"Who is so bold that they dare to rob even military rations?" Song Jingxiu said with a smile.

"I heard that there is only one thief," Xu Jin continued, "this man is very skilled, and he robbed the military rations with his bare hands." But what is somewhat strange is that not only did he not hurt anyone, but he only robbed a cart of food! ”

"Hearing you say that, you look like a thief." Song Jingxiu said with a smile.

"I just felt that something was wrong, so I traveled lightly and came to investigate to see if I could find out what happened. After all, this person's behavior is not like that of an ordinary robber, and if there is a reason for doing it as a last resort, I also hope to meet him. Chen Qingzhi said on the side.

Song Jingxiu lowered his head and was silent for a while, then said slowly, "There is a camp for displaced people near here, you can go there and ask, maybe there will be any clues." ”

"Outcasts?"

Song Jingxiu nodded, "The Han people who fled to Daliang from the Northern Wei Dynasty probably can't survive in their hometown." ”

"Okay, let's go check it out!"

Following Song Jingxiu's pace, the group walked through the forest.

"Song Zhuangshi, how do you know about the exiles?" Ma Phronen asked.

"I also stumbled upon it when I was wandering around."

Everyone chatted casually without saying a word, and after walking a distance, Song Jingxiu stopped and pointed ahead, "Look, it's over there." ”

Everyone followed Song Jingxiu's fingers and looked over, there were many figures in the woods in front of them, and there should be a lot of them.

As I got closer, the scene began to become clear. As Song Jingxiu said, this is indeed a camp for displaced people.

They were ragged and looked tired and weak; There are also no tents that can be used to shelter from the wind and rain. Although the winter has gradually passed, the cold air in the forest has not completely dissipated, the air is cold and damp, and the ground is covered with dead branches and leaves, revealing a desolate and desolate atmosphere.

There were several bonfires scattered in the camp, and people gathered in groups in front of the fire, sitting or standing, sharing the warmth brought by the flames.

The arrival of Song Jingxiu and his party was like throwing a stone into a pool, and the originally lifeless atmosphere began to become lively.

Many people gathered around, and they showed extraordinary enthusiasm for Song Jingxiu, which surprised Chen Qingzhi and others.

"Eun Gong!"

"Eun Gong is here!"

Song Jingxiu also kept grinning and kept greeting these people.

Ma Funian approached Chen Qingzhi and whispered in his ear, "Lord, Song Zhuangshi is obviously very familiar with these people, and he feels that something is wrong in his later life, so please be careful." ”

"I know." Chen Qingzhi responded in a low voice, and instructed everyone, "Don't say much for a while, don't be impatient for a while, I will deal with it." ”

Everyone sat down at a fire. Song Jingxiu indifferently enjoyed the warmth of the flame; Xu Jin and Hui Ze's minds were not on heating, but vigilantly watching the movements around them; Although Ma Funian was forced to be calm, he could clearly see the nervousness in his heart, and he kept a straight face and did not say a word.

Chen Qingzhi looked around—nearly half of the people in the camp were the elderly, weak, women and children. From their eyes, Chen Qingzhi saw timidity, confusion, and despair, and all kinds of negative emotions spread in the air, making Chen Qingzhi's heart can't help but feel a touch of sadness.

The men were still stubbornly fighting their spirits, but they still showed pain, unwillingness, and some anger from the bottom of their eyes.

Chen Qingzhi asked softly, "Where did you come from?" Why did you end up here? ”

No one answered his question, but all looked at Song Jingxiu. Song Jingxiu took care of the fire and was silent.

Finally, an old man who looked to be in his sixties finally broke his silence and replied cautiously, "We are all ordinary people, from the north. ”

"North? Northern wei dynasty? Chen Qingzhi asked.

The old man hesitated for a moment, but nodded.

"Uncle, you don't need to be afraid." Chen Qingzhi tried his best to make his tone appear kind to ease the other party's worries. "It was Song Zhuangshi who brought us here, we are not bad people, if there is any difficulty, maybe we can help a little."

The old man set his eyes on Song Jingxiu again. Song Jingxiu was still silently roasting the fire, but he still nodded lightly.

As if he had been allowed to do so, the old man spoke slowly.

"We were originally the people of Runan, Yuzhou. Last year, Yuzhou suffered a disaster, and the harvest was greatly reduced, but the government's taxes and servitude became heavier and heavier, and I really couldn't survive......" The old man sighed in a sad tone, sighing as he spoke, "The descendants of several villages near us, in a fit of anger, gathered together, attacked the tax collection team, and killed the tax collection officials......

"The result, of course, was to attract the military. Many villages have suffered - the people of the village have been killed, even the women and children, it is so miserable......" The old man could not help but wipe away his tears.

"Who is it that would do such a unconscionable thing?" Chen Qingzhi was filled with righteous indignation.

"The Xianbei Hao clan in that area—the army of the Su Gu family." Even if the name was just mentioned, the old man's tone was still full of fear.

