Chapter 20: Don't easily believe the words of scholars!
Why did Li Shiyue take the initiative to step forward?
One reason for this is what she said: on the road of fleeing famine, you have to fight for your life; if you don't resist, you'll just have to wait to be killed and eaten.
We still have food and water now, but if we run out of food and water and haven't reached the Andong Protectorate where we can be settled, then it won't be as simple as just killing people.
At that time, cannibalism will become a necessity.
Therefore, since the people of Lijia Village have been targeted by this group of refugees, we must take the initiative to find them and eliminate any future troubles.
Secondly, there was Li Shiyue's own consideration. She, Li Qiutian, and Li Xiatian had killed someone tonight. Regardless of whether it was to protect themselves, as long as you killed someone, you would be discussed and judged by those ignorant villagers.
They certainly wouldn't dare say much to your face, but they'll definitely cause trouble behind your back.
That's human nature.
Li Qiutian didn't even talk about the fact that he was stronger than a man, so how could the gossipy villagers not talk about the fact that three young girls, around ten years old, ganged up to kill a refugee, and in such a low-class place?
They say one thing, but they probably think another.
Of course, if it were just a few words, why would Li Shiyue be worried?
But on the way ahead, among their family, only Li Wangming and Shi Tou were able-bodied men. However, Li Wangming, this uncle, had been studying since childhood and had hardly ever done any farm work. He was lucky if he had any strength at all.
As for Stone, he is strong, but he is just an obedient child who listens to whatever you say. How can he protect this big family?
Not to mention, there's also Grandma Li, an elderly woman with mobility issues. Li's mother is alright, but what about Zheng Meiniang?
Zheng Meiniang was skilled at slaughtering pigs, but she accidentally ate a poisonous fruit on the road and became half-blind. It was already a miracle that she could protect herself and not be a burden to others.
Not to mention, Li Shiyue, watching from the sidelines, thought that her father and Qin Tao's family of three were probably going to stick to her like glue.
In his desperation, Li's father pushed his pregnant lover, Qin Tao, to take the blows. Can you really expect him to do the same?
And as long as it's not a matter of life and death, filial piety should always be considered.
After all, Li's father was Li's grandmother's son, Li Wangming's elder brother, and the biological father of Li Shiyue and Shitou. So how could they really ignore Li's father?
At least, it can't be done openly.
Therefore, someone in this family must take the lead in terms of force to deter external threats.
For his own sake, and for the sake of the Li and Zheng families, Li Shiyue had to take the initiative to stand up and befriend Li Shiyang, the village chief's son who had obtained the title of Xiucai (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations) and led the entire village to flee the famine ahead of time!
Therefore, Li Shiyue took the initiative to stand up and echoed Li Shiyang's words.
At this moment, the group of about twenty people were hiding behind a patch of wild grass. They stood up slightly and looked ahead, and saw two torches burning about a hundred paces away.
After confirming that the three refugees had indeed found their hideout, Li Shiyang turned around and took the wood-chopping knife from the hand of the villager beside him.
With his mouth gagged and hands tied, the refugee, who could only move his feet, kept backing away as Li Shiyang walked towards him with a wood-chopping knife, but there was nowhere left for him to retreat to.
However, after taking two steps back, the villager pressed his neck against his body.
When Li Shiyue, who was huddled together with Li Qiutian, saw Li Shiyang's expression, she guessed what he was planning next.
"Sister, don't be afraid, I'm here."
Li Shiyue was already holding Li Qiutian's hand, and as she spoke, she squeezed Li Qiutian's hand even tighter.
Li Qiutian didn't quite understand what Li Shiyue meant when suddenly, Li Shiyang's woodcutter's knife slashed towards the refugee's neck.
This was something no one expected.
By the moonlight, Li Qiutian saw the refugee's wide-open eyes. In just a few breaths, the spurting blood suffocated him to death.
No one expected that Li Shiyang would personally commit the murder, including Li Shiyue herself, who only just realized it.
After all, in everyone's mind, Li Shiyang was a scholar. He was the only scholar in the surrounding villages and the most capable person who could exempt two people in his family from corvée labor.
But who would have thought that the person who silently raised his knife and killed someone was also such a scholar?
Li Qiutian wasn't frightened. She squeezed Li Shiyue's hand and whispered in Li Shiyue's ear, "Shiyue, didn't the scholar just say that he would spare their lives as long as they told the truth?"
How come, again...?
"Sister, if you don't cut the weeds at the root, they will grow back in the spring breeze."
After a pause, Li Shiyue added, "Don't easily believe what scholars say!"
Li Qiutian nodded solemnly. Li Shiyang's actions today had taught Li Qiutian a good lesson for her young mind. Many years have passed since then, but Li Qiutian still remembers this incident.
One died, so there are still two left.
At this moment, Li Shiyang stopped. He looked at the two refugees who had their throats slit and were already dead, trembling with fear, trying their best to escape but being held down by four villagers. He sighed but did not say a word.
Just as Li Shiyang was about to step forward and kill one of them with his wood-chopping knife, Li Wangshui suddenly jumped out, also carrying his own wood-chopping knife.
Following Li Shiyang's technique, Li Wangshui slid the blade across the refugee's neck, blood spurting out, and the man fell silent within moments.
Li Wangshui dealt with the last remaining person using the same method.
Freed from his burdens, Li Shiyang raised his hand to signal, and the others followed, quickly running towards the location of the torch.
But in this place, three warm corpses were left behind.
After observing them for a while, Li Shiyue got a sense of what was going on. It seemed that Dazhu and his group of refugees had only gathered recently. They were probably a few families who had fled famine and had gathered together. With someone like Dazhu leading them, they made a living by killing and robbing people along the way.
Because there wasn't a single elderly person in this settlement; it was full of disheveled women and poorly clothed children, with probably fewer than ten women and children in total.
There were no elderly people; they either died on the road or were abandoned.
Leave the women and children behind, for they are weak and are the best food reserve.
According to the three refugees who had spoken earlier, the three men who remained here were three older men. Dazhuzi led the remaining strong men to raid Lijia Village.
The people of Lijia Village killed seven people on the spot that night and captured three others. They had just killed them all, so ten people were already dead.
However, five of the refugees who attacked their Li Family Village tonight escaped. Now, if you count carefully among this group, there are exactly eight people left.
Once the numbers matched, I felt half at ease.
Moreover, judging from their hurried appearance, Li Shiyue clearly thought they wanted to pack up their food and water, hitch up their cart, and leave.
Yes, they even had two donkeys pulling the cart.
What followed was straightforward: the twenty-three men, each armed with a knife and seemingly prepared, formed a circle and swarmed forward, aiming their eyes at the necks of the eight men.
All of this ended quickly. Li Shiyue and Li Qiutian cooperated, using the same tactic of attacking the lower body and then inserting an eye into the brain.
However, this time the killing was even faster, because Li Shiyue was stabbing directly into someone's head with a wood-chopping knife.
If Li Shiyue were to say, "It's just that I'm not strong enough. The knife is stuck in my head, and it's not easy to pull it out."
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