Zhao was only concerned with guarding against Li Shulan and didn't guard against her, looking at the bowl full of wild vegetable porridge.

She pretended to be angry and said, "You're still growing, you should eat more."

Lin Yinan picked up the bundle, which still contained quite a few cakes, and handed it to his aunt, Zhang.

"Auntie, these are some flatbreads I found when I went to town. You can take them and share them with my cousins."

Zhang, holding the bundle, glanced at her husband and then at her mother-in-law, Zhao.

She wasn't the kind of person who was easily swayed. With her mother-in-law around, she wouldn't dare to make decisions about her sister-in-law's belongings without her permission.

Zhao glanced at their bundles and decisively refused, saying, "Take them back. You didn't bring anything with you when you came out, only these dumplings. Keep them for yourselves."

Zhang obediently handed the bundle back to Lin Yinan, but Lin Yinan did not take it.

"Grandma, we are a family. Uncle Hu and my cousin are not enough to eat. Only when they are full can they protect everyone and help us get out of the mountains safely."

Lin Yinan's words make a lot of sense. You have to travel such a long distance every day, and you can't walk at all if you're not full.

Zhao pursed her lips and remained silent. Zhang knew that her mother-in-law had tacitly approved. She opened the bundle, gave everyone a pancake, tore off half for herself, and stuffed the other half back into the bundle.

Lin Yinan finished the porridge in her bowl in two gulps, put the bowl down, and moved closer to Zhao Shi.

"Grandma, when I first arrived, I heard the villagers arguing. What was going on?"

From how she dealt with Yu Suqin and her daughter, Lin Yinan knew that the original owner's grandmother was a shrewish and protective person.

Combined with the original owner's memories, Zhao worked as a maid in a wealthy family when she was young. She saved up money and redeemed herself when she reached a certain age.

After returning home, she married her injured and retired grandfather, Lin Xiong, and had two sons and two daughters. Her sons were the original owner's father and uncle. Her eldest daughter married a merchant family in the city, and the whole family moved to the south, where they lost contact. Her youngest daughter died of illness at the age of thirteen.

Zhao sighed, "It's all because of his stutter."

The people of Linjia Village were not poor. After receiving the news from the Hu people, they packed only a few simple belongings and hurriedly fled up the mountain. They did not have time to take the crops in the fields or the grain stored in the cellars at home.

Most households ran out of food this morning, and the argument just now was because they wanted to sneak back to get more.

Even though Zhao didn't say it, Lin Yinan could tell that his uncle's family of five children, a total of eight people, were probably running out of food.

“Your uncle, aunt and cousin agree to go back to get the grain. Those barbarians not only kill people, they also eat human flesh. If we really encounter them, we will never return. I disagree.”

Thinking of her eldest son who was killed at the academy, Zhao wiped away her tears again.

Lin Yinan looked at her uncle, who was squatting on the ground with a worried expression, and told him about seeing the Hu people bringing grain into the city.

Then she put all the food into her spatial storage, without mentioning it.

"Uncle, it's too dangerous to go back."

She and the man in black made too much noise leaving the city; there might be barbarians in the mountains behind.

Lin Yinan glanced at the dense forest and continued, "Besides, there's no shortage of food in the forest, so you won't starve to death."

Lin Shuo pondered for a while and realized that what she said made sense. He stood up and handed the bowl he had licked clean to Zhang.

"I'll go and discuss it with the clan chief and the village chief."

Li Shulan, Zhang Shi, and Zhao Shi, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, huddled together and spoke in hushed tones. Seeing the three women secretly wiping away tears, Lin Yinan knew they were definitely talking about their father.

It was completely dark by then, and a fire was lit in the resting place of each family in the basin.

After a long day of travel, Lin Yi'an and Lu Changqing lay down and fell asleep in the tent after dinner.

With more people around, Lu Changqing wasn't clinging to her like he had been the previous two days.

