and Zhou Yueru may not necessarily regard me as a good person. I am afraid that Sun Tianxiu is the only one."
"Young master, a good person should be made for himself and for God to see. If he is to be seen by others... there are too many people. Some people always say good things and others say bad things. Not everyone can say good things.
There is only one God, so it is better to show it to God."
After hearing this, Pang Yu turned to look at Pang Ding, and suddenly laughed twice, until he bent down with laughter. Pang Ding felt strange because of his laughter.
After Pang Yu finished laughing, the corners of his eyes were a little moist.
He wiped the corners of his eyes and pulled Pang Ding over. Pang Yu looked over his shoulder and looked into the distance, "There are many kinds of good people. Young Master must be a good person."
Pang Ding nodded in understanding and said no more. The two of them silently walked up the official road to Tongcheng.
Snowflakes fell down one after another, covering the scars on the earth in layers.
The deep ruts on the official road extend endlessly into the distance. In the gloomy sky, the snow is getting heavier and heavier. The howling north wind is blowing the snowflakes, and the sky and the earth are vast.
Pang Yu held Pang Ding's shoulders, and the figures of the master and servant slowly walked away on the official road, gradually disappearing into the wind and snow flying in the sky.