allonlinenovel Chapter 260: The Cubs Being Treated as Two-legged Sheep on the Road to Exile (2)
Chapter 260: The Cubs Being Treated as Two-legged Sheep on the Road to Exile (2)
Another month has passed.
The life of the exile team became increasingly difficult. Not only the prisoners, but even the yamen runners had died of thirst and starvation.
"Boss, we can't go south any further. If we go any further, all our brothers will die!" a yamen runner said weakly to yamen runner Zhou.
Zhou Yatou's face was pale, his cheekbones were high, and his lips were chapped. He pursed his lips, forced a little saliva to moisten the corners of his lips, and said nothing.
The yamen runner showed a hint of disappointment when he saw that Yatou Zhou didn't say anything. He had already thought of it. They were on official business and it was impossible for them to leave easily.
Zhou Yayi stood up with his sword in hand and walked slowly to inspect the exile team.
In the team, both the yamen runners and the prisoners collapsed on the ground exhausted, including all the members of the Wei family.
When they set out, the total number of prisoners in the team was 318. Now there are only 237 left, which is already less than the number required to report in the official documents.
Moreover, their destination was still nearly two months away, and during these two months, it was estimated that more people would die.
If too many people died when they were transferred to the place of exile, the escorting yamen runners would be held responsible. The punishment might be deducting their wages at the very least, or even losing their lives at the worst.
There was no expression on Zhou Yatou's face, but he was struggling fiercely in his heart. Should he continue walking, or abandon these prisoners and go back now?
There might be a glimmer of hope if he went back. After all, the serious disaster in the south must have spread to the capital long ago.
"Yatou!"
Suddenly, a bailiff came running over, shouting and staggering.
"What's wrong?" Zhou Yatou asked weakly.
"Zhou Bao, and, and Zhao Shun, they, they want to escape..." The yamen runner who came collapsed on the ground due to the intense exercise just now spoke intermittently.
When Zhou Yatou heard this, his face changed immediately and he turned around and walked towards the direction where the bailiff was running from.
When I walked over, I saw the yamen runners divided into two groups and confronting each other.
Seeing that Chief Zhou was coming, several yamen runners knelt down.
"Boss, please let us go. If we go further south, I'm afraid we won't survive. I have a three-year-old child and an eighty-year-old mother at home. Please give us a chance to live!"
After shouting, several yamen runners began to kowtow to Zhou Yatou quickly.
Zhou Yatou looked at the yamen runners whose heads were bleeding, and then looked at the other yamen runners who were looking at him expectantly. Zhou Yatou's heart wavered.
He thought of his gentle and virtuous wife and lively and lovely children at home. Was he really going to stubbornly insist on leaving his life on this road of exile?
There is rarely any water source now, and they don’t have much food left. They don’t know if they can buy food in the next town. If they continue to move south, they will only die!
Thinking of this, Zhou Yatou's eyes became firm. He couldn't leave his life here!
He looked up at the yamen runners who were looking expectant. Many of them had been following him for a long time, and he had to give himself and his brothers a way to survive!
"Let's go, we'll go together!" Zhou Yatou said in a firm tone.
"Great, thank you, Yatou!"
"Thank you, Yatou!"
All the yamen runners, whether standing or kneeling, excitedly saluted Zhou Yatou.
Wei Keyuan had been paying attention to the situation of the yamen runners. In his previous life's memory, it was around this time that Yatou Zhou led all the surviving yamen runners to release them and then set out on the return journey.
After all, there was a severe drought in the south, and these prisoners had no money or food, so it was possible that they all died. They would not be severely punished when they returned.
Sure enough, after deciding to leave, Zhou Yatou once again arranged for someone to gather together the men who had a say in the three families.
"There is a severe drought in the south. We are out of water and food. We do not intend to escort you on the rest of the journey. You are free now. Go find a way to survive!"
After saying this, without waiting for the three families to react, Zhou Yatou turned around and ordered the bailiffs to push their belongings back.
Before leaving, Zhou Yatou looked for Wei Keyuan, left a bag of coarse grains to express his gratitude for saving his life, and then turned and left.
"Old Four, are we free now?" Uncle Wei and Old Man Wei asked in disbelief as they looked at the yamen runners moving farther and farther away.
"Well, we are free now. We can go wherever we want next!" Wei Keyuan said with a smile, "Let's go. We want to find a place to rest and then discuss the next steps."
"Good!" The Wei family was very happy to know that they were free. They ignored the Fang family and the Hu family who were like headless flies. They packed up their things and walked in the direction specified by Wei Keyuan.
That is the road of hope!