Zhang Lingzhi shook his head: "No, I am a man, I have to protect you."
Liu Qiaoer looked at him as if he were an idiot: "I have guards, take care of yourself, in case I get hurt and need you to heal me."
After hearing what Liu Qiaoer said, Zhang Lingzhi finally accepted it.
The group of robbers were crazy. They not only wanted food and medicine, but also wanted to kill people. Those who followed them to deliver relief food and money were hacked indiscriminately by them, and they all ran away.
Liu Qiaoer couldn't stay any longer, so she took Zhang Lingzhi and ran to the northwest.
Zhang Lingzhi was a little confused: "Didn't you say you were going to the post station? Why are you still moving forward?"
Liu Qiaoer rolled her eyes speechlessly: "I mean if we separated, you ran to the post station, but we didn't separate, we went northwest, they wouldn't expect us to run forward."
"There is a village ahead. Let's hide there for two days and find out the situation before returning to the capital."
Zhang Lingzhi nodded quickly and ran away following Liu Qiaoer.
"It seems that the capital has underestimated the refugees. They have become robbers. We should send troops instead of directly sending food and money for disaster relief. Isn't this just sending them food?"
While the group of robbers were robbing, Liu Qiaoer took a close look at them.
"How do you know that these refugees are not the King's men..."
Zhang Lingzhi was shocked: "Could it be that Prince Xiang wants to rebel?"
Liu Qiaoer shook her head: "I don't know, the capital hasn't received any news either. Anyway, the situation is not good. Whose robbers are wearing official boots?"
Zhang Ling's heart sank: "Further west is Jiujiang. I heard that the area is sparsely populated, with vast land and fertile grasslands. It has a lot of space for both raising horses and soldiers. If the King of Xiang takes advantage of the chaos and establishes independence in Jiujiang..."
I dare not think about the consequences.
Liu Qiaoer thought about the geographical location of Jiujiang and smacked her lips. "It's not impossible. Let's go hide in the village. It's better to report to the capital as soon as possible. I don't know if there are still people alive."
Zhang Lingzhi followed Liu Qiaoer in the forest, wandering around here and there. Strangely enough, Liu Qiaoer seemed to have been there before and was not lost at all.
The two of them walked from dawn to dusk, found a big tree to rest for two hours, and walked from dusk to dawn again, and finally found a small one at noon.
Looking down from the forest, there are only a few dozen families living in the small village. At noon, smoke is rising from every household.
The gurgling stream flows from the mountain to the foot of the mountain, winding around the small village like a jade belt. Children are playing in the village, and occasionally dogs barking and chickens crowing can be heard.
Liu Qiaoer looked at the red dot in the space, and then looked at the village in front of her. It seemed like a paradise. Could it be that Cui Boxiao was really here
Never mind, let’s go in and find out first.
Turning her head to look at Zhang Lingzhi, she was already extremely tired. Liu Qiaoer advised him: "Just bear with it a little longer, we'll be there soon."
It’s not that Liu Qiaoer was unwilling to take food from the space for him to eat, it’s just that the more miserable a person is, the more sympathetic he will be.
The two men went down the mountain, crossed a single-plank bridge, and came to the village.
A baby of three or four years old, wearing a small cotton jacket and with two small pigtails, it was hard to tell whether it was a boy or a girl at first glance.
"Hey, kid, where is the end of the village?"
Zhang Lingzhi wanted to find the head of the village first to ask for some food, and then find the local county government office through the head of the village. Although he didn't know where this place was, he was an official and would definitely ask the officials for help.
The little kid was frightened when he saw them, and turned around and ran home.
Just as Zhang Lingzhi was about to chase, a big yellow dog came running towards him.
Liu Qiaoer shouted "Be careful" and pulled Zhang Lingzhi away. The big yellow dog saw that it missed the attack and barked at them, attracting people from the village to come out.
A middle-aged man in his forties came out of the yard holding the baby and looked at Liu Qiaoer and the others: "Who are you and where are you from?"
Zhang Lingzhi had just been frightened by a dog, and his legs were a little weak. Liu Qiaoer was a woman who was easier to deal with, so she saluted the middle-aged man and said, "We came from the capital. We were robbed on the way and lost everything. We want to ask for food."
Seeing that their clothes were made of good fabrics but were already tattered, and both of them looked in a miserable state, the middle-aged man led them to the yard.
"From the capital... it's so far away."
Zhang Lingzhi drank a bowl of hot water before taking a breath: "Yes, we have been walking for more than half a month. Originally, we were going to provide relief..."
Liu Qiaoer touched him and changed her words: "Looking for relatives. We are from the capital and we learned that our relatives here are in trouble. We wanted to take them to the capital, but we didn't expect that we were robbed on the way. The carriage and the baggage were gone. Only a little change was left. We don't know how to get them back."
The yard is clean and tidy, and you can tell that the owner is a hardworking person.
The man is the head of the family, his name is Ada. He has a son, a daughter-in-law, and this little grandson. They are a happy family of four.
It was snowing heavily and very cold here, so the man led them both into the main house and sat them on the kang.
The son brought over two bowls of noodle soup. Zhang Lingzhi started to eat without caring about his image. Liu Qiaoer was also hungry, so she also started to eat with big mouthfuls.
Ada took out his pipe and took a puff: "Our village is two mountains away from the county town. How did you find it?"
Liu Qiaoer said: "We got lost in the forest and found this place."
Ada nodded, took a drag on his cigarette, dipped his finger in the water in the cup, and drew a map on the table.
"It will take three days to get to the county town from the west side of the mountain, then east and south. You can rest here for one night. I will prepare some dry food for you and you can go on."
As expected, the villagers are kind. Zhang Lingzhi nodded repeatedly: "Thank you, uncle. Thank you, uncle."
Liu Qiaoer took out all the silver she had on her body, leaving only one piece and gave the rest to him: "Thank you, uncle. We don't have much silver left. When we find our relatives, we will definitely ask them to send more silver."
Ada shook his head very kindly and returned the money to her: "No, no, it's just a piece of cake."
Liu Qiaoer reluctantly put the silver away, but still left one or two taels of silver.
They stayed there that night. Ada was kind and gave his kang to Liu Qiaoer and Zhang Lingzhi, and went to stay with his neighbors.
While Zhang Lingzhi was asleep, Liu Qiaoer entered the space and found that the red dot was still flashing. She zoomed in on the map and found that the destination was still some distance away from the small village.
But the distance is a bit short, and it seems to be on the way to the county town.
Liu Qiaoer wondered, could there be a small village on the road
Early the next morning, Ada's family prepared pancakes and water for them and sent Liu Qiaoer away from the village.
Liu Qiaoer followed Ada's instructions and walked into the mountains, going around to the west, and then to the east...
As she was walking, suddenly, Liu Qiaoer felt an alarm in the space. She hurried in to check. Good news, the red dot was getting closer and closer to her.
At this moment, Liu Qiaoer suddenly heard a baby crying.
Zhang Lingzhi had sharp ears and was stunned when he heard the crying: "Is there a child crying again?"
The two followed the sound and found a newborn baby in a snowdrift.
Liu Qiaoer was stunned at the time. Could this baby be Cui Boxiao? Was he born from a different body or was he born from a different soul