After a chaotic night, the little food left in Zhangjia Village was completely gone. There were cries and shouts everywhere, and no family was spared. Fortunately, after the victims grabbed the food, no one was hurt. Although some villagers who resisted were beaten and injured, no one died. It was a blessing in disguise.
Looking at the villagers with pale faces, the village chief could only call on all the villagers to prepare overnight and join the team fleeing famine. The direction they were heading was exactly the same direction that the Zhang family was heading.
The villagers didn't want to leave but had no choice. After being attacked once, all the food on the surface was taken away, and the food hidden in more concealed places would not last long. If they left here, they would still have something to eat, but if they stayed here they would just be waiting to die. They could not withstand a second robbery, so it would be better for them to leave here as soon as possible while they still had the strength.
This time, the villagers of Zhangjia Village were much faster. It took them only two days to pack up all their belongings and leave Zhangjia Village under the leadership of the village chief.
Not long after, Songjia Village was also looted by disaster victims. Old Mrs. Song was able to save most of the food in the family because she was good at storing food.
Only then did they realize the seriousness of the problem. They asked Song Dahai to find their second son and wanted Song Dachuan to flee the famine with them. With two strong laborers around, they could at least protect them.
They had food and could legitimately order Dachuan's family around, but the news they received was that Song Dachuan had left long ago and the entire Zhangjia Village was deserted. They were really dumbfounded.
On the other side, the Zhang family and Song Dachuan's family of more than 20 people left early and avoided the first large wave of disaster victims, so their journey was relatively smooth on the first day.
Because in the days of preparation to leave Zhangjia Village, Lianyi specifically told Old Man Zhang that at least everyone should be well fed during these days, otherwise they would not have the strength to continue on their journey. If they carried too many things, it would attract attention, and the food would only belong to them when it was eaten.
Old Zhang is an experienced person. After Lianyi's reminder, he immediately realized this, so in the five days of preparation for fleeing the famine, the family ate two meals a day and were able to eat until they were 70% full. Their complexions improved visibly, and they had more energy after eating. On the first day, they traveled 15 kilometers.
Except for going to the toilet and stopping at noon to eat some dry food and water, the rest of the time was spent on the journey.
Lianyi pushed her own flatbed cart, let Hui Niang and Hu Zi sit on the cart full of luggage, and pushed them forward steadily. Song Dachuan stood by with a stick in his hand and a dagger in his arms. This was to guard against any disaster victims attacking them. This was a very necessary use of force to deter them.
On the road, Song Dachuan and his daughter would take turns pulling the cart, but in most cases it was Lianyi who was pulling the cart. Hui Niang felt sorry for her daughter, so she would get off the cart and walk for a while, and would only get back on the cart when she could no longer keep up.
Each family of the Zhang family has a cart. The old couple of the Zhang family would walk for a while and then take turns riding on each family's cart, trying not to fall behind. Except for the people pulling the cart, everyone could walk for a while and rest for a while, so they would not be too tired.
Zhang Shi's cart was carrying the heavily pregnant Liu because she was about to give birth and no one dared to let her walk too far for fear that something might happen to her along the way.
The family walked until it was completely dark before they stopped under a crooked tree. After looking around, Song Dachuan decided to use this place as a place to rest for the night. Fortunately, although it was autumn, the weather was hot due to the severe drought, so it would not be cold to sleep in the open air at night.
The Zhang family leaned against the crooked tree and formed a semicircle with carts. The space between the carts and the tree was where they would sleep tonight.
The bedding at home came in handy at this time. After making the bedding, the family lit a fire, cooked a pot of dried vegetable porridge, then soaked some pancakes and ate the hot meal. After their stomachs were filled, they lay down to rest.
Old Zhang knew that if he was camping outside, he would have to leave someone to guard the night, otherwise he would be caught without knowing what happened. Lianyi was familiar with this matter, so she decided to stand guard in the first shift. Zhang Zhong and his eldest son Zhang Fengliang would be on duty in the first half of the night, and Zhang Jun and his eldest son Zhang Fengyong would be on duty in the second half.
After nightfall, those who had been eyeing the Zhang family finally made a move. They waited until everyone fell asleep and the night watchers began to doze off, then they slowly moved over. They wanted to capture all of the Zhang family members in the middle of the night, kill the strong laborers, and sell the women and children to human traffickers. These people still had food on them, so in their eyes they were a group of fat sheep.
Lianyi, who had long realized that he was being followed, opened his eyes and took out an evil dagger from the space. A wisp of black evil energy floated towards these people, causing the eyes of these crazy people to turn red in an instant, and then they began to kill each other.
Lianyi then walked over and woke up her uncle and Zhang Fengliang. As the noise from the group of people biting and killing each other grew louder, all the Zhang family members were startled awake.
"Shitou and Dachuan stay here to protect the women and children. The eldest, second, and third brothers, take a few boys to see what's going on. Grab your weapons."
Although Old Man Zhang was also nervous, as the head of the family, he had to stay calm, so he made arrangements immediately. Everyone followed his instructions, holding sticks, kitchen knives and hatchets, and slowly moved towards the small slope where the sound came from.
Lianyi knew there was no danger, so she didn't go over and stayed at the camp.
The girls were all frightened, but none of them screamed. Instead, they nestled in their mothers' arms, staring at the small hill in the distance.
Mrs. Liu was also frightened. The baby in her belly seemed to be a little fussing, unhappy about being woken up, so it started to move, making Mrs. Liu's face pale. Zhang Shi, who was standing by, held his wife's hand and slowly helped her calm down.
Lianyi touched her nose, forgetting that there was a pregnant woman and the noise was a bit loud, but she also took the opportunity to remind everyone that the journey was full of dangers and they must always be vigilant, otherwise they would be dispersed before reaching Huangzhou.
A quarter of an hour later, Zhang Zhong came back with a few children, looking unhappy:
"Dad, those people behind the small slope have bad intentions. It seems that they want to rob us. I don't know what has bewitched them. They are killing each other there. Four or five of them have died so far."
After Zhang Zhong finished speaking, he wiped his face. The faces of the boys including Zhang Fengliang and Zhang Fengyong were pale. It was obviously the first time for them to see a dead person, so they were sent back by their fathers and uncles.
"Is there no one else around?"
“No more!”
"Come on, take me over there to have a look. You little ones stay here and don't go over there."
Old Zhang was very decisive. He immediately stood up and spoke.
"Okay, Dad, be careful!"
Zhang Zhong immediately reached out and supported his father.
"Old man, be careful!"
Old Mrs. Zhang immediately gave instructions.
"I know, you can wait here with peace of mind."
After Old Zhang left, the camp fell into silence again. After a while, Liu said weakly:
"Mom, I think I'm about to give birth!"
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