Spring comes to the desperate place

Chapter 108 Fire

"They definitely haven't run far. Search for them, even if you have to dig three feet underground!" The leader was indignant. He couldn't believe that such a large family could disappear out of thin air.

However, no matter how they searched the Song family, they could not find a single member of the Song family.

Looking at the furniture that was randomly overturned on the ground, everyone almost wanted to tear down the wall to see if there was a secret room. The answer was naturally no. The Song family's house was similar to an ordinary farmer's house. Let alone a secret room, there was not even a secret compartment.

Now everyone was completely dumbfounded. They had never thought that this family could actually disappear out of thin air.

The leader refused to accept the result and sent out some people to search separately, wanting to find the person alive or dead.

"Didn't their family just harvest sweet potatoes? They definitely can't take 2,000 kilograms away. They must still be in this yard."

The people below were exhausted from searching and replied angrily, "We have turned the whole yard upside down, but we haven't found anything except this small basket."

"It's definitely not easy to hide so many things. What if they put them somewhere else?"

The leader heard this and felt that it was not impossible. He pondered for a moment, looked at the Song family's house sinisterly, and sneered.

"Since you like to escape so much, then try to know the price of escape. Come, give me a torch."

The subordinates didn't want to make a big fuss. They came here just to steal the sweet potatoes and didn't intend to set fire to the house. Seeing that the subordinates still wanted to persuade them, the leader snorted coldly.

"They must have been tipped off by someone if they were able to escape in advance. We are going back empty-handed this time. Do you think the master will let us go?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the people around fell silent. Thinking of the cruel way their master punished his servants, they all shuddered involuntarily.

Since I will be punished when I go back anyway, I might as well burn down the Song family. Maybe the master will give me a lighter punishment because of the fire?

Thinking of this, everyone lit the torches tacitly.

Song Chunlin, who was hiding in the cellar, was furious when he heard that they were going to set fire to the Song family. He was about to rush out to kill those thugs without thinking, but was stopped by Song Dazhuang with his quick eyes and hands.

"Don't go out. They will naturally vent their anger if they can't find anything. If you go out, won't you become a target?"

Song Qin also whispered to persuade: "Yes, Chun Lin is leaving, we are relatively safe in the cellar, if you go out, won't everything be exposed?"

Song Chunlin was indignant: "But they are going to set fire to our house. If we don't stop them, our house will be gone!"

The Song family members did not seem to have expected that this group of people would be so cruel. Song Chunsheng was young and energetic. Upon hearing this, he immediately stood up and walked towards the cellar entrance.

Song Dazhuang held his two sons in one hand and shouted in a low voice: "Don't you want to die?"

"You don't even know what's going on outside, yet you dare to rush out? Can you beat everyone to death or something?"

After being scolded by Song Dazhuang, the two brothers calmed down. Song Chunlin watched with his mental power as the group of people threw torches at his house, one, two, three, four. He watched with bloodshot eyes as the fire burned fiercely, and the flames instantly engulfed the roof.

Ancient houses were all made of wood and were extremely flammable. As the fire grew bigger, those people worried that it would attract people from the village, so the leader made a gesture and dozens of people retreated all at once, leaving only the raging fire that gradually surrounded the Song family’s house.

After they withdrew, Song Chunlin decisively opened the door of the cellar. He looked at the Song family surrounded by flames, and tears couldn't stop falling for a moment.

Song Dazhuang, who followed closely behind, felt extremely sad to see his house burned down like this, but he made a quick judgment and ran to the well to fetch water to put out the fire.

Seeing this, Song Chunlin also wanted to use space water to put out the fire, but then he looked at the cellar again, and his mind changed, and he came up with an idea.

Having made up his mind, Song Chunlin quickly walked up to Grandpa Song and said a few words to him. Grandpa Song's face darkened at first, but then he nodded quickly and agreed to his grandson's proposal.

The Song family began to work together to put out the fire. Such a big fire really attracted people from the village. In the dark night, the Song family's side was full of flames, and the pungent smell of smoke from the burning fire drifted into the village with the wind.

Zhao Weibao, who was sleeping soundly, lived in the family closest to the Song family. The first thing he smelled was a burning smell in the air. His originally confused mind suddenly became clear. He quickly got up and opened the door, and almost at a glance he saw the fire over at the Song family's side.

