Mo Dongyang

Xinxiang, above the low gate of the city, is engraved with a line of characters.

It's a pity that the name doesn't match the reality. The small county in front of me is not new at all. The city wall has been in disrepair for a long time. There are many ruins, patches, and loopholes, all of which are traces of war.

Xinxiang County is located in the middle of the country. Although the county seat is small, it can be regarded as one of the transportation fortresses leading to the south.Qi Xin said that when she went north, she followed Zhang's team to sell medicinal materials in the county town. At that time, the county town was lined with inns, restaurants, pawnshops, and there were also many escort agencies and post stations. From south to north, there is a caravan from south to north. There is an endless stream of tourists passing by here from Huihui. The trade is considered to be developed. Small businessmen and peddlers in the city who are a little bit smart have also made a lot of money because of the superior location of the small town.

But now, I can't find the bustling and prosperous small county that Qi Xin once described.Under the dilapidated city tower, the city gate is wide open, there are no soldiers guarding and interrogating, no pedestrians come and go, even footprints are hard to find on the bright snow, what can be seen are broken cars half buried in the snow, bamboo baskets, bright red lantern.The few notice papers posted on the city wall have long faded from red to white after the baptism of rain, snow and wind. Most of the thin papers are torn or incomplete. Fluttering in the air, rattling and rattling, the fuzzy and distorted faces of the wanted criminals on the paper can be vaguely discerned.

If I hadn't seen three or two county citizens flashing past inside the half-arched city gate, I would have thought this place had been reduced to an empty city.

Qi Xin and I looked at each other, hesitated for a long time, and finally chose to go to the city.The dry food in the package is running low, and the money bag is also dry. We need to take the gold and silver jewelry in the bag to the pawn shop to exchange some cash.

I finally found the only open street steamed bun shop in the city. The only customer was me. The simple low tables and benches were covered with a thin layer of dust without exception. A little blowing caused a puff of smoke. , Caught off guard, I kept coughing because I inhaled a lot of ash.

"Hey, let me say that this lady is not an ordinary person at first glance, look, how the dust is so dusty!"

My embarrassment must have been bumped into by the stall owner. The middle-aged man deftly picked up the wet rag in front of the stall and quickly wiped the table clean.

"I'm sorry, the customers always leave after buying. The table is not used often, so it is never cleaned. Madam also fled to the south?"

"Well, I went to relatives."

I took the two bowls of bean curd and two baskets of steamed buns from him, and added, "Please pack another thirty steamed buns, thank you."

"Good! People in the county have all gone south, and they are all fleeing. It's hard to do business. It's rare to meet such a generous guest as Madam. Is Madam with your husband?"

The stall owner quickly put the steamed buns in the steamer into oiled paper bags with a smile on his face.

"No, with my sister."

As soon as I looked up, I just saw Qi Xin coming out of the pawnshop opposite, so I waved my hand.

"Qi Xin, here it is!" I yelled at her.

The stall owner followed my voice and looked at Qi Xin. Not only did he frown, but the wrinkles on his face gathered like ravines on a plateau.

"Hey, the two women came to escape, isn't this a joke!"

"My husband died in battle, and I was forced to do nothing."

The words were a bit unpleasant, but it happened to be heard by Qi Xin, who just sat down and wanted to turn around and refute with displeasure, but I stopped her, I shook my head at her, and then said with a smile.

"It's really not easy! There are a lot of troubles along the way. Hey, we are also degraded people. Our family will add more steamed buns for you. Hey, it's not easy. The most important thing is to have enough food on the way!"

The stall owner sighed heavily, and added more buns to the oil paper bag, and found a wrapping cloth from the stall, and carefully wrapped the bulging oil paper bag.

"Thank you, Master!"

Qi Xin's mouth was full of steamed buns, and before she could swallow, she stood up with her swollen cheeks pouting and took the package from the stall owner. She was full of joy, excitement and surprise, and the words in her mouth were not clear. .

"Master is leaving home too?"

Qi Xin's foolish appearance made me smile, and I couldn't help reaching out and holding her right hand secretly.

"Yeah, after finishing today, the business will not be done. I have to go back and clean up with my wife and children. We are going to leave. If we don't leave, we will die! Everyone in the city has left. Look at this city. The place is empty and impersonal, if you go to the city later, you may not even be able to find food!"

The stall owner sighed and forgot what he was doing in his lament.

"What happened in the city? I remember it was very prosperous in the past. How did it become like this now?"

Qi Xin gulped down the bean curd in the bowl, wiped the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand in a satisfied face, then suddenly remembered something, turned and asked the stall owner.

