Liu Fuyi and Wan Liqing did stay. Not only did they stay, they also got a mule cart.
One of the mule carts that had been carrying grain was given to them, and the other cart went to Zhou Yunshu.
The addition of Liu Fuyi and Wan Liqing did not attract too many people's attention. They rarely left the vicinity of their mule carts except for eating, and their presence in the team was very low.
The patrol team did not send anyone back to look for the villagers from Dujia Village who had left the team, and Du Youtian and the others did not arrange for anyone to go back.
Except for those who took the initiative to catch up, Du Youtian and the others seemed to have forgotten those who were left behind, and started on their way without saying a word.
This time they walked very fast, fearing that they would be overtaken by the unknown refugees behind them. As for those left behind, they never mentioned them again.
Facts have proved that when there is a crisis, there is motivation. The road that originally took two days can now be walked in one and a half days. On the third day, they passed a village, which was still empty.
However, although it was an empty village, there were signs of activity in the village. Wei Zhong and others found traces of people lighting fires in the yard closest to the entrance of the village.
It’s just unclear whether the people who lit fires in the village were refugees or people from the village.
After Wei Zhong led the patrol team to patrol the village and found no one else, he arranged for the people in the team to rest in the first four courtyards at the entrance of the village.
Zhou Yunshu and his party were resting in a courtyard with Dr. Xue, Shopkeeper Liang, Wei Zhong and others.
In the evening, they cooked the fire by themselves. They each had enough food, so they happened to be in the same yard and cooked together.
Li Jialan cooked dinner together with shopkeeper Liang's wife Li Dani, Liang Laosan's wife Fang Yezi, and Liang Laosi's wife Dong Hehua.
The staple food is the rare rice dry rice, served with dried vegetables and egg drop soup, pickled pork with pickled vegetables, and fried sausages and shredded potatoes.
All three dishes are limited, but you can eat more rice and dry rice.
Zhou Yunshu, Wei Zhong, and Shopkeeper Liang were holding their own rice bowls and discussing a safer way to go next in the open space next to the fire, when a scream suddenly came from outside the yard.
Wei Zhong stood up suddenly, especially after the scream, there were several more screams.
Zhou Yunshu took a bite of rice silently while listening to the noisy sounds outside. Why was there never a moment to calm down this day.
"I'm going to see what's going on outside."
After Wei Zhong finished speaking, Zhou Yunshu nodded and continued to cook.
Seeing how steady Zhou Yunshu was, Shopkeeper Liang calmed down and sat down again, continuing what he had just said.
"After passing this ruined temple, walk ten miles further to the mountain village. Although this village is not big, most people make a living by hunting. When my father was still alive, he often went to this village to buy furs."
"Are you sure you still know the way?"
Zhou Yunshu asked this because shopkeeper Liang said that the last time he walked this mountain road was five years ago. There are too many things that can change in five years, let alone a mountain road.
Shopkeeper Liang did not insist that he would not go wrong. He only said: "I have walked this road back and forth seven or eight times. If there are no changes, I will not remember it wrong."
"Furthermore, I always feel that the people in Shanxia Village are still there, relying on the mountains to eat. They are not so easy to die of thirst. They may even live better than us in Anshan County."
"So what I'm thinking is that when we arrive, we can pay the hunters from Shanxia Village to guide us."
Shopkeeper Liang pointed to the simple map on the ground and continued: "If we don't go up the mountain, it might take half a month to go around here."
"You have also seen how irrational the victims are, especially as the disaster becomes more serious as we go south, the victims will definitely become crazier. Instead of being stared at like a piece of fat meat by them, we might as well go into the mountains, where at least the beasts on the mountains can watch. So many of us still know fear.”
Zhou Yunshu nodded, and Wei Zhong also figured out what was going on outside and walked in.
Du Mazi also came in with Wei Zhong. Du Mazi usually had a dark face, but now his face turned pale with fear.
Shopkeeper Liang looked at Du Mazi's pale face and Wei Zhong's gloomy face and asked, "What happened?"
Wei Zhong took a deep breath and said, "Someone went to urinate behind the yard and accidentally stepped on some bones. He lit it with fire. Next to it was a human head that had not been dead for a long time, and next to it were clean human bones."
Wei Zhong looked at Zhou Yunshu and Zhou Yunshu who reacted immediately after thinking for a while, and swallowed what he had not finished.
The head was not a complete head. It had been tortured to the point of not being able to see its original appearance, and it frightened those who saw it so much that they fainted and fell to the ground.
Even after taking one look, he immediately looked away. It was really hard to imagine what horrible things that man had experienced in his life.
"Sheep with two legs." Shopkeeper Liang uttered these two words tremblingly.
Just as Wei Zhong was about to speak, Du Mazi suddenly ran to the side and started vomiting wildly, causing the faces of several people next to him to turn green.
Du Mazi now had the desire to strangle himself. Why did he like to join in the fun so much? If he hadn't moved forward, he wouldn't have seen the dead and miserable head.
He didn't dare to close his eyes now. As soon as he closed his eyes, the head with bulging eyes that could barely see the original appearance was staring at him.
Zhou Yunshu exhaled a deep breath and said: "Restrain the people in the team and step up patrols. After daybreak, we will leave as soon as possible."
No one would be able to sleep peacefully if they knew there were such a bunch of beasts living around them.
In order to keep everyone refreshed, this matter was not publicized that night. After everyone had finished eating the next morning, Wei Zhong briefly talked about it.
The old people in the team were okay and had slightly stronger psychological tolerance. Many of the young people had changed expressions. The women even restrained their children and did not dare to let them leave their eyes for a moment.
It was under such low pressure that the entire team left the deserted village and moved forward. Not long after they left, several people with bows and arrows came to the village.
One of them looked at the footprints on the ground and the human bones next to him, kicked away the stone in front of him, and said angrily: "Damn it, let them run away!"
…
Because of those human bones, there was no sound in the team all day long.
Zhou Yunshu was holding her child in the carriage and telling stories. Outside, cars belonging to Wei Zhong, Shopkeeper Liang and others protected her and Old Doctor Xue's cars.
When the sun went down, Zhou Yunshu came out of the carriage to get some air. Shopkeeper Liang pointed to the ruined temple that was smoking not far away and said in surprise: "Mr. Zhou, the ruined temple is here!"
Zhou Yunshu was not as happy as Shopkeeper Liang. She looked at the rising smoke in the distance and frowned, something was wrong.
If it was a convoy, there would definitely be a mule cart or horse-drawn carriage parked outside, but there was none, nothing, just smoke and an inexplicable fragrance in the air.
Suddenly there was a voice of doubt in the crowd.
"Whose stew is there?"
"smell good!"
