They stayed until the very end, and only after everyone else had left did the old man nod to Lin Xue.

"Sister, I'll jump first!"

"Hurry up and keep up, the tunnel is almost over!"

When the light outside the train reappeared, the carriage was completely empty.

Meanwhile, Lin Xue and the others inside the tunnel walked back, helping up those who had fallen and those who were resting nearby.

They didn't abandon anyone and made their way to the other end of the tunnel.

"Sister, here's your child back!"

"We can't stay here any longer. Let's go up the mountain first and then enter the forest!"

With Lin Xue leading the way, the villagers helped each other and quickly climbed up the mountain from the side, disappearing into the forest.

"I don't know when the Japanese will find out we've escaped. Now is not the time to rest. Those who are wounded, hang in there for a while. Once we get to a safe place, I will find a way to treat everyone's injuries!"

Lin Xue glanced at the railway tracks behind her, then turned and continued walking deeper into the woods.

She waved for everyone to stop when they reached a small river.

"Who among you knows how to dig a smokeless stove?"

Lin Xue looked at everyone.

These people were in very poor physical condition. They were already suffering from great hunger, and the long journey had only exacerbated their condition.

Instead of continuing on like this, we might as well find some food for them to eat first.

Now that you've eaten your fill, you should have the energy to keep walking, right?

"Hey girl, what's a smokeless stove?"

The old man in the white headscarf asked, saying he had never heard of any smokeless stove in the world.

"It involves digging a long chimney under the stove. When we light a fire to cook, the smoke will rise from underground. As long as the smoke doesn't drift into the sky, people far away won't be able to spot us!"

"Sister, we really don't have the strength to dig a tunnel anymore. Just a short distance away, I found a dead tree."

“The tree is hollowed out. If we put the chimney inside the tree, the smoke will dissipate around the tree and won’t drift into the air!”

Lin Xue couldn't help but sigh, "Indeed, the wisdom of ordinary people is boundless."

If there's no smokeless stove, a hollow tree stove will do.

"Grandpa, could you please set up a stove first? I'll go find something to eat around here. If we don't eat soon, even if the Japanese devils don't catch up with us, we'll starve to death on the road!"

Lin Xue reached into her pocket and pulled out a box of matches, handing it to the other person.

"Young lady, you go ahead!"

"I'll have everyone find some wild vegetables or something nearby, collect anything edible!"

After giving her instructions, Lin Xue turned and left.

Only the old man in the white headscarf was left to greet the crowd who were slumped on the ground, and they began to spontaneously search for withered branches and wild vegetables in the surrounding area.

Having just drunk their fill of water by the river, the group perked up somewhat and began searching the surrounding area, their bodies heavy with fatigue.

Lin Xue was very fast; she circled the woods and shot two wild rabbits.

Thinking about it, there are 35 people here, so this amount of food is definitely not enough.

So he quickly searched the mountains and forests with his eyes and kept walking, and soon found a patch of wild yam.

He dug up a few roots at random, then carried his things back to the camp.

"I found a thatched hut at the foot of the mountain over there, and there was an earthenware pot inside!"

"Could some kind lady please clean this earthenware pot and boil some water for me? I need to go and prepare the two rabbits!"

"These wild yams are ones I just dug up at the edge of the woods over there. When we leave, we'll dig up all the rest of them!"

When Lin Xue returned, her harvest astonished everyone.

"As expected of you, sister, you actually found the food!"

"Could a few people who can cook please help with this?"

Seeing so much food, the old men in white headscarves knew they could at least eat half full for this meal.

Several women spontaneously stepped forward and took the yams and earthenware jar from Lin Xue's hands.

Some people offered to help Lin Xue deal with the rabbits, but she refused.

Letting these people do it would take forever, so it's better to do it yourself.

Several older people were too weak to continue, so they slumped to the ground and watched everyone's actions, especially Lin Xue's skillful skinning of the rabbit, which filled them with hope for life again.

With such a capable person leading them, they might actually be able to escape.

"I've processed the rabbit. Anyone want the pelt? Go get it yourself!"

Lin Xue handed the skinned rabbit to the older women, then threw the rabbit skin under a big tree.

"Young lady, I know how to process fur. Leave the rabbit skin to me. Once it's done, I'll give it to whoever needs it first!"

A man with a thick beard came out, and no one spoke when they heard what he said.

"Okay, then I'll leave it to you to handle. But we don't have much time to rest, so you'll have to hurry!"

Lin Xue was surprised to find that although the group was a mixed bunch, quite a few of them seemed to have some skills.

The old man in the white headscarf has great leadership talent, while the man with the thick beard is skilled in leather making, and even Tie Niu, who spoke at the beginning, is a clever kid.

Several elderly women were particularly skilled at cooking; some found a lot of wild vegetables in the woods, while others discovered wild fruits.

Although everyone was starving, no one took a bite of food beforehand.

They brought all the food they found back to the camp, waiting to share it with everyone.

"Dinner is ready! A wild rabbit has been chopped into pieces and stewed into a soup, with plenty of yam in it!"

"There's another one that's been roasted separately by the stove. Everyone will get a little bit so they can chew on it while they're on the road!"

Although Lin Xue brought back a lot of things, it wasn't enough to feed everyone.

Even a bowl of meat soup would be nice.

The earthenware pot is a bit small; it would be better if it were a bit bigger.

"We don't have any bowls or chopsticks here, so everyone go and break off a couple of tree branches from nearby to use as chopsticks!"

"Take one piece of rabbit meat each, don't take more than that. If even one person takes more, we won't have enough to go around!"

The old man in the white headscarf watched as people divided the meat, giving them instructions over and over again.

"Don't worry, Uncle Bai, we won't take any more than we need!"

A young man received the meat and smiled as he spoke to the old man in the white headscarf.

"Grandpa, is your surname really Bai?"

Lin Xue asked with some curiosity.

She didn't accept the rabbit meat the old lady offered her. Instead, she picked up a piece of yam, placed it on a clean leaf, sat down next to it, and ate while watching everyone enjoy themselves.

"Yes, my surname is Bai!"

We used to be from Jiangsu Province, but when the Japanese invaded, we had to leave our hometown and fled all the way to Ning County.

Unfortunately, we didn't stay in Ning County for long before we were surrounded by these Japanese devils. All of us outsiders without good citizen certificates were arrested.