Chapter 21 The Heartless Woman

The woman shook her head and glanced at the burly man somewhat guiltily.

"That's all, really, that's all. You've already been given two maids over there. Whether you eat them, sell them, or take them as your house is entirely up to you."

Snap!

The burly man slapped the woman across the face.

"You poisonous woman!"

The big man also had a daughter; they wouldn't have come out to rob her if they weren't forced to by circumstances.

The burly man stared coldly at the woman.

“They are your children! How can you be so heartless? Hurry up, we only need food and water, not the children.”

As he spoke, the burly man gave a wink to his companions, and several other burly men immediately came over and snatched the cloth bag from the woman's hands and a porcelain jar from her bosom.

After getting the goods, the burly men didn't hurt anyone. They simply released the person, took the goods, and swaggered away.

As the group of men passed by Shanglin Village, they glanced in their direction.

The villagers standing at the edge of the group immediately perked up, and the fifty patrolmen on duty today even picked up their "weapons" and looked at the burly men defensively.

The burly men weren't stupid. They could tell that this group of several hundred people were from the same village. Since there were only a few of them, they didn't dare to linger and quickly left, clutching their loot.

As soon as the burly men left, the woman released the boy from her arms and walked over to the two girls.

"Slap! Slap!"

He slapped each of the two girls.

"You good-for-nothings, you're all good-for-nothings! I'm so unlucky to have given birth to you. You'd better stay put and I'll exchange you for grain later."

Upon hearing that she was to be exchanged for grain, the older girl immediately raised her head and timidly looked at the woman.

"Mother, you've already swapped my eldest sister's grain. Please, don't swap my sister's and my grain. We won't eat any of our own food; we'll give it all to our younger brother."

The girl burst into tears as she spoke...

"Crying! Crying! Crying! You good-for-nothing, all you do is cry!"

Didn't you see that the grain we just exchanged was stolen?

If we don't exchange you for grain, what will your brother eat...?

Amid the woman's shouts and curses, the people of Shanglin Village continued on their way. Ningbao glanced at the two girls who had been beaten, and she sighed softly.

Alas! There's no saving them. These two girls are destined to die young; their lives are almost over, and she can't do anything about it. But their mother didn't fare well either…

The first day of the journey went relatively smoothly, but before it got dark, the village chief called a halt to the group. He gave everyone a cold look.

"Today is our first day since we set off from Shanglin Village, and so far things have been relatively peaceful."

However, we will definitely face more difficulties later. First of all, we are already short of water, and we don't have much water and food left.

Everyone faces the problem of water shortage, not just us. These families who have fled famine did so because of the lack of water.

We must use the little water we have left sparingly.

Whether it's water or food, it must be hidden well; it must never be exposed.

As you've all seen along the way, quite a few families have been robbed. Don't think that just because we outnumber you we can act recklessly.

No matter how many of us there are, we can only number a few hundred, which is no match for the tens of thousands of refugees on the road.

These past few days, everyone has been keeping their spirits up and making good progress. As long as we get out of the northern region and the drought eases a bit, we can go find a water source. With water, we will have hope of surviving.

I want to give you all a final, serious piece of advice: from now on, when you're on the road, please take good care of your wives and children.

Anyone who leaves the group on their own to watch the commotion or loot in the chaos will face consequences. Don't blame me for being ruthless if you cause trouble.

After finishing his speech, Village Chief Lin stared coldly at the crowd for a while. The women who had come to watch the excitement were now feeling indignant.

But before they could even start complaining, they were scolded by their own men.

“I advise you to calm down. We’re here to escape famine, not to have fun. Other people’s fighting and killings have nothing to do with you. If you’re going to go and deliver yourself to someone else’s head, I won’t stop you. But we’ll never meet again.”

…………

Village Chief Lin, who was directing the troops to set up camp, happened to pass by and overheard the man's words. He couldn't help but frown.

It seems like he said that before; this kid is quite good at using what he's just learned.