fifth form

Chapter 1831 A drink and a peck

After passing through the West Market, Zhang Xuezhou also quickly left the city in the evening.

At this time, some peddlers with good business had already started to leave Chang'an City and go home, so it was not too early.

Zhang Xuezhou was anxious, but the area he was heading to was a slum where there were few lanes for carriages to pass through, and it was not convenient to fly back and forth in broad daylight.

His legs were swinging so fast that he was inevitably out of breath.

If he had not used the Heavenly Clothes to change the clothes of the scholar waiting at the Golden Horse Gate, his hurried journey would have certainly been questioned.

It was almost dark when Zhang Xuezhou arrived at the thatched cottage where Wei Shaoer had stayed before.

Wei Shaoer's thatched hut was in a state of disrepair, and most of the thatch on the roof had been removed. Zhang Xuezhou felt a little disappointed, thinking that this place might have been abandoned.

"Who has seen Xu Yuan, the man who teaches people how to farm? If anyone can lead me to him, I'll give him ten and a half taels of silver!"

Zhang Xuezhou shouted loudly and used the simplest and most brutal method to find someone.

As soon as he finished speaking, two little kids around seven or eight years old came out from a nearby straw hut.

"I know!"

"Give me money and I'll lead the way!"

The little brats were grumbling.

It was rest time for the city dwellers, but the poor people and farmers outside the city had not yet returned home, and only these children were squatting in the houses.

After the two little kids shouted a few words, a few more round-headed kids poked their heads out and gathered around.

"You, you, you, you... and you, come over here and lead the way. There are ten and a half coins in total. Each of you can take one!"

The children outside the city are not well-behaved and obedient in the eyes of ordinary people. Perhaps because they have been influenced by too much, these children actually fight and snatch tasks.

Seeing these children starting to get physical and making the weaker ones retreat back one after another, Zhang Xuezhou couldn't help but yell.

"Whoever performs well and leads the way accurately will be rewarded with an extra half ounce of silver. No one who drags his feet will be rewarded!"

He opened his mouth and scolded again and again.

What kind of person is Zhang Xuezhou? Just a slight release of his monk aura was enough to frighten these naughty children into being obedient. None of them dared to look up into his eyes.

"Everyone, run for me!"

After the order was given, the children started running like crazy, leading him through the slums.

"Lu boy~"

Several shouts were heard from afar, and these little kids didn't dare to stop.

It was not until they were out of breath and some children began to fall behind due to exhaustion that these naughty children began to cry.

For these children, let alone ten and a half taels of money, even one and a half taels of money is a resource they need to fight for.

When Zhang Xuezhou looked at these young children, he felt that he saw the even more brutal competition among adults in the slums, and the people of Zhangjiazhuang were bound to suffer from this vicious competition.

This made him feel a little heavy, and it was difficult for him to figure out what would happen in the next few months.

After running for more than ten miles, passing by dilapidated houses and crossing fields, Zhang Xuezhou finally saw a child pointing forward and shouting breathlessly.

"My father said that Mr. Xu, who teaches people how to farm, and Mr. Xu, the good man, are often in that field!"

"What about people?"

“Maybe he’s still farming!”

"Maybe he went to the mountains!"

"He brought people to pick a lot of grass to eat!"

“So miserable!”

“There are also sour teeth!”

“There are a lot of tasteless ones!”

"He also asked people to pick leaves and boil them in water to drink!"

Many little brats complained.

The wild vegetables picked by Xu Ji and Xu Yuan really tasted bad, even the children from the slums complained that they were unpalatable.

However, many children did not mention eating dead people, which also proves that the wild vegetables picked by Xu Yuan and others are non-toxic or only slightly toxic and can be eaten by people to fill their stomachs.

Zhang Xuezhou suddenly remembered that Xu Yuan spent half a year traveling from Bashu to Chang'an City, and he had been eating wild fruits, weeds and other foods to fill his stomach along the way.

This made him feel much relieved.

Zhang Xuezhou could only be thankful for the guidance of the Agricultural Sect monks, otherwise the people of Zhangjiazhuang would have suffered in such a place, and many people might even starve to death. He considered many things, but his physical inconvenience made it impossible for Zhang Xuezhou to take care of everything.

When it comes to survival, a single moment of negligence can be fatal.

