On a spring night, the moonlight is cold and silent.
In Zhoujia Village, the sound of the donkey cart driving caused a burst of dog barking.
The villagers here are different from other places. Even in the middle of the night, when they hear the noise, some people will light up their lamps and come out to check. They are unusually vigilant.
The girl who was hiding among the piles of funeral papers in the donkey cart looked at the four or five lights that were on one after another, and said in a low voice: "Just drive the cart, don't look around."
"That's Lao Shuan's car, right? Why is he out in the middle of the night?"
"You don't know, right? Lao Shuan made a big fortune this time... It's said to be a rare and good product."
"Tsk, Lao Shuan's luck has been really good these past few years..."
"I just need a son."
"Don't you have one at home? In two years, I will find a wife to come back. If the grandson is born, it will be my own!"
A few men were chatting and laughing here with their necks hunched and their sleeves folded, and they shouted in the direction of the donkey cart ahead: "Lao Chuan! Why do you have to go out to deliver goods in the middle of the night?"
"Yes, be careful of encountering ghosts along the way! Lao Shuan, do you want us to go together?"
In the darkness of the night, the driver froze up, and his voice was as trembling as a mosquito: "What... what should I do..."
The voice in the car behind said: "Let's go quickly."
"Um…!"
Wearing an old lambskin hat worn by a middle-aged man and wrapped in a thick cotton coat to hide his figure in the night, the boy's heart was about to burst out of his chest. He could only stare straight ahead and drive the donkey cart faster.
"What happened to Lao Shuan?"
"Why don't you talk to me?"
Several people looked at each other and their expressions suddenly changed.
"Quick, go to his house and have a look!"
"Lao Liu, you come with me to chase him!"
Soon, the sound of gongs that could only be heard while walking by the water rang out in the village.
They are not well-trained military servants, but they have the words "everyone loses, everyone loses" engraved in their bones, and their level of vigilance is far beyond ordinary people - people are often very spontaneous when faced with interests, especially those that come from unjust sources. , there is no need to learn or teach.
"Quick! Chase them!"
Except for the two people who ran to catch up at first, someone on a mule soon followed.
Listening to the sounds coming closer and closer behind him, and thinking of the terrible consequences of being captured, the boy's forehead and palms were covered in sweat, and there was only one voice in his head - indeed, it is impossible to escape!
The next moment, he suddenly felt the wind blowing behind him.
The girl hiding among the funeral objects suddenly stood up, jumped up, and sat on the wooden board beside the boy. She took the donkey rope from the boy's hand with one hand, and while raising her whip with the other hand, she said: "Sit tight." If you fall down, I won't look back to save you."
The donkey cart suddenly accelerated and rushed forward.
The boy held on to the car board tightly, and for a moment he could only see the girl's half-tied ponytail flying, and the yellow and white paper money on her shoulders being blown off.
Seeing the donkey-cart in front getting faster and faster, the people chasing after them on mules became increasingly aggressive.
"This damn...is a donkey cart?!"
Don't tell me that he can run so fast. Don't you think it's the donkey himself?
Due to the huge difference in speed, the man driving the car in front took a side road that confused his vision. After chasing him for half an hour, he finally lost the chase completely.
There was a lot of noise in Zhoujia Village, and most of the villagers had woken up and rushed towards Li Zheng's home.
"Lao Shuan's house is full of blood!"
"A half-dead little lady...how is that possible!"
"Why hasn't the third child come back? We can't really let her run away?!"
"I don't believe in evil anymore. No one has ever been able to escape from here alive!"
"Li Zheng, what do you think we should do?"
"Why are you so anxious? Can you get out of Zhoujia Village and Hezhou?" The man sitting in a chair with a coat on his face looked impatient: "Although I can't tell you anything big, it's troublesome enough to make such a fuss! I'll be there as soon as daybreak When we go to the city to do some planning, each family will pay out ten taels of silver first, and ask Lao Shuan to make up for it later."
Although some of the people were reluctant, they complained a few words but could only follow.
The lame woman on the side who was pouring water for everyone listened to these words and tightened her chapped lips.
…
Did you really escape?
The boy sat on the donkey cart, still sweating, and looked back in the direction of Zhoujia Village, which he could no longer see.
"We...really escaped?" The boy looked at the girl's unreal profile and asked cautiously.
He had not dared to have such a dream for a long time.
I had a dream when I was young that after waking up, he would be covered in wounds and shed tears for a long time in the dark.
But I heard the girl looking ahead say: "Not yet."
The boy was stunned.
The girl glanced at the official road ahead, judged the direction, and headed east.
As it was getting dark, the donkey cart slowly stopped in front of the city gate.
The girl raised her head and looked at the word Hezhou on the city wall——
At first she heard the couple speak with Hezhou accents.
She had memorized the map of Dasheng since she was a child, and she had been to Hezhou before, so she could judge the official route to the city based on her memory.
Therefore, this world is still the same as before, and everything is as it was before, but she was "resurrected" in another body.
After the fifth watch, the city gate slowly opened.
The city gate guard yawned and began his day of inspection.
There was already a queue of people outside the city gate. Most of the people entering the city at this time were small traders rushing to the morning market. They were dressed in ordinary clothes. The two young men, one large and one small, on the donkey cart pulling the funeral objects were not among the crowd. Eye-catching.
The guard waved his hands to let people pass without checking the contents of the car.
Listening to the two guards joking and chatting, the girl lowered her eyes.
Although it is said that in times of non-war or emergencies, there is no need to be too strict in the entry and exit of the city under the rule of the state, the lax attitude of these guards shows that the rule of Hezhou is too lax and there is no law and order at all.
So, no wonder.
After entering the city, it was already bright.
"Go buy ten steamed buns." The girl took out a piece of broken silver and handed it to the boy: "I only eat meat buns."
The boy looked at the bun stall she was pointing at, stepped forward cautiously, handed over the pieces of silver with both hands, and said with great seriousness: "Ten... meat buns."
"Here!" When he held the bun back in front of the girl, there was an inexplicable look in his eyes, as if he had accomplished something extremely unattainable and great.
The girl took the kettle from the donkey cart, poured water to clean her hands, picked up a bun and started to bite it.
The steamed buns are so hot that once you eat them, you will clearly know that you are still alive.
Only those who are alive can eat.
It's really good to be alive.
The girl who ate five buns in one breath looked at the boy standing there motionless, thought for a moment, picked up a bun, and told him: "This is a bun, something edible."
The boy was stunned.
It’s not like he didn’t know they were steamed buns…
"Can...can I eat too?" he asked uncertainly.
Facing those always cautious eyes, the girl nodded and handed the bun to him.
The girl's fingertips are slender and white, even more delicate than the soft buns in her hands, glowing softly in the morning light.
The boy looked at her and was stunned for a long time before reaching out and taking it.
While eating steamed buns, the girl's fellow travelers inquired about the location of Liu Ke Lane.
…
"How to say it, do you remember it all?"
The boy suppressed his anxiety and nodded: "I remember."
There are only three households in Liuke Lane.
The only thing on the plaque outside the gate is that there is no family name, only the four characters "Jingfeng Villa".
The boy led the donkey cart to the back door of the villa, swallowed nervously, and mustered up the courage to go forward and knock on the door.