"Ah Bai, why haven't you been in the village for a long time?" The old woman trembled and stretched out her hand to caress An Bai's face.

"I'm going to eat too, grandma," An Bai got such an opportunity to show that he had entered the cottage in front of Jiang Yugang, and he also did a trick, and said helplessly and with a concerned face: "Some time ago, I went back to Mengyang City to do a few big business, and now don't you bring your friends to the village again?" ”

"These ...... It's all... Your friends? The old woman slowly stretched out her finger and pointed at Jiang Yugang and the others who were standing behind, struggling to see the faces of these strangers clearly.

"Yes, grandma, they are all my good friends, and they are all merchants in Mengyangcheng," An Bai eagerly introduced Jiang Yugang and a few people to the old woman: "I just feel that I can't bring a lot of food to sell to everyone by myself, so I called my friends to come over." ”

"They also brought food?" After hearing the news, the old woman was a little unsteady on her feet, and An Baigan hurriedly stretched out her hand to support her: "Of course, you see the bamboo baskets on their backs, which are all eaten, and they all heard that the spices in Nansang Village are good and cheap, and they want to make a lot of money." ”

Jiang Yugang saw that the old woman had become interested in them, so he hurriedly took the pheasant he had just hunted from the bamboo basket behind him, walked up to the old woman and showed it to her: "Grandma, we have brought enough food, and we are here to do business with you." ”

"Okay, good," seeing the fresh pheasant still with blood, the old woman's voice was quite excited, and she also showed greater enthusiasm to entertain them: "You have come here, and you have nowhere to go like Ah Bai before." ”

"That's true, we are all from Mengyangcheng, and we only came here after hearing about the village from Ah Bai." Jiang Yuyan saw that the old woman seemed to have the intention of leading them to rest at home, so he hurriedly responded.

"It just so happened that my son took the children to Manmo, and there is a spare room at home, so it is better for you to stay at my house." The old woman really did what Jiang Yu thought, and sent them an invitation.

"Then we'll be disrespectful." Jiang Yuyan nodded, and beckoned everyone behind him: "Let's follow this grandma into the village." ”

Jiang Yuyan didn't ask why Grandma's son took the child to Manmo, but he thought it was probably related to the existence of the Luchuan Army who came to the cottage, and now he was anxious to inquire, which might make the old man suspicious.

He knew that the reputation of the Luchuan Army had been ruined in the nearby villages, but as outsiders, it was not easy for the Ming army to build trust in the villagers in this area.

Following the slow footsteps of the grandmother, a few people leisurely walked to the depths of the village, the stone path is tortuous, on both sides of the path is the construction of bamboo buildings with a staggered layout, each bamboo building is open to the path, in front of the door is a narrow waterway, about the width of an adult's palm, the water inside is clear, you can see a layer of moss below.

After walking along the path for a while, I finally arrived at Grandma's house. This is a large bamboo building that is much larger than other bamboo buildings in the vicinity, the whole is presented as a hollow square, walking in from the main entrance, there is a vacant lot in the middle, planted with a large cluster of fragrant and gorgeous flowers, judging from the state of the branches and leaves, it is carefully taken care of.

The two earth dogs were listlessly hiding in the shadows under the eaves of the bamboo building, their ears drooping, and their tongues sticking out as if they were dissipating heat, but they had a kind of laziness that ordinary people who were powerless because of the heat.

Jiang Yugang had seen this animal once before crossing, when his car broke down on the road near the desert and no man's land, and when he sent a distress signal to wait for rescue, he saw an antelope that had been bitten by an unknown beast and fell on the side of the road.

Because of the traffic on the road, wild animals usually deliberately detour this place. The antelope may have fallen on the side of the road to escape the beast.

After seeing the antelope's eyes, Jiang Yuyan's fear and helplessness of being trapped in a no-man's land waiting for help because the car broke down disappeared instantly, because he felt a call from nature, and he could read the antelope's eyes - the fear of death.

No matter how much people deny it, the fact that they are also animals cannot be changed, of course, human language is different from animals, they cannot communicate with each other, and there are special biological manifestations such as crocodile tears, but the essence of all living things is the same, that is, to live and continue.

Human beings and animals, the desire for life and the resistance to death are the same, death is not a terrible thing in the end, maybe people are more afraid of the pain that accompanies death than death. But people have an instinctive resistance to meaningless death.

What Jiang Yuyan saw in the eyes of the antelope was the desire for life and the resistance to death, a very pure emotion, which was the same as the two dog's eyes in the grandmother's yard in front of him.

It's not that these two dogs are hot and don't want to move, but they don't have the strength to move at all. Dogs can be hungry like this, and people are estimated to have reached the limit. Thinking of this, Jiang Yu was reckless.

The old woman led Jiang Yu and them to the bamboo building on the side, where there were a few fairly spacious rooms. The craftsmen in charge of the construction of the Ming army, or the sappers, were not good at using the natural materials here to build houses here, and in comparison, the environment of this old woman's home was indeed much better than that of the Manggu Mountain camp.

"Ah Bai, you can rest in this room now," the old woman whispered to An Bai a little embarrassed, "I... I don't have much to entertain your friends here - you know what we're doing here..."

"Of course I know... But... They don't know......" An Bai pretended to be a picture of Jiang Yugang and the others not understanding the situation here.

"That's... Just tell your friends..."The old woman was also embarrassed: "Just don't scare them away, everyone is now pointing to someone coming into the village to sell some food, but the Luchuan soldiers are becoming more and more brutal day by day, and there are fewer and fewer merchants entering the cottage." ”

An Bai nodded and said with relief: "Don't worry, grandma, these friends of mine have all seen the world, and they will not be afraid of the Luchuan soldiers." ”

"It's best not to be afraid." The old woman sighed: "I'll call the neighbors over, and we will quietly do business in this bamboo building for a while, don't make a noise." ”

"Okay," An Bai nodded: "You just call the neighbors over, except for spices, all kinds of metal utensils that are not used are the best, and we will accept them all." ”

"Ah Bai, you must come often in the future," the old woman pleaded: "Now look, among the merchants and guests who come and go to Nansang, you are the only one who is the most promising, and you are not afraid of the Luchuan soldiers." After all, we can't flee the whole village, and now I don't know what happened to my son in Manmo, I heard that there is no war there, and I don't know if we have found a place to stay. ”