Day after day, it was sunny for three days in a row. The hunting team in the mountains was lucky. They dug so many traps and came back with prey every day. It was unrealistic for everyone to eat meat, but they could drink. It’s also good to dip a mouthful of broth into some meat.
The flood water level at the foot of the mountain also dropped faster. Circles of yellow mud marks were revealed at the foot of the mountain. The place where the village was originally was empty and flat.
More and more corpses are exposed to the scorching sun, emitting bursts of stench. Looking from a distance, you can see mosquitoes and flies flying on the corpses, rats scurrying around, and some carrion-eating birds and beasts. If you look closely, you can even see the corpses. I saw a lot of maggots crawling around on the carrion.
No one from Qingshui Village has been seen in the past few days. According to Huzi, who has been watching, no one from Qingshui Village has been seen coming out in the past two days.
Everyone who knew the news felt their hearts sink, and they speculated whether everyone in Qingshui Village was dead, but no one dared to take a look to confirm this guess. Those who were brave enough to go were stopped by others.
The most terrifying guess is that if the people in Qingshui Village died of the epidemic, no one can guarantee whether the people who went to see it would be infected with the disease.
"You're all holding it in your heart, don't talk nonsense, otherwise none of us will be able to escape!" Chen Song seriously warned the people in front of him that if an epidemic really breaks out, the court and the government will brutally attack the place where the epidemic occurs in order to prevent the spread of the epidemic. It was sealed off and no one was allowed in or out.
And those of them who don't have the disease can only survive in the blockade area. If they are lucky, they can survive. If they are not lucky... they are waiting for the disease to be infected.
Li Ping'an's face was condensed, he hesitated again and again, and finally said nothing.
Asking himself, he is far from having such a great sense of responsibility to report this speculation to the government. He didn't know whether the government would take measures, but he didn't dare to bet. In this dynasty with almost zero means of preventing the plague, he would rather pretend to know nothing than put himself and himself at risk because of his so-called sense of responsibility and conscience. Family members and relatives are in danger, and they are in panic all day long.
Besides, they are healthy now. They want to escape. Regardless of whether there is a plague or not, they have to escape. They cannot be locked up in a place where corpses are everywhere.
Another day later, the floods finally receded, and the land submerged by the floods was completely exposed. Li Erlin and Zhang Yu went down the mountain wearing the scarves made by Chen Dajuan.
The originally hard dirt road was soaked to a soft state, and every step of the way was filled with smelly mud. Some villagers were so disgusted by the stench and rotten appearance of the corpses that they vomited bitter water. Li Erlin and Zhang Yu also felt their stomachs churn. Incessantly.
Holding back their nausea and walking quickly, they arrived at the county town almost an hour later. The low city wall was not destroyed by the flood, and only traces of water logging could be seen at the foot of the city wall.
The city gate was closed, and many refugees gathered outside. The government officials stood on the city wall with weapons in hand, looking coldly at the crowds of people under the city wall. No matter how much the refugees begged, they remained unmoved.
Someone dressed as a minor official shouted loudly, saying that the granary in the city had been burned down and there was no food. Moreover, several surrounding states and counties had been affected by the disaster. The state capital's food could not be distributed at all. Let the people seize the time to escape. Find a way out.
Naturally, it made the refugees and people outside the city cry and curse, but that was of no use. The people in the city wall were determined not to open the city gate. The refugees lost their strength after cursing and cursing. After venting their anger, With a dead look on his face, he dragged his heavy steps home to pack up his belongings and prepare to escape.
Li Erlin and Zhang Yu watched calmly for a long time, inquired about some news, and then hurried back.
Back on the mountain, the lifeless atmosphere returned to the hut, so they asked Li Ping'an what happened.
"The clan leader asked the people who went to borrow food from the main branch of the Chen family to come back, but they were in vain. I heard that before the flood came, Mr. Chen in the city sent people to bring the direct clan members to the city, and all the food was gone. Taken away and abandoned many tribesmen.”
If even the clan members of the main branch can be abandoned, can their side branches still expect to borrow food from them?
"Fortunately, we never had this hope." Li Erlin didn't feel disappointed, and turned to talk about the news he had learned, "The flood was caused by the breach of Jinjiang River. That night, an official rode on horseback and sounded the gong to notify us. It should be that we were on the mountain. We didn’t hear the sound of the gong. Now the gate of the county town is closed. Let alone giving out porridge and relief, we can’t go in to buy high-priced grains. It’s time to leave.”
He had no choice but to run away. Only by walking further could he have a chance to survive.
But even though everyone had already thought of and accepted the option of escaping, and had openly discussed it, when it got to this point, differences inevitably emerged.
Some people don’t want to escape. Their ancestors have lived in this land for generations, and they have never left even during the troubled times. The farthest place they have been to is the county seat. People say that people are humble when they leave their hometown. At that time, the outsiders who fled the village were so cautious. Many of them still remember living humbly.
There were also disputes over which direction to flee. Everyone had their own reasons and thoughts.
Chen Song was so upset by the noise that he saw Li Erlin and the others acting like they were watching a show, so he came over and asked, "Er Lin, do you still insist on escaping to the south?"
Li Erlin nodded. They had already decided that they would flee south if they wanted to escape. In the past few days, I have also discussed with my village neighbors who got along well with each other and were more reliable. They also decided to go together. At least they would have someone to look after them on the way, and the place they went to was still the ancestral land of Li Erlin and the others. It was better than going there randomly. It's better to be like a headless fly in a strange place.
"Village chief, please think about it. The Jinjiang River blocks the way to the north, and you can't cross it now. And the further north you go, the later the food will mature. Ping An said that only one crop of crops can be grown on the other side of the river a year. The harvest can't be harvested until the autumn harvest. It's only the beginning of June now. Their crops are not yet mature where we fled, so there won't be any extra food. And the further north you go, the colder the weather becomes. How will we survive in winter?"
It was even more impossible to go east. The floodwaters flowed eastward. No one knew what the situation was like in the east or how far they would have to escape.
So their best choice was either to go west or southwest or south.
Chen Song couldn't make up his mind for a long time, so he went to Li Ping'an again, "Ping'an, you often go to the city, interact with merchants a lot, and know more than us. Where do you think we should go?"
Li Pingan answered without thinking: "It must be to the south. It has only been less than ten years since the south was recovered. With three years of tax exemption and five years of tax reduction, there must be a lot of food. And there is a place further south that can grow three crops a year. Rice, the southern regime was able to resist our Dajing for so long because of sufficient food."
These are the information Li Ping'an got from passing merchants. Although Qingfeng County is a lower county, it is close to Linhu County. Linhu County has a ferry. Many businessmen from the north and south cross the river by boat from Linhu Ferry. , so there were more merchants passing through Qingfeng County and settling down, and Li Pingan gained a lot of knowledge as a result.
