No pain no gain

……

"Hurry up, all of you, take the packed things!" Da Zhuang growled and directed a few small ones to take things.

The sky had already darkened. Fortunately, the bandits mixed in with the refugees moved to a neighboring village, but no one came back to check for the time being, probably because of what the bandit who died here said to his companion earlier.

Almost all the houses in the village have been ransacked, and now the doors and windows are closed tightly. There was not a burst of mournful crying, but it was quickly suppressed, for fear of attracting the attention of the bandits, which happened to be convenient for Da Zhuang them.

Da Zhuang released the dead bandit's horse, packed his sword and dagger and took them to the cave to hide.

"Let's go, let's go, take it easy, don't talk, run!" Da Zhuang explained over and over again, enduring bouts of dizziness, and ran behind the fool with Er Zhuang's support.

The idiot carried Si Zhuang on his back, with a big burden hanging on his chest,

The eldest girl and the second girl ran on the best side, so as to watch the third girl and the third strong.

Soon, the group disappeared into the forest.

Carefully uncovering the cover, the idiot first slid down along the rope hanging inside, then stood below to meet a few smaller ones, Er Zhuang supported the big Zhuang at the end.

"Ada, untie the rope!" Da Zhuang said softly.

"You go in and rest first, I know this!" The fool replied in a deep voice.

The big girl had already run into the biggest cave first and spread out the mattress.

Er Zhuang helped Da Zhuang go in and lay down. The eldest girl took off the clothes on Da Zhuang's arm and took a look. The wound burst open again, and blood oozes out.

Da Niuer bit her lip without saying a word, took out the ointment and reapplied it to Da Zhuang.

"Er Niuer, you and Big Brother A should go to the gate and watch out, and pay attention to the movement outside!" Da Zhuang heaved a few breaths, then turned his head and said to Er Niuer who was sitting next to him.

"Hey!" Er Niu'er walked out obediently, and sat with the idiot at the entrance of the cave...

After several days, Da Zhuang's wound was almost healed, and he proposed to go back to the village to check the situation.

"I can go alone!" the fool said, blocking the entrance of the cave.

Da Zhuang shook his head, the corpse under the chopping board in the warehouse has to be dealt with anyway, and the situation outside is not at ease if he doesn't take a look at it himself...

"Why don't I go back with Big Brother Ah!" Er Zhuang followed up.

"Don't talk about it, I'll go back with Ah Da, come back before dark tomorrow, and you will take turns guarding under the cover!" Da Zhuang glanced at the children and said quickly: "We will tap the cover as a signal when we come back, three times The slow one followed by two fast ones, listen carefully, you can hang up the rope only after hearing such noises at least three times, ignore all the others, even if we are screaming outside, you understand?"

Er Zhuang and Da Niuer nodded nervously.

"You must remember that even if you hear my voice or Ah Da's voice, you must not make any noise without a signal, open the cover, and hang the rope! This is very important!" Da Zhuang explained again worriedly.

"Brother, come back quickly!" San Niuer squeezed over and said tearfully.

"Well, San Niu is good, brother will come back at dawn!" Da Zhuang stroked San Niu's messy hair and said with a smile.

Da Zhuang and Shazi went back to the village at night, the village was quiet, and from time to time one or two hunched black shadows flashed silently, and when they arrived at their house, the low wall outside the yard was still there, but the fence gate was gone. .

Da Zhuang stopped the fool who was about to go inside, hid behind the low wall and poked his head to look in. It was dark inside and he couldn't see anything.

"Hush—" Da Zhuang softly uttered a syllable, signaling to the fool.

The idiot nodded, followed closely behind Da Zhuang, stooped and groped into the room.

When he got closer, Da Zhuang found a group of ragged refugees sleeping in the room, and the room was filled with a bad smell. Several vigilant refugees looked up at Da Zhuang and the idiot, and then went back to sleep.

Da Zhuang skillfully touched the storeroom, the dark board has been opened, there is an unpleasant smell inside, it is the smell that often comes out of those funeral homes, it is quite pungent, it seems that someone has already gone down , it is estimated that the corpse was found, and a fire was set directly below...

