The city gates of Xiangyang City reopened after a year's absence, but this was not a good thing. If Duke received the news and sent troops at this time, he could quickly wipe out these rebels, and the people would probably be plunged into even greater misery.

Song Zhuiyan and Ye Moxun realized this at the same time and thought to themselves, "This is bad." If the two sides were to fight, Xia Yangchun would be the first to suffer.

“Shuanzi, you two should quickly take the food and go hide in the mountains. It’s not safe here anymore,” Song Tantan whispered in Shuanzi’s ear. “...These refugees may not be good people either, so be careful.”

Song Tantan frowned and looked at the dozen or so refugees again. There were thirteen of them, all women, and they were all quite young. She wondered what they had suffered. To ensure the safety of Shuanzi and the others, Song Tantan led them up the mountain to find a place to hide.

Where could they hide on the mountain? Naturally, in the caves. They were sent into the mountain in two groups. But no matter how big the mountain was, they could still find each other's hiding places if they were determined. Just in case, Ye Moxun gave each of the later refugees a pill.

"If you take this pill, you will die from the poison in half a month without an antidote. If you want to live, I advise you to behave yourselves and not have any wicked thoughts. I don't care who you were before, but from now on you must listen to me." After warning the thirteen women, he left them with a hundred catties of sweet potatoes.

"This is your rations. This is called sweet potato. It's non-toxic and can fill your stomachs." Ye Moxun's expression was indifferent, and he exuded a sense of detachment.

Song Tantan clicked her tongue as she watched from the side, picked up a sweet potato and took a big bite. As she chewed, she said, "See? You can eat it raw or cooked. You'll eat this for the time being. If no soldiers come up, just stay here and relax. If soldiers come, you'll have to find a way to escape on your own."

The women, who had been wary and hesitant to move just moments before, suddenly rushed over like madmen after seeing that Song Tantan had eaten the sweet potatoes without any problems. They snatched the entire bag of sweet potatoes and began to devour them.

Song Tantan and Ye Moxun: "..." They're starving.

The two men stood at the cave entrance and watched them devour their food. After they were full, their faces regained some vitality; they were no longer numb, and their eyes were no longer empty. They finally looked like living people again.

With a sigh, the two prepared to leave when a young girl suddenly chased after them and called out in a clear voice, "Young masters, are you going to Xiangyang City?"

Huh? How did she know?

Could this person be a spy sent by someone? Of course, this thought only flashed through their minds for a moment, after all, they were nothing and not worth being monitored.

“I might go,” Song Tantan said, looking directly into the other person’s eyes.

The girl looked to be about thirteen years old, but she was so thin that she probably looked a few years older than she actually was. Sure enough, the next second she smiled and said, "My name is Abao, and I'm fifteen years old. My father used to be a butcher in Xiangcheng. He was killed during the war a couple of years ago. My mother is still alive, and I also have a younger sister. I want to go back to find them. If you want to go to the city, can you take me with you?"

"By the way, how did you all escape?" I forgot to ask that earlier. I only knew that the city was in chaos, the city gates were opened, and many people escaped, but this group of women was a bit strange.

"We were kidnapped by Boss Cao's men a couple of days ago and locked in a room. We were only released today, and they said they were going to take us to see Boss Cao." Boss Cao was the leader of the first wave of rebellion, and he was particularly fond of beautiful women.

After the ceasefire, he lived the life of a local tyrant in Xiangyang City. His temperament was very similar to Duke's. He didn't treat the common people as human beings and was fond of beautiful women. It's a pity that he came from humble origins. He was truly a low-class character.

When Cao Laoda's men kidnapped attractive women, they would bring them to Cao Laoda so he could choose first. The women he didn't choose would be given to his men. The people of Xiangyang City suffered terribly as a result.

I initially thought Cao was a good guy, but who knew he would turn out to be the second Duke.

The other women also had families in the city, but they were terrified and only wanted to hide quietly. They dared not return to the city. Only Abao was the bravest.

“Alright, we’re not familiar with the city’s layout, Abao can lead the way for us,” Ye Moxun whispered in Song Tantan’s ear.

So Abao followed Song Tantan and the other man, and instead of returning to the place where Shuanzi and the others were hiding, they took Abao directly towards Xiangyang City.

Taishan and the second and third brothers were also left in the mountains; bringing them into the city would be too conspicuous.

"Waaaaah..." The sound of a baby crying came from afar, but the crying grew weaker and weaker.

Ye Moxun and Song Tantan quickened their pace and ran over, only to find a group of people surrounding a family. The man of the family had already fallen into a pool of blood, while the old man and woman were kneeling on the ground wailing.

The leader of the group was holding a gun with a small baby stuck in the barrel. The baby was now silent, and drops of bright red blood were falling to the ground.

"My child, my child!" A young woman with withered, yellow hair screamed a few times before fainting.

An old woman next to her hugged her and cried very bitterly, "My grandson, my poor grandson, I'll fight you to the death, I'll fight you to the death."

"You're asking for death, old man. Since you're so eager to die, I'll send you to reunite with your grandson." The leader threw the baby off the gun, turned the gun around, and was about to stab the old woman.

"Ah!" The squad leader was about to make a move when his arm was chopped off, and he cried out in pain.

Seeing the baby being flung into the air and then crashing to the ground like a sandbag, leaving a trail of blood, Song Tantan's eyes widened in fury. Enraged, she drew her knife and slashed at the man, severing his arm before immediately beheading him.

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