You could tell this group of people just by the footsteps; they were moving in and out in an orderly fashion. Outside, people were busy setting up tents, and the constant footsteps on the ground were orderly. Just as they were about to rest, the footsteps from outside entered the courtyard at a steady pace.

He stopped very close to Xiaoyue and said, "Make dinner early tonight, and we'll set off at dawn tomorrow."

Someone immediately replied, "Yes." Then the person ran back to the outside of the yard at a steady pace.

Xiaoyue heard someone cooking a meal above the trap. She looked up nervously at the top of the trap, where dirt was falling everywhere.

Then, glancing at Liang Qi, who was sitting by the fire boiling water, he saw Liang Qi awkwardly dodging to the edge of the pit to avoid falling dirt.

Inside the well, bits of dirt kept falling down. Liang Qi gestured to Xiaoyue, indicating that they couldn't stay down there any longer, as it was too dangerous. He grabbed a blanket and climbed into the pit under the window he had dug.

Once Luo reached the spot, Liang Qi lit a fire and waved the torch inside the cave. When Xiao Yue saw the torch, she quickly carried pots, pans, and other items from one side to the top of the hole Liang Qi had dug. Liang Qi stretched out his arm and took them all.

Xiaoyue looked around and saw that there were only cabbages and cassava left. She went to the wall to get a cabbage and wanted to pass it over there as well.

Xiaoyue crouched down, holding two large cabbages in her hands, then forcefully tossed them into the middle. She turned back to grab more cabbages. Just then, Xiaoyue heard light, rapid footsteps approaching from above; clearly, everyone was coming to eat.

The footsteps were very rapid, and then everything went black before Xiaoyue's eyes. With a loud bang, Xiaoyue was buried in the corner where the cabbage was piled up. Then, with a few more thuds, Xiaoyue heard that someone had fallen into the trap. Through the gap in the trap cover, Xiaoyue saw that the people had smashed their rice bowls.

Liang Qi blocked the hole under the window with firewood while worrying that Xiaoyue might be hit by falling wood or people.

The soldiers didn't notice any of this. Some shouted, some climbed out, and suddenly one of them discovered a slanted hole leading to the kitchen.

The group climbed up the hole, saying, "We trampled on someone else's vegetable cellar."

Then another person said, "Come on, a few people, fill in the cellar."

Xiaoyue thought to herself, "This is it, I'm going to be buried alive." She quickly pulled out the stick she was holding in the wall and used it to prop up the lid of the falling pit.

It was impossible to fill the collapsed pit with soil in the dead of winter, so the soldiers used snow brought from the ground to fill the pit in no time.

Xiaoyue used the stick she had pulled out to drill a hole in the snow to avoid suffocating in the enclosed space.

Xiaoyue could see through the gaps in the snow that her location was just covered by a corner of the tent, and she could only see inside the tent through a hole she had poked with a stick.

Xiaoyue was observing the situation with great interest when suddenly another person ran in from directly in front of the tent. Unfortunately, through that one narrow eye, Xiaoyue could only see the person's legs. The person said solemnly, "We found a person who is about to die in the house."

Just then, a pleasant, clear voice, similar to Liang Qi's, was heard saying, "Quickly find the military doctor and have him take a look at that man."

After hearing just one sentence, the person left Xiaoyue's sight. In this space of less than one square meter, Xiaoyue noticed that Liang Qi had taken the tinder. Looking at the pile of things, Xiaoyue suddenly saw a corner of the mattress.

Xiaoyue tried desperately to pull it out, but it wouldn't budge. She put it on the mattress, pulled out two wooden sticks from behind, and started cleaning up the useless trash from below.

Xiaoyue had only cleaned half of it when she heard a voice outside: "Report, Centurion Ma."

"Come in," the clear voice said again, "Bring the dying man here."

"good!"

Xiaoyue squatted down below, not daring to move. She squatted there quietly, hugging her knees, shivering from the cold.

After waiting a while, they heard two people's footsteps entering the house.

"What's your name? What do you do?"

"My name is Hui San, and I'm a squad leader under Centurion Huang. I came to this village with him." Xiao Yue was startled. Wasn't this an old acquaintance? She knew him very well; he was the one who had killed people in the west wing of the Ge family's courtyard.

Just then, a clear voice asked, "Where are Centurion Huang and the others?"

"I don't know. Before I fainted, I was crossing the swamp at Qixing Mountain."

"Seven Star Mountain? You've been to Seven Star Mountain?"

"Yes, more than twenty people died there. I was just going there to lay firewood when I noticed a pungent smell and ran towards the shore. I collapsed before I reached the shore."

"Go and fetch a doctor for me."

Xiaoyue's legs were numb from squatting on the ground. She was cold and tired, but she dared not move. She held her breath and waited for a while. Finally, a voice came from outside: "Report, the doctor is here."

"Come in,"

Upon hearing footsteps, a slightly aged voice asked, "What brings the centurion here?"

"You treated him, what happened?"

The aged voice said, "It's from methane poisoning."

“Yes,” the aged voice continued, “besides the treacherous mud in the swamp, there is also a large amount of toxic swamp gas produced above it.”

The clear voice pondered for a moment before saying, "Is the marsh gas problem really that serious? Then how can we ensure the army's southward advance?"

The aged voice said unhurriedly, "I once heard my master say that before the army sets off tomorrow, the centurion should send someone to light the marsh gas. Once the fire is extinguished, the marsh gas will no longer be harmful to people."

A clear, excited voice said, "Great! Go and get some rest."

Then he said to another man, "Centurion Huang, I heard that he led a group of men to escape. When we entered the village, there were more than twenty soldiers' corpses on the road. Were they your men?"

"I don't know. There were more than thirty people when he was unconscious. At that time, Centurion Huang, Hei Zi, and Xiu Cai were all alive."

"Where do you want to go? Do you want to be recruited into my team, or just pretend you've never seen me before?"

Xiaoyue heard a thud, the sound of someone kneeling made her heart tremble. She crouched down and moved to another spot. As she squatted down, she heard the same voice say, "This village is strange."

The clear voice standing next to Hui San let out a mocking laugh, "Tell me about it," with an air of keen interest.

"My lord, I'm telling the truth. I experienced it myself. In the Ge family's west wing, there are still eight corpses lying there. If you don't believe me, send someone to take a look."

"If you see a red box, don't touch it, don't touch it." His voice trembled violently at the end.

After hearing Hui San's words, the man burst into laughter. "I don't believe anything big could happen in this small village," he said. "Let's go take a look."