“We’ve banged the gong so many times and no one has appeared. They probably won’t suddenly show up at this time,” Ye Moxun, who had been silent until now, suddenly said. “Perhaps the owner of the stone house is a kind person, and some thugs have suddenly broken in and committed crimes.”

"Then how do you explain the Water Curtain Cave?" Song Zhuiyan asked.

“They must have suffered a fatal blow and fled here in a panic… The people in the box are dressed in different clothes, some well-dressed and some poorly dressed; perhaps some of them are their own people…” Ye Moxun couldn’t continue his story halfway through.

There were three pairs of eyes, not four. In the corner sat Song Tantan. All four of them stared at him intently, thinking he could analyze some earth-shattering case.

However, "well, this is just a guess, it's just a guess. Things are too bizarre, I dare not make any rash judgments."

Everyone: "..."

"Auntie, Uncle Zhong, don't just worry. Showing concern won't help. The most important thing right now is to find a way to prevent bad people from harming us. How about this: every morning we get up and gather together, take a headcount, and make sure no one is missing?"

Then everyone learned martial arts together. Uncle Zhong was the best at martial arts, so he taught everyone. Strong young men had to patrol around the village every day, and people had to take turns keeping watch at night. Song Tantan told everyone the solutions she could think of.

The idea sounds good, but implementing it is not so easy.

"None of the men in our village have learned martial arts. If we encounter bad guys, we might not be able to withstand them." What Lin Fuhai didn't say was that he was afraid of being killed by bad guys and he couldn't even utter a sound.

“I can handle the patrols and exercise time, but I also need to rest; one person can't do it all alone,” Zhong Qingyi said.

A short while later, shouts came from outside the village, asking Lin Fuhai what important matter had occurred and why he was making a fuss about calling them over.

Lin Fuhai told Azhu, Xiaomei, and the other older children to take the children out and not to listen to them, while the adults stayed behind.