The weak scholar in the end of ancient times

Chapter 16: The Farm
Hunter Xiao Liu looked at the evil creature that fell down.

"Their current movement speed is much slower than two months ago."

The temperature rose a little at noon, but it is already autumn and the overall temperature has dropped significantly.

Wen Gu glanced at Xiao Liu and said, "The low temperature is too restrictive for them. Winters in the north are long and colder. Then, it will be much easier to hunt evil creatures there."

When the hunter Xiao Liu heard this, he thought to himself, if he could reach the north safely, with his archery skills, he should be able to gain some military merit and earn a small military officer position?
The more I think about it, the more beautiful it becomes, and all my sadness of leaving home disappears.

The four continued on their way.

They made a travel plan to reach the expected location before tonight.

The next place chosen was the farm of a wealthy gentleman.

This was the choice Wen Gu made among several alternative destinations, based on information provided by Xiao Liu's father, Liu the Hunter.

Hunter Liu had said that this Mr. Li was wealthy, had extensive land, and was well-connected. If that were true, he would have surely received the news in advance and left with his servants before the chaos broke out.

Looking forward, you can vaguely see the shadow of the building.

"Is that that one?"

"should be!"

Hunter Xiao Liu identified the direction and made sure they were walking in the right direction.

His father said that Mr. Li's farm was located in the northeast of a certain village and on the south side of a certain river.

If you tell him left and right while you're on the road, he might not immediately understand, and he'd have to figure out whose left is which. But if you tell him east, west, south, and north, it's like he has this innate ability to figure it out instantly.

"That's right."

Along the way, there was nothing but desolation. It seemed that no living people had been walking on this road for a long time.

They only encountered two evil creatures. After killing them, Wen Gu observed their clothing.

One is dressed like a typical farmer, probably a farmer who lives on a farm.

The other, though wearing a rich outer robe, wore patched coarse cloth underneath. Perhaps he had picked up clothing from a wealthy family in distress and contracted the evil plague, becoming what he is now.

Apart from these two, no other humanoid creatures were seen.

Reviewing the past brings peace of mind.

It seems that as he guessed, the well-connected Mr. Li had already left with his men.

Near the farm, hunter Xiao Liu also hunted a rabbit. He didn't dare to deal with it directly on the spot, so he waited until he got to the farm, boiled some water and started a fire before dealing with it.

"My father once delivered mountain products to Mr. Li. Although Mr. Li had a bad temper, he never abused anyone or withheld wages. Everyone said he was a good person."

These are the two things that everyone cares about: life and money.

As for the rest, they don't care.

Mr. Li was a very capable man. His farm and the houses where his family lived all used a lot of blue bricks. Xiao Liu felt a little sorry for it. It was too far from their Ge Village. Otherwise, he could come here to move bricks.

The big blue brick and tile house is Xiao Liu's dream house.

This is also where they will stay tonight.

Before entering Mr. Li's mansion, they looked around cautiously.

It still doesn't look like there are any living people around. The footprints left by evil spirits are different from those left by normal people and are easy to distinguish.

There were some bloodstains on the ground, but it had been there for a long time.

only……

They paused.

Wen Gu's face was serious: "Do you smell it?"

Xiao Liu was very surprised: "It smells like alcohol!"

The smell of wine brought by the wind is fresh.

Are there any survivors of Zhuangzi?
But there are indeed no signs of normal human activities here.

Wen Gu analyzed this in his mind. If there were any survivors inside, perhaps they were few in number, weak in combat, or perhaps they were the type who had been hiding and not coming out.

Wen Gu said, "Let Ma Tuaner take a look."

Xiao Liu responded. He was wearing a leather arm guard and waving it in the air.

After a while, the cry of a falcon was heard in the sky.

"No one else was found." Xiao Liu said.

"Then let's go in." Wen Gu whispered, "Everyone, don't disperse."

The tall mansion looked okay from a distance, but when you got closer you realized that it hadn't been lived in for a long time. Time seemed to have sped up, and even the house with blue bricks and large tiles looked desolate and dilapidated.

They entered the yard and heard a slight sound.

Xiao Liu drew his bow and looked over.

"It's a raccoon slave."

It was a large-boned, rather thin cat, perhaps one of the former farmsteaders. It was huddled in a corner, its back arched, its fur all blown out, and it growled and panted towards me.

This shows extreme vigilance and uneasiness about their arrival.

wrong!

Not at them!

"Be careful on the beam!!"

Review the past and remind yourself quickly.

Xiao Liu reacted quickly. He was already alert with his bow drawn. He turned around in an instant and shot an arrow at the figure that flashed by from the upper side.

The figure on the beam was taken down by an arrow.

Xiao Liu had already put the second arrow on the nock and he looked at the figure landing on the ground.

It was a child who was possessed by an evil spirit. He no longer looked like a human. He was shot by an arrow but it was not fatal. He looked as ferocious as a bloodthirsty beast and let out sharp roars at them.

