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[Chapter 495, Famine Years]

Shao Qingge and Ye Qi walked into the town side by side.

The town in front of them was completely different from the beautiful Qingfeng Town they remembered. If Qingfeng Town twenty years later is a paradise with beautiful mountains and clear waters, then Qingfeng Town during the famine twenty years ago is a devastated hell on earth.

There are not many houses in the town, most of them are dilapidated.

The roads on the ground are bumpy and muddy, and the population living there is less than 30% of what Qingfeng Town will be twenty years later. Coupled with the famine, many people with poor health and poor families have starved to death on the roadside.

The two of them had just walked a few steps when they saw several staggering corpses appearing in the corner of the alley. No one had taken care of the corpses. They were piled up like garbage. The surface of the corpses had rotted and emitted a strong stench.

Ye Qi had experienced so many secret rooms with Xiao Lou, and he was no longer surprised by corpses, but the smell was a bit unpleasant. He covered his mouth and nose, took a step forward, took a branch and turned it over to examine the corpses.

Now that we have arrived twenty years ago, we must not miss any possible clues.

There were five corpses in total, and they looked like a family. Among them was a woman who kept her emaciated child in her arms until she died. No obvious injuries were found on any of the corpses. Ye Qi said: "This family must have starved to death. Judging from their rags and rags, the family must not have much money. It is really difficult to survive in the face of famine."

Shao Qingge frowned and glanced at the flies flying around the corpse, then lowered his voice and said: "Let's go, these corpses abandoned on the roadside should not be of much significance. We should find the mysterious organization from twenty years ago as soon as possible."

Ye Qi nodded, turned around and walked out of the alley with Shao Qingge.

As we walked forward, we could find scattered corpses on the roadside almost every few steps. This scene was like the end of the world. There are no animals in the town. Pigs, cattle, cattle and other domestic animals must have been eaten up. People who are crazy from hunger may not even let go of rats.

The whole town couldn't smell any food. The doors of every house are locked. At this time, people who have secretly saved food will definitely not dare to take it out.

Ye Qi and Shao Qingge became more and more frightened as they walked.

Twenty years ago, Qingfeng Town was like an empty town. Apart from corpses, bloodstains and messy tree branches all over the town, there was not a single living person in sight in broad daylight.

Where to start?

Ye Qi stood in the center of the town, his expression full of confusion.

Twenty years later, the center of the town is a lake, surrounded by weeping willows and beautiful scenery. There is also a "Drunken Moon Pavilion" in the middle of the lake for people to enjoy the shade. But at this time, the center of the town was just a wasteland. The "Fu Lai Inn" where Xiao Lou and the others lived had not yet been built, and there were many corpses scattered nearby.

Ye Qi looked around: "We have no clue at all. How should we check? We can't go door to door and knock on the door."

Shao Qingge thought for a while and suddenly said: "Do you still remember the old man we met when we went to buy a rattle?"

Ye Qi thought of the old man who made rattles he found not long ago, and his eyes lit up: "That old man lived in this town twenty years ago. He was a person who survived the famine. Our world was twenty years ago. We can definitely find him! At this time, he should be... a young man in his thirties, right? "

Shao Qingge nodded: "Yes. According to his description, during the famine that year, more than half of the people in the town died. He survived by eating sweet potatoes stored in the cellar. I remember that he lived in the east end of the town. We Go look around."

The two identified the direction based on the sunlight and quickly walked towards the east of the city.

On the way, they saw a mother-in-law and a little girl passing by in a hurry.

The mother-in-law had a wrinkled face and looked to be over fifty years old. Her old hand held the girl's left hand tightly. The girl was thin and small, with sallow skin and a malnourished appearance, but her eyes were very dark and bright.

As she passed by, she raised her head and glanced at Ye Qi.

Ye Qi met her eyes. The little girl must be less than ten years old. One hand was held by her mother-in-law, and the other hand was put to her mouth to nibble gently. After meeting Ye Qi and Shao Qingge, she did not ask them for some food. Instead, she looked calmly and only glanced at Ye Qi before turning away.

Finally seeing two living people in the empty town, Ye Qi hurriedly asked: "Little girl, we are from out of town, do you know where we can find something to eat?"

He and Shao Qingge were dressed in disguise, their clothes were torn and torn, their faces were smeared with a layer of dust, and their hair was deliberately covered with weeds. They looked like they were outsiders who had traveled a long way and traveled a long way. Very embarrassed.

The little girl said: "I haven't eaten for three days."

Ye Qi wanted to ask something, but the old man next to him suddenly coughed and whispered: "Go back quickly, look at it, it will rain again." The little girl nodded and walked away quickly with the old man.

Ye Qi looked at their backs thoughtfully.

He noticed that the old woman's left foot was a little lame and her walking posture was not very neat. Although the little girl is thin and small, her facial features are actually very beautiful. The two of them don't look like they belong to a wealthy family. How can they survive to this day? Where do they find food?

Shao Qingge said: "Let's go. I remember that the alley in front is where we bought the rattle."

Ye Qi came to his senses and followed Shao Qingge into the alley.

