Chapter 124: Discovery

Shen Jin wanted to hide in bed, but it was time to get up, and he couldn't stay there any longer.

His mother Li came in, surprised to see Shen Jin still in bed, "Sleeping in today?"

She urged him to get up quickly and dress Sweet Ya, then went off to busy herself in the kitchen.

By the time breakfast was served, the family noticed that Shen Jin’s eyes were swollen like walnuts, clearly red from crying.

Li scrutinized her three sons, “Did you fight? When did this happen? How come I didn't hear any noise?”

Shen Tie was clueless, while Shen Yin quietly glanced at Shen Jin without saying anything.

Shen Jin looked up at his parents, saying, “I had a nightmare, Mom. I dreamt that a lot of refugees stormed into the village, stealing all the grain and killing many people.”

He couldn’t let his parents know that his brother and the others had left, at least not now. Shen Jin wasn’t sure if his father, harboring resentment towards his brother, might report them to the local authorities. The consequences of that were unthinkable for Shen Jin.

If this led to his brother and the others being captured, Shen Jin didn’t know exactly what would happen, but he was sure it wouldn’t be good.

So he disguised what his brother had taught about refugees as a dream to shield the truth and subtly warn his parents that the village might not be safe.

At only nine years old, Shen Jin didn’t understand much, but he knew his brother and sister-in-law were smarter and more capable than his parents. Following their lead couldn’t be wrong. If they had left, along with Zhou Cunzheng and the others, it meant staying in the village was likely more dangerous than leaving.

It was remarkable for someone his age to consider these things, but his insight went unnoticed by Shen San, who only heard ill-omened words.

Crying like that, who had died?

Irritated by the thought, he snapped, “Running off to the main house again, I suppose. Stop listening to nonsense and dreaming up such chaos. As if we aren’t already unlucky enough.”

Li also felt that her son talking about such a dream at this time was a bad omen. Already worried, she became more so, instinctively saying, “It’s nothing, dreams are the opposite of reality. Our county has settled the refugees, right? You should stay home more. Don’t think I don’t know who you’ve been hanging out with. Haven’t your father and I suffered enough because of them? Why do you keep going over there? Can’t you tell friend from foe?”

Disappointed, Shen Jin didn’t bother to argue. He didn’t expect to convince his parents, and he feared it might even earn him a beating. It wasn’t worth it, especially as he felt too disheartened to make the effort.

After breakfast, he seized the chance to slip out again, not doing anything in particular, just keeping an eye on the few houses, worried someone might try to open their gates.

Fortunately, the families had been planning to leave and had expected this day. Since before the New Year, they had often kept their doors closed and stayed inside. It wasn’t unusual for villagers not to see them for a day, explaining away absences as being busy weaving or occupied indoors. And since the children usually went to the mountains before dawn, everyone was accustomed to their absence, sparking no immediate suspicion.

Shen Jin thought he guarded well, unaware that while he was home for dinner, someone in the village had already headed towards the Shen main house.

……

When Zhou Laizi returned home, his family watched him anxiously.

“What happened? What did A-Lie and his wife say?”

Zhou Laizi looked bewildered, startling his wife, who remembered her husband’s intention to hurt himself yesterday. She worried he might still be despondent.

She urged, “Come on, speak up. What did they say?”

How to explain it?

They weren’t there anymore.

Zhou Laizi opened his mouth, first closing the courtyard gate, then returned to the main hall and spoke in a lowered voice about the situation at the Shen house.

The whole Zhou family was stunned.

It was Zhou Sanlang who, after a moment of surprise, suddenly said, “Dad, A-Lie said he’d tell us what to do today. Doesn’t this already tell us?”

Yesterday, Shen Lie and Sang Luo had followed Zhou's family into their courtyard where Zhou Laizi was fixated on his own hatchet, only to be stopped by Shen Lie.

Sang Luo explained the risks of amputating limbs without proper medical care and the high likelihood of death. Then she asked him, if he wasn’t afraid of death or disability, what else was there to fear?

Finally, Shen Lie said he would help them figure out a plan and asked them to meet at the small hillside courtyard the next evening.

Zhou Laizi didn’t really want to harm himself, and why should he render his entire family disabled?