Xiao Liu took a deep breath and loosened his fingers.

The arrow leaves the string.

The sharp screams stopped abruptly.

Xiao Liu blinked his moist eyes and looked away in the room.

Wen Gu also silently observed his surroundings. Seeing no other threats, the raccoon calmed down. Then he looked at the little evil creature on the ground.

Judging from his clothes, he must be a farmer's child who lives on the farm. This world is all about turning people into ghosts.

No matter whether you are male or female, young or old, rich or poor, you will become like this if you are not careful.

Wen Gu glanced at the Taoist priest.

Taoist Qingyi showed compassion on his face. He took out a piece of paper with runes drawn on it, burned it, and chanted scriptures to liberate the souls of the dead.

The burning talisman paper emitted smoke, which was blown into the house by the wind.

No other movement was heard for the time being.

Next, find the woodshed and kitchen.

The layout here is similar to those of the larger houses in town, making it easy to find.

The smell of alcohol they had smelled before was on the other side of the house.

However, Wen Gu and the others did not go over to investigate at this time.

There is a well next to the kitchen.

Although the water in the well is not absolutely safe, it is much better than the obviously polluted wells and the water in the surrounding rivers.

It is also convenient to get water and can avoid sneak attacks.

I found the kitchen door, which was closed.

They didn't go in immediately.

Wen Gu used a long stick to pry the window open a little, stepped back, and raised his hand to signal, "Master, please!"

Taoist Qingyi is not wearing the loose robe used to show off, but clothes that are convenient for moving around outside.

He took out a small processed rattan ball, which contained several plants used for smoking in small bundles. When it was lit, smoke with the smell of herbs would continuously emerge without burning the rattan ball.

He raised his foot and took two mysterious steps, then jumped up and swung his arm to throw.

The smoking rattan ball drew a sharp arc.

Snapped!
Accurately drilled through the window.

The smoke quickly dissipated inside.

I didn't hear any movement inside.

While they were smoking the kitchen, they were observing the well over here.

The well is covered above and there is no blood stain around it. Compared with those exposed wells, the probability of contamination is lower.

Besides, they drink boiled water.

After a while, thinking it was about time, I opened the kitchen doors and windows to ventilate the room a little.

It was still daylight outside, and I could clearly see the layout of the kitchen.

There are several large stoves in the kitchen, and you can see that there must be several large iron pots here.

Iron pots have gradually appeared in many people's homes, but not every household in the village has one.

After the chaos broke out outside, the villagers of Ge Village went to the town to collect supplies and brought back several iron pots they found.

By now, most of the kitchen utensils had been taken away. They found an iron pot in the corner with a small chip on the edge.

Perhaps it was because of this that it was abandoned by its owner.

Xiao Liu was very happy.

So what if there is a gap? It doesn’t affect boiling water and cooking!
"Let's take this iron pot with us when we leave."

Heat some water and scrub the pot to remove the rust. After washing, boil more water to cook the rabbit you just hunted.

If you hunt these prey outside, it’s not that you can’t eat them, but they must be properly processed.

After boiling several pots of water, boil water for drinking.

Hunter Xiao Liu focused on processing the rabbit. He cut out some rabbit meat and planned to throw it to the cat slave in the yard.

He specifically explained to Wen Gu and the Taoist priest that if they got help from the animals in the mountains when they went hunting, they would express their gratitude, whether directly or indirectly.

Although Wen Gu would have discovered the danger on the beam even without the raccoon, it was helpful to Xiao Liu at that time.

The rabbit was hunted by Xiao Liu, but since they were all teammates, everyone had a share of the supplies, so he made a special explanation.

Wen Gu and the Taoist priest had no objection, and Tietou followed Wen Gu's opinion.

Xiao Liu then threw a small piece of meat over.

There was some other smell on it. The alert raccoon lowered his ears and let out a low growl. He was attracted by the smell again and approached cautiously. He slapped the piece of rabbit meat on the ground with his claws twice.

After testing it and finding no threat, he picked it up and ran away.

The afterglow of the setting sun shines on the farm, and there is silence all around.

The four of them were preparing dinner in the kitchen, and at the same time they discussed staying at the farm for one more day tomorrow and searching around to see if there was anything they could use.

It would be even better if there was rice.

Xiao Liu wanted to see if there were any materials to make arrows so that he could make some for himself as a backup.

In the past, it was difficult to find finished arrows in other villages and towns. Either they didn’t exist or they had been looted by others. You could only make some for backup.

As we were chatting, we suddenly heard a bang.

It sounded like a ceramic jar filled with water falling to the ground.

The four of them were instantly alert.

Wen Gu thought of the smell of alcohol he smelled before entering the house.

The sound wasn't far away.

It's not dark yet.

The four of them went over cautiously to check the situation.

Da da da.

Each sound was like the sound of hooves stepping on the ground.

Behind the blue brick wall, a donkey's face was revealed.

literal meaning.

(End of this chapter)