After a while, the door creaked open, and a young woman came out, although she had not been groomed for a long time, she was quite sloppy, but she could still see a bit of posture, walking with a limp, a lame, presumably the daughter or daughter-in-law of the old woman.

The woman's expression was sad, her eyes were full of melancholy, and there was no lack of timidity in her words: "Guests, please come in." As he spoke, he stretched out his hand inward.

Lin Fengsheng said, "Thank you, I'm sorry." ”

Stepping into the house, it was very dim, and a pungent musty smell hit the end of the nose, and the fire flickered in a fire pit against the wall. The old woman cowered by the fire, holding something in her hand and slowly nibbling on it.

The woman said, "Please be seated." Lin Fengsheng gave another salute, sat down on a low wooden bench by the fire, and put the chicken and basket at his feet.

The woman asked again, "The guests haven't eaten yet, have they?"

Lin Fengsheng said: "No, Xiaosheng didn't know that it was so barren along the way, so he didn't prepare enough dry food." And because of the loss of the fire knife and flint, he couldn't make a fire, so he could only come to disturb him with a cheeky face. ”

The woman picked up a piece of firewood and scooped it in the fire pit a few times, rolled out a few black oval objects, and said, "The guest will eat a few sweet potato mats first, and I will cook for you." ”

Lin Fengsheng saw that the two of them were so miserable, and thought that the neighborhood was so desolate, even if they were given silver, they might not be able to buy food, and they must not consume their only rations, so he hurriedly said: "This sister, don't bother, I'll eat a few sweet potatoes." ”

Seeing that he was knowledgeable, the woman had a little more affection, and said: "You don't have to be polite, who doesn't have a problem when you go out, you bake the fire first, and I'll cook." As he spoke, he opened a pile of firewood and grass in the corner of the house, revealing a stone slab, revealing a jar embedded in the ground under the stone slab, and reaching out to bring out a small sack.

Lin Fengsheng knew that the sack must be filled with grain, so precious shows that it is not easy to come by, and this woman has such a good heart, she is not enough to treat the guests but she has no stinginess, in this place where the people are not happy, it is even more commendable, and he is a little more careless, so he got up and gave a salute and said goodbye.

The woman insisted on doing it, but Lin Fengsheng couldn't say anything, thinking that after the meal, she must give more silver taels to help the two of them. Then the woman poured the rice into the pot and began to wash the rice and cook it. Lin Fengsheng asked her to kill the chicken and cook it.

The old woman kept shrinking in the corner, the fear in her eyes had gradually disappeared, and she just kept looking at Lin Fengsheng. The eyes were deep and listless, and they were indescribably pitiful.

Lin Fengsheng saluted and said, "Old man, Xiaosheng is disturbed." ”

The old woman still stared at him blankly, her mouth open but she did not answer.

The woman killed the chicken by the fire, and said while washing and peeling it: "This is my mother-in-law, deaf and dumb, and the little minister doesn't have to pay attention to it." ”

Lin Fengsheng sighed and said, "May I ask my sister, where have all the people in the village gone?"

The woman sighed and said, "Dead and fleeing, now only me and my mother-in-law are left in the village, oh, there is an uncle from the family who has a serious illness in the east of the village." Alas, it's all the stammering dog robbers......"

Lin Fengsheng nodded silently, and after a while, he said, "Why don't you and the old man leave, don't you have any relatives in other places? ”

The woman said: "There are relatives, but I have bad legs and feet, so I can't walk that far." Besides, my mother-in-law is old and doesn't want to leave the place where she has lived most of her life. His eyes flickered, and he was obviously a little insincere.

Exactly: Tie a high-headed horse in front of the door, either in person or in person; put a begging stick at the door, and relatives and friends will not come to the door. It is not difficult to imagine the warmth and coldness of people.

The woman coughed lightly and said: "Don't tell the guests, those robbers killed my husband and ruined me, and they have promised to spare our orphans and widows. After saying that, he turned his head away embarrassedly, lest he see the disdainful eyes of the guests.

Lin Fengsheng heard it with anger and sympathy, this woman endured humiliation and secretly gave birth for her mother-in-law, which shows filial piety, not only did she not have the slightest contempt in her heart, but she admired it very much. He handed the remaining two sweet potatoes to the old woman and the woman, and said, "Eat some of them." ”

The old woman hesitated for a moment before taking it, and devoured it. The woman did not answer, and the Tao had already eaten.

The woman's legs and feet are inconvenient but the cooking is very skillful, and the meal is ready in a short time, the woman took out the dishes and chopsticks and washed them with hot water, and enthusiastically served the rice to Lin Fengsheng, Lin Fengsheng said: "You two also eat some." The woman just excused herself.

