After cracking melon seeds and watching the play, Qin He stretched himself and wandered around Liucheng.

The army attacked the city, the atmosphere in the city was tense, and the streets looked very depressed.

There are dead branches and leaves everywhere, mixed with ice and snow, and pedestrians are coming and going in a hurry.

There are very few shops open.

The only thing that can be considered lively is the newly opened Qingniu Immortal Temple.

With Feiyu Guards, 300 soldiers and strong young people guarding the city, people spread the word, and the small abandoned City God Temple regained its popularity after being renovated.

Qin He took a look and went into a pub two streets away that was still open.

The tavern is not big, with two or three tables, the curtains are tightly tied, and there is a heater in the corner. As soon as you enter, you feel a warm breath on your face, which is very comfortable.

"Shopkeeper, we can serve as many good wines and dishes as we can." Qin He sat down at the table and greeted the shopkeeper.

Maybe it was too early, there were no customers in the tavern, only an old shopkeeper with white hair was wiping the counter table.

"Ahem... Sir, please wait a moment." The old shopkeeper coughed, and a smile appeared on his wrinkled face.

After a while, "good wine and good food" were served.

A plate of salted beans, a plate of pickles, a plate of dried plums, and a pot of wine.

"Shopkeeper, is that all?" Qin He was a little disappointed. He originally planned to go out to eat some meat.

"Sir, that's all we have left." The old shopkeeper shook his head slowly and said: "The dishes are not good, but this plum wine was brewed by my grandson and granddaughter-in-law. This is my first time here, so you can have a taste. It's something special."

Flavor.”

"How did the shopkeeper know that this was my first time here?" Qin He was a little surprised. He had changed his appearance and still imitated the local accent. He never expected that the old shopkeeper would recognize him at a glance.

"The loess is buried up to the neck, and all the business is done by the neighbors. It is natural for new customers to know when they are new." The old shopkeeper smiled and poured wine for Qin He.

"The shopkeeper is so polite."

Qin He quickly held up his hands, and when the wine was full, he took a sip and his eyes lit up.

“Good wine!”

Plum wine is slightly sweet, not harsh or pungent, not dry in the mouth, and warm and moist when entering the throat. The most special thing is the fragrance of plums, which is refreshing and makes it very comfortable to drink.

To make such a fruit wine, good grain, good water and good craftsmanship are essential, and the picking of plums must be in season. Without any link, this wine cannot be produced.

"Drink slowly, sir. This is the last bottle of wine left." The old shopkeeper slowly put down the wine bottle.

"Only one pot left?" Qin He suddenly felt a little regretful and thought to himself, if you still have some left, buy a few jars and go back and drink slowly.

"There is a severe drought this year, and all the plum trees outside the city have withered. There will be no more plum wine in the future." The old shopkeeper shook his head, with a hint of loneliness and loneliness on his face.

"Thousands of sails pass by the side of the sunken boat, and thousands of trees spring in front of the diseased trees. The old trees wither, and the new ones sprout. It will not take a few years for them to flourish again." Qin He comforted.

As a result, the old shopkeeper shook his head and said: "No way, even if there are plums, there will be no one left."

"Why is this?"

Qin He asked with a smile, stretched out his hand to push the bench next to him, and motioned for the other party to sit down and chat.

We have wine and food, but all we need is a story.

Later, I chatted with the old shopkeeper and found out that this city not only experienced a severe drought, but also experienced a plague in the middle of the year.

The people in the city fled and died. After the winter plague subsided, there were only less than 10,000 people left in the city that originally had 40,000 to 50,000 people.

Ten rooms in the neighborhood are empty, and the tavern has no food, no plums, and no customers. It has long been out of business.

After selling out the last bit of stored wine, we will close down the business.

"Where are your grandchildren?" Qin He asked.

"I escaped from the plague in the middle of the year. I originally planned to take me with me, but I can't walk with my old bones, so I stayed. I was lucky enough to survive the plague, but I didn't know that my grandson who escaped from the plague didn't die.

How are the children and grandson-in-law?" The old shopkeeper shook his head and sighed, with deep worry on his face.

Qin He couldn't help but be silent for a while.

There are constant natural and man-made disasters in Lu, and banditry is everywhere. If you don't escape, you will die, and if you escape, you will have a narrow escape.

The old shopkeeper is very old. If his grandson and granddaughter-in-law unfortunately leave early, even if the tavern has patrons, there will be no one to make wine.

The old shopkeeper has been running the tavern all his life. This small tavern is his spirit.

Once a person loses his energy and spirit, he will soon die.

After a moment of silence, Qin He smiled slightly and said, "Shopkeeper, please relax. After the new year, the war in Lu will be peaceful, and your grandchildren will come back. The weather will be good in the coming year, there will be plums, and there will be wine."

"

The old shopkeeper was stunned when he heard this. He cupped his hands and said with a smile: "Thank you, sir, for your comfort. I'll save my life." His words clearly showed that he didn't believe what Qin He said.

Seeing this, Qin He said again: "My words are not nonsense words of comfort, but the art of observing the appearance. Judging from the appearance of the shopkeeper, there are descendants to die."

When the old shopkeeper heard this, his cloudy eyes immediately brightened a little, and he hurriedly asked: "Do you take this objective statement seriously?"

"Of course it's true." Qin He nodded.

…

After a long time, Qin He left the tavern and was escorted out by the old shopkeeper.

Walking on the empty streets, most of the surrounding houses are leaky, the snow has not been swept away, and they are all empty. Many doors and windows still have signs of being broken open.

Sparse smoke rises, and the clouds are gloomy.

Different from the "liveliness" of the canal docks, the only scene reflected in troubled times elsewhere is depression.

The living people are as hungry and thin as ghosts, and the cities are in decay like ghost towns.

The experience of the old shopkeeper is just a small microcosm of the troubled times.

Countless refugees left and never came back. No one knew where they went. They just disappeared without a trace.

When the prosperous times are reincarnated, the living space left by them will soon be filled by the new population.

It goes round and round, one reincarnation after another.

Qin He had no motivation to intervene in such a process, or in other words, he didn't know the meaning of such intervention.

He was just chasing the reward of burning corpses and moving forward step by step based on his feelings.

Unless a technological revolution breaks out in later generations.

But the question is, this is a world of low-level martial arts cultivation, where demons and ghosts cannibalize human bones, and strange knights run rampant. Will it be the same as in later generations?

Qin He doesn't know either, just take it one step at a time.

Return to the old shopkeeper.

Qin He knew as soon as Qin He used the qi-gazing technique that the grandson and granddaughter-in-law of the old shopkeeper were no longer alive.

The whole world is in chaos. There are very few lucky people who have escaped and survived. Most of them are just buried in another place.

But what Qin He said to the old shopkeeper was not just nonsense. Someone would really die for the old shopkeeper.
Chapter completed!