"Bone?!" Xu Jin couldn't help but interject and asked, "Could it be the white rakshasa?" ”

The old man's eyes were full of doubts and horror, "You...... Why do you know the nickname of the young master of the Su Gu family? ”

"Sure enough, it's the thief!" Hui Ze gritted his teeth and said, "I don't know how to restrain myself, and I'm still doing evil!" ”

"If you encounter this thief again, even if you fight for my life, you must take his dog's life!" Xu Jin's eyes were furious, and this sentence popped out word by word from between his teeth.

"Little brother, calm down." Song Jingxiu interjected lightly, "I'm a little curious, why do you know the person the old man said?" ”

Hui Ze patted Xu Jin on the shoulder, signaled him to calm down, and then briefly told about their grievances with the White Rakshasa, "In fact, the little monk and Xu Jin met in the area of Yuzhou......"

"It seems that the two brothers are also righteous people, very good!" Song Jingxiu raised his head and looked at Xu Jin and Hui Ze with lazy eyes, "But justice depends on strength as a guarantee, if it weren't for your luck and meeting that Brother Yang, at this time, I am afraid that it would have become a wilderness and dry bones." ”

"What did you say?" Xu Jin's anger rushed up again, and he suddenly got up, his fists clenched firmly.

Hui Ze and Chen Qingzhi hurriedly took Xu Jin's hand and dragged him to sit down.

"Look, little brother, you really have to change your temper." Song Jingxiu still had that iconic smile on his face.

"You're so annoying!" Although Xu Jin sat down, he was still unconvinced, stared at Song Jingxiu angrily, and said in a low voice.

"These wealthy families have committed atrocities indiscriminately, so don't the government ignore them?" Chen Qingzhi pulled the topic back.

"Can they manage it? These wealthy families are all from prominent families, and some are even relatives of the emperor. The old man sighed, "Besides, aren't these taxes and servitudes levied by the imperial court?" The current queen mother doesn't care about the life and death of us grass people, and she is scavenging more and more ruthlessly year by year, in their eyes, we are really not as good as ants......"

"Even if she suffers a disaster, she is still so reckless, this Empress Dowager Hu, does she really not have the slightest compassion?" Chen Qingzhi whispered to himself.

"There's no way, if we stay in the original village, even if we are not killed by the army of the bones, we will starve to death sooner or later. In order to survive, everyone discussed and simply fled south......"

"It's not easy for you to get here." Chen Qingzhi sighed.

"We are also lucky to have met good people, otherwise I am afraid that we will not be able to get out of Yuzhou." The old man continued, "On the way, we met the army of the Su Gu family, and the leader of the team was a veteran. Instead of hunting us down, he showed us a relatively safe route and told us to leave as soon as possible. ”

The old man clasped his hands together and muttered, "There is still a good man, may he live a long life!" ”

"Veteran?" Hui Ze asked the old man, "Is he one-eyed?" ”

"Well, one-eyed indeed." The old man recalled, "Is that blind eye? I think it's the left eye. ”

"It's the veteran!" Hui Ze and Xu Jin looked at each other and nodded.

"But the surname is Hua?" Hui Ze asked.

"We also asked him for his name, but the gentleman said that he could not stop these atrocities, and that he would not have the face to leave his name. He only hoped that more people would escape and live, so that his sins would be lightened a little......"

"I have good thoughts in my heart, but I meet such a cruel lord, this veteran is quite sad." Ma Funian sighed on the side.

"Why are you stationed in this forest?" Chen Qingzhi continued to ask.

"There's no way, we're northerners after all, and I don't know how Nanliang will treat us. Along the way, everyone can only rely on begging along the village to survive. Although there will always be well-wishers who give some food, it is still not enough for everyone to wrap their stomachs. It's already the limit to get here, just when everyone felt that they were going to die in a foreign country, they met Song Engong and saved dozens of our lives. ”

"Oh, I don't know how Song Zhuangshi saved so many of you?"

"Engong, he ......" The old man suddenly stopped talking and looked at Chen Qingzhi vigilantly, "Although you were brought by Engong, who are you?" ”

"We are from the Yixing military camp, looking for the stolen military rations." Chen Qingzhi said calmly.

Although Chen Qingzhi seemed unfazed, his words caused a sudden commotion among the people in the vicinity - some men quickly leaned over and surrounded them in the middle.

Xu Jin and Hui Ze also jumped up, nervously watching these people's every move.

Ma Funian couldn't help but lean close to Chen Qingzhi, glanced left and right, closely watched the development of the situation, and his arms clenched into fists trembled slightly.

Among the people present, in addition to Chen Qingzhi, there was also Song Jingxiu - he seemed to have finally warmed his body, raised his hands, and comfortably supported a long lazy waist.

"I guess you probably guessed who robbed you of your food?" Song Jingxiu laughed.

Chen Qingzhi nodded, "What about the grain?" ”

Song Jingxiu shook his head and said, "Of course let them hide, maybe buried in the ground, or hidden in a cave, I don't know." ”

As he spoke, Song Jingxiu stood up and carried the horse chopping knife on his shoulder, "They need these grains more than you." Besides, I've only picked up one car, so I won't make you hungry. ”

"You know the purpose of our trip, but you can completely keep us apart, but why did you bring us here?" Chen Qingzhi also stood up and looked directly into Song Jingxiu's eyes.