"Oh no!" Zhao Weibao was so scared that he ran to every household and knocked on doors.

"Oh no! There's a fire! There's a fire! Hurry up and get up!"

"What's wrong? Where is the water leaking?"

"It's the Song family. There's a fire in the Song family. Hurry up and get up. Let's take our weapons and put out the fire!"

Zhao Weibao woke everyone up breathlessly. When the villagers saw the flames rising from the Song family's side, they became anxious and spontaneously carried their buckets and wooden basins to the Song family.

The Song family had a well. When they arrived, the Song family members were also using basins and buckets to save themselves. The arrival of the villagers relieved the pressure on the Song family. Grandpa Song and Grandma Song were helped out of the yard and sat down. Several familiar women also led the Song family's children out.

When Song Xiaojiu was in the palace, he was threatened with fire by a palace servant. When he saw such a big fire, he was so scared that he curled up in Song Chunlin's arms and trembled. He bit his lower lip tightly and dared not cry out. Song Chunlin knew that he was frightened, so he quickly held him and turned around to prevent him from seeing the fire.

Song Xiaobao behaved relatively well and did not cry or make a fuss, but at this moment he was snuggling tightly in his brother's arms, sobbing softly.

When everyone saw the children huddling together for warmth, they couldn't help but feel sad, and they all lamented the Song family's rough fate. They had finally fled all the way from the northwest to the capital, and had just managed to get on their feet. Their lives were about to improve, but they didn't expect a fire to destroy everything.

The village chief who rushed over after hearing the news walked unsteadily to Grandpa Song and patted him on the shoulder.

"Hey, is everyone at home okay?"

"It's okay, we ran fast and got out."

When the village chief heard that everyone had come out, he breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good, that's good, as long as the family is safe, we can just build another house."

Grandpa Song did not answer. He stared at the fire inside, not knowing what he was thinking.

There is strength in numbers, and there were no other houses around, so in the end only the Song family's house was burned down. By the time daybreak, everyone had put out the fire.

Most of the fire burned the front part of the house. The newly built pigsty in the backyard was not connected to the stable, so a horse and five big fat pigs survived.

Looking at their devastated home, the Song family couldn't help but feel sad.

Song A-mo was even more distressed and knelt on the ground and cried: "Oh God, you are not giving us a way to live!"

Hearing Auntie Song's cries, Song Qin also began to sob. Grandpa Song and Song Dazhuang, two grown men, couldn't help but have red eyes. Several children even burst into tears and held their heads. Song Chunsheng wiped his tears while staring fiercely at the ruins of his own home.

Seeing the Song family in trouble, everyone felt uncomfortable. You know, the sweet potatoes that Changping Town receives now are all from the Song family's fields. Many of them were envious of the Song family yesterday. Song Dazhuang was the first farmer to win the favor of His Majesty, not to mention that those sweet potatoes were all bought by His Majesty out of his own pocket.

Unexpectedly, in just one night, the Song family changed so much, and a fire burned down all its former glory.

Several young men in the village were rummaging through the ruins, and wherever there were flames they put them out. Soon they dug out a few golden lumps.

"Oh, are these the Song family's gold ingots? The ones His Majesty gave them as a reward last time?"

"I guess so. Even such a big fire couldn't burn all the gold."

"Hey, what do you know? This is called true gold is not afraid of fire!"

The young man punched the other man with his backhand: "You are so capable. You are really different after a few days in school."

The man who was beaten chuckled, squatted down, picked up the gold ingots, and handed them to Grandpa Song.

"Look, old man. These gold ingots were pulled out from the fire."

Grandpa Song took it hurriedly and thanked the young men repeatedly.

"Thank you guys for your help. Fortunately, we still have this gold to rely on, otherwise we don't know where to stay tonight."

Grandpa Song spoke so pitifully that the men felt a little sorry for them. The clothes of the Song family members were put on randomly, which showed how panicked they were at the time. They even forgot to pack up the gold and silver.

