Although it has reached spring, the wind is still tearing on people's faces, and the weather is clearly getting warmer, but there is no warmth on people's bodies.

A dead morning mist hung over the village, crows croaked in the treetops, and even the new leaf buds on the trees were not the green of the previous years, but a gray yellow.

Even such gray-yellow leaf buds were still picked up by Ma Dabao, and then stuffed into his mouth, filling his hunger.

Looking back at the little girl who was following behind him, Ma Dabao sighed and handed over a handful of leaf buds.

Both of them were so tired that they didn't even have the strength to speak. The little girl took Ye Ya'er silently, and before she even had time to chew, she swallowed it into her stomach.

Today is good, and I have eaten a few handfuls of elm money leaves, it seems that it is right to take this road - I heard that the plague is serious here, but so what, plague death is death, starvation death is not death?

The little girl behind him followed him silently, Ma Dabao didn't pay any more attention, his compassion is limited, who can save anyone in this *** year?

This is the territory of Jingshi Hejian Mansion, the land of Yan Zhao, originally there were many generous and sad people, but since the Yuan and Ming dynasties were set here, there are fewer talents. And at the end of this dynasty, there were even fewer such people, for example, when Emperor Yongchang of Dashun entered the Beijing Division, there were not many people who were loyal to the country, and when they were transferred to Jianyu and entered the Beijing Division, they were even more descending.

Ma Dabao didn't understand these things, and what he was thinking about was still how to hold out to the east bank of the canal.

For more than a month. As long as the news can reach the place, I heard rumors that Nanhai Bo - now the small court of Jinling has changed his title to Nanhai Marquis in exchange for support - Yu Guozhen put grain and medicine on the east bank of the canal to help the victims. Gyeonggi is not a place to produce grain in the first place, and many towns and cities have relied on food supplies from other places, and since last year. First of all, the Dashun Yongchang Emperor intercepted the Cao Road, then the Yellow River flooded, and then the Dashun Dynasty Ming and the plague rose. There is no way to bring in food from outside. Thus, famine ensued.

Of course, the plague was more terrible than the famine, as far as Ma Dabao knew. As long as there are those who can move and want to live, there is no one who does not want to escape from the epidemic area. But going north, Jianyu immediately retreated to the outside of the pass after occupying the Jingshi abandoned by Li Zicheng, and directly closed the Shanhaiguan, fearing the introduction of the plague, and even began to learn from Nanhai Bo to engage in isolation. To the west, Li Zicheng hastily retreated into the west of the mountain, and also began to engage in isolation.

But there is no way to survive in the isolation of these two places, and if the people flee there, it is a dead word, thrown into a closed place and left to eat or drink. Left to their own devices. Only Nanhai Bo is isolated in the east of Shandong, and he will eat and drink for fifteen days!

While Ma Dabao was pondering, he heard the sound of horses' hooves.

Ma Dabao suddenly became alert, and drilled into the grass of the trench by the roadside, and then saw the girl coming in like him.

More than 100 horsemen came from afar. After a while, they reached their side, and just as Ma Dabao begged them to leave quickly, the hundred or so horsemen stopped.

"Is this the village?" Someone whispered.

"General, this is the village, and the whole village has been plagued."

Ma Dabao was not surprised by the news. He had long sensed that something was wrong with the village, and there was no sound at all at this time. He could only hear that these people were talking a little strangely, and he couldn't help but look up through the cracks in the grass, and saw that each of them was wearing a strange hood, which firmly covered their mouths and noses, as if they had put a sock on their heads.

If he usually sees such a person, Ma Dabao will be happy, but at this time, it only makes him feel weird.

"Go and burn the village, and if anyone comes out, take control of it immediately."

"General, why bother, if there is a living person, kill it." Another person hummed and said, "We're accumulating virtue!" ”

"Nanhai Bo even provides medicine to the sick, and we bundle up the people and send them to ......" The man who was called the general said tiredly: "Brothers, ......"

"General, we did this to save ourselves, how Nanhai Bo did it is Nanhai Bo's business!" The man stopped: "General, we have to think about our brothers!" ”

The only person who is called a general is Murran.

The fire broke out quickly, but fortunately, no one in the village rushed out, so they must have died. For Ma Dabao, this was not an unexpected result. He fled from Shuntianfu to Baodingfu, passing through six or seven counties, and saw more than a dozen of such extinct villages.

The girl behind her is the only survivor in a certain village.

After setting fire to the village, the group turned to leave, but at this moment, a gust of wind suddenly blew through, blowing down the grass, revealing the small half of Ma Dabao's body, which fell into the eyes of the general.

"Who, who's lying in the grass!" The general snapped, and immediately after, the surrounding soldiers came out with swords and spears one by one, pointing in this direction.