Looking up, the two of them unexpectedly saw a rather familiar shop.

The plaque on the shop floor has been

Half of it was smashed, but the words "Dingdang Shop" could be vaguely seen written on it.

Twenty years later, there was a large shop at the end of this alley, the "Ding Dong Shop", which specialized in selling children's toys. The most popular ones were rattles made by the shop owner himself, with the twelve zodiac signs painted on the drum heads. Hanging all over the house.

The owner of the shop is named Ren, and people in the town call him Uncle Ren.

He has superb skills and the rattles he made by himself are very popular with children. When Ye Qi and Shao Qingge went to him to buy a rattle, he boasted: "Most people in this town have bought the rattle I made."

Shao Qingge took Ye Qi to a corner where there was no one around, and activated the telepathy.

The man's familiar voice sounded in his mind. This time it was not a joke, but serious: "Uncle Ren, who can make rattles, might know the murderer, or the murderer will buy the rattle from him. Therefore, our contact with him must be Be cautious. It’s better to connect with the heart and communicate mentally. It’s more convenient.”

Ye Qi nodded in agreement and said in his mind: "This Uncle Ren has already mastered the art of making rattles when he was young, and opened a shop in a small town to sell toys. But twenty years ago, his shop was very small, unlike the one we have seen There’s no comparison to that store.”

Shao Qingge said: "He is very business-savvy and far-sighted. He has focused on the 'children's toys' market and built his own brand. Now his business has just started. The store is very small and he only dares to do small business. Later, He only relied on word of mouth to expand his business. Twenty years later, we can hardly see other stores selling toys, which shows that he has successfully cornered the market."

Ye Qi said: "In other words, because he is proficient in a craft and has no shortage of money, when the famine first began, he had the foresight to buy some food in advance and hide it in the cellar to tide over the crisis. ?”

Shao Qingge nodded: "Well, hide the food in the cellar so that even if someone comes to rob it, they won't be able to find it. Judging from his store, it should have been robbed. But as long as he hides the food and relies on this craft, he can survive. Can make a comeback.”

Ye Qi said: "How should we get close to him?"

Shao Qingge thought for a while and said, "Wear the invisibility cloak and explore the path first."

The two looked at each other, and in tacit agreement, they found the invisibility cloak from the card bag and put it on themselves, then climbed over the wall next to the store.

There is a small yard attached to the back of the shop.

The small yard twenty years ago was very dilapidated. The pots and pans in the yard were smashed all over the floor. As Shao Qingge said, his home had been robbed. There were even spider webs on the walls, making it look like it had been abandoned for a long time.

Ye Qi couldn't help but wonder: "Didn't he live here twenty years ago?"

Shao Qingge said: "Look carefully."

The two rummaged through the messy yard and found nothing but weeds all over the ground.

Suddenly, there was a rustling sound behind him. Ye Qi turned around and saw a hole hidden in the corner of the yard, covered by some messy branches and weeds.

A young man crept out of the hole.

His eyes looked around like an alert mouse, and he was relieved when he found that no one was around.

Then, he quickly ran to the dry toilet in the corner of the yard, and heard the sound of peeing in his ears.

Ye Qi and Shao Qingge: "..."

The two wore invisibility cloaks, and the other party did not notice them, but they could see each other's every move clearly. Ye Qi couldn't help complaining in his mind: "This man is too cunning. He dug a cellar in a corner and used various branches and weeds to cover it up. Is he born in the year of the rat? He actually dug a hole in the ground!"

Shao Qingge laughed and said: "In order to survive, he was cowardly to the extreme."

After solving the urgent problem, the man ran back and got into the hole again.

The whole process was smooth and smooth. It was obvious that he was doing this every day and his hands and feet were extremely agile.

It seems that during the famine year, he lived like a mouse hiding in a hole in the ground. It was precisely because of this that he was able to survive smoothly and became a well-known toy store owner in the town twenty years later. He renovated and expanded the yard three times.

Ye Qi said: "What should we do? Let's go take a look in the cave?"

Shao Qingge nodded: "Why don't we act as villains and directly steal his food reserves? With so many cards in our hands, he will definitely not be able to beat two against one, so he can only cooperate with us. We can let him be our guide and check through him. Explore things about humans and animals.”

They were really "unfamiliar" with Qingfeng Town twenty years ago. It would be much easier to investigate if there was a local to help. At least they could recognize everyone's name.

After agreeing, the two took off their invisibility cloaks.

Ye Qi opened the branches covering the hole, pretending to be surprised and lowering his voice: "Brother, I found a cellar here, could there be food hidden in it?"

Shao Qingge said: "Go in and take a look."

The man hiding in the cave looked confused. Hearing this conversation, he immediately picked up his weapon vigilantly——

However, before he could recover, he felt like a breeze blowing around him.

Two strangers suddenly appeared in front of him. One of them, a clever young man, quickly sealed the hole and walked up to him and looked at him curiously. The other tall young man came around behind him and strangled him gently with his arm. She held his throat and whispered: "Borrow some food. If you want to survive, just listen to us."

The man was stunned: "Borrow it?"

Isn't this an obvious robbery?

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