"Come here!" Da Zhuang leaned close to the fool's ear and said.

He grabbed some putty on the ground and touched the fool's head and face, and rubbed his clothes with ash.

Before dawn, people in the village started to move. The numb refugees walked along the official road towards the town with a tattered small package on their backs. Da Zhuang pulled the fool to squat in the corner and watched carefully. People hardly speak. There are still many original residents in Liushu Village, and only a few of them are said to have defected to relatives.

Da Zhuang used half a slice of sour steamed buns to inquire about a child who was alone, and learned that the village had been robbed several times again, not only by bandits but also by refugees and deserters. After that, the food was delivered, and many refugees went there. There were also a few households in the village who could not survive, and gave up a son for a small half bag of stale and moldy coarse grains...

Da Zhuang frowned slightly, but did not speak.

"Do you still have the steamed buns?" the child asked while holding the two fingers that had previously held the steamed buns.

Now the three of them hid in a corner with their heads together, and it was difficult for people who walked past to see what they were doing. As soon as the child got the steamed buns, he stuffed them into his mouth desperately, fearing that someone would snatch them away.

Da Zhuang deliberately took out the torn oil paper wrapping the steamed buns and showed it to the child, there was still a little scum in it: "No more!"

The child quickly snatched the torn oil paper, stuffed it into his mouth, and ran away like a rabbit.

"Let's change the place first!" Da Zhuang winked at the fool, and the two stood up together and hid in another corner with their heads down.

"Do you want to visit your parents?" Da Zhuang asked softly.

"No need, we..." Before the idiot finished speaking, a large group of people ran past, and the leader was the kid just now.

"It's right there, they have something to eat, it's true! I saw it with my own eyes, this oiled paper was picked up by them..." The child said out of breath as he ran away.

"Go, don't tell them to run away!"

"Hurry up……"

A large group of refugees rushed over while shouting.

"Let's go, Ah Da, let's go back quickly!" Da Zhuang's face turned pale, and he pulled the fool to stand up, lowered his head and ran towards the mountain as fast as he could.

The fool responded, overtook Da Zhuang in front, and rushed out of the village with Da Zhuang like a wind...

When Da Zhuang was hesitating whether to hide or not, Zhao Ziyang who lived in the town was also having a very difficult time.

The situation in the town became more and more chaotic. Zhao Ziyang, Master Jin, and Master Liu all felt that although larger cities might be safer, that was only compared to the people who already lived in the cities. A large number of refugees will be allowed to flow into the inner city.

"Master, it's the best choice for us to hide in the mountains for a while now, and it's easier to find food on the mountains!" Master Jin said calmly.

The food that Zhao Ziyang had previously hoarded had been robbed by refugees and bandits, and now the three of them could only rely on a little rice cake hidden in the firewood in the kitchen to satisfy their hunger.

"En!" Zhao Ziyang hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

The three of them tidied up briefly, and headed towards Liushu Village all the way in hiding.

Zhao Ziyang knew that there were several big mountains in Willow Village, but he had only been to Willow Village once in a donkey cart, and he was not familiar with the route. The three of them could only walk in the direction of the mountains, and they couldn't get anywhere after walking for most of the night. to the foot of the mountain.

When the sky turned slightly white, Zhao Ziyang felt someone following him.

Master Jin shook his head at him, signaling not to panic, but slowly quickened his pace, and at the same time tugged at Master Liu's sleeve, signaling with his eyes.

Master Liu narrowed his slender pupils, and nodded slightly.

After turning a corner, the three of them started to gallop.

There was another group of refugees facing them, they walked quietly along the official road, and when they saw the three running towards them, they didn't dodge and stopped them straight away.

Master Jin stretched out his hand, protecting Zhao Ziyang and Master Liu behind him, and nervously looked at the group of people in front.

Soon, a few rough men with unkind faces came out of the group of refugees, and the rest of the refugees walked around Zhao Ziyang and the three of them without turning their eyes, and continued to move forward.

