They also said that once they settled in the village, if the locals didn't accept them or even caused them trouble behind their backs, life would be even harder.

Captain Xiao didn't want to argue with him any longer, so he turned around and told the people who wanted to stay about their stance.

"We're going to split everyone up again? Forget it. We've suffered too much like this already, and we don't want to go through it again." Lei Hanqing hesitated after hearing Liu Gao's words and now had no intention of staying.

But some people, unwilling to give up, asked, "How many of us can they accommodate in one village? If there are a dozen or twenty households, then we can stay."

Captain Xiao wasn't entirely sure either. "That depends on how many people the village is short. And if a village is short so many people, there must be some unusual reason. You need to think about it more carefully."

Although Captain Xiao wanted to lighten the burden along the way, he also didn't want to put anyone in a difficult situation.

"Then let's not stay here. Let's grit our teeth and go back to our hometown. If something else happens here, then there will really be no way out." Those who understood this made the decision immediately.

Ning Zhiyuan was being lectured by Gao Duowei at this moment, "It wouldn't have mattered if you had just agreed first. After their group left, we would have decided how to arrange things. But now, judging from their appearance, most of them probably won't stay."

Ning Zhiyuan said, "Even if we manage to keep them here temporarily, there's still fraud involved. They're not doing this willingly, and they might cause us trouble later. We don't need to hide anything; being open about it will actually benefit us."

Gao Duowei pointed at him angrily, "What kind of fraud is this? We provided them with fertile land so they wouldn't have to travel back and forth. Once they've established themselves, they'll thank us later."

In ancient times, "we could combine several villages together, and the vacant land could accommodate them. This would not only solve the problems of vacant land and population decline, but also minimize future disputes."

Gao Duowei rolled his eyes at him. "If it were as simple as you say, those villagers would be clinging to their own villages. Why would they merge with other villages?"

Gu Nian never expected that after suffering so many beast attacks, these people not only didn't think about how to unite, but also lived so scattered. Wasn't that even more dangerous?

Gu Nian's feelings are complicated. He longs for these refugees to settle down and bring life to their area, but he also fears that these unprepared people will be needlessly devoured by beasts.

Si Cheng led the villagers of Pinghe Village to inspect the surrounding area and set traps at several key entrances before returning to his camp to rest.

Although they took on the responsibility of escorting the refugees, the night shifts were carried out by everyone in shifts, and even the refugees participated.

At first, the refugees refused to accept their arrangement, feeling that since they had received payment, they should be fully responsible.

Yunqi retorted, "Then you shouldn't have asked us to escort you. We're not robots that can run non-stop. Besides, even robots need time to recharge."

Yun Jianying later approached Captain Xiao, saying, "If you really think that the pay we receive justifies listening to these people's opinions, then we won't take this job. Besides, keeping watch isn't just our responsibility. With so many people in the team, how can we possibly keep an eye on everything with just a few pairs of eyes?"

Captain Xiao was speechless at these people, who seemed to be pushing their luck. At first, the base asked them to go back to their hometowns on their own, but they refused, citing a lack of safety. Later, when their entire team accompanied them back, they said that a few people couldn't protect so many others.

He finally managed to persuade Pinghe Village, but now these people are jumping out to complain, forcing him to put on a smiling face for them, afraid that they will back out.

In order to deter those who were causing trouble, Captain Xiao specially gathered them together and even said that if they did not participate in the night watch or did not follow orders, they would be removed from the team. Whether they lived or died would be up to them.

In short, a lot of things have happened in the team in just a few days. If they are unreasonable, Si Cheng and the others will ignore them and leave them all to Captain Xiao to handle.

As Yunqi watched them return, he lifted the lid of the stewed pheasant soup pot, and the aroma immediately filled the air.

"Sister Qi, it smells so good! Is it chicken stew with mushrooms?" Yun Jianying took a deep breath, judging the sumptuous dinner tonight.

Yunqi then pulled the beggar's chicken that was simmering in the fire out of the fire. "Your nose is getting sharper and sharper. Hurry up and bring the bowl over there. Eat first if you're hungry."

"Are we preparing a whole chicken feast tonight?" Wu Tianxiang glanced at the few people squatting around the fire, busy at work, especially as they were rakeing out mud bags one by one, and asked with certainty.

Liu Fengya said, "It's a whole chicken feast, but you guys have been hunting wild chickens all the way here, so we can't even have a change of pace."

I don't know why there are so many pheasants hiding in the grass along the way. The villagers of Pinghe have been practicing archery all day, and every arrow hits the target. The harvest is quite considerable.

“We didn’t want to either, but we don’t know why there are so many pheasants in this area. We’ve been eating pheasant meat for two days in a row, and we’re getting a little tired of it.” Wu Qingquan took the mud bag handed to him by Yun Liping and started banging on it.

"It's good enough to have something to eat. Look at what other people are eating. It's not right to complain." After saying that, Yun Liping gestured for him to look at the other people's food. Apart from some wild vegetables, there was no meat.

Wu Qingquan looked at his wife and laughed, "No wonder you didn't bring this or that when you went out, only some seasonings. So you planned all this."

Yun Liping said, "Anyone who goes on a few trips with us knows that we only carry more and more luggage, not less and less. Carrying too much stuff will only be a burden."

"The village chief just led us outside to set some traps. Maybe we can have a change of pace tomorrow." Wu Tiancheng took a sip of chicken soup, looked at the traps in the distance, and felt hopeful. He was really tired of eating the same thing for two days in a row.

Si Cheng was also talking to Yun Qi about this, "These past two days, while things are recovering relatively well here, let's hunt more game. Otherwise, the further north we go, the fewer animals there will be, so we need to store up more meat."

Yun Qi nodded. "We've already cleaned up the rest of the pheasants. We'll dry them later and keep them for later use. Even if the climate in the north has recovered, these migrating animals won't recover so quickly. It's always good to be prepared."