webnovelfull Chapter 382 The hero's stumbling block on the road to escape from the famine 33
Chapter 382 The hero's stumbling block on the road to escape from the famine 33
Afterwards, everyone asked for hot water to wash up. This was the first time they had a good shower in more than a month. They smelled so bad that they were embarrassed to eat in the lobby downstairs.
But bath water is more expensive than food, costing one penny of silver for a bucket, which is equivalent to one hundred coins. A family of seven spent seven hundred coins, which is considered a high consumption. It seems that there is a water shortage here too.
After everyone finished washing up, they gathered in the lobby to eat. Originally, they wanted to eat separately, but Li Zhen insisted on treating them all, saying that it was to thank them for their care along the way.
Indeed, they taught us a lot of common sense about the mountains, including how to recognize some wild vegetables and commonly used herbs, and also helped to hunt wild boars, which really benefited them a lot.
While eating, they also asked the waiter how to get to the nearest county town and some of the local conditions, and listened to the conversations of other guests eating in the lobby.
I learned that although Yangji Town seemed peaceful, bandits occasionally appeared in the surrounding area.
Wolves are rare, and the incident in that village has not yet been reported.
For safety reasons, the Gu family decided to take turns to keep watch at night. After all, this inn is not absolutely safe.
The four men were divided into two groups, mainly because Gu Huaili was unreliable and he fell asleep again without being told anything.
Sisters Xiao Yun and Gu Mingyue also suggested to keep watch together, but Gu Lanzhang disagreed and told them to get some sleep as they had to travel early the next morning and it would not be easy just walking on the road.
Just these two families occupied the entire backyard of the inn. It would have been better if there were no one else around, as they could go out and check if they heard any movement.
Nothing happened in the first half of the night. Gu Lanzhang and Gu Huaili replaced Gu Huaiyi and Gu Huairen. Not long after they changed shifts, they heard a slight noise coming from the roof.
The father and son became alert instantly and tightened their grip on the sticks in their hands.
They didn't bring machetes. After all, they were in the town and in an inn, and they couldn't just kill people.
Gu Lanzhang asked Gu Huaili to wake up his two sons who had just fallen asleep. He walked outside with a stick. At this moment, a black shadow jumped down from the roof and went straight towards their donkey cart!
He quickly stepped forward to stop it and found that it was actually a big black cat. The reason it jumped onto their car was that there were mice stealing their food.
Looking at the black cat that jumped down with the mouse in its mouth, walked past him with a swagger, and even glanced at him, Gu Lanzhang didn't know what expression to make for a moment.
At this time, the whole family, including several people from the Li family, came out. Seeing that it was just a false alarm, they all shook their heads and laughed and walked into the house.
Only Xiao Yun looked in the direction where the black cat left. This cat was very well-maintained, smooth and slippery. It should be raised in this inn.
As soon as daybreak came, they prepared to leave Yangji Town and continue heading north to the nearest Qingquan County.
The necessary supplies were purchased yesterday, so we can set off directly today. Xiao Yun originally wanted to build a shed first, but he didn't have time, so he planned to do it during the lunch break.
Anyway, it takes more than 40 miles to get to Qingquan County, so we have to take a rest along the way and arrive before night.
Fortunately, there is no conscription here, so I don’t have to worry about not being able to enter the county town.
I had already agreed with the kitchen staff yesterday and asked them to help prepare a lot of dry food. They used their own grain and only gave them some hard work fees. The kitchen staff were happy to earn some extra money, and they delivered the food to them early this morning.
We left the town smoothly and got onto a wider road that looked like a government road. There were many people on the road, all of whom came from Yangji Town. They collected goods here and prepared to sell them elsewhere.
There were also many people looking at them. After all, the food in their car was indeed quite eye-catching.
Although the disaster here is not that serious, there is still some drought. In addition, next door is Yanshui County, and the price of food has skyrocketed. So much food costs money.
If there weren't so many men on their side and they didn't look difficult to mess with, some people would probably have some bad intentions.
We arrived at a forest at noon. After a little observation, we found that the trees were not dense and we could see the other end at a glance, so we decided to take a rest here.
Xiao Yun took this opportunity to direct her husband and son to build a carport, and bought a few tarpaulins from Yangji, which came in handy.
I originally wanted to make it fixed, but then I thought about it and decided to make it easy to disassemble, so that I can take it down when I have a lot of things to put in it.