In fact, it was not that they forgot, but Song Chunlin never thought that this group of people would actually set a fire. In addition, Grandpa Song’s gold was hidden in a secret compartment of a cabinet, and the gold was not used on weekdays. Over time, everyone forgot about it.

It was purely a pleasant surprise that the gold was unearthed this time. I can use this gold to renovate my house.

Only then did the village chief have time to ask Grandpa Song how the fire started.

Grandpa Song's expression changed from the miserable one just now. He roared angrily: "I don't know how the fire started. My wife and I were sleeping well, but it got hotter and hotter. When I woke up, I saw that there was a fire!"

"I was scared at the time. Dazhuang was also awakened by the smoke and quickly brought us out while the fire was not big. When we came out, we found that the whole roof was on fire."

"The roof is on fire?" The village chief immediately grasped the key point.

Grandpa Song nodded: "Yes, it was the roof. The fire started from the roof."

When the people around him heard what he said, they suddenly had an idea. The fire in the Song family must be very serious. How could a fire start from the roof? Today the moon was bright and the stars were sparse, and there was no thunder or lightning. If the fire was not ignited by lightning, then someone must have deliberately set it on fire.

Arson is a serious crime. The village chief's expression suddenly became stern. Thinking of the 2,000 kilograms of sweet potatoes that the Song family had just harvested, he guessed that the fire might have been caused by that.

Sure enough, when the village chief learned that all the Song family’s sweet potatoes were burned, his guess was half confirmed.

"Old Song, are all the sweet potatoes in your house burned?"

Grandpa Song was silent for a moment before he said, "Yes, it's all burned."

But the village chief had just checked the original location of their warehouse, and there was no sign of burnt sweet potatoes at all. On the contrary, the ground was very clean, with only a few residues left after the tools were burned. However, even if all the residues were gathered together, it did not look like the two thousand kilograms of sweet potatoes had been burnt.

The village chief guessed that someone must have coveted the Song family's sweet potatoes and wanted to steal them under the cover of night for themselves, but he did not expect these people to be so cruel. Not only did they steal things, they also wanted to kill people to silence them.

As the head of the village, knowing that this matter is strange, he will not let it go easily. He must seek justice for the victim.

So the village chief left in a hurry. He wanted to find the head of the village and ask him to send someone to write a complaint and submit it. He was just a small village chief and did not have such authority.

The Song family lived in a small temporary rented house that night. The house belonged to a brother of the Wang family. Because his family had moved to the town, the house was vacant. The village chief did not ask for rent, but let them live there with peace of mind for the time being.

The small house was very small, with only three rooms. Song Chunlin and Song Chunsheng squeezed together. The two younger ones were frightened last night. Song Chunlin was afraid that they would have a fever, so he gave them a cup of spiritual spring water first.

Song Xiaojiu and Song Xiaobao didn't sleep well last night and cried for a long time. Their eyelids began to droop, but they still forced themselves to stay awake and observe their surroundings.

Song Xiaojiu was the first to sigh. He tugged at Song Chunlin's sleeve and said, "Brother, it's so hard here. Xiaojiu can't sleep well."

Song Chunlin patted his head and said, "Little Jiu, be good. Our bed won't be back for two days. Can I lay a small cushion for you first?"

Song Xiaojiu didn't complain. He nodded his head and fell asleep before Song Chunlin laid out the mat.

Song Chunlin reluctantly moved the person onto the mat, and Song Xiaojiu found a comfortable position to fall asleep.

After leaving the room, Song Qinshi and Song A'mo were sorting out the gifts sent by the villagers in the yard. There were eggs, rice, pots and pans, and the Song family's big iron pot was rescued and placed on the stove, cooking porridge.

Seeing Song Chunlin coming over, Song A-mo straightened up and asked her grandson in a low voice: "Are they asleep?"

"Yeah, fell asleep little grandpa."

Song A-Mo nodded: "That's good. You should be alert while you are resting nearby. Children can get sick easily if they are frightened. I and your mother are here. Go and rest."

Song Chunlin thought that Aunt Song certainly didn't know how red his eyes were at the moment. Even Song Qinshi was the same. They had been busy all night and now they had to work and cook. Grandpa Song was cleaning the house. Song Dazhuang took Song Chunsheng to Changping to buy some things. The whole family looked exhausted.