Chapter 4 A strange combination of circumstances
The next day, the sky was clear and the sun was shining, with a gentle breeze.

But as soon as Black Bear opened his eyes, he felt a headache, dizziness and discomfort. He touched his forehead and felt it was hot.

Even his eyes were dry and swollen. He supported himself with his hands and crawled out of the shelter. The black slave had been melted by the sun.

He turned around and pulled out a ring-handled knife from the reeds. He endured the discomfort and squatted on the ground about ten steps away. He used the blade to dig out half a grass root and then poured a pill of white magic power into it.

Buds appeared at the roots of the grass, and then branches emerged and grew rapidly to more than a foot tall, and some thorny leaves grew under the sunlight.

Soon two flower buds formed and bloomed, and soon two bright red magic berries emerged.

He picked up a magic berry and put it in his mouth. The other magic berry turned into a card and could be summoned at any time. The branches that grew from the grass roots also turned into cards. He glanced at it casually and saw that it could be used four times.

I guess if I use the right medium, I can summon a Godberry Branch card that can last a long time.

Physical strength has been restored, but the fever symptom remains.

As a last resort, he could only shoot another white magic power into his abdomen. As his heartbeat accelerated rapidly, he suddenly felt very uncomfortable. After a dozen breaths, his body gradually returned to normal and his heartbeat also returned to normal.

"This god is really miserable."

I made a self-deprecating remark and said that I touched my left thigh and it wasn't as painful anymore. But I also felt that not eating or drinking for a few days would cause problems and lead to gastrointestinal degeneration.

This issue is worth studying, but it is best not to use yourself as research material.

Then I climbed up the peach tree beside the house and looked around. I could vaguely see seven or eight fishing boats in Mengze to the north, and there were also children and teenagers fishing near Xiaomengcheng, the southernmost part of the surrounding swamps.

There are puddles of different sizes in the swamp wetland, and the connections between these puddles are very suitable for children to fish.

Now the frogs and toads have also revived, and catching two or three of them will make a good meal.

After a quick observation, he climbed down the tree and went to check on the three geese. When he saw a goose egg, he immediately stepped over the reed pile and picked it up.

Returning to the shelter and recalling the experiences of the past few days, I felt a little uneasy.

Yesterday morning, after passing Ge Township, we rowed directly into Mengze. Along the way, we saw merchant ships as well as legal and illegal fishermen.

Even with black face paint, I am still an intruder to the people living in Monzen now, and this group of people will definitely search for me.

Eliminating the risk is one thing, but killing yourself and taking the boat is the most cost-effective.

It is a time of chaos, and it is costly and inconvenient for ordinary people to build and buy ships.

There is also a military settlement in Xiaomengcheng. After the spring rice plowing, the military officials would command young men, women and children to go to the swamp to fish and cut reeds.

Fortunately, he did not make a fire, so he would not be exposed for the time being; but the fishermen who had gathered in Monze in the past two years would probably search for him and kill him.

What's more, Cao Cao's army was stationed in Junyi, upstream of the Wei River, so Xuzhou's supplies and troops would flow north through the Wei River.

The grain ships are transporting goods back and forth, and they may launch a search and arrest against the fishermen in Mengze.

Eliminating hidden dangers is secondary, the goal is to capture a group of free water army slaves.

I felt like I had become smarter, and I couldn't help but curl up the corners of my mouth as I thought about this. I picked up a goose egg that was about the size of my fist and took a look at it. It felt warm and the eggshell was white.

He observed carefully, then poured a white magic power into it. In a moment, the cleansing was completed and the goose egg in his hand dissolved.

'Goose eggs, infuse with mana to hatch.'

Another bit of white mana was injected, and the goose egg card turned into a gander seedling card.

"Come out, little magical duck!"

The card was thrown onto the reed mat with a low shout, and a gosling with golden down gathered into shape, with a clean body, black eyes and a yellow beak like a jade carving.

It's just a bit noisy.

Seeing that there were still two points of white magic power, he injected some into it immediately. When the gosling was summoned again, it weighed two or three pounds, and had its first batch of white down, with a few pointed hard feathers on its butt.

