Chang Sihao was led by Xu Laojun and came to the house, which was originally a three-room house, the roof has been demolished, and the beams, rafters, and bricks have been transported to the city wall to prepare for the war.

Xu Laojun pointed to a stove and said Chang Sihao: "You renew the fire for this stove, the fire is not too big, and it is not too small, just keep it hot." Chang Sihao drank the broth, his spirits were uplifted, and he simply answered, and then squatted down to wait for the stove to be fired. Xu Laojun looked sideways, nodded, and asked, "Boy, what is your name?" Chang Sihao replied, Xu Laojun hummed, and said: "My surname is Xu, and you will call me ...... in the future" Chang Sihao said: "Xu Gong." Xu Laojun laughed at himself and said: "We are not a general and generalissimo, how can we call the word 'gong', you don't dare to call me like this, just like everyone, also call me Xu Laojun!" Chang Sihao said: "I am a child who is called the same as others, won't it mess up the generation? Your age is similar to my father-in-law, why don't I call you Ah Gong!"

A sentence hooked Xu Laojun for a while, thinking that he was angry when he was young and studied, and his literary reputation was known in the township, he wanted to be able to get a reputation one day in the future, but he was forcibly recruited into the army, and he fought with the army for decades. There has been no news for decades, and today, I don't know where her bones are and where her soul is gone!

His thoughts turned and tears flowed. Xu Laojun came back to his senses, wiped his tears, and let out a long sigh.

Chang Sihao looked back sideways, thinking that he had said the wrong thing, and he was busy compensating, Xu Laojun waved his hand and said, "It doesn't matter, you call me Grandpa, I am very happy, how can I blame you?"

After a long time, it seems that the mood has calmed down, at this time the stove fire is weak, Chang Sihao copied a thick firewood from his side, pouted two hands and folded it into three sections, and added it to the stove, which was as easy as folding a bamboo stick. Xu Laojun exclaimed in his heart: "This kid is so strong!" and asked: "Look at your hands and feet, it should be a poor child, what does your father do?"

Chang Sihao: "I have two fathers, which one do you ask?"

Xu Laojun: "Is your mother a daughter and a second husband?" Alas...... It's no surprise that in these chaotic years!"

Chang Sihao: "No. My family has been farming for generations, when I was young, soldiers came to the city to arrest people, and my father was also arrested, and never came back, my mother died of illness after two years, and my sister Xiaohua and I lived with my father-in-law. Later, the family couldn't get by, so my father-in-law sold me to Zhang Butcher, who killed pigs, and he didn't have a son, so he raised me as a son, and I also called him father. ”

"I see. Xu Laojun said: "So, you still have a sister who has lived with your father-in-law?"

Chang Sihao hung his head and said, "My sister died, and she died before my father-in-law sold me." ”

Xu Laojun's face became solemn: "Starved to death?"

“...... Well. Chang Sihao bit his lower lip, and a faint light flashed in his eyes. Xu Laojun read a lot of people, and there was a lot of sadness in his eyes when he saw this child, and he seemed to be insincere, and he wondered in his heart, but he was silent.

Suddenly, there was a gurgling sound in the pot, and the lid was lifted twice. "The fire is big. Xu Laojun said.

"Yes, yes. Chang Sihao hurriedly withdrew some firewood and grass and asked, "Is this pot of stewed meat also good?" ”

Xu Laojun smiled slightly: "No, this pot is oil." ”

"Oil?" Chang Sihao looked at him, his eyes asking.

Xu Laojun said: "This is a backup, if the thieves come to climb the city at night and sneak attack, let's serve this pot and pour it on them!"

It was getting dark, and the soldiers on duty went to the city after eating their meals, and the soldiers guarding the city came down to rest and eat, and the men were much busier than before. Chang Sihao not only watched the fire of the stove, but also took advantage of the gap to carry water and bowls, and was busy running around, and several other veterans saw that the child was diligent in his hands and feet, and they no longer complained, and they each buried their heads in work.

After the group of hungry people who came with Chang Sihao finished eating, they were driven up by the soldiers, demolished the houses, collected bricks and stones, and transported them to the city. At this time, the bright moon has risen, the night is clear, torches are gradually lit everywhere, some soldiers are warm and talking around the bonfire, and some are leaning on each other with swords in their arms.

Chang Sihao and the old soldiers finished cleaning up the dishes and chopsticks and cooking utensils, the moon was approaching the middle of the day, Xu Laojun said: "Good moon tonight, it seems that the soldiers will not come to steal the city, you can sleep well!" Looking back, Chang Sihao was already sleepy, pointed to the thatched pile and said: "I'll continue the fire vigil, you lie here and sleep." ”

Chang Sihao rubbed his eyes: "Grandpa, you are old, you must be tired, you go to sleep first, I'll come to see the fire." ”

Xu Laojun smiled faintly and said, "Young people love sleepiness, you can sleep, it's okay for grandpa." ”

Watching Chang Sihao curl up and fall asleep in the haystack, Xu Laojun sat by the stove, looked at the uncertain firelight, and silently read in his heart: "Grandpa...... Ah Gong ......", sighed, looked up at the good moon, and unconsciously his eyes were wet again.

Chang Sihao's body was tired and he slept groggyly, I don't know how much time passed, he suddenly felt that someone was stabbing his body, and when he opened his eyes, it turned out to be an old soldier. Chang Sihao rubbed his eyes and looked at the sky, the night was dark, and the moon had drifted with the clouds. The old soldier said, "Get up and get to work." Next to him, Xu Laojun scolded: "Why are you calling him up for what? He is so young, can he do this?" The old soldier muttered: "It's a laborer, and he has to do it sooner or later." ”

Chang Sihao got up with a bone, shaking the grass foam on his body, only then did he see that the other old soldiers were also awake, they were not young, this sleep was obviously not relieved, some of them were struggling to move their waists and shoulders, some were rubbing their old cold legs, and grinning at the rheumatic pain. After a little tidying up, Xu Laojun led everyone to carry the pot out of the broken house and left, pulling Chang Sihao halfway, wanting to say something, but finally didn't say anything.

A few people bypassed several ruins and broken walls, came to a compound, opened the door and entered, a smell of blood came to the nose, Chang Sihao expected it to be a slaughterhouse, he had lived with a butcher since he was a child, and he was not afraid. When I took a look, I saw a large pile of white things in the center of the courtyard, piled up like a hill, and there were several large cases next to it, and there was a kitchen knife holder standing next to the case, on which there were all kinds of knives wide and heavy, and the edge was shining with blue light. There are several large vats in the corners of the wall, covered with iron lids, and the fishy smell is the strongest there.

Xu Laojun beckoned everyone to take the knife and said, "Let's do it!"

A few veterans rolled up their sleeves, ran to the white hill, stepped on the bench in front, reached out into the hill, pulled outward, followed a large strip, handed it to the people below, Chang Sihao stepped forward to help with the hand, only to feel that the thing he touched was slippery and cold, look carefully, and be shocked to the hair standing upside down, really out of the body!

It turned out that what the old army had taken down was a pair of headless naked corpses that had their bellies cut open and their intestines scraped off! This whole white hill was made up of a pile of headless naked corpses!

Chang Sihao took two steps back, bumped into something, and turned back in shock, it turned out to be Xu Laojun.

Xu Laojun held Chang Sihao's shoulder, his face was expressionless, and he sighed in a long breath: "Child, don't be afraid!

A warmth came from his shoulder, and Chang Sihao's clenched heart felt a little relieved, and asked, "Get these...... Meat, what are you going to do?"

"Naturally, it's made to eat!" Another old soldier said in a rough voice, threw a naked corpse on the long case with a "bang", returned to the knife and inserted it into the corpse's waist with a "snort", took a small lunge, pressed the corpse with one hand, operated the knife with the other, stirred and cut back and forth in the body cavity several times, upset the knife, probed into the corpse's abdomen with one hand, fished the backbone, and gently unloaded, only to hear a soft sound of "Huo Huo", the flesh and bone were separated, and the upper body of the corpse was only an empty skeleton.

The old soldier glanced at Chang Sihao and said with a smile: "Baby, my craftsmanship is far behind, I'll see your Xu Ah Gong later, peel without fat, deboning without leaving meat, that's called a master!" The sound was endless, and in the blink of an eye, the meat was cut into dozens of small pieces as neatly as tofu, and then with a wave of the knife, the meat was swept into the cauldron, the movement was smooth, and the skill was extremely proficient.

Xu Laojun patted Chang Sihao on the shoulder, rolled up his sleeves, took a naked corpse, and began to unload the meat, Chang Sihao suddenly remembered something, and hurriedly asked: "The broth we ate at night is this ......"

Xu Laojun kept the knife in his hand, and said very quickly: "Xiaohao, don't be afraid, this is a fact that you will have to face sooner or later! The army has long run out of food, but the imperial court eunuchs have mistaken the country, and the grain and rice rescue soldiers have been delayed, and in the past two months, the soldiers and civilians in the city have been feeding on human flesh!"

"These corpses, both those soldiers, as well as our Han people, those soldiers, we only treat him as livestock, and eat no different from ordinary pigs, dogs, and poultry, as for the Han people, they are all our relatives and brothers who died on the battlefield. If we eat the flesh and blood of these heroes, we will become one with their heroic souls, and we will be brave and invincible on the battlefield!"

Chang Sihao vomited all over there early, snot and tears flowed out, and his stomach and six organs were indescribably uncomfortable.

Human flesh...... Human flesh!

Another scene suddenly floated in his heart.

After years of severe drought, the crops were not harvested, the bark and wild vegetables were almost stripped and dug up, and the house was interrupted for several days, and the father-in-law, my sister and myself were so hungry that they were dizzy.

That morning, his father-in-law told him to go out to dig wild vegetables, saying that if he couldn't dig it, he would not be allowed to go home. Chang Sihao carried a shovel and a basket to find more than 20 miles, and finally found a bare sweet tree root on the edge of a dry river. It took a long time to dig it down, and when he returned home happily, he entered the yard and saw his father-in-law squatting on the threshold, and he shouted: "Father-in-law, I have found the sweet root, sister, I have found the sweet root!"

The father-in-law closed his eyes and nodded, and the wrinkles on his face seemed to twitch into a ball. Chang Sihao entered the house and beckoned his sister to make a fire, but her sister was not there, and she probably went out to dig wild vegetables and hadn't come back yet.

Chang Sihao wiped the sweet tree roots clean, smashed them with stones, scooped up a scoop of rainwater, opened the lid of the pot and wanted to pour it in, but found that there was less than half a pot of water in the pot, the water was a little muddy, and there was a faint layer of slightly yellowish-white oil slick floating on the water surface......

A thought floated by, and the tragic scene seemed to be in front of him. Chang Sihao's pupils contracted, his fists clenched, and his teeth couldn't stop fighting.

An old soldier smiled and said, "Baby, what else are you looking at?" and the other said: "If you live for a day, it will be counted as a day, and there are many thoughts in your head, thinking about it for a hundred and eighty days, and you can come up with a fart?"

Xu Laojun coldly waved the knife, the flesh of the corpse on the case was red, and the white bones were suddenly exposed step by step, as if to show the world that that was the origin of human beings.