Old Zhao said, "They're only thinking about themselves right now. I'm sure they'll find our village soon and make us share the burden with them."
"Is it really that bad?" Wang Xudong said uncertainly.
“That’s quite possible. They need to find some cannon fodder right now. Since they can’t find Pinghe Village, our two villages are the best choice.” Liu Huatian looked at Old Zhao, hoping to get an answer from him.
"Don't talk about possibilities, look, they're coming over here!" Old Zhao pointed to the crowd surging towards them.
"XXX, these people really have the nerve to agree to this. We shouldn't agree to their demands." Wang Qiang cursed directly at the scene.
Captain Liu, who was on the other side, also saw the crowd walking towards them and guessed their intentions. He immediately turned around and went down the wall.
"Captain, should we ignore them or not?" The guard quickly called out to Liu as he left.
"Why bother? Just say they've all gone to the back hill to farm."
Old Zhao and his men heard the commotion over the wall, and without saying a word, they climbed down.
Those who remained there muttered to themselves, "Where did everyone from our village go? They all went fishing."
Even if Old Zhao and the others heard them, they didn't turn around. They didn't want to deal with them for the time being, so any excuse would do.
With nowhere to turn for help, Village Chief Bai and his companions were truly on the verge of tears, wishing they could turn back time and stay put from the very beginning.
Si Cheng and his companions had no idea what was happening down the mountain. At that moment, they were standing around several persimmon trees, counting the persimmons on them.
"It's a pity that some of them have been pecked by birds, but the fruity aroma is really nice." Yun Xun and the others gathered around the persimmons and inhaled the fragrance.
These persimmon trees didn't bear many fruits; each tree had only about ten fruits, and some of them were eaten by birds because they were ripe.
"Let's pick these green ones too! They'll ripen if we let them sit for a while, otherwise there won't be any left when we come back," Si Cheng said.
The people gathered there had been eager to get their hands on the fruit for a long time, and now that they no longer hesitated, they reached out and picked the fruit in front of them.
"It's been years since I've seen any fruit. If these trees weren't right next to this puddle, they probably wouldn't have borne any fruit at all." Yun Jianying looked at the persimmons in his hand with great affection, not even daring to squeeze them too hard.
Si Cheng said, "Check the quantity. Can we assign one to each person? If so, make sure you bring your own belongings."
After counting, there were still some left. Si Cheng handed the fruit in his hand to Yun Xun, saying, "Take these back to Second Grandfather."
Yun Xun returned the fruit, saying, "I have some here. I'll take them back for my grandpa to try. You take these two back for Xiao Bao and the others."
Si Cheng stared speechlessly at the persimmons in his hand. These things were almost overflowing in Yun Qi's area, and he had already collected a whole basket of dried persimmons. Could he say that he was already tired of eating them?
Their ascent up the mountain was not easy; they had already encountered several animal attacks along the way. If it weren't for their vigilance, they would have certainly suffered losses.
"Brother Cheng, should we go back first? Otherwise, all of us can barely carry it all." Sun Shaolei said excitedly, looking at the mountain-like harvest.
This was his first time going into the mountains. Although his aim wasn't quite there yet, he still had a great time. It was just that some of the things slowed them down.
Si Cheng was also having a headache looking at all this stuff; he couldn't just go back after only two or three days of being here.
But it would be a pity to throw away so many things, and having experienced hunger, he couldn't bear to part with them.
In the end, he made a decision: "Send them back first before going into the mountains. If this area isn't cleaned up, it will become a scourge for our village in the future."
"It's perfect timing to take these fruits back so the elders at home can have a taste." Yun Xun had been worried that the persimmons might get damaged, but if they go back now, there won't be any problem at all.
During the few days they spent traveling back and forth, the other villages suffered three consecutive nights of beast attacks, and everyone was already exhausted.
That day, several village chiefs came to Xin San Village and Hu Tiao Village again, but they dared not ask them to fight together. They only begged that the villagers be taken in so that everyone could get through this calamity safely.
Before Village Chief Shi and Old Zhao could say anything, the villagers from both villages began to object.
"No, what if they attract those animals?"
“They still have sturdy earthen buildings there, while we have thatched huts here, which are not strong enough to withstand the elements.”
“We are also on high alert at night, for fear that these wild animals will also rush into our village. In that case, our safety will be even less guaranteed than yours.”
"..."
Various voices of opposition arose one after another, and the village chief's attempts to stop them were ineffective.
But the villagers, already on the verge of collapse from the harassment by these animals, lost their minds as well, saying, "When we can't take it anymore, you'll end up like us."
The people from both villages felt that they were being cursed, so they started hurling insults at each other, and the situation quickly spiraled out of control.
"Quiet down," Captain Liu picked up the gong on the wall and banged it a few times to calm the crowd down.
Captain Liu said, "Since this kind of thing is unavoidable for everyone, we can only unite as one to fight it. But with the weapons we have now, we simply can't solve it. We can only ask Pinghe Village for help."
Village Chief Gao said, "We know about this matter, but Pinghe Village is not taking any action. We can't force them, can we?"
Village Chief Gao and his group have made efforts these past few days, even persuading Gao Zian and his associates to go and persuade them, but Pinghe Village is determined not to do anything about it, and they are even temporarily refusing to receive these relatives.
Some people with ulterior motives wanted to push out those who were related to Pinghe Village and make them suffer first, so that Pinghe Village would have to take action.
Fortunately, there were sensible elders in each village who stopped it, but this created a divide between the villages.
The Gotzian family even considered staying there permanently.
Just as they were still struggling with their decision, Si Cheng and his group returned from the back mountain.
Seeing that everyone's shoulders and backs were covered with chopped items, Yunqi and the others guessed that the situation in the back mountain was much more serious than they had imagined.
Thinking they had such a bountiful harvest, they probably wouldn't need to go back up the mountain. But to their surprise, they hurriedly put their things down, not even bothering to rest again, and prepared to head into the mountains.
Grandma was about to stop her grandson and tell him to rest at home for a day when Grandpa waved his hand, telling Yunxun to leave quickly.
"We're already home, we should at least have something hot to eat before we rush things," the old man couldn't help but complain.
The second grandfather looked at the green persimmon in his hand, glared at his wife, and said, "A man isn't made by being spoiled; he's made by being beaten and struggled."
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