Ma Dabao hurriedly got up and knelt on the ground: "Villain, villain didn't get the plague, villain just passed by, not from here!" ”

In his hurry, he only cared about defending himself, for fear that the other party would think of him as a plague carrier. The general stared at him, and before he could speak, the person next to him said: "Kill, it is better to kill by mistake than to misplace!" ”

"Yes, if he carries the plague......"

As he was talking, there was another movement in the grass, and the little girl came out on her knees, ran to Ma Dabao's side, grabbed his arm, and then kept kowtowing to the general. Although she didn't speak, everyone knew what she meant.

is interceding for Ma Dabao.

Ma Dabao didn't expect that this little girl would come out to intercede for him at this time, just because he was windy, he was an adult, so he couldn't lie down in the grass, but the little girl was thin and small, and she was not noticed by this group of military masters!

This made Ma Dabao forget to defend himself, and also made the sergeants who were urging the general to give orders stunned.

This little girl is no more than ** years old at most, if there are no adults around, in this realm where the white bones are exposed in the wild and there is no rooster crow, it will definitely not be able to hold on. Even the wild dogs, whose eyes were red from eating the carcasses, would take her as their prey.

These sergeants are naturally not well-wishers, but they are also not born evil.

"You're not from this village, why are you here?" The general asked.

"There is no way to live, and when I heard that Nanhai Bo of the eastern boundary of the mountain was saving people over there, I thought about running away." Ma Dabao cried: "Uncles, the villain is really not, he is really not the messenger of the plague!" ”

"General, or ......"

"Let them fend for themselves, and don't allow them to enter the Silent Sea." The general hesitated, then took a bag from behind his waist and threw it on the ground.

"Thank you, general, thank you!" Ma Dabao kowtowed repeatedly.

"Don't drink raw water, don't drink dead water, dead animals, don't move." The general said, "That thing is a plague...... Go south along the canal, if you are lucky enough to make it to Cangzhou, there will be Nanhaibo's people there. ”

After the general finished his explanation, he said to the soldiers beside him: "Give them some of your dry food, and we will go back without taking a lot of dry food." ”

The soldiers threw down three more pockets, and Ma Dabao kowtowed again and again, and his heart was full of joy. Immediately, he thought of one more thing, and hurriedly said loudly: "The general saved the villain's life, dare to ask the general's surname, if the villain can live, he will set up an immortal tablet for the general!" ”

The general waved his hand and didn't say anything, but the soldiers beside him raised their voices and said, "Our general is Li Gongyan, the general of the Eastern Expedition under the command of Emperor Dashun!" ”

Ma Dabao repeated Li Yan's name twice in his heart, and when he saw that the other party was far away, he got up and grabbed the bag on the ground in his hand.

The little girl also got up and looked at him in a daze.

"You little girl has a conscience...... This bag is for you, and it's filled with food...... It's a grain of rice! After pinching the bag, Ma Dabao was overjoyed, this thing was hungry!

With the rice grains left by Li Yan, they lasted for six days and finally arrived in Cangzhou. At this time, the canal had thawed, and because of the Yellow River's rush to the road, ice appeared on the river, and only a temporary steel-wood mixed bridge could be passed. When Ma Dabao arrived at Qiaotou with the girl, there were already hundreds of people gathered here, all of whom were victims who fled from Jingshi and Beizhili like them.

A group of soldiers dressed tightly and covering their entire bodies stood at the bridge, and every person who crossed the bridge had to register with them, and then they were taken aside, and when they had gathered fifty, three men would come and preach loudly. Ma Dabao waited for half an hour with the little girl, and then there were fifty people, and then three people took them to the side.

"Please sit down, you can get here, it's been very hard along the way, for the convenience of you, and for our convenience, there are a few things to explain first." Ma Dabao pulled the little girl to his side, and heard one of the three people standing on a high place and saying loudly: "We Xinxiang come to help the people, sometimes it is inevitable to restrain them, if you can't be restrained, please go elsewhere, leave now." ”

Naturally, no one left, and the man waited for a while, and then said, "Since you don't leave, you are willing to accept the constraints." In a moment, I'll lead you across the bridge, and when you get to the other end of the bridge, don't run around, follow me—those who run will be killed on the spot!" ”

Someone took a breath of cold air, and Ma Dabao and many more people remained silent about it.

"If you want to do something, or if you need something, be sure to raise your arms and shout 'report', and in general, don't make loud noises. After crossing the bridge, I will take you to the temporary isolation center, where you are not allowed to cross each other's doors, lest anyone get sick and spread the illness to others. I will stay in the temporary isolation center for a total of 10 days......"

The man said very trivially, little by little, but Ma Dabao didn't dare to miss any point, this is a big matter related to his life! (To be continued)