He mulled over the words of Shen Lie and his wife, unable to bring himself to use the knife. Waiting as if in agony until the appointed time, only to find an empty house.

Zhou Sanlang tugged at his father, “Dad, this is the answer. Why pay taxes or conscription? Let’s pack our food and belongings and flee tonight. We’re not even afraid of death, so why fear the wild beasts in the mountains?”

Zhou Erlang chimed in, “Exactly, Dad, let’s run. Paying grain is death, going to war is almost certain death – it’s death either way. Better to take our chances in the mountains. Maybe we’ll find a way to survive!”

Zhou Laizi gazed at his dilapidated home. Despite its condition, it was still home. The thought of leaving made his lips quiver: "Our courtyard, and those fields..."

At this moment, Zhou Dalang spoke up: "The government won't let us live in peace and farm. It's either military or labor conscription. What manpower is left to tend to the fields?"

This statement made Zhou Laizi's hands tremble. Indeed, the government wasn’t concerned whether they could farm or not.

Looking at his wife and young children, who showed no fear at the thought of fleeing to the mountains, their eyes sparkled with the light of hope and the prospect of survival.

With his wife and children unafraid, what was there for Zhou Laizi to fear? A spirit of daring determination arose in him: "Alright, let's pack quietly and leave tonight."

……

The villagers realized something was amiss the next day.

In fact, they should have noticed the day before, as the children of several families usually returned home from the mountains by the afternoon or evening. But with many kids in the village and the commonplace of kids playing wildly, no one paid special attention to the absence of any particular child.

Moreover, everyone was preoccupied with the issues of taxation and conscription, leaving little room to worry about others’ children causing a ruckus or being unusually quiet.

It was only on the second day that someone casually remarked, "Doesn't the village seem quieter?"

This offhand comment didn’t raise much concern, with the response being, "Everyone's troubled. With the new taxes and conscription, it feels like they're after our lives."

The situation escalated with the arrival of the Wang family.

The frequent visits of Wang Popo and her daughter-in-law to Shili Village hadn’t raised any suspicions, as no one was in the mood for small talk. But it was Wang Popo’s shrill voice berating someone in the Lu family's courtyard that finally drew the villagers' attention.

The Lu family had fled.

The entire family had gone.

This news exploded throughout Shili Village!

Wang Popo, seeing the dozen bags of broken grass, was so infuriated she felt dizzy. Recalling Lu Popo's antics over the past two months, she realized her family had been played for fools, possibly even made a spectacle of by Lu Popo.

She immediately stormed towards Zhou Lizheng's house!

Determined to expose the matter, she wanted to do it immediately! Right away!

She planned to take it up with Zhou Lizheng and the village head, insisting they lead the villagers in pursuit.

The Lu family, her Wang family would have their revenge!

However, before she could reach the village head, accompanied by a group of villagers to Zhou Lizheng's house, they discovered that Zhou's family had also vanished without a trace.

Apart from the heavy furniture, all their food and smaller belongings were gone.

The villagers were stunned!

Zhou Lizheng's family had silently disappeared. How did they manage it, and what about the grain they collected this year? The Zhou family had also purchased grain; how did they vanish without a trace?

Then everyone remembered that since last December, the Zhou, Lu, Chen, and Shi families had all gone to work in the county.

What a charade!

The villagers, finally catching on, split up to check on the Chen and Shi families and the Shen family's main house, which had always been closely associated with these four families.

They were all gone!

This was a major incident!

When Zhou Lizheng arrived, everyone was dazed.

He ordered every household to be checked, only to discover that Zhou Laizi's family was also missing.

The villagers were bewildered; the families from those five households hadn't been seen since the day before yesterday, but Zhou Laizi's family had been seen just the previous evening. Overnight, they had vanished without a trace.

Indeed, the Zhou family didn't have much grain. After paying taxes, they would probably starve, but with the little grain and belongings they had, Zhou Laizi and his two grown sons could carry it all. His wife, eldest daughter, and the two younger children could just carry some bags and flee.

The villagers were abuzz with discussions, with various opinions, but some began to weigh the options between paying taxes and serving in the military or fleeing to the mountains as refugees.