Lin Fengsheng insisted on serving a bowl for each of them, and the weeds and sand grains were eaten from time to time in this brown rice, which was a bit similar to what Lu Yao's horse gang ate, but fortunately, there was fragrant chicken and delicious chicken soup to eat, so he didn't feel how difficult to swallow.

The old woman thought that it was because she had not been stained with meat for a long time, and her mouth was babbling, and her wrinkled face was full of joy, and she devoured it, and it was very indecent to eat, and she had eaten three bowls in an instant, and her eyes were staring at the pot with some unfinished meaning. Seeing that there was not much rice left in the pot, the woman glanced at her and shook her head.

Seeing this, Lin Fengsheng hurriedly said, "Old man, eat more." Xiaosheng is already full. He added another bowl of rice to the old woman, and the pot was empty.

After eating, Lin Fengsheng took out a ingot, ten taels of ingots, handed it to the woman, and said, "Thank you sister, for your kindness, please accept this silver tael, and leave here with this old man." ”

The woman shook her hand again and again and said: "The little minister is too polite, these rice are also given by well-wishers, and besides, we have eaten your chicken, so we can't ask for your money." ”

Lin Fengsheng stuffed the silver into the woman's hand, groaned slightly, and said: "Xiaosheng has a friend in Olu City, surnamed Zhong, he is a langzhong, he is very famous in the local area, and he is enthusiastic, my sister can take your mother-in-law and the uncle who has a serious illness to go to the place." Xiaosheng's surname is Lin, and the grass character is born on the phoenix. Just put my name on it, and that friend of mine will take it in. ”

The woman was grateful, tearfully accepted the silver taels, and thanked her again and again.

Lin Fengsheng asked again: "Sister, do you know that the place where the bandits are entrenched in the road is not far from here, so Xiaosheng can take a detour." ”

The woman nodded and said, "Zhilu Dao, less than ten miles away from here, you have to be careful guests, don't run into them, these animals are very vicious." After speaking, he couldn't help but shudder, and subconsciously pulled the placket tightly.

Lin Fengsheng said again: "Xiao Sheng heard along the way that the imperial court has sent a large army to conquer this bandit, my sister should take the two old men away quickly, otherwise I don't know how much suffering will be suffered by the time the army is in chaos." ”

The woman hesitated for a moment and agreed. Lin Fengsheng was very relieved in his heart, although he was unable to help all sentient beings, he could help one by one, and he just wanted peace of mind.

Lin Fengsheng looked at the sky, it was already dark, and said to the woman: "Sister take care, Xiaosheng will leave." ”

When the woman heard this, she also turned her head to look out of the door, and said: "This area is full of barren mountains and mountains, and it is not a way for the little minister to sleep outside, if you don't dislike it, you will spend the night here, it's just ...... It's just ......" said that his face was embarrassed and he didn't say anything.

Lin Fengsheng saw that she wanted to speak and stopped, but said that it was the widow who was inconvenient to stay in the house because of etiquette, and hurriedly said: "It's okay, my sister has any extra fire knives and flints, if so, please give me a pair, so that I can use it to make a fire for warmth." ”

The woman was relieved to hear this, and went from the fire pit to give him a sword and a flint. Lin Fengsheng said goodbye to the woman and the old woman, and carried the bamboo basket to the mountain road.

After traveling for almost ten miles, we came across a fork in the road, the first road on the left leading into the depths of the mountains, and the other road running through the mountains, the latter being much more barren in comparison, with vegetation on both sides extending into the middle of the road. Both roads have horseshoe prints.

After a little thought, you will know that the former road leads to Baicaoling, and the bandits come and go frequently, so the road surface is very wide, the horseshoe prints are also very messy, and the road surface is full of fine dust, and the other road is the official road where the merchants passed in the past, because the bandits are rampant here, it has long ceased to be noisy and even almost deserted.

Ailao Mountain is high and deep valleys, the terrain is dangerous, and the ancient tea horse road passes through the hinterland, which has always been a place for soldiers and bandits. In the night, Lin Fengsheng looked at the reckless hazel forest, and couldn't help but feel an inexplicable sense of confusion in his heart, and couldn't help but shiver.

Mei Ruoxue had already followed Zhang Zhaokui into Baicaoling at this time, but how to contact the news made Lin Fengsheng difficult. I thought that I couldn't enter the cottage, so I had to find an excuse to let my cousin come down the mountain.

The climate in the primeval forest is humid and hot, and there are many poisonous snakes and beasts, Lin Fengsheng sat on a mountain rock and thought for a long time, but he didn't have a proper plan, and he didn't dare to delay on the ground, so he flew on a dry ancient tree. The ice toad of poison was placed in the burden on his shoulders, and he didn't expect it at the moment.

There was a hollow in the trunk of the old tree, and the hole was very dry enough to hold it, so he found some dead leaves to put in the hole, and spread the straw mat and animal skins that he bought from the villagers during the day, and prepared to spend the night here.