The north wind was howling, the clouds were thick, and a rare snowstorm in a hundred years fell on the land of the Central Plains, five days and five nights, without stopping...... From Mount Tai in the east, to the Qinling Mountains in the west, to the Great Wall in the north, and to the Yellow River in the south, the area within a radius of thousands of miles has all become a world of ice and snow!

For dignitaries, heavy snow is a good thing, or gather three or five friends, drink around the hearth, and talk about world affairs; Or bring a beautiful wife and concubine, step on the snow to find plums, appreciate the natural scenery, and the interest comes up, and you will also chant poems!

But for the poor people, snow is a disaster, the earth is frozen, the temperature drops sharply, the grass and trees wither, and the birds and beasts disappear, which means cold, hunger, disease, and ...... Or even death!

"Goo! -The heavy snow has been non-stop for five days and five nights, is this going to freeze to death, even if you don't freeze to death, you will starve to death! ”

In the early morning, in a burst of intense hunger, Hao Xuan slowly opened his eyes, through the huge gap in the thatched hut, he saw the heavy snow outside, couldn't help but curse a few words, tightened the torn leather jacket on his body, trying to find a little warmth!

Hao Xuan is thirteen years old this year, is a clear-eyed, flexible young man, with three elder brothers, so he is also called - Hao Xiaosi, he lives in a mountain village, because most of the villagers are surnamed Hao, it is called 'Haojia Village', located in Jizhou-Zhongshan County!

Haojia Village is backed by mountains, beautiful scenery, and the land is also very fertile, and the villagers farm, hunt, and collect medicine...... Diligent and diligent, the small life is still passing, but in recent years, natural and man-made disasters, war and chaos, the year has also plummeted!

"Goo! --Mutter! Mutter! ”

The hunger surged again, interrupting Hao Xuan's train of thought, so he had to tighten the hemp rope around his waist, and moved it to the kang again, trying to dispel the hunger with warmth, not that he was lazy by nature and didn't cook, but in the year of famine, there was no food at home, so it was better to lie on the kang to reduce physical consumption!

In the cold winter, the snow is falling, if there is no soil kang for heating, I don't know how many people will freeze to death, thanks to a person called 'Ghost Face Xiao Lang', it is said that this person is murderous, but also to save the suffering, this kind of low-cost, easy-to-use soil kang, is he invented, welcomed by the poor people!

Maybe it was because he had been lying down for too long, and the kang was gradually getting colder, so Hao Xuan had to get up, stuff some dry firewood into the stove, and boil snow water with black pottery, so as to warm his empty stomach, the thatched hut was empty, and he was left with only one living thing!

I remember a few years ago, there was a kind father and mother in the small courtyard, there were three strong brothers, and a docile old cow.

It's a pity, the world is in turmoil, the princes compete for hegemony, and the young and strong are constantly forcibly recruited into the army, the war has destroyed countless homes, and also swallowed a lot of lives, three years ago, the eldest brother died in Xiliang, last autumn, the second brother fell in Guandu, this spring, the third brother went to Yecheng to serve in the military, and he never looked back!

More than two months ago, Karasuma Iron Cavalry went south to Jizhou, robbing the people of the Han family along the way, Haojia Village also fell into bad luck, his parents hid Hao Xuan in the kang cave, and luckily escaped, but the husband and wife were killed by Karasuma soldiers, property, food, and livestock...... It was also looted and cleaned!

Since then, Hao Xuan has become an orphan, living by catching fish and shrimp, collecting wild vegetables, and the help of the villagers, and similarly, he also hates the Karasuma people to the core, and vows that one day, he will slaughter his clan and take revenge!

In the midst of the war, life is difficult, summer and autumn etiquette is better to say, you can pick some wild vegetables, wild fruits, barely starve to death, but in the cold winter, the temperature drops sharply, the grass and trees in the mountains wither, birds and beasts are nowhere to be found, and no food can be found!

Half a month ago, the village was completely out of food, people were hungry, so they had to use grass roots, tree bark, Guanyin soil to satisfy hunger, there was no shortage of people who died alive, the scene was unbearable, Hao Xuan was young and had a small amount of food, so he survived, but he didn't eat for three days!

"Fuck it! -Instead of starving to death, let's try my luck, if God has eyes, I will get through it and take revenge in the future! ”

After pouring a stomach of snow water, he was still hungry, while he still had a little strength, Hao Xuan decided to go out for a walk, maybe he could get something to eat, and when he walked in vain, he could only close his eyes and wait for death!

The villagers fish and hunt for a living, how much can a little martial arts, Hao Xuan carried a hunting fork, carrying an ancestral iron bow, in the wind and snow, towards the white wilderness, if you hit one or two prey, you can live, if you are unlucky, it is a frozen 'road down'!

If you are a little unlucky and encounter a hungry beast or a hungry red-eyed wanderer, your little tender meat will become a meal in your mouth!

