The girl from the Wang family died.

Li Qingyao had previously been too afraid to approach the Wang family or even look at the girl.

I never imagined that the time I was looking at her properly would come when I was looking at her corpse.

Her eyes were open, she died with her head agape, her youthful face devoid of life.

They were barely clothed and covered in wounds.

Li Qingyao knew that it was those officials who injured her, but he was also the murderer.

He and the others dug a pit and wrapped her in a straw mat.

In her next life, I only hope she won't be born as a human. Being human is inherently filled with suffering. If she's not human, then anything is fine.

His mother knew that the soldiers had ordered him to bury people, and she kept saying how unlucky it was, but she still said it.

"She's a pitiful person."

After this incident, the atmosphere in the group became even more tense. Fu Yu, the second-in-command among the officers, led his men to have many conflicts with Xu Datou and his group.

When Li Qingyao and the others were burying the body, the two sides almost came to blows with knives.

These past few days, everyone has been acting like a grandson, not daring to nod their heads. Li Qingyao is now considered one of Fu Yu's people.

Having received an unexpected windfall that day, Li Qingyao approached Fu Yu. He only had a fifty-tael silver note on him, and handed over all the rest of his money to Fu Yu, asking him to protect him and his mother on their journey.

During this trip, Xu Datou was the main leader, with Fu Yu as his assistant. According to Li Qingyao's observation, the two had many disagreements, and Fu Yu did not take Xu Datou seriously, making no attempt to hide it.

Xu Datou was burly and strong, and Fu Yu was also tall and strong. They had more servants and followers than Xu Datou's side.

So even though Xu Datou is the master, he really doesn't dare to fall out with Fu Yu.

Therefore, after several exchanges, it can be said that both sides had their own strengths and weaknesses in words, but no real fight was fought, after all, they were still accompanied by a group of exiled prisoners.

———-

The girl's younger brother was a ten-year-old child.

His name was Wang Jiao. When he was in the capital, he had heard others talk about Wang Jiao's intelligence.

When Li Qingyao first met Wang Jiao on the way to exile, he was also startled. He had met him before, and he always seemed to be very talkative.

Wang Jiao is very quiet now, and he doesn't seem very lively. It's said that he was so frightened by the raid on his home that he lost his mind, which is why he seems a bit dazed.

He always stares at people with dark, brooding eyes, which sends chills down your spine.

Everyone in the team had a bad opinion of him.

"How can someone so young be so creepy?"

"If you look again, I'll gouge your eyes out!"

Whenever this happens, the girl rushes out to apologize.

The girl died.

Wang Jiao probably didn't know that the last person who loved him, the person who would protect him at all costs, had also disappeared from this world.

For some reason, Li Qingyao paid special attention to Wang Jiao.

It seemed that guilt or some other emotion was making him unable to ignore the child.

Seeing Wang Jiao stumbling and being herded away by the Wang family to dig for wild vegetables, Li Qingyao quickly followed.

It's August now, the perfect time for mushrooms to sprout in the mountains.

Finding this wasn't too difficult; Wang Jiao was picking it up.

Li Qingyao was also gathering firewood while looking for mushrooms.

Hearing the exclamations of those around him, he unconsciously began to find himself interested in mushroom picking. In the past, he might never have had this experience in his entire life.

These days, we can only find joy amidst hardship.

After gathering most of the firewood, Li Qingyao realized the child was missing. His heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly looked around.

As he walked around the camp, he saw Wang Jiao return to the Wang family.

Li Qingyao breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know why he cared so much, but he chose to follow his heart.

During the meal, the Wang family started making a fuss again.

It turned out that Wang Tongji was unwilling to give food to Wang Jiao, who was so hungry that he rolled around in agony, crying as he did so.

Wang Tongji was so angry that he kept cursing.

"You little fool, you still want to eat? You're wasting food!"

Many people choose to ignore it.

Everyone knew that the Wang family wanted to starve Wang Jiao to death, but no one intervened. Even the soft-hearted woman was warned by her family.

Wang Jiao is the girl's younger brother.

She is dead, and Wang Jiao, who is still alive, is like a living proof.

Those officials who had insulted her would feel uncomfortable seeing him, because it would remind them of that woman, and it would make them feel disgusted, even in death, she would be a nuisance, bad luck.

They want the evidence to disappear.

The Wang family would be unhappy to see him, because his presence constantly reminded them that they had driven their niece to her death, causing their already fragile conscience to ache.

Other unrelated people also didn't want to see him.

No one wanted to feel guilty, no one wanted to add another life to their already hopeless lives because of their inaction.

Therefore, Wang Jiao was an eyesore.

Of course, not everyone thinks this way, such as Li Qingyao.

Li Qingyao clenched his fists, and Yan grabbed his wrists.

"Yao'er, no."

As a mother, Ms. Yan always knew what kind of person her child was, for example, when she collected the girl's body.

Even if the officers didn't call him that day, he would still go.

She used to be proud of raising such an outstanding child, but now she is afraid.

She couldn't bear to see Li Qingyao suffer even the slightest harm.

"Mother, I can't watch anyone else die right in front of me anymore."

Li Qingyao's eyes were red-rimmed, and his voice was pleading.

"I beg you, I won't stop you, let's just secretly give him food, okay? I don't dare risk your safety, Yao'er!"

Yan's pleas stung Li Qingyao.

He dejectedly let go and lowered his head.

"Mother, I understand."

The mother and son set aside a portion of their own food rations, intending to secretly give it to Wang Jiao that night.

--------

After the meal, a commotion suddenly broke out in the crowd.

"Don't eat it! It's poisonous."

"My stomach hurts so much."

"Hehehe, lots of money."

One by one, the officers collapsed to the ground, and the prisoners were not spared either, screaming and shouting, some with stomach aches, others as if hallucinating.

Li Qingyao clutched his stomach, feeling a sharp pain in his abdomen, but it was bearable. He helped Yan up, and the two quickly walked towards the officials.

"Mother, are you alright?"

"I feel a little dizzy."

"Let's go to Lord Fu's place; he will protect us."

When he arrived, he saw Xu Datou and Fu Yu facing off.

"Fu Yu, how dare you plot against us! Don't you want your official robes anymore?!"

"Heh, although I don't intend to let you off the hook, I didn't do this."

"Who else could it be but you!"

Xu Datou glared at Fu Yu with resentment, his hands tightly covering his back, his stomach churning, and his face looking extremely pale.

Li Qingyao quickly pulled his mother away and found a place to hide.

"Haha, Heaven's sins may be forgiven, but self-inflicted sins cannot be forgiven. It seems that Heaven has seen how many evil deeds you have done and can no longer bear to see you live."