Traveling through ancient times to survive

The village chief said mysteriously, "It was indeed a while since anyone noticed it. We were all very confused. Was the road blocked? How come we couldn't see anyone? Brother Wang Hai, guess how they found it later?"

Li Heng cooperated and said, "How did you find out?"

"Didn't the princess marry a while ago? A group of exiled court officials passed by our place and came to borrow water to drink." At this point, the village chief was filled with righteous indignation and cursed. "They were obviously a group of good officials who were loyal to the emperor and patriotic. Just because they didn't agree with the princess' marriage, they were exiled. Bah! What kind of marriage is this? It's obviously ceding land and paying compensation to those barbarians. I think the court is in a mess and it will never get better!"

Li Heng also had an angry expression: "Well said! I have heard a lot of news along the way. Many places in the north have been massacred. There is such a deep blood feud, but the emperor above doesn't care at all and is still indulging in pleasure in Kyoto. The court is hopeless!"

The two men had similar views and cursed the tyrant together, and after that their relationship became closer.

When the village chief calmed down, Li Heng comforted him: "Uncle, let's not talk about these unhappy things. Let's talk about the missing victims. How did we find out?"

"Then I continued, didn't a group of exiled officials come at that time? I asked the officials if the official road was blocked. We haven't seen anyone on the official road for a long time. The officials were shocked and told us that the official road had always been fine, and there were disaster victims sent from Kyoto every day. How could there be no one? Some officials hurried back, probably to report, but I didn't hear that anyone came to deal with it. Maybe the lives of ordinary people are not worth much. Anyway, the disaster victims who passed by our village later did not go through the official road."

At this point, the village chief's expression became mysterious: "I think someone is behind this. If it is really a monster that eats people, why doesn't it eat the exiled people? Does the monster know that officials can't be eaten? Does it only eat the powerless and poor people?"

Li Heng and Zhao Qing, who had been silent, looked at each other. They both remembered the incident in which a high-ranking official once picked up a fellow villager. It was both Yingzhou, so there must be a connection.

Li Heng gave a thumbs up and praised: "Uncle, you are worthy of being the village chief. You are really wise. I also think that people are doing bad things. Uncle, when I passed by Qingzhou, I heard that there were officials in Yingzhou who felt sorry for their fellow villagers who had suffered a great crime and wanted to take them to the capital to live a good life. Have you seen these people?"

The village chief thought for a moment and nodded, "Indeed, there is a group of people who came from the south, but you said they went there to live a good life, I don't think so."

Li Heng asked, "Why is it so dangerous?"

The village chief sneered: "We are right on the border of Yingzhou. We have some understanding of the officials in Yingzhou. They are not the kind of people who will have sympathy for ordinary people."

Of course Li Heng knew about this. Yingzhou prefect Wang Yuan was a subordinate of Song Cheng, and there was no clean person under Song Cheng.

Li Heng deliberately showed curiosity: "Since they are not living a good life, why do you think the official took them there?"

The village chief speculated: "Maybe they captured them and sent them to the army. You know the north has just reached a truce with the barbarians, so they definitely need people to fight. But we have suffered a great disaster here, and only one in ten people survived. The court probably wanted to save some face, so they didn't say to capture them directly, but they were short of people, so they tricked them in."

The sun set and the sky darkened, so the two people who were chatting had to stop talking.

"It's getting late, Brother Wang Hai, go and have some rest. I won't disturb you any more."

After a simple wash, Li Heng and Zhao Qing met in the same room.

Li Heng spoke seriously, and if you didn't look at his blushing earlobes, he seemed very calm.

"I have to ask my sister to share a room with me."

Zhao Qing didn't care at all. She wasn't a pure ancient person, and she didn't care about the distinction between men and women. However, if Li Heng minded, she could leave.

"No grievance, if you mind I'll go out and sleep."

"Of course I don't mind!" Li Heng spoke faster than his brain. He was so happy to be able to stay in the same room with the girl he liked. Although this was against the gentleman's way and he secretly despised himself, the joy in his heart could not be deceived.

Li Heng didn't dare to look at Zhao Qing. In order to ease the embarrassment, he lowered his eyes and made small talk.

"You just heard what the village chief said. What do you think Wang Yuan is going to do? Is he really going to arrest people and send them to the army? Oh, by the way, Wang Yuan is the prefect of Yingzhou."

Since his identity was exposed, Li Heng no longer hid it from Zhao Qing. He took the opportunity to explain to Zhao Qing the faction to which Wang Yuan belonged.

"He is an official under the Sixth Prince Song Cheng. His wife is the daughter of the Sixth Prince's Yue family. The Sixth Prince's mother is the son of the Emperor's favorite concubine, Consort Shu."

Zhao Qing said calmly: "The Sixth Prince also had a hand in your family's affairs?"

Li Heng nodded with red ears, and Zhao Qing understood: "Okay, just tell me, who are your other enemies?"

"It is enough to kill the two main culprits, the Emperor and the Sixth Prince. The other villains are just obeying their masters. When the new power comes to power, none of these people will survive."

Zhao Qing: "I understand."

The sun rose again, dispelling the darkness. The two said goodbye to the village chief at the entrance of the village and then set off.

Li Heng asked, "Should we take a detour or go directly to the official road?"

"Let's go to Shangguanlu. Isn't Wang Yuan a subordinate of the Sixth Prince? Let's go and see what he is up to."

The sound of horse hooves echoed on the official road. The two ran for more than twenty miles and arrived at the edge of a long mountain range. After running for less than ten miles, Zhao Qing pulled the reins and the horse stopped.

Li Heng behind him stopped and asked, "Did you find anything unusual?"

"Yeah, don't you think it's too quiet?"

Li Heng turned his head and looked towards the mountains not far from the official road. It was quiet there. There were green trees and shades, but not a single bird or insect could be heard.

The mountain, where vitality and death coexist, quietly watches the passers-by under the sunlight, as if carefully selecting the food to be eaten. Li Heng shuddered with fear at his own imagination.

Zhao Qing tapped Xiaolu on his waist, and Xiaolu went into the mountain. After a while, Xiaolu came back.

Xiao Lu's voice was solemn: "Master, there is the aura of a demon plant of the same level as my body here. This is its territory. My exploration range is greatly limited. If my body came here, I would be able to find it."

Zhao Qing was extremely surprised. There really was a demon plant that ate people here? But why did it let the officials who passed by go? Was it afraid of being discovered by the court? But how did it distinguish the identities of humans?

"Xiaolu, can you plants distinguish the identities of humans?"

"Master, you must be kidding. We plants don't have eyes. We rely on sensing human scent to distinguish different people. The identity of ordinary humans is not worth mentioning to us. We are all ants anyway."