After rushing for an hour, and confirming that the villagers wouldn't be able to catch up anytime soon, the two rested in the shade, eating flatbread.
It was well past noon, and after walking for an hour under the scorching sun, their stomachs were empty, but neither of them felt like eating.
The events that had transpired in the village sent chills down their spines, and even the scorching sun overhead couldn't dispel the cold.
Gou Sheng took a big gulp of water from the bamboo tube before stammering, "Yi, Yi Mian, Wang Er Gou and the others, they'll be alright, won't they?"
Although these two men were not good people and often committed petty thefts that annoyed others, he still felt somewhat reluctant to watch them be killed by the village's ruthless thugs.
Jiang Yimian wasn't sure if the two would die, so she just shook her head, but in her mind she was thinking about the origins of Zhao Sandao's group.
After carefully recalling what those people had said, she felt a bit uneasy.
Those people were people who fled from Tianyue Prefecture; they were people who had been wandering around since the very beginning of the war.
The journey from Tianyue Prefecture to Jincheng Prefecture takes at least five months. The fact that these people were able to escape famine for five months and arrive here unharmed proves that they are no ordinary people.
Furthermore, they overheard several people mentioning Shanhu Village. These people were probably bandits who had come here by robbing and killing refugees along the way.
If they are only staying here temporarily, it's fine; they'll leave in a few days at most. But if they plan to stay and set up camp in the village, then it will be troublesome.
Not only the passing refugees and Wang Ergou and his wife, but even the people in the mountains are in danger.
The more she thought about it, the more her head ached. She quickly got up, slung her basket over her shoulder, and said, "Hurry back to the mountain and tell everyone this news. These people are up to no good."
Gou Sheng quickly agreed, packed his things, and followed them up the mountain.
The two were walking, but their pace quickened and quickened until they finally ran up the mountain.
As darkness fell, the two finally reached the top of the mountain.
Wang Fengqin and Liu Xiaoyun had been looking around near Liu's shack for a long time because they were worried about the two children. When they saw the two of them stumbling back from the foot of the mountain, their hearts, which had been in their throats, finally settled down.
The others laughed and joked, "You two kids have kept us all on edge since you came down the mountain. Hurry back, your mother has been waiting here for half an hour."
Wang Fengqin smiled and quickly stepped forward to take the basket from Jiang Yimian's back. Seeing that the other was covered in sweat, she complained a little, "Why are you running so fast? It's dark and the road is narrow. Sit down, rest, and have a drink of water."
Both of them were exhausted from running back up the mountain, but they had no intention of resting. Gou Sheng stammered to the crowd, "There was a group of refugees robbing things down the mountain, and Wang Er Gou and his wife were detained by them."
Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned, and it took them a while to react.
The Sun family laughed. "It's normal to have refugees. Wang Ergou staying might mean he doesn't want to live on the mountain anymore. His shack collapsed yesterday and hasn't been rebuilt yet."
"That's right, it's good that he lives down the mountain, so that there won't be people eyeing our food all the time."
Zhao Xing'er also smiled and said, "That's right, that young couple is shrewd. They must have their own reasons for staying down the mountain and won't suffer any losses. Let's not worry about them."
Although Old Liu didn't say anything, he clearly shared the same thought.
That young couple spent their days stealing chickens and dogs, and were lazy by nature. They would steal food from one neighbor or another, and now they were probably down the mountain because they couldn't steal any more grain.
Seeing that no one seemed to care, Gou Sheng grew anxious and took a breath before continuing, "No, those people were holding machetes and forcing Wang Er Gou's wife to stay. They also told us to leave some food, or they would kill us."
This was stated so clearly that it was practically as if the two had almost died in the village, which finally made the crowd somewhat panicked.
Old Liu hurriedly asked, "Gousheng, quickly tell us what happened down the mountain."
Gou Sheng then explained what had happened in Xinghua Village. In particular, when he mentioned the men with the wood-chopping knives, everyone was on tenterhooks. They only breathed a sigh of relief when they heard that the men had seen that the two of them were children and had not brought any food, so they asked them to leave.
Wang Fengqin was so frightened that her eyes turned red. She looked Jiang Yimian over carefully again, her heart filled with lingering fear.
Jiang Yimian squeezed her mother's hand to indicate that she was alright before turning to Old Man Liu and saying, "Grandpa Liu, I think those people in the village are not easy to mess with. I heard they fled all the way from Tianyue Prefecture."
Old Liu was the oldest among the people on the mountain and had a high seniority in the village. Although no one said anything, it was clear that they still regarded him as their leader.
When Old Liu heard that they came from Tianyue Prefecture, his face immediately changed. Although he was busy in the fields every day, he had heard people in town mention that the war had started in Tianyue Prefecture when he was selling grain.
Those people must have some tricks up their sleeves to escape from such a far place.
After a moment of thought, he continued, "Do you know how many people are in the village now?"
Gou Sheng shook his head. They hadn't stayed in the village for very long, so they naturally didn't know how many people were down the mountain.
Jiang Yimian recalled for a moment before saying, "Including the leader, we encountered six strong young men. We don't know if there were any others in the village."
Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent, their hearts filled with worry about the safety of those on the mountain.
Putting aside whether there are other people, those six strong young men alone would probably be a tough opponent for them.
There were originally six households on the mountain, but after Wang Ergou and his wife left, there are now only five households. However, the Jiang family is all women and has no able-bodied members.
The Chen family is slightly better off, as they have Gousheng, who is only half a laborer.
Apart from the Liu family, which has Liu Dayong as a able-bodied man, the other three families only have Yu, a able-bodied man from the Sun family. The rest are either women and children or the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled.
If all six people come up the mountain, what will the group of old, weak, sick and disabled people do to cope? They will only have to wait to die.
Seeing that everyone was silent, Old Man Sun laughed and said, "It's alright. This mountain road is rugged and difficult to walk. If it weren't for people who are used to walking mountain roads, they would have been exhausted after a few hours. We can easily take down those people."
Besides, there are more than a dozen of us on this mountain. What are we afraid of? We're not afraid, not afraid at all.
Although these words were meant to be comforting, everyone's mood was clearly much lighter.
The mountain road was indeed difficult to travel. Even those who were used to it felt dizzy and exhausted after a few hours, let alone the refugees who had never traveled it before.
Maybe I won't have the energy left halfway there.
Thinking about this, everyone was less worried and just laughed.
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