Mo Junyang and Shi Qingxue came to Huwenpi.
To their surprise, this small town with the busiest border trade turned into an empty town.
This town is located between two hills, which blocks all the cold wind and dust from the west and north. It is also located on the windward slope, so the rainfall and temperature are much more suitable than in the same area.
In addition, Huwenpi is located at the junction of Moliang and Moliang. The trade exchanges between the two countries are basically carried out in this small town, which has almost become a beautiful scenery in the northwest.
But now, the three of them got off their horses and led the horses into Huwenpi Town. The streets were deserted. There were no vendors setting up stalls on both sides. The surrounding shops were basically closed, making the originally small streets look empty. Loneliness.
Shi Qingxue couldn't help but shudder, feeling a little scared, "Where have these people gone?"
Even if the two countries go to war, they will subconsciously avoid prosperous villages to avoid excessive casualties and cause public resentment. Therefore, when the two countries have fought several times over the years, Huwenpi Town will not be chosen!
"It can't be haunted, right?" Wei Zichao casually gave a guess.
The speaker was unintentional, but the listener was intentional. Shi Qingxue immediately felt a chill on her back. She didn't even care about her horse and rushed to Mo Junyang's side, looking around vigilantly.
He kept comforting himself: "No, it can't be possible! How can there be ghosts in broad daylight?"
The stammering voice did not comfort her at all, and Shi Qingxue was almost frightened to tears.
Girls are more afraid of ghosts, not to mention that the situation in Huwenpi Town is really weird and makes people think a lot.
Mo Junyang glanced at Wei Zichao, who quickly shut up, almost raising his hands to show that he really didn't mean to scare Shi Qingxue.
"Don't be afraid, as long as I'm here, nothing will happen." Although Mo Junyang enjoyed Shi Qingxue's approach, he didn't want his baby to be frightened, so he comforted her softly.
The gentle and low voice has a soothing effect, and Mo Junyang himself is a reassuring presence.
Shi Qingxue was still afraid of ghosts, but she was no longer as frightened as at the beginning. She just held Mo Junyang's little hand and refused to let go.
Mo Junyang was extremely happy and took Shi Qingxue's little hand and continued to walk forward.
The three of them walked to the center of the town, and what appeared in front of them was a three-story inn. However, the door of the inn was closed tightly at this time, and it didn't look like there was anyone at all.
Wei Zichao walked up first and knocked on the door, but no one answered.
After a while, he knocked on the door again. After a long time, a small voice finally came from inside: "Who?"
The sound was almost inaudible, but it was enough to make Shi Qingxue ecstatic.
She quickly said: "We are passers-by here. It's getting late and we want to stay overnight."
There was another period of deathly silence, and then the voice inside whispered: "The shop is closed, customers should find another shop!"
Shi Qingxue finally saw a living person, but she was not willing to let him go like this. She lowered her voice and begged: "You are the only inn within a hundred miles of here. If we miss it again, we will have to sleep on the street. I beg the innkeeper Be a little more accommodating. We are merchants traveling far away, we are not bad people, we will not do any harm to you, and we can still pay three times the housing cost."
"Then you guys wait outside, I'll go back and ask the shopkeeper." This sentence was followed by thumping footsteps. It seemed that the person was going to ask the boss for instructions.
After nearly a quarter of an hour, the door creaked open, and a head poked out from inside.
It was a young man about twenty years old. He first looked at the three people's luggage, and when he was sure that they were indeed harmless, he opened the door, "You guys come in quickly!"
After the three of them entered the house, the young man hurriedly closed the door, as if he was being chased by a ghost outside.
Shi Qingxue was curious, but she also knew that the other party was on guard now and it was not a good time to ask questions, so she only paid three times the rent for two upper rooms.
After seeing the white money, the young man finally showed a happy smile on his face and led them upstairs diligently.
After entering the room, the young man began to introduce himself: "I am the waiter of the inn. You can tell me if you need anything. You three have worked hard all the way. Do you need me to help you?" Hot water to relieve boredom?"
"Thank you, little brother. Please bring us some hot water later." Shi Qingxue rewarded the other party with another ingot of silver.
The waiter immediately smiled brightly and replied in a brisk voice: "No trouble, no trouble, I'll do it right now!"
Shi Qingxue stopped the person first: "Don't be busy, I still have something to ask you."
The waiter in the shop had just collected the reward money and was not at all shy. "I wonder what Madam wants to ask?"
lady-
It was as if Shi Qingxue and Mo Junyang were regarded as a married couple.
Shi Qingxue blushed at the name, but continued to ask: "We are from the south and want to do some small business in the north. We are not familiar with this place. I don't know if this is Huwenpi." ?Are we going the wrong way?"
