Meanwhile, at the refugee camp in Peach Blossom Village, a group of people shouted, "Village chief, let us go and seize that dilapidated temple. We had our eyes on that temple first."
During their trip, they had agreed to stay in that dilapidated temple, but unexpectedly, the group from Anping Village beat them to it.
The village chief shouted, "You're not allowed to go! You'll rest here tonight!"
One of the men said with dissatisfaction, "Village chief, what are you afraid of? There are so many of us. As long as we go over there, we can not only seize that dilapidated temple, but also the grain."
The village chief shouted, "Didn't you see they all have weapons? If a fight breaks out, we won't come out on top either."
One man scoffed, "What's there to be afraid of with those cowards? If you hit them, they'll just run away. We might as well take advantage of them while they're all here and rob them of their food."
The village chief shouted, "All of you, shut up!"
Seeing that the village chief had gotten angry, the villagers didn't dare to continue making a scene, but they were still dissatisfied.
The new village chief of Peach Blossom Village also wanted to teach Anping Village a lesson. Chishan Village refused to form an alliance with their village, which embarrassed him, and he held a grudge.
However, even if Anping Village does not ally with their village, it will not cause them any loss. Other villages will still try to curry favor with them and form an alliance. Currently, the number of people in their alliance has reached more than 3,000.
There are many people, so it's not easy to be provoked, but there are also many troubles, like now.
Their village wanted to rob Anping Village, but the other villages in the alliance disagreed. They could discuss the other villages' plans, but the other villages wouldn't do it.
So, although there are many of them, not many of them are actually useful.
With the number of people in their village who can contribute their labor, they are not at an advantage against the group from Chishan Village.
In the middle of the night, a rustling sound came from one of the Chen family's mule carts.
The night watchman saw the four women of the Chen family go out, followed by a dog, and Chen's eldest daughter-in-law was carrying a bundle. He couldn't help but ask curiously, "Auntie, where are you going?"
I don't know why, but I always felt that they didn't look like they were going to relieve themselves. Although most people go to relieve themselves in groups for safety reasons, it was strange that they were carrying a bundle.
Zhou said, "It's nothing, I just went out to relieve myself, I'll be back soon, I'll call you if anything comes up."
The night watchmen didn't ask too many questions and let them leave, but they still felt something was off, so they told the team leader.
Zhou and her three companions did not carry torches, fearing they would attract thieves. Fortunately, the moonlight was bright enough to see the road clearly, so they didn't have to grope around in the dark.
The four walked quickly, carefully avoiding the areas with firelight.
There were still quite a few refugees in the vicinity. They had lit bonfires at their respective resting places, partly to keep warm and partly to warn others not to step in.
The four were walking quickly when a voice suddenly rang out, startling them.
"Auntie, where are you going?"
When Zhou saw that it was someone from their village, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"What are you doing here again? You suddenly appearing in the middle of the night is terrifying."
"The village chief told me to keep an eye on those people in Peach Blossom Village. What are you doing here?"
"Why do you care about us? Just keep a close eye on things, stay alert, and don't fall asleep."
After giving the man a stern lecture, Zhou left with her eldest son's wife, her second son's wife, and Chen Xiaohua.
After finding Qiangzi's group's resting place, the four of them found a secluded spot and observed from the shadows.
The closer I got, the more alarmed I became. Something seemed wrong with the number of people. Why were there so many people? Why weren't they asleep? What were those people with farm tools up to?
The four immediately sensed something was wrong and forgot to even test the power of the Molotov cocktail, so they turned tail and ran back.
The villagers of Anping were still in a daze after being scolded by Zhou Shi when they saw Aunt Zhou and her three companions running back.
What's going on with you guys?
Zhou said urgently, "Quickly go back and tell everyone to prepare for battle, someone is trying to rob us."
A villager from Anping Village asked, "The Peach Blossom Man hasn't made a move yet?" He had been keeping a close eye on him.
Zhou said, "It's another group of people, the same group that was loitering around our village before. They've gathered a large group of people and are packing up their weapons."
Upon hearing this, the villagers of Anping Village quickly followed suit and ran back.
He dared not harbor any illusions that they might not be targeted for robbery. Among these refugees, they were the richest. If not them, who else would he rob?
As soon as Zhou and his group ran back to their resting place, they told the night watchman. Upon hearing the news, the watchman struck the gong that the village chief had given him.
"The enemy is attacking! Prepare for battle!"
"The enemy is attacking! Prepare for battle!"
"The enemy is attacking! Prepare for battle!"
The three village chiefs had just woken up when they saw a burst of firelight approaching them from afar.
The village chief directed everyone to form a battle formation.
Centered around the dilapidated temple, empty vehicles were placed at the front to provide cover for everyone.
The able-bodied men then picked up farm tools and formed the first line of defense.
Young people, carrying farm tools, formed a second line of defense.
The teenagers and women formed a third line of defense.
The old woman and the old man formed the last line of defense.
Inside are children, supplies, and injured people who are unable to move and are unconscious.
The dilapidated temple is now overcrowded. With so many people, the temple simply cannot accommodate them all, and most people are gathered around the perimeter of the temple.
Over here, the village chief and the others could already see the group of people clearly. There were indeed more people than they had scouted during the day. Some of them were carrying farm tools and swords, but most of them were carrying sticks.
Qiangzi and his men didn't expect the people of Anping Village to discover them so quickly and prepare for battle.
As the man approached, the village chief gave the order: "Archers, prepare, fire!"
Qiangzi and his group were brought to a halt by a sudden volley of bamboo arrows.
Enraged, the bandit leader slapped Qiangzi across the face. "Why did you stop? Keep going! Your men go first!"
Qiangzi was unwilling, but he had no choice but to comply. He couldn't back out because of the food and water.
The archers in Anping Village were a group of people who settled down and trained after the village was besieged. Because of a lack of tools, they practiced with bamboo arrows. In the end, they only trained 43 people with barely adequate accuracy, and most of them were still teenagers.
Seeing that the bamboo arrows had not stopped them, the village chief's heart sank; it seemed that a fight was inevitable this time.
He wasn't afraid of this group of people, but rather that the surrounding refugees might join the fray and rob them. Moreover, the people of Peach Blossom Village would certainly not let this situation go.
Soon, the people on the first line of defense started fighting with the group outside.
As expected, when they saw that someone was actually fighting with the people from Anping Village, the refugees who had been watching also joined in attacking the Anping Village alliance.
Upon receiving the news, the people of Peach Blossom Village immediately took up arms and joined the battle, hoping to get a share of the spoils, without even notifying the villages in the alliance.
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