Zhao Ziyang swallowed his saliva nervously, and tightly grasped the small package in his hands, which contained some leftover rice cakes, a few complete pieces of clothes and a lot of gold and silver.

The three of them walked all the way. Although there was a lot of dust on their clothes, they were still quite conspicuous compared to the refugees around them who couldn't see their facial features clearly in ragged clothes. No wonder they were targeted.

"What do you want? We only have some food and money on us..." Master Jin opened his package and took out a few slices of rice cakes and a few taels of silver.

One of the big men stepped forward and snatched the rice cakes and silver, but his eyes were still rolling maliciously at the three of them.

The sound of footsteps from behind was also approaching, and several big men looked back with some doubts.

Master Jin flew up and kicked over the two nearest bandits.

Zhao Ziyang and Master Liu took the opportunity to rush forward tacitly. Master Jin caught the bandits by surprise and escaped in two or three hits. The three of them ran forward desperately, choosing places with many turns, hoping to escape The yelling bandits behind.

"Huh, I, I can't do it... Xiongguo, you take, take the young master away first..." Master Liu said softly, panting heavily.

"No!" Zhao Ziyang called softly and grabbed Master Liu's arm.

"This, this, no one can escape, I, I will hide first, you guys..." Master Liu said with difficulty.

Zhao Ziyang shook his head desperately, his throat was blocked and he couldn't say anything.

Master Jin remained silent the entire time without speaking, but his eyes never left Master Liu's face for a moment.

Master Liu smiled at Master Jin and Zhao Ziyang, broke away from Zhao Ziyang's hand, ran down the official road, and ran towards a small hill...

Master Jin violently pulled Zhao Ziyang around, picked Zhao Ziyang up on his back, stepped hard, and quickly disappeared on the official road...

"Young Master, I'll send you here. From now on, from now on...you hurry up and hide on the mountain..." Master Jin ran all the way to the foot of the mountain before putting Zhao Ziyang down, and said in a deep voice, with an imperceptible trace in his voice trembling.

Zhao Ziyang tightly pursed his lips, unable to say anything.

"Okay, young master, hurry up, it's not safe here..." Master Jin closed his eyes and pushed Zhao Ziyang.

"I, I'll wait for you!" Zhao Ziyang said in a low voice.

"No, no need, Renxue always refuses to go with me, saying that he owes the master, now, now it is finally paid off, I will go to Renxue, and then the two of us will go to live our own lives... ..." Master Jin said with a look of longing.

Zhao Ziyang bit the corner of his mouth, opened the package, took an ingot of gold and stuffed it into Master Jin's hand, and ran up the mountain without looking back...

After watching Zhao Ziyang's figure disappear, Master Jin muttered a few words, then turned around and flew back...

Zhao Ziyang lingered at the foot of the mountain for a few days, and sadly found that he was lost. After eating the last few slices of rice cakes, the young master who couldn't find food on the mountain in winter followed the path and turned out of the mountain forest.

Staring blankly at the familiar small mountain village in front of him, Zhao Ziyang, who is now basically indistinguishable from the refugees, was delighted to find that this was the Liushu Village that he had visited before.

Zhao Ziyang dodged all the way to the small courtyard in his memory, but the inside was already occupied by refugees from the past, and the house was turned into a mess, and it was impossible to see how it was originally clean and tidy. What's going on, isn't Da Zhuang Did you make preparations early? Zhao Ziyang stood in the yard and thought in a daze...

Finding a corner to sit down, Zhao Ziyang rubbed his stomach that had no feeling, and closed his eyelids tiredly. It wasn't until the fifth time he was woken up by hunger that Zhao Ziyang staggered out of the room, wandering aimlessly. Walking around the village, trying to find something to eat.

A child led the way, followed by a large group of refugees. It was said that someone had something to eat. Zhao Ziyang's eyes lit up, he swallowed hard, and followed secretly...

There were two familiar figures in front of him. Zhao Ziyang opened his mouth, his heart was full of excitement. After all, the hardships of the past few days gave the young master some common sense. After looking at the refugees around him, Zhao Ziyang wisely did not cry out, and got away from the refugees. The team pursued from another road.