He immediately poured in the last bit of white mana, and the gosling card turned into a 'young gander', and its summoned shape was similar to the previous three white geese.

'Young male geese, when grown, produce half a penny's worth of down per day.'

A hatchable goose egg plus four white mana equals a young goose, and five mana is estimated to be an adult goose that can lay eggs.

The pure white goose is very conspicuous whether it is in the grass or in the puddle.

The black bear only let the other geese eat the grass sprouts that sprouted near the earthen house. When more geese were hatched, it could eat the three old geese.

An adult goose requires five white mana, and the mana required to refine an adult goose is definitely more than five points.

It’s better to kill it and eat the meat.

Having made up his mind, the black bear closed his eyes and dozed off, waiting for the sunset.

I hope I can spend this night safely. Every night I spend safely will make me stronger.

While he was dozing off, two fishing boats stopped at the edge of the lake seven or eight miles to the north, and five fishermen came ashore and chatted around a fire on the grass beach.

They all had worried looks on their faces. Cao Gong had sent troops to Hebei, and the water transport on the Wei River alone was enough to make it difficult for these non-registered fishermen to breathe.

The most difficult part of the canal transport was rowing upstream. One of them looked sad: "Last year, more than 100,000 people fled to Huainan, and the place is empty. I heard that the new governor Liu is lenient and loves the people. If I can go to Huainan, I can also settle down there."

Another man with a family chewed a wild vegetable and swallowed it before saying, "It's not easy to sail in Sishui. There's a risk of the boat capsizing during the day, not to mention at night. But if you sail during the day, you'll inevitably be arrested."

If caught, the man would be forced to do slave labor, his wife would not have a good ending either, and all the property on the boat would be looted.

Then a man spoke up in a rebellious tone, "Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao in a row, and the Central Plains is stable. If we stay here, we will be wiped out sooner or later. We are already refugees, and if we are caught, we will have no good end. If Cao doesn't issue an edict of amnesty, we will have no way out. Even now, the envoy Liu of Yangzhou is still recruiting refugees. If we go there, we will be of good families, which is better than being a thief here."

Judging from their knowledge, Cao Cao would not easily issue an edict to pacify the people unless too many people fled into exile.

Only by blocking the loopholes that allow refugees to easily settle down can we deter other registered people.

After a few sighs, the leader made up his mind and said, "I will go to Huainan. If I can settle down with Envoy Liu, then I will. If not, I will go to Jiangdong to join General Sun. If you are willing to go, find more people. After the Xuzhou fleet goes north, we will go south together so that we can take care of each other."

Someone else said, "Once the Suiyang Canal is repaired and many paddy fields are created, the imperial court will arrest the refugees and send them to military settlements. Rather than waiting for the imperial court to send people to arrest them, it is better to leave early."

The others looked at each other and nodded one after another. One of them said, "I heard that the people in Xiaomeng City have hidden some boats deep in the water. If we find them, we can bring more things. If we go to Huainan and sell them to the government, we can also get some benefits."

The leader agreed and said, "I will go to Xiaomeng City to ask later. It would be great if more people could come with us."

They were not afraid of the local military farm officials causing trouble for them. The military farm residents had a fixed establishment and there had been no escape or riot in recent years. The tasks assigned to the military farm officials could be completed, so there was no need to capture the exiled population.

It’s just about catching... If there are some local thugs cooperating, it will be much easier.

After making a fire to cook fish soup and wild vegetables, the five people took a boat back to the big water lake to continue fishing. In the afternoon, a boat sailed along the winding passage through small water lakes, heading towards Xiaomeng City in the south, analyzing the reeds near and far within sight.

They had searched several times and found some boats, and now they had to search again before leaving.

It's just that the weather is fine today and it's not convenient to search. It's best to search in the early morning when it's just light, so as to avoid the surveillance of Xiaomeng City.

The garrison officials stationed in Xiaomeng City did not care about a few ships, but the residents did. They were their unforgettable hope, their second home, and their retreat.

As for the small reed hill where the black bear was, the man ignored it as he glanced over it. This small hill was very obvious and had long been familiar to people passing by. Apart from a dozen peach trees, apricot trees, and mulberry trees, there was nothing else worth paying attention to.

