The young men who went back to get the stove quickly ran out as well, and together they cleared the ice from the door.
Si Cheng then called out to the village chief, "Uncle Wu, come down first, I'll climb over the wall and clear the ice outside."
Yun Mingwu recognized Si Cheng's voice and quickly climbed down the ladder.
Si Cheng nimbly scaled the wall, and it was clear that the four people were frozen solid and unable to speak. He took the dagger Yun Qi had given him from beside his boot and dug along the edge of the door. The thick layer of ice crumbled down piece by piece with his movements.
Once the area here was mostly cleared, the ice inside was also broken up.
As soon as the door opened, the village chief led everyone out to greet them. Seeing the four people who were almost frozen stiff, he quickly told them to help them inside.
Yun Sanman then came out and said, "I live nearby, let them go in and warm up first."
Upon hearing this, the village chief pointed to a few people and helped them up, then hurried towards Yun Sanman's house.
Yun Sanman was a craftsman, so he was quite skilled at building houses and even built an extra room for entertaining guests.
He invited everyone into the house and told his wife to quickly bring out the ginger soup that had been prepared in the pot.
Once inside, the four people didn't immediately remove their headscarves. It was then that they realized their headscarves had frozen solid and stuck to their faces. If they tried to pull them off with force, they would tear off their skin.
"First, have them sit by the stove and melt the ice."
Upon hearing Si Cheng's suggestion, the group helped them to the stove and added a fire to it.
People who entered the room took off their hats because of the heat.
One of them saw Yun Jianying and pointed at him excitedly.
Yun Jianying pointed at himself, puzzled, "You know me?"
The man nodded, but still couldn't utter a word.
After about ten minutes, the clothes on the people slowly became soaked with water, which dripped out. The people were shivering from the cold, and they were able to slowly take off their scarves.
Yun Jianying stared intently at the person pointing at him.
“Uncle.” When the scarf was removed from his face, although his face was flushed, Yun Jianying immediately recognized that this was his uncle, Ma Su.
It was only then that the village chief and the others realized that these people were all from Majia Village.
Another one was Yu Mingwei's nephew, Ma Donglai. When Yun Mingwu saw that they were relatives from his village, he told them to hurry back and bring some clothes. Taking advantage of the space Yun San had, they quickly changed out of their wet clothes.
"No wonder he couldn't speak; he was almost frozen solid. It's a miracle he made it this far in this weather."
Seeing the four people who were almost frozen stiff, everyone expressed their opinions.
"First, find two dry cloths and have them wipe the wet areas."
"Someone hurry up and get some herbs from Uncle Nanyao, brew them and make them drink it. If they get sick again, it's no joke." Seeing that no one had any objections, two young men quickly ran out to find Yunnan Medicine to get the herbs.
Lin Jianying arrived just then, carrying clothes, followed by his mother, Ma Lan.
"A-Su, what's wrong? Why did you come out in such cold weather?" Seeing her younger brother like this, Ma Lan's heart ached and tears streamed down her face.
"Auntie, let Uncle go inside and change his clothes first. He's soaking wet." Someone nearby quickly advised Ma Lan when they saw her like this. If she didn't change out of her wet clothes, she would really get sick.
Without waiting for her reply, the men started pulling off their wet clothes by the stove.
Upon seeing this, the woman in the room quickly moved to the next room.
After all four of them changed their clothes and drank the ginger soup, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Just then, Ma Donglai's aunt, Hu Haiyin, and her family also arrived.
Before they could even greet each other, Ma Su began to explain the purpose of their visit.
“We had stocked up enough firewood for the winter, and we’ve been staying indoors all winter. We also built a high wall around the village entrance. We thought nothing would happen this winter, so we relaxed our guard. Later, some people from the town came to stay with their relatives, and everyone was minding their own business, so things were peaceful.”
He rubbed his cheeks as he spoke, “Early the day before yesterday, a group of people from town brought ladders and scaled the wall. Before we could react, they attacked and injured many of our villagers, demanding that we hand over all our grain and firewood. We only handed over the grain that was visible; the cellar entrances were all outside, so they couldn't find them right away. Later, seeing that our houses provided good shelter from the cold, they seized several of the larger houses and forced all the villagers out. Now, we villagers are forced to squeeze into a few rooms. We're desperate and had no choice but to come out and ask the nearby villages for help. We took advantage of their inattention and, being unfamiliar with the terrain, secretly made our way out via a side road. We hope the surrounding villages can help us, because we have kinship ties with these villages, which is why they let us come here.”
Ma Donglai nodded at this point: "Yes, we have no other choice. Now all that's left in our village are people who can't fight back and the wounded. We hope your village can help us and drive them away."
Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.
It was at this point that the village chief spoke up: "We need to discuss this matter in our village. After all, it's such a big deal, and we don't dare to make a decision lightly."
"Then please hurry, I'm afraid my family won't be able to hold on for long."
The traditional Chinese medicine was ready by then, so we quickly had them drink it while it was still hot and rest here for a while.
"Have everyone gather at the square in twenty minutes. If there are elderly people in your family, tell them to wear more clothes." Thinking of this, the village chief directly pointed to a few young people. "Go to the prefab houses and get some firewood. Let's go to the square and start a fire so that everyone won't be too cold."
When everyone gathered together, they all voluntarily reserved the seats closest to the fire for the village's elderly.
"The main reason I called everyone out at this time is that I have something important to discuss with you." Yun Mingwu then explained the current situation of Majia Village and the purpose of his visit.
Hearing this, everyone felt extremely depressed. What kind of world would have such people? What if these people came to their village?
Immediately, the square was abuzz with discussion, with everyone holding differing opinions.
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