After the fall of Luoyang City, the Jizhou rebels burned, killed and looted the city, arrested palace officials and hundreds of officials, and rested for many days. The once prosperous Luoyang City has turned into a Shura hell with corpses lying on top of each other and blood stains all over the city.
There was not even a tenth householder left inside and outside, and countless innocent lives were lost in vain. The leader of the thieves, An Lushan, set up camp in the Luoyang Forbidden Garden and ordered the thieves to take advantage of the victory and march westward, aiming directly at Chang'an.
Of course, Lu Qiuniang, who was hiding in the mountains, didn't know about these situations. Ever since she and Yang Sanlang settled down in the mountains, their daily routine was simple: they lived within a mile of each other and treated each other as guests. Apart from eating and sleeping, they just talked about past events.
But in fact, the two of them are not very old: Lu Qiuniang is about seventeen years old, and Yang Sanlang is only in his early twenties, and they don’t have much past to talk about. The two of them mostly talk to each other to relieve the misery of the sun and moon in the mountains.
.
On this day, Yang Sanlang went into the mountains at dawn, picked some pecans, hazelnuts, pine cones, etc., added corn and beans, and cooked a large pot of mixed porridge. The two sat opposite each other on the wooden table and ate.
Lu Qiuniang couldn't help but miss her relatives at home. She was so moved that she sang the song "Cai Ling Song" from Hengzhou:
It’s time to pick water chestnuts in March! Brother, please don’t laugh. The rice flowers are blooming brightly, and my sister is planting water chestnut seedlings——
It’s time to pick water chestnuts in May! Oh, don’t laugh. The water chestnut flowers are yellow and bright, and my wife is picking water chestnut branches——
It’s time to pick water chestnuts in July! Don’t laugh, kid. The stems of water chestnuts are long and slender. My mother-in-law peels off the water chestnuts——
…
After going back and forth several times, Yang Sanlang felt a little sentimental in his heart. "Du, du, du!" A rapid knock on the door shocked the two of them. Just as they were about to distinguish between good and bad, Yang Sanlang stood up and said, "I
The brothers are back."
Opening the door, two gray-faced men filed in. One of them had an injury on his shoulder. The two of them were not polite and sat down on the bench. Yang Sanlang looked out, bolted the door, and then asked: "Why?"
What's going on?"
The injured brother's name was Ma Zhong, and he started crying: "The thieves came to Yangliu Village...many people on the village were killed...my parents, uncles, and brothers are all dead...wuwu..." Ma Zhong
After crying for a while, everyone was silent. Ma Zhong sniffed a few times and said, "The young women in the village and the girls from several families... were all kidnapped by the thieves..."
Another brother named Niu Chong endured his grief and said: "The corn, millet, beans, chickens, sheep, cattle...all the edible things on the farm have been robbed. Brother Sanlang, you know, I have to urinate."
We have neither father nor mother, so we just scrape together a meal for one family and a meal for that family to survive. Seeing the village being harmed by bandits and soldiers like this, I just want to go out and kill a few of them..."
Ma Zhong wiped his nose and tears: "If I hadn't pulled him, Niu Chong would have suffered a big loss. The thieves all have long spears and short swords, so even if they are willing to risk... they are just going to die."
Yang Sanlang went from shock to grief and guilt. After calming down for a while, he asked: "Where is Guan Dashi? Why didn't he escape with you?"
Niu Chong muttered a few times, but finally said nothing. Ma Zhong knew that Yang Sanlang and Guan Dashi had been like brothers since they were children, so he thought for a long time before saying: "Brother Dashi... ran away from us. We are both singles, so we ran away."
He ran away. Brother Dashi still had his sister-in-law and a child under one year old at home, and 90% of the time he might have gone back to look for them... When we fled down the mountain, we waited for a while at the tombstone of our ancestors for help. We had no choice.
Before Brother Dashi came, we heard thieves coming from a distance, so the two of us had to go up the mountain first..."
After hearing this, Yang Sanlang paused: "This is bad! You all know Brother Dashi's temperament. He is good at fists and kicks, and he is very brave. It would be better if he can find his sister-in-law and his child... If he can't find him, he will not give up.