"Ada, Ahda, huh, okay, huh, I don't seem to be chasing you..." Da Zhuang said to the fool in front of him panting heavily.

The fool kept looking back for a while, and then stopped slowly after making sure that no one was following him.

The two had reached the foot of the mountain at this time, and the fool took Da Zhuang for a few steps before helping him to sit down, took out the small water bottle and handed it over.

Zhao Ziyang looked at the two backs that were getting farther and farther in front of him, he didn't know where the strength came from, and his steps took a little longer...

Da Zhuang took the kettle, took a few sips, then took a long breath, and slowly adjusted his breathing to calm down the rapid heartbeat.

A figure suddenly sprang out from the sloping grass, snatched the kettle from Da Zhuang's hand, poured it into his mouth fiercely, and then let out a violent coughing sound from being choked.

The idiot stood in front of Da Zhuang vigilantly, looking at the dirty man in front of him.

Da Zhuang frowned and looked at the person in front of him. The clothes on his body were torn into strips, but it can be seen that his prototype was a long robe, not the short coat that most people in the village wear, and his hair was loose. , and some were formed into strands and hung on the shoulders, their faces were black, but the teeth that were occasionally exposed during coughing were still white, which was very inconsistent with those numb refugees...

"Zhao Ziyang, is that you?" Da Zhuang asked cautiously.

The person who was coughing suddenly stopped, and wiped his face vigorously with his sleeve, but the dirt that had not been washed for several days was not so easy to wipe off, only the corners of the eyes were flowing out due to some kind of liquid The dirt was wiped out in a strange fan shape because of the dust.

"Okay, it's okay, Zhao Ziyang..." Da Zhuang stepped forward and grabbed Zhao Ziyang's arm and said.

"Da Zhuang..." Zhao Ziyang shouted hoarsely.

"This is not a place to talk, let's go!" Da Zhuang handed the water bottle to the fool and said softly.

After the idiot put the kettle away, he silently stepped forward to take Zhao Ziyang from Da Zhuang, who couldn't even stand still.

Now there are several people who have taken refuge like Da Zhuang and the others on the mountain. They all wisely do not interfere with each other, and when they meet occasionally, they quickly stagger away without saying a word. The cave is close by.

"Zhao Ziyang, let's wash your face here now!" Da Zhuang broke the silence after reaching a small stream, and said softly, Zhao Ziyang secretly wiped his face uncomfortable along the way.

Zhao Ziyang gave a cry of grace, staggered over and squatted down, picked up the cold river water and poured it on his face, shivering from the cold, it took him a long time to feel his face became smooth again, Zhao Ziyang suddenly He stood up, his eyes darkened, and his body fell down involuntarily.

Da Zhuang quickly grabbed Zhao Ziyang, saw Zhao Ziyang's pale cheeks and lips, and asked in a low voice, "Have you not eaten for a few days?"

"I don't know!" Zhao Ziyang shook his head, and answered lightly.

Da Zhuang frowned, and helped Zhao Ziyang to sit in the dry grass.

The idiot took out the steamed buns that he carried with him, and prepared to pass them to Zhao Ziyang.

Da Zhuang snatched it from Zhao Ziyang's subordinates, wrapped two slices of rough steamed buns in oiled paper, held them with both hands, and said to the fool, "Pour some water on top to soften the steamed buns!"

The fool responded, and carefully poured some water on it.

Zhao Ziyang looked at the greased paper in Da Zhuang's hand eagerly, and swallowed another mouthful of saliva.

"Eat slowly, eat some of this first, and let the big girl cook something hot for you when you get back!" Da Zhuang said softly.

Zhao Ziyang nodded quickly, took the greased paper, lowered his head and licked it without caring about his image, the greased paper was almost torn, and the tip of his nose was also stained with batter.

Da Zhuang handed over the handkerchief and didn't speak.

After eating, Zhao Ziyang felt embarrassed and wiped the corners of his mouth with a handkerchief.

"On the nose!" The fool reminded in a muffled voice.

Two red clouds appeared on Zhao Ziyang's face, he turned his body, and secretly wiped the tip of his nose.