Xu Mu stood up, thinking that no matter what, he had to go home. Unfortunately, before he could take two steps, the aftermath of the time-travel flashed through his mind like thousands of troops.
Then he fainted and fell over.
When I woke up again, it was already noon the next day.
Rubbing his eyes, Xu Mu raised his head, and suddenly felt speechless in his heart. After traveling for two days, he actually slept in the cowshed.
Si Hu, with his eyes swollen from crying, was spreading dry straw on his body.
"Si Hu, stop for a moment."
"Brother Mu? Brother Mu is awake!" Si Hu screamed, causing several servants to run towards the cowshed in a hurry.
In desperation, Xu Mu and the two had no choice but to climb over the yard and run to the street in embarrassment.
"Brother Mu, where are we going?" Sihu spat out the hay in his mouth and rubbed his belly in pain.
Xu Mu smiled and went to the street to buy more than ten multi-grain steamed buns, wrapped in oil paper. Seeing his identity as a stickman, the steamed bun stall owner hurriedly gave him three taels more buns.
He gave a few to Si Hu, and Xu Mu wrapped the rest in oil paper again. After hesitating for a moment, he followed the memory of the original owner, turned a few streets, and walked towards the dilapidated house.
He probably felt that he was a conscientious person, and he was afraid that the little servant wife, whom he had never met before, froze to death in the house last night.
He even asked Si Hu twice about the price of the coffin.
After a while, Xu Mu stopped and raised his head.
The house in front of me can no longer be described as a "home". The tile roof is broken and filled with handfuls of straw.
There was air leakage from the cracks in the wall, and there were several piles of dirty leather with no apparent texture embedded in it.
Even the aisles in the yard were filled with filthy water.
After standing in silence for a while, Xu Mu took a few steps forward and opened the door.
Fortunately, there were no dead people in the room, and the tattered mattress that saved his life was folded neatly and placed beside the bed.
In the corner of the house, there is a pile of new firewood, and there are still faint traces of water seeping on the firewood.
God knows when the little servant girl went out and came back with a pile of firewood.
Looking around, Xu Mu walked to the broken table beside the bed and took down an old piece of letter paper.
The content is still simple.
Xu Lang.
I don’t know if you will go home or not. I made firewood and got half a can of tung seed oil on credit. I’m going to help the workers collect firewood these two days so that I can buy a quilt.
After folding the letter, Xu Mu said nothing, took some broken silver from his sleeve, and pressed it under the quilt.
In more than a day, he has roughly understood that the world he traveled to is a cannibalistic world.
Seven hundred miles outside Wangzhou City, after the Beidi people invaded the city, hundreds of thousands of refugees were transported, their children were sold like cattle and sheep, and their dead were left in the wild.
Some time ago, in order to resist the offensive of the Beidi people, the Daji government mobilized tens of thousands of old people and widows to act as meat troops to rush to repair the wall amidst the rain of arrows and falling rocks.
The number of dead people is unknown.
In Wangzhou City, there are many widows who were sent to the border.
The stickman's identity was on thin ice, and Xu Mu was worried that one day he would die in confusion like the original owner.
If he dies, the little maid's wife will be miserable. The best result is that the two of them break off the relationship and send a sufficient travel expenses to let the little maid's wife leave the Wangzhou border.
In these turbulent years, even if it is a true love, it should be silent.
After dispelling the annoying thoughts, Xu Mu calmly spoke.
"Si Hu, is there any way to make money?"
"Brother Mu, I don't remember, today is the meeting of Guaizi Hall." Si Hu swallowed the last steamed bun with bulging eyes, and then clapped his hands and walked over.
There are a total of seventeen stickmen in Guaizi Hall. The master of the hall is a lame man with one leg, known as Ma Guaizi. It is not surprising that the hall has such a name.
About every three days, according to Ma Guaizi's wishes, they would get together to discuss the money.
It just so happens that today is the day of the church meeting.
At noon, Xu Mu took Si Hu to the old alley south of Wangzhou City.
A dozen stickmen crowded around the campfire in front of the clearing, listening to the chatter of a lame man in front of them.
