"Lao Zhuo really has you, if there is a beautiful woman, I will rush to give someone a backpack for my brother!"

"Really, why is this kid Zhuo still sneaky, and I don't know how to introduce him. Ay! Come on and tell you, Zhuo Zhuo has a good ......"

In the loud broken mouth of the burp man's voice, Zhuo Zhuo nodded to the boy who apologized, and led Linghua and Henggu to the depths of the town.

The roads in the town are narrow enough for two people to walk side by side. The road is narrow, but straight, and the mud houses of each family are neatly arranged, and the surroundings are very quiet, and there is no one on the road.

Suddenly, six people came from the side with a large wooden barrel one person high, and two people in the middle pushed the wooden cart, and the wooden barrel rested on the cart. Seeing them coming, Zhuo Zhuo raised his hand to say hello, and stepped aside with Linghua and Heng Gu.

The wooden barrel passed by Linghua's side, and she took a deep breath and smelled the strong smell of medicine.

Continuing back to the original route, Linghua looked around as he walked, the towering earthen walls were much the same, only the rag dolls hanging at the door of each house were unique.

These rag dolls come in a variety of shapes, some have large heads and small bodies, some only have eyes and no lips, and are more like handmade dolls made in a hurry.

Linghua pointed to the rag doll and asked Zhuo Zhuo: "Zhuo Messenger, these dolls are very cute, why do you want to hang this?" ”

Zhuo Zhuo's face was complicated, he didn't want to look at these rag dolls, and said without squinting: "It's just a custom." ”

Linghua heard that he was hiding something, but he just answered and stopped talking.

The three of them arrived at the gate of a compound and said that it was a compound, but it was very cramped, not even as big as Chun Nuan Pavilion. Linghua looked up at the courtyard gate and found that there were no rag dolls hanging at the door.

In the small courtyard were a few simple rooms made of loess, in which two women sat on either side of the courtyard, leaning against the doorframe and sewing clothes under the thick curtains of the sun.

Zhuo Zhuo led them to the room facing the courtyard gate: "Only one room in the new two rooms is currently empty, so let's stay here." The desert is windy and sandy, and there are no windows in the house, so if you want to get some air, you have to lift the thick curtain at the door. ”

Linghua nodded in thanks and walked into the earthen house. As soon as I entered the house, I felt much cooler, and the small room was a mud bed, a wooden table covered with dust, and two benches.

The oil lamp on the table had bottomed out, and Linghua pointed to it and asked, "Can the envoy add some lamp oil to us?" ”

Zhuo Zhuo looked outside, walked into the house and whispered, "Why do you want to come back?" This is not the place where ordinary people should come. ”

He suddenly paused, stared at Linghua and looked at Heng Gu again: "No, you are not ordinary people. The hillside is six or seven miles away from Jieping Town, even if you wake up before dawn, how can you find this place so quickly? ”

Linghua shook his head: "Zhuo Envoy, you think too much, we are just lucky, we have traveled all the way to find here, just to find our friends." ”

Zhuo Zhuo was silent for a moment: "Since this is the case, then you can ask for more blessings." We serve all the food and drink here, and during the day the men go outside to work and the women stay at home. Stay in the house at night, don't go out for half a step, and don't light the lamp, you know? ”

Henggu asked, "Why don't you let the lights be lit?" If we don't light the lamp, we won't be able to see anything! And work, what kind of work do you have to do? ”

Zhuo Zhuo frowned: "You'll know tomorrow." I'm still saying the same thing, this is not the place you should come to, some people can't get out for a lifetime, and it's crazy to send you out and find it yourself. ”

Linghua sighed and said in a low voice: "Our friends, the two who came with us last night, how are they?" ”

"All I can tell you is that they're still alive." Zhuo Zhuo turned his head and walked out of the earthen house, shaking his head as he walked.

Heng Gu approached Linghua and said softly: "He is yesterday's brown bear?" ”

Linghua replied, "Exactly." It seems that he is a demon with good thoughts, and we can find him in the future. ”

Henggu wanted to put down his burden, but there was yellow sand everywhere, he took out one of his old clothes, wiped the table, stool and earthen bed, sat down on the earthen bed and said, "But he doesn't look like he wants to help us." ”

Linghua sat down beside him: "It depends on how we get in touch with him." ”

"You, are you new here?" A woman poked her head in at the door, her skin was yellow and black and rough, but her eyes were shining.

