Keqing, it’s just cultivating immortality, is it that difficult?

"Miss, you can't say that? Expensive? My store is already very cheap. You know, there is famine outside, and there are a lot of refugees outside the city gate. It's good enough for Qu County to have food. I'm the only grain store open in the whole Qu County. Anyone with money can buy food. How can this be considered expensive?"

"If you don't have food, you'll starve to death. How can you say that thirty cents is expensive if you can buy your life?"

The shopkeeper shook his head and spoke nonsense as a matter of course.

"Miss, this is your first time out, right? Do you want to buy some food? Food is very precious right now, and it's already good enough to be able to buy some with money."

"Even for me, I don't have much food left. I only have about ten pounds. Would you like some? For a noble family like you, this soft and sticky grain is most suitable."

Unexpectedly, Keqing looked at him, then shook her head and left.

Watching Keqing leave, the shopkeeper scratched his chin, but he didn't have any thoughts. After all, he was the only one selling grain in the county, and he had a monopoly so he had no shortage of people buying grain.

As for the so-called "only a dozen pounds left", that is pure deception. The county magistrate said that anyone with money can sell it, regardless of exchanging land deeds, land properties or the like.

However, although this young lady did not seem to be wearing any gold or silver, her clothes were made of top-grade brocade and she looked very wealthy. How could I have seen such a person before? Why did I have no impression of her at all?

Could she be the concubine of some wealthy family?

The shopkeeper couldn't help but think about it, then shook his head.

who cares……

"Boss, please give me some food..."

A figure suddenly rushed over and hugged the shopkeeper's thigh. The shopkeeper was startled and kicked him away in disgust after seeing the person coming.

"Go away, what food can you eat without money..."

"Yes, I have, I have the title deed..."

The figure lowered his head hastily and rummaged through the tattered clothes, in a hurry, as if he was about to take something out of his arms. The shopkeeper smiled, as if he recognized the figure and gave him a sarcastic smile.

"Have you forgotten that you just used the deed to pay back the grain five days ago? Where did you get the deed?"

The figure was also stunned, and then he remembered that, yes, the land deed had long been exchanged for food...

Unfortunately, the shopkeeper said that the land deed was worthless and it was only exchanged for five kilograms of rice bran. You have to know that it was sold for forty taels in the first place. Thinking of this, the figure pounced over tremblingly.

"Please, we are out of food at home. Please be kind and give us some food..."

"Look, we will give you whatever you want at home. Please, give us more..."

The man knelt and crawled over to her, but the shopkeeper looked disgusted.

He kicked the figure flying, then waved his hand, and the patrolling yamen runners in the distance quickly came over.

"Manager Liang, why is there someone causing trouble again..."

"Yeah, it's really annoying. These lowly people have to bother me even though they have no money. Do they think my food is for free?"

Isn't it a waste of time? The yamen runner complained in his heart, but he didn't say anything. After all, the other party was the brother-in-law of County Magistrate Cao.

The leading yamen runner waved his hand and signaled his brothers.

"Someone, take him away."

"No, no, I don't want to leave! There are people waiting for me at home!"

It was obvious that the man knew what the consequences would be if he was caught, and he struggled violently, trying to escape, but the guards ignored him and went straight forward.

As the figure struggled in panic, two yamen runners grabbed him, beat him roughly, and then dragged him in one direction.

But Keqing who was standing by saw this scene.

She thought about it, and quietly followed the two yamen runners behind her. However, after a while, the surrounding environment gradually changed and became visibly dilapidated.

Keqing saw them bringing people to a big house.

"Hey, there's a newcomer..."

The guard at the gate of the mansion said impatiently.

"I said we want strong people. Why do you send these useless chickens every day? Even if it's for recycling, it shouldn't be like this."

"But... the prison is full. If we kill them directly, we will have to bury them. If we just leave them alone and let them stink, it will affect the environment. The county magistrate doesn't like this."

The bailiff explained helplessly, and the gatekeeper reluctantly gave them face.

"Good man, you are

I think this is a place to dispose of corpses..."

"No, that's not the case. Please bear with me. After all, this is what the county magistrate meant..."

"When they die, they can just be thrown into the furnace and burned as firewood."

The gatekeeper paused and snorted when he heard this.

"Okay, bring it in."

After opening the door, the two dragged the figure inside. Keqing also smelled the distinct scent of minerals in the air, so she found a secluded corner and jumped up and flipped in.

As soon as she entered, it was noticeably hotter around, and there were many people wearing anklets banging and hammering in the house. Keqing went further in and saw countless burning iron furnaces in front of her, and next to the furnaces were piles of unprocessed iron ore.

"So, it's processed here..."

Yes, iron ore must be fired in a furnace to become iron full of impurities, and then it must be processed again. Wood ash is filled into the gaps in the impure iron, and then smelting and forging begin. After the impurities are forged out, iron is formed.

In the end, a blacksmith is needed to forge the weapon bit by bit. Doesn’t this process require people?

No wonder the streets of Qu County are so quiet, it turns out that people were transported here to smelt iron.

Chapter 577 Rescue (2 updates)

Keqing took a look and found that this group of people were strictly guarded, with a guard every few meters.

Moreover, all the people brought in had heavy shackles on their hands and feet. They didn't care at all about the burden the shackles brought to them. If they were not satisfied or moved slowly, they would be whipped.

When someone died, they were thrown directly into the fire as fuel and that was it.

As for the food, it was better. At least there was a bowl of rice bran water mixed with rice bran every day, but such food was not enough to feed pigs, let alone forge ore. The guards were sturdy, with knives hanging on their waists. They looked strong and fierce, with a murderous aura, and it was obvious that they had killed people.