Lin Yinan picked up her bow and arrows and went to explore the forest.

"Sister Anan, where are you going?" Lin Yirong asked hurriedly when she came back after washing the dishes and saw Lin Yinan about to leave.

She is the third daughter in her uncle's family, and she is twelve years old this year. She has two older brothers.

Lin Yirong held a wooden basin, and the firelight cast a large blush on her face.

"I'll wander around for a bit and be right back."

After saying that, he walked past her and strode into the woods.

Lin Yirong scratched her head. She felt that her cousin had changed. She was indifferent to her and her brother. Perhaps the death of her uncle had hit her too hard.

Lin Yinan didn't go far. She circled around and hunted two rabbits and three pheasants. She also secretly treated herself to two pancakes that she had confiscated in Pingcheng.

As she passed two horses with ropes tied to them, she saw her cousin Lin Yizhang, who was a year older than her, with her fourteen-year-old cousin Lin Yisong, carrying torches and feeding the horses with grass.

The two men's eyes widened when they saw the rabbit and pheasant she was carrying.

"Anan, did you do all of these?" Lin Yizhang swallowed.

"Okay, I'll have Auntie bake it later."

Back at the camp, Lin Shuo had already returned. He took the rabbits and pheasants from Lin Yinan's hands and saw that each of them had been shot in the head with an arrow and died instantly. He then weighed them in his hands.

"I reckon it weighs four or five pounds. Anan, your archery skills are truly excellent!"

Zhao stared at the bow and arrow in Lin Yinan's hand. "Anan, where did you get the bow and arrow?"

"Oh, I snatched it from the Hu people in the city. Uncle, what did the clan chief and village head say?"

Lin Yinan brandished the bow and arrow in his hand, and then changed the subject.

The bow and arrows were actually brought from her spatial dimension, while the arrows were picked up from the Hu people in the city.

"The clan chief and village chief gathered all the men in each household for a meeting. After discussing it, they decided not to go back to fetch grain. Besides, they would arrive in Xincheng tomorrow afternoon, and everyone could go into Xincheng to buy grain then."

It wasn't too late yet, so Zhao gave Zhang a rabbit and a chicken to prepare, saying she would cook them for everyone as a side dish.

The family sat around the fire and chatted for a while.

Zhang used the wild vegetables and pheasant she had gathered during the day to make a soup. Everyone drank a bowl and then went to bed.

Xincheng, Bingcao Mansion.

Huang Guichang took a sip of wine, a smile spreading across his fleshy face. "The prefect was ordered by the captain to prevent the Hu people from mixing in with the refugees, which is why we dared not open the city gates to let the people into the city."

He put down his wine cup and continued, "After hearing what General Yun said, I will report it to the authorities tomorrow and open the granaries in the city to provide food and set up soup kitchens for the refugees."

"Lord Huang is a man of great wisdom and righteousness, I admire him greatly."

"Come on, come on, let's drink."

Yun Mo picked up his wine glass, tilted his head back, and drank it all in one gulp.

Huang Guichang glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and saw that his cheeks were slightly flushed, indicating that he was a little drunk, and the corners of his mouth were unconsciously turned up.

“After the fall of Yanmen Pass, the Hu people massacred three cities, and now they are burning, killing, and looting in Pingcheng. Xincheng is just a small county town with limited troops. They have neither received formal training nor seen the battlefield. If the Hu people attack, I'm afraid they will be powerless to fight back,” Huang Guichang said carefully.

Upon hearing the name Yanmen Pass, a flash of pain crossed Yun Mo's eyes. He then waved his hand and said, "If Lord Huang needs my help, please don't hesitate to ask."

Huang Guichang narrowed his eyes with a shrewd look and probed, "I've heard that the Yun family has a 500-strong secret guard. They are well-trained and can take on ten men each."

Yun Mo's heart tightened, but his face remained calm. Huang Guichang, that old scoundrel, was indeed up to no good.