Without the foreshadowing, the waiter would definitely be wary, but with her eloquent words, she easily convinced the waiter that they were businessmen from afar, and happily replied: "That's right. Our place is Huwenpi Town."
"Then why is this a bit like what I heard before, a bit..." Shi Qingxue frowned slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but was worried about offending the other party and couldn't speak.
The waiter immediately understood what Shi Qingxue meant and answered, "Madam, you want to ask why this place is different from the rumors, right?"
Shi Qingxue pursed her lips and smiled sheepishly, "We heard that Huwenpi was prosperous in commerce before, so we came here all the way, but after entering the town for so long, there was not a single person on the street, and so far we have only seen Second brother, what’s going on?”
The waiter sighed and said helplessly: "Madam, you don't know that our Huwenpi was still a prosperous scene as rumored in the past two or three months, but it was only two or three months that we were invaded by wars one after another, and the people in the town fled. We ran away and hid, no one dared to do business outside, which is why we are in this depressed state now."
"War?" Shi Qingxue looked surprised, refusing to believe the waiter's words, "Are you lying to me? The houses and streets here are all in good condition and have never been damaged.
Furthermore, we didn’t see any soldiers fighting along the way, so why was there a war? "
The waiter was talking enthusiastically, but when asked by Shi Qingxue, he immediately felt challenged and shouted loudly: "Many things are not what they seem. You coming from the south may not be aware, but there were indeed two incidents not long ago. An army started fighting here.
A lot of people died at that time, which scared us people so much that many young people fled the town at that time and never came back. The fighting gradually subsided until one of the parties was defeated and surrendered. "
When Shi Qingxue heard this, her expression tensed up and she almost couldn't sit still, but Mo Junyang raised his hand and put it on the back of her hand, suppressing her restless emotions.
The waiter in the shop didn't notice this little action between the two at all, and he started to talk about the war vividly, as if he had witnessed it with his own eyes and even participated in it.
Mo Junyang asked calmly: "Who are the two parties fighting?"
A question made the waiter faint.
The waiter opened his mouth for a long time, but he really couldn't answer, so he said angrily: "This young man didn't see their general with his own eyes, so how can he know who it is! There are gods fighting on both sides, but we ordinary people are the ones who suffer. But now it's okay Well, the war is over and things have calmed down. We just have to wait for the rain to pass and the sky to clear up, and our place can resume its former prosperity.
Since the three of them want to do business in a small town, they might as well wait a few more days. When the season improves, the business will naturally pick up. "
"Thank you, second brother, for telling us these things, otherwise we would be really blind and not know anything!" Shi Qingxue suppressed the messy emotions in her heart and thanked her softly.
The waiter hurriedly said there was no need to be polite. When he turned to leave, he suddenly remembered something and turned around again, looking at them seriously, "There is one more small matter that I need to inform the three guests in advance."
"you say."
"It's like this. Our town is definitely safe, but we must not go to the valley to the north."
Shi Qingxue's heart tightened and she asked: "Why?"
The waiter's mouth suddenly tightened. When Shi Qingxue asked him several times, he didn't say anything. He just said: "Anyway, you must not go there, otherwise your life will be in danger. Other kids don't dare to talk nonsense..."
The three guests, please have a good rest. I'll get you some hot water right now. "
After saying that, he ran away in a hurry, unable to stop him.
The waiter in the shop said so much, not only failed to clear up Shi Qingxue's doubts, but instead made her doubts grow bigger, and the uneasiness in her heart brewed like a storm.
"Jun Yang, who are the armies of both sides he mentioned just now? Could it be dad and the others?" Shi Qingxue was almost certain of this guess.
Shi Junhe led the Shi family army to chase the rebels to Huwenpi Town. The two sides started fighting in the town, but they arrived too late and did not see the battle situation and the follow-up.
But there is one thing Qingxue can be sure of.
"Daddy will never surrender!"
The Shi family army would rather die in battle with honor than surrender in humiliation!
"The waiter in this shop must be lying, it must be..."
Shi Qingxue murmured in a low voice, but this did not reassure her. Instead, she became more and more anxious because she wanted to know Shi Junhe's current situation.
"What should we do? What should we do? Something must have happened to dad, something must have happened. What should we do..."
Mo Junyang gently put his hand on her lips, which seemed to block away the uneasiness in her heart.
The man smiled slightly and said softly: "Don't be afraid. I will take you outside tomorrow to have a look. I will definitely be able to find General Shi."
These words were like a basin of warm water pouring into Shi Qingxue's heart, making her gradually calm down.
"good."