Without Pei Xuanqing or the escort, they were soon targeted by a group of bandits.
Shen Yu originally planned to let Shunzi, Nanying, Beiwu and others show their skills. However, after seeing the other side with more than 20 people, Wan Xueying decided to let Qiu Shi and others practice and test the results of the training during this period.
At first, Qiu Shi and his companions were nervous and timid, but the enemy was a group of desperate criminals, each one more ruthless than the last. It wasn't until one of the guards was injured that their bloodlust was aroused. This was no longer a trivial matter; a single mistake could cost them their lives.
Qiu Shi shouted, "Brothers, fight for me!" and instructed everyone to organize their offense and defense according to the formations they had practiced. By leveraging their strengths and compensating for their weaknesses, the ten men against the enemy, over twenty, gradually gained the upper hand. Another surprising discovery was their vastly superior physical strength. This was the perfect reward for their daily walking and an extra hour of training each night.
When the bandits realized that the enemy still had several experts who hadn't attacked, they realized they had run into a tough opponent. After killing seven or eight of them, the leader of the bandits had no choice but to shout, "Retreat!"
Qiu Shi and his companions were so blood-thirsty that they chased the bandits for dozens of meters. Shen Yu shouted, "Don't chase a desperate enemy! Come back!" The moment they hesitated, the bandits were able to catch their breath and escape.
Even after defeating the bandits, Qiu Shi and his companions returned to meet Wan Xueying with trepidation. They were embarrassed by their poor initial performance and frustrated that they hadn't completely wiped out the entire group. However, the fact that they had fought head-on for the first time, and had killed several of them, still made their blood boil and a sense of pride welled up.
Turns out, they can do it too!
Wan Xueying first checked on the injured guards. Seeing their injuries weren't serious, she took out some hemostatic and anti-inflammatory powder and had Qiu Shi and the others apply it to each other. She then gave some praise to everyone's performance and asked Shunzi and the others to help identify any shortcomings and share some experience.
Later, they encountered several groups of bandits. The guards cooperated better and better and became more adept at dealing with the bandits, which earned them Shen Yu's recognition.
Gu Ming's wilderness survival skills really deserve full marks. In addition to helping everyone pick a lot of wild vegetables and herbs and hunt a lot of prey along the way, he also carefully discovered that the water level of the river became lower and lower as he went north.
"It must have been dry here for a long time." Gu Ming pointed to a small patch of weeds with curled leaves and said, "The state of these weeds also shows that there is a severe lack of water here."
"So what?" Shen Yu asked with an obvious tentative tone.
"So we should stock up on more food, preferably coarse grains."
Shen Yu nodded. After spending some time together, Shen Yu realized that he was indeed a talented person. Unfortunately, he had no luck with exams; he always had problems. Even now, he wasn't even a scholar, just a student.
Wan Xueying was even more worried than they were. She asked, "Have you noticed that there are more and more refugees along this route, and most of them are traveling from north to south?" She even heard the Ningjiang County accent in some of the refugees.
"Are you afraid that your adoptive parents and their family will flee from famine and miss the chance to reunite with you?" Shen Yu asked.
"Yes." Wan Xueying nodded, "I'm also afraid that we will have to flee from famine if we go there." But Shen Yu definitely couldn't escape, he had to report to the Ningjiang County reserve camp.
"How about you stay here? We'll go and investigate first and notify you when we have news?" Shen Yu suggested.
"No, I've come this far, I'd better go home and take a look first."
On the following journey, they bought a lot of food, and the space of the Tree of Life was packed full.
When they arrived in Ningjiang County, the drought was even worse than in other places they had passed along the way. Even drinking water became a problem. Wan Xueying had no choice but to secretly take out some of the water bags stored in the Tree of Life space and share them with everyone. When she finally found a water source, she frantically refilled it.
In other words, she has mental power and can find some hidden water sources. Otherwise, it would be really difficult to snatch the obvious water sources from those refugees unless she uses some force.
Wan Xueying even saw several familiar families in the village among the refugees.
"Are you Uncle Liu and Aunt Liu?" Wan Xueying had gotten off the carriage early. She was wearing a coarse, gray men's suit, her hair tied up in a bun, imitating the men's style. When she approached to ask, Uncle Liu and his wife, who hadn't seen each other for years, took a long time to recognize each other.
"Are you... Miss Xueying?" Although she tried her best to make herself inconspicuous, her aura and good nutrition had transformed her from a skinny and yellow-haired girl long ago, so Aunt Liu took a long time to recognize her.
"Yes, Aunt Liu, I'm Xueying." Wan Xueying's adoptive parents' surname is An, and she was formerly called An Xueying. After she returned to the Wan family, she only changed her surname but not her name.
"Didn't you go back to Beijing to live with your biological parents and be the eldest daughter? Why did you come back like this? Did your biological parents treat you badly and send you back?" Aunt Liu was full of doubts, but also felt sorry for her.
