Ai Qiaoqiao was washed out by the current along the gap at the bottom of the cave.

She only felt her eyes light up, and then she felt the temperature of the water around her warm.

She knew that she had succeeded, that she was outside, so the water temperature was much higher than in the cave.

When the water slowed down, she slowly surfaced, and did not dare to show her head directly, but first made a point, patrolled left and right, and then swam towards the bank of the river.

Xiaofang Village was on the other side of the river, and she swam in reverse, not daring to swim to the flat bank, but directly to the foot of the mountain, climbing the wild vines that grew on the mountain, and climbed to the mountain.

The weather in June had already entered the summer, and even if she was wet and her clothes were not unbearable, she hid herself behind the dense bushes, and stretched out her head to observe the small village opposite.

Several houses in the village were burned down, and the roofs were black.

Because it was early in the morning, there was no one in the village, and there was no sound of chickens and dogs barking that used to be heard in the village.

Ai Qiaoqiao didn't dare to take any chances, and she continued to climb the mountainside.

When she reached a leeward spot, she took off her wet clothes, dried them and put them back on.

The sun has risen.

There was also movement in the small house village opposite.

The sleepy-eyed rebels showed up in twos and threes, either to wash by the river or to cook food in the village, and the smell of meat could be smelled from afar.

The chickens and dogs raised by the people in the village were all killed by them for meat, and even the piglets that were raised in the spring were not spared.

The pigs raised by the people in the village are all caught in the spring, none of them are large, and they taste fine skin and tender meat, and the rebels packed them up and wore them with sticks, and roasted them directly on the fire.

Ai Qiaoqiao hid on the opposite mountain and saw this situation, and secretly rejoiced: Fortunately, Brother Wen brought his tiger into the city, otherwise the tiger would have fallen into the mouth of these people.

Ai Qiaoqiao observed for a while on the opposite hill, and found that some village women in the village had been caught by them, and from time to time after breakfast she could hear the sound of their crying, which made her feel terrified, and she did not dare to stay longer, so she continued to climb up the mountain.

After walking a short distance, I suddenly saw a sound behind the bushes in front of me, as if something was hidden.

She was startled and quickly stopped.

"Yes...... Who is it? A woman's trembling voice came from behind the bushes opposite, "Don't come here." ”

Hearing this voice, Ai Qiaoqiao breathed a sigh of relief, "You are from Xiaofang Village, right?" "I just escaped from the village, too." ”

The sound behind the bushes was gone, and after a while several heads popped out from behind the bushes.

Two girls about her age, and a grown man, and the last one to emerge was a girl, who looked to be only four or five years old, and was dressed in an adult's coarse cloth garment, the hem of which dragged down to the ground.

"Are you...... The ingenuity of the old Ai family? The adult man on the other side recognized her, "Why are you here?" ”

Ai Qiaoqiao didn't have time to explain these things to them, but asked, "How is the village?" ”

As soon as the words came out, the two girls began to cry.

"Those people killed people everywhere, and when they saw girls, they arrested them, and we managed to escape."

The adult man was also from Xiaofang Village, and although Ai Qiaoqiao didn't know his name, they had met him before.

"Has anyone escaped from the village?" Ai Qiaoqiao asked.

"I don't know, we don't dare to turn back, we can only run away one by one." The two girls cried.

Ai Qiaoqiao noticed that the four-year-old girl doll was silent, her cheeks were dirty, but she was chubby, and the corners of her long clothes were faintly embroidered with gold threads.

Ai Qiaoqiao's heart moved.

This kind of garment embroidered with gold thread can never be worn by the countrymen.

Even if the child is a single family member for several generations, he can't wear such extravagant clothes.

"Where did this kid come from?" Ai Qiaoqiao asked the others.

"We don't know." The adult man shook his head, "When we fled up the mountain, we accidentally found her hiding in the mountain, and when we saw us, we followed her, and we didn't leave." ”

Ai Qiaoqiao looked at the child carefully, and the child felt her gaze, so he raised his face to look at her.

"What's your name?" Ai Qiaoqiao asked.

“…… Tong Tong. ”

"Which village are you from?"

The girl didn't react, just looked at her with big eyes.

"You're not from Xiaofang Village?"

Tong Tong nodded.

"You escaped from another village?"

Tong Tong shook his head first, then nodded again.

Everyone couldn't understand her thoughts at all, and the adult man said: "This child is too young, it's a burden to take her, Huai'an City is so far away, she can't have the physical strength to go there with us." ”

Ai Qiaoqiao asked, "Do you want to go to Huai'an City?" ”

"It's the safest place right now."

Ai Qiaoqiao frowned: "The rebels have arrived here, then they are not far from Huai'an City, the city will definitely hear the wind, if Huai'an City is closed, we will not be able to enter at that time." ”

"How's that to be?" The others ran out of ideas.

"Why don't we go to other villages and settle down for the time being, and casually inquire about the news."

There are mountains and many villages, and the rebels did not occupy all the villages so quickly.

The other three nodded.

With the plan in mind, they continued their climb up the hill, preparing to climb over the hill and go to the village behind.

After walking for a while, Ai Qiaoqiao heard a panting sound behind him.

Turning around, I saw the four-year-old girl following them closely, she tripped over the grass roots on the mountain from time to time, and her hands and little face were cut, but she followed without saying a word, as if she was afraid of being left behind.

Ai Qiaoqiao slowed down and held out her hand when she came up.

The girl's eyes shone brightly, and she hurriedly jumped up and hugged her arm.

The wound on his shoulder was pulled, and Ai Qiaoqiao, who was in pain, grinned.

In any case, she could not leave the child in the mountains, or the wild beasts of the mountains would come out and eat her at night.

As soon as everyone crossed the mountain, they walked a short distance when they saw two men dressed as rebels walking on the opposite mountain road.

Ai Qiaoqiao, it was too late for them to hide.

When the two saw them, they rushed over, pulled out the long knife on their waists, and said with a smile: "I finally caught the tender one, there are three in total, enough for us to share." ”

Ai Qiaoqiao took the hand of the girl and turned around and ran.

The two girls on the other side also fled to the other side screaming, and the adult man followed them, overtaking them in a few steps.

Behind him came a woman's terrible scream.

Ai Qiaoqiao didn't dare to look back, she couldn't run fast with a child.

At this moment, the girl she was holding was so weak that she fell to the ground and rolled down the hillside.

Ai Qiaoqiao hurriedly leaned over and tried to grab her, but she stepped on the air and rolled down.

The hillside was extremely steep, and she was hit with all kinds of meat, and when she stopped, she was dizzy in front of her.

But even so, she gritted her teeth and got up.

She must not be caught by these men!

From time to time, there were women's screams and cries on the mountain.

Ai Qiaoqiao struggled to get up, only to see Tong Tong lying in the grass not far from her, lying face down, motionless.

Ai Qiaoqiao crawled over and reached out to touch the child's neck.

There was still a throbbing sensation under the fingers, but it was faint.

At this time, the man's lewd laughter sounded on the hillside: "There's another one there, don't let her run away!" ”