At this moment, two men who were following orders ran out from behind, each riding a horse, and galloped towards the village. Half an hour later, the two horses brought back two stacks of firewood as tall as a person.

A group of people emerged from the crowd behind them. The two in front laid out firewood along the path laid out by the villagers, while the people behind them passed firewood to the two in front in pairs.

The two soldiers in front were responsible for laying firewood. When they were almost halfway through the journey, both of them fell into the swamp ahead.

The scholar glanced at the centurion, who ignored his gaze, looked back at the soldiers behind him, and said coldly, "Send two more."

Hui Shi saw the centurion's eyes and, recalling that he had once laid a hand on the centurion, felt a chill run down his spine. Looking at the madman beside him, he realized he had killed all the good soldiers.

Only one madman was left, so let's give it a shot. At this moment, he led the tall, madman You San to step forward and take over the work of the two soldiers.

Hui Shi carried a bundle of firewood from the edge of the swamp. When he got to the two collapsed people, he smelled a pungent odor and immediately sensed something was wrong. He quickly dropped the firewood and ran back.

Yu San didn't react as quickly as Shi, nor did he notice that the swamp was not a place to step. He sank in with one step and quickly lost his neck. In less than a quarter of an hour, even the top of his head disappeared.

Hui Shi staggered five steps away from the shore before collapsing on the edge of the swamp.

Seeing this, the scholar turned to the soldiers behind him and said, "Two men, come out and drag the squad leader away."

After he finished speaking, two people came out, each grabbing one of Hui Shi's hands and pulling him out of the swamp.

Hei Zi urged his horse forward, circling the edge of the swamp. After the horse had traveled about two miles, he spurred it back to the column and said to the centurion, "I've seen it, and this is the narrowest point between the swamp and the opposite mountain."

The centurion's eyebrows were almost furrowed as he glanced at the scholar.

The scholar then looked at the centurion. Both of them had questions in their minds. The scholar tentatively asked, "How about we change our location? From the town to the village, we pass through a grove of trees, don't we?"

Let's send some men to scout through the woods. Maybe we can bypass the town and reach another place. Then we can go south and join General Gu Ning's forces. But we must be careful with our soldiers from now on; we can't let them indiscriminately harm anyone."

After hearing the scholar's words, the centurion turned to look at Hei Zi on his other side, and Hei Zi nodded in agreement.

The centurion's face was deathly pale, and his expression worsened. He slowly shook his head and said to the soldiers behind him, "Whoever has a way to get across, I will appoint him as a twentieth-rank officer right now."

The crowd exchanged bewildered glances, but it was the scholar who finally understood. The centurion, seeing the mountain as easy to defend and difficult to attack, clearly intended to seize it and become its own king. This went against the scholar's initial thoughts.

He didn't want to be a bandit; he just wanted to be a soldier for a few years, then go home and live a peaceful life with his wife, kids, and a warm bed.

Across the centurion, Xiucai exchanged a glance with Heizi, who showed no reaction. At this moment, Xiucai became anxious, remembering that Heizi was the centurion's personal guard, closer than himself. Xiucai became nervous, wondering what to do.

Six more soldiers emerged from behind, all of them covering their mouths with handkerchiefs. They marched in pairs, each carrying a bundle of firewood, towards the paved path, without stopping, simply dumping the firewood onto the unpaved area.

They ran back, and another group took their place. This process was repeated. Because they had handkerchiefs to shield them from the poisonous gas, and they ran back before even catching their breath, the six of them collapsed in the swamp when they were just one step away from the other side.

Four more soldiers came out of the ranks and took turns carrying firewood. When they got to the firewood, they put it down and then collapsed.

Once the road was cleared, the centurion sent out a squad, led by a deputies, to cross the swamp. However, only two of the ten made it across, and they were found unconscious at the foot of the mountain.

The scholar looked behind him and saw that only three rows of people remained. He couldn't help but ask, "Centurion?" He couldn't finish his sentence.

The centurion waved his hand and said to the scholar, "Let's set an example for them first."

As he spoke, the centurion rushed onto the pontoon bridge made of firewood. Halfway there, his horse got stuck in the swamp. The scholar calmly dismounted, but at that moment, Hei Zi jumped off his horse and ran madly toward the centurion.

They pulled the centurion off his horse, and the two of them helped each other walk toward the shore. When they were less than ten steps from the shore, they both collapsed.

The scholar turned around, looked at the thirty-odd people behind him, and said, "Bring out the centurion and Blackie."

In fact, the scholar originally wanted the centurion and Hei Zi to die inside, but he wasn't sure if the soldiers behind him would all listen to him, so the scholar could only pretend to have someone pull the centurion and Hei Zi out.

Four more men went in, each grabbing an arm and covering their mouths with one hand, and pulled the centurion and Hei Zi out. The scholar saw that there were still four horses left, so he had his men help the centurion, Hei Zi, and Hui Shi onto the horses, and then they rode off towards the nearest village.

As the sound of horses' hooves faded into the distance in the morning, Xiaoyue climbed out of the trap, brewed medicine for Liang Qi, made a cabbage soup, and tidied up the house that the soldiers had soiled. She took a nap in the house and then went to take care of her physical needs.

Half a day had passed when Xiaoyue realized that her cellar had been discovered. She went into the cellar, dug out cassava and radishes, put them in a basket, and carried them to the kitchen in the front room.

Xiaoyue lifted the lid and threw the firewood into the trap through the hole. She figured that since there was firewood underneath, she could light some firewood every now and then to keep it warm.

They found two bags of steamed buns in the snowy area that Li Lei had mentioned. Li Lei and the others left the last two bags of steamed buns for Xiaoyue and Liang Qi.

Liang Qi found the leftover fabric scraps from Xingfei Cloth Shop, which Lu Xiaomei had picked out, under the single bed in the warehouse. He ran into Xiaoyue, who was carrying steamed buns she had dug out of the snow, and she had also arrived at the trap.

Liang Qi looked at Xiaoyue's disheveled appearance; her clothes were covered in dirt, her hair was a tangled mess, her face was covered in grime, and her hands were covered in mud.

He smiled and comforted Xiaoyue, "They're all gone, they won't be coming back. Are you going to store everything in the trap?"

Xiaoyue glanced at the scraps of cloth and cotton drenched in dye in Liang Qi's hand, and asked meaningfully, "Are you also putting everything you're going to throw into the trap? Why is that?"

The two exchanged a smile. Liang Qi opened the lid of the trap, and Xiao Yue shoved all the bean buns down into it before heading down to put things away.

Liang Qi's expression suddenly hardened. He threw everything he was carrying down into the hole and said to Xiaoyue, "Quick, go down into the trap. They're back."