The other party stammered, "I, I am from Jincheng Prefecture. I, I have no family. I met them and we traveled together."
"We went up the mountain because the path down there was blocked by bandits. We thought we'd go up to find some food and maybe even join them."
Jiang Yimian frowned. "Join the bandits?"
The size of Shanhu Village is quite large now, so it probably doesn't need many new members; it's still a group of emaciated refugees.
The tall man quickly explained, "A few days ago, the bandits spread the word that if you wanted to join them, you had to bring three men's heads."
"We didn't dare kill anyone, so we tried to scavenge for food, but we failed. We had no choice but to look for something to eat, and that's when we ran into that old man."
Moreover, after this news broke, the three of them became the most targeted. Fortunately, they ran away quickly, and the three of them stayed together, so no one dared to make a move.
Old Liu's heart pounded as he heard this. If he had encountered someone who wanted to join the stronghold today, he would have been beheaded.
The thought of that scene made him tremble with fear.
Jiang Yimian frowned.
Those bandits are really good at scheming. With this news, someone will definitely kill among the refugees. At that time, the risk of too many refugees gathering on the mountain will be eliminated, and their mountain stronghold can also recruit some powerful figures.
A person who can kill three men and cut off their heads is no pushover.
Seeing that everyone had fallen silent, the tall man hesitated for a moment before pleading, "We just want some food, we don't want anything else, please let us go."
Don't worry, the three of us will absolutely not tell anyone about what happened today.
The other two also begged for mercy repeatedly.
Gou Sheng immediately retorted irritably, "Come on, if you leave here, you'll definitely tell other people what happened here, and then you'll bring people to rob the grain. Don't think I don't know what you're thinking."
These three people must not be let out.
The hard-won tranquility in the small depression must not be ruined by these three people.
Everyone had the same thought.
The tall man panicked and quickly said, "No, please let us go. We're no use staying here. Please!"
Judging from the way those guys were beating people, they're not someone to be trifled with. If they stay, they'll only be waiting to die.
Jiang Yimian glanced at him and said indifferently, "Who said you're useless if you stay? There's so much land that needs to be reclaimed, you'll be a good help if you stay."
The small depression was quite large, with arable land everywhere, but it was all covered with towering trees, making it impossible for the three families to cultivate. Since they already had enough land for planting, they didn't bother to reclaim any more land.
Now that she has three extra free laborers, she has to make good use of them.
Liu Dayong nodded repeatedly, "We need to acquire a few more plots of land."
Everyone readily agreed and no longer worried about the three men's fate. They tied their hands and feet and left them in the thatched shed in front of the Liu family's courtyard, where they all stayed for a meal.
Because Old Man Liu was frightened, Zhao Xing'er specially prepared a large table of delicious dishes today, including both meat and vegetables, and the aroma could be smelled from afar.
The three people in the thatched hut were drooling from the enticing aroma, but Jiang Yimian and the others had no intention of feeding them today. Despite their eager anticipation, no one paid them any attention.
The three men, their hands and feet bound, squatted in the thatched shed, looking at each other in bewilderment, while a rooster flapped its wings and flew around them from time to time.
After finishing the meal, Jiang Yimian said, "We still need to dig traps in the woods next to the ditch. We must not let something like today happen again."
If it weren't for Old Liu's good luck in only encountering three people begging for food, he would have certainly lost his life today, and the location of their little depression would probably have been exposed.
Liu Dayong nodded repeatedly, "I will also be patrolling the ditch recently. Since some people have gone into the deep mountains, others will surely be bold as well. It's best for us to go out less recently, and even if we do go out, we shouldn't go out alone."
There are quite a few refugees gathered on the mountain, and with that saying coming from the mountain stronghold, it's definitely not safe outside.
Old Liu repeatedly assured him, "Don't worry, I definitely won't go out alone anytime soon."
The crops in the field are important, but they are not as important as his life.
Jiang Yimian nodded, knowing that the other party couldn't possibly be at ease, and then smiled and said, "Don't worry, Grandfather, I will also check the fields outside, and I will definitely not let the crops suffer any damage."
Old Liu finally breathed a sigh of relief and nodded repeatedly.
This left everyone feeling somewhat helpless.
They knew that the old man wouldn't be at ease with the crops in the field.
*
The nights in the small depression are very quiet, with only the calls of birds and frogs.
Accompanied by the sounds of nature, the families all fell asleep peacefully.
Only the three people in the Liu family's thatched hut were wide awake. When the moon rose high in the sky, all the families extinguished their candles and fell into a deep sleep before opening their eyes.
The tall man shook a small stone from his sleeve and slashed it hard at the rope in his hand, cutting his hand so badly it almost broke, before finally loosening the rope.
He untied the ropes binding his feet and freed the other two men before pointing to a small vegetable garden not far away and saying in a low voice, "Steal some vegetables."
After fleeing famine for months, aside from being able to eat dry rations at the beginning, we ate wild vegetables. In recent days, we've even started gnawing on tree bark. Every day we're neither starving nor full, which is extremely uncomfortable.
He had his eye on the vegetables in the garden early in the morning; they looked delicious.
He would be overjoyed if he could even get a bite of those tender cucumbers.
The other two nodded repeatedly and sneaked off toward the vegetable garden.
Under the moonlight, the various fresh and tender vegetables in the vegetable garden seemed to be tempting the group, especially the bright red tomatoes and green cucumbers, which made their mouths water.
The tall man's eyes gleamed with greed; he swallowed hard and reached out his hand.
However, before he could even touch the cucumber, a small creature suddenly darted out from the side and pounced on him.
Startled, he quickly withdrew his hand. Only by the moonlight could he see that it was a fierce cat. He immediately breathed a sigh of relief and muttered, "Get out of my way, you little beast, don't delay my vegetable-stealing."
As he spoke, he kicked at Mimi, who was standing at his feet.
Mimi let out a howl and opened her mouth to bite the other man's leg. The tall man cried out softly in pain, "Ah, it hurts, hiss."
Mimi stubbornly bit his flesh, and no matter how hard he tried, the thing on his leg wouldn't budge. He was torn between pain and fear, and he broke out in a cold sweat.
Seeing this, the other two rushed over to help. Just as they were about to pry open Mimi's mouth, the Jiang family's door creaked open from the inside, scaring the two of them so much that they ran away.
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