Through the troubled times and famine, I just want to farm peacefully

Lin Yinan and Yun Mo put in a lot of effort to kill the bear, so the village chief specially distributed the best meat to their two families.

After dividing the bear meat, everyone decided to continue on their way without staying any longer.

Although Linjia Village lost a lot of food supplies, they were still able to fill their stomachs because they were given a lot of wolf meat and bear meat, as well as wild vegetables picked along the way.

Their location was still ten days' journey from Yicheng.

The official road was not safe, and no one knew whether they would encounter Hu cavalry again later, so everyone chose to walk through the mountains and forests.

It was difficult to walk in the forest, as there were overgrown weeds and dense trees and no roads. If Yun Qi, Yun Mo's subordinate, had not been good at tracking and identifying directions, they would have been lost in the mountains long ago.

Therefore, they walked more slowly along the way.

There are many snakes, insects, rats and ants in the deep mountains and old forests. The people of Linjia Village, who have little food, try their best to collect anything edible they see.

Lin Yiheng even organized the men in the village to go hunting when they stopped to rest.

The leftover prey would be roasted over a fire and made into jerky for easy storage. After all, the last thing lacking in the mountains was firewood.

Gradually, in addition to the village chief's family, the status of Lin Yinan and Yun Mo's family rose sharply in the hearts of the villagers.

By the time we got out of the forest and reached the city, more than half a month had passed.

It's mid-October.

Walking onto the bare official road again, there was not a single refugee on the road, and the fields along the roadside had been trampled like locusts, with not a single blade of grass growing.

The towering city walls of the city were right in front of us. Soldiers were patrolling on the walls from time to time. The city gates were closed, and only a few refugees were staying outside.

"Hey, why are there no refugees outside the city?" Lin Suo asked puzzled.

Lin Yiheng, "Jiancheng was breached half a month ago, and we don't know when the Hu people attacked us. It's right for the people not to stay in the city."

Lin Yizhang said, "Dad, look, there's not even a blade of grass left in the field."

"A gentleman does not stand on a dangerous wall." Su Kunliang sighed.

The group was talking as they walked, but Lin Yinan frowned when he saw the cracked fields.

The soldiers patrolling on the city wall soon discovered that they were dressed in rags, so they immediately ran to report to their superiors.

Before the group got close, they heard the soldiers on the wall shouting, "Who are you?"

The village chief stepped forward, saluted the soldier, and explained his purpose.

The soldiers were surprised, knowing that the Hu people would attack soon and the refugees had already fled, so where did this group of people come from?

Pingcheng was massacred by the Hu people a month ago.

The leader of the soldiers pointed to the notice board below the city wall and said, "The city issued a notice half a month ago that refugees are not allowed to enter or leave the city. You must leave immediately and do not stay here. Those who disobey the order will be killed!"

After hearing the words of the soldier leader, Lin Yiheng, Su Yunzhi and several other students studying in Jiancheng walked to the notice board and looked at the yellowed and faded notice posted on it.

It said that Jiancheng had been breached and the government had received information that the Hu people were gathering a large army and would soon launch an attack on Yicheng. In order to save Yicheng, the court sent the general of the South Route to lead 100,000 soldiers to take over Yicheng.

Several people looked at the contents of the notice again and again, and a man dressed as a servant looked at Su Yunzhi back and forth.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he said happily, "Sir, I finally waited for you!"

Su Yunzhi was startled. When he saw who it was, he asked, "Su Gui, why are you here?"

Su Gui did not answer but asked, "It's a long story. Where are the master and his wife?"

"Where are they? I'll take you there." Su Yunzhi pulled him and was about to leave.

Su Gui hurriedly said, "Sir, wait a moment, Su Yuan, Jixiang, Ruyi and the others are over there."

Soon four people, two men and two women, ran towards Su Yunzhi with bags.

The four of them walked up to Su Kunliang and Zhu Jinhui and knelt down and kowtowed.

"How are the old man and the others?" Su Kunliang asked hurriedly.

Su Gui, "My Lord, the old master and his men left the city half a month ago. He specifically ordered us to wait for you here, my Lord."

"Did father leave any message for me?"

"The old man left a letter for you."

Su Gui said as he took out a crumpled letter from his pocket and handed it to him.

Su Kunliang unfolded the letter, read it twice, and his brows were twisted into a knot.

"Dad, what did grandpa say in the letter?" Su Yunzhi asked when he saw that his father looked strange.

Su Kunliang handed him the letter, and Su Yunzhi opened it and took a look.

"Cangwu County!?"

"Cangwu County is in the south, thousands of miles away from us." Su Yunjin said after reading the letter.

Su Yunyan thought of the little food left at home, "Dad, how can we reach Cangwu County with just a few of us?"

Su Gui said at the right time, "The old master left some food for the fourth master in a farm outside the city, and told me to wait for the fourth master to arrive, and then go to the farm to get the food before setting off. The jade button on the fourth master is the key to the warehouse."

Su Yunru, "That's great!"

She had been eating wild vegetables every day during this period, and she really didn't want to eat them at all.

Su Kunliang hesitated for a moment and said, "I'll go tell the people of Linjia Village and the Yun family."

The people of Linjia Village were even more shocked when they heard the content of the notice. Hearing that a war was about to break out, they couldn't wait to leave.

Yun Mo couldn't help but sneer when he heard that the general of the South Route was leading 100,000 soldiers to guard the city.

"Dayan is going to die!"

Yun Er and Yun Wu looked worried, "Master!"

"I'm fine." Yun Mo said calmly.

A guard came to report, "Third Young Master, the Master of the Su family wants you to come over. He said he has something to discuss."

After a while, Lin Shuo and Lin Yiheng came back.

"What did Mr. Su say?" asked Mrs. Zhao.

Lin Shuo leaned close to her and whispered, "The Su family has hidden food in a farm on the outskirts of the city. Master Su wants us to go with him so that we can rest in the farm at night."

"Is there a lot of food?" Zhang's eyes lit up.

Lin Shuo shook his head and said, "The servants of the Su family said that a large number of refugees gathered outside the city some time ago. It is still unknown whether the manor has been invaded. They are afraid of missing Master Su and dare not leave the city gate."

"Is there plenty of food?" This was all Mrs. Zhao cared about.

Lin Yinan said, "Just go and take a look."

But she didn't have any hope for this. With so many refugees, who could stop the starving people? It would be good if they didn't dig three feet into the ground.

The group of people from Linjia Village slowly left under the leadership of the Su family.

As we left the city gate, it was getting dark.

Everyone was carrying a lot of things on their backs or shoulders, so they naturally walked slowly. They walked on the road for nearly an hour before turning into a small path.

The path was narrow and difficult to walk on. There were barren fields on both sides of the road and no villages anywhere.

"Such a large piece of land is said to belong to the Su family."

Li Shulan had heard Lin Zheng mention a lot of things about the Su family before.

Mrs. Zhao looked regretful, "What a pity!"

"The big family has so much land that it can't cultivate all of it. Look at how barren this land is. It hasn't been cultivated this year." Zhang shook her head.

"Aunt, that's not true. From Jiancheng to Yicheng, there hasn't been a drop of rain since the New Year. It's so dry that the crops can't survive." Lin Yiheng explained.

"No wonder, I see the ground is dry and cracked."

A cool breeze blew, and I could faintly smell a strong smell of smoke in the air.

Lin Yinan was confused, wondering if someone was making a fire to cook or setting a fire.

At this time, the team walked up a bare hillside and saw flames rising from the houses in the valley ahead.