Changsheng had been moving around the waterhole before and did not go far. After setting off, he discovered that the thorns and weeds in the forest had grown very high. There were many obstacles and scratches when walking under the forest, and he could not walk more than a few miles in an hour. Road, at this speed, I'm afraid I won't be able to move to Yuzhou by the end of the year.
In desperation, I could only leave the woods, come to the road, look forward and backward, and move forward cautiously.
Changsheng carried a baggage with him. There was also a change of clothes in the baggage. Carrying the baggage, he looked like a foreigner on the road. He wanted to throw away the baggage but was reluctant to do so. The fastest trip to Gezao Mountain was three days. Months, you have to have a change of clothes.
While he was hesitating, he noticed someone on the road ahead. He looked closely and saw that he was a young man carrying firewood. The man was about the same age as him, about thirteen or fourteen years old. He was dressed in ragged clothes, wearing a pair of straw sandals, and was carrying a bundle of firewood behind his back. .
Seeing the young man chopping firewood, he was moved by longevity. He walked three steps at a time and then two steps at a time. He caught up with the young man and talked to him. The young man lived in a nearby village and had gotten up early to go up the mountain to chop firewood.
After a short conversation, Changsheng knew that it was early May and he had been away from the mountains for more than three months.
After the discussion, the young man handed the hatchet and the firewood on his back to Changsheng, and Changsheng gave the young man the baggage and the change of clothes inside. At this time, the clothes were very valuable, and a set of clothes was 70% new. The young man took advantage of the old hatchet and a bundle of firewood.
Even though the young man had never suffered a loss, Changsheng still took out two pennies from his waist and handed it to him. He still had more than sixty pennies on him. If he lived frugally, he should be able to survive till the end of the world.
The young man who cut firewood happily took the copper coins, thanked him profusely, and helped Changsheng carry the firewood for a few miles. He only handed the firewood to Changsheng when he reached the fork in the village. The young man still had half of the leftover cornstarch on him. Since he didn't have dry food with him, he gave him half of the steamed bun.
With this outfit, Changsheng felt much more at ease. He could finally walk on the road openly. A farmer carrying firewood home would not arouse anyone's suspicion.
This bundle of firewood was very heavy, and it was a bit difficult for Chang Sheng to carry it. He originally wanted to unload some of it, but after thinking about it, he gave up the idea. If he carried too little firewood, someone who was interested would still be suspicious when he saw it, so he would still carry it. Come on, carry a heavy burden and travel a long way, and feel at ease.
After walking for more than ten miles, Changsheng unloaded the bundle of firewood. This bundle of firewood was mostly branches cut from living trees. It was too heavy, so he replaced it with dead tree trunks. The bundle of firewood was larger than before, but the weight was only the same as before. half of.
After walking a few more miles, Changsheng stopped again. He found a sycamore tree in the woods beside the road. The sycamore tree bloomed in May. At this time, the sycamore tree was full of pink flowers.
The flowers of the sycamore tree are edible. There is nectar in them, which is quite delicious. However, the flowers are diuretic and laxative, and eating too much can cause diarrhea.
Eating the flowers of the sycamore tree is secondary. The main purpose of longevity is to cut down a branch. The branches of the sycamore tree are hollow and can hide things.
At first, he cut off a section of sycamore branch. After looking at it, he felt it was inappropriate. There were breaks at both ends, which could be easily detected by others. So he threw away the section of branch, picked another one, cut it from the bottom, and cut the top end. Keep it as it is, so that there will be only one break, and it will not be easily noticed by others when used as a crutch.
He stuffed the four elixirs and the bit of gold into the hollow branch, and then sealed it tightly with a wooden stick. This way, he felt at ease. Apart from the copper coins, there was nothing suspicious about him.
I was reassured but also a little worried, that is, the hole in the middle of the branch was oblate. When I went to fill it with elixirs, the wax seals of several elixirs were worn away a little, and they were no longer perfectly round, but Slightly oval in shape, it may be affected by moisture-proofing.
Compared with the previous galloping, moving forward step by step at this time seemed extremely slow, but Changsheng did not feel boring, because while rushing on the road, he kept recalling the first volume of Qianjin Yifang in his mind, and collected the contents included in it. The symptoms and corresponding prescriptions were sorted out again.