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Hao Xuan's luck was good, before he died of starvation, he picked up a frozen pheasant, although it was only more than a catty, but it was also meat, so he hurriedly ran home and cooked chicken in a stoneware pot to eat!

For the hungry, every bite of food is precious, chicken head, chicken intestines, chicken mouth, chicken butt...... They didn't throw it away at all, even the chicken feathers were preserved, and they were kept for dry food, and people ate even the dirt when they were hungry, not to mention the fishy chicken feathers?

"Second grandfather! Second grandfather! --We have chicken to eat today, it is crispy and rotten, and there is a lot of oil and water floating there! ”

After the chicken was cooked, Hao Xuan did not gobble it up, but forcibly swallowed his saliva, filled more than half of it in a pottery bowl, and ran towards the neighbor's house......

I have been able to live until now, thanks to the help of the villagers, especially the neighbors, who always save a little ration and give it to poor Hao Xuan, now is the time to repay the favor!

"Woo! --Woo! Woo! ”

After a while, Hao Xuan's eyes were slightly red, and he walked back to the thatched house, the chicken in his hand was not missing at all, it was not that he regretted it halfway, nor was he politely refused, the reason was very simple, the neighbor's family of four had died of starvation, and the corpses had become stiff!

The dead don't need food, the living still have to persevere, eat up the chicken, and drink the chicken soup, Hao Xuan accumulated some strength, dug a big pit nearby with a shovel, and buried the neighbor's family of four, so that they can be buried in the ground, otherwise, it may become food for the hungry, and people cannibalize people in the year of the catastrophe!

Today I was lucky enough to pick up a frozen pheasant, but what will I eat tomorrow...... Looking at the licked clean pottery bowl, Hao Xuan fell into confusion?

"Boom! -Boom! -Boom! ”

……………………

At noon, a bell rang in the village, Hao Xuan was slightly stunned, and then ran out, at the same time, the remaining villagers in the village also walked out of the house, helped the old and the young, staggered, and slowly gathered outside the ancestral hall!

There are more than 100 villagers, dressed in tatters, everyone has a dish, remember ten years ago, there were more than 1,000 people in Haojia Village, which was a famous and wealthy village nearby, and now less than one-tenth of them have survived, as for other villages, it can be imagined!

"The snow is falling, the weather is freezing, there is no food in the village, and if you want to survive like this, everyone has only a dead end, and the elders have made a decision to let everyone go out to escape the famine, so that some clansmen can survive!

When the famine passes, everyone will return to their homes, no matter who survives, they must rebuild the village, so that the incense of the Hao family will be passed on forever! ”

The gray-haired, white-haired, white-faced patriarch stood at the height of the ancestral hall, shouting to the remaining villagers, and a few old men with white beards and sitting on both sides on crutches, they were the elders of the village and the highest authority!

At the same time, several teenagers took out a large cauldron and began to make a fire to boil water, which was the last pot in the village, because the Karasuma people plundered the Han land, and they liked all kinds of iron tools the most, and regarded the iron pot as a 'strange commodity', more than gold, silver and jewelry!

The old patriarch took out half a bag of miscellaneous grains from the secret compartment of the ancestral hall, poured them all into the iron pot, and put in a lot of grass roots, tree bark, and dried wild fruits...... After boiling some gruel and letting the villagers eat and drink, they will have the strength to go out, and whether they will live or die in the future depends on their creation!

"Ancestors and fathers bless! --Have a good trip and come back safely! ”

"Woohoo! - Take care everyone, and if you're lucky, you'll be back next fall! ”

………………………………

After drinking the cereal porridge, the villagers knelt on the ground, kowtowed to the ancestral tablet, prayed for the protection of their children and grandchildren, and cherished each other, and left the small mountain village one after another!

If people want to survive, they must go to the big cities, where young and strong men and women can sell themselves to the powerful men and women, and become slaves and maids of other people, and the old and frail can only hold rattans and beg along the streets!

Of course, there are also some men who know martial arts, who do not want to be slaves with others, nor do they want to live a mediocre life, they either enlist in the army, or fall into the grass, ready to use a pair of fists, to fight the glory, wealth, and prosperity!

Holding a hunting fork and carrying a bow and arrow, Hao Xuan blended in the crowd and slowly left the small mountain village, constantly looking back on the way, looking at the village where he had lived for many years, as well as his own small thatched hut......

There was a figure shaking in the ancestral hall, it was the old patriarch and several elders, they did not go out to escape the famine, but chose to stay:

First, they are too old and very weak, even if they go out to escape the famine, they will starve to death on the way, it is better to stay in the village, at least not to be ghosts in a foreign land!

Second, the ancestral tablet is enshrined in the ancestral hall, and someone must stay to protect it, even if they die here, their souls also have a home, which can protect the children and grandchildren who fled and let them be safe!

(End of chapter)