Linghua recognized her as the woman who was sitting in front of her house embroidering flowers just now, got out of bed and invited her in to sit, and wanted to pour water but found that there was no teapot and cup, so she also sat down and reported a false identity: "We are new here, my name is Ling Hua, this is my brother Ling Gu." ”

Henggu rolled up his old clothes and put them at the head of the bed, and nodded to the woman in casual clothes when he heard Linghua introduce himself.

When the woman saw Heng Gu's clear eyebrows and white skin, she immediately blushed and said shyly: "My name is He Yue, and I came here with my brother He Nian." You look like the sons and daughters of a big family, why do you want to come to Pingzhen? ”

Linghua was puzzled: "What does Miss He Yue mean by this?" ”

He Yue said slowly: "I heard my brother say that most of the people who come here are poor people, and they are people who have made great efforts, I have lived here for half a year, and I have never seen such a white person as you." ”

Heng Gu jumped off the bed and sat down beside Linghua: "Actually, we also work, but we don't work as hard as the girl's brother, working for one hour and resting for two hours, so I don't get a tan." ”

He Yue laughed: "Brother Ling is real, so he admits that he is lazy." But there's no such a good errand here, and being lazy is going to be beaten. ”

Heng Gu was puzzled, he leaned forward and asked, "What do men do during the day?" Look at it so strictly? ”

He Yue watched Henggu's white and tender face approach, covered her reddened face with her hand, her eyes dodged, and her voice was like a mosquito buzzing: "My brother didn't tell me about this, saying that he told me that he would be heard by the gods of heaven and that he would be punished." ”

Heng Gu remembered the strong force and sat up straight: "It's so mysterious, have you really seen someone being punished?" ”

He Yue nodded: "Of course, the person who leaked the secret can't escape the eyes of God, he will be caught and sent to the hillside to wash his sins, and he can only come back after God forgives him." ”

It was self-evident where the hillside was, and Heng Gu pulled out a smile and nodded: "I see...... That's really the biggest punishment. ”

He looked at the oil lamp, ready to change the subject: "Then why ...... at night?"

Before he finished speaking, a man came into the yard with a large pile of things, pointed at He Yue and said noisily: "Who asked you to visit the door, go back to your own house!" ”

He Yue seemed to be very afraid of this man, and quickly ran back to his room with a hunched body.

The man strode into the room, and the two looked up to see that it was a burping man. He put down the things in his hand and asked Linghua coldly: "Is the girl still used to it?" That's it here, the earthen house and the mud wall, if the girl has any needs, tell me, I will give you what I can give you. ”

Linghua looked at the things in his hand and asked delicately, "What did the little brother bring?" ”

The man shook off what he had brought, two straw mats and two quilts. He grinned, "It's something that everyone has, so you have it too." ”

He pulled out another kettle from his bosom: "But this is not for everyone. ”

Linghua's eyes lit up faintly, in the desert, water is more precious than gold, but she also understands that the burping man will not give it to her in vain if he can take out water. She asked, "Why did the little brother give it to me?" ”

The burp man really laughed lewdly: "I'll pick you up after dinner tonight." I'll just talk to you, tomorrow, this pot of water will be yours. ”

Heng Gu glared angrily at the burping man, he clenched his fists and stood in front of Linghua: "It's impossible for my sister to go, if you want to chat, I'll accompany you!" ”

The burping man's smile fell suddenly, he was less than the tip of Henggu's nose, pointed at Henggu and scolded, "What are you?" Dare to talk to me like that! ”

Heng Gu was not afraid, raised his head and lowered his eyes to look at him: "You want to fight? ”

The burp man saw that Henggu was a hard stubble, rolled up his sleeves and said fiercely: "Tell you, tomorrow you won't be able to eat and walk around!" After saying that, he put the kettle in his arms and left in a hurry.

