In the Southern Ye Dynasty, in the thirteenth year of Jian'an, in September, the locust plague swept the wilderness and ravaged Jincheng. More than ten days later, the people of Jincheng ran out of food, and the imperial court was anxious about the war with the Nansheng Dynasty, so it did not send officials to relieve the disaster.

At that time, Wang Jixun was thirteen years old, and he entered the private school Mr. Zhou Bodang's disciple to learn Confucianism, in order to be able to serve the imperial court, pay homage to the marquis, and glorify the lintel. Because, the Nanye Dynasty respected Taoism, but most of the scribes in the court were Confucians.

Because the imperial court did not send officials to provide disaster relief, Wang Jixun's family has been without food for several days, and if there is no food, the family of four will starve to death. So, Wang Jixun's father, Wang Liang, opened his mouth and said, "Jixun, I have discussed it with your husband, and he will give our family some food." However, your younger brother is too young, no more than ten years old. And I, as the pavilion chief, have a lot of things to deal with, so I hope you can go to your husband's house and get the food back. ”

Wang Jixun didn't think about it, and agreed: "Don't worry, Dad, I will definitely transport the grain back to our house." ”

It's just that Wang Jixun didn't notice a trace of sadness in his father's eyes, as well as the saliva he swallowed when he turned his head.

Wang Jixun's residence is two or three miles away from Zhou Bodang's residence, and by the time Wang Jixun arrived at Zhou Bodang's residence, it was already three poles away. Wang Jixun knocked on the door, and it was his husband's wife, Zhang's wife, who welcomed him in.

As soon as he saw Wang Jixun, Zhang welcomed him into the house with great joy and shouted: "Husband, your beloved apprentice is here." ”

Wang Jixun was young and a little shy, and waved his hand again and again: "Master, I am a disciple, how can I let Mr. go out to greet him?"

Subsequently, Wang Jixun walked into the lobby with his sister and saw a middle-aged man with a goatee and dry and rough skin, holding a pen and writing the four big characters "The world is peaceful" on the white paper of a wooden table.

"Shu Xun is stupid, I don't know, what the words "the world is peaceful" written by Mr. Wang Jixun looked at the four words of peace in the world, and smiled bitterly in his heart, now that the locust plague is everywhere, and the victims are full of wilderness, where does the world come to be peaceful?

Zhou Bodang put down the brush, looked at Wang Jixun, and smiled: "The four words of peace in the world are naturally written meanings, and the realization is just around the corner." Don't you hear that the ancient saying goes: When the heavens descend to the people, they must first suffer their minds, strain their muscles and bones, starve their bodies and skins, empty their bodies, and act chaotically. This locust plague is just a test that God has arranged for us in Jincheng, if we can't even pass this test, how can we become the pillars of the imperial court?"

"Mr. is a great talent, worthy of being a famous Confucian scholar in our Jincheng!" Wang Jixun seemed to understand whether he understood or not, and exclaimed.

Zhou Bodang looked out the window, it was almost evening, so he said: "Xiaoxun, it's getting late now, and it's very dangerous for you to walk at night with food by yourself." Otherwise, stay for a meal, stay here for one night, and go back tomorrow morning, it's not too late!"

Originally, Wang Jixun planned to take the food and leave, but Zhou Bodang had no intention of taking out the food. Between pushing and procrastinating, Zhang's had already put dinner on the table. Of course, there is nothing to eat in this famine season, and the so-called dinner is just a few bowls of batter, a few coarse steamed buns, and a bowl of side dishes.

Wang Jixun originally wanted to shirk it, but he hadn't eaten anything for several days, and when he saw the food on the table, he really couldn't move his legs.

Zhou Bodang sat down around the table, Wang Jixun looked at it, and asked with some confusion: "Sir, my senior brother Zhou Qian, why don't you come to eat together?"

"Your senior brother has something to go out, it will take a few days, don't wait for him, let's eat." Zhang gave Wang Jixun a dish and explained with a smile.

"Thank you, Master. Wang Jixun looked at nearly half of the batter in his bowl, and then looked at Zhou Bodang and Zhang, who could only barely cover the bottom of the bowl. I couldn't help but feel a strong sense of gratitude in my heart, and secretly swore that if I soared in the future, I would not forget Mr. 's kindness.

"Eat, eat more, you're welcome. Zhou Bodang stared at Wang Jixun, who was eating a large piece, and his tone was gentle, like a spring breeze in March.

Wang Jixun was hungry, where did he care so much, he bit off half of the steamed bun in one bite, swallowed the batter in the bowl in a big gulp, and tears of gratitude flowed from the corners of his eyes.

Bang –

Suddenly, only a muffled sound was heard, Wang Jixun fell in response, and Zhou Bodang behind him slowly put away the thick jujube stick in his hand.

