The Hamlet

Chapter 202: The Hamlet

On a muddy, yellow-earth path, Li Huowang and his group, now back to their normal forms, continued their journey.

Several days had passed since they had escaped from the town.

Now, everyone wore a look of exhaustion on their faces. There was no helping it—with poor food and poor sleep, this was the inevitable result.

When they reached a slightly flatter area, Li Huowang wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. “Let’s rest a while.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, everyone instantly collapsed, lying sprawled across the ground in all directions, gasping for air.

Bai Lingmiao carefully pulled out the last piece of yellow flatbread from her bosom. She first broke off half and put it back, then offered the remaining half to Li Huowang. “Senior Brother Li, here, eat.”

Li Huowang looked at her. He reached out and gently pinched her belly. It was hollow.

This gesture made Bai Lingmiao feel deeply ashamed, but she couldn’t bear to refuse him.

“Don’t skimp. I know you have a big appetite. Eat when you need to. Don’t starve yourself. I’ll figure out everything else.”

“I’m really not hungry. You eat it.” She pushed the flatbread toward him again.

This time, Li Huowang couldn’t be bothered to refuse again. He unfolded his map, searching for a way to replenish their food supplies.

Both food and essentials were running low. They had to resupply as soon as possible.

He’d thought about robbing some bandits, but the moment he remembered the connection between bandits and the convict-soldiers, he abandoned the idea.

It was hard to say for sure whether these bandits weren’t just outposts of that woman.

They had only just barely managed to escape. Getting entangled with the convict-soldiers again over something as trivial as food just wasn’t worth it.

“Rob ordinary civilians?”

Li Huowang immediately dismissed the thought. He would never do the same kind of beastly things his master had done.

He was Li Huowang. He was not Danyangzi.

No robbing bandits, no bullying the common people, but he absolutely had to get enough money and grain. It was a difficult position to be in.

Just then, Gouwa shuffled over with a fawning grin, reaching for the flatbread in Bai Lingmiao’s hand. She slapped his hand away.

“Senior Sister Bai, give it to me. Senior Brother Li isn’t hungry, but I am!”

“No way. This is all the food we have left. Eat your own!”

“I already finished mine a long time ago.”

“Then go hungry. Starving for a few days won’t kill you.”

Dejected, Gouwa slipped his hand into his loose-fitting clothes and scratched his ribs.

He turned to look at the others.

But this time, no one had any food to share. Even Yang Xiaohai, usually the most understanding, didn’t give him anything.

Gradually, his gaze drifted to the women they had rescued from the bandit stronghold.

“I knew we shouldn’t have dragged these wenches along,” he muttered. “They don’t do anything but waste food. Useless dead weight.”

Gouwa’s words made the women’s faces twist with panic. They huddled together, helpless and uncertain.

“Are you even a man? Why so much pointless chatter!” Chun Xiaoman couldn’t stand it any longer.

“I’m just stating facts,” Gouwa retorted. “Am I wrong?”

“Don’t… don’t throw us out! We can be useful! I know where there’s grain, not far from here. I can take you all to borrow some.”

This statement drew everyone’s attention to the women.

The speaker was a woman with a large mouth. Having the kind of looks that got her kidnapped by bandits, it was clear her appeal didn’t rely solely on her mouth.

Seeing everyone turn to look at her, the woman nervously lowered her head.

“Is that true?” Li Huowang walked over and stood before her. “You can really get us food?”

He suddenly realized he had been overthinking things. With a group of locals from Shu to guide him, what did he even need a map for?

“Mm. There’s a hamlet nearby. My fourth aunt farms there… I can go and borrow some from her.”

Li Huowang looked at his map again, but found no marker for it.

“Heh heh. There are too many of these little hamlets and villages. This old man’s map can’t possibly mark them all,” Jinshan Zhao said, coming over to explain awkwardly.

“Brother, if you don’t know, you just don’t know. Why pretend? Look at all the trouble you’ve caused for this young Daoist.” Lü Zhuangyuan’s teasing made Jinshan Zhao’s old face flush.

“Elder brother, I’m not just making things up. Do you have any idea how many—”

“Enough. No time for chit-chat. We’ll go take a look. Lead us to your fourth aunt’s place.”

Li Huowang’s words put an end to the debate, and everyone who had been resting immediately stood up.

Soon, the group followed the large-mouthed woman toward a distant rocky mountain.

When they reached the foot of the barren, rocky peak, the woman didn’t stop. She led them straight up the isolated mountain slope.

At first, there was still a path, but it soon disappeared, forcing them to use all four limbs to climb.

Several times, Li Huowang was certain the woman was lying to him. This desolate place looked nothing like a spot where a village could exist.

But after what felt like a herculean effort, they finally crested the summit, and a scene of paradise appeared before his eyes.

The mountain had a flat top. And on that flat-topped mountain, there was indeed a village.

Even more importantly, he saw vast, green fields. This was an incredibly rare sight in the barren lands of Shu.

“Who’s the lunatic who built a hamlet way up here?” Gouwa grumbled, rubbing his sore legs. “I’m exhausted.”

“This old man guesses it was to avoid the heavy taxes and corvée labor,” said Jinshan Zhao. “Or maybe to dodge military conscription. It’s always one of those reasons, anyway.”

“Tch… When you think about it, the common folk of this land really have it rough. So many burdens to carry.”

“Are the officials of Shu really that oppressive? Driving people all the way up into the mountains?” Lü Zhuangyuan chimed in. “The officials back in my hometown aren’t like that. At harvest time, they only take fifty percent as official grain, and anyone who farms is exempt from corvée.”

Comparing himself to those who had it worse gave Lü Zhuangyuan a cheap sense of satisfaction.

As they were talking, Li Huowang had already finished asking the large-mouthed woman where her fourth aunt lived and started heading into the hamlet.

It did seem peaceful enough. Every house was clean and bright.

The chaos of the outside world hadn’t touched this place in the slightest. It truly seemed like a reclusive paradise.

“Senior Brother Li, our village was a bit like this too. Smaller, sure, but everyone was good-hearted.”

Seeing the scene before her reminded Bai Lingmiao of something, and a faint joy bloomed across her face.

Once we’re settled, being able to live out my days with the others in a place like this… it wouldn’t be a bad choice at all, Li Huowang thought to himself.

His sharpened senses picked up sounds coming from the houses.

An entire group of outsiders walking into the hamlet had certainly attracted the attention of the locals.

But as the large-mouthed woman accurately named her fourth aunt, the hostility in their eyes lessened considerably.

Just as they thought things were starting to look up, the moment the family learned their distant relative had come to borrow grain, they refused to even open their door.

The large-mouthed woman stood at the tightly shut gate, pasted over with Door Gods, and looked back at the others in panic.

Tears began to stream down her face uncontrollably. She choked out, sobbing: “I… I really didn’t know… Please don’t abandon me… I have nowhere left to go…”

Irritation and impatience settled on the faces of everyone standing there. If they didn’t get any food soon, they’d have nothing left but the wind to drink.