Upon hearing this, Yun Mingwu didn't know how to comfort the old man in front of him. He looked around at the emaciated and ragged refugees and asked.
"Are these all your people, or did you all flee here together?"
“The old man wasn’t so lucky. Our once happy family fell apart, people died, and now he’s left with just my two grandsons.” Old Zhao pointed to the two boys standing not far from him. “The others are all people we’ve helped each other get here while we were fleeing. Although we’re not from the same big family, we have a similar bond.”
Old Zhao's words immediately bound all these people together, and he also wanted to make sure that the people from the opposite village wouldn't underestimate them either.
Yun Mingwu and the others understood, but none of them bothered to dwell on the old man's petty schemes. "This is good; at least we can stick together and support each other, which is the only way to go further."
Yun Mingwu then steered the conversation to the main point, "Do you plan to settle here long-term or just for a short stay?"
“Look at us, we are all old, weak and disabled. We can’t compete with others for good places, and we don’t have the ability to find and expand new places. We can only stay here and eke out a living.”
Yun Mingwu watched as Old Zhao didn't give a clear answer, and even indirectly complained to them, as if he wanted to ask if there was a solution, but they couldn't help with these things.
"You must have heard about this recently. Some people are causing trouble everywhere and have even had many conflicts with us local villagers. So it's no wonder we had to come out and ask about it."
"That's only right, but don't worry, we're all honest and law-abiding people. We won't take a single penny that doesn't belong to us." Old Zhao quickly expressed his attitude, and the people around him began to nod vigorously in agreement.
"Since that's the case, we have nothing to say about you staying here. However, there's one more thing we need to remind you. Since this place is very close to a water source, wild animals from the mountains occasionally come down. If you plan to stay here, you'll need to be careful. There's nothing we can do to help you with this."
"Are there any wild animals on this mountain? I wonder what kind of things they are?" Old Zhao looked at the barren mountain beside him and looked at Yun Zhiwu with some suspicion.
Yun Mingwu didn't mind. "There are many kinds of wild animals in this mountain area. Our surrounding villages have encountered packs of wolves and herds of wild boars. I believe that after staying here for a few nights, you should have faintly heard the roars of beasts coming from the deep mountains."
"We've heard it before, but judging from the sound, it's quite far from here." Old Zhao and the others shared the same thought: these villagers were trying to scare them away.
“It sounds far, but these animals don’t stay in one place every day. They might end up here one day, so you should still be on guard.” Yun Mingwu saw that they were still looking at them warily, and he knew that these people did not believe him.
He glanced at Si Cheng, who shook his head at him. He knew that the other party had already assumed that his group had ill intentions and would definitely not trust them, but he still had to remind them.
"Since you've decided to settle down here temporarily, there are a few things I need to remind you of. Whether you believe me or not is another matter."
“It’s not that we don’t believe you, it’s just that we have nowhere else to go. But since you’ve said that, we’ll definitely be more careful.” Old Zhao’s words implied that his group wanted to stay here.
Si Cheng and his group felt that they had basically achieved their goal this time. Although the other party refused to listen to their advice, they felt that they had done their best.
Moreover, these people all seem to have honest eyes, unlike the kind of villains who are extremely wicked. They are mostly elderly people and children, so they can't cause any trouble at all.
Not wanting to be disliked by others, they stood up, dusted themselves off, and began to say goodbye to Old Zhao and his companions.
"Then you all keep busy here, we'll head back to the village. But I still suggest you all take some precautions, otherwise if wild animals come, it will be too late to regret it."
Before leaving, Yun Mingwu had to repeatedly remind them that he still hoped they would keep this matter in mind.
Perhaps it was because Yun Mingwu kept bringing it up, but Old Zhao's gaze softened as he looked at Yun Mingwu. "Thank you, we will take it seriously. After all, my old life doesn't matter, but these kids are still young."
After they had walked away, Old Zhao's two grandsons ran over and each grabbed one of his arms.
"Grandpa, will we be kicked out?"
"No, they didn't say anything just now, which means they tacitly approve of us staying here. Besides, we've been here for so many days, it's normal for them to come out and find out the situation. If we were in their shoes, we would have done the same."
"That's good, otherwise we'd have nowhere else to go." The people around him were relieved to hear Old Zhao's words.
"However, we should also be careful about what they said about wild animals coming down the mountain. At first, I thought they might be trying to scare us, but since they took the lead and reminded us several times, it really might happen."
"What can we do? We can't build high walls like they do, with one side against the mountain and the other facing the water. If we really run into them, we really won't have a way to survive." Many people became anxious when they heard this.
Along their journey, they had witnessed many horrific scenes of attacks by wild beasts. Although some people did manage to obtain some meat as a result, the price they paid was severe.
Moreover, given their current state and the protective gear they carry, they have no way to fight back.
"Don't panic, everyone. We can always find a solution. Let's all go back and think about it carefully. We'll overcome this together."
Old Zhao first calmed everyone down, because there was no use in being anxious at this point; they could only try to find a solution.
"We've only been here for a few days. Although they're not kicking us out anymore, there's still a knife hanging over our heads. When will we ever have a peaceful life?" Some of the older women started wiping away tears. The journey had been incredibly difficult.
"Alright, everyone go back and have dinner first. It's getting dark soon, and it'll be hard to do anything in the dark." Old Zhao didn't know how to comfort everyone, so he simply told them to split up so they wouldn't get together and think about those sad things again.
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