Zhang Xiu'e looked at the scene ahead, causing people to stop in their tracks.

There seems to be something going on up ahead...

Li Qiang's wife composed herself and looked closely for a while. "They look like prisoners too. They're wearing prison uniforms!"

"Huh? No way! Could they be accompanied by soldiers?"

Li Qiang's wife shook her head. "I don't think so. If there were soldiers involved, how could they dare to fight so fiercely in private?"

"Hmm...that makes sense."

As soon as he finished speaking, the people in front became even more unruly, and the number of people fighting together increased from the initial three or four to more than a dozen.

Some even picked up stones and smashed them over people's heads...

Zhang Xiu'e shielded Song He'er and Nian'er behind her, saying, "He'er, hurry to your mother's side. The people in front are crazy; they might hurt you."

Song He'er obediently returned to Qin Xiaoniang's side. However, she wasn't afraid of the prisoners taking action. Her only fear was that they outnumbered her and would try to steal her food. Wouldn't she be left speechless and unable to complain?

"He'er, what's wrong?" Qin Xiaoniang weakly raised her head and asked. "Mother, don't worry, we've encountered another group of exiled prisoners, and they seem to be robbing us..."

Upon hearing this news, Qin Xiaoniang sat bolt upright in fright. "Rob us? What if they come over...?"

"Mother, you're still sick, you can't get so agitated. Don't worry, if they dare to try and take it, we'll fight them to the death!"

"He'er...go tell your third aunt that we should turn back and not go any further. How can so many of us children possibly fight against those unruly people?"

Turning back... they had considered it, but now they couldn't turn back. The car was stuck, and if they wanted to go back, they would have to abandon the car and the pile of food.

"Mother, hold Huan-ge'er tight, don't worry about anything else."

The moment they finished speaking, the group of prisoners in front spotted them, and in the next instant, they grabbed their weapons and started to march towards them...

"Look! There are people over there! They have food in their hands! Go and grab it!"

"Yes! Everyone stop fighting! There's food up ahead, let's hurry over there!"

As they spoke, a group of people ran over.

Song He'er roughly counted, and there were about twenty people, all of them young and strong men. If she were to fight them head-on, she definitely wouldn't be able to beat them.

Zhang Xiue ran towards them carrying Nianjie'er, saying, "He'er, I'm going to fight them! You take good care of Nianjie'er!"

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Song He'er called out to her.

"What's wrong?"

"Everyone grab a handful of yellow sand and hold it in your hand. When the fighting starts, use this to blind them. Also, don't we still have some chili powder left? Add some more chili powder in!"

"good!"

Upon receiving the order, everyone grabbed a handful of yellow soil and held it in their hands, then secretly grabbed some chili powder from the cart and mixed it with the yellow sand.

Soon, the group rushed over, each one glaring menacingly, holding wooden sticks in their hands. One of them shouted, "Give us your food, or we'll beat you to death today!"

Zhang Xiu'e sneered and met his gaze without fear. "Where did you come from? If you want food, we can talk about it. Why did you have to resort to violence?"

"Nonsense! We've been starving for three days and three nights. If we could get food through negotiation, why would we be fighting so desperately to survive? We're all just trying to live, there's no other way!"

"We have many children. If you hurt any of them, be careful, I'll fight you to the death!"

"Fight to the death! Everyone, hurry up and grab some! If we have anything, we can all have enough to eat!"

After saying that, the group of people rushed forward as if their lives depended on it.

Zhang Xiue threw the yellow sand in her hand, and one of the people was injured in the eye and began to stumble around.

"Ah! My eyes!"

One after another, the yellow sand in everyone's hands was thrown out. Taking advantage of the chaos, Song He'er took out the bow and arrow from her spatial storage and shot it at the leader.

In an instant, the man knelt on the ground.

"I've been shot in the leg! Help me, it hurts so much!"

The scene became chaotic, with the prisoners scrambling to hide and begging for their lives.

"We...we didn't mean it, ladies, please have mercy! Please have mercy!"

Song He'er quickly hid the bow and arrows back into her spatial storage, then walked to the man who had been shot and kicked him to the ground.

"Tell me, where did you come from? Why are you so bold as to steal our things!"

The man was sweating profusely from the pain, his lips trembling. "I...we are from Youzhou. We committed a crime before the New Year and were exiled by imperial decree, but...but those soldiers are heartless. Seeing that there was no water or food in the desert, they abandoned us and fled for their own lives...Girl, please, we had no choice, please spare us!"

"You have hands and feet, can't you just dig up some wild vegetables on the roadside to eat? Why do you have to steal from others? Don't you know that other people's things were earned with their lives!"

"We know we were wrong, please, young lady, spare our lives..."

Song He'er knew their plight well. Those soldiers were indeed ruthless and inhuman, and there was a reason why these prisoners were living such miserable lives.

Zhang Xiue sighed and pulled Song Heren to her side, advising, "Don't trust them too easily."

Song He'er patted Zhang Xiu'e's hand and smiled, "Third Aunt, I know my limits."

After saying that, Song He'er walked up to the man and began to negotiate with him, "It's not that I can't give you food, but you have to exchange it for something. Otherwise, we can't just give you this little bit of food for nothing."

Upon hearing this, the man saw a glimmer of hope and immediately perked up. He pointed to a spot not far away and said, "We robbed two camels the other day, but those guys are too tall to kill and eat. You're merchants, right? If you need them, we'll trade with you!"

camel?

Song He'er found it hard to believe.

They were just looking for a camel to get around this morning, and now it's delivered right to their doorstep? Isn't this like finding something you've been searching for but never actually doing, only to have it come to you effortlessly?

Zhang Xiu'e pulled Song He'er back and continued to whisper, "He'er, there are more than twenty of them. If they eat all our food, won't they eat us dry?"

"Third Aunt, don't worry, I won't give it all to him. Besides, without camels, we really can't leave! The return is still pretty good for now."

"But......"

"Alright, Auntie, go and get that half-bag of sweet potatoes."

Although somewhat reluctant, Zhang Xiu'e walked to the front of the car and pulled down the half-sack of sweet potatoes.