Gao Lei helped Xiaoyue onto the donkey cart and hurried along the way. They arrived back at Xiaoyue's house around lunchtime. When Gao Lei opened the donkey cart's canopy, he found Xiaoyue had already fainted inside.

Gao Lei jumped onto the donkey cart, picked up Xiaoyue, and almost dropped her when he jumped off. With a burst of strength, Chunyue opened the door, and Gao Lei carried Xiaoyue to the east room and placed her on the kang (a heated brick bed).

Li Qianqian came over and laid a quilt on Xiaoyue's body. Seeing Xiaoyue's pale face, she hurriedly asked Gao Lei, "What happened?"

Gao Lei then recounted Xiaoyue's experience crossing the swamp.

After Li Qianqian covered Xiaoyue with another quilt, she poured Gao Lei a cup of hot water and handed it to him. Gao Lei moved a stool and sat down next to Xiaoyue, staring at her with his deep, fox-like eyes.

Li Qianqian wiped Xiaoyue's face with a cloth, but Xiaoyue showed no expression and remained unconscious.

Seeing this, Gao Lei slammed his fist against the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), stood up angrily, circled the room, and then slumped down on a stool, dejected and defeated.

He did not utter a word.

Chunyue went to Doctor Hu's house again, brought the doctor over to take Xiaoyue's pulse, prescribed a formula to clear heat and detoxify, and also took out antidote pills, which Li Qianqian fed to Xiaoyue.

Chunyue went to Doctor Hu's house again to get some medicine. Gao Lei saw that Xiaoyue had opened her eyes and hurriedly went up to ask her a question. Xiaoyue shook her head and smiled at Gao Lei.

Gao Lei smiled and said to Xiaoyue, "I still need to go to Village Chief Xu's house to tell him about the opportunity to seek refuge in Qixing Mountain, so that the village chief can be happy too."

Lu Xiaomei brought the cooked sauerkraut dumplings to the table and served Gao Lei a bowl first. Gao Lei quickly waved his hand and hurriedly left Xiaoyue's house.

Seeing Lu Xiaomei and Li Qianqian standing beside her, Xiaoyue said, "Let's pack up. Take what you can and hide what you can't. We might run away to Qixing Mountain at any time." She weakly said a long sentence, then couldn't hold back any longer and vomited violently.

After Li Qianqian finished cleaning up, she forced Xiaoyue to eat a few more bites of dumplings before she fainted again.

Li Lei returned in the evening, saying that he had found a large cave in Qixing Mountain. It was very spacious inside, with a maze of passages, and could easily accommodate the entire village.

The village chief made it clear that the villagers would evacuate the next morning.

Uncle Liang and Gao Sheng were lying in ambush at Sanjiazi's place. If they made any noise, they would rush back to report.

Xiaoyue heard the gist of it and then drifted off to sleep again.

Li Lei, Li Qianqian, and Lu Xiaomei discussed what to take and what to keep. They loaded all the grain that could fit into the truck into the truck, and stored the steamed bean buns, cabbages, and dried beans and cucumbers in the cellar.

The cellar was very small; only a small area was dug to store vegetables for winter.

The next morning, the entire village set off for Qixing Mountain in a grand procession.

Li Lei drove the donkey cart, and after the villagers arrived at the marshland, they first lit the biogas with fire, and then paved a road. Each family brought their door panels, which were used for people and vehicles to pass through. This served two purposes: firstly, to make partitions between households when they reached the mountain.

Xu Fanyuan organized the elderly and children to go up first. The villagers had a total of seven oxcarts and one donkey cart, which made seven or eight trips back and forth until everyone who needed to leave had left.

Xiaoyue went to the front yard with her head down. She saw Liang Qi also walking over while he was sitting up, so she went up to Liang Qi and said, "We should go too. Li Lei will pick us up next time he comes back."

Liang Qi didn't say anything, but instead held Xiaoyue tightly in his arms. After a long while, he sobbed, "I know my body is like this, I can't walk. I'm not going, you go by yourself."

Xiaoyue nestled in Liang Qi's arms and mumbled, "Your cheap wife is all gone. Aren't you afraid she'll be bullied?"

Liang Qi buried his face in Xiao Yue's shoulder and bit her, making Xiao Yue punch him and say angrily, "You're like a dog."

Liang Qi nestled against Xiaoyue's shoulder and chuckled softly. After he finished laughing, he pushed Xiaoyue away and said, "You should go. Go with them to Seven Star Mountain."

To everyone's surprise, Li Lei didn't return. Instead, Hu San stood in the middle of the yard and shouted, "Xiaoyue, come with me to Qixing Mountain. Everyone in the village is going. I'm coming back to pick up the last group."

Xiaoyue pushed open the door and asked, "Where's Li Lei? Why hasn't he come back?"

Hu San scoffed and said nonchalantly, "That coward, the cart went into the mountains and he fell off the shaft. He's like a porcelain doll, he'd shatter at the slightest touch. Don't worry, I've got you covered, no problem."

Xiaoyue knew that Hu San was a heartless person. She looked at the oxcart he had parked in the yard and asked, "Did Uncle Liang also go up Seven Star Mountain?"

"Yes, the whole village went. Those bandits, who were worse than that, starved to death."

He urged Xiaoyue again, "Stop dawdling and hurry up. I hate dawdling women. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't have come to pick them up. But the fire you lit made me look at you in a new light. You're a heroine."

Hu San casually said, "I heard you have no parents and are all alone. Why don't you marry me? I promise you'll have food and drink, and I won't beat you."

Xiaoyue was so angry at Hu San's nonsensical remarks that she laughed.

She opened the door and let Hu San in. Hu San saw the man on the kang and said to Xiao Yue, "If you marry me, I'll take care of him with you. Anyway, if we're taking care of the same business, I'll eat one less bite and give him my share."

Xiaoyue looked at Liang Qi, who was huddled there covered with a thin blanket, and couldn't help but want to laugh.

"Yang Danian's family consists of three people. Is anyone going to pick them up?"

Hu San slapped his forehead and said, "They left a long time ago. I searched the whole village, and only Grandma Ge and Ge Daming are left."

Xiaoyue raised an eyebrow and looked at Hu San, saying, "Is Grandma Ge not leaving either? Then take Ge Daming with you."

"That little brat isn't coming with me either, why don't you go and talk to him again?"

Xiaoyue looked at Liang Qi, who was covered by the blanket, and said, "That's fine. In the village, if the soldiers don't come, all is well. But if they do, it's certain death."

Hu San took Xiaoyue to Grandma Ge's house and said to her, "You're so old, it doesn't matter whether you die or not, but you can't let Ge Daming die with you. He has a younger sister."

"Let Ge Daming find Lu Xiaomei. Lu Xiaomei won't ignore Ge Daming for the sake of the little boy."

Grandma Ge glared at Xiaoyue with a vicious look and said, "Don't pretend to be a good person. Don't be hypocritical. I don't want your sympathy."

Xiaoyue pulled Ge Daming away, saying, "I didn't come here to pity you. Please do as you please." She then helped Ge Daming onto the donkey cart, and Old Madam Ge followed shakily, getting on the cart without further ado.

Xiaoyue smiled at Hu San and said, "You can go now. I still have people to take care of. After you get to Qixing Mountain, burn down the road you laid on the swamp. Don't leave any path. Three days later, poisonous miasma will rise in that swamp. That will be the safest time."

Hu San nodded to Xiaoyue and said with a grin, "I really want to marry you. Once things are peaceful, I'll send someone to propose marriage."