The late autumn rain was cold, and the oil lamps jumping in the house were intractable and extinguished, while at the same time there was a knock on the door in the sound of the brushing rain.

The old man jumped up in shock.

The knock on the door stopped for a moment, as if to give the people in the room a chance to come to their senses, and then it rang again, piercing through the rain but not smashing people's hearts.

Through the knock on the door, the old man seemed to be able to see a strong man outside the door, but he was not vicious.

"Who?" The old man asked in a trembling voice, and did not take a step forward, his hand grasping the corner of the table tightly.

"Uncle, passerby, it's raining too much and I want to spend the night." The male voice outside was calm and powerful, piercing the heavy rain.

Spend the night, the old man looks at his narrow and simple interior.

"It's inconvenient in the house, but it's okay to be outside the yard, tell your husband so as not to be scared." A female voice came.

Woman, girl to be exact, the old man hesitated and slowly walked to the door, looking out through the dilapidated door, it was pitch black, and the figure overlapped with the night.

The figure was blocked by a circle of fences and wooden doors, and the sparse fence and simple door panel were shaken by the wind and rain, but the figure behind seemed to face the iron wall and could not step forward.

The old man sighed lightly in his heart and opened the door: "Let's talk about it first." ”

Kumquat lit the lamp with the oil he had brought with him, Fang Er took the lotus hat and amber shirt that Li Minglou had untied, and the surprised old man in the corner looked horrified.

When the torch was lit at the gate of the courtyard, the figure wearing a lotus flower and a yellow shirt appeared in front of him in the night, and the old man thought that he had seen a fairy, and he was surprised and overwhelmed.

And when the coat and hat were untied, the girls under them turned out to be ghosts.

Immortal? Monster?

"I'm looking for a doctor passing by here, and I'm disturbing my husband." Li Minglou took the initiative to explain and appease.

Doctor, when you are sick, you can't see people on your face, pitiful, the fear on the old man's face disappeared suddenly, and it was replaced by sympathy.

"Miss can live in the house, and the rest of us will rest under the porch and in the woodshed." Motoyoshi thanked the old man.

The old man looked out of the door, and although he was invited, only these few people walked in, and everyone else was still standing quietly outside and being washed by the rain.

"How good is that, it's raining so hard, and it's cold." The old man said, picking up his crutches, "You wait a minute, I'll go find a place for you to live, our village is not big, but dozens of people can still squeeze in, but it's not convenient now, alas, you wait, I'll ask." ”

He limped on crutches and walked out with a muttering voice.

Yuan Ji wanted to go with him, but was rejected by the old man: "It's not good, it's not good, I'll go by myself." Muttering, he took his coat and hat and went out in the rain.

Although it was in a strange and humble place, Li Minglou was not uncomfortable, he sat down by himself, Kumquat also set out a clay stove, and when a pot of tea was boiled, the old man limped back with a cane, followed by seven or eight villagers, looking at them with a frightened expression under the reflection of torches.

Li Minglou could see that they were scared, but they agreed to spend the night, although most of the provided were firewood houses, livestock sheds and under the eaves, which was enough for Yuan Ji and the others.

They carry an oil tent to cover them from the rain, so that they can have a good rest.

Fang Er and Jin Ju accompanied Li Minglou to the old man's place, and Yuan Ji and the others followed the villagers to disperse, and the noisy and noisy rainy night gradually calmed down.

Kumquat simply made the bed, Li Minglou lay down to rest, Kumquat and Fang Er laid the ground, and the old man avoided the firewood shed.

There was nothing to say all night, and the rain stopped at dawn, even though his head and face were wrapped, Li Minglou pushed open the door and felt that his face was clear, and he also saw the village clearly.

The village is not big or small, the old man lives in the village, and then you can see the scattered houses, all of which are simple adobe houses, a small number of them have low walls, most of them are fenced bamboo doors, but the clear breath after the rain is mixed with fireworks, but there is no smoke rising in the village, and there is no rooster and dog barking, is the chicken and dog still sleeping......

Yuan Ji came over: "Miss, you can go." ”

The soldiers who had rested for the night on the main road outside the village had straddled their horses and were ready to go.

"Each house put a piece of silver." Motoyoshi said.

Li Minglou doesn't care about these little things: "This village is a little weird. ”

Yuan Ji said: "Some houses in the village have been burned, and there are still cries in the people we live in at night, and some people hang white cloths to hold funerals. ”

Is it a late autumn dry fire? Everyone in this world has their own sadness and troubles.

Li Minglou didn't ask again to leave, and the old man limped out of the stove: "There's nothing to entertain, I boiled a pot of hot soup, you guys drink it to warm up." ”

Li Minglou thanked him, and Kumquat walked over with a smile and stuffed a piece of broken silver to the old man: "Uncle, you take it, this is our accommodation money." ”

This piece of silver can't be used up for a year, and the old man was startled and threw the money back: "No, no, how can you ask for it." ”

Outside, some villagers also ran over with panicked faces, and it turned out that they had also found broken silver placed under the eaves to inquire and return it.

Yuanji repeatedly explained that it was a gift, but the villagers still didn't dare to accept it, Li Minglou was impatient with this kind of exchange, and wanted Yuanji to take it back, since giving the silver made them uneasy, then don't do bad things with good intentions.

The sound of horses' hooves and men's shouts interrupted the conversation in the distance.

"Daddy! Mother! ”

Li Minglou looked and saw a young man galloping on the road outside the village, wearing the soap robe of an official officer.

In the shouting, the people had already arrived at the entrance of the village, and saw the soldiers of Li Minglou standing there, although the soldiers were all disguised as guards, and they could hide from the villagers, but the momentum could not be concealed.

The young man immediately pulled out the knife in his waist: "Wait ....."

The old man and the villagers didn't care about the money, and they ran to shout at the same time.

"It's Xiaoqian!"

"Xiaoqian, don't be reckless, this is a passing passer."

"Xiaoqian, go back and take a look at your father."

With the shouts of the villagers, the young man who was called Xiaoqian put away his waist knife, crossed Yuanji and the others towards the village with red eyes, and the horse seemed to fly up as if he was urged.

"I'm glad I was able to see his father."

"Zhang Laohan is waiting for him with a sigh of relief."

"Poor, the family is gone."

"Who is not pitiful...."

There were voices of talking, sighing and crying, followed to the village, and in the blink of an eye, Li Minglou and his party were left, Li Minglou glanced at Yuanji, and Yuanji turned around and followed.

Kumquat thought for a while, walked into the old man's kitchen and brought a bowl of hot soup: "Miss, warm up." ”

The old man made a big pot of hot soup, and everyone could get half a bowl, and everyone was drinking the soup when Yuanji came.

"This village was looted by bandits a few days ago." He said.