The Lucky Farmgirl

Chapter 2291 - 2266: Dan Stone Village

Unfortunately, they couldn’t meet the king. The items ended up in the prince’s hands, and before they could seek any benefits for themselves, the village began to face misfortune, followed by the entire kingdom, which was ultimately destroyed by the Great Jin.

And now, their misfortune seems far from over.

The Crown Prince had no intention of continuing to hold them accountable, as they were merely ignorant peasants who happened to come across the poisoned stones. Before he found them, they had even hidden the remaining fragments like treasures.

Therefore, the Crown Prince only blamed the prince of Gaochang, sparing some of Gaochang’s nobility.

However, the entire village was suspected of plotting against the Crown Prince, and on the Xizhou side, neither the new government nor the old nobility was willing to let them go easily. Therefore, the villagers couldn’t even leave the village or communicate with the outside world.

When Manbao arrived, the road out of the village was overgrown with grass.

She curiously looked around, saw no one, and asked Daji, "Have the people guarding the village hidden?"

Daji said, "There’s probably no one nearby."

Manbao then asked Keke.

Keke said, "There’s no one here, but about two hundred meters down the road, there are people."

So they followed the road and soon saw someone working in the fields.

The person weeding the field looked up to see the entering convoy, and was so shocked that he dropped his hoe.

He rubbed his eyes, and once he was sure there were indeed people coming into the village, he immediately turned and ran towards the houses. Because he ran too fast, he tripped and fell with a loud thud, which caused Bai Shan, who had just raised his hand to greet him, to freeze where he stood.

Before he could call someone to help, the man got up and ran again, quickly disappearing from view.

Bai Shan and Manbao: ...

The two exchanged a glance, hesitating between entering and staying to wait. They signaled for the team to stop and decided to wait a bit, as it looked like someone would come to check on the situation soon.

The villager who discovered them ran back, stumbling along the way, and began shouting as soon as he entered the village. After a while, a crowd had gathered, and he nervously and excitedly pointed to the road leading to the village, shouting, "People, there are people—"

It took everyone a moment to understand what he was saying and asked, "Did they accidentally enter?"

So everyone ran to take a look, and sure enough, there were people at the village entrance—not just people, but they seemed to be Han people. For a moment, everyone paused in shock.

A young man with a handsome face smiled at them and asked in a familiar Hu language, "Is this Xia Hafu’s hometown?"

The village chief, Kuini, eyes lit up, stepped forward excitedly and asked, "Yes, are you Xia Hafu’s friends?"

Xia Hafu was the one who brought back the antidote and sent the remaining poisoned stones from the village to the capital. After delivering the stones to the capital, he stayed there and continued to live.

Occasionally, he would send some things back home, but they never arrived since no merchants came this way.

Knowing there were poisoned stones here, all the merchant caravans changed their routes and instinctively avoided this place.

When Manbao and the others decided to come to Gaochang, they reached out to Xia Hafu and learned the Hu language from him over a long period, so communicating here wasn’t a problem.

Originally, Xia Hafu wanted to act as their guide, but Manbao and Bai Shan had other plans, so they declined his offer.

Bai Shan nodded with a smile, "We are Xia Hafu’s friends."

Kuini was suspicious and apprehensive, but their village hadn’t seen outsiders in a long time. Despite suspecting Bai Shan and the others’ identities, they didn’t show it and warmly invited them into the village.

As they invited them, Kuini whispered to the villagers, "Quickly go hide the children."

The villagers quickly ran back, and Bai Shan and the others pretended not to notice. They carried the token Xia Hafu gave them and had plenty of guards, so they were confident they could safely leave no matter what happened.

They cheerfully followed the enthusiastic village chief into the village.

The houses in the village were somewhat dilapidated, but still reasonably tidy. A group of adolescent boys led a bunch of younger children to watch from a distance without approaching.

The village chief invited them inside to talk.

Manbao ducked her head to enter, feeling it was a bit dim inside, so after accepting the qingke tea offered by the chief, she suggested with a smile, "Why don’t we talk in the yard?"

Manbao said, "We have also brought some gifts for everyone."

The village chief was slightly startled, "Gifts?"

Manbao nodded, put down the teacup, turned around, and took out a bone necklace to show the village chief, "This is Xia Hafu’s token. He said the people in the village would know when they saw it."

Seeing the bone necklace, the village chief looked at Zhou Man in disbelief, "You are indeed Xia Hafu’s friends?"

Manbao nodded, "Of course, we mean no harm."

The village chief touched the bone necklace and said, "It’s been many years since anyone came to our village."

Manbao looked around, seeing only older children and no young ones, she felt a bit worried, "Haven’t there been any newborns in the village in recent years?"

The village chief was startled and instinctively became wary, "I don’t know what you are talking about."

The onlooking villagers also stared at them nervously.

Manbao smiled reassuringly at them and said, "The antidote Xia Hafu brought back was made by me."

Hearing this, the village chief’s eyes lit up, and he scrutinized Zhou Man closely.

Back then, Xia Hafu and the others mentioned that there was a particularly skilled little doctor in the capital who made the medicine they consumed. Although the children still had defects, they wouldn’t worsen.

Once they were sure Zhou Man was indeed the little doctor, the village chief immediately knelt before her, "Divine Doctor, please save our village."

The villagers also knelt all around them.

Manbao was taken aback and hurriedly extended her hands to help them up, "Let’s talk about this while standing."

After a pause, Manbao asked, "What happened to the village?" She assumed it was about migration, and that was something she could help with.

However, the village chief said, "In recent years, children born still have defects. Please, Divine Doctor, help us."

Manbao hesitated for a moment and then sighed, "I remember telling Xia Hafu that the damage had already been done. The antidote could only prevent further harm from the poisoned stones and alleviate symptoms. It might cure those slightly affected, but healing the damage already done is impossible. So, I suggested the villagers not have more children."

These words were conveyed by Xia Hafu when he returned, but the village chief didn’t heed them. He anxiously exclaimed, "How can we not have children?"

He cried out, wiping his tears, "Three years ago, our village had eighty-six people, and now there are only seventy-eight, despite adding three children. If we stop having children, soon, there will be no one left in our village."

Manbao was silent for a while and finally said, "I would like to see the people in the village."

The village chief immediately went to gather everyone.