Villages can be seen from time to time on the way, but most of them are ruins and a dilapidated scene. If it were just a famine, this situation should not happen. In recent years, wars have been rife, and you and I are fighting for it. The cities and villages have changed hands. The ruins of the village were probably caused by the war.
After walking for a day, I didn't see a single trafficker or footman, only a few soldiers on horseback galloping past, and I encountered several groups of fleeing victims, ranging from more than ten people to three or two people.
In the evening, Changsheng met several more victims. These victims should be a family, an old couple, a boy of fourteen or fifteen years old, and a child of seven or eight years old.
The old couple were not very old, probably less than forty. The reason why they looked old was undoubtedly due to overwork and lack of food. The four of them, old and young, looked sallow and skinny, and looked haggard. They were struggling to move around while supporting each other.
Changsheng lived alone for several months and didn't talk to anyone for a long time. Seeing that it was getting late and the few people hadn't found their dormitory yet, he walked with them and talked.
These four people are indeed a family, and they have indeed escaped. Being deprived of income and food is not enough to make them leave their hometowns. The government's exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes are the most terrible. If they cannot pay taxes and land rents, they will have to pay in kind. If there is nothing to offset, then If you want to be imprisoned, you will be released when you pay taxes. If you can't pay, you will die in prison. There may not be a way to survive if you escape, but you will only die if you escape. Escape is actually the disaster of prison. .
While feeling sympathy, Changsheng also had many doubts, asking them why they didn't go to the mountains, where they could still find food, and where they could get food if they walked aimlessly like this.
The old man sighed helplessly and said that they had also thought about escaping into the mountains, but there were many snakes, insects and beasts in the mountains, which was very dangerous. Moreover, there were no grains or rice in the mountains, so it was difficult to survive on only wild vegetables.
After the old man finished speaking, Changsheng didn't say anything more. Just because he could find something edible in the mountains, it doesn't mean that others can too. Most people only know a few kinds of wild vegetables, and only eat wild vegetables to satisfy their hunger. People will look sallow and thin, with limbs edema.
While he was talking, Changsheng noticed that there was a ruined wall on the roadside in front of him. He, Batulu and others had robbed the inn many times before, and he was familiar with the layout of the inn. Judging from the structure of the courtyard, it should be an abandoned inn.
As we got closer, it turned out to be an abandoned inn. It must have been on fire before, and most of the buildings had collapsed. Only the east and west wing rooms still had roofs.
The east wing was better preserved and had been occupied by other victims. Changsheng walked into the west wing, and the family of four also followed after hesitation.
"You guys take a rest here, I'll go out to find some food." Changsheng put down the firewood and turned to leave.
While it was still dark, Changsheng searched everywhere in the mountains. He often couldn't find anything edible in places with large trees. Edible things like white grass, platycodon, and adenophora mostly grow in sunny and rocky places. , where the weeds are low.
Before night fell completely, Changsheng returned home with a full load, carrying a bunch of white grass in his left hand, a handful of platycodon in his right hand, and a thick tree root more than four feet long under his arm.
The old man's family only recognized Platycodon grandiflorum among the things Chang Sheng brought back, but they did not recognize the white grass or the strange tree root.
After lighting the bonfire, Changsheng began to clean up the things he had brought back. The family had a pottery urn with them, and boiled the roots of white grass and platycodon, and cut off a section of the weird tree root and buried it in the soil under the fire.
Half an hour later, the campfire weakened, and Changsheng dug out the charcoal. In fact, the object was not a tree root, but a medicine called kudzu root. Although the outer skin was black, there was thick white flesh inside.
Changsheng cut the roasted kudzu root into five pieces, took one for himself, and distributed the rest to the family of four, each with more than half a catty.
It was the first time for the disaster-stricken family to eat this kind of food. At first, they just thought the smell was quite attractive. After peeling off the outer skin and trying it carefully, they found that it tasted sweet and very glutinous, better than dry corn rice.
Seeing several people devouring their food, Chang Sheng was in a great mood, especially when everyone thanked him profusely. He was even more pleased. Before meeting Daoist Lin, he often helped others in the village, but he never gained the kindness of the villagers. And thanks, only the second girl in the whole village was kind to him.
In addition to being happy, Changsheng was also a little embarrassed and a little nervous. He had long discovered that the fourteen-year-old boy was not a real man, but a young woman wearing men's clothes, and the woman was looking at him with strange eyes. Looking at him...
