"Miss, are you the host? Please let us in to take shelter from the rain for a little while."

Li Ruo pointed outside, "You can build your own thatched huts."

Once you're inside, will you ever leave?

At this time, if you are diligent, it is not too difficult to build a rain shelter in the mountains.

However, they hadn't realized the severity of the natural disaster. They thought the flood would pass quickly and that the government would come to their rescue. People are always lazy; if something is readily available, they don't want to put in the effort themselves.

The old woman added, "You girl, how can you have no compassion? It's not like I'm just taking shelter from the rain and it's not like I'm eating your rice."

At this point, however, people still retained some sense of shame, so they wouldn't force their way in.

The old woman and her son walked away and found a flat spot below to build a shed.

Suddenly another group of people arrived, saying, "Get out of the way, get out of the way! My master has taken a fancy to this place. You all go over there."

The guards looked menacing, so the mother and child had no choice but to leave.

The master's family consisted of dozens of people, along with a butler and guards. When they saw a house not far away, their eyes lit up, and they quickly sent the butler to inquire.

“Young lady, my master says he would like to stay with you for a few days, at a rate of one tael of silver per day.”

Li Ruo's expression was cold: "I won't lend it."

The butler's eyebrows twitched. "Hey, how can you be so cold and heartless, young lady?"

After going back and asking the master, he came back again. "My master said he'd buy it for you, five hundred taels of silver! That's enough for you to build ten houses like this."

Mountain folk, five hundred taels of silver! Tremble!

Who knew—

"Not for sale." Li Ruo said, looking like she couldn't be bothered to argue.

She noticed something: nobody was even glancing at the sign.

Fortunately, that family didn't do anything reckless by trying to break in, but things might change in the future. "I'm warning you, you'd better not get close to my barbed wire fence, or you'll die."

Don't say I didn't warn you later.

Liao Fusheng: "I'll stay outside for now."

Li Ruo glanced at him, "Whatever."

Two more groups of people started fighting not far away.

If the weather is cold, and you're soaked, and you can't set up a shelter and start a fire in time, you're doomed.

"This is the dry grass we picked up from the mouse hole, please give it back to us," a woman said.

The man who stole her things ignored her completely and even shoved her.

The woman fell to the ground and cried loudly.

A family of four had barely managed to set up a makeshift shelter, and when they took out the blankets they had been desperately protecting along the way, two men suddenly snatched them away.

Children and the elderly will both be freezing.

"Waaah, Mother, they're even fiercer than those bandits from Black Wind Stronghold," the child cried.

Yes, Black Wind Stronghold. If the people from Black Wind Stronghold were here, they wouldn't dare to be so rampant.

"Catch him! He stole my steamed bun!" another person shouted, but who could help him...?

This was only the second day after the flood.

On the third day, although some "enthusiastic people" urged everyone not to cause chaos and organized small teams to maintain order, their strength was limited and few people listened.

The people acted independently, without order, in a chaotic and disorderly manner, trampling, fighting for territory, looting clothes and food, and everywhere there was a chorus of wailing.

Liao Fusheng had been practicing Taoism for many years, but he couldn't get past his own hurdle. He asked Li Ruo for ten steamed buns and twenty catties of rice, saying he would deduct it from his two hundred catties of grain to help the disaster victims.

Li Ruozhen underestimated him. "No, this is too dangerous." She knew all too well how miserable they were.

“Some people have only themselves to blame, while others are innocent,” Liao Fusheng said.

"Really?" Li Ruo smiled. "Okay, here you go."

Considering that he had spent the whole day guarding the outside to prevent anyone from coming in, foolishly demonstrating the power of the barbed wire, she gave him double the amount.

“You don’t need to pay me back. But you can’t let them see the grain leaving from here, and you can’t send it out on Ziyang Peak,” Li Ruo said.

"I understand." Liao Fusheng nodded. "Thank you. Please deduct it from my two hundred jin."

Lian Lizhi, Old Lady Li, and even Li Yi all opposed his going, but he insisted on going anyway.

As soon as he left, the tent and its contents were carried away by a group of men who had been eyeing it from a short distance away.

However, having witnessed Liao Fusheng's demonstration of the power of barbed wire, these men dared not trespass on the house.

Li Ruo had good hearing and overheard them talking as they moved the grain, saying that several groups of people were going to steal Black Wind Village's grain that night, and they wanted to go too, with everyone getting a share.

Li Ruo glanced at his hidden arrow.

She wondered if she should go to Black Wind Stronghold to remind Xie Xiao, since she also had something to give him.

She was in the tower when she suddenly saw a sneaky figure creeping up to Ziyang Peak.

Judging from the direction they're coming from, they must have come from Black Wind Village.

Li Ruo used the binoculars to see his face clearly and realized that he was Song Zhijing's second constable. The original owner of this body had seen him before.

Song Zhijing is quite quick to act; he's already suspecting General Mountain.

This person must not be allowed to return alive.

Li Ruo went outside.

The second constable had only come here to hide, but unexpectedly he ran into a woman. When he saw what she looked like, his pupils dilated in shock.

"husband……"

Before Li Ruo could even utter the word "Madam," a knife was already at his neck. "What are you doing here?"

The second constable's eyes widened. He reacted and tried to seize the knife to fight back, but in the next instant, Li Ruo kicked him to the ground. He was startled again and tried to run away. Just as he turned around, two big dogs pounced on him.

It was Sun Ergou who arrived with his men.

He quickly subdued the second constable. "Hey, I recognize you. What are you doing here?"

At first, the second constable refused to speak, but Li Ruo kept hitting him hard, so he said, "I'll talk, I'll talk! The magistrate sent me to investigate whether Brother Black Wind Stronghold is here."

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