Ch84 - A Thousand Li of Barren Land

Help?

Li Yamao is asking for help?

Lin Shu frowned. He took out the previous letter and compared it with Li Yamao’s handwriting. He found that this time’s handwriting was very sloppy compared with before. It can be seen that it was written in a hurry.

If he was really asking for help, what kind of matter would make him write such a letter, that he would not even have time to write the extra words?

Lin Shu’s first thought was that Northern Xia had come and attacked Min Prefecture.

However, this is obviously impossible. First of all, Min Prefecture is located in the southeast, which is the hinterland of the Southern Xia Dynasty. If Northern Xia could attack Min Prefecture, then the entire Southern Xia would have already been occupied.

Moreover, there was no news from the Academy about the war starting.

So, is it something else in Ning’an?

Lin Shu first sent another letter to Min Prefecture, continued to inquire about the situation, and then simply packed up his things. He took the cat to the spirit beast stable and met Zhaoye.

Zhaoye saw him and approached him affectionately.

Big Miss gave him many things before her seclusion, including Zhaoye, and Lin Shu would come to see it every few days.

Lin Shu asked, “Can I ride you out?”

Zhaoye snorted and continued to rub Lin Shu.

Lin Shu took it as tacit approval.

He took a Fasting Pill, rode on Zhaoye with the help of the cat, and rode his horse away from the back mountain of the Academy.

The road signs on the official road were clearly written, so he did not encounter any difficulties on the road. Zhaoye, a spirit horse chosen out of ten thousand, was naturally extremely fast, and he reached the boundary of Min Prefecture within two days.

But——

Lin Shu tightened the reins, and Zhaoye’s speed slowed down, allowing him to see the scenery on both sides of the official road.

The rain three years ago did not fall after all.

The so-called “A Thousand Li of Barren Land” was just like this.

There were farmlands on both sides of the official road, but there were not many crops. The soil had been deeply cracked due to years of continuous drought. It was as hard as iron, with some withered grass growing on it.

But under the scorching sun, within a radius of five miles, there were only three creatures: Lin Shu, Zhaoye, and Cat. In the cloudless sky, not even a bird could be seen.

Lin Shu couldn’t tell how he felt. Zhaoye snorted, his steps gradually picked up, and at the fork in front he turned to the official road leading to Ning’an Mansion.

Farmland is the foundation of a state and a prefecture. The land is so dry right now, so the city is naturally depressed and desolate. The door of every household was closed. In the shadow between houses, there are homeless wanderers curled up. Nobody knows how long they can survive.

Lin Shu passed through the town to the outskirts. Following the direction of his memory, he found the address that the Big Miss had chosen for their village.

The village is still there. There are dozens of scattered houses. At this time, the sun is inclined. There are several chimneys in the houses emitting cooking smoke.

Since there is cooking smoke, it is still okay, and the village has not encountered great trouble.

Lin Shu let out a sigh of relief, and Zhaoye galloped towards the village. He came to the familiar door and patted the firewood door.

No one opened, so he called out again: “Yamao.”

There were finally footsteps inside, and the door opened with a creak, revealing Auntie’s face.

He hasn’t seen her for more than two years, and she looks a lot more haggard.

After seeing him, Auntie’s lips twitched a few times, and light shone again from her cloudy eyes. She held his shoulders, her body trembled, and she couldn’t speak for a while.

Lin Shu asked: “Where are Yamao and Jimao?”

Auntie answered numbly in a strong Min dialect: “They were captured!”

Lin Shu: “Captured?”

“…The officials arrest people!”

Lin Shu asked: “Why?”

Auntie: “To fight in the war!”

Speaking of this, she looked around in a daze. Her hands clenched Lin Shu’s shoulder tightly, and she said intermittently: “The first year you left, your uncle… was taken away on a war campaign. The next year, Jimao also went to the border station. This year, they came to visit the village and asked for Yamao, saying something about…how they changed the law of forced service. I said Yamao wants to go to Shangling Academy to be an Immortal. I begged them to let him go. The master said that he doesn’t care about immortals or whatever… Those ten people took Yamao away, and I didn’t know where he had gone…”

Lin Shu looked at her haggard and helpless face, looked into the room, and saw a yellow-faced emaciated girl who looked out of the room timidly.

Lin Shu knows the girl, she is Li Yamao and Li Jimao’s younger sister, Li Emao.

Li Emao stared at him for a while, then suddenly flattened her mouth and cried, “Brother, run! Someone caught my brother…”