They continued walking, but the further northwest they went, the more refugees they saw. They were all emaciated, and more and more refugees were collapsing.

Throughout the journey, Murong Rong's eyes kept glancing at Mu Wanting, a hint of smugness in them.

Only she, a reborn person, would know what the convicts would experience along this journey, this stretch of road.

As long as she stays far away, she can watch Mu Wanting and the others bring about their own destruction, without having to involve herself.

Mu Wanting didn't notice at first, because she had encountered quite a few refugees along the way.

Shen Xinglan said, "The way they're looking at the cart is a bit strange, be careful."

Mu Wanting turned around and saw the greed in their eyes; some even swallowed hard just looking at the cart. The refugees followed behind them as they walked.

Mu Wanting was on guard. The cart was covered with a cloth, and these convicts were already so greedy. If they saw the food inside the cart, who knew what would happen?

Mu Wanting walked to the cart, slipped her fingers under the cloth covering it, and secretly replaced all the food inside with herbs.

While the convicts were resting, she saw several refugees sneakily lifting the cart, clearly trying to steal some food.

Shen Xinghe stood up and stopped him.

What are you doing?

Some of the bolder refugees were not stopped and continued to lift the cloth.

Shen Xinghe was about to go over, but Mu Wanting shook her head at him.

Although he didn't know what Mu Wanting meant, he listened to his sister-in-law now.

The convicts found only herbs inside and left disappointed, and the gathered refugees followed suit.

Shen Xinghe then understood Mu Wanting's intention. If she didn't let those people see, they certainly wouldn't leave easily. It's not the theft itself that's scary, but the constant coveting; the more covetous someone is, the more danger there will be.

What's the use if the danger has already occurred?

Meanwhile, the official's carriage was in a difficult situation. It originally contained food, and the refugees were already starving. When people are extremely hungry, they will fight with vicious dogs for food, let alone a whole cart full of food.

Therefore, when the refugees saw the gleaming knives in the officers' hands, they did not go forward, but still followed at a distance.

Mu Wanting thought of the refugee uprising mentioned in the intelligence, which was very likely to be along this stretch of road. Without keeping it to herself, she immediately told Ma Dazhuang.

Ma Dazhuang instinctively didn't want to listen, but thinking of everything Mu Wanting had done before, he gave Mu Wanting a serious look.

"Okay, I understand."

Then Ma Dazhuang led Li Song onto the carriage, hiding all the food inside that could be hidden, and disguising the food that couldn't be hidden.

Sure enough, in the middle of the night, some refugees lifted the hood to look inside.

They found a cart full of medicinal herbs, some cloth, and even tree bark, so it was clear that the officials had nothing to eat.

The refugees left in disappointment, and only then did the convicts relax.

With thousands of refugees following them, it was impossible for them not to be nervous; a slight misstep could result in them being trampled to death.

By the time the refugees left, everyone had been starving all day, and the prisoners were already complaining. Given what had happened with Zhang Caiyun, it was no longer an option not to open fire.

However, he didn't dare to linger too long. Li Song quickly made black and white flatbreads and boiled a pot of vegetable soup. He didn't dare to cook meat, as it was too fragrant and would easily attract starving refugees.

They finished eating very quickly, and the third family didn't cook; they just bought white flour pancakes and vegetable soup. But even though they were so careful, they were still targeted by the refugees.

They followed the smell and found a group of convicts eating. They were so hungry they could eat people, so what was robbing people?

So a group of vagrants ran toward the convict, looking like they were about to rob him by force.

This was the first time Ma Dazhuang had ever seen refugees snatching away prisoners, despite having escorted them so many times.

But he also knew that these refugees were not to be trifled with.

He said urgently, "Quickly, pack up and get going!"

The officials finished packing and set off, and the convicts, not daring to linger, ran forward one after another.

Finally, they ran until they reached a dilapidated temple before stopping. There, they finally managed to shake off the person.

However, they discovered that there were also thousands of refugees in the dilapidated temple, and they all turned to look at them.

They wanted to leave, but had nowhere to go.

The outside world is just as dangerous as the dilapidated temple; there is also the possibility of encountering wild animals and organized groups of refugees committing crimes.

Some refugees, unable to find food, simply organized themselves to eat people.

Upon entering the dilapidated temple, the convicts were too exhausted to walk any further, so they simply found an open space and went to sleep.

Mu Wanting had exhausted herself that day, so after everyone fell asleep, she hid in the shadows, went into her space, ate a meal, and then came out.

As soon as I came out, I saw Shen Xinglan again.

Mu Wanting: "..."

Oh well, a lot of lice won't bite, and this isn't the first time Shen Xinglan has noticed this.

The people in the third branch of the family were also too hungry to sleep, but if Mu Wanting were to take out the food now, these refugees would definitely come up and snatch it. The best way was to endure it.

After resting there for the night, they headed outside again.

Some of the refugees in the dilapidated temple continued onward. Mu Wanting asked an older woman and learned that these people were heading to the town ahead. She sighed.

"Auntie, we came from over there. The situation there is also terrible. Why don't you go back to where you used to live?"

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!