Seeing him leave, He Yue poked her head out of her room, trotted into Linghua's house, and asked with concern, "Miss Ling, you didn't promise him, did you?" ”

Linghua shook his head: "No, my brother drove him away for me." ”

He Yue breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good, don't promise him, he has no water in the kettle at all, it's bluffing." ”

She lowered her voice and pointed to the house opposite her: "The woman opposite me was afraid of him, and she came back and got nothing." At that time, her man was still alive, and he was also a bad breed, so he let her go all night, and she still cries all day long. ”

Linghua asked, "Who is he?" Why be afraid of him? ”

He Yue explained: "He is the envoy of Jiao, just like the envoy Zhuo who sent you over, he is the caretaker here. Don't look at him yelling all day long, he is actually a paper tiger. When we first arrived, he also bluffed me like this, and was punched to the ground by my brother, and I couldn't get up for a long time, and he never came to provoke us again. ”

It turned out to be a guy who bullied the soft and was afraid of the hard, Linghua secretly thought to himself, such a person is the best to deal with. She asked He Yue: "Are they all caretakers here?" Where are the townspeople, and why don't they let us out? ”

He Yue looked outside the door and said secretly: "I saw that you have a good face, so I told you, I have never seen the townspeople here, and all I see are outsiders who have been arrested."

I heard that there are nine rooms in this town, like a nine-square grid. Just entering the town gate from left to right are the first one, the first two and the last one, the center of the town is the first three, the first four and the second back, and finally the royal one, the new one and the new two. We live in the new second room, which is where the newcomers live.

From the time I moved in to the present, I have only been active in the new two rooms, and we are not allowed to visit each room, and only the messenger comes in and takes us away, and we can go to other places.

Visiting the door is not something that can be strung casually, only fourteen or twenty-eight a month, and you can walk around in the room you belong to on these two days, and you can only walk around in the yard the rest of the time, which is suffocating. ”

She licked her parched lips and continued, "As for the messenger...... They are the stewards of the town, not the highest-ranking ones, but they also have minions under them. Those little soldiers are all called rational, they are all dressed in black and masked, and there are more people. I have never seen anyone more advanced than the messenger, and I don't know what it is called.

I don't know about the other rooms, but the new two rooms are more relaxed, and there are not many messengers, so I can see one or two occasionally. According to my brother, the other people in the room would see five or six messengers watching them every day, which was terrifying. ”

Linghua was grateful in her heart, and said "thank you" to her several times, and He Yue saw that it was almost time for lunch, so she also got up to leave.

Before leaving, Linghua asked her again: "Does Miss He know that many people here have rag dolls hanging in front of their homes?" ”

He Yue was surprised: "Rag doll? When I first arrived, I was already in the new second room, and no one here hung rag dolls in front of the door, did you see anything else? ”

Linghua shook his head: "No, maybe I read it wrong." ”

He Yue smiled: "Miss Ling can chat with me again when you have time, I am usually very bored." ”

Linghua agreed, sent He Yue to the door, and saw that the person who delivered the meal came.

The manager who delivered the food left it at the door of the room and left without saying a word. Linghua stepped forward to see that the lunch was two steamed buns and a small bowl of pickles, as well as two bowls of white porridge. Two pairs of old wooden chopsticks rested on the clay bowl containing the white porridge and almost fell to the ground.

Heng Gu slowly brought the rice to the table, he looked at the bland white porridge and had no appetite, turned his head to look at the five or six pickles, picked up a piece and bit a small piece with his front teeth and smashed it: "Is this a cactus?" ”

Linghua picked up the white porridge and smelled it, then broke the steamed bun and sensed it for a moment: "It's all normal, you can eat it." ”

She took a bite of the steamed bun and drank the white porridge, Heng Gu saw that she was like a delicacy, and he also took a big bite of it, and self-hypnotized while eating: "That's right, only after eating strength can you find someone, how can you live without eating?" It's meat, it's meat......"

Linghua laughed when she heard this, and she pulled a piece of white-flour steamed buns: "Then I'm eating cloud cake." ”

Henggu also pulled off a piece: "I'm a mung bean cake." ”

Linghua took a sip of white porridge: "I'm a white jade soup." ”

Henggu also took a sip: "Then I will drink bird's nest porridge." ”

The two of them laughed and ate, and soon finished their first meal in Jieping Town. After half an hour, the reasonable person came to take back the dishes and chopsticks in silence.

The sun at noon was very dazzling, Henggu spread the straw mat and thick quilt sent by Jiao's envoy on the earthen bed, lay down and patted the vacant seat beside him, and said peacefully: "If you come, you will be safe, anyway, we can't go out, and we can fight tomorrow with enough spirit." ”

Linghua sat beside him and leaned against the wall: "It makes sense." ”