"No, I came back to find my adoptive parents for other reasons. I wonder if they are still in Yushu Village?" Although her biological parents were not very kind to her, Wan Xueying did not want to publicize this matter.
"We don't know whether your adoptive parents are still in the village, but they were still there when we left," Aunt Liu replied.
"I see. Thank you, Aunt Liu."
"Why are you being so polite to your aunt? If you want to go back to find them, don't get delayed on the way." Aunt Liu kindly reminded.
"Thank you, Aunt Liu. I'll go back to the village to find them as soon as possible." Wan Xueying asked again, "Where are you and your family planning to flee to?"
Aunt Liu smiled bitterly and said, "We haven't thought about it yet. We'll go wherever there's water to drink."
"Then if the drought here is over, will your family come back?"
"Go back, of course! There is no place like home. When the drought is gone here, we will definitely come back." If possible, who would be willing to leave their hometown and flee!
"Then I wish your family to find a place to settle down as soon as possible, and then I wish we can meet again soon." After Wan Xueying finished speaking, she took out a small piece of silver from her purse and stuffed it into Aunt Liu's hand through her sleeve.
"This..." Aunt Liu felt that it was silver. She was reluctant to take it, but she was reluctant to return it to Wan Xueying. This was something that could save her life at a critical moment!
"Take it for now. You never know when you'll need it." Uncle Liu's family had helped her adoptive parents many times before, but she hadn't had the opportunity or the ability to repay them before. This encounter was fate. But she was afraid they wouldn't accept too much if she gave them too much at once, and she didn't want to show off too much either.
"Then I'd like to thank you in advance."
"Aunt, you must be careful on the road. Try not to show your wealth. If you can hide it, you must hide it well." Wan Xueying had seen too many cases of robbery and theft along the way. Lin Yingnan was a typical example, so she gave a few reminders.
"Auntie has made a note of it. Let's not delay any longer. Your adoptive parents miss you so much. They'll be so happy if they know you're back."
"Yeah, I miss them too."
After saying goodbye to the Liu family, Wan Xueying learned that her adoptive parents and their family might still be staying in the village. Only then did she understand what it meant to be eager to go home.
While asking the driver to speed up, she also had to keep an eye on the refugees passing by on the road. She was really afraid of missing her adoptive parents.
After two more days of walking, she spotted the large elm tree at the village entrance from a distance. She was so nervous that her palms began to sweat. This was Elm Village, where she had lived for nearly ten years. The village got its name from the tree.
But when I got closer, I saw that the leaves of the big elm tree were sparse and mostly dry, which was really sad.
Wan Xueying stepped out of the carriage and walked forward, touching the trunk of the elm tree and silently injecting some vitality into it. She only hoped that this elm tree, which held so many of her childhood memories, would survive until it was no longer short of water.
"Let's go." After doing all this, Wan Xueying got back on the carriage and led the group into the village.
The villagers they saw along the way were few and far between, all of them dejected and silent. Even the sight of so many of them arriving in the village, in horse-drawn and mule-drawn carts, did not pique their interest.
It is impossible to reproduce the lively scene when the Wan family sent people to pick up Wan Xueying and take her back to the capital, and everyone gathered around to watch and ask questions.
Not only are nine out of ten houses in the village empty, but at least half of them show no signs of being inhabited.
Even though Wan Xueying encountered a few acquaintances along the way, she didn't say hello or stop, leading her group straight to the end of the village. The An family lived there, nestled against the mountain, with few nearby families, and less trouble from neighbors.
Five years later, the An family's house became even more dilapidated. Fortunately, they saw that the firewood in the yard was piled high and exceeded the wall. There was also a woman's low cough coming from the house from time to time, indicating that there was someone at home. Their trip was not in vain.
Recognizing her adoptive mother's voice, Wan Xueying got off the carriage with tears in her eyes and banged on the door, "Dad! Mom! Brother! Open the door quickly! I'm back!" It was as if she was using all her strength to call out to her relatives whom she could only call in her dreams for the past five years.
Seeing her like this, Shen Yu stood silently behind her. Behind them, Aunt Chen and Madam Wu secretly wiped away tears. Wan Huqing, who had changed his name to Congsheng, was a little further away, with a complex expression and mixed feelings.
Half a day later, after the sound of children running hurriedly, a crisp and soft voice came through the door: "Who is it?"
Wan Xueying was stunned for a moment when she heard the voice of a strange child, then asked anxiously, "Xiao Fan? Is that Xiao Fan?"
"Yes! But who are you?" An Fan had never heard this voice in his memory, so he was very confused as to why the other party knew him?
"It's really Xiaofan." Wan Xueying cried with joy. She had never expected that the first person she would see upon returning home would be her little brother, who had only been born when she left.
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