In the hot summer, successive years of drought have left the fields abandoned and the people unable to make a living. Animal bones are common in dry trees and rivers.
Sometimes even human bones can be seen.
According to historical records, every time there is a "big famine", it is always accompanied by people eating each other.
However, no matter which country's ancient history books, the cruelty behind these famines will not be recorded.
The common people would not talk about cannibalism, local officials would not report it, and the king would order it to be covered up, leaving other vassal states with nothing to talk about. Often after the incident, they would just leave a sentence on the ancient slips: "It's a big famine."
This incident just passed.
Inside the carriage.
Bai Yan was sitting in the carriage. Even though he was hiding in the shade, he was still sweating profusely from the hot and dull air.
But compared to having a blast outside, it is still much more comfortable inside the carriage.
It has been half a month since I left Yanyu.
In this half month, Bai Yanrao made a large circle, heading south from Yanyu to the border of Yingchuan, and then from the border of Yingchuan to the Kingdom of Zhao.
Because I was unfamiliar with the place I was born in, I took a lot of wrongdoings. Fortunately, nothing happened along the way and we were always in peace.
Two hours later.
"Gentleman, I guess I won't be able to reach the next city tonight. I may have to spend the night in the small village ahead."
In front of the carriage, Ye's voice came.
After Bai Yan heard this, he stretched out his hand to open the car curtain and looked outside, it was almost sunset. He turned sideways and saw that there was indeed a small village in front of him.
"Okay, I'll go to the village to rest for the night later!"
Bai Yan said, then lowered the car curtain.
Gentleman, it was Bai Yan who asked Ye and the three of them to call themselves the same no matter where they are, and they must form a habit.
Otherwise, if you encounter special circumstances when entering Handan, if you get anxious and let something slip, big trouble may happen.
After a while.
The carriage swayed for a moment and then slowly stopped.
Bai Yan opened the curtain from the carriage and slowly got out of the carriage.
Looking around, looking at the small village in front of him, he suddenly frowned slightly.
Due to drought, the fields cannot be cultivated. At this moment, in this small village of about a hundred households, one can see many villagers at a glance.
There was also a carriage inside the small house in front of me. Four men and one woman could be seen, and just like them, they were passing by and staying overnight.
"General, let me go find some water!"
Gui led the horse and came to Bai Yan's side.
Because we have been on the road today, both horses and people are very thirsty right now. We should go find some water before it gets dark. If the horses are thirsty and something goes wrong, things will be in trouble.
But after Gui's words fell, she hadn't left yet.
"Not spending the night here tonight!"
Bai Yan said softly.
Bai Yan's words made Gui, who was about to leave, freeze on the spot. Even Lian Ye and Feng Nian looked at Bai Yan with some confusion.
There is no village in front of this place or a store in the back. If they don't spend the night here, they will have to sleep outdoors tonight.
"Let's go!"
Bai Yan looked at the villagers, saw the eyes of those villagers looking over, then looked at the few people looking at the inn, turned around and prepared to get on the carriage.
When he turned around, Bai Yan saw three cute children standing timidly behind the carriage, their little eyes looking at him curiously.
"come over!"
Bai Yan knelt down and looked at the three children with a smile on his face.
As he spoke, Bai Yan put his hand into his silk sleeve pocket.
"Don't be offended if the child is ignorant! A gentleman wants to stay the night?"
Two women in tattered cloth trotted over, grabbed the three children, and looked at Bai Yan apologetically.
Bai Yan ignored the woman's words, took out a dozen coins from his sleeve pocket, walked up to the three children, lowered his head, and distributed the money to the three children.
"It's okay. I'm destined to pass by. I'm on a different road from the people in the inn. I don't want to cause trouble, so I won't stay here today! It's not the rainy season, so you can walk at night."
Bai Yan stood up and looked at the two women.
Gui turned to look at the four men and one woman in the small house with a confused look.
Why did the general say that he was different from those people? And he was afraid of trouble? They obviously didn't know him!
Gui, who couldn't understand, turned to look at Bai Yan, caressing the child's head a few times, then turned around and walked onto the carriage.
"Hey! Thank you so much, gentleman! Why don't you thank me too much, gentleman?"
The two women saw Bai Yan's direct gaze. After coming back to their senses, they said with gratitude, and then patted the children.
The children also thanked Bai Yan with milky voices.
Ye looked at the woman who kept nodding her thanks. Although he didn't understand why the general didn't stay overnight, he still turned around and sat in front of the carriage, steering the carriage and turning around.
Gui and Fengnian also mounted their horses and followed after the carriage moved.
Inside the cabin.
The three men looked at Bai Yan and his group with confusion, frowning and looking at each other.
Judging from the clothes of the young man just now, he should be from a noble family, but they clearly didn't know that young man, so why did the young man tell others that he had a problem with them in his words.
When had they ever offended that young man?
The young woman sitting with the three men frowned and had some confusion in her eyes.
the other side.
When the carriage started on the road again, until it was far away from the small village, Bai Yan's voice came from inside the carriage.
"Look to see if anyone is following you."
Bai Yan's words.
Immediately let Gui and Ye react. Ye Xin was alert. Feng Nian rode his horse, turned his head and looked in the direction he came from. Only after confirming that there was no one was he relieved.
Before dark.
Bai Yan asked Ye to find a place to stop far away from the official road.
"Gentleman, is there a problem in that small village?"
Ye watched Bai Yan get out of the carriage and asked curiously.
Feng Nian and Gui also looked at Bai Yan curiously.
"There must be a problem!"
Bai Yan said.
Thinking back to the eyes of the villagers just now, and the look in the eyes of the three children, although only a little was exposed around the neck of one of the three children, one could clearly see that there was a small silk rope inside the clothes.
Generally, small ropes made of silk are only used to hang very valuable items such as jade!
How could there be children in a village?
Bai Yan also hoped that he was overthinking it, but thinking about it, after they entered the territory of Zhao State, no matter which village along the way, it was not an exaggeration to say that there were corpses everywhere.
The people who had no food because of the famine all looked discouraged, as if they were sitting and waiting to die.
However, none of the villagers in the village just now were like this. Think of the eyes of those villagers and the small house.
This is very intriguing.
"Maybe I'm overly worried, so let's just spend the night in the wild."
Bai Yan looked at the curious eyes of the three people and didn't explain much.
Ye, Feng Nian, and Gui nodded, and then started to work separately, looking for water and firewood.
With the coming of darkness.
Beside the carriage, a bonfire was lit.
After eating, Bai Yan let Ye, Gui, and Feng Nian go to sleep in the carriage first. He had been riding in the carriage all day and was not that tired, so he slept in the middle of the night.
In front of the campfire.
Bai Yan sat on the ground and counted the time. In four days, he should be able to reach Handan.
The premise is not to get lost!
"Um?"
Looking at the bonfire, Bai Yan vaguely heard faint sounds coming from the dark night in the distance, as if someone was running away in a hurry.
Thinking of the small village I encountered today, I looked at the light from the bonfire in front of me.
Bai Yan reached out and took the wooden stick to spread the bonfire, and the light immediately dissipated.
After doing all this, Bai Yan reached for the sharp sword leaning on the wheel of the carriage, walked past the carriage step by step, and stared straight into the dark night in the distance.