It is not yet the season for viewing flowers, nor is it the season for picking mulberry seeds and leaves, nor is it the end of summer when peaches and apricots bear fruit, so there is really nothing to worry about.

After the small fishing leader of Mengze paid a visit to the military farm official with two fish in his hand, he visited his old friends in the city, most of whom were people who had fished in Mengze in his early years.

When he arrived at Heiyun's house, he saw Heiyun sitting in the yard behind the low wall, chopping bamboo strips with a hatchet, making bamboo slips needed for government office work.

Heiyun was an experienced worker, and the five children in his family also squatted around him polishing the bamboo slips.

"Brother Ayun, why isn't your Sanlang here?"

The person who came in handed a small fish in his hand to a half-grown boy who was coming towards him. He looked around but couldn't find the sharp and heroic young boy.

Not only women like handsome young men, but adult men also like them.

Appearance reflects the heart. Even if a handsome and heroic young man is ugly, his future achievements will be much better than those of ordinary people.

This is almost a common consensus at the moment, like a destiny.

The two had not seen each other since the beginning of winter and did not know each other's situation. Heiyun stood up, brushed off the debris on his body and led him into the house. He looked gloomy and showed no joy: "At the beginning of the month, Cao Gong conscripted labor to dredge the Suiyang Canal, and Sanlang went in my place."

Heiyun invited the other party to sit down. He also looked at this Lu countryman named Zhang Jun and guessed his purpose. He sighed and said, "It is said that the service period is 20 days. He left on the third day of the first lunar month and will arrive on the seventh or eighth day. If the service period is delayed for a few more days, he should be on his way home soon."

Zhang Jun's face darkened when he heard this. He comforted Heiyun: "Sanlang knows arithmetic, so he won't do hard work. He is also strong and smart, so he won't suffer any loss."

"I hope so. Why did Brother Zhang suddenly come to the city?"

"It's like this. Several families in Zeli feel that Zezhong is not a good place to make a living in the long run. They all say that the governor Liu of Yangzhou is lenient and loves the people, so it's a good place to go."

Zhang Jun turned his head and glanced at the fence outside the courtyard along the door frame, and continued: "After the death of the Little Overlord of Jiangdong, it seems that his brother will not be able to accomplish anything. We are thinking that Huainan is a good place to go. Brother Ayun, think about it. Staying here is not a good idea. General Yuan in Hebei is not someone who can be defeated easily. Over time, how many people will die by the Yellow River?"

Hei Yun nodded, lowered his eyebrows and exhaled: "I will wait for San Lang to come back and ask my good brothers in the evening."

They all had families to support, and it was not easy for them to migrate; but it was precisely because they had families to support that they did not want to leave their sons, whom they had raised with great effort, to die under Cao Cao.

What happened in Wancheng that year was no secret. Perhaps the scholars thought that this was an anecdote about Cao Gong’s straightforward character, but how unjust was it for the innocent officials who died?
The majority of those who died that year were Han soldiers who enlisted in the army, not Cao's servants or domestic slaves.

Moreover, the death ratio of Cao Cao in the wars he fought in those years is indeed not good.

Seeing that Heiyun was about to make a move, Zhang Jun said, "I will come back to the city in three or four days to discuss the time. If Brother Ayun has made up his mind, we should make preparations early."

"Well, if Sanlang and his men come back, we can leave. If Sanlang doesn't come back, I will leave even more."

Heiyun also turned his head to look outside the door, his expression even more tired: "If I stay here any longer, my family will be extinct sooner or later. We're all going to die anyway, so I might as well go to Huainan and try my luck."

His eldest son died on the battlefield of Guandu and his body could not be found, let alone any compensation. Heiyun has lost his last concern for the current Xudu court.

As for the title of Gongcheng accumulated by our ancestors during the 404 years of the Han Dynasty, it has no practical significance at all.

At night, the black bear left a letter in the pit and called out the black servants, and together they pushed the boat into the water.

He spent the whole afternoon making two fairly handy oars by using wooden boards and waist bands to tie them together. Then he loaded the geese and rowed together towards Dabo in the north.

(End of this chapter)