"It's not the gang of Tartars in the north. The people from the county government have long abandoned the city and defected to the newly rebuilt court in the south. Isn't this nonsense! There have also been several uprisings in the city against the bandits outside, but what enemy? I can beat those bandits, after a few battles, no, this city has long been the territory of those bandits, how can the new villagers stand them, before the bandits have really infiltrated, anyone who can run away gone."

"Then why didn't the master go south as soon as possible?"

I'm a little puzzled, since the situation is at this point, why didn't he make a plan earlier, let alone he has a wife and children.

"In this time of war and chaos, as long as the Tatars are still in the north, it doesn't matter where they go, but now it's different. The Tartars are going to go south to destroy the rebuilt country, and they will definitely pass through here. The bandits are also going back to the county to defend the city. , when the two sides fight, we will only have to die, not to mention the bandits can't beat the Tartars, and everyone in the city will definitely be buried alive. Have you heard of the Tartars massacring the city? It's terrible Already!"

The stall owner looked at the north and complained endlessly. However, the north was still calm, the distant city gate was wide open, and the north wind came and went, blowing misty snow and fog into the city gate from time to time, while the bleak streets were still untouched. See pedestrians passing by.

"Qi Xin..."

I looked at her worriedly, holding her hand even tighter.

The words "Tucheng" dazzled her, and the silence and desolation in the north made her silent, but soon she came back to her senses, smiled at me, and opened her mouth to speak.

"Master, check out."

After putting the copper plate on the table, she picked up her bag and took my hand to go south.

"Girl!"

The stall owner yelled at us.

"The desolate temple outside the south city, there are a group of villagers who are going south today, follow them, the two women are unarmed, at least there are people who can help there!"

"Thank you master!"

Thank you, Qi Xin turned her head and dragged me away in a hurry.

Another basket of steamed buns was finished, and puffs of warm and empty steam emerged from the steamer on the steamed bun stand on the corner of the street, rose slowly, and disappeared before reaching mid-air. The small town was still lonely in the early morning.

Xinxiang is not very big, and the deserted temple outside Nancheng was found without much effort, and it finally became popular there. A group of people gathered in front of the abandoned earth temple, men, women and children, chatting and watering Putting out a fire, or carrying luggage, it looks like it's ready to go.Qi Xin ran forward, struck up a conversation with a few old women who were chatting, and soon found the person in charge here, a middle-aged man squatting on the three steps in front of the temple, with his thin body arched, Under the half-closed eyes are two messy beards, and there is a weed grass that doesn't know where it came from loosely in his mouth.Qi Xin was bent over and didn't know what he was talking to the manager. I watched from a distance and couldn't help frowning. He looked up and down at Qi Xin for a long time, then squinted his eyes and looked at me. Finally, looking around at the crowd in front of him, he rudely spit a mouthful of phlegm at his feet.

"What did he say?"

Not far away, the men who stopped working, the women who stopped chatting, and the children who hid in the corners of the ruins, their silent and guarded eyes made me uneasy.I took Qi Xin's hand who was walking towards me and asked.

"They don't seem to welcome us."

"Then let's go."

"No, the master agreed to let us be with them."

"But they..."

"It's okay, maybe because we are foreigners, we'll be fine after a long time, let's go."

Before noon, the team going south joined several townspeople from Xinxiang, entrusting their wives and children, but more of them were bags on their shoulders, hands, and backs, bags of bloated and heavy luggage, That was all the belongings they had accumulated over the years, and there might be more, but because of the war, they had to give up most of them to reduce the burden when they fled.But I know that the items that they think are the most valuable hidden in the bulging package may not be worth the little silver hairpin in the luggage behind me. The world is so cruel, extreme, and ironic. I found out that the dispensable and non-essential things that I can get easily in the palace are out of reach for most people, and they may never get them in their entire lives.And now I, like them, have to rely on these things to survive.Compared with them, except for the heavy cotton-padded clothes, Qi Xin and I have so thin luggage, just two luggage on our backs, not too big and not heavy, which makes me and Qi Xin It looks even more out of place in the crowd.

At noon, the sun was shining on the head of the pole, and the person in charge who was squatting on the steps finally stood up. He lazily kicked his numb legs and cursed in a low voice.But his eyes kept turning to the endless official road in the north, where there was no one there except for the dirty snow and water that had been melted away by the trampling of livestock and people.

"set off!"

The master spit out the withered grass roots that had been chewed to only half a bar and another mouthful of phlegm, cleared his throat, and shouted at the crowd with a sharp and piercing voice.

The people who had been waiting in front of the deserted temple for a long time picked up their luggage and followed the convoy slowly towards the south after a burst of commotion.

Qi Xin took my warm hand and smiled innocently, trying to eliminate the worry and uneasiness on my face at the moment.

"It's okay, let's go."

"Well, it's alright."