Human dimension reduction

The forest at night is like a man-eating devil's den, where all kinds of beasts haunt, Xie Zhuo couldn't go too far with the seriously injured Ah Gou, so he simply found a relatively secluded place and stopped. There was a sound of water splashing all night, Ah Gou was so hurt by his leg that he couldn't sleep, he leaned against the root of the tree to pant, Xie Zhuo took off his outer robe and tore it into cloth strips to bind him to cover up the strong smell of blood.

The two of them struggled until dawn with their eyes open, taking advantage of the thin mist to walk towards the direction where the cooking smoke came out with difficulty.

This choice is very dangerous, but if Ah Gou's injury is not dealt with, it is very likely that he will die on the road before he can get out of the mountain. What's more, they are completely unfamiliar with this place, and it will be even more fatal if they get lost in the mountain.

Turning around a mountain depression, there is a small village in front of you. It is said that it is a village, but it is actually just a few dilapidated thatched huts. There are a few big dustpans under the eaves, and many dark-colored dried vegetables are spread on it.

When they walked over, a few white-haired and hunchbacked old women walked out of the chaimen. They stood by the door, watching these two bloody and weird people hurrying about, keeping a close distance. Standing there, there was no expression on his wrinkled face, like a dry and slender cold iron standing there, without any trace of curiosity about these two strange outsiders.

This strange wait-and-see attitude made Ah Gou feel an inexplicable fear from the bottom of his heart, as if a slender and cold hand stretched out from the ground, quietly clasped his ankle, and caressed him along his back. heart.

Under the indifferent eyes of these old people, Ah Gou felt that the injury on his leg didn't hurt that much anymore, and he just wanted to get out of here as soon as possible—no matter where he went.

But the strange psychological feeling must not be accepted by Xie Zhuo. Mr. Sanlang helped Agou and walked over, chose an old lady who was closest to them, and asked, "Old lady, I'm well, I'm here with my servant." At the same place, I met a strong man, and fled into the mountains in panic, looking for a man who knows the way to lead us out, I wonder if the old man is at home?"

The old woman stared at Xie Zhuo for a while, as if she didn't understand what he said, she just stared at Xie Zhuo silently, her eyelids drooped, and the deep wrinkles on her face were full of indifference.

Xie Zhuo didn't seem to be aware of the other party's resistance, so he asked again without being discouraged, this time raising his voice a little bit, his amiable attitude was not at all like that of a child from a wealthy family.

Hearing his second questioning, the old woman finally moved her eyelids, her dry mouth twitched, and she threw out two hard words: "Dead."

Xie Zhuo blinked, thought for a while, and suddenly realized that this might be the "Widow Village" that Zhao Wuque had mentioned to him. During the six-year war, Dingzhou on the border was in a hurry, and all Cheng Ding was dragged into the battlefield , Later, due to the serious loss of soldiers, the standards for conscription were continuously relaxed, and it even reached the point where "everyone who can hold a sword and axe is included in the book of war", ranging from eighty-year-olds to eight-year-old children. Inside.

In many villages, there were no males overnight. Some of them hid in the mountains to avoid conscription, while others were forcibly taken away.

In these villages, there are only old women and babies and children who are really unusable—even the women are conscripted into the army, "doing laundry, sewing, cooking and cooking."

In some villages, the entire village was emptied, leaving orphans and widows to wait on them. Such villages are called "widow villages". When Zhao Wuque took Xie Zhuo out for a walk, he pointed out a village to him. It is said that it is the widow's village closest to Dingzhou City, and all the men in the village stay in the "filling the corpse line", and the Dingzhou Army will pay them every year. There is no such part in Dingzhou's salary, so the salary is all military money that he secretly learned to make privately.

"True and false, mixed together, no one can tell if it's not a treasury official for many years." Zhao Wuque was quite proud when he mentioned this matter.

Swiping Zhao Wuque's face out of his mind, Xie Zhuo realized that he and Ah Gou might indeed have come to a "widow village".

The old woman looked at them for a while, then took two steps back, opened the gate barred by the fence, turned around and walked slowly towards the house, raised the rag covering the door frame, and greatly revealed the scene inside .

Xie Zhuo understood, helped Agou into the room with one foot deep and one foot shallow, and sat on the threshold sensibly, without stepping into the room rashly.

The old woman was also probably very satisfied with his understanding, and when she came out, she still had a bowl of clear water in her hand, and handed it to Ah Gou without saying a word.

When Ah Gou drank the water, she just stared at him blankly, looking as if his mind was wandering.

Xie Zhuo tentatively asked for some clean clothes, the old woman looked at him, and went back to get them, but when she came out, Xie Zhuo was a bit dumbfounded——

He originally meant to borrow two pieces of farm clothes, loosen his hair, and dress up like an ordinary person, but the old woman only had one piece of clothing in her hand, and the direction she stretched out her hand was obviously facing Ah Gou.

Xie Zhuo who was deliberately ignored: ...

Ah Gou's face turned red, and he had never experienced such a scene of being favored over the master's family. He was a little at a loss for a while, and subconsciously turned his eyes to San Lang for help.

Xie Zhuo motioned for him to accept, and calmly thanked the old woman on his behalf, but the old woman ignored him and went back to the house on her own, as if she didn't care at all what these two unknown strangers were doing here.

The other old people who had been standing there quietly watching this side retreated back to their houses silently at some point, closed the firewood door again and put down the curtains. The sky was bright and bright, creating a deadly atmosphere with only thin smoke from the kitchen. Floating on the roofs of a few houses, it proves that this is not a dead village.

