freenovelworld Chapter 1166 - 1148: The World Has Changed
Chapter 1166 - 1148: The World Has Changed
Fu Yong led fifteen people, carrying sixteen pairs of baskets, and stumbled through the mountains for two days before emerging from the dense forest. Along the way, they heard wolves howling and tigers roaring, feeling terrified, but fortunately, they were safe.
As soon as they exited the mountains, they felt the sun’s intense heat.
Ah, even the sky outside seemed higher than in the mountains, and the sun was much more blazing. The young people felt a whiff of freedom in the air.
But they still remembered how they had to hide in the mountains before, so they didn’t remain complacent for long, keeping their eyes wide open, fearing a group of displaced people might appear from somewhere.
However, everywhere they looked, it was desolate, with not a single person in sight, not even any corpses on the road.
Fu Yong found it peculiar, "It’s one thing for there to be no people, but how come there aren’t any corpses either?"
Fu Hong, shivering from a thought that crossed his mind, said, "No, could it be that they’ve become so savage that even the corpses have been eaten?"
The young people’s faces turned pale immediately, and Fu Yong slapped him on the head, "What nonsense are you spouting? How could there be such brutal people in this world?"
Everyone still felt uneasy.
Fu Yong said, "Even if that happened, there’d still be bones left. Could they gnaw even the bones away?"
He stood by the roadside, carefully observing, saying, "There isn’t a single bone on this road. They probably weren’t eaten but rather buried."
The young people heaved a sigh of relief and asked, "Who would go to the effort of collecting corpses from the road with so many bodies?"
During their escape, they often saw corpses scattered along the road, and after the escape, there would only be more left behind.
Looking at the main road, Fu Yong felt his heart surge, "Who knows, maybe it was the imperial court, or perhaps a nearby large Wu Castle, or it could be some chivalrous hero."
The young people immediately dismissed the court option and started discussing, "If it’s a Wu Castle, could it be the Li Family? The Li Family are the gentry here and have a Wu Castle."
"How could that small Wu Castle fend off the Xiongnu? When we were fleeing, didn’t many people from the Li Family’s Wu Castle also escape with us?"
Fu Yong picked up the bamboo basket again, saying, "Stop guessing. We’ll know once we take a look."
Everyone quickly followed, picking up their loads and catching up.
But after exiting the mountains, everyone seemed to have endless questions, "Brother Fu, how do you know to go this way? Have you been here before?"
"Never been here, but we escaped from another way, and the nearest county is at least two days away." Two days seemed too long, so Fu Yong planned to go in a different direction, hoping perhaps a closer county would be in this direction.
"What if the county this way is even further?"
Fu Yong replied, "If fate has it, it indicates we’re destined for the county this way, accept it calmly."
"Sigh, the outside is so desolate. These grasses grow so well; the soil must be very fertile. It’d be great if we could plant crops."
"Pasturing wouldn’t be bad either; these grasses look delicious."
Fu Hong and a few others were shocked, staring at Guan Er.
Scared, Guan Er retracted his neck and said, "Why are you looking at me like that? My family was once prosperous; we had two cows. I often went to herd them, and I see grasses here they’d love to eat."
Everyone turned their gaze away but couldn’t help glancing at the grasslands on the other side of the road; indeed, the grass looked lush and edible.
As he was thinking this, Fu Hong blinked, thinking he was seeing things. After rubbing his eyes and looking again, he found many cows and sheep on the far side of the grassland.
He was startled, "Look, isn’t that cattle and sheep?"
Everyone looked and indeed saw, and the herd of cattle and sheep was slowly approaching them. They vaguely saw a person on one of the cow’s backs.
Fu Yong was taken aback and immediately shouted, "Run quickly!"
Everyone immediately picked up their loads and started running, praying internally that the others wouldn’t spot them, wouldn’t notice them...
After running for about a quarter of an hour and getting far away, they were exhausted, couldn’t help but sit down on the ground. Fu Hong gestured weakly at Fu Yong, indicating that he couldn’t run anymore.
Fu Yong was also exhausted. He turned around to look, and the cattle and sheep were nowhere to be seen, likely evaded, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
But a doubt lingered in his heart, "Could there really be a large Wu Castle around here? Or has this place been occupied by the Xiongnu; otherwise, who would dare to graze cattle and sheep here?"
Everyone’s hearts sank as they heard this, and Fu Hong cried, "Brother, if this place is occupied by the Xiongnu, how can we make it back to the mountains alive?"
They didn’t want to think about the Wu Castle anymore; before they hid in the mountains, they saw the Xiongnu army’s fierce advance. How could any Wu Castle remain unscathed?
Fu Yong bit his teeth and said, "Since it’s rare for us to venture out, we can’t return empty-handed. We need to inquire about news, whether the country still stands, whether Grandfather is still alive. I cannot rest my heart unless these are clarified."
Everyone felt the same, so bearing the fatigue, they got up and continued, carrying their loads down the official road.
Gradually, the sides of the road didn’t remain as wild, grassy lands but were cultivated fields.
Near water were paddy fields; absent water were dry lands. The official road became smoother, and unexpectedly, there were ditches built on either side, with water flowing through them. The sixteen member team took the opportunity of no one around to drink a few sips from the ditch, curiously observing the fields below.
The rice in the fields was growing well, the ears drooping, the leaves already somewhat yellowed. In about ten days, this stretch of rice could be ready for harvest.
The crops outside the mountains ripened faster than those within the mountains.
Guan Er couldn’t help but reach out to touch a rice ear and exclaimed, "Brother Fu, it’s real. My god, who dared to plant rice here without fearing theft? Were the Xiongnu growing it? Aren’t there random soldiers to harvest it?"
Fu Hong also squatted down, "Right now, the rice isn’t ripe, but in a few days, when the leaves turn yellower, someone will surely come to steal it even if it’s not fully ripe. Why isn’t there a farmer keeping watch?"
But Fu Yong noticed that the rice he was squatting and watching seemed longer and had more grains than what they grew in the mountains. He looked at the entire field and found the rice was growing exceptionally well, about two fingers taller than their mountain crops, arranged neatly, row by row, quite pleasing to the eyes.
He gazed afar, noticing that from this point onwards, along the ditches were all paddy fields, filled with rice with no farmers in sight, yet there was a serene feel, offering solace.
Fu Yong’s breathing quickened, and he immediately picked up his load, "Ahead must be either a large village, a town, or a county, let’s hurry."
They hastened, passing two small paths along the way. They peered down the small paths to catch a glimpse of village houses.
They didn’t venture near but chose to keep moving forward, eventually seeing city walls.
Fu Yong glanced around, noticing a small hill on the right ahead. The hill was dotted with trees, and with one glance, it was evident that the hill split the road outside the city into two, leading to different places, with likely a pavilion where farewells were made there.
Mountains offered refuge, and pavilions had travelers from whom to gather news, so Fu Yong led them up to the hill.