"Now we can only try to save ourselves. We don't know why, there's no signal at all, and we have no idea what it's like outside." Village Chief Ma looked at the people in front of him.

"What are you doing out here? It must be a difficult journey."

"Brother Ma, our main purpose this time is to see if we can get a batch of building materials. Our house has completely collapsed, and if we don't rebuild it quickly, this winter will be very difficult to get through." Yun Mingwu explained his purpose, and as agreed, he did not mention the village's limestone.

“Building materials are needed everywhere now, so you definitely can't buy them. Did you walk here? How long did it take you?”

“We’ve been traveling for three days now, and the car is too dangerous to drive, it can’t move at all.” As he spoke, he told Village Chief Ma about the changes he had made along the way.

"It might not be peaceful for a while. I heard things have gotten chaotic in the county town, and they might start targeting the surrounding villages soon. You should be prepared." Recalling the news he heard from Ma Donglai, Yun Mingwu advised Village Chief Ma to quickly come up with a backup plan.

"Don't be so nervous. Trust the country. As long as they can spare the resources, they will definitely come to the rescue."

Upon hearing this, Si Cheng thought to himself, "When the country is free to deal with this, who knows what kind of chaos will ensue? If we're not prepared, it could be quite dangerous. When a food crisis hits, these villages with stored grain will be a real goldmine."

"Brother Yun, how are my sister and the others now?" Ma Donglai was supporting a middle-aged woman with a pale face and swollen eyes. His voice had arrived even before he did.

"You're my sister-in-law's younger sister, I've seen you before." Seeing a familiar face, Village Chief Yun was pleased, but surprised to see the woman dressed in mourning. "Sister, what happened to you?"

"You still haven't told me how my sister is? Is she alright?" He reached out and grabbed the village chief's sleeve, asking anxiously.

"They are all fine and safe."

Upon hearing the affirmative answer, Aunt Hu sat on the ground crying, saying, "It's good that you're alive and safe."

"I'm sorry, everyone. My mother is too emotional about this. My grandfather lost his life trying to save the family's livestock. She's just happy to hear that my aunt's family is safe."

Seeing the scene before them, everyone felt extremely heavy-hearted. Later, they asked villagers who had relatives in Yunjia Village for information, and they told each other everything they knew.

As darkness fell, Village Chief Ma invited them to his home for dinner, but they declined. They simply asked the village for some firewood and lit a campfire to make do for the rest of the night.

One night is enough for everyone to find out the information they want to know.

There are a total of seventeen villages surrounding the county seat. As far as we know, three of them are completely out of contact, and it is estimated that they are likely dead or injured. Most of the other villages have also suffered casualties, but the exact number is still unknown. Their circumstances also do not allow them to go to the village offices to inquire.

Si Cheng learned that his uncle's village, Gaojia Village, was safe, but there was basically no hope for Yun's mother's family, Hujia Village.

The next morning, Si Cheng took a walk around the village. That's when he noticed that several families were building walls with sand and cement.

When Yun Mingwu told him about it, he learned that because of the advantage of the road into the city, several families had started selling sand, cement, and other building materials needed for building houses by the roadside.

"If you're thinking of buying cement and sand here, I advise you to forget about it. Look at how much sand and cement their village needs; it's simply impossible for them to sell it outside."

“That’s right, even if we sell it, we can’t transport it back.” Yun Yang quickly dissuaded them from the idea, for the sake of his own feet. “Besides, transportation is basically by walking now. If we also need to transport some cement and sand, it will take us several more days.”

"Alright, let's pack up and head back in a bit." Village Chief Yun didn't even mention asking about buying cement, and told everyone to finish breakfast and pack their things quickly.

After saying goodbye to Village Chief Ma, the group arrived at the wooden bridge in a day, several times faster than they had come.

After crossing the wooden bridge, Village Chief Yun told everyone to rest here for the night, as it was not advisable to travel at night even if they were familiar with the road conditions.

The people simply baked the flatbread they brought over the campfire, and Sicheng ate the flatbread while gazing thoughtfully at the wooden bridge.

"Uncle Wu, do you think the county town will descend into chaos?" Si Cheng asked, then looked at Village Chief Yun.

"It's likely to descend into chaos. Our county may not look big, but it has a permanent population of over 300,000. I heard there are boats available to ferry them across the river, but the tickets are too expensive, so only a small number of people can probably make it. Plus, with all transportation cut off, food supplies won't last long. Even if people have food reserves, most of it is buried under the rubble, and clearing it out will result in significant losses. Furthermore, most of them are courting death by throwing their bodies into the river. Even if it doesn't cause an epidemic, the water resources will be polluted. This will be an intractable problem." After saying this, everyone fell into deep thought.

"If the county town falls into chaos, they will always find a way to escape, and our nearby villages will suffer as well." Before everyone could think for long, Si Cheng dropped this bombshell.

Si Cheng knew that human nature could not withstand the test, especially when urban and rural residents had no land or food reserves. Many people would do anything to survive.

In their previous life, they witnessed far too much looting along the way, and many villages later rose up in resistance. Small-scale migrations like Si Cheng's group couldn't even get close to villages. This forced them to search for plants and animals along the way to survive, and eventually they even hunted rats. Thinking of this, they couldn't help but shudder.

"Then aren't we in danger too? How many people are there in our village? Even if we give all our food, it won't be enough to satisfy them." Hearing this, everyone became anxious.

"Let's demolish this bridge first, then they won't be able to cross," Zhao Dongwei suggested.

“Such a small bridge, anyone can make it,” Yun Tao immediately retorted.

“We still have to tear it down, so they can’t get here so easily,” Zhao Dongwei retorted.

"We'll have to trouble Acheng to move this bridge over first thing tomorrow morning. We'll discuss it with everyone when we get back before making a decision." After thinking for a moment, Village Chief Yun decided to remove the wooden bridge first. Without machinery, it would be quite difficult to move a wooden bridge like Sicheng did and put it on top of the bridge.

"See! My idea did work a little, didn't it?" Zhao Dongwei's little tail twitched again when he saw that Village Chief Yun was going to remove the wooden bridge.