Keqing knew who these guards were. They must be the private soldiers she was looking for.

"I didn't expect that the private soldiers trained by Song Zhi were quite good..."

Keqing was a little surprised. The physical fitness and reaction speed of these private soldiers were not inferior to her own guards.

Of course, the comparison is with the guards who have never been trained before. If they can really be comparable to the current guards, Keqing will have to doubt whether her training method is wrong.

After all, he had plenty of delicious meat, and General Geng was allowed to train for five or six hours a day. In addition, he had his own deterrence. If he was still surpassed by these private soldiers, it would be a waste of effort.

Keqing observed carefully and found that these people were divided into teams of fifteen, with a total of more than two hundred people, which would take longer than expected.

The leader seemed to be a warrior as well, with true energy in his body.

However, Keqing could feel that this warrior's strength was average, not even as strong as General Geng. He wouldn't be able to withstand a single blow from her, so there was no need to worry at all.

"Hey, it's a rare day off today. The county magistrate sent some more stuff. Do you want to go and vent some steam?"

"Tsk, if it's my brother's invitation, I have to go, right?"

"It should be. She's pretty. The county magistrate's son may not be good at other things, but he's good at picking people up through these romantic things."

"It was originally meant to be given to our boss, but he was practicing martial arts today and didn't have time, so he gave it to me. I thought it would be better if we could enjoy it together as brothers."

He winked and said, while his companion laughed and patted his shoulder.

"You are indeed a good brother."

"He's smart enough to try to please our boss. This is a great deal for us. Let's go and give it a try."

Keqing overheard their discussion and followed them in the direction they were walking.

She heard faint crying sounds coming from the front, she lowered her eyes and hurried to catch up.

The two of them were obviously used to it and pushed the door open without any concern.

"Let me see, where are those kids?

As he spoke, his eyes fell on a few new faces tied to the beds with iron chains. The man was delighted when he saw those bodies that were carefully dressed and exposed.

"She even dressed up specially for me. She looks much more appetizing than before."

"Yeah, you're really sensible."

The two men laughed, rubbed their hands and approached the crying girl on the bed.

When the girls saw the person coming, they thought of something, tears welled up in their pupils, and their bodies trembled uncontrollably with fear.

But at this moment, a shadow quietly came behind the two of them, and a knife flashed.

"who!"

Seeing a shadow suddenly appear, the two men were instantly alert and quickly drew their swords and shouted angrily.

However, no matter how fast they reacted, how could they be faster than Keqing? She raised her hand and slashed with her sword, and a silver light flashed.

Peng——

The two headless corpses fell heavily to the ground, and the flying heads rolled like a football and landed in front of the girls.

The girls looked at the shocking scene before them and subconsciously widened their eyes and wanted to scream. Keqing did not stop them and let them scream. After all, it would seem a bit strange if they didn't scream.

Sure enough, other colleagues not far away heard the screams coming from the house and smiled in ambiguous ways.

"They are playing really fancy, and the noise is really loud..."

"Tsk, it's a pity we are on duty, otherwise we could go and have some fun."

Keqing takes out the Water Spirit Pearl

, rinsed the sword in his hand, and then wiped the silk beside the bed.

Ignoring the frightened looks of the girls, she squatted down, picked up the long knife in the man's hand, and knocked it with the sword in her hand.

Listening to the echo in her ears, Keqing nodded.

"Well, it has good toughness and doesn't look like a fake product, but the workmanship is average."

It seems that the quality of this batch of iron ore is very good, otherwise it would be impossible to make such a good knife with ordinary craftsmanship.

The screaming girl on the other side finally realized that the child in front of her didn't seem to be a bad person. Didn't you see that she didn't kill herself? She only killed those bad guys with bad intentions.

"You, are you here to save us?"

A little girl asked in a trembling voice.

Keqing glanced at her and nodded.

"Well, I'm here to save you, but not now..."

Keqing raised her sword and swung it. A silver light flashed over. Before the girls could scream, they heard a snapping sound and the chains that bound them broke in unison and fell to the ground with a plop.

The girls looked at their hands and feet that had been freed with surprise, and hurriedly expressed their gratitude.

Then they felt a little helpless because they didn't know what to do next.

Keqing searched the room for some food and handed it to them.

"You guys eat and recover your strength first. I'm sure those people won't come in and disturb you for a while."

"That……"

Keqing knew what they wanted to ask, so she just said:

"Eat your fill first. There are too many people outside. It will take a while to kill them all. I'm afraid I'll hurt you."

"Just stay in the room. No matter what happens outside, don't go out. Block the doors and windows with something. You can come out when I call you."

Keqing reminded them, and the girls wanted to ask something, but she walked away so quickly that they were at a loss.

"What are we going to do..."

One of the girls looked at the corpse on the ground and asked with some fear.

It was the other girl who asked the question first who gritted her teeth.

"First, drag this person under the bed and use something to block the doors and windows. Didn't that person say that we should protect ourselves in case something happens outside?"

As she said that, she quickly stood up, held back her trembling, grabbed the corpse's feet and started dragging it. The other girls also worked together, holding back the churning in their stomachs and started to move.

Looking at the girl like this secretly, Keqing nodded, thinking that she was not hopeless and could save herself.

She then went to several such rooms in the same way and found out where the women were being held.

The next few women were not as lucky as the previous girls. They were all tortured by those people to varying degrees, and their bodies were covered with bruises. Keqing did the same thing, took out the food she had picked up and handed it to them, giving them the same instructions.