This lame man is Ma Guaizi, the leader of the hall. At this moment, he is dragging his lame leg and walking around twice, with a vague expression of impatience.
The city is besieged by refugees and it is becoming increasingly difficult to do business in the popular market.
"Brother Mu, you are the one who survived the catastrophe. What are you going to do next?"
At the end of the crowd, even though Xu Mu deliberately hid half of his body, he had no choice but to be named.
The daily life of gangsters consists mostly of robbery, kidnapping, and even murder and arson.
Without hesitation, Xu Mu immediately shook his head, "Master Guai, how do I know this?"
If he comes up with an idea to help the tyrants commit crimes, his conscience will be disturbed.
Ma Guaizi was a little stunned. According to the past, even if Xu Mu had no idea, he would still run around.
Damn, my brain is really screwed up.
"Brother Mu, you are so brave. You deserve to starve to death when you sell your maidservant in a few days!"
Ma Guaizi's tone was consistent. If it weren't for retaining Si Hu, a big fool like him, he would have kicked Xu Mu out long ago.
If you pee in the wind and get your shoes wet, you don't have much courage anyway.
"Master Guai, how about becoming a rich man?" A stickman asked with a grim smile.
As soon as the voice fell, the remaining stickmen quickly let out loud howls.
Si Hu was just about to shout a few words, but after seeing Xu Mu's silent expression, he hurriedly stopped his voice.
"I do have a business." When the voices of the stickmen stopped for a moment, Ma Guaizi dragged his lame leg and slowly sat down on the ground.
Xu Mu stood calmly, faintly smelling the smell of conspiracy.
"The killer said, go kidnap girls outside the city, kidnap one, and exchange them for one tael, and a handsome one, but there are still 2 taels anyway. Anyway, these refugees will starve to death sooner or later, so we don't need to be polite.
"
"Master Guai, can you drive a stake and send it away?"
Driving a pile is a slang term for stickmen. For example, if you go to Qingguan to sleep with a flower girl overnight, that is driving a pile.
Ma Guaizi showed a sinister smile and said, "Okay. And remember, don't touch anyone in the city, the officials will investigate."
"Tsk, then please go!"
Xu Mu had a sullen face and turned around with Si Hu. He felt more and more that it was very difficult to survive in this cannibalistic world.
"Brother Mu, let's tie up the girl, do you want to find some rope?" When they reached the street, Si Hu spoke in a deep voice. In his heart, he didn't have a deep concept of doing evil. It was just like eating and dressing.
They are all necessary for life and forced by money.
"No ties." Xu Mu shook his head.
"Brother Mu, one tael of silver per girl——"
"I said I won't tie him up, will you listen?" Xu Mu turned around coldly, with anger in his eyes.
"Of course I'll listen to Brother Mu." Si Hu hurriedly lowered his head and rubbed the corners of his clothes.
In the past, Brother Mu in front of me would never look like this. When he heard that there was a job that offered money, Guan Feng would always be the first to rush in, no matter how shady or cheap he was.
"Si Hu, look for a carriage to go to the north of the city." Xu Mu thought for a while and said.
Even if it cost eight cents for a trip, Xu Mu would have to go around the entire Wangzhou to see if there were any opportunities to make money.
The old horseman who was invited had a serious look on his face. He probably didn't like stickmen. As soon as he flicked his whip, he immediately drove the carriage very fast.
Xu Mu turned his head silently and looked at the street scene going backwards. There were many shops and various aspects of life, including beggars and rich people, firewood sellers and ladies covered in silk.
"Hey, Brother Mu, I saw your maid and wife last time!"
Xu Mu paused and quickly turned his head.
As if a white horse had passed by, Xu Mu followed the direction pointed by Si Hu and fixed his eyes firmly on a firewood seller.
The thin and thin figure was leaning silently against the big wall next to the restaurant. He seemed to be tired, and his legs were trembling slightly.
He seemed to be hungry again, and occasionally he would raise his pretty face and smell the aroma of food wafting from the restaurant.
Finally, he lowered his gaze and placed it on the two loads of new firewood in front of him, looking helpless.