The reason why Zhang Xuezhou interacted with Xu Yuan and Xu Ji was more to seek the secret book of the Shijiao school. He believed that as long as Rong Tianding obtained the Shijiao book, the other party would lose his value. Now that he was receiving help from Xu Ji and Xu Yuan, he couldn't help feeling a little guilty.

"Master Xu!"

"Great man Xu!"

"A rich man is looking for you!"

"He's an official!"

"The officials are so majestic, I'm afraid of them just by looking at them, come out quickly!"

"We're going to take the reward and go home!"

The little kids shouted loudly, and when Zhang Xuezhou thought that the shouting might not be very effective, there really was an old man carrying firewood and waving from afar.

"Xu Ji?"

Zhang Xuezhou squinted his eyes and took a closer look before he could see the old man's general appearance.

As long as he found Xu Ji, it would mean he had found the base camp of the Zhangjiazhuang people. Zhang Xuezhou felt in his bag and then rewarded each of them with two and a half taels of silver.

This made the bunch of weak little kids very happy.

Although he had no strength left, Zhang Xuezhou was not worried about the children fighting over money. Besides, there were many children in the group, and some adults who were afraid of child trafficking were chasing after them.

Zhang Xuezhou leaped up and floated through the fields on the wind and waves.

"Mr. Xu, long time no see!"

"Master Dongfang is finally back!"

Zhang Xuezhou greeted him and Xu Ji wiped his eyes. When he saw Zhang Xuezhou's face clearly, his eyes narrowed slightly.

After seeing Zhang Xuezhou's abilities, he stopped complaining.

These few months have been very difficult for Xu Ji and Xu Yuan.

Not to mention hundreds of people, even if you drive hundreds of pigs or cows to graze, it would be a very arduous task.

With the money saved by Xu Yuan and others, and by searching for wild animals, vegetables, and fishing every day, Xu Ji and others survived for more than three months.

If Xu Yuan had not insisted, Xu Ji might have really taken these people to another place to survive.

As time moves towards autumn and winter, non-toxic wild vegetables are hard to find, wild animals fly south or migrate, the smell of fish in the river is hard to swallow, and the risk of fishing will inevitably increase in cold weather.

Various factors made Xu Ji inclined to change regions, while Xu Yuan insisted on waiting for others.

Xu Ji tends to be practical, while Xu Yuan gambles based on his faith.

At this point, Xu Ji had to admit that Xu Yuan had indeed trusted Zhang Xuezhou too much, and he finally waited for Zhang Xuezhou and others to return.

"Thank you Mr. Xu for saving the lives of the people in our village!"

Zhang Xuezhou took the firewood that Xu Ji was carrying. He reached out and grasped Xu Ji's right hand, only to find that Xu Ji was also in his twilight years.

The other party is old and has illness, but he still has to work here. This may also reflect the difficulties of everyone's life.

"Just wait a little while until it's completely dark, they should be back from picking their fruits!"

Xu Ji pointed to the sky. The gray sky with a little bit of light also meant time that the people of Zhangjiazhuang needed to buy.

They need to chop firewood, dig weeds, cultivate land, compete with others for water sources, hunt small animals and fish. Many things require many people to divide the work in an orderly manner, and they also squeeze every bit of extra physical energy and time as much as possible.

Zhang Xuezhou nodded, and as he continued walking, he began to step into the area where the people of Zhangjiazhuang lived.

This was a newly reclaimed area, marked with various straw men, simple channels, and some houses built with weeds and wood. There were thorns all around to prevent people from breaking in, and there were also some weed piles covered with wood ash that were burned to drive away mosquitoes.

In just over three months, the people of Zhangjiazhuang were able to once again create the prototype of a village.

But these were also extremely long three months, with everyone wandering between hunger and constant labor, and it was hard to know what they would have to face tomorrow.

"Zhouzi is back!"

Xu Ji piled up the firewood and lit the flame, and the crackling sound of burning was endless.

The firelight illuminated the faces of the two people and became the only light in the area.

When Zhang Xuezhou reached out to feel Xu Ji's pulse to see if he could use Taiqing Zhenshu to heal his body, he heard a hoarse voice shouting in the distance, which made him stand up quickly.

In the distant night, no human figure can be seen.

But Zhang Xuezhou heard Zhang Chong's voice that recognized him.