"Hercules~"

We just left the cave entrance and turned onto the official road next to it.

Then they heard the sound of horses neighing behind them.

"Luckily we left quickly, otherwise the bandits would have wiped us all out!"

Hearing the horse neighing, everyone's heart tightened.

"We are so grateful to Grandma Su, otherwise we might have lost our lives!"

Old Wang sat on the oxcart, his eyes fixed on the back, afraid that the bandits would catch up at any moment.

"Let's hurry up and leave. Although we've managed to get rid of the smell in the cave, we've still eaten meat. It's hard to tell if the smell has really been completely removed!"

"If those bandits smell it, they might guess that someone was just there, and then we'll still be in danger!"

Wang Dazhuang led the way, pulling the oxcart at the front, while Wang Erzhuang stood guard around it with a machete. Wang Sanzhuang followed behind, pushing a flatbed cart.

Ge Xiaoyu and Lin Xue supported each other as they walked forward, with Lin Xue holding Ge Xiaoyu's hand to prevent her from slipping.

Fortunately, the bandits did not seem to notice anything unusual, and they did not catch up after half a day.

After walking for quite some time, they suddenly discovered an inn by the roadside.

The inn's signboard and banner were exceptionally clean after being washed by the rain.

"There's an inn here, shall we go and stay the night?"

Wang Dazhuang looked at the inn with its lights on, and could vaguely see figures moving around inside.

Although the door was closed and the inside was obscured, the shadows revealed that there were quite a few people inside.

"I guess these are refugees who were traveling and happened to arrive here, so they stayed at this inn!"

"But don't forget that this place is far from any village or shop, and it's so close to Qinglong Mountain. It's hard to say that it might be a smokescreen used by bandits in disguise."

"I think we've already gotten wet enough, there's no need to take this risk, especially with the kids in our arms. If this really is a bandit hideout, we might not come out alive if we go in!"

Although it was raining heavily, there was no lightning, so the group traveled almost entirely in the dark.

Seeing a house with lights on now, it's hard not to feel a surge of hope and want to go in and stay the night.

However, after listening to Lin Xue's analysis, everyone gave up the idea of ​​staying at an inn and decided to continue their journey.

"Grandma Su is right. Who would this inn in the middle of nowhere do business with? It might just be a bandit's den!"

"Boss, keep driving the oxcart, go as far as you can!"

Hearing what Old Man Wang said, Old Man Wang, whose pace had already slowed down, picked up his pace again.

As the group passed by the inn, one person walked past silently without making a sound.

No one in the inn knew that such a group had quietly passed by outside the door.

However, in the days that followed, Lin Xue and the Wang family heard that there was a Qianlai Inn on the official road leading to Yulin County, which was a den of bandits, and that almost all the refugees who passed through there did not come out alive.

The person who spread this news was in a state of stomach pain when the bandits arrived at the shop, and he hid in the outhouse.

Hearing noises outside, he secretly slipped out of the outhouse and into a haystack, thus escaping disaster.

When the magistrate of Yulin County sent people to search the inn, unfortunately, by the time they arrived, the bandits had already left, leaving only a house that had been burned beyond recognition.

Qinglong Mountain has a very unique terrain, making it a place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

The county officials had organized forces to attack Qinglong Mountain before, but each time they failed.

The terrain there is very special; several places are so strategically important that it would be impossible for one person to break through ten thousand. If the government wanted to take him down, they would have to pay a huge price.

This is not something a mere county magistrate could afford.

Unless a large army is deployed, small groups simply cannot deal with them.

We won't go into the details here.

Let's continue talking about Lin Xue.

"We'll be out of Qinglong Mountain in another half hour. Let's work hard tonight and catch up on sleep tomorrow!"

After traveling for most of the night, Old Man Wang got off the oxcart and switched places with Lin Xue.

Because the ox was tired, Lin Xue would have someone put a handful of grain into its mouth from time to time.

With food supplies, the ox didn't stop its journey.

After all, it doesn't usually get such good food; besides some hay, it can only eat a few bites of grass when herding cattle.

Since Lin Xue bought it, it has been able to eat some grass and occasionally some grains along the way.

However, it had never eaten so much before. Encouraged by the food, the big yellow ox was very energetic in its journey.

"Pat-tat, pat-tat, pat-tat!"

Just as everyone was rushing along with their heads covered, they suddenly heard the sound of rapid footsteps coming from behind them.

"It looks like someone's coming!"

Wang Erzhuang was the first to notice the anomaly, and he quickly grabbed a machete and went to the back of the car.

"Don't be nervous, everyone, I'm not a bad person!"

As the footsteps drew nearer to the oxcart, they saw the gleaming machete in Wang Erzhuang's hand and quickly greeted him.

"Hello, I'm from Mojia Village in Tongcheng. I got separated from my family, so I've been on my way and hope to catch up with them soon!"

To show that he meant no harm, the man raised his hands above his head, indicating that he was not carrying any weapons.

Old Wang carefully examined the other person's figure. If it weren't already bright, he wouldn't have been able to see the other person's appearance clearly!

Upon seeing this, Old Wang finally breathed a sigh of relief; the man opposite him was just an ordinary farm boy.

That rustic appearance couldn't fool anyone; he was honest with a touch of naivety, yet also desperate to find his family.

"It's alright, this person is probably heading to Yulin County like us!"

As refugees fleeing famine, they had to go to Yulin County first and report to the county government before they were assigned to various villages.

Without the permission of the county government, no one in the village would accept them even if they arrived.

"Thank you, sir. I still need to go find my family, so I won't bother you any longer!"

After the young man finished speaking, he cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to the group, and then continued running forward with a "plop plop plop" sound.

"What a good child! He must be worried about his family, which is why he's been traveling without sleep!"

As Grandma Wang watched the young man's retreating figure, her tone softened considerably.

"Old woman, you're right, this child is indeed very filial!"

Although his children are very filial, Old Man Wang is not sure if they would insist on continuing their journey if they encountered such a rainstorm.