Wang Zhuzi could hear the shouting from a great distance and immediately became dissatisfied.
The short man next to him picked up a stone and threw it at Liu Xiaofei, yelling, "Are you even alive? If you don't know how to raise a child, then don't raise one. What are you yelling about? You're disturbing my peace so early in the morning."
Liu Xiaofei was hit squarely by the rock, and he grimaced in pain, clutching his foot. Fortunately, the rock wasn't big, otherwise, his foot would have been completely ruined.
She immediately covered her son's mouth and apologized repeatedly, "The child is too young and misses his mother. Please forgive him, brother."
The short man scoffed and said irritably, "That's easy. If the child misses his mother, he can go down and see her. If he misses her again next time, I'll definitely come to help."
Upon hearing this, Brother Wang and his group burst into laughter, while the other refugees dared not utter a word, each looking after their own children for fear of upsetting anyone.
Liu Xiaofei trembled slightly in fright, and the scene of the bandits killing people flashed through his mind again. At that time, the knife was right in front of him. He pushed Xiu Niang, and the knife that was originally about to hit him fell on Xiu Niang instead.
The bandit, having mistaken her for someone else, not only didn't stop but slashed at Xiu Niang several more times, and soon the ground was covered in blood.
He was so frightened that he ran straight up the mountain, completely forgetting about his son.
The person who saved his son was also from the village. He was stabbed many times and finally managed to escape up the mountain, but died from excessive blood loss.
He swallowed hard, feeling only a sense of relief that he was still alive.
The short man glared at the group again before returning to Wang Zhuzi's side.
Wang Zhuzi looked at the Liu brothers and thought for a moment before saying, "Those people are from Xinghua Village?"
The short man nodded quickly, "Yes, it's them."
The last incident caused quite a stir, and many refugees saw the group of people running up in blood-stained clothes. He saw them too, and it left a deep impression on him.
Wang Zhuzi then continued, "Call the people here and ask them if they know anything about other people on the mountain."
When the people who chased Zhao Dashu last time came back and said that those people had shaken him off, he knew that those people must be extraordinary.
To be able to so skillfully shake off people in the deep mountains and forests without getting lost, one must either be incredibly skilled or have always lived in the mountains.
He prefers the latter.
They can't break the statues of people from their own village, so they try breaking other people's statues. Even if they die or are eaten by wild animals, it has nothing to do with them.
The shorter man quickly responded and beckoned to the Liu brothers, saying, "You two, come here. My elder brother has something to ask you."
Liu Dafei and his wife exchanged a glance, then hurried over with some trepidation. Liu Xiaofei followed with their son.
Wang Zhuzi glanced at the three of them, then at Heiwa, before smiling and leading them to a secluded spot.
Everyone was watching the commotion, and when they saw Liu Dafei and the others being taken to a secluded spot, they felt a little panicked.
Although Wang Zhuzi and his group seemed kind enough and didn't beat or scold them, only asking for some dry rations, they must be ruthless characters to be able to control so many refugees on the mountain.
They were sure they were going to attack Liu Dafei and his brother, so everyone kept quiet in fear. Those with children covered their mouths to prevent them from making any noise that might anger them.
Liu Dafei and his companions were thinking the same thing, and they were extremely flustered.
As soon as he stopped, Liu Dafei hurriedly said, "Brother Wang, this, this is his child, it has nothing to do with us. Please, please don't take it out on us, we are very obedient and will never make a fuss."
Li Xiaofang quickly added, "Yes, it's his child. It has nothing to do with us. Brother Wang, don't mistake him for someone else."
Upon hearing his brother and sister-in-law's words, Liu Xiaofei became furious and was about to start cursing when the short man's shout silenced him.
"What are you yelling about? I called you here because I have something to ask you. Just answer whatever my brother asks. If you say one more word, I'll kick you all off the mountain right now."
Upon hearing this, the three of them immediately shut their mouths, and Heiwa was so frightened that he stopped crying.
No matter how bad things are up in the mountains, at least you don't have to worry about being hacked to death. The bandits down the mountain are serious; they'll take a knife and kill people at the drop of a hat. They've just experienced it firsthand, and their dreams are filled with bloody scenes. Naturally, they know that going down the mountain is a dead end, so they nodded repeatedly.
Wang Zhuzi then asked, "Which village down the mountain are you all from?"
Liu Dafei nodded and hurriedly said, "Yes, we are all from Xinghua Village, but we left a long time ago. We don't know when the bandits arrived, otherwise, we wouldn't have caused trouble at the entrance of the stronghold in the first place."
At the time, we thought some refugees had taken over their village, and we wanted to confront them because we outnumbered them. Who would have thought they were just a group of bandits?
Wang Zhuzi nodded and continued, "Did everyone in your village flee the famine back then? Was anyone left behind?"
Liu Dafei was taken aback, hesitated for a moment, and then nodded, "Several families have stayed."
Leaving aside the others, take Liu Dayong for example. His whole family was left behind, and they've probably all died under the hail of bandits by now.
He was somewhat confused as to why the other person suddenly asked about the villagers.
Wang Dazhu smiled and said, "I met some people on the mountain a few days ago. They said they were from Xinghua Village and now live deep in the mountains. I heard they have plenty to eat and drink and are living better than before."
I was thinking that since you're also from Xinghua Village, you could go and ask around, and maybe bring back some food so everyone can share and not starve to death here.”
Wang Dafei and his wife exchanged a glance, hesitant and incredulous. "Are there still any survivors left in the village?"
The village was taken over by the mountain bandits; how could those who remained possibly survive?
Brother Wang smiled and nodded, "Of course, you can go and take a look."
The mountains are so continuous, how could those people dare to run up the mountain if they weren't villagers from the foot of the mountain? They must have been relying on their familiarity with the area to dare to go up the mountain.
Although he wasn't sure if they were from Xinghua Village, he was certain that they were villagers from the vicinity of the mountain, making it the perfect opportunity for Liu Dafei and his group to go and search for them.
The group hesitated, about to refuse, when the shorter man spoke up: "Either go find someone, or go down and be killed by the bandits. Choose one."
As he spoke, he raised the sharp stone in his hand.
Liu Dafei and the others swallowed hard, nodding repeatedly, "We'll go find it right away."
After saying that, he pulled Li Xiaofang and Liu Xiaofei and walked into the depths of the woods.
The short man glanced at the group's retreating figures before asking, "Brother, should we send someone to follow them?"
Wang Zhuzi shook his head. "The forest in these mountains is dense, so it's best not to go in rashly. If these people can find someone, that would be great. If not, then forget about it and don't worry about it."
He didn't have much hope.
Seeing that Liu Dafei and the others didn't seem to have been reprimanded, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and wasn't as tense as before, but they remained quiet and no one dared to make a sound.
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