When Li Zhen and his friends saw this, they also tried to make one. Xiao Yun generously gave them a few bamboo poles.
Since they had dry food, they didn't need to cook. They just ate some with water and continued on their way.
At around four or five o'clock in the afternoon, when the outline of the city wall could be vaguely seen, they were surrounded by a group of people who rushed out of a village on the side of the road.
Who would have thought that the bandits were not in the mountains, but in a village, or on the only way to the county town? They were either hiding something from the public or colluding with county officials...
The group of people were holding sticks and machetes, with fierce eyes. The leader was a big man who looked honest and simple, but his words were contrary to his appearance. He shouted loudly: "Leave your food and money, otherwise you will not survive!"
The Gu family and the Li family quickly moved together, forming a defensive circle with their backs against each other.
Li Zhen pretended to be calm and stepped forward and said, "We are all ordinary people. We only need food to support our families. I advise you not to do such unjust things."
The big man sneered: "Stop talking nonsense. In this world, profit is everything, and who cares about what is right and what is wrong."
When the two sides were in a stalemate, Xiao Yun whispered to Gu Lanzhang: "Looking at the appearance of these people, they must have been here for a long time. Their eyes are fierce and I'm afraid they have seen blood. We'd better make a quick decision.
And I'm afraid we can't stay in the county town for long. These people can commit crimes here, so they must have someone protecting them..."
Gu Lanzhang understood what she had not yet said, nodded slightly, and winked at his children.
They were originally walking around the donkey cart, with the machetes that they had seized previously and the sticks that they had specially treated hidden in the cart frame. With a glance, they instantly pulled out the sticks and swung them at the robbers not far away!
"what!"
"Bang!"
"Damn it! They actually started it first! Come on, brothers!"
Although the Gu family took the lead in attacking, the other side had a large number of people, and with the addition of the Li family's women and children who were dragging their feet and could only scream and hide, they were caught in a tough battle for a while.
Xiao Yun picked up a handful of pebbles and observed secretly. If her family was in danger, she would help. It was not good to do this during the day. She couldn't ask Xiao Lin for help, as it would be too obvious if the weeds suddenly moved.
As for the Li family, the men also had weapons in their hands. Although they were injured, they were still able to hold on.
At the moment of stalemate, a cloud of dust was raised in the distance, followed by the sound of approaching horse hooves.
Xiao Yun looked into the distance, not knowing whether they were enemies or friends. If they were the enemy's reinforcements, then they would have no chance of winning and could only use some hot weapons.
Fortunately, when we got closer, we found that it should be a passing caravan. The other party had obviously seen the situation here, and the leader actually ordered the guards to join the battle here.
The guards were well-trained, and the robbers gradually lost. The leader, seeing the situation was not good, tried to escape, but was tripped by Gu Lanzhang's stick, and everyone rushed over to subdue him.
The leader of the caravan came forward, and Gu Lanzhang bowed to him and said, "Thank you for your help, brother. I don't know your name, but I will repay you one day."
"Brother, you are too kind. I am Yu Haisheng, the head of the Haisheng Escort Agency. I am passing through here today as an escort. I have heard that there are robbers committing crimes here. I didn't expect to run into them today. This can be regarded as clearing away obstacles for me in the future."
Gu Lanzhang hurriedly said, "Brother Yu is so righteous. No matter what, we will remember this favor."
Yu Haisheng waved his hands, looked at the subdued robbers and said, "These robbers have committed many evil deeds. I wonder what you plan to do with them?"
"Brother Yu, what do you think? This is our first time here and we don't know anyone here. We were planning to leave as soon as we could."
Gu Lanzhang said that he did not tell Xiao Yun's guess to others because there were many people talking at the moment. Besides, if the other party had connections to handle it, they would not have to be the first to speak out.
Yu Haisheng smiled and said, "I can't say I have a brilliant idea, but I do know some people in Qingquan County. These bandits have been rampant for a long time, and the government has suffered from them for a long time. Why don't we hand them over to the government and let them deal with them."
Of course Gu Lanzhang had no objection, he had been waiting for him to say this. The others also agreed. After treating the wounds of the Li family, they escorted the robbers to Qingquan County together.
When everyone arrived at the gate of Qingquan County, the soldiers guarding the city saw a group of people escorting bandits. They looked at each other, and then Haisheng directly gave his name and asked to see the garrison commander, and then they hurriedly sent someone to report.