HLnovel Chapter 157 Temporary Stay in the Valley
Chapter 157 Temporary Stay in the Valley
When Shitou and the other children saw the reed marsh and the water, they cheered happily and ran towards the reed marsh, chasing each other.
The children of Lishu Village were very calm. Perhaps they were used to the scenery here, or perhaps they were worried about their village, so their spirits were not very high.
Li Lanzhen did not try to comfort them.
Although they are still very young and have no relatives, they have to endure the pain and suffering. Only by overcoming it can they grow up, become strong, and bravely move towards tomorrow!
Shanxing didn't pay attention to the few people who were running towards the stone next to the reed marsh.
Taking Li Lanzhen and the others, he walked to the right.
Li Lanzhen discovered this valley at this time. The left side was low-lying, and there were endless reeds on this side. There was also a river. Where did the water come from? Where did it go? It was not clear now, but it did not pass through the cliff they had just entered.
On both sides of the reed marsh, the terrain is relatively low, with about 2000 acres of land.
On the right side, the terrain is higher, probably about 2500 square meters. The land is very fertile. She bent down and grabbed a handful of soil.
I pinched it and felt delighted. It was even more fertile than the land in Forget-Your-Sorrow Valley!
Xue Bao also laughed and said, "Aunt Lan Zhen, do you think this land is fertile?"
Li Lanzhen nodded, "Yes! The soil here is better than the soil in Wangyou Valley!"
Xue Bao also raised his head and looked at the vast valley, as if thinking about something.
I raised my head and cast my eyes toward the steep cliffs on all sides. Although the mountains here are steep, the trees are lush and tall.
But it is still possible to climb up.
He concluded that there must be ferocious beasts on the mountains here.
Li Lanzhen turned her head and looked at the mountain gate they had just entered.
Shan Xing'er thought Li Lanzhen was worried that the soldiers would chase her here, so she shouted, "Don't worry, they won't be able to find us here!"
Then he looked at Xue Bao and said.
“He cleared the trail along the way, and I also spread incense along the way.
They can’t find this place, it’s safe.”
Li Lanzhen looked at the vast valley and found no signs of tree houses, wooden houses, stone houses or caves.
Curiously asked, "Shanxing, where do you live?"
Shan Xing raised her head and pointed to the right, "There is our shack over there."
"Have you lived there in recent years?"
"Yes, we live there and dig wild vegetables. There are wild ducks and wild duck eggs in the reed marshes, and we can also catch fish."
Then, she lowered her head and murmured, "I just haven't eaten any food."
Li Lanzhen looked at their expressions and understood.
Xue Bao was very happy watching a group of children jumping and skipping beside the reed marsh.
He said to Li Lanzhen, "Aunt, I'm going to go catch some fish and pick up some wild duck eggs. It's time to eat."
"Okay, Xue Bao, watch out for the kids so they don't fall into the water!"
Shanxing asked the children from Lishu Village to go with her.
Douhua and Datou were sitting in the backpack behind Li Lanzhen. Seeing their older brothers and sisters having fun by the water, they began to get anxious.
Douhua patted Li Lanzhen's shoulder with her little hand.
"Grandma, go out, there's water, catch some fish!"
Only then did Li Lanzhen realize that the two little ones were still in the backpack.
She put down the backpack with a smile, "Okay, grandma will let you out. Brothers, you two can play in the water, but you two can't get too close to the water. You are too small and can't stand steadily. If you fall into the water, you will never see your brothers and grandma again. Do you understand?"
Douhua nodded, indicating that he understood.
Big Head grabbed Li Lanzhen's pants tightly with both hands.
“He’ll die.”
Li Lanzhen felt inexplicably sad when she heard the child say these three words.
He bent down, picked him up, patted his back and comforted him.
"Big Head, don't be afraid. Grandma is here, and my brothers and sisters are here too. Don't be afraid!
Do you want to go to the water?"
Big Head hugged Li Lanzhen's neck tightly and put his big head on Li Lanzhen's shoulders.
"I want to go play in the water."
Putting him down, Douhua took his hand and talked to him.
"Don't be afraid, Big Head. I'll lead you over there and catch some fish and grill them for you."
When Li Lanzhen saw this little girl, she felt very fierce and courageous.
The little girl took two steps and saw Sanwang standing next to Shanxing, waving at him.
"Brother, let's go catch some fish."
Sanwang immediately walked over with a smile and took Douhua's hand.
Pull the two children towards the reed marsh.
Looking at Sanwang who was walking away, Shanxing spoke slowly.
"Sanwang is the grandson of our old village chief. That day, the men in black entered the village. They did not rob anything, but only killed people.
They first rushed to the old village chief's house and hung Sanwang on a tree.
They forced the old village chief and others to hand over two children and a boy who was about sixteen or seventeen years old.
The adulterous couple went to Youzhou city and heard that if they could provide the whereabouts of two children and a boy of sixteen or seventeen years old, they would receive one hundred taels of silver.
They betrayed Lishu Village, got 100 taels of silver, and brought the men in black to the village.
Shanxing sat down and looked at the children beside the reed marsh.
“The old village chief said that the people in the village have lived here for decades and no outsiders have ever come here.
They didn't believe it, so they drove everyone in the village to the front of the ancestral hall, door to door.
Not finding the person they were looking for, they became angry and killed everyone in the village.
That bastard couple didn't even let their own parents go.
In this way, all the people in the village died. The couple and their family thought they could escape, so they happily took the hundred taels of silver and went back.
Unexpectedly, they were also killed in their own homes.”
Shanxing said after a while.
"I was not in the village that day and came here to pick some herbs to take back.
I escaped the disaster in this way, but when I returned to the village, I found that all the villagers had died in front of the ancestral hall.
My grandfather is in there too."
At this point, Shanxing was already in tears.
“I noticed that the couple of beasts were missing from the crowd.
I hurried to their house to find out some information.
Then I saw a group of men in black killing the family.
I heard one of the men in black say that he asked them to hand over the 100 taels of silver, and also said, "Didn't they say there were outsiders in this village?"
After searching everywhere, we couldn't find them. Even though it was the men in black who killed all the villagers, it was still their fault.
The pair of beasts knelt down and begged for mercy, but they were still killed.
I found out the truth and I hated them so much.
The next day, Sanwang and the others all came out.
We gathered in front of the ancestral hall and cried.
Later I decided to bury all my relatives in the village.
It took us two days to bury all the relatives in the village.
Sanwang and his men wanted to rush into the house of those two beasts and burn it down.
I stopped them from doing it, thinking that their house was the first one at the entrance of the village.
That bloody scene should deter people from coming here to escape famine, or people who want to come here to do evil.”
Li Lanzhen looked at her heartbroken expression and said.
“And then you came here and lived.
This is the place you discovered a long time ago, right? "
Shanxing raised her hand and wiped away her tears.
This was the first time Li Lanzhen noticed his weakness since she met the girl.
“This big valley was discovered by my grandfather. He told me that when I was very young, my parents and grandmother all passed away, so my grandfather brought me to Lishu Village and settled down here.
My grandfather was a herbalist. When I could walk, I would go with him to collect herbs in the mountains, and then sell them in the pharmacy in Youzhou City for silver."
Li Lanzhen nodded.
"Didn't you and your grandfather tell the people of Pear Tree Village about this place?"
Shanxing shook his head.
"I haven't told anyone. Only my grandparents and I know about it. Fortunately, I didn't tell them, otherwise those two beasts would have reported this place to the higher authorities in exchange for silver."
Looking up at the sky, it was almost afternoon. Li Lanzhen thought that she would have to stay in this valley for the day.