Zhou Lizheng, in a fit of rage, wasn't paying attention to these undercurrents and was just shouting orders to pursue the fugitives.

In the Daqian dynasty, neighbors were mutually accountable. With several families fleeing, the rest of the villagers were not entirely blameless. To clear themselves or perhaps harboring other intentions, quite a few set off to chase them into the mountains.

However, since Ten Li Village was surrounded by mountains, it was unclear in which direction Zhou Lizheng and Shen Lie's groups had gone.

Some suggested tracking footprints, as so many people passing through must have left some traces.

Several groups split up to search for these traces.

……

Far in the deep mountains, Shen Lie and his group had safely arrived at the first hidden grain site. Despite some close calls, they managed to get there safely, stirring excitement among the group of adolescents who had been practicing with slingshots and bows and arrows for nearly two months.

Shopkeeper Xu and the Dong brothers had returned on the first afternoon after finding the temporary grain storage point. Now, at the first storage point, there were six families including the Xus, along with Shi Dalang and the rest of the Lu family, who stayed behind to guard the grain.

Old Man Lu and others hadn't expected to flee so soon, especially not during the busy spring farming season, and certainly not when the government was both taxing and conscripting.

“It’s good that we’re out, no more worries.” Though they knew their former homes were no longer an option to return to.

Shen Lie and his group calculated Chen Dashan and his party's return time, planning to wait at the first storage point for a day or two until they could join the larger group for the next leg of the journey.

The inner areas were far more dangerous than the outskirts, and relying solely on Shen Lie, Lu Er, and Lu San wasn’t enough to guarantee the safety of so many. The storage point also needed guards with combat abilities; Shi Dalang couldn't leave either.

Hearing they might stay for another day or two, Lu Popo expressed concern, “Do you think the villagers will follow us? With so many of us passing through, we must have left some traces.”

Hearing this, Shen Lie, Shi Dalang, and Lu Er all laughed.

Shen Lie reassured her, “Auntie Lu, don’t worry. If they try to track us by our traces, they really won’t be able to find us.”

……

In Shili Village, several groups of villagers scoured the mountains around the village for clues. They thought they had found leads, but when they reported back to Zhou Lizheng, they were stumped.

There were indeed traces, but too many of them, going in all different directions, all leading deeper into the mountains. Where to start? It was impossible to follow!

The villagers recalled how Shen Lie had taken the families hunting over the past two months and clenched their teeth in frustration.

Shen Jin, secretly eavesdropping nearby, quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

His brother had taken them running in different directions every day, and always far; finding them based on traces was unlikely!

……

Laughing in the storage cave, Shen Lie commented, “The mountains around Shili Village are full of ‘traces’, and deeper in…”

Shen Lie looked at Lu Erlang and chuckled, “You took different routes each time too, didn’t you?”

Lu Erlang nodded, “Yes, Chen Dashan and his group did the same deeper in the mountains. They shifted their paths slightly each time, or took detours, never following the same trail.”

In the mountains, paths are made by frequent passage; the so-called ‘traces’ the villagers spoke of were just this.

Shen Lie, Chen Dashan, and their group were remnants of a vanguard abandoned by the main army deep in enemy territory. They spent months playing hide and seek with enemy search parties in the mountains and crossed borders to return. Within Great Qi, they had also evaded mountain bandits for months. Evading detection and erasing their tracks was fundamental.

Without these skills, they wouldn’t have survived until now.

……

Back in Shili Village, Zhou Lizheng, after hearing the villagers' reports and making his own round in the mountains, returned home in fury, smashing the teacup his wife handed him. The Wang family was even more enraged to the point of feeling sick.

The remaining villagers in Shili, facing the soon-to-arrive conscription officers, contemplated the deserted houses of the six families.

Should they follow the six families’ lead and flee, or stay and continue to surrender their life-sustaining grain and send their sons to the battlefield? This was a pressing dilemma.

Everyone fears death; going to battle is even more terrifying, but the mountains… They lacked the skills of Shen Lie and his group and weren’t as destitute as Zhou Laizi, who, after paying taxes, would have to eat tree bark with his family. For some families, sending a brother to war meant it might not be themselves who died.

Back at the village, each household was locked in their own thoughts, their hesitations, conflicts, and thoughts only just beginning.