Indeed, anyone who is fortunate enough to receive help from others in the face of great difficulties will be deeply moved.

Lin Changhe, Lin Zicheng, and Lin Ziyang, father and son, walked up to him and patted Lin Rui on the shoulder: "Thank you, Lin Rui. Our family will remember this kindness in our hearts. If you need anything in the future, just let me know."

"That's not necessary. Uncle, you are too polite!" He still had to say polite words, but if he needed help from his cousins ​​in the future, he would definitely not be polite.

Now that the food shortage was resolved, Lin Changhe and his son were no longer so anxious.

After hearing the whole situation, Zhang Dacui calmed down a lot. At least she didn't have to worry about her family starving to death. The best expectation was that her two sisters-in-law and the head of the village would lend a hand.

The rain was crackling again in the evening. Zhang Dacui and her family were eating wild vegetables they picked with boiled water in the shed. This was their dinner.

Lin Zicheng sighed, "Mom, these are all wild vegetables, not even a bit of oil. At least use less bacon and salted chicken."

"Eat, eat, eat. Just think about eating. We don't even know if we can get enough food to get out of the mountains. How much can your second uncle, eldest uncle and the headman's family subsidize us? The food is in other people's hands. How much we eat depends on what they say!" Zhang Dacui scolded her son with a fierce face.

Lin Changhe knocked on the edge of the bowl: "Alright, alright, people have agreed to help you, what are you still saying?"

Zhang Dacui glared angrily. "How can I call that a sarcastic remark? You were there when the grain was exchanged, and you clearly agreed to it. So, the grain got damp and moldy, and now you blame it all on me!"

"Zhang Dacui, stop making trouble!"

"I'm not making a fuss. I'm just trying to reason with you. If you hadn't insisted on leaving Linjia Village..."

Hearing that Zhang Dacui was about to bring up the old matter again, Lin Changhe and his son and daughter-in-law shut up and quietly ate wild vegetables with soup.

Zhao Qing, on night watch inside the rain shelter, was sharpening his arrowhead, hoping to make it sharper so he could hunt later. Once the rain stopped, the woods would be filled with wild deer, rabbits, and roe deer, providing plenty of meat.

What's a black python? A wild deer or a wild boar is enough to fill their stomachs.

"Swish, swish, swish!" The sound of leaves shaking violently came from the dark woods. Zhao Qinghu narrowed his eyes and immediately looked at the position where the leaves were shaking. He had already assumed a shooting posture.

At this time, a humanoid monster covered in mud jumped out of the forest and uttered in human language: "Don't kill me, don't kill me!"

The arrow that Zhao Qing almost shot out of his hand suddenly changed direction and shot into the dark forest.

"Grandpa! Uncle Changtai! Uncle Changxi! Save me, come and save me!" The voices were still shouting at the top of their lungs. It was like dropping a bomb in the originally quiet camp, waking up all the resting people from their sleep.

Lin Pingmao hurriedly put on his clothes and came out of the rain shelter, squinting his eyes to see what was happening outside.

Most people in ancient times suffered from night blindness, so what Lin Pingmao saw was blurry.

The clay figure rushed towards Lin Pingmao: "Grandpa, Grandpa!"

Lin Pingmao was nearly frightened to the point of falling backwards by the monster that suddenly rushed in front of him. He stepped back repeatedly: "Ahhh, what is this!"

The clay figurine scraped the mud off its face with the help of the rain, revealing a face that was familiar to Lin Pingmao: "Shuanzi!"

The man who came was Shuanzi. Ever since Linjia Village and several surrounding villages were looted and burned by a group of mobs and bandits, he had been running desperately into the mountains, trying to catch up with the village head. Only in this way could he find a way to survive.

He never stopped along the way. When it rained, he would find a lush tree to hide under. His body was completely soaked. When he was hungry, he only ate wild vegetables on the roadside. For seven or eight days, he didn't know how he managed to survive. He was ecstatic until he found the traces of ox carts. He walked and stopped all the way, and only hid from the rain when it was extremely heavy and he really couldn't walk.

Finally, they found the village head and his group. Shuanzi cried with joy. God knew he was worried every night that he would not live to see the next day's dawn. At night, the woods were filled with the roaring of wild beasts, the rampant mosquitoes, and the limp slugs everywhere.

The families of Lin Changhe and Lin Changfa also came out from the rain shelter in surprise, asking questions at once.

"Shuanzi, why are you here?"

"Just you? Where are the others?"

"Shuanzi, did something happen? We've been gone for days! Your family didn't even tell us we were leaving at that time."

"Where's Aunt Zhu? Does she know you followed her here?"

It would have been fine if he hadn't asked, but as soon as he did, Shuanzi burst into tears. When he saw the familiar villagers and thought of those who died under the knives of the mob and in the sea of ​​fire, the defense line that he had been deliberately suppressing suddenly collapsed.

"Shuanzi, don't cry. What's wrong? Talk to your uncle!"

"Shuanzi, Shuanzi!"

Everyone felt uneasy when they saw Shuanzi crying more sadly than if his parents had died. What had happened?

Shuanzi cried for a whole cup of tea. After everyone comforted him, he gradually stopped crying, shook his head, looked at Lin Rui with his red eyes, and knelt down in front of him.

Lin Rui was so frightened that he dodged immediately: "Shuanzi, what are you doing? Are you shortening my life by doing this kind of gift?"

Shuanzi held back his tears and said, "Lin Rui, this is what you deserve. We should have listened to you and left Linjia Village a long time ago. Otherwise, we wouldn't... wouldn't..." When he said this, his voice began to choke again.

Everyone's scalp tingled. They had never seen a man cry like this before. Lin Zicheng couldn't help it and directly grabbed Shuanzi's collar: "What the hell happened? Tell me quickly!"

Shuanzi's eyes seemed to flash back to the fire that night when the entire village was burned to ashes: "Linjia Village is gone!"

"Linjia Village is gone? Nothing left?" Lin Pingmao was confused by Shuanzi's seemingly incoherent words.

"Uncle!" Shuanzi cried out in tears, "Everyone in Linjia Village is dead, and the houses are burned down. My parents, Xiaodouzi, and the Heihu family were all killed by the mob. The Heihu family's newly married daughter-in-law was killed by many people...Except me, no one was left alive. They were all burned to charcoal!"

"What!" Everyone exclaimed. Although they had considered that all this might happen when they left Linjia Village, it was hard to accept when it actually happened. Many of the villagers they had lived with day and night, who were their direct blood relatives, were now dead.

Yu Lanhua and Zhang Dacui didn't have time to rejoice that their family was still alive. They rushed to Shuanzi's side, grabbed his clothes and asked, "Shuanzi, Shuanzi, please tell your aunt what's happening with Yugou Village and Zhaojiagou Village."

"What about Xiaoli Village?"

Shuanzi shook his head: "Aunt, I was so scared when I escaped. I only saw flames everywhere and thought it was very dangerous!"

Yugou Village, Zhaojiagou Village and Xiaoli Village are all villages near Linjia Village. Since Linjia Village has suffered, it is difficult for these villages not to be targeted at such a close distance.