You will definitely suffer a big loss." Yang Sanlang turned around anxiously for a few times, then suddenly turned around and said to Qiuniang, "Sister Qiuniang! I'm sorry, I have to ask you to stay here alone for a few days. My brother is in trouble.
We need to go rescue him immediately... If I don't come back, there is still some storage here, which will be enough for the winter."
Lu Qiuniang knew that she could not persuade her, so she said: "Brother Sanlang, don't worry! Qiuniang knows. But you should be careful and don't fight with the thieves...I'll wait for you to come back here." As soon as the words left her mouth, Lu Qiuniang knew what she meant.
There was something wrong, but I didn’t think too much about it and just warned her again and again.
Yang Sanlang was impatient and did not think carefully about the meaning of his words. He directly dug out the robe from the previous day, took out two short knives, and threw them one to Ma Zhong and Niu Chong. However, he fiddled with the wood that carried the firewood.
Sticks, the three of them went down the mountain. Lu Qiuniang followed Yang Sanlang's instructions, bolted the door, returned to the back room, and began to play with the rabbit skins that Yang Sanlang had made in the past few days. When she was really hungry, she took some corn and beans.
Or the pheasants and mountain rabbits hanging on the wall are cooked and eaten, needless to say.
The words were divided into two parts. Yang Sanlang and others hurried down to the foot of the mountain. It was already past noon. Yang Sanlang took out a Hu cake made by Qiu Niang a few days ago from his carry-on baggage, broke it open with his hands, and gave it to Ma Zhong and Niu Chong.
After eating and taking a short rest, the three of them got up again and walked quickly in the direction of Yangliuzhuang. They were silent all the way.
In order to guard against thieves, the three of them walked along the way through dense trees and deep grass. They walked straight for about two or three hours. When the sun turned west, they finally saw the dilapidated houses of Yangliuzhuang from a distance. A few thin pillars.
Thin black smoke twisted like an adder and climbed toward the sky. The village was completely silent. No one came in or out for a long time. It was thought that the thieves had retreated after looting.
At this time, the sun was already grazing the ground, as if it was about to bid farewell to them. After observing for a while, Yang Sanlang and the others plucked up the courage to run towards Yangliu Village. After a while, they entered the village, but they saw that it was so devastated that it was too horrible to see: some of the eaves of the houses were
There were still flames hanging from the corners, and half of the roofs of some houses had burned down, making it so black that it was dazzling. In front of and behind the house, corpses of people in the village were scattered, lying down, lying on their backs, or twisted into weird shapes... The corpses were all covered with body parts.
They were stab wounds, some had missing arms, some had most of their necks cut off, and their heads were stuck on their shoulders... Some women were half-leaning against the corner, their wide-eyed eyes motionless, and their clothes were torn to pieces.
Most of the pale body was exposed... A child was hugged by his parents and fell together in a pool of blood under the tree in front of the house...
Yang Sanlang, Ma Zhong, and Niu Chong walked slowly, their bodies were heavy, and their minds were buzzing... The three of them were looking for Guan Dashi's whereabouts in the village while shedding tears. Pictures of people who were usually kind-hearted
Faces and familiar bodies were all fixed in Yangliuzhuang on this day. Every time a corpse passed by, their names were all dancing in Yang Sanlang's mind, but he could no longer call them out. Because even if they were called out, they
I won't promise you anything again.
As they walked, the three of them saw the tall ancient willow tree in the village. Under the tree was the old well where people in the village drew water. An old woman was sobbing under the tree from a distance. Her voice sounded like the village's Granny Shang.
Just as they were about to go up to ask, the old woman sat up tremblingly and fell into the well. The three of them were stunned for a moment, then stood there, hugging each other and crying.
After crying for a while, the sky became a little dark. The three of them continued to patrol the quiet village, and suddenly they heard a baby crying, coming intermittently from a group of houses. The three of them looked at each other, and they all heard the cry.
He ran in the same direction. When he got closer, he saw one of the few tiled houses in the village. It was originally the home of Master Qiu Jinqiu in the village. The cry came from this tiled house.