"The leader of Shuofang's army was killed by the boss."
"The entire army was wiped out by our people..."
When he heard these two sentences, Shen Que felt a buzzing in his head, his eyes felt dizzy, and his whole body froze.
What do they mean? What does it mean that the leader of Shuofang's army was killed, and what does it mean that the entire army was annihilated...
These two questions are always swirling in my head, I can't think clearly, I have a splitting headache.
Across the door, bandits were still searching outside. Zeelan was trembling with fear and couldn't care about anything else. She was searching the room for anything that could be used to defend herself. If they broke in, she would rush up and fight them. Anyway, I can protect my wife and let her run away...
But Shen Que no longer felt afraid at all. He only felt that his heart had stopped beating. He didn't know whether what they said was true or not. The pain felt like being cut by knives all over his body.
They were talking about Li Luansong, he should have arrived here a few days ago, and the large force of Shuofang Army sent him to guard the border, about 5,000 people. Yes, it seems that he only brought 5,000 people back to Beijing.
Was he killed by bandits just like that? Impossible, absolutely impossible, he was the most powerful general in Daye, how could he die like this.
Shen Que felt it was difficult to breathe, and a sudden whirlwind came over him, followed by Zelan's soft call in his ear:
"Madam, madam, what's wrong with you..."
Shen Que fainted. I don't know how long it took, but when he was about to wake up, he had a dream.
I dreamed that Li Luansong personally went out to fight the bandits. He was on the front line, but was plotted against and died on the mountain. Not even his body was found.
In that desolate and gloomy place, there were rivers of blood and bones everywhere. Shen Que went over the mountain of corpses and bones to look for Li Luansong, but he couldn't find him, not even his sword, his armor, his jade ring, his jade pendant, his sachet... Unexpectedly, not even a single thing that fell from his body could be found. He disappeared into this world like air, as if he had never been here.
Shen Que was frightened and woke up suddenly. Only then did he take a breath and stroke his chest in shock.
The dream was too real. She actually touched the corpses and smelled the pungent smell of blood.
The room was dark and cramped, with no lights on.
"Madam, you're awake."
It was Zelan's voice. Shen Que looked at her and nodded, then remembered that they were still in danger.
Zelan said: "Those people left and did not find this place. It was a false alarm. What do you think, madam? You scared me to death."
Shen Que said it was okay, "I'm just a little dizzy."
Zelan sighed and said: "My wife must be tired from traveling these days. She has gained a few pounds with great difficulty, but she has lost weight again. What should we do next?"
"Zelan, did you hear what they said about Shuofang's army?" Shen Que was still worried, hoping that he had heard wrong.
But Zelan said that he heard it, "If Shuofang's army was completely wiped out, otherwise these bandits wouldn't have been so rampant these days that they would come out to do evil during the day."
Ah, it turns out I didn't hear wrongly. Shen Que felt a surge of bitterness in his heart.
"Madam, don't worry. The leader of the Shuofang Army they are talking about may not be His Highness. Why don't we find a place to settle down first and then slowly find out the news." Zelan comforted her, "Madam's health is important."
Shen Zhen did not make a sound, looking out the window with empty eyes, "Maybe they made a mistake..."
"Yes, that's right, they must have made a mistake." Zelan said, "Let's stay here for a few days and wait until there is news before we leave."
Yes, you must first take good care of yourself before you can find out the news.
Li Luansong will not die so easily, he will live a long life.
Only then did Shen Que realize that he actually cared about him so much, and felt as sad as a knife after hearing the news of his accident.
Cheer up, Shen Que, and figure out the situation first.
She forced herself to retract her thoughts, looked at Zeelan and said, "I'm fine. Let's stay here for two more days. I want to know if he is okay."
Zelan nodded with tears in his eyes, "Okay, my wife's decision is that I will follow you."
That night, the two of them still had a meal with the dry food they brought in their bags, and slept huddled in the small woodshed all night.
Early the next morning, Shen Que took Zelan to inquire and finally found a relatively safe place to stay.
This place was originally a dilapidated temple. Later, due to the famine, the monks died and fled, and only a few dilapidated temples were left. They barely had roofs to protect them from the wind and rain, so many people gathered.
The so-called safety is just because the people here are homeless and have no food to eat. People who are not well fed and clothed naturally have nothing to steal or rob. Therefore, this place is not visited by bandits. .
We all get together for a while, and almost every day people die because they cannot bear the cold and hunger, but it is better than hiding in Tibet and not knowing which day they will freeze to death or be robbed and killed by bandits.
The arrival of Shen Que and Zelan attracted everyone's attention because their clothes were still intact and they even carried a baggage.
The two walked tremblingly through the crowd, and Zeelan was so scared that she hugged Shen Que's arm tightly.
In order to go out easily, they wore tattered clothes and wiped black ash on their faces, but they still looked many times stronger than the people here.
"Little lady, come here, there's still some room here."
An old woman waved to them with difficulty, then turned her head and coughed. The two hurried over and sat down in the open space next to the old woman.