"Hehe, this stinky boy is really good at eating, and he has almost eaten all the food we have left. I only heard Zhou Bodang sneer, took the hemp rope handed over by Zhang, and tied Wang Jixun up.

Zhang's heart couldn't bear it, and said: "Jixun is still a child, how can we ......?"

"The kindness of a woman!"

Zhou Bodang slapped Zhang to the ground, and scolded: "Don't forget, this kid was exchanged for our son, and you couldn't bear to eat Qian'er before." Now, for your sake and to preserve our reputation, I will exchange children with Wang Liang and eat for children. What else do you want, woman, if you don't eat him, are we going to starve to death, or rather, eat you?"

It turned out that Zhou Bodang's family had run out of food and really had nothing to eat, so he wanted to eat his son. However, the Zhang family refused to live or die, and Zhou Bodang was worried that if the matter was exposed, his reputation would be ruined. After some thought, he discussed with Wang Jixun's father and changed his son to eat in order to survive. Wang Liang didn't like his second son in the first place, and in order to give birth to Wang Jixun before, his mother almost died in childbirth. So, the two hit it off, and each sent his son to the other's house to do this unavoidable thing.

Yi Zi eats, this word is by no means made up, it can be seen everywhere during the famine years, so Zhou Bodang has no psychological burden. After all, a son can be reborn when he dies, and if he dies, he is really dead.

Zhang, who was slapped by Zhou Bodang, also reacted, between life and death, excessive kindness is the way to die, not to mention not his own son. I have already hinted at my son, and he will definitely not be eaten by Wang Liang's family, and the most important thing now is how to keep himself alive.

"I'm going to get a knife, you're here watching him, and the other kid has run away. After Zhou Bodang finished the order, he turned around to find a firewood knife for chopping wood, which will be convenient to deal with later.

Zhang hurriedly agreed, and after she saw Zhou Bodang leaving, she came to Wang Jixun. Looking at Wang Jixun who was in a coma, she couldn't help but think of her child whose life and death were uncertain, and she reached out to touch Wang Jixun's face.

However, Wang Jixun suddenly burst out, and the jujube stick he picked up at some point had been planned for a long time, and hit Zhang's head hard, and Zhang died on the spot.

It turned out that after Wang Jixun was hit with a stick, he woke up quickly, Zhou Bodang was a teacher after all, and he was powerless. After Wang Jixun woke up, he heard the words of Zhou Bodang and Zhang, and when he listened to it, his heart was cold. He didn't expect that his beloved father, respected teacher, would be such a despicable and shameless person. In order to survive for himself, he ate for his son and attacked his former students.

At this time, Zhou Bodang happened to bring a firewood knife and prepared to unload Wang Jixun into eight pieces as future rations.

"Thief, dare to do this?" As soon as Zhou Bodang came in, he saw the Zhang family lying in a pool of blood, and couldn't help but be furious.

Wang Jixun was filled with indignation, picked up the jujube stick, and couldn't help but reprimand angrily: "Zhou Bodang, I treat you as a gentleman and respect you, why do you treat me like this?

"Hmph, the skin doesn't exist, the hair will be attached? What kind of bullshit benevolence and morality, if I starve to death because of these rigid things, is there any meaning? Only those who live are qualified to talk about these, ethereal things!" Zhou Bodang's face was full of sarcasm, and his skinny face showed a crazy expression.

Zhou Bodang picked up the firewood knife, circled the wheel, and slashed at Wang Jixun. Wang Jixun was not to be outdone, and parried with a jujube stick, staging a good show of "teacher and apprentice filial piety".

An hour later, Wang Jixun had become a bloody man, with more than a dozen knife wounds on his body, the depth of which was clear, and the blood flowed like an infusion. Wang Jixun was holding a firewood knife, and in front of him were two piles of meat pieces, two of which could still see the appearance of the master and the master in front of him. Wang Jixun picked up a bunch of pieces of meat and threw them into the cauldron, because there was no oil, he could only keep stir-frying with a shovel.

The bright moonlight outside the window shone on Wang Jixun's face, and he was so satisfied with his yellow and thin muscles, because he could finally report a meal. Wang Jixun said with a smile while stir-frying: "Thank you for Mr. Tou's last teaching, if you want to prevent others from eating, the only way is to eat others." Xun will be remembered!"

After that, with the help of his master and wife, Wang Jixun successfully survived and escaped from Jincheng. But this experience had a deep impact on Wang Jixun, and he also became addicted to eating * meat, and after a period of time, he joined the Gang Breeding. But because the senior brother was severely injured by the righteous path and was seriously injured, Wang Jixun ate him and was wanted by the sect. After he escaped, he used sweat medicine to open an inn in this barren mountain and wilderness, specializing in killing passers-by.

Wang Jixun's gaze returned to the present, and he took out a sachet containing the hair of his husband and senior brother, which he has always carried with him and kept it to this day.

"Sir, if there had not been a famine, would we have been able to realize the ideals of our hearts?"