The difference between the old woman's treatment of Mr. Sanlang and himself made Agou feel uneasy like never before. He felt uncomfortable all over his body as if he had a thorn in his buttocks, and his injured leg was gradually swollen due to excessive blood loss. It lost its color, like a dead man's pale green leg, and Ah Gou couldn't help but want to touch it but dared not.

Xie Zhuo looked around, half-dragged and half-carried A-Gou to the thatched pile behind the house, placed him on it, and patted him on the shoulder: "Take a rest at ease, I'll ask how to get out of the mountain."

Agou didn't know what San Langjun said to the old woman, and when he came back after a quarter of an hour, the old woman seemed to be responsive to him.

Xie Zhuo tied up his hair with green cloth strips, dabbed some coal ash to darken his complexion, held a large bowl of brown rice porridge and miscellaneous grain noodles in his hand, shared them with A-Gou, and then fell down on the bed. They fell asleep on the straw pile, seemingly not worried about the pursuers chasing after them.

Seeing how calm he was, Ah Gou's anxious mood gradually calmed down, and he fell asleep involuntarily.

When he woke up again, it was already dusk. After Xie Zhuo pushed him awake, he turned his head and said softly, "How long will it take?"

"It's not when they have to. No one would walk the mountain road in the dark. There are people who have seen Xiong Blind in the mountains. If they go out at this time, they are looking for death—" Ah Gou noticed that the old woman was actually standing behind Xie Zhuo.

In a daze, he saw Mr. Sanlang turned his head slightly, as if looking at the old woman, the old female voice stopped for a moment, and then turned abruptly: "... just need to spend more effort, don't stop You can definitely go out if you walk all night."

Mr. Sanlang smiled: "Thank you, old lady, please work harder and lead the way ahead. My servant's injury can't wait for a long time. I want to go to the town before tomorrow afternoon and find a good doctor to treat him."

The old woman stopped talking for a while, and didn't mind his commanding tone. She went to the back of the house and took out a basket, took out a sickle, took out a long and thick torch and wrapped it around the stick again. cloth head, walked to the front.

Although the old woman is old and rickety, her legs and feet are really strong and strong. Walking on the complicated mountain road, there is a feeling of walking like flying. The sickle in her hand quickly cuts the weeds and opens a path that can accommodate people. A weak walk does not know how much faster.

Enduring the pain in his legs, A-Gou followed a certain distance with sweat on his face, and couldn't help but ask, "What did Lang Jun say to her? Why did she..."

Xie Zhuo smiled: "I just told her the purpose of this trip."

Ah Gou hesitated for a moment, and asked tentatively, "...historical?"

Xie Zhuo could not help but smile, the corners of his mouth quickly turned up and down, his eyelashes covered most of his eyes, blurring his expression, and he denied it after a long while: "No, he is going to report on Zhao Wuque of the Dingzhou Army for secretly making military money to fill his own pocket."

Ah Hook was stunned for a moment.

He didn't know where Sanlang-jun went when he disappeared, but he was there all the time when Sanlang-jun first entered the Dingzhou military camp as a book. Watching Mr. Sanlang record them word by word, he was completely devoted to the history compilation. Why did he suddenly become...going to report the general of the Dingzhou Army?

In fact, he didn't even know why Xie Zhuo had to flee in such a hurry, but followed him out with inexplicable trust.

According to the laws of the Great Xia, exile officials who leave the place of exile without edict is a crime of beheading and death, which affects three generations and is equal to an accomplice.

Xie Zhuo ran quickly, and A-Gou followed decisively, neither of them took this threat to heart.

With a stomach full of questions, Ah Gou silently closed his mouth and stopped asking.

Even...even if he wants to return to Beijing, and want to be a child of his prosperous and wealthy family, then there is nothing to be harsh about.

A hook thought of the way San Lang Jun took the dirty pen that was abandoned by others on the way, wiped it on his clothes with care and smiled at him, and suddenly felt that it was nothing.

It is really difficult to walk the mountain road at night. The only advantage is that the pursuers will never continue to follow at this dangerous time, and they have skilled mountain people to lead the way, and they actually came out of the mountain to a small town in the early morning of the next day.

When the three of them stood by the mountain road and looked at the town, the old woman suddenly turned her head, her eyes with drooping eyelids widened: "Do you remember what you promised me?"

Xie Zhuo looked at her calmly, and replied calmly: "Remember, I want Zhao Wuque to pay for his life."

The old woman laughed contentedly and happily, and lava flames like hot fire radiated from her old and stiff eyes: "Then I will wait to see him go to hell."

Xie Zhuo looked at this old man who was burned by hatred and was restless in his old age with complicated eyes, and sighed softly: "You will see, he has lived in hell for many years."

The old woman whispered resentfully: "That's what he deserves!"

She dropped this sentence, then turned around and went back along the way she came from. Ah Gou was confused by their conversation, wanted to ask but didn't know where to start, and was brought into the town with doubts.

The road from Dingzhou to the south is many mountains and passes. This small town is one of the only roads from Dingzhou to the capital. Xie Zhuo placed Agou in an abandoned Town God's Temple and went out to find a doctor for him.

The pursuers were misled to the other side of the forest by the traces he left behind, but as long as they searched carefully, they would quickly realize that this was a trap, so the town was not so safe. Fittingly, he walked around the town unhurriedly, and an idea came to his mind.