"Thank you, aunt." Shen Que quickly thanked her, then turned to tell Zelan, "Take out the water we brought for aunt to drink, and bring out some dry food."
The old woman coughed violently, shook her head and wanted to refuse but couldn't say a word. Zelan handed over the kettle and dry food, and Shen Que said: "You have been suffering from a cough for a long time and need to be kept warm and treated. I only want to treat you here." With some warm water and dry food, you can just drink it and fill your stomach."
The old woman took the things and asked slowly: "You actually know medical skills?"
Shen Que said: "I have read some books and I can diagnose some simple diseases."
After saying that, he asked Zelan to take out the pills he brought from his bag and handed them to the old woman: "Auntie, these are the pills I made myself. They can moisten the lungs and relieve coughs. You can take some. We are from out of town. We passed by here and brought some with us." There aren’t many things, that’s all…”
Before he finished speaking, Shen Que saw the old woman widening her eyes in panic and waving her hands. Before she could say anything to stop her, a gust of wind blew up behind her. People swarmed up to hold the two of them down and carry the dry food in their hands and the bags on their backs. The baggage was taken away.
"You guys, how can you grab something?" Zelan was in shock, with tears in his eyes he wanted to grab it back, but Shen Que held him back.
The old woman said hurriedly: "People here have been hungry for many days. The government said they would come every day to deliver food, but they haven't come for two days. I don't know if there was an accident or they just don't want to care about us anymore."
I was very helpless, looking at the people who had snatched away things, and some who had not grabbed anything sat back in frustration, a pair of dirty eyes still staring at the two of them.
But those who had grabbed it were still crawling on the ground fighting for it. The bundle was torn to pieces, and the only dry food, water and herbs that Shen Que was accustomed to carrying with him were all dug out.
"Fortunately, the lady reminded me, slave, that I didn't put the banknotes and our important belongings in the bag."
Zelan was still frightened, and her little face was still red with fear.
Shen Que patted her gently and said, "It's okay, we won't be able to stay here for long."
At this time, the stronger ones were still grabbing the things in the bag. Seeing that the herbs were stuffed into their mouths, Shen Que hurriedly stopped him:
"No, you can't eat that, it's herbal medicine."
However, before they had time, they were already crazy with hunger and would not spit out anything they put into their mouths.
Although it was bitter and hard to swallow, it was still swallowed.
"How did this Fengyi end up in such a bad situation?" Shen Que was very sorry, "No one from the government paid attention to it."
"The government officials had already taken their whole family away before the snowstorm." The old woman sighed, "We, the common people, are the only ones who have nowhere to go and are reduced to this situation."
"Then the capital doesn't know, and doesn't it have new officials coming to provide disaster relief and rescue the people?"
"Yes, why not? But when I came and saw all this, I left again." The old woman said, "Four groups of officials came one after another. Some felt that they had no way to start, and some were afraid that the bandits were too rampant and could not do anything. gone."
God, how could this happen.
"We can only wait to die here." The old woman glanced at Shen Que and Zelan, "Madam, I advise you to leave here while you can still walk. The locals are dead You are just passing by, so you should leave quickly because of your status."
The old woman was also kind, and Shen Que naturally understood.
"Auntie, we are here to find someone." Shen Que asked her, "Did you know that Shuofang's army passed by here a few days ago and I heard that they were fighting with bandits. What happened next?"
"I heard they were all dead."
Someone next to him interrupted, and Zeelan glared at that person.
"It's not such an exaggeration. My son is a member of our local garrison. The old lady heard that Shuofang's army had 5,000 people. They fought with the bandits for three days. Later, the bandits were defeated and fled into the mountains. Who knows where they are? It was their home base, and there were traps everywhere, and the five thousand Shuofang army was just gone."
Oh my God, I fell into a trap.
"Are they really all gone?" Shen Que's voice trembled a little, "What about the leader of the Shuofang Army, General? Is there any news?"
"I don't know." The old woman shook her head and said, "My son also escaped for his life and came back. As for the leader and general, we haven't heard about it."
"That means there is still hope of survival."
Shen Que was talking to himself, then pulled the old woman and asked, "Does Madam know where those dead soldiers are now?"
"The battle was fought in Wuyun Mountain. I heard that there was no time to bury the corpses. Five thousand people were just dumped in Wuyun Mountain. I'm afraid it has become a mass grave now."
The old woman wiped away her tears when she said this, "My son has nowhere to go, and he lives in panic every day."
Shen Que was stunned. Wuyun Mountain was not very far from here. It was only an hour's journey back and forth. She wanted to see if she could find it...
"Little lady, are you looking for relatives? Maybe you want to go to Wuyun Mountain to dig up corpses."
The old woman saw Shen Que's thoughts and hurriedly stopped her, "You can't do it. Not to mention the mountains of corpses, even the bandits can't go there."
"But, that's mine..." She held back her tears, "Even if he dies, I will collect his body for him."
Shen Que naturally knew her good intentions, but if she left like this without taking a look, what if...she would be uneasy for the rest of her life, not to mention, she always had a hunch that Li Luansong would not die like this. Maybe he was waiting for her to save him.
