EBE Chapter 282 Martial Law
Chapter 282 Martial Law
"Every autumn, the villagers go up the mountain together to pick chestnuts. There are many chestnut trees around, but none of them are that big. We can pick a lot every autumn and sell them for a hundred coins. But the mountain road is hard to walk on, long, and full of worms, so many children don't want to go. Every year, our family goes more often and picks the most."
Zhou Guo listened with great interest. He suddenly remembered that there were two walnut trees in the mountain. He said happily, "Let me tell you, where we live now is the area where I dug ginseng. I found two big walnut trees with a lot of fruits. If we act quickly, we can get at least five or six sacks of green fruits. If we peel the shells and dry them, we can get two sacks, right?"
When Zhou Dacang heard this, he stood up and said with wide eyes, "Why didn't you tell me before? We came out, and when we came back, the house was completely emptied by the little animals. Did you tell anyone at home?"
Zhou Guo shook his head, "No."
Zhou Da Cang's eyebrows raised, and Zhou Guo said quickly: "I didn't mean to, I forgot. I was thinking before that I would take you up the mountain to give you a surprise when the time comes. I was in a hurry when I came out and forgot to tell you. It's only now that I remembered. It's okay. If it doesn't work this year, there's still next year. The tree is growing there and it won't run away."
Zhou Dacang said unhappily, "This is really a surprise. There are so many fruits, but it's a pity that we can't collect any of them. If we could collect some, they would be a good food in winter and we could sell them for money. Walnuts are more expensive than chestnuts."
What a pity.
Zhou Guo smiled and pointed towards the dark forest. "Look at this mountain. It's so big. Maybe there are chestnuts and walnuts in it. Why don't you go look for them tomorrow? Maybe you can make up for it."
Zhou Dacang said, "I'm not crazy. I'm running all over the mountain just for a few walnuts that I don't know where they are. How long will it take to find them?"
Zhou Guo laughed, "Isn't it a pity for you? I can't give you any advice. You can't do this or that. You are really hard to please."
The two chatted and laughed while finishing their dinner. Zhou Guo held the bowl and drank two bowls of soup.
There was a fire burning outside the cave. Zhou Guo was sleeping inside, Zhou Dacang was sleeping outside, and two horses were opposite the fire.
The forest was completely silent at night except for the fire, which made crackling sounds from time to time. After a while, Zhou Dacang's snoring, which sounded like thunder, was heard.
The two horses opposite twitched their ears and wagged their tails.
Zhou Guo fell asleep as soon as she lay down. The snoring had no effect on her at all.
When they set out on the second day, they met another group of troops halfway. This group was larger, with about a hundred people.
The two were startled. Since they had seen each other, it was not easy for them to just turn around and leave. They could only move to the side of the road, feeling quite guilty.
Fortunately, these people just glanced at the two of them and left.
After the people walked away, Zhou Guo finally let go of his heavy heart. He looked at Zhou Dacang, and they both saw hope in each other's eyes. Then he trotted away on his horse.
A voice could be heard from the back in the distance, "I don't know how Lao Ma and the others are doing with their information. Maybe they've gone somewhere again. There's been no news for a long time."
"Damn it, if I had known this job was so good, I would have gone there too. I would have been at the front and eaten so many delicious foods."
Zhou Guo and Zhou Dacang looked at each other with heavy hearts. They were indeed the same kind of people and didn't look like good people.
After trotting for a while, Zhou Guo whipped the horse on its buttocks, turned around and said to Zhou Dacang, "Let's go quickly."
The two horses under him ran as fast as if they were running for their lives. After running for a while, they took a small road and ran for an entire morning before arriving in Shuncheng.
At noon, there were few people coming in and out of the city gate. It was very quiet. Zhou Guo frowned and said after a while: "Uncle, let's go to the county town below first."
Zhou Dacang was surprised, "Why?"
Zhou Guo frowned, "I always feel something is wrong. Look at the city gate, it's so deserted. If we go in now, we will have to pay people. Then the soldiers at the city gate will have a memory of us. If those people come back, we won't be able to escape and will be caught in a trap."
Zhou Dacang pondered for a while and said, "You are right, but we are not turtles, we are human beings."
Zhou Guo was speechless, like a cold joke, "Let's go."
The two men traveled day and night in the county town below for four days, and arrived at the provincial capital on the fifth day. As a result, they saw from afar that the city gate was under martial law, and the number of guarding soldiers had at least doubled.
People entering the city have to be interrogated for a long time before they can enter.
Both of them frowned.
Zhou Guo said: "I don't know if he is looking for us."
Zhou Dacang consoled him, "Not necessarily. We have dealt with everything and no one saw us. I don't think those people would suspect the refugees. Why would they come to us for no reason?"
Zhou Guo pursed his lips and said, "You forgot that we didn't run into anyone else on that road except the refugees. There were only the two of us. If they had found the horse, they would have guessed that something must have happened. We were the first suspects, and we were armed with knives."
Zhou Dacang sighed deeply, "It seems that we can't enter this city. Let's go to the next place, run around and come back. I think they won't look for us anymore."
Zhou Guo nodded, and the two turned around and left. As they left, they heard refugees talking on the roadside, "I heard they were catching bandits. Some bandits ran to the city, and I don't know what they are going to do..."
Bandits?
Zhou Guo didn't care. He didn't care whether it was looking for them or not. The check at the city gate was so strict that they couldn't get in without a pass. So they went to the next place. The refugees gathered outside the city and ordinary refugees couldn't get in.
They went east, occasionally heading north.
I found that the further back I went, the stricter the inspection at the city gates became. Sometimes when I wanted to enter the city, the city gates would be closed at twilight hour. There was no one far away from the city gates, let alone refugees. I wished I couldn't even see a bird.
The two men frowned.
Zhou Guo groaned, "This is not a good sign."
Zhou Dacang nodded and pinched the cloth bag on the horse's back. "The last bit of dry food is gone. We will be hungry tonight."
Zhou Guo sighed, turned his horse around, pointed at the distant mountains and said, "While it's still early, let's go into the mountains and hunt some prey. If we can hunt a deer or roe deer, we can eat it tonight and smoke it to keep as food."
The two men rode their horses at full speed towards the distant mountains.
More than half an hour later, Zhou Guo had a roe deer hanging on his horse, and Zhou Dacang had a string of pheasants hanging on his horse's back. The two rode their horses and found a spacious place close to a water source deep in the forest.
Everyone started to get busy.
Zhou Dacang arranged the place to sleep at night, and Zhou Guo began to process the prey. She had practiced with the old man, so she processed the skin neatly and cleanly.