dognovel Chapter 152 Groundwater
Chapter 152 Groundwater
The women of Black Tiger Village asked again, "Where did that young girl get all those skills?"
They were just curious. They had heard some things from the people of Mengjia Village before, such as being beaten and not having enough to eat, and not being able to use his skills. They were stunned by what they heard and did not believe that Meng Fuqing could have gone through such things.
Now that I have the opportunity, I naturally want to ask them properly.
Shan Qiyu quickly said, "Qingqing is just a bit stronger and more flexible; it's nothing special."
Upon receiving the answer, the women of Black Tiger Village were satisfied and praised, "Madam Shan is too modest. Qing'er has the audacity to break into a thief's den and steal things; that's an extraordinary skill!"
Qu nodded repeatedly at what he said, a satisfied look on her face, and the thoughts she had suppressed before began to stir again.
When Qu and Shen Yuan joined the group, they were quite surprised by Meng Fuqing's behavior. In their minds, a girl should be virtuous and gentle, but Meng Fuqing only had the word "quiet" in her name—she didn't talk much.
Then they gradually changed their minds.
After becoming friends with Shan Qiyu, Qu noticed that Shan Qiyu's manner of speaking was unlike that of an ordinary country woman. Upon further inquiry, she learned that Shan Qiyu and her deceased husband were both literate. She immediately conceived the idea of marrying Shan Qiyu.
His son was handsome and was his teacher's favorite student when he was in school. He was talented in literature and knowledge, and he was a good match for Miss Meng.
After making up her mind, Ms. Qu suppressed her eagerness and planned to ask her son for his opinion again during dinner.
Meanwhile, Meng Fuqing told Yan He about his discovery. Yan He was taken aback and asked suspiciously, "Is it really a person? Or some kind of evil spirit?"
Meng Fuqing stopped and looked her up and down before speaking: "I originally thought you were acting strangely because you were a charlatan, but I never expected you to be like this in real life."
Yan He didn't refute, but just pouted, his still chubby cheeks puffing out, "I grew up listening to my master tell ghost stories..."
"I understand. The phrase 'You think I'm easily scared' doesn't apply to you."
"..." Yan He was speechless for a moment. "I'm only afraid of ghosts."
"Is it something to be proud of for a Taoist priest to be afraid of ghosts?"
"Ah, you are so vicious..." Just as Yan He was about to vomit blood from choking, the two had already arrived at their destination.
Upon realizing that this was Xie Jin's residence, Yan He immediately rallied his spirits. "Are your men unusable? Why do you insist on using Xie Jin's?"
Meng Fuqing simply said, "Just like you, it takes less time and results in less waste."
Simply put, they are efficient and unlikely to get hurt.
Yan He thought about those words for a moment, then understood and couldn't refute them.
"What brings you here, Miss Meng?" Mu Sheng asked as he approached the two.
"Could you please borrow one of your men? Please inform Young Master Xie."
Mu Sheng looked helpless and glanced behind the two of them. "No need to tell the young master—"
"If Miss Meng is borrowing someone, I will naturally lend her mine too, how about you borrow me as well?"
Xie Jin's voice came from behind Meng Fuqing and Yan He.
Living opposite Xie Jin were Du Zhong and some brothers from Black Tiger Stronghold. The courtyard gate was wide open, and the courtyard was bustling with conversation. Neither of them noticed that Xie Jin was right behind them.
Yan He glanced at Meng Fuqing's expression discreetly. In the dim firelight, he saw that the other party looked calm and casually added, "There's no need for that. It's just catching a mouse. Young Master Xie only needs to stay in the courtyard."
Xie Jin looked curious. "The cellar? I'll go down with you."
Before Meng Fuqing could say anything, he chuckled and asked in a low voice, "Am I not as useful as them?"
As he spoke, he glanced at Mu Sheng.
Mu Sheng: ...
He tried his best to imitate Mu Feng's stern face, not letting his expression betray any of his thoughts.
The young master has probably gone mad.
Meng Fuqing was silent for a moment, then said, "I'm glad you like it, Young Master Xie."
Next, Mu Sheng led his men to guard the entrances of various cellars in the village. Meng Fuqing and Xie Jin arrived at the village entrance. Xie Jin directly removed the broken window, jumped into the house, opened the lid of the large vat and looked inside. Sure enough, the bottom of the vat was connected to a not-so-deep passage.
He looked up and nodded at Meng Fuqing. "I'll go down first."
Meng Fuqing climbed onto the window and jumped directly out of the window. Xie Jin caught her when she landed.
Xie Jin lit the torch, and the two looked around. They discovered that this place should have been a cellar, but the depths of the cellar had been opened up, and they didn't know where it led.
The two walked one after the other into the depths of the tunnel and found that there weren't many forks in the tunnel; it was a straight line.
Meng Fuqing calculated the distance they had traveled, and soon realized that they seemed to have already left the village.
She paused, reminding Xie Jin, "Something doesn't seem right."
“That’s definitely not right. The exit shouldn’t be at any of the other cellar entrances.” Xie Jin turned to Meng Fuqing. “Should we continue?”
Meng Fuqing took out a crossbow from his spatial storage. "Let's go."
After walking for a while, the entrance to the tunnel gradually widened. Under the firelight, an underground cave appeared around the corner, and the sounds of flowing water and voices could be heard inside.
Xie Jin extinguished the torch, and the two of them held their breath and listened intently to the conversation inside the cave.
A boy with a somewhat rough voice said, "Grandma Su, we're almost out of food. Those people have so much grain. Why don't we sneak up tonight and steal some? I'll be careful."
The woman referred to as 'Grandma Su' clearly sounded quite old. 'No, you said it yourself, there are many of them. If we're discovered, they'll definitely beat you to death.'
She sighed as she spoke, "At least we have water. If all else fails, we can survive by eating grass roots and tree bark. We only have one life, and once it's gone, it's gone. We can lose any of our own lives, but we can't lose yours."
Okay, go to sleep now, you won't be hungry when you're asleep. Don't wake your younger siblings up later.
The boy was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke again, "Grandma, I miss my parents."
Grandma Su was silent for a moment, then spoke again, her voice choked with emotion, "I don't want to think about it anymore, I don't want to think about it anymore. Just wait and see, those damned villains will go to hell... May Buddha and Bodhisattva protect us..."
Upon learning that there was only an old woman with several children in the cave, Meng Fuqing and Xie Jin exchanged a glance.
Xie Jin whispered, "There's no threat, but they have water."
Meng Fuqing also took a liking to their water.
Groundwater is much cleaner than outside water. Besides, there are too many people in the convoy. Even if she could find a way to get the stream water, it would be a waste, not to mention she has no obligation to provide for everyone.
“Show yourself and talk to them.”
As he spoke, Meng Fuqing walked around the corner and into the cave, with Xie Jin following closely behind.
Every movement in the cave was amplified by the echo, and the two people's footsteps soon startled the old man and the young man who were not yet asleep.
"Who?!" the old woman demanded sharply.
Meng Fuqing then saw the situation inside the cave clearly—the underground cave was very large, but there was very little space for people to move around freely. An old man and seven or eight children were sleeping on the ground covered with wooden planks among the jagged rocks. The cave was cold and damp, but the bedding of these people was not very thick.
Hearing no reply, the boy spoke up: "Are you from the village?"
Two questions startled all the children awake, and they huddled together, staring in terror into the darkness.
Xie Jin relit the torch, and Meng Fuqing then spoke, "We apologize for